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SE Asia

March - April 2024
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  • TravelerSE Asia
    Day 3

    Bangkok day 1

    March 13 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Slow morning, but once I was up and out the hostel (which is very nice) thought I'd do the most touristy thing first; The Grand Palace. My favourite part of the palace complex was the temple of the emerald Buddha (actually made of Jade). You couldn't take photos inside but there was a small green Buddha a top of a mountain of gold structures and statues surrounded by beautiful decorative murals. The Grand Buddha wears different outfits depending on the season; winter, summer or raining (apparently it's still winter even though it was 33°c today!). The Buddha is washed and changed by the king in a ceremony every season change. Encompassing the temple was the Ramieken gallery made up of 178 handpainted murals (2km long). It depicted prince Ramakien fighting a 10-faced 20-handed giant demon and his monkey army, which was fun to follow along.
    Not a whole ton of veggie food at the food markets, lots of mystery meat on sticks and scary looking seafood, so I stuck to places with English descriptions of the food haha.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    1
    Day 4

    Bangkok day 2

    March 14 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Busy busy day, saw gold Buddha, went on a tuk tuk. Visited Jim Thompson's house - an American dude coined 'The Silk King' as he revived Thailand's silk industry in the 50/60's. His house was traditionally Thai with lots of western influences, very beautiful and cool to look round.
    In his garden he had a Thai spirit house. When new houses are built, people build a small house to rehome the spirits of the land, as to not make them angry. The house cannot fall within the shadow of the main house and offerings of incense and flowers are given. Pretty cool.
    Calypso cabaret show was so fun and camp. They had big musical numbers and lipsyncs to songs by Taylor Swift to Judy Garland. Very fun.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    11
    Day 5

    Bangkok day 3

    March 15 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Day full of delicious food!
    Fun fact I learnt at the museum, one translation for Bangkok is 'the village of wild plums', not that I've seen any plum trees thus far.
    In the afternoon I joined a 3 hour bike tour around the Thon Buri district, originally home of the capital in the 16th century, but now a charming residential area. Cycled past gorgeous rows of banana trees and greenery juxtaposed by huge skyscrapers looming behind. Slightly scary navigating narrow river paths or avoiding motor bikes but lots of stops for temples, facts of the area and drinks. Favourite quote from our tour guide, 'more bikey more breezy'.
    Gorgeous sunset at the golden mount, very tranquil with humming of Buddhist prayers echoing through speakers and bells ringing in the breeze.
    Walked down famous Khao San backpacker road just to see what the fuss is about. Was chaotic and had a slice of everything, probably fun for 18-year old backpackers but I'm too old for that 😅
    Think I'm gonna start heading up north tomorrow, looking at getting the train to Ayutthaya.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    1
    Day 6

    Bangkok ➡️ Ayutthaya

    March 16 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    Chilled out travel day today. Feel exhausted from 3 days of craziness in Bangkok, last two days were full on 12 hours of exploring, so feel ready to move on.
    Got my first massage as I had a bit of time to kill before my train. Wanted to get my feet massaged but had minor sunburn on them, so got my neck and shoulders done. Relaxing at times, but will have to see how the shoulders feel tomorrow haha, a bit sore at the mo.
    Was a 20 min taxi to the big train station, then only a 1 hour ride to Ayutthaya. Had the fluffiest cake I've ever eaten from 7/11 when I got here, like how does a supermarket make cake that good! Hostel man is so nice and super helpful, he's wattsapped three Google maps routes of the city with stops already added, and has got bikes downstairs we can rent. Lots of exploring to be done tomorrow, the ancient area of the city is a UNESCO world heritage site so lots of plenty of temples to wander and history to take in.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    11
    Day 7

    Ayutthaya

    March 17 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    Today was hot hot hot...
    ....so perfect day for a bike ride!
    Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand in the 15/16th century, and one of the most populated cities in the world at the time. The Burmese army invaded the city, destroying all the temples and palaces leaving only ruins which were never rebuilt.
    I cycled round to 6 or so ruins/ temples that our hostel man recommended and they were so beautiful. Most of the Buddha statues there are headless and armless, some say the Burmese decapitated them, others say they were stolen by looters. When I saw all the headless statues lined up, it was quite eerie, there must've been hundreds dotted across all the sites. At some of the ruins, I even used the free umbrellas to shelter from the sun coz it was just so damn hot.
    I saw my first elephant today, followed by lots of other elephants, but they were sadly being ridden by tourists :(
    In the afternoon I went on a boat tour which took us along the river, and stopped off at two temples and one more ruin. The scenery from the boat was very quaint, with all the locals houses by the river built on stilts.
    Off to Sukhothai tomorrow, have had a peak at the weather and think it's even hotter there so pray for me.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    1
    Day 8

    Ayutthaya ➡️ Sukhothai

    March 18 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    Another travel day, not up to a whole lot. I could be doing some of these trips overnight to save money on a nights accommodation and on time, but I'm in no rush and would prefer sleeping in a bed aha, I'm no fun when tired.
    Got breakfast at this cute vegetarian buffet down the road from my hostel. I tried asking the lady what she liked the best, but language barrier just meant I ended up pointing at some things and hoping for the best.
    Booked my bus through the hostel, with taxi there and a meal included. Bus was very nice, got two seats to myself and even had to use my jumper as a wee blanket coz the air con was blasting (not complaining). Took about 6 hours and my new hostel was only around the corner from the bus station! The hostel has questionable room decoration but can't complain for £4 a night, as a bonus think I may be the only one in this room tonight!
    Walked towards town to have a look at the night market, but it was pretty small with not much in the way of veggie food so went to a lil restaurant.
    Meant to be very hot again tomorrow so I'm going to attempt to get up some what early to avoid the worse of it, more ruins to explore.    Read more

  • TravelerSE Asia
    1
    12
    Day 9

    Sukhothai

    March 19 in Thailand ⋅ 🌩️ 36 °C

    Another history based city today, which is Sukhothai! It was the original capital of Thailand, in the 13/14th century, and where the most famous Thai King, King Ramkhamhaeng, ruled and introduced Buddhism and the Thai alphabet, both heavy influences from India. It was taken over by the neighbouring Ayutthaya Kingdom, which left most of its ancient architecture in ruins.
    The remains of the royal palace and 26 temples is now encapsulated in Sukhothai history park! The park spans 70km² and is divided into 5 zones. I hired a bike and cycled round two of the zones. The park is kept immaculately, and was so peaceful, with so many less tourists than Ayutthaya.
    It was unbelievably hot again but I managed to see most of the good spots before lunch, and there was a lovely breeze going through the park which made sightseeing much more enjoyable!
    I escaped to a cafe for lunch and read my book for a couple of hours, before finding more shade and AIRCON at the main museum. I learnt some interesting facts and saw some cool artefacts, but the aircon was the main seller for me.
    I wanted to watch the sunset at one of the temples, but the sun had disappeared behind a wall of cloud and smog by 5.30 so I headed back to the hostel. I was craving something greasy so committed sacrilege and order a pizza. I think it was the worse pizza I've had. Serves me right for ordering western food in Thailand. Cheese and spinach was the only veggie option, but I think it was 30% cheese and then 70% mayo for some reason. Quite grim, only managed half before I gave up and bought a big bag of crisps from the hostel instead.
    It's thunderstormed all evening and seems the heavens have opened up, so am writing this with the sound of rain hammering down on the roof.
    Another travel day tomorrow, off the Chiang Mai, which I've heard great things about from friends who have been before, so I'm very excited!    Read more

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