Sawadee Krap!
I'm back now! In fact I reached KL yesterday evening. Sorry for not sending any messages back from Bangkok as promised. Please forgive me, there are too many places for me to discover and yet time is really short! I have no time for e-mail.
I have not yet unpacked all my things and all the information gathered during the trip is still in the mess. Overall, the trip was very rush and tired, but very interesting! Weather in Bangkok was really hot, hotter than in KL. At night was like in the oven! Luckily, our room had air-cond!
For those who expecting for some souvenir from me, I really have to say very very very sorry! I have really on tight budget and time for shopping was rather short! Some have passed me the shopping list; I'm really regretted that I have disappointed you again!
On 10 Feb night, we took Transnational Express Bus from Hentian Jalan Duta. Our bus supposed to leave at 12 might-night, however, it became first come first serve basis, my friend and I were then put on an earlier bus leaving at 11:30pm. Seat numbers were not followed. Guess what! We reached Butterworth at about 3:30am! We have no choice to take a nap at the temporary bus station near the train station at Butterworth. Time passed very slowly, it was really a nightmare spending few hours there to wait till sun rose. We left our bags at the "Gudang" near train station before crossing over to Penang Island via ferry at about 8am.
The train left Butterworth punctually at 1420hrs. It was Thai Coaches. The journey to Bangkok was not boring as we have friends sitting beside us who have been travelling to Bangkok many many times! We have gathered quite some useful information! The 22 hours of train journey was not really bad as imagined. In fact, I really enjoy myself on the train! Everything were new to me, I was so excited! From Hat Yai onwards, the coaches joined with the rest of coaches; from three coaches now became more than 13 coaches! There was a canteen in the middle of the train. On and off, whenever the train stopped at smaller towns, there were food/fruit/drink sellers coming up and down the train. Things were reasonable priced and cheaper than those sell at canteen.
At night our seats turned to beds. We slept all night long till morning. By 12 Feb noon, we reached Haulamphong Train Station, a very busy station. We were really lucky that we managed to buy the train tickets to Hat Yai on our return journey; the train to Butterworth was fully sold out!
We then proceeded to Siam Square area to look for accommodation. We approached White Lodge, a guesthouse recommended by my colleagues. They were only having one room left! We immediately took the room and unpacked our luggage. Guess what! Eventually I could take my bath after about 40 hours (travelling from KL to Bangkok)!
We then visited the nearest place of interest, which is located on the next Soi (Lorong) - Jim Thompson's House. It was a good one, traditional Thai house with free tour guide to explain everything about the owner and the house.
We also visit Mahboonkrung Shopping Mall, which is about 3 times bigger than our Sungai Wang in Kuala Lumpur. This shopping centre is just only 5 minutes walking distance from our guesthouse. We then walked to World Trade Centre and ended at Pratunam Market. Then, walked back to Mahboonkrung for our dinner. The journey is about 3km.
We managed to see those locals on how they take the buses, canal boats, taking their meals at the roadside stalls, etc. There were many people walking on the street. Of course, the traffic was really really terrible!
There is a lot of variety of food at the 5th floor of Mahboonkrung. We had Tom Yam Kung for dinner with fried rice.
It's time for bed. I should continue the story maybe tomorrow.
Yoke Ming
17 Feb 2002
[View Bangkok Photos]
Sawadee Krap!
The story continue...
I had experienced diarrhea problem during my mountain trekking and hailstone disaster at the national park during my trip to Nepal last year. Guess what happened to me during this trip?
On 13 Feb early morning, we rushed to Southern Bus Terminal to catch the bus to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We did have problem talking to the driver who is an old man. Luckily, he eventually understood where we are going. At the terminal, we were standing in the middle of all the counters selling tickets to different destination and majority of them written in Thai. We were really lost as which counter to approach. A lady staff came to approach us and leaded us to the correct counter. The bus left punctually at 6:40am. The journey would take about 2 hours. On the bus, beside the local people and us, there were 4 Taiwanese and 2 American. After dropping local people at the small town, the bus
continues took us to a boat operator, which was not the usual stop that we found out later. Two gentlemen came to approach us and offer boat trip of one hour to all those floating markets there, 150B per person. We were dropped at the middle of nowhere. After long argument, we finally decided to take the boat trip but at the half price quoted. We shared the boat with the 2 American, and the 4 Taiwanese took the other boat. Luckily, the boat trip to those floating market was really fun. People selling foods, fruits, drinks, handicrafts, clothes, necessities, etc. by small boats. However, due to peak season, there were far too many tourists around.
