Myanmar
(Burma)
and
Thailand
2004
Tuesday - 30th December, 2003
Sydney to Bangkok
A gorgeous warm day to set off on this long-awaited holiday. We decide to start our adventure right from the front door so with backpacks on, we walk down to Hamilton Station. From here it’s an easy two and a half hour train ride to Sydney's Central Station and then ten minutes to the International Airport. We're over three hours early but already people are lined up to book in. At the British Airlines desk we're asked to move over to the next counter where the check-in lady gives us the unbelievable, incredible, mind-blowing news that 'we're upgrading you to Business Class' !!!!!!!!!!! This is our dream come true and the best bit is that we can now spend the next three hours lounging around in the Qantas Club rooms. Everything is free - food, newspapers, magazines and every type of alcohol imaginable. This really is 'us', we decide, so we act like total snobs drinking wine and turning our noses up at the riffraff down below.
On the plane we find that Business Class is even better than we expected as this is not just 'ordinary' business class but the old first class. This means we get individual little cocoon-like seats that totally flatten out to a real bed. We're so excited but pretend we're cool and ignore all the losers heading for the back of the plane. We agree that there really should be a separate entrance for 'cattle class' - such undesirables, darling!
Of course, we must have champagne and Kir Royales and dinner is a la carte with three courses. This is such luxury and a shame to waste it sleeping but the bed is so comfortable and I manage about four hours straight. Never arrived anywhere feeling so great. Bangkok is hot and humid as usual even though it's ten thirty at night. The airport bus has just left so we ask another couple if they want to share a taxi into town which means that we're at Khao San Road in half an hour. We head straight for Mamas Guesthouse where luckily they have one room left. It's basic and windowless but we'll move to better spot in the morning. Right now we just want to eat and have a drink. There's a shabby looking Japanese Restaurant next door so that'll do. Don't stay up long as we've got a lot planned for tomorrow. Sleep in our clothes.
Wednesday - 31st December, 2003
Bangkok, Thailand
New Years Eve - very excited about spending it here in exotic Thailand. We wake early and set off from Mamas towards Soi 1 to look for a guesthouse in this much quieter area. It's only a ten minute walk from all the action in Khao San Road but it's in a lovely residential area with stacks of atmosphere. On the way, we visit a Chinese temple overlooking a wide klong. This is our first taste of Buddhism for the trip and I feel ecstatic. Turning left into Soi 1 we head for the Bamboo Guesthouse which we found last March on our way home from Egypt. It's just perfect and today they have one double room left - so many things going right for us already this trip. We have breakfast on the street then grab our gear from Mamas and check into the Bamboo.
Our second floor room is big and airy with wood panelled floors and walls. Windows along one wall look out onto the verandahs of old teak houses, so close we can almost touch them. There's a narrow klong below but it's so filthy it's more like a drain and we get a foul whiff every now and again - it's Asia after all. The shared bathrooms are clean, though, and the lounging around area is fantastic - all this for only 220 baht a night. There's the same poor little dog with a bucket on his head to stop him scratching a skin disease on his back. He's blind as well and keeps bouncing off the chair legs - must be very loved. The only thing wrong with it here is the grouchy old owner. His wife is sweet but he and the grandmother walk around like someone just died. Too bad for them, we say.
We don't unpack much gear as we hope to be leaving tomorrow. Cold showers cool us down as the humidity is high even this early. We’ve forgotten to bring towels with us so we dry ourselves with a sarong. Now we wander around the market stalls in Khao San Road and then look for a travel agent in Thanon Rambutri. We'd decided to wait till we get to Bangkok to arrange our flights to Myanmar as they'll be cheaper here than if we’d booked from home. The only risk is that we might not be able to get there when we want. Hopefully we'll be able to fly out tomorrow, the first of January, but this will only give us today to book. If we do have to hang around Bangkok for a few days longer, well so be it. Bangkok is one of our favourite places and this is our fifth time here but there's still so much to see. We also want to get clothes made so we'll need a few days either at the beginning or at the end of the trip to get measured and fitted.
Luck is on our side again and we book cheap flights to Yangon with Myanmar Airways International (MAI) for tomorrow morning. We have to be back between five and six o'clock tonight to pick up the tickets. Now we cross over to Mamas for our usual massages. Sharlo and her husband are here and baby Puchai has grown so much. Love the massage like always and feel so at home in their little room. Mark says ‘Mr Mama’ is the best masseur in the world. Afterwards we eat shrimp and chicken on the street and drink Beer Chang to celebrate our first day back in Asia. The smells and the sight of all the food stalls along this street make me happier than I can say. It's so familiar and we feel very grateful to be here.
Our plan now is to walk to Wat Saket. It’s on the map I'm trying to decipher but it takes Mark to actually find it. We spend a hot half hour walking in the sun before finding some shade along a busy klong. The temple is on a hill but almost hidden by trees and the area around the base is wonderfully green and cool. By the time we get to the temple, though, we're dripping with sweat. At the top are orange-robed monks, lots of Thai tourists and great views of Bangkok. We ring temple bells and spin prayer wheels on the way down before jumping in a tuktuk to take us to Wang Suan Phakkat. This is a traffic-jammed half hour ride from Wat Saket and we hope it'll be worth the headache of getting there.
