Waking to a dream called Thailand

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Thailand: Bangkok (Oct. 1-4), Phuket (Oct. 4-8), Phi Phi (Oct. 8-12), Ko Samui (Oct. 12-18), Chiang Mai (Oct. 18-23)

Chicken pad thai: $2.50
Beach bungalow: $35
Singha beer: $1
Tuk-tuk: you gotta negotiate that but it’s part of the experience
Lunch on Khao San or Samui beach: $3
Thai massage: $5/ hour
Sunshine, sandy beach and crystal blue water included
Shades and flip-flops not.
Thailand.. it’s a near perfect combination of exotic culture, beach resort, beautiful mountains and environment, backpacker travel with great food at prices yet to catch up with western standards. I had heard so many great things about Thailand and had really looked forward to it for a long time. Thailand is that place I’ll imagine when I can figure out how to meditate.

Bangkok, as expected, was full of chaos, traffic.. and fun. After a full immersion of China, I was ready for a more stable environment of fun. Wow, Thailand was the place! (Coup? What coup- there was little to no change in anything!) I eased back in to eating spicy curries, exploring the night markets and the charm of the Thais. At first we explored the big city for a few days and got to stay on Silom, the chic area of town, where the ‘Vegetarian Festival’ was happening and the huge Indian population was burning incense, praying in the streets and celebrating in the streets of Silom- very colorful and fun. The first full day there was spent exploring the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha, the largest and most colorful Wat in Thailand. I was immersed in Buddhist culture and history by our guide, Thong, who described the principals of Buddhism with its Hindu influences. Almost made it to a meditation school (but found it was more of a 3 day overnight class) so detoured to the ‘Laying Buddha’ while the rains poured down. Another day was spent wandering through Khao San Road, the backpacker haven, to check out the scene of gringos preparing for the islands of the south and caught up with safari friends living in Bangkok at night for a fun night at Lumphini Park. I felt like I hit the highlights of Bangkok and was ready to apply sunscreen as opposed to an umbrella.

I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of flying down to Phuket (cheap and no requirement to buy ahead of time), the largest and most accessible of Thailand’s islands, located on the Andaman side, southwestern Thailand. In Kata, a small beach town, I eased in to easy nights of sunsets and reggae on the beach. I also got to dive at one of the world’s best dive spots, filled with an amazing array of colorful fish and corral underneath a choppy layer of crystal blue water.. ahh, easing into paradise. Thai life was an incredible welcome respite: cheap, nice places to stay on the beach, arguably the world’s best cuisine, adorable, friendly Thai hosts, plenty of sunshine, and sanguine blue waves lapping calmly against the sands -- complete with Bob Marley tunes at the little beach bar at night.

Kata and Phuket was a small appetizer for the lure of the Phi Phi islands, a short boat ride away, where 2 years ago the tsunami had virtually wiped out all infrastructure there. Phi Phi Don, the larger of the 2 islands, is a pristine, small island that conjures up images of what one thinks of when paradise is pondered: fine, soft white sand, waters made of the purest blue, bungalows, excellent food, kind villagers with enough development to have tiled bathrooms but sparse enough yet to have cars. I had the best jogs of my life on the beaches there, catching the last rays of sunlight while trying to work off the pad thai I had been enjoying daily. Part of the beauty in the landscape is both the towering cliffs and rock along with islands along with the variety of fish in the sea and monkeys on the island. We took a day to go out cliff jumping (20 meters, that is high!), snorkeling, and making the pilgrimage to Ma Ya Bay, where ‘The Beach’ was filmed. It is easy to understand how they created a film based on an escape paradise about this place. I especially liked the restaurants and bars settled along the southern end of the island, where live entertainment in places like the Hippie Bar included villagers juggling torches along the beach at low tide.

A short flight saw the arrival of Ko Samui, on the Gulf side off the eastern coast of Thailand. Ko Samui is quickly becoming developed after the saturation in Phuket and has the assortment of Thai amenities: crystal blue beaches, thai massage on the beach but with a bit more luxurious feel and a nice beach sunset vibe filled with restaurants serving seafood under the dim lights on the beaches under moonlight. Chaweng Beach is the main heart of Samui and is littered with beachfront bungalows, bars and cafes; however, areas both to the north and south are quickly catching up. On a trip via scooter around the island, I stumbled on to the construction for David Beckham’s villa… the life! The night life was colorful and fun in Samui, as I saw a drag showed filled with Thai ‘lady boys’, Thai boxing- that includes both sexes and kids and a jamming live music bar, Reggae Bar- a tribute to Bob Marley. Perhaps I had found heaven! After looking at real estate for a few days to understand the landscape, I am actually now seriously contemplating buying some investment real estate on the island as it is very inexpensive and growing quite rapidly.

A connecting flight through Bangkok brought me to the capital of the north, Chiang Mai, the mountainous part of the country that is close to the borders with China and Laos. Chiang Mai had a completely different feel, but one which I really enjoyed- it’s a city of 1.6 million people so quite large but without skyscrapers and the hectic pace of Bangkok. After checking out the night market, I spent my first full day taking a Thai cooking class, complete with market tour and preparation of dishes. I enjoyed it.. but don’t hold your breath that I will be cooking for any dinner parties- I would need our chef there to hold my hand. I also went on an overnight trek to a Karen village (a step back through time, there was no electricity) through the jungle. It was a living field trip with our guide, Nikon, a local who explained the culture of the hill tribe peoples, who live on limited development and plumbing. Our group of 10 persevered through the heat of the jungle to enjoy a few Singha beers with the locals over a traditional meal- complete with the village children singing for us during dessert! We awoke quite early with the roosters crowing at 5am and, after a shorter trek, got to ride elephants and go rafting before making it back to Chiang Mai for a night of live music. I was impressed as the musicians jammed out to some of the classic rock that all gringos seem to like.. the scene in Chiang Mai was really cool. On my final day, I rented a scooter to check out the city a bit more and get the views from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, just outside the city. My final visions of Thailand were on an overnight bus to Udon Thani, where I had to catch another bus to get to the Laos border, where I would meet up with a bunch of safari friends.

I found it hard to leave Thailand, as I have found most of the things I find most interesting about travel in their country, from the history of their kingdom to their undying belief in a religion somewhat foreign to me to the kindness of their people and fantastic cuisine. I have already planned a return trip in a few weeks and hope to see much more of the country in the future.

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