ANA AND ANDY, SUKHOTHAI AND BANGKOK, THAILAND. 30th APRIL - 5th MAY 2014

Sukhothai

Next morning we said our farewells and hopped back on a bus to take us down to one of the old capital cities - Sukhothai. A long but smooth journey arriving early afternoon.We knew the route to the guesthouse and were prepared for the 1.5K march through the boiling hot sun - (it's a good way to get to know a new place if it's not too far away) we had an interesting chat with a local rickshaw driver who insisted it was 4K away and too far to walk, as it turns out - (fortunately) I was right on this occasion!

TR guesthouse was a good find, clean and busy - which is always a good sign.  We checked ourselves in and planned our activities for the next day and then decided it was time to eat.  Got advice from the reception desk on where to find the local food eateries and headed out towards a small night market just across the river.

Night market goodness

The next morning we had an early start to ensure we could squeeze in as much as we could at the Sukhothai Historical Park.  Big bowl of fruit and yogurt for me and a club chicken sandwich and chips for the Rotton. We then headed out to the bus station to catch our transport to the park.  I'd use the term bus very loosely here but it was a vehicle which ferried passengers around town = bus.  We jumped on the back with a few other tourists and locals and made our way the 15km from Sukhothai to Old Sukhothai.

The bus to the old part of town

Once at the other end we hired a couple of bikes to ferry us around the complex of ruins and temples.  A bit like Angkor there is a main complex of ruins where the seat of the old capital would've been and then smaller plots around this within a couple of km.  Bikes and permit both acquired, it was time to get in and have a look at what the fuss is about.  Sukhothai was the old capital city in the 13th and 14th centuries and they have preserved the ruins of the centre of this capital really well.  Everything looked pretty polished but where they had rebuilt and renovated it wasn't over the top or out of style.

This time he's on two wheels but with 125cc of pedal power

The beginning our of temple exploring, ruins that were not so ruined!

We spent ages inside the park and its surrounding areas either cycling, walking or sitting and enjoying the view.  Rather than talk about temples and Buddha figures I'll make sure the best sights are captured below for you to see - see no need to go yourself now!

Big Buddha 

This one is a little wonky... But we can forgive that seeing it's thousands of years old

In amongst the temples

Andy chilaxing in his kingdom

Look at the size of its hand!

Trying to be cool by taking a picture of taking a picture... mission failed but it was worth a try :)

Plenty of wildlife about too. This bird has an Elvis quiff.

A photo of my head.. or was it of the temples reflecting in the water?

Crossing the moat to the temples in the middle

This was one of the statues outside of the city - it's huge!!

Looking up at it from the bottom... Nice to see that they've made an effort with their nails

Similar to the towers at Angkor

We caught the 'bus' back towards the guesthouse and headed back for a well deserved break.  Once we'd cooled down and stopped sweating it was time to head back out into the sun to go and purchase bus tickets for the next day - to Bangkok!  So we headed out on foot to the bus station and on the return journey rewarded ourselves with an iced coffee from a local coffee shop.  Very nice place but they had a cat with a bit of a temper which involved them warning us NOT to touch him... 3 seconds later Andy couldn't resist, stroked the cat and got bitten!  So we headed back to the guesthouse discussing the potential outcomes of Andys new wound and when rabies would strike.

Back to the food market in the evening and then stopped into a bar for a drink before returning back for our last night in the old capital before moving onto the new one.

I spied this as a potential purchase for Robyn and Glynn as a housewarming gift... I was not going to steal it but if I had even considered it then I would be in jail right now

See!  You not pay, you go jail - no messin'

Up and about, same breakfast as the day before (it was v.good!) and we hopped into a tuk tuk (same guy who tried to tell us that we were 4km away when we arrived...) and taken to the bus station.  Boarded the bus to find (included in the price of our ticket) bottled water and biscuits - bus snacks sorted.  A couple of hours in and we pull into a restaurant for lunch break, I wasn't too hungry so decided not to join the queue and had a look around whilst Andy refuled.  Headed back to see him and found out that our bus ticket also included lunch!  So obviously I was hungry and headed up for my bus ticket lunch of green curry and rice. Back on the bus and it was a good few hours before we reached the outskirts of Bangkok which then involved a long journey into the city bus station.

Off the bus and we walked for a bit to find the nearest BTS line, we'd checked in advance and it was just under 2km away.  So after sitting down for 6 hours we'd decided to plod the first part and then jump on the BTS as it was very close to our new home for the next few days.  We jumped off the train at Nana station and walked past a hotel where Andy used to stay for work so a nice little Xyratex reminder for him there.  Then turned the corner onto Nana Soi 4 to realise that we'd booked a hotel right in the heart of 'The Worlds Largest Adult Playground', well that's what the massive illuminous sign above our heads said.

I like bigdogs and I cannot lie... That's the song, right?

Hummm... The words adult and playground should never go together!!

Let the games begin... I felt like Eunice Hutheart from Gladiator fame making my way through this gauntlet!

