Back to Bangkok

In June and July I had two opportunities to go back to Bangkok. In June, Diane and I hired a cab to the border in Poipet, and then another on the Thai side to take us to our hotel in Bangkok. We did get stuck in immigration for a while, as apparently Thai officials had forgotten to stamp Diane's passport on her last exit (flight had been from another city to BKK to REP and somehow things got missed), so they kept us there for a while trying to sort out whether she had somehow overstayed her old visa and was trying to get back in? Luckily she had stamps from Singapore in the inbetween, so they eventually let us go. Cab was decent, we negotiated ok (The way back was NOT so nice...lesson - don't negotiate. Just walk across the border and get a Cambodian driver. We had a lot of purchases though). Anyway we stayed at the Best Western (yes...) Hiptique in Sukhumvit, the same neighborhood Phil and I had stayed in on our last visit. Awesome rooftop pool, very nice staff. Highly recommend. Though, as is sometimes the case in SE Asia without proper traps in the plumbing, sometimes bathrooms (toilets) emit a certain fragrance when flushed.  ANYWAY here are some shots of this awesome place with free tuk tuk service (at certain hours) to the skytrain.

Since this was a girls' weekend, we did the important things. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, the malls, Jatujak market, rooftop bar from the Hangover....

First stop - Wax Museum:

Clearly we had a good time. Spent some time wandering around the malls (ate Subway), bought some cool BKK kind of souvenirs like fake vintage airline luggage.

We went out that night in Sukhumvit, and passed my bar. The Hillary Bar. Which is clearly full of...ladies of the evening...and sexpats. So we didn't actually go in but I totally got a shot of it.

We had some really good pizza and wine at a restaurant in Sukhumvit, and then took a cab to the rooftop bar seen in the Hangover 2. Great place to take in Bangkok at night. Decent cocktails (expensive obviously). After that I think we called it a night in order to get up and go shopping!!! Work time now, will continue this post later...