Steph: Wow! Having never visited Thailand before, I’ve been wondering for a long time now what all the fuss is about with so many people coming here. After only five days in the capital I have come to love the people’s friendliness and the consequent ease of traveling and holidaying here! People are so incredibly welcoming and accommodating and it’s easy to see why so many people fall in love with this country.
Chris and I did a lot of research into our trip, including looking into what kind of visa is needed for each country. For some reason, we hadn’t looked back at this information for Thailand since before leaving Manchester in August. Arriving in Bangkok at 9am on a plane full of Indians, we followed the crowds to the ‘Visa on entry’ booth, queuing for a good while for the forms, the passport photos, Thai money and finally for the visa before being reminded after over one hour that, unlike the Indians, we didn’t need a visa! This whole experience after only 20 minutes sleep all night was made tolerable only by the AMAZING friendliness and smiles of the Thai people at the airport! Wow! Such a calming effect it had on our otherwise grumpy and sleep-deprived minds!
We don’t feel approached here or that people are desperate for our money. In addition, prices for things are written clearly which makes Westerners like us feel far more comfortable. People don’t get their calculators out as they do in even the fanciest of hotels in India so they can make up an inflated price on the spot after judging how much of a pushover you are.
Chris and I spent our four days here lazily visiting a few temples and wandering around the city soaking it all in. Shopping is incredible here and I would advise anyone to arrive with an empty suitcase to fill with anything from Paul Smith Bags to tailor made suits to casual holiday clothes! It’s so frustrating that we can’t carry these things around the world for a year! We’ve had to tone down the shopping for now.
We took a boat out to visit the floating markets as well as visiting the crazy, hectic ChataChouk market.
Chris took me for a fancy cocktail where we had a great view of the city. That was a real treat.
One of my favourite experiences was a walk around Lampini Park just before sunset. Like with the parks we saw in China, this one was heavily used. This is a fine example of a park which is used by a huge number of people, not least by the groups who gather to join in the daily aerobics class! See the video…
In Bangkok, we did take a trip to the hospital. No, not to check out the ‘health tourism’ that occurs in this country, but to get my severe Delhi Belly fixed. Both of us have gone through India pretty much unharmed by the famous hinderance to travellers until the last few weeks when I suffered a little bit. We thought it best to get it checked out in Bangkok seeing as the bug had been lingering for a few weeks now, with stomach cramps coming and going in ten minute waves sometimes. Chris and I were so impressed by the efficiency with which I was seen to, the cleanliness of the hospital and the examination by the doctor. I was diagnosed with gastro-enteritis and prescribed a course of anti-biotics along with other stomachy-type drugs. The whole experience was very pleasant and I must say, if ever you visit Thailand, don’t feel any hesitation about visiting a doctor or hospital if you need it.
This is the first time we’re not so sad to leave a country as we know we’ll be coming back in just under one month. For now, we’re off on an adventure around Vietnam (from North to South), through to Cambodia and finally Lao. Bring it on!
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