From Aussie to Thailand

Monday 25 September 2006

In the morning we had a tidy up, Sam and I took Jessie (their gorgeous spoodle) for a walk to find a dairy, and then we packed up and ordered a taxi. The driver tells of heavy rain in Bangkok and how the secret to surviving Thailand is to stay wetter on the inside than the outside, we figured we would stay hydrated on Vodka and mixers, as so far so good!

We arrived at the Brisbane airport at 12.30pm to leave for our flight to Bangkok at 3.20pm. The flight was long and tiring, at took 9 and a half hours. We arrived at 9.30pm Thai time. My legs were very swollen and sore by the time we landed, very unusual, but came right eventually. The reception at costums was less than friendly, no greetings what so ever, Johnny and Sam began to freak a little! We were overwhelmed by people trying to get us in their cabs outside the airport, and the humidity, it was like walking into a sauna. We went with the safe option of going to the taxi stand, where they take your details and give you an amount to pay before going in a marked taxi. This is great for knowing the exact amount of the charge, and also knowing you will get safely to your destination, however once you have paid, they drive like bats at of hell to get you there as fast as possible. It appears that there is a general understanding of the road code here, not much indicating, and don’t jay walk, because you will get run down, some very scary moments.

We were all in oar looking at the huge bill boards, amazing old buildings and sights. The traffic moves very fast, long drag pretty much straight to the city. Also all taxi drivers here lock the doors while you are inside the taxi, very odd.


When we arrived at the Royal hotel in Bangkok we were taken inside very promptly, there were some dodgy looking characters out on the door steps. The service is very good, but everything comes at a hidden cost, we are trying to figure out the protocols such as tipping also the service charge that is slipped onto the bill before you can blink. I am still getting my head around the money system, 24 bahts to the NZ dollar, so everything is relatively cheap.

The hotel room was relatively tidy, although the air con wasn’t the best, kinda a damp smell was all about the room, luckily enough for Sam and Bex there was a double bed, and also a large single bed for poor old Johnny. We went down stairs for a drink or three, Johnny and Sam bought Chang beer which was the local beer for 120 baht, it was a 750ml bottle and got us rather smashed...



We met a worker who was on the piss and introduced us to the local snacks, dried mango, some nuts not quite sure what they were but tasted good, kinda like seeds. also some raison thing which was kinda like a ball surrounded by some white stripes, hard to explain... a lot of unmarked bar snacks which actually to our surprise tasted quite good, Sam and Bex consumed a large number of the nuts we were all hoping they had some type of effect.. but unfortunately for us, they were just nuts or seeds... The local tried to have a conversation with us, although it was mostly sign language and smiles that got us through, their were also a lot of local’s singing at the bar and was followed by about 15 other workers doing a dance which they looked like they thoroughly enjoyed performing, we staggered off to bed approx 2am, 5am Aus Time) and prepared for the morning’s adventures… We give the hotel a 2 star rating, good for travellers with a budget, close to Kosan road where the local markets were, which don’t really kick off to 6pm.

Tuesday 26 September 2006 (John’s birthday today)

We all had a pretty good sleep, and only just made it to the complimentary breakfast at 9.15am, which finished at 9.30am, so we were all looking very pretty, having got straight out of bed to the dining room, great feed however, all had far too much to eat, but figured it would last us most of the day.

We went outside to see what Bangkok looked like in the light of day, very muggy but beautiful things to look at. We were quickly greeted by a local who had an un marked vehicle, and began telling us about the family he had taken around the city, “Where are you from?” he asked, his English was pretty good, although being a tourist central most know some English to get by (bonus for us). He told us he would take us for a two hour tour for 120 Baht, we decided it would be good to see some of Bangkok before leaving later in the day. So glad we did. We quickly went and showered and meet him out the front.


