YU_GO_GONE

My boyfriend (Yugo_Boy) and I (Yugo_Girl) were sitting at the Rydges Sydney Airport observation deck spotting planes and enjoying this rare $10 treat, an escape from our frugal existence. The idea of a Euro-Asian odyssey came into being @:-)@:-). Having worked our butts off as stock takers, pizza delivery drivers, waitresses, jewellery sales workers, newspaper throwers, pharmacy assistants and everything in between, we scraped together enough money to turn our fantasies into reality for 86 days in August 2015.
We will focus on photos of the food we enjoy, the places we see and experience and the accommodation we stay at. As well as photos during travel on various transport (plane, train and bus).
















Yugo_Girl enjoying the view









Itinerary

Part 1: The benefits of travelling with a really tall person and a letter to the President of Thai Airways: Sydney to Bangkok on Thai Airways
Part 1a: Balloons: weapons of mass destruction, Intricacies of Thai Temples and the last of the Erawan Shrine before Bombing in Bangkok
Part 1b: 20km walk of Bangkok: 360 degree views on the Golden Mountain and the $2.50 Lonely Planet best pad Thai in the world
Part 1c: Temple Overload in Bangkok: the 46m Golden Reclining Buddha, In need of Nikola Tesla Electrics and Mango Sticky Rice
Part 1d: I scream for Cookies and Ice Cream in Bangkok: A melt in your mouth experience!!
Part 2: Officious and Friendly Austrians and the $50 a night Travelodge at Heathrow: Bangkok to London on Austrian Airlines
Part 2a: Dream a Little Dream of London: Beautiful, Bustling and Breathtaking
Part 2b: Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Peruvian Fusion Food and To be or Not to be?
Part 2c: Sky High in London
Part 3: Bonjour Paris, Paris, Paris! Walks around the city
Part 4: A Taste of Brussels: Tonton Garby Sandwiches, Famous Belgian Chocolate Waffles and A Grand Palace
Part 5: Amsterdam Amazes: Canals, Flowers and Bicycles!
Part 5a: Amsterdam Amazes:Canals, Food and More Bicycles!
Part 6: Plane spotting in AV Geek Heaven on the Amsterdam Observation Deck - Amsterdam to Rome on Vueling
Part 6a: 3 nights when in Rome
Part 7: Trekking through the highway of Sarzana and La Spezia's Mountaintop Elevator
Part 7a: Exhausted after 15km of Cinque Terre and uninspired by cold showers
Part 7b: I don't wanna work today, I just wanna play - Monterosso and Levanto
Part 8: Off to Lake Como to visit the Clooney's
Part 8a: Last night in Lover's Lake: Living like the Clooney's in Como
Part 9: Truffle Overdose in Milan
Part 10: Croatian Sensation: Hvar Island
Part 10a: Croatian Sunset Sky Paradise - Sveti Klement (Hvar Island)
Part 11: Zdrlica Beach and Split: This ain't industrial!
Part 12: Not ready to split from Split and Breathtaking Bol - Brac Island
Part 12a: Brac Island: Teenage Tennis Tantrums in Beautiful Bol
Part 12b: Brac Island: Cocktail Binge in Breathtaking Bol
Part 13: Mystical Mountains, Cevapi and Tropical Feelings in Magical Makarska
Part 13a: Nudist Beach, More Minced Meat and Crystal Blue Waters in Magnificent Makarska
Part 14: Mosques, Ottoman Bridges and Oriental Lamps in Mostar
Part 14a: Bruce Lee, Secret Yugoslav Airbases, Vandalised Gardens of Babylon and Yugo Nostalgia
Part 15: Avoiding Wrongful Arrest, Avoiding Speaking Croatian and Dreamy Delightful Dubrovnik
