Thailand slightly uncovered..
Got carried away with the writing.. just skip onto the pics if you dont fancy the read!
En route to the 'Niagara hotel' in Bangkok, the taxi driver with a missing front tooth laughed away to himself for no apparant reason. The hotel was eerie yet quaint, with a few mosquitoes thrown in.. I was on the move again pretty quickly by the following morning. We found 'La Residence' hotel, retro and chic.. a nice place to chill once every so often away from the chaotic city life of Bangkok! I expected Bangkok to be a city of bedlam. It is hectic alright and with humidity of 33 degrees you feel like throwing yourself into the mucky canal.. Strolling around at night it is quite entertaining.
Restaurants and 'lady bars'on almost every street corner are a common sight. The city is bustling with tourists, ready to get their hands on whatever they can.. There is also a choice for the girls- in case they feel left out, Thai-boxing with the added invitation to 'witness all'..
The canal boat trip uptown was an eye-opener. The water is dark brown and murky.. people were actually fishing in the water. As the boat pulled up at each port wafts of smoke spluttered out from the exhausts on the passengers waiting to board.. It was an interesting journey all the same as many temples and old style shacks littered the banks of the canal.
Culture is everywhere in Bangkok.. if you want to search for it! We stumbled across the National Museum of Art, which I thought was one of the most interesting, varied and dynamic I have ever seen. The art ranges from the King's paintings (amusing, simple and smart) to art nouveau 'Bangkok style'(Women scantilly clothed using all shapes and forms of art materials). The Thais are very friendly to say the least and seem to have a fun loving nature. We happened upon an Elvis impersonator in one of the bars. He was slightly decrepid looking but hit all the right notes. After a couple of numbers the ladies in black leather entered the scene.. there was no escaping! Try as you may to avoid the fiendish element in Bangkok, you are bound be succumbed somewhere along the way!
Hua Hin, a beachside city about 3 hours South of Bangkok was our next destination. It was hard to leave straight away with a pool 3 feet from your room and a beach 2 mins down the road. An element of sleeziness lingered, not enough to overrun the city though! The first night we got caught up in Saturday night fever.. a nightclub literally rocking the street and everyone on it under one roof! The band played a mix of rock and metal, sending hips and legs flying in all directions.
The beach in Hua Hin was lovely, horses trotting up and down, warm sea- interspersed with monsoon rains every so often!
Ko Pha nGan, an island further South was the next destination. Entering the ferry you could glimpse views of luscious palm trees encassed in alcoves.. mesmerising calm waters and islands dotted in the distance. This was what I was looking for. We headed off to 'The Sanctuary', a yoga, health retreat on Haad Thien on Ko Phangan.. We hopped on the back of a pick-up taxi-truck, bags on tow and began the rickedy journey up and down hill. My feet were in charge to control the involuntary movement downwards (me and my bags) as we ascended steep hills at record speed.. what fun! Next I realised to get to the destination we had to wade through water to hop into the taxi boat.
Groovy chill-out music greeted us as we hopped off the boat coming from the sanctuary. The tree hut where we stayed came with mosquito net, fan, cold water, outdoor squat toilet.. I could handle this! The Vegetarian and seafood restaurant was my idea of heaven. I woke up the first night to fluttering noises in the room over the bed. Bats had entered under the eaves.. nightmare.. pinch.. still nightmare.. aaahhhh. One attempt to go to the toilet was foiled a couple of hours later by a bat pirrouetting around the room so I ducked back under the net..
I got quite friendly with the ants after having to deal with a fat toad stuck in the drainpipe of the shower..leaping lizards everywhere! Where the jungle meets the sea what dis I expect? It appears the sanctuary attracts alot of 'zen-like'people to the extreme from all corners of the earth. Yoga and detox programmes are a priority here.. colonic irrigation for whoever desires to be flushed out. There was an aura of karma to the extreme at times.. men walking around in skirts kinda thing.. I took flight a few days later..
Finally we headed to one if the twin beaches of Thong Nai Pan Noi. Paradise defined. The beach was postcard perfect, sparsely populated.. a couple of groovy joints to hang out in. It was bliss. I couldn't bottle the mozzies or the nippers in the sea.. I decided to forfeit 10 bites a swim as the view was so nice! I also got rid of a grandad mosquito that ate me one night. He looked overweight after his feed so I put him out of his misery. I had a brief culinary experience in one of the miniture restaurants off the beach. This entailed a one-on-one cookery lesson with a Thai lady in her back kitchen. The kitchen had a smaller four ring cooker, a few pots and veg left on the side (visited by friendly kitchen flies every so often..) Off we started with Thai green curry, veg & tofu sweet and sour and chicken, garlic and pepper stirfry! A few tips on how to chop veg, chefs secret ingredients and a couple of woks and pots later I was eating the 'delights of the night'! Cambodia, culture rich was calling next.>
En route to the 'Niagara hotel' in Bangkok, the taxi driver with a missing front tooth laughed away to himself for no apparant reason. The hotel was eerie yet quaint, with a few mosquitoes thrown in.. I was on the move again pretty quickly by the following morning. We found 'La Residence' hotel, retro and chic.. a nice place to chill once every so often away from the chaotic city life of Bangkok! I expected Bangkok to be a city of bedlam. It is hectic alright and with humidity of 33 degrees you feel like throwing yourself into the mucky canal.. Strolling around at night it is quite entertaining.
