Travelog

Free breakfast in the morning, then some food. Talked with a girl named Tash, who is pretty much travelling in reverse of me, so we exchanged emails so we can send each other some reviews. Was planning on trading in my book, but decided I’d just leave it at the guesthouse, as I currently have two books plus my Thailand guidebook – which is just too much to carry. I’m better off with just one book, and the guidebook.

Checked out of the hotel, and headed to the Eastern bus station, where I was told I could catch a bus to Ayutthaya. Got there only to discover that I had to go to the Northern bus station. Thankfully both stations were fairly close to the skytrain, so it wasn’t a complete misstep. Got back on the skytrain and headed to Mo Chit station to get to the Northern bus terminal. Grabbed a motorcycle taxi, which was a bit challenging with my backpack, but not too bad. First time on a motorcycle for me. Exhilarating.

Got my ticket, and the bus was departing in 4 minutes, so I found the gate and hopped aboard. Bus made a lot of stops along the way, and I was a little worried I’d miss my stop, but I ended up finding it okay. Last one on the line, as far as I could tell. Took a Tuk Tuk to an area with a bunch of guesthouses. Opted for pretty much the first one I saw, which is really cheap (120 baht = $4), but located above a bar, so I may not sleep much.

Headed to another guesthouse to book a bus seat to Chiang Mai for the following night. While I was there, I enquired about the night Wat tour – since some of the Wats are illuminated at night. Turns out they weren’t running it on account of lack of interest. They don’t run it if there are less than 3 people. They were doing a river boat tour, so I took that instead.

Hired a bicycle (more my speed) for the day, and took it to see some of the Wats in the centre of the town. They’re actually ruins, as Ayutthaya is the old capital of Thailand. After many tries, it was eventually sacked by the Burmese. The ruins were pretty cool – the majority of the Buddhist statues were beheaded, and had no hands – which the Burmese believed took away their power.

Headed back to the guesthouse, and parked my bike for the night, then grabbed some lunch at the guesthouse that was running the tour. Headed off on the tour with a Canadian, Shawn and his Japanese girlfriend, Norita. There was another Japanese guy on the tour, but I couldn’t really get his name. He didn’t speak much English, which must be a bit of a challenge, since he didn’t speak Thai either.

The tour started with a songthaew to the pier, where a female boat driver (first female boat driver I’ve seen) took us in a loop around Ayutthaya island, with some stops at the Wats. The best Wat was one of the ancient ruined ones. The newer Wats are a little underwhelming. The river itself was nice, with people fishing, and bathing, and playing in the water.

We were dropped off at the night market, by the pier, and the four of us wandered around for a bit, then grabbed some dinner. The bugs were terrible, but we managed okay. I had frog for the first time, but it wasn’t really my favourite thing. Very fried, and the sauce was not really my thing. I’ll leave it to the French henceforth.

We made our way back to the guesthouse, and I headed up to my room after checking (for free, no less) my email (none!). As predicted, the music from the bar is pretty loud, but thankfully pretty good. Actually almost fell asleep without breaking out the earplugs, but forced myself awake. Headed out to get some water, then finally decided to get to bed.

Woke up and had some breakfast in the guesthouse. I’d heard many good things about Chatuchak, the Bangkok weekend market, so I figured I’d check that out.

The market, which the locals call JJ, is accessible by skytrain, which is super handy from the guesthouse. I hopped on that, delighted that it was pretty empty at this hour. The market has over 8000 stalls, and sells nearly everything. I wandered through for about 5 hours, and am still not sure I saw everything. Aisles intersect at odd angles, so it’s really hard to just go up one aisle and down the next.

I don’t think there is much they don’t sell. Birds, dogs, lizards, crocodiles, food, fruit, art, antiques, t-shirts, souvenirs, and much much more. Lots of interesting t-shirt designs, but I think I’m inclined more toward getting some more short sleeve buttoned shirts, as the t-shirts I have now aren’t really Thai heat friendly. Then again, the shirts are relatively cheap, so buying a bunch and sending them home crossed my mind.

Had I been a bit closer to my departure date, I might have bought some stuff, but I’m holding off for now – hoping to find a cheap market in Laos or Vietnam. China’s prices seemed pretty comparable to here in Thailand, so if I wait until I’m back in that giant of a country I’m sure I’ll be okay with that too.

