We Can’t Continue Our Around The World Drive as Planned

We Can’t Continue Our Around The World Drive as Planned

Okay well that didn’t quite go according to plan! Do you know there are no words at all that I can say to sum up how I feel! I don’t know how we’re going to get out! We’re going to get out!

After spending the last four years  fulfilling our dream of driving our UK campervan around the world, we realised that no matter how much planning we do, there are some things that are just out of our control! Okay so we’re not leaving Georgia, unexpected mechanical problems, medical issues, border crossings, Visa applications,

And trying to get permission to bring our UK van into various countries are some of the most unpredictable and mentally challenging situations, this is just another one of those times! Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. Jennifer Lee

Good morning, we ended up finding this little hotel with the best bed ! A lovely bed and and there is actually  a swimming pool out there, although we haven’t got time to go in the pool this morning as we’re off,

We’ve got a plan this morning, we’re go to a very cool market and it’s time sensitive because there’s a train that we have to go and see! So this little hotel is in Samut Songkram,  just south of Bangkok,

It was a great little place to stay £18 a night, can’t go wrong! It is looking like it’s going to be a lovely day today!   The rain from yesterday has gone and we’re excited, yeah,

This this Market has always been something I’ve wanted to visit, so we’re going to go and check that out as we head up towards Bangkok. Right let’s hit the road!

So the market, we’re headed to today is only about 12 minutes drive away, so it’s not far. This was the perfect location this little hotel here, there you go there’s another massive spirit house Shrine outside the hotel it’s obviously a successful hotel because it is the biggest one we have seen! or they want more  luck?!

They are nice because they’re really pretty and ornate aren’t they? They are, there’s a lot of detail on them – it’s like a little house. Okay, 300 m and we’re going to turn left  and we’re nearly there!

Hopefully we can find parking? We think we have found a big car park online, because parking Trudy sometimes can be a little bit tight. That dog’s Crossing on the zebra Crossing!! That’s hilarious!! The cars aren’t stopping for it I’m going to stop for it!

You can cross now! oh no there’s a car behind you, he’s not going to cross! he’s just looking at you! people are going to think we’re nuts! okay 70m take the next left, it looks a little bit chaotic up ahead Marianne…. it’s definitely getting busier!

It’s interesting, I’m not sure this Junction who’s got the right of way? I have now, Trudy’s bigger!! Oh this looks very chaotic, look there’s food stands and shops here, this looks great, just the kind of organised chaos I love in Thailand!

This is the edge of the market that we’re planning  to go to, lots of food, it’s actually a very famous Market, but it is a very unique Market because the train line that you can see in front, you can just see the train crossing, it  actually runs through the market,

And every time the train comes, they have to move all the Stalls to let the train through! I’ve seen it online many times and it’s just been something I think is so mad to watch online, that I just thought we have to come here for ourselves as we’re driving past!

And there should be a train probably in about 40 minutes I think, we’re going just over the crossing, I think it’s going to be quite a popular tourist site. Oh yeah there are look there’s people everywhere, it’s going to be chaotic,

But it looks fun and I’m sure it’s a nice place to have a little walk around, there is a tour group, there’s another tour group! So much for getting off the Beaten Track Marianne! But sometimes it’s nice to see the ‘thing’

Well I think that’s the point, isn’t it? that the really popular things are touristic so they’re so popular and so cool and unique. Right so just keep going the car park is behind here somewhere,

Now how we quite get into it? I think, oh a little bit further there’s a green sign on the right, and it looks absolute carnage in there! A car just went in, we’ll give it our best shot if not we’ll drive and try, to find a spot and walk back.

But let’s try and go in and see what happens. Turn right here, I can’t because there’s a car blocking the way. Oh it’s chaos, yeah if it’s full we’ll go back down the road and park on the other side, yeah, because there was parking.

This is the town side isn’t it? So it’s like the crazy side, full side, I think we should do that, I genuinely don’t think that this is going to get any easier. Okay we’ve ended up on a main road, oh which is flooded,

And we’re trying to U-turn back because that car park was rammed! Goodness they must have had either a burst water Mains or flash flood rain, so yeah we’re going to turn back and try and park on the street, and then walk to the market, I think that’s probably a better solution.

