Category: Bangkok

We started the day with a little nap! 

We had breakfast then came back to bed and ended up falling asleep…just for a little bit! 

After this, we debated packing for a while, we came to the conclusion of not wanting to pack yet, so we went out to get some lunch. 

In 7-Eleven, we got a frappe each to go with our crisps we already had an a little bit of chocolate. A nice healthy lunch! 

On the way back to the hostel, we saw a lot of police standing around. It turns out that there was a man helping the police hang up a sign on a bridge, which seems normal…but he was sat on wires right above the road! Very safe! 

Once we ate lunch, we STILL didn’t pack and instead went to Tesco to get some money out (it’s cheaper there) and to get a few bits. Curtis got some new shorts and we got some other things we needed and some food for the flight. 

We left here and had to visit our favourite restaurant on our last day here! Kim went with the normal, green curry, and Curtis tried a panang curry…That was spicy! We got free fruit, too! 

We got back, grabbed a sundae from McDonald’s and relaxed before finally packing! This didn’t take that long. We leave Bangkok on a flight around 15:00, but we apparently have to leave the hostel at 11:30 to get there on time, which is what time our taxi arrives, so we’re packed and ready to go for that so it’s just breakfast as leave! 

It’s been a great 2 weeks here and there has been plenty to do. Now we have more adventures for the next few weeks and it will be full on but great fun! 

บาย!

– Mr & Mrs Hale 

We actually went to the snake farm today! 

We got up early again and made sure we were at the snake farm before 11:00. We got there about 10:50 and just had to wait 10 minutes for a venom extraction show! The snake farm is used both for tourism and also it is ran by the Thai Red Cross who use the venomous snakes for anti venom, which is good. We sat and watched it whilst the said how it works within the snake, when they attack and how. It was very interesting! 

We left the venom extraction and looked around the snakes which were inside. There was a great mix of both venomous and non-venomous snakes around, all of which were different and interesting! 

After we finished in the downstairs part, there was an upstairs which was facts about snakes as well as their venom and some other interesting things like preserved snakes, bones, skin & embryos! 

We got some lunch from nearby ‘FamilyMart’ shop after we looked at the snakes outdoor..including a rather large anaconda! We got a sandwich for Kim, Curtis got a sausage & cheese toastie as we got some other goodies, all of which was cheap! 

We sat and ate our lunch and then went to have a look at the indoor snakes again to pass time whilst waiting for another show at 14:30. We ended up spending a lot of time with a Golden Spitting Cobra which was moving a lot and being entertaining, which is weird as none of the other snakes were really moving much! We sat with the snake for a while, filming & taking photos. 

Next, we got a good seat for the show! It was a snake handling show, where we were told about the snake and how to grab it! There were many different snakes we were shown and they were pretty close to us too! 

At the end, we were able to hold a big Burmese Python which was rather heavy but good fun to hold! The snake was starting to smell curtis’ face, which was concerning! We were about to leave but Kim went back to hold it again…she also tried to steal it! 

We left the snake farm just as it started to rain and we got back just in time. We had showers and then went to a market to get some street food for dinner. For a very small price, we got pork belly, half a chicken & rice! It was tasty! 

We were still a little hungry and we saw a cake stall so we headed over and it was 3 slices for around £2.50, so who can say no?! We got an orange one, a vanilla one and a chocolate one. The orange was by far the best and the vanilla wasn’t great, but they were nice in general and for cheap! 

Tomorrow will mostly be for relaxing and leaving as we leave to the airport on Thursday morning. 

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale

We planned to get up earlier to get to the Snake Farm today. We woke up a little later then we expected but after breakfast we left and got to the Snake Farm at an optimum time. 

We found out the price and Curtis thought we didn’t have enough money to get in, so we had to walk the 30 minutes back again! 

We were incredibly warm today, so we chilled out, had showers and then went out to exchange money. It was the most efficient money exchange place we’d ever been to! You have to get a number before sitting and waiting for that number. We were in and out before we even sat down! We had a bit of foreign currency, so we thought it made more sense to change it up to Thai Baht. 

We got some lunch and, whilst doing so, Curtis noticed that we actually DID have enough money for the snake farm! This was very funny to us both, though it was nice to have a bit of a relaxed day, too. 

We went for dinner at our favourite place which was delicious as usual! Kim got her Green curry which she loved and Curtis got chicken with cashews which was great! 

Tomorrow will be interesting, hopefully, as we WILL be going to the snake farm…Curtis had triple checked the money and there is enough! 

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale

We woke up early (for us anyway) to get some breakfast and shower before we needed to leave. We had to take the sky train to get to a market we wanted to walk around. 

