It was time to leave Chaing Mai and travel south to the air polluted city of Bangkok. We chose to fly for efficiency versus a 10 hour bus or train ride. The flight is less than an hour and costs only $40 US. If we could have avoided Bangkok we would have but we decided to spend one more night and see the sights. In our minds, the highlights include the Grand Palace and kick boxing. The backpacker section of Bangkok is called Khaosan Rd. We had been forewarned by other travelers but we had to see for ourselves. The entire street is filled with low cost backpacker hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping. We picked a midrange hotel from the guide book because it was still hot and we would require air conditioning. Our destination was the Khaosan Palace hotel and it was definitely no palace.
The taxi pulled into a busy and chaotic street and dropped us off in the middle of ‘Farang Central’-- foreigners, souvenir shops and bars seemed to cover every inch. We checked into our lovely suite- no sheets, no towels, no toilet paper and a combo toilet /shower. It did have air conditioning and it was quiet. The best thing about the tourist ghettos is that everything is handy and close by. We walked the street up one side and down the other, fighting our way through the maze of people and street vendors.
At dinner time we really messed up. In an effort to get off Khaosan Road we walked several blocks away soaking up the very local night market culture but found nothing we thought would be safe to eat. In frustration, we flagged down a Tuk-Tuk and tried to ask how long it would take to get to Hard Rock Cafe. He did not speak English and had no idea what Hard Rock was but after a forty minute ride through the smog and congestion we arrived. We both had carbon monoxide poising but we were happy to be someplace that we could get a good dinner. It was the Hard Rock Cafe’s seventh anniversary and everything was 20% off. If your bill came to 1,600 Baht (40 US) you would get a free hard rock T-shirt. We actually ordered a couple of different specialty drinks-none of which were very good and an extra meal because the first meal Karen got was terrible. At the end our bill was not high enough so we did not get the free T-shirt. It sure is cheap in Thailand. We took an enclosed Taxi back to "the palace" and climbed into our sheetless beds.
I awoke the next morning; my fever, cough and runny nose had returned. I did not care how amazing the Grand Palace was I wanted out of this city. Bangkok is the home of 8 million people and is in the top five most polluted cities in the world. It does have interesting things to offer if your body will let you. Karen had no problem with the air-pollution but it was kicking my butt. If you are going to be in Bangkok then the must sees are: Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaeo, Vinanmak Mansion, Weekend Market at Chatuchak Park, Thai Kick Boxing, Jim Thompson’s House, Patpong Road (GoGo bar, night life, sex shows) and the floating market. Let us know how you like since we missed it.
Places to visit in Thailand, things of do in thailand
I would be sick again for the next three days and the coughing was so severe my brain hurt. I actually had to go and see another doctor to help control the cough. When we arrived in Singapore I decided that a doctor visit would be wise. I still thought I had malaria. I explained in detail to a Harvard educated doctor all my symptoms and history. She went through the looking at my throat, ears and my nose. She had one of those magnifying things that they use to get a real close up view of the various body orifices. She got to my nose, stuck in the black tip of her viewer and quickly retreated. I could only think that she had just seen a huge magnified bugger and it made her very very afraid. She then pointed out that "YOU HAVE NO NOSE HAIR." It did not occur to me as to why this was a problem. Only last week, Karen made me cut a nose air that was out of place.... it has something to do with being over thirty. The doctor then explained that without nose hair your body is defenseless and that is why the air-pollution was making me so sick. The nose air acts as a natural filter that keeps out dust and other nasty little things. She gave me some runny nose medicine, nose drops and cough medicine. I was going to ask her what I should do to get my nose hair to grow back but I don’t think modern science has had a need to address that issue.
Our next stop was a three hour bus ride to Kanchanaburi and home of the "Bridge over the River Kwai." We decided to go to Kanchanaburi because it is a province spread over 20,000 km of mountains and rivers and we thought cool air. Our guide book pointed us in the direction of the southern bus station about thirty minutes out of town, so we jumped in a taxi, instructed him to the Southern bus station and we even gave him the address. After ten minutes of driving we realized he was going the wrong way. We showed him on our map where we wanted to go. They do not teach map reading in Thailand schools because even with a map that had major rivers and sections he could not figure out were we wanted to go. The next step was to tell him "BUS", "KANCHANABURI" hoping he would put two and two together. He quoted us a fixed price so he was not trying to rip us off he just had no idea where he was going. After some time he pulled out a map with Thai markings and I pointed to Kanchanaburi. He now understood and tried to quote us a price to drive us there. This guy couldn’t even find the bus station and he thought we would hire him to drive us three hours. After thirty minutes he dropped us off at the bus station and we ran to catch our bus.
