Thailand - Part I

Bangkok

Took a flight from Phnom Phen to Bangkok as I was sick of buses and, besides, travelling by land you only receive a 15 day visa. Travelling by air you receive 30 days. When I got to Bangkok I was pretty tired and had some downtime. I did go to Phat Phong with a friend (Ron) which was quite a horrible experience. Basically the epi-centre for sex tourism in Bangkok. It was like a slap in the face! “You want see ping pong show, sir” was constantly whispered to us. Pretty much all the bars we wanted to go into were go go bars with girls dancing on tables.

We honestly only wanted to go out for a drink! We swiftly ended up back at the guesthouse. We originally went out as we believed it was far too expensive at the guesthouse and, besides, we wanted to see what it was like out in the Bangkok nightlife. The prices were quite steep as well considering where I had spent the past two months of travel.

We did go visit the reclining Buddha, the palace (without entering) and some temples. Took a nice cruise up the Chao Phraya river to get there which was refreshing and away from the hustle and bustle of the mostly narrow streets. Avoided the notorious Khao San road mostly but did wander there to see what all the fuss was about. The Phad Thai on the street was great for 25 BHT. To be honest I was more interested in getting to Ayutthuya, the old capital. My stay in Bangkok was a short one, only stayed four nights but I'm sure I'll be back in the future.

Ayutthuya

It was cheap to get there from Bangkok on the local train. Amazing to take a train for 1.5 hours that only costs 15 BHT! Ayutthuya lies north of Bangkok and the journey was an easy one. We did get third class tickets I suppose. Still, not bad at all. We got a Tuk Tuk for 40 BHT to the hostel, after the usual haggling over the price.

The ruins were great to see, much prefer old ruins to modern day temples. I do like history though so that's only natural on my part. The ruins looked even more impressive at night, with the lights poignantly directed on the sites. Ayutthuya is relatively small so only spent a day and a half there, getting a night train the following day.

The night market was wonderful for food and as always is the case in Asia is the cheapest available. Always so much on offer and cheap. A spicy curry with rice 35 BHT and chicken skewers were 5 BHT each - wonderful dinner!

We biked around this small city and took pictures of the ruins. The biking itself was glorious, splendidly sunny and thoroughly enjoyable. We biked til about 18h00, stopping to take pictures and to go for a walk around ruins in places. We stopped at a peaceful Buddhist temple and grounds in the beginning and relaxed there for a time. Saw some Elephants as well but I was quite unhappy at seeing them being chained up and looking rather miserable. All in all I think we covered between 8-12 km on a 'culture vulture' day. Not bad and great exercise. Unfortunately things turned a little sour when we got back to the hostel. The rain began again and this time it started mildly enough but gathered momentum. Thunder and lightening swiftly followed.

The rain continued and was really heavy prior to leaving Ayutthuya so our last few hours were spent watching Japanese pranks dubbed in Thai! Japanese humour is eccentrically funny! The train to Chiang Mai wasn’t great and was delayed, arriving after midnight into Ayutthuya. The carriages kept on crashing into each other when the train was coming to a stop so wasn’t easy to stay asleep.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai itself – the capital of the North – was relatively relaxed compared to the craziness of Bangkok, which of course was a relief. The moat, where most of the backpacker hostels are situated, was a little confusing and caused me to get lost a few times. You think you are at the right side to get back to your guesthouse but clearly are not! There is plenty of ruins to see in Chaing Mai but when the weather is so hot and you have just came from the ancient capital motivation may be wayward. We stayed at Same Same guesthouse, Julies guesthouse was full - a very popular hangout spot in Chaing Mai. Same Same had free wi-fi and the beer was strong and cheap so not bad! Red horse was about 8% and only 40 THB! The weather was incredibly warm during the day.

My time in Chiang Mai was relaxed, apart from visiting a few temple ruins I didn't do much sightseeing but then I knew I would be returning to Chiang Mai at some stage. I was eager to get to Pai, a place I heard so much about..

