Category Archives: Thailand

One night in Bangkok

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Dum dum dum dum dum-dum. OK, trivia time. The song came from the musical Chess written by Tim Rice and two guys from ABBA. Anyway, that’s all that Amy and I had – one night. And two long days! Yet another early morning after too little sleep and we shared a minibus to the airport with two Aussies which worked out even cheaper than getting a tuk-tuk.

The whole airport/flight/landing thing was a bit of a blur courtesy of Amy’s snoring keeping me awake. OK, that’s a lie. If anyone was snoring, it was me. Somehow we managed to stay conscious as our Air Asia flight dropped us at the new (to me) Suvarnabhumi Airport. It’s certainly glitzier than the old one despite obviously not having been finished yet. Unplastered concrete shows between miles of glistening tubing. Or maybe that’s the “look” the designers were going for. It still doesn’t have free wireless, though. *tut*

Immigration was a breeze and we walked right onto one of the express buses. I believe the BTS (overhead train) is being extended out to the airport which will make transport even quicker in future. I’d elected to stay at the HI Sukhumvit this time rather than Big John’s. Partly as Amy was staying there and partly as it would be somewhere different that’s still in a good location (ie not crappy Khao San Road – I am such a snob). I won’t rattle on about the hostel and duplicate information you can find on the Thailand accommodation page.

Despite the best efforts of Bangkok’s notorious traffic system, we made it to the hostel by a little after 11:00. Not bad for a flight that landed at 9:50. Despite being exhausted, we agreed on a quick shower before heading out for lunch to make the most of our stay. The advantage we had was that I’d been here before, so anything Amy wanted to see, I did have a good idea of how to get there and how long it would take. As such, there’s not a lot new for this visit apart from the companionship!

I’ve decided just to lump this visit into one post as it’s easier on my doddery memory…

For lunch we (for “we” read “I”) settled on the Bull’s Head. I couldn’t visit Bangkok and not pop into the best British pub it has. So I did. While sitting force-feeding myself a delicious cornish pastie smothered in HP Sauce (which Amy declared she would have to try and get in the States now she’d tried it), Billy walked up to me. Billy runs the Bull’s Head and he’s a great guy – though he admitted he’d have walked right past if I’d not been wearing my Newcastle shirt.

We got talking (about football – surprise) and the Billy mentioned there was a pub quiz on that evening. Amy wasn’t too sure, but it’s an English Pub thing so we managed to twist her arm. It would be “quaint”. Billy also told me that I’d made it into the final cut of the music video being filmed when I was last at the Bull’s Head. He didn’t have a copy but after much searching, I located it online. You can see me around 2:08 through, and Billy giving out a red card a second later. I can’t get this to work in Firefox, but it does play with Internet Explorer:

Same Same – Give It All You Got video

Our stomachs full and our wallets emptied (lovely food, but pricey compared to eating on the street!) we boarded the BTS and headed for the river where we hopped onto a boat. The conductor on board didn’t take any money from us until we got up to disembark opposite Wat Arun, and then took so long sorting out our change that we missed the stop and had to get off at the next one. The walk back down one stop wasn’t too far, and we hopped on the next ferry across the river to see the Temple of the Sun.

I’d been before with Prashant, but it was still good to revisit. Amy loved it, and I think I appreciated it more this time than I did the first as well. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to wait till sunset and watch it being lit up, so made our way back to the hostel via the Siam Paragon mall. This has filled up somewhat since I was there last year, with most of the units now containing shops. Even the Ferrari dealership has opened its doors fully to non-Ferrari Club members. There we spotted that Spiderman 3 was on. At the IMAX. For less than the cost of a regular ticket back home. Times noted for the next day, we returned to the HI and showered.

A quick turnaround and we made it back to the Bull’s Head for 8pm and settled down for dinner. My stomach was still working on the pastie from lunch so I settled on the world’s best barsnack – a small plate of double-fried beef strips. Amy had something Thai and kept pinching my beef.

