Trip report: Bangkok, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi July-Aug

[faranglaw]

Interesting trip report. Thank you, spoon!

[spoon]

Now that im home, i can finally get to replying all the comments 

Great report...especially liked this description

 

"the rest were loitering around the back sofa like seals sunbathing on the rock lol."

 

Waiting for next chapter

 

Yes. I thought that image was perfect too. It made me laugh.

 

That is what they look like lol. As my trip is during low season, most of them didnt really watch their diet, some might be bulking up to increase their sizes. as a matter of fact, there is this one guy actually on the sofa laying down, exactly like a seal lol

 

 

lol There is an another admirer among the forum members. His name is Song and he doesn't come in everyday. So when you see him at Jupiter you should grab him really fast. He sure has a very nice body.


Haha you couldn't have described better than this!

Thanks for report. It's great to read about my favourite gogo bars.

 

 

Yes, I travel with a similar philosophy..."it's part of the adventure".  

 

I'm enjoying your reports very much and your belief that reporting is payback to the Forum and what's been posted before.  I learned much (and am still learning) from reading posts and report when I return from my trips.  Keep "adventuring".

 

Yup, when i saw him, i immediately thought that vinapu would love to have this guy and i was right lol with his look and almost perfect physiques, i am not surprised if he have more admirer. He dont look thai though, maybe mixed?

 

 

Dusit Thani is in its final year of operation. It closes at end of June and will be demolished (along with other Dusit properties on lot) and replaced by high-rise complex of hotel, apartments, offices and shopping mall.

 

Agoda is offering rate of about 4k bht in early December.

 

One of the reason i wanted to stay there is because of the news saying that they will demolish it by 2018. I wish the government would intervene, at the very least make the older main building a historical building. The fact that the price is much cheaper just make the booking much easier.

[spoon]

Great report...

 

 

Thanks for report. It's great to read about my favourite gogo bars.

 

 

Great report and even greater is the fact that you promised report of your trip and you kept your word.

 

 

I'm enjoying your reports very much and your belief that reporting is payback to the Forum and what's been posted before. 

 

 

Great report from soi Twilight ,I read it twice, thank you. Waiting for more !!!

 

 

Hi spoon, thanks for brilliant report. I felt as if I were at Soi Twilight right now, you got a talent!

 

 

Spoon, thanks for your report.  

 

 

Interesting trip report. Thank you, spoon!

 

 

Thanks all! I tried my best to keep the report interesting and informative as well. 

 

I have arrived home safely and a bit tired from all the travel and fun and also realllly want to forget the fact that ill be working tomorrow lol 

[traveller123]

 

 

I have arrived home safely and a bit tired from all the travel and fun and also realllly want to forget the fact that ill be working tomorrow lol 

Look at it positively you will be earning money for your next holiday.

 

Can I add my thanks for your trip reports.

[spoon]

Look at it positively you will be earning money for your next holiday.

 

Can I add my thanks for your trip reports.

This is exactly what gets me running everytime i came back from holiday. Work harder to get more money for the next one lol. Sometimes i even contemplating working abroad to make money faster, but economic situation right now isnt ideal for that. Maybe in a year or two. Of course the best place would be bangkok, but i am afraid ill spend more than i earn if i stay in bangkok haha.

 

Owh, forgot to mentioned in my report, while waiting for my friend to arrive, right after lunch, i actually went to prime for a 2 hour oil massage. Went to the counter, mentioned the type of oil massage and the duration and requested male masseur. Cost 800 thb for 2 hour oil massage and minimum tips is 100 thb. I asked the guy at the counter if i can choose, and he says can, while opening the ipad, and start choosing available masseurs. He put up the ipad in front of me, and showed me 5 guys. I scan through each of them, all wearing massage outfit, only face and arms/hand exposed. Chose the most good looking out of the 5, and proceeded to the building across the counter for massage, and i think i was brought to lvl 4 of the building. The shower is outside with about 3-4 massage room on the floor. The massage went for the whole duration and it is above average, but ive had better before. A bit lack of strength for me but still thorough massage but nothing sensual at all. I like my massage to be strong pressure wise, but if there arent, a sensual one would usually compensate that. The massage starts from the leg, back, hands and after maybe 70 min, he asked me to turn around and massage my legs, stomach area, chest, and hand again. And i thinn about 10-15 min before the end, he asked me very cautiously if i wanted hj. Since i wont be going to any of the gay places when my friend arrives, i agree to it and was quoted the tips which is reasonable. The hj was average at best, and he tries to tell me to keep quite and pointing to next door lol. My hands start to move around to his pants and he allow me to touch, and then he lower down his pants enough for me to grab his penis and stroke them. After i cum, he grabbed me some tissues, i asked him to massage my legs area a bit and then proceed to shower. All in all, not a bad massage, but i am still yearning for a great no hanky panky massage, so i made a mental note to asked for a different masseur next time. To make sure i dont choose this masseur again, i asked his name and pay his tips before heading out. All in all, i did went to prime 3 more times after this and chose 3 different masseurs, but ill describe the experience later in my reports. I am only offered hj for this one time only though, they have to be very very discreet too.

