Thailand 2006 - Three girls with time to spare
About mid June 2006 my girlfriends Hien and Diana decided we should spend our holidays away from boring Melbourne. We decided to check out Nothern Territory and go all out on adventure sports in the outback. We headed down to our local travel agent to check out prices and she quoted us $1000. After much discussion we decided we would rather spend that $1000 on a ticket that would get us out of Australian borders. So Swadeekah Thailand!
Three girls no guys in the crazy world of Phuket and Bangkok. It was my first liberating trip away from home, away from my partner and away from responsibilities and studies. It was such a great trip, there was so much laughter, shopping and bargaining.
What we did in a nutshell:
Whilst in Phuket we went elephant trekking, white water rafting, jet skied, ATV, swam under waterfalls and snorkelled at Koh Nok Island. We saw many transvestites who conned us into taking photos got over charged at the markets in the first few days of shopping and saw breath taking views at Baan Rim Pa restaurant. There were many Australians and Thailanders celebrating the world cup and it seemed everywhere we went someone would ask us if we wanted to buy a T-shirt or take a 'tuk-tuk' ride.
In Bangkok we saw many temples, Grand Palace and Wat Pho being top of the list along with the ruins of Ayutthaya. We shopped till we dropped; levels upon levels of clothes and computer gizmos, aisle and aisles of never ending crafts, jewelery, clothes and DVD's at Chatuchak.
My two cents of advice when traveling to Thailand.
1. Don't trust the trannies
2. Don't be overwhelmed by Thailand's love for their King on Mondays
3. Don't by a T-shirt saying "No I don't want a f*#Rkn massage, tuk-tuk or tailored suit" because it has "I'm a stupid tourist who bought a t-shirt" written in Thai at the back.
4. Stay at a hotel that is close to the beach in Phuket and shops in Bangkok (you'll save on taxi money)
5. Floating market isn't as colourful in real life as pictures make it out to be so don't get too disappointed.
6. Spoil yourself silly with seafood!
7. You must white water raft!
It was an awesome experience and I'll definitely go again. In fact I'm going again this July. heheh
Thailand in Ten days - 2008
My partner and I went away for ten days for the first time to Thailand of July this year (2008). We travelled to Phuket for five days and stayed another five in the capital city Bangkok. All in all it was a nice break away from routine, work and the cold weather here in Melbourne. We had a pretty busy scheduled but managed to sleep in, relax and watch a couple of movies in our spare time.
Arriving in Phuket
If you want to stay in the main tourist area of Phuket and save on taxi and tuk-tuk fare I suggest staying at Ban Thai Resort. It's central to restaurants, shopping, the post office and provide great service. Since the hotel was 200 metres from the main road we spent the first few hours of the day walking the streets and beaches to get a feel of the area. We were greeted with smiling faces and to all the shopkeepers we were their mate, friend, sir or madam. Unfortunately for them we turned down every tuk-tuk, massage or suit service they had to offer. We did manage to eat at Pum's restaurant for lunch and got our first taste of Thai food; green curry which was very spicy.
At night we ate at Hung Fat on the mezzanine and the interior of the place was stunning. The owner of the restaurant was named Bao Nguyen. He was born in Vietnam but grew up in France but now resided in Thailand. Unfortunately he had forgotten all his Vietnamese but he made sure his waitresses took good care of us - and they did. They have great Chinese and Thai cuisines that are reasonably price and if you stay long enough you can listen to the live band too.
"Wow...can't believe we're finally here..."
ATV, WWR and Waterfalls
Compared to rafting in Bali, I have to say that Thailanders are the most entertaining and have a great sense of humour. Our instructor would call out "forward!" whenever he wanted us to paddle, instead of paddling himself though he would splash water in our faces and insist that we keep paddling forward.
Our ATV tour took about three hours, we saw the locals, learnt about Phang Nga's plantation and cooled down at a waterfall. I've posted a video below with some footage of our rafting and ATV experience.
Phi phi island
There is a lot of hype about visiting Phi Phi Island for anyone who goes to Phuket, when I saw the crystal clear waters and long tail boats it was not hard to see why....such a picturesque place - my wallpaper I had been staring at for weeks became a reality.
At Phi Phi Island there are three things you could do: snorkel, swim or get an amazing full body massage under an open air hut. Khoa and I gave snorkeling a go and I can assure everyone that we would never snorkel again. Trying to swim and breathe with snorkels is exhausting! After half an hour of snorkeling or 'drowning' we treated ourselves to a massage and it was the BEST massage I have ever had. The lady used coconut oil and at one point I thought she was singing to me but it turned out she was asking me to sit up again. hehe
The only disappointment I had with Phi Phi were the fishes. I was expecting heaps of tropical fishes to swim around me like Koh Nok Island but I was totally let down. There were fishes but in order to see them you had to swim out really far.
The Coke Man
Several nights in Phuket we walked down Bangla road where all the lady-men congregated. On one night I saw a man standing in the middle of the road, protruding his belly holding up a plate with a toy coke-ca-cola bottle. He stood there not moving with his grumpy face in the middle of the road and I thought, "oh my god...I hope someone buys that toy coke bottle from him..." For some reason I was compelled to him, he was so cute!! He didn't even talk to anyone or coerce anybody to buy it. I felt sorry for him at the same time, "Hun...what if he stands there for the whole night and no one buys it...his family will starve..."