After driving around the block it seems that the the car park entrance has cleared, so let’s give it one more go, we’ve still got about 20 minutes till the train comes in, so the worst scenario, I could just do a loop of the town and you jump out to get the shot!

The problem with that Marianne is, I’d lose you I’d never find you again! I was just thinking we would lose each other, and I would be lost forever! But there’s absolutely Bob open and no hope that we’re going to be able to park in here,

So let’s just drive and walk back, I genuinely cannot believe how many tours are here, one thing we have noticed about Thailand, is that it is so popular with tourists, and has just grown and grown and grown,

That it is actually very hard to find off the Beaten Track places anymore, and you just have to accept that the places are full  of tours, and it’s very busy, maybe as we head further north it will be slightly less?

I don’t know we’ll have to see, the thing is when you come somewhere 20 plus years ago, and then you go back it’s changed so much, it has changed so so much!   yeah absolutely. Okay we’re going to drive down this road and we’ll try and find somewhere to park and walk back if we can,

Okay we got about 15 minutes and you can see what’s happening here it’s absolute Mayhem, there are people walking everywhere, in fact there’s so much the traffic’s having trouble getting through now. It’s definitely out of control! I’m not sure we’re going to get to see this train after all!

Oh my goodness, I’m expecting the tourist police to turn up any minute now, to get them out of the way, yes. So yeah, to give you an idea, this is the market where you can walk down the tracks, to get the best photo aren’t they,

But the problem is, that I need to get through, they’re all walking down the tracks there, the stalls on the side, the train’s going to  come by, but yeah it’s chaos! I’m pleased … oh there’s the policeman! he has just gone down there, he’s got a big frown on his face!

Yeah this is it, well it just becomes out of control doesn’t it? Mind those bikes on the left Marianne, it’s a little bit tight, there’s at least 2 cm between me and the bikes! and the good thing is, we’re going to take one for the team and rush back to try and film,

Well we’re going to try, but I don’t know if we will make it. Do I turn left? No just keep going straight, just keep going straight, and we will find the first place we can pull over a park and we’ll run out and see if we can take some shots,

Okay, I think we made it, we’re frog marching as quickly as we can now, to try and capture the madness. So fingers crossed the Train’s about 10 minutes away, and it’s probably about a 10minute walk! I think we’re going to make it, we’re nearly there!

There are loads of food stands, we’ll definitely come and get some food on the way back that’s for sure. We’ve made it back to the railway line,  now we’re one of the people blocking the roads! So we’re going to make our way into the market,

So what is mad we’re actually on the railway tracks and the stands are here either side of us, it’s a very chaotic situation, but we’ll see what happens! The Maeklong Railway Market, commonly called Siang Tai which translates as life risking Market,

Is the most unique market we’ve ever seen, I can’t actually imagine a train coming down here in a minute, no! Here’s the market, very chaotic, on the railway track, that’s a  first for me!

It’s hard to imagine that in just a few minutes a train will be driving  along the track that we’re currently walking on. The markets open daily from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with trains arriving at 8:30 a.m. 11:10 a.m. 2:30 and 5:40 p.m. Oh there’s an announcement!

Okay we literally only have a few minutes until the train arrives, so we better start trying to find some way to get off the tracks, but that’s not easy with so many people we’re all trying to do the same, Go this side, go this side, we need to try and get to the back,

Do you want to go back a bit, there’s a lot of space at the back there guys move back, I’m happy to stand behind you if you want. Is there space behind? Oh no there isn’t. there’s a motorbike there. I thought there was a space there!

Right we’re squeezed in, I’m squeezed at the back to try and not block everyone’s view, and Chris is over there and he’s got the 360 now we’ve used this kit for a while and we’re going to try and see whether we can extend the pole,

And put it up there, obviously not in the way of the train, but we’ll see what happens, just crazy! Yeah so you can see that people are like  trying to get to a space now,

We’re very lucky one of the shop owners actually asked us to  move back away from the train track and we sort of took in this little area here, but you can see people trying to find a spot now, this is a crazy experience and I cannot tell you how hot it is, I am melting!

