A Small Adventure

Today we were collected from our hotel and driven about an hour south of Koh Samui for another boat trip. This was an organised tour, so we were packed onto the boat with a whole bunch of people and set off to find dolphins. Since I tend to get seasick easily, I chose to sit up the front of the boat in the open, fresh air. Unfortunately, this happened to be the only place people were allowed to smoke, so it was a mix between enjoying the beautiful fresh air and ‘how long can Anna hold her breath’.

We only spotted a few dolphins and they were hunting, so didn’t show much interest in us or come near the boat. We spotted one half pink dolphin. The dolphins are born grey, but they turn pink as they age. It’s fascinating and a bummer we didn’t see more. No photos were achieved, sorry.

Next we went snorkelling. This was a lot of fun and I saw all sorts of things! Giant clams, sting rays and many, many fish. It was amazing being surrounded by so many fish who did not care about me being there. I only thought about sharks about 10 times.  I also got kicked about 8 times by idiots who didn’t know how to float without kicking like a maniac. I gave them the stare down, don’t you worry.

After this, we parked up on Mad Sum island, also known as Pig Island, where friendly pigs roam free.

The pigs were wandering around hanging out with tourists or sleeping all over the place. There are also many friendly dogs. You can buy pig or dog food and feed the animals. It was a bit bizarre actually, and too many tourists made it feel less exciting than what it sounded like when we booked. Regardless, a swim, a beer and a bit of relaxing and people watching was nice.

We sought out Italian dinner tonight because I was craving pasta. No alcohol was sold due to it being Buddha’s Day. Then we wandered along the beach to meet up with Jonny and Grace and watch a fire show, where you could buy booze. I don’t understand the rules. It’s full moon time, and there are fire shows a couple of times a night. The guys we watched were amazingly talented and looked like they loved what they were doing.

There is a full moon party tomorrow night on Koh Phangnan, an island not far from Koh Samui. Jonny, Grace, and I are considering pretending we are young again and going to check it out. Do we do it? Watch this space.

The day started out with a bit more SUP boarding, remaining hopeful that we’d find Mum’s sunnies. No luck. I had an amazing massage at our hotel’s not so private but still relaxing massage spot by the pool, a 60 minute neck, back and shoulder massage. Being Thai inspired, it also included leg squeezing, head massage and some interesting but effective twisting and stretching positions.

We then wandered along to Chaweng Beach to explore and find a lunch spot. Even though the rainy season only just started, the hotel beach front bars and restaurants are quiet, which surprised us. We then went into the township to find Mum some new sunnies. There are a lot of knock-offs here. All sorts of brands from North Face to Prada. Some look pretty decent. I nearly bought some Nike sneakers but the man was being pushy so I decided not to. We all bought a pair of “Ray Bans” from a shop further on though. 

A rainstorm rolled in and we found ourselves at Happy Hour at an Aussie Bar. Once that settled down, we wandered around a bit more. Chaweng has a big mall called Central Festival Samui. It was actually way bigger than I expected and had everything! It even had real Ray Bans, but we have our cool ones now. We took a wrong turn on the wander back and detoured about 30 minutes. Earnt some more beer tokens I think. Dinner at the hotel tonight and an early night before another boat adventure tomorrow.

It is only an hour and 10 minutes flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui, so you can imagine how surprised we were to be served a full meal!  Especially since it was 10 am and there was no reason to have a full meal. Regardless, I ate it. Chicken noodle curry. Yum.

Koh Samui is Thailand’s second largest island after Phuket and has a population of 70,000 but is visited by over 2.5 million tourists a year!

We are a smaller tribe now, Mum, Dad, Jonny, Grace and me, the fifth wheel. We’re staying at a cute little hotel and each have our own villa. The view is beautiful and the sea is so clear! A fantastic spot to relax at the end of our Thailand adventure.

Our accommodation has stand-up paddleboards available, so we spent the afternoon giving this a go. It was a lot of fun and we didn’t fall off too many times. The water is actually very warm, almost hot, and shallow. So it wasn’t so bad losing balance.

