Thailand - Recap

So a recap of Thailand. Mixed emotions about this place, some bits I just couldn't get on board with or felt underwhelmed (sorry, but that's just honest) but some bits I absolutely loved!

Bangkok, particularly Khaosan Road was not enough for me but meeting Paul (a family friend), seeing a ping pong show and being with my sister and cousin made it better.

Chiang Mai and the islands further south were fantastic.

So let's crack on:

Chiang Mai - 03rd November - 06th November

Top 5 moments:

1. Deejai Backpackers Hostel - nice, friendly and chilled out.

2. Wat Chedi Luang

3. The Post Office bonanza - couldn't find the bloody place despite walking past it multiple times.

4. The crazy old man trying to set me up with a ladyboy.

5. Hanging off the back of a Tuk Tuk at 50 kph

Bangkok - 06th November - 09th November / 11th November - 12th November

Top 5 moments:

1. Dave pulling bunting out of a woman at the Ping Pong Show.

2. Samsen Skyline Hostel receptionist - bloody brilliant woman!

3. Khaosan Road first night with Kel and Dave. Shocking Pad Thai Kels!

4. The reclining Buddha and Wat Pho.

5. The airport arrival of Kel and Dave and seeing them for the first time in five months - "Yesssssssssssss!!!"

Kanchanaburi - 09th November - 11th November

Top 5 moments -

1. Elephant Sanctuary

 

2. Sugar Cane 2 Guest Huts

3. Death Railway

4. The bar girls beating us at Connect 4

5. The resort and ghost story talk.

Phuket - 13th November - 16th November

Top 5 moments:

1. James Bond Island - another Bond location ticked off.

2. Snorkelling.

3. The Capsule hostel.

4. The bars and nightlife - they provided plenty of laughs.

5. Jet skiing with Dave.

Koh Samui - 16th November /  20th November - 28th November

Top 5 moments:

1. The New Hut Bungalows.

2. 'Chicken and Rice' with Matt - daily, sometimes double daily, ritual.

3. The Mynt Lounge with Joy, Emmi and the gang.

4. The views.

5. Lou Kratong festival.

Koh Tao - 17th November - 18th November

Top 5 moments:

1. Snorkelling.

2. The Sairee Hut Resort.

3. Setting a head tennis record with Dave - a 57 rally and a splitting headache.

4. Our heart to heart talk at the beach side bar.

5. Fire show at The Sunset Bar.

Koh Phangan - 19th November

Top 5 moments:

1. The Half Moon Party.

2. Finding converse and a Superman t-shirt in a second hand store - what a find.

3. The Lime and Soda Hut on the beach.

4. The dodgy face painting.

5. The Thai Massage.

Day 135 - Remember, Remember, it's the fifth of November!

Crazy Thai man who was trying to set me up with a ladyboy

Day 135 - 05th November

So the day that almost saw the end of British Parliament in 1605 had arrived again. Ah, home is so far away.

The old city wall

I woke up and went wandering around Chiang Mai, looking for the magnet and a few souvenirs for the family. After bumping into a Spanish woman who kept yelling Spanish at me, having banter with a local Thai boxing elder and a quick coffee stop in a small place just outside the old city wall, I moved back to Deejai Gardens and did a little work and drank a little beer. It was a great way to kill the time until my 6:30pm bus to Bangkok.

Beautiful temples and stupas here

I started to look at accommodation and places to visit in Bangkok but I was more ready to see my sister and cousin again in a couple of days time.

So at 6:30pm, I'm sat in Deejai Hostel with my backpacks (yes, plural) ready to go on the night bus to Chiang Mai. 7pm rolls around, no pick up. 7:30pm, nope! 8pm, yes... no, that was a delivery van. 

By 8:15pm, my pick up arrives. The seats are occupied by nine other people so I have to hang off the back whilst we head toward the bus station. Doing 50mph hanging onto two thin metal bars off the back of a big van does make you feel alive. And slightly nervous.

I boarded my bus (the leg room was fantastic, as were the free water and cremo cookies) and headed off on my 11 hour journey to Bangkok. I befriended two German guys opposite me but soon I had my headphones in and my baseball cap over my face to cover my dribbling whilst I attempted to sleep.

Long live this travelling game.

Day 134 - Exploration of Chiang Mai and feeling rough

It had to be done!

Day 134 - 04th November

I woke up and was greeted by my roommate, Matt from Montreal. He seemed like a decent guy and was giving me thelow down on Chiang Mai.

I headed down for breakfast and mapped out my routes of temples, markets and the like for the day. I met my first writer, a woman named Kristen from Virginia who was travelling with her sister, Nicole. Basically our plans mirrored each other's - writing, avoiding getting a career and heading to Australia in the near future. I suppose it's not too hard to imagine, being a writer is a tough business. As a fellow writing enthusiast, I wish her luck.

Pretty cool, huh?

Buddha protected by Nagas.

I headed out to see Wat Chedi Luang, an old temple with ruins restored to show its originality. It was stunning. Legend had it that two Indians built it and it was either destroyed by an earthquake in the 1500's or damaged during the war with the Burmese in the 1700's. I like to think only a natural disaster had destroyed it.

The picture does it no justice.

After, I visited Wat Phan Tao, an old team temple next door to Wat Chedi Luang which was beautifully carved and constructed. I'm already beginning to see why people come to Thailand for these magnificent pieces of architecture.

It did the trick.

I strolled down to the old city walls and did the obligatory selfie by one of the gateways before having a teriyaki chicken sandwich and strawberry soda. Very ladeda, but delicious nonetheless.

