Day-Tripping to Nokhon Pathom!

Yesterday we visited Nokhon Pathom.

NP is about 50 km from Bangkok and a charming little place to visit for a day trip! We got the 9.20 am train from Hua Lamphong Station and the 1.5hr train journey cost us a whopping 14 baht (31p!) We had passed NP on our way to Khanchanburi in December and it looked like a great little place to visit , since we had the day off yesterday thanks to Chinese New Year, we decided to make the most if it and explore more of this amazing country! 

As soon as we arrived in NP, we could see one of the main attractions - the gigantic Phra Pathom Chedi! It boasts the tallest stupa in the world and can be seen from miles around - it's pretty impressive! There were loads of festivities going on around the Chedi (I have images of Luke Skywalker in the Return of the Chedi! hehe) thanks to the year of the Rooster there was an amazing food market, clothes market and plant market! 

Phra Pathom Chedi

  

Next we headed to the second attraction in NP - Sanam Chan Palace - or at least tried to! We got horribly lost thanks to Goggle Maps and ended up having to get a motorbike taxi to take us there! Turns out we walked right past it! It does not have good signage! Anyhoo, we walked in and as I was inappropriately dressed (shorts and vest top in 34 degrees is very inappropriate!) I had to purchase a scarf to cover my exposed shoulders and wrap skirt to cover the legs. (*note to self - whenever travelling around be sure to take a pash with for this very reason!) My new look only set me back 130 baht (£2.93) and as a bonus saved my shoulders from sunburn and the skirt was a good bum cushion on the train ride back! After dressing up in my new robes we were allowed to enter and had a lovely walk around! The Royal Family used to stay at this palace when visiting the area, the grounds are beautiful and definitely worth a visit if you are ever in NP - the entrance fee for foreigners is 50 baht (£1.13) and there are guided tours every 30 min.

Sanam Chan Palace 

After the Palace we headed back to the train station and stopped at the food market to sample some delicious nibbles before we head back to Bangers!  NP is a cute little town with lots of charm and I loved that we were the only foreigners walking around. 

Day-Trippers!

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp!

Last month I made my Bangkok stage debut as a member of the Chorus in Aladdin - the Panto!

Finally that Drama Degree is paying off! 

I joined the Bangkok Community Theatre a few months ago - thought it would be a great way to meet people and to re-connect with my love for Theatre! On the first show I helped out backstage and it re-ignited a passion deep within me and I loved being back in the Theatre action again! So, when they announced that a Panto would be coming out in December, I was dying to get involved and offered to help out backstage - turned out they needed an extra ensemble member... and before I knew it I was a member of the cast! O.M.G!

Rehearsals were super fun - took me a while to learn the dance routines - I have no rhythm! And as for singing - well...I decided to lip sync most of it and sing really softly for the rest! The costumes were just amazing, I love to dress up and was so excited I got to wear a brunette wig! (been thinkin gof going brunette for a while - so was nice to play around with it!! It was great for the show, but gonna stay a natural blond instead!) The entire show awesome and huge success! I had so much fun, met some amazing talented people and remembered why I fell in love with Theatre in the first place!  

The cast of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp!

Watch out for my next stage appearance in February - The Vagina Monologues!

NYE in Pattaya!

We went to Pattaya for New Years!

Pattaya is 1.5hrs bus ride from Bangers and known for its crazy night life! We'd never been before and thought it would be a festive place to see in the New Year! The Bus Station was manic busy with everyone all heading in the same direction as us. We finally got a mini-bus there and the 1.5hrs was more like 3 thanks to NY traffic jams! Anyhoo - once there we headed to our hotels, cozzies on and lathered in sun-screen we headed to the beach! Well - there isn't really a beach in Pattaya - the little bit of sand was covered with tourists and Chang bottles - and you really wouldn't wanna swim in the water anyways! We had a nice walk around, a delicious last lunch of the year meal and afternoon nap before out big night out!