Part 15a: Walking the walls of Dubrovnik and a fullproof theft-free way of getting photos!
Part 15b: Reasons why we love Dubrovnik, A hidden beach and being a good Samaritan in Dubrovnik
Part 16: Bingeing on Balkan Stodge in Budva the land of 50%-80% off everything!
Part 16a: The 9km walk to Sveti Stefan: 75 euro beaches and an island that no one can get on
Part 17: Bells ringing 167 times at 7 am in the beautiful old town of Kotor!
Part 17a: Darling Dobrota, an ancient castle and rescuing an American damsel from her Indiana Jones experience!
Part 17b: Walking aimlessly to Amazing Prcanj, soaking up the sun in Dobrota and the constant threat of sharks!
Part 18: Yugo Stars, Yugo Planes and Yugo Skies: Tivat to Skopje via Belgrade
Part 18a: Macedonia:The land of Alexander the Great and Skopje the city of distinctive architecture
Part 18b: Helping a Syrian refugee on a 6th century Fortress in Skopje
Part 19: What to/not to eat in Lake Ohrid: Makalo, never again! but god, you taste so good!
Part 19a: Lake Ohrid: Take Me to Church in the Pearl of the Balkans
Part 19b: Trekking for Ancient churches in Sveti Naum, Avoiding harm from dangerous Peacocks and being blessed by a Macedonian Nun
Part 19c: Macedonian Tahiti: The Bay of Bones from 1200 years older than Christ!
Part 19d: Struga: the city of poetry and walking along a national highway to a cave monastery on the Albanian Border
Part 19e: A Journey of the Ages: From 2,000 B.C, the Ottoman Empire, Yugoslavia to Current day Macedonia
Part 19f: Who needs Switzerland when you have Matka Canyon Skopje!
Part 19g: Skopje the city of Fountains and a Macedonian Fighter Jet in Suburban Skopje
Part 19h: The 1.50 euro cable car ride to a 66m high Swarovski Cross – The Millennium Cross Skopje
Part 20: Goodbye Skopje! Hello Niš with your beautiful fortress and metre long fried bread!
Part 20b: A Nazi Concentration Camp, Fists of Liberty and the Skull Tower of Serbs in Niš
Part 21: The White City: House of Tito's Flowers, NATO bombings and Sassy Spanish Tapas in Belgrade Serbia
Part 21a: Timeless Architectural Masterpieces: The streets of Beautiful Belgrade, buildings of Culture and History and Kalemegdan
Part 21b: Drinking Rakia with Titoists in Kafana SFRJ and more Architectural Masterpieces in Belgrade!
Part 22: The Square of Liberty, Weddings Galore on Saturday and that's not Graffiti it's Street Art in Novi Sad Serbia!
Part 23: Bratislava: A guide on how to spend over 200 euro in one day on food: Japanese-Slovakian Fusion.
Part 23a: Nitra: A day trip to a place we've never heard of: Why Not? and Bratislava the land of Fairytale buildings and Teal Lover's Dreams!
Part 23b: The Romance of Bratislava Castle and Slavin Monument, now that's a War Memorial!
Part 24: A traditional Viennese coffee house experience and the Artistic Jewels of Vienna
Part 24a: Too many palaces, too many squares we do not know where we are or what we are doing in Vienna!!
Part 24b: A palace a day keeps the doctor away! Belvedere Palace Vienna! and sharing Sangas with Donald Sutherland (kind of)!
Part 25: From Schönbrunn Palace to Green Curry in Bangkok on Austrian Airlines
Part 26: Lin-Fa Chinese in Bangkok to Summer Sun on our own private beach in Sydney on Thai Airways


