THAILAND! What a land indeed. :P
I met a sweet girl named Ploy this weekend at my Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Phoenix who is from Thailand which inspired me to get my blog about Thailand up soon!! We talked about a lot of things and it was really interesting to hear some of the things she had to say and different ways we saw her country.
Thailand was insanely beautiful! There is such a wide variety of landscapes, sights and scenery. I flew into Phuket from Manila and decided to book (I believe one of the two times I booked a place to stay in advanced) a hotel close to the airport instead of making the mini trek closer to the main parts of Phuket.. I was soo happy I did that because the beach was incredible! The water was perfectly teal and I had a beautiful long run along the beach in the morning and enjoyed the sunshine for the first time since Ppines didn't show me a whole lot of sunshine. After that I headed towards the infamous Patong to meet up with Daphne! I had no idea Daph would be around but she was leaving the next day! Getting to Daphne, and Patong area was frustrating to say the least, and I had second thoughts about Thailand from that moment! Thailand is catered to tourists, more than any other country in SEA I would say.. however they all want your money and you to take their company or their brothers company, etc etc. Soo I walked towards the road where the airport was and there was apparently a bus to take me to Patong.. After walking a ways and asking some people where the bus stop was, they took me to their company who said there was a van leaving in an hour and there were no "buses" to Patong.. After waiting for soo long at a taxi stand then the "van" finally came. However the van was full of like 15 people and this crazzyyy driver! He was not just taking people to Patong, but all over Phuket.. Unfortunately I was the last one to get off.. While it took ages longer then I told Daphne, it was cool that I got a little tour of Phuket. Kata and Karon beaches were absolutely incredible. There was a massive typhoon in 2008 that completely destroyed those areas and they are now completely rebuilt and fancy! Pretty much resort towns, I wish I could have gotten out of the van and then headed to chill on those beaches but time was ticking to meet Daph!
Daph was with one of her traveling buds, Demi. We had some Thai food, and of course I had to try some Pad Thai for my first meal!! Then we did a mini Patong tour and checked out the beach for a bit, mostly just caught up and talked. We had a fun night out on the town and then the next morning I headed to Koh Phi Phi to meet up with the girls I climbed Mt Kinabalu with.. They were working there as dive masters. The ferry to Phi Phi was interesting.. they oversold tickets, soo tons of Chinese people were just sitting on the floor!This was one of my first... OMG moments of the trip.. like how did they over sell this ferry. Anyways, I made it, bags and all!
In Phi Phi my friends Danielle and Jade live there and work as dive instructors and they arranged for me to stay in their friends place for the week while she was on vacation.. I helped pay her rent, and got my own sweet place! It was a win win. The only problem with this was that when they had to work I hadn't met anyone else, like I normally would in a hostel soo daytime was a little lonely but I was totally alright with it. I would bring my book to the beach and just enjoy one of the most incredible beaches in the world! The water was the clearest teal i've ever seen! It was different color than Tioman Island in Malaysia but still the most incredible thing I've seen. Unfortunately it was also pretty rainy on and off.. One afternoon Jade didn't have work, and we met a guy staying in a resort with an infinity pool over looking the bay. While we were there it started pouring on us.. :( I also didn't get to go scuba diving because the conditions were so bad, the girls told me it wasn't worth it. Nights out in Phi Phi were fantastic, and well because of those reasons I couldn't bring myself to leave this place for a week I believe!
My lovely friend Sunny was arriving soon after my time in Phi Phi so I had to get to Bangkok to meet up with her. I took the ferry, and then an over night bus from Krabi to BKK. I arrived in BKK around 5am and was kind of in shock...There were soo many people, and everyone asking if you wanted a taxi and everyone telling me different things than I had looked up online before arriving.
