Sukothai - Ko Samet

Before taking the night bus to Bangkok I still had some time to kill. So after saying goodbye to Malina who was going to Chang Mai, I went back in the city and ended up in the Poo Bar. Belgian beer on the menu and posters of Tintin/Kuifje on the wall, yes, this was a Belgian bar! As it was pretty crowded some Canadians joined me at the table so I had a nice chat. Also talked to the owner of course, nice to be able to speak Dutch again after a week non-stop English...
The trip to Ban Phe was without any doubt the strangest on this holiday. They told me I had to wait for the bus at the Chang Mai sign, not the Bangkok one. Normally the bus would arrive at 5.30 so when it stopped at 4 a.m, I thought it was just antoher pit stop but no, we were already in Bangkok. My guide said that I had to go to another busstation but it seemed there were busses leaving for Ban Phe there as well. Only problem, finding them! As Thai is a tonal language, nobody understood where I had to go or they dropped me at a counter only to find out that they didn't understand me even though I had a map with me. Finally a guy wrote the place I had to go to in Thai and then I found my buss imediatly. At 5 I was on the road again to Rayong where I still had to take a shangsaw to the pier of Ban Phe but that was easy. Took the boat and then decided to try and find the beach I was planning to stay on food, at least 2kms but it was still cloudy so that was ok. First hotel wasn't all that nice, lots of waste on my way to my bungalow but in the end I found a good place to stay. So as I had a short night I took a siesta first and then went to discover the main village where all the restaurants are. Walked around a bit, went back to the hotel for a swim and some beach walking and in the evening I had my first Thai massage I really enjoyed.
Next day was my last full day in Thailand so I decided to relax, meaning eat, swim, read. I know that Matt would arrive that day so asked several times in the hotel but always got a no. I finally found him by going back to the village and do a tour of the restaurants. So I spend my last evening drinking beer on the beach, fantastic!

I've been stupid...

Don't ask me how as it was too stupid, but I managed to delete all my pics from my camera....
But I'm trying to make the best of it and will buy postcards instead. And Malina (Poland) and Matt (Australia) might want to share some of their pics...
Cycled to the Nothern zone this morning and looked around a bit there. Even though it's smaller then the Central Zone, I liked it better, maybe also 'cause there were lest tourist. I really loved the huge Buddha (11 meter wide, 15 m high) at the Wat Phra Phai Luang. First wasn't planning on going inside but I'm glad I did. As you might imagine, it's vey impressive. Also met up there with our guest house holder Naa, who was there with another group....
Taking the night bus to Bamgkok and then on to Ko Samet, a few hours from Bagkok to spent my last days on the beach. Don't want to think about coming back, it's going to be so cold...

Sukhothai

I'm at the moment in an internet/gaming cafe and the noise is just overwelming. But still had some credit left. We were here as well yesterday evening and it was much quiter...

Today we visited the central area of Old Sukhothai and visited the temples there. I have to admit I was a bit disapointed as I had expected it to be a bit more like Bagan, a vast plane of tempeles and here it were only a few. As we have the bike for two days, we cycled back to New Sukhotai. An aprox 15 km ride next to a small chanel and through some villages, very nice...
But again very hot today so no plans of going back for sunset...

Tomorrow we're going to visit the North part and my last few days I'm going to the beach...

On the road again....

Today was another traveling day, from Ayutthaya to Sukothai, another old capital. We took the train around 8.30 together with the guys who got off a bit earlier, at Loburi to go and look at the monkeys. So we said our goodbyes and exchanged e-mails....
It was a long train ride and hot again. Took the train to Pintsanulok and then still the bus for one hour. Bus was overcrowded, we had to stand part of the time in what was more a tourist bus then a regular bus so with no real place to stand.
We have a great guest house. It's pretty small, only 3 rooms but the lady is very friendly. She's a tour guide and will give us a few more tips for tomorrow.
We pamperd ourselves today and went to a restaurant instead of eating on the streets or go to the night market. But the food is so cheap there, never spent more than 30 bath on a meal...
Also something I didn't expect was that I would be on the back of a motorbike with my big backpack on my back. But they have only motor taxis in Shankla so there was no other way as I'm not that crazy to walk up a hill for something like 2 kms with a back pack. We took those motorbikes every time we went to eat, a few times even with two on the back....

Ayutthaya

It's extreemly hot down here so a short entry...
I had another relaxig day in Shankla. We rented a boat to go on the lake for 1 1/2 hour and it was very beautiful and relaxing. As it was hot there as well I didn't make it to the village but stayed in the hotel for another swim.
I met a American, Australian and a Polish girl in Shankla. As we all were going to Ayutthaya we traveled together. And it was a long way, 8 1/2 hour and 3 busses. We arrived late afternoon here and had trouble finding a place but we have a nice one a bit more out of town but cheaper, 350 bath for an air con room. You need it, it was 35 degrees C in the shadow today...
Even though I've been here before, I decided to stay the whole day. Rented a bike and did a cycling tour around the temples as I hadn't seen them all yet. I was nice but we took a long break inbetween as it was much too hot...
Tomorow we're on our way to Sukhotai, we meaning the Polish girl and me as the guys will get from the train at an earlier stop...
That's all for now as I'm at a fan and airco free zone so I'm melting...

Shaghkhlaburi

Aka point of no return as you have to go the same way back as you came....
The village is at a lake and it's incredible beautiful here, feel like paradise. So what do you do here? Relax...
I ended up in the worst hotel so far where they were very unfriendly and hardly knew any English. So I changed to another hotel, 250 bath with shared showers but the great thing is that you can go for a swim in the lake. I've done that twice yesterday. When it cooled down a bit me and the Polish girl I've met went to the nearby MOM village using the aprox 1 km long wooden bridge. It was nice walking around there...
Today we're going to rent a boat for 1 1/2 hour to explore the lake. And if it gets as hot again as yesterday, do nothing all afternoon....

Kanchanaburi - Erawan national park - Hellfire pass - riding the death railway

Just had a confusing dinner. My waiter was called Jenny (yes, I do know the female for waiter) and the tea I ordered came with a cup and something that looked like a tea pot, turned out to be sugar...
Had a busy day. Booked myself a package tour with as first stop Erawan national park where the main attraction is the 7 stage waterfall you can climb and swim in between. As the people who would go to the hell fire pass had to leave earlier than those who went to the elehant camp, we were told that if we would want to climb the whole way we wouldn't be able to go for a swim. I first climbed to the top, 2 kms, first 4 stages easy, then it was a lot harder. I swam at stage 7 and then had still an hour to get back. So I also stoped at stage 4 for another swim as you can slide down a small part of the waterfall, which was fun. The fish nibbeling my feet weren't...
Was down in time for the included lunch and to take the bus to the hell fire pass where there are some remains of the death railway. It's cut between solid rocks and thanks it's name to the fact that they worked their by fire lights and the shadows of the people working there resembeled hell... This part of the trip was done in a hury so a bit disapointing. You can folow 4 kms of old tracks but we did only something like 700 m....
Next stop where we would the others was near the Wang Po viaduct where we would take the train. As we still had 45 min, we were able to walk on the tracks ourselves, rather impressive...
Trainride itself was only for half an hour or so, not that long but funny...
Last stop was at the bridge over the river Kwai where it was obvious it's Saturday today, it was over crowded. I walked over it and took some pics while the sun was setting...
And for those who haven't seen the movie "the bridge over the river Kwai' yet just go out and rent it as it gives a good picture of how the prisonors of war were treated...