At 8:30, the quiz began. I won’t go into detail regarding the poor wording of the Great Plague question which cost us a point, though it wouldn’t have helped anyway as we managed to come last by a fair margin. I wish we’d played our joker on the music round instead of entertainment. Ah, well. Amy really enjoyed it, much to her surprise, and everyone who entered got a free bottle of beer. We also “won” a booby prize of a generous discount from a dive shop, but unfortunately as we were both flying out we couldn’t make use of it.

Downstairs, I lucked out completely. Virtually everyone I know in Bangkok was there! Louise’s cousins Joy (who part-owns the Bull) and Sharon as well as Joy’s husband Nacho. More free drinks (thank you everyone!) and some great conversation. Ciaran, the quizmaster, got chatting to me about the dive prize and it turns out his wife La works for the company (Dive Site Asia) who offered the voucher. She explained that the voucher’s fully transferable (I passed it on to two girls in the hostel the next day) and that the company offer dive master courses including accommodation should I wish to head back to Thailand sometime… Hmm… Another seriously interesting offer which I may take up. We’ll see what life throws at me in the meantime!

The next bit can’t be read by Amy’s mum. After wandering for ages as we are rubbish at following directions, we found Soi Cowboy. This is an area of go-go bars and, despite her feminist leanings, Amy was curious to see what Thailand had to offer. When in Rome, etc. Soi Cowboy’s basically the same as Pat Pong which I went to with Louise last time and it’s a curiosity for anyone quite liberal. I’d not make a habit of going, but at least I can say I’ve been!

Of course, this meant another late night but we walked back to the hostel anyway rather than haggle with taxi drivers. We bid a sad farewell to Amy’s umbrella on the way as it died a fairly snappy-broken-twisted death.

The next day was fairly well planned and we hopped around a few things. The Dasa Book Cafe wouldn’t take my photocopied Lonely Planets, but sold great warm chocolate brownies. We stopped by a little roadside place for lunch (top notch cow pad guy) and made it to the Snake Farm in time for the slide show. The snakes brought out were slightly different to my last visit but I managed to talk Amy into getting a Python draped over her shoulders. For someone who claims to be scared of snakes, she did well!

Just enough time to grab a massage for me and a pedicure for Amy (not at Miss Puke’s but the place next door. I didn’t get a photo of Miss Puke’s sign, so there’s the link to prove it exists! Then we dashed over the road, dot in time to catch the start of Spidey 3. On IMAX. Woah.

The sound was significantly better than when I saw Superman Returns in Auckland, though the lipsyncing was out for about half the film. Otherwise, I loved it. Yes, it shoe-horned a lot in. Yes, it was slightly predictable. Yes, some of the fast sequences were a little too fast and blurry. But who cares? It’s Spidey. I didn’t look at my watch until the credits rolled!

From there to a small cafe next to the Bull’s Head for some Kang Gai (chicken curry) and then the Robin Hood on the corner where I introduced Amy to Newcastle Brown Ale. Which she liked. I’m impressed. There’s hope for this American yet!

And finally… back to the hostel where I manage a quick shower and pack before the taxi arrived to take us to the airport. Despite flying opposite directions (Amy to Seoul, me to Dubai) our flights departed two gates and ten minutes apart, so we hung around until Amy’s flight was called. Many hugs were exchanged and I promised (and still do) I’ll catch up with her somewhere, somewhen! At least I have a guide in Chicago should I get there before she finds another country to work in for 2 years!

Then to my gate, onto my plane… and on to another country! I do like Thailand. Once more, I hope I get back there again sometime soon.

Tata Thailand – Good Evening, Vietnam!

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This is how much of a dipstick I am (in case anyone had doubts). I spent this morning wandering around some shops and getting supplies – bug bite cream, strong painkillers for my back, some more novels to read. I then popped by the Bull’s Head for lunch and a farewell Coke.

