Mon 23 Mar – Siem Reap, Cambodia

Some consider that we are lucky as our native tongue is the world’s common language. Sure, it does make it easier for heading around the world, but I’m happy to argue that I’d rather be one of the unlucky ones. To have been required to learn another dialect for travelling would be a welcome burden. Everywhere throughout our travels we have encountered tourists and local people communicating in their second languages – Germans and Malays, Swedes and Thais all engaging in commerce with English. The English world’s lack of need to develop such an alternative means that we aren’t as multi-skilled as all these people that I’ve just listed and the many others like them.

We’ve only got one full day in Siem Reap and that means that today’s itinerary is non-negotiable– a trip around the nearby Temples of Angkor. In fact, these structures, considered a contender for the wonders of the world, may sit at the top of the list of must-do things on our entire Asian tour. There are hundreds of temples around Angkor, built between the 9th and 13th centuries, which makes them much older than Machu Picchu. For much of its prime, Angkor was a city of 1 million people, dwarfing little London’s 50,000 populace, and was the centre of an empire that stretched from Myanmar (Burma) to Vietnam, so we’re not talking about a small remote civilisation here.

There is literature which suggests spending up to a week browsing these temples, but that might be directed to those who love ruins more than Barney Gumble enjoys a Duff. Our solitary day (actually, it was only 8:30am to 2:30pm) took in the three ‘big boys’ – in order, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom (including Bayon) and the daddy of them all, Angkor Wat.

Although it was hard to appreciate at the time, all of these sites, which were not just temples but also settlements and communities, were remarkable, considering how advanced their structural engineering was and how they have stood the test of time. Not even Pol Pot and his devastating Khmer Rouge policy of no religion was able to defeat them.

Summarising the first of the three, Ta Prohm is a 12th-century Buddhist temple that has had little restoration or maintenance since its construction. As a result, nature is gradually deafeating it; vegetation such as strangler fig trees are growing within it with startling consequences. It has been used as a set for Tomb Raider and one of the Indiana Jones flicks and thus does look somewhat familiar to the first-time visitor.

Angkor Thom is a fortified square city, with huge stone walls around 2.5 km long on each side. A lot of the area inside it is occupied by small forests, however it also holds Bayon, a temple built around 1200 AD that was my personal highlight of the day. The temple looks more like an imposing fort than a religious monument, such is its commanding nature, particularly with 216 gigantic faces having been carved into its stone edifices. You could imagine this temple under siege during one of the many wars fought in this area, with the local peoples using its steep and complicated structure to defend it from the invaders, much like the beachside hills of Gallipoli were used by the Turks against our Anzac soldiers.

Last but certainly not least was Angkor Wat, officially the world’s largest religious monument (but arguably passed by Flemington?). This temple is a national source of pride for the Khmers (the native Cambodians) and we were to see its image throughout the country, particularly in the capital Phnom Penh, on shirts, souvenirs, art, the national beer’s can label and many others. It differs from the preceding two temples as it’s outstanding feature is its symmetry. Including the first walls encountered upon entrance, which sit across a moat which would ‘make European castles blush’, there are 4 distinct areas, each feeling isolated from the others. Indeed, it was only when we saw a miniature model of Angkor Wat in the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh that we truly appreciated this feat of construction.


Tues 24 Mar – Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After our shortest stay of our tour (one day, two nights), it was back on the road to Phnom Penh. This bus trip was better than our preceding one in the same country two days ago, as the private sector here seems to be quite reliable and honest in its dealings with tourists. As suggested by the fat little guidebook, Cambodia’s progress occurs despite the government, and not because of it. Today’s bus ride did nothing to disprove that thought.

Bringing back memories on India, the dusty, dry conditions of Cambodia make every open-air vehicle trip (i.e. tuk-tuks) a battle. The best method to handle the dirt that gets blown into your face is to wear sunglasses and to wear a face mask to filter the air, as the locals often do. I’ll pass on the second option, without any logical reason, and instead hope that I can avoid a doctor’s appointment upon my return to Australia to help clear any lingering particles from my throat.