Pai

Pai is a small hippy town three hours North West of Chiang Mai. The roads are extremely steep and full of twists. Being hungover is not advisable. I wasn’t so didn’t bother me so much but others on the bus were feeling the strain from their stomachs and had turned a grayish colour. I had intended on staying two days in Pai prior to arrival. By the time I had made it to the bamboo bridge a guy told us about on the stop off half way the plan changed to a four day stay. In the end I stayed eighteen days I loved the place so much. I only really left because my visa was running out and I’d have to do a visa run or pay a fine of 500 baht a day!

After spending so much time in big cities or even simply cities it was wonderful to be at a location where after midnight the streets are literally deserted. No one around. The population of Pai is circa 5,000. I did have a scooter crash which was a pain but the wounds were relatively superficial. The annoyance was more that they that the major cuts were on my hands so I was bandaged up for about 9 days to protect against infection. Also, I was on anti-biotics, again for infection, and couldn’t drink during this period. In hindsight this was actually an excellent turn of events. I had been drinking far too much, as everybody tends to do on holidays. However, I had been travelling two and a half months and with drinks before I left Ireland I would estimate I had drank 75/80 days, which is a tad excessive I believe. I got a tattoo in Pai which I am very happy with and it always makes me smile when I look at it.

The tattoo is in Japanese and means “peace, love”. These are two characters I will never get bored of, no matter how old (or young) I get. Days melted away in Pai, mostly playing chess and smoking joints in the evenings with Filip (Belgian) and a few others. We had a few parties but not that much, the guys were more interested in getting stoned by the bungalows which of course was fine with me! When the day finally arrived where I had to go and do a visa run to Burma I really didn’t want to do it but had to. Then Rafa (Rafael, Belgian) wanted to do a boat adventure in Lao after we had heard the idea from Rob, a young English guy who had done this already. We decided to go for it and I got my Chiang Mai ticket changed to one going to Luang Prabang by slow boat the following day with Filip, Rafa and Eithan.

Until next time, ciao everyone..

Peace,

Liam O'Connor, travelling hobbit

Cambodia

Andre, Danny, Louise and myself with two locals in Siem Reap

Angkor wat ruins

Angkor wat sunrise with Andre

Sunrise at Angkor wat

Andre, Louise, Richard, Monika and myself drinking Mekong whiskey on the beach!

Danny, Monika and Andre - clearly boozing

Emma and myself playing chess on the beach

BBQ at the beach, locals cooking for the evening

Sun setting in Sihanoukville

The Killing Fields - so quiet, given what happened there in the 70s

Commemorative stupa at the Killing Fields, bones and clothes from people murdered there

Monkeys hanging out in the park!

Country - Cambodia

Capital - Phnom Phen

Currency - Cambodian Riel/US Dollar (US Dollar is widely accepted and mostly preferred)

Phnom Phen (Est. population: 2,000,064, May, 2009)

The journey to Phnom Phen wasn’t too bad, took circa four hours to arrive and met a few Canadians and Americans on the bus. Of course, with me slightly opposed to Lonely Planets I didn't know where I was going in the city to stay! I chatted to a few Canadian and Americans who I met on the bus from Ho Chi Minh.

We got rickshaws/tuk tuks to the lake at Phnom Phen, where all the backpackers stay. I shared a room with an American girl and we got a room for $7 a night. The guy who showed us the room, after showing us the room, immediately whipped out some weed and was trying to sell to me! It was the first time someone showing me a room in a guesthouse offered me weed!

The following day I met up with the two Emmas from Sweden in the evening for drinks and food. We went to the Killing Fields and the S21 torture museum the next day which was really difficult to take. To know what these happy people had to endure during the period 1974-9. The Killing Fields is rather serenely quiet, in stark contrast to those horrendous events during the reign of the Khmer Rouge massarcers.

I was recommended to go to the Killing Fields first which - as it turned out - as good advice indeed. If I had went to the S21 museum first I sincerely doubt I would have went onwards to the Killing Fields at all. The s21 site is the location for the initial screening of the 'educated minds' - all those of any educational status were considered from the 'new' era of progressiveness.