The market is meant to be a good one and one of the busiest. It’s meant to be a staple thing to do on weekends, so why not! To be honest though, we thought it was pretty rubbish, though it would come in handy later on! 

We had a plan to go and watch Muay Thai. It is free at a TV Set (which is transformed into a boxing ring) so we made the walk there from the market, which is just across the road. 

We got there but were told that only back, grey or white could be worn due to the mourning of the late king. Curtis was wearing a yellow top…

We therefore had to go back to the market to find a top! After looking for a while, we went to a stall which had 2nd hand t shirts for a very cheap price. Curtis managed to find one there, then we made our way back. We got there around 11:20 with the though that the fights started at 12:00 or 12:30…it did not. The fights didn’t start until 14:15! 

We then tried to find a café, but there werent any good ones, instead we went to the park next to the market and just relaxed there for a while and then went to a cafe for a drink just down the road from the Muay Thai. 

If you wish to be in ‘standing’ seats for the Muay Thai, you pay nothing! We headed in, not sure what to expect, though it was really incredible! These fighters were the professional fighters that normally fight in arenas and stadiums, but they fight there on Sunday nights instead! We watched around 5 fights with varying weights and all were absolutely amazing. The atmosphere was great, the fighting was brutal and everyone, including us, was getting really into it! The atmosphere throughout the last few fights was insane with people chanting and cheering for anything and everything! We even managed to see 2 knockouts, one of which was a swift elbow to the face, which certainly looked painful! 

There were bookies all around shouting getting people to bet and others betting, this really added to the electric atmosphere. It certainly made it easier as everyone was packed like sardines! 

After we finished our 5 minutes of fame on Thai TV (the fight was televised!) We were very, very hungry! 

We really wanted a Thai meal, but remembered our favourite restaurant was closed on a Sunday, so we thought we would go to our second favourite…this was also closed! 

This meant that the only possible option was pizza, so we grabbed one from the shop 2 doors down and came back to relax after a long but amazing day! 

We have even more fun things planned for tomorrow!

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale 

We started the day with some lovely fun laundry! Once we hung that out we went to a cafe a couple of doors down for a light snack and just a relax. We were incredibly tired from all the walking around yesterday.

Kim got a waffle with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup and Curtis got what was classed as a big breakfast but was just ham, salad, sausages, eggs and toast but it hit the spot! This came with an orange juice and a coffee, so it was a cappuccino for Curtis! 

We relaxed here for a bit and then we walked to a few nice hotels which have pools to see if we were able to use them and if so, for what price. 

We saw a few but it turns out they are rather expensive to use, so we scrapped that idea, though it was nice just to wander around some lovely big hotels! 

Once we finished walking around all the fancy places, we got back for an escape from the heat and booked accommodation and a flight, which is something we haven’t had to do for a while which was weird. We did feel accomplished though…The small things, eh? 

We made a 30 minute walk to a skybar, which is on the 55th floor of a hotel! Weirdly, we had to stop half way and take another lift up to the 55th floor. 

We arrived to the bar and the view was stunning. We timed it perfectly to get up there just before sunset, so we sat up there whilst it was setting. We were also lucky that we managed to get there for happy hour, which meant we got ‘buy one get one free’ on selected drinks so we got 2 mojitos (it was still £12, mind you!). 

We left here and headed straight to the night market, which has been planned for a few days. We were actually really disappointed with this as it wasn’t very long and was pretty rubbish all around. The funniest thing was all the strip clubs all down the street and all the men trying to get you to buy ‘sex shows’…whatever that means! 

Today was actually another very busy day, and we have another very long and busy day planned tomorrow!   

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale 

We wanted a ‘temple’ day today, and most of the main temples are in an area about 1 hour walk away.

We set out for the walk, bearing in mind we had to wear appropriate clothing, so Curtis was wearing jeans and shoes and Kim was wearing a skirt, so it was very hot! 

We walked to a pier where we took a taxi boat to get to the area we needed to be in, otherwise it was a long hot walk! Before we got on the boat, we stopped at a café and got a mango soda, followed by a snack from 7-Eleven. 

The boat was pretty crowded but we got a good spot to stand for the few stops we had to go. The boat ride was pretty awesome and cooling! 

We got to the grand palace after a short walk across the road but before going in Kim was told that having a sarong/scarf around her shoulders was not acceptable so she had to buy a shirt from a nearby stall which was very sexy! 

We walked around the grounds taking photos of the stunning architecture, but the entrance fee was absolutely extortionate, so no entrance for us! 

Instead, we walked down the road to Wat Pho, which is a temple including the giant reclining Buddha. We walked around here for a very long time. It was incredibly warm but also very beautiful. There was a lot of colour from the buildings and statues and the reclining Buddha was absolutely enormous! We went into a large temple and sat on the floor (as it was customary to) and just relaxed for a bit. It was nice and quite as well as a break from the heat. The room was huge! 

