A Grand Day Out

Wednesday January 30th


Well being in Khao San means I am finally in walking distance of the big sights, Wat Po and the Grand Palace. So it was off to the Grand Palace first thing in the morning (after not the best nights sleep, Khao San is a bit noisy).


The Grand Palace is grand, but you don't actually get to see that much of it. More impressive is the adjoining Wat that contains the Emerald Buddha. The Buddha isn't actually Emerald but it is housed in an amazing complex of buildings. However it had rained hard overnight and the marble steps were quite slippy. I narrowly avoided a trip to the hospital when I slipped on a step. Just about managed to avoid going down them all.


Anyway after that came Wat Po, the home of the reclining Buddha. Lets just say this guy is huge. There is no point in trying to describe how big because its hard to say. But its closer to a boeing 737 than a car. That temple was very large, and had all sorts of bits to it. I actually found it more impressive than the Grand Palace.


This day was the first really hot day. It was the first one where my walk instead of tuk-tuk policy looked a bit mad. But I persevered, and made it back to the hotel for a siesta. The rest of the day was spent shopping around for a good deal on the Cambodia Visa, trip to Siem Reap, and a day trip. We'll see how they go.


This day was also the first where I tried to eat like a local. I don't mean I'd eaten burgers till them, although I did resort to a nice steak and chips the previous night, I mean eating a load of tiny meals continuously through the day, and all bought from street vendors (well except for some milk from 7-11 - milk may actually be, drop for drop, the best thing to cool you down). Anyway it was all really nice food, but I actually think I didn't eat enough, based on alcohol's effect on me later.

The alcohol began from a street vendor too, which is where I met yet another older guy who was married to a Thai. Steve, an Aussie (originally English) opal miner is really sound bloke, he was only up in Bangkokk for a night on buisness, but he decided he would teach me his tricks. The most useful trick was how to say Mai, no, to all the vendors. Gets rid of them quicker. He also decided to teach me how to pull Thai women, which is where the lots more drink came in. (Turns out its pretty the same as at home, and I'm as useless at it here)


He also had some tips about Cambodia which I'll take on board. Unlike another guy I met from Canada. Lets just say he enjoyed Cambodia in the Gary Glitter way, and pretty much every place he recommended is off my list of places to visit.

First move

Tuesday 29th January

Well it was out of the relative luxury of the Silom hotel and off up to Khao San today. This is the famous backpackers strip in Bangkok, and it already felt like a better place to stay when I got out of the taxi. Of course thats because he dropped me right by the Shamrock bar. Which was deliberate I think, he was actually a genuinely nice guy. (Under my new policy I expect to get scammed all over, so am pleasently surprised when I'm not)


It didn't take too long to find a place to stay, altough its not the best, but it is cheap.


After getting set up it was off to yet another Wat, and the Golden mount, also a Wat. This is a tall, a few hundred steps, temple that you can climb and get soome good views of the city. But its no Vertigo.


I spent most of the rest of the day looking around the area and revelling in the fact that there were others like me in the world. Up untill now the only English speakers I have met have all been lads, older than me, married to Thai women. There are loads of them. At least when I got to Khao San I saw my first foreign woman, thai bloke, couple.

Now I know how Americans feel

Monday 28th January

It used to annoy me when the Americans came over to Ireland expecting to see us in thatched cottages and all that, but to a lot of them their first vision of Ireland in film was in the Quiet Man. Well the first time I saw Bangkok in a film was probably in the Man with the Golden Gun, specifically where they have the big chase around the canals.


As first impressions last, no matter how many times you hear thing have changed, part of you wants to see the original version of the place that exists in your mind. For Americans it was thatched cottages and the whole Derby O'Gil experience, for me it was the canals. I has been led to believe that on the main side of the river there were few canals left, all paved over, but these do still exist. However it is on the ThonBuri (West) side of the river that they are really extensive. So I got the ferry up the river and then got onto a canal tour.


And I've got to say I was disappointed. First of all, there was no guide as such, and the boat driver couldn't speak much English. All he kept doing was pointing at wats. And that was most of the tour, wats all over the place. We also went to a snake farm, which wasn't particularly something I wanted to see. The one thing that might have been interesting, the Royal Barge museum, was supposed to be on the tour but the driver said we ran out of time. Probably because of all the stops he made where people tried to sell you things.


