Welcome to my travellog. Here you can read about my journeys day by day.
Sep 03, 2009 06:00 PM Last fittings
In the morning I first went to the Snake Farm. It's easily accessible by Skytrain. The farm's main aim is to produce antivenin from different species of poisonous snake. Milking is on show at 11 a.m. Unfortunately I couldn't see it - I had an appointment with a tailor scheduled at that time. This was to be the final fitting but it turned out some further corrections had to be made and finally I picked up my suit and shirts in the afternoon. Before I visited the Snake Farm again to attend a snake show in which various species of poisonous (including the most poisonous king cobra) and non-poisonous snakes were presented. In the evening I left for the airport. It's easy to get there by public transport. There are several buses departing from different points in the city. The fare is 30 something baht and the trip to the public transport hub takes 60-90 minutes depending on traffic. From the hub I took a free shuttle bus to the airport (10 minutes). From there I was picked up to an airport hotel called Convenient Resort. It's located 10 mins ride from the airport. Return pickup was included in my booking made via agoda.com. The night there cost 15 euros only (breakfast excl.). The room was spacious and clean. A very nice option if you have a morning flight.
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Sep 02, 2009 06:00 PM Ayuthaya - once royal, still magic
Ayuthaya is not far from the capital - you can go there either by train or by bus. Train journey took us two hours and cost only 15 baht (3rd class ordinary train).
Although not in the best shape and looted from gold and other precious staff, Ayuthaya's temples still look magnificent. We first visited Wat Phra Si Sanphet. It's quite well preserved. To get there we took a tuk-tuk for 50 baht. It's quite far from the train station. Admission to each temple is 50 baht, you can also buy a combined ticket for all 6 temples and pay 220 baht then.
Having visited the compounds of this most popular temple we had a walk in Ayuthaya historical park and also visited Wat Phra Mahathat temple. From there it's only a short walk to the bus station. An air-conditioned bus to Bangkok Northern Bus Terminal takes almost 2 hrs and costs 50 baht. From there is a pleasant 20 minute walk to skytrain Mochit station from where we got to central Bangkok.
In the evening we visited the tailor for a fitting. The suits and shirts should be ready by tomorrow noon. I ordered another 4 shirts.
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Sep 01, 2009 06:00 PM Back to Bangkok
Yesterday we bought a combined transfer ticket to Surat Thani airport (it was 500 baht). We left our hotel at 8 a.m. to catch the 10 a.m. boat to Don Sak (boats leave every hour on the hour during daytime). We had a short lunch stopover in Surat Thani and then we left for airport. It's only 1-hour flight to BKK. We arrived there at 5 p.m. Now we're staying in Pratunam area in Pranee Building. A basic but clean and air-con room with hot-water shower is only 450 baht there.
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Aug 31, 2009 06:00 PM A deserved lazy day
For the first time during this trip I did nothing. I spent the whole day on the beach sunbathing and reading one of Ryszard Kapuscinski (Polish journalist and traveller) books. The weather wasn't very good it even rained a bit, but it was a pleasant day.
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Aug 30, 2009 06:00 PM Ang Thong National Marine Park
Today we visited this beautiful national park made up of ca. 40 islands. There's an excellent view point from which you can see almost the whole park. It's a strenuous climb 240 m above sea level, the last 10 minutes of which is climbing sheer rock but it's definitely worth the effort. This we did in the afternoon.
In the morning we visited emerald lagoon - a lake inside one of the islands. The view was again breathtaking. To the park we get by a slow boat. All the tour was organized by a travel operator and we bought a ticket from a very reliable (and most probably the cheapest travel agent on Chaweng Beach) - Save Way Travel. The owner name is Sakda.
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Aug 29, 2009 06:00 PM Finally on Koh Samui
We reached Koh Samui island by flying first to Surat Thani with Air Asia (very cheap flights and good service) and then taking a bus and boat to Koh Samui (you can buy a combined bus+boat ticket at the airport for 350 baht). Express bus from Kao San to BKK airport costs 150 baht.
We arrived at Chaweng beach before 7 p.m. Accommodation here is relatively expensive. For a nice twin room (A/C, hot water, cable TV) we pay 800 baht. The name of the place is Relax Resort. The beach is very close and the staff friendly. We also booked a trip to Ang Thong National Marine Park for tomorrow. The cheapest option was 1000 baht (including entrance fee, hotel pickup and catering on the boat, without kayaking).
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Aug 28, 2009 06:00 PM The Royal Palace
We started our sightseeing in Bangkok from the Royal Palace. You can also see many temples in it's premises, the most important one is the temple of Emerald Buddha. Admission fee has been increased since 2007 edition of LP guidebook and is now a hefty 350 baht. We also visited Wat Pho, a temple housing the largest reclining Buddha statue in the whole Thailand. Admission is 50 baht.
In the afternoon we visited a tailor to have suit. I also ordered extra pants and four shirts. Tailors can be very cheap in Bangkok but it also means lower quality, so it's better to go to a place recommended by a friend or a long-established workshop.
We also attended an evening performance of classical Thai Ramayana show that was held in the Royal Theatre. I can recommend it to anyone who wants to see how Thai dance looks like. With Royal Palace ticket you can get a discount for this performance ticket and buy it for 200 baht only.
And one more tip when in BKK: most ATMs charge 150 baht for cash withdrawals. Ayutthaya Bank doesn't charge this fee - look for yellow machines.
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Aug 27, 2009 06:00 PM On the go for the whole day
We left Siem Reap in the morning by an old rattler bus to reach the border at Poipet after ca. 5 hours, although it's only 155 kms and the road is in excellent condition. We were stopping twice and the bus could go at maximum 60 km/h. After crossing the border we changed the bus for a big one (with A/C). We arrived in BKK at 7 p.m. We found a decent and clean, though smallish, room at Four Sons Place near Kao San Rd for 600 baht (twin, A/C, hot shower).
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Aug 26, 2009 06:00 PM Aerial view of Angkor Wat
Today we visited the rest of the important temples. The most impressive one was this time Ta Prohm aka Tomb Raider temple. There are many trees whose roots encompass the walls of the temple. We wanted to fly a helium baloon in the morning to catch the aerial view of Angkor Wat, but the balloon wasn't operating at that time due to poor weather conditions. Our driver then called the balloon company again in early afternoon and it turned out they operated at that time. The ride was very short - just 8 minutes in the air (US $15 per person) but the view was nice.
In the evening we did some shopping in the market in Siem Reap. Among others I bought 5 silk ties! They're very cheap here, but you have to haggle hard.
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Aug 25, 2009 06:00 PM Sunrise over Angkor Wat
We had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to see the spectacular sunrise over this magnificent temple. It was worth! Pictures after my return in the beginning of September. Later we visited the temple itself. We also visited other temples today including the far-away wats like Banteay Srei an Banteai Samre. On the way between these two temples we visited a very interesting museum of land-mines. It's worth a visit to learn more about the danger of land-mines in today's world.
One of the most striking temples was Ta Som with tree roots encompassing one of the entrances. Tomorrow we will continue visiting temples with Vantha. He proved to be not only a driver but also a guide who can give us some information about the history of the temples. Hiring him was a good choice.
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