Finished my book in the evening, and went to bed fairly early. The heat makes me sleepy. Once again I planned on going to see some Muay Thai, but the prices were outrageous (by Thai standards – quite reasonable, otherwise), so I skipped it. Maybe somewhere else.

Got up and had some (free!) breakfast. Talked with Pennie and Wiki for a bit, then headed to the Skytrain and over to the Jim Thompson House.

Jim Thompson was an American who started a Thai Silk Trading company and fell in love with Thailand. He was also an architect, and his house was of traditional Thai design, with a few modern touches. He had a number of interesting Thai relics, that were nice to see as well. It was the guide’s first day, and she did a great job, considering. That said, she was clearly going from a memorized script, so a hand held audioguide would have done the trick as well.

Wandered around the city for a bit, after that – then bought some dvds and envelopes, to burn some pictures to. Grabbed my pictures, then had the dvds burned.

I had planned on going to the Muay Thai match, but my interest faded as it got closer to the time. Hung out in the guesthouse, watched some of the Office with some Canadian girls who’d bought the bootleg dvds of season 3, then ran into Wiki and Pennie in the common room and chatted with them for a bit.

A hot day in Bangkok. I got up and had some of the free breakfast in the hostel. Nothing fancy, but free, so it’ll do.

Made my way next to the Vietnam embassy. Stopped a couple of times by taxi drivers, who tried to sway me to use their visa agencies, rather than endure the long lines at the embassy. I decided not to listen to them, and check out the embassy first, and was in and out in about three minutes. My visa will be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Being hounded by taxi drivers seemed to be the theme of the day. I got to the Wat Ratchanatda and was told by someone claiming to be a history teacher at the nearby school that it was a Buddhist holiday and that all the temples were closed. It’s a scam I’d read about in advance, but I played a long for a bit to see what he had in mind. Mostly it involved driving me around and having me waste much more time than I’d like in souvenir shops. He seemed pretty upset when I told him I’d prefer to go on foot, and surprise surprise, everything was open.

I walked down to the Grand Palace next, and was put off by the number of tour buses parked outside. I figured I’d check it out later, and headed off in the direction of Khaosan Rd. Khaosan is the backpacker mecca of Bangkok, and filled with tons of small shops, and guesthouses. Didn’t linger too long, but passed through and headed to Wat Intharawihan, which isn’t where I was headed, but something I stumbled upon. 32 metre high Buddha.

Visited the marble temple next, which was quite nice. On my way out I solicited the services of a taxi driver to take me to the Grand Palace, since it was quite a hike, and quite hot. It was fortunate that I got the ride, as it was just about to close when I got there. I grabbed a ticket before the gates closed, and had a look through. Lots of shiny shiny buildings. The Emerald Buddha was nice, but not overly impressive – but then again it was only 66cm in height and sitting atop a 3 metre structure. Sorry, no pictures allowed.

The Grand Palace itself was nice, but much of it was closed off as the King’s sister has died, and the Palace was in lying in state mode.

Took the bus back to the guesthouse, and chilled for a bit. The Dane is gone, but Jimmy the Dutch is still there. He’s asked my name and where I am from three times so far – which could have to do with the fact that he spends most of his time drinking. Nice guy though. He lives in a tent in Holland.

Checked my email after that, and did some reading. A day in the sun can really wear you out. Travelling can be a small world, though. As I was heading to my room to grab some water I ran into Wiki, who, along with Pennie, seems to be following me around Thailand. They’d actually recommended the guesthouse to me, so it’s not a huge coincidence that I’d run into them there, but they hadn’t intended on coming to Bangkok at all, but changed their plans. Not 100% sure what I’ll do tomorrow, but hopefully it involves air conditioning.

Slept better on the bus than I was expecting, but we arrived later than I was expecting, due to all the delays. Not that it really made a difference to me. Eveline was meeting her friend from Switzerland, who is now a monk in Thailand. We fought off taxi drivers, and I was told to hop on bus 53 to get to the MBK Skytrain station. I hopped on, and pointed to the MBK skytrain on the map for the ticket collector (buses in Asia seem to have a driver and a separate ticket collector – I guess labour is cheap enough to do so). She nodded, and nodded again when I asked her to tell me when we were there.

After about an hour I was starting to wonder just how long and winding the bus was, and when I saw the same place I’d gotten on the bus, I asked her again – and she was a little less reluctant to admit she had no idea what I was talking about. I got off the bus and asked another transit operator, and found out I wanted bus 16 which was across one of the canals. I crossed over, but couldn’t find the stop for 16, so I asked another driver, and he pointed me further north. I headed that way and finally managed to find a stop.