So now I know how disappointed Americans are when they come over and discover its not like in the films. And this is despite the fact that you do actually know when you get there that it is all modernised. But the real thing that links the Americans in Ireland (up until a few years ago) and tourists here, are the scams that are all over the place. Its a fairly safe place, but there are no end of ways in which they are always looking to get the last few baht out of you.


So I'm now trying to play them at their own game. I decided to get a free tuk-tuk trip around the sights by letting one of them try to take me to all these shops they get commission from. But nobody can sell me something I don't want, so there was no commission for him.


Overall the canal trip wasn't really a highlight, and by the time we got back I was sick of the sight of canals (and when on the main river, there was a danger of being sick anyway because it was so choppy). So I headed back to the hotel and decided to go to Vertigo bar. Now that was a sight to see. The bar is on the 61st floor of a hotel. Its not the highest bar in the world, its not even the highest bar in Bangkok, but it is spectacular, because it is open air. That's right, its on the 61st floor of a 60 story building, the roof. I went there about half an hour before sundown, and stayed until about an hour after sunset, and it was spectacular. I hope the photos show it.

(Edit - One thing I forgot to say is that the bottles of Heineken cost the same here as they do in Dublin. Its the price you pay for the view I guess)

After that it was on to Patpong. This is one of the other notorious districts in Bangkok, and it lived up to its reputation. It was mental, there were lads hassling you every 2 or 3 meters. And of course a market full of counterfeit items. I'm not sure which is worse. Funnily enough just as was thinking weren't the World Trade people supposed to be putting a stop to this all the watch people bundled up their stuff and scarpered. So I guess that somebody from Rolex or the cops turned up.

Probably the most unusual thing about Patpong is that right in the middle is an O'Briens sandwich shop. Very strange placement. I'm not sure the barnd manager back in Dublin would be too impressed.

Skytrain\Shopping Day

Sunday 27th January Well first full day in Bangkok and I had to do a bit of shopping. And where better to do it than the Chatuchak weekend market. This is a large market on the Northern outskirts of Bangkok, and it is unlike any other market you have seen. There is no way to describe it, there are 9000 stalls. It is a feat of navigation just to get through it, and if you see a stall and think I night come back to that one later, then good luck. Although actually I did find my way back to the shoe stall I had seen the best bargain at. Speaking of bargaining, I don't seem to have the hang of the haggle yet. I'm fairly sure most of the stall holders were laughing at me as I walked away. I'd just round their price down to the nearest 20 or 50 (depending on how big). I should be more adventurous. Pretty much anything you want can be got in Chatuchak. I'd about 7 things on my list, and I got 6 of them. The one thing I didn't get was a plug adaptor, I guess they were there somewhere, I just couldn't find them. Of course it might have been more helpful if the map I got when leaving the market had been given to me as I went in. As Chatuchak is at the end of the Skytrain system I decided to get an all day pass for it and make the most of it, visiting all the big sights along the way. The only problem is that I think the Skytrain was paid for by the shopping centre owners, because it seems to be best at linking these. One thing to note about the Skytrain is its use of massive amouts of concrete, which is not pretty. It would never get built in Dublin, it is a bit of an eyesore. But it does provide cover for pedestrian walkways, and in this heat that is more important. Anyway not having a power adaptor gave me an excuse to go to MBK, which is a large shopping centre, but effectively it is a big indoor market, as all the shops are little stalls as well. This centre is well divided into zones, with all shops in a zone alike. Its pretty handy, but also a little weird, especially when you get to PhoneZone, and there are 100s (and I do mean 100s) of shops selling mobile phones and accessories, with maybe a little iPod stuff thrown in as well. I couldn't figure out how so many shops selling the same items were needed, but to be fair the place was packed so they all were doing business. After I had got everything on my list I decided to actually do a bit of sightseeing, so it was on to Jim Thompson's house. He was the CIA's man in Thailand in the 50s and he went native. As a rich foreigner he was able to build a massive house and fill it with all sorts of artifacts. Then he disappeared, so it is now a museum. It was interesting enough. I did see my first canal as well (more about them tomorrow). After that I decided to finish the whole shopping craze off once and for all so I went to CentralWorld. This is more of a conventional shopping centre (from an Irish point of view) and it is massive. Bigger even than MBK. It make Dundrum look tiny. After that it was back to the hotel and then out to watch more football. Avoiding Irish bars this time I ended up in a so called 'backpackers' inn. It was good for watching football, but I didn't meet any other backpackers. Of course this is probably because the inn was on the outskirts of Nana, which is not an area that the backpackers hang out in. Nana is one of the notorious areas of Bangkok, but when I went through it for a look I didn't think it was that bad. A few dodgy looking places, but I didn't get much hassle trying to pull me into any of them. Except for one bloke, who ironically was wearing a ManU jersey. So I tried to make a joke saying I'll go if there is football not girls, and that was his opening. Rule 1 - Never show any interest or it takes ages to get rid of them. Anyway I eventually did (by running into the normal bar with football on), and it was then a firm no for all the rest. I did get slightly scammed on the way home, the taxi cost me about 200 baht, when it should have only been half that. I was too tired to argue over 2 euro.

