Bangkok (for the 2nd time around)

When you buy a ticket on Bangkok Airways to Koh Chang the airline provides a shuttle van to pick you up at your guest house and delivers you the airport in Trat (which involves a 30 minute ferry ride). There are three flights a day out of Trat and Bangkok Airways built the airport specifically to get people to the surrounding islands.

The ferry was jam-packed and it was standing room only. I'd never ridden a ferry where so many people were standing. It kinda gave me a slight uneasy feeling and I was thinking about how similar this scenario was to ferries that sink in 3rd world countries due to overcrowding.

Arrived into Bangkok around 2:30 PM yesterday. Given my last foray on the Bangkok train system left me a bit flustered I decided I was going to spend the cash and hire a taxi. The process is to line up outside the airport, tell the clerk where you are going, the clerk tells you the price you'll pay, he writes the price on a chit which is handed to a taxi driver. This ride was going to cost me 450 BHT plus tolls, plus 50 BHT for the driver (all stipulated at the kiosk at the airport). It was around 3:00 PM by the time we departed the BKK airport. Man, what a totally different scene than my last trip into the BKK airport. Now we were in rush hour traffic. It was completely grid-locked, we're sitting in traffic and scooters are whizzing in and out between cars, switching from lane to lane. It was something to see.

I check into my guest house again and feel good that I know a bit of the lay of the land. I decide to go to the MBK Centre and check out the seven floors of mega shopping. Holy toledo! These floors totally reminded me of the night bazaar in Chiang Mai, the floors just kept going and going with aisles turning into other aisles. Each floor of MBK specializes in something. The 3rd floor is all electronics: cell phones, every kind of cell phone/IPad cover you can imagine, cameras, computers. The prices were no steal. The Samsung Galaxy 4 was about $400, not much cheaper than at home. I did buy a pair of Beats earbuds for $14... they're knock-offs (Grade A, she called them) but the sound is amazing. They came in a sealed box with the manual, spare ear pieces etc. This is the first time I've ever bought knock-off anything so we'll see how they hold up but for $14 I'm not holding my breath.

I find the food fare on the 5th floor. I'm no expert on Thai food but it certainly didn't look like "fast food" fare that we get at home. I settled on a Vietnamese salad roll. 70 BHT (just over $2 Cdn), and it was actually 3 rolls, cut into chunks. It was okay.

The popular items at MBK seem to be Thai silk scarves, luggage and knock-off purses. I believe I added another 10 scarves to the suitcase load I'm bringing home. Speaking of luggage, I had to buy another piece to get all of my purchases home. Just a small Samsonite carry-on and so many people were wheeling the same suitcase around the mall. Obviously most people are going home with much more than what they came to Thailand with.

I set the clock as I plan to go to the Grand Palace today and have no clue how to get there, how long it'll take and how long I'll need once there. I have to be back at my hotel by 3:30 as I am going on a dinner cruise and need to get to Taksin Pier for 5:30 PM.

My guest house offers a very nice complimentary breakfast. Eggs cooked to order. You make your own toast, cereal, homemade yogurt (delicious), fresh fruit and coffee. I left my hotel by 8:45 feeling a bit intimidated by the Bangkok train system. My first attempt two weeks ago kinda shook my confidence in commuting on the train. Anyways, I'm on the train before 9:00 with all the office workers. The train is freezing cold and I have to put on my long sleeved blouse that I brought along for when I go to the Grand Palace. I find my station no problem and also find my way to Taksin Pier no problem. Then I pay 40 BHT for a ticket to ride the ferry system. River travel is the #1 mode of transportation in Bangkok. I was thoroughly impressed with the "tourist boat". It was narrated and the young woman pointed out the various piers and what tourist attractions were at them. I had planned to get off the ferry at Pier N9 for the Grand Palace but at the Pier previous she mentioned that is where the Reclining Buddha was located. I had read about the Reclining Buddha and decided I'd better hop off and check it out.

Tourist boat.