Hopped on there, and managed to get to the MBK station pretty easily after that. Took the skytrain to the stop nearest the guesthouse I was hoping to stay at, and was quite happy that it wasn’t far from the station at all, and then happier still to find out that there was a dorm bed available.

Spent the day walking along the main road near my hostel. Reached Siam Square and the MBK Centre, and had a look through there. Tons and tons of shops, selling everything, but mostly cellphones. So many cellphones stores in fact, that I’m not sure how they all stay in business. Wandered back through the multitude of malls on the north side of Sukhumvit, not because I wanted to shop, but because I wanted to avoid the heat. Nothing too special, although one of the floors had a number of exotic car manufacturers. Fact of the matter is, that even the streets are lined with vendors, so it’s pretty much impossible to avoid someone trying to sell you something.

Here’s a short list of some of the things I’ve seen for sale: a guy walking around with a basket full of knives for sale; a woman holding about 20 disco balls of various sizes; Viagra; bootleg dvds, music, software, video games; souvenirs; and of course, sex. Some of the prostitutes look disturbingly young, and I’ve seen more than a handful of older western men with young Thai girls. Hard to get very far without someone trying to sell you a massage by a scantily clad girl.

Met two people in my room: Jasper from Helsingor, Denmark who has been travelling for 6 months, and leaves for home tomorrow. He says I’m the first person he’s met on his travels who knew where Helsingor was; and Jimmy, an older guy who has been travelling for four years, and realized today that he’s out of money, so he’ll be heading back to Holland in ten days. He played us a little tune on his harmonica, then headed out for the night.

The Swiss couple that Eveline and I met a couple of nights ago recommended a tour of the mangroves. It was something that wasn’t mentioned in any of the guidebooks, and the Swiss guy claimed it really let you ‘feel the spirit of the place’. Before we undertook that, we met Robin and Jolina for breakfast, and tried to convince them to tag along, since the trip price was for the boat, not per person. They agreed and headed to their guesthouse to check out. As Eveline and I were heading down to the Krabi pier to find a boatman, we ran into the Swiss guy who told us about the plan originally, and he hooked us up with his boatman.

We waited about ten minutes for Robin and Jolina to arrive, then hopped on the longtail. We started by passing near the mangrove trees on the opposite side of the pier, and spotted two large lizards (over a metre each) swimming in the water and climbing ashore, plus a few monkeys in the trees that were interested in what we were up to.

After that we headed ashore, and got to explore a big cave that was completely devoid of tourists (save for us). We explored another, smaller cave, too. The smaller cave was used by some monks for praying, but it was deserted now. There was a small monkey outside the cave watching us curiously, but escaped before I could take a photo.

After the second cave we headed back to the boat and and went through some really shallow and narrow waterways. We were surrounded by mangroves, but didn’t see much wildlife. I thought for sure we’d end up getting grounded, but the longboat driver was an expert and got us through. He cheered when he succeeded, and we all applauded.

Back in deeper water, we passed a few small houses, and fishing stations, then came to an area with quite a few houses on stilts, and docked at a house where a woman was shelling mussels. It was a fish farm, and we spent a bit of time watching the young teen boy there grab fish and display them for us. There were a few puffer fish, which were fun to watch expand and contract when under a little stress. He seemed quite happy to show them off.

We headed back to the pier after that and each paid our 100 baht, which amounted to a little over $3 Canadian each. Not bad for a private 1 and a half hour tour.

We explored Krabi after that, splitting up on occasion, but always finding each other again. We headed to the market for one last banana milk shake, then Eveline and I said goodbye to Robin and Jolina. The four of us were all going to Bangkok on a night train, but Robin and Jolina were going through another company.

The bus picked Eveline and I up at the guesthouse just after 3:30 (finally a guesthouse pickup that was more or less on time, and actually showed up) and we headed to the Krabi bus terminal and had to wait about an hour to get on the big bus to Bangkok.

The bus was not as nice as I was hoping for, and the roof leaked when it rained. When we got to Surat Thani (at least I think that’s where we were), we all got off the bus, and had to wait about two hours for yet another bus.

We got on that bus, which was much nicer, and started to watch Borat on the bus tv screen. We drove about 5 minutes down the road, and the bus stopped, and someone came on and told us we were switching buses. Very odd, but we followed along, and waited as they moved our luggage to the next bus.

