Bangkok iver day

Hi guys,its green today so you no who  is writing!Today we got a day ticket to go up the Chao Phraya river ,hopping on and off as we wished.The river runs through the middle of Bangkok and the scenery is very mixed with luxury hotels side by side with deprived areas.This is very usual here and the hotels seem to accept this as normal. No space is wasted. The vista included.lots of religious buildings in glorious gold and red.lots of wats and markets.We did the whole river then went to the Grand Palace which is stunning. We luckily have visited before but there were so many Japanese tourists groups it was impossible to gain access to get any photos.You really couln't move,what with the influx of the Russians and the Japanese, Thailand is full!

The river taxis are over stuffed with people and the ticket collector on one of them had the loudest, highest screechiest voice you have ever heard,Alan of course asked her to speak up which caused everyone to laugh.

We have become quite expert on traversing across Bangkok on the various forms of transport.I think our favourite  is still the sky train.So clean, lots of space and modern.

Think Alan forgot to mention the horrendous dog fight we witnessed yesterday when we went out of  of Bangkok.Five dogs involved and was very ,very aggressive. Thankfully the dogs were fighting each other and not us. I was terrified and just rooted to the spot.Alan thinks he is good with old ladies,children and dogs but not this time. Station staff used brooms to try and separate them  but all I could think of was why didn't I have my rabies jabs. I could see all the symtoms in the dogs of course! Everyone inlcuding the locals kept well back and that just increased my anxiety.So pleased when then train arrived, even though we had to cross the track just before..Today has been 34c , our last full day here.
Having some problems sending. photos but will try.

Some pictures

 

SOME DIFFERENT PICTURES

SUNDAYS PICTURES.

 

The pictures will be sent later as I am experiencing some interfereance from some source within this area.apologies.

ALTERNATIVE BANGKOK.

Today being Sunday we decided to take a local train and look at the Bangkok the tourists do not normally see. The day was again very warm and humid finishing in the electrical storm that we are now getting used to.

 

There are a few differences of opinion between "Queenie" the tour guide and myself.Thailand is naturally beautiful particularly around its coastline.In my view some of the areas behind the large towns shows a massive difference in the standards of living.The cultural bit is impressive,the hi tech bit is very impressive,what is not in my view impressive is the lack of basic standards and hygiene afforded to the obviously very poor people. Thailand is no longer cheap and the Russians have pushed up the prices of almost everything.I would guess the money is not filtering down to the poorer people,nor on poorer infrastructures.There is a massive imbalance,and people in the U.K. should be thankful for what they have.

 

There are people here living in shacks amid rubbish a few feet from the railway,and children and dogs wandering on the tracks,its incredible,at the other end of the scale the shopping centres in the main towns are splendid by any standards. As usual, the religious buildings are outstanding,but one rusted tin roof is very much like another,my view is that Thailand may suffer in the future without a different plan.I will include some different pictures of Thailand for you to look at,the ones that do not come from the tourist offices.

A small glimpse of Bangkok driving

I did consider hiring a motorbike,then the man said,"Insurance"? not needed, you break it you buy it! There is a bit of a scam going on here,beware hotels hiring scooters,motorcycles, etc..can you imagine the situation if one had a bad accident.Some hotels act as agents for hirers,it could be chaos and financial disaster,let the train take the strain! Oh yes and they are supposed to drive on the left,but that is only theory.There are no old people crossing the road,they dont make it,but it is a nice little temple in the middle of the traffic!Drivers are flat out in first and second gear,then the horn takes over,oh wow!

BANKOK WALK ABOUT

Having survived the overnight trip to Bangkok from Krabi I now feel the need not to suggest this mode of transport to anyone that may consider it. There is a great deal of deception in the description of the transport arrangements.In my carefully considered opinion,forget it!

 

Today we have been travelling around Bangkok by using the Skytrain system and the MRT (Mass rapid Transport).In short it is brilliant! clean,modern,fast and economical.The fact that the resident tour operator( Queenie) nor I, speak or read Spaghetti pays homage to the clear and precise Mapping which is obviously a copy of the london underground mapping. Count the stations and thats it,work out the juctions and its done.

 

 

Forget any thoughts of Taxis,Tuk Tuks,or mopeds,the traffic is suicidal,and walking is not really an option,the paths are an absolute disaster,breaking up,badly made and yet the new building is very good. We went to I.T.City,which is the temple to current electronic development,all the major manufacturers are there and it covers,computers,cameras,audio,TV, security systems, and you name it, its there.The centre is five floors high and massive, it taught me how much I did not know!I havent mastered an abacus yet,and some of the kit would even baffle a six year old. I understand there have been riots in Bangkok today, but we have not seen nor been involved in any of them.This evening there has been a noisy electrical storm and pouring rain,at least it is warm.! So freeze on you lot,ho, ho,

Overnight bus

Well what can I say except it was character building.Our main reason for taking the bus was door to door service and not having to keep changing ,taxi,to bus to train etc with a delay between bus and train.The first van arrived looking like a chicken run on wheels,broken windscreen etc. This took us to a jungle clearing (they called it a bus station),see pictue, make your own mind up.Finally after a further 2 more hours in the scorching heat a super duper touring bus arrived.Yippee.After travelling for 2 hours we were told to get off the bus and wait for another one.No explaination and their english understanding our questions disappeared.amazing.another bus arrived looking very much like the 1st one but seating and space were diabolical.

At 01.30 hrs we made a stop at a large roadside something or other.Can't begin to tell you how awful this place was especially the loos.They were insisting we eat but there was know way we would have anything that didn't come in it's own tin.Couple of cold drinks and we were outa there.the driver had been fairly steady but was doing a good impression of Sebastion Vettal for the last 10 miles.We think he was running out of hours.We were then dumped on the pavement at 6am near nothing.We had a vague idea of where our hotel was so when they tried to say very far away,we bluffed it and said not so,or something akin to that.!!!!

Hotel lovely,made us coffee and sorted out a room for us early(extra half a day to pay of course).Well worth it.We are now going to explore and eat.think we would have been better with our original plan.!!!