Well, after being back for nearly a week I must say that I’m starting to miss the delicious chicken skewers for 10 baht, sticky rice for 5 baht and just the smells of food everywhere on the streets…yep I have to face reality that anywhere here in Melbourne it costs all a bit more then in Thailand.

I left Melbourne on Thursday afternoon and arrived just after 20.30 into Bangkok International Airport. It is quite a big airport but all the signs are quite clear and just follow the people out of the plane and you’ll get where you need to go ;)

What is it with the border security staff as for some reason they are just never friendly…which isn’t how the rest of Thailand is…but even though she couldn’t smile at me…I did smile at her as I was in Thailand and what’s not to smile about that . So after collecting my suite case quite quickly I went through exit 2 and walked towards the place where Masako, the i-to-i coordinator was waiting for me…and yep there she was together with Nang (also part of the team in Thailand) and her daughter Sha la la, who was shy in the beginning but that was soon over…

It takes around 30 - 45 minutes to get to KT Guesthouse which is located in a residential area in Bangkok. I love KT Guesthouse…the staff is so friendly, looks all very nice and the bar is open for 24hours…YAY! Rooms all look good I had most of the times cold water - which was just lovely and one day I had warm water - which was horrible as it was just to warm outside (and inside, even with the aircon/fan on) to have a warm shower. The guesthouse also has a pool…what else do you want?

For some snacks etc you can walk along the street and you will find some nice street stalls with delicious chicken, pork balls and noodles…name it and its there! There is also a 7/11 convenience store at the corner which is literally under 30 seconds walking. There is a shop were you can get a Thai massage next to KT Guesthouse but I went to one 5 min. on the main street (walk to the 7/11 and then to the right - you will see a sign/shop within 5 minutes) and cost only 150 baht per hour! It just amazed me how cheap everything was in Thailand…and a massage of an hour in a western country will cost you at least 10x as much so make sure you get a Thai massage as it is just lovely.

If you have some extra time in Bangkok definitely visit the Grand Palace which is around 30 minutes away by taxi from the guesthouse (depending on traffic!). Taxi’s start with 35 baht on the meter - make sure you take a taxi with a meter - and charges you 2 baht for every 400 meters. The entrance fee for the Grand Palace is, now I forgot that it was 350 or 450…not sure but one of the 2 is right.

It is a beautiful complex with golden towers and lots more other cool things to see (see photos). You do need to cover your shoulders and need to wear long trousers or skirts for girls that are over the knees. Flops are ok to wear and if you are not dressed appropriate you are able to borrow clothes for a deposit of 100 baht which you will get back when you return the clothes.

I also went to Wat Pho in Bangkok, entrance was around 50 baht and the thing that was so cool about this place was that you can find the biggest Buddha in Thailand and this one is the 4th biggest one in the world! So definitely make sure you have a look….

On the Friday evening we had a nice Thai meal together (welcome dinner) with the team in Bangkok and the other volunteers that arrived…and I must say that the BBQ pork is just delicious!

On the Saturday we went, before we had to make ourselves ready to go to our final destination, to the Chatuchak weekend market which is just massive and sooo hot but so cool! There are lots and lots of shops and you can find anything you want, I bought loads of shorts for really cheap, food, t shirts for like 100 baht, souvenirs….name it and you can find it here! Guess the thing that made our experience just a bit different was that suddenly after so much heat it just started poring down so ridiculous hard that within 30 minutes the market was like a floating market…The market is partly inside and outside but I guess inside there are just holes in the roof and so we continued shopping through the rain…which was quite funny! We even got a present from one of the shop owners…a plastic bag to use as a hat  we needed that!

Luckily the rain only lasted for 1 hour and after that it wasn’t as heavy anymore and we had to get a taxi back to KT Guesthouse as we had to pack as we had to get the bus down south to Chumphon to take the ferry to Koh Tao. I also went to the elephant project in Surin so keep an eye out on my story as the rest will follow soon…..

• Thailand
• volunteer teaching Thailand
• conservation
• elephants
• Koh Tao
• Surin
• bangkok