Seriously, it's easily missed!

My struggle to post my Nanna's postcard was genuine as I past the disguised post office five times in my bid to find it. Seriously, it looked like a souvenir shop, I was expecting something more official. Oh well.

I wandered around, just looking aimlessly around. I must have clocked up 10 miles all told. I practically walked the perimeter of the wall.

A part of the West Old City Wall

The afternoon I spent relaxing in Deejai Gardens with a couple of beers and editing my sitcom. It's such a great way to do what I find to be the tedious bit of writing. I had Oasis, RHCP, Blink 182 and others on the speakers for background noise. All in all, it wasn't bad.

I headed out for dinner after booking my bus ticket which they told me to come back for in a few hours. I went for local Pad Thai at a basic place, which may have been the reason why I felt so ill afterwards that I had to go back to the hostel.

My bus ticket still wasn't ready so I headed to bed. Matt asked if I wanted to go for a few beers but the Pad Thai was exacting it's revenge so I had to pretend to be tired. It was a bad way to end a pretty good day but touch wood, I've only been ill a few times so it's to be expected.

Matt did warn me he was a snorer and to throw stuff at him if needed. Damn, I thought the Chinese were bad -sorry buddy!

Day 133 - It's too early for a bus change and getting to Chiang Mai

My unimpressed, sleepless face. It's too early for this crap!

Day 133 - 03rd November

So at 5:30am, the bus pulls up at this remote bus station, the driver gets out and start launching our bags into the waiting area. A foreign European couple ask me if this bus will still take us to Shanghai. I told them I hoped not because that was east of here and I don't know how many hundreds of miles away - I'd guessed at 900. It was probably way out. Thankfully, I discovered they were saying Chiang Rai which was three hours over the border. (I looked in Chiang Khong to Shanghai, it's 1,500 miles so not a bad shout!)

The elders helped us translate (good guys, the Chinese - I've always said it) and we were told at 9am we'd be picked up by a new bus and taken to the border.

So we waited for a few hours. What else could we do?

Everyone boarded except me for Chiang Rai. A woman came out and told me she would take me in a mini van to the Laos/Thailand border and then I'd have to find my own way to Chiang Mai. Knowing this would be about as easy as finding a clean mattress in a hostel, I decided to board the bus bound for Chiang Rai and to connect there to Chiang Mai. I knew it was only a few hours north from where I wanted to be.

So we chug along for half an hour until we reach the borders. Laos is a doddle, we're all straight through. However, when we reach the Thailand border, the four elders are asking me to fill out their paperwork for them. I did what I could for them before grabbing an official to translate the rest of the form. Being a UK citizen, you breeze through the border - the official even smiled at me and wished me a good time in Thailand.

And after another three hours, we made it to Chiang Rai. I managed to get some sleep on this coach with two seats to myself which was a bonus. I bid the elders farewell and Xiè Xiè'd them for their early help. They seemed happy and waved me goodbye.

I only had a twenty five minute wait and I'd be on a 3 hour bus bound for Chiang Mai. Thank Christ. I sat next to a friendly Thai woman who I had a brief discussion with. They gave us free water and Chocos (their version of Oreos) and we sped through Thailand towards the southern part of the North until we eventually reached Chiang Mai at 4pm - 22 hours after I'd left Luang Prabang. The ordeal was over.

This dorms alright actually. Love the sliding door for the bathroom.

Deejai Hostel was impressive, with a nice tropical feel to the lobby, a bit like Siem Reap's Bou Savy and the dorms were pretty sweet as well.

I had a quick pizza and Sprite for dinner at Cafe Diversion before heading back to crash out. It had been one hell of a day! I think Chiang Mai is going to be fun!

Day 132 - Oh Mai, Oh Mai, how long to Chiang Mai?

A great way to end my stay in Luang Prabang!

Day 132 - 02nd November

So my final day in Luang Prabang was already here. It was bad for many reasons. I'd come to love the place, I'd had a pretty awesome hostel with an abundance of hot shower water and lastly, I was only a few hours away from jumping on an 18 hour journey to Chiang Mai. Yes, I did say 18 hours.

To avoid thinking about it, I headed to the post office to send my nanna's postcards and then I wandered down to Utopia again to relax for a few hours. I tell you, a Dark Beer Lao is the way forward at 10am.

With an Oreo shake, that baby is a thing of beauty.

I read and did some work before having a 'Bacon Bomb Burger'. Anything with bacon and BBQ sauce is a winner in my book.

I took one final excursion to the market, buying a lemon fruit shake and two packets of cashews for my journey before heading back to the hostel for pick up.

I shared a Tuk Tuk with a Dutch couple who were good company to the bus station and when I arrived, I was presented to a mini van driver who put my luggage on the roof of his vehicle. I tried to questioned where my double decker or at least single tier coach was but ey just pointed me toward the mini van door.

Shit! This is going to be a killer for 18 hours.

I settled in a singular seat and we set off just before 6pm. I had an annoying Chinese guy in front of me that limited my already limited space by ramming his seat backwards into a decline. Then he pulled it forwards again. And then back again. This is more annoying when it's 1am, you've just managed to get into a snooze and your knees are crushed suddenly. Bloody pillock!

Someone, the driver I think, was hawking his lungs up every few minutes so when I closed my eyes it felt like I was back in China.

Silver lining, I met four Chinese elders who found it fascinating that I'd been to Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. They keep tapping my leg and putting their thumbs up to me which was a good thing I suppose. They kept saying 'Ingua' which I remembered as being England or English.

Just a few more hours and I would reach the border. Then everything will be easy... yeah right!