Thailand
Trip Start
Oct 26, 2008
1
3
Trip End
Ongoing
Phuket, Thailand
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Yes - I know its been a while - sorry! - I blame my busy social life in Thailand this time round (the internet is too fast here to blame that)
Well, the last update I wrote was from Chiang Mai. I ended up staying for almost 2 weeks in the end! I loved the place, found a really cheap and sociable guesthouse called Julie's [2quid a night for my own room - which i have since discovered is damn cheap for Thailand] and theres lots to occupy yourself in Chiang Mai - from cooking and massage courses to Thai kick-boxing.
I booked on to the most popular 3-day hilltribe trek advertised at Julie's and set off with my 9 other trekking buddies in the back of Thai share-taxi.....After a few hours of driving to get out of Chiang Mai, we set off on the trek. I found the first day pretty hard-going , 4 hours of up-hill trekking in 80% humidity [ highlighting my pretty unfit state!]. I thought I knew better when they guide said we would need a minimum of 2 litres of water - but Ive never sweated so much! I think I drank more than 2 litres in the end. Ha, anyway - the journey was made less arduous by our very entertaining guide, J.J, who described the difficulty of an upcoming hill as 'oh my buddha, or oh my little buddha'. He embarrassed us all by getting to the stop points about 10 minutes before us and having a leisurely cigarette - hah!
We bumped into quite a few other trekking groups on the route - so its fair to say its a very well-trodden route! This wasnt a huge suprise, as Chiang Mai is the most popular place to book treks from. The hill-tribe village we stayed in on the first night were celebrating their new year (or so we were told, still not sure if it was for tourist benefit or not) - and so we joined in their party, dancing round the fire and I even attempted a bit of drumming with Oskar, a swedish guy on our trek. I think the locals were outnumbered by tourists - there must have been about 50 trekkers staying there that night. Half the hilltribe boys were dancing around the fire in hoodies and converse, so it was hardly what you call an 'authentic' experience. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it for what it was - and the scenery was spectacular (photos on facebook/flickr soon!).
Ive have heard a few backpackers compaining that they arent getting the 'true Thai experience' - but personally I was very happy to enjoy the easy, tourist-orientated travelling that Thailand offers and forgoe a more cultural experience. I had enough culture (and associated non-easy travelling) in India to last me a good while! I suppose - really it is a shame that the hilltribe culture is being lost due to the tourist invasion, but you could argue that doing the more 'off the beaten track' routes affects even more of these tribes, so to isolate it to already affected areas slows this invasion. But thats a debate that could be argued many different ways! And I dont fancy myself as much of a debater really (plus, it probably makes for quite dull reading to you all)
The second day of the trek was slightly easier going - after I almost threw up my breakfast that is! Strenuous exercise 5 minutes after eating scrambled eggs on toast is really a stupid idea! We had a lovely lunch (more noodles!) at a rather cold waterfall...........which made for a verywelcome swim after a morning's trekking. The second night of the trek we stayed at more of a jungle camp and were entertained by Oskar on the guitar and his rendition of Jason Mraz.
After a cold nights sleep in our communal hut, set off for the 3rd day, which really was 45 minutes of walking and then a day of whitewater and bamboo rafting. This was my first attempt at whitewater rafting and suprised myself by enjoying it! Apparently it was tame in whitewater rafting terms (grade 3/4) - but great for a novice like myself. We even split our rafting teams on nationality - so it was the German boat vs the rest of us - Im pleased to say our boat one! wahey.
Got back to Chiang Mai late afternoon and after a quick shower and dinner went (hobbled really, damn those underused thigh muscles!) out to celebrate with my new found trekking mates at the Reggae bar. Thailand is full of bars playing Bob Marley - but really we could have been anywhere - drinking Chang beer and generally having a great time. I made a couple of great travel buddies out of the trek - Oskar (Swede) and Barry (Irish) - and we ended up spending the next couple of weeks together in north Thailand....
I wiled away 3 more days in Chiang Mai with Oskar and Barry - one of them constructive - on a Thai cooking course (8 courses! too much food!! and shattered all my illusiuons that thai food was actually healthy). Spent a day on a visa run to Burma (or Myanmar, depending on which country you come from), which involved 10 hours in a minivan getting there and back. fun!
Eventually moved out of my Chiang Mai comfort zone and got the bus to Pai, leaving the boys behind (waiting for Oskars credit card replacement). Pai is a little hippy-turned-trendy-traveller town north of Thailand. It is in a very scenic valley position and really quite a traveller hotspot! It was nice enough, but not as much as people had hyped it up to be. A bit boring after a day or two! I befriended a German guy called Gabriel on the bus journey up to Pai and we didnt waste any time in booking into another trek, starting the following day.
The trek from Pai was only 2 days - but a big more hardcore than the Chiang Mai trek (5-6 hours walking each day). I enjoyed it for different reasons - less touristy (we were the only group staying in the Lahu hilltribe village) and so the villagers were very welcoming and seemed genuinely happy to have us, but I thought not quite as scenic as the trek from Chiang Mai. The area is much drier and less green than my first trek. Anyway- I met another great group of people - all Europeans this time round and we finished off the trek with a night out in Pai. I think I might even have got a bit fitter, as wasnt in as much pain on the return to Pai!
