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Published: August 31st 2011
Bangkok, Thailand
Enjoying our first 'bucket'!....Wednesday 13th July – Thursday 4th August
We’d been looking forward to Thailand, the land of smiles (more like lady boys!) since before the start of our whole trip, and it felt great to arrive in ‘civilised’ Bangkok (it’s all relative) after our mentally exhausting time in India.
We headed straight for the backpacker mecca of the Khao San Road, dropped our bags and ventured out into the night. The street was alive with market stalls, street food vendors, music from bars and tuk tuks winding their way through a whole heap of other travellers soaking up the atmosphere. A green curry, a few Singhas (local beer) and a Sangsom ‘bucket’ later, and we were swinging in hammocks adding to the mood, now part of the scene rather than the wide eyed onlookers of a few hours earlier.
Our grand plans to see everything Bangkok had to offer were restricted by the invisible force field that surrounds the Khao San Road. Whether it’s the tiring heat and humidity, the markets (for Keri) or just the general buzz of the place, it’s tough to leave. However, we did venture out in an attempt to see the Grand Palace -
Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand
The impressive reclining Buddha which happened to be closed whilst the Emerald Buddha changed clothes for the rainy season. Instead we visited the nearby Wat Pho which houses the large gold Reclining Buddha; a very impressive ornate temple with monks in gold robes milling about and locals acknowledging every one of the Buddha statues as they pass. It’s difficult not to feel the peacefulness that embraces you when entering the temples, the smell of incense and background music adding to the ambience and creating an air of inner calm.
The main draw for us in Thailand was the white sandy beaches of the southern islands and on hearing that the monthly full moon party on Koh Phangan was taking place in two days’ time, all plans for further Bangkok sightseeing were put on hold for our return. An overnight sleeper train south to Surat Thani, a bus to the coast and a boat to the island, and we were greeted with palm trees swaying in the breeze and a bungalow only footsteps from the beach, our home for a few days. Perrrrrfect!
With a day to kill before the main event, like most backpackers we hired a moped and took to the
island’s windy roads to explore its many beaches. Unlike most backpackers, we didn’t fall off….. Never before have we seen so many people walking wounded with bandages.
And so it was time….. fluoro vests on, body paint at the ready and mental age rewound ten years, we joined ten thousand plus other fluoro backpackers on Haad Rin beach for the full moon party. As the full moon rose, the ‘buckets’ (a pretty potent combination of Thai whiskey, coke and red bull) went down and the sound of the waves was replaced by the sounds of the DJ’s decks. There were people partying everywhere - dancing on tables, rolling around in the sea (Keri), jumping the flaming skipping rope (or not, OUCH!) and taking on the flaming limbo.
As we pieced together the events of the night before from our hammocks the next morning (with several gaps appearing due to the infamous ‘buckets’), we laughed at our ability to still hold our own with the gap year kids (for one night anyway) but were grateful that our only drinking injuries were from a bare footed foray into the jungle and not from the rope of fire. Although, if Chris
Koh Tao, Thailand
Certified PADI divers! had had hair before, he most certainly would have lost it during his flaming limbo attempt!
We continued our island hopping adventure by way of a rocky boat trip a couple of hours north to Koh Tao, home to scuba diving in Thailand due to the spectacular marine life in its surrounding waters. Keen to have fun in the underwater playground, we signed up for the four day PADI diving course and along with three others in our group, got stuck into learning the ropes. The open air beachfront classroom with sea views kept things nice and chilled, despite having text books in front of us.
Theory and underwater skills completed and exams passed, it was time for proper diving in the aqua blue waters to depths up to 18 meters. The feeling of weightlessness in the water was really cool as we swam between patches of colourful coral watching hundreds of tropical fish both big and small chase each other, hide under ledges and even come close to check us out. Diving rocks!
But good times soon went bad. On arriving at Koh Samui the day after our last dive we took a trip to the
Koh Samui, Thailand
Our Thai International Hospital Hostel local hospital as Chris was experiencing a tingling sensation in his hands and feet and for peace of mind we wanted to get the all clear from the dive doctor. Expecting to be told it was the result of too many Singhas or a dodgy curry, we were shocked to discover that Chris actually had mild decompression sickness (the bends). Instead of jumping in a cab back to our beach resort for some R&R, Chris was immediately admitted to hospital, put in blue pyjamas with a drip in his arm and sent to the recompression chamber for treatment. Not good.