[vinapu]

at least we know masseur at Prime can be chosen as we had conflicting reports in this respect.

 

Advantage of regular places is that one never knows what adventure, if any ,  awaits him

[JimmyJoe]

Thanks for such a good trip report.

 

I learned (here, a while back) that masseur can be chosen at Prime. Every time since, I have chosen using the iPad. Only been discreetly offered a hj once, I think. I declined. I never go for hj anyway, but for a, usually, great massage.

[faranglaw]

Hi spoon. What about Hua Hin? Did you go there? I was interested in hearing about Hua Hin, because Imthink I will visit there my next trip.

[rollingstone]

They still strictly enforced the no smoking no handphone usage when i was there, and since i dont smoke, it works pretty well for me. It is still expensive to just be there and have boy with you though, but some of us can afford that luxury more than once.

No handphone usage ? WTF? Did I read wrongly?

[spoon]

Hua Hin via train 27th July & 28th July

 

Ive decided to make this part a bit brief, mainly due to lack of boys hunting. However my 2 days trip to Hua Hin by train is still an eventful trip. I did went to sleep alone in my hotel room last night, and checked the train schedule one last time to ensure we will be at the train on time to hop on the rapid express train. It is at 8.05 am and we decided to start moving there from our hotel at 7 am. we took the MRT from Silom to Hua Lamphong, and arrived at the station at about 7.30am, went straight to the counter to purchase our ticket. The counter attendant checked the seats and show us that 2 seats still available, and the price will be 412 THB for 1 way aircond seat. We said ok and he then asked us to fill in our name. However, when he tried to proceed, the system says no seat available. The ticket attendant tried few more times and still the same result. He even tried to refill everything again, and the system shows two ticket and when it come to purchase still shows no seats available. He then asked us to come back at 8am, i guess to see if there's any last minute dropped out or cancellation. We decided to head to dunkin donuts for breakfast, and waited till close to 8. At 8 am, the station played Thai national anthem and all of the station stood up and stand still facing north. with a line of rail police guard in the middle of the station forming a neat line themselves. After it ends, we head to the ticket counter and the the attendant confirmed that there is no seat left, so we have to take the next train leaving at 9.40 a.m instead and its normal train without aircond seats, just 3rd class seats, and only cost 44 THB one way. We also decided to still buy the rapid train for our return train ride, saving us the hassle of sold out ticket tomorrow. 

 

So to kill time, we went upstairs to hang out and had a proper breakfast at black canyon coffee and begins to plan a bit of our must see places in Hua Hin. Our main guide is this website and we picked and choose our priority. We only have half day today and another half day tomorrow. We realized most of the places we want to go are close together (Santorini park, Camel republic, Swiss Sheep Farm). And there are more nature type of attraction but for that, you'll need to drive between 1-2 hour from Hua Hin and we decided to skip that, save it for another trip lol. And close to 9.30am, we head to the train which already waiting, and walked through the cars to find empty seats and we are glad that we decided to walk a bit further as some cars have cushioned seats. And the train departed on time at exactly 9.40am.

