| Bas Huijgen, travel |
English only |
| Thailand Thailand turned out to be really even better than I expected the people are open and very tolerant. Easy to speak to (many of them speak reasonable english) and the atmosphere is just really relaxed, the Thai really seem to enjoy life a lot and as long as you are nice about their great king (who is pretty cool may I add) you will find smiling faces everywhere. Bangkok I flew into Bangkok international airport which is not very big but a nice airport anyway, the buffet on the far northern side of the airport is really good and serves good thaifood for about 40 baht a portion (1 baht = 0.028 Eurocent). There are several ways to get from the airport to the city. First there is a taxi, it will cost you around 450 baht or so then there are shuttle buses that will take you for around 200-300 baht, then there is a good air conditioned city bus that (no.2 airport bus) costs 70 baht, and last but not least and worth the experience, there is a train that takes you to central station for 10 baht. Make sure you end up with 500 baht for the airport departure tax as it can only be paid in cash. Buy a local English newspaper (i.e. the Bangkok post) to catch up on the local news. Once you are there there are lot's of places to stay, I stayed in the area around the German embassy and the Institut Français. I stayed in a pretty reasonable hotel clean enough, aircon and hot and cold water, for only 320 baht per night, make sure you get receipts of everything you pay, I had payed in advance in good faith and they wanted extra money off of me in the end, a better alternative in the area is the Malaysia hotel, good clean rooms well established service. Have a look at their webpage. Sightseeing is pretty easy, you can take the bus or the skytrain (very new and efficient) or just walk. Be sure to look around the riverfront, chinatown and do not miss the What Po temple complex with it's great school of massage on the complex grounds... for 180 baht you get a long great thai treatment. Food in Thailand is all you expected and more, I ate at the street stands most of the time and had some most exquisite culinairy experiences.. the food is cheap and great and safe to eat, make sure you get bottled water though. Thailand has made it to my number three favorite country, I loved it a lot and will be back, long live the king! |
Travel Links to destinations: |