Thailand Pt. 3: Back in Bangkok

Inside the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew

Ok, we're back with the final post of the Thailand travels trilogy.  After spending the better part of a week down south in Phuket and Ko Phi Phi, Judy and I arrived back in Bangkok, where we spent the last few days of our trip.  Since our flight back was in the evening, we didn't do much our first night other than check-in and grab a quick dinner.  We started off the next day with the always enjoyable breakfast buffet and a few hours of relaxation by the pool, which had great views of the city.  In the afternoon we went out and explored the neighborhood around our hotel.  The area is called Bo Bae and there are little markets pretty much everywhere you walk nearby.  Eventually we made our way to the Golden Mount, which is a temple/shrine semi-close to where we were.  There were bells lining the stairs up and down to the top of mount and we were told that it was good luck to ring the bells so that is exactly what we proceeded to do.  That evening we decided to get dinner in Patpong and explore the surrounding area.  Patpong is famous for its night markets, which we scoped out after another great Thai meal.  The great thing about these night markets is that it seems like every place sells the same goods and I suppose that makes sense, and like all markets, the price depends entirely on how well you can haggle.  I was tempted to get something, but in the end, I was able to walk away empty handed.  Patpong is also a pretty Western-friendly area and there are many restaurants and bars/clubs, but we decided to forgo those evening activities and made our way back to the hotel to rest up for a big day on Friday.

Friday was our big sight-seeing day in Bangkok.  We decided that this was the day we would go see the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.  When we got to the palace gates, we found out that there was a special ceremony taking place in the morning and we would have to come back in the afternoon if we wanted to go inside.  We had a couple of hours to kill before we could go back and see the palace so after a little bit of haggling, we hired a tuk tuk driver to take us around on a mini tour of some temples/shrines relatively close to the Grand Palace.  Basically this meant more Buddhas and extremely ornate and colorful temples and now you can have a look at them as well.

 

Wasn't sure whether we could try this

After hitting our first three destinations our driver took us to his friends "the tailors."  As is the case in most countries in Southeast Asia, the tuk-tuk drivers get certain perks, like gas stamps, for bringing in customers to different businesses, like the tailor, etc...  So we ended up at two different tailors, staying the agreed-upon 10 minutes and doing our best to act like interested customers.  In the end, I'm pretty sure our driver didn't get his stamp and tried to change our agreed upon fare, but when we got back to the palace, I gave him the 40 baht we had originally agreed upon and said "Thanks" and that was that.  Just outside the palace we grabbed some excellent pad thai for lunch, definitely the best pad thai I had during the entire trip.  One of the rules for entering the temple is mandatory pants.  Friday was another 90F+ degree day so we decided we would just rent pants outside the temple.  These pants were amazing!  Very light and breathable, and pretty much parachute pants a la M.C. Hammer or Aladdin.

Can't Touch This!

 The Palace and the adjoining temple, Wat Phra Kaew, were very impressive and I'm glad we were able to get in to see them.  Check them out here:

Saturday was another day full of sightseeing adventures.  We made our way to Wat Arun, on the other side of the river, and Wat Pho (home of the massive reclining Buddha, man did he look comfortable).  Saturday was also another example of just how small the world is.  I found out about a week before we left for Thailand that one of my teammates from frisbee back in Madison had a roommate, Dan, who I had met many times before, that was teaching in Bangkok.  I let him know I was going to be in town, but we didn't really make any plans, because it was going to be a little difficult without a phone (crazy to think that 40 years ago people were able to meet up without any problems without using a cell phone or the Internet; also, scary to think how much we rely on technology now).  Wat Pho is in the same area as the Grand Palace, which is where Dan and his girlfriend were.  I was wearing one of my Madison Ultimate Summer League jerseys and as we crossed the street I was spotted by Dan.  Judy and I lucked out and we spent the afternoon with Dan and his girlfriend, who gave us a mini-tour of Khao San Road and the surrounding streets.  Khao San is pretty much foreigner/backpacker central and we just picked out a good bar where we could people watch.  It was a great way to spend our last day in Bangkok and it was wonderful to see Dan, who I hadn't seen in a few years, as well.  Eventually we arrived back at the airport to catch our 1:55 am red-eye flight back home.  Unfortunately our flight was delayed and the departure time was pushed back to 3:20 am, awesome :(.  We also ran into some other friends from Korea that were flying back on the same flight as well.  Finally we touched down back in Incheon at noon on Sunday.  All in all, a great vacation and I'm super excited to take off again tomorrow afternoon for Hong Kong!  Dragon parades and dim-sum here I come!

If you haven't seen them yet, my Thailand photos are posted on Picasa online.  The link for the album is on the right side of this blog under the "Links" section.  That's all from this end, hope everyone has a wonderful Lunar New Year, looking forward to bringing in the Year of the Rabbit (it's my year!).

