We spotted this sign in Kuantan, Malaysia last year whilst on holiday. In actual fact, we found Kuantan to be only slightly more welcoming than this sign!

 

Often seen in Thailand is the Bodhi tree decorated with pieces of coloured cloth. These trees are sacred in the Buddhist culture and symbolically represent the environment where Buddha gave his sermons and eventually lay down to die. They are often found in the grounds of temples and are revered by the Thais who bring offerings in the hope of receiving good luck.

Interesting Bars - The Volk Bar, Bangkok

Volk Bar, Bangkok, originally uploaded by HellonEarth2006.

There are mnay interesting bars in Bangkok for a variety of reasons. This one is very much a novelty bar that can be found in Sukhumvit Soi 7. It is known as the Volk bar for obvious reasons and the sticker on the door claims that it was established in 1999. As you can see the bar has a few bar stools but also a number of tables on the pavement. It makes for an interesting photo but it is hardly a bar where you would spend the evening.

It actually seems to be not such a bad idea to list my favourite bars in here so I may well add other "interesting bars" to the blog although I tend not to have photographs as I do not take my rather large camera out with me in the evenings as a general rule.

I guess this is number 1 in the series then. Number 2 coming up tomorrow.

 

Summer has arrived in Bangkok. This seems a little strange as it more or less seems like summer all year round to me as the temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees centigrade and that is at night! However, Summer in Thailand means remorseless heat with temperatures topping 40 degrees C and with humidity to match. The heat arrives with a vengeance in March and gets hotter into April before the onset of the rainy season.

The rainy season lasts until October during which time it can rain every day especially in the afternoons. On the other hand, it may not rain for a couple of months at all during this period. The chances are that there will be some spectacular thunderstorms and almost certainly flash floods during this time. The rains in the north of Thailand gradually swell Bangkok's main river the Chao Phraya until by November it is often the case that the river banks are being propped up by sandbags and parts of Chinatown are under water. Flood prevention measures such as damming the river have been put into place but this has only alleviated the problem and not cured it as the authorities eventually have to open the dam gates in any case.

This photo is, as you may have guessed, not Bangkok but is taken in Phuket during the rainy season. A heavy storm rolled in across the Andaman sea and dumped its load. As luck would have it, it was lunch time so we ate lunch, by which time the sun had reappeared and we were able to continue our stroll along the beach in beautiful sunshine.

Backpackers in Bangkok

 

Anyone who has spent time as a backpacker in Bangkok will instantly recognise this location as the Khao San Road which is home to many a backpacker in Bangkok. We recently spent a very hot Sunday afternoon sat drinking beer in a cafe on the Khao San Road watching all the weird and wonderful individuals troop up and down. I have to say that it never ceases to amaze us how many people both young and not so young resort to this method of touring the world. I am sure some of them really do get to see the world but it often looks like they are just trudging from place to place spending all their time trying to find a cheap place to stay.

We are just glad we are not backpackers.