Our accommodation here in Phnom Penh is interesting to say the least. The Boeng Kak lakefront area is one of the two most popular backpacker haunts in the city. It has numerous rickety guesthouses, thin but long, stretching out over the water on stilts. The atmosphere amongst the travellers is relaxed, possibly indirectly caused by their need to have faith that the many imperfections in the guesthouses’ structures won’t lead to a catastrophe.

But there are some quite shady characters on the streets of this area for sure. Already tonight I’ve been offered products like weed and opium multiple times. Even though I’m as drug-resistant a person as there is, I’d think that the jaw-droppingly beautiful sunset view from Boeng Kak, particularly from the rooftop restaurant and lounge of our guesthouse (the Grand View), would be intoxicating enough to make superfluous the need for any such social items.

Photos - South-East Asia #9 - Siem Reap

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Photos - South-East Asia #8 - Chiang Mai & Northern Thailand

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85623&id=636580665&l=e9cfb957de

Sat 21 Mar - Bangkok

Back to the amazing hustle and bustle of big Bangkok! Even at 5am the city is a hive of activity and commerce – the bus station was busy with travellers arriving and departing, taxi and tuk-tuk drivers hassling and haggling, and bleary-eyed street vendors already flogging and selling their rip-offs.

Although tired, we managed find and catch a bus to Banglamphu, walk through Thanon Khao San and Soi Rambutri, have a just-average breakfast and find some accommodation nearby. The Bella Bella Guesthouse was only average in standard but that doesn’t surprise as I’m now taking the sleeping advice of Lonely Planet with a grain of salt. From now on I’ll be relying instead on HostelWorld.com, which has found us the two best digs of our trip (the Equator Hostel in KL and the Parami Guesthouse in Chiang Mai). The website features ratings and comments from a large number of travellers, as opposed to the fat little guide book which is based on one person’s opinion, so in hindsight its greater reliability should be expected.

The traffic in Bangkok has to be seen to be believed. I can’t recall seeing roads as congested as these. Heading from Banglamphu to Siam Square on local bus number 3 seemed easy enough until the midday traffic reduced our progress to around a few hundred metres in half an hour. Hence, the small fare was written off and haste made to the river taxis. My advice to anyone heading to this city is to not rely on the roads in the major areas and to use the other options instead, such as the rivers and trains.

I’ve resigned myself to carrying a third bag for the remainder of our travels as today’s regular visit to a G2000 store finally reaped a new suit. I parted with around AUD 200 each for 3 suits in Hong Kong in July 2007 and today the sum of AUD 160 was added to the accumulating credit card debt. With a heap of stores in Singapore it might not be the last.


Sun 22 Mar – Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sitting at the Poipet International Terminal pounding the keyboard, dominating my thoughts is that this is the worst first impression of a country I’ve experienced. Corruption and dishonesty are the words that come to mind, and unfortunately I’m talking about the Cambodian officialdom. I’ll have to reserve opinion on the real Cambodians, as suggested by the fat little guide book, for a few days.

The alarm was set for 4:30am, courtesy of an early morning bus ride from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet, on the Thai side of the border. By 10am we had arrived at the crossing town. The next four hours have been as unfunny as diarrhoea in a spacesuit.

Our tuk tuk driver, operating for a generous but unchallenged 80 Baht fare, was instructed to take us to the border, but took us to a tourist agency. Here we were informed that they were the issuing authority for Cambodian Visas for 30 USD. Knowing that the official rate was 20 USD we did not agree and insisted that we were taken to the border. In hindsight, perhaps we should have deducted some, maybe half, of our greedy driver’s fee. Anyway, the I’m bringing the Siam Frontier Tour and Travel Ltd companies’s name up in disgrace and with a warning that it is to be avoided by all tourists.

Leaving Thailand was not a problem, which is consistent with the overall good tourist infrastructure in place there. Entering Cambodia was a pain though. Tourist visas are to be purchased at the border entrance for US 20, a fact clearly pointed out on the sign above the service window. However, when attempting to make the purchase, each tourist is shown a hand-written sign stating that unless 1000 Baht (over 40 AUD) is paid the visa will take a day. Payment will ensure that the visa is magically produced within a couple of minutes. After I made my intentions clear that I knew what the price was and was not going to pay any additional fees, the window was promptly shut.

