Finally left Patong...

I know, I know, it's been too long since I've updated you guys. I've just spent 11 days in Patong, Phuket. It's easy to get stuck there, I guess. After Mai Khao, civilization was a huge relief. To actually see other people was a big change.

The hostel I stayed at the first two nights, Patong Backpackers Hostel, was exactly what you'd expect for $10/night. Loud room with 6 lumpy beds, terrible bathroom conditions (shower was just a shower head on the wall in the very dirty bathroom stall) and paper thin walls. Being just off Bangla Road, the noise was crazy, and went on till 6 a.m. But it served it's purpose well, and cheaply.

My second place, Patong Inn Hotel, was, as I said before, in a super convenient spot. Close to Bangla, right across from the beach, walking distance to everything I needed to see. I was on the 3rd floor and above the noise, thank goodness, because Patong is never quiet. I decided to extend my stay here to 9 nights...like I said, it's tough to leave Patong once you get there.

While diving I met a group of very nice Army guys and went out with them a couple of times. I experienced a ping pong show - look it up (but not you, Grandmama.) We joked at one point that we were just going to say yes to the 10th person who asked us something on the street. They're selling everything, from cigarettes to a wooden frog, incredibly inappropriate woven bracelets saying things like "I love rape" (WTF??), weird masks, or one of 1,000 ping pong shows.

The nightlife on Bangla road is like nothing you've ever experienced. Think Khao San road on crack, downtown Athens times a million, where everything can be bought for the right price. Everything. See a pretty bar girl you want to hang out with later? You pay the bar first, for taking her away from her job. Then if you want anything more...well, everything has a price. Three times with the same girl makes you a boyfriend, so if her water buffalo dies, that's on you.

There are some very sweet Thai girls, though. Here are my favorite two bar girls in Patong:


The one on the left with the hat is Meow, I think. Their names are very tough for me to understand. She walks around with a foam tube and hits everyone. She's hilarious; she dragged me into the bar off the street on several occasions. I never got the other girl's name, but she gave us ridiculous amounts of free shots.

There's a huge shopping center right at the end of Bangla called Jung Ceylon. I went to the movies several times; it's just like in America except it's cheaper, way cleaner and you have to stand to pay your respects to the king at the beginning. The shows are 140 baht (about $5) all the time, except on Wednesdays when they're only 80 baht (about $2.50.) They also have sofa seats, which are little love-seats for couples. So cute. Popcorn and a coke are 120 baht (about $4.)

The beach in Patong used to be one on the most beautiful places on the island, I'm sure. It's in a little cove, soft white sand with turquoise water. Now, it's overpopulated and dirty. Beer bottles litter the sand and there's trash in the water. Because of the water sports, parasailing and jet skis mostly, swimming areas are roped off. Here's a couple of pictures - if you don't look too closely, it's actually pretty.








I decided to leave the noise and craziness of Patong behind and head to Rawai. It's at the southern tip of the island of Phuket, and this is where most boats leave for Krabi and Koh Phi Phi. It's also where our boat left from when we went diving. The hotel I'm at now, Monaburi Boutique Resort, is just off of Rawai beach and within walking distance of shops and restaurants. The room is beautiful and clean, all dark wood and glass, cold air conditioning and a mini bar. There's also a really nice salt water pool - I plan to spend my time there for the next couple of days. Rawai is also where my dive instructor is based out of, and I'm hoping to do my advanced class while I'm here. Maybe a night dive? Exciting!

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Location:Soi Cokmakham,Mueang Phuket,Thailand aka Rawai Beach

Diving!

Since coming to Phuket I've decided to learn to dive. In short - amazing. Yesterday we did pool dives but today was the real thing! We went to Koh Racha Yai, a small island just south of Phuket. We did two dives to 12 meters, both 46 minutes underwater. The feeling of being able to breath underwater is kinda trippy. It becomes so natural, though, that you kinda forget that you're breathing out of a tank. We saw so much underwater wildlife-we swam with a school of barracuda and followed an octopus, watching it change color and texture at least three times. We also saw a deadly sea snake, moray eels and starry eels. And way too many typed of bright, tropical fish to name. We also swam down to a "wrecked" ship (it was purposely sunk to create a dive site) that was home to a family of pufferfish.

Unfortunately, my go everywhere Nikon isn't suitable for underwater photography...however, here are some of my pictures from the ride there.











The islands are just incredibly beautiful down here. The water really is turquoise blue everywhere you look.

Tomorrow we're going on three more dives at Koh Phi Phi, which is supposed to be better diving (although I thought today was pretty awesome.)

On another note, I found a place to stay for the next 5 nights. After we got back to Patong I walked from hotel to hotel asking their rates till I found one in the right location for the right price. For $40/night I finally have my own room with my own shower and a king sized bed. The super cheap mini bar is also a plus! The hotel is literally right across the road from the beach, and close enough to Bangla road to be convenient but not incredibly noisy.