I 'hung out' in Pai for the next few days - met up with Barry and Oskar again, who had been on their own trek from Pai. We ended our 2 week travelling liason with a big night out at the nightspots in Pai.......there are quite a few, being a traveller town. Unfortunately - I had booked myself on the 9am bus back to Chiang Mai the following day - so after 3 hours of drunken sleep, it was a pretty painful journey round the mountain passes! I then proceeded to board a 14 hour overnight train (sans aircon! - next time I wont try and save money buy booking the fan only carriage!) down to Bangkok. Most of it was spent in a state somewhere between drunk and hungover, trying to maximise my exposure to the pathetic fan in the middle of the carriage. Still - all in the name of fun the night before - and well my ipod did a good job of easing the painful journey.
And from Bangkok it continued! I boarded the 10 hr bus down to Ranong - a crappy little town on the Burmese border - where I stayed for the night to renew my Thai visa for a second time. This 2 week visa limit, is really a pain! I was happy to leave Ranong for Chumpon - the jumping off point for Koh Tao - my first Thai island. Wahey. It was nice to arrive on the beach and feel some sand between my toes. Koh Tao is a small island - geared towards young backpackers getting their PADI open-water certificate for little cash. The diving really wasnt that impressive (compared to Red Sea anyway, which is all I can compare it to, being a novice diver!) - Although I cant really complain - as we did see 2 whales one day. It really was THE talk of the island for the next couple of days.
Anyway - I didnt have the best dive experience on Koh Tao - didnt like my diveshop and instructor that much, so left before schedule with Christina - new found friend who had just done her PADI on the island. I tagged along with her to Krabi - on the other (Andaman) coast. Our overnight boat journey back to the mainland was one of those travelling experiences definitely worthy of a journal entry! There must have been about 100 of us sardined in the bottom of a swaying boat, and minimal window access.....I suppose I should have been grateful that they provided lifejackets! ha. Chris was less than impressed by her neighbour , when he rolled over and tried to snog her during the middle of the night! haha. but with beds about 30 cm wide - he must have seen it as an opportunity too good to miss.
We eventually got to Krabi and waited another few hours for a boat ride over to Ton Sai beach in Railay. A beautiful backpacker beach - mostly inhabitated by rock-climbing fans. We didnt do any rock-climbing, just a few days of lying around and reading but did meet a couple of nice English boys (Tom and Rob) - who we proceeded to spend the next week with. We spent a day snorkelling and another clambering over rocks to explore other beaches in Railay. After 4 days or so, we (the newly formed foursome) left Railay for the backpacker mecca of Koh Lanta - or so we thought anyway!
Really Koh Lanta was pretty quiet and we failed to find where all these other backpackers were hanging out. Each of us spent a day in close proximity to the loo with some 24 hour bug that was doing the rounds. Nevertheless we had fun in our little team of 4- we landed a good deal at a resort on the cheaper end of the beach - complete with swimming pool! Explored a few local caves and spent evenings drinking in the bar. Koh Lanta is huge compared to the other islands, and everything was just a bit too spaced out to access easily.
And so onto the 3rd and last island of my Thailand trip - we moved on to Koh Phi Phi for the last 3 days of my Thai visa. Koh Phi Phi really is stunning - small, but beautifully formed! I wasnt even planning on going there, as it has a reputation for being expensive and more holiday maker than backpacker orientated. But Im sure glad I did, as was a fantastic end to my Thai adventure.
The rumours were half right - it was expensive - for the same money as we had spent in our aircon, pooled-up resort in Koh Lanta, Chris and I shared a crappy room that was literally stapled together and sweltering hot once the heat of the day hit at 9am - so much for sleeping off the hangovers! Chris also had some money stolen, so not such a pleasant end of the trip for her. But - there were more backpackers than expected, and the four of us had a great time - spending far too much of my travelling budget on buckets of thai whiskey and coke and dancing the night away at beach parties. My first real experience of the Thai beach party.......much tamer than a Full-moon party Im sure, but I think I got enough of a taste of what it would be like.
After a hungover farewell to Tom and Rob, Chris and I got the boat to Phuket and taxi to the airport where we went our separate ways - mine to Singapore and hers to Kuala Lumpur...............but it was just arevoir and not adieu - as we shall meet up somewhere in Australia in a few months time........
I ended up spending 6 weeks in Thailand - twice as long as I had anticipated - but it really was so much fun and I dont think there was a day where I didnt meet new people. I didnt think I would like Thailand as much as I did, but now I can see why it is so popular amongst backpackers and holiday makers - cheap, easy and great scenery!......Also - I think, whereas it had been a hinderance in India, solo travel in Thailand definitely had its benefits - I met so many people there, and doubt I would have done so had I been in a larger group.
Here are some photos from southern Thailand - for those of you not on the mighty FB,
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225284&id=861195514&l=2ab4826ccd
Alas, my north Thailand pics are currently held hostage on my memory card - will get uploading soon as I can get rid of the virus........