 

The train ride to hua hin on the 3rd class cars is actually very acceptable. It's a bit stuffy initially, but as soon as the cars started to speed up, the wind from the opened windows really is great. View of the locals houses very close to the train track is eye opening as well, showing a plethora of people from different walk of life living in Thailand. Some of the houses are really small, and it does make me sad to see this other side of Thailand poor community. Even in our car, there is two what it seems like homeless women sitting just at the seats opposite of us, and I'm pretty sure they are mentally-ill by the way they behave. One of them did starts talking very loud in an angry tone to the other. She even starts kicking and hitting the other with her slippers. Yet the other women just stay put and after that try ti console the other, and even starts to give a foot rub, massage and then kissing/smelling the other women private part. This goes on for a while, until they alight at their stop. Although I didnt understand what they were saying, you cant helped but feeling sorry for the both of them, and yet feel glad that they have each other. they behave like a mother with a very spoilt child though both of them are maybe in their 40-50s. Another self reflection of how bless we are living in this world and have almost everything we need to live a comfortable life and how many others aren't as fortunate as us. As we get close to Hua Hin, the view from the train is actually spectacular as well, as the view of vast lushes of green paddy field with very peculiar shaped palm tree sprouting in between. We almost alight at the wrong station when the train stopped at Cha-Am, where the station color is the familiar yellow and red like we saw in google of Hua Hin Station, and went back into the train after realizing its not our stop lol,

 

We arrived at Hua Hin Station (the real one this time) at around 1.30 p.m. We spent some time to take some pictures of the train station and the royal holding area next to it. Definitely very picturesque and cute little station. We walk straight out of the train station and start walking trying to find taxi at the main road, and couldnt see any normal taxi like what they have in bangkok. So we head to the tuktuk area and asked them to send us to our hotel. They quoted us 150 thb, and we tried to haggle to no avail, so we decided to accept the fee. When we arrived to the hotel, we checked in, freshen up a bit and went to the lobby to ask the receptionist about the area and hiring a taxi. So we asked the first lady at front desk, and asked her how can we go to santorini theme park from the hotel, and she said the best way is to hire a taxi. and we get a quote of about 1000 thb to go there and back. We are a bit surprised on the price and started to ask if we can get a bus instead but she didnt speak good enough english to explain to us. However, another lady come to us with a better hold of english language and started to explain to us. So as it turns out, Santorini park is quite far, 40 mins-1hour taxi ride, and they close at 6pm, and its already close to 3pm at that time. So we asked the lady if we can go to other places instead, and mentioned Venezia instead. She then suggested that we took the taxi, go to venezia (closed at 8pm) then to Pleanwarn and then dropped us at the night market it between Chatchai and Chatsila Market and quoted 700 thb. We still feel it is a bit high but later found out that it is a standard pricing in hua hin. Private tuktuk or taxi one way within the city is at a fixed price of 150thb, and if its a bit further, itll go up to 200thb. So it is wise to combine your trips and hire one private taxi from the start to the end of your trip, or if u wanted to be more cost efficient, rent a car instead. I dont see any metered taxi, but there are songtheaw around, which i dont really have time to navigate them, especially when im not travelling solo lol. 

 

Venezia is actually a great place to be, and when we were there, there are almost no people around, so we dont have to wait or queue for anything lol. We bought the all rides ticket for 480 THB and there is gondola ride, mini train ride, the 3D art museum, Music garden, sheep farm, trevi fountain, upsidedown house. I wouldnt go here if the place is crowded, as none of the attraction are spectacular and worth to queue for like the universal studio or disney world, but with almost no queue, its actually a very nice place to spend a romantic evening together. I did went with a friend though, not my lover, so it was a bit awkward lol And we ate probably the best seafood pizza at the Kiss me Wine restaurant inside the park. After that, we visited Plearnwan, another leisure area for picture taking and some cute small stores for street food and souvenirs. We spent a bit of time here and then head to the night market at about 6.30pm. The night market was also a great place to eat more street food (which we did) and also buy some more unique souvenirs. We bought our dinner here and stroll through the night markets as well as chatsila market where they sold more artsy stuff and then took a tuktuk to our hotel and arrived back to our hotel at about 7pm. 

 

I know we went back to the hotel quite early, but we planned to have a massage at the room that night. As we arrived at the hotel, we went to the reception and asked the lady at the front desk, the same one this morning who cant speak english pretty well, and she as expected failed to book us the massage, so instead she called the massage center and asked the lady there to come to the lobby lol, So we explained that we wanted a massage at room at 8 p.m. one for my friend and another for me, male masseur. After that, we went back to our separate room, ate dinner alone and waited for the masseur to arrive. My friend message me at close to 8 p.m telling me that my masseur will come at 8.30pm instead, which is fine for me, more time for the food to goes through the system lol. 