Exploring the Land Down Under Adventures:
Part 1: Down Under dreaming a Sydney Harbour Dream at Café Sydney!

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Stay tuned for more adventure :-::-::-::-:

YU_GO_GONE

Flight: Thai Airways 476
Origin: Sydney (SYD)
Arrival: Bangkok (BKK)
Aircraft: B744
Class: Economy

Hi to all the travel enthusiasts out there!

this is my first proper trip report, I'm not quite sure how it should start but I will try my best to capture the travel experience as much as possible.
Our flight from Sydney to Bangkok was my first flying Thai Airways and it will not be my last. The Thai Airways crew were amazing, they catered to all our needs, with 2 full meals and constant drink runs. The crew serving our section were especially friendly, and before we left they recommended a few sights and we asked to write them a review for the airline. Two crew were so happy to hear this that they wrote down their names and asked us to address the letter to the President of Thai Airways which we did


Sydney Airport



Construction in Sydney Airport



More of Sydney Airport



Air Canada at Sydney Airport









Boeing 747 - The plane we flew on



The flight - boarding






In flight - Thai Airways


Another meal - Thai green curry with passionfruit dessert and smoked salmon.



The choice between the beef and the green curry. The sauce of the beef was very nice as were the mash potatoes.



Last of the meals before landing, a very cute and filling assortment. Hokkien noodles with vegetables. The noodles were very nice.



The on board magazine with a picture of the Princess.






The emergency exit seats we were given, they made a world of difference. Handy tip: travel with a really tall person. It helps.






Amazing view



Landing in Bangkok Airport



Bangkok Airport



ARRIVED!



Baggage pick-up took almost no time. Very quick and efficient service by Thai Airways.



We took the Skytrain to our hotel located next to Phaya Thai. This is the view and our first look at Bangkok.



The traffic in this city is crazy. Catching a taxi will be time lost here.



People living on the train tracks. Bangkok is full of scenes like this.



Phaya Thai



Thai electrics



Our hotel - the classy Sukosol, our favourite hotel in all the times we have been to Bangkok we have stayed here.



The room



Room in Sukosol


More photos of Bangkok to come :-::-::-:

avneeshj

Looks great so far. Waiting for more.

DanielW

Great start to what looks to be an awesome trip! Looking forward to the rest.

YU_GO_GONE

Thank you so much for your feedback! I will be putting up more of the next days in Bangkok soon! Lots of photos of unseen sights and temples which are mesmerizing!

YU_GO_GONE

Thank you very much! It has been so far, I will be posting more of the amazing Bangkok in the next few days, I'm very excited to have you read it !

YU_GO_GONE

The second day in Bangkok was spent exploring bits and pieces of the city. If you have been to Bangkok or have had the fortune of visiting this bustling city, you would see the disparity present. In a nutshell Bangkok is a city of contrast. Beautiful old style temples juxtaposed with the modernity of skyscrapers. Both in their own right architectural masterpieces which stand amid the city of smiles, the city of contrasts. There is a prominent food culture present at each turn you take. Stalls and stalls of food. Local people and shopping centres selling everything you can possibly think of, and everything else you did not. This is a city where the old mingles with the new. The skyscrapers tower for kilometres with buildings that exceed the grandeur of Singapore. Just when you think you have put you finger on what Bangkok is, parts that mirror that of Penang, Malaysia appear showing the diversity of this 24 hour paradox.


The grounds of the Sukosol.



Sukosol



Panna cotta for breakfast, as you do.



Sukosol



Intricacy at the Sukosol



The classic and modern Sukosol.



A random building


The different streets of Bangkok




The only thing I don't understand about this modern city - The electrical cables everywhere.



They really needed Nikola Tesla to pay a visit here.







A view of the city


Stalls along the train tracks - sites like these can be seen everywhere in Bangkok.



The beautiful palace museum


The grounds of the museum



The beautiful palace grounds





Palace Museum


Inside the mystique



Lunch at the J.W Marriott



Watermelon juice and mango and orange juice.



Chicken stir-fry with thai basil and chilli - delish



Vegetable stir-fry with soy, marinated in soy



Erawan Shrine



Erawan Shrine



A random temple in the middle of the city we accidentally stumbled upon. These kinds of temples are ubiquitous in Bangkok.



The temples in amidst the skyscrapers






Building next to the temple



Beautiful architecture in the middle of the city



Yugo_boy enjoying the view



Beautiful detail on the temple






This was completely deserted, not even considered a tourist attraction, and the writing was in Thai so I am not quite sure of the name.



The contrast



The detail on this!


The famous MBK shopping centre, well worth a look. Floors upon floors of anything and everything.



The view from the BTS



Another temple



Queen of Curry for dinner



Dinner at the Queen of Curry



Yes, they are open.



Coconut juice out of a coconut, with beautiful orhids.



Papaya Salad, a delicacy



Yellow curry -yummaroooo



Green curry - a thai favourite



Bangkok traffic



The markets near the Queen of Curry



The famous balloon incident, these signs are everywhere! Balloons - apparently weapons of mass destruction in Bangkok.



The Siam Paragon, amazing shopping centre. Bangkok is full of shopping centres like this.