The next bus was even better, though. Eveline and I ended up with two seats apiece, which made sleep a little roomier. One of the passengers implored the driver to make sure he played Borat on the new bus, and he was happy to comply. I ended up falling asleep before it was over, but woke up a few times to catch a part or two.

Got up early and grabbed some toast for breakfast, as I didn’t have a ton of time before getting picked up for rock climbing. Headed to the reception area and waited for my ride. And waited. And waited. The girl at the desk called and there was no answer. She apologized and suggested that I could go in the afternoon. I arranged that and then tried to figure out what to do with half a day in Krabi. The girl at reception offered me the use of her scooter, but I really couldn’t think of where to go – plus I’m afraid I’ll end up with a broken head.

Headed to the park first, and finished my book. Then I needed another book, so I roamed the streets checking out any shop that sold books. A surprising number actually had English language books. I ran into Eveline’s German friends and talked to them briefly, then headed back to the hostel to make sure I hadn’t missed any bookshops. She told me I had hit the important ones, so I headed back to the biggest one and traded my book in for John Cheever’s short story collection.

At one, I headed back to reception, and waited for my ride to climbing. The owner of the climbing company picked me up and drove me to Ao Nang, where I met up with four Malaysians who would be climbing with me. We took a longtail from Ao Nang to Railay, and met up with our guide for the day. He suited us up with harness and shoes, and we headed to the climbing spot.

There were a few different groups doing some climbs, but there were plenty of routes up the mountain, so it wasn’t so bad. I was reluctant to go first, and one of the Malaysians was eager, so he headed up first on Climb 1. He struggled a bit, but made it to the top. We met another guide, and he took me and one of the Malaysians to climb 2, just a few feet over. The other guy went first, and really struggled, but pushed his way to the top. I was next, and scaled the wall really quick. Was at the top before I knew it.

I did Climb 1 next, and thought it was really easy too. Apparently I’m a natural at scaling rock formations. Who knew?  The Malaysians struggled with the other climbs as well. At climb 3, I got ready to climb, and realized that one of the girls from the other group had planned on doing the climb.

Only me and two others from the full day group were allowed to do climb 4, and it was really the only challenge of the day. It was 30 metres high, and the first 27 metres were pretty easy, but the last 3 were rather problematic. The guide holding my rope below told me to “just go straight”, but I didn’t see anything to grab on to. I pondered for a bit then took a stab at what I thought might be the right way, and managed to make it to the top. There was a little cave that the guide yelled for me to check out, so I hopped in. Really nice view of Railay beach from up there, but my camera was down below.

Headed back to Krabi, and got a pleasant surprise. Jolina and Robin had arrived from Ko Lanta and were waiting for me to get back from climbing. Chatted with them for a bit, and then went to see if Eveline had shown up. I was supposed to meet her at 6, but because I was doing the afternoon climbing, I wasn’t back till 7. I had texted her earlier, but wasn’t sure if she got the message. Thankfully she did, and all her stuff was in the room – but she was nowhere to be seen. As I headed back to see Robin and Jolina, she showed up.

I had a quick shower, and the four of us headed to the night market for a much needed (by me at least) dinner. Had some liver and other stuff on rice, and a banana milk shake, which quieted my stomach.  Looked at some nice handicraft stuff at a store on the main road, then headed back to the guesthouse. Robin and Jolina are staying down the street, so we made plans to meet in the morning.

The previous night, there was a mosquito net, which I deduced must mean that there were mosquitoes lurking about. I woke up draped in mosquito net, but the little critters didn’t seem to be flying about, so it probably wasn’t necessary. Not a terrible sleep, all in all, but once I was up, getting back to sleep was tough – as the walls were pretty thin.

I headed to the “downtown” of Railay, which is really just a street with some shops and a coffee shop. I had noticed a pancake place there the previous evening, but sadly it was closed. I read my book, then headed back to the resort for breakfast there. Overpriced, but decent yogurt and muesli.

I’d forgotten my camera, so I grabbed that to take some pictures of the limestone cliffs, and then got back to the resort and packed to check out. Checked out, then ran into Pennie and Wiki, who were supposed to be rock climbing. Turns out Pennie wasn’t feeling too well, on account of the food last night (I’m glad I didn’t have what she had) so they decided not to bother. They were going to head back to Krabi a day early, and asked if they could tag along with me, so I told them to meet me at 2:30, and headed to the beach.

