The early wet season seems to be causing a lot of trouble. At least 20 people were killed a couple of days ago in a flash flood at a waterfall in Trang. Meanwhile, the terrorism in the south continues with an attack on a passenger train heading to Malaysia, also only a couple of days ago.
I think it's time I went to Australia ...
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Monday 16 April 2007
Thursday 5 April 2007
Geckos
These little guys, called Geckos pop up everywhere. Shy little lizardy things. Most of them are tiny, although you get the occasional really big one, called Tokays - Got a bit of a fright the first time I saw one of them, they're about a foot long (as opposed to the normal 5cm).
They're super fast (and really scared of us), so I haven't managed to get a picture of a real one yet. I'll post one up as soon as I do.
... Here we go, as promised, a picture of a real Gecko ...
They're super fast (and really scared of us), so I haven't managed to get a picture of a real one yet. I'll post one up as soon as I do.
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| From Thailand Phot... |
... Here we go, as promised, a picture of a real Gecko ...
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Wat Pho, Bangkok
We headed to Wat Pho in Bangkok (before we headed south) to kill some time. Glad we went. A very impressive, golden reclining Buddha that barely fits in the temple.
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| From Thailand Phot... |
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Tom Collins'
I'd didn't try it, but they have a cocktail called 'Tom Collins' for sale in Haad Rin.
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Look at this. One of the most realistic sculptures I've ever seen. This is better than Madam Tussauds ...
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| From Thailand Phot... |
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Krabi
After our long stay at Koh Phan Ngan we headed for a short stop to Krabi on the opposite coast of the Thai peninsula. We were just using this as a jumping off point for heading to Malaysia, but the place itself is nice enough - very beach resorty and everything a little more expensive as a result.
Monday 2 April 2007
Snorkelling at Koh Tao
We took a snorkeling trip for the day from Koh Phan Ngan to Koh Tao - a smaller island further north. A lot of the diving trips are run from up here because the water is so clear and there's loads of coral. Our first stop was at a tiny trio of islands called Koh Nang Yuan just off the coast of Koh Tao. The three islands are connected by a sandy beach - absolutely beautiful, I've never seen a resort area like this, take a look ...
We did a little snorkeling off the beaches here and then we took a trip out to a different part of Koh Tao for more snorkeling - very nice. I think I'd like to come back here in a couple of years for a diving holiday. Apparently it's the cheapest place in the world to learn to scuba dive and get your certification (maybe 250Eur for a weeks scuba diving).
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
We did a little snorkeling off the beaches here and then we took a trip out to a different part of Koh Tao for more snorkeling - very nice. I think I'd like to come back here in a couple of years for a diving holiday. Apparently it's the cheapest place in the world to learn to scuba dive and get your certification (maybe 250Eur for a weeks scuba diving).
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
Sunday 1 April 2007
Why is it so quiet?
I couldn't get this out of my head for some time now. At a lot of my stops around Thailand I had been thinking that it was a little quieter than it should be. At first I put it down to that it wasn't really the busy season. Up north and in Laos was a real backpackers trail so I never expected to see vacationers anyway, but when I arrived back in Bangkok from Saigon it all just seemed a little too quiet - loads of room in the hotels, not that many people hanging around Khao San. We were told that we'd need to book ahead for the full moon party down south because it would get too full but this didn't seem to be the case either. Whenever we asked Thai people they just got uncomfortable and didn't want to answer. When we were chatting to the owner of the mini golf we were finally able to get a better answer. He had noticed a serious drop in his business since the coup back in November (in fact, as far as I could tell we were the only people to play golf there that day) and he said everyone else in the area had noticed the same.
Interesting when you think about it - Thailand is now under military rule, ... Dictatorship? ... And all its neighbors are too - Myanmar is a military dictatorship, Laos and Vietnam are one party communist states while Cambodia is still in the midst of a painful recovery, desperately fighting rampant corruption after the Pol Pot era.