After a short two hour bus ride, we arrived at a bus station and everyone got off. We had arrived somehow an hour early so we grabbed our stuff and headed for the tourist office. We were only going to stay a couple of days before heading by train further south. The River Kwai is covered with floating restaurants and guest houses at extremely cheap rates. It also turns out that Kanchanaburi is the hottest place in all of Thailand. Our goal was to find another air-conditioned room and we hired the only available local taxis-two guys riding trishaws, a three wheeled bike with a place for the rider to sit in the back, quoted us a price and we each climbed in our own taxi. It was too damn hot to do anything. Our luck continued and every guest house we went to either did not have air or the air-conditioned rooms were full or they were very rustic. We finally settled on Rick’s Lodge for a water, beer, water and more beer. I walked up the river and found the same answer everywhere I went. We checked into a non air-conditioned room and would try again tomorrow. Our room was a bi-level bungalow on the river. The downstairs was spacious enough to fit our packs and the upstairs held a mattress and fan. The roof was thatch and it had indoor plumbing-it would have been perfect in 70 degree temperatures. It turns out that tomorrow was Anzac day or Australia/New Zealand Memorial Day. There were lots of VIPs in town including the Australian Prime Minister for the ceremony at the war cemetery. April 25, 1915, Australia and New Zealand Army corps landed on the Gallipoli peninsula to open the Dardanelles campaign of World War I and on this day Anzac day is celebrated.
During World War II the Japanese used POW labor to build a bridge over the River Kwai. Under normal circumstances the bridge should have taken five years but the prisoners completed it 18 months in the worst imaginable conditions. Over 13,000 POW’s died building the bridge and the railroad. Over 80,000 Asians from Thailand and Burma also died from malnutrition and malaria in construction of the railroad that would be connected by the bridge. Upon completion of the bridge, which was vital for Japanese supplies in and out of Burma, the allies bombed it. In an effort to prevent the bombing the Japanese soldiers filled the bridge with POW’s who saluted the pilots as they dropped their bombs. History is important, we should strive to study and understand it so these tragedies will never happen again. Many of the POW’s were from Australia but almost every allied country had POW’s in Kanchanaburi. Those that died during the war are buried at a war memorial in the center of town. The United States had less than 100 POW’s die here during the war but it is the custom of the US to bring the soldiers home for burial in the United States. We attended the memorial service and I felt a huge sense of loss in seeing the children of so many soldiers who had had their fathers taken from them by war.
The goal for the afternoon was to rent a car and drive north under our own direction to some quiet resort near the garden-of-Eden-like Erawan Falls. The car rental was a disaster. We found a pizza restaurant in town that doubled as an agent for Hertz. I do not think these guys had anything to do with Hertz Rental Car but were only using the name and logo for the tourists. We order lunch and were told that they had one car left but it had just been returned so it was being cleaned and inspected. After two hours I prompted our rental guy/waiter- how much longer? He got on the phone and returned with- it is almost ready it should not be much longer. Thirty minutes went by and I started to ask more questions. The next move was to load us up into his car and he would drive us to where the car was being serviced. He dropped us off at a tire shop and handed us over to a young lady who spoke no English. We filled out paperwork and then knew we were in trouble when they could not take a credit card because their manual imprinter had expired. Don’t ask- that's what they said. We had now been at this location for an hour and I had had enough. A very nice gentleman who spoke English tried to explain some of the shortcomings of Thai culture and conducting business. Thais don’t do anything on schedule and everyone is late that is just considered the way it is. We told him we are familiar with this it is called doing everything on Island time. Progress had finally been made and we were taken to the garage where no less than six people were cleaning the mess out of our jeep. I then noticed that the jeep had no steering wheel until one of the mechanics put it back on. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. Why in the world would you need to take off the steering wheel? OK all set. Somebody decides to turn off the Jeep and then try and turn it back on. The jeep would not start, no problem four guys go over to another Jeep and take out that battery. The only problem was that the Jeep about to donate its battery belonged to the Safari Tour Company. I had enough called the whole thing off and I just wanted to be out of Thailand. It was now 6:00 PM and we had started this at rental car procedure at 1:00 PM. Just outside of town was the Felix resort, it looked very nice and we decided that we would give in and pay whatever the cost. Our only problem now was getting there in a town with no taxis. One of the guys we had been talking to was extremely embarrassed about how badly everything had gone so he gave us a ride to the Felix resort. We got a very nice four star room for $50 and we would catch a train tomorrow night for our journey south. We checked in and made a beeline for the swimming pool.