He was a pretty crazy driver, he tells us that there aren’t many accidents, and everyone seems to be considerate of each other. He had no air con in the car, and keep apologising to us, we didn’t mind too much, we just wound down the windows and looked at all the crazy things. Street stalls and markets everywhere, mopeds and tok toks everywhere. Many people sitting 2up often side saddle, and not wearing helmets at 60kmph+ weaving in between speeding traffic, awesome!

This is the exact moment our honest new friend suddenly became just another Tourist scammer, as he lead us to a one hour tour along the river on some crazy DIY drag boat looking machines, They seemed to be large wooden canoes powered by huge exposed car engines spinning a prop, on which I’m sure was another rip off but had to be done.



Also waiting to prey on the naive un-tanned Tourists, were countless others peddling their umbrellas and postcards for ridiculous prices, this is where Rebekah makes the mistake of saying “I’ll be back” as they don’t forget a face, lol.
The boat takes us along the Chao Phraya River, seeing the submersed shacks, barges, water posties and houseboats was quite an experience.
We are taken to the Arun Royal Temple, while an amazing site was obviously another popular Tourist spot, as after posing behind a traditional Thai costume cut-out for a pic (with our own camera) a random girl comes out when finished asking for 40b per person, another cunning trap. The temple was pretty amazing, covered in pieces of broken crockery.



On the way back we are taken to a spot to feed some giant river Karp, which come to the surface to be fed bread by the tourists, on way being fleeced again by a floating river dairy guy, but it’s all good.
Once returning to the shore, Rebekahs promise of “I’ll be back” came back to haunt her, the umbrella was once again thrust in her face to cries of “you said you would buy!”

We explain how it was just to big to fit in our already bulging packs but he insisted on the 480b price tag, then 400b, then 350b then 250b, as the situation gets more heated he starts pushing Rebekah a little saying “you say you be back” as we walk away the final time, the umbrella is bought for 100b, less than ¼ what originally asked for (however still no room in the pack) that’s Thailand in a nutshell really.

We then return to our guide’s car, which has since overheated and is sitting with the bonnet open. We get on the road passing the lines of tanks and the smiling machine gun wielding soldiers (which looked about 15) and get a photo, He explains the need to get his air-con fixed, and we are then taken to an upmarket suit Tailor in town (James Fashion International), our driver explains we need 15mins for the air-con repair so we go and have a look, but within 15mins we are being measured up for our own top quality Tailored suits, good preparation for London job hunting but likely another planned stop, we think we got a good deal but who really knows.

We return to the hotel where another driver is ready to take us to the airport for our trip to Phuket. After a short flight we arrive in Phuket, and have the feeling our holiday has really just begun, the place has a far more friendly feel (and odour) and we quickly get a cab sorted to get to the hotel, but the driver informs us of a “compulsory stop” at a convenient travel agent trying to sell over priced tours to the islands, one time only limited deal and we had to pay then to get the “special” price but sounded like a rip so we politely declined.

The hotel is just past Patong beach which is a popular tourist spot in Phuket, and we are checked in to Patong Lodge Hotel which is a very cool laid back spot with the all important pool bar. We get some tea at the restaurant with an authentic pineapple Mai Tai which blew our heads off and cost about $4.

We headed off along long the shore line and got quite a buzz looking at the beautiful beach and little inlets along the way. This is a real tourist spot, there are restaurants and bars everywhere. It took us about 15 minutes to walk down to the little township. You can’t just go into a shop and have a look, you are hassled from the minute you walk in, and “they appear to believe” that their merchandise is authentic, and they spot you from a mile away, I was looking at the Gucci bags, I got price from 450 Baht down to 300 Baht, then next door was told 1500 Baht for the exact same bag, so funny. Sam was trying on different shorts in the shop, he was a bit shy and asked me to hold a sarong around him so he could change, five changes later he finally found a pair that fit, the Thai girls were trying to perve. Diesel all the way!!!

