Mainland Trek Through Thailand

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Since I last wrote, we have taken on a more cultural and historical route in Thailand as we have slowly left the islands. After Koh Tao we moved onto Koh Samui, which neither of us were all that impressed with. The beaches were small in width and covered with chairs and tables for the beach side restaurants, and full of people trying to sell you stuff. Coming from a really peaceful island, it was not what we wanted or expected at the time. It even felt too hot to be sitting on the beach anyway, a little weird in itself. The whole island is tourism based, not necessarily a bad thing, but it was extremely hectic and overpriced. We went out drinking on the night that we arrived, and amongst the titty bars (or fireman bars as the boys liked to call them, because of all the dancing poles) we found the PFC bar! A bar dedicated to Portsmouth Football Club, what were the chances of there being a bar for Pompey in Thailand? Pompey Pete married a Thai lady and moved out here, filling the bar with memorabilia and playing all the matches, most of which you can't even watch at home. So that was a little gem, lost amongst a bush of thorns. Lucy suggested that we start drinking buckets, so we ended up getting trashed and dancing to some pretty descent covers in the reggae bar next door. This is the only other place worth mentioning, as we had a brilliant time there, and as we were the first ones to turn up and dance, the band dedicated Bob Marley's 'Don't Worry, About A Thing' to us. Later that evening we discovered the fun of motorbike taxis, 100 bt and they will take you anywhere!

So, since we had spent almost a month in Thailand already, our visas were due to run out in a few days so we had to do a visa run trip to the border. When we were on Koh Tao, one of the diving instructors told us about a trip called the Andaman Club that he does to renew his visa every month (he has been teaching there for years too, I think). The Andaman Club is basically a 5 star hotel and casino on a tiny island in the Andaman sea, which classes as Myanmar (Burma). You get taken to the Thai customs to get your passport stamped, then hop on a boat, stay at the casino for 40 minutes whilst they sort your passport out, then you head back into Thailand. Our original plan was to go back to Koh Tao to do this, but on the boat we made the last minute decision to stay on the boat and head straight to Chumporn, on the main land, and organise it from there. It surprised me at how easy it was to just suddenly change your plans, whilst already on the boat going to your original destination, and change the ticket to somewhere else. I doubt it would have been that easy at home. On another note, some random person told me they loved me long time on this boat, how funny is that!! So later that day we arrived in Chumporn, a smallish town that isn't dedicated to tourism, nice to see a typical Thai town where everyone doesn't speak English. I'm pretty sure I saw coconut farms on the way in too, which made me giggle a little inside seeing row upon row of palm trees. The next day we took the trip to the Andaman Club, but didn't play in the casino, what kind of traveller can afford a 500 bt minimum bet anyway. None of the trouble had started then, not that I know of anyway.

With a fresh stamp in our passports, and another month that we could possibly spend here, we excitedly headed to Bangkok to meet up with our friend Lovell. For those of you who do not know him (the few that there are), Lovell has been living between Vietnam and New York for the past few years, teaching kite surfing, but was recently in Bangkok to seek the world class dentistry skillls available at a cheap price. They did a good job too! Our first night in Bangkok was extremely messy, as you can probably imagine. We started drinking as soon as we arrived and had eaten dinner, starting in a small restaurant playing the Pompey vs Liverpool match, then moving to an outside bar in Kho San Road. Whilst many loath the hecticness of this road, and of the capital as a whole, I really loved it. Kho San Road is notorious among backpackers worldwide for being the place to be. A hectic street, pedestrianized in the evening and lined with stalls selling pretty much everything, in a wide variety of colours, styles and patterns, in front of a row of existing shops, restaurants and guesthouses. Along the road were also illegal bars selling alcohol, where we continued our drinking, sitting on small children's plastic chairs. If and when police came along, the chairs had to be hidden, and then the drinking was made legal, crazy stuff, 'ey? We met some cool little kids sitting here, children of the stall vendors, who tried to sell us roses or gamble against them at a thumb war. Adam, Couch and Lovell couldn't even beat them at it, they were right little schemers, they'll go far in life, especially in Bangkok. One of the girls liked to call Lovell Ladyboy, since he wouldn't buy a rose from her, so we have a new nickname there, Ladyboy Lovell! We were drinking the buckets that kept appearing in front of us, then suddenly Lovell appeared with 50 balloons that he had bought from a balloon vendor, walking up and down the road, completely wiped her out of them, she must have thought it was Christmas (if they celebrated it here). He tried to sell them on, but managed to sell 2 to people, he just kept giving them away for free, or swapping some of them for roses with the children. It was such a hectic night. Then it all went a bit tits up. Couch went to the toilet and got majorly lost coming back. The five of us were never together at the same point after that, we kept loosing each other in our drunken states, it is so much funnier than you could ever possibly imagine! A fun night though. The next day was lost to hangovers, although me and Lucy felt good enough to do a spot of shopping. You can get the most amazing fresh orange juice from stalls by the side of the road. In the whole of the Kho San area it was shop, stall, path, stall, shop, or shop, stall, path, stall, road. It seems that whenever there is bad weather it is always when we are hungover, and have very little intention of going outside. Pretty lucky really. That day there was the most incredibly loud thunder storm that I have ever heard. Must have been right on top of us, and seemed to crash, rebound and echo off every building, amazing.

