Highlights from my trip in November – December last year.
Pics are here.
Bangkok
We arrived at BKK via Taipei (worst airport for layovers evar), snagged a cab and found ourselves dropped off rather
unceremoniously in Banglamphu. Specifically, we were dropped off at
Khao San Road, which is the main drag of the backpacker district which
has grown beyond its crusty origins into a strip mall of delights (or
horrors)–bookstalls, bars, carts of food offering pad thai for a
dollar. We were jet laggy and it was quite warm and we weren't entirely
sure of where our hotel was. Eventually we were pointed in the right
direct and found our destination: KC Guest House, tucked on a little
alley a bit off the main drag. The accommodations were bare bones — no
hot water, spartan furnishings, but very cheap, good location and the
staff was all very friendly and helpful.
After a decent night's sleep, we had breakfast and ride a tuk tuk to the Sky Train station. Our driver is hungover and pretty irritable, especially by Thai standards. He's very liberal
with the horn (which is rare for traffic here) and halfway through our
journey tries to convince us to go see some special temple that's only
open today. This is apparently a very common occurrence — drivers will
try to take you to some "special" location which invariably leads to a
store where they make you buy stuff you don't want. We politely
refused and were let off at the station with a mutter. The Sky Train is
very nice–clean, modern and timely. It doesn't run very many places,
but was perfect for getting us to the southern part of the Chao Praya
river. From there, we hopped on a tourist ferry; getting off to check
out Chinatown . It's not dissimilar to what you might find in other
Chinatowns , though there are many more back alleys teeming with market
activity. We wander the many stalls, have some excellent noodles for
lunch, and then take the boat back to the stop closest to our guest house.
Touring the hood a bit, we stop into a massage place off of Khao San
and have our first Thai massage. It's amazing! They knead and twist
your body into a very relaxed state and then let you chill out with a
pot of tea.
The next day, we Sky Trained it up to Mo Chit to check out the massive
Chatuchak Weekend Market–it covers about 35 acres and has 15,000 shops
and stalls that sell just about everything: household stuff, clothes,
shoes, art, antiques, animals, flowers, books, music, food. Needless to
say, it's a bit overwhelming–teeming with thousands and thousands of
people. We drifted with the flow for a while, buying this and that,
marveling that the mountains of puppies, kittens and bunnies
for sale. It would be sad if it weren't so friggin' cute. Even with a
break for lunch, the crowds got to be a bit much, especially since I
was having a bit of the stomach ick. So we took refuge in a nearby
park, content to watch the crowds throng around the market.
Birthday for me was also a day of temples. We took the ferry down and toured Wat Phra Kaew and the adjoining Grand Palace . The temple has many beautifully colored buildings, murals and statues
that have been restored over the years so you have an idea what they
looked like when they were originally built, in the late 1700's. Though
it was quite crowded, it was still pretty amazing. The temple is the
only one in Thailand that doesn't have any resident monks, but they do
have the emerald Buddha, which was made in the 15th century. The king himself changes the
Buddha's outfit three times a year–spiffy. We checked out the Grand
Palace briefly– it isn't open to the public and only used for the occasional
ceremony. It started to rain as we left the Palace–quite refreshing
and it thinned the crowds a bit as we walked over to the amulet market
which is a sidewalk market with vendors selling talismans (and the
containers that hold them) of various sizes and shapes. We bought a few
to help guide us on the trip and successfully fended off another
aggressive taxi driver who tried to convince us that the next temple we
wanted to go to was closed for the day. We shrugged it off and headed
over to Wat Pho, home of the massive reclining Buddha. We were there later in the afternoon, which was nice as there weren't
that many people about. A great southern Thai dinner rounded out a
great birthday for me. 🙂
Bangkok was a great — there was so much more to the city that we
definitely plan to return to explore it some more (Arun Wat, Thai
boxing matches, and much more), but it was time for the next leg of our
journey. It was a short flight to Chiang Mai a small town in northern
Thailand . It's nestled in the hills, which stands in contrast to the
flat environs of Bangkok .
Chiang Mai
Our lodgings were a step up from KC Guest House–we stayed at 3Sis, a
charming bed and breakfast that sits within the walls of the old city.
