Monkeying Around

Video of some "wild" monkeys

Today was amazing, we went on a long boat to four islands and went snorkelling, swimming and relaxing. We also saw monkeys on a couple of the islands.

Mountain of Backpacks

We got back in a mini bus and again took it across two ferries back to the mainland of Thailand heading towards Krabi and Aonang Beach about two and a half hours Northwest of Ko Lanta. The mini bus that we were on to get to Ko Lanta had plenty of room, Janelle and I had a whole row to ourselves and our luggage was elsewhere in the bus. On this bus ride out of Ko Lanta however, every seat on the bus was full and I was wedged amongst a tower of other people's backpacks.

Low Season

A couple of weeks ago in Ko Lanta there was a big storm that tore apart the coast and many of the hotels, bungalows and bars along the coast as well. Ko Lanta is usually much quieter than places like Bangkok and Phuket but with the storm and being in the middle of low season, Ko Lanta is dead.(In Thailand, the low season is between May and October, when the monsoon is supposed to be here, it's not here yet). As a result of the storm and low season, there hasn't been much effort to clean up the trash on the beaches or to repair the broken places.

Motorbiking

We rented a motorbike and drove all over the island today. Above is the little video we made while driving around.

Despite putting on sunscreen three times, my super white skin still got a sunburn.

A Bus and Two Boats

Trang Bus Station

Today we headed out of Trang towards Ko Lanta where we will be spending the next couple of nights. At the train station, I was directed to a ticket window to purchase a ticket for Ko Lanta. I was again laughed at for my pronunciation and told it sounds like "Ko Lantaaaa" but even when I said it like that it was still funny to everyone else. I was told that tickets to "Ko Lantaaaa" could be gotten at another window, so I walked over there and waited in line. When I got to the front I told them I wanted to go to "Ko Lantaaaa", where again I was met with laughter and told to go to a third window. At the third window I was again laughed at and then told to go back to the first window. I protested that I had already been there and then all three people discussed it and sent me out into the bus terminal where I was able to find "Ko Lanta" written on a sign and purchase my ticket.

To get to Ko Lanta, we had to ride in a bus as it drove for about an hour and then take two separate ferries. When we arrived on the island I discovered why I couldn't pronounce the name of the location correctly, the sign read "Ko Lanta Yai". It was three words not a bunch of a's on the end of Lanta.

Check out a video I made while laying on the beach here:

Check out all of today's pictures by clicking on the picture below:

2012-06-24 Trang - Koh Lanta

Mistrust

Shaunzilla at the Golden Mount

A couple of days ago we were trying to decide where to go next and I found some ridiculously cheap plane tickets(cheaper than a train) from Bangkok to Trang(Thailand) and we booked it. We didn't really know what was in Trang (it turns out there isn't much) but it was far away and cheap.

On the way to the airport there was a guy on the street who saw us and told us to go left to get to the train. Often in Bangkok you get people telling you things that are out and out lies to benefit themselves, things like "The Grand Palace is closed today, but I will take you somewhere even better for only 400 Baht", "I will drive you anywhere you want to go for only 10 Baht (as long as you don't mind going to a gem and suit shop on the way)" or "Noone will take you to that location for 100 Baht, it will be at least 300 (and then after 4 attempts you find someone who is honest and takes you for 100 Baht)". These are all examples of things that people say that make you not want to believe people when they tell you to take a left to get to the train station. As it turned out, I did need to go left and I didn't believe the man who was trying to help me. Once I realized I needed to go left, I went back and thanked the man for his help. It made me feel like a really terrible human being for not believing someone who was trying to help me.

When we got to the airport I had this dialogue with the woman behind the checkin desk:

Check in clerk: Where are you flying today?

Me: To Trang.

Check in clerk: Where?

Me: To Trang.

Check in clerk: hahahaha, to Tra-ang. hahaha

Me: Yes, to Tra-ang

Check in clerk: hahahaha, to Tra-ang. hahaha

Then when I was going through security the woman there asked me where I was going and I told her "Tra-ang" and she also began to laugh at me and said "Tra-ang" back to me. I sure thought I was saying the same thing but apparently not as everyone else just thought I was hilarious.

For dinner I ordered "Thai spicy chicken". I'm pretty sure they made me a western version of the dish but it was so hot that I couldn't stop sweating!

Click on the picture below to see all of the rest of today's pictures

2012-06-23 Bangkok - Trang

Shopping Experience

This is a video of Janelle and I in a tuk tuk

We spent most of today at an 8 story shopping mall called the MBK (Mahboonkrong). Janelle needed some walking-around shoes and a lens for her DSLR camera. Luckily we were able to get both at a reasonable price. We also had lunch at the mall in the food court. All of the food stalls in the food court were run centrally with each stall specializing in 4-8 dishes. I ordered mine, a vegetable and chicken stirfry and then when it was ready tried to pay in baht but found out that they only accepted coupons. You had to buy a coupon worth money and exchange that for your food. After I finally bought my coupons and then traded my coupons for my lunch. I started to eat it and discovered that it tasted like chewy, stinky water. I choked down as much as I could, but not very much, my first taste of something not to my liking in Bangkok.