Anyway, phrases like "coup" and "military rule" don't bode well for any country's tourism sector and I imagine Thailand must be feeling the effects as people choose the south of Spain this year instead. This military rule definitely in effect too - I read that they have imposed curfews in parts of the deep south where separatist violence has been occurring and anti coup groups and protesters are being arrested and jailed in Bangkok. The government have promised elections next November, but doesn't that sound like an oddly far away date? I wonder will an election be ever held?
Interesting when you think about it - Thailand is now under military rule, ... Dictatorship? ... And all its neighbors are too - Myanmar is a military dictatorship, Laos and Vietnam are one party communist states while Cambodia is still in the midst of a painful recovery, desperately fighting rampant corruption after the Pol Pot era.
Anyway, phrases like "coup" and "military rule" don't bode well for any country's tourism sector and I imagine Thailand must be feeling the effects as people choose the south of Spain this year instead. This military rule definitely in effect too - I read that they have imposed curfews in parts of the deep south where separatist violence has been occurring and anti coup groups and protesters are being arrested and jailed in Bangkok. The government have promised elections next November, but doesn't that sound like an oddly far away date? I wonder will an election be ever held?
Friday 30 March 2007
Our Koh Phan Ngan Beach Hut
Arriving at our beach hut on Koh Phan Ngan we were in for a pleasant surprise. Just look at this ... it's right on the beach!!!
As the full moon party approaches the the guest house is getting busier and busier, although the area still seems quiet - There's loads of bars around with nobody in them near our guesthouse. The only busy place seems to be Hat Rin (where the full moon party will be on).
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| From Thailand Phot... |
As the full moon party approaches the the guest house is getting busier and busier, although the area still seems quiet - There's loads of bars around with nobody in them near our guesthouse. The only busy place seems to be Hat Rin (where the full moon party will be on).
The Beach
Traffic here on Koh Samui seemed a lot more manageable here than other places we'd seen, so we felt comfortable renting a scooter for the day. Only 200Baht (4Eur). It was quite nice to tour the island at your own pace. We passed a mini golf course and decided to drive up the dirt track to it. The place was empty except for the owner, so we headed in for the laugh. Half way through we went to the bar on the course for a not so well deserved break :-). The owner there was a really nice German guy. He had "The Beach" on DVD and he'd never seen it before. I saw it first when it came to the cinema (9 years ago?) but not since - perfect time and place to watch it since it's based around Samui, Phan Ngan and Ang Thong (where I'd only been the day before). It was great watching it with the owner - he'd been here six years and he was able to tell us all the locations and was getting nostalgic about how it had all changed. Interestingly, he was able to confirm that hippy communities do in fact exist on some of the islands, just like in the film ... cool!
Buy a Brick
We stopped at the "Big Buddha" on Koh Samui (Not so big by the way). The people here are trying to build a new temple and were looking for donations. They had a really cool idea, which was to allow visitors to buy a brick for the new temple - 20Baht (40c). You get to buy the brick, sign it and some day it will be part of the new temple when it gets built. I like it :-)
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| From Thailand Phot... |
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Ang Thong
We visited Ang Thong National Marine park on a day trip from Koh Samui. The park is a collection of islands off the coast of Thailand that border on the supernatural! One of the stops featured the "Emerald Lake" that was the setting for the film "The Beach". Spectacular! It's a saltwater lake hidden inside in the middle of the island with an underground cave route to the sea. The photos really don't do it justice.
We also did snorkling beside one of the islands. It was the first time I'd ever done snorkling, but it was a lot of fun. Some of the underwater views you'd get are class! Lots and lots of strange fish here.
We also did a little bit of sea kayaking where we kayaked between a couple of small islands.
The whole place just seemed out of this world - you can see why some people just don't want to leave.
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| From Thailand Phot... |
We also did snorkling beside one of the islands. It was the first time I'd ever done snorkling, but it was a lot of fun. Some of the underwater views you'd get are class! Lots and lots of strange fish here.
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
We also did a little bit of sea kayaking where we kayaked between a couple of small islands.