We could walk to most items of interest in the city, including the huge
nighttime market, which we checked out the first day we were there–a
bit too touristy for me. The next day we were up early for a trekking
excursion. It was really touristy, but a lot of fun–we visited an
elephant camp, had a nice ride on Stampy, a float down a river on a bamboo raft, visited a village of Pa Dong (tribal longnecks)
–(that was a bit weird in a "I feel weird getting out of a van to come
look at you" sort of way) and then stopped at an orchid farm that also
had a monkey show. Sue and I were the only ones interested in the
monkey show, so we got a lot of attention
from the stars. Once back in the city, we grab a meal at a restaurant
on the river and then walk back to the hotel, stopping to watch people
light fireworks. The full moon festival was coming up and folks are
starting the celebrations early. One interesting custom is the lighting
of a white cylindrical lantern
that takes to the sky after being lit, resulting in a few more stars
out as folks sent their paper craft up into the night. The next day, I
got up early to go on a rock climbing trip to Crazy Horse buttress. I
signed up for the course, even though I didn't have a partner and
lucked out by joining up with a couple from Utah who had their own
ropes. It was a fantastic day of climbing limestone crags and meeting
new people.
The next day, we flew from Chiang Mai back to BKK to discover that our
flight to Siem Reap was canceled. They got us on the next flight
though, so we just had to kill some time at BKK. There are worse fates
in the world as the airport offers much in the way of distractions:
shops, restaurants, massages. We spent a bit of time crashing the
Bangkok Airlines lounge, which had free Internet and munchies. Finally
(after 5 hours or so), we got on our way and make the short (40 minute)
flight to Siem Reap.
Siem Reap
The airport in Siem Reap is new and very cute. Construction is booming
in Siem Reap–trying to keep up with the tourist demand. Customs is a
bit unnerving as you have to give $20 up with your passport and then go
stand in another line while your passport is passed down a line of
officials. Despite being really late, the driver we had arranged was
still there, bless his heart. His name was Tong and he spoke great
English and was training to be a tour guide, so we hired him as our
driver for our stay. He dropped us at our hotel, Molly Malones (yep, an
Irish bar/hotel) and we made plans to hit the temples the next day.
Molly Malone's is run by a French guy named Thierry and his partners
and is located in the old market section of the city, which is quite
the hot spot. The hotel itself is quaint, if a little noisy. Make that
a lot noisy when a dude starts playing acoustic (amplified) guitar.
Sweet.
The next day, I fly solo (Sue is illin' a bit) and hit up some far away
temples–more than two hours away. We hit the road and a traffic jam. It's a national holiday and no one is working, to include the police
who normally assist in regulating traffic. Therefore, what are usually
chaotic driving conditions are amplified to the point of insane
gridlock. We have an hour's standstill by the town market as folks,
impatient with the wait, started a second and third lane on a two way
street, thereby jamming up the works. It was pretty amazing. We
eventually got on the road and soon the city jams were behind us.
Beautiful rice fields lay on all sides with houses on stilts
(some very rundown, others very opulent, by Cambodian standards).
Driving in Cambodia is a very Darwinian experience. Cars zip along and
around mopeds/motorbikes, not hesitating to pass in the opposite lane,
even if there's oncoming traffic. The horn is used liberally (much
different than Thailand ). Still, it all works…sorta. Families of
four or five pile on one scooter–quite a sight. We drive for some time
and when we get to Beng Melea, we decide to head out a a further 70 km
to Koh Ker, which was the first/oldest of the many temples constructed
by Cambodian kings. It's a long trip (the roads get pretty bad toward
the end, making the going slow), but was great to get out and see some
rural Cambodian action. Highlights: the massive pryamid
and a great lunch. It was sad to see the state of ruins at the hands of
man though. Looters and the Khmer Rouge have pretty much leveled the
structures. The temple was in the jungle, though it wasn't thick like
you might expect. 65% of Cambodia was jungle, but clearcutting has
decreased it to 40%. Other factoids: 80% of the people are farmers. Not
surprisingly, they have large families: sometimes as many as 10 kids.
There were lots of kids about.
Tong is a good guide and I find out lots of interesting tidbits about
the country's history and culture. There are 3 political parties, the
biggest of which is the Cambodian People's Party–they have over 80 of
120 seats in the parliament. They have offices (or whatever) every few
kilometers, it seems. Much of the damage to the temples took place
within the last 30 years (Khmer Rougue).
After Koh Ker, we then went to Beng Melea, which was pretty awesome. It was just one place (as opposed the to
the very spread out nature of the first)–very impressive, but, again,
sad to see the extent of destruction. Then we headed back with some
stops for village pics and sticky rice =AWESOME.
