Thailand: An Intro to Asia

---

Well this trip is just flying by at this point because it is already time for another blog post. I just left Thailand two days ago and I am already preparing for Vietnam because we do not have a lot of time in between ports until after Japan. But back to Thailand. I chose to go on a really big SAS trip to Phuket and Bangkok for my time in Thailand. So after a long days travel the first day, we finally reach Phuket, which is a large island off of Thailand. Phuket had some of the most beautiful beaches I have seen since the Bahamas. After an evening of wandering the beach and the night markets, I went to bed to prepare for my ocean canoe trip the next day.
After an early start and a long bus ride, we reached the boat that would take us to the smaller islands off of Phuket. After an hour long boat ride, we reached our first island. This island was special because it was bowl-shaped and there was a little lagoon inside. We ventured into the cave to reach the inside. The inside of the cave was littered with Lesser Fruit Bats and the smell of guano filled our noses. After some paddling in the almost pitch black, other than the sad amount of light emitted by the flashlight I was given, we saw the cave opening. In order to get into the lagoon, we were forced to lie down in the canoe to get through the small cave opening. Luckily it was still low tide, so we made it will relatively no problem. When we got inside we paddled around the lagoon, marveling at the walls and the monkeys (I still do not know how they got there). After a few minutes, our canoe driver started heading quickly back toward the opening that we entered through. He informed Matt (my canoe buddy) and me that the tide was coming in and if we did not hurry we would be stuck inside for until the next low tide. Going back out was much more difficult than coming in. When we reached the cave opening, I was sure we would not make it out. I pressed my feet, chest, and face as hard as I could against the bottom of the canoe. However, it was not enough. My toe caught the rock (it did not feel good) and we had to back up and let some air out of the canoe. I felt water rush in through the bottom of the canoe but not enough to sink us. We tried again, this time making it through with not an inch (literally) to spare. Once back in the main cave, I let out a huge sigh of relief, sat up, and had a nervous laugh with Matt and our canoe driver. While it was quite the experience, I would rather have a little more room next time. After another, much less eventful cave visit, we headed to a little beach island for some relaxation. Here I was able to confirm my suspicion that I will never be able to have the job of canoe driver because I was only able to go in circles (but I did get pretty good at that). After an hour lounging around on the beach, we headed back to the buses and Phuket for a night of exploring. Phuket was a very interesting place, with a lively nightlife and several night markets. Exhausted from the long day, I headed back to our hotel to prepare for the next day.
The next morning, I woke up and got on a bus to the Siam Elephant Camp. When we reached the camp, the workers explained that we would do three things that day: an elephant ride, a jungle trek, and a canoe ride on the river. My group did the elephant ride first. As I got onto the elephant seat from the raised platform the camp had set up, I was surprised to notice how firmly the elephant stood. We started heading down the trail at a slow trot. Each elephant pace sent a shook the seat to one side and than the other. After a few minutes of adjusting to the new rhythm, it became quite fun to slide back and forth on the seat. Our elephant ride lasted about forty minutes, the highlights being a cool blackbird, hearing an elephant “growl” (not sure if they do that, but it is what it sounded like), and a sort of food fight between two elephants. After the ride we got off and were able to feed and get a little more up close and personal with the elephants. One almost grabbed my camera with her trunk at one point (they use all females because the males are a little too unpredictable depending on if they are in musk or not) but I was able to jump away in time. After the elephant ride, I headed on the jungle trek. The first part of this was crossing a river on a little wooden ship on a rope. The first group made it across without any incident. However, one of the girls in my group jumped a little too hard from the bank and broke a bamboo plank. As we got on and started heading across the small river, we had to all participate in a balancing act in order to not sink our small ferry. After a fun water ride, we reached the other side and began our walk. Once again, we did not see anything too exciting but we were able to see how they harvest rubber from trees. After the nearly hour long walk, we returned to camp for our final activity, the canoe ride. Right when we entered the main camp, it began to poor. We were given a choice to go on the ride or not and the majority of the group chose to go. Soaking wet, I got to my canoe and jumped in. It was truly one of the most surreal experiences I have had so far on my trip. The rain was coming down and I was riding in a canoe through a few small rapids in the middle of the Thai jungle. It truly excited me. After the long canoe ride where I saw a tree snake and a few birds (my guide did not speak any English, so I could not identify them for you Mom and Dad), I returned to the camp and headed back to the bus. I spent another interesting night in Phuket and prepared for the long day of travel to Bangkok.
After arriving in Bangkok late the next day, I went out exploring with a group of friends that met up with me from the ship. We went to several of the night markets and some of the other more interesting spots. On a complete side note, I had Pizza Hut for dinner and they do the most amazing thing here… they add a hot dog to the stuffed crust. It was one of the most ingenious things I have ever seen. I was really surprised that we have not thought of that in America yet. It was like eating a pizza and a hot dog at the same time which can only be described as awesome. But back to Bangkok. Later that night, we were walking back to the hotel from the night market and we saw a group of Thai people having a meal and a drink on a movable table on the side of the road. They invited us to join them and we saw no harm in it, so we sat down. They shared their food with us and we talked to them about our respective places of origin. After an hour, we did some karaoke on the side of the street and exchanged stories about all our travels. We eventually decided it was time for us to head back to the hotel, so we said our goodbyes and walked the last few blocks to the hotel. The next morning, we had a very short tour of Bangkok. We visited the Grand Palace, which was one of the most adorned buildings I have ever seen. The amount of jewels, gold, and silver was just unbelievable. We were also able to see the temple containing the Emerald Buddha, which is the King’s personal place of worship. After the visit to the palace, we went to another temple and then to a shop that specializes in jewelry. Here we learned about the history of Thai jewel crafting and the different things they make. After the tour, we returned to the hotel loaded the buses, and headed back to the ship.
Thailand was a remarkable experience for me. The scenery was beautiful and the natural wonders that they have were just stupendous. However the country definitely had a seedier side that no matter how hard I tried to avoid was often thrust upon me. But you have to take the bad with the good. It was nice to finally interact with people the last night in Bangkok that actually wanted to have a conversation with us instead of trying to get us to come into a specific club or get a Thai massage. Overall, Thailand was a great intro to Asia and it really got me excited for the next few countries coming up. Hope everyone is doing well and stay tuned for more updates.

---

Photos

The Islands Off of Phuket
We had to sail all the way out to those

Cool Wooden Ship
Was kind of hoping for pirates but whatever...

The First Island We Went To
This is the one with the lagoon inside

The Cave Into the Lagoon
I would have gotten a picture from the other side to show you how small it was, but was too busy just trying to get through.

Monkey in the Lagoon
Still don't know how they got in there

Matt and I in the Canoe
Hair is a little messed up and wet but we did not get stuck in the lagoon, so I was happy.

The Elephants
They lined up after the ride to get fed

Elephant is Hungry!!!
Just liked this one. It is what I would be like if I was an elephant.

Rubber Tree
The white sap seeps down into the bowl, hardens, and becomes solid rubber.

Our Raft Across the River
This is before our group sunk it on when we went across.

Comments

[Mom & Dad]

Bangkok - no pictures??
will you add those later?

[anonymous]

I love that word...Phuket.