I finally got to the area of where I booked Sunny and I a room for the night and then did some more research on what to do in Bangkok while I waited for Sunny's arrival that night. When she arrived we both screamed and made everyone in the lobby turn around to see what was going on. It was soo nice to have her with me. We went to get some street food, after I assured her that she would be fine since I had been eating street food for over a month now and not gotten sick. After catching up on tons of stories and things going on with life. The next morning we headed for Ko Samet,which is one of the closest beach areas to Bangkok, with a nicer atmosphere than Pattaya which is heavily infiltrated with sex tourism. It was pretty easy to get there and everything. Bus ride was fine, we both slept and then took a slow ferry which took about an hour. When we arrived we chose a hotel on the part of the island we thought was where most of the young people would be.. Turned out to be lots of families, and Russians. But we didn't let that stop us, and enjoyed long hangouts in the beach and then at the nearby bar, enjoying those Thai Buckets :) The second day Sunny and I did an island hopping trip and snorkeling. It was her very first time doing that, so she had so much fun and loved everything. For me, it was not anything to compare to things I'd seen scuba diving but it was a blast to be with her on her first boat ride and island hopping trip. We definitely enjoyed island life, Thai food, and relaxing during our meals together. After we headed back to Bangkok a few days later we stayed in this new hostel on the infamouse "Kho San Ro" which is basically backpacker street and sooo famous for it. They have tons of hostels and cheap guesthouses and everywhere advertises their free wifi, massages, and tons of tank tops and souvies for sale. In Bangkok we went out both nights, one night we did a "hangover 2" tour where we visited the places from the movie, saw a ping pong show, and a lady boy bar.. And well I never ever would have imagined a guy looking so great as a woman but in Thailand they know exactly what they are doing! We had a blast going out but Sunny was definitely in shock about the realities of the sex tourism in Thailand. On our last day we wandered around, enjoyed our last day together and got Thai Massages together. After I got one done in the Philippines I decided I should definitely try and get one in every country that I visit. Thai Massages were somewhat like a mini yoga session while being massaged. They would put you in these stretches then put lots of weight on you and really stretch everything out. I was sore for a few days after but it felt amazing.
After Sunny left I headed up to SukoThai where I took a rented a bike and explored old ancient Khmer ruins very similar to those of Angkor Wat. The town was really relaxing compared to Bangkok and people were extremely friendly. A man gave me his umbrella because it was raining off and on. In SukoThai I met an adorable swedish girl who I traveled to Chiang Mai with.
One of my favorite stories about Thailand.. They are very much about tourists in Thaliand and her and I decided instead of taking a rip off taxi to the bus station we would walk. It seemed to be about two miles on the map and we were fine carrying our bags that long.. As we are walking there in the mud, both kinda silent not super happy about our decision, a bus pulls over and asks if we are going to Chiang Mai? They say yes, that they have two seats, grab our bags and we get on! Saved us a mile of our walk and waiting in the bus station. In South Korea that would never happen, those buses leave exactly when they are supposed to and they would never stop on the street to pick up extra passengers.
I really wanted to do some trekking in Chiang Mai however the rain didn't stop.. Most days it drizzled on and off. I did go and check out a Thai Boxing match which was really interesting. They started with some kids who were about 12 or so, then worked up to the top match of the night. One of them was an international person, I believe they were from Canada that night. There were also a few matches of girls. As an intermission they did a blind folded match which was hilarious, they were running into each other, punching the ref.. but obvs that's all for show!
The other amazing thing I did in Chiang Mai was visit Tiger Kingdom! At TK the cubs are born and raised being around people so they are supposedly very safe to be around because they are used to people and not being out in the wild. You sign this waver basically giving up your life if anything happens and get to go in after paying and hang out and play with the tigers. I was with my two Irish guy friends and we had so much fun. The guide was with the three of us and takes a ton of pictures and told us how to kind of engage with the tiger. It was really fun, but everytime they made a sudden movement I absolutely freaked out! Those teeth are big!! There was a bit of tiger humping while we were inside the enclosure and then I walked into the electric fence! I was walking and holding onto the Tigers tail like the trainer told us and wasn't paying attention when he turned and shocked myself! That was a bit of a wake up!!
After Chiang Mai I decided to head onto Chiang Rai to see if the weather was any better for trekking, unfortunately more of the same rainy on and off.. A lot of the time it was downpours! :( So I continued onto Laos hoping for a different scene there.
Thailand was really interesting for a few things. I absolutely loved the food, by far my favorite asian cuisine. The sex tourism and things that go on there for better lives were heart breaking. The people are soo incredibly friendly. Everything was soo touristy and it seemed hard to get off the beaten path, without going way off.. I've heard of people being able to do so, but being by myself I usually want to play it safe and keep to places in the guidebook unless I'm with a group. It was also a bummer the amount of rainy days I experienced in Thailand. I will definitely be back one day. The country of amazing cuisine, beaches, and buckets for me :) If you ever have the chance, you must visit!