I saw a shirt today that said "No, I don't fucking want a suit, a massage or a tuk tuk ride!" Anyone who has been to Thailand will know how accurately that statement describes your state of mind while walking down the street. Of course, the people selling the t shirts are also in your face trying to sell you these t shirts so...

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes!


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Location:Koh Racha Yai, Thailand

Back in the civilized world...

So the reason I haven't posted recently is because I was staying in a beach bungalow on Mai Khao beach with zero internet access. We're talking remote. Like the road doesn't even go there, the taxi dropped me off 400 yards away and I had to walk the rest. It was beautiful, though. Probably the only place on Phuket that is still natural and, for the most part, uninhabited. Here are some pictures of my hut!








But before I got here, I had to fly from Bangkok to the Phuket International Airport. Probably the tiniest international airport I've ever flown into or out of. However, the first views of Phuket from the plane were phenomenal. This place really is like an exotic, jungle island.





When you fly into Phuket the airstrip butts right up against the water, and on both sides are mountains. Amazing. Anyway, Seaside Cottages, as my bungalow residence was called, was so peaceful. There's this amazing little restaurant that the owners, Malcolm and Kai, run that's just delicious. It was breakfast, lunch and dinner every day I was there. Malcolm is English so they actually had food I like. How backwards are my taste buds that I like English food but don't really have a taste for Thai food??

Pictures of the beach:








I was originally supposed to stay 5 nights but the solitude was just too much. I read three books and decided I needed to see other humans my age, so I checked out after 3 nights and headed to Patong.

Patong is the exact opposite of Mai Khao. And I kind of love it here. It is way too crowded, too many people, mostly Russians and Lithuanians but it's so cool. Plus it's so touristy that they have food I like - yay! Bangala Road is just down from where I'm staying - it's like Khao San Road in Bangkok except on crack. Soooooo many bars. Today I walked all over the damn city looking for this particular dive shop but couldn't find it. Eventually I gave up and just emailed them. Tomorrow, bright and early at 8:45 am, they're coming to pick me up for my PADI certification course! I'm extremely excited. This is supposed to be one of the best places in the world for diving. So we'll see. Meri, this will break your heart:


It's a slow loris as a tourist attraction. And they're everywhere. And I want so badly to hold it, but I can't support the practice of taking animals out of the wild and using them for money. So...thanks a lot for making me care, Meri. Awesome.

This is the Patong beach. I'll get better pictures tomorrow.





Literally. People. Everywhere.

That's all for now - I'll let you know how my first day of dive class goes!

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Location:ถนนทวีวงศ์,Kathu,Thailand aka Patong, Phuket Thailand

Last day in Bangkok

So today was my last full day in Bangkok, at least until Paige gets here on April 7th. I started the day with the medical museum in Siriraj Hospital. O.M.G. Seriously probably some of the most disturbing things I've ever seen! The museum is actually 6 smaller exhibits scattered around a working hospital. The first one I went to was the evolution exhibit. It had lots of interesting skulls and skeletons. I thought of Meri the whole time. They used the term "hottentot" to refer to a certain ethnic group, however. Pretty sure that can't be biologically correct. Look it up if you don't know the term, it's pretty interesting.

The next exhibit I went to was awful. It had row after row of preserved fetuses. Every stage of development, every horrible congenital disorder that could occur, from hydrocephaly in a three year old to ancephaly to siamese twins to a cleft palate...everything. Horribly disturbing. And it only got worse from there.

The next exhibit was more congenital defects, as though I needed to see more examples. At this point I don't even know how people manage to have healthy, problem free babies. After that I saw the preserved bodies of serial killers, horribly graphic photos of gruesome deaths, a reenactment of two doctors trying to identify a bloated drowning victim, the pot a little boy died in during a fire (he didn't drown; the fire made the water so hot that it boiled him alive) and the body of a fetus what was illegally aborted during the third trimester. Here's a photo of the reenactment:


The next exhibit was all about parasites. The take away here was don't eat fish, chicken, pork or beef (actually, to be on the safe side, don't eat anything.) Don't go to the beach or the jungle, and any mosquito bite will either give you malaria or the parasite that causes elephantiasis. They actually had the scrotum of a recent elephantiasis victim on display. Awesome.

Needless to say, I'm sure I'll have really creative, terrifying nightmares tonight. I took other pictures in the museum but I can't subject you to them without your prior consent. Trust me. You don't want to see them.

After the disturbing museum I took a water taxi to Chinatown. I've been taking water taxis non stop for the last two days. They are wonderful. The river is beautiful (and I'm sure it's disgusting, just under the surface) and the breeze feels great when it's 100 degrees. It's also only 15 baht, or $.50, a ride. In Chinatown I headed to the flower market and took my first tuk tuk ride on the way there.