We then walked down the street to find the Royal Ivory (yes that's us) hotel.  The walk turned more into a gauntlet of food vendors, sex workers, western men and 7 Elevens.  By this point I was now wondering what would be greeting us at our hotel (which we'd thought was a bargain when booked online).  Turned out it wasn't so bad.  Can imagine that they rent their rooms by the hour as we were greeted with a mini bar of nuts and condoms.

Area, although seedy seemed just fine for us - near to the BTS and my favourite night food market.

That evening we headed out to Patpong night market (this one is NOT my favourite btw!) to check out the touristy tat and see the other seedy area where all the infamous ping pong shows are held.  We had a look around at the tat, same old stuff but just higher prices.  Andy was going to go for a genuine fake watch but they were looking for around 20 pounds (our keyboard on the laptop is in Thai and I cannot find the pound sign!) so no fake watch for Andy.  Whilst looking around you get approached by every other person who is holding a laminated card showing you all the different shows that we could go and see...  I'd heard about the shows in brief (namely from Dee as she's a filthy lesbo) and had decided that although you should take part in the local customs - this one was definitely not for me.  Which I think in turn meant it was a no for Andy - although am sure in different company then he'd be in and out of the shows like the ping pong balls themselves!

Patpong... not pingpong...yet

Dinner down a side street opposite the patpong market

Last time we came to Bangkok we didn't get around to heading to many of the tourist sites as we had headed to Ko Samet searching for sun after all the snow in Nepal.  So this time around we had a to-do list of sights, first on the list - the Golden Temple.

OK, so this is Andy taking over - just letting you know as we are writing these blogs between us and both using the first person, could be quite confusing if you're not on the ball ;)

So next day after hotel buffet breakfast we set out to find the Grand Palace Complex. different ways of getting there but we opted for a river boat trip  which gave great views of the Bangkok skyline and some sneak peeks of the monuments we were planning on visiting later on.

Riverview of Bangkok

Some cool buildings Don't look too closely just yet. You'll spoil the surprise!

Wat Arun on the other side of the river - we'll head there later on.

We got to the palace complex and Ana zipped on her trouser legs to show respect for the king of course. and we headed in. It was a long morning of walking up down in and around the complex but it was fascinating seeing the golden stupa and the main palace buildings and supporting buildings. Here are a few snaps to give you a feel without the need for hot constant walking and a grumpy Andy needing coffee! The famous highlights are the Golden Stupa, Golden Pyramid Temple, Emerald Buddha and the Palace buildings themselves but the whole complex is filled with smaller but incredibly elaborate buildings. It's all a little overwhelming in one morning!

You can't come in here flashing your legs and whatnot. Put 'em away. The king might see!

T-shirt shot with the Golden stupa (or chedi in Thai)

Ana striking her dramatic T-shirt pose!

The royal palace complex, loads of buildings, a bit overwhelming!

A library, a bit more ornate than the local one. This one contains religious texts written on palm leaves.

The golden pyramid with an ugly looking storm cloud behind it. Brollies at the ready! 

Walk like a Buddhist temple protector ... not quite the same as walk like an Egyptian but never mind

One roof would just not be enough, so lets have 9!

Temple selfie... getting there with the technique and look - we're not sweating in this one!

Finally... the real Emerald Buddha, no more imitations. No photos inside so this is a long zoom shot!

Busty

There were mural painted all around the complex in incredible detail...

Some not so happy looking guard figures

We arrived before a celebration for the King. He was to be at the grand palace the next day. Roll out that red carpet - Oh and close these buildings to tourists. Doh!

Just like the welsh guard. This guy had no choice but to stand there whilst Ana posed!

The royal palace itself. Closed today - man, we've come all this way!

Parting view of the Palace with it's abundance of temples, stupas and finery - beautiful

After we had finished up at the complex we grabbed a posh coffee from a local Costa equivalent and then headed to a local food stall where I had a bowl of fish broth with fish balls, we could have had about 20 bowls of this stuff for the price of 1 coffee! After this pitstop we were off again through a street market filled with stalls selling tiny intricate images of buddha, there were thousands upon thousands, some rubbish, some really ornate but there seems to be a huge trade in collecting and selling these tiny trinkets.

Just one of tens of stalls on this street selling the tiny Buddha images, people were taking ages to sift through and find one to haggle over. It's like a car boot sale (shudder)

Fueled up we grabbed another shuttle boat across the river to another famous landmark - Wat Arun. It looks pretty cool from a distance and even better up close but its a pretty steep climb and not for the faint hearted, in particular coming down was a challenge for a few of the people who had got up to the top! Too late now!

A smiley Ana en route to 'Wat Arun'

Pretty little garden and quite a spectacular old wat.

There's always one who has to go better with their outfit, top trumps to the girl in the middle for this little number

Erm... Luckily I didn't get spotted doing this as Andy assures me that I would be in trouble, after he took the photo! No disrespect Mr Buddha, I just thought we looked a little similar :)

Up we go, just a few steps..

...and a few more, crikey its getting steep!

A few people struggled to get back down. It's steeper than it looks. This lady appears to be holding on for dear life.

