Sang Sum and coke to Goats in a metro!
Pai was good for another few days after I last posted, I didn’t do much and ended up visiting a few bars, met a few cool people. Pai is definitely worth the visit and was a good shout from my cousin, despite its sleepy days.
I got the bus out of Pai bus station (they run through national holidays like the water festival, despite what everyone says) for Chiang Mai – from here I hopped on a plane to BKK where I first heard news of the ash cloud. Bangkok airport was pretty rammed, tourists originally bound for Europe made the quiet airport not so quiet. I had booked an overnight stay (flight to Nepal was next day) in an airport hotel (Grand Residence) which included hotel transfers, I met the concierge who was supposed to sort this out who promised me a 10 minute wait – but another couple had been told the same yet had waited over an hour – we decided to just get a taxi. Turned out so did half of Europe and it took us 4 hours to get a taxi, BKK taxi’s made a killing that night.
3 hours sleep in a hotel later I woke up again and got driven in an E class Mercedes from the 1980’s to the airport, blacked out windows and leather seats that had probably seen more use than any bus. The hop from Bangkok to Kathmandu was a short 3 hours 40 minutes or similar and we were put into a holding pattern for about 40 minutes that gave us circling views of the Himilayas. Not all that bad really.
Kathmandu wasn’t that different to how I had pictured it, the week before when I had booked the ticket – pretty grimey, busy and smelly – huge chimneys where presumably waste or coal was burnt speckle the horizon as you fly in to land. Customs didn’t seem to care what I had in my bags but getting a visa took a while. Converting a few hundred dollars into Nepalese rupee’s also wasn’t such a great idea as the majority of hotels etc. prefer to be paid in $$, so if you need to pay in rupee’s then the rate is theirs to choose! I stayed in an average place just of Thamel, the tourist district. $25 for a room which would do for the night – the next morning I was getting a bus for Dumre.
Sidestepping riots, mountain biking through lychee groves and Elephants
I stayed a good few days in Bangkok. I went to MBK and brought the exact same model of camera I had lost on the beach in Phi Phi, I attempted to visit the princes residence with JM and SH but thanks to yet another clueless tuktuk pilot we ended up at an exhibition for artwork created for the Queen. The grounds and building were strangely walt disney but the building was impressive, huge painted domed ceilings and gold everything. The fact I was wearing shorts meant wrapping up and no cameras were allowed. The art works ranged from some quite totally amazing 20 square foot wooden carvings telling complete stories to dresses. Literally dresses. Maybe the thrill of dresses was lost on me but the carvings were quite amazing. Looking at the information on each thing though identified that all the pieces were sub 5 years old which made it like a weird cross between a museum and art exhibition, its not my thing if I am honest but it was something to do.
We also walked around the complex a bit – there are tons of ornate buildings mostly entitled mansion x, mansion y – we got to another which featured a small moat and the other two went in but I decided to just sit outside on the bridge, there’s only so many glass cases you can look in.
JM and SH shot off to catch the night train north to Chiang Mai and I remained in BKK. That night me and LM went in search of the “moon bar” supposedly a more down to earth (but high up) equivalent of the skybar (Lonely planet oh yes) and while we failed miserably at finding it it did let us catch a bit more of Bangkok. That night featured a good indian meal on the second floor of a shop on Khao San with a random mango shake and samsung combo…classic. Locust eating, Cricket eating
The next few days saw visits to Starbucks, rooftop pools and then random walkabouts by myself through Bangkok. I originally had set out to find Tesco Lotus in the hope of acquiring a thai mobile but had literally headed out the wrong end of Khao san and so ended up aimlessly walking pretty much the entire outer edge of Bangkok central, through chinatown, business districts and at that point very close to tesco lotus, without realising it.
The whole time I had been walking through the red shirt protest which was at this point completly peaceful and placid. Roadblocks indeed did slow down taxi’s and tuktuks but in fact it didn’t impair tourists who walked at all. If anything the protesters were in high spirits. Based on this I never expected to see a few days after I left BKK the trouble that had gone down thereafter. Glad I missed it though!
Successfully reaching the tesco’s later on that day I managed to buy a Thai mobile – which makes so much sense by the way if your in Thailand longer than a week. It cost about 670 Baht (£13) and you can top it up at any 7 eleven. JP later joined me in BKK followed in short by several cocktails and beers and then finally JM and SH. As it was our last evening in BKK a torrent of activity ensued. Mulligans Irish bar on Khao San had a good pool table and JP enjoyed the strawberry dackerys (haha) although the Caipirinha’s were a bit sugary.
One hell of a full moon party and back to Bangkok
Slow to update, perhaps but here is the next leg of my Thailand trip! From our overnight stop in Krabi we got a 3 hour coach across the country to Surat Thani then pretty much jumped strait on the ferry to Koh Phangan. Sitting on the exact front end of the ferry seemed like a sensible idea at the time however what with the waves pretty much engulfing everyone who did sit there it turned out not to be so. 2 and a half hours later, wet but drying we got to Koh Phangan port. To an almost ridiculous level there was touts on the pier attempting to sell us accommodation and taxi services – imagine a tiny little pier and then fill it with about 80 touts and you can half imagine it. With no camera at this point you will have to imagine it.
