Monthly Archives: July 2008

Headin’ south

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We checked out in the mid-morning and I ran around trying to get some US$ from local banks. Amazingly, the largest one didn’t have any at all. I ended up in a small money exchange place over the road where I got a very reasonable $33 per 1000 Baht.

Our plan was to get the train down to the border, so we hopped on a BTS to Sala Daeng, walked underground onto the Silom MRT. The hardest part of this was the security check. For some reason, there’s a guard at the entrance to every MRT station (and all the lifts are unusable) . Normally, they take a brief look into the occasional handbag. However, Leah and I were carrying five items of luggage between us! Out pops a little torch and he had a flit through, knowing we had nothing explosive but having to do his job and appear polite at the same time.

Soon enough we made the quick journey to Hua Lamphong train station. There we were accosted by hordes of Thais in yellow shirts offering to help. Genuinely. It seems to be some effort on the part of the transport people to make using the railway easier for foreigners. These young Thai spoke excellent English and seemed to know the entire rail timetable off the top of their heads, as well as which queue to get in for the tickets. Very, very useful. Even though we’d done the research on the trains and times, it helped knowing where to go to get the tickets and what platform for departure.

Rail travel in Thailand is well cheap. Our 4 1/2 hour journey cost 48 Baht each – around 70p. OK, again we would only have fans and no aircon, but at that price you can’t pick and choose. It was a hot day when we left, but as we’d gone for the afternoon journey it cooled down as we travelled further south and the hours wore on.

A Thai couple on the train struck up a brief conversation with us, and were all smiled and waves when they disembarked. The drinks sold by the wandering ladies from buckets full of ice were cheap, and the scenery out of the windows was gorgeous. The further south we went, the more lush it seemed to get. The types of housing changed and the distance between them increased. Really, a lovely train ride.

We’d already decided on our accommodation before we got there, based on some web searching. There’s not a lot in Aranyaprathet – basically it’s a stop-off before the border crossing and a preferable alternative to the milling pit that is Poipet on the other side. We overpaid (probably) for a tuk-tuk to the Thupthongkum hotel (or Thap Thong Kam as on their business cards) that I’d spotted on a web page. The recommendation turned out to be very good, though the pricing was out. We paid 400 Baht for a large twin with aircon, telly and hot shower. In fairness, everything has gone up over the last year or so. There are rooms available in the area for half that price, but I have no idea what they’re like.

The hotel’s not in a prime location, but I don’t think Aranyaprathet has one. We were a fair distance from the town, but after a few hours on the train we really just wanted to stretch our legs, get some food and crash out ahead of more travelling the next day.

While getting our shower sorted (one of the fuses had popped – they fixed it very quickly), I got talking to a Cambodian woman who (apparently) works for the tourist board or something. She basically told me a lot of stuff I already knew – I’d pay over the odds for a visa at the border, the transport is monopolised once I cross over and so on. Essentially, she was trying to convince me to get her to do all the work for me. Which I’m sure would have made her a few bucks.

The way she phrased the excess fee at the border was that the $10 excess was a “rush fee” to have it done immediately, whereas in Bangkok they take 2-3 days to return a visa for $20. Of course, she didn’t seem to understand that if I flew into the airport I would get the visa on the spot, immediately and without waiting for $20… Let’s face it, the additional fee is for the border staff to line their pockets and nothing else.

Regardless, that was a job for the next day. Tonight we had dinner at a restaurant a couple of doors down. Lovely local food, and a chilled bottle of beer – that the owner had to go and get from an off-license for me as they’d run out!

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Third time tigers

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Today would be my third visit to the Tiger Temple after one touristy excursion and then a week working there in 2006. And things have changed. A lot.

Again, there may be repetition in this post compared to the earlier ones, but I will try to highlight the differences. First of all, a few points to note about anyone visiting – get there early. Virtually every trip from Kanchanaburi runs from 2pm to 4pm. If you do this, you will miss out on a lot. Get up there for 11am if you can. This may mean hiring your own transport or getting the public bus up, but it is worth it.

The public bus runs frequently from the main bus station and costs pennies, but drops you on the main road – a couple of kilometres walk away. Making your own way by moped is certainly an option if you have access to one. Cycling is a long way so bear in mind the distance and the heat.

The most common way is to get a converted flatbed with seats in the back and fill it. Drivers usually charge for the trip, not per passenger so the more you get (maybe a capacity of 10) the cheaper it is. These are the vehicles used for the organised tours.