Then came the fun part, trying to get a good price… The local grabbed the calculator to show how much of a good price he was offering, pretending to do discounts, Johnny saw him type in 1150 then cancelled and press 1550, sooo funny.. Johnny and Sam laughed our heads off with the local staring at us with discontent and a local girl mocking Johnny’s laugh! Sam finally managed to get the price down after a few turns at negotiating to 500baht, a third of the original asking price. By the way, nothing in the shop has any prices... all of them are by negotiation only, don’t ever take the first offer, we are figuring so far that a third of the asking price isn’t bad. I guess us NZ’ers have a funny laugh, although she did ask if Johnny was single and offered him a friend of hers… very funny!!!

After Sam Finally decided on the shorts he was going to buy and also the singlet, we decided to head down the road to see a few of the sights along Patong beach, we ended up going to the first pub which we saw, which is the hard rock café, we were about to buy a drink when the dude at the bar, which was Australian… bloody Australians… always trying to get a quick buck… offered to have us in the pub, which had 3 live bands and some “bad girls” for 700 baht, we said no as we wanted to have a look around and see what else there was to offer, plus we didn’t want to get pissed for the first night in Phuket, the Australian came down to 600 baht a person, but we decided we wanted to carry on down the road to check things out, poor Australian missed out on a sale…

We then carried on to a place down the road, checking out the beach bars, and the temperature of the ocean, it was honestly like bath water!! So damn warm!!! We carried on down and found a bar where we brought a pina carlada which cost more than Sam’s T shirt and Shorts!!! But hey! We got free bar snacks… Carried on down the road to get some mix’s for all the duty free we brought, haha it almost costs us more to drink our own booze than buying it at the bar!!!

While drinking at the bar, you get whistled by the locals to sell stuff, like a wooden Harley!!! Also all the took tok drivers would toot trying to get you to catch a ride with them... so funny... We finish spending our $2NZ dollars on mixers and headed back to the hotel to have a few vodka’s… although we ended up just crashing…. The tired travellers…

Wednesday 27 September 2006 – (not that we keeping track, time is losing all meaning).

We started with a hearty breakfast, again got us through most of the day, though we have just ordered our first room service meal, it is 3.00pm, we have been by the pool (so nice) and enjoying liquid meals, nearly finished a l litre vodka in just a few hours, we realise that we are all piss heads, it must be true what they say about kiwi’s!

Well has been nice reflecting on our trip thus far, a shame we haven’t actually made it out of the complex today to see the landscape during the day, but we feel we needed a day of relaxation after such a tight schedule. All very burnt form the pool, and feeling really tidily!!!

It’s strange to think we would welcome the rain on holiday, we it’s really quite nice, we are all sitting around pissed, and laughing at each others burn marks! The rain drops are big, warm, and juicy, I guess its monsoon season, it only lasts a while, but quite nice to cool everything off. We’ve put some Kiwi music on the laptop, speakers are crap, but can have some familiarity of home. Its happy hour soon, we are over looking the pool bar, and a small crowd are gathering. Sam and Johnny are trying to figure out the sexual orientation of some foreign speaking tourists, they think they are from lesbiania! Amazing little creatures everywhere, Sam just consumed some alcohol with ant mixer. Crazy butterflies and wasps everywhere, and the biggest ants we have ever seen.

We headed down to the bar for “Happy time”, unfortunately we got the time wrong and only had one hour left, never mind, we were all very merry at this time anyway. Again no one around, this place seems very deserted, and although being told by dodgy travel planners that this was the high season, and very busy and expensive, it appears relatively quiet. We made friends with the bar tenders, one man in particular, he was very nice, and even let us play music from Sam’s ipod, he said he liked the kiwi music, but most probably just being polite. We had a couple of drinks, and the nicest kebabs ever, then decided to head back into Patong Township.