What I'm listening to: "Come Running" by Van Morrison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAsxK7JOs74

Another great Van performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIiUwZfqMSU&playnext=1&list=PLAC8A93F365644289

     

Thailand Pt. 2: Ko Phi Phi-nomenal

So here we are, back with part two of the Thailand highlights/recap.  Let's begin with Ko Phi Phi.  What an incredible few days we spent here.  We took the ferry from Phuket to Ko Phi Phi Don (Ko Phi Phi consists of two different islands; Ko Phi Phi Don is where most of the beach bungalows, cafes and restaurants are located).  We stayed in the Tonsai Village part of the island, which was a pretty happening area for an island known for being somewhat remote compared to Phuket or Ko Samui or Ko Pha-ngan.  Ko Phi Phi and Phuket were both hit pretty hard by the Indian Ocean tsunami back in 2004, but most of the damage caused by the tsunami is non-existent, which is a credit to the tremendous amount of work the government and the locals put in to rebuilding their homes and the tourist areas (which both areas depend upon to sustain their economies).  The only downside of this is that trying to find a relatively cheap and decent place to stay is somewhat difficult but we managed with our bungalow.  Our location was great, just a five minute walk from the beach and views like the one in the picture above.  Longboats were everywhere and the beach was lined with cafes, restaurants, bars, and massage parlors.  The weather continued to be fantastic and we got our beach time in and explored the village in the evening.  I don't think I've ever been as relaxed as I was when we were in Ko Phi Phi, it really is an incredible place.  Fantastic scenery and an awesome laid-back vibe, which is all one can ask from the island life.  The food continued to be fantastic; on a side note, I don't think I'll ever get tired of Thai food, the flavors are so good.  Our last night on the island we were able to catch one of the many fire shows going on at our local beachside bar, check it out:

When we first arrived, the performers (doubling as the bartenders and waiters) were just warming up and there were plenty of drops, but they honed in their act once the night got started.  One of the performers/servers was wearing a 1993 Toronto Blue Jays World Champions t-shirt, which was certainly a highlight for me.  The whole time on the island was great and I can see why many people end up staying there longer than they originally planned to.  I know I could have stayed there much longer than the two days we stayed.

Adios Ko Phi Phi, we'll be back soon!

After two days of island life, we headed back to the ferry to go back to Phuket, where we arrived far too early for our flight, but we wanted to play it safe, and as a result, spent most of the day at the Phuket airport (which meant more GRE studying time for me).  We got back into Bangkok that evening and made our way to the Prince Palace hotel, our final destination on the trip.  I think I'd be doing everyone a dis-service if I attempted to do a Bangkok write-up right now, I'm slowly falling asleep at my computer right now, so I think it's best if I cut this post short and give you a proper part 3 on Bangkok tomorrow.  Can't believe I'll be back traveling in less than a week (Hong Kong and Macau here I come!)!

What I'm listening to: "Don't Carry It All" by The Decemberists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHYsBE9OdhI

Also check out this awesomely ridiculous list compiled by Rolling Stone:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/the-20-most-memorable-duets-of-all-time-20110118/david-bowie-and-cher-0579718

Thailand Part 1: Goin' South

Hey everyone,

I know it's taken me quite a while to get up any semblance of a blog post about my winter vacation trip to Thailand, but I promise you it hasn't been for lack of trying.  It can be difficult to try and get all your thoughts (and photos) together concisely.  Anyways, without any further delaying, here is part 1 of the Thailand Winter Vacation 2010 travel posts.

Judy and I left for Thailand on December 30th, just as the winter weather in Korea was turning from mild to cold.  Luckily enough, our destination, was averaging 90 degrees F (or 30 C), so we were able to bring out all our shorts and t-shirts, clothing items that hadn't seen the light of day in a few months.  Both our flights to/from Seoul were connecting through China, so now I can say that I have a Chinese stamp in my passport!  That being said, the whole process of going through customs even though you're only connecting flights is a bit of a hassle.  On our way to Bangkok we connected through Beijing and we got to hang out in the airport there for a few hours.  I guess the airport staff were trying to conserve energy because the temperature in the airport was freezing!  Eventually we were on our way to Bangkok and we got in shortly before midnight, grabbed a cab and made our way to the hostel.

What we didn't realize when we landed in Bangkok and awoke the next morning was the time difference between China and Thailand.  The flight attendants on our flight incorrectly announced the time and Judy and I  ended up waking up an hour earlier than we had wanted to.  We decided to go exploring around our neighborhood for a little bit, since we didn't really have enough time to go see anything on the other side of the city; we were flying to Phuket that afternoon.  Unfortunately, because we woke up early and maybe also partly because it was New Year's Eve, there wasn't much going on in the area surrounding our hostel, but here are some pics of everyday life.

