01/05/14
Yesterday we travelled back from Koh lanta to Bangkok. The 3 hour minibus journey from the island to Krabi airport was a living nightmare. Eva, who has been complaining of a cough for the last few days hurled on the packed bus. We had pre-empted this and had a plastic bag at the ready - unfortunately it was too small so Hannah’s hat was used for containment. As luck would have it, at this point the bus was queuing up for the car ferry so we were able to open the door and escape the mess and stench. Sorry other passengers. My new waterproof bag from Kathmandu (the shop) has it’s first mission in carrying all the soggy stuff back to Bangkok. Thanks blue waterproof bag.
We check back into the same hotel we were in before, the Silom City (at a slightly cheaper rate than expedia gave us – 180B/night) and for the next 3 days we basically travelled around Bangkok spending money. Relatively small amounts of money, just lots of them.
We went to Khaosan Road (from the tuktuk on the way we saw a few streets barricaded off with rolls and rolls of razor wire – there has been a bit of political unrest in some areas of the city here recently) and did what everybody else was doing – drank beer and bought lots of tourist tat – tshirts, skirts, silk boxers etc. According to the girls the best thing about the days shopping is the plastic bags the stuff came back to the hotel in – they have been made into DIY 'ice skates' for the slippery wooden floor in our room.
We popped into a massage/nail/hair place on Silom road. The girls all got a haircut so I took it upon myself to indulge in an hour of foot reflexology. As usual on a trip into the unknown, the kids had brought a toy with them each. On this occasion Eva had brought her loud, extremely annoying rubber chicken. This and the quiet serenity of the massage place did not mix. Luckily the masseurs, owner and few patrons saw the funny side and invited us in (provided Eva put the chicken down and step away).
The reflexology was amazing. Pretty uncomfortable on the sore ankle and some parts made me cringe (for example the toe pulling), but by the end I felt great. Eva complaining she had a sore bottom was a little off-putting I must admit. The rubber chicken (which had been left in the waiting area) was brought to me mid-massage, much to the amusement of everybody around.
The whole thing cost us about $45AUS, which I can’t sniff at.
We have also bought: silk kimonos, a suit for me (cost about $200AU), rings, more t-shirts, tiny elephants, skirts, a painting and a fair few thai massages.
03/05/14 – Water park
Yesterday, for our last day in Bangkok we headed to a water park that Mr Google had told us about. After a 40 minute cab ride we arrived at the Bangkapi mall – upto the top floor and we found the Fantasia Lagoon – a waterpark ontop of a shopping mall! It seems this hasn’t been fully integrated into the tourist trail of Bangkok as the entry fee was only 100B – 99% of the patrons were locals. We all had fun on the rides – Hannah ensured we all went down them all lots of times. Eva loved the pirate themed part of the park – lots of crys of ‘Aaargh me harties’ etc. Lunch was sausages on sticks and some chicken satay flavoured popcorn Kerry had bought from a 7/11 the night before – strangely nice. We also had a couple of ‘bubble shakes’ – a hit with the Tubbys.
We left mid afternoon and after a quick trip around the shopping mall (and a few t-shirts later – moomin themed!) we hit the taxi ranks. I had arranged a fitting for my new suit and so needed to get going. Our taxi driver home was called Mr Pornchoke.
After the suit fitting (‘Arenas Fashion’ close to our hotel on Silom road) we took yet another taxi to the famous MBK shopping mall which we instantly recognized from our previous trip here. We needed a new bag to house all our new possessions. I like a bit of a haggle and it seems to be the thing to do at the MBK. I may have taken it a little far with one woman who refused to sell to us! Oh well, her loss. We found the same stuff cheaper at another place. The markup on this stuff must be pretty low as there is seemingly so much competition. We also bought a new handbag for Kerry.
My new suit was delivered to the hotel around midnight and then we slept, ready for an early start in the morning.
Now we are in Kuala Lumpar. Hannah and I enjoyed the Lego movie on the plane and once we had arrived we taxied it to a close hotel we had booked online – the very badly named ‘Double star hotel’ about 10 minutes from the Malaysian F1 track. We found this place on the web; cheap and it ticked all the boxes – aircon, wifi and 2 dbl beds. No breakfast required as we were leaving early. We paid $45 for the night. On arrival we weren’t too impressed. The room was hot and very slow wifi but after a complain both were sorted. The place is brand new, as is the restaurant next door [alimaju.com] – we had indian dosas for lunch (called ‘thosai’ here) and roti with drinks for 17 ringgits (about $7AU). We aimed for a 7.30pm bedtime, but as usual Eva held on till about 8.30pm. Then we realized we were in another time zone and it was actually 9.30pm. Damn. 5am start tomorrow.
04/05/14 – To Nepal
Taxi to the airport went without incident. Pretty high price for the taxi from the hotel (60r), but then I guess it was early. We passed the brand new Airasia terminal KLIA2 that opened only a few days ago. Last time we got an airasia flight from here we missed it as we had bussed it to the wrong terminal. I hope this process is now easier!
One good thing about travelling with kids is that we get to skip the queues and be the first onto the plane. Pleasure is achieved when sliding in front of the queueing business class passengers. It’s the small things.
After Thailand and all our purchases, our bags have doubled. We are not at about 65kg total weight.
I write this from the flight to Kathmandu. We are 3 hours into a 4 hour flight, so hopefully some good mountain views from the plane soon!
