16 posts tagged “thailand”

We've finally finished writing up what we did on our trip away.  I've tagged everything with 'Thailand', so you can click on the 'Thailand' tag below, to bring everything up, or just

click here.

You'll need to 'go back in time' to the Day 1 to follow the journey (backwards) day by day - if you follow what I mean. 

To jump straight to Day 1, click here.

After such a long day, and such a long trip, Genevieve was pretty excited to be going on a plane again, and going home to see Nanna and Benny.

This time around, Naomi had managed to do the online check-in thing.  But we got there, and there wasn't any obvious signage at one of the stations to take advantage of it.  A few quick questions and we jumped the line!  Woohoo!

We went through customs to Bangkok Airport's HUGE duty free shopping mall.  The problem was, we couldn't really take much advantage of it, as they won't let you take large bottles of liquids on the flight.  So we found a place that was offering sandwiches, so VV could eat something.  We then spent ages seeing if we could find anywhere selling milk.  It was getting late, and we were mindful that the little girl may turn cranky-pants very soon, very quickly. After what seemed a futile 45 minutes, we finally found a place, only to (almost) be denied taking it through at one of the security checkpoints. 

After waiting at the gate, watching the scores of stereotypical Australian tourists lining up (sunburn, hairbraids, t-shirts written in Thai), we boarded.  We pretty-much had the same seats as last time.  Genevieve had a minor cry or three on the flight, but nothing like the meltdown on the way over.  She did sleep quite a lot of the time.

Landing in Melbourne was fine.  We picked up our 42 Below, South Gin and a few other things, picked up our bags and headed for customs.  We had declared our wooden purchases, so there was a slight delay, but it was all good, and my Crocs got a free wash as I'd indicated they had some dirt/mud on them.

Then, it was up to the departure level (much easier there!) to meet Nanna, head to her place for a debrief, and then pick up Benny and head home.

A most enjoyable holiday for all of us - and some amazing experiences for Genevieve.

Today was our last day in Bangkok, and so, our last day in Thailand.  Checkout was at noon, so we used every bit of that.  We ate a nice sedate breakfast and relaxed and made sure we could pack everything away easily.  We picked out some clothes for the plane flight and kept them separate.

Our bags could be stored downstairs, so we headed out with just a few bags... the requisite back-pack and the camera bag (that doesn't look like a camera bag).

Next to the night-market was a huge park.  So, after breakfast and a coffee, we checked out the park.  It was quite well appointed, with meandering paths and roadway, and plenty of playground equipment.  Near every playground, there was also free exercise equipment.  Recumbent bicycles, sit-up benches, a peck-deck thing that used your own weight in the seat for resistance.  Pretty cool.  We'd been there about 45 minutes when we saw something swimming in a small water channel.  It sort of looked like a small crocodile.  After rubbing our eyes and having a second look, it proved to be a 2.5m dragon.  HUGE!  Over the course of the afternoon we saw around 10 of them, walking in the park or swimming in the lakes.  Astounding!  We couldn't find a toilet that was open, so instead, we headed for a shopping centre. 

The proved to be a little more difficult than we first expected, but it ended up ok.  We wandered around the shopping centre trying to get Vievey to drop off to sleep in the stroller.  That didn't work so we went outside to the rough cobblestones and she was asleep in minutes.  It was about dinner time, so after a bit of frantic searching, we found a nice Japanese restaurant in, what appeared to be a foodcourt mainly comprised of Japanese restaurants.  Genevieve woke up so we headed back to the apartment building, through the park.  By that stage it was full of people jogging, exercising and playing various sports, include a curious volleyball played entirely by kicking only, with a wicker ball.  Amazing to watch.

When we got back, they let us all have a shower in the gym, and then we bid our farewells and cabbed it to the airport.  Again, the freeways were pretty amazing and the cab driver was a leadfoot, which didn't help. 

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So today it was take two for the Palace and reclining Buddha.  (Yes, we double-checked with the reception desk, as well as voicing our disappointment that we weren't informed about yesterday).

Again, we took an Express Ferry up the river.  Today, I noticed a few workers unloading barges full of water hyacinth - pretty futile, but had to be done I guess.

