Back in Bangkok

With our meal ticket speeding to the airport and us heading off into the sunset on the back of a tuk tuk our flashpacker bubble had burst.

Back on Khao San road, a stone’s throw from where it all began three and a half months ago we noticed things were much easier this time around. Nothing had changed, Mr Yim was still cooking his tofu, the women serving muesli was still a man (thanks to her stubble and massive calves), and tourists were still drinking beer for breakfast.

Bangkok winter meant that we could almost eat a meal in the sun without breaking a sweat. With this in mind we decided it was time for a spot of eco-tourism. Green Bangkok Bike is an initiative that has been started to save energy and reduce pollution. We were keen to get our money’s worth on the council’s free city service.

The concept of cycling around Bangkok is better in theory than in practise. When you factor in big city traffic, pollution, SE Asian anomalies (the elephant below) and heat the concept quickly loses its appeal and turns into a test of endurance. We failed the test by throwing in the towel after a mere 40 minutes. We don’t believe anyone could cycle for longer and actually enjoy it. Like spoilt children we cheered ourselves up with chocolate ice blocks and slunk home.

We’d got a taste for buying things in Vietnam and the Chatuchak weekend market provided the perfect opportunity. Touted as the world’s largest market with over 15,000 stalls and 200,000 visitors a day we were confident we could find what we wanted.

Making use of Bangkok’s sky train it was easy to get to the market - ride until the end of the line and follow the signs.

Shopping in the market was like panning for gold. We spent most of our time walking past clothes that will never be sold looking for the good stuff. We came away tired but happy with some exceptional purchases in tow.

Sick of paying for slow internet on bad computers Dan decided to remedy the situation. The perfect place to visit was the Phanang City Plaza or ‘Computer City’ as it’s commonly called. Ever wondered what 5 floors of computers and accessories looks like?

After doing some research the HP Mini 1001 was purchased. It takes up very little room and you can’t tell it’s in the backpack which makes it ideal.

With very little else left to do in Bangkok we treaded water for a few days and rested up in anticipation of India.

Random Fact: We went into a men’s clothing store and asked “are there any ties in here?”. The salesman told us they don’t have any ties to which we replied “are you not a thai?”... Safe to say the only people that thought that amusing was us.

Highlights:

- Trying to shop for things in a third world country that you think you’ll like in three months time when you arrive in a country you’ve never been to before.

- Public transport. Cheaper and less annoying than dealing with tuk tuk drivers public transport can be great.

- Taking the new netbook to a store and having all of the latest software installed in an hours time. SE Asian efficiency eat your heart out.

- Breakfast of muesli, five fruits and yoghurt with honey for less than $2 NZD. We couldn’t find anywhere in SE Asia that even came close to beating it.

Lessons Learned:

- Green Bangkok Bike, take some form of photo ID or you’ll have to give the man pleasure (i.e. money)

- Suits and tailoring in general is a lot cheaper in Vietnam than in Bangkok. The Thai’s will of course bag the quality but our semi-trained eyes didn’t notice a difference.

- The best way to get to the Bangkok airport is by using the express bus. The trip takes an hour and leaves every hour. Pain free and cheap.

Flashpacking around Bangkok

We'd arranged to meet our Dad, Dennis, in Bangkok. The plan was to spend some quality father/sons time checking out the surrounding provinces.

We were picked up from the airport and whisked away to check out the Damnoen Saduak floating market. Most of the locals live densely along both sides of the canal. Everyday the floating market is packed full of hundreds of vendors exchanging goods in small boats.


Watching the confusion you can see how once upon a time it would have made sense for the locals to meet via the water to trade. Now with lots of sweaty tourists in the mix it's a bit of a spectacle but very entertaining none the less.


The next day it was off to Kanchanaburi, home to the River Kwai and the death railway. The river was made famous by the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. The short story of the death railway is that in 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma from Thailand and conquered it from Britain. To maintain their forces in Burma, the Japanese needed a railway. Using forced labour, about 60,000 Allied POW's were put to work (about 38 prisoners for every km of railway).

Nowadays the river and the area around it is very picturesque. Cafes and restaurants line the banks and there is a train you can ride across the bridge for a small fee - very cool indeed.


Next up was Pattaya, a lively beach city famous for having everything that Thailand is notorious for. Dad put us up at the nicest accommodation we've stayed in since leaving New Zealand, the Palm Grove Resort. We quickly transformed from backpackers into 'flashpackers' at this very nice accommodation.


One night we fulfilled Dads life long dream of going to watch the Tiffany Show. Tiffany's is an all transvestite cabaret show. Our expectations were low as we imagined poorly rehearsed dance and song routines starring women with adams apples and barely concealed body hair.

The performance was amazing. The sets were gigantic in size and elaborate in detail. The performers were "beautiful" in their own special transvestite way and to start with we were sure some were actually female - we now blame this on being seated too far away from the stage.

