Fri 13 Mar – Phuket Province

Certainly one of the more expensive days on the trip, but the 1000 baht ferry fee to the Phi Phi Islands and return was worth it, particularly for the cruise by the smaller, uninhabited Phi Phi Leh, one of the world’s most magic places.

Phi Phi Don is the larger of the two and is home to a significant tourist town. It’s certainly not for anyone looking for space as accommodation, bars, restaurants and shops all fight over the restricted landsize. It’s a more preferable Thailand resort than Patong Beach, but given the cost and isolation I’m not disappointed not to have stayed here, particularly given the rather dirty condition of the main beach.

Confucius says the easy way to Bangkok is to walk into table. We now know that the hard way is to sit with another in the back seat of a second class Thai bus.

I must admit to possibly making the final call to take the second class option as opposed to the VIP ‘luxury’ option. But given we had travelled second class since leaving Tallaroon St, and found it adequately comfortable, I think I had a sound basis for making the call. As per the fat little guide book, the back row of buses are often reserved for the revered Buddhist monks. Surely they would not be given the ‘privilege’ of sitting there! Thankfully, after a 7pm departure, at 2am someone disembarked and myself and Libe were able to separate our cramping bodies and tired minds into two different rows. Only then would we arrive in Bangkok in any decent state of mind.


Sat 14 Mar – Bangkok

Although tired from the overnight bus, we were still able to pound the pavement for our first day in Bangkok, a city which I still don’t know what to think of. It reminds me of some of the world’s biggest cities, such as Manhattan and London, in that it has no real city centre. Rather, Bangkok is a combination of districts, each with their own unique feel.

Bangkok shares something in common with two other famous cities, Venice and Amsterdam – a decent canal system, which proved today to be a handy transport method. We’re staying in Banglamphu, just off the famous tourist strip of Thanon Khao San. Despite that fact that I‘ve been highly critical of Patong Beach, I find Khao San Road enjoyable as it’s much less ‘in your face’ and the prices remain reasonable. The New Joe Guesthouse might be plain, but Banglamphu remains for me a recommended area of accommodation. The major negative of staying here is that there is not a lot of convenient public transport options available.

Another slight disappointment for us is that Thailand hasn’t lived up to its moniker as ‘The Land of Smiles’. We’ve found the Thais to be no more or less friendly than most other societies. While I can’t be really critical of them as they generally live quite stressful lives, with extremely long work hours, the commoners of India and Peru live in similar ways but seem to smile more.


Sun 15 Mar - Bangkok

Another day covering huge amounts of territory. Surely between the Wats (Buddhist Temples/Monasteries), the huge weekend Chatuchak Markets, Chinatown, Thanon Silom and finally Thanon Khao San we covered 15 kilometres.

Initially, Wat Phra Kew and the Grand Palace were to be included at the beginning of that list, but we were quoted a combined 350 Baht (AUD 15) by the locals and 200 Baht (AUD 9) by the fat little guide book. Although we have found Lonely Planet’s 2008 Southeast Asia On A Shoestring, published March 2008, to consistently understate prices considerably, we don’t have much confidence that the locals have been providing us “farang” (foreigners) with honest prices. Given another seemingly inflated price, we skipped these two locations, comfortable in our expectations that the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia were the religious monuments we preferred to see anyway.

The Chatuchak markets weren’t conducive to haggling, which was disappointing seeing that I’ve been flat-out practising my Monty Python’s Life Of Brian haggling technique. That still didn’t stop us (particularly myself) from walking out with a few novelties and additions to the wardrobe at good prices.

Thanon Silom is one of Bangkok’s famed ‘adult’ districts. It is eye-catching, almost shocking, to walk past any of the establishments and to look directly through the front door onto the podium, with the Thai girls catching your glance as they waltz around the poles in their skimpy outfits. It was almost as shocking to see two young children with their parents at one of the restaurants on the strip strip (no, that’s not a duplication). Being kids, there is every chance they might have asked some inquisitive questions to their oldies regarding the names lit up in bright neon, such as Thigh Bar (possible answer being KFC?), Pussy Collection (a Pet Store with nothing but kittens?), Super Pussy (The Geelong team of 2007?) and The Strip (an Aussie TV show?).