P.S sorry for the jibble jabbled post! I started this one back in Jan and this is the first time to sit down and finish in AMR
I met a sweet girl named Ploy this weekend at my Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Phoenix who is from Thailand which inspired me to get my blog about Thailand up soon!! We talked about a lot of things and it was really interesting to hear some of the things she had to say and different ways we saw her country.
Thailand was insanely beautiful! There is such a wide variety of landscapes, sights and scenery. I flew into Phuket from Manila and decided to book (I believe one of the two times I booked a place to stay in advanced) a hotel close to the airport instead of making the mini trek closer to the main parts of Phuket.. I was soo happy I did that because the beach was incredible! The water was perfectly teal and I had a beautiful long run along the beach in the morning and enjoyed the sunshine for the first time since Ppines didn't show me a whole lot of sunshine. After that I headed towards the infamous Patong to meet up with Daphne! I had no idea Daph would be around but she was leaving the next day! Getting to Daphne, and Patong area was frustrating to say the least, and I had second thoughts about Thailand from that moment! Thailand is catered to tourists, more than any other country in SEA I would say.. however they all want your money and you to take their company or their brothers company, etc etc. Soo I walked towards the road where the airport was and there was apparently a bus to take me to Patong.. After walking a ways and asking some people where the bus stop was, they took me to their company who said there was a van leaving in an hour and there were no "buses" to Patong.. After waiting for soo long at a taxi stand then the "van" finally came. However the van was full of like 15 people and this crazzyyy driver! He was not just taking people to Patong, but all over Phuket.. Unfortunately I was the last one to get off.. While it took ages longer then I told Daphne, it was cool that I got a little tour of Phuket. Kata and Karon beaches were absolutely incredible. There was a massive typhoon in 2008 that completely destroyed those areas and they are now completely rebuilt and fancy! Pretty much resort towns, I wish I could have gotten out of the van and then headed to chill on those beaches but time was ticking to meet Daph!
Daph was with one of her traveling buds, Demi. We had some Thai food, and of course I had to try some Pad Thai for my first meal!! Then we did a mini Patong tour and checked out the beach for a bit, mostly just caught up and talked. We had a fun night out on the town and then the next morning I headed to Koh Phi Phi to meet up with the girls I climbed Mt Kinabalu with.. They were working there as dive masters. The ferry to Phi Phi was interesting.. they oversold tickets, soo tons of Chinese people were just sitting on the floor!This was one of my first... OMG moments of the trip.. like how did they over sell this ferry. Anyways, I made it, bags and all!
In Phi Phi my friends Danielle and Jade live there and work as dive instructors and they arranged for me to stay in their friends place for the week while she was on vacation.. I helped pay her rent, and got my own sweet place! It was a win win. The only problem with this was that when they had to work I hadn't met anyone else, like I normally would in a hostel soo daytime was a little lonely but I was totally alright with it. I would bring my book to the beach and just enjoy one of the most incredible beaches in the world! The water was the clearest teal i've ever seen! It was different color than Tioman Island in Malaysia but still the most incredible thing I've seen. Unfortunately it was also pretty rainy on and off.. One afternoon Jade didn't have work, and we met a guy staying in a resort with an infinity pool over looking the bay. While we were there it started pouring on us.. :( I also didn't get to go scuba diving because the conditions were so bad, the girls told me it wasn't worth it. Nights out in Phi Phi were fantastic, and well because of those reasons I couldn't bring myself to leave this place for a week I believe!
My lovely friend Sunny was arriving soon after my time in Phi Phi so I had to get to Bangkok to meet up with her. I took the ferry, and then an over night bus from Krabi to BKK. I arrived in BKK around 5am and was kind of in shock...There were soo many people, and everyone asking if you wanted a taxi and everyone telling me different things than I had looked up online before arriving.
