Sawatdee kha!
Hey Everyone...
Here's my post on travelling round Thailand with my old school mates Mark and Joel...
(..I'll try and keep updating this whenever i can...so enjoy!!
Trying to upload photos when possible too...internet here is slowish....and as most of you know, i dont have patience!! sorry if photos aren't round the right way either...most computers here dont have the software to flip them... )
BANGKOK
Arrived in Bangkok early thursday morning...was pretty tired and looking forward to bed! Thought it'd be easy enought to just get my bags, catch a cab to the hotel and sleep... but no!!!
Almost got abducted by a dodgy cab driver...cos i wouldnt pay for his petrol and water ontop of the overpriced fare he was already getting me to pay... he even tried to drop me off at the wrong place and took me right around bangkok...what a dick!
Needless to say, i was relieved to see Mark although he was half asleep when i came in bitching about the taxi driver! Even went to sleep with my arms crossed i was so mad!!!
The next day saw us walking around Bangkok and checking out the markets...just to fill in the day before our flight to Koh Samui the next morning.
KOH PHANGNAN
-Walk up to a waterfall/lookout in the middle of the island...
...But most days were spent lazing around relaxing, sunbathing etc etc.....
KOH SAMUI
Mark and I then left Koh Phangan for Koh Samui to meet up with Joel.
It rained non stop the whole time we were in Samui....so we hired a jeep and drove around the island.
Went and visited Big buddha and a few other Wats around the place and did some shopping in Chaweng... even had McDs and Starbucks here...this place was tourist central!
We then caught a ferry from Samui to the mainland (Suratthani) and then a bus to Krabi. Typically, the bus was over- booked and many had to sit on plastic chairs in the centre aisle of the bus...i was last on board...so i got to sit next to the driver! I felt very special!
KRABIThe next day we climbed up to a mountain shrine in Wat Tham Seua (Tiger cave/temple)...over 1200 steps. Having had a dodgy stomach that morning, i didnt eat breakfast...this was a BIG mistake!!! was pretty dizzy on the climb. Steps were steep...some parts were so steep it was like a ladder! the view from the top was well worth it tho...
Then there was the gruelling walk down...had shaky legs afterwards...and now..very sore calf muscles!!
That afternoon, we caught a long tail boat over to Railay Beach (a beach accessable only by boat!) the weather wasnt great...but we still managed to get about an hours worth of sunbathing. this beach was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! definitely one to go back to!!!
The next day, the boys decided to do a day tour to Phi Phi... i decided to go kayaking as i had seen Phi Phi as a kid. Went kayaking in Ao Thalane (canyon and mangrove forest)...had monkeys jumping onto our kayaks and everything! pretty cool! was eaten by mozzies tho! i look like a lepper now!
we then left for Chiang Mai...
Scored some pretty cheap flights which went through Bangkok...except that when we got to Bangkok, we found out that our flight to Chiang Mai had been cancelled. We were lucky enough to get onto a later flight tho so we spent the day checking out all the facilities the airport had to offer....even had a foot/leg massage which helped the sore calves ALOT!
CHIANG MAI
Once in Chiang Mai, we checked into a guesthouse for the night.. the boys decided to go for a wander round while your truely went to bed after throwing up thanks to the malaria tabs we had to start taking!
Highlight was Wat Chedi Luang...this was just spectacular!
The tuk tuk driver then took us round to the usual "money making off farangs" places such as wood carving, silk, silverware and jewellery shops...fun...NOT!
That night we got tickets to Muay Thai... fantastic!! Boxers all do a boxing dance before each fight- "ram muay"...a dance to the spirits. makes each fight seem more meaningful than just two guys beating each other up!
The following day we got ourselves onto a one day safari/trekking thing...
this started with an elephant trek through the country side...i think my elephant had a cold...it kept sneezing...which meant i was covered in elephant snot the whole time i was riding on the back of his neck!! yum!
We visited some Akha tribe people....although i think they were just locals dressed in traditional akha gear trying to sell us jewellery!
We then did a trek to a waterfall...more like a bushwalk really! Mark and I decided that we'd do it in true kiwi style...wearing our jandals! pretty stupid considering we were walking through water and mud at times and once jandals get wet, it gets pretty slippery...so we thought we'd just do the rest of the trek in barefeet!
