Let's head south

On Monday we met up with our friend Jessica from back home, who is also on vacation here. Since I also wanted to catch up with a college friend who was in the south of Thailand, we decided to head for the beach. Some sun (or a lot of sun!), sand, and surf sounded just right.

We booked three tickets on the overnight bus/ferry combo from Bangkok down to Koh Phi Phi, an island in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of southern Thailand. Our bus arrived late, which, looking back, was just the first indication of what was to come. When the bus finally arrived, they loaded us up into what would have been better used as a freezer than a bus. The AC blew strong and cold non stop, leaving everyone to scramble for any blanket or scrap of fabric they could cling to. The bus crept away from the starting line, but it was immediately evident that our driver could not drive stick on a large vehicle. That, or our bus was having very severe transmission problems. The grinding of gears and revving sound of an engine in neutral had everyone cringing. Then, he stalled. He stalled the bus right in the middle of a very busy Bangkok intersection, and called for all the men to get off the bus and help push. They did, and amazingly they push started the darn thing!

We spent the next two hours or so in 1st or 2nd gear, never seeming to reach more than 20 miles an hour. We had little hopes of arriving on time. Thankfully, at some point in the night our driver either figured out the whole stick thing, or switched out with someone who did, because we finally found ourselves traveling at a normal speed down the highway. Although the night was absolutely miserable due to the cold, we did arrive in one piece to Krabi, and only a few hours late. A comparatively short ferry ride later and we were settled on the beautiful island of Koh Phi Phi.

Having had a long day, we didn't do much at first other than find the best fruit shake stands and street market food. It was here at a street food cart that I ran into my friend Matt, who I know from college, and his beautiful wife Erica. I was thrilled to see Matt again after so many years, and we had a great time as a group for two days. They are on their own great adventure and are traveling the world for 2 to 3 years, having left their "regular" lives in the States behind for a while. If you're interested, the tales of their travels are great, and they're much better bloggers than I. Head over to www.livingif.com to see for yourself. They'd love to hear from you if you have comments (and so would I!)

There's really not a lot to do on Phi Phi, and that's the beauty of it. A tourist mecca, you'll find sun worshipers on the beach throughout the day and followers of the gods of party dancing the night way. Diving can be found at any number of the dive shops on the island, but we instead went the snorkeling route. For a mere 7 dollars a person we were taken to all the beautiful spots around the island by longtail boat, which is like a large canoe powered by a car engine and a super long propeller. We got to see monkeys (which are evil), to snorkel amid beautiful fish, to sun on a white sandy beach and finally to watch the sun set into the ocean. It was a great trip, followed by a great night on the beach with some drinks and fire shows as entertainment. I hope to share some pictures soon. I just need to find the right cable for my small camera, as we must have forgotten it.

We didn't stay long on Phi Phi, but we got exactly what we wanted from it. We're headed to Koh Tao, an island off the West coast, where we'll continue our lazy sunny days and where our friend Brigitte will be join us. It's great having so many friends to share our fun times with!

Day two in Bangkok

(A slightly delayed posting :-)

We only spent three days in Bangkok, since we'll be back there again before we leave. On Sunday, we set out for the Vimanmek Mansion, which is believed to be the largest teak home in the world. According to our map, we should have been able to easily walk there. As it turned out, the walk became one of the more interesting activities of the day. When we started out from our hostel, the streets were filled with businesses catering to us. A few blocks out and the signs contained more Thai than English. A few more blocks and we started to comment on how the English had disappeared completely and that it was very nice to see a more local area of the city. After a while, though, we realized we hadn't seen another foreigner in a long time and people were starting to look at us like a bit of a curiosity, rather than a meal ticket. We'd been looking for our cross street, but hadn't seen it, and thought the landmarks we'd crossed matched up with our map. As it turns out, we'd overshot our cross street by miles and had walked off our map completely. While it was an extremely hot day for such a error, we didn't mind much as it wasn't hard to turn around and make our way back, and we got to see part of Bangkok that we otherwise wouldn't have.

