Those non-Facebook luddites who would like to see some photos of the trip can follow the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72591&l=8953c&id=528267125
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8 years ago
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Krabi
Following an overnight train journey and a bus trip, arrived in Krabi. By this stage I was acutely aware of the budget, so got a room for £10 a place on the beach which was 'near Krabi'. The pamphlet I relied upon for this information stated quite clearly that the 'resort' was on the beach in Krabi. 30 minutes in the back of a ute later, I learned that Krabi was not just the name of the town, but the name of the entire province.
No matter. The bungalow was on the beach and the seclusion was just about right. First day was spent sleeping.
Second day I hopped on the resort's bicycle and rode, in searing heat, to another beach about an hour away. If anyone ever wonders where old scooters and mopeds go to die, it appears that the answer is Krabi. Hundreds of these little things went speeding by as I struggled on in searing heat. The people on the scooters (there were sometimes 3 of them) generally looked at me with an expression which varied from amusement to amazement. I couldn't really understand why. Anyways, got to the beach, sat, read a book, cycled back to the resort and retired to the hammock for the rest of the day/night for more book and beer action.
You're probably asking yourself, Sam, where are all the people you met? Well, truth be told, no one was much interested in talking. It was an odd resort, chock-a-block full of Germans. And they weren't friendly. I guess that they probably saw me, a young guy (no comments please) travelling in Thailand alone and assumed what I assumed when I saw guys by themselves in Bangkok. My cause probably wasn't helped by the fat middle aged German who was travelling with his 'friend', a young Thai boy who couldn't have been older than 25. Oh well. If it's that you're looking for, I guess you can find it in Thailand.
The following day I decided to rent one of the scooters. £6 a day. No wonder the locals were looking at me strangely.
Initially I was content to travel at the listed speed limit of 21 kph. (Sadly, my camera had packed it in by this stage, I don't have a photo but I swear this is true) This wasn't working at all. I was being overtaken by old ladies carrying 2 children and a bag of bananas. This wouldn't do. Turned the handle a bit more and showed those old ladies who was the boss.
There wasn't a strict destination in mind, just a desire to see different things for a day. Ended up riding through Khao Sok National Park. And wasn't it amazing. The landscape is essentially volcanic, like the Glasshouse Mountains on the Sunshine Coast on steroids. Stopped in little towns, nodded and smiled at locals who did the same back, bought local food. I was hungry, I didn't ask what the meat was, they didn't tell me, both parties were happy with this arrangement.
So that was really about it, Krabi was complete, Sarah and Stacey arrived towards the end of night 3, time to move to Koh Phi Phi, which you'll just have to wait to hear about.
No matter. The bungalow was on the beach and the seclusion was just about right. First day was spent sleeping.
Second day I hopped on the resort's bicycle and rode, in searing heat, to another beach about an hour away. If anyone ever wonders where old scooters and mopeds go to die, it appears that the answer is Krabi. Hundreds of these little things went speeding by as I struggled on in searing heat. The people on the scooters (there were sometimes 3 of them) generally looked at me with an expression which varied from amusement to amazement. I couldn't really understand why. Anyways, got to the beach, sat, read a book, cycled back to the resort and retired to the hammock for the rest of the day/night for more book and beer action.
You're probably asking yourself, Sam, where are all the people you met? Well, truth be told, no one was much interested in talking. It was an odd resort, chock-a-block full of Germans. And they weren't friendly. I guess that they probably saw me, a young guy (no comments please) travelling in Thailand alone and assumed what I assumed when I saw guys by themselves in Bangkok. My cause probably wasn't helped by the fat middle aged German who was travelling with his 'friend', a young Thai boy who couldn't have been older than 25. Oh well. If it's that you're looking for, I guess you can find it in Thailand.
The following day I decided to rent one of the scooters. £6 a day. No wonder the locals were looking at me strangely.
Initially I was content to travel at the listed speed limit of 21 kph. (Sadly, my camera had packed it in by this stage, I don't have a photo but I swear this is true) This wasn't working at all. I was being overtaken by old ladies carrying 2 children and a bag of bananas. This wouldn't do. Turned the handle a bit more and showed those old ladies who was the boss.
There wasn't a strict destination in mind, just a desire to see different things for a day. Ended up riding through Khao Sok National Park. And wasn't it amazing. The landscape is essentially volcanic, like the Glasshouse Mountains on the Sunshine Coast on steroids. Stopped in little towns, nodded and smiled at locals who did the same back, bought local food. I was hungry, I didn't ask what the meat was, they didn't tell me, both parties were happy with this arrangement.
So that was really about it, Krabi was complete, Sarah and Stacey arrived towards the end of night 3, time to move to Koh Phi Phi, which you'll just have to wait to hear about.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Bangkok
Home. Dad pouring wine and sniggering. Mum updating us all on the family gossip from around the world and reluctantly but politely accepting dad's offer of a 6th half glass of wine. Louise telling us the dog kennel and Wurtulla stories once again. (Again, publicly, I deny all knowledge of any phone calls made to Wurtulla at the relevant time) Dan sauntering in after dinner has finished, scoffing leftovers and providing mum with feedback on the meal and ways it could be improved.
There's a certain amount of predictability and a whole load of familiarity. It's great. I'm here for a bit over a week for dad's 60th birthday. The big party was on saturday night, he had an absolute ball. My arrival here was a surprise. Dad was suitably surprised. This is essentially why there have been no blog entries for some time. Dad thought I was in Morocco. Had he known that I was in Thailand for 2 weeks, he may have smelt a rat.