Swam and read at the beach, then ran into Pennie and Wiki again. They were with the Americans from the boat, so we all swam together, and thought about swimming to another beach, but decided it was too far. I grabbed lunch with Pennie and Wiki, who had decided they’d tough out another day in Railay, and then headed to the longtail on my own. The problem with leaving Railay is that they must wait until the boat is full before they’ll depart. I waited for about an hour, for another eight people to show up. The water was very rough, and the captain had to go extra slow to keep us from tipping. No lifejackets on board, so I transferred my wallet into my dry sack and put it my pocket, so at least there’d be little trouble identifying my body.

Thankfully we managed to make it to Krabi for 5pm (which was good, since my room would have been up for grabs after that… oh, and I was still alive).

Talked to Eveline to confirm where we were going to meet, then had a shower and uploaded some pictures. At 6:15 I headed to the City Hotel, across from the night market, to meet Eveline, who was coming in on scooter from her guesthouse near Ao Nang.

Walked to the food market, and ran into two German girls Eveline had met in Malaysia, so we sat with them exchanging travel tips we’d heard about the islands. Robert, from Holland, overheard us talking at the next table and asked to join us – probably more interested in meeting some new people, than anything else. That, or he figured I didn’t need three woman all to myself. We all chatted for a while, but then the Germans had to leave. Eveline and I had some dinner (Robert had already eaten). After dinner, Robert went to try and meet up with the Germans, and Eveline and I each got a pancake for dessert. We ate with a Swiss couple we met in line, who had been in Krabi for ten days and recommended a few things worth seeing.

Eveline and I headed to my guesthouse to find out about getting to Bangkok, as we’ll try and go together, but amazingly, all the trains are booked till the 9th so we’ll go by bus. I also booked my rock climbing for the morning.

I walked Eveline back to her scooter, then checked out a bookstore on the way home. If I can finish my book early enough tomorrow morning, I’ll swap it for a John Cheever short story collection before I head to rock climbing.

Another beautiful day by the looks of it. We got an early breakfast, and then I packed. ,I’d finished my book, so I swapped it with Paul Auster’s “New York Trilogy”, which thus far I am not enjoying as much as I’d hoped. The Swede’s will be spending a couple more days on the island, and I hope I haven’t been too much of a third wheel.

I exchanged emails and goodbyes with the Swedes and then caught a taxi truck to the pier. Waited there for a bit, then the boat arrived. A fairly uneventful trip to Railay. Some American’s next to me that talked non-stop, which made reading difficult. At Railay, the boat anchored a fair ways from shore, and those of us heading to Railay were transferred to longtails to make our way to the beach. Railay looks amazing, and is surrounded by limestone walls. It’s part of the mainland, but inaccessible accept by boat. I headed directly to the east side, since I’d heard it was where the cheaper accommodation is. Found a cheap, but not so cheap by Thailand standards, room. Not as nice as the place in Ko Lanta, but will do for a night (I was originally going to stay here for two nights, but it’s so expensive, it’s cheaper to head back to Krabi). The manager seems pretty rude though, sadly.

We’d been exchanging emails, but I told Eveline (the girl I’d met in KL) that I’d give her a call when I got to Railay to see about meeting up, so I called her, but she wasn’t around yet. I emailed Robin and Jolina to let them know what accommodation prices were like in Railay (they’re heading here eventually). As I was walking back to the resort, I ran into two Aussies I’d met earlier (and were actually at the same resort in Ko Lanta) – Pennie and Wiki (and never has there been a girl who more suited her name). Chatted with them for a bit (mostly complaining about the prices at Railay), then parted ways. I threw my swim stuff together and hit the west beach to see the sunset and get wet. Water was very warm, and quite wavy, thanks to all the longtails.

Pennie and Wiki ended up at the beach too, and entered the water pretty close to me, so I went over to say hello. Talked with them for a while, and watched the sunset (moves pretty quick!), before deciding I’d spent enough time in the water. Pennie and Wiki were out of the water too, and staying at the same resort as me, so we headed back.

The three of us grabbed some dinner, getting caught in the rain at one point. For the non-rainy season, it sure has rained a lot. Hasn’t really put a damper on too many plans though, thankfully.

I called Eveline, and through a terrible connection I think we’ve agreed to meet in Krabi tomorrow evening. I’ll give her a call tomorrow and see if I can get a better understanding of exactly where we’re to meet.