White water rafting was next...the river wasnt very full so we got stuck on rocks a few times but most of it was pretty fun...
We then finished the day with a nice cruise down the river on bamboo rafts...very nice!
That night after our meal, we shared an apple flavoured Sheesha and had a look around the night markets..tried my hand at bargaining and came away with a few purchases!
The next day in Chiang Mai was pretty much a free day...being a sunday and all, Mark and I thought we'd do what we would normally do on a Sunday back home...eat lots and have a few drinks.
Unfortunately, both of us came down with a we bit of food poisoning which wasnt too good considering i had booked myself into a Thai cooking course that night! Had to run off to the bathroom to throw up between simmering tom yum soup and grilling some beef for my Nam tok!
Early the next day, we caught a train from Chaing Mai to Phitsanulok where we then caught a local bus to Sukhothai.
SUKHOTHAI
Sukhothai...what an amazing place. We hired bicycles (for less than $1 for the whole day!!!) and rode around the historical park checking out ruins and statues dating back as far as the 7th century!!!
A real highlight of this trip so far!!!
OVERNIGHT TRAIN
we got an overnight train back to Bangkok from Phitsanulok...it was difficult to sleep...very noisy!!! Arrived about 530am and caught a tuk tuk to Khoa San road. With 3 backpacks and 3 bodies in the back of this tuk tuk, we were up on the two back wheels doing wheelies much of the way there...hahahahaha
Checked into a guesthouse and spent most of the day pottering and sorting things out like a Cambodian Visa, laundry, money etc.... boring stuff!
CAMBODIA
For visa purposes, i had to leave the country...so i thought, why not make a trip of it and go to Cambodia!
We decided we'd catch a bus...despite all the warnings from other travellers that this is the bus trip from hell, we thought it'd be quite an adventure!
So early the next morning, Mark and I headed off to catch our bus (joel decided he'd stay and explore more of thailand)...little did we know (or chose to ignore the fact from other travellers) we were gonna be on the road for 15hours!
the bus ride to the border was relatively uneventful...well, apart from my usual fidgety "ants in my pants, try and adopt every possible sitting position"...the air conditioning also stopped working at some stage...it was hot!
We stopped for lunch about 7km from the border...went to a cute wee restaurant where they spoke no English but we managed to order fried rice and vietnamese spring rolls...yum!
Once at the border, we had to go through the usual custom procedure...took us close to 2 hours to get the whole bus load through! yawn! we then changed over to a minibus...now this is where the bus ride from hell started..
Apparently an airline company pays the government NOT to fix the roads so that travellers would fly instead! the road to Siem Reap is full of holes...IF you can call it a road. Makes for a very bumpy ride! Our minibus had a broken window as well, so we were covered in dust by the end of the trip...Our bus driver even lost control of the bus once...it was pretty scary to say the least! We also bounced around so much that i even smacked my head on the roof of the bus...ouch! Was winded everytime i came back down from a big bounce... all part of the experience...had to laugh!
And then....you reach Siem Reap and its beautiful! Full of lights and glitzy hotels...roads are perfect...its pretty insane! The whole thing to get travellers to fly worked on Mark tho...he booked himself a flight for the trip back to Bangkok.
I thought i'd do it all again for the trip home...just for shits and giggles really!
After much needed sleep we headed off the next day with our tuk tuk driver to Angkor.
We left Angkor Wat to see last...this place was amazing!!! If i were a princess, my palace would look like this!
That night, we went out with some of the people from our bus...checked out a couple of bars in Siem Reap. Had a great time...and when midnight rolled around, Mark told everyone it was my birthday and so the drinks came rolling in...instead of buckets, we had pitchers of Red bull and vodka! mmmmm......
The next couple of days involved more travelling by bus,...Jumped on the bus back to Bangkok and spent the night in Khao San Road before heading down to Hua Hin for some beach time.
Wasnt terribly impressed by this place, it was pretty cheesey...lots of old dirty farangs and very touristy...still, it served its purpose...sun and surf.
Just my luck, i came down with a bad case of food poisoning on the last night in Thailand...didnt get any sleep apart from on the bathroom floor in between throwing up and diarrhoea! then the fever started... oh joy! Thought i wasnt gonna make it onto the flight....
Needless to say, I was looking forward to getting the flight to England over and done with...