Just to prove anything goes in Thanon Silom, a baby elephant was seen being led around at around 9:30pm. The novelty of such a sight wore off once the elephant’s well being was contemplated. Just like the kids, they shouldn’t be seen in this area.


Mon 16 Mar – Bangkok to Chiang Mai

First Changover of the tour. Changover is one of the two major Thai beers, along with Singha. At 6.5% alcohol content and 80 Baht (AUD 3.50) for a 650ml bottle, they’re pretty potent. Also dangerous is that they can be found everywhere, including street vendors and the omnipresent 7 Elevens.

The day was whittled away drifting down the large Nam Mae Chao Phraya river and through Chinatown (again). After that it was back to Banglamphu, pack the bags and head for the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai via another overnight train.


Tue 17 Mar – Chiang Mai

Woke up this morning to a different Thailand. Going past our second class carriage window was a comparatively temperate landscape, less tropical than what we’d surveyed while making our way north from Singapore to Bangkok.

Our first day in Chiang Mai really impressed us. This is essentially a big country town, large enough in size to have a reported population of 1.6 million people (accuracy doubted by me, particularly compared to KL’s reported 1.7m), but small enough to avoid the sometimes crushing traffic of the capital cities. Our $15 per night guesthouse accomodation, a short walk outside the main city area, is the best value place for the trip to date.

The city is home to over 300 temples (“Wats”), all devoted to the almighty Buddha. Just to clarify, all of them are dedicated to the Buddha of Buddhism and none to the Buddha of Geelong, who gets enough love from himself anyway.

After drifting around the city during the afternoon, we checked out the well-known Chiang Mai night bazaar after dark. These are the markets I like – cheap knock offs and haggling.

Although we are backpacking, we have well and truly eaten well on this trip. We have not eaten much off the street, apart from the KL rats episode, and preferred to patronise mid-priced eateries. Our usual bill for nightly meals tends be around 400 Baht (AUD 17) for a full meal and a couple of drinks each, leaving us as full as a fat lady’s sock. The scales may make interesting reading upon my return down south.


Wed 18 Mar – Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has a large tourist class industry. Popular arts and crafts that can be learnt here include cooking, Thai language, Muay (Thai) Boxing and massage. Our lesson for today was in Thai cooking.

A 9am pickup saw us taken to a small country estate, around 15km out of the town. A brief stopover was made along the way there to pick up some fresh supplies at the local market. The full-day class was quite hectic but still included some great tips on authentic Thai meals. The highlights for us were largely among Libe’s dishes, particularly her chicken with basil, but my pad Thai noodles was handy as well. We look forward to impressing people back home with our new culinary skills.

Because they are so close I can’t help myself, and the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar had our attention again. I’d been eying off a Tim Cahill Everton shirt for under AUD 10 throughout our travels and finally my will to fight to urge gave way today, making my wallet 180 Baht (AUD 8) lighter.


Thu 19 Mar – Northern Thailand mountains

Something different again for today & tomorrow in Chiang Mai – a two-day, one-night jungle explore. Setting off in a sawngthaew packed to the rafters with fellow travellers at 10am, we were driven north into the countryside to an elephant park. After a quick feed it was up on top of the big boys, three to a back with some also carrying a driver sitting on their heads. Transporting up to four people like this continuously all day means that you can’t help but feel sorry for these so-gentle giants. Needless to say we enjoyed the experience, but I couldn’t do it again knowing what these poor things have to put up with.

Some of the photos we’ve got show how close we got to the placid-natured elephants. I’ve no doubt that we humans would not stand a chance if we came across one of these with a suitably bad attitude.