Hmm... this no so magical place is home to countless Go Go Bars, Strip Clubs and all things dodgy! But we were gonna make the most of it! We went our for a few beers and to our surprise most bars on NYE offer free meals too - so we bar hopped enjoying Thai food and a very yummy jacket potato from the old man pub that we would hit later as it was showing a Brentford match for Kev! We then strolled towards the beach area, stopping along the way for refreshments and awaited the count down and firework display on the beach. There was none.... and to be honest I still feel a little of me is lingering in 2016 as before I knew it it was 2017!!! No 5-4-3-2-1 and no firework display! Anyhoo...we hugged it out and went back to the old man pub for our own little celebration. 

On New Years day we got the ferry to Koh Tan, a little island 45 min from Pattaya where we swam in cleaner water and all had an epic News Years nap on the beach! 

This is the only picture I took of our time in Pattaya...and the last I will ever take as I hope to never return!

A belated Happy 2017 to you all!
xoxo

Christmas in Khanchanaburi!

Over Christmas we headed to Khanchanburi!

Khanchanburi (I will refer to it as Kburi from now on as it driving my spell checker mad!) is 123 km West of Bangers, about 4 hrs on the train and is famous for the Death Railway. (If you have watched The Bridge on the River Kwai or The Railway Man - you will know they story! If not...watch em!) We decided to visit Kburi as when my Gramps was in the 2nd Word War he bombed a bridge in Thailand...on the River Kwai...and listening to all his stories over the years, we decided to visit the place he spoke about! Not the most festive place to visit over Christmas period, the Death Railway has a pretty dark history and Kburi town is dominated by a massive PoW cemetery, but was good to finally put a picture in mind of what Gramps had been talking about.

We had a brilliant train journey to Kburi...it was long, but was lovely to see the amazing views along they way - and made me fall more in love with Thailand! We were also the only Westerners (Farangs) on our carriage so were very popular with the local children who wanted to practice their English and pose for pictures with us - after endless photos with them  - I'm sure we appeared on many a Facebook page that day.

We arrived and headed straight to the Hellfire Pass - unfortunately the Museum was closed for renovations but we could still walk around and visit the pass. Hellfire pass is a section of the railway that was built on the former Burma Railway - Death Railway - It was know as the harshest section of the Railway that was built and for its 'hell-ish' conditions. It was very eerie walking through the pass, specially after recently watching The Railway Man and knowing how many PoW's suffered and died making it! It was also crazy hot and mozzie infested! 

After Hellfire we headed to our hotel for a well needed shower, delicious Thai dinner and ice-cold Chang! We sat along the river Kwai then hit Kburi town to celebrate Christmas Eve with strangers and spread the festive cheer! It was a fantastic night - we bumped into Santa and found a bar that sold shots for 10 baht (22p)! It was a very Merry Christmas Eve indeed!

On Christmas Day we awoke to presents from Santa and a delicious and well needed full English breakfast and a full fat Coke! We then headed to the PoW museum and cemetery in Kburi Town and walked along the River Kwai. We were back in Bangers in time to enjoy a lovely Christmas dinner at our local, celebrating Thai style with a green curry and chicky pad-thai!
Belated Christmas wishes to you all xx

Christmas Dinner!

Sawadee Pee Mai!

Happy New Year Peeps - or as they say in my beloved Thailand...

Sawadee Pee Mai!

Eek - it's been ages sine my last post! I have so many exciting stories to catch you up on and I promise to post them ASAP! It was a super manic end to 2016 and 2017 started off with a bang! Watch this space...

2016 was just amazing and I am so lucky to have experienced so many amazing things and gone on so many amazing adventures! This year I am gearing up for many more exciting travel adventures, visits from family and friends, weddings and I'm sure there will also be a few wonderful surprises ahead! 

I wish you all a magical 2017 with love, laughter and happiness! 

xoxo

Happy New Year!