8 May 2008 - bangkok

6th May

It was time to leave koh chang, although it seemed to be a lovely place we were unfortunate in the weather we had and the island is no place to be when it's raining as there is nothing to do!!

We left at 9am and got a taxi to the ferry. Of course the sun had come out now as we were leaving!! We got on the coach the other end and started our 6hr journey. The journey was pleasant and we even had a film to watch, which helped to pass the time.

6.30pm and we arrived in Kohsan road, the backpacker capital. We had met some Irish guys on our trip from Cambodia who were also on the bus. They gave us a name of a cheap but clean place to stay just along from where we were dropped, so we headed there.

The room was fine, a bit pricey in comparison to the other countries we've visited, but it was clean and there was almost enough room to swing a cat!! Best of all it was air conditioned...luxury!!

That evening we eat on the streets. We were pleased to see that there are plenty of street vendors here, selling tasty but cheap food. They mainly sell rice or noodle dishes but there are also a lot of fresh fruit vendors too.

After dinner we found a hostel that showed the latest movies so we spent the rest of the evening with a film. So far we were liking bangkok, it has a great feel about it.

7th May

Well finally i had had a lay in, i didn't wake up till 9am!! We had thought we'd have a walk about today to see what we could find, first stop was to check out the infamous kohsan road!!

It was a really hot day, so we stopped at the vendors for some ice coffee and rice for breakfast. Unfortunately the customer before us had had something very spicy and so i could only eat half of mine as it was too hot!!

Kohsan road is jam packed with hotels, restaurants and shops. Then on the pavements there are market stalls with all manner of goods, then on the road you have the food stalls!! Although its buzzing it has a great vibe, and Dan and i were like kids in the candy store with all the clothes, shoes and nick naks!!

It took a lot of will power not to buy a number of things but we allowed ourselves one item each! Dan pick up a Terry Brooks novel that he had been looking for everywhere and i bought a new pair of wooden earing's with a colorful pattern.

As we walked in between the stalls we bumped into the Irish bunch again so we went for a drink with them. The lads were planning to hit the gym in the afternoon and the girls were going swimming so we arranged to join them.

The swimming pool was small as it was on the top of the hotel, it was refreshing though. Being up there you wouldn't know you were in the heart of the capital. After 2hrs Dan came back from the gym and we headed home for a shower before going out to eat.

That evening we ended up buying a few things for ourselves!! Dan got a pair of fisherman pants (very baggy but comfortable thai shorts) and a t-shirt, whilst i bought some fisherman pants and some other baggy shorts!! We quickly went back to the room before spending anymore money!! The clothes here are so cheap, if you came on holiday you could spend so much money. The fisherman pants were only 1.50p!!