We thought we'd hit the reclining Buddha first, and then the palace.  The location of the reclining Buddha has many, many temples and other structures in its grounds.  In some ways, it eclipses the Royal Palace grounds in splendour - but particularly in detail and adournment. There were plenty of tourists, and plenty of schoolkids checking them out.  (The schoolkids seemed to give an indication of the money that's in Bangkok - although all dressed the same, the keen eye could see some money in shoes, watches, jewellery, backpacks, iPods, cameras and other bling).

So, after checking out a few, we ventured to the reclining Buddha. As with all other temples we visited, there were racks where you could doff and store your shoes, which we did.  You enter at the head end, and slowly file down past to the feet.  The thing is... gotta say... fahreekin huge.  I mean... literally enourmous.  It's nigh-on-impossible to get it in one camera shot.  Alongside the corridor next to the buddha were hundreds of metal pots.  You could pay a small fee, and get a cup of coins so that you could place a coin in each pot, as you walked down.  This kept Genevieve amused... well... at least for 2 minutes anyway!  (The reverence and meaning of putting the coins in was diminshed slightly when a woman with a big trolley came up behind us, emptying all of the pots again, so that the cups could be filled to go around again).

We looked at a few other things, but really, we thought we'd keep moving and check out the Palace.

After a 15 min walk (VV in the stroller) we were at the gates, and then, in the Palace.  They didn't seem to be too stringent on the dresscode, however we showed our reverence by having sleeves and long pants. The grounds were pristine and there were soldiers in the finest all over the place.  Many of the buildings you could go inside did not allow photographs, but that didn't matter, as there was enough beauty outside to satisfy.  Gold, especially, was all over the place, as well as moziacs, monkey-gods and even a huge belfry with a gold bell at the top.  There was also one temple being refurbished, which was interesting to watch. We saw the Jade Buddha, which is tiny, seated atop a huge platform adorned with all sorts of designs and carvings.  This is one of the most holy places in Thailand.

After the palace, we grabbed a cab and went to Pantip Plaza, which is the 'technology' marketplace.  Basically, heap and heaps and heaps of crap again and again, and a few good shops/bargains scattered here and there.  I got some batteries, memory and a few accesories for the cameras.  Naomi is very happy to leave.

As we only had a few days in Bangkok, we had to do a modicum of planning. I went down to the reception desk on the evening of the day when we arrived, and got a map and some brochures. We thought we would see the Palace, the reclining Buddha, and (of course) do a bit of shopping.  We knew what the night-market was like, so we could check out some of the other ones, knowing that we could always go back there easily to get things.

So I double-checked our planned itinerary with the people at reception (as shown in the photo below - that's me on the TV, which you can see on one of the channels from your room).

The problem is... they left out one very vital detail (more on that later).

The easiest way to the palace was to take a Taxi to the river, and take an 'express ferry' up to the palace (about 7 stops on the ferry).  So, we walked to the main road (opposite the night market), to get a coffee.  Oh... everything's still closed.  OK... cab it is then.  The driver's English was... errr... limited so we finally got through where we wanted to go.  Even our map was of minimal use, as it was English/Western letters, not in Thai script.

When we arrived at the river, we were inundated with tour operators.  'Cheap' prices of about $30 for the day.  However, the 'Express Ferry' was all we needed, and it only cost 50c.  We found it, and got on.  The river was filled with Water Hyacinth, choking the port areas.  It didn't seem to bother the various ferries, barges and longboats. The Express Ferry had a tour guide with a microphone, pointing out a few of the sights.  We then got off at the jetty for the palace.

We then found out that today was a Buddhist holiday, and both the Palace, and the reclining Buddha (nearby) would be closed until mid-afternoon.  That certainly didn't fit with our plans. 

We thought we'd grab a Tuk-tuk and head straight to the shopping plaza we wanted to end up at.  The Tuk-tuk driver (who looked disconcertingly like Charles Bronson), said that the plaza wouldn't really be open yet.  Instead, he suggested he take us to see a temple with the 'lucky Buddha' "only open today on special holiday" as well as to Lapiadary to get some rubies and another place to get a good suit.  We smelt 'scam', but then when he named his price of 50 baht ($1.60) we thought, hey... why not?

