3 to 5 September – Bangkok (Thailand)

The journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok began at 0750 hours and with the border crossing taking one and a quarter hours so we arrived at Bangkok at 1800 hours. In Cambodia we travelled on a bus whilst in Thailand we were packed into two mini-buses. Also, the bus company in Thailand had a good racket going as they held us in their depot, which somehow was also a cafe, for a while until the transport was available. Of course people then bought food. When driving away from the depot I noticed that this was a common ploy with other bus companies as they had cafes as a depot as well. 

On arrival at Bangkok I left the others and moved into the Indra Regent Hotel for three nights as it was my intention to try to go to Myanmar (Burma). The others were to stay in Bangkok for two days before moving to Kanchanaburi (the Bridge on the River Qay area) and them Koh Samui. I have been to Kanchanaburi many time so did not want to go there again and really did not want to spend four days on a beach in Koh Samui doing nothing. I was able to get a visa for Myanmar in the same day and was also able to arrange and pay for a tour in two days. Obtaining a visa was very easy, getting up early and going to a small business down an alley neat the Embassy where copies of the application form was available with instructions on how it should be completed. The people there would also take passport photos and photocopy the passport details which were also required. They even supplied glue to stick one photograph on the form and a paper clip to hold the other photograph on the form. In fact everything was on hand to be able to walk into the Embassy with completed documents including a passport and it was surprising that some even forgot to take their documents with them. Each set of papers was checked by one clerk in the Embassy with the normal turnaround for a visa being three days. If required quicker than three days this clerk had to be persuaded to allow this, no appeal being possible. Due to the time constraints I was working to I had no problem and went back the same day to collect my passport and visa.

The hotel room

The view from my room

The street at night

The street at night

   
I did manage to visit the Elephant and Crocodile Park and see the shows there. I really liked the crocodile show even if I had seen it a number of times before. Photos of the crocodiles and elephants are below.