Part 3

Even more pics........

Part 2

More pics......
Check out the one of Nick dabbing the lotus flower in the holy water, then touching his head with it. Tradition has it that you make a wish, as you do it. We're not sure what Nick wished for, but we think it was to find a nice lady!!

Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace (Part 1)

We took a day trip to visit some of the top tourists attractions, which included one of the Grand Palaces and (you know us) a number of temples.
We caught the river ferry down to The Grand Palace and shared the journey with the locals and a couple of monks.
The Palace complex was amazing, from the golden temples to the murals on the wall. The photos speak for themselves, so we'll shut up and you can just enjoy.
We're having to do this post in a number of parts, so keep scrolling.

Bangkok - continued

The 1st photo is of Kao San Road at night - a very lively place.
The next 2 photos are of the Ex-Prime Ministers house; a marvellous teak house that is part open air, part covered. Someone still lives there, so it is only open to the public on weekends.
3rd photo is our 1st journey on a tuk tuk.
Finally, our friend Nick arrives.

Bangkok

We left Langkawi and flew back to Penang, as the sea looked a bit rough and we didn't think we could stomach the return journey by ferry. We then caught a flight to Bangkok, our next destination.
When we arrived at our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised at how cool it was. It felt a bit like a cross between a school and a hippy commune. Have a look at the photo of Andrew sitting on a swing in the entrance or Shivani sitting at a table in the corridor. The wall behind Shivani was hand painted on and this theme continued throughout the whole place; our room had painted on pot plants and butterflies everywhere.
We only had a couple of days before Andrew's friend Nick arrived to meet us for a holiday out here, so we decided to check out Bangkok.
We visited a weekend market, which was absolutely massive; holding thousands of stalls selling everything from the most beautiful hand-carved teak furniture to key chains.
Our hotel was in "Old Bangkok", which was great, as we were getting to see how the real Bangkokians live and kept stumbling across little hidden temples like you see in the picture with a tuk-tuk whizzing past.
We were about a 10 minute walk to Kao San Road, a famed back-packer street, filled with restaurants and bars, which was nice for a wander. Especially when the guys in the lairy suit and funky sunglasses came cycling by. He was advertising a free buffet at a vegetarian restaurant called May Kaidees. Well, after putting in so much effort, we simply could not refuse and headed there immediately. The food was pretty good and they had a traditional Thai dancer there, who we found out was May Kaidee herself.

Langkawi

We took a ferry from Penang to Langkawi and stayed at a charming beach resort. Not much to say, as the pictures speak for themselves...... Lovely room, gorgeous pool, beautiful beach, you get the idea......

Penang and The Eastern Oriental Hotel

The 1st photo is just one we could have taken of the many colonial buildings dotted around Georgetown, Penang.

Street food or Hawker Centres, as they are known, have become our preferred method of eating out. Not only are they cheap, with a meal and drinks costing less than 4 pound, but you can see your food throughout the cooking process, including the preparation. It's a good place to chat to locals and other tourists, bewildered by the whole experience.
The photo of the one with red chairs, has been our favourite Hawker Centre so far on our entire trip. Very well organised with a stage for live performances, projection TV, waiters to take your drinks orders, and even free wifi!
So after saving all this money by eating at Hawker Centres, we decided to splash out for 1 night and stayed at The Eastern Oriental Hotel. Have a look at the room shots.... The one of Shivani sitting, is actually inside our walk in wardrobe. The palm tree and sunset was the view from our window, we kid you not!