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Published: February 21st 2008
Chiang Mai Once we’d crossed over the border from Laos, we jumped straight on a bus headed for Chiang Mai, which is sort of the northern capital. We headed there because we have fond memories of the city from a previous visit a few years ago, and we thought it would be a great place to spend Christmas, hopefully keeping us occupied for a few days so we wouldn’t dwell on the fact that we weren’t with family.
While we were checking into our hotel, the receptionist asked us if we were going to the Sunday market that night as it was really good. I remember there being a night bazaar in the city so I asked if that was what she was talking about, but she just looked at me and said ‘trust me, this market is much better’. As it was just down the road I figured we’d give it a look, especially as Faye is nuts about shopping and I remembered the night bazaar being pretty good, so if this is better, it’s gotta be good!
The market starts at the east gate of the moat and takes in a few of the surrounding streets;
it was pretty big and really bustling, packed with both Thais and tourists. It sold all the usual touristy knick knacks as well as a lot of local arts and crafts, and even better yet was the food areas which were filled with all the delicious street food stalls you see scattered around, but all in one place. We couldn’t help but stroll along stopping every few stalls and grabbing a bit of whatever was on offer. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
It was soon Christmas day and although the Thais obviously don’t celebrate Christmas, we were still surprised by just how unaffected the country is on the day, but it did make things a lot easier as everything was open. When we were last in Chiang Mai we went to a village on the outskirts of the city called Bo Sang which has an umbrella factory. The painters of the umbrellas will, for a small fee, paint a design you pick on any item you give them, and Faye wanted a few things done so that’s where we headed first. It was good to see that the place hadn’t changed in the slightest and once finished with Faye’s clothes we headed back
to the city and splashed out on a massage in a slightly upmarket spa. For our Christmas day dinner we decided that as we were having a pretty unconventional day, we’d have a really unconventional meal, so we went to a really nice Japanese restaurant. It was a bit expensive (by Thai backpacking standards anyway) but it was really delicious, so totally worth it.
Our final day in the city was spent back at the umbrella factory, only briefly though as Faye hadn’t finished getting things painted, then from there we spent the rest of the day at Doi Suthep, a spectacular temple built at a top of the mountain that overlooks Chiang Mai.
Koh Ngai From Chiang Mai we took two overnight buses, (stopping for the day in Bangkok) all the way south to Trang, our stop on the mainland to get the boat to Koh Ngai Resort, our island getaway for the new year period. Our first impression of the resort was good as the surrounding scenery was pretty spectacular, with impressive limestone islands jutting out of the water and beautiful blue/green water. It didn’t last long though, as once we’d checked in, we were
left wondering where our money went. There are three seasons in Thailand, low, high and peak, peak being the short time over Christmas and new year, where prices literally triple. We paid a lot of money and all we got was a basic fan room with no hot water, but that wasn’t the worst. The resort was quite enclosed, and it was difficult to leave (other than by boat) to see other parts of the island, and the prices in the restaurant were 2-3 times that of the mainland. We had to pay 2500 baht (~£38) each for a compulsory new year gala dinner which we thought was quite expensive but at least it included food. No drinks were included, not even a welcome drink and they’d even put all the prices up at the bar for the evening. All in all, it was a rather disappointing few days, though not a ‘bad’ resort, the price/quality ratio was very poor, I don’t mind spending money as long as I can see what it’s being spent on, and there I just couldn’t.
There was one saving grace though and that was the beach… although small it was a beautiful little
bay with some exceptional snorkelling, and it was quite easy to just slip into the ocean and forget where we were and just how much we were spending for the privilege of staying there.
Bangkok/ Kanchanaburi It may sound stupid but we were glad to escape back to the city, at least there we didn’t feel so trapped, even if the surroundings weren’t as beautiful, also this was the moment that Faye’s been waiting for since we left the UK… Shopping! As Faye’s family was coming out to meet us a few days later, we thought now would be a great time to buy what we wanted as they could take it back with them. Things didn’t really work out that way though, as after we’d finished visiting Chinatown,
Chatuchak weekend market (both days) and the infamous Khao San road, we had way more stuff than was reasonable for family to carry back. After looking around all the postage options we settled on DHL, though they’re a little more expensive that Thai post, it was guaranteed to arrive in 4 days, and we’d had a seriously bad experience with Indonesian post (5 weeks by air mail and in pieces)
, and we didn’t want to risk it again. We ended up sending a 25Kg box, (£90, and it actually only took 2 days), which lightened our load considerably, leaving only a few items for the folks, a couple of which were Buddha images as for some reason DHL refuse to send them?
It’s only when you see family for the first in ages you realise just how long you’ve been apart, even though for the most part it feels like we’ve been gone only a few weeks. We were literally bursting with anticipation while we waited for Faye’s Parents and Stephen (brother). There was only a short tearful reunion though, and a quick exchange of all the latest gossip before we settled back into each others company and it seemed like we’d not been apart for very long at all.