 

At 8.30pm sharp, the masseur arrived. Appearance wise, slim, short hair and wearing thai army t-shirt, but look a bit fem, which is not really my type. I only took 1 hour massage anyway, so i didnt plan for any HE, just one relaxing oil massage so i can get a good night sleep. So the massage starts very relaxing, not strong and actually pretty sensual. Any other day, I'd probably went ahead with HE but just not today. It was very relaxing, and he did slide his hand quite close to my groin and touching the sides of my balls from time to time, but he avoided direct touching, maybe due to my lack show of interest. It was still a great and very sensual massage indeed, something i didnt expect to have here in Hua Hin and I slept really well indeed. 

 

28th July 

 

We went to the free breakfast at the hotel, not a bad selection of eggs, spaghetti sausages and the usual pancakes, toasts and cereals. We then talked about going to Khao Takiab so again we asked the lobby and quoted 200thb one way to go there. The weather is actually quite nice, a bit cloudy but no sign of rain, so we decided to just walk at the beach. As we arrived at the beach, we saw Khao Takiab at the end of the beach, and it seems like its very walkable distance. So we decided to just walk there. It took us less than 30min of brisk walk along the beach to reach there and with a gentle breeze from the beach, i dont mid the walk at all. My friend is afraid of dogs and monkeys, so she stayed near the beach as i climbed the hill a bit to get up close to the golden buddlha and took some pictures. I didnt go all the way up the hill though, so after a while we head back to the hotel, had about an hour of nap before checking out. Our train is at about 4pm so we have time to go around for lunch at the city, so after we checked out, took a taxi to go to a small area near the railway station (The east square) and try to find something to eat. There is a few cafe and even a food court there, we just had a drink there and walked a bit to find a more comfortable place to kill time and settled at a burger king down the street. The rain had just started to pour down as we made our way to the burger king. at about 3pm or so. We made our way to the railway station, and took the aircond rapid train to bangkok. The 2nd class train is definitely a much better and well maintained train, very clean, and the aircond is actually super cold, so a sweater is recommended. The ticket also comes with a free snack and drinks. We arrived at Bangkok at about 8pm, head to silom complex to ate dinner and then took a taxi to go to our hotel in asoke. Went to sleep without a boy again that night.

[vinapu]

another great report with a lot of practical information weaved in 

[ggobkk]

You write an informative report in a style that is both charming and appealing.  Thanks

[spoon]

Chatuchak, Siam Paragon, MBK, Wat Pho 29th July

 

Today is mostly shopping day that I would never do if i were on this trip alone. My friend insisted to go to chatuchak market to buy some souvenirs so i just tag along. Not that I didnt try to plan something else today though. On Thursday morning in Hua Lamphong station, i also purchased the Kanchanaburi Sai Yok Noi Waterfall day trip ticket which is only available on weekends. I asked the counter to purchase the Saturday trip and its all booked, so unfortunately I had to buy sunday ticket instead, hence leaving my saturday open for the shopping trip lol. As I have never been to either of these places, I decided to go with the flow. 

 

So we started to make our way from Asoke BTS to Mochit BTS, and i remember reading somewhere before that there is a one day pass for BTS that cost 140THB for unlimited BTS rides. Since we will be taking BTS few times today, we decided to purchase the pass. We definitely saves money using this pass plus we dont have to queue each time we wanted to buy the one way ticket, as well as to queue at the change counter for coins. For this reason alone, we feel the pass is definitely worth the price. Asok to Mochit alone already cost 40thb, and back to hotel in asok, went to siam then to saphan thaksin to take the boat to wat pho and back to asok. Total cost 175thb so a minor saving of 35thb and no queueing at all. 

 

My first impression of chatuchak market, It is huge, with many different items for sale. I can definitely see the attraction for shopper like my friend. The food there is also quite nice if you dont mind street food. The grilled squid is delicious but the sauce is super spicy, which i dont mind at all. We then go back to hotel after lunch, both to freshen up after that sauna experience in Chatuchak, and to put the stuff that my friend had bought back at hotel. After that, we went to Siam Paragon to visit one particular shop on mall next door, and then walked our way crossing all the malls and skyway to get to mbk for another round of shopping at the 6th floor craft village. After all is done, we make our way to the bts and head to saphan thaksin for a boat ride to wat pho.