Much of the time we spent in Bangkok was setting out to do something, then finding out it was no longer open, closed on that day, or far too expensive to pay for. In fact we did a whole tour of the city with 4 of us in the back of a taxi, and lucky Lovell in the front, to find out that the boxing stadium was closed that day. But we did manage to go to the Forensics Museum at the hospital. Wasn't quite what we were expecting, full of arms and feet that were severed in car crashes, photos of suicides, that sort of thing. Lovell and Couch left it early to sit outside and smoke, it did kind of churn your stomach at times. We also visited Siam Square so I could buy a new camera, as mine fucked up, hence why I don't have many photos since Koh Tao. The shopping centers were what you would expect from a capital city, slick and expensive, but we managed to find a cheap bowling alley for some fun, however, a few innocent beers turned into another big night out, back down to Kho San Road. The kids were out again, and remembered us all, and our names! We found a small drum 'n' bass club to dominate the dance floor of for a couple of hours. Another day was lost after that, so we decided, for the good of our healths, that it was time to move on and leave Bangkok.

The following day we hopped onto a bus and headed south east to another island, Koh Chang. Out of the city and back to the islands. We arrived the day after the monsoon had hit, many of the roads and paths were flooded, and the drainage system leading from these roads to the sea was very poor and slow. The sea was raging and the wind was blowing. Back to the beach but too scared to go into the water, there were actually signs up advising people not to go swimming by themselves. I'm sure I have seen seas that have been more raging than that though. We did a tour of the beaches, White Sandy, Lonely and Long beach, and although they were not the most postcard perfect beaches, the way that the forest met the sand and palm trees lined the edges sealed the perfection and beauty. I think this had to be one of my most favourite islands in Thailand, the scenery throughout it was stunning, and home to many National Parks. he day that we arrived there were temporary waterfalls cascading down the rock faces by the side of winding roads, where a temporary river ran along side. Although the latter beach was not that far from the previous beach, we had to go almost around the whole island to get there, the opposite way round, as there was no road to connect it due to the government running out of money to fund it. That is how secluded the last beach is from any sort of civilisation. Only one place for the accommodation and nothing else, other that a perfect landscape and the freedom to roam the beach and sea. It was surely the most perfect setting, complemented by our bungalows that were only 3 paces from the high tide sea level. Although there were stretches of beach lined with expensive accommodation, with pools and tour desks, like White Sandy beach had, Haad Yao (long beach) was a snippet of real and natural Thailand. I am thankful to have seen this stunning place, as it may not be like it is now in the future when other business cotton on to it and build it up. The journey there was really funny too. The tuk tuk, overfilled with backpackers, got a puncture not long after setting off, so we had to wait for over an hour at the side of the road in the blistering heat whist the puncture was located, fixed and put back onto the vehicle. Then a bit later we had to get out and walk up an uneven and steep road, as it couldn't make it with all of us in and our luggage! As a whole Koh Chang seemed to be more like the typical Thai place, less tourism, which I really liked.