After breakfast, we met Sam himself – the owner of the Rafthouse and two other places in the area. He’s Thai, fluent in English, and an incredibly nice and helpful chap. And a qualified pilot. With his own airfield out near the Tiger Temple. Cool. He called the taxi driver we’d used yesterday  and he gave us a good price for a return trip to the Temple. A few minutes later he was sat outside waiting for us and we hopped in with all our luggage.

The trip up was fun, watching the usual sights. The first thing I noticed that was different was the road running from the main “highway” to the Temple itself. Two years ago it was unpaved dusty gravel. Now it’s tarmac, with walls in some spots as well. Money is definitely being spent. At the Temple itself, parking is more organised, a couple more buildings are in place and the price had risen to 300 Baht for entry. You still have to sign a “these are tigers and might rip my throat out and I realise I can’t sue monks” declaration before entering.

Entering the Temple itself, the pathway up to the cages has changed a little. What used to be the female accommodation for volunteer staff now seems to be administration offices. To the left is the start of (I guess) the “wild” area where future tigers will play without human interaction. This wasn’t there last time I was here. Neither were the larger cages for the cubs with play areas. Or the waterfall. Or half of the tigers, come to it – they’ve had quite a few births since I was here in 2006.

One of the things you’ll miss if you go up late is being introduced to the smallest of the cubs. Leah got to cuddle one of these little beasts while I took photos. The largertigers were introduced and the tourists taken down in small groups to the Tiger Canyon area. The opportunity was given to “walk with the tigers” and have photos taken with your hand on the tiger’s back as it is led down by one of the monks.

More changes were visible at the Tiger Canyon. Guests are spoken to more frequently, there’s more organisation and more rules. Basically it seems more “touristy”, but this also means more organised. The tiger “teeth” on sale for 30 Baht last time are now 100 Baht and you can buy belts as well. Also, to have a photo with a tiger’s head in your lap is now 1000 Baht. Previously, this was done on spec – you got one if you wated long enough and were lucky. Still, there was a huge queue for these photos – the only ones where you can get more than one person in a picture. The other photos are still free, so don’t worry if you can’t afford to fork out £15. Water is still ice cold and free!

Fancy doing what I did for a morning? Mucking out, feeding the cubs and having breakfast with the monks? 4000 Thai Baht to you, guv’nor.

So, yes, it’s more regimented. It’s more of a “tourist attraction” than it was. But costs rise and there is definitely money being spent on the place. I can only assume that someone upstairs has started to look seriously at the money situation and these decisions have been based on getting the work done that has been the aim of the project since the start.

Oh, and no – they’re not drugged. As ever, I heard this… crap being whispered by various tourists. Here’s hoping this makes it onto Google: The tigers at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, are not – and I repeat in big letters with italics NOT drugged, doped up, tripping or otherwise maltreated in any way. The only drugs they get are for medicinal purposes (vitamins, antibiotics or anabolic supplements such as clenbuterol and others)

Yes, they look dozy when you visit. They’re used to people. They’ve just been fed. It’s the hottest time of the day when tigers, by their very nature, will sleep. Watch one of them being walked down to the canyon when it’s not in a good mood. Or how fast the staff move when one of them rolls over and could – just could – be about to “play” with a tourist.

They. Are. Not. Drugged.

Soapbox now goes away.

Our driver dropped us off at the bus station in good time to jump on one of the aircon buses for Bangkok. We had one transfer partway along the route where I panicked when I didn’t see my luggage being shifted between buses – all was fine, though, and we got to Bangkok South bus terminal in good time. There’s a new shopping mall at the terminal that we walked through (and had doughnuts in). The information staff were very helpful indeed, giving us various options for getting into the city.

We chickened out and opted for the taxi. Bus is cheap but would have taken ages.

In the evening we popped back to the cinema (so cheap!) and watched the surprisingly good Hancock. Will Smith does it again. I had my fears with the stories of reshoots weeks before it was released, but this is a great bit of cinema. No classic, but good fun.

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Kanchanaburi – third visit

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I kinda like this small town, which is good as there’s not a huge amount there and this was my third trip to see it. As on my second visit, we opted to get the train there as it’s quite a scenic journey although it’s a second class (fan / hard seats) carriage the whole way there and the weather was hot to say the least.

We got a taxi from the hostel which cost us a lot less than we were expecting. Until we realised he’d dropped us at the wrong train station. On the right side of the river, but nowhere near where we wanted to be. The station guard wrote the correct station name down for us in Thai and we flagged a tuk-tuk to take us to the right one. This looked a lot more familiar! Thonburi is the one you want, should you be taking the trip yourself.

We picked up our tickets from the incredibly friendly ticket guy (100 Baht – around £1.35). There were quite a few tourists kicking around, but nobody seemed to be talking so we kicked out heels and realised we were getting hungry. Leah went off to look for some pineapple or something while I tried to guess what country some of the other white people were from.