 

To get to Wat pho, there are two ways, take the boat and alight at wat arun, and take the ferry to cross the river to tha tian pier or alight at grand palace pier and walk or take taxi to wat pho. I forget about the crossover ferry at wat arun, so we alight at grand palace after missing the tha tian pier and take taxi to wat pho to make up time, since i believe massage center there close at 6pm. We arrived at the massage center at about 5.30pm and happy to learn that they actually close at 7pm and 6pm is the last order time. So we settled with a 1 hour foot massage and their massages are still one of the best ive had. I also learnt later on that they also have other branch in Sukhumvit, which might be easier to get to. From Wat Pho, we took the taxi to saphan thaksin as we dont want to further burden our foot right after massage, and ate our dinner at robinson before heading back to hotel

 

Dreamboy #44

 

Did i mentioned dreamboy #44 before? After our last encounter before my friend's arrival, we have been contacting through Line from time to time, but the conversation has been very brief. a simple good morning text when im in Hua Hin, and a question of whether or not i am in bangkok or not. I didnt tell him I am already in Bangkok yesterday as I am very tired and im not sure what will we do that night. But since today we had a good full day of walking around and then a good massage session before dinner, Im pretty sure we will be back to our hotel by 10pm. i texted 44 telling him i am in bangkok today and he replied with a loves-eyed smiley, says see you and take care na. I asked him if he work at dreamboy tonignt and says that i stay in asok today. he says he work tonight. Given that I forsee that today will be a tiring day, and i really dont plan to go to soi twilight tonight, i tried to arrange for 44 to come to my hotel instead. So i texted him asking if he can come to my hotel, and ill pay similar tips as before plus off fee. i also mentioned that i needed to go to hua lamphong early next morning to he can leave as before at 5am. It was quite a long text and i even say if he cannot come to my hotel, i understand. He took a while to reply, but answers ok and says he will meet me at 10pm. i was so happy that i can meet him again and i dont have to go to soi twilight, buy the highly inflated drinks and of course the boy drinks and with the boy sitting next to me, i wont be enjoying the show anyway. I sent him my hotel location and carry on with my shopping excursions. 

 

At about 8.30pm, i got a text from 44 saying that he will meet me at 11pm instead, since he needed to send his sister. not sure where, maybe to the train or bus station. I briefly replied ok, and says dont be late since i need to wake up early tomorrow to catch my 6.30am train. He says ok. At close to 10pm, he asked me if my hotel is near BTS Asoke, and i says yes it is very close. and proceeded to tell him my room number. And he arrived at my hotel at 10.30pm, half an hour early than his earlier request, and i got a called from lobby asking permission to let him up to my room, to which i immediately say yes. And there he is, knocing on my door, and he looked even better than before, wearing a short sleave shirt and a torn jeans. I guess he looked much better because its a saturday, which is half day work for the thai, and he dont have to keep parading in his undies from 9pm if he work in the bar. He enter the room, says hi and hugs me and kisses me in the lips! We carry on with some light conversation and he says that i looked tired, which is true but with him in front of me, those tiredness went away fast. After more talking, he asked if i want to go shower, and i said i already did. He undressed and quickly enter the shower. I went and pass him the shower cap for his hair, and he thanks me and say oh, you remember!. One of the quirk that might be a turn off for me on other boys but for not for this gorgeous lad. Needless to say, what follows was a good hour and a half of intense love making and we both came almost at the same time which is always hot (he came few seconds before i did) We then went to the shower to clean up together, and then head back to bed. I always wears shorts and undershirts when i go to bed, but he sleep naked, to my benefit of course lol. The time is almost midnight, so tonight, i get to have him for almost 8 hours for alone in the hotel room for cheaper than going to the bar, and rest assured, he is well tipped for the good time i had with all the convenient of not having to go to the bar.  

[vinapu]

Reading about your adventures I guess lots of us are getting jealous, LOL

[1moRussian]

Thanx for the report

On more boring side - did you come for massage inside Wat Po? Do you know they have a school outside the temple's premises in the nearest sois?

[anddy]

[...] i remember reading somewhere before that there is a one day pass for BTS that cost 140THB for unlimited BTS rides. Since we will be taking BTS few times today, we decided to purchase the pass. We definitely saves money using this pass plus we dont have to queue each time we wanted to buy the one way ticket, as well as to queue at the change counter for coins. For this reason alone, we feel the pass is definitely worth the price. Asok to Mochit alone already cost 40thb, and back to hotel in asok, went to siam then to saphan thaksin to take the boat to wat pho and back to asok. Total cost 175thb so a minor saving of 35thb and no queueing at all. 