Wang Suan Pakkat is also known as the Lettuce Farm Palace and consists of five traditional Thai houses all made of warm, dark wood. It sits amongst pretty green gardens set out with ponds and little bridges. It's not exactly peaceful here, though, as the palace is next to a main road and the traffic noise is inescapable. We enjoy ourselves anyway eating ice-creams under a tree and wandering around the beautiful buildings. Each house is elevated off the ground and joined to each other with wooden walkways and the whole place looks over a large pond. We cool ourselves with coloured cane fans that come as part of the ticket price and enjoy the elegant Lacquer Pavilion at the rear of the palace.
Enough sightseeing for today, so we suffer another traffic-choked tuktuk ride back to Khao San Road. We're both feeling tired but don't want to give in just yet. In Thanon Phra Sumen, we like the look of the Pavarati Bar and drink a jug of Carlsberg beer sitting on stools at the bar. The atmosphere is quite upmarket but still casual enough for backpackers. It's good to sit down but we become so relaxed that we decide to go back to the room to rest. The Bamboo Guesthouse is close by - across a small bridge over the klong and then through a couple of alleyways lined with small shops and lots of people sitting outside their homes.
With the overhead fan going, we both fall asleep. Just on dark Mark asks me the time. We can't believe that we've forgotten to pick up our plane tickets! Mark races off to see if he can do anything while I tell myself not to stress. Is this payback for all the things that have gone our way in the last two days? Mark is away for an age but finally arrives back with two towels and the tickets. The travel agent had still been open, thank Buddha - now we can go out and celebrate.
After another cold shower we walk to the big park on the river but nothing seems to be happening here yet. Across the road is a string of trendy Thai restaurants which we head for to get something to eat. We pick the Dog Days Cafe because it's small and atmospheric - and it's air-conditioned. We have salad and pork noodles and break out our duty free Bacardi and bourbon. After a few drinks we decide to take on Khao San Road before it gets too busy. A big bulb-flashing archway has been erected at the entrance just for tonight and the street is even crazier than ever. Hundreds of backpackers and young Thai people are having a great time already. It's only nine thirty but we won't stay here for long. We don't think it's a great idea to be here at midnight for two reasons really. Firstly it'll be jam packed with pissed idiots (backpackers) and secondly because if there was to be a terrorist attack against westerners, Khao San Road would be a likely spot on New Years Eve. We're not paranoid about it but no need to take obvious chances.
This street is so electrifying tonight and we're shoulder to shoulder. We peel off from the crowd moving along the street and somehow manage to find a table at the open-air Cyber Cafe. Music is coming from all directions and the excitement is catching. A couple of drinks later we head for nearby Soi Rambutri where most of the backpacker bars and cafes are situated across from the temple. Every night the cafe owners set up tables and chairs along the temple wall so we find a good people-watching spot opposite Sawasdee Guesthouse. We love sitting here in the warm night air and feel very at home.
Apparently the main fireworks will be happening down on the Chao Praya River so our next stop is a huge open-air restaurant that overlooks the water. Ferries and boats strung with party lights are slowly making their way towards the bridge so we know we're in the right spot. Mark orders a mushroom soup which literally smells like the klong outside our room so we share my battered fish. At last it's midnight and the fireworks display is surprisingly spectacular. What a thrill to be here!
Now it's time to get some sleep, though, before our early start tomorrow and the beginning of our Myanmar adventure.
Thursday - 1st January, 2004
Bangkok to Yangon, Myanmar
New Years Day. The alarm wakes us at six and we're speeding off to Don Muang Airport by seven o'clock. Bangkok drivers are notoriously mad and our elderly sweet-looking driver is no exception. Like our ride-from-hell experience out to the airport last March, we do hair-raising overtaking maneuvers on the left shoulder and get up to terrifying speeds on the freeway. So glad to get here!
Inside we’re told to check into Thai Airways although we've paid for the cheaper MAI flight. Upstairs we find a restaurant we've never seen before and have a relaxing breakfast before going through immigration. The plane is late so I spend an hour lying on the floor in the morning sunshine while Mark takes pictures of Gate 12 and our missing plane. The flight is only an hour across the Gulf of Mottama in the Andaman Sea and at last we land in hot, sunny Myanmar.
It's hard to say Myanmar and not Burma and to say Yangon and not Rangoon - a remnant of old Social Studies classes in primary school. The Irrawaddy River is now disappointingly called the Ayeyarwady - not so romantic, I think. Apparently it was always called Myanmar and it was the British who made all the name changes. After the 1988 Uprising everything reverted back to its original name. Anyway no matter what the name, we're here and let the journey begin!
There's a one hour time difference so we put our watches back to 11.30am. Outside the airport we're greeted with the usual taxi-driver crush and we're soon whisked away by a beaming Mr. Zaw. Our packs are thrown in the back of his van while Mr. Zaw gives us a quick language lesson in Burmese. Say 'mingalaba' for 'hello' and 'cezu tinbadeh' for 'thank-you'. The weather is perfect and the half-hour drive into Yangon shows how very green it is here. |