If I had my time over again, here would be where I stood my ground further and not moved from the window, ensuring that no visas would be processed until mine was completed at the official rate. However, we did cave in somewhat and paid 100 Baht (4 AUD) as the bribe. My thoughts now are that if all tourists were to stand their ground and not pay any bribe whatsoever, this problem would gradually go away.

The next area we were herded into was the dilapidated immigrations office. There is no fee payable here but that did not stop some of the tourists appearing to hand over a small amount of cash for having their passport stamped. I’m happy to say that both of went through this procedure without paying a single cent. When others has been paying their bribe, we both simply took our passports back and walked out.

The fun didn’t stop there. We were met by a young man who insisted that we board a free tourist bus which would transfer us to the “Poipet International Terminal”, an empty large concrete building around 5 minutes away from the border and in the middle of nowhere. Not having any real good guidance for other alternatives (another hole in the fat little guidebook’s advice) we agreed.

(Ironically, a few days later I’ve found some guidance printed from the web by Libe that provided good instructions on how to get a share taxi in Poipet to Siem Reap for about USD 25).

There are two onward travel options from the Terminal – bus or share taxi. The bus costs USD 10 but leaves when full. After lengthy deliberations and considerations we elected for the bus, despite the fact that we were told it was to leave two hours later. The touts, including our supposedly genuine guide, push travellers towards the taxis, whose price is negotiable but generally is around a hugely inflated USD 60. Again, it is only because tourists submit themselves to such prices regularly that this poor market exists, and I’m glad we stood our ground for the bus, even if the bastards did continue the dirty tactics (e.g. bus delays) to try to sell the taxi option. The bus itself was actually quite good and certainly more comfortable than a cramped share taxi would’ve been.

I’ll finish my rant about the Cambodian tourist infrastructure there but am happy to provide advice on how to circumnavigate all of these pitfalls to anyone else using the road from Bangkok to Cambodia.

There is a clear distinction between this country that is new to us and the Thailand that we were in for two weeks. Comparatively, the Cambodian landscape we saw was flat, dry and underdeveloped. Categorising the two, Thailand may possibly be classified as a second-world country and Cambodia into the third.

We both really enjoyed Thailand, so much so that of the three countries we’ve been to so far it’s probably the one to which I would return to first. The country is as cheap or expensive as you make it, although our loose spending habits mean that we’ve spent more cash than we thought we might have. It is a comfortable place to tour around and well recommended to anyone thinking of making the trip here.

We finally arrived at the Garden View guesthouse around 6pm, after around thirteen hours of being in transit. Our initial thoughts of the ‘normal’ Cambodia (excluding aforementioned bureaucracies) is that it seems expensive – except maybe for alcohol. US 60c for a pot of beer, $13 for a 750ml bottle of Baileys sounds pretty good to me. Food and transport, two of the other main costs, appear likely to accumulate quietly but significantly. The fact that the country’s most used currency is the US Dollar (the official currency is the Riel) certainly contributes this. A lot of items will be cost a minimum of 1 USD, yet if the Riel was used (which currently trades at around 4,200 Riel for 1 USD) fractions of this amount are likely to be involved instead.

Photos - South East Asia #7 - Bangkok

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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.

Tue 10 Mar – Krabi province

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, a large reason for Krabi Town’s existence is that is serves as a centre to explore surrounding locales, which collectively are known as the Krabi Province. It would serve that purpose for us today as we checked out nearby Hat Rai Leh and Ao Nang.

A decent amount of time passed between leaving the K Guesthouse and setting foot on our transportation to Hat Rai Leh (in English – Rai Leh Beach), due to Lonely Planet providing us with public transport prices that appear well out of date. Longtail boats, so named due to the combined length of their hull and their crude extended propellers, are around 70 baht per person between Krabi Town and Hat Rai Leh according to the fat little guide book, however we eventually conceded to the local’s demands for 150 baht. Conversations with other travellers confirmed that 150 baht appears to be the current benchmark.

In a quote dated around two years ago, the longtail boats are as safe as the Bank of England. That might have been extremely comforting back then but in current circumstances it makes you really eye off those seats closest to the safety jackets.