We stood watching the chaos as people looked for places to stand, so they could  still see the train. Despite the potential Danger there were lots of people desperate for that iconic shot.  But I’m happy where I am, and in case you  wonder, don’t I want the shot for this video? 

Well I have a camera mounted on an extendable pole so I get to film it from a safe position! That is so cool! There you go and as soon  as the Train’s gone the madness Returns, the market goes back to normal  and there’s loads of people on the tracks again!

This is definitely a crazy place! Okay now I need to go find some food, it’s absolutely roasting, all these little food stands down the side here selling fruit and selling little food bits there, got Sweet Treats there, dried fish, not made  for tall people the awnings, or for short people either!!

Okay so I’ve ordered crispy pork and rice,  so we’ll come in and … oh there’s a fan, I love it! Here you go rice and crispy pork, and it’s …look at that! It is just like pork scratchings as you get back home in the pub!

We’ve made it back to Trudy, today it is one  of our the most important parts of this stage of our round the world Drive, we’re heading to Bangkok to not only extend Trudy’s permissions, but we need to try and see if we can get a  Chinese visa – let’s go to Bangkok!

So the drive to Bangkok today isn’t too far it’s about an hour  and 12 minutes, it’s half 12 in the afternoon, we’ve managed to book a hotel so we can get everything sorted in Bangkok, we booked a hotel, the Ibis Sathorm has  parking, it was very hard to find a hotel with parking,

So hopefully there will be a space for us when we arrive, because the Centre of Bangkok won’t be the easiest place to park. I can’t believe I’m going to be driving in Bangkok, in the centre of town in Bangkok, that’s s wild!

Yeah from the time we went to Bangkok, all those years ago it was absolutely crazy traffic, so yeah we’re not really looking forward to driving through but we’ve timed it so that it’s early afternoon, so hopefully it should be as quiet as it’s going to be,

It’s not rush hour but then tomorrow we have to drive to the Customs department anyway, so but the good thing about City Driving is  it’s so busy that it’s actually a lot slower, yeah that’s true you go like 10 miles an hour,  but it’s a lovely sunny day today,

So yeah enjoy the drive into Bangkok today! Okay that’s it, we’re joining the big roads now, when we put the directions into Google Maps it does actually say that part of the route is on a toll road,

But we’ve done a little bit of research and although it’s mixed it looks like we should be able to pay cash at the toll booths, whereas in Malaysia you got to have those cards to be able to tap when you go through

But here I think there is always a cash lane, so fingers crossed for that one, it’s whether we can read the signs to see which one is Cash?! Hopefully they got some coins on the image, yeah I love those pictorial signs they’re a God send!

Deep down I’m worried about the Chinese visa, with the world situation as it is driving across China is the only direct route home. If we’re unable to get the visa then we’d have to completely change our route and with Myanmars Land border closed, we’d have to find a way to ship on somewhere.

Anyway no point in worrying about something that hasn’t happened! We are just passing loads of salt plains, this water here, they’re all harvesting salt. We saw that on the drive up. So salt is obviously a natural resource here.

It’s all the way along yeah I suppose if you’ve got salt water just to the side of you and it’s so scorchio hot, yeah, it just makes absolute sense. He’s guffing a bit of smoke there! The traffic and trucks and everything is getting a little busier, the main route North to the north of Bangkok,

It all sort of goes through Bangkok, so this is this is the main route North. It’s the lane control that gets a little bit confusing here, because they don’t really stick to their Lane the Lorry in front look is half on half off the slow Lane, Middle Lane,

And then there’s another lorry going down the hard shoulder with a motorbike. I think it might be a bit of an interesting drive today! He doesn’t know which lane he’s in does he? Yeah he’s not really sure bless him. You stay there mate! We’ve seen people on the back of trucks a lot,

But the guy in front he’s on the back sat on bags of what looks like salt going down the motorway, yeah we have noticed that the truck drivers just indicate and go, regardless of whether  there’s anything next to them or not!