He'd obviously been driving in Bangkok traffic for many years, as he just flowed along.  We were sometimes in potentially hair-raising situations, but he could just cruise through, as calm as anything.

We stopped at our first place, a temple.  We walked in and were greeted by a gentleman in a suit. He explained that, yes, this temple was only open on special days.  There were a few monks inside, and some people were purchasing or bringing their own gift-packs (bucket with cleaning products, clothing and food) for their favourite monk.  There were also statues of deceased monks that had small squares of gold leaf on them.  The more popular the monk, the more gold they had on them.  The guy in the suit was the manager of the temple (I think, more than anything, he was project managing its refurbishment).  When he found out we were from Australia, he personally thanked us for all the help we gave post-Tsunami and said we could take some pictures if we liked, because "I'm the manager here!"

We stayed for a little while and then got back into the Tuk-tuk.  Next, was the Royal Lapiadary.  As far as we can ascertain, the King seems to get a few bucks from the mining of rubies and sapphires in Thailand (keeping the best for the Queen, of course).  We were shown an background video, and then went into the showroom is where they sell them.  And, because of aforementioned Buddhist holiday, today only was tax-free.  And, it was also highly lucky to by rubies on this day "Buy stones... for your women".  So... err... I did ;)

We then went to another tailor.  We weren't interested, but Charles Bronson got a petrol voucher if we did - and he'd looked after us up until this point so we thought, 'why not'?  I didn't need another suit, but man... the offers were tempting (especially once we said we weren't interested and started for the door).

Finally, we bid our Tuk-tuk driver farewell, after he dropped us at MDK, a mulit-story shopping market/centre/mall.  Huge. And, largely, full of crap.  We spent a few hours in there, but pretty-much left disappointed.

We caught a taxi home...  After the smooth flow of the Tuk-tuk, the taxi ride was quite hair-raising, but we made it home safely.  Then, it was time for a feed, and to hit the hay.

We got the call, the cruise was on. We'd been a little concerned how the little girl would go with a whole day on the boat, but the offer the cruise operator had was perfect.  They'd pick us up from At Panta and drive us up and around to the river that feeds the bay.  It was about 1hr away.  Then we'd be in a proper longboat, instead of one of their speedboats.  We'd do an island or two, a fishing village and then, on the way home, we'd go via a temple and caves (complete with monkeys) and have a dip in some freshwater falls.  Sounded perfect.

So, after an early breakfast we were off. 

The car trip was uneventful, apart from the fact that Genevieve decided she wanted to change places en route.  We arrived at a village that seemed, pretty much, just to exist as a port for longboats.  The tour operators secured our one, and we got on board. It was only us, and a trainee guide and our guide, so we could really take our time and do things at whatever pace we wished.

I don't want to seem like we're too anxious about stuff, but longboats can get quite rough, and have a huge diesel straight 6 or V-8 hanging off their rear... so we weren't sure what Genevieve would think.

She was rapt!

In fact, if you ask her what her favourite thing was in Thailand, if she doesn't say "Riding the elephants", she'll say "I went on a boat!"  Each of the longboats are painted quite uniquely and ours, compared to some, did look in pretty good shape.  (Note I said "compared to some'... it wasn't exactly pristine, but hey... that would destroy the atmosphere).

Thankfully, the ocean was like glass and the temperature was perfect.  Not hot, but not cold either.  Very high cloud.

Thai Day 9b4

We negotiated out of the winding river, between banks of mangroves, and out into the bay.  The captain... err... driver... pilot (?) took the longboat to the edges of the river that were most predicitible, and so sometimes we were quite close to cliff faces and islands.  There were plenty of other longboats out there, fishing and commuting.  We were one of the first tourist boats out there.

Before long, we were coming up to Ko Tapu, commonly sold to Western tourists as 'James Bond Island' as Scaramonga's evil lair was based there in 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.  In any case, it's a bit of a must for any visitor to Phuket, and you've probably seen the photos we took, but with different people standing in front, many many times.  But hey... didn't stop me from getting shutter happy now did it? View from above.

We came in at a wharf at the rear of the island and walked over a set of steps to our first vista of 'Nail Rock'... which many people mistakenly believe is the island itself.  After a few pix, we headed down to the beach.  On the beach is quite a sizeable market with, probably, overpriced trinkets and mementos.  We don't really know, because we'd left our money on the longboat (whoops).  VV charmed one stall owner, who gave her a tuk-tuk fridge magnet.