They aren't as scary as you hear. Bangkok traffic is so awful they can't drive too crazy. I got to the flower market in the afternoon, so they were pretty much closing up shop. There were still hundreds of bags of blooms and tons of fresh vegetables for sale, though.





From the flower market I walked through Little India and back through Chinatown. I was disappointed in Little India. It wasn't very interesting. Not a ton of Indian food/shops/people. Chinatown was like Chinatown in any city, I'd imagine. Full of people, loud, lots of cheap stuff. So much fabric. Every other store/stall is selling fabric by the bolt.

I then took another water taxi to downtown and then took a real taxi (thank goodness for air conditioning) to the Jim Thompson house. The house was incredible. It is actually made up of six smaller houses that he had moved to Bangkok from different parts of Thailand. Most of it is built without nails, as is the Thai way. The gardens are also amazing.





It's pretty commercial now, though. It actually reminds me of Biltmore, in that it's so obvious they're out to make as much money as possible. They have their own brand of bottled water. And yes, they charge 5 times as much as everywhere else (water is 7 baht in stores; at the Jim Thompson house it's 35 baht.) I'm glad I saw it, thought. Architecturally amazing.

Fun fact: Jim Thompson disappeared one day while going for a walk in Malaysia. His body was never found and there were no clues to his disappearance.

I went to a little restaurant near here for dinner - Chang beer and pad thai. Very good. Another fun fact: there are two major beers produced in Thailand, Chang beer and Singha beer. Both produce their own brand of bottled water, as well.

Tomorrow I fly to Phuket and check in to my little seaside cottage. I'll miss the air conditioner, but the sea breeze will be a welcome change to Bangkok. Not sure whether I'll have reliable internet, so these posts may not be as regular. My tan is sure to improve, though!

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Location:Chinatown

Temple day

Today was a very long, very successful day! I took what may be my favorite picture so far, and I have to share it with you immediately.


I was at Wat Arun, which was my favorite temple of the day, eating an ice cream cone (Strawberry Coronetto, of course) when he ran up to me and, in Thai, asked if he could have it. I'm assuming that's what he asked, at least, because he tried to take it. I told him no, this one is mine. With the full intent of immediately going to get him an ice cream cone. Before I did that, I asked him if I could take his picture. And this is what he did. Probably the cutest/most amazing thing of the day. He got his own ice cream cone. And then he came over and 'cheers'ed' me with it. I tried to figure out who was on his shirt and the only thing I could think of was a Thai version of Edward and Bella. Who knows.

So I visited three temples today. Wat Phra Kaeo, inside the Grand Palace, which housed the Emerald Buddha. He's not actually made of emerald, he's made of jade. This is at Wat Phra Kaeo:


And so is this:


And this, just to prove I'm alive and still retain my tan:


It was a nice temple, the Grand Palace was cool, but I probably won't go again. It was soooo crowded. Its the #1 tourist attraction in Bangkok, so I get it.

Next was Wat Arun. By far my favorite place of the day. It was incredible. The entire outside of the temple is covered in broken porcelain. In the 1800's, when it was built, Chinese ships used broken porcelain as ballast. The king who built Wat Arun wanted to recycle it, so he used it as decoration. That's it to the right:


And a close up of the pottery:


You could actually climb the stairs to about midway up the tower. The stairs are very narrow and steep, said to represent the difficulty of achieving nirvana. In the states, I'm pretty sure it would have been deemed illegal as a tourist attraction because of the danger it posed. I was actually kinda freaked out. The stairs are seriously as close to vertical as they can get.


And Wat Arun at night. I'm having a hard time getting night/evening pictures to come out like I would like. The colors aren't as lifelike as I want. Suggestions?


The last temple of the day was Wat Pho. This temple felt like a ruin as I was walking around. It's actually undergoing renovation right now, as are a lot of buildings in Bangkok. High tourist season just ended, so I guess it's a good time for it. Wat Pho is known for its Reclining Buddha, the longest in the world. He's 150 feet long. And I know it's probably sacrilegious, but they let us take pictures:


And, as a true sign of Thai pride, this sign was posted:


Because Thai pickpockets must not exist.

After my temple tour I went to dinner at the Londoner, which is a British brew pub. The food, French Onion soup and bangers and mash, was delicious, as were the two beers they brew in house. Lots of expats, which was cool.

I probably took a million pictures today, but here's one of my other favorites:


Tomorrow, the plan is to visit the flower market in Chinatown, make my way to Little India (maybe buy a sari?) and then to the Jim Thompson house. Look it up - he got rich off the Thai silk trade and his house is the largest teak house in Thailand. After that I'm going to the Siriraj Medical Museum. When I read the description, "This anomalous collection of skulls, pickled body parts and murder weapons is intended to educate rather than shock. Not for the squeamish, it's most famous exhibit is the preserved corpse of Si Quey, a serial killer," I knew I couldn't leave Bangkok without seeing it.

