[blog] my S.E.A. backpack 2011 trip

Menu

 

South East Asia backpack trip animation

 

SEA trip at EveryTrail

↑ Menu ↑

Countries and cities visited :

Backpack trip by my own :

But also
  • 3 days bus transportation (local, VIP, minivan)
  • 3 nights bus transportation (sleeping bed, VIP, super VIP)

↑ Menu ↑


Day by day

Middle East or one day at Dubaï, UAE

Thursday 8
Landed in Dubai at 00:30am. Night in the airport.

Ski resort in the desert in Mall of Emirates

I took the first subway at 6am to Jumeirah park beach, walked a lot in the empty street – that was a crazy idea to walk outside ~35°C ~85% humidity = a sauna!, a good bath in the very hot Persian gulf sea (more than 30°C) and a nap. Then visit in taxi of the east with a couple of Belgian/French (Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah,..) and Dubaï Mall. I went to the highest tower of the world Burj Khalifa (impressive) and visited Bur Dubaï and its souks. Back in a tempered area in the Mall of Emirates with the ski resort!! Totally crazy city! I would say to visit once…
Flight to Bangkok at 11:00pm.

Thailand: Bangkok and Ayutthaya

Friday 9
I landed in Bangkok at 08:30am slept near only four hours in the plane.
But apparently I slept at the wrong time: during the distribution of immigration form, so I had to run in the airport to find one before the customs check…
From the airport, I took the sky train until ‘Phaya Thai’: wahoo it was impressive to see all these cars and motorbikes in the same road!! And the temperature was hot but tolerable ~30°C ~60% humidity.
The first mission was to cross the street to find something to eat, actually the technique is to close the eyes and to not stop, they (try to) avoid you…
I eat in the first street food I found, everything is written in Thai so I took a random dish with its rice! It was sooo spicy 😀
Then I met Catherine from Lima (thanks to CouchSurfing), we visited together ‘Wat Arun’ and ‘Wat Pho’, those temples are really impressive!
Then I went to the only guest house I booked for the whole trip.

Evening with Yuri, delicious banana pancake!

I walked in the neighbourhood and went to the ‘Khaosan road’ where I eat my first ‘Pad Thai’ so delicious and also tried the yummy banana pancake with Yuri from Japan, whom I met in the street.
After a nice evening in the animated street, we agreed to meet the next day to visit Bangkok.

Saturday 10
Rendez-vous with Yuri to visit the ‘Grand Palace’ under a heavy tropical rain!! The palace is so huge and sumptuous.
Then we took a private boat to visit Bangkok on the Chao Phraya river and canals, we’ve seen a small floating market, stilt houses, temples and even a crocodile!
I eat there my first fruit, it’s the rainy season but also the fruit season o/ Banana, mango are so delicious …
We climbed on the golden mount to see the panorama, and we realised how big is Bangkok with its 8 249 117 inhabitants.
Yuri needed to leave, she had a bus to Malaysia :'( I finally visited China Town after a trip in tuk-tuk. The sympathetic tuk-tuk driver asked me to help him getting a gas coupon, for this I had to stay some time in a suit shop! He finally had his coupon.
After a visit of China town, I stopped in a small HK restaurant to eat noodles with duck! Also tried a Durian Chinese cake… kind of strange taste!
Then I returned to the guest house where I met girls from Ireland, New York and Cap Town!
Here I was comforted, I went alone but it is not difficult to meet other travellers.

Sunday 11
After a long walk with my bag, along the Chao Phraya river where I saw some temples and non touristic places, went to the Old Siam commercial center to find a memory card and to grab something to eat.

Karaoke in Bangkok

Here I met some Thais, singing old fashioned songs!! The singing guy on the picture learnt me some Thai words and introduced me to his friends and family! Drink some beers served with ice cube and a straw (first time I see this).

Then rendez-vous with Catherine with a small problem of synchronisation 😉 We found a really simple double room in ‘Khaosan Road’ (260฿).

Monday 12
Direction ‘Mo Chit 2’ with the bus #157 (15฿) to take a bigger local bus (60฿) to Ayutthaya (Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, พระนครศรีอยุธยา) located at 85km north of Bangkok. Visit of the old capital with its fabulous temples.
It was really beautiful to do absolutely!
T’ve seen there the first Lady-Boy in a bank to change some cash! I noticed that only at the end, a small, long haired ‘woman’ but with a little mustache and a low voice! Strange.

Ayutthaya with Catherine

Next: Cambodia, Laos, Northern Thailand