We were plagued with indecision today. It’s one of our worst qualities as a couple, as well as indviduals. Not so much with the big decisions like should we sell our house and live a permanent nomadic life. It’s the little decisions that really get us like where to eat and what to do today.
We had gotten up this morning with the intention of sticking to our plan. Get up, pack up and catch the bus to Sangkhlaburi, a town further North in Kanchanaburi up by the Burmese border. Sangkhlaburi looks really interesting. Lots of minority Mon people and refugees from Burma as well as a city sunk by a dam and Thailand’s longest wooden footbridge. I went down to the bus station early to see what times the bus went – I couldn’t get a straight answer from a travel agent or reception at our guesthouse. There was a bus leaving at 12.30 which suited us, taking about four hours to reach Sangkhlaburi.
I had been trying for a few days to get through to a guesthouse in Sangkhlaburi. It looked perfect for us, similar to where we’re staying at Ploy, nice pool over looking the river. No one seemed to speak enough English for me to reserve a room. I asked the lady at Ploy to ring through and got the answer that they were fully booked. I tried a few other hotels and guesthouses with the same result. I forgot that it was Saturday and Sangklaburi sees a lot of weekend Thai visitors.
We couldn’t decide what to do. Go and wander around searching for accommodation. Stay in Kanchanaburi a few more days until the weekend passed and then go. Go back to Bangkok.
Getting close to lunchtime we decided the only thing we could do was to sit down over lunch at Apple’s and try and work it out.
We had another delicious lunch and decided the best thing to do was catch a bus back to Bangkok. We felt like we needed to slow things down for Reuben’s sake. We realised the best place for him was going to be down at the beach not being overstimulated at a Mon market or trapsing around the temples of Ayutthaya.
On the Bus Back to Bangkok
Our bus ride back to Bangkok was easy but boring. The scenary wasn’t even remotely as interesting as the train ride. It didn’t feel like we got out of the city, just that Kanchanaburi town turned into the outskirts of Bangkok. All we saw was urban sprawl, no greenery. The ride was supposed to take 2.5 hours but was actually closer to 3.5 hours. The last hour was just getting into the Southern bus terminal.
New Siam Riverside
Our Room at New Siam Riverside - Reuben in His Portacot
Great Room Amenities at New Siam Riverside
Massive Breakfast Spread
Breakfast Out in the Courtyard
View Along the Chao Phraya from New Siam Riverside
We decided we’d try out New Siam Riverside. The rooms are 1390B a night, considerably more than New Siam II. It’s much more of a hotel than a guesthouse – AC lobby, doorman, buffet breakfast. It’s worth the extra cash though to have more space in our room and a larger pool. The internet seems more reliable as well. The buffet breakfast saves us a few hundred baht and makes it easier to get breakfast out of the way and then plan our day.
We’re feeling a lot more positive about our upcoming time in Bangkok. We’re going to stay four or five days and then head down to the Islands. Here’s hoping Bangkok treats us better this time around!
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Ah indecision, we struggle with that as well 😉
We are flying into Bangkok in the morning on Tuesday. Staying at the New Siam 2 – kind of at your recommendation actually – and then catching the train south to Hua Hin the following day. Will you be around on the 15th? It would be so nice to meet you guys!
Cheers,
M
Oh buggar. We will have just missed you. We’ve actually just headed down to Koh Samui to stay at a friend’s place. (I’m a little bit behind on my blogging.)
Where are you going after Hua Hin?
I think you’ll enjoy New Siam II. It’s great there, especially the pool. Easy to push a stroller around Soi Rambuttri and Phra Athit Road. There’s a good park at the end of Phra Athit Road where the big white fort is. No playground equipment but plenty of space to run, look out at the river boats and watch kids break-dancing on the weekend.
Nice post. Hope Bangkok treats you better guys.
Ha, that photo Of Reuben in his porta cot is cracking me up! New Siam looks lovely… hopefully a few days of chill time will settle Reuben a bit and you will all be ready for some Island fun… where are you headed?
Koh Samui. We’re actually here now. It’s tough going this travelling and blogging malarkey. I’m a bit behind. It takes me so much time to select and load of photos with this slow internet.
I love giving him kisses through the portacot mesh when his face is smushed up against it. 🙂
Too bad! My blog is perpetually behind – seems blogging about fun stuff and doing fun stuff are mutually exlusive 😉 We are in Hua Hin until about the 30th, then up all the way near Sukhothai … then back down to Krabi (Koh Lanta) for a week. Lot’s of train rides in our future, Hudson should love it! How about you guys?
Oh I couldn’t agree more! I’m trying to get it up to date but it doesn’t look like that’s happening. I’m always going to be playing catch up.
We were going to go to Ayutthaya to see the temples there after Bangkok but abandoned the idea because it’s been SO hot in Thailand. Too hot to do much more than swim. So we came down to Koh Samui and then we’re going to Koh Phangan. After that we’re going to go to more beaches along the mainland and cross into Malaysia.
If Hudson is into trains he will love the travel. Reuben did. He’s really into Thomas and another book he’s got about trains. Was so excited to see one for the first time and couldn’t believe we were going for a ride on it!
Spent some time in Kanchanaburi back in 2004. This post brings back some good memories.
I would imagine having a child would complicate things even more, it is one thing to make a terrible decision and suffer on your own but when you are responsible for a child you need to be more practical.
He ain’t making it easy for us. that’s for sure! It’s really hard to explain travel to someone who’s still working out how to communicate. I bet he’s constantly thinking, “what are they doing to me now? why is it so darn hot here? how long is this plane ride going to last – two hours, ten hours?”.
Having said that Reuben is loving all the attention from Thai girls. It really helps that he loves Thai food. I can’t imagine having to deal with food issues on top of everything else we’ve been dealing with.