We took a tok tok into town, 100 Baht, quite a fun experience. Once there we discovered an art gallery, very cool, the artists sat along a wall, with their oil colour palates and created the most beautiful paintings. The big canvases were going for around 8000 Baht. Many of the paintings were replicas of famous paintings and photographs, however some were painted especially from tourist photographs and requests, and many were also from original photographs which the artists had taken themselves. Sam and I decided on two different paintings which we were partial to. I was so close to purchasing one in particular, so beautiful, the artist tells us that he took the photo when in Chang Mai. I’m still deciding whether to purchase it, he came down to 6000 Baht, but seems cheeky to barter the price of someone’s hard labour, took four days the paint the one I was interested in. However there is also the issue of luggage, we are all just under the limit, but may be able to post home.

We decided to walk further than previous night, and discovered a whole new side to Phuket, we thought it was quiet and respectable, however we were exposed the red light district. There were bars, and markets littered everywhere in the streets, so amazing to see this place come to life, every day here seems like the weekend. Go-Go dancers everywhere, and lady boys! While sitting at the bar, person after person approaches to sell random little items, they don’t take no as an answer, and often stand around waiting. Sam was quite amazed at some of the merchandise, in particular the giant sized lighter, which he wanted to purchase for Toby, very funny.

I got to hold an Iguana on my arm, it was about 1m long, the man took a photo, which I have, such amazing reptiles, I kind of felt sorry for it, but Sam said it looked pretty relaxed. There were men everywhere with them in the streets. Unfortunately we didn’t take our camera, so have no photos, but might go back tonight.

We were all pretty disgusted at the amount of older men that were prancing around with Thai women 1/3 their size, and probably age. Appeared to be prostitutes everywhere, trying to get men into the bars, they just sit at the bar not drinking, and waiting to prey on men as they come in, so gross. So many Australians here, they have lots of dedicated Australian bars, we often are approached by comments such as, “gidday mate” we quickly reply, “New Zealand, not Australia”, I so don’t want to be associated with seedy Australians that come over here for “good time”.

Were quite sad hearing stories from the locals about the Tsunami? One bar we were in had a solid wall of water above the bar, they told us they were happy that the photographs on the wall, were “luckily” not damaged. It’s so strange to think that such a disaster happened here, there is really not much evidence that it happened, everything seems new and clean, we did notice the trees on the beach were held in with huge steaks though, and a few empty lots along the shore line, lots of construction work happening.

On the way home we went to the beach, we sat thinking about how terrifying it must have been, and weird sitting along the spot the wave came in, quite scary really. But was also quite claming sitting there at mid night listening to the nature, so we figured we might as well have a quick dip, well Johnny and I (don’t worry mum, we just paddled) actually the undertow was quite strong, so we were very careful. Sam was amazed to watch the little crabs stroll along the beach.

We caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel, and all crashed out.

Thursday 28 September 2006

All very hung over today, Sam especially, but we managed to make breakfast and head to the pool for a refreshing swim, Sam and Johnny are having a nap, so I thought I catch up with diary entry, we’ve all been enjoying the narration of our journey, it’s quite nice reflecting on our experiences, so many first time things happening all the time, so much more which we haven’t recorded, but Sam says it’s getting I little wafflely, sorry.

Oh, dear, “Where’s my eftpos card?” Johnny asks. We all remember stopping to use ATM night before, and freak, Johnny searches pockets and various places in a panic, then calls parents to cancel card. Johnny then takes off to re trace steps, and luckily discovers that his card had been pulled back into the machine, how lucky is that!

Going to head into town today, and have a look around, we will catch a bus, then will need to organise a ferry to Phi Phi Island, and accommodation there. As we thought it is not going to be as expensive as the lady’s on the stop over tried to tell us, scare tactics!

After a swim we walked to Patong Township to organise our trip to Phi Phi Island, 800 Baht each for open return ticket, they will pick us up from the hotel tomorrow at noon. We then head off to town (Phuket) away from Patong for a change of scenery. The bus we caught was very old, we were surprised it made it up all the long winding roads. At one point the bus was travelling so slow it almost came to a stand still, and we thought it might roll back down the hill. It was loud and made random noises, scary, but also quick exciting to ride the local transport. Was interesting to see all the little villages along the way, quite different from Patong beach, a lot more poverty it appeared. Quite funny to see the tuk tuk drivers, many of which were young ‘boy racers’ some in souped up vehicles, you could see that they would properly race along the roads for fun, not so dis-similar from home!