It was all fun and games until Mum lost her sunnies in the water. Sadly, we did not find them. To avoid getting burnt, we called it a day. Just in time for a storm to roll in. This one was pretty mild and did not last long, but it was fascinating to watch how fast it came and went.

We are staying near Chaweng Beach and the easiest way to get there is to walk along the beach. Depending on the tide, this is either on sand or in water up to just under the knees. With soft sand and warm water, it was an easy walk to find a spot for dinner.

The service was very attentive and friendly, and they seemed super happy to have us. We had a number of happy hour cocktails and Thai curries and watched the boats in the distance. It was a very relaxing evening but we are missing our big tribe.

Icon Siam is a mixed-use development made up of a shopping mall , hotels, and residences. It cost US$1.5 billion to build and includes the tallest building in Thailand, the Magnolia Waterfront Residences with 70-floors. We took a Tuktuk here to explore while giving Tom and Luisa time to pack. 

What a beautiful complex! We wandered around the markets inside before stopping for coffee and pastries, sometimes you need comforts from home. The mall has all kinds of shops in it from the basic H&M to Gucci. It even had a Porsche shop with a number of cars in it on the 3rd floor. It was fascinating to wander around and I could probably have spent a lot of money there, but the time came to move on and rejoin the group.

We bought passes for a Hop on Hop off boat, which took us down the Chao Phraya River, which flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. A number of canals have been made around the river to shorten transport time to the sea. It was nice to sit down for a while on another hot day! No plans to visit temples today, so at least I could wear some cooler clothing.

We explored China Town late afternoon. It was mostly just food stalls by the time we reached it. The food variety is fascinating and again, I’m surprised to see how clean some of the stalls are given how many times I’ve been told to be careful about street food. It possibly helps that most of the street food I’ve purchased is vegetarian so it can be shared amongst the vegos and vegans among us.

Later, the moment we’d all been avoiding. Saying goodbye to Tom and Luisa. After 5 years of separation, it was like we hadn’t even been apart, and that is really special. Just a few more wrinkles and greys than last time. I’m so proud of everything Tom has achieved while settling into his life in Germany with Luisa. I hope we can see each other soon!

The last couple of days have been spent exploring the busy, and at times chaotic, city of Bangkok. Given how cheap Grab/Bolt is, we mostly used cars to get around, though Tom and Luisa did use the train a bit. We spent quite a lot of time in traffic, so it took longer to do anything than originally anticipated. There was always something to see while en route though.

The Grand Palace is a 218,000 square metre complex of beautiful buildings and grounds and has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (now Thailand) since 1782. No Royals live there now, though it is still used for official events. This was the first time I felt surrounded by tourists, and it’s no wonder, 8 million people visit the Grand Palace each year!

Below are some pictures taken from inside the grounds of The Grand Palace.

The architecture was amazing with intricate details and vibrant colour everywhere. To get into Temples or similar locations you have to have shoulders and knees covered, so while I would have liked to read all the details about the various buildings, gardens and statues, I was also very hot and sweaty and my brain wasn’t at full capacity. So I didn’t know exactly what I was photographing at times. Research to do later.

The Palace is also home to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, or Wat Phra Kaew. The Buddha itself was actually quite underwhelming and small but sat on a spectacular gold plated structure in a large room with beautifully detailed wall and ceiling paintings. No photos were allowed in this space. It reminded me of the Sistine Chapel actually. Everywhere you look there is something so grand and ‘showy’ to see.

When we exited the Palace, we were immediately accosted by numerous tuktuk and taxi drivers trying to get our business, followed by people selling all sorts of souvenirs or food. They are very persistent but mostly pleasant. I bought a piece of silky material with elephant prints on it. Originally 1500 baht, I got him down to 180 baht. Thomas managed to get his for 100. He’s better and bartering than I am.

Next, we visited Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha and the oldest temple in Bangkok. The temple is considered the earliest centre for public education in Thailand and is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage, which is still taught and practised at the temple.

The Reclining Buddha is a 15m high and 46m long, gold plated representation of Buddha, just before he passed into the afterlife.