The plan was to catch a train south to Surat Thani but we wanted to avoid returning to Bangkok. Kanchanburi is west of Bangkok so it is not on the southern train route. We consulted our map and arranged for a private car to take us to the city of Ratchnaburi for a 9:30 PM train. This would be our first train ride and we were hoping to get some sleep. Second class sells out quickly on Thai trains so we were forced to upgrade to first class. I was still very sick from my head- crushing cough and had no problem with a private sleeper. The train ride was uneventful and after a quick tour of second class in search of food, I was glad to have a nice cozy room. I had to make my way to the food car and learned the kitchen was closed because the cook was in bed. After looking at the kitchen I was grateful for the early closure.
Our final destination was Phuket the tourist beach resort area of Thailand. Southern Thailand has some of the best beaches in Asia and probably in the world. On the east side is the Gulf of Thailand and on the west is the Andaman Sea. We have heard rave reviews about beautiful palm-lined beaches, awesome seafood, and good snorkeling. We would have to take a bus from Surat Thani to Phuket but we did not have a good handle on how this was going to happen. Our train was late so the bus for Phuket had already left. We would need to wait an hour or so for the next train to come in and we would be able to catch that scheduled bus. The bus company is Songserm travel and they have a nice setup. They fill up a private bus at the train station and take you to their company station. They also have boat departures to Ko Samui from the same location. The bus ride was about five hours but they showed a couple of movies and the air-conditioning was working so we were happy. We arrived into Phuket and were dropped off on a side street and were immediately surrounded by Tuk-Tuk drivers wanting to take us to a hotel. We grabbed our bags jumped in our Tuk-Tuk and headed for the tourism office. It was supposed to be the low season and we were hoping to get a good deal at a nice sea side resort. The area has numerous $500 a night resorts and we were tempted. We settled on Karon beach and the Marina Cottages. It was $80 US a night and had bungalow style rooms. I was in no mood to do anything because of my coughing fits so I retired early and slept for 16 hours.
Karen had her heart set on renting a jeep and touring the area. I was not too excited about driving on the left side of the road and the jeep was a stick-shift that made it difficult because my left hand has never had to do that before. It only takes about four hours to see everything but our first stop was the Shell museum. Karen was at full tilt talking about her sea shell collection as a kid. She explained all the requirements and procedures of shell collecting. You have to have a small and large shell to make the collection complete. It was also important to find a live shell so that your shell would have the little door on its opening. You take the live shell and place it in the backyard and after some time you have a shell to add to the collection. This of course is done at the expense of a smelly backyard. I will officially go on record that I really enjoyed the shell museum. They boasted of having the largest collection of shells from around the world and I believe it. According to my resident shell expert all the greatest shells come from shell beach in Thailand and parts of Indonesia. It was great to see the child in Karen want to come out and play with shells. Karen is hoping that her childhood shell collection is stuck in an attic someplace at home. I will be the first one to help her dust each shell and help her add to her childhood memories.,
For the most part the Phuket beach area is uneventful. It doesn't help that Karen and I both grew up in Florida the home of the best beaches in the world. We planned the following day to do a Kayak tour with Andaman Sea Kayak Tour in Pnam Nang bay for 2600 baht each. The islands are actually huge limestone rock formations west of Phuket that have hollow centers. You can only get to the centers at low tide through natural caves. We do not have this in Florida so we were excited. We boarded a large boat for a two hour ride out to the islands. One of the islands was made famous in the James Bond movies "The man with the Golden Gun" and "Tomorrow never dies" so they renamed it to James Bond Island. The itinerary varies every day because of the timing of low tide. The guide did a very good job explaining what we would be doing and the reasons why. He also did this with a sense of comedy that has been rehearsed numerous times to tourists. The kayaks are made of a special material that prevents the sharp rock and oyster beds from punching a hole in the bottom. The kayaks are filled with air and have enough room for two passengers and a guide. The guide actually does all the paddling so you get to sit back and enjoy.
