Thailand pt3: Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui

I'm sitting in my bunk in Koh Samui after a long day of exploring. There are three of us in the room and no one has said a thing since I walked in ten minutes ago and said "hi". And you know what? I'm some what relieved. 

Now most of you will know me to be a fairly sociable guy and I am, especially after a few beers. Thing is, I've been making and parting with new friends for over seven months now and it's a bit exhausting - I've come down with what I'm calling 'hostel friend fatigue'. With a year in Australia just around the corner, I've subconsciously stopped making the effort to make friends with everyone meet at the hostels I've stayed in. I think in part this is because in Thailand they have mostly been 'Brits abroad'. Nothing wrong with that, you have your fun, it's just not my thing I suppose. 

This has been a running theme for my stay in Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. I've chosen to keep my own company, or the company of people I already know. It's been great as I've ended up making other acquaintances and focusing on different, more time consuming activities. 

Koh Tao

My first island stop was Koh Tao where I met up with the Tuttles. For people I've only known for a year, I've seen an awful lot of them, which is just peachy by me. My main activity on this island was scuba diving and getting my PADI qualification, which I hope to use at the Great Barrier Reef.

Scuba diving is great fun and a lot less claustrophobic than I thought it would be. There's a weightlessness that you can't quite describe, it's not all floaty in the way that it appears in videos, it's quite variable and is really affected by the amount of air in your lungs. Once you get used to it, you can control it more and you move up and down less. 

Krissy and Brad joined me on my first day and we did some basic skills. Over the four day course I learned to take my mask off, replace and clear it underwater, I found out how to provide air to someone else and many other things. It was all easy except for taking off my tank and putting it back on while at surface level. If I need to do that in a hurry I'm screwed!!

As I was doing my PADI, I wasn't allowed to take my GoPro, but thankfully Brad and Krissy were allowed to use their camera, so I've shamelessly stolen their photos! 

If you're thinking of doing your PADI, then just go for it. I went with New Ways and they were fantastic. They have their own boats and go out before everyone else, which means you see more fish and fewer (no) other divers. 

I saw a tonne of fish including trigger fish, blue spotted rays and puffer fish. I didn't know this but apparently puffer fish can only puff up three or four times, so don't make them do it. There were a ton more fish. I couldn't name them all but they were beautiful, as were the coral, sea anemones and sea slugs. Just amazing!!

The actual island life however was not great. I only saw the main beach area as I didn't have a bike (something that really affected my trip), but it was all a bit 'magaloof innit'. It has zero culture. Mostly I missed the great street food, which is replaced with burgers and pancake vendors. 

The beach however is beautiful, if a little noisy from the many, many bars. Though they are nice to hang out in. Watching the sunset with a beer is always a good thing. 

When I wasn't scuba diving I would hang out with Brad and Krissy. We would hang out at beach bars and watch the sunset and fire dancers. They even let me have a go. I was doing OK, but did hit myself a couple of times... It was during one of these nights that I got a bit too drunk and cut myself of some coral. I'm sure it would have healed fine, but... 

Koh Phangan

... I went to Koh Phangan and did Muay Thai training. Now I had cut the top of my foot and just under my knee on my right leg. Do you know what you use a lot in Muay Thai? Yep your right leg. So after five days of two sessions a day, my foot and shin aren't looking great...

Muay Thai training, FYI, is TOUGH!! I mean, damn! It's very rewarding and I liked that I was learning a skill, but I was barely alive by the end of each session. Each session would consist of a warm up, weighted sprints, cardio, several rounds practicing new moves and finally weights, normally while standing in a pool of my own perspiration. I'm not exaggerating, I could actually splash in it. I've never drunk so much water in my life!!!