Worth it though, some great views from the top

Wat a view (sorry)

This wat appears to have miracle anti-aging properties. I look about 12 in this photo!

I just told Ana how much I have spent on beer in the last few months...

Cool Bangkok skyline from the river.

Bye Wat Arun

After the visit to Wat Arun we headed back to the river and had a brief look around Wat Pho, we didn't head in to see the reclining Buddha this time - this would be our 4th so we passed on this one and instead headed to the backpacker district to check out Ko San Road. It is a much hyped area for the farang and we did see plenty of evidence of the cool, young crowd. In fairness we did not experience Ko San road but it was not so exciting in the afternoon. Anyway, we had the worlds largest adult playground to get back to!

Wat Pho

Close up of the Elvis bird, check out that hairstyle!

Kao San Road in the daytime

I was now pretty hungry and Ana was desperate to get back to see her old man friend at the Ekkamai food court for those of you who remember that part of the blog, she will not stop talking about him! For those of you who don't remember, I got a better photo this time of Ana's new found best friend, I would not be surprised if she had tried to pack him into her rucksack and bring him with us!

I LOVE THIS MAN, well mainly his food but he's pretty brilliant even though he decided not to elope with me...
(just to be clear - Ana wrote this)

So I suppose this guy will do for now :)
[she wrote this too :) ]

Food court form the Skywalk

That evening we headed out to a local in the Nana district bar for extortionate beer and coke and to sit amongst the ladies of the night and some plumpish westerners for a spot of people watching and a little silent judgement. Ana headed to the loo and within a few seconds I had 2 young ladies sat by me at the table, after some awkward stilted comments they moved away to some more promising clients and were gone by Ana's return - who refused to believe that this had happened at all!

Trying to enjoy every last drop -  How Much?!?!

I think these ladies really love pool. They've been here for ages. They seem very friendly...

Lively bar atmos...

Plebby tourist!

Social observations over, we crashed after a pretty hectic day and about 13K of walking in the heat. This is hard work. I did cave and had to jump on the BTS to get back to AC at the end and Ana wanted to carry on walking! She is a machine.

By this time we had been keeping in touch with friends Dee and Nicole who are now well into their own travelling adventure had come the other way round the world via South America and were currently staying with a relative at a resort in Khao Lak. We decided it would be daft to miss them for a matter of a few hundred miles so revised our original plans and Ana booked us a flight from Bangkok to Phuket. The next day was to be our last so we did some personal admin including some snorkelling shopping out and about in the giant Bangkok air conditioned malls (Khao Lak and the surrounding area is well known as a great diving and snorkelling location).

Anyone else thinking Dennis Taylor the snooker player?

This mask appears to be sucking my eyeballs out. Maybe a little tight.

We stopped off for a coffee at a nice little cafe and settled back into a couple of wingback chairs like the middle aged couple we will be soon enough!

As Ana would say...'Granny Groggins'.

Sufficiently revived and cooled we headed outside and bumped into a large anime / cos-play festival. People were dressed up as all sorts of characters and posing for hundreds of photos.

The Thais love Japanese culture. In Ekkamai they have a whole shopping mall dedicated to all things weird and Japanese.

This guy's gonna be killed. A lot. All afternoon. But he's still smiling.

I didn't say anything. Don't hurt me.

Little Bo Peep has indeed lost her sheep.

They've done this before.

Showing off with another of her fans

You really can just bump into almost anything in Bangkok. It's a very lively and fun place to be! I forgot to mention the 'international marching band festival' we walked passed the other day too as we got off the BTS (Skytrain) - a little video snippet below, I think the guys in black won!

Walked out of the Skytrain station to see this happening on the road below

Caught part of the 'blue teams efforts' it's like a dance off only with drums and stuff.

I think the black team win - what do you reckon?

That evening Ana sprang a little surprise treat. I had mentioned that the Landmark Hotel was a place I had stayed a couple of times when away with work many moons ago. Its quite a posh place and I really enjoyed staying there. So she took us up to the bar on the 36th (I think) floor and I had a cocktail a 'Perfect' Manhattan. I stumped the manager by asking the difference between the 'Classic Manhattan' and the 'Perfect Manhattan' so he called over the bar tender and asked him to explain - (it has both sweet and dry Vermouth basically), Ana had a Mocktail and we watched the sun set over the Bangkok skyline - it was a pretty cool idea and we both really enjoyed to view and drinks and snacks albeit in traveller clothing in a swanky hotel bar.

Some nibbles with your cocktail sir? I don't mind if I do...

Not my most masculine pose. But enjoying a 'Perfect Manhattan'

Great views over Bangkok skyline as the sun set.

It's not blurry, It's a 'soft focus' selfie!

Dinner here would have run to a weeks travelling budget so we didn't get too carried away! I do think though that Ana may have been softening me up as we headed out to her sugar daddy at the food court again for dinner!

Had a fun dinner out again and said goodbye to Bangkok as we were leaving the next morning for our flight to Phuket to meet up with the girls in Khao Lak.