 

another option for the semi-frequent BTS user, who doesn't ride enough in one day to make the unlimited pass worthwhile is just getting a standard rabbit card for his stay in BKK. It is a stored value (or stored trips, but that's no value for the tourist) card that can be purchased at any BTS counter. It costs a fee of 50 Baht (which is lost, i.e. a true cost) and a deposit of 50 Baht which is fully refunded upon return of the card. The card can be topped up in increments of 100 Baht, and any remainder is also refunded. Costs of trips are simply deducted from the card's balance at the regular, single ride fare. 

 

While this option doesn't save any money, indeed costs 50 baht just to have, it affords the sometimes extreme convenience of NOT having to queue at the ticket machines, or even twice to get change before getting the ticket from the machine. The queues can be insane, especially at rush hour and at Mo Chit around closing time of Chatuchak market, so well worth IMHO.

 

And thanks so much for a great and well written report! :-)

[spoon]

Thanx for the report

On more boring side - did you come for massage inside Wat Po? Do you know they have a school outside the temple's premises in the nearest sois?

Yes, i went inside the temple. I didnt know at that time they have other branches lol, but later find out they even have one in sukhumvit soi39. But the one in the temple have a lot of massuers, male and female. Not sure if the branches have enough if u go during busy time.

[spoon]

another option for the semi-frequent BTS user, who doesn't ride enough in one day to make the unlimited pass worthwhile is just getting a standard rabbit card for his stay in BKK. It is a stored value (or stored trips, but that's no value for the tourist) card that can be purchased at any BTS counter. It costs a fee of 50 Baht (which is lost, i.e. a true cost) and a deposit of 50 Baht which is fully refunded upon return of the card. The card can be topped up in increments of 100 Baht, and any remainder is also refunded. Costs of trips are simply deducted from the card's balance at the regular, single ride fare.

 

While this option doesn't save any money, indeed costs 50 baht just to have, it affords the sometimes extreme convenience of NOT having to queue at the ticket machines, or even twice to get change before getting the ticket from the machine. The queues can be insane, especially at rush hour and at Mo Chit around closing time of Chatuchak market, so well worth IMHO.

 

And thanks so much for a great and well written report! :-)

I used this similar card during my tokyo/osaka trip, and they even have minor discount for card user. I noticed most thai are using the rabbit card as well. If u didnt use enough bts in one day, rabbit card is definitely a great alternative to avoid the queue

[santosh108]

And there is another benefit for seniors, one of the cards (MRT) is half price!  I bought that card first and than tried to buy the senior discount card at Silom station for the BTS system but was told they do not have senior discount cards!?

[chancellor]

By the way, talking about seniors, it is worth remembering that if you are in the otherwise unfortunate position of being 70 or over, you can use the special immigration processing section for persons variously handicapped by age or infirmity on the check-in floor of Suvarnaphumi instead of shuffling, goosey-gander-like through that upstairs and downstairs nightmare of shoving and elbowing through regular immigration and security. It is the one advantage that I can think of in being of - ahem! - that age - although, I must say, I did have the satisfaction of the immigration officer challenging my eligibility on the last occasion and my having to point out to him the date of my birth on my passport. It's probably a better idea to ask when you check in for the special pass that they give out to enable use of that facility.

[ceejay]

By the way, talking about seniors, it is worth remembering that if you are in the otherwise unfortunate position of being 70 or over

Well, there is another way of looking at it:

 

“I kept thinking of a remark Maurice Chevalier once made when someone asked how it felt to be 71,” said Mr. Goren the other day. “He said, ‘Wonderful, when you consider the alternative.'”

[a447a]

And wasn't it Ronald Reagan who said something like "I'm happy to be here. At my age, I'm happy to be anywhere."

 

Lol

[spoon]

Kanchanaburi Death Railway and Sai Yok Noi Waterfall 30th July

 

Sorry for the late updates, been busy with work.