This being more “locals” territory, Leah came back foodless. No 7-Eleven, no ice-packed trolley laden with fruit so nowhere really to pick up snacks from. So I thought I’d take a stroll around the market. And came back with 4 juicy rose apples and a bunch of bananas, which cost less than they would have on the street in Bangkok. The market staff were very friendly, I think enjoying the novelty of a foreigner buying from them – I was certainly the only white face wandering around outside of the station.

The train left with only a slight delay and chugged its way west. The folk sitting near us were French backpackers and one of the girls really wasn’t doing well in the heat. Leah struggled a bit, but we swapped seats so she got the breeze coming in the window. Fortunately, we arrived in Kanchanaburi before the French girl gave out completely and her companions – I hope – were able to get her some shade and water.

Hopping off the train we had the usual cyclos waiting. Not too many, really. I guess most people travel by bus. We looked around for a taxi and asked one woman if we could jump in her share taxi for a few Baht. She refused the money, but said we were welcome as the taxi had been paid for and was going to her guest house. She didn’t even flutter when we said we were already booked in elsewhere – “It’s very close”. Cool.

So we hopped on board, were driven for around five minutes and arrived at the paid-for destination. We asked the driver where Sam’s River Rafthouse was and he pointed up the road. “Very close! You need taxi tomorrow, you call me?” and gave us his card. We promised that we would if we needed one. Maybe 50 yards up the road we came across the Rafthouse – close indeed!

It was a lovely place with friendly staff who got us settled in quickly. When you’re inside the rooms, you’d not believe you were floating on a river. Very sturdy, well-decorated and with nice bathrooms. We even had aircon.

After the early rise and the trip, we were a little peckish to decided to eat where we were staying. The menu was pretty varied and the prices good. The chicken fried rice I had was huge for the amount I paid, and rather tasty. Appetites satisfied, we walked the short distance to the Allied Cemetary for a look around. As ever, the place was beautifully tended with staff watering the grass and clipping the flowers. Somehow it always manages to be serene despite passing traffic.

The stroll into town proved to be rather warm and it took us a little while to find a 7-Eleven to get some drinks from. Outside, a small boy was rooting through the bins for the empty plastic bottles. I guess he gets money for recycling them. I handed him my empty bottle and he gave me a deep wai of thanks which almost broke my heart. He popped the lid back on the bin before the staff chased him off and walked away with a couple more bits of plastic.

Somewhere along the way, Leah spotted a bar with a sign saying “air conditioned” so we had to pop in to get out of the heat. Over a beer we got chatting to an American guy. Ex-army and now ex-US, he’s set up home in Kanchanaburi and knows the owner of the bar. His passion is motorbikes and he spends a lot of his time on the roads in the countryside, or at the bar. Everything he buys in Thailand he now buys for cash. No credit, no owing money. Nice retirement! We got free sandwiches with our drinks, too.

The other main “attraction” in Kanchanaburi is the Bridge Over The River Kwai, and we located a taxi to take us up there as it’s quite a distance north. Leah’s not good with heights so I had fun making the planks wobble as we walked across and back (I’m mean like that). We paid a quick visit to the nearby museum then strolled back towards our residence, stopping for dinner at a random restaurant then drinks at the Jolly Frog.

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Buddhas and boxing

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[NOTE: please check out the gallery and videos at the bottom of this post. Too much to squeeze in between the words!] Our first errand today was to pop back to the Vietnamese embassy and collect our passports with their shiny new visas in place. Expensive, but I love Vietnam so I knew they’d be worth every dollar.

More touristy stuff followed as we did the usual run of taking a boat up the river then hopping out at pier 8 to take in the Wat Po and Grand Palace. I won’t go into detail as I’ve covered both these places before. The main point of note was that we were fortunate enough to catch the start of some kind of parade at the Wat Po. Scores of people wearing traditional dress, a marching band and video cameras everywhere. All very impressive and I still have no idea what it was all about .

The Grand Palace has increased its price since I was last there and we did have to borrow leg coverings despite wearing 3/4-length shorts. This involved a refundable deposit so didn’t increase the cost of the visit.

Leah’s wilting in the heat wasn’t helped by the usual annoying morons who try to rip tourists off. I came across a new trick where they try to convince you that you can enter by one of the side gates. The security guards generally don’t speak English and simply bar your entry at which point the con artist apologises and says that the Palace must be closed today… and would you like him to show you a new place instead? The “Golden Buddha” seems to be the new one kicking around that has “just opened”.