Whats worse it was dark by this point. We got off and stood amongst the other bombarded people waiting to find our bag amongst 300 others in the dark as they were thrown off into a big pile. I’m amazed no one was knocked in. We had booked the ‘Buakoa Inn’ (Sp) for 3 nights starting the next day – so we tried there to get a room for tonight, to no avail. Mike – the owner, though was helpful enough to help us secure two other good rooms in separate parts of Thong Sala the port town.
That night after we got settled we had a meal at Becks Bar which was a huge hanger like building with an English themed style on someone’s advice. The food was pretty bad, one of us had a platter which featured barely cooked food and the other stuff was overpriced and average. The staff were interesting though and we had a waitress named ‘ICE’ who took a specific interest in me. Either way an ok bar probably but the food wasn’t amazing.
We went down to check out Haad-Rin – the beach where the infamous Full Moon Party takes place – taxi’s everywhere on Koh Phangan cost 100 baht (about £1.10) per person, regardless of where you are going. Its a strange system but it works I suppose. At Haad-Rin we bumped into my new American friend and went to check out the beach bars. As soon as we hit the beach we ended up at a bar named Cactus which was just starting a game of balloon popping, which a few of my friends joined in – you have a balloon attached around your ankle and your aim is to pop everyone else’s by stamping on them before yours get popped. Presumably a bucket of drink was the prize, although it ultimately got down to two blokes and the crowd forced a winner (none of my friends.) We got a drink and moved on.
A lovely American and Yes Phi Phi!
From Railay I got the long boat to the ferry which took us to Koh Lanta which is a nice semi island (connected to land if sea was a little lower) that is I think relatively newly touristy. Staying half way down the island offered relative peace, some relaxed but comfortable beach bars and a fair bit of sunny swimming. The best thing I found about Koh Lanta was the seaside BBQ where you picked the stuff you wanted cooking and then sat to eat. They had probably the biggest prawns I have ever seen that were amazing and only about 90p each. Koh Lanta is the part of Thailand I would probably come back to if I was with family, it offers a touch of nightlife but really nothing as busy as anywhere else.
Next up we got a ferry out of Saladan, Koh Lanta across to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is I think the most touristy island, and I think thats quite well known. Just a hop away from Maya bay where they filmed ‘the beach’ and having suffered a Tsunami in 2004 it still remains probably the busiest places of those I have visited, bar of course full moon on Koh Phangan. Stayed in PP Charlie which was entry level in terms of money but saw a few rooms and you can stay on PhiPhi for about 25 pounds and have all the niceties of uk hotels.
It was a lot of traveling but it was well worth it. pretty much 30 hours in some sort of painful seat, varying air conditioning and random food but the final leg of a longtail boat to Railay was a great conclusion to the travel.
Railay was suggested to us by a girl we met in krabi named Suze and its pretty awesome. Clear warm water, white sand, ridiculously amazing scenery, interesting bars and nice thai curry. I will stick a few photo’s up when I get a chance but its as you’d expect a bit of thailand cut off from the mainland, only accessable by boats would be.
We stayed in diamond view resort which the lonely planet guide said should be a ‘last resort’ but it suits us and is cheap, the majority of our time has been on the beach, canoe or in the sea. Cocktails at 100 Baht make the evenings a laugh here too. Now the 40 degree mid day sun and warm water is calling me from out the window, I will update soon and stick a photo to replace the above one I burrowed!
We are next getting longboat -> ferry to Koh Lanta to find a nice relaxed hotel
Let's see what south east Asia has to offer!!
I am probably just getting on flight BA7312 out of heathrow, bound for sunny Thailand, most of my email addresses are now on replycannons, if you want to get hold of me I will be periodically updating this blog (so will see comments) and might check my facebook occasionally.
Let’s see what south east Asia has to offer!!
Hayday van makes an appearance on streetview
Well done Tom spotting this – My dad working hard and the Hayday Construction & Roofing on google streetview!
Unrelated to the pliers on streetview post
"a symposium on the effects of climate change in the global south and post industrial nations"
The Silent City Collective is “a symposium on the effects of climate change in the global south and post industrial nations” – its well worth a watch – if you haven’t already then check out the Silent City Collective site and make sure you make it to the Exhibition just off Brick lane this May. My good friend Cara Nahaul is curating along with Emily Whitebread.
The collective
A reaction against exhibitions such as ‘Earth: Art of a Changing World’ hosted by the RA which tend to present a classless vision of ecological justice made in the West, prioritising the needs of the developed nations over all others.
Silent City will be a symposium that addresses the issue of climate change with a particular focus on its impact on the Third World. It will comprise a line-up of interdisciplinary programmes, which together will explore climate change as an environmental crisis that requires a development solution.
There is a growing need to address the global geopolitics of environmentalism. Typically, climate change events have failed to address these issues that concern both the global south and post industrial nations. In light of this, many people have become apathetic and disillusioned about the prospects for change.
Silent City demonstrates that climate change is no longer a scientific debate or a protest march but a pervasive aspect of all of our lives; aiming to provide a different experience to explore these serious issues.
