FULL PHOTOS: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/snailhugger/ThailandJan2010#
Going to Thailand wasn't really a planed destination, I would have stayed in New Zealand at least another week, but flying on new years eve was hundreds of dollars cheaper than any other flight in January, so that's what I did. My friend in Nepal was out working till Jan. 8th, so I figured I would just have a nice taster of Thailand in between. I arrived in the Bangkok Int'l Airport – the quite new one that doesn't have any comfortable substrata to sit on, but plenty of shopping – at 11pm on the 31st of December. I had tried to couch surf, but no one wanted a guest on new years eve, so I decided to do as tourists do and go stay at Kohsan Rd. For safety reasons, I asked a young couple if they wouldn't mind me sharing a taxi with them. I thought maybe she was Nepali because she looked very much so. Turns out they were Israelis and before they could really approve, two more Israeli guys – obviously going a bit feral after their military service – strolled up and must of asked them something to the effect of “can we tag along with you, wherever you are going, for the rest of the evening” in Hebrew. Hence I was sucked into little Israel. I hadn't managed to make a proper booking (I know shame on me, but I always leave it till the last..) so I ended up staying in the place where the Israelis – mine and 90% of the other ones in Kohsan – stay, had dinner and saw the new year in at an Israeli restaurant, and followed it all up with breakfast at the same Israeli restaurant/travel booking office. Don't get me wrong, these people were extremely nice. I really liked them, but it was so weird to be in such a cultural bubble. People just assumed I spoke Hebrew and everyone was excited to go places in Thailand together. As an independent traveler, I found this a bit weird. Didn't they leave Israel to be around other kinds of people too? Or was it just about hanging out with each other in a slightly changed scene where the food/service was cheaper? What about the the pointy gold topped buildings, the lady boys, the amazing Thai food??? I found no answer to these questions. I spent one day in Bangkok checking out the temples, which were hopefully the most crowded they get all year being Saturday and New Years day.
Then I flew to Phuket. This was a mistake all together. Phuket is a hole filled with inconsiderate tourists and a few sex workers. It wasn't my scene. I been invited to go meet my friend Sam in Tonsai, but had some trouble getting much in the way of directions from him, other than that he was at the Green Valley Inn. I swear, there are only about 15 place names in Thailand and every province has at least one place each of the 15 names so google earth just doesn't help the way it does in say Australia. Some tourist “help” desk guy sent me to Tonsai on Koh Pi Pi. When I arrived I was very surprised at the tourist bustle but I just figured my friend had found some quiet corner or was really having a piss-up of a holiday. The beach was lined with fancy resorts and the back streets were lined with bars, shops, restaurants, and more affordable lodging. There were herds of plump, pink people – mostly speaking Hebrew (which I now recognize and can say the equivalent of “good on you” in) and British. I searched the tiny over crowded hell hole for the Green Valley Inn, but didn't find it. I checked my email and discovered I was in the wrong Tonsai. Doh! I booked a snorkeling tip for the marrow and a room at this cheap little place from a woman who was just opening it that day. It was clean, but I should have checked the thickness of the walls and the nature of the bar across the alley a bit better. Koh Pi Pi is obnoxious during the day, but at night, they kick it up about 10 notches. The bar across the alley turned out to be a Thai kick boxing place which was ridiculously loud and filled with scummy looking sausage till around 4 am. To boot, my “wall” was made from that fake wood stuff that is about 8mm thick. I did manage to pass out from exhaustion from about 9pm till midnight, then I got woken up and, well, it was horrible!
I got up early the next morning and went on the snorkeling trip which took me over to the place where the film “The Beach” was filmed. It was a beautiful spot, but it was absolutely covered with tourists. The snorkeling was ok but nothing too exciting. All of the large fish were gone and the coral was pretty badly damaged.