Last day in Bangkok before I head to the beaches. Very excited for that!

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Location:Old City, Bangkok

Market day!

Finally feeling tired at a normal time - midnight. Jet lag has been a bitch but getting up at 7 a.m. and walking all over Bangkok has made me exhausted. As a result, I probably won't be overly loquacious (I know, good word) tonight. It's been an adventure filled day, though.

I headed to the market this morning. This market is the biggest in Bangkok, it's freaking huge. Hundreds of stalls spread over several city blocks. They have everything you can imagine for sale there. From used shoes to baby squirrels.

I, of course, bought several dresses. I only brought one with me and they are by far the most comfortable thing to wear in the heat. I really could have left all my clothing behind and just gotten what I need here. My quick dry undergarments have been very handy, though. I also got another pair of train pants. Yes, Meri, they're the ones with the crotch below knee level. I think they're so fancy.

I bought two prints of a map of Thailand, made with ink made of coffee. They look awesome, and I'm planning to get them framed and hang them side by side. I also tried an item of food from the street for the first time!

Stall where I bought my strawberry smoothie:


You just choose the cup of strawberries you want and hand it to them, and they make a smoothie out of it. My smoothie was 70 baht, or about $2.25.


They have a map of the market that indicates what's available in each stall. As soon as I saw the word "creatures," I knew I had to find out more. This is what I found.


Also:


Rats:


More cute puppies, just because:


And:


I'm not sure what the last one is, but its about the size of my thumb. They also had sugar gliders, but they didn't want to stay still long enough to get a good picture. There were about 200 puppies. They said they were purebred, but I have my doubts. Even if they are, they can't possibly sell 200 puppies. It makes me incredibly sad to think of what they do when they can't sell them. There is a huge stray dog population in Thailand already.

After coming back from the market, Dominic and I went to see a Muay Thai fight! It's more like UFC than boxing; they use their legs, like UFC, but they still wear boxing gloves. They also have a live orchestra that plays while the guys are boxing. It was super interesting and I'm definitely glad we spent the 1500 baht ($50) for tickets.


We came back to the hostel and now the water is out. So that means no shower for Lacey. Awesome. It better be back on by tomorrow morning!

This is just a pretty Thai tree I saw today. Goodnight!


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Location:Chatuchak Market

Bangkok - Day 2

Well, I know everyone is on pins and needles wondering: did she make it to her hostel with the Thai directions??

Turns out, I chickened out and took a taxi. It was $2, people. And it saved me from navigating the Sky Train and a bus and far too far on foot. I packed light, but not light enough to run a 5k with my backpack on. Who am I kidding...I'm not running a 5k regardless.

Khao San Road is madness. There are people of every nationality, fasst food restaurants, street food, and Paige, you would love the clothes. I bought a pretty fly pair of train pants (ok, they're pajama pants that you can wear during the day) and a long dress that I thought would be cute for temples, but turns out its an awkward length and I'm not sure if I can really pull it off. We'll see.


Khao San Road:


And again:


I remain a scout, however. I used my directions to make it from Khao San Road to my hostel, which is a couple of streets over. Its very nice. Emily, it's Nappark! I'd chosen and booked it even before you suggested it. I only made the faux pas of wearing my shoes inside one time (it's a Thai custom not to wear shoes inside.) I'm still getting used to this sleep schedule. I'm 12 hours ahead of the States, so it feels like I should be sleeping when I'm awake, and I'm wide awake when I want to fall asleep. Also, it's so hot here that it makes you lose all appetite. I've also consumed at least 8 bottles of water today. I guess it's about as hot as the hottest Georgia gets in the summer, it's just different when you're outside all day long in it. With no pool or ocean in sight.

Notice below that it's 84 degrees at 1:12am.


Now I'm just including more pictures for fun. Bangkok at night:


And at dawn:


Silly me, I thought I'd need to bring Biore strips with me:


Khao San Road at night; notice, it's still madness:


I became friends with a nice German boy from Nuremberg named Dominic who is also traveling alone. We discussed the pros and cons of traveling solo and also met three hilarious Thai students. They guessed I was 20. They also sang along, loudly, with Colby Caillet, even though their English wasn't great. They certainly knew all the words to that song.

Tomorrow is market day. Yes, I will probably buy too much and I'll be pissed off trying to fit it in my already heavy pack. But it's so cheap and colorful!

I'll keep you updated with all the crazy shit I find in the market.

Denise, I didn't go get a fish pedicure. Yet.

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Location:Khao San Road