While I was there, Billy asked if I wanted to be in a pop video. A friend of his is a director and they had a 2-person US band in town filming a video for their upcoming single. With it coming out in a month or so, they were doing it with a football theme. Essentially, they were working their way up Sukhumvit playing football with various people. At some point in each segment, a Thai girl in a goalkeeper’s outfit would grab the ball and run away with it. Cue next scene.

As a favour, the director offered to feature the Bull’s Head (and Billy himself) in the video. As it happened, I was wearing a Toon top (what a surprise) so fit right in. Heck, I even scored the opening goal. Admittedly, it was only against three waitresses in full costume fromt he restaurant over the road, but a goal’s a goal!

Despite it being about 38 degrees and having to stop for traffic every couple of minutes, it was great fun and a good way to say “goodbye” to Bangkok. After I’d finished my food I headed back to Big John’s, picked up my rucksacks and jumped into a taxi for the airport.

I was with Air Asia again. Their prices are good and for a less-than-two-hour flight I don’t care about not getting a meal. However (this is the “dipstick” moment), they do prefer it if you turn up on the day your flight is booked rather than 24 hours early.

Oops.

I still have no idea how I cocked this up. The correct date is in my diary, both online calendars and on the ticket. A quick bit of maths worked out that getting back to bangkok, staying the night, sorting food, and returning to the airport the next evening would cost about as much as changing my ticket so that’s what I did. To be honest, it worked out for the best as I got chatting to a girl called Sarah who was on the same flight. And staying at the same hostel. And had a lift arranged fro the airport into Hanoi. This, at least, saved me $5 in cab fare and meant I already knew someone in the hostel.

While in Hanoi, I’m staying at the Hanoi Backpacker’s Hostel and, frankly, it’s superb. The dorms sleep 10 and each one is en suite. In addition, there’s a shower block on the top floor in case yours is in use. Each bed has its own locker either underneat or a separate steel one. The terrace bar (a fridge and an outside to sit in) is run on a “trust” basis whereby you just keep your own tab and they add it to your bill. There’s a large kitchen with TV, big fridge/freezer and all the cooking stuff you need. Tea, coffee, bread, jam and butter are all free and breakfast is available in the mornings at various sizes and costs. The staff are also utterly brilliant, very knowledgeable and bend-over-backwards helpful. If they don’t know something, they’ll find out for you.

The first night consisted of emptying the aforementioned fridge, refilling it, emptying it again and heading for Barracuda. This is a pub owned by one of the guys who runs the hostel and it’s right out in the sticks end of the Old Quarter. Walkable in half an hour, but best done late at night when you’re not being accosted to buy knock-off books, lighters and fruit. Oh, and also because around midnight, it’s easy to walk across the exressway without being killed by the insane number of scooters on the roads in Hanoi.

The pub was quite quiet when we arrived, more or less only having a dozen backpackers in it. The pool table’s free, as are the darts, and they also do film nights and footie. When it shut around 1:00, we taxi’d to the Inside Bar which apparently manages to stay open all night. Basically, people close when the police tell them to.

Somehow, I know not how, Sarah and I found the hostel again after some meandering and collapsed at about 4am. Posted by Picasa

Snakes, sodas, sea creatures and sore backs

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 My last full day in Bangkok and I didn’t get out of bed till gone 11am. In fairness, I had a lot of kip to catch up on after the last few days and the late arrival last night. The previous post was the result of an email conversation with Elaine and after checking web sites relating to the snake farm, I found directions to it and made my way there.

It’s not very well signposted, so unless you know how to get there you simply won’t find it. The farm is within the grounds of the Red Cross centre near Silom (10 mins or so walk from Sala Daeng BTS station). The centre does a lot of work to do with blood in addition to anti-venin production, predominantly rabies and malaria tests and shots. So it’s a handy place to know!