Soi me the way to go home

Saturday 26th January I'd better explain. Soi mean lane in Thai. My hotel is on Soi 22 Silom. Basically that means it is up a lane off Silom Road. When I arrived it was a bit dark but I was so intent on getting there I never really noticed how dingy the alley that I have to walk up is. However after going out that night to watch football, having a couple more pints that I planned, it was a pretty scary walk. But I survived, and at least one goo thing seems to have come out of it, I've found this internet cafe that is the cheapest I've seen so far right on Soi 22. (I'd post a picture of the Soi so you can see how dodgy it is, but the reason the Internet is so cheap on Soi 22 is that there are no USB ports. Pictures to come later) By the way the address system for Sois and Thanom (roads) is a bit messy but you sort of get used to it (there is a Soi 22 and a Soi 20 but no So 21, but there is a Soi 22/1 - like a 22a). Some Soi become Thanom with Soi of their own. Thats when it gets confusing. On arrival, having showered etc, I headed out to watch the football. I walked down the street and surprisingly there weren't many bars around. After about 4 blocks I get to a pub called Jameson's. Yep an Irish bar on my first night. But if that wasn't too bizarre, I walked in and there is a pipe band playing. Then they start singing Flower of Scotland. It was Burns night. The insult to the Irish bar was complete when Andy Goram turned up to auction off some Rangers memorabilia. (Not a Man U item to be seen). Anyway it got me and some English blokes talking, slagging off the Jocks together, and hence a couple of drinks became a few more, resulting in a scary Soi story.

Departure Day

Friday 25th January The journey out to Thailand wasn' t too stressful. Despite both flights being delayed, and the late arrival of my bag by about a half hour. When I got to Heathrow I was bumped up a flight as the girl on the desk said there were delays and so I left on a flight that was supposed to leave an hour earlier, but actually left the same time. Just as well as it made the connection that bit easier. However the outbound flight itself was delayed by an hour as well. And people who were on my original flight must have made it because I saw the flight number on two bags while I was studying the carousel carefully. I don't know what happened but somewhere between the flight and reclaim my bag must have fallen off the conveyor belt. It didn't come out until about 30 minutes after everyone else's. I'd already talked to the ground staff and they assured me it had made it (they had a list of the poor unfortunates whose bags didn't make it). I did have time to admire the airport in Bangkok. On the airside it is just massive. Like nothing you have ever seen (unless you go to Osaka or Hong Kong I guess). But its not that great looking on the airside, however on the ground side it is pretty cool. The road system just to get out of the airport is amazing. More flyovers than in the whole of Ireland. They love their concrete here. Anyway it did mean that by the time I got to the hotel it was about 2 hours later than it should have been. The traffic was as bad as could be expected. We flew in the first 80% of the journey on massive 6 lane expressways but the last 20% took 80% of the time. Also the bus driver got a bit confused as to the hotels location. Luckily I can read a map better than him and was able to point out when we had passed it. Still I had to walk back 6 or 7 minutes with the pack on my back. It could have been worse I guess. In case anyone cares, the pack was 9.6kg and the carry on, was 3.5kg. The carry on weighted so much because it had all the electronics and the Rough Guide, which are the heaviest things in there.

Malahide, Fingal

Originally this post was just going to be about my new camera, a Sony DSC-W80, and a test to ensure I can link this in with my Picassa albums, but now it has turned into a little entry about where I come from, so anyone who meets me along the way can get a little background information.