Many famous Wats have entrance fees. I don't recall how much I paid to enter Wat Pho, perhaps 100 BHT. It was something to see. Photos don't do justice to what you see with your eyes in person. The Reclining Buddha was absolutely massive: 46 meters long and 15 meters high! Wat Pho has the largest collection of Buddhas in all of Thailand. It was so huge that it was impossible to get a decent photo of it because it fills up the entire temple it is housed inside. Aside from the Reclining Buddha there is a lot of very interesting architecture to look at in Wat Pho. I really enjoyed it.

There is a dress code for most temples and especially the super popular temples. Modest dress is key. No tight clothing, no capris, no shorts, no tank tops, no bare midriffs, no open-back or open-toe shoes (even though you remove your shoes to enter the Temple). For the tourists who don't dress appropriately, you can purchase the ever-so-popular Thai cotton pants for 200 BHT outside the Wat, or in the case of Wat Pho they had long lime green coloured housecoats that some people had to put on.

If you show up at a Wat dressed inappropriately these pants can be purchased outside the gates.

I exit Wat Pho and it's another scorcher of a day in Bangkok, +33 C. I stop and admire the amulets... I've had my eye on them since arriving in Bangkok but being I don't know the quality of what I'm looking at, some obviously antiques by the price being quoted, I hadn't bought one yet but I was determined to own one before leaving Thailand. I found one I really liked, Buddha on one side and a Monk on the opposite side, and I buy it for 150 BHT. I also buy a bag of watermelon slices too for 20 BHT.

I go to a different ferry that crosses the river for 3 BHT each way. It goes to Wat Arun. Waiting for the ferry, I ask a lady to take my photo. I return the favour for her. We introduce ourselves. She is Monica from Indonesia and is traveling alone too. She is going to Wat Arun so we hang out together and take photos of one another and together and we connect as Facebook friends. After yesterday's facebook rant about stuck up tourists it was so wonderful to finally meet someone to converse with. 

Monica from Indonesia.

Wat Arun was mind-blowing. It was totally wicked. Gorgeous! We climbed up these majorly steep high steps to the top of the Wat. OMG! We had a slight in-trepidation in doing so. Each step was at least 14" in height, narrow and extremely steep. The railings were wrapped tightly in rope so you could hang on going up and down. We climbed to the first level and took some photos from the lookouts. Then we climbed up another level and walked around the Wat and took photos, then we climbed up as high as we could go. Oh my word. The views from up there were worth the trip. Amazing. (Gosh, I almost have tears in my eyes trying to describe it). Just breath taking and amazing. Now we've gotta come down! One lady in front of us must've been terrified as she went down the stairs step-by-step on her bum.

 Each step is at least 14" in height.

                                           Holding on - even when going up the steps.     

 View from the first level of Wat Arun.

Monica has already been to the Grand Palace. She estimates I'll need at least two hours there. I don't have enough time to take it in leisurely, get the ferry and train back to my hotel, and then make it back to Taksin Pier. I decide the Grand Palace will wait til tomorrow. Monica and I take the 3 BHT ferry back to the other side of the Choa Phraya river where we part company. She is catching a 6:30 PM bus to Chiang Rai to the see the Golden Triangle (it's an 11-hour bus ride).

I make my way back down the river on a non-tourist boat. Oh my word. We were crammed in like sardines (or like the Vancouver skytrain). What a view though. I loved it. I was supposed to pay 40 BHT to return but didn't pay. On the way to the Wat, if you did not purchase your ticket beforehand (I did), they came around and collected and checked your ticket. I asked about paying for the return fare and was told to pay on the boat but no one collected from me and no one appeared to be collecting, not that you really could with it jam-packed like it was. I really enjoyed this ferry ride with the locals and the monks.

Non-tourist boat.

