Bangkok, Siem Reap and Chiang Mai

So lots has happened over the last week! Second day in Bangkok I went to see some of the temples. I got the ferry along the river to the old part of Bangkok which was fun and you got to see all the fancy hotels along the river! Went to Wat Pho 1st which has the reclining Buddha which was huge and covered in gold! Had a wander around the grounds which were amazing and then had a thai massage from the massage school there....an interesting experience!! They literally pull you in all different directions but I did feel better afterwards, if not very relaxed! I then went to the Grand Palace which was amazing! So much gold everywhere!! That night I had dinner on the roof top of the hostel with a few people staying there, gave a really good view of the city and I was almost cool in the breeze!! The next day, as recommended by a German girl staying at the hostel I went to the Chatuchak weekend market which was absolutely huge! They sold anything and everything, from pet dogs to fake handbags, to expensive art and furniture. Was very restraint and only bought a few things including some fake Dior perfume for 40p!! It was so unbelievably hot so I went and sat in a really nice park to have some lunch and cool down a bit!! After lunch I got my 1st tuk tuk....so scary! They drive so fast amongst the Bangkok traffic but was cool to see a bit more of the city from that level! Walked round Koh San Road for a bit in the afternoon and then back to the hostel to get ready for the bus the next day!

Got the bus from Bangkok to the Cambodia the next day. Had heard so many stories about scams for fake or very overpriced visas so was being very cautious, so much so I actually walked past the official Visa office and had to go back!! Got to Siem Reap at about 7 that night and checked into my hostel. Met a Canadian girl who was going to see the sunrise the next day over the temples so joined up with her and a girl from Brazil and shared a tuk tuk for the day. Got up at 4.30 that morning (nice and early!) and got the tuk tuk in pitch black to Angkor Wat. It was really eerie as all you could see were the little lights of hundreds of tuk tuks driving along the road in front. Was absolutely amazing to see the sun come up over the temple and I'm so glad we did brave the early morning to do it. Walked around the temple while it was still quiet and got some amazing photos! Saw lots of different temples throughout the day which were all really different in their own ways. My favourite was probably Ta Prohm which was the setting for Tomb raider. The trees had sort of grown into the temple and were really cool! By that point there were lots of tourists around and we kept being caught up in the Japanese tour groups!! By about 2pm it was so hot and we'd been there about 10 hours so called it a day! Absolutely fantastic day and I would recommend it to anyone.

The next day I hung out in Siem Reap. Our hostel had a pool (amazing but freezing!) so chilled there for a bit and then wandered around the market and went and got some dinner and drinks with Ilena (the Canadian) and one of her friends.

The following day I flew up to Chiang Mai for a few days. Staying at a really fun hostel here called Deejah Backpackers (would highly recommend it!). It has a tikki bar in the garden and have met so many people while I've stayed here. The 2nd day I was here I went on a one day trek into the mountains which was really fun! Did a one hour trek to a waterfall and then went swimming which was really refreshing after the hot walk!! Then went white water rafting which was really fun. It's a bit tame at this time of year apparently because the river is quite low at the moment but it was scary enough for me! Our guide was hilarious and loved his job so much. He had some excellent phrases including 'how are you tomorrow' and 'where you from? I'm from my mother'.

The next day I went with a group of Canadians to an Elephant training camp which was such a fantastic experience (thanks for the recommendation pace!). We learned the commands the Mahouts use to control the elephants and got to ride them bare back through the jungle (bit uncomfortable but really fun!) Then got to ride them into a waterfall and bathe and wash them. Such a fantastic thing to do (shame they kept pooing in the water though!) and can't wait to see the photos (they put them on a disk for us). There were two baby elephants as well which were soo cute. Last night we went to a few bars which was really fun and then today I'm just going to walk around the city for a bit before flying to Phuket tonight to go to the islands! So excited for some beaches.

Having an amazing time and have met lots of lovely people! Still v. pale and not used to the heat but hoping that some time on the beaches will cure that! Hope all is well at home at missing you all! Must try and update the blog more often!!

Love Ro

x x x x x x x x

Bangkok!!

Never fear, I am alive! Arrived in Bangkok last night after over 24hrs of travelling and not a lot of sleep! After picking a taxi driver who was very sweet but evidently had no idea where my hostel was I eventually made it to the very bargainous HI Sukhumvit with its huge bathrooms, free breakfast and dorms with air con! Air con definitely needed as its about 5000 degrees outside!

Didn't sleep very well even though I was shattered so got up quite late and braved Bangkok city! To ease into the sticky weather I took the skytrain to Siam square and wandered and window shopped in the 3 amazing aircon'd malls that are decorated in the same lavish style I can only compare with a Vegas hotel! Next I braved the food court (as recommended by the lonely planet) which was about the size of a small supermarket and got a delicious lunch for less than £2...lovely!

I then decided I should really be a bit cultured and walked around the area before making my way to Jim Thompson's house. He was an American Architect who fell in love with Thailand after WW1 and built a traditional thai house with a beautiful garden and filled it with thai artefacts. He then got lost in the Cameron Highlands (they never found the body!) so the Thai Government decided to preserve his house for the tourists! It was very pretty and much more tranquil than the traffic logged streets round the corner.

I then went back to the hostel and booked some of my internal flights for the next few weeks. Had some delicious Pad Thai from a little street vendor...so far everything I've had the eat has been delicious, even the plane food!

The one thing I can't get over is how calm and collected the thai people are. They look so pristine even in this heat as they totter around in their heels, whereas I on the other hand have huge hair a red face and am seriously melting!! I'm hoping that in a few days I'll have got used to the heat and will look just as pristine...will let you know!

Hope all is well with everyone! Speak soon!

Love
Ro

x x x x x x

p.s. blogger has decided to put everything in thai even though I've asked google to translate it so if this comes out a bit all over the place that could be why!!

Helloooo

     Hello there, my name is Ro and from next wednesday I will be embarking on a round the world trip for 3 months! I will be using this blog to post photos and update everyone on my progress, please follow me so you can see what I get up to on my journey across the earth,


Ro xxx