We went back on the boat from here to the stop near Chinatown. We walked through some streets next to China town and went back to our favourite restaurant because it would have been rude not to, being so close and all! 

Curtis got a pad Thai and Kim got a red curry. We got a beer too, because we deserved it after all our walking today! 

We got back and had long awaited showers before going back out to get a bite of dessert. 

We are very tired now, but it was well worth it today. It was a very long day but we got to see some great architecture. 

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale 

We had to ensure we were up and out today and no relaxing! We had to be at a SkyTrain station (about 10 stops from where we are staying) by 13:00. Once we got to the station, we ended up having about an hour to kill, so we grabbed a cappuccino from a nearby coffee shop. 

We went back to the meeting point for our Thai cooking class and met our lovely guide who was very kind and we chose what we wanted to cook. We got 5 choices each! 

We then walked around a fruit & vegetable market where we were taught about all of the different vegetables and what they are used for within Thai cooking. 

We were taken down the road to the kitchen! This was a fairly rustic kitchen but it did the job! 

We were setup with all of our required items and we set about following the instructions on what to prepare in what order and how. It was really easy! We got to use a pestle and mortar to crush items into a curry paste, the old fashioned way! Once we prepared everything, we took our things over to the cooking area and cooked it all! 

All of our food was absolutely tasty and we had a 5 course meal, which absolutely stuffed us. We managed to eat most of it though. 

We finished here and received the recipes from the dishes we made and then we headed back, very full! On the plus side, we didn’t need dinner as we finished around 16:30. 

We took the very busy skytrain back and have been relaxing ever since, other than going out to get an ice cream and we have done a little planning for the rest of the time we have here. 

We had a great day! What great fun it was and some delicious food was made! 

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale 

Our plans for the day were well and truly ruined by the weather. We woke up to a thunderstorm, which was very loud and also very wet! Due to this, we decided that finding some flipflops and finding a bikini for Kim was what we would do for the day. We started making our way to the shopping centre when the rain got even heavier, so to get out of the rain we decided to try root beer…it’s safe to say we are still unsure as it tastes like medicine! 

We braved the weather after this and got to the shopping centre. We walked around for a while trying to find what we needed, and Curtis was eventually able to find a pair of flipflops and Kim was able to find a bikini. 

We eventually got a bit peckish, so we walked to 7-Eleven and Kim got a sandwich and Curtis some instant noodles. 

We then decided we really fancied a lasagna, so we hunted for some! We found an Italian restaurant which was inside a hotel and it was excellent! The lasagna was amazing and we had the chef come and check on us which was lovely! It was a little more expensive than we would have liked, but it was exactly what we wanted! 

We also got some free bread and olive oil! 

We then went to the nearby shopping centre to see if we could find some flipflops for Kim and, luckily enough, there were some there so that task is done!

We promise, we are back to Thai food tomorrow as well as a fun day! 

บาย!
– Mr & Mrs Hale 

We wanted to do something restful again but were up for going out so we found a park fairly nearby (only about a 30 minute walk). This park was really big and had a big lake surrounded by trees, a cool bridge & it was just nice and relaxing. The coolest thing though was the giant monitor lizards! We had read a review saying there were a lot and there were! They’re quite large too, and apparently venomous! We spent a lot of the time on the hunt for these lizards and almost accidentally stood on some as they’re so well camouflaged…We think it’s good we didn’t stand on them…that could have made the blog a lot different! 

We left the park as we had a free mojito class at the hostel to go to! 

We arrived and no-one was there, but eventually people turned up, including the English couple which we had been speaking with yesterday. We made the mojitos which apparently you add Coca-Cola to, which is odd, but Curtis didn’t have it in his and it was amazing! Curtis made a lot, too, so he got a large glass and a bigger straw, so certainly felt superior.

Whilst we drank our mojitos we spoke with the English couple (Emily & Toby) about their traveling experiences and we shared ours. It was nice to sit down (for what turned out to be a few hours!) and just chat! 

We decided that it was time for some food, so we found another different place and went there. This place was just 15 minutes by foot, but little did we know that a lot of that walk was on a train track! We spoke as we walked along it saying what it would be like if a train came…well…sure enough, we hear some sort of alarm and all traffic is stopped and we have to sprint away from the tracks to not get run over! Luckily, the train was going very slow and had stopped so we weren’t really in danger. The train track has houses on it, too, which is awesome! 

For dinner Kim had a other green curry but with a Thai omelette and rice. Curtis had spicy basil chicken. Both were delicious and cheap! Kim had Coke to drink and Curtis had a lime soda! 

 บาย!

– Mr & Mrs Hale