Ko Phi Phi and Bangkok

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When someone mentions Thailand often the first images that enter your head are long white beaches with soft sand the reach out into a clear aqua marine ocean. The tiny island of Ko Phi Phi is the definition of these stereotypical images, and Maya Bay - the setting of the hollywood blockbuster "The Beach" is Thailand's most famous. Actually located on an even smaller island south of Phi Phi called Phi Phi Li, after I last wrote to you Tom and I took a boat there. Although the weather wasnt perfect, nothing could spoil the beauty of what we were about to see. After stopping on beaches filled with monkeys, our first stop on Phi Phi Li was just outside a hidden lagoon. Taking Kayaks we made our way through the giant cliffs that surrounded us to an incredibly peacful location. Encircled by the cliffs, sitting in the middle of the lagoon a pin would have echoed if you would have dropped one. We then snorkelled in the same place and pretty much spotted all the fish from finding nemo! Maya Bay was saved until last. Stopping in a rocky cove we swam from our boat, clambered up through a tiny cave and walked through a small bit of woodland to then come across "The Beach". No one is allowed to live on Phi Phi Li and we were lucky enough to be the first group visiting Maya Bay at the time and so we got to see out without crowds of people on. I found it hard to leave that place, as we swam in the sea and played football as the sun set. Our time on Phi Phi was extremely chilled out. The small town on the island doesnt have cars and so it is a good place to relax, although like most places in Thailand it is very touristy. In fact there was only one thing that marred our time on Phi Phi - our accomodation. The room we had was admittedly very comfortable with tv, air conditioning and the like. The location however was not ideal. Set overlooking a giant sewage treatment plant, the smells and sounds we experienced were not the most natural. The manager of the place was also pretty "eccentric" spending most of his days riding around on his pink barbie bike and painting his long fingernails. But whatever floats your boat, this wasnt a problem, what was a problem was the communications skills, and genuinely it would have been easier to deal with Manuel from Fawlty Towers than with this raving homosexual. The only words he could speak, in both Thai and English from what we gathered were "Yes yes, No problem". So as you can imagine explaining to him about our broken curtain rail in a room wasnt the smoothest of conversations. So a massive piece of advice for those going to Phi Phi - dont stay at the Phuttachot Hotel!
Bangkok. Wow. This city has got everything, beauty, culture, cuisine, sleaze, vice all smack bang in your face, it makes Amsterdam seem like a little country village. We stayed in the backpacker area of Banglamphu, just 5 minutes away from the notorious Khao San Road - the devils road itself. Drunken revellers, ladyboys and prostitutes line the road in this insane place where everyone is offering you drugs, "ping pong shows" and to "love you long time." You have to wintess it to realise how crazy it is.
Bangkok to me felt like a developed Phnom Penh. The Royal Palace, much like the one in Phnom Penh, was lavish and stunning, with the "temple of the emerald buddah" just as if not more opulant than the temple of the "golden buddah" in the Cambodian capital. What did however take my breath away was the 'Wat Pho.' The oldest and largest temple in Thailand it houses the biggest Buddah in the country, a whopping 46m long and 15m high! Definitely had the 'Wow factor'. However what I preferred even more was the setting of the temple. Although it was in the heart of the city, you would not have known it, as the small ponds, waterfalls and oriental music created an extremely relaxed environment in a chaotic city.
Bangkok is also the first place where we have been slightly scammed. Charmed by the wit of a tuk tuk driver, he offered to take us around the cities sights including something called the "Lucky Buddah" for a mere 20 Baht. He also said he would take us to a place where Tom could repair his laptop. And so sure enough he took us to a place where Tom did manage to get his laptop fixed, which was great, and after this took us to the "lucky buddah". Set in the middle of a car park we entered this small temple which had a laughing buddah in the middle of it. We were then appoached by an extremely friendly and happy man who said "What are you doing here? We never get tourists here?!" To which we replied that our tuk tuk driver had taken us here and he seemed a bit confused, but notheless ecstatic that someone had come to see his little temple! It was then after this we realised why we had got such a "good deal" as the tuk tuk driver insisted on taking us to various tailors and tourist information places who he had a deal with in order for him to get his "FREE GASOLINE!" which he kept shouting over and over again with a massive grin on his face. Although for us it turned out ok as the driver did take us to somewhere Tom could get his laptop fixed, I wouldnt recommend using tuk tuks in Bangkok as they do take you to places you just dont want to go to, plus riding around in the horrendous Bangkok traffic in a tuk tuk isnt that enjoyable. Bangkok was the first city weve been to with an established metro and the incredibly impressive skytrain, which we both used to our full advantage to get around the city along with the water buses. One day, wanting a day of culture after the sights of the Khao San, we decided to venture to "Little Arabia" by using the sky train and public buses. And so after a bit of time we navigated our way there, feeling very chuffed with ourselves, but when we arrived in little arabia, expecting to see arab restaurants and shops all over the place, we were a little confused as to why there were women lining the roads... It turned out that Little Arabia wasnt the best way to recover from the Khoa San Road, as Tom and I looking for a bit of arabian culture in a oriental city, stumbled across one of the biggest red light districts in Bangkok...
Although I had a great time in Bangkok, after three and a half days there I was definitely ready to leave. Definitely the most intense city I have ever visited it is certainly not for the faint hearted, and we made our way down to Phuket where I am writing to you from now. In search of beaches to recover from the craziness of Bangkok, it seems that Hatpong Beach where we are staying is just Bangkok in a tiny area! Whilst the beach and weather here is stunning, its a total Tourist "Magaluf-esque" area and not the ideal way to recover from Bangkok, with more "massage" parlours here than I have ever seen anywhere! We're off to Malaysia tommorow to Penang which I am incredibly excited about. Whilst the food in Thailand has been nice, it hasnt come close to that of Vietnam and Cambodia, and Penang is supposed to be the cuisine capital of malaysia!
Will write again soon!
xxx

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Comments

[iris]

Hi
Hi Yet again a very amusing blog. Look forward to more. XXX