The Sukosol at night



The hallways of the Sukosol


More to come :-::-::-:

YU_GO_GONE

Day 3 to follow

lizzie1715

What a very interesting and witty trip report. I love the quality and beauty of your pictures, especially the details of some of the temples. I have been to Bangkok before but have stuck mostly to the more popular tourist sights which have always been crowded. So to see your palace museum pictures and temples without anyone in sight is terrific, and I'll make sure I visit those places next time I am there. I too have often wondered about the huge amount of electrical wires, and agree that Tesla should have been consulted ha ha. And finally the pictures of the Sukosol Hotel are awesome, it has the boutique hotel feel about it, an oasis in the heat. Have you tried the food there yet? How would you rate the food at the Queen of Curry? Please continue with your great reporting, (I can't wait to read about the less known Balkan destinations) while I dream of your "yummaroooo" yellow curry and panna cotta breakfast.

joy16

The temple in between Siam Paragon and Central World is Pathumwanaram temple.

TM78

Great TR. Looking forward for the rest.

YU_GO_GONE

Thank you for the nice words. The lettuce palace really was great and so were the staff who were very kind and inviting. The queen of curry served nice food definitely value for money but pales in comparison with that served by the Sukosol (which will feature in a later report)

YU_GO_GONE

Thank you

YU_GO_GONE

Day 3 was filled with lots of walking of Bangkok, from morning to night. We explored the stunning Golden Mountain, where you can see the entirety of the amazing Bangkok city with 360 degree views. We visited a beautiful gemstone temple protected by statues of elephants and we immersed ourselves in the traditional Thai dishes at the Queen of Curry!



Traffic below, as we conveniently take the BTS straight to the Siam Paragon food court.



We found this thai brand crepe place which was fantastic! This is the crepe, crazy decadent. We waited in a line for 20 minutes just to get this little thing that folds into a cute miniature dessert.



We walked all the way to the train station and were helped by a kind thai man to cross the road to here. Thai people are so friendly, it really is the Land of Smiles - as advertised accurately by Thai Airways



Bangkok has canals! who knew.



Mini canals in Bangkok - are we in Amsterdam? you just cannot see all the sides that Bangkok has to offer. So versatile.



New york style buildings in Old Bangkok. I didn't know where we were anymore!



More thai architectural masterpieces



The beautiful golden Buddha



At the bottom of the Golden Mountain



So many orchids everywhere, no wonder lots of Thai restaurants serve food and decorate it with Orchids. Simply bliss.



The place we were actually heading to was the Golden Mountain. It was a long walk but we got there.



Golden people greet you up the entire climb. We were abit unsure at how high the mountain would be, but it proved a very pleasant walk. They even has a coffee shop halfway if you need to stop for a break! But no, we really didn't need to lol



This is stunning, so much colour!



It doesn't look like it but here there were plenty of tourists. But there are moments like these where it's all yours.



You can see the whole of Bangkok in a 360 degree angle here.



Yugo_boy and the view



More golden mountain



A monk walking at the bottom of the golden mountain, he was on a mobile phone. Interesting contrast.



Those electrical cables again, they do make for interesting scenes. Masses of people in Bangkok ride motorbikes, there is so much traffic that crossing a road proves difficult.


Another temples, slightly different but with a similar style.



Tuk Tuk anyone?



Thai grandeur, filled with temples so beautiful you become immune to them. They are stunning.



It's all in the detail



Notice the outlines of people in the gates, amazing detail.






Democracy monument



My favourite temple, you'll see why.



The beautiful temple with a ridiculous amount of mosaics so beautiful I wonder how did they create this amazing masterpiece.


Elephants guard the entrance and gem stones cover the entire building.



Breathtaking! This isn't even that well known among tourists.









Dinner at the Thip Samai - voted by Lonely Planet as the best Pad Thai in the entire world. The line for this is huge, but luckily we got their early.



Inside Thip Samai



The famous Pad Thai - wrapped in thin egg. Delicious!!



Pad Thai and egg. AMAZING - personally my favourite.



Vegetarian Pad Thai with bean sprouts and mushrooms. All the dishes were absolutely 5 star. Delicious pad and each dish was about $2.50 AU. Cheapest five star experience you will have.

More adventure to follow :-::-::-::-:

churchy

Very interesting TR, looking forward to seeing your travels through Europe. I hope you both have a wonderful time.