Bangkok, Thailand

Friday to Sunday, 10 - 12 November 2006

Our taxi from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Bangkok is stopped at a police roadblock. While the recent coup may have passed off without a bullet being shot, it's a bit unnerving. Our fears are put to rest when the taxi driver explains in reverential tones that King Bhumibol's calvalcade has passed by and the motorway must be cleared for him. The royal family are held in universally high esteem in Thailand and you are advised not to say a bad word about them. We give an understanding "ah!" and sit back, wondering whether waiting for a king is better than waiting for the Dublin Port Tunnel to be finished.

The hub for backpackers in Bangkok is Khao San road but, on good advice, we stay on Ram Bhuttri road, at the Ram Bhuttri Village Inn. The rooms are adequate and (a big plus for Leahanne) it has a swimming pool. On the downside, the hotel is under siege. A strip of tailors' shops lead up to the entrance and a dozen young men, dressed in the finest Flash Harry threads, try to seduce you with their bon homie and subtle sales pitches like "Hey Irish!", "Here is my card, I give you good suit!" and (for the early day passers-by) "What's the story, morning glory?". It's amusing the first time you hear it and politely refuse. By the twentieth time, when you tell them no, you don't want to be dressed like a blaxploitation pimp, you feel like wringing their necks.

We didn't really take to Bangkok. It may have been to do with the sticky heat and traffic. It might also have to do with us feeling that, while in Russia and China we might have been a bit off the beaten track, Bangkok is a mecca for foreign travellers. It shows in the mass of western bars, restaurants and shops around the place. This takes away a bit from the mystique of the city. The streets around Khao San are filled with over-tatooed and under-washed Westerners, doing their best impressions of Sixties flower children. We also see dozens of men, mostly middle-aged, with their young Thai "girlfriends". Are these sex tourists or is it true love?

All in all, the scene is not a pretty one and we are glad to move on.

For more pictures, click here.