Our afternoon was spent exploring the Chatuchak weekend markets, the world’s largest and most diverse markets. The 15,000 stalls were  selling anything and everything. Street food, souvenirs, crafts, knock off clothing and bags, jewelry. I even found a store selling snakes!

It was fascinating to visit and wander around but also quite exhausting. And packed, the market attracts 200,000 visitors every weekend. I joined Mum and Dad for a drink at a cute bar on the edge of the market while waiting for the rest of the family to be marketed out.

Following dinner and show and tell of what we all bought, we went to a recently opened rooftop bar named after the Monkey God, Hanuman. I love seeing cities by night. They always look pretty, and you can’t see or smell the dirty bits. Though I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how tidy and clean Bangkok has been. It’s been a busy but fab day.

It is hard to heard cats. Very hard. So today, we went our separate ways, and Mum, Dad and I took a day trip to Kanchanaburi province, 120km west, and roughly 3 hours drive from Bangkok. Given the distance, we hired a private van with a guide and driver.

In 1942, Kanchanaburi was under Japanese control, and it was during this time that forced civilian labourers and prisoners of war built the 415km Thailand-Burma Railway, also known as Death Railway. The railway supplied troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. Approximately 90,000 civilian labourers and 16,000 POWs (about 2800 Australian) died from disease, maltreatment or accidents while working on the railway. We visited the small JEATH (Japanese, English, Australian, American, Thai and Holland) museum which opened in 2003 to commemorate the dead. It is always upsetting reading about the atrocities that occurred during war. But necessary and important to remember. Most of the railway was dismantled shortly after the war.

We then set off on a teak boat down the Khwae Yai River, also known as the River Kwai, due to the frequent mispronunciation by the English. We walked over the Death Railway Bridge. Bombed by the Americans in  Feb 1945 and repaired and operational a few months later. The repairs were done in a slightly different style to mark the event. We were lucky to have started the day early and avoided most crowds.

Erawan National Park is 550km2 in the Tenasserim Hills of Kanchanaburi and is famous for the seven-tiered Erawan Falls, named after the 3-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. The seventh tier is said to resemble an elephant head. The total distance from start to the top tier is 1.5 km, and even though it was a slightly cooler temperature than previous days, we seemed to be sweating the most we have done during this trip. Probably due to the intense humidity and the altitude, the top tier was 996m up.

A dip in the ponds of the falls was necessary. It is mandatory to wear a life jacket in the ponds, so we hired those at the start of the walk. It was a bit of a shock, and you best believe I am feeling very proud of myself for swimming anyway, the ponds were full of carp! You know, the kind that people pay money to put their feet in tanks while they eat your skin. Except, some of these were quite large.

A bit of a hindrance to carry, they were actually very handy in this situation because I think I’d have forgotten how to swim while being eaten by these misfits. It did not hurt exactly, but it was an uncomfortable kind of feeling. The trick was to never stop moving. Or be eaten. After a while I did settle down and almost accepted it, but occasionally there were little gangs that would attack, particularly in the shallows, and focus on my feet. It was an experience for sure. The water was otherwise very cooling and calm.

We had lunch next to the Srinagarind Dam, named after Princess Srinagarindra, mother of Rama 8 and Rama 9. Thai kings. Building began in 1974 it was opened in 1980. The dam is 140m deep and is used for river regulation and hydroelectric power generation. It was massive.

The journey back to Bangkok was a long one. Making good time we reached the edge of the city around 6pm but it took us nearly 90 minutes to travel the 13km to our hotel. What an experience! Grateful for air conditioning and comfy van recliner seats.

Tonight’s choice of cuisine was Italian, where we met up with Tom and Luisa to hear about their day and enjoy pizza Singha beer. Tomorrow we become a group of seven again and we will attempt to heard all 7 cats in the same direction to enjoy our final days before T+L return to Germany.

Today, I farewelled one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever stayed at and set off for the airport. I forget how much time is lost just getting to and from places, with most taxis taking an hour to get from A to B despite the actual kilometre distance not matching the time needed. I was sad to leave my new cat friend and specifically asked the lovely staff to please take care of her and her babies. I’m not sure they will feed her.