I was a bit disappointed to get there at 2:20 (10 minutes before the advertised time for the demonstration) to find that it was preceeded by a 30-minute slide show and lecture. Every web page I’d been to mentioned this in passing, but all stated that things kicked off on the half hour. A shame, as the demonstration was hugely entertaining and informative so I’d have liked to have seen the lecture. Mind you, for 70Baht you can’t really complain. For those interested, the slideshows kick off at 10:30 and 14:00 every weekday and 10:30 only on weekends and holidays. They run for 30 minutes and the demonstration following lasts another half hour or so.

The farm is over 80 years old and was the second in the world, Brazil having the first. It was needed as Thailand has 180 varieties of snake, 56 of which are venomous. Death by snakebite is scarily common over here, mainly out in the countryside and jungle. A large number of victims are rice farmers who get bitten by water snakes.

Venomous snakes are bred here for their venom which is “milked” every few weeks. This is sent to a decidated farm in Hua Hin where it is injected into horses. These develop antibodies to the venom and their blood plasma is collected (very humanely – similarly to a person donating) and sent for processing to WHO standards. This is the antivenin used to treat bite victims. The process for the rabies vaccine is virtually identical. For anyone worried, the horses otherwise live a nice relaxed existence with plenty of exercise. They are used to serum production for the ages of 4 to 12 and are retired after that, living up to the age of around 25. Due to the nature of their “work” they are kept meticulously happy and healthy.

In addition to breeding venomous snakes, non-venomous ones are also reared. In the main, these are endangered species. Some are killed in the wild because they bear a resemblance to venomous snakes, others for food or as souvenirs for the more stupid tourist.

The demonstration was fantastic and much closer to a live audience than you would expect. The people running it are all part of the antivenin project and all have been bitten at one time or another. The chap doing the talking (in both Thai and English) was bitten by one of the cobras about 7 months ago. His middle finger and the back of hand required reconstructive surgery and patching up with skin from elsewhere on his arm. Yet he’s still there day after day doing a job that so many people don’t even realise exists.

Not pulling any punches, the first snake brought out was a King cobra. At roughly 5 feet long, it’s amazing to see someone handle it like some kind of sentient rope. Once it was on the ground, an assistant wandered round, keeping its attention. After its turn in the spotlight was over, the senior handler “caught” it again by hand and (holding its head tightly away from the audience) walked up to us and allowed people to touch it. This is the first time I’ve ever touched a snake and it’s a lot softer than I would have thought. It’s also warm, but you can tell by the feel that it’s one long tube of almost solid muscle. It’s also one of the most venomous snakes around, its bite usually being fatal to humans. Unlike many other snakes, when it bites it stays gripped to the victim as its venom is rather thick and needs to be pumped out.

The next snake out was the banded krait, followed by a non-venomous snake with similar colouring. The krait, like the three Monocled cobras that followed, strikes quickly. It bites and releases, settling back to wait for its victim to die.

The final venomous snake to be shown was the Indochinese rat snake. This snake is endangered, but important to the ecology. I’m not sure whether they breed these for release into the wild, but rat snakes (as the name suggest) eat rats, which are hosts and vectors for a myriad of diseases. These snakes, amongst other species, help keep the rat populations down. With them being killed by humans, the rat numbers are not being kept under control.

 There were a handful of other snakes (including one nicknamed the “rainbow” snake due to the way sunlight made it glisten like oil), but I confess I lost track of the names. I have photos of them all and will try to get them onto Fotopic shortly. Finally, the King cobra was brought back out and used to demonstrate “milking”. Essentially, this involved getting it annoyed and then forcing it to bite onto a perspex dish. Its venom trickled out as two vaguely yellow oily streaks.

Once this part of the demonstration was over, two small pythons were literally handed over to the audience. Despite their small size I could really feel the strength in them as they wrapped around me. Especially round my neck! It was rather surreal watching audience members handing snakes to each other. Despite them being moderately docile creatures and “squeezers” rather than “biters” I just can’t imagine anything like this happening back home.