We were dropped at the place where we picked up for the boat trip. We had to walk all the way back to the small town to take the bus back to Bangkok City. Everything was really smooth, the bus left the small town 15 minutes after we boarded. After about 2 hours, we were back to Southern Bus Terminal. We took our lunch at the nearby shop lot. Then, we boarded a taxi to Rose Garden Cultural Village. The journey took about 45 minutes. We really enjoyed the Cultural Show that took about 1 1/2 hour. The place was crowded with tourists. On our way back, we could not catch those taxi passing by. This place is really quite far from town. Only those taxis parted at the entrance waiting for tourists. True enough they charged high price for the transfer back to Bangkok City. However, we insisted to use the meter. The driver tried to offer us some other places of interest nearby. We refused. We said we have friends waiting for us to meet at our guesthouse, then only he stopped offering.
On the way back at the Expressway, suddenly a small lorry drove crazily and tried to create an accident. Our taxi driver tried to avoid the lorry but the lorry driver still following us very closely. We did ask as whether our taxi driver knew the other driver on the lorry. I just hope they were playing around. However, the situation was really scary and dangerous. The lorry driver was chasing us and our taxi driver was trying to avoid. Both drivers were driving very fast on the highway in the middle of nowhere! I was really scared and prayed inside my heart. I knew there was incident where these people tried to create an accident and robbed the tourist in the middle of nowhere! I just hope this won't happen to us. Thank God, I was in the City of Angels, those angels were really protecting us. Our taxi driver made a sudden turn to left into another lane which leaving from the highway. Luckily, the lorry driver missed the turn and unable to follow us anymore. We then using the normal road back to the city.
It was really like a nightmare! We were speechless all the way back to city.
Due to heavy traffic jam, our taxi driver suggested us to cross the bride over the river of Chao Phraya and take the skytrain at the station end of the bridge. Walking on the bridge over the river was really a wonderful experience. It was so high that I can see the river from the top and the buildings on both side of the river. But, I could not stand longer because I afraid of height. The skytrain was really new; it was only 2 years old.
At night, we went to Patpong area. It was like our Petaling Street. Crowded with people. The only different is that there is many pubs on the both side of the street offer shows for adults. I could see from outside the door that beautiful ladies wearing bikini standing / dancing on the bar table. I'm sure that there are more shows upstairs or at the back. The waiters and waitresses were standing outside the door to look for customers. I did not get in any of these pubs. I was really tired after the day trip and the scary incident happened in the afternoon. I don't want to have any more trouble.
On 14 Feb, we visited the National Museum in the morning. There were free tour guides to tour around the museum and explain everything about Thailand history, architectural, religions, etc. It was a wonderful 2 hours guided tour. Then, we rushed to Wat Mahathat. There was nothing to see there. Suddenly, a man came and leaded us inside a temple. In front of few Buddha statues, he asked us to sit and wait for him to come back. There was nobody there beside us. I was really scared. Once the man left, we quickly run!
Next, we had our lunch somewhere near to Grand Palace. The lunch was really expensive. The visit to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew was really a wonderful experience too. This is the number one must see. You should not miss this place! I had snapped a lot of photos of this place. The architectural of all those building was amazing!
Due to time constraint, we had to rush from one place to another in order to cover as many places as possible in one day. We proceeded to Wat Pho, to see the reclining Buddha. Then, we took taxi and rushed to Vimanmek Teak Mansion. From there, we took a walk down to Banglamphu area where most western backpackers staying in this area. We walked about an hour and finally reached Santichaiprakan Park. The locals and foreigners were taking rest at the park. We were sitting there to wait for the sunset over the river of Chao Phraya.
In the evening, we wandered around Banglamphu Market and Khao San Road. For those who like to friend with "Mak Salleh", I strongly recommend you to stay in this area. Rooms here are cheap and you have no problem to look for foods and shopping. However, I found the foods here are more westernized. If you really want to try out real Thai foods, go to down town.
Next day morning, on 15 Feb, at about 10:00am, we left our guesthouse. We took taxi to Hualamphong Train Station. Our train left at 12:25pm and reached Hat Yai at 6:40am next day.
Upon arrival Hat Yai, after having our breakfast at one of the Chinese restaurant, we walked around to look for any travel agents to buy bus tickets back to KL. We managed to find one however, due to peak season, there were only limited seats available and over priced! We have no other choice but to buy these tickets. The bus journey started at 9:00am and took about 8 hours to reach KL.
Unfortunately, when the bus reached one of the R&R after Ipoh, the air-cond broke down. We were suffered more than 2 hours in the bus. However, what we really concerned was the safety of our journey back to our home. Overall, the traffic was smooth and we reached home safely.
My trip to Bangkok was really rushed and short of time. Some places were not able to visit. Due to hot weather, we get tired easily. Anyway, I did have a wonderful time there and unforgettable experiences.
That's all about my story. I will share with you if I have another trip in future.