We walked away from him because I couldn't stop staring at him, after an hour we walked back down Bangla road and HE WAS STILL THERE....I couldn't take it anymore and went up to him and asked him how much it was. Immediately his eyes sparked and he put the coke bottle on the ground and picked up a sign saying 300baht ($10). I didn't really want the coke bottle - I just wanted to give him money. Khoa said to might as well take it and we did. After he gave us the coke bottle he stood back up with his grumpy-cute face as if nothing had ever happened.
Hong By Starlight
Hong by Starlight was hands down one of the best tour I had ever been on. Basically you get to canoe around the bay and under caves but the best thing was you had the bay all to yourself because John Gray Sea canoe operated in the afternoon not in the morning. You get to see hidden lagoons, sea eagles dive for food and make your very own Loy Kratong - a Buddhist gift that's floated out at sea as a sign of good luck during the full moon in November.
We saw the sun set from our boat and after a scrumptious dinner we lit out Kratongs and canoed back to the caves to watch our Kratongs float away. It would have been so good to see the actual ceremony take place in November, our guide Eak said hundreds of people would make Kratongs and float them out at night on the full moon. Since it wasn't a full moon in November after half and hour we had to collect our Kratongs back from the waters.
Arriving in Bangkok
We stayed at Baiyoke Sky for five days and speaking from experience I would probably not like to stay here if I ever went to Bangkok again. The hotel is tucked away from the main road and to get to it you have to walk through the markets and to get to the lobby you have to take an elevator to the 18th floor, then another elevator trip to your room.
Having said that the good thing about staying here is that you get to go on the revolving observation deck for free! and also visit their mini Thailand cultural museum. Khoa and I had a fun time here, we took photos in tuk-tuk's, cultural house and made a key ring with our faces on it. There is also a fake air balloon and a sky backdrop for people to take photos.
Below are some photos taken by Khoa.
1. We caught the sky train back to our hotel one day and came across a house with a sign that said KF House. I'm going to develop this photo and put it our living room when we live together.
2. This photo is the key ring that was made by the key-ring booth at Baiyoke Sky.
3. There are monks everywhere in Thailand, so common to see them at the bus stop
4. The colorful taxis glowed at night even in the rain.
Grand Palace and Wat Po
They say that if you go to Bangkok you have to see the Grand Palace. To get in you have to pay 300baht - which I found to be ridiculous because only tourists had to pay - Thailanders entered free of charge. The first time I went here I felt like I was entering a city of temples and sparkles but after a while especially the second time round the grandeur of the place didn't impress me anymore.
About 15 minutes walking distance from the Grand palace is Wat Pho the place where you find the enormous reclining Buddha.To get into the temple is free, however to go in and see the reclining Buddha will cost tourists 50baht. It would have been great if they built a much larger temple around the Buddha, instead it was just a good fit with poles obscuring everyone's view.
Ayutthaya with Sittichai
Sittichai was our taxi driver for the day, he had poor English but managed to take us to Ayutthaya and show us around with some assistance. Whenever he didn't understand what we were saying he would ring his friend and ask them to translate for him. Turns out some of the places in Ayutthaya was new to him - he had never been to some of these well known Buddhist attractions. He was quite entertaining to say the least and found us a really nice Thai restaurant to eat for lunch - I had the best lychee drink ever!
I think I saw over 100 buddha statues on this day trip alone. I'm Buddha'ed out! hehe
Sirroco
Sirroco is a very posh restaurant on top of Lebua Hotel - to eat at this restaurant you can't wear sleeveless tops or thongs or carry in backpacks. The mains started from $30 and if you're not careful you can end up spending well over $100. It was expensive night out but with such a great view of Bangkok, live band playing in the background and generous entre I couldn't complain. The steak and pasta we had was delicious so you won't be disappointed.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money but want to experience the view and live band you can buy drinks at the Glow bar, starting from $15. This place is well worth the visit.
Check out their website: http://www.thedomebkk.com/web/sirc_gallery_04main.html
Bai Pai Cooking School
I can confidently say I can cook Thai food after one day with Bai Pai Cooking School. This tour was very professional and they made cooking so easy! We got to savor the chef's dishes and cook and eat our very own banquet. Below are the four dishes Khoa and I made:
1. Spring Rolls
2. Green curry chicken & Curry paste
3. Spicy Grilled beef salad
4. Egg custard
Our banquet was one of five, one man loved the class so much he booked again for a second day to learn how to make other dishes. The company also gives you your very own recipe cards and a fridge magnet photo of yourself to take home.
Chatuchak aka JJ
Chatuchak is a massive market designed for wholesalers and anyone who can hack 30 degree heat. It only opens on the weekend and if you don't have a map you will get lost. There's literally hundreds of shops all crammed together under open air sheds. You can find just about anything - clothes, dvd's, handcrafts, ceramics, paintings, furniture, pets, plants, books, antiques, collectibles and even second hand goods.
To do this place justice you will need a good 4 hours and two bottles of ice cold water. Bringing something to fan yourself with wouldn't hurt either!
After 3 hours at Chatuchak the only thing I bought for myself was a key ring that said 'Ibu Chau'.