Welcome to Thailand! Coming back to Southeast Asia, I remember exactly why I absolutely fell in love with Thailand back in 1999: the friendly people, gorgeous cuisine, remarkable sophistication and style amongst a backdrop of pollution and chaos... I always knew that I'd be back, and am surprised it took me 8 years to make it happen!
After our HORRIBLE experience at the Beijing airport (involving a cancelled flight and a nasty shoving match at the Cathay Pacific ticket counter) we made it to Bangkok very late at night... We came immediately to our friend Saz's apartment here in Sathorn, very close to the beautiful Lupini Park.... A very relaxing week with Saz, chilling out by the pool and eating copious amounts of noodles at the local curry house Om Yim's, before our Mums both arrived on the morning of April 03...
Rachel has been to Thailand and the far east before, so she pretty much knew what to expect when she stepped off the plane... but Johnna, on the other hand, has had very little experience traveling overseas and found Bangkok to live up to its reputation as one of the busiest, loudest, and most exciting cities in the world... "wide-eyed" doesn't even begin to describe her initial reaction to the scenes of daily life taking place outside our hotel, on Soi Wattinasin in the little neighborhood of Pratunam... Her first few days were largely spent sleeping off a massive case of jet lag in the sub-zero air conditioning, although we did manage to squeeze in a full morning of sightseeing at the Grand Palace: an absolute must for any visitor to Thailand. The weather has been consistently BOILING: Alas, this is the hot season and temperatures have not disappointed, often reaching 110F (43C) by mid-afternoon. We celebrated my 37th birthday with the staff at Om Yims, complete with pressies and and cake with candles... all thanks to Paul!
On the 7th, Paul's sister Christina arrived from Israel and early the following morning we took off for the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya... I pre-booked our accommodation at a fantastic guesthouse, the Old Palace Resort, where we soon met the owner Mr. Ott and his helper, an adorable little old Thai man that we soon dubbed "Mr. Ott's Dad." The setting was like a rain forest, the rooms impeccable, and our interactions with Mr. Ott and his "Dad" were truly hysterical and unforgettable. During our stay, we visited the ruins of the old capital, had a fantastic Thai full body massage, chowed down on Tom Yum Goong, survived a torrential thunderstorm (complete with an electrical blackout), and hired a river boat driver named Eekmarion for a cruise to an elephant camp... Johnna had never been so close to an elephant, but eventually recovered from her apprehensions enough to pet and feed a few of the big guys... She absolutely loved it.
After a few days, we headed even further north by train towards the littel provincial town of Phitsanulok and the ancient ruined cities of Sukothai and Si Sichanilai... This time around, we stayed in a massive, posh hotel complex called the La Paloma that we unanimously agreed was one of the weirdest hotel experiences of our lives!
When we checked in, the lobby and restaurant were completely deserted, and although it was mid-afternoon, there were no lights on in the hotel at all: the long hallways, bar area, cafe, and grand lobby were lit only by indirect sunlight, adding to the feeling of complete abandonment. We were assigned 3 rooms on the top floor of the hotel, and after 4 days of further inspection of the property, we concluded that this was the only floor that was even being used... The huge pool area included massive marble changing rooms that had been boarded up; the second floor was full of billiard and gaming rooms that apparently hadn't been used in years... This place is CREEPY to say the very least, like something out of a post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi movie!
Not wanting to hang around what we now called "the Shining hotel," we spent our days out exploring the area. Not many people speak English in Phitsanulok, which made for many memorable experiences attempting to order food from all-Thai language menus and trying to navigate around city and it's surroundings.... All in all, we loved it and had quite a good laugh. The ruins at Sukothai and Si Sichanilai are truly breathtaking, and although the heat got the best of us in the end, we still had a fantastic four day stay here. Highlights include: the amazing shishkebabs at the riverside food fair (we went twice); shopping for dresses with Johnna in the back-alley garment district; listening to terrible outdoor karaoke; pouring water on Buddha images outside the Wat Demichai.
On April 13th, we boarded an early morning train (5am!) for the 8-hour ride to Chiang Mai, just in time for the Thai New Year and water festival, Songkran. Songkran in Chiang Mai is a crazy and MASSIVE event, drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over Thailand and around the world. The water festival could be more accurately described as the "water-throwing"festival, as crowds of soaked and screaming revelers line the city streets chucking buckets of water at cars, motorbikes, bystanders: basically anything passing by! It all makes for a very wet and wild experience... We spent the next 3 days dodging a constant barrage of water guns, shopping the famous Night Bazaar, and lounging in the air conditioning as sizzling temperatures persisted throughout the rest of our holiday in northern Thailand. By the way, Paul and I will be heading back to Chiang Mai for a full month, starting on or about the 24th of May... I am so looking forward to having much more time explore this amazing city.
NEXT ENTRY: Holiday in Cambodia! More soon! x Jason
1 comments:
I think Thailand is the perfect country to explore on any budget. It's reputation for being backpacker friendly is undeniable, but for those of you with a larger budget, an adventure of the highest order also awaits. With a tropical climate and cities teeming with culture and colour, Thailand entices visitors back each year. The relatively undiscovered nature of this country means that Thailand property prices here remain far below those in the more established European markets, although they are growing quickly and strongly soon.
My favorite place in Thailand is Ayutthaya. This central Thailand province is home to Ayutthaya – Thailand’s former capital and one of the country’s leading tourist attractions. Today’s Ayutthaya has been on UNESCO’s world heritage list since 1991 and is full of important reminders of the area’s former glory. With three rivers and a large canal encircling Ayutthaya, boats (particularly long tail boats) represent an ideal way to access the city’s various historical sites. They are also by far the best way to appreciate the province’s 2,556 square kilometers of landscapes and views. Being so close to the capital, Ayutthaya can be approached as a day out or an extended visit.
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