We motor past James Bond Island and through gorgeous unique rock formations standing alone in the middle of a green sea. The rocks were tall oddly shaped limestone (why the water is green) columns with jungle-like vegetation growing up the sides. Today is sunny and hot but the way it should be when you have on your bathing suit and about to get in the water. The center of the islands are filled with mangroves and the water is a sparkling limestone green. At first we paddled around the outside area killing time until the tide was low enough to allow us to enter. The ocean currents have carved small passage ways to the center of each island and when the tide gets low enough you can navigate the kayak to the center. If you are claustrophobic this adventure may not be for you. We prepared to enter our first passage so Karen and I both laid down and tried to become as flat as possible. This is difficult because neither of us are very flat. Our guide leaned over backwards to the rear of the boat and used his hands to push our way through the cave. We had both managed to get below the rails of our kayak. The rocks would scrape along the top of the kayak and if you looked up you would see a live oyster three inches from your face. The reward on the other side was worth it. Inside the island were huge cliffs reaching to the sky protecting an untouched ecosystem. It was calm, peaceful and everyone was under strict no-noise orders. This area is home to the mud skippers, a running fish, and if you looked hard enough you would find them hugging a rock or tree trying to figure out how these tourists got into their protected home. We spent the day visiting these island sanctuaries and I was happy that I came to Thailand.
- It was time to move on and we picked Phi Phi Island as our next stop. Phi Phi Island is a two hour ferry boat ride from Phuket but it is situated between the mainland of Thailand and the peninsula of the Phuket region. After a couple of days we would catch another boat to the mainland of Thailand. It was a good travel route and we were excited to be heading to an island with no roads or cars. We grabbed our gear and began the hunt for an air-conditioned room. As tourists, we were greeted by numerous people hoping to land a commission. A nice young lady grabbed us and took us to the Princess resort only a five minute walk but it was on the other side of the island. You are initially greeted in Phi Phi by all the tourist related shops and tourist crap. Phi Phi could have been a mistake. When we arrived at the Princess resort I knew that "we had done good." The other side of the island was the picture of paradise with bungalows on the beach, chairs and umbrellas waiting to help you take a nap.
- Phi Phi Island is actually two islands connected by a permanent sandy beach. The port side has the dock and tourist's shacks. A short five minute walk takes you to a selection of beach side resorts. If you have enough time and really want to get lost you can take a long tail boat to a remote resort on different parts of the island. We only had time for two days on Phi Phi so we decided to relax beach side and drink banana shakes. The area offers snorkeling, diving and fishing we opted for a half-day snorkel trip. A short walk to the tourist section and we sign up for a snorkel trip the next day around the islands. The boat was a long tail canoe and only had room for 6 people.
We met up with our group the next morning and set off for a bird nest soup cave tour and snorkeling. As a kid I had seen a television special about the harvesting of bird nest soup so I was excited to actually visit a cave. The Chinese use bird's nest soup as cure for almost every imaginable ailment. The swift-tails that build their nests in the caves around Thailand line the inside of the nests with their saliva. The actual saliva is what the Chinese require in making their natural medicine. The swift-tails do not make it easy for the locals to grab their nests. The nests are built three hundred feet up along cave walls and wedged between natural rock formations. As we entered the cave I saw what had fascinated me as a kid. Along the walls the bird nest harvesters have built bamboo structures to the top of the caves. To get to the nest you must climb up a bamboo pole strapped to the rock some three hundred feet in the air. At the top of the cave the bamboo maze goes in all directions. It is a dangerous job because the fall is a long way and your only path is a strap of bamboo. The nests are only harvested three times a year and we had come at the wrong time. We jumped back into our boat and spent the day snorkeling around the islands.
