Chiang Mai

From Kanchanaburi we moved on to Ayutthaya where I celebrated my birthday, then Sukhothai. Both are ancient capitals of Thailand and have lots of Wat's (temples) and Cheddi (burial tombs for cremated remains of kings). We were a bit horrified on arriving at our guesthouse in Ayutthaya as it looked like it was in a kind of slum, but our rooms were fine if the bathroom was a bit mank and the lady who owned the guesthouse was so nice she more than made up for it. As she said "small guesthouse, big take care". For both Ayutthaya and Sukhothai we rented some bikes to take in the ruins as they cover quite a distance, Ayutthaya seemed a bit more impressive and the local people were just so so nice. We cycled through a village to get to the elephant sanctuary and every single child (and a few of the adults) waved and called "hello", Innes' bike chain also came off his bike and we were offered some assistance from some little girls who couldn't speak any english then he had it fixed for free by a man u fan with a spanner at a local garage. Really really nice people.

We travelled between Ayutthaya and Sukhothai by train and were given free food and drink by hostesses- it felt like we were on a plane. The bus today was not so posh but cheaper. We're liking the look of Chiang Mai so far, the guide book describes it as a city with a village feel and we're certainly picking up on that so far. Rabbit warrens of narrow streets where tuk tuks, cars and mopeds squeeze past each other. We're planning on some trekking followed by a traditional Thai massage :)

Tiger Temple & Erawan Falls

Well we've been on some lovely trips recently. We went to a Tiger Temple, which is a sanctuary run by monks for lots of other animals too. We got to have our pictures taken stroking the tigers (didn't want to tell you this beforehand mum!) Nobody was eaten the day we went though, the tigers all seemed pretty chilled out. We also got to pet ponies, deer, we could've petted some hogs but they were a bit dirty.

Another day we went on a full day action packed mejobby, which was good value for money and easy for us as everything is organised for you but we felt that we could've done with some more time, especially in the national park. So..it included Erawan Waterfalls which is 7 tiers of falls, all really pretty. Also the Death Railway built by POW taken by Japanese during WWII, and the hellfire cutting where they basically had to cut a massive pass through hillside using just handtools and working day and night. We rode on part of the railway and saw the bridge on the river kwai too. Today we had a bit of a chillout to recover from yesterday but on our stroll around town came accross the war cemetary. It was really moving to read the inscriptions on the graves and I was in floods of tears. We're glad to be moving on tomorrow though Ayutthaya (might not be correct spelling) is our next stop.

Sawadee Kanchanaburi

That first word sorta means 'hello'! We've had a really intense experience of Bangkok over the past few days, despite the effects of the jet lag which means we don't tend to get up til lunch time (5 the first day!)

Lots of strolling street markets
Offers of 'ping pong' for Innes
Lots of Buddha's, some are absolutely huge!
loads of gold leaf- especially in the grand palace section
lots of taking in the sights and smells (pongy)
and unfortunately lots of being a target for tourist cons, a couple of which we fell for:

"Grand Palace close half day holy day today I hail tuk tuk for you go shopping" All of which was then completed fairly fast, didn't work so well when they also tried it the second day in a row. Everyone is really nice in Bangkok, but its mostly because they want your money.

So..we caught a minibus today to Kanchanaburi, which is where the bridge on the river Kwai is, we'll be spending a few days here for some sightseeing before moving on. Our room is right on the river and the view is beautiful, although the floating disco/karaoke which zoomed past earlier disturbed our peace a little. More mosquitoes here than Bangkok too- to much pollution there for them!

I've arrived!

Hello!
We're here in Bangkok, just off Koh Sarn Road in a nice lil place called Merry V.
Totally loving it so far, so very warm! Learnt a bit of Thai from the taxi driver on our 2 hour drive from the airport, trust us to arrive at the busiest time of day!

Just about to go check out the night market if we can find it, looking forward to exploring it all in daylight tomorrow.