The Beauty of Thailand

Others may disagree, but if you’re arriving to Bangkok from India, the city is a clean, modern and a hassle free utopia. We avoided the Khao San road and stayed in the Asha Guesthouse, near Saphan Kwai skytrain station. The accommodation was great and we immediately began to relax as we were free from the hassle of rickshaw drivers, touts and traders. Bangkok does have them, but if you refuse their services they just smile and leave you alone.

We spent a couple of days exploring the city, visiting the night markets, Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha. The bright colours and intricate art work of the Wat Phra Kaew was refreshing after the drabness of Mumbai. Our mood lifted dramatically in those first couple of days and we realised it wasn’t travelling we’d grown tired of, but India. We were now looking forward to our last couple of months with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

As a late birthday present for Tom, we got ringside seats at a championship Muay Thai boxing event at the Lumphini Stadium. The main bouts were tight affairs with little given away by either boxer. However the first few bouts were one sided and much more bloody and gruesome, which made it more enjoyable for the first time spectator.

We witnessed one boxer’s nose explode after his opponent kneed him in the face. However the best bout lasted 10 seconds and consisted of only one kick to the head. The losing boxer took one step back before falling face first onto the canvas. He then tried to stand up (three times) only for the concussion to get the better of him. With his eyes rolling backwards and his head repeatedly bouncing off the canvas, Tom was glad we’d forked out the extra cash to be only a couple of metres from the action.

We headed north from Bangkok, through Chaing Mai and up to Pai. The small village had a carnival atmosphere to it with stalls selling home made clothes and trinkets and bands busking in the streets during the evening. We chilled out for a couple of days and enjoyed the culinary delights from the large variety of restaurants.

We made the mistake of going on another Elephant ride after reading and hearing glowing reviews of one local firm that allowed you to swim and play with the elephants. The owner seemed caring and devoted, but once out of sight, some of the handlers weren’t the most humane and we were glad when it was over, although we did enjoy the swimming part.

We left the picturesque mix of jungles, mountains and paddy fields around Pai and headed to Chaing Mai to meet up with friends who were in town for a wedding. Chaing Mai is the cultural heart of Thailand, home to a vast number of temples, Monks, cooking schools and tour offices.

We had a brilliant day learning to cook at ‘The Best Thai Cooking School’. The chef was a real character with a great sense of humour. His catchphrase was ‘unbelievable’. It was only at the end of the class that he explained he used the word because it could mean good or bad, but always made the pupil feel special.

In once such incident he said to Tom “you must be best chef ever, you make two curries at once, green and black, unbelievable”. He was referring to the burnt bits in Tom’s green curry.

We visited Wat Phra Singh and participated in Monk chat, where you get to talk to local Buddhist Monks about pretty much anything. It helps them learn English and gives you an insight into their religion, life and perception of the world. After finding out where to get the best opium and which Go Go bars were the best in town, we met up with Anna and Mike for our first real night on the sauce since leaving Australia.

We hung out with them in Chaing Mai for a couple of days, making the most of the pool at their luxurious resort, before heading to Krabi via Bangkok and a torturous 48hrs of travelling overland.

We stayed in Ao Nang, which was a great base for exploring the more picturesque areas of the Krabi Province and Ko Phi Phi. West Railay is without doubt the most beautiful beach that we have visited in our 12 months away and we can’t imagine that anywhere else in the world has a more stunning and dramatic coast line. The cliff structures that tower out of the crystal blue sea are as bewildering as they are beautiful. It is easy to see now why the Thai's smile so much.

There were some really good seafood restaurants in Ao Nang and our favourite meal was chilli and garlic sea bass. The sea bass was poached in lemon juice, chilli and garlic and was served on a stove with a fish shaped plate. We also ate a lot of phad thai noodles from the stalls at the side of the road, a bargain at 40p a plate.

Anna and Mike arrived in Krabi a couple of days after us and we went on a snorkelling trip with them around Ko Phi Phi. The islands are beautiful and the snorkelling was good fun, despite the sea lice that nip you. We visited Maya Bay, famous from the film 'The Beach'. It was lovely but probably more so before the film. It is now like a boat show with 20 or 30 boats and hundreds of people vying for the best spot to take photo's. After the trip we went for a couple of shandies in an Irish pub. 10 hours later we staggered out and headed for the 24hr Burger King. It wouldn't be paradise without a pub and some early morning junk food.

The following day we again gate crashed Anna & Mike's luxury hotel and used their pool. Tom & Mike had under water swimming competitions, which aren't advisable after a heavy nights drinking. Valiantly, Tom gave up before the lack of oxygen caused him to go blind.

We left Krabi and headed to Ko Phan Nang in search of the legendry 'full moon party'. We stayed in Hat Yao on the other side of the island. Our resort sat on a steep hill overlooking the beach and the fishing boats out at sea. Our bungalow had two hammocks with wonderful views and with the resort having a pool, we had no reason to leave for a couple of days. Our week on Ko Phan Nang was very chilled out. The days were spent sunbathing, reading, eating and in Tom's case, watching football replays on satellite TV and beating the resort owners son at Pro Evo 2008 on his PS2. (the fact he was french made every victory even sweeter).

We headed to Hat Rin for the full moon party but were a little disappointed. If you are young and single and looking to get laid, it could be a lot of fun. The music was 'unbelievable' as our cooking school chef would have said. The dnb DJ's sounded like they'd bought their first set of decks on that very morning. We met and chatted cod shit to some sound people but left at 3am wondering what the fuss was about. The format seemed a little tired and Hat Rin was as expensive as Paris but smelt like Mumbai.

We headed back to Bangkok fully recharged. Our three weeks in Thailand were very chilled, the people and the country are beautiful, the food was excellent, the hotels clean and we will be definitely be coming back. Next Stop Hong Kong and China.

---

---