We figured that we would go on a elephant trek whilst we were there. It was such an incredible experience and I really enjoyed it, but I haven't managed to convince myself that it was right to do, and feel a little bit guilty for encouraging it. The guide on mine and Adam's elephant was really nice to the elephant, didn't hurt it, sang to it and gave it love, but Couch and Lucy's guide kept hitting the elephant really hard on the head and they saw evidence of previous abuse. Spoilt the enjoyment of it. The reserve that organised it was opened to provide a better environment for existing working elephants, to better care for them, which I thought was good, but then I later found out that the seats that they put on the elephants back for us to sit on actually causes them pain. It is better for the elephant to sit on their back than on the seats. I feel sorry for the elephants, walking round with heavy humans on their backs (how would we like to ridden around with another animal on our backs?), and not really getting anything in return. They have food and shelter provided, but they loose their freedom. On a lighter note, we trekked through the forest, then in the river, where the seats got taken off and we got to swim with the elephants and sit on their backs. It was really amazing to be that close to an elephant, be able to touch it and feel it's rough and tough skin. Just watching them is amazing, seeing how their large bums wobble from side to side as it walks. So yeah, I have a few mixed feelings about the whole experience.

We were then soon back in Bangkok for a few nights, and Lovell was still there, surprised to see us again. We decided, for the good of our healths, not to go out drinking again, so had a chilled one watching copied DVDs off the market stalls on Lovell's PS3 in his air conditioned room.

The next day we took a day trip to the Khanchanaburi Province to see some of the local history. First stop was the WW2 cemetery. Our guide asked us which country we came from, then pointed us to the area where the English are buried. A little morbid, but hey, it was a day about death. Next stop was the JEATH museum, which stands for Japanese, English, American, Thai History, I think. It was a shoddy little museum with memorabilia from the war, particularly guns and Japanese army motorbikes, and the history of the bombings of the bridge over the River Kwai. I had no idea that it was built by the POWs, and as it was bombed it was patched up again by so many people that it would take no time at all. Conveniently, the bridge was situated a few minutes from the museum, the next stage of the tour was to walk across it. At home you would not be allowed to walk across it, it would have been so easy to slip and fall off the wooden beams into the river below, especially with the sheer amount of people walking on it, trying to get past those walking in the opposite directions. It made me feel nervous watching Lucy walking in front of me, I had to take the lead. The next stage of the tour was to go on the section of the Death Railway where hundreds of people died of starvation whilst building it. Another thing that you wouldn't be allowed to do at home, stand in the open doorway of the train as it was moving, holding on mind you, to watch the stunning scenery as it went past. It was so packed that there was no where else to stand. The tour concluded with a visit to a really stunning waterfall in the province. Day tours are never really that great it seems, but it was the best way to see the main sights of the area. Interesting, but a little boring. As soon as we got back to Bangkok we had enough time to have a curry with Lovell before heading to the train station to catch the night train to Chaing Mai. That was an experience, but the best way to travel long distances. We had our own beds with a curtain, and I slept like a baby for most of the 14 3/4 hour journey.

I think I have loved Thailand more and more with each place I have been to. Chaing Mai was so much fun. I spent my 25th birthday here, white water rafting down the Metang River (should have been called brown water rafting really, Adam's white shorts were brown afterwards). Grade 1 to 4 rapids. It was so much fun, I want to go again. It was just us four and the skipper in the boat, and it looked like we were having the most fun out of all the groups there. They shout instructions at you to do certain things, and at a quite part of the river the guy was getting us to practice it all. He told us to all get on the same side of the boat, then he pulled the raft and tipped it over, all five of us plummeted into the river. Near the end we kept chucking each other into the river, and the guy jumped out the boat onto a log that was floating down the river. The grade 4 rapids were definetly the best, and sitting at the front of the boat you got thrown about in them more. Oh my god it was so good! My lovely friends got me an incredibly tasty birthday cake at the guesthouse, and we celebrated by going out for a meal and getting pissed up at the rooftop reggae bar that was playing drum 'n' bass and breaks, lucky find! It was a brilliant day. We celebrated by staying in a guesthouse with a swimming pool, perfect remedy for a hangover.

Culturally speaking, we visited a few of the local Buddhist temples in Chaing Mai, considering it is the city with a thousand temples (slight exaggeration). We saw the biggest, most popular and oldest temples, then finished the day off with a traditional Thai massage. It was a hardcore massage. They are quite hard with you, and bend your limbs in ways that are not natural. When she was doing my back I thought I was going to suffocate in my pillow, the pressure winded me, took my breath away. It made me feel really good afterwards, apart from the bruise I gained on the inside of my thigh and seven mossy bites down my right side as I could not move to stop them. We also went to watch some Muay Thai, real Thai boxing, but discovered that most of the matches were children. We didn't stay till the end as it was really slow. Before each match they would do some sort of routine that took ages, and each round was only 3 minutes long, then they had a 3 minute break before the next round started. Short attention span! We didn't see the adults fight, which I am sure would have been a lot more brutal. You got the token tourists sitting on the benches near the front, but all the Thai men were in the standing section taking and making bets on each fight. They were really getting into it, screaming and shouting, waving their fists in the air. The other thing we did in Chaing Mai was visit the night markets. It was so hectic it was almost stressful. Lucy is getting so good at haggling with the vendors, makes really entertaining viewing. She loves it too, so much so that she does it on our behalf now, whenever we want to buy something.

