Battambang, Bangkok and a bit of beach...
We left Siem Reap for Battambang via river boat and an enjoyable eight hours it wasn't. It was ok sitting on the roof watching as the driver tried to navigate his way through the shallows of the river, but below deck was another story. Somewhat warm and at times, intimate, it wasn't the best of times. When we finally arrived in Battambang, the non lazy people on our tour (aww kidding guys. Bless.) went and had a look around. We rode motorbikes through the town (which really scared the crap of me) before we arrived at the Bamboo Train Station - a bamboo train being a sheet of bamboo nailed together sitting on top of some spare train wheels with an engine on the back and a lovely nylon mat to sit on. It was great. It took us through some of the villages and the city and it really was good times. Quite fun. We got back to the city centre and wandered around the markets and walked back to the hotel. That night we had our last Cambodian dinner and headed in for an early night as a Really Long Boat Ride can Really Take It Out Of You.The next day we headed to the Thai border and said a sad goodbye to Cambodia and our Cambodian tour guide. However, finally getting through immigration made it very easy to ease into Thailand. And lucky for us we had an airconditioned bus waiting to take us to Bangkok. A much better option than the public bus. Those who know the public buses in Asia will know what I am talking about! I have to say arriving into Bangkok was a bit of a shock. It is so modern! Heaps of designer stores and everything. My kind of city. That evening we headed out to the night markets and the bars of Patpong. Never again. Those bars are gross. As Adam says "about as erotic as a stubbed toe." Word.
The next day we went on a city tour starting with a boat ride through the city. It was so much fun. It was like a ride you would go on at Dream World or something. Really great. What proceeded was a morning of some temples, some buddas, some palaces and a shooting gallery (go figure). We saw the Golden Budda, which was really pretty and the Reclining Budda, which is unbelivable. It's something like 45m long by 15m high. Amazing. The Grand Palace was also amazing. I have never seen so much bling in my life. Gold, jewels, silver it was blingier than Beyonce! However, unfortunately for us, it was a sweltering hot day in Bangkok and the unfortunate dress code of long pants and tshirts didn't add to the experience. I was a bit dissapointed in myself as all I could think about was airconditioning and McDonalds. But despite that, it was still pretty fabulous. Fabulous probably being the most appropritate word in this case! That afternoon was dedicated to shopping so we headed to one of the big malls, but we all had markets on our minds. A big group of us met up for some market shopping and we shopped til we almost dropped. But after an unfortunate misunderstanding between the group about where we were supposed to meet up for dinner, a bunch of us ended up at Khoa San Road (the markets were so much better there. Stupid Street.) and the boys were left waiting at an Irish Pub. Funnily enough we ended up eating at an Irish Pub on Khoa San. Hilarious.
Today was a bit more somber as we said our farewells. It was a really fantastic tour and Luke and I both really enjoyed the company of everyone we met. It was great. But the show had to go on as we then headed to tourist town of Pattaya (where my Dad's guest house is situated) just two hours (or less depending how crazy your driver is) south of Bangkok. And it's so great here. Heaps of beach and plently of bars. There seems to be lots of activites and water sports to do. Tomorrow we are heading out on a boat cruise with a bit of island watching and a whole lot of swimming on the cards. Luke and I plan to relax and soak up the sun before out European leg of our World Tour gets started.
posted by Louise and Luke @ 10:42 PM
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