Yeah I read a blog post about somebody talking about driving in  Thailand when we first came over I always do that to try and understand the rules and regs, and interestingly somebody said that the lorries,

Because they’re huge they assume that if they’re  going to move move left or right people just get out of their way, and it’s true, it’s actually true! Well that’s a nice Temple there, it is massive!

Massive construction here, look at the size of that, their going to be putting a Motorway above us I think by the looks of this. it’s quite a strange looking structure without the top on! You get the stretches of roads here look there’s no Lanes marked whatsoever,

So it feels like it should be two lanes? no  it’s three! But people make it into three lanes. I am just going to join this lane, I don’t want to bump Trudy around so much, so we’ll just go into this lane.

On this trip I love seeing the signs, we passed a few good ones, you know from LA to Vancouver, but seeing the sign for Bangkok is definitely another one of those that I will remember. Okay there is a toll, is there one that says cash? I have absolutely no idea!

Hold on there’s only three green  ones stay in this one for a minute, Oh those two are easy pass, so stay here, okay. I’m also looking for height barriers, there’s no barriers on them, okay, but I can see blue on the floor arrows means Easy Pass oh yeah,

Okie dokie, okay first uh tie toll booth. It actually says cash up there, 50 B, 75 b, or 100 B? it’s probably… we will just give her the 100 B, Mini Bus! 50 so it’s only 50 B,

I can hear a siren coming up behind us, it somewhere … there’s an ambulance, let me get out the way. We are just going over a massive bridge here, we got some great views looking down over the river over the Bangkok skyline. Wow, it’s a massive City, but …. then it  is!

We know it is, it is, and look how hazy it is? it’s very hazy today, oh he’s guffing! That’s a bit of an old looking bus isn’t it look at that, It has seen better days I think  that one! so far so good Marianne, yeah, so far so good.

Red light! There’s a red left and they’re all turning? Are they mad, there’s definitely a red light, it’s definitely a red light! I’m not going until there’s a red light oh I a green light I mean, now it’s green. There is the green light! We’re nearly at the hotel,

This is going to be our little local area. I think that’s the  pinkest taxi I’ve ever seen! Turn left here, look at the sky spaghetti electric wire there, that is a million times worse than we’ve seen anywhere! that’s crazy! Keep going straight and it should be on the left?

You turn left here there should be a car park. Oh yeah I can see Ibis now, and there are spaces, yes! There are spaces – Yes!! Hi we have a booking reservation. That’s great, there’s the hotel, perfect and there’s a parking spot right there!

This was definitely a good call this has worked out great, I’ve just spotted as a curry house right opposite, there’s another couple of food restaurants there. Right let’s go and check in, Magic ! Oh you made it look so easy!! Thank you very much, thank you! oh wow this is lovely!

Nice team coffee, safe, little mini fridge,  double bed, TV and a nice bathroom! Hold on, hold on, bed test bed test oh my goodness this is the best bed! Really? lovely, it’s got memory foam on top! Good morning from Bangkok!

So today is an important day we’re up early we are heading to the customs office this morning to try and extend Trudy’s permission, So fingers crossed we get a another 30 days for her, if not the plans change again!

It’s looking nice and sunny this morning Trudy’s just down there safely in the car park of this hotel, and we’re right in downtown Bangkok, in the heart of Bangkok, it is a busy little area, but looking online the traffic shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to get there this morning so we’re all good.

Right we ready? we’re ready, I think so, as ready as we’re going to be! The only problem being in a bigger space you lose things, definitely! Okay let’s do this! There’s the main road at the end we’re going to turn left, the traffic’s not too bad at the moment,

It’s hard to know what Bangkok traffic is going to  be like this time in the morning. So all these guys at the side here, I think are motorbike taxis? Fancy a motorbike taxi? Maybe, it could be fun! could be dangerous, or we could just go in that!

Yeah I think we’re going a Tuk Tuk okay this could be interesting, we got to turn left on this main road which is rammed, and get into the far right hand lane within about  50 m to U-turn back again. So yeah it could be interesting?! Oh my God!