Well actually I'm not going to write everything, I'm just going to link to the wikipedia page and let people do their own browsing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malahide

To be honest its not the best page in the world, but it will give people some idea. A few other photos can be found in the little test album I created. I wasn't trying to take great photos of Malahide, also it was a very overcast day so it didn't look its best, but I was testing some of the features of the camera (zoom and image stabilisation in particular). Rather than embedding phots in this page, and making it too big to open for people with slow internet connections, I'll just put the link in and allow people to connect at their leisure.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/GavCost

But of course there has to be some complaint, and in this case it is about my address. Now I do think of myself as a Dub, especially during the summer, but rarely in September :-(, but for the last 13 years I have actually lived in Fingal. The problem is that to this day An Post still refers to postal addresses in this county as County Dublin. I have always wanted the addresses to be referred to as Co Fingal. What I cannot understand is that Fingal County Council do not seem to mind this. All their addresses are Swords, County Dublin. Why?

This rant was raised by the fact that when I went to Picassa to enter in a couple of my Malahide test photos they asked did I want to put them on the map. When I entered Malahide as the location it prompted me with the two choices, Malahide, Fingal, Ireland and Malahide, Ontario (which I must visit one day). This is why I am glad I am blogging, emailing and photoing with Google, they know the correct address for Malahide. Now all we have to do is get the Irish Government, An Post, and local government to follow.

(One thing though, they don't have Malahide or Fingal in their spelling dictionary, but then neither do Microsoft).

By the way in case anyone is wondering am I looking for the Dubs to be split, I'm not really, the GAA already have many teams that span multiple local authority areas (Tipp, Cork, Limerick etc - never mind the mess that the north became) and there is nothing wrong with them keeping the old 32 counties if they want. Although to be fair in reality with the size of the population Dublin should be winning everything, and therefore we should have been split up, but for now I can only hope that one day we will reach that point.

Where in the world?

I guess I'd better tell anyone who doesn't know where I'm going what the plan is. It is a fairly detailed plan but there is some scope for flexibility.

The trip is broken into three legs, the SE Asia leg, the Oceania leg, and the South American leg. The plane ticket sort of puts limits on how long each of these sections will be.

SE Asia
Jan 26th Fly into Bangkok.
Will be in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore for 5 weeks. Angkor Wat (Siem Reap) is the must see destination in this section. There probably not actually that much trekking in this section as it will pretty much be city to city, with Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore getting 4 or 5 days each as well.

Oceania
March 1st Fly into Sydney.
I'm about a week in Sydney (no other parts of OZ) and then onto Christchurch for 3 weeks in NZ. Probably about 2 weeks in South Island before a week on the North.

South America
April 1st Fly into Santiago.
This is where its a bit less defined, depends on how much trekking I want to do by then. Obviously the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu in Peru are the ultimate goals, but before that there will undoubtedly be other treks in Chile and Bolivia (maybe Argentina if Bolivia gets a bit troublesome). I'll be about 2 months between the three countries. There is then a final week in Rio.

In total the trip is about 4 and a half months. I'll be home in early June. There is a lot in it and it remains to be seen whether I'll be able to cope with the hectic schedule I've set myself. I'm more worried about coping for 4 months without having a computer in front of me for 50% of the time, but at least I'll have this blog and some internet cafes to ease the pain.

In the beginning

Well setting up the blog is yet another thing competed from the long list of things to do before I go. So here it is. I've resisted getting a blog for the last 4 years because it has always seemed to me to be a bit pretentious (ironically using the word pretentious is itself pretentious). I mean who wants to listen to my ramblings which up until now would probably have consisted of pages of moaning about the lack of high rise buildings in Dublin city centre and how this is the cause of all our problems, bad public transport, house prices, and so on.


Of course those who've worked with me have had to suffer these ramblings instead.


Anyway now that I'm off on a trip around the world and I will need a mechanism to record my travels and communicate them to the masses, it finally feels like the right time to join the blogsphere. I can't promise it will always be interesting, but I will try, and I'll definitely try to restrict my comments on how well designed all the other cities are with their high rises, and how it leads to good public transport.


Oh who am I kidding, I'll probably rave on about every metro system I travel on, and how it beats the DART.

And finally a note for those who are not used to reading Blogs (and Mike there are still some out there who need these things explained) blogs usually work in reverse chronological order, and I'm not going to change the convention, so the most recent stuff will be at the top, and if you miss a few weeks you will need to go to the bottom first. Depending on internet coverage, or more likely how hungover I am, I might have to go a while between postings, so keep checking.