I also shared in some discomfort, riding bare back on top of our elephant’s neck. Although he was moving relatively very slowly, I developed an appreciation as to why jockeys look so awkward when their saddle slips. Three quarters of an hour and I was happy to jump off. Libe had a comparatively cushy ride on the seat that was strapped to the back of her elephant. Unfortunately, as the ratio employed was three people to one animal, she was on a different one to me.

A brief recovery had us “ready” for a challenging 2.5 hour uphill walk to a small hill tribe village, where our accommodation for the night was awaiting us. The terrain was tough yet provided nice views of the North Thailand mountain ranges, and a glimpse of a couple of wild elephants. The walk was made a little tougher by the quality of the air up here – it seems as though its burning-off season, and as a result there often was a carcinogenic smell to the atmosphere. Then again, it was like being at a Melville family get-together.

We arrived at the village, located at the peak of one of the mountains, shortly before the brief twilight that Thailand enjoys, and settled down to an electricity-free night on the balcony. The laid-back party clicked up a gear when one of the trek guides pulled out his guitar and strummed out a few Thai and Western songs, and then clicked up two more when Moore & Melville provided a rousing, albeit off-key, rendition of Hotel California.

(I’m happy to take responsibility for the bad vocals, but can’t be questioned for lack of enthusiasm).

Another highlight of the night was capturing Libe with a beer in hand. South-East Asia is not the place for wine connoisseurs like Libe at all, hence the reason for resorting to desperate measures. With the help of some added Sprite, Libe ‘technically’ knocked back a couple. I say ‘technically’ as the legitimacy of a shandy as a beer can be argued. Being generous, this puts her ahead in the Melville/Moore beer/wine scoreboard 2-1, a scoreline I’m keen to rectify in the near future.


Fri 20 Mar – Northern Thailand Mountains/Bus to Bangkok

Today was the start of 3 hectic days. Unfortunately it probably didn’t start off in the best fashion, as our basic Hill Tribe accommodation included a bed that was as hard as a rock and as uncomfortable as the US president speaking at a KKK conference.

A simple yet effective brekky (bread posing as toast, eggs, tomato and jam) gave us the fuel to head back down the other side of the mountain to that that we climbed yesterday. The first stage was a gruelling one hour walk down to a majestic waterfall at the bottom of the valley. A walk downhill doesn’t sound that tough, however the paths were unsettled, treacherous and hard on the knees. The fresh water of the falls was very welcome to all and sundry.

The next hour or so was a much easier walk alongside the river to an awaiting sawngthaew. This period of time certainly challenges for the best of our entire trip as the landscape was just amazing, so much so that it drew comparisons with some of the scenery from Lord Of The Rings. I know the pictures we’ve got won’t do this piece of the world suitable justice.

There was more to activity to come for our jungle explore, as at the end of our short sawngthaew ride (with myself resigned to the roof, given a group of 12 doesn’t fit into the space of 6) we were rewarded with white-water rafting and bamboo rafting rides. The white-water part wasn’t as rough as that that we rode in Austria nearly two years ago but was still enjoyable. The best part of this ride was floating in the river, off the raft, during the more calm yet very refreshing waters.

We managed to stay afloat on our bamboo raft for the ten minutes we were on it, had a quick feed and returned in another uncomfortably-crammed sawngthaew back to Chiang Mai. Our ever-accommodating guesthouse allowed us to use their showers before we threw our weighty backpacks on our back, walked a couple of kilometres to the bus station and boarded a 7pm VIP service to Bangkok.

At 9am we were walking through the jungle in Northern Thailand, by midnight we were halfway to Bangkok… certainly a huge day for us. Hence it was good decision to fork out extra cash for the VIP class bus, as opposed to the second-class option we took to Bangkok from Phuket.

I can probably speak for Libe as well by saying that we were disappointed to have left Chiang Mai today. Considering that we spent our last two days ‘in’ Chiang Mai on a jungle trek, we didn’t spend anywhere near enough in the city itself. It’s a great place to explore slowly while spending a relatively larger amount of travel time relaxing, and a highly recommended addition to any South-East Asia itinerary.