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Published: November 2nd 2011
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Were you getting worried? Thought not. Well, if you were, don´t... We´re absolutely fine and our six month trip has most definitely begun. Seventeen-odd days after arriving in Thailand and we´re about to move on to country number two, so it seems a good time to update you all on our travels so far.
First stop, Bangkok. As anyone who´s been will tell you, it truly is mental. A city of pink taxis, pink neon and pink ladies (or are they?) that seems to breathe collectively using only carbon dioxide and thick black exhaust fumes. Unsure as to whether the main language was Thai or actually tuk tuk, we marvelled at (and clung on tight within) these little three wheeled taxis, that whisk locals, tourists, food, even animals around the slapdash concrete streets and sardine-packed pavements (where available).
tuktukmyfrien? tuktukbellycheap. tuktuktuktuk. Ishowyouallcity,all city tuktuk.I showyoubigbuddha. bigbuddhaIshowyou. Wegobigbuddha
. My questions were many -was there an actual attraction of a big buddha somewhere in this city? Or did all the tuk tuk men just think it was an appropriate nickname for a podgy Englishman? If there was a big buddha, how big are we talking? Well, we got our answer without the help of a tuk tuk man. This was
one BIG old Buddha! In a famous reclining position before reaching Nirvana (don´t know it? Oh Nevermind) this golden sculpture was the height of a theatre and as long as half a football pitch. Pretty big like. Impressive.
Elsewhere in Bangkok we managed to avoid the Kho San Road backpackers ghetto (Maccy Dees and whiskey buckets) in favour of the more authentic parts of town. We tiptoed through some pretty bad flooding, as you will all have read about and seen, though when we were there, central areas were largely unaffected. This has changed now though, as I understand it, at time of writing.
You´ll (probably) be relieved to hear that neither the infamous ping-pong shows nor the ladyboys were remotely tempting to either of us, though we did of course have a good stare from afar, and the seediness factor did come into play when we strolled through the red light district, it´s fair to say that Bangkok by night can be a little creepy in certain places. Having stumbled upon a very moving Buddhist ceremony in a quiet temple, watched swathes of orange-robed monks hopping on and off the 1950s-built local bus and hobnobbed with Royalty
at the Royal Palace (pinkof course, is the King´s colour) we were on our way south in search of less mayhem.
We took the local train south to the ferry port town of Chumphon. With Marta to the right of me and a monk to the left, I watched as he texted someone on his Nokia. Monks have mobiles. Who knew? We took the atmospheric night ferry to Koh Tao, the smallest of the three islands -and the least westernised. We quickly realised that there was no point (or budget) in going to Koh Pang Nanor Koh Samui as neither would be as delightful as Koh Tao. With our first backpacker friends picked up along the way, we bathed on deserted white sand beaches, swum in crystal clear and turquoise waters and snorkelled our way around the island on a Thai boat trip. Staying in a hilltop bungalow complete with dry-grass pitched roof and live-in geckos, we also squeezed in a night beach party with fire dancers in some kind of gaseline-soaked health and safety nightmare. It was all pretty rustic and pretty cool. Apart from the (C)hangovers.
Back on the mainland we headed across the coast from
East to West to the ´stop off´point of Krabi. An interestingly-reggae themed town set on putting you up before you sail off on long tail boats for the local islands. Which we dutifully did. Railay Beach and Phrang-Nan Beach, only accessible by long-tail boat were beauties -quiet and as yet unspolied, thanks to an impressive eco tourism philosophy. We gawped at the majestic limestone cliffs and were entertained, then scared by wild monkeys and Marta was stung by a spikey black sea urchin. She lived. No te preocupes.
Back on dryland again after hopping to numerous other little uninhabited islands on this stunning coast, we opted out of the package holiday island of Koh Phi Phi (Location for The Beach film) and headed back north on a gruelling back-to-back night bus from Krabi, via Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
Greeting us in the medieval moated city was a good friend from uni. Nat had lived here for over three years having been visting for much longer before that. It was great to see a friendly face and our thanks goto Nat for her tour guide prowess, for her scooter abilities on the crazy moat roads and for pointing us
in the right direction with food -were going to be more adventurous from now on...
We´d had far too many recommendations to visit the next place, and it´s where I am as I write, the mountain hippy town of Pai (pronounced Bye). The fact that the town shops sell T shirts with the amount of bends in the road (762) from Chiang Mai tells you what a stomach-churning ride it is in a minivan. We both survived puke-free though, and very quickly fell into the Pai vibe, and if we´re honest, fell a little in love with the scenery. Super-chilled out (and even more smiley than your average beaming Thai) people, laid back bars with terrible acoustic guitarists, and simply stunning pictures everywhere -rice paddies, lush green jungle, palms, pools, hot springs and elephants on the roads. So off we bezzed on our hired motorbike and swam in waterfalls, watched the sunset from hilltop temples and today, rode and swam with (and got soaked by the trunk of ) an nineteen year old elephant. Magic.
All in all Thailand brings a smile to your face. It´s chaotic, sometimes shambolic, it´s proud, it´s a well-oiled but very tolerable tourist
machine, it´s super smiley and friendly, it´s beaches are the best I´ve ever seen, it´s coastlines are stunning and above all it´s pink. You have to smile at pink don´t you?
Laos is next, and if we have half the fun and half the experiences we´ve had here then we´ll be just fine... This trip is already the best of our lives, and it´s only just begun.
Until next time lovely readers,
Mike x
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Mark
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Glad to hear you are having a great time. Keep the posts up!