Thailand in a nutshell
THAILAND | Wednesday, 16 January 2008 | Views [301]
I am way behind once again!
Thailand- Everyone I met along the way told me a week would not be long enough here and two weeks may just be enough to see some highlights. I cut Oz down by ten days and headed off to Thailand alone.
Bangkok- I got into Bangkok and I was lucky to meet nice locals that guided me away from taxis and to the bus... It was a day before the kings 80th birthday and the city was packed. I booked a room in Khoa san for the first two nights, which I was told was the place for backpackers to go.. and it was. I forgot to start my malaria pills a week early so I took one in the morning and was sick all day... damn pills. I found a lonely planet at the book exchange and picked it up... for the first time ever I decided to consult a book for help... I think I was a bit scared to be alone. At night I was feeling good enough to venture out for the fireworks show in city center. It was really scary! They were shooting them straight up and the embers and ash were falling down onto everyone in the streets... we were dodging pieces of debris. I spent the entire next day checking out all the Wats and museums and art galleries. I wandered into Wat Pho, which half was closed for renovations, but the guy gold leafing the Buddha statue told me it would be alright to come in and take pics and then he let me help him gold leaf. It was really cool.I still wasn't sure whether I should head east or west until I got an email from a friend from New Zealand who said she was heading west to see her sister... unfortunately we missed each other and I headed to Koh Samui alone. On the twelve hour coach I met an Israeli guy, Asaf, and two Canadian girls who were off to Samui too with no place to stay. We decided to hunt for a place together. Our bus stopped in the middle of nowhere around 3 am and they offered us fried rice or soup, for a small price of course and then we were off again. The ferry to the island was packed and the water seemed really dirty. On the island itself the water was a tiny bit cleaner, but still questionable. We found a place in Lamai and settled in. The food was amazing. At night we all hung out on the beach talking and drinking Singha's and a cobra slithered right past... everyone was really scared, but it was just a baby... the bungalow owners got rid of it the next day when they found it in the restaurant. There was a lot of talk of a black moon party in Chaweng... so we headed out to find it. We took a truck taxi, which was pretty scary... we just sit in the bed of a truck on makeshift benches and a canvas covering. In Chaweng there were hundreds of people out... ladyboys, hookers, old men, and backpackers. I saw a short lady boy show at one of the bars and headed out to the next place. Green mangoes, apparently it was the place to be. Asaf and I left a couple of friends there and headed to find the black moon party.. we walked through an alley where there were four older men and one older woman playing checkers. I asked if we could join them. They happily agreed and served us beer and dried squid (ew). I lost my turn at checkers, but Asaf won... they directed us to the party and off we were. On the way a really pretty girl on a motorcycle stopped and offered us a ride... it's not unusual to see three people on a bike, but I was still hesitant.... after some convincing I hopped on and hung on tight. We were there in no time. The party itself wasn't as fun as the mission to find the party. We stayed maybe thirty minutes and headed home at five a.m. we had to be up at six thirty to catch our ferry to Koh Phi Phi . At six twenty the bungalow owner was banging on our door yelling that the cab was there to take us to the boat. We threw everything in bags and rushed off. I was hurting. We had to take a taxi boat to a small bus to a ferry to another taxi boat! Eight hours of travel and hung over. Not fun... don't ever try it, especially with boats. On the ferry to Kho Phi Phi I decided to sit outside in the fresh air and breathe. I ran into Anna! A German girl I travelled with for a month in New Zealand. My hangover disappeared and I was in high spirits again. It was sooo great to see her. We were both excitedly talking and interrupting and laughing. She told me she just did a rock climb that was amazing and I had to go. When the boat docked we made plans to meet for lunch the next day. She only had a week left before she was heading home after three years of travelling! She was only in Koh Phi Phi for a night. Asaf and I taxied to a small beach called long beach and found accommodations there. We were facing the small island where The Beach was filmed. While hunting for an accommodation we met two boys, Shiraz from England and Stuie from Holland. We all had dinner together and decided to sign up for a snorkel trip. We stayed up chatting and talking about our travels for hours. They closed the restaurant and left lights on for us and left us a couple of beers and the staff went to