I don’t know how we’re going to get out, we’re going to get out! Edge…. we’re going to get out, I’m just going to Edge, see that one there, that’s the where I’m going to go. I need to get in there, thank you, thank you,

It says make a U-turn, but …. no hold on, now it’s telling me to keep right?! No I think go under the bridge, go under the bridge, yeah because we’ve got to u-turn back on the other side of this big Main Road, no I think we’re good actually, perfect.

What time is it? it’s 9:41, so Rush Hour should be finished by now, well we don’t really know we’re going on what time rush hour is in the UK. Right u turn back here Marianne, yep. Okay we’ve made it onto the other side! Three lanes turn  right, you see that sign there?

We’re okay we’re okay Bangkok traffic is mad ! Yeah the other side it’s definitely busier, so yeah it all goes according to plan we should be  meeting an agent that we’re using to help us extend our paperwork, who should be at the custom Center, so shouldn’t take long.

Famous Last Words as we said we’ve learned that  things don’t always go as planned! Okay we joined a toll road so it’s a bit quieter 300m Marianne, it says we’re coming off. It’s this building here. So we need to get all the way to the other side.

Okay beautiful, and then this is the Customs building, so I’m going to turn the camera off now. Okay well that didn’t quite go according to plan! We were in there for an hour and a half and apparently they can’t do the paperwork in that office,

So we’re now following our agent we’re going to another office which is an hour and a half’s drive away from here, but it is what it is, we have to do these things and this is just part of the travel, so we’re having a little bit of an unexpected adventure today, we’re on a detour!

So sit back and relax and enjoy another drive- through Thailand – woohoo! Well we didn’t expect to be doing an extra 3-hour  round trip to customs near Pataya, but these things happen.

We’re getting a nice view of Bangkok today the Sun is shining some very cool looking buildings that one there that apartment block is very thin, it doesn’t look like it should stand up! It’s important for us to be able to extend Trudy’s permission so that we can delay our entry into Laos,

That will enable us to time our entry into China in April, before this the weather in China will have too much snow and ice. Okay we’re here, we’re in the customs office parking, we parked up camera’s off and hopefully we have some good news in a minute.

Boom !! We did it we got another month on Trudy! so that is amazing, oh it was worth the drive! But it’s very hot and the good thing is, I  have my craghopper trousers on, and I can just unzip them like this,

And I’m cool again!  After going to the Thai consulate last time in shorts, I’ve learned the lesson – always wear long trousers! But that’s it we can head back to Bangkok now – tomorrow is another day! Good morning it’s another morning here in Bangkok,

And today we are heading to the Chinese visa  application center to hand in our paperwork that we’ve done online, and fingers crossed in  a few days time we should hear some good news. We’re not going to take the cameras with us  this morning for obvious reasons,

But we’ll let you know how the process went when we come back… so we’ll see you later today! A few hours later Okay we’re back at the hotel, we’ve left our passports with the Chinese Embassy we now have to wait until Monday where we go back to collect the passports,

And fingers cross we have the Chinese visa. But time will tell, there’s nothing we can do other than wait, so we’ll let you know on Monday how that goes! A few days later Okay so our visit to the Chinese visa centre  to collect our passports,

With hopefully the Chinese visa didn’t go according to plan, we went there on Monday, and they said that our passports weren’t ready, that the embassy was still considering our application. So we came back to the hotel and there was an email waiting for us, asking us to give lots of details about our time in Turkiye,

The dates we stayed, the hotels we stayed at, the dates of the flights, and as you can imagine all those times we went to Turkiye that was not an easy process,

But we did our best to send as much information as we could, we told them we were staying in Trudy in a camper van whilst we were in Turkiye,   and they said it might take another few days,

The problem was we waited a few days and then realised that Chinese new year was starting on the Friday and that they would be closed for 12 days, so they’ve messaged this morning  Chinese New Year holiday for the embassy starts tomorrow,

But we’re going back this morning to pick up our passports and we have absolutely no idea whether the Visa has been approved or not, so watch this space we’re nearly packed up few more bags to get, we’ll check out of this hotel, and we’ll find out.