There were also some caves to look in and, thankfully, a toilet as the girl needed a change.  (Won't say much more there... but lets just say that particular change was an experience I wont forget in a hurry.

Our long boat came around to the rear of the island, and we boarded it again to head to the Panyee fishing village.  This seemed to mainly be all on posts straight into the water or sand/mud flats (but mainly water).  Naomi remembers coming here the last time she went to Thailand, and she ate at one of the two or three wharf-style restaurants there.  I stopped counting at 14.  The place must be astounding during high-season which, according to the bogans who were seated at the table next to ours as we were leaving, "...is from January through to December..." 

We got to see their primary school, and make a donation (which is the only way it survives).  There were more markets, and plenty of insights into what home life would be like there.  Babies in hammocks, ladies shelling pippies (or similar).  Cats and ducks and boats and bicycles.  Oh, and a Lady-Boy with a Gibbon! village view from above.

After over an hour in the village it was back to the longboat, to head back to where we boarded it.  We then got back in the car for a 20 min trip to the temple.  The temple grounds hand hundreds of monkeys, which Genevieve loved, but kept safely distant from.  The temple was built into a natural cave.  It had a large reclining Buddha in the main chamber.  Beyond that, there were more tunnels and chambers.

After a bit of an explore, it was back to the car for another quick drive to the Ramen falls.  This was a set of seven waterfalls/cascades in a nice fresh, cool river.  We hiked up and saw four of them (but I don't think we missed much - based on the photos in the carpark, we saw the best of them).  Genevieve was getting niggly so we picked the one we liked the best and had a bit of a swim.  Naomi remarked it was the only time in the whole trip when she felt truly cool.  The water was cold (but not my Melbourne Triathlon standards).  A little more disconcering was that it was full of fish who seemed to constantly be around your feet.  We've since learned that they're eating the dead skin.

We paddled around in the river and falls for a good 45 minutes or so until we felt well and truly refreshed.  Then, it was back into the car, past many, many rubber plantations until we finally got back to our resort, for our last evening.  We'd pretty much tried all of the things on the menu that we wanted, so I pushed it a bit and had a prawn and noodle soup served in a frest coconut.  Chef came and said goodbye to Genevieve. He was going to miss her.

Before we went to bed, At Panta received a call from the cruise people we'd booked a trip with.  The water conditions were going to be pretty rough, so they'd cancelled all of their trips.  So, our planned island cruise was off.  (We postponed until the next day, if it got any better).

Our usual breakfast fare had been augmented somewhat, as the dining room was full of Japanese tourists.  So, instead of choosing from the menu, all of our regular favourites were there, as well as a few others, buffet style.

So instead of the cruise, we had another cruisey day, which included a trip to the beach (again).  Then, back to the pool to discover they had a (very badly advertised) cocktail happy hour!

The first time we went to Surin Beach, we found a few shops where we might want to buy a few gifts.  We also found a half-decent coffee there, so we thought it'd be worth another go.  Especially, seeing how there was a free shuttle to get there.

So, we were on the beach by 10am.  This time, because we'd already been there, Genevieve was pretty keen to go and play on the sand, and in the surf.  She also found a couple of local buddies who had some beach toys so that kept her going for an hour or so.

We then wandered up the beachfront to see what was there.  Although not as hard-hit as other parts of Phuket, Surin beach did get flooded.  It was quite obvious what had been built post-tsunami.  It was also reasonably obvious what had been cleaned/fixed post inundation, and what... err... hadn't.  There's a big resort about 500m off the beach, and that had a cafe and a club right on the beachfront, with a nice covered path leading back to the resort.  (We decided not to get a coffee there - generally, the more Western-looking, the more things cost).  We wandered up past a tailor, a general store and many cafes and bars.  We finally found one that had a sandwich board out the front that said 'Espresso' and 'Cafe Latte' amongst others... so we thought that was a good bet.  That, and the fact that the two women waiting for clientele ran out and started talking to Genevieve.

The coffee was good... VERY good.  And cheap.  And Genevieve's regular orange juice was the same as it always was - full of ice and sugar... more the 'Tang' side of orange juice really.