The people on Koh Phangan are so nice and I made friends with the owners of a few of the restaurants, cafes (including the fat cat!!) and night market stall owners. It was nice to have these passing acquaintances who I could chat to, but still carry on with my day. I spent a lot of time buying Christmas presents for people back home. In fact, along with the presents I bought in Egypt and India, I'm pretty much done and it's only June... I feel pretty smug about that. I also did a bit of drawing and took in some long walks along the beautiful beach. It was during one of these walks that I made yet another canine friend. This dog is exactly what I imagine my dog will look like when I eventually settle down.

This was also the island on which I started my plan to get a PR job in Australia. Through a couple of friends I have managed to book in meetings with two agencies and have also had interviews with two recruiters. One recruiter in particular seems really on it and has said I should pretty much walk off the plane into a role. I hope they are right!! I want to get into the swing of Aussie life as quickly as possible. 

Koh Samui

Now I'm on Koh Samui having taken a quick ferry across. I do like the ferries here. You can stand on the top deck and just see paradise float by with the wind in your hair. It's a simple pleasure, but that moment is one to savor. Which reminds me, I received one of the nicest compliments I have ever had. I was told that I notice and romanticize little things that other people don't even see. I think that's wonderful.

Koh Samui is a nice island, but again there seems to be little culture here. It's not as touristy as Koh Tao, but it's still another 'Brits abroad' hotspot. I must admit I haven't made much of an effort here. The weather has been a bit gloomy so I've concentrated on some of the bits I've needed to get done. I sent all of my presents and a few other bits back home, plus I went and saw a doctor about my foot. Thankfully it's not infected and they've given me a cream to stop the itching, which is a reaction to the coral, hopefully it should be healed soon.

Now I started this post by saying that I had been quite antisocial and for the most part that has been true. I'm finishing off this post a day later. Last night was the exception to the above antisocial rule so to speak. I ended up grabbing dinner with Niklas, a German traveler I'm bunking with. He's in the media so we spent a while chatting about our work, our travel experiences and so on. A few pints, later we headed to a bar. Yes that's right, they serve actual pints of lager here! It's not exactly an authentic Thai experience but who cares?! I've missed drinking pints so much! A few more drinks and we were on the beach meeting more Germans and shots were had. All in all it was a good night and it was fun to be out and about on the party island.

And that as they say is that. I've now got an evening to chill out and then I'm on a plane to Kuala Lumpur. I'm excited to be moving on. I had wanted to get to Malaysia by land, but this is far easier and at the moment convenience is king for me. 

Thailand pt2: Bangkok

Bangkok has made me realise that a worrying proportion of my life can be summed up by the simple phrase 'It's a long story, but in short I got drunk'.

It's a crazy city and after so long in small towns it was just what I wanted. The bustle, the multiculturalism, the plethora of things to do, the bars, the clubs, the food, even the transport system, it all made the Londoner in me feel at home. However, that's not to say it's like London, it really isn't. For one I had never been punched in the face in London, or ever for that matter... How I got punched in the face is a long story, but in short, I got drunk. We'll come onto the details of that story later. 

I was in Bangkok for about a week and there is a lot I could tell you, so I'll focus on the big bits.

As I've said many times before in many different Asian places, you have to go see the temples. I went and saw a plethora, but of the big ones, I went to Wat Pho to see the giant reclining Buddha. To say this guy is huge in an understatement, check out the video to see what I mean. The whole complex is beautiful, with huge stupa towering over you, all painstakingly decorated with mosaic patterns. 

It was an amazingly hot day and I had already navigated the local train and boat systems plus walked a fair distance, so by the time I was finished with Wat Pho and its extensive grounds I was ready to call it a day, but I pulled through and got to the Grand Palace. This place was packed! Just uncomfortably heaving, with swarms of tourist groups lead by clipboard wielding guides, so when I found out it was 1,000Thb to get in I decided against it. I'm sure it would have been amazing, but as it would have been my fourth or fifth temple that day, I was suffering with monument fatigue. It's worth noting that between the sky train, metro and boats, it's really easy to navigate Bangkok. There are busses too, but I didn't need them. 