 

At about 4.30 a.m. alarm ringing from the phone that woke both me and my boy of the night. He stopped the alarm and sees that i am also awake, and says morning. He went up to take shower and get ready to head out, sitting next to me until its close to 5am. We says our good bye in the room and i pass him the tips and got a nice kiss goodbye on the lips and a hug eventhough I havent had my shower yet. Today i needed to go to Hua Lamphong as well so instead of going back to bed, i went to the shower and got ready to head out. My friend also need to head to the airport early as well, so at about 5.50 am im at the lobby and saw that she is there waiting for a taxi. I went to the dest to check out, left my luggage at the lobby and ask for a taxi as well. I arrived at hua lamphong abit after 6am.

 

So after i paid my boy his tips, I realized that im short of cash, so i tried to use one of the atm in hua lamphong to draw some cash. In my wallet, I only have about 250thb. I put in my atm debit card, and after pressing my pin and chose to withdraw some amount of cash, i suddenly get a message that i needed to contact issuing bank, and the atm swallowed my card. To make things worse, I didnt bring my main wallet which has the MYR cash and my other atm. I always have two wallets with me, one for travelling and another to hold the rest of my money at hotel safe or at this time in my big backpack. Its too late to go back to hotel to take cash, so I went to the info counter at the train station explaning my situtation and lo and behold, the info was no help. They just said i need to contact the bank and its sunday so the bank is closed. So i need to just survive the day with 250thb, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, any drinks, and also money to use the bts to asoke to pickup my luggage and go to saladaeng for my next hotel. I did called my bank to ensure no one will use my swallowed card just in case. And luckily enough, todays train ticket was bought in advance, which cost 120 thb, which wouldve been half of my left over cash lol. I realized later that i didnt call ahead my bank to allow oversea withdrawal, hence why i was denied access and why the at swallowed my card. 

 

So, instead of going to the dunkin donut or black canyon for a nice coffee and bread breakfast (i did bring 1 free bottled water from the hotel with me), i went straight to the train and search for my seats, which is numbered eventhough its all 3rd class non-airconditioned seat. There are about 8 cars total with some 2nd class cars but empty, but most of us occupy only the 4 cars in front. I can see that maybe 95% of the passengers are local thai, with maybe 4 farang, and maybe other asian tourist in between. The train depart at exactly 6.30 am with a slow pace as we exit bangkok urban area. I did ask the train info the english version of the itinerary of the trip, and i suggest all non-thai speakers do the same and the conductor and most local dont really speak english. This trip has many stops and you are required to return to the same train after some allocated time or you'll be left behind. The view from bangkok to the first stop is similar with the path i took to go to hua hin. 

 

The first stop were at Nakhonpathom, and we arrived there close to 8 am. 40 mins were given to visit the temple with a giant stupa there. Locals would purchase their offerings to the monks from the many streets vendors along the way. I went with the crowd, and took some pictures and saw that they charge foreigners to enter the temple and decided to go back and probably browse through the street vendor for breakfast. Halfway through the journey back, i saw the small fried balls with sweet and spicy fillings for 20thb and that should get me going until lunch. So i went back to the train and in Nong Pladuk station, we stopped for a bit and not until later i realized that the stop was to detached the the other cars from our train before we make our way to the next stop, River Kwai Bridge where we arrived at about 10 am. Here we are allowed for 30min sight seeing, walking on the train track crossing the river bridge, taking pictures and back to the train. Those who are not using the train can stay on the track as our train pass the bridge at these little spaces along the track. The train then make our way to the next stop, which is further than kanchanaburi station, right after the river kwai cabin train stop. From here, the train travel very slowly as there are many tourists walked along the train track as we make our way crossing the historic wooden train track along river kwai on our left and big granite cliff on our right. The view is magnificent and surreal to say the least. There is a cave that one can go to right next to the track and it would be a nice trekking if u didnt come here using the train. We didnt stop at this cave sadly, and head straight to the last station, Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi, a station that can only be reached using this weekend tourist train, as regular daily train will stop at Nam Tok station, 2km away from this last station. I looked at my phone and its just passed noon, so i alight the train and slowly make my way to the waterfall, taking pictures of the train and my surrounding along the way. I see a tourist info center, and its always a habit of mine to ask for the map of the area.