Any negative thoughts were forgotten upon reaching magical Hat Rai Leh. The supposedly shoestring eastern part of this area was attractive enough for a couple of Brits with us in the boat to confuse it with the Western section, one of the world’s signature honeymoon destinations. A narrow path leads everyone across the thin Rai Leh peninsula to the Western beach. I’ll let the photos I’ve taken speak for this area.

I’ll just add that the two most amazing things for me about the limestone karsts that dominate the scenery is that many of them are taller than they are wider, and that vegetation occupies every available space of their surfaces, however precarious the location of the tree or shrub is.

Ao-Nang was a lovely spot in itself, but is quite reminiscent of beach towns found in Australia and elsewhere. Its fusion of East and West was far too slanted to the West for it to be considered a worth more than a feed and a beer or two (and Libe’s first wine since Singapore, a lazy 6 days!), so for a lazy 50 baht we hitched a songthaew back to Krabi.

Nighttime has been when these Asian areas really come alive, which is understandable given the intensity of the day’s sun and humidity. The day is full of sweat, the night beings comparatively comfortable conditions, and consistently separating the two is a shower to become fresh again. After dark tonight was no exception, with the town’s streets and bars enjoying healthy patronage. We passed the time tonight in two places, one a commonly-found restaurant/bar/internet café, the other a Rastafarian bar where the dreadlocked dude in charge shelled out cocktails, albeit rather small ones, at 80 baht a pop (less than 4 AUD). Three rounds rung up a bill of 480 baht, less than 23 AUD. That might seem small but when compared to our accommodation cost of 450 baht per night it’s a more expensive backpackers night out in Thailand.

Wed 11 Mar – Krabi Town to Phuket Town

Another day, more travelling, this time between Krabi and Phuket. A common aspect of these two places is that they are both a province and a town within that province. Phuket the province includes popular tourist destinations Patong, Karon and Kata.

The bus ride from Krabi to Phuket was as harrowing as the ride a couple of days ago between Hat Yai and Krabi. Although there was not as many nerve-inducing moments, there was an instance where the driver lost concentration, gradually veered over to the shoulder of the road and required quick evasive action to avoid an unsuspecting motor scooter rider talking on their mobile. There were a number of travellers on the starboard side of the bus concerned that we may have hit the rider but I can confirm from my view on the port that they remained amazingly unharmed.

Phuket Town is largely free from the influence of tourism, which for me makes it a great place to stay. The meals are more authentically Thai, as well as their prices. The architecture of the place is described as Sino-Portguese and gives an unpretentious feel to it. Staying here instead of at the Phuket Province beaches was a good idea (as recommended by the fat little guide book), particularly with what we would see tomorrow….

Thu 12 Mar – Phuket Province

Yes, staying in Phuket Town rather than the provincial beaches was certainly a good idea. Today we caught the bus down to Patong Beach, which is really where tourists to ‘Phuket’ tend to stay. I’m positive that throughout my travelling and blogging experiences I’ve not been too negative on many places. However, I think we have a new contender for my most low-rated place, alongside Hollywood.

So here it is. Patong Beach is a showy scum of a town that is not worth the low-cost airfare from Australia. It’s pushy, overpriced, far too touristy and not surprisingly corrupt. There seems to be few genuine locals – I can’t recall speaking to anyone who was not solely interested in parting you with your cash and as much of it as possible.

Here’s a meaningful idea of the prices at Patong:

• Ice cream from Haagen Daas: AUD 13
• Billabong Boardies: 100 Baht (under 5 AUD) in Rai Leh, Krabi; 400 Baht in Patong.
• Sawngthaew: 45 min trip – Ao Nang to Krabi – 50 Baht per person; 10 min trip – Patong Beach to Karon Beach – 70 Baht person.

Just go elsewhere.

We eventually did, on the aforementioned Sawngthaew to Karon Beach, another expensive place but also much nicer and much more relaxed. The quality of the surf beach here was fantastic, thus a lot of the second half of the afternoon was spent in the water.

Beer and a few of the most popular spirits can be bought everywhere here, including the ubiquitous 7-Elevens. Most retail for around AUD 2.5 to 3 for a normal sized bottle or can, and AUD 4 for a large 660ml bottle. Unfortunately for Libe wine can’t be found as easily, apart from restaurants and bars, and then when it can be located the only option is the house white or red.

Photos of Krabi

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Photos of Phuket Province

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