Afterwards you can meet the performers outside and take photo's. Much to Dads disgust we both chickened out - but so did he.


The next stop was Rayong, a small and laid back beach city. The beach was the best we've had outside of New Zealand. Long and stone free with a gentle slope, our only complaint was that there wasn't any surf. For a few baht you can hire a sun chair and laze about whilst you are waited on.

Random Fact: Your ability to get away with things in Thailand is a direct reflection of your social status. Traffic fines and other mundane things are for the 'common' folk.

Highlights:
- Meeting up with your father overseas. It's really interesting comparing your way of doing things to how someone a bit older operates. It's safe to say that experienced mature travelers have a better way of negotiating.
- Suckling on the parental teet. We got our fill - that's for sure.
- Living nicely. It was great to stay somewhere luxurious and enjoy a better way of life, if only for a short time - you can't beat beers by the pool.

Lessons Learned:
- The Vietnamese currency 'Dong' is useless outside of Vietnam - despite being told that Dong and USD are "same same".
- It's not bribery, it's 'giving him pleasure'.

Hanoi and Halong Bay

The capital cities we've visited so far have been a mixed bag and Hanoi was no different. Hanoi has seen it's fair share of conflict over the years and as a result it's a bit backward compared to Vietnam's other major cities.

We were based in the Old Quarter of Hanoi which is where most tourists call home during their stay. If you're into shopping and markets the Old City is perfect. In the old days each street specialised in a particular trade e.g. shoes, silk etc. and there are still pockets that do this - useful if you're looking for something in particular.

From the Old Quarter it's a short walk to Hoan Kiem lake which can provide a reprieve, which is more than a little welcome, from the big city hustle and bustle. The lake gets it's name from a legend involving a sword and a turtle god and the island in the middle is called Tortoise Tower.


Hanoi is famous for not having an exciting night life. If you're looking for busy bars we're sure they're around but you'll have to do some searching. On the positive side Hanoi is the gateway to cool attractions such as Halong Bay and Sa Pa. We elected to go to Halong Bay. Of course there was no shortage of friendly locals trying to induce us to buy their or their families package trip.

We shopped around before deciding to go with Hanoi City Backpackers. We chose these guys because they were relatively cheap and the group was comprised of like minded individuals of a similar age.

The bay is picturesque. Smooth ocean as far as the eye can see and thousands of small islands dotted around the seascape.


After a couple of hours at sea we went kayaking. It wasn't like kayaking in New Zealand, things were a lot simpler, there were no spray skirts and the paddles were made of wood.


The highlight was paddling through a cave into an inlet within the island - confused? Picture below.


First pair back to the boat got a free drink so we turned up the pace to comfortably edge out two pairs of Aussies - one of whom we'd dubbed One Australia. Back on the boat with beer in hand it was time to bask in our glory whilst watching the sunset.


After Halong Bay it was back to Hanoi to continue the sight seeing. We checked out the Water Puppet Theater which was quite entertaining but the 45 minute session was long enough.


We'd heard on the grapevine that Vietnam were playing Lebanon at football whilst we were in town. Eager to witness the locals getting excited and generally carried away we made sure we were present in the crowd. The locals weren't as excited as we were about the match and the stadium wasn't at full capacity - we decided the Vietnamese must be 'fair weather' fans much like the supporters of Liverpool.

The fans that did show didn't let us down with several flares being lit and thrown before half time. 'Kungfu football' was the winner on the day with the locals running away with the match to win 3-1.


There are oodles and oodles of museums in Hanoi. We went and checked out the Ho Chi Minh Museum - all you ever wanted to know about the life of Uncle Ho. The best part was giving the man himself a high-5. Keep in mind he's old so Clint went easy.


We also swung by the Temple of Literature - Vietnam's oldest university dating back to 1076. Back in the day the universities highest award was the doctor laureat. The tests were extremely difficult and few students were successful in passing the final exams, which involved some oral questions from the king himself.

The names of the laureates of the university were carved on stone steles which were placed on top of stone turtles, much grander than having your name carved on a wooden honours roll.


Random Fact: When something bad happens at a football match the Vietnamese crowd choose to be silent instead of using the popular western response of 'boo!'.

Highlights:
- Third world football match. We can only imagine the atmosphere when Vietnam beat Thailand.
- The amount of cultural attractions on offer. From water puppets, museums and mausoleums, it's all in Hanoi.

Lessons Learned:
- Don't let a moto driver help you buy football tickets. They'll make it sound impossibly hard for you to complete the task on your own, but trust us it is very simple. We were either ripped off by our moto driver, or you could believe his side of the story and swallow the line that he was ripped off by the ticket lady. Sure thing buddy.
- Watch out for dogs. The little ones can be particular ferocious and have been known to show a liking for western guys.
- Go to Halong Bay in the summer. Whilst we weren't freezing things could have been warmer.
- If you go to the Mausoleum research when it's open. It is closed after 11am and some weeks days.