Good food

After an awful lunch, I wanted to have a good dinner and we headed back to a restaurant that we had went to on our first night in Bangkok, a place called May Kaidee (http://www.maykaidee.com/). They cook only vegetarian and all of the food is really reasonable ($2), fresh and delicious. If you come to Bangkok, I would highly recommend this restaurant, there are currently three of them.

In the evening, we headed towards an area called Soi Cowboy, a red light district in Bangkok. I had never been to Bangkok before and as red light districts are a large part of what you hear about Bangkok, I thought I should check it out. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Soi Cowboy was full of creepy old white guys, not really my scene. We quickly left and returned to the area around our hotel.

Click on the picture below to see all of the rest of today's pictures.

2012-06-22 Bangkok

Changing of the Guards

"This place doesn't welcome the person who invole with drugs."

Not far from my hotel is The Grand Palace, the official residence of the Kings of Siam (Thailand) from 1782 until 1925. I headed that way wandering the streets and came across lots of little markets.

This one where Thai people were buying Buddha amulets

and food ones like this

and this, I think these are grilled bananas

The Grand Palace was really impressive(check out my pictures at the bottom of this post). To get inside we had to borrow clothes. Janelle needed to wear a mens shirt:

I needed to wear these pants:

The weather in Bangkok is around 37C (98F), not the best weather to be wearing sweat pants in. I was sweating so much my shoes started to slosh when I walked from all of the moisture.

We saw a very interesting changing of the guards ceremony, which you can watch here: (I highly recommend watching this)

After that we went to Wat Pho temple which has the worlds largest reclining Buddha.

I kept hearing this sound that I thought was wind chimes while I was looking at the front side of the Buddha. When I got around to the back side I could see that there weren't any wind chimes at all. Instead I found 108 bronze bowls indicating the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. People were dropping coins in these bowls as it is believed to bring good fortune, and to help the monks maintain the wat(temple). I made a short video so you can see and hear what I'm talking about:

Check out the rest of the pictures from today by clicking on the link below:

2012-06-21 Bangkok

First Impressions

Once I arrived in Bangkok I quickly ran off the plane heading for customs to get in line before everyone else on my flight only to just get behind a large plane full of Russian's. I ended up waiting over an hour in line to get through customs.

People used to get to Bangkok city from the airport either by buses or taxis but now there is a new train so people mainly use that or take a taxi. Taxi's from the airport run about 450 Thai Baht(THB), which is about $14 USD whereas the train is only 60 THB. I opted to take the train and then catch a tuk tuk to my hotel from there.

This is a picture of a generic tuk tuk in Thailand

The first tuk tuk to pull up quoted me a price of 450 THB to get to my hotel from the train station, the same price it would have cost to get there from the airport. I laughed at him and told him to move on, I wasn't interested in his rip off rates. It took a couple of drivers but I finally found someone who would take me to my hotel for an amount I was willing to pay, 100 THB ($3 USD).

My hotel is in an area of Bangkok near Khaosan Road which is known as the "backpacker ghetto". Essentially, it is affordable and caters to backpackers and westerners. The streets are lined with accommodation, food vendors and shops.

I cannot believe the number of Westerners in this area, they are everywhere! I'm looking forward to doing some wandering around tomorrow to see if everywhere in Bangkok has this many tourists.

Click below to see a link of today's pictures:

2012-06-20 Bangkok

A Night in Singapore

(Checkout this video I made at the Singapore airport)

My flight to Bangkok had a 16 hour overnight stopover in Singapore so I had to get a room to stay in. Singapore is very expensive by both Southeast Asian standards and my lowly budget. That said, Singapore is very foreigner friendly with a great public transit system and most signs in English. I didn't have time to do anything in the city and look forward to having more time on my way through next time.

Off to Bangkok.

Southeast Asia

After three months in New Zealand and over a month back in America I am all set to head for Southeast Asia for a few months of adventuring. The only thing I have booked so far is my flights to Bangkok, Thailand which has a 16 hour layover in Singapore. I’m travelling with pretty much the same things I took with me last time when I was in Europe, India and Morocco. I’m bringing all of my stuff in a carryon sized roller bag and a school style backpack.

I have been planning this trip in my head ever since I stopped travelling last time and I’m looking forward to it finally kicking off. With all of that time to prepare you would think that I have a plan of where I want to go and what I want to do, but I don’t have anything worked out as of yet. I’m ready to get back at it and will be updating my blog much more often again.