Phi Phi Island gave us a better outlook on Thailand so we decided to continue on and see what else we could find. Heading east we caught a ferry to Krabi on the mainland of Thailand. The guide book directed us to Rai Lay a small resort area reachable only by boat. It is on the mainland but they have not built any roads to this area. We had a wet landing and the heat forced us to look for air-conditioning again. We walked to the other side of the island and find our way to the registration desk of a middle price resort. Thailand was on another holiday and all the air-conditioned rooms were full. We contemplated a non-air conditioned room but after visiting the sweat box we knew we needed air. Rai Lay is a major rock climbing destination and has it share of very nice resorts. I walked along the beach to one of the nicer resorts hoping to find an affordable rate. I walked up from the beach and was greeted by a couple of bell men/security guards. The resort had a pool and looked like it was worth $100 US a night. I explained that I was looking for the office and they grabbed a folder from their little check stand. Before this they were both sleeping in the bushes. They pointed to the last page and I found a rate of $375 US a night. They both looked at me and gave me the "You can't afford it" laugh. I wasn't about to spend that kind of money but I was sure tempted to check in, have them retrieve my bags and then stiff them on the tip. With no place to stay we jumped in another long tail boat and continued around the point to Ao Nang. It was hot and if I had to work in this heat I would find it hard to have a smiling face for the customer. After a short boat ride we arrived at Ao Nang and the hotel search continued. Ao Nang has a road to Krabi so worst case we would spend one night and continue south out of Thailand. I left Karen sitting on a bench with the bags and I sat out in search of a reasonably priced room. Ao Nang only has two nice hotels and the first was too expensive ($35 US a night). The second place quoted a reasonable price so I sat out for Karen and the bags. Upon returning I was greeted with blank stares and a rate that was twice as high as previously quoted. I had only been gone five minutes and they acted like they had never seen me. It was hot and I lost my cool and bullied them into the lower price. Then I regrouped and told them to forget it and we walked out. We finally found a nice little guest house for $15 US a night and figured we would stay for a couple of days and I could get some work done on the computer. The room was nice and the air worked but my laptop had decided it did not like Thailand and would not turn on. I had figured that the laptop would have a problem at some point on the trip and I knew I could get it fixed via IBM. IBM has a three year worldwide warranty that covers parts and labor. The only problem I had was the IBM service center was in Bangkok and I would have to take it to Bangkok for repair. It was not worth another case of bronchitis so the laptop would have to wait for Singapore or Malaysia. With nothing to do we decided to head to the east coast of Thailand for the islands of Ko Samui. The main reason we were still in Thailand was the coming full moon. On the island of Ko Samui they have once-a-month a full moon party that is almost as famous as Thailand. They setup huge parties on the beach with lights, music and drinking until the sun comes up. We only had seven more days to hang out in Thailand and we could put a full moon party under our belt.
We used Songserm travel for the bus-boat ride to Ko Samui and it was again a very long travel day. The tour operator on the bus asked if we had accommodations on Ko Samui. We usually answer yes to the question in order to avoid getting hassled. He showed us some brochures and we settled Maria Samui Resort. He used his cellular phone and called for a reservation. He told us that a car would meet us when the boat arrived. We had just eliminated one of the hassles of traveling and we hoped we would not be disappointed. When we left the ferry we saw a man holding a sign with our name on it. Karen had a huge smile on her face because this was VIP service. It wouldn't matter if the place was a dump being picked up was a treat. The Maria Samui Resort was off the beaten path but it was perfect at $30 US a night. The focus for the Maria Samui Resort was dining. They had a very nice restaurant on the beach and we ate all of our meals there. If my laptop was working we could have stayed for a week but we decided to skip the full moon party and head for Malaysia.
The only efficient way of travel from Thailand to Malaysia is by train. We were off the beaten path so we book a minibus to Hat Yai. Hat Yai is the first major town near the Thailand-Malaysia border. After a two hour ferry ride we had to ride a local bus for two hours and then a five hour minibus ride from hell. We went through customs and crossed a bridge into our first Muslim country not knowing what to expect.