Bangkok, Thailand

Today was a big travel day...about 13 hours give or take from Koh Phangan to Bangkok. Needless to say we were pretty exhausted when we arrived! Apart from a short walk to 7-Eleven for water and a couple of snacks all we could manage was a shower and some sleep.Also I finished reading Hedge Fund Wives today...it wasn't my kind of book really but was very light reading and filled some hours on the bus so can't complain.

Our mission for the next few days is to sort out our visa for Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and make some progress with possible itinirary for southern Africa. With that in mind we had breakfast at our hostel and did some internet research before heading to the Vietnamese embassy in the afternoon to apply for our visa. We had to leave our passports there until tomorrow, but we headed to the Laos embassy afterwards anyway to try to find out whether we could get a visa on arrival or if we should apply in advance. Apparently on arrival is no problem if crossing the border by land, but you do need some US$ for the fee. We got caught in peak hour traffic on the way back which made it an exhausting journey but good to have made some progress with our plans.In the evening we wandered around our neighbourhood of Silom, had a great Japanese dinner and had a bit of a look through the Pat Pong night market which was jam packed full of knock-off clothing, watches and other bits and pieces. Then home to sleep.

Today we made some more inroads on both our Asian visas and planning, as well as beginning to look ahead to southern Africa. In the afternoon we collected our passports from the Vietnamese Embassy then back to the hostel and then to the Mozambique Embassy...which had just closed when we arrived.In the evening we had dinner across the road from our hostel with an American girl, Jen, who was also staying at the hostel and picked up a few travel hints for Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. In particular she clued us into a 'secret' beach bungalow haven in Vietnam about 60km north of Nha Trang called Jungle Beach Resort. It sounds great so hopefully we will be able to make our way there in a couple of weeks time.

Today we really started to get some things locked in for Africa including booking our flight from Bangkok to Maputo (Mozambique) via Mumbai and Johannesburg to see Sandra's friend, Carla, who we will stay with for a few days before heading to Victoria Falls to join a 21 day Intrepid Travel Tour from Vic Falls to Cape Town. We are also checked all the visa's and looks like we are all clear provided we have onward tickets and yellow fever vaccinations, 6 monhs on our passports etc. What a relief!We also went back to the Mozamibue Embassy in the morning but nobody was there despite the opening times listed on the door, and then third time lucky we went back in the afternoon (after phoning). They said it would take 3 working days for visas, but also that visa on arrival was possible so we decided we would do that rather than stay in Bangkok over the weekend.For dinner we made our way back to the Japanese place we'd been to two nights earlier, but they were about to close and we ended up with luke warm miso soup and teryaki beef which didn't go down to well...shame because it had been so great there the first time.

With much of our travel and visas etc locked away, today we explored a bit more of the sights and sounds of Bangkok. First stop was the Golden Buddah which is about 3.5 tonnes of solid gold atop a pituresque 4 storey temple. We kept travelling by foot from there westward towards the river and eventually located a ferry stop. We took about 3 stops northbound for 14 baht each and then disembarked for a brief walk to Wat Pho, the site of one of the largest reclining (i.e lying down) Buddah's going around. However before we could find the entrace we were sweet talked into a tuk-tuk tour which fairly quickly became clear was a waste of time so we called it off at the first stop and caught a taxi to check out Siam Square.Siam Square is apparently the hip and happening place for shopping and being seen for young, wealthy Thais and also seems to attract it's fair share of wealthy tourists looking for real-deal clothing and accessories rather than the cheap imittions available at the many street markets. It was interesting to see, but not really my cup of tea so after dinner we thought we'd head back to our hostel. I'm not sure exactly why but for some reason we ended up walking the 3km back home which meant we were bloody exhausted by the time we got there. Sometimes hailing taxis is almost as exhausting though as many drivers speak very little english which makes it hard to give directions, as well as some refusing to take you if it doesn't suit them, or refusing to switch on the meter...such is Bangkok!Anyway back at our hostel we recouperated with some food and a shower, a beer or two before taking yet anoher taxi to the Banyan Tree Hotel to check out the Vertigo Bar located on the roof of the 61st floor. It is a truly spectacular view, expecially given it is all unenclosed with only handrails around the sides. The drinks were massively overpriced (as we'd been warned) so we drank our drinks slowly while we enjoyed the view. Afterwards back at the hotel we played some cards and enjoyed another drink before calling it a night.

Today was our last day at Lub D hostel, sp we had breakfast, packed up and checked out at 12pm leaving our bags in storage while we headed 15km north to check out the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Wow this market is absolutely massive with literally hundreds of stalls selling everything from clothes, bags, shoes, furntiure, souvenirs, food, pets and you-name-it. This is where the Thai's go for cheap market buying but it also attracts its fair share of tourists as well. Unlike the Pat Pong night market, however, there are relatively few knock-off tshirts, watches and the like so if that's what you're after then this may not be the place to go...but worth a look just for the spectacle.Afterwards we returned to our hostel, had a great lunch of duck noodle soup ($1 each) and took one last walk around the block via Pat Pong market before some last minute accommodation booking for Chiang Mai. At around 7pm we grabbed our backpacks and took yet another taxi to Hua Lumpong Railway Station for the 14 hour overnight trip to Chiang Mai in Thailand's north about 700km away.Chatuchak mpukat Weekend Market, Pat Pong Market, Duck House, then catch the train at 7.35pm from Hua Lumpong Station.