Lucy and Couch did their first bungy too. We watched them do it, as much as I would have loved to do it again, but needed to save the money for something that we haven't done yet, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. They really loved it too, despite how scary it was at the top of the 50 meter crane. I found their screams of fear, excitement and adrenaline quite funny. So much more entertaining watching people you know jump.

We had our visas sent off to the Laos embassy to get our visas, but they sent them back incorrect, they fucked up quite majorly. I had Lucy's one in my passport, and Lucy had some random guy called Kevin in hers. Who knows where mine had been stuck! Who would have thought that an embassy could make that sort of error on a document that is so important. They tour office had to send them back and get them redone. Looking back I find it funny, and now that I have it, ready to go. We missioned it off to Pia, but had to come back to pick them up.

Pai, and the journey to Pai, is so beautiful, it reminded me of New Zealand, the winding roads, the forest and the mountains. Pai is a small, quiet hippy town, with colourful and differently interesting shops and creative cafes and restaurants. Probably my favourite place in Thailand. We hired two motorbikes and ventured off into the countryside to see the natural attractions of the area. I loved it, being chauffeured around, wind blowing through my hair, although I was a little scared at the same time (instead of proper helmets we were given horse ridding style hats, probably wouldn't have helped much if we had crashed. We found some amazing canyons and a waterfall that was hidden away. We had our own private waterfall for a while, where we jumped and dived off the rocks. We spent the rest of the day riding around the town because we enjoyed it so much.

In the evening we made the last minute decision to go on a 3 day 2 night trek in the jungle. It was one of the best things we have done here, and it is a shame that my enthusiasm for typing is dwindling at an alarming rate. The girl sitting next to me playing a dancing game, pounding on the space bar isn't helping matters either. The trek was the hardest physical thing that I have done, but I was wearing skate shoes and my fitness level has dropped since we have been travelling. The first day we trekked through the jungle until we arrived at the Lahu hill tribe village for lunch. The hill tribes originated from a number of neighbouring countries, who travelled to Thailand and set up their homes in the jungle. They grow their own fruit, vegetables and tobacco, farm animals, hunt for food, built their houses, make clothes and trinkets to sell in the towns, and educate their children. Free state education is also offered if they wish to send their children to the boarding school in Pia, which means leaving the village for a few years, and they usually always return. For lunch we were cooked Pad Thai, a popular noodle dish, and banana and coconut sticky rice dessert that was cooked in bamboo, wrapped in leaves, as we sat on the bamboo decking of the stilt house of the tribe. It was so tasty. The scenery was incredible, we trekked along the side of a river, going up and over the mountain, it was pretty much all uphill on the first day, some of it was so steep and the steps I needed to take were so big that my little legs could only just reach. It was hard work, spent the whole day sweating, my clothes were soaked. Me and Lucy kept slipping over, all day, as some parts of the route were drenched with water, I don't know how the boys managed to stay so upright. Our guide, who's name I cannot spell, is a genius with bamboo, can make almost everything. He made me a walking stick, I don 't know what I would have done without it, my life saver. I could dig it into the mud and lever myself up the steep bits, and support myself on the slippery bits, very useful going down hill too! The first night we spent in the village of the Lazi hill tribe, in one of their homes. What surprised me was that they build fires in the middle of their wooden house to cook and, and for warmth at night. Looked a little dangerous to me, but I guess that they are not stupid. I still can't believe that we spent the night in the home of a hill tribe member. It was a really comfortable night too, and the food was amazing. For the whole night one of the tribes men was facing the corner of the hut, bubbling away. It appeared that he took a liking to the opium that is grown in the hills, and our guide joined in too, at every moment possible. How he had the energy to trek, I don't know. In the morning we visited the home of a tribes woman, dressed in the tribes clothing. She had a black smile, supposedly a mark of beauty, caused by the chewing tobacco and the pine nuts that they chew, looks pretty crazy though. We were told of how the most important people in the village are the cheif, midwife, blacksmith, shaman, school teacher. They have a list of rules on a massive sign in the village, and breach of the rules is normally punishable with a fine. They are centered around the community pulling together as a whole, and respecting the jungle, village and each other. It sounds like a brilliant way to live their lives, in a bubble from the pains of normal civilization. The trek on the second day was easier than the previous day, but still hard work, but it ended at a bamboo shelter next to a small waterfall. It was a really stunning place, surrounded by bamboo trees, our main source of survival for the evening ahead. We slept on bamboo, ate food from a bamboo dish, cooked in bamboo, drank water from the river sterilized and boiled in bamboo, from bamboo cups. Pretty amazing really. The meat that we ate that evening was a kill that a tribesman made and gave to us for good luck with his next hunt. The guide built us a fire, then disappeared off for the evening to get high. We slept under a shelter in the middle of a jungle, I was actually too hot from the fire, and I only got bitten by mossys a few times. Still can't believe it now, back in a city. The next morning as we were about to set off it started raining. Wasn't bad though, I was just happy it was on our last day and not the previous days. We tried to collect drinking water from the rain, but it turned out all our receptacles were dirty! Tried though! The rain didn't last long, we set off as soon as it had stopped. It did make the journey much more muddier and slippery though, made the steep down hill journey quite entertaining though, giggles! It was so rewarding to get to the end. I really enjoyed it, despite how hard it was, really amazing experience. It was roughly 35 kms that we covered, up, over and down about 4 mountains, although it could have been more. Had that festival feeling afterwards, the need to get clean!