My back cracked this morning. I was already babying it because it felt like it wanted to go out... it didn't really go out, it just cracked. I thought I'd best get a massage to extend the life of my back before it does go out fully. I went to the massage studio across from my guest house. I told the lady that my back was sore as I was unsure which type of massage I should have. I decided a 90-minute Thai massage. Sa was my massage lady. Oh my word. She left me totally impressed. Thai massage is not a fluffy massage by any means. They give you cotton pants & shirt to put on and you lay on a mat on the floor. It's not that dissimilar to Shiatsu and Yoga mixed together. It's really a stretching of all your body parts. She put some ointment on my back and gave me the most amazing shoulder and neck massage. She put her knees on my sacrum and pulled back on my shoulders. Oh geez! I'll never forget it. It totally impressed me and I wished I had her techniques. I've booked a repeat for tomorrow night at 8:00 PM and hope to go back on Saturday for a head, neck and shoulder massage if my lower back is feeling pretty good by then. When I asked when she was working again I was told she works every day. Yes, 7 days a week! Her hours tomorrow are from 11:00 AM to midnight! I can't imagine massaging for 13 hours. Thais are definitely hard working people.

After the massage I head back exactly to where I came from a few hours earlier: Taksin Pier. I am having dinner on the Loy Nava rice barge which cruises the Chao Phraya river. It came highly recommended on Trip Advisor. The boat isn't even 1/2 full of patrons. But they do two sailings every evening and I chose the sunset dinner cruise. Perhaps the later cruise would be busier.

It is assigned seating. Everyone is seated along the outer edges of the boat. It's a lovely ambiance. Red & gold table cloths. I chose 1/2 seafood and 1/2 Thai food. I paid for this many months ago... long before I could've guessed I would be sick of Thai food by now. In hindsight I wished I had gone with 100% seafood. Oh well... I did eat most of the green and red curry! So much food... it just kept coming but it was served in such a way, with non-English speaking waiters, that I didn't really understand how or in what order I should be eating. I proceeded to eat my rice, not knowing the curry was coming. Thankfully they served two small steamers full of rice so I still had some left in which to soak up the curry.

The cruise gave us a souvenir booklet pointing out all the areas of interest that we sailed past. We also got a small garland that I've admired all over Thailand. It smells like Jasmine flowers and then has two red flowers attached to it. It's common to see them hanging from rear view mirrors. I hope mine dries okay and that I can transport it home okay. If it makes it to Vancouver in one piece mine will be hanging from my rear view mirror too.

Garlands are hung from rear view mirrors, 

on Spirit Houses and all things you wish to have protected.

I saw the Bangkok protesters up on one of the bridges we sailed under. Man, what a massive noisy crowd... blowing whistles and waving flags. I'm grateful that seeing them from a distance is as near to them as I've come thus far. A bit saddened by all the tourists who cancelled their Thai vacations out of fear that the news stations were reporting. Bangkok is such a huge city it's been really easy to never cross the paths of the protesters.

The cruise is worth it for the views, or at least I thought so. I chatted up two Germans after the cruise. They weren't impressed but I was. They were comparing it to Singapore and said it just didn't measure up. I have nothing to compare it to so I enjoyed it and thought it was worth it. I think it was around $50 for two hours.

The alarm is set for 6:30 AM on Monica's suggestion that I be at the Grand Palace at 9:00 AM before it gets overly crowded and hot.

I only have two full days remaining in Bangkok. I made a list of each day and what I hope to do on those days. I sure wish I had more days in Bangkok. I don't understand those people who say "fly into Bangkok and then get out". I'm really enjoying this city and keep comparing it to New York - simply because of how large it is. I will have to read up and compare the two for size. I'm thinking Bangkok must be larger but I don't know for certain yet.

Koh Chang, Thailand ~ Saturday, January 4, 2014

 I walk into town with a plan to go to the bakery again. I get there and it's closed for the day. Dang it! I walked all the way into town for nothing. At least it wasn't in the heat of the day and I'm thankful for that.