 

We have about 2.5 hours here to enjoy the area, the waterfall and have lunch. There are a lot of restaurants around here, some of which even deliver food to your place near the river where plenty of mats around. I decided to just relax and see the waterfall first, went to take the small stairs to go to the upper level of the water fall and dip my feet in the puddle near the fall. i didnt bring extra clothes to take a dive here and didn't plan to lol. The place is a bit crowded but not enough to make you feel uncomfortable. After cooling off a bit, i wander back to the station and see there is a tracking trail where u can go to a cave (2km away) and water source (1.2km away). I went up the stairs and there is a ranger cabin upstairs and some locals resting. I walked toward the edge and can see the waterfall just below me, i take a seat and just spend some alone time there for a while, enjoying the view and the nice weather. I didnt have enough water with me to go for the 2km hike so i just wander around the area and saw a signboard that says sai yok noi cave, with no indication of the distance. I just try to follow the direction of the sign, and after a bit of walk, found a makeshift stone stairs that is covered a bit by overgrown grasses. I took the stairs up and walked another 5 mins to see a small cave hidden behind the small hill. Inside there are a few buddha statues which looks very clean with fresh flowers around the neck. I went inside and take some pictures and then walk back down. I was all alone there, and it was peaceful indeed, but it does gives me chills as well lol. 

 

I make my way back to the station, buy a bottled water for the usual 10 thb, and then went back to the waterfall and take a seat there, and just stay there for a while to kill time by watching the people there. Some of the local thai guys are very cute indeed lol. It is close to 1.30pm already so i make my way down the road to find some food for lunch, and saw some street vendors selling roti. I looked at the menu and saw that young coconut roti looks appealing to me, and so i bought one for 35thb. It turns out the owner's sister in law is from malaysia and he can speak malay, and he also offer me free cocount drinks as well. We had a nice chat and i went back to the station to eat my lunch which is delicious and quench my thirst as well. It is now close to 2pm, i make my way into the train and rest at my seat until its time to head back to Bangkok. On the way back, we had one final stop at Kanchanaburi station to visit the cemetery of the fallen POWs and i see some of them serves in malaysia as well. I had ordered my dinner on the train earlier in the morning, and got my dinner about 2 hour before arriving in bangkok at around 8pm. My dinner, Fishball noodle (kuey tiau is what i believe the name in thai, where we have a different noodle dish with the same name in malaysia) and it only cost me 20thb.

 

I immediately make my way to the mrt afterward and went to pick up my luggage at asoke. I also spent a bit of time calling my other bank at the hotel lobby to allow withdrawal from oversea and then make my way to Saladaeng station where i went to the atm to withdraw cash with a huge sigh of relief that now i can start spending again normally lol. Its just another thing that we always take for granted because we always have enough of them. As i am always meticulous with my spending, I usually have enough money in savings all the time so i'll have a peace of mind when it comes to money, and having almost no cash and outside of big cities is not really what you want to do in a foreign countries. I had quite a day today, and i went straight to my hotel afterwards to check in, clean up and went to bed. Another day without boy in my bed.

[vinapu]

Kanchanaburi Death Railway and Sai Yok Noi Waterfall 30th July

 

Sorry for the late updates, been busy with work.

 

 

don't be sorry , we appreciate that you remember about us. I'm sure I speak for many here.

 

Your adventure with ATM chillingly reminds us not to relay on it as a sole source of funds, specially if in foreign country.

 

I had such refusal by ATM in Thailand few times but at least cards were always returned. It's good to have an access to more thank one account just in case i.e. checking account as well as cash advance from credit card or line of credit.

 

Even if everything is set with bank properly we may still have a problem when power goes off or your  bank system goes down .

 

Since I went through that including my own country now when travelling on the first day I always put aside some money roughly equivalent of 30-50 USD , in Thailand 1000 baht , always have it on me but it's forgotten till last day. Like you even if everything is prepaid I feel very uncomfortable without some  funds on me as one never knows.

 

Great report from Kanchanaburi , way you went , with train is actually more fun than taking van tour from  BKK , only advantage of van is that is A/c 'd.

 

Day without boy in bed is OK but night?

[GWMinUS]

Very sorry to hear about your problem at the ATM.

The same thing happened to me in Barcelona. Even though I had notified my Bank I would be traveling there.

Even worst the same Credit Card was refused at the hotel...

GRRRR

Tired to call the number for my US Bank. But again the call would not go through.

I later found out you must ASK for an International Operator to handle the Collect Call...

So nothing to do but use a different Credit Card.

Never got a satisfactory response from my first Bank as to why they denied my card, so I cancelled their Card.

F**K THEM

As you said not a good experience...

Take care...