So it is a farewell to Thailand. The more time I have spent here, the more I have loved it. The Thai people are so friendly and kind, the men are always chatty and the women always smiling. Most have near perfect English, although many seem to emit the s in plurals, don't know why but it is very consistent. It had been a surprise to me how much is in English here, signs, shop and restaurant names, almost like they have been designed to accommodate for tourists. It is funny to see mixed race couples, such as a Thai woman and a Dutch man communicate using English, although for both a second language. Makes me realise how lucky I am as an English traveller. So now off to Laos in the morning, looking forward to the change and to see a whole new country, I'm so excited!

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Photos

Jungle Waterfall
Trekking through Pai.

Kho San Road
Bangkok.

The Day After The Storm
The day we arrived at Koh Chang.

Koh Chang Beaches
Nature beach, next to Lonely beach.

Sunset On Lonely Beach
Koh Chang.

The Bridge Over The River Kwai.
Khanchanaburi Province.

Waterfall
Khanchanaburi Province.

Chaing Mai
The view from our balcony.

Biggest Temple
Chaing Mai.

Inside Buddist Temple.
Chaing Mai's most popular temple.

Birthday Drinks
Regae Bar, Chaing Mai.

Muay Thai
Thai Boxing.

Night Markets
Chaing Mai.

Pai Canyon
What an amazing view.

Lizu Tribe Village
Where we spent the first night.

Lizu Tribe Woman
Check out that beautiful smile.

Jungle Dinner
Rice wrapped in leaves, cooked in bamboo.

Jungle Curry
In a bamboo dish.

Toasting Bread Over The Fire
At our shelter for the second night.

Comments

[anonymous]

Oh god the memories! Sounds like ye are havign a great time. njoy it ! We are still in NZ, leave for Oz on wed. loved Nz, only five weeks til we are back in Ireland...;-( boo hoo! hi to Adam. Hvea blast in Loas..have fun tubing ;-) xx

[christine]

you've made it all sound so beautiful . entertaining . educational and exciting , so very glad you're having so much fun and you all look so healthy .. even with all the hangovers .. great stuff .. love reading it all .... take care .. love you ... mum xxx

[Marty, Marc, Poppy and babay Josiah-River]

Sounds Fantastic!
I am green with envy!! Motherhood is filling every moment i'm not at work. Miss the travel vibe - planning to go to costa rica when he can have some jabs. Have a great time angel. Much love. Kiss the sunshine for me. x x x x

[Kerry]

Yay for bamboo
Damn sounds like you two are having a fab time I'm sooo jealous. shame about the camera, and aww poor elephants why would they ever put seats on them thier backs are quite wide enough and hell who wouldnt want to snuggle into an elephants back! not too sure about under or behind tho from your comment about thier bums!. Anyways clearly the only thing you need on a jungle trek is bamboo so always remember to pack a machete. btw i got some fire poi why did no-one ever tell me how a, hot they are and b, how damn loud they are!