On Ian's recommendation I go to the Tiger Hut on the beach for breakfast. It's okay. Nothing to write home about but it's close to home.  Although this guest house is lovely, there isn't a lot around here and being I don't drive a scooter it is a bit off the beaten track and I've found that food isn't within 5 minutes away. I decide to hang out on the beach today. The water here is on the cool side of warm. It's even warmer than the Caribbean sea.

He's on his laptop!

Later in the afternoon I chat up a guy staying at this guest house. He's been here with his brothers and Mom for a few days, from Macau. He used to live in Toronto and speaks good English This is his second time staying at this guest house and he is a plethora of information on places to go, places to eat.

There is a fancy resort next to Baan Rim Nam called Panviman Resort. You can't see it from here but I walk past the entrance way on my way to/from town. He told me to go there for dinner and said it's a lovely resort. I plan to do that in the next night or two.

The guest tells me that his 70-year-old Mom walks the road from town in the dark. Hmm... maybe I can get up the nerve. I decide I'll walk back into town for dinner and walk back in the dark. I stop in at the Pharmacy and she sells me some antibiotics and some other pill. $15 and I'm out the door. Still coughing and I have wondered if it's turning into bronchitis. Easy to get antibiotics here. Hell, my Doctor at home has never ever prescribed them to me no matter how much I've been coughing up a lung.

The walk back in the dark is okay. Lots of people pass me by on their way walking into town and plenty of scooters going both directions. All the while I'm saying "thank you" to my friend Keith for gifting me with a lovely powerful little flashlight which I was so happy to have on hand tonight.

Ian has booked me an elephant trek for Sunday or Monday. The company will pick me up here at the guesthouse so that's a bonus. The cost is added to my "tab" here at the guesthouse and I square up with him on my last day. He even took my laundry into town and added to my tab as well.

I was thinking of taking a Thai cooking class but am not keen on spending 6-8 hours indoors and, really, I only want to earn how to make Tom Sum Gai so will scour the internet and hope to find the ingredients when I return home.

I kinda feel like I'm running out of time now and feel like I shouldn't "waste" away too many more hours on the beach. I booked myself a 3 1/2 hour spa package on Tuesday afternoon at the Panviman Resort spa and then am planning to treat myself to dinner at what Ian says is the best restaurant in the area. It's also the restaurant that has a cooking school attached to it.

Ian has arranged for my shuttle pick-up for my return to Trat on Wednesday. Such a relief that he offers to arrange all these things.

Klong Prao Area of Koh Chang, Thailand

I guess it's been 4 days now since I was at the other end of the Island around the Bai Lan Bay Area. New Year's Eve was quite a raucous affair in the area and fireworks were being let off starting around 9:00 PM carrying on until 2014 came into being.

My guest house, Lazy Republique got into the party spirit and I was awakened before midnight by Madonna's "Holiday". The music continued loudly until 1:30 AM... it was all good as the owner's musical tastes were right up my alley.

On New Year's Day, on the advice of Laun, my guesthouse owner, I walked about 1.5 miles up and down hills to the infamous "Lonely Beach". You know the saying, "you never get a second chance to make a good first impression". Well my first impression was "What a disgusting dump"!  I had turned in towards the beach at Siam Huts. Perhaps this is how a backpacker hostel is defined? I don't know, but I would definitely classify it as a dump. Had I checked in there, I wouldn't even have gotten out of the taxi. The huts on stilts reminded me of row housing. Very closed together, no privacy and garbage strewn about every place I looked. I was surprised to see what had been a burning mound of garbage right in front of a group of huts. Disgusting. (I've since come to realize that everything here gets burnt eventually, plastic bottles included. Shocking in this day and age coming from a first-world country). I wonder to myself that at one time the owner must've had a vision of the type of property he wanted to create. Was this his vision?

Siam Huts @ Lonely Beach

Laun told me to go to the very far end of the beach. So glad he told me to do this because my first impressions of Lonely Beach were not much better than my impressions of the Siam Huts. I walked as far down the beach as was possible (probably 10-15 minutes), and it was much nicer. The rentals on the beach looked to be "upscale" and for the most part the beach wasn't littered with garbage. 