On our first day together we left Bangkok and headed west to Kanchanaburi, home of the Bridge over the River Kwai and the infamous death railway. We’d been there a few years ago on a previous visit and thought it would be a good day trip… Our first stop on the tour was a visit to one
of the war cemeteries, where we were allowed to stroll around the memorial plaques for the many soldiers who died. It was a really beautiful place, with well tended lawns and gardens but still a very humbling experience. After the cemetery we were taken to a war museum and then to the bridge itself. After getting some photos we strolled across the bridge, which is actually quite dangerous as there’s plenty of trip hazards and no safety railings. We even had to wait for a train to cross in one of the pass points before we could cross back. After the bridge visit we took a short drive to a railway station where we would catch a train which would take us along a stretch of the original death railway, It was a packed train and quite fun as it was really quite rickety and bounced around a fair bit. After lunch we briefly visited a small waterfall before heading back to Bangkok, ending a pretty good day.
The next day we had a lot of time to kill as our bus to Koh Tao in the south wasn’t leaving till the evening, so we spent the day exploring
some of the city using the water buses to get around. Our first stop was the Royal Barge museum, a collection of boats used by the king for important processions along the river, then after a wander around some backstreets headed to the flower market to soak up some colour, it wasn’t long before we’d filled the day and were sat waiting for our overnight bus to arrive to take us south.
Koh Tao After an overnight bus to Chumphon and a short ferry ride, we were soon checking into our rooms on Koh Tao, and first things first was to organise some wheels. Faye and I rented a scooter while Faye’s folks and brother got themselves some ATV’s (quad bikes), then we headed straight to the beach for some serious relaxation. On our first day we went to Shark Bay (Rocky bay?) as there’s a school of resident Black-Tip Reef Sharks who cruise around in the waters a couple of hundred meters off shore.
Stephen and I rushed into the water as we were on a mission to try and get some great photos, but after a few moments in the water I realised that none
of the buttons on the back of the camera seemed to be working. I swam back to shallower water to have a closer look and it seemed like the seal was still intact and nothing had leaked so I cracked it open just to make sure it wasn’t just the housing. No matter what I pressed nothing seemed to work, so I just though maybe some moisture had gotten inside and I’ll just leave it out for a bit and see if it clears. While walking out of the sea however, the case fell open and the naked camera plunged straight into the water… Arggggghhhhhhh, it was like slow motion, watching it tumble out and splash, I quickly grabbed it, but knew straight away that it was never going to work again. What can I say, I was thoroughly pissed off, and moped about in a huff for a good ten minutes, it was only two months old after all, but then I just thought to myself, honestly, if that’s the only tragedy I have to deal with on this year of travelling, I’ve done well. Everyones ok, no one got hurt, I can easily buy another one; the only
thing that’ll suffer is my wallet, which I can live with. Also we’re heading to Hong Kong soon, so at least I’ve now got an excuse to browse the hundreds of electronics stores!
It turns out Stephen didn’t fare any better with his camera either as it was working fine up until he spotted a shark, then it decided to just stop. Not a good day for underwater cameras, he was lucky though as it did start working again the next day. After all the mishaps we ended up having a good day though. The snorkelling around Shark Bay is terrible as virtually all the coral is completely destroyed, but you are virtually guaranteed to see sharks which is always good, sometimes you can have three or four swimming just a few meters away from you, which is a really spectacular sight.
Our second day on the island Faye took her Mum to a
spa, while Paul (dad) and I decided to have a little explore on our motors… We soon realised why we saw a lot of ATV’s and four wheel drives on the island, the roads, and I use that term loosely, are absolutely atrocious, they’re
barely tracks with huge ruts and pot-holes all over them, still we managed to battle through them to find a nice secluded bay for some lunch before heading back to pick up the girls.
Faye and I decided to see what diving in Thailand would be like, so we went out on a couple of dives the following day. We knew that Koh Tao is second only to Cairns in the world for the amount of diving certifications it hands out every year, but we didn’t realise it would just be learners we’d meet, in fact , it was only us and one other guy who were certified divers (other than divemasters/instructors etc..) on the boat.
Our first dive was at Chumphon pinnacle, reputedly the best dive site in Tao, and then to green rock. Although not the worst dives we’ve done they were nothing special, there were some beautiful soft corals, and vast carpets of anemones which were very beautiful, but I think if we dive Thailand again we’ll head over to the other coast and dive the Similan Islands as I’ve heard nothing but good things about them!
Our final day was spent on Ao Tanote, a very beautiful quiet beach on the eastern side of the island. It was really empty and had some great snorkelling with huge granite boulders scattered around, we even managed to get Faye’s parents to don mask and snorkels so they could better understand what all the fuss is about, and maybe now they realise why Faye and I are blowing all our cash on pretending to be fish. It ended up being a perfect end to the time we spent on the island, and we all wished we weren’t leaving the next day.
We spent a whole day getting back to Bangkok and the final day with the family was spent shopping and trying to sort everything out that was being sent back. It was really emotional back at the airport, I don’t think anyone could believe that a week could go so fast, and it felt really strange once they’d passed through the departure gate and Faye and I were on our own again, it’s amazing how quickly you get used to having people around. We both decided that we’d leave Thailand for Cambodia the next morning, hopefully starting a new adventure would help us to shake off some of the homesickness that seeing loved ones and then leaving them again produces.
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Mum W
non-member comment
Your catching up!
Great blog Michael l,m afraid you had me crying in the end.Have a great time with your mum @ dad in Honkers