Although only an hour of my time, this was a superb place to visit. I urge anyone with the remotest interest to add this to a “to do” list should they ever visit Bangkok. You can even work it into a shopping trip at the nearby Pat Pong market!

I settled for lunch at A&W having originally intended just to go in for one of their delicious root beers in a tall, frosted glass. The menu was just too tempting. And at less than £1.50 for a large meal, I couldn’t talk myself out of it.

 On the way back, I realised I’d not visited the Siam Ocean World. So I did just that. At 450Baht, it was slightly dearer than the snakes, but I spent almost 90 minutes there and enjoyed it. This is the same place that offers diving with sharks, but that’s definitely out of my price range (and I don’t have enough time) so it’ll wait till I next come to Bangkok.

Now, I’ve not been to The Deep in Hull but people who’ve been haven’t been too impressed. I did visit one of the Sea Life centres in Tynemouth, and again I didn’t think much of it. Ocean World is in the basement of a shopping centre and extends 2 storeys underground. It’s also very well laid out, has interesting plaques next to all the exhibits and a huge variety of waterlife.

The only problem I encountered was taking photographs. The light levels are quite low, but if you use a flash it often bounces off the thick glass walls to no effect. Also, some of the curved surfaces just didn’t want to work with my camera’s autofocus. Hardly something to complain to the management, however. Besides, I got some great photos (the one just above is a favourite).

As well as a multitude of fish, molluscs and the like are a handful of otters, beavers and two seals. The seals are a temporary exhibit, on loan from Japan. Both hve been rescued from the wild, the female with serious chest injuries from which she’s recovered. Their “native” centre is overcrowded with seals and Siam Ocean World had an empty display area ideal for them as a result of the Thai government’s current ban on bird imports. Yes, bird flu even stops penguins being delivered!

 There is even a “hands on” section where you can handle starfish (more fleshy and less rough than you’d expect) and sea cucumbers (soft and slimy… but not!). The tunnel towards the end is spellbinding, with sharks and rays floating over your head. Like the snake farm, I’d recommend this for a visit. It is perhaps a bit pricey, but centres like this must be expensive to maintain.

On the way back, I popped into the Bull’s Head for a quick pint and a look at the papers. The annoying thing with the way the newspapers are “delivered” over here is that they don’t include any supplements. This pretty much means all the football news on a Monday. Grr.

After killing an hour, I wandered through the BTS station to the cinema (going past a Swensons) and watched The Wild. Nice animation, couple of giggles, pretty innocuous Disney storyline.

Walking down the road to Big John’s afterwards, I thought I better have a Thai massage. This time at somewhere fairly reputeable. I do learn from my mistakes. Sometimes. I popped into the massage parlour round the corner from the hostel that had been recommended by several people I’ve met. The proprietor recognised me as a friend of Sanjana’s (the girl I met on my first night in Big John’s) and I got a free drinkie while I waited.

Annoyingly, my back’s been pretty niggly today (probably from hoiking luggage yesterday) and I hoped the massage would help. It didn’t. But it didn’t make it worse either. The massage is rather hefty and I did actually have a small Thai woman standing on me and walking up and down. This might sound OK as she wasn’t the biggest person in the world, but I refer the reader to the laws of physics: Pressure = Force / Area. The force being her weight, but the area being her proportionally teensy feet. Hence much pressure!

Afterwards, I was engaged in much conversation and have exchanged email addresses. As long as I’ve not inadvertantly become engaged to her, that’s fine…

It is now much later than I intended to stay up and I’m off to bed. I have quite a lot of pictures to put on Fotopic and I’ll try to get them up in the morning. Posted by Picasa

The difference between two countries

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If you do a search on Google for “Bangkok snake”, most of the top hits are about the anti-venin centre located at the Red Cross hospital on Rama IV Road. I’m going to try to get there tomorrow morning – 70Baht to hold a snake for the first time in my life seems worthwhile.

Do a similar search for “Hanoi snake” and the first page lists places you can go to eat the creatures. Something, incidentally, I do want to try when I’m there.