I also went to the floating market. I was pleased that I had navigated my way to the bus terminal by the victory monument and found the right bus (counter 13). This is so much cheaper than taking a tour, it's only 80THB each way and the minibus is really comfortable. I got to the market a little early, but there was still a lot going on and I ate some really random food. This included an underwater creature that looked like it should have died out with the dinosaurs. I really have no idea what it was, but that's what you get when you point at random stuff and eat it. I think it was a type of crab, at least that's what it tasted like. I also think the salad that it was mixed with included it's eggs as the name of the dish had something to do with eggs... It may have been called the million egg salad, I can't remember. I also ate a local speciality, coconut ice cream served in a coconut shell with the flesh of the coconut on top, all floating in condensed milk... Delicious and deadly I'm sure.

Soi Cowboy is Bangkok's red light district and I was expecting it to mirror Soho, however it was actually quite different. Obviously it's still all about sex, but where Soho has a few peep shows, Soi Cowboy is much more explicit. All of the bars are pretty identical. There are seats around the side of the room which are full of male tourists and a central stage heaving with women in matching bikinis. I mean they can barely move. They then shuffle around not really dancing and then after a while get off the stage to be replaced by a new set in different matching bikinis, which marks them out as being more accomplished in their profession. Each woman has a number on her bikini and you simply go up to the bar, tell them which number you want and she's yours for the'night'. At first it seemed quite odd and a weird cultural experience, but the more I thought about it the sadder it became. There was also a ping pong show half way through, this was also quite sad to see once you thought about the reality of the situation. However I was prepared for this having already seen one on Kho San road.

Koh San road is crazy and I could write an entire blog on the one night I spent there. Jenna and I met up with the Tuttles, Krissy and Brad, a married couple from America who I had met in South Africa. We started off the night with drinks and insects, to be exact scorpions, cockroaches, meal worms, crickets and grubs, plus frogs too. They are actually all really nice and I would eat them again, especially the scorpions which tasted of marmite. 

After this we attacked a three litre tower of beer, well the Tuttles and I did. This was the point of no return in retrospect. This lead to brick bar, which we were pleased to find out was full of locals. In fact we were the only four non-Thai people we could see and the music was amazing. People were also really nice and kept giving us shots. This went well with the bottle of whiskey the bar man gave us as a free drink on entry. By now I was making terrible life choices, dancing like a fool and singing along to the Thai music without a) knowing the song and b) bowing Thai! At some point I also went outside bought a new vest and changed into it in the middle of the street... Jenna also wisely made her excuses and went home. 

The next stop of course was a ping pong show, this sobered us up a lot. It was just soooo skeezy. We were ushered into the back of a dingy building where a stage and pole was set up. Hesitantly we took our places next to the stage amongst the gawking tourists and ordered drinks. What followed was a parade of rather bored looking women who were dead in the eyes performing various tricks with ping pong balls, cigarettes and goodness knows what else, as we all left. It was just so degrading, it was clear the women weren't enjoying performing and we're going through the motions to make some money.

After that we went to another club for a while before deciding to get a taxi home. As if the night hadn't been interesting enough, the taxi drivers started a fight. I don't know what over, but as I tried to calm it down I was punched in the face. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I remember convincing one of the taxi drivers to walk away which he was. After that there's a blank and the next thing I know I'm standing there wiping blood off my face and looking down to see my top covered in blood. It was mainly coming out of my mouth, but also from a cut on my head. Brad had also been hit in the ear and was bleeding from a cut where it had spoilt. We eventually got back home and Krissy. Who's a pharmacist looked after both our wounds and that was the end of the craziest night in Bangkok. 

Thailand - Chiang Mai

Well I was going to try and tell you about Chiang Mai and Bangkok in this blog, but it has become apparent that there is just too much to tell. So I'll start off in Chiang Mai. 

I arrived in Thailand ready for a new adventure and to spend time with Jenna, one of my dearest friends who I had lived with back in London. A bonus was that Jenna's parents had said that they would put me up in Bangkok and that Gill, Jenna's mum was going to Chiang Mai too.

