Before the trip drama:
So in looking for jonnys passport to pack away into my handbag we realised he didnt have it.. and after turning the house upside we still couldnt find it. With a week to go before we flew we thought.. yea no issues... express passport only takes 2 days. Boy were we wrong. We filled in application and as jonny had an australian birth certficate failed to see the extra clause that if u were born after 1986 you had to provide proof that your parents were citizens/residents of australia at the time he was born... so first attempt at passport office failed... second attempt with all the correct documents also failed.. as just our luck, his license (photo ID) had expired 2 days earlier and was no longer valid. Third time lucky, we used 2 guarantors but was told that we could not do express as 2 guarantors was a longer process, we were told to just call up 2 days before we travel to see if it was possible to pick up the passport. Already it seemed we were not going to make this trip... but luck must be on our side as passport was ready and we were off to Thailand!!
Day 1 - Friday
Landing in Bangkok airport and instantly being hit with the humidity it was a relief to be picked up in a pimped out van with a guide to show us around. First stop... shopping!! We stopped by MBK, Siam Paragon and then hit the markets near central world. Came back with bags of goodies, rested up early for the long day we had ahead of us.
Flamboyant pink taxis in Bangkok
Hotel Lobby
Day 2 - Saturday
Picked up from the hotel nice and early and headed off to Pattaya for the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. We were able to hand feed the baby tigers and had pictures taken. Highlight would definately being able to hold the small cubs, they are so adorable.
After the zoo we went to get a relaxing massage before heading to the Alcazar Cabret show (Ladyboys)
We headed back into Bangkok to meet up with Petes friend Yoso who took us clubbing, unfortunately the clubs in Thailand only open until 2am.. so we took the party back to our hotel.
Day 3 - Sunday
I woke up early and as everyone else was still sleeping decided to explore bangkok by myself.. after being lost in a maze of markets i finally found my dream mall.. Platinum Mall.. or as the locals call it... Pratunum Mall. Everything was so unbelievably cheap... didnt need to bargain as the prices are already set.. and for the boys plenty of pretty girls to look at.
Took a tuk tuk by myself back to the hotel after everyone else woke up and we headed off to Chatuchak Weekend market. We didnt get to speand too much time there as we got their a bit too late, but we were able to squeeze in a fair bit of shopping. We then headed to Patpong night market and my god was that an experience.. after shopping with such cheap prices at the other shopping mall.. Patpong was where they really try to rip uou off.. prices were marked up by 500% and we had to bargain hard to get a decent price. Not to mention all lined up by the streets were go go bars.. and with no doors to block outside view you could see endless girls/ladyboys in their underwear prancing around dancing... ive never been harassed so much in my life to see live sex shows and live ping pong shows!!
Day 4 - Sunday
Safari World!! - again up early to head to Safari world.. my mission was to get a picture with an orangutang...
Day 5 - Tuesday
Last day in Bangkok and this was where the drama really started ... started off visiting the temples in Ayathuya (i think thats how its spelt) ... headed back to do last minute speed shopping .... one last massage in bangkok ....
ended up waiting around for a few hours as ambulance and police came around.. luckily none of us got seriously injured... we got a few bumps but nothing major.. but for insurance purposes, we decided to head to the hospital just in case... but after waiting around for a few hours.. me and pete were exhausted and decided that our injuries would do better with some rest .. so we headed home while jonny and cathy went to the hospital.
We were buggered as we woke up the following morning to leave Bangkok and head to Phuket.
Day 6 - Wednesday
Boarded the plane to phuket and then got majorly annoyed as even the airport tried to scam us for money as they tried to organise a ferry for us to head into Phi Phi Island.. with minimal sleep... car accident the night before...hot and humid.. we were just not in the mood (or i definately wasnt..)
Finally boarded the ferry after what seemed like waiting forever .. and the view made up for it ...
Day 7 - Thursday
Booked a morning of snorkelling and Kayaking ... first time snorkelling was amazing.. fishes are swimming so close to you and they were huge and so colourful.. the water was crystal clear and soooo nice ...
and then more drama... we decided to do some last minute shopping in Phi Phi island as we were heading back into Phuket the next morning... and Cathy gets scammed some money when trying to buy a handbag ... they insisted she had given them a 100 note instead of the 1000 note. So off again to the police station for a few hours .. by the time we had finished up.. it was pouring rain and there was no point heading out to the beach party in the rain..
Day 8 - Friday
Took a private speed boat back to Phuket
Saw Pete off at the Taxi Bay as he was leaving for home .. and we took a taxi to our hotel...
Booked ourselves into Quad Biking, Elephant Trekking and Monkey show.
Last minute shopping once again and that was it... holiday had come to end... or so we thought ...
Day 9 - Saturday
Boarded the plane from Phuket to Bangkok .. had a few hours to spare so went to eat and did some duty free shopping at the airport .. waited to board the next plane... and waited and waited.. it was delayed by about 40 minutes... i checked the interary and realised we only had 1 hour 20 minutes to get onto the next flight.. and we didnt have boarding passes for that flight either... we enlisted the assistance of the flight attendants who advised that there will be someone when we land in Guangzhou to assist us to board the next flight.. and the captain of the next flight has been notified... so we thought all good...
BUT we were wrong... once landed we were told that our luggage will not make it with us on this flight and will have to come 24 hours later.. we did not want to go without our luggage and made some fib about how we were transitting onwards and could not wait 24 hours in melbourne for our luggage... so we scored a free night in Guangzhou.. =) stayed in a 5 star hotel.. got a free visa for a day.. explored a bit of Guangzhou city .. ate a satisfying buffet dinner at the hotel and finally boarded our plane home..
So after being in a car crash.. ending up at the police station twice.. missing our plane home.. it was an overall a good trip. lol
Came home just in time to hear the news about Osama and that they were tightening airport security all over .. we just missed it.. not that we were smuggling anything in... hahah
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