Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but
Thailand has been...well, you'll see. I'm going to cover it all in one
big entry, as even though we've been here a month it hardly seems like
any time at all!
We arrived in Phuket on the 15th of September,
and were staying in a little hostel in Patong, a couple of blocks from
the beach. Patong has a great beach, but it was quite crowded and
swarming with parasailers and jet-skiiers. But I suppose the beach isn't
really why people come to Patong. The nightlife here is famous for a
reason, and our stay here was basically a two week extended bar crawl
down Bangla Street, which is the main party district. Neon lights,
fireworks, tuk-tuks and touts galore - I imagine it's some people's
worst nightmare, and a lot of the other tourists we met complained that
the whole place, and indeed Thailand in general, was too 'touristy'. (It
never fails to amaze me how many tourists are SURPRISED by Phuket being
touristy). But I figure, these places are full of tourists for a reason
- they're fun!
We took time out from the frenetic pace of Patong
to visit Karon Beach, the next beach along. The beach here was much less
crowded, and the waves were absolutely huge. Apparently at this time of
year the oceans can be quite dangerous, and we did almost get swept out
to sea a few times. Great fun though. Also of note in Karon was the
excellent Dinosaur Mini-Golf, although unfortunately we couldn't find
the pirate mini golf anywhere.
After a relaxing few days in
Karon, we walked back to Patong (much to the disappointment of every
tuk-tuk driver in town) and stayed there for a few more days. We booked a
snorkel tour and managed, somehow, despite the fact that most of the
places I tried had been booked out for a week in advance, to secure our
own private sailboat for a day, complete with a Russian skipper named
Igor, for about $100 each. We sailed to an island and ate lunch on a
hermit crab infested beach, then to a reef where we snorkeled for a
couple of hours, before sailing home in the sunset. I think I can
honestly say it was one of the best days of the holiday so far - only
downside was the shocking sunburns we both had afterwards...
After
this, Harry and I separated for a week. He traveled overland up to
Bangkok and visited some places on the way, and I took a boat to an
island called Ko Phangan.
Ko Phangan is home to the infamous Full
Moon Party (apparently a raucous drug and booze fuelled binge) but my
week there was not during the full moon (or the half moon, or the new
moon – there are parties for those as well), so it was kinda quiet.
Great shopping though, much better than in Patong, and the beaches
were very relaxing and a welcome relief from the crowds in Phuket.
Spent a lot of time relaxing in my hammock out the front of my beach
front bungalow, wandering round town and lazing about on the beach.
Harry and I met up again in Bangkok a couple of days ago – not
without some difficulty. I arrived on the bus at 4.30 am instead of
the 6.30 am my ticket stated, mapless, with no idea where I was or
where I was going, and surrounded by tuk-tuk touts. Fortunately I was
rescued by some friendly Israeli backpackers who invited me to an
Israeli backpacker hangout place with free internet, the most
delicious falafel I've ever eaten and pet lemurs. Managed to find a
guesthouse and triangulate locations via email with Harry by late
afternoon – lack of phones has never been so irritating.
Since then we've been spending our days exploring the city. We
made a visit to the famous Reclining Buddha in a temple called Wat
Pho yesterday. The Buddha is enormous, 48m long and 15m high or
something, and plated in gold, built inside a temple. The temple
complex itself was amazing as well, I couldn't resist photographing
absolutely everything. (Except the Buddha, I bought a postcard
instead because it was a bit big for my little camera to capture). By
night, we've been checking out the famous party districts. We both
had lovely massages today, and right now we're about to splurge on a
fancy dinner. Food in Thailand has on the whole been rather expensive
– very expensive actually by south east Asian standards – but
it's been delicious enough to make up for that.
Heading to Cambodia tomorrow, and very excited to be visiting a
country that neither of us have been to before. A whole new country
of cuisine, waiting to be discovered - I'll let you know how it goes!
A Word in Edgeways – by Harry
In the last update I forgot to mention possibly the most important
experience of the holiday thus far.
Hartz Chicken buffet.
I assume “Hartz” is short for “Hartz Attack” because this
place was amazing.
I was concerned for my health at first, but Lauren convinced me to
follow my heart(-attack) and try the American all-you-can-eat in Miri
just before our bus ride back to Kuching.
Seventy three types of fried chicken, a huge array of sides, soft
drinks and soft-serve machines make for one truly amazing meal.
Definitely the best day of the trip by far, for a mere $6 each.
On to Thailand... it's been pretty swell; lots of booze, beaches
and birds.
Our expenditures have gone through the roof but that's more due to
a change in attitude than Thailand being inherently expensive.
Getting home before dawn has been a rarity, and we've been indulging
ourselves in many ways (snorkeling, massages, etc.). However, even
though we have effectively been treating ourselves like royalty
(seriously, chartering a yacht? I guess royalty would probably have
their own yacht though, so maybe we've been treating ourselves more
like... people who aren't backpackers) we haven't exactly blown the
budget – if you average out our trip so far we're actually doing
quite well and should have enough to complete our trip.
And on that note we're off to eat at “FACE bar”... yes, it's
called FACE. Cool? Yep.