It was so nice to see Jenna's dad Shaun. And Gill. They are such great people and so welcoming. Plus they have a lovely home in Bangkok. 

After a day's rest, Gill and I made our way to Chiang Mai. It was a quick trip, but I had already gotten a glimpse of how religion affects this country. Buddhism is everywhere. As with Sri Lanka, there are a lot of temples and Buddha statues, but in Thailand I noticed a lot more monks. I was surprised to find out that they were also given priority boarding and seating in the airport.

Having landed, it was apparent why Chiang Mai is a must see if you're in Thailand. The beautiful misty mountains are visible from most parts of the city and give it a scenic beauty. However sadly I didn't get to really witness this due to the rains... But we'll come to that later.

As with any Buddhist city, you have to see the temples and after checking into the YMCA, I joined Gill at her hotel to take a tour of some of the city's main religious attractions. We were joined by a really cool American couple called Chris and Martin who were great company and had the most amazing camera (I was a little jealous). 

This tour however is where I started to lose my positive impression of Buddhism a bit. When offering food at one Buddhist temple we were told that men could hand the offering to the monks directly, whereas women had to place it on a cloth before the monk could take it. Now I'll admit that I have little knowledge on religion, it's not something that I've had any interest in, but I had always thought Buddhism seemed to be about acceptance and this stood against that belief in my eyes. This was further compounded when Gill and Chris were not allowed to enter one of the temples because and I quote, they were "dirty women". This comment referred to the fact that Buddhists believe that the period blood is impure and makes women dirty. What that means for young girls and transgender women I don't know. This did not stand well with me at all and I almost didn't go in out of principle. To be honest I kind of wish I hadn't, but in the moment I shuffled in and took some photos. 

The interior was very impressive decked out in gold and painted with various scenes. There were also many offerings of flowers, which had been placed with no real care. This made it look like someone had been composting in the temple. I'm sure if women had been allowed in they would have arranged the flowers a lot better, but apparently they are dirty so the flowers ended up in rotting heaps...

The other big adventure on my trip was to walk to the mountain temple with Jenna. The weather started out dry, if not very sunny and we made our way by local bus to the base of the mountain/hill... I'm going to go with mountain for dramatic affect. 

The walk up was easy enough, it was all tarmaced, so not the prettiest, but still I had good company and all was going well. That was until the rain. To say we got soaked is a MASSIVE understatement. We got drenched, I was wet in my bones and my internal organs, as you can see from the pictures. My clothes also stuck to me, only to come loose and then, with a cold creeping feeling, get stuck to me again. I had wanted to see the temple at the top, but by the time we got to the foot of the steps, which had now become a waterfall, I was done. I'd seen a lot of temples by this point and it was too miserable and potentially unsafe to go on. Admitting defeat we took the local bus home with some very entertaining Chinese ladies. 

I'll also fondly remember the Jazz Co-op, which Jenna and I stubbed upon on our way home from Gill's hotel one night. We were planning to go home but as we walked down the street this fantastic, energetic music came wafting toward us and we had to investigate.y first thought was that this couldn't be love music, it was just too polished and it sounded like there was no way so many artists could fit into the rather small bar we were walking up to. I'm glad to say I was wrong. Jen and I stayed for one drink as we were shattered, but vowed to come back, which we did, along with Gill and Susie, an English teacher who had stopped us for directions a few days prior. The band on that night was brilliant and it wasn't long until Jenna and I were dancing along to a very jazzy cover of come as you are by Nirvana. EPIC!

There was also a band at the hotel Gill was staying at who were very talented, playing a large number of instruments between two of them. Their cover of Christina Perri's A Thousand Years was particularly good and had me listening to the original for the rest of the trip. 

And that, as they say, is that. It was a great trip and I loved spending time with Jenna and Gill, which I did more of in Bangkok. Now that is a crazy city, I can see why they set the Hamgover 2 there. There's lots to tell, including ping pong shows, gogo dancers, eating scorpions and getting punched in the face.