Yesterday we travelled back from Koh lanta to Bangkok. The 3 hour minibus journey from the island to Krabi airport was a living nightmare. Eva, who has been complaining of a cough for the last few days hurled on the packed bus. We had pre-empted this and had a plastic bag at the ready - unfortunately it was too small so Hannah’s hat was used for containment. As luck would have it, at this point the bus was queuing up for the car ferry so we were able to open the door and escape the mess and stench. Sorry other passengers. My new waterproof bag from Kathmandu (the shop) has it’s first mission in carrying all the soggy stuff back to Bangkok. Thanks blue waterproof bag.
We check back into the same hotel we were in before, the Silom City (at a slightly cheaper rate than expedia gave us – 180B/night) and for the next 3 days we basically travelled around Bangkok spending money. Relatively small amounts of money, just lots of them.
We went to Khaosan Road (from the tuktuk on the way we saw a few streets barricaded off with rolls and rolls of razor wire – there has been a bit of political unrest in some areas of the city here recently) and did what everybody else was doing – drank beer and bought lots of tourist tat – tshirts, skirts, silk boxers etc. According to the girls the best thing about the days shopping is the plastic bags the stuff came back to the hotel in – they have been made into DIY 'ice skates' for the slippery wooden floor in our room.
We popped into a massage/nail/hair place on Silom road. The girls all got a haircut so I took it upon myself to indulge in an hour of foot reflexology. As usual on a trip into the unknown, the kids had brought a toy with them each. On this occasion Eva had brought her loud, extremely annoying rubber chicken. This and the quiet serenity of the massage place did not mix. Luckily the masseurs, owner and few patrons saw the funny side and invited us in (provided Eva put the chicken down and step away).
The reflexology was amazing. Pretty uncomfortable on the sore ankle and some parts made me cringe (for example the toe pulling), but by the end I felt great. Eva complaining she had a sore bottom was a little off-putting I must admit. The rubber chicken (which had been left in the waiting area) was brought to me mid-massage, much to the amusement of everybody around.
The whole thing cost us about $45AUS, which I can’t sniff at.
We have also bought: silk kimonos, a suit for me (cost about $200AU), rings, more t-shirts, tiny elephants, skirts, a painting and a fair few thai massages.
03/05/14 – Water park
Yesterday, for our last day in Bangkok we headed to a water park that Mr Google had told us about. After a 40 minute cab ride we arrived at the Bangkapi mall – upto the top floor and we found the Fantasia Lagoon – a waterpark ontop of a shopping mall! It seems this hasn’t been fully integrated into the tourist trail of Bangkok as the entry fee was only 100B – 99% of the patrons were locals. We all had fun on the rides – Hannah ensured we all went down them all lots of times. Eva loved the pirate themed part of the park – lots of crys of ‘Aaargh me harties’ etc. Lunch was sausages on sticks and some chicken satay flavoured popcorn Kerry had bought from a 7/11 the night before – strangely nice. We also had a couple of ‘bubble shakes’ – a hit with the Tubbys.
We left mid afternoon and after a quick trip around the shopping mall (and a few t-shirts later – moomin themed!) we hit the taxi ranks. I had arranged a fitting for my new suit and so needed to get going. Our taxi driver home was called Mr Pornchoke.
After the suit fitting (‘Arenas Fashion’ close to our hotel on Silom road) we took yet another taxi to the famous MBK shopping mall which we instantly recognized from our previous trip here. We needed a new bag to house all our new possessions. I like a bit of a haggle and it seems to be the thing to do at the MBK. I may have taken it a little far with one woman who refused to sell to us! Oh well, her loss. We found the same stuff cheaper at another place. The markup on this stuff must be pretty low as there is seemingly so much competition. We also bought a new handbag for Kerry.
My new suit was delivered to the hotel around midnight and then we slept, ready for an early start in the morning.
Now we are in Kuala Lumpar. Hannah and I enjoyed the Lego movie on the plane and once we had arrived we taxied it to a close hotel we had booked online – the very badly named ‘Double star hotel’ about 10 minutes from the Malaysian F1 track. We found this place on the web; cheap and it ticked all the boxes – aircon, wifi and 2 dbl beds. No breakfast required as we were leaving early. We paid $45 for the night. On arrival we weren’t too impressed. The room was hot and very slow wifi but after a complain both were sorted. The place is brand new, as is the restaurant next door [alimaju.com] – we had indian dosas for lunch (called ‘thosai’ here) and roti with drinks for 17 ringgits (about $7AU). We aimed for a 7.30pm bedtime, but as usual Eva held on till about 8.30pm. Then we realized we were in another time zone and it was actually 9.30pm. Damn. 5am start tomorrow.
04/05/14 – To Nepal
Taxi to the airport went without incident. Pretty high price for the taxi from the hotel (60r), but then I guess it was early. We passed the brand new Airasia terminal KLIA2 that opened only a few days ago. Last time we got an airasia flight from here we missed it as we had bussed it to the wrong terminal. I hope this process is now easier!
One good thing about travelling with kids is that we get to skip the queues and be the first onto the plane. Pleasure is achieved when sliding in front of the queueing business class passengers. It’s the small things.
After Thailand and all our purchases, our bags have doubled. We are not at about 65kg total weight.
I write this from the flight to Kathmandu. We are 3 hours into a 4 hour flight, so hopefully some good mountain views from the plane soon!
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