The next day, we get up for our Angkor Wat
tour. It's pretty impressive–its scale is hard to capture in photos.
Did a lot of walking and picture taking and then go to the larger
Angkor Thom–which has a lot of cool temples spread about.
In the evening, we walked about the town and into the epicenter of the
full moon/harvest celebration. There are tons of people; the streets
are jammed with both motorbikes and pedistrians. As we pass a bridge we
start to see many lit floats–offerings of thanks to the moon. Kids are
lighting them and walking them down to set adrift on the river. Some even swim them out
to make sure their journey starts right. Along the sidewalks are food
vendors and folks selling the light-able offerings. There are also
fireworks
in play (though not as much as in Chiang Mai). We walk along the river
for a while, stopping to take pictures of the floats (lite-brite-like
structures) and people. It's a very chaotic and joyful celebration.
In the morning, we get a visit from the black and white preggers kitty
that lives next door. She's barely past kittenhood herself and is very
sweet. I head out with Tong to visit the river people; we hire a boat
that takes us along the river and follows the temporary settlement of
the floating city. They are 50% Vietamese (though they've been in
Cambodia for over 40 years and have some sort of citizenship), 40%
Cambodian and a small number of Muslim. It's a far cry from the
houseboats of Sausalito . The boats are modest and they have floating
public structures–hospital, police, schools, newspaper, churches, temples,
etc. Very scenic and nice to be out on the water. Eventually we come to
Tônlé Sap, which is the biggest lake in SE Asia (120×35 km, bigger in
high season). The flow of the river reverses after rainy season and the
river folk follow the flow down toward the Mekong delta. We cruise
around the lake for a bit and at a commercial boat, where they have
fish and crocodiles
(along with touristy things to buy). Apparently, the richer Cambodians
are crocodile farmers — they get up to $500 for each one they raise to
maturity (for their skins). They are expensive to feed though, so it's
a hard racket to get into.
In the afternoon, we head out to Banteay Srei, which is about 35km out of town. It's called the women's temple as it's very ornate–best carvings we've seen, though it's on the small side. Then it's a tour of Ta Prohm– the overgrown, Tomb Raider-y place. It's very cool–trees encroaching on the temple. The drone of
the cicadas only outdone by the annoying French tourists. Very cool
nonetheless. A little shopping rounded out the day and the next day, we
were off to Ko Phi Phi.
Ko Phi Phi is paradise. We arrived there via seaplane and were picked up in a longtail boat
and taken to Zeavola–our home for the next nine days. Words are hard
to describe the relaxed luxury that is Zeavola. We were greeting at the
beach with a drink and led to our spacious bungalow
sequestered among palm trees and other flora. The time at Zeavola was
magical, though we managed to tear ourselves away to head into town on
occasion. Ton Sai village
was a very scenic 30 minute boat ride around to the other side of the
island. From there I finished my scuba training — four certification
dives — and took another trip out to a wrecked car ferry (amazing how
the ocean can make something so pedestrian so fascinating) and two
other choice locations (shark point, Malong). There's a bit of
controversy surrounding the wreck–the ferry wrecked on its way to Phi
Phi, but there are no cars on Phi Phi. That coupled with the fact that
there were boats on hand to offload the crew leads to suspicion that
the ferry was intentionally wrecked for insurance money. I saw a lot
during my dives: turtles, octopuses, eels, scorpion fish, brilliant
corals–just gorgeous. Another day, we went on a half day of rock
climbing— fairly easy limestone jugs that afforded amazing views of the
beach/village below. We were almost hijacked by a band of monkeys
who staged an ingenious diversion in an attempt to make off with our
bag of bananas. After some nice top rope action, we went out for some
snorkeling with a quick detour for some monkey pictures
(they are all over the island). The water was actually pretty rough due
to winds, but we saw some nice fish and checked out Phi Phi Ley, which
is the site of Ma Lay beach, where The Beach was filmed. We see an
amazing sunset
and have a tranquil dinner on the beach at Baxil, Zeavola's Thai
restaurant. The rest of the trip was lounging on the beach, getting an
amazing massage and one longtail excursion to a few other beaches, including Monkey Beach, which lived up to its name. Sue had fun amassing a bunch of shells and just generally chilling
out. I had fun diving, climbing and relaxing. The Zeavola spoiled us and we didn't mind one bit.
Overall we had a fantastic time — a perfect blend of activity and leisure. Hope you enjoy the recap and the pictures!
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.