We finally made it to our destination, the Vimanmek Mansion. It is a massive 74 room, three story building built in Victorian style. The Mansion was constructed for King Rama V to live in while his palace was being built. He only lived there for five years, and for the majority of the next 75 years the house saw very little use. It is now a museum filled with his treasures collected from around the world. King Rama V was a fan of the modern European world and is credited with opening Thailand up to the rest of the world. His collections only further prove his love of all things international. Inside the rooms are displays of furniture, china, dishes, silverware, and decorative items from all over the world.

We were provided with a English speaking tour guide who explained the history of this beautiful house. The house and grounds were gorgeous, and we both were glad we'd made the trip to see it. We were not allowed to take pictures at the mansion, but you can see it here: http://www.vimanmek.com/exhibit/vimanmek.php

We could have seen more, since our tickets allowed us entrance into a number of other buildings and exhibits, but we decided it was time to call it a day. We hadn't completely adjusted to the heat and time change, so we headed back to the area of our hostel and planted ourselves in a quiet restaurant for cool drinks and good food. Food, much like everything else in Thailand, is approached with a slower pace. Sitting down for a meal is one of my favorite times here, since you're never made to feel rushed or unwelcome. Most places allow plenty of time for browsing the always ample menu and then do not care how long you stay after the food has arrived. We usually have to call for the bill, rather than having it arrive at our table before we've even finished our food. Meals are peaceful and enjoyable, something to savor, rather than the heartburn inducing grab and go that we all to often fall victim to.

Besides the sleep issues, we're both very much enjoying exploring Thailand and look forward to more. The southern provinces appear to be next on our stop, so I may have lovely pictures of beaches to share next time!

Kate and Jeff are in Thailand!

Proof!

After too many hours on the plane, some interesting ice cream in the airport in Korea, and a poor first nights sleep, Jeff and I are now happily wandering around Bangkok.

We spent our first full day, yesterday, taking a lazy walk around the city. We made our way down toward the river and ended up visiting the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Being Saturday, it was probably a bad day to visit, since we found ourselves lost in the swarms of organized tour groups, but we still enjoyed the experience. The palace and temples are incredible.

Part of the Grand Palace

A temple guard Jeff was fond of

Beautiful lotus flower

Jeff being "regal" in front of the palace

Between the Palace and Wat Pho, we accidentally wandered into the thick cluster of shop stalls and food markets that are clustered around the river ferry terminal. I loved being back around the sights and smells of the street food.

Market Stall

Market stall featuring fish and warm food

What we didn't exactly love, though, were the constant and persistent scams being thrown at us. There's only so many times you can be asked if you want to see "big Buddha" because all of the official sights are closed due to a "ceremony" (the palace and temples were, of course, open). Thankfully, we know better and know to ignore them, but we still saw a few people on the streets get taken in.

At Wat Pho we saw the amazing and huge reclining Buddha. Even though I'd seen it once before, the sheer size and beauty of it is still amazing.

Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha

Line of Buddhas at Wat Pho

We wrapped up the visit with a half hour at the hands of the massage therapists at the Thai Academy of Massage. Half an hour of being twisted, pushed, pulled, and contorted by small Thai women with fingers like stone. It was great.

By 4pm, we were barely keeping our eyes open due to the time change, so we had a small dinner of yummy coconut chicken and called it a day. We'll be around Bangkok for a few more days before heading South to do little more than sit on a beach with a cold drink in hand. It's a hard life.

Happy garden statue at Wat Pho

New trip, new blog!

This week Jeff and I are finally leaving on our honeymoon. Jeff picked the destination, so we are headed off to Thailand and Cambodia! I'm very excited to be returning to SE Asia. The food, the culture, the...sun!! Yes, it's exceptionally warm and sunny there, and after what seems like an entire year of rain in the Pacific North West, we are more than ready for some vitamin D.

Now if we would just start packing...