Thailand in June, from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Rai and the Golden Triangle

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Bangkok in June

ABD - We returned to Bangkok from Poipet, on the Cambodian border. The train journey was a pleasure, although it took us longer than a Bus ride would have taken. It was however much cheaper, at 48 Baht per person, instead of 250 Baht per person by Bus. That was not the reason we opted for the train though. Andy and I love train journeys and find that they are never quite long enough. It is a great way to see a country through the window of a train, to daydream while taking in the images passing you by. Thai trains are fabulous and every chance we got we made the most of them. Even the sleepers where great. Andy and I double bunked one night because the bunk was as big as a double bed!

ATD - The trains of Thailand are a real pleasure to ride. They are ridiculously cheap yet well organised and punctual. The windows can be opened all the way, which allows one to really feel apart of the lush green landscape as it whishes past the window. The food is typically tasty and nutritious; the Thais seem either reluctant or incapable of offering any poor-quality food!

ABD - After our Cambodia trip we waited in Bangkok for days, waiting for the Saudi Arabian Consulate to grant Andy his visa. I myself am not eligible to apply yet as we are not legally married at the moment. As we waited for them all to pull their socks up and help my husband out in the process, we decided to make the most of our Bangkok days. We moved into a new place, close to Khao San Road. Andy had a couple of suits tailored which turned out much better than any of us could ever have hoped for. I guess after my disastrous experience in India, I found it hard to believe that any of these tailor places would do a good job. So we were thrilled to pick up two well fitted, trendy and good quality suits from Raj (a Nepalese tailor) a few meters from our hotel.

The food in Bangkok is delicious and so healthy. Fresh juices and shakes at every corner, sushi, pad thai, brown rice with tofu and seafood, wholegrain bread and an abundance in fresh fruits costing less than a dollar make this a vital part of Bangkoking! We spent another day at the big weekend market and had an entire arts day. The French team of marine photographers Laurent Ballesta and Pierre Descamp had an open air exhibition titled ‘PLANET OCEAN’, a voyage to the heart of the Marine realm smack bang in the middle of the ZEN outdoor arena, where just a few weeks ago the ‘Stadium of Dreams’ by Heineken stood. We spent a good two hours at that exhibition before heading to the Bangkok Gallery of Modern Art, where the first Bangkok Trienale was held. Artists from around the world participated in this prints and drawings extravaganza. We spent hours wandering around the impressive, circular building’s halls, looking at the various pieces.

Days ticked by and still no word from Riyadh. Thankfully we are a couple that loves Bangkok and all it has to offer and didn’t really mind being ‘stuck’ there. The documentary ‘HOME’ by French photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand was on at the LIDO cinema and as I really love this photographer’s work (especially his ‘EARTH FROM ABOVE’ series), we made our way to the movies. The cinema itself was one of the poshest cinemas I have ever been in. A late 1950’s design, remarkably up kept, with wide velvet red seats, a supersized screen and attendants dressed in suits that show you to your seat, Andy and I felt like we were in a movie ourselves! The ticket price was ridiculously low, at 100 Baht, one can sit in the cinemas all day watching one film after the next!

ATD - One interesting aspect of the Bangkok movie experience was the ‘Salute to the King’ before the commencement of the film. Everyone in the cinema stands and solemnly observes a series of pictures and words hailing the King.

ABD - The documentary itself was a sober and touching view at the world of today, the world so much affected by global warming, the animal world struggling to cope with the changes that have come about in the last few years. It ends on a hopeful note, with images of renewable energy sources that are being used around the world. The most touching part of it for me was the images of endless wind turbines in Denmark, spinning peacefully, white, ethereal, producing power in the most unobtrusive way. I weapt (hormonal as I am these days) when I heard the commentator (Glenn Close) mention that Costa Rica has dissolved their army, using the money that they would normally had used for the upkeep of the military, for environmental projects, such as reforestation instead. That South Korea has achieved a reforestation percentage of 60% and a percentage of 75% on recyclable paper use in the country. The European Union will by 2013 exclusively be using energy saving light bulbs instead of the tungsten bulbs being used today. Fuelled with new hope that our children might actually have a chance at living in a better world than we do, Andy and I went home and watched another documentary ‘EARTH’ by World Disney. I can highly recommend both and to anyone who hasn’t watched ‘AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH’, I’d say start with that one.

Our time in Bangkok was very special. We are both enamoured with that chaotic city and are already planning our return. To make it all the more special, Andy and I got ourselves the tattoos that we had wanted to get for a few months now. Andy got ‘alexia berta’ across his chest and I got ‘Andy’ tattoed on my right Achilles heel.

Ten days after returning to Bangkok from Cambodia and only having 5 more days left on our Visa (fly in to Bkk get 30 days, come in over land and you get only 15! -Bugger…) we decided to head north. So we went to Chiang Mai on a night sleeper from Hualamphong station. It was a super dooper night train, with a jolly man attending to our culinary needs! When we woke up we where in Chiang Mai. Our guest house was a real gem and we went to sleep for a couple of hours before checking out the town. The following day we did one of those organised tour thingies and went in a microbus (not recommended) to Chiang Rai. Our first stop was the white temple. A glitzy structure, featured in the TIME magazine’s Global Adviser section, this temple is going to be the world’s 8th wonder once it is completed. We went on, to the Golden Triangle, called so because it is the area where three countries share a border. Thailand, Myanmar and Laos all linked by the majestic Mekong River. Next we went to Thailand’s border with Myanmar, just to have a look. (Could have skipped that part really).Our last stop took us to a remote-ish area where the Akha and the long neck tribes live. I found the whole thing a little bit too touristy, but in a way also a good project for the community. We were quite happy to be back ‘home’ at the end of the long long long day in a microbus.

The following day we made our way by train to Ayutthaya, where we were meant to catch a train the following night that would take us straight to Laos. We got in at about 4 am and had a little sleep before riding around on bicycles, taking in some of the World Heritage Site that Ayutthaya is. Our train, pre-booked at Chiang Mai (this always happens when we pre-book!!!) was meant to leave at 21:40 that night but we soon found out that the Thai Rail was on strike. Indefinitely. Great.

The 23rd, which was the following day, was also our last day in Thailand Visa-wise. What on earth where we meant to do now? We searched online for alternatives and soon realised we had to go back to Bangkok. All roads lead to Bangkok you see. And so we did. And we ended up flying to Laos instead!
Laos Airlines was quite good, we had spent the entire day inside Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport waiting for that flight to depart at 18:50 pm. We had arrived from Ayutthaya at 10 am so had plenty of time to kill. In an airport like that, it is not hard to do! Unbelievably so, we were some of the last passengers to board the flight!

And now we are in Laos. But that, is a whole different chapter.

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