bed. We headed to sleep early in the am. The next day the boys all decide to hike through the headlands with me to town instead of taking a taxi boat... they were hating me thirty minutes later while dripping sweat, but it was a fun climb. We met Anna and found a nice place to eat with a mix of food since Shiraz was mostly keen on non thai food. I couldn't get enough. I was all about the Spicy pad thai, fresh fish, egg rolls and banana crepes. YUM! I ate a ton of food on the street and never got sick. I made plans to see Anna again in Germany if possible in a few months... we said our goodbyes again. In the evening they showed The Beach at at the lounge in the resort. The resort was really great. It was on a hill, which meant stairs, but they had a luggage elevator. The views from the bungalows and restaurant were amazing! We talked about not staying up too late because we had to wake up early for snorkeling. Two other girls joined the group and we headed off. The boat took us to three snorkel spots before lunch that were beautiful. The long tail boat driver must have been new because he passed by every buoy we were supposed to stop at and had to have one of us jump in to grab it or reverse the boat. By the time we made it to monkey Island we were starving. He gave us our lunches... tons of fresh fruit and fried rice and chicken on the side. I fed my chicken to the fish on his command... but felt really wrong about it. The island had the most amazing beach and tons of monkeys (Hence the name). The vendors didn't warn you about the monkeys at all. I bought a small bag of doughnuts and sat down and a monkey came up and stole asaf's corn... not satisfied she came close to me, pulled my hair and stole my food. I wanted to take my bag back, but the others cautioned me not to. She sat down right next to me and ate them all. We did get a few great pictures with her though. We headed to three more spots, one which was 'the beach' and another which had a small climb to get to a nice beach. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and they were all sunburnt. In the evening the boys and I headed off to get massages. They all got aloe massages to sooth the burns and I had a lovely oil massage while listening to boards of canada, it was a perfect way to end the day. We talked about going out in the main town and maybe watching a fight or going to a bar, but we were all just too tired. I packed up the next day and said goodbye and headed to Rai Lay alone. Rai lay isn't too far from Krabi and has amazing rock climbing. when I got there all the places were booked. I had no luck, until I ran into a guy who told me if I hike into the headlands a mile I'd find cheaper accommodations. I could barely lift my pack on flat land... there was no way I'd be able to hike with it. I went to a nicer resort and found a room that was 35$ USD a night... expensive for a backpacker... but I reserved two nights and charged it. Why not spoil myself a tiny bit. The room was beautiful! King size bed and a tv a nice washroom and an amazing breakfast buffet. I booked my rock climb for the next morning and went to bed early. I didn't have an alarm clock anymore so waking up was tricky.. but I managed with enough time to grab a bite and head off. The rock climbing instructors were really really hot and muscular thai boys. The one who taught lead climbing was the cutest and the nicest, Phon. I was in a group with five swedes whom were all friends, there was one other girl. I didn't realize how competitive I was, but I had to be better and go higher in order to feel like I really tried. The climbs were hard... at one point it rained which made it even harder to hang on. The last climb I did was a forty meter high climb. Only two of the boys finished it. I made it to about thirty meters and wanted to come down, but my instructor wouldn't let me. He told me to hang on take a break and try again... there was nothing to reach for I was stuck. He gave me a tiny boost and I found something to hang onto again and I was off... I made it to the top where there was a cave.. he yelled for me to go in. I did and then he yelled for me to come down... and I didn't. By this time I had an audience and they were laughing.. Repelling down was fun, but a bit fast. They asked me if I wanted to continue on for another session. Hell no. I went to lunch with my instructor, Tu. He showed me a great hole in the wall restaurant.. minus the walls.. and then had to head back for second session. They invited me out to the rock bar in the evening, but I ended up falling asleep at seven. The next evening I caught an overnight bus back to Bangkok to meet up with Jaymie. I had mixed feelings about this. When I got there we were happy to see each other.. it was a new sensation haha. We spent the next three days shopping, getting massages, looking for family that I had in Bangkok that I never found and eating good food. We made plans for India... and got set to leave.
Tags: Sightseeing
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