Yoke Ming
18 Feb 2002
I'm back now! In fact I reached KL yesterday evening. Sorry for not sending any messages back from Bangkok as promised. Please forgive me, there are too many places for me to discover and yet time is really short! I have no time for e-mail.
I have not yet unpacked all my things and all the information gathered during the trip is still in the mess. Overall, the trip was very rush and tired, but very interesting! Weather in Bangkok was really hot, hotter than in KL. At night was like in the oven! Luckily, our room had air-cond!
For those who expecting for some souvenir from me, I really have to say very very very sorry! I have really on tight budget and time for shopping was rather short! Some have passed me the shopping list; I'm really regretted that I have disappointed you again!
On 10 Feb night, we took Transnational Express Bus from Hentian Jalan Duta. Our bus supposed to leave at 12 might-night, however, it became first come first serve basis, my friend and I were then put on an earlier bus leaving at 11:30pm. Seat numbers were not followed. Guess what! We reached Butterworth at about 3:30am! We have no choice to take a nap at the temporary bus station near the train station at Butterworth. Time passed very slowly, it was really a nightmare spending few hours there to wait till sun rose. We left our bags at the "Gudang" near train station before crossing over to Penang Island via ferry at about 8am.
The train left Butterworth punctually at 1420hrs. It was Thai Coaches. The journey to Bangkok was not boring as we have friends sitting beside us who have been travelling to Bangkok many many times! We have gathered quite some useful information! The 22 hours of train journey was not really bad as imagined. In fact, I really enjoy myself on the train! Everything were new to me, I was so excited! From Hat Yai onwards, the coaches joined with the rest of coaches; from three coaches now became more than 13 coaches! There was a canteen in the middle of the train. On and off, whenever the train stopped at smaller towns, there were food/fruit/drink sellers coming up and down the train. Things were reasonable priced and cheaper than those sell at canteen.
At night our seats turned to beds. We slept all night long till morning. By 12 Feb noon, we reached Haulamphong Train Station, a very busy station. We were really lucky that we managed to buy the train tickets to Hat Yai on our return journey; the train to Butterworth was fully sold out!We then proceeded to Siam Square area to look for accommodation. We approached White Lodge, a guesthouse recommended by my colleagues. They were only having one room left! We immediately took the room and unpacked our luggage. Guess what! Eventually I could take my bath after about 40 hours (travelling from KL to Bangkok)!
We then visited the nearest place of interest, which is located on the next Soi (Lorong) - Jim Thompson's House. It was a good one, traditional Thai house with free tour guide to explain everything about the owner and the house.
We also visit Mahboonkrung Shopping Mall, which is about 3 times bigger than our Sungai Wang in Kuala Lumpur. This shopping centre is just only 5 minutes walking distance from our guesthouse. We then walked to World Trade Centre and ended at Pratunam Market. Then, walked back to Mahboonkrung for our dinner. The journey is about 3km.
We managed to see those locals on how they take the buses, canal boats, taking their meals at the roadside stalls, etc. There were many people walking on the street. Of course, the traffic was really really terrible!
There is a lot of variety of food at the 5th floor of Mahboonkrung. We had Tom Yam Kung for dinner with fried rice.
It's time for bed. I should continue the story maybe tomorrow.
Yoke Ming
17 Feb 2002
[View Bangkok Photos]
Sawadee Krap!
The story continue...
I had experienced diarrhea problem during my mountain trekking and hailstone disaster at the national park during my trip to Nepal last year. Guess what happened to me during this trip?
On 13 Feb early morning, we rushed to Southern Bus Terminal to catch the bus to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. We did have problem talking to the driver who is an old man. Luckily, he eventually understood where we are going. At the terminal, we were standing in the middle of all the counters selling tickets to different destination and majority of them written in Thai. We were really lost as which counter to approach. A lady staff came to approach us and leaded us to the correct counter. The bus left punctually at 6:40am. The journey would take about 2 hours. On the bus, beside the local people and us, there were 4 Taiwanese and 2 American. After dropping local people at the small town, the bus
continues took us to a boat operator, which was not the usual stop that we found out later. Two gentlemen came to approach us and offer boat trip of one hour to all those floating markets there, 150B per person. We were dropped at the middle of nowhere. After long argument, we finally decided to take the boat trip but at the half price quoted. We shared the boat with the 2 American, and the 4 Taiwanese took the other boat. Luckily, the boat trip to those floating market was really fun. People selling foods, fruits, drinks, handicrafts, clothes, necessities, etc. by small boats. However, due to peak season, there were far too many tourists around.We were dropped at the place where we picked up for the boat trip. We had to walk all the way back to the small town to take the bus back to Bangkok City. Everything was really smooth, the bus left the small town 15 minutes after we boarded. After about 2 hours, we were back to Southern Bus Terminal. We took our lunch at the nearby shop lot. Then, we boarded a taxi to Rose Garden Cultural Village. The journey took about 45 minutes. We really enjoyed the Cultural Show that took about 1 1/2 hour. The place was crowded with tourists. On our way back, we could not catch those taxi passing by. This place is really quite far from town. Only those taxis parted at the entrance waiting for tourists. True enough they charged high price for the transfer back to Bangkok City. However, we insisted to use the meter. The driver tried to offer us some other places of interest nearby. We refused. We said we have friends waiting for us to meet at our guesthouse, then only he stopped offering.
