Bangkok - 7th August 2009

A very early start, with breakfast at 6.30am; and what a breakfast it was; one of the best buffets I've ever had. So much choice! It was so nice to have cereal, and lots of delicious fruit, and Lily and Naomi enjoyed some banana loaf and eggs done just as you like them. We were out at 7am to wait for the minibus. We were transferred to a different minibus, and then we were off, off to Ayutthya again. It was a lot like the previous trip to Ayutthya, except the company was different and just as nice.
I met an Iraqi on the bus who had also been to Costa Rica, and had fallen in love with it. We talked a bit about his country which was interesting; cars have now taken over and the air is getting quite bad when it used to be so fresh. There were lots of civilians killed 2003-2006, but now it's getting much better and people are slowly adjusting to their new way of life. Some are finding it quite difficult as they've never been free before, so it's really weird.
He had been trying to get to Scotland to visit it, but it's really hard to get a visa to Scotland due to the war etc. He's done a TEFL course and a degree in Linguistics and now does that in Cambodia and has done it in Costa Rica which was a pretty cool thing to do. I guess that's why his English was so good! He, along with other Muslims don't eat pigs, they are like pets to them, so they get a proper burial too. I'm not quite sure I understand the theory to them being pets, seeing as they don't eat them as they are carnivores as they eat other animals if given the chance, unlike other creatures. His hope for the future for Iraq is for them to get a proper leader who will show off the country in all its beauty; for it's Gardens of Babylon, and it's mountain area and their livelihood from living off the flood plains in the south.
I was really glad I'd met him; he was the first Iraqi I'd ever met.
We arrived, and I wandered along to the bridge whilst the other two had a look around the strange museum that I hadn't paid much interest in the first time (as I'd been busy buying paintings!)
I also used this free time to go to the toilet which I was dying for. My parasite was still inside me and being a complete pain, despite trying to empty my stomach except when I was living next to a toilet!
On my way to the bridge, there was a baby leopard who was utterly adorable! He was drinking out of a toddlers bottle, it was just the sweetest thing.
I'd already seen the bridge, but I had another wee look at it, and on my way back to see how Lily and Naomi were getting on I got asked by a group of students if I'd answer a few questions. There must have been about 15 of them all asking a separate question each as they went round in the circle that they'd formed around me. I couldn't understand everything they were saying but thankfully I was able to look over their shoulders and read off the questions. It was all about my visit to the town.
We then headed off and had a lunch by the river, the same place as I'd been with the previous group. The food was lovely, rice and really delicious vegetables. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't eat much as I was scared about needing the toilet.
We then boarded a bamboo raft which was lots of fun! I was terrified of falling over and not only getting myself, but more importantly, my camera wet! Thankfully I didn't fall in! It was amazing how many people it carried. We were walking back and forth quite nervously! One of the other people crossed over to take a photo looking back at us and I was so nervous about her dropping the camera. It felt like quite a short ride, but I don't think it was. We'd been whizzed up the river in a speed boat (a rather speedy one!) and then peacefully floated back down again.
The elephant ride was next; Lily and I were taking lots of photos of Naomi and the elephants although I'm not sure so many were taken of us. It was still really good. The elephants were making lots of really adorable noises too! I was wearing sandles and I was able to feel with my foot the rough skin with all the hairs on; it was such a beautiful feeling. When we arrived some of the elephants were being fed bananas. I'd really wanted to take photos of them but we were unfortunatly hurried on to the elephants.
We boarded the train which was jam packed. Naomi was feeling rather tired and faint so she got one of the few seats available. I was feeling a bit rough but was able to stand up. I didn't get a particularly good view of the scenary, but it looked very green. The experience was more in the clunkiness of the ride and the unsteadiness. Despite going pretty slowly, I was still a bit scared, no wonder it's called the Death Train!
We then had a view of the waterfall, where we had time for a swim, although we couldn't really be bothered getting wet, just to be uncomfortable, and quite probably cold, on the minibus journey home. Lily had a fun time posing in various positions around the waterfall whilst Naomi and I took the photos. Lily's got an eye for a good photo.
We got safely on the right bus and were off back to Bangkok. It took absolutely ages, and I slept as much as possible.
We finally arrived back and had a subway whilst sitting on the sidewalk. Lily and Naomi both had pancakes with banana and chocolate sauce which looked delicious! They make pancakes a weird way here; it's more like a dough which they roll out and then spin around their head until it gets thin. It's amazing what street vendors can make. We wandered around the shops and Lily found some new tops. The pubs were pretty cool, we found a nice one with live music where we could have a birds eye view of the busy street; cats wandering around, Jack Sparrow (look-a-like) and random beggars hobbling around and crawling about harrassing people.
It was a really nice evening.