We walked back down and had another paddle in the beach.  We then went back to the roadside and bought a few things to take home, and a few ice-creams.  Lunch was a rarity.  Rare, because we had the same as we'd had before.  The BBQ chicken was SO good last time, I felt the need to have it again.  And we all enjoyed the banana pancakes (the pancake being made from a rubbery dough).  So it was 'same again thanks'.  They were both sourced from a row of vendors in the beach carpark.  This crew arrives every morning, and leave at the end of the day.  How do they get there?  Well... their BBQ, or fridge, or flat grill, or gas ring with pot for soup, or whatever, is on a sidecar attached to their 100-125cc motorscooter.  Yep... just put-put down in the morning, and then ride it home again that night.  You often see them on the commute, on the road.

After lunch, we needed a few supplies so Naomi took Genevieve to a playground about 200m from the beachfront, and I wandered off about a 1km up the road to the closes 7-eleven (I reckon there's one every 2-3 km all over Phuket... even in the middle of the jungle!)  So, all stocked up with jellies, mixer drinks, milk and other things, we headed back.  A quick hit of the ATM and then back down to the beachfront to catch the shuttle - and just in time, as the rain was about to hit.  Genevieve slept well after what was a few hours at the beach.  When she woke up, she could watch the footy on the Australian cable channel.

One of our purchases was an inflatable car... errr... boat... errr 'carboat' for the pool.  So the 'carboat' it was deemed, forevermore.  Dinner was down on the deck again... except this time, we remembered the mosquito repellent. (We did learn, eventually).

Today was another day we'd really been looking forward to.  However, after VV's apprehension towards the elephant at the wedding, we were a little concerned as to what may happen.

We'd booked a trek with Siam Safari, who have a really environmentally-conscious setup, and also donate a proportion of their income the the primary schools in their area.  (There's plenty of elephant-oriented spectacles in Thailand, but many are more 'circus-like' than we are comfortable supporting).  I think, however, this was the most tourist-oriented thing we did, and there was a bit of everything.  Rubber, elephants, food, water-buffalo and monkeys.

We were picked up in a bus and had an hour trip to the peninsula at the very bottom of the island, where we swapped to a Land Rover and headed up into the mountains.  And boy, was it steep - the driver stopped and put it into low-range to make it up!

When we arrived, we were taught about rubber, where it comes from and the fact that it is where Thailand got, and continues to get, a very large amount of its income from.

Next, there was a bit of a performance from some baby elephants.  You could already see that they had bonded quite strongly with their Mahouts (handlers) and really did look like they were having fun, dancing, playing with balls and even painting!  Genevieve loved it and, at the end, we bought a bowl of fruit to feed them.

Next, it was a quick trip in the LandRover again to where we go onto our elephant and had a ponderous walk through the jungle, for 30 mins or so.  It was amazing going up some quite steep slopes, and in particular, down.  Very surefooted, but quite bumpy on the way down.  We were in a group of two, and at one point the mahouts allowed a camera swap so we could get the big shots you see here. (Which is a good thing - a member of staff took some shots which we could buy at highly-inflated prices, and they were CRAP!)

Surprisingly, the 30 mins didn't go too quickly.  Genevieve didn't talk much, but you could tell she was loving it.  Indeed, now, if you ask her about Thailand she gleefully exclaims "I RODE AN ELEPHANT!"  At the end, we bought another bowl of fruit and VV, Nai and I took turns feeding our ride some watermelon, bananas, cucumbers, bamboo and the banana leaf lining the basket.

We then headed out to see a demonstration of how they pick coconuts in Thailand. Instead of climbing up and cutting them down, they train a monkey to twist them around and around until they fall off.  Pretty clever!  We were then told about the water buffalo, and how they used to be a beast of burden and would plough the rice patties, although now they use tractors.  The final part of the tour was to look at some thai foods.  We were shown what goes into a green curry, and the fresh herbs and spices were ground in a motar and pestle in front of us.  It smelled glorious.  They had a sample of a (VERY mild) curry for us to try, and VV just had some coconut rice.  They then showed us how to split a green coconut, and how they grate the flesh.  Finally, we were shown how they get the coconut oil.

A quic