Solo Travel Adventure Number 1!: Thailand

View from the 83rd floor!

No idea why some of these pictures have jumped up to the top of the page and why others are clearly out of sequence ... sorry! Just scroll down please. My technical skills obviously have not improved in the last 10 months!

Traffic congestion - multi coloured taxis keep it interesting!

Typical skyline mixture

Thailand - my last destination before returning home!

The overnight train from Vientiane in Laos, over the Friendship Bridge into Thailand and then on to Bangkok was another adventure. 13 hours of rattling around in a very cold air-conditioned carriage where the crew converted the seats into bunks at around 7pm! The journey cost 1900 Baht for two, but the food on board added another 1200 Baht making it the most over priced edible cardboard I have ever tasted! However as the total equated to less than thirty pounds each, I suppose I couldn't really complain! I took the top bunk as has become my custom, however in these particular trains they never turn off either the lights nor the air conditioning and as I was pretty close to both, I got very little sleep and slept in as many layers as I could find - over my eyes too!
Anyway apart from the actual journey, passing through immigration was very straight forward and hey presto we were in Bangkok! The guest house is small and on the outskirts of the city, but easily accessed by Sky Train with the closest station being just a 2 minute walk away. Paying less than six pounds each means that there are few luxuries - like an en-suite, or a wardrobe - but we do have quiet air-conditioning and a balcony and the hostess is full of useful information and very friendly too so I am well pleased!
Exploring the city by Skytrain, underground and boat has opened our eyes to modern sky scrapers and traditional stilted water front houses - not to mention the vibrantly coloured taxis - each in one metallic colour, but fuschia, electric blue, bright red, vibrant yellow or a real tango orange! They really brighten up the streets where flyovers and underpasses criss-cross constantly and alleyways and narrow lanes lead off into dark, ramshackle areas where goodness knows what might occur at any time it seems!
A day trip to the famous bridge on the River Kwai was a little different from expected, with only the cemetery really giving us much of a feeling about the harsh history of the area. The bridge still stands and a slow train still crosses it - modern and full of tourists of course. A nearby museum tells a lot about Thai history in general and the trip on a section of the 'Death Railway' gave me a real mixture of emotions: disrespectful to all those who had died because people are now making money from the railway they built and yet somehow I also hoped that all those who slaved so hard might be pleased to know that their captors were not ultimately victors and the line is open in a free country and enjoyed by many who are still today hearing their story and hopefully vowing silently that such inhumanity never happens again. One can hope.
The rest of the time here has been spent exploring temples, towers and palaces and succumbing to some of the tailors who seem to work round the clock to supply their customers within seemingly ridiculous time frames - 12 shirts, made to measure, within 36 hours for around thirty pounds each! Not for me I hasten to add, as my backpack is bulging already!