We stopped at what we thought might be ‘town’ a big random flash shopping mall in the middle of no where, so when we asked the locals, “Shopping?” They nodded, “Yes, shopping”. Unfortunately this was not actually where we wanted to go, town was another 20 mins away, however it worked our well in the end, as the bus we were on was the last for the day, so by the time we had, had a quick looked around the multiplex, the bus was back, however we nearly missed it, and had to run across two three laned roads to get to the bus, which was about to leave us stranded! The shopping complex was obviously for tourists who want to buy ‘authentic’ things, everything here is actually priced, and much higher, and no movement on prices. Sam found his third Sony store for the trip, and had to compare prices for ipod speakers, Sam dropped his lip when I suggested that we didn’t really need them, and had no room any how!

Once back in Patong we walked along the beach to take in the beautiful surroundings, interesting watching the locals throw out their fishing lines etc. I collected some strange rocks and stones being washed up on the shore, many look like pieces of concrete, perhaps still washing up from Tsunami debris.



Once back we jumped straight in the pool, so hot here, sweat dripping off us, quite un bearable at times, thank goodness for the occasional air conditioned shops. Sam was exhausted, and nearly asleep, but decided to come as well.

We decided to head back to the markets we found last night and do a drop of shopping and find somewhere ‘authentically Thai’ for dinner, however this would come back to haunt Sam! We all needed an early night, so headed back to hotel around midnight.

Friday 29 September 2006

Poor Bek and Johnny woke to unusual sounds in the bathroom this morning, rather poor Sam, very un well, we are trying to figure out what would be the culprit. We try to get hold of tour person, and explain that only Johnny would go today, and to come and get us Saturday at noon, Sam not able to go anywhere. We decided the best place for him was in air conditioned room with toilet at his disposal. I think they will come back and get us tomorrow, hopefully Sam will be feeling better. We also hope they will still honour our tickets!

Sam and I stayed inside all day, very early night, I think our bodies where telling us we needed it!

Saturday 30 September 2006

Sam feeling better today, but still not eating, we packed up and were picked up at noon. Very over crowded mini bus, very hot, and had to travel about half an hour to the pier. So the ferry wasn’t anything like the picture, typical, been caught out a few times by this ploy. Very choppy, poor Sam feeling very sea sick, we first went down to bottom of boat, didn’t stay long, so strange yellow fluid was dripping on me, and giant sized cockroaches passing by my head. Up top was a bit nicer, but many people jet vomiting outside window, yuck. Trip was not 1 hour 15 min, so we were told, more like two hours, but we made it.

Johnny was waiting for us, although very hung over from night before meeting locals, and chicks from Ireland! As we came in on the boat, I saw (Sam head down) the most beautiful cliff formations, so beautiful here, just like a post card, unbelievable really.

Found place where Johnny booked in, lucky for us only one room left, not air con. But brand new bungalow with amazing views and flushing toilet (bonus, trust me). Johnny is gutted because we got it very cheap, not much more than what Johnny paid for a grotty old bungalow with what appears to be raw sewage coming out all taps, he’s trying to up grade, but no rooms as yet.

All toilets here are as grotty as I’ve seen, no toilet paper, and if use your own it can’t go in toilet, has to go in un lined waste basket, the flushing system is scooping water from rubbish bin along side, nice! But shouldn’t complain really, this place was hit hard by Tsunami, a lot of construction happening everywhere. This place feels less like a tourist stop, although are many, very under developed, but good to see the ‘real’ Thailand, not that we’re roughing it that much in our beautiful little bungalow!