We have safely arrived in Bangkok, an hour and a half flight from Phuket. With a population of 17 million, a bit more than the 400,000 in Phuket, it was a bit of a shock getting onto a busy motorway heading into the city. Our ride was another driver who loved changing lanes as much as possible, revving the engine, and overusing his brakes. No wonder his check engine light was on. Checking in to our new hotel was a bit of a bummer. How could you match what we just had!?

It was a very chill afternoon as we’re all feeling pretty tired. Jonny and Grace will catch up with us later in the week, so it’s just the 5 of us for now. We wandered around our neighbourhood and had dinner at an “authentic Thai” restaurant. Can they be non-authentic if they’re in Thailand? Today was the first booze free day I’ve had in 2 weeks!

Very overdue.

An early night before a big day trip tomorrow to visit some waterfalls and explore the history of Kanchanaburi district.

The location we’re staying at is famous for its sunrises and lucky for me, the sun rises just after 6, so waking up for this wasn’t a difficult thing. It was incredibly beautiful and so worth it.

Today we were treated to a complementary longtail boat ride around the islands of Phang Nga Bay. It was different seeing them from much lower in the water than our cruise the other day. They had set the boat up with blankets, cushions and flowers, which was a nice touch. We visited a cave where we could see and hear bats, which did not excite Mum. Having a private boat was a bonus, and we were able to stop for a few jumps into the water. It was so warm and there were no jellies.

Our afternoon was very leisurely with lots of pool time, more complementary mocktails (obviously not mocktails for long), and cake. All with endlessly stunning views and peaceful vibes.

Another storm rolled in which we watched with enthusiasm and a little bit of anxiety for Jonny and Grace, who were out on the water for a sunset cruise, and I made a new cat friend.

Had the absolute shit scared out of me this afternoon after a nap. As I opened my room door to leave, a gecko fell out of the sky! So close to hitting my head, I nearly died.

Our day ended with a lovely dinner and some vinos to enjoy our final night in paradise before we head to the big city tomorrow!

Today we left Phuket Island and headed north to Samet Nangshe, in the Phang Nga region, where we took the boat trip a few days ago. It was a 90-minute drive and therefore took a while to find a Bolt (similar to Uber) driver who would take us. After some help from our villa hosts who talked to a driver, we were all packed into the van and ready to leave the crowds and chaos of Patong. Road rules seem to be a bit of a guideline here, and it was an interesting experience being in the front seat for this journey. I am grateful for my antinausea pills!

I am absolutely blown away by the beauty of this place. Our boutique hotel is set in the hills surrounded by forest and overlooking the stunning Phang Nga Bay. It is so peaceful here.

In the evening we were treated to a spectacular storm which we sat and watched for hours, with wine and cocktails of course.

A slower pace for the next few days, I hope, just to enjoy the beautiful place we find ourselves in.

One of the best things about this villa is the pool. It is the perfect temperature for a dip anytime of the day. From 6am to midnight,  it’s comfortable and fresh, but not too fresh. So we’ve spent most mornings with a post breakfast swim.

Today Luisa brilliantly organised a bunch of scooters for us to hire. Not long after we set off on scoot number one, it started pissing down! So I arrived at lunch soaking wet with sunscreen running in my eyes, but super stoked I didn’t die. I mostly followed Jonny as he looked like he knew what he was doing.

We collected our items from the tailor, and the suits looked fab! I like most of the items I got so happy enough, though I think it’d be easier to be a boy.

We spent most of the afternoon in the pool, having some quality family time before James and Shaniah left for the airport. Dad made a cute and emotional speech about family, and we had some bubbles to celebrate the time we’ve had together. How lucky are we!?

Our afternoon scooter trip was in the sunshine as we headed for Freedom Beach, just a few kilometres from our villa. It was so much fun using the scooters and I wish I had done more of this before now. There is still time!

In the evening we adventured downtown for one last wander around Patong. Bangla Street sure is an interesting place after dark! We tried some more street food, this time crepes and mango rolled ice creams and I got a massage at 1030pm! This place is rad.