Restaurants and 'lady bars'on almost every street corner are a common sight. The city is bustling with tourists, ready to get their hands on whatever they can.. There is also a choice for the girls- in case they feel left out, Thai-boxing with the added invitation to 'witness all'..
The canal boat trip uptown was an eye-opener. The water is dark brown and murky.. people were actually fishing in the water. As the boat pulled up at each port wafts of smoke spluttered out from the exhausts on the passengers waiting to board.. It was an interesting journey all the same as many temples and old style shacks littered the banks of the canal.
Culture is everywhere in Bangkok.. if you want to search for it! We stumbled across the National Museum of Art, which I thought was one of the most interesting, varied and dynamic I have ever seen. The art ranges from the King's paintings (amusing, simple and smart) to art nouveau 'Bangkok style'(Women scantilly clothed using all shapes and forms of art materials). The Thais are very friendly to say the least and seem to have a fun loving nature. We happened upon an Elvis impersonator in one of the bars. He was slightly decrepid looking but hit all the right notes. After a couple of numbers the ladies in black leather entered the scene.. there was no escaping! Try as you may to avoid the fiendish element in Bangkok, you are bound be succumbed somewhere along the way!
Hua Hin, a beachside city about 3 hours South of Bangkok was our next destination. It was hard to leave straight away with a pool 3 feet from your room and a beach 2 mins down the road. An element of sleeziness lingered, not enough to overrun the city though! The first night we got caught up in Saturday night fever.. a nightclub literally rocking the street and everyone on it under one roof! The band played a mix of rock and metal, sending hips and legs flying in all directions.
The beach in Hua Hin was lovely, horses trotting up and down, warm sea- interspersed with monsoon rains every so often!
Ko Pha nGan, an island further South was the next destination. Entering the ferry you could glimpse views of luscious palm trees encassed in alcoves.. mesmerising calm waters and islands dotted in the distance. This was what I was looking for. We headed off to 'The Sanctuary', a yoga, health retreat on Haad Thien on Ko Phangan.. We hopped on the back of a pick-up taxi-truck, bags on tow and began the rickedy journey up and down hill. My feet were in charge to control the involuntary movement downwards (me and my bags) as we ascended steep hills at record speed.. what fun! Next I realised to get to the destination we had to wade through water to hop into the taxi boat.
Groovy chill-out music greeted us as we hopped off the boat coming from the sanctuary. The tree hut where we stayed came with mosquito net, fan, cold water, outdoor squat toilet.. I could handle this! The Vegetarian and seafood restaurant was my idea of heaven. I woke up the first night to fluttering noises in the room over the bed. Bats had entered under the eaves.. nightmare.. pinch.. still nightmare.. aaahhhh. One attempt to go to the toilet was foiled a couple of hours later by a bat pirrouetting around the room so I ducked back under the net..
I got quite friendly with the ants after having to deal with a fat toad stuck in the drainpipe of the shower..leaping lizards everywhere! Where the jungle meets the sea what dis I expect? It appears the sanctuary attracts alot of 'zen-like'people to the extreme from all corners of the earth. Yoga and detox programmes are a priority here.. colonic irrigation for whoever desires to be flushed out. There was an aura of karma to the extreme at times.. men walking around in skirts kinda thing.. I took flight a few days later..
Finally we headed to one if the twin beaches of Thong Nai Pan Noi. Paradise defined. The beach was postcard perfect, sparsely populated.. a couple of groovy joints to hang out in. It was bliss. I couldn't bottle the mozzies or the nippers in the sea.. I decided to forfeit 10 bites a swim as the view was so nice! I also got rid of a grandad mosquito that ate me one night. He looked overweight after his feed so I put him out of his misery. I had a brief culinary experience in one of the miniture restaurants off the beach. This entailed a one-on-one cookery lesson with a Thai lady in her back kitchen. The kitchen had a smaller four ring cooker, a few pots and veg left on the side (visited by friendly kitchen flies every so often..) Off we started with Thai green curry, veg & tofu sweet and sour and chicken, garlic and pepper stirfry! A few tips on how to chop veg, chefs secret ingredients and a couple of woks and pots later I was eating the 'delights of the night'! Cambodia, culture rich was calling next.>
posted by jen hayes at 6:19 AM
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