The 'old' was prior to the fall of the Angkor empire. I read a book entitled the 'Memoirs of the Cambodian children' or something to that effect. Parents who were of the educated status ditched there glasses even in an attempt to appear uneducated. Strange as it may seem this was a common occurrance at the time. The grave irony of the situation and tryanny is that Pol Pot, the leader of the regime, was in fact an educated individual himself. One of the many forms of the hypcrisoy at the time.

The three Irish guys got to Phnom Phen the next day and we hung out again, boozing as per usual! It was the first taste of Beer Lao I had (obviously from Lao but imported) and it is a top beer. Many people had told me about it and I wasn't disappointed. The Mekong Delta trip the guys did, as it turned out, wasn't as good as they expected. Too many tourists.

However, I decided I wanted to get out of Phnom Phen and get to the beach in Sihanoukville, the only sightseeing I wanted to do in Phnom Phen was the Killing Fields/S21. Besides, I was weary of my schedule so I booked a bus ticket to leave the following morning. The Swedish girls decided to come along with me and we agreed to meet the guys there. That night before we left we got really stoned, I could bearly talk, it was great!

Sihanoukville (Est. population: 199,902, province, 2008)

Sihanoukville was cool to hang out but nothing unbelievable to be honest. I found Viet Nam The beach itself was a little overhyped and the water dirty (there was plastic and other crap floating around). The Swedes and myself shared a room for $10 a night so it was cheap. Danny, Joe and Shane arrived the next day after staying to do the Killing Fields and S21, which we already did.

There was some great BBQs in the evening - two meats, some piece of fish with BBQ potatoe and salad. One place gave you a beer included for $3! The same place had $1 beers and $0.50 beers between 10 and 11! We basically swam during the day and had drinks in the evening. We met a few of our friends we hung out with in Viet Nam – Richard (Canadian), Monika (Polish), Andre (American) and Louise (English). Just bumped into them at the beach we were staying at, the Serendipity beach, was fantastic to see them all again.

Rich told me about Mekong whiskey, he found a spot where you could buy a bottle of Mekong, coke, lime and ice all for 5 bucks! We did rounds of Mekong whiskey on the beach, great banter! We had plenty of banter! Decided to stay a extra day or two, was great to be back on the beach and out of a city. Got a massage on the beach one day and I showed my shoulders to the woman, they were badly burned and peeling after Viet Nam.

She got some fresh aloe vera stalks and it clear it quickly. She wanted $20 for it all! I gave her $12 and told her that'sw all she was getting. You always have to haggle in Cambodia! I paid $3 for some buddhist beeds and that more than I should have paid as well, this have them though!

Siem Reap (Est. population: 139,458 , 2006)

We all left the same day to go to Siem Reap, mainly to visit Angkor Wat – one of the wonders of the world and one of the largest temple ruins, built in the early 12th Century. I almost missed the bus there - I stayed over with a friend and woke up at about 7, we were being picked up at 07h30. The guy running the guesthouse had to drive me to the bus station and the bus was waiting for me! We had to take two buses, one back to Phnom Phen and another to take us to Siem Reap. Danny had some weed so we had a version of our woreos from Viet Nam. The bus gave us water and some cake so we put weed into the cake and voila, we had wake!

We went to Angkor Wat for the sun rise has we heard it was amazing and it truly was a sight to behold. I was wrecked getting out there, stayed up to watch the champions league. The sunrise was majestic and there was so many temple ruins. Andre paid some guy to give us a mini tour but Louise and myself kept on joking around. By 11h00 we were quite tired and had enough. We went back to the guesthouse and I had got stoned and took a nap.

It was a pity I had such little time, we had such a great group of people there - the two Swedish Emmas, Danny, Shane, Joe, Andre, Louise and myself. A great crew and we had plenty of drinks. After two days though I had to go back to Phnom Phen to catch my flight to Bangkok.

I'll hopefully be posting an entry on Thailand in the next day or two.

Peace,

Liam O'Connor, travelling hobbit