On the way back at the Expressway, suddenly a small lorry drove crazily and tried to create an accident. Our taxi driver tried to avoid the lorry but the lorry driver still following us very closely. We did ask as whether our taxi driver knew the other driver on the lorry. I just hope they were playing around. However, the situation was really scary and dangerous. The lorry driver was chasing us and our taxi driver was trying to avoid. Both drivers were driving very fast on the highway in the middle of nowhere! I was really scared and prayed inside my heart. I knew there was incident where these people tried to create an accident and robbed the tourist in the middle of nowhere! I just hope this won't happen to us. Thank God, I was in the City of Angels, those angels were really protecting us. Our taxi driver made a sudden turn to left into another lane which leaving from the highway. Luckily, the lorry driver missed the turn and unable to follow us anymore. We then using the normal road back to the city.
It was really like a nightmare! We were speechless all the way back to city.
Due to heavy traffic jam, our taxi driver suggested us to cross the bride over the river of Chao Phraya and take the skytrain at the station end of the bridge. Walking on the bridge over the river was really a wonderful experience. It was so high that I can see the river from the top and the buildings on both side of the river. But, I could not stand longer because I afraid of height. The skytrain was really new; it was only 2 years old.
At night, we went to Patpong area. It was like our Petaling Street. Crowded with people. The only different is that there is many pubs on the both side of the street offer shows for adults. I could see from outside the door that beautiful ladies wearing bikini standing / dancing on the bar table. I'm sure that there are more shows upstairs or at the back. The waiters and waitresses were standing outside the door to look for customers. I did not get in any of these pubs. I was really tired after the day trip and the scary incident happened in the afternoon. I don't want to have any more trouble.
On 14 Feb, we visited the National Museum in the morning. There were free tour guides to tour around the museum and explain everything about Thailand history, architectural, religions, etc. It was a wonderful 2 hours guided tour. Then, we rushed to Wat Mahathat. There was nothing to see there. Suddenly, a man came and leaded us inside a temple. In front of few Buddha statues, he asked us to sit and wait for him to come back. There was nobody there beside us. I was really scared. Once the man left, we quickly run!
Next, we had our lunch somewhere near to Grand Palace. The lunch was really expensive. The visit to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew was really a wonderful experience too. This is the number one must see. You should not miss this place! I had snapped a lot of photos of this place. The architectural of all those building was amazing!Due to time constraint, we had to rush from one place to another in order to cover as many places as possible in one day. We proceeded to Wat Pho, to see the reclining Buddha. Then, we took taxi and rushed to Vimanmek Teak Mansion. From there, we took a walk down to Banglamphu area where most western backpackers staying in this area. We walked about an hour and finally reached Santichaiprakan Park. The locals and foreigners were taking rest at the park. We were sitting there to wait for the sunset over the river of Chao Phraya.
In the evening, we wandered around Banglamphu Market and Khao San Road. For those who like to friend with "Mak Salleh", I strongly recommend you to stay in this area. Rooms here are cheap and you have no problem to look for foods and shopping. However, I found the foods here are more westernized. If you really want to try out real Thai foods, go to down town.
Next day morning, on 15 Feb, at about 10:00am, we left our guesthouse. We took taxi to Hualamphong Train Station. Our train left at 12:25pm and reached Hat Yai at 6:40am next day.
Upon arrival Hat Yai, after having our breakfast at one of the Chinese restaurant, we walked around to look for any travel agents to buy bus tickets back to KL. We managed to find one however, due to peak season, there were only limited seats available and over priced! We have no other choice but to buy these tickets. The bus journey started at 9:00am and took about 8 hours to reach KL.
Unfortunately, when the bus reached one of the R&R after Ipoh, the air-cond broke down. We were suffered more than 2 hours in the bus. However, what we really concerned was the safety of our journey back to our home. Overall, the traffic was smooth and we reached home safely.
My trip to Bangkok was really rushed and short of time. Some places were not able to visit. Due to hot weather, we get tired easily. Anyway, I did have a wonderful time there and unforgettable experiences.
That's all about my story. I will share with you if I have another trip in future.
Yoke Ming
18 Feb 2002