I finally got to the area of where I booked Sunny and I a room for the night and then did some more research on what to do in Bangkok while I waited for Sunny's arrival that night. When she arrived we both screamed and made everyone in the lobby turn around to see what was going on. It was soo nice to have her with me. We went to get some street food, after I assured her that she would be fine since I had been eating street food for over a month now and not gotten sick. After catching up on tons of stories and things going on with life. The next morning we headed for Ko Samet,which is one of the closest beach areas to Bangkok, with a nicer atmosphere than Pattaya which is heavily infiltrated with sex tourism. It was pretty easy to get there and everything. Bus ride was fine, we both slept and then took a slow ferry which took about an hour. When we arrived we chose a hotel on the part of the island we thought was where most of the young people would be.. Turned out to be lots of families, and Russians. But we didn't let that stop us, and enjoyed long hangouts in the beach and then at the nearby bar, enjoying those Thai Buckets :) The second day Sunny and I did an island hopping trip and snorkeling. It was her very first time doing that, so she had so much fun and loved everything. For me, it was not anything to compare to things I'd seen scuba diving but it was a blast to be with her on her first boat ride and island hopping trip. We definitely enjoyed island life, Thai food, and relaxing during our meals together. After we headed back to Bangkok a few days later we stayed in this new hostel on the infamouse "Kho San Ro" which is basically backpacker street and sooo famous for it. They have tons of hostels and cheap guesthouses and everywhere advertises their free wifi, massages, and tons of tank tops and souvies for sale. In Bangkok we went out both nights, one night we did a "hangover 2" tour where we visited the places from the movie, saw a ping pong show, and a lady boy bar.. And well I never ever would have imagined a guy looking so great as a woman but in Thailand they know exactly what they are doing! We had a blast going out but Sunny was definitely in shock about the realities of the sex tourism in Thailand. On our last day we wandered around, enjoyed our last day together and got Thai Massages together. After I got one done in the Philippines I decided I should definitely try and get one in every country that I visit. Thai Massages were somewhat like a mini yoga session while being massaged. They would put you in these stretches then put lots of weight on you and really stretch everything out. I was sore for a few days after but it felt amazing.
After Sunny left I headed up to SukoThai where I took a rented a bike and explored old ancient Khmer ruins very similar to those of Angkor Wat. The town was really relaxing compared to Bangkok and people were extremely friendly. A man gave me his umbrella because it was raining off and on. In SukoThai I met an adorable swedish girl who I traveled to Chiang Mai with.
One of my favorite stories about Thailand.. They are very much about tourists in Thaliand and her and I decided instead of taking a rip off taxi to the bus station we would walk. It seemed to be about two miles on the map and we were fine carrying our bags that long.. As we are walking there in the mud, both kinda silent not super happy about our decision, a bus pulls over and asks if we are going to Chiang Mai? They say yes, that they have two seats, grab our bags and we get on! Saved us a mile of our walk and waiting in the bus station. In South Korea that would never happen, those buses leave exactly when they are supposed to and they would never stop on the street to pick up extra passengers.
I really wanted to do some trekking in Chiang Mai however the rain didn't stop.. Most days it drizzled on and off. I did go and check out a Thai Boxing match which was really interesting. They started with some kids who were about 12 or so, then worked up to the top match of the night. One of them was an international person, I believe they were from Canada that night. There were also a few matches of girls. As an intermission they did a blind folded match which was hilarious, they were running into each other, punching the ref.. but obvs that's all for show!
The other amazing thing I did in Chiang Mai was visit Tiger Kingdom! At TK the cubs are born and raised being around people so they are supposedly very safe to be around because they are used to people and not being out in the wild. You sign this waver basically giving up your life if anything happens and get to go in after paying and hang out and play with the tigers. I was with my two Irish guy friends and we had so much fun. The guide was with the three of us and takes a ton of pictures and told us how to kind of engage with the tiger. It was really fun, but everytime they made a sudden movement I absolutely freaked out! Those teeth are big!! There was a bit of tiger humping while we were inside the enclosure and then I walked into the electric fence! I was walking and holding onto the Tigers tail like the trainer told us and wasn't paying attention when he turned and shocked myself! That was a bit of a wake up!!
After Chiang Mai I decided to head onto Chiang Rai to see if the weather was any better for trekking, unfortunately more of the same rainy on and off.. A lot of the time it was downpours! :( So I continued onto Laos hoping for a different scene there.
Thailand was really interesting for a few things. I absolutely loved the food, by far my favorite asian cuisine. The sex tourism and things that go on there for better lives were heart breaking. The people are soo incredibly friendly. Everything was soo touristy and it seemed hard to get off the beaten path, without going way off.. I've heard of people being able to do so, but being by myself I usually want to play it safe and keep to places in the guidebook unless I'm with a group. It was also a bummer the amount of rainy days I experienced in Thailand. I will definitely be back one day. The country of amazing cuisine, beaches, and buckets for me :) If you ever have the chance, you must visit!
P.S sorry for the jibble jabbled post! I started this one back in Jan and this is the first time to sit down and finish in AMR
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