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| From Thailand Aqua... |
The whole place just seemed out of this world - you can see why some people just don't want to leave.
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| From Thailand Phot... |
Tuesday 27 March 2007
Moving South 26-3-2007
Next we went down south to hit some of the islands. Koh Samui, Koh Phan Ngan, then back to the mainland at Krabi. We really wanted to see Ang Thong marine park (where "the beach" was set) and catch a full moon party at Hat Rin. We'd spend about a week and a half around here before heading on to Malaysia.
Sunday 25 March 2007
Ayuthaya
We took a day trip out of Bangkok to visit the old capital of Ayutthaya. They moved the capital to Bangkok a little over 200 years ago after the Burmese sacked the place. It's quite interesting and some of the old temples there, would have been in use until they abandoned the place, are beautiful. When you look closely you'll see that a lot of the temple walls still look scorched after the Burmese burned the city.
A lot of the Buddha statues here would once have been covered in gold, but when the city was sacked they burned the statues to melt the gold off and take it away.
Also notice how all the smaller Buddha statues are beheaded - Talk about a symbolic stab in the heart to your enemy!
My favourite temple here was a temple they had built in the Khmer style after the Thai beat them - hence it looks very like Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
After the city was sacked somebody picked up one of the severed Buddha heads and laid it against a tree, where it stayed. As the tree grew, its roots curled around the head making it look like the head is part of the tree ...
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| From Thailand Photo... |
A lot of the Buddha statues here would once have been covered in gold, but when the city was sacked they burned the statues to melt the gold off and take it away.
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| From Thailand Photo... |
Also notice how all the smaller Buddha statues are beheaded - Talk about a symbolic stab in the heart to your enemy!
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| From Thailand Photo... |
My favourite temple here was a temple they had built in the Khmer style after the Thai beat them - hence it looks very like Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
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| From Thailand Photo... |
After the city was sacked somebody picked up one of the severed Buddha heads and laid it against a tree, where it stayed. As the tree grew, its roots curled around the head making it look like the head is part of the tree ...
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| From Thailand Photo... |
The Nicest Toilet in the Thailand
On our way back from our trip to Ayutthaya our guide stopped us at a Buddhist temple, which, he said, "has the nicest toilet in the world." Hilarious :-) I frequented it "just to say I did it." Not quite the nicest toilet in the world, but certainly the nicest in Thailand so far :-).
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| From Thailand Phot... |
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| From Thailand Phot... |
My New Suit
The two of us got our final fitting done in the tailor back in Bangkok. Really cool - never had something fit so exactly. Nici got a dress and it looked really nice. We'll see how they last now. Full suit, silk tie and three shirts, all tailor made, for just over 200eur ... and this wasn't even the cheapest place around, prices go rock bottom around Kho San road (although the quality there might be questionable). I might even get them to make me a leather jacket when I get back, if I like the quality of the suit ... as far as I know it's only about 250eur for a leather jacket. If I ever need more shirts I can just call him up now since they have my measurements. Deadly :-)
Making the Most of Tuk-Tuk "Scams"
The weekend is "coupon day" for most of the Tuk Tuk drivers in Bangkok. This means that if they can convince tourists to make a stop on their journey to a jewelery shop, a tailor or a souvenier shop and have them look around for 15mins (or even better buy something), the shop will buy the Tuk Tuk driver his petrol. The upside of this is that the driver will usually drop his prices very low just to get you to take a journey (since the petrol is worth quite a bit to him). We had a lot of time on our hands in Bangkok, so we played along with these schemes for the day getting driven everywhere for no more than 50c a pop ... and all we had to do is look around a few jewelery shops on the way. We never bought anything of course ... Good deal we thought :-)
Chatuchak Weekend Market
The last stop on the skytrain going north drops us at Chatuchak market - the worlds largest open air market. Everything is for sale - it's amazing! Souvenier heaven if you're a tourist, but also much much more. You can buy anything from rare birds to antique backscratchers. We didn't even get to explore a 10th of the place, but I've taken note for part of a future shopping trip ;-)
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