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Published: December 8th 2011
Hello people back home!
We're coming to the end of our few weeks in Thailand now with plenty of things to catch you up on, so here goes....
Having enjoyed a flying visit to Singapore, we landed in Krabi and headed straight to Ao Nang where we met up with Sparky to begin our Asian adventure. We only spent an evening here so we could make it to Koh Phangnan in time for a half moon party. It was just enough time to get our heads round the currency and demolish what would become our first of many pad thais. As would be expected, the 1/2 moon was great fun and involved an awful lot of UV paint, fire displays and dancing in the jungle. Koh Samui was our next stop- the weather was pretty horrendous which gave us a brilliant excuse to get massages and fishy pedicures. Costing approx 3 pound for an hour, we really were spoiling ourselves!!!
We also made a trip to An Thong National Marine park. This made for brilliant day out- kyaking, swimming and snorkelling in amongst the 42 small islands, with a mammoth lunch stop at the local fisherman's village. The
weather was verrrry questionable, and the speed boat battling 4m waves even more so, but the storms and crazy Thai captain certainly added something to the experience!
Our next island was by far our favourite- Koh Phi Phi. The scenery was absolutely stunning and the sun was back in full force. Full of tourists, the bars along the beach were doing all kinds of fire tricks and letting off fireworks. Minus the wooly hats and toffee apples, we were pleased to be getting some kind of bonfire night having missed 5th Nov at home. One evening we watched the film The Beach at an open air rooftop bar, before heading to the beach it was filmed at the following day. Fortunately, there were no shark attacks and the weather was great. We swam in a beautiful lagoon, snorkelled a bit and visited 'monkey beach.' It was pretty hilarious watching the babies scrapping on the cliffs, but kept our distance when some joker on our boat coaxed them aboard with bananas.
Leaving the picturesque beaches in the south, we then headed to the hussle and bussle of Bangkok where we spent the day exploring the spectacular Grand Place and
Wat Po, China town and sampling the food along Khao San Road. There were no signs of flooding around the tourist hub but as we ventured to some smaller temples, further out, we had to paddle through quite a few streets. It was only on the train to Kanchanaburi that we saw the remnants and extent of the flooding- lots of the villagers were still using boats to get around and their homes were still largely under water.
Our first day in Kanchanburi was one of the highlights of Thailand. We spent the day climbing the 7 tiered waterfalls of Erawan national park, splashing about in them, dodging the digit-eating monster fish, and watching out for monkies. By pure fluke, we'd timed our trip here to coincide with the annual light festival- a festival centering round the bridge over the River Kwai. We had dinner at a 'floating restaurant' on the water with front row seats for the light display, Here, we attempted to eat our dinner in the dark while the bridge exploded with colours, strobe lights, fire and fireworks. We obviously didn't understand any of the story told in Thai but were relieved to learn that the
burning part of the bridge was all part of the display, rather than dodgey health and safety regs, and figured that they all lived happily ever after in the end.
After a mammoth bus journey, we arrived in our next destination- Chang Mai. Here, we wasted no time in exploring the local night markets; consequent backpack packing and carrying has unsurprisingly become a bit of a bind. The three of us have done a 'Secret Santa' draw ready for our Vietnamese Christmas. Christmas Shopping in shorts and tshirts is a novelty in itself, made all the more entertaining as the draw is (naturally) no longer a secret. We're enjoying some outrageously unsubtle hint dropping and plenty of efforts to catch each other out. It is a funny thought that you will all be putting up trees at home. We were genuinely confused when we heard a cafe playing 'All I want for Christmas' the other day.
Our second day in Chang Mai was by far the best day of Thailand and one of the best days of my entire trip so far. We visited the Bann Chang Elephant Park. Having seen some tormented elephants in a safari
park earlier on in the trip, we wanted to make sure we didn't go anywhere where we knew the animals suffered. This place was perfect- most of the elephants have been rescued from working eg. as wood carriers on the borders. They are of course trained to a degree, but they did seem genuinely happy (their ears were flapping a lot!!) We started by feeding them bananas- some were fatties and would blow air at you if you gave the babies too much attention, others would simply smack you with their trunks. We learnt that, much like myself, elephants automatically see you as their friend if you give them food so before long we were ready to learn to ride them.
It is a common misconception that elephants are absolute brutes, but they were actually remarkably cute, cuddly and elegant. We learnt to command them in Thai, and i fully intend to put 'bi-lingual qualified elephant trainer' on my CV sometime. Who knows when this might come in handy in the city. I couldn't help but think how much like rather large dogs they were, especially when they sit down to let you off. Infact mine and Sparky's was a
CIMG9752
Against a blingy background at the Grand Palace, Bangkoklot more obedient than Domino and required fewer edible bribes. After a bit of practice we were ready to jump on board and take them for their daily 1.5 hour walk through the jungle which was absolutely brilliant, and a very surreal experience. By the end, 'Coomjan' and ourselves were smelly, tired, dirty and therefore ready for bath time! This was hilarious- best part of the day. I'm not sure who was having more fun- us or them- as we sat on their backs scrubbing them, while they rolled around in the water and deliberately squirted us with water. The baby one was a particularly cheeky chappy and the guide took a video of him being mischievious which I'll look forward to showing everyone.
We're now in a small town called Pai in the north of Thailand, our last stop before we head to Laos in a couple of days. We really like it here as its so relaxed. It was the King's birthday the other day and it seems hes quite a big deal out here! There are parades, bars close and alcohol is prohibited for the day. We celebrated by getting Chinese lantens from the night market
and letting them off by the river. After a little help from some very patient locals, they floated up and up until they looked like shooting red stars- beautiful.
Yesterday we spent the day doing a Thai cookery course which was lots of fun and very informative, including a trip to the local Thai market for some tasters. If you've made it this far in my blog, here's a promise to make you a Thai meal upon return. In amongst the 5 dishes we made, I'd recommend my thai green curry and pad thai- they're the best I've tasted in Thailand....if I may say so myself. Such a modest chef- I must take after my father, especially given that I added ketchup to the pad thai.
We've also signed up to do an intense yoga class today with a crazy local lady, who has transformed the attic in her house into a very cool little studio. (Can you tell the book 'Eat, Pray, Love' is doing the rounds in our group...!?) I've survived the morning class which consisted of learning to meditate. I tried my best but spent the maority of the 30minutes wriggling and wondering what she would
be serving us for lunch). We were also balancing on our heads (no joke- this was the only time I couldn't control the giggles). This afternoon she tells us we will hear her life story. I'm pretty sure I've already heard it a few times, but we'll see what she has to teach us about the mind/ body stuff. Check me out. Finding myself and what not.
On that note, tea break's over....back on my head!
Hope everyone's well. Lots of love as always xx
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ben forster
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wow!
what an incredible trip you're having! glad to see you are reaping the rowards of following my tried and tested route...i reckon you went to the same cookery place in Pai - were you taught by a ladyboy called mickey? the elephant trek looked brilliant fun and can't wait to see the video. having a fanstastic time in Laos and speak to you soon on skype.