Brett and Bernii

Since the last update we have remained in Bangkok.

After checking out of the Ibis Bangkok Sukhumvit 4, we spent two nights at the Ibis Bangkok Sathorn, which gave us the opportunity to explore the nearby Lumphini Park in the afternoons. There is a good running/walking circuit around the park. There are also a large population of Asian water monitor lizards and stray cats.

After our short break from the Sukhumvit area we returned to check in to the Ibis Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit 4 where we have spent the past two weeks. It is the same hotel we stayed in over New Years, and is conveniently located across the street from the Bangcockney Pub. Another reason that we chose this hotel is that it has a good gym and a good pool. This has allowed us to get back into a fitness routine in preparation for my upcoming trip to Nepal where I will be trekking in the Langtang Valley, and Bernii’s trip to Vietnam where she will be lazing by the beach in Da Nang and Hoi An.

On the afternoon of Friday 11th of April, the annual Songkran festival kicked off. If you haven’t heard of it, it is basically the world’s biggest waterfight. It originates from a Buddhist tradition and symbolizes cleansing and renewal – washing away the previous year and purifying for the coming year. This was our second Songkran in Bangkok – we had previously experienced it in April of 2019.

The festival officially goes for three days and starts on the 13th of April, however it often kicks off early. On the Sunday afternoon we donned our Hawaiian shirts and took our water pistols and headed down Soi 4 for the action at Nana before making our way to Asoke and into Soi Cowboy – a short street full of bars and niteclubs which turned into a major waterfight during Songkran.

For the five days that it ended up going for, it was difficult to go anywhere without getting wet. If you had a watergun in your hands, you were a target. Often, you were a target even without a watergun. Trying to avoid getting wet only made you a bigger target. By the end of Songkran it was a bit of a relief to get back to normal.

We are approaching the end of our two weeks at the Ibis Styles Sukhumvit 4 and tomorrow we will relocate just down the street to the Parinda Hotel. We have stayed there before and it also has a good gym and a pool so it will allow us to continue our exercise routines.

Here are the updated statistics (I’ll try to remember to add them to each post going forward):

	Since our last statistics update (63 days)	Overall (129 days)
Number of beds slept in	16	42
Cheapest accommodation	AU$44.87 (Hub Hua Hin 57)	AU$17.18 (Namkhong Riverside Hotel)
Most expensive accommodation	AU$150.46 (Airbnb – Loft penthouse – the heart of Sai Gon)	AU$224.60 (Sanctuary Pak Beng Lodge)
Countries visited	2	4
Number of flights	3	9
Number of bus trips	4	10
Number of train trips	0	1
Number of boat trips	2	3