One night in hospital turned into three nights and four very slow days. I was able to stay bedside as there was a spare bed in Chris’ ‘deluxe foreigner room’, so between us we managed to keep spirits high to get through the boredom. Fortunately he’s all fixed now, unfortunately diving is off the agenda.
For some quiet relaxation we decided to leave the package tourist beach of Chaweng (where we’d stayed the night before hospital) and ventured further south to the lovely beach cove of Lamai, choosing to spend the next two days lying under an umbrella
Koh Samui, Thailand
Getting to grips with Grandpa rock! on loungers and dipping in the sea – or the Gulf of Thailand as it’s named! In fact, our only piece of exercise was a gentle stroll, dodging a snake in the jungle as we went, to see the well known Grandma and Grandpa rocks - formations that resemble the male and female genitalia. Chris couldn’t help but to encourage me to hold position for the classic photo shot…..
As time passed, Chris felt more and more like himself again which meant we could get back on the road. We spent our last night on Koh Samui in the Fisherman’s Village at the north of the island, a lovely little place with enchanting rustic cafes, second hand bookstores, fashion boutiques, bars and restaurants all hugging the waterfront. The next morning we headed for the port in a bursting full ‘sawngthaew’ (basically a ute with bench seating down the sides and a roof over the top) with our packs flung on the roof - common practice in these parts and certainly not new to us. It felt good to be on the move again….
Due to bad weather on the west coast, we decided to leave the delights of
Bangkok, Thailand
Watching the action at Damnoen Saduak floating markets Koh Phi Phi, Krabi and Phuket for another trip. A night train later and we were back in Bangkok to catch up on the last of the missing sights from our previous stay here – a boat trip down the river and a visit to the Grand Palace to have a sticky at the Emerald Buddha. We also took a day trip out of town to see the Damnoen Saduak floating markets, browsing the many bustling stalls by long tail boat and paddle, and to visit an elephant camp where we got up close and personal with Dumbo during a plod through the jungle on his back. The day was topped off with an impromptu meet up with Matt and Emma from home for dinner, drinks served to us by lady boys and a ping pong show! ;o)
The lady boy theme continued as we headed to Chiang Mai, our most northern post before making the crossing into Laos. With all trains cancelled due to recent heavy flooding, we boarded a packed bus for the overnight trip. Just as we started to nod off, a manicured hand was placed on Chris’ shoulder from behind, offering him a bottle of
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Pleeeeease can I have one? water. On turning around, he was greeted by a 6’ 4” lady boy wearing high heels and a mini skirt…clearly the transformation was only half complete as the hairy hands, bristling upper lip and deep manly voice hadn’t yet been addressed. No matter how long you spend in Thailand, it still takes a while to get used to!
After wandering the Chiang Mai streets past endless Wats (temples) and monks in the drizzly rain, we hailed a ute and took a journey out to the Tiger Kingdom in anticipation of fulfilling Chris’ dream to play with tiger cubs. To our delight, some cubs had been born only one month before and we had our own personal play time with them. Top banana!
Thailand is a place of amazing food, friendly people, temples, culture, endless tuk tuk drivers and an array of different geography comprising sprawling towns, beaches, paddy fields and jungle (oh and did I mention lots of lady boys?), and I felt like we saw a bit of it all during our enjoyable three week stay. Thanks Thailand, we’ll be back!!
C and K xx
PS Popular to contrary belief, Thailand did not get its
Bangkok, Thailand
A Thai wearing a tie! name from the amount of people who wear ties. In fact, after an extensive search it became apparent that hardly anyone in Thailand actually wears a tie. Policemen, no. Immigration officials, no. Shopkeepers, no. Waiters, no…..the list goes on. However, just as we started to contemplate defeat in our quest, we happened upon one man who did….a taxi driver. Totally oblivious as to why we were so thrilled at the sight, he happily posed for a photo. It appears Thais do wear ties afterall (well one does anyway)….
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