Thailand - Bangkok & Kanchanaburi
29th October
Needing a few bits and bobs, lucy and I headed over to the MBK center to do some shopping. We'd been told that this was the place to get anything and everything. My list was:
New 'selfie stick' for my GoPro. Preferably one that floats.
Thai SIM card
Conditioner
Tank tops
Lunch
This shopping centre was something else. Walking in it kind of looks like any old mall, but as soon as you go up one floor and turn either left or right, you're swallowed into a market. Hundreds and hundreds of stalls on each level, sorted into sections: clothes, electronics, beauty and I'm sure there were more we didn't see them. In total we were in the MBK for 3 hours. This was mainly because we got very very VERY lost, and couldn't find a escalator going down for about 45minutes. If you go, pick up a map, I promise you'll need it.
Chilling out at the hostel for the rest of the day, we headed to the food markets outside the MBK for dinner. Yum!
30th October
Lucy headed north today, and I'm not off for another couple of days. She's volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. I needed a cheap day today, after yesterday, so I stayed in the hostel in the morning to look at my next couple of stops and how to get there. In the afternoon I wandered to little India with Sofie and Precious, which was essentially a whole area of the city that exclusively sold rolls and rolls of fabric. A level me would've been so excited! Bored of that we wander through some very busy and very tight markets to make our way to china town.
In the evening, Precious and a guy we met called Caspar went to a rooftop bar called Cloud 47. The views of the city were incredible, and the drinks we're too badly priced either!
When Caspar and I got back, after we found a spot to eat, we bumped into an Irish couple on the landing, who were, you guessed it, drinking! More than happy to share, we drank and we chatted until it was 2am.
31st October
This time, I really did have a cheap day! I got some street food for lunch and went back to the hostel to read my book, all day. I left in the evening to grab some food at a cafe in Siam square, which was 'aroy' which means delicious in Thai. Although I did order spicy chicken noodles and they weren't spicy at all - I think they must have though I couldn't handle it!
Siam square itself was buzzing with life, people everywhere, shopping, eating, drinking. It's right on the sky train and consists of multiple malls side by side (creatively named Siam 1, Siam 2 etc) There's even a Hard Rock Cafe.
1st November
Bags already packed last night, I head out to 7 Eleven to get some snacks for my bus journey to Kanchanaburi. I also head to McDonalds in hopes that they do a breakfast menu and they do! Jackpot! Sausage and cheese muffin for me (with the hash brown shoved inside and drowned in ketchup!)
The taxi to the bus station, which is on the other side of the city, was interesting. The driver didn't speak much English, but still kept talking to me in Thai, in hopes I could understand. I couldn't. So he put some music on. Kylie Minogue, Cascada and ABBA graced my ears as we were stuck in traffic.
The bus was a little over two hours and my guesthouse was around the corner from the bus station so it was ideal. I've ended up in a dorm room on my own, which is interesting. I hire a bike for 50baht from the owners and cycle to where I think there may be food. I find the 'tourist strip' which has a few bars, mostly empty. So when I see one with people in, I slam on my breaks and get off. Immediately I'm met with cries of 'hello darlin' and 'you shouldn't have got of there love' confused and hungry I lock the bike and venture inside.
Turns out most of them are ozzies, coming to watch some sort of racing, but the signal went out so they're drinking instead. Not one of them is younger than 40 and they're nicking beers like they're going out of fashion. When someone rings the bell in this bar, that person buys everyone in the bar a round of drinks. This meant I had 3 beers and a tequila shot for free whilst eating my all day breakfast. Result. (Although I'm still not sure I wanted that tequila).
One of the British guys, Jamie said he'd show me the bridge so we headed down there. We hopped on a boat to go up and down the river, colourful floating buildings a contrast to the grubby brown water. On the way back, the sun starts to set, which made incredible pictures, but it also meant if i didn't hurry up, I'd be cycling home in a town I didn't know, in the dark!
I got back just as it had finished setting and chilled out in the common area with some French couples.