Then I flew to Phuket. This was a mistake all together. Phuket is a hole filled with inconsiderate tourists and a few sex workers. It wasn't my scene. I been invited to go meet my friend Sam in Tonsai, but had some trouble getting much in the way of directions from him, other than that he was at the Green Valley Inn. I swear, there are only about 15 place names in Thailand and every province has at least one place each of the 15 names so google earth just doesn't help the way it does in say Australia. Some tourist “help” desk guy sent me to Tonsai on Koh Pi Pi. When I arrived I was very surprised at the tourist bustle but I just figured my friend had found some quiet corner or was really having a piss-up of a holiday. The beach was lined with fancy resorts and the back streets were lined with bars, shops, restaurants, and more affordable lodging. There were herds of plump, pink people – mostly speaking Hebrew (which I now recognize and can say the equivalent of “good on you” in) and British. I searched the tiny over crowded hell hole for the Green Valley Inn, but didn't find it. I checked my email and discovered I was in the wrong Tonsai. Doh! I booked a snorkeling tip for the marrow and a room at this cheap little place from a woman who was just opening it that day. It was clean, but I should have checked the thickness of the walls and the nature of the bar across the alley a bit better. Koh Pi Pi is obnoxious during the day, but at night, they kick it up about 10 notches. The bar across the alley turned out to be a Thai kick boxing place which was ridiculously loud and filled with scummy looking sausage till around 4 am. To boot, my “wall” was made from that fake wood stuff that is about 8mm thick. I did manage to pass out from exhaustion from about 9pm till midnight, then I got woken up and, well, it was horrible!I got up early the next morning and went on the snorkeling trip which took me over to the place where the film “The Beach” was filmed. It was a beautiful spot, but it was absolutely covered with tourists. The snorkeling was ok but nothing too exciting. All of the large fish were gone and the coral was pretty badly damaged.
Still interesting enough, but by late afternoon, I was gladly on a boat headed to the correct Tonsai where I found an extraordinarily cheap place to stay in a cute little hut and found Sam and his matching counterpart Don living it up at the Green Valley Inn.
Tonsai is a rock climbing destination in a small by on the mainland near Krabi. It is accessible to most people only by boat, but the intrepid can climb over the rocks to a tiny resort in the next bay over that is linked by road. The bay is shallow but still has some interesting things to see. Terrestrially, Tonsai is a gently sloping valley surrounded by huge limestone cliffs which are both beautiful and provide ample climbing challenges. Since all the people in Tonsai are there to rock climb, they are all fit. There was only about 100 people around during my stay. The locals sell good basic thai food in stalls and there are a couple of restaurants. All the accommodation is in cheap little bungalows. There were no marauding herds of plump pink people. I loved it. I didn't bother going anywhere else in Thailand. The company was fun, the food was good, it is beautiful, and I even got to try rock climbing, which I wasn't overly successful at, but I did discover some muscles I didn't know I had.
Amazingly, this little place had an internet cafe and I discovered that someone at Arcata FWO wanted to interview me for a job I had applied for a few months before. This posed a bit of a problem, since my next stop was Nepal where the time difference would be worse and the electricity is hardly ever on. I managed to have a somewhat successful interview from the tiki bar/internet cafe at 11:30 pm in this crazy little place. Definitely the most adventurous thing I did in my travels. It seemed to have gone well, but I didn't get the job. Oh well. Perhaps next time.It quickly became time for me to head off to Nepal, too quickly, but I will get back to Tonsai at some point.
Tonsai is a rock climbing destination in a small by on the mainland near Krabi. It is accessible to most people only by boat, but the intrepid can climb over the rocks to a tiny resort in the next bay over that is linked by road. The bay is shallow but still has some interesting things to see. Terrestrially, Tonsai is a gently sloping valley surrounded by huge limestone cliffs which are both beautiful and provide ample climbing challenges. Since all the people in Tonsai are there to rock climb, they are all fit. There was only about 100 people around during my stay. The locals sell good basic thai food in stalls and there are a couple of restaurants. All the accommodation is in cheap little bungalows. There were no marauding herds of plump pink people. I loved it. I didn't bother going anywhere else in Thailand. The company was fun, the food was good, it is beautiful, and I even got to try rock climbing, which I wasn't overly successful at, but I did discover some muscles I didn't know I had.
No comments:
Post a Comment