I'll tell you about in Thailand in installments. First, arrival in Bangkok. Arrived on the afternoon of the 25th, and had an overnight train the following day. Time was limited, I was determined to fit as much into that 30 hour period as possible. So, immediately met my friend Jennifer and her new Thai boyfriend Teddy at their place before hitting the town.
You know, god bless Teddy, he really was trying to show me the best of his city. It was Christmas day, Teddy thoughtfully brought me to a shopping centre which had a Christmas tree. Sadly though, the Christmas tree wasn't serving any drinks, so we swiftly moved onto Bangkok's famous tourist strip, the Khao San Road.
Like so many tourist areas around the world, Khao San road essentially features a mass of pubs and bars which play western music and are frequented by westerners. Sadly, Jennifer insisted that we visit an Irish bar. My plea to the effect that I had just left a place remarkably similar to Ireland fell on deaf ears, so we trudged up the stairs, past the Irish flags and maps of County Kerry and into a dark bar. Then I discovered 'the secret'.
Usually, you'd go to a place like this, settle in, drink some beers and if you're lucky, be in the right place for the beer to have a decent effect and ensure you were having a good time. Thais serve their drinks as large cocktails. This means that they empty a bottle of Thai whisky, a bottle of red bull and some coke into a bucket and serve it up with many straws. Hygene, questionable. Effect, incredible. That is the secret. Within half an hour we were absolutely smashed and I would have done just about anything. The band, a seven piece Thai covers band, played note perfect versions of Oasis and incredibly, Sweet Child of Mine. It was a great night but really, after the fourth bucket, we could have been in the middle of the desert at midday and probably have had just as good a time.
I blame the buckets for what happened next. A vendor outside was selling deep fried insects. He wasn't doing a roaring trade, but it had to be done. We bought a selection of things. The grasshopper halves, flies and various unidentifed insects all tasted pretty much the same, crunchy and coated in the soy sauce sprayed onto them. I drew the line at cockroaches, no way, but mistaken believed that a juicy worm wouldn't have been a problem. This had a little more meat than your average fly though, and it very nearly made me vomit the whisky back up.
Sadly, that was all the culture that Bangkok offered on this day. We went home and due to jetlag, I slept til about 2pm. This gave us just enough time for a massage in the park before hitting the train station.
A word of advice though to our waitress Em on the off chance she's reading this. Dear, if you do want future westerners to be your 'boyfriend for the evening', probably best you take off the wedding ring first.
There's a certain amount of predictability and a whole load of familiarity. It's great. I'm here for a bit over a week for dad's 60th birthday. The big party was on saturday night, he had an absolute ball. My arrival here was a surprise. Dad was suitably surprised. This is essentially why there have been no blog entries for some time. Dad thought I was in Morocco. Had he known that I was in Thailand for 2 weeks, he may have smelt a rat.
I'll tell you about in Thailand in installments. First, arrival in Bangkok. Arrived on the afternoon of the 25th, and had an overnight train the following day. Time was limited, I was determined to fit as much into that 30 hour period as possible. So, immediately met my friend Jennifer and her new Thai boyfriend Teddy at their place before hitting the town.
You know, god bless Teddy, he really was trying to show me the best of his city. It was Christmas day, Teddy thoughtfully brought me to a shopping centre which had a Christmas tree. Sadly though, the Christmas tree wasn't serving any drinks, so we swiftly moved onto Bangkok's famous tourist strip, the Khao San Road.
Like so many tourist areas around the world, Khao San road essentially features a mass of pubs and bars which play western music and are frequented by westerners. Sadly, Jennifer insisted that we visit an Irish bar. My plea to the effect that I had just left a place remarkably similar to Ireland fell on deaf ears, so we trudged up the stairs, past the Irish flags and maps of County Kerry and into a dark bar. Then I discovered 'the secret'.
Usually, you'd go to a place like this, settle in, drink some beers and if you're lucky, be in the right place for the beer to have a decent effect and ensure you were having a good time. Thais serve their drinks as large cocktails. This means that they empty a bottle of Thai whisky, a bottle of red bull and some coke into a bucket and serve it up with many straws. Hygene, questionable. Effect, incredible. That is the secret. Within half an hour we were absolutely smashed and I would have done just about anything. The band, a seven piece Thai covers band, played note perfect versions of Oasis and incredibly, Sweet Child of Mine. It was a great night but really, after the fourth bucket, we could have been in the middle of the desert at midday and probably have had just as good a time.
I blame the buckets for what happened next. A vendor outside was selling deep fried insects. He wasn't doing a roaring trade, but it had to be done. We bought a selection of things. The grasshopper halves, flies and various unidentifed insects all tasted pretty much the same, crunchy and coated in the soy sauce sprayed onto them. I drew the line at cockroaches, no way, but mistaken believed that a juicy worm wouldn't have been a problem. This had a little more meat than your average fly though, and it very nearly made me vomit the whisky back up.
Sadly, that was all the culture that Bangkok offered on this day. We went home and due to jetlag, I slept til about 2pm. This gave us just enough time for a massage in the park before hitting the train station.
A word of advice though to our waitress Em on the off chance she's reading this. Dear, if you do want future westerners to be your 'boyfriend for the evening', probably best you take off the wedding ring first.
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