Lonely Beach

I spent 5 hours or so on Lonely Beach and had lunch at the closest beachside restaurant. 

I could've taken a taxi back to my guesthouse but I was up for the exercise and wanted to stop in the little Lonely Beach enclave to buy some water and go to the Pharmacy to tend to my cold so I walked the 1.5 miles back to my guesthouse.

Lots of wild monkeys in this area. Scared the bajeezus out of me when I first saw one sitting on the road. Scared me so much that I crossed the road hoping all the while that he wouldn't try to jump on me. There were lots of monkeys on this particular part of Koh Chang (Bai Lan Bay area) so by the time I did the full walk I wasn't as fearful of them and stopped to take some photos of them from a safe distance.

There really isn't much happening in the area of my guest house so I order dinner at the guest house (fried fish that was very chewy and very spicy) with the ever-present white rice.

Breakfasts are included in my accommodation here. A hearty breakfast of tasty coffee, orange juice (which I haven't been able to stomach as it is definitely not the type I am used to), muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt and 2 pieces of toasted french bread with jam, and then a plate of pineapple and watermelon. Thailand seems to centre its life around food.

It's time for me to check out now and head to the Klong Prao area of the island. I have no clue which direction any place is on this island. I stand on the side of the road and flag down a songathew. I show him the address and the name of Baan Rim Nam (my next guesthouse). He says he can take me but he will only drop me on the highway. I know it's a 1 mile walk into the guesthouse from the road and I'm not keen on lugging my suitcase a mile on a mule trail. I convince him to bring me all the way into the guesthouse -- he agrees - for a price! 200 BHT but it was money well spent and he delivers me to the door. The road in here from the highway isn't all that bad. It's mostly paved until the last 1/4 mile which is sand, but I still wouldn't want to haul my luggage that far.

Baam Rim Nam is gorgeous.  I can easily see why it is rated in the Top 10 of B&B's in all of Thailand.   

No shoes/flip-flops allowed on the deck.

One of 2 decks at Baan Rim Nam.

Ian, the owner, gives me the lay of the land and a map he has created of the area, the best restaurants etc.  

I decide I'm up for a walk into the village area for lunch and find one of Ian's recommendations of a family-run restaurant. The place was packed and they were turning people away at about 3:00 PM. I order a pineapple shake which was absolutely delicious. Probably the tastiest fruit shake I've ever had. I order my usual stand-by, cashew chicken and decide to try some spring rolls. It was all very good. At the end of the meal they serve complimentary sliced watermelon. The bill was just over $3.00. I stop in at the Pharmacy to buy some pills called NAC 10 that a stranger had recommended to me when they heard me coughing. $9 for them but I'm getting quite fed up being sick by this point so am happy to try anything if it'll work. It's a scorching hot walk back to my guesthouse and I'm now having second thoughts about my bright idea of walking into town and back in the mid-day heat. Lesson learned. I don't do much the rest of the day except enjoy the lovely decks at Baan Rim Nam, and then I find the trail to Klong Prao beach and check it out. The sunset is gorgeous.

Mai Sarang to Chiang Mai

We depart the Riverside Resort promptly at 9:00 AM. Driving out of the town of Mae Sarang you can see every place (school) that the Princess had visited because it's completely decked out in her colour purple and with huge photos of her. Thais sure do spend a lot of money on their Monarchy and by most accounts they love their King. His photo is seen a lot around here.

For miles and miles down the highway the purple flags stuck in the ground provide proof that the Princess had traveled that route.

First stop of the day is Chom Tong Waterfall. Honestly, by this point I've seen so many waterfalls I'm not so sure what makes this one special two days after I saw it.

We stop in a town with a very well known Wat. It's obvious upon stepping inside that it is a very significant Wat. I could've spent 1/2 a day here taking photos but unfortunately we were in and out in about 20 minutes, I would guess. In a back room they have a very special glass vault with iron bars. This back area is only opened to the public for 2 weeks a year around New Years and I was fortunate to be there when it was open to the public.  It is filled with hundreds and hundreds of solid gold Buddhas.  