I would recommend the following course of action: punch them in the face and walk off. The Palace is open 7 days a week, all year round. If it’s closed for some reason, believe me you’ll know about it as it’ll be in the news and your hostel/hotel will tell you in advance.

Dinner was in a glass-fronted air-conditioned place in the pier 9 building and was very good, though we did get charged for the nice cold towels they supplied when it was obvious that Leah was about to collapse. This is commonplace in some restaurants. And this time we were in time to catch the boat back down to the BTS station.

A quick change of clothes and a shower at the YHA and we made our way to Lumphini Stadium for our ringside Muay Thai tickets. The last time I watched Thai boxing was in Hua Hinh and that was amateur bouts in a tiny little place. This stadium was much bigger though just didn’t have the same atmosphere. The fighting was still entertaining and we had our photograph taken with the boxer who won the main bout. He’d been pulverised until late in the fourth round when he launched a fierce attack on his opponent, slamming a knee into his solar plexus. Ow. Down and out .

An entertaining night, and not too expensive. A quick KFC was called for on the way home to soak up the beer, and I picked up a dodgy copy of Ong Bak on DVD from one of the market stalls. When in Thailand, at least watch one Thai film!

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Being a tourist again at last

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Finally, some touristing. My eyes were a fair bit better though nagged slightly and I had to use a lot of artificial tears over the course of the day. No painkillers, though.

So today we decided to cover some places I’d not been before and do a little wandering. We picked a few random temples shown on one of the maps we had, caught a BTS to National Stadium and started walking. Bangkok has a lot more temples than just the major touristy ones and it’s retty much fine to walk into the grounds of any of them. Many are locked when not in use, but you can see the outsides.

One thing we noticed is how many are right next to primary schools. I doubt this is coincidence as the whole Buddhist way of life is pretty ingrained in the Thai population. The schools are usually decorated with really nice bright paintings. None of the security gates we’re seeing far too much of back home. Really, are they to keep the kids in or Gary Glitter out? Paranoia either way, frankly.

We also saw some pretty poor areas. At first glance we thought one area was purely filled with stray dogs until we realised that there was a small shanty “village” underneath one of the highway bridges. Essentially dogs, people and huge mounds of garbage. Not what you see walking along Silom or Sukhumvit.

After passing through a bustling outdoor market, we flagged down a tuk-tuk to take us to the Golden Mount. This is apparently one of the most major Buddhist monuments in Bangkok and took an incredible amount of time to build. There’s no charge to enter, though a donation box is at the entrance once you climb the stairs to the top. It’s a lovely view over that part of the city, and worth the visit if you’re after seeing all the tourist areas.

Back at ground level, we walked past the Democracy Monument (kind of plain, to be honest) and down to the Giant Swing – a huge wooden “pi” outside of another temple. We looked around this temple, too, and it really was lovely. I can’t recall the name of it, but as I said it’s right by the swing so very easy to find. A small charge is levied for foreigners, but for the token fee it’s worth the visit.

Another tuk-tuk zipped us to the riverside opposite the Wat Arun where we had dinner in a small restaurant at the pier. Food was good and service… interesting. The woman who served us was somewhat manic and great fun, bouncing around, shoving customers from seat to seat to ensure each group got the best view and enthusiastically teaching people some basic Thai (mainly “delicious” when they finished their meal).

As the sun set, we hopped on a ferry over the river but the Wat Arun was closed. Still, the views from just outside the gates were worth the quite paddle and we played with a couple of cats before getting the last ferry back to the east bank. We’d also missed the last boat downstream (they only run till around 6pm), so it was a tuk-tuk again to get us to Hua Lamphong. This is the main train station at this end of town and also a stop on the MRT (underground) line. Now, I’d never actually used the MRT before having been able to get everywhere I needed to by BTS, but definitely don’t forget it’s existence if you’re in Bangkok.

The journey prices are comparable to the BST and the ticket machines accept notes, though change is always in small coins. The trains are frequent, the stations enormous and the ride smooth and comfortable. A great way to travel. We hopped above ground at Silom (which connects to the Sala Daeng BTS station) and changed onto the BTS for Siam.

Film time again and this time we enjoyed the rather silly but quite graphically impressive Hellboy II. Normal tickets this time, so somewhat cheaper than our last visit. Beers once again were necessary so we stopped off at Pat Pong and went to a really cheap bar – only 69 Baht for a Tiger. So I had a jug.

The street entertainment tonight was more exciting with a couple of dozen lady-boys walking around, doing some dances and basically making a lot of people laugh while they enjoyed their drinks. After glugging away through my litre of beer, we walked to O’Reilley’s Irish bar on the corner. One overpriced (dinky) bottle of Brown Ale and two vodka and Coke’s later, we strolled back to the hostel.

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