Right my sweet, are you ready to go and see if we have got this Visa or not? Do you know there are no words at all that sum up how I feel, it’s been like waiting for the head Master, yeah I think I’d need like a 40 minute video just to say how I feel,

So let’s not even go there! I got my smart shirt on for the visa centre, the good thing about having Trudy downstairs is we managed to bring our own pillows into the hotel, there is something about having your  own pillows! It doesn’t matter how comfortable the beds are.

Okay we’re going to go and jump  in a taxi and head to the Visa office so we will see you very soon. We’ve arrived at the Chinese visa centre we’re about to go in fingers crossed!

Okay it’s an hour later, actually it’s not ok! it is probably an hour and a half later and no we didn’t get the Chinese visa. No! So we have to go to plan B, I think we’re probably going to have to head back to Malaysia and ship out of Port Klang again,

But we just need to speak to some shipping agents to come up with a plan, but you’ll be the first to know as soon as we figure out what the heck we’re doing but now we’re going to jump back in a grab taxi,

And head uh back to pick Trudy up to go and meet a friend, who we’re taking up north! Back at the Hotel We’re back in a very hot Trudy!

I’m moving the table because the person that we’re taking up North, needs a lot of space, and you’ll see why a little bit later on, but we’re just about to hit the road. Okay so we’ve got 18 minutes Drive through Bangkok according to google but it will probably take a lot longer than that,

To go and pick our friend up who we’re taking North today up towards Chiang Mai, it’s a very very very hot sweaty day! Thanks to these security guards they’ve been absolute Legends looking after Trudy. Trudy’s turning circle is not great and the Pavements are really high here. So these guys are helping

You are going that way, okay, they’re stopping the traffic, look at that! Thank you very much, thank you, 22 minutes to go 3 km according to this. That’s one thing about Bangkok, you can’t drive too fast because the  traffic is crazy, yeah and it’s not even Rush Hour!

Okay we’re nearly at our friend’s place, 4 minutes 850m, although looking at this traffic it may still take a little bit longer, I love it look there’s so many people on these motorbikes there’s like three I think four was the record,

So these guys are like I think the official bike taxis because they’ve got like the fluorescent jackets and numbers next to their bikes. I also love how the security guards of each Place have little red flags, and they they come out and stop the traffic when somebody’s pulling out, and everybody listens to them,

You know if they put the flag out people stop. But you would never argue with a man with a red flag would you?! No, it’s just rude! And he looks official – he does!! look at those wires, I know Sky spaghetti!

Are you ready to leave Bangkok and get into the countryside? Yes looking for a bit of the country, bit of a Farm stay maybe again, okay it should be just down here, Hi we’re here they won’t let us  in I don’t understand what she’s saying and for some reason she won’t use my Google translate.

Okay see you in a minute okay bye. You must be wondering who our mystery guest is, and why we  needed so much space in the van!! There’s only one of them and he’s not even that big!!

It’s Paddy Doyle, I have put some weight on so that might be why, No, I think it’s because of this! I think when the video comes out, it will be obvious who did the squeezing! There you go! yeah thanks for giving me a lift guys, you’re welcome, Paddy is on a bit of a mission,

We’re dropping him at the top of Thailand somewhere, to start some crazy bike tour! If you haven’t heard of Paddy, he together  with Lena and Thijs, have a YouTube channel called the Budgeteers, which we discovered when we were planning our series around Central America, since then Paddy has started his own YouTube channel called Paddy Doyle.

After living in Thailand for over 12 years he’s  filmed and explored Thailand extensively. We’ve chatted online for years and so we  had to meet up now we’re here in Thailand, so if you’re heading this way then make  sure to check out Paddy’s Channel,

And subscribe to join us next week, as we travel with Paddy to Thailand’s most Northerly point

Yes we’re actually going to drive our UK van into Bangkok, but our time in there didn’t end well. We’re not quite sure what we are going to do now!

Subscribe to Paddy’s channel here: https://youtube.com/@PaddyDoyle.?si=XuJAEgLyLggLblo9

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Travel vlog 633 | Filmed Feb 2024 | Thailand | Country 38/197

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