One of the smaller Wats I visited but one of my favourites. 

Solid gold Buddhas behind plexi-glass, iron bars, & lock & key.  

Normally, this area is closed to the public.

See the cash?  Thai are very giving people.

We enter Doi Inthanon National Park. You can tell it's a very popular place as we are in a traffic jam. Shortly after entering the park we stop for lunch at the only lunch stop place in the vicinity. I would liken it to a mammoth-sized cafeteria except the food is served to you at the table. Sutthi goes up to order our meal and it is brought to us within 5 minutes which is the norm in Thailand. I've never experienced such speedy food service anywhere else I've ever visited. We eat cashew chicken, the tasty Thom Yam Gai (or Thom Sum Gai) soup that has become one of my favourite Thai dishes, and fried rice. Sutthi had also brought along a few pieces of fruit and the lunch place cut it up and presented it beautifully on the plate. We had pomello, star fruit, tangerine, watermelon and pineapple.

Family-style lunch with the fruit that Sutthi had purchased earlier in the day

and the restaurant cut it up for us and displayed it so nicely for us.

Our next stop is to another Karan Tribe: Mae Klang Luang inside Doi Inthanon National Park. This tribe is not long neck. They are coffee farmers among other crops but are known for their coffee. Starbucks used to buy their Arabica beans at one point. The village is traditional bamboo houses, teeny tiny by North American standards. A Karan woman greets us dressed in traditional attire. Married Karan women wear a white head scarf. The scarf kinda look like the way you'd wrap a towel around your head after having washed your hair. We take a look at the white beans drying in the sun. These beans are not yet peeled. Sutthi pours some beans into a manual coffee grinder and the Karan woman makes us filtered coffee the old-fashioned way. She pours hot water into the cloth sack filled with coffee grounds. She lifts the cloth sack high into the air letting the brown water drip out the bottom. Then she takes that container of brown liquid and dumps it through the filter again and again and again. Sutthi and I sit at a long bamboo table and bamboo bench and enjoy or fresh roasted, fresh tasting coffee.

We head up the top of the highest mountain in all of Thailand, 3500 meters above sea level. I go to the viewing point to take some photos but all I could see were the clouds below me. We do a lovely walk through the rain forest on wooden walkways. It was a lovely 15 minute little hike through the dark green aged vegetation. I get to stand on the very highest point in all of Thailand and Sutthi takes my photo.

The tallest point in all of Thailand.

We head back down the mountain and stop at Wachiathan Waterfalls. Wow! The spray from the fall was keeping people far back from the fence. It was a very gorgeous and powerful sight to witness. It was roared like thunder too.

Next stop is Chiang Mai. Sutthi wanted to show me one of the most famous temples in Chiang Mai before we part company. We went to Wat Chedeliem. It was the perfect time of day. The gold and red intricate adornments of the Wat shone in all its glory in the setting sun. Photos don't do it justice in portraying the beauty of it.

Wat Chedeliem

Sutthi drops me at Top Garden guesthouse run by Victor from Montreal and his Thai wife Thanya. Sutthi and I say our goodbyes and I try not to cry as I hug him goodbye. Hiring this man was the best decision ever. Sutthi showed me a Thailand I would not have seen on my own. I enjoyed his company and I promised to send him a memory stick with music on it. The memory stick came about because he was playing a CD of older 70's music and he was asking me about John Denver when the song "Country Roads" came on. Well finally after two days he asked me "is this John Denver singing?" I said "No". Sutthi says "Who is it?" I said, "I have no clue but it's not John Denver, and that wasn't Peter, Paul, and Mary singing Blowing in the Wind either." We had a good laugh at it. He had bought the CD in Laos or Burma and obviously got ripped off.  {confession: I have not sent the memory stick!}

I check into my guest house and head on down the Soi to find my Christmas Eve dinner.