Modern Home Security System

  

After grabbing breakfast and lunch at our hostel and getting some friendly pointers and guidance about where to go in Bangkok, we made our way back to the airport to go to Phuket.  We got in around dinner time and made our way to our next hostel, near Kat Karon and Kat Kara (the southern part of Phuket), which was a 5-10 minute walk from the beach...nice!  Phuket was definitely in full NYE party mode when we arrived and after getting situated, we grabbed some dinner and joined in on the festivities.  The fireworks started going off around 8 and didn't stop until around 2 or 3 am.  There were pretty wild parties happening everywhere you went and it was a definitely a good way to bring in the New Year.  The next morning we woke up and got Western-style breakfast! (incredible eggs, toast, hash browns!), something that's incredibly difficult to get in Korea if you aren't staying in a hotel, and even then it can be challenging.  We made our way to the beach, where the sun was beaming down and the water was incredibly inviting.

After a few hours in the sun, and probably feeling the effects of the sun (even with multiple coatings of SPF 50+), we headed into Phuket Town, which is known for having a pretty excellent night market.  I couldn't believe how many aisles of clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and food they had there.  Everywhere you turned there was another stall.  My favorite part of the market was going up and down food section, looking at everything out on display.  Many things looked good, some things (sushi) I don't think I would ever try and touch, let alone eat.  The best food (aside from the noodles and dumplings) had to be the fruit.  There were so many different exotic fruits that I had never had or hadn't had in a while and everything was delicious, especially the guava!

No thanks...

 

My meal of fried noodles and chicken.

Guess what fruit that is?

The finished product:
tasted like citrusy-banana

The next day we got up early to go on an elephant trek out in the forest, which was really fun!  Basically how it works is when you get there, you walk up to a platform where you get on the elephant's back (there's a carriage to sit in) and you have a driver.  But, the driver hops off about 5 minutes into the trek and then you get to sit on the elephant's neck.  Fortunately, the elephant is more or less just following the driver walking in front of him so there isn't too much skill or technique involved.  Here's a look at what it's like:

After the elephant trek, we made our way back to the area near our hostel, grabbed lunch, and then hired a tuk-tuk to take us to Wat Chalong, a pretty big temple just outside Phuket Town and to the famous Big Buddha.  Both were very interesting to see.  The Big Buddha sits on top of a large hill that overlooks most of Phuket and out into the Andaman Sea.  Here they both are:

 After a busy day of moving around Phuket, we decided to relax and take it easy that night because we had to  wake up early again the next morning to catch our ferry to Ko Phi Phi, which is where I'll leave this part for now.

What I'm listening to:  "All Die Young" by Smith Westerns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpukSgrqYxU&feature=related

Remember the link for my Thailand pictures and future photo albums is now on the right side of this blog.  It's called "My Picasa Pics."

Welcome to 2011!

This is just going to be a brief post.  I know most of you are probably more interested in reading about my trip to Thailand and no worries, that will come in a succession of posts over the next few days, but I figured I'd probably let my valued readers in on a new addition to this blog/maybe a new blog as well.  Some of you may remember that when I first came out to Korea I was in the middle of running through all the songs on my iPod in alphabetical order (much of the credit for this project goes to Dad who was doing the same thing, and as I've done many times before, decided that if it was working for Dad, it must be a half-decent idea, and did the same thing, with much of the same music as well).  Anyways, out here in Korea, the doldrums of winter have set in.  I had my first day of winter camp this morning, which went pretty well, but the afternoons = desk warming.  So, here I am, currently writing to all of you about my next little musically-influenced project.  Even after my GRE studying (don't worry parents, I am doing it.  You'd be happy to hear the book came with me on vacation and was opened and used.) I still have more time to use.  So, I've decided to go through each album on my iPod in alphabetical order and write a post for each album.  I'm thinking, now that I've gone through this post, that it's going to have to be a new post so after I set it up I'll post the link here.  That's all for now, look for the Thailand posts in the next few days! Also, thank you to Aunty Holly and Uncle Michael for the Badger trivia, I'm holding off looking at it for a little bit.  I finished reading Trinity while I was in Thailand and I guess here would be a better place for my short review than in another post so here it goes.

Trinity was a very well-written and intriguing novel based on the Irish struggle for independence from the UK that takes place just after the Great Potato Famine of 1846-47 and ends around 1917 with a short epilogue that stretches the timeline out to the early 1920s.  I'm guessing many of you have read Exodus, which is also by Leon Uris, and another great read.  As he does in Exodus, in Trinity, Uris is able to weave many characters and plots together while not straying from the historical facts and the events that he writes about are described as they actually took place.  He is able to craft a very enjoyable historical narrative and I definitely recommend this book to anyone that hasn't read it yet.

What I'm listening to: "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" by the Move (originally by Jackie Wilson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7oUwPIWCYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXZDKb5fHw

New music blog link:  http://myazalbums.blogspot.com