Johnny took us to a little bar right on the beach, couldn’t stop looking at the views, hard to believe we’re actually here, so amazing, like nothing we’ve ever experienced. Johnny ordered a bucket, ‘a bucket? Yes a bucket of Thai concoction, Thai whiskey, red bull and others? And it actually comes in a bucket, one with five straws, Sam still not eating/drinking, so Johnny and I shared, two! My god, very drunk after that! Sam decided to have early night, and Johnny and I continued, saw some night life, very cool, lots of fire dancing, incredible experience, very talented, some boys looked only 14/15 years old.





Meet some very nice people, our neighbours are form Holland, and Cop a local at the bar, is very taken by as, first New Zealanders he has meet. He told us about the Tsunami, obviously very hard for him to recall, he lost many friends, one of which was running up the mountain with him, and was taken from behind him, quite terrifying hearing his first hand account.

Sunday 01 October 2006

Early start, Johnny arrived to have ‘clean’ shower. Walked around, had breakfast, and organised a tour for tomorrow or Tuesday depending on weather. One day trip around many Islands, Viking cave, Monkey beach, Maya Bay (where the beach was filmed) and many others, kayaking, snorkelling included and food etc. Can’t wait.

Well we have finally found somewhere to use internet, quite a few places here, unlike Phuket, sorry taken so long, but as you can see, we have been keeping a journal of adventures. Wish you could all be here, we definitely would recommend this to anyone, experience of a life time.

Mum, Dad and Shane Hill...
Hello, missing you all very much, mum, dad I can understand how much fun you had on your holiday, so fantastic being exposed to so many different things, real eye opener, and great to be out of comfort zone. How’s my baby, I hope rats is being kind to her, I hope you’re letting her stay on your bed!!! Or on her ruggy, Sam and I are missing her very much. Were quite home sick other night when Sam was sick, only place you want to be is home really!

Allena
You so have to do this one day, miss you heaps, and wish you were here. Hope studies are going well. Is there anything you want me to get, some nice Gucci bags, wallets etc?

Jo and Brent
Only been a week but feels much longer, times stands still when on holiday. I’m taking your advice Jo and picking up bits and pieces, to remember my time here, so many wonderful things, hard to decide what I want. Hate to look at bank account, seem to be spending a lot of money, but hard to no, because have to convert everything. Jo hope you’re keeping well, missing you.

Maria, and Aubert teachers and children,
Far out, so many things I wish I could bring back to show you all, just looking at bugs in glass cases, quite scary seeing huge bugs, beetles and spiders, hope I don’t see any of those ones, so interesting to look at though. We’ve seen some really interesting insects here, just saw tiny black frogs all over pavement, the size of pinkie nail, very cute, but was scared I would stand on them, so I got left behind, trying to avoid them. Huge big millipedes everywhere, like great big fat worms with feet! I hope you got my postcard from Aussie, another on the way. You might like to print out some pics for children to look at, all decent I think. Love to you all, missing you all very much, hope all is well, be in touch soon.

Steve, Amanda, Blair and Kate,
Hello, hope everything is well, wow, it’s so hot here, but so beautiful. Blair we will hopefully go on an elephant ride soon, will be fun, but scary being up so high. I had a big Iguana on my shoulder the other day (like a giant lizard), was so cool, you would have liked it, I’ll send you a photo. Big crabs on the beach here too, the size of dinner plates!!! I’ll have to watch my step. Love to all xxx

Mum, Dad and Toby Wells
Hey guys! Sorry contact has been very limited as we have found it hard to find time and secure places to get online. I am loving it so far (except for the 36hrs of stomach terror) and can’t wait to see all this Phi Phi has to offer, by far the best place we have been to, wish you guys were here to experience it. Hope to talk soon once we figure out how to make reasonable priced calls, I will be in touch, SFW.



Hazards:
Taxis
Water and ice, trying to avoid.
Mosquito’s
The sun (Johnny tells us, “we are right on the equator, well just above it”, no wonder so hot)!
Most food, especially meats, avoiding at all costs.