We’ve been in Thailand a week now and feeling a bit more settled after what was a very hectic final week In the UK. And finally have some WiFi so can write and publish this post!
Moving out
People always say moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do. I agree, but in addition to that, this time it wasn’t just moving things from one old house to another new one. We were packing thing up to store with friends, Chris’ family and my family. So Chris and I did around 10 car loads of stuff to folks to storage, and many a trip to charity and the recycling centre with other bits to donate or bin. As a reward on our final night in the house we had a chippy tea on the floor with wine (as we had no sofa or furniture to sit on or sit at!)
I have to say though, it was nice to have a good clear out of stuff and really pare down what we have, so when we get back we have less stuff overall, but also a clutter free house with important things we’ve chosen to keep.
The hardest part of this moving out process though was saying goodbye (temporarily of course) to dusty and ash, our two cats. My mum has so kindly adopted them from us while we’re away and now a week in they’ve settled in so we’ll at mums and with her cats, but it was heart breaking saying goodbye to them when they were still hiding away nervous and confused at mums. From the picture’s mums been sending me, they’re having a great time and enjoying getting to know their new roomies.
Moving on
After 31 hours travelling door to door, we made it to Bangkok. It was a rough travel though; 2.5 hour bus from Norwich to London Victoria, 1 hour transfer wait, 1 hour bus from London Victoria to Heathrow, 4 hour wait to our flight, 7 hour flight to Abu Dhabi, 4 hour layover (from 2-6am UK🫠), 6 hour flight to Bangkok, and finally a 1 hour taxi to our Hostel.
It was a lot, but we made it! We stayed near Khao San road, as it was an area I knew a bit about from my last trip to Thailand. We absolutely did not want to, nor did we, do any of the partying associated with Khao San road though. In fact we walked down half of it for a laugh and was very quickly ran to the other end and never went back again! What is good about this area though, is it’s old town, so full of all the temples, near the river and has the most incredible architecture. All you’ve got to do is ignore Khao San Road!
On our first big day we went for a long, and hot, midday walk towards the river with seeing Wat Arun as our final goal. We stopped off at Wat Pho first where the giant reclining Buddha is and then wander across the road to the ferry port to catch the boat across the river to Wat Arun. When I was in Thailand in 2020 I did this route as part of a walking tour with my hostel and remembered being so baffled by how tucked away the ferry port is. It’s through this small entrance, surrounded by local street vendors, and into a wood building where you can see the water through the floorboards under your feet. Right at the back of the building is a tiny booth and turn gate where you pay a lady 5baht (11p) for a ticket and board a small boat on the other side.
Both Wat Arun and Wat Pho were as beautiful as I remember them being 4 years ago. I’m so glad we got to go again and I could show Chris these two pretty significant temples in Bangkok. To top off the afternoon we stumbled across a really delicious Pad krapow restaurant behind Wat Arun.
After two nights in Bangkok exploring the night market in china town, and a fancy night market on the riverside, as well as exploring the bustling and crazy centre of Bangkok, we boarded our night bus to Chiang Mai. Night buses are always an experience….. I did a good few when I spent 6 weeks Asia before, so I’ve got okay with them. And I’m also someone who can sleep wherever whenever which helps. But poor Chris… someone who needs silence, pitch black and peace. The night bus was not his friend. In total he only had a few hours sleep and was really aggy and uncomfortable, which I totally get and felt for him.
Next up I'll be sharing a bit about our time in Chiang Mai, the best city in the world🖤
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