We were a little negligent with the blogging in Thailand and are going to do some catch up with two different posts. One is the stories about our final stops in Thailand (the lower post, read first) the other is our impression of Thailand (the upper post, read second) and how we are feeling 53-days into our journey.
Our post-Bangkok travel in Thailand included four nights in Chiang Mai in North Thailand; three nights on Phuket Island on the Southwest Coast and one night in Hat Yai in the far south near the Malaysian Border.
What you will read in the other post is that we found Thailand to be a vexing and complicated place. The one stop in our travels in Thailand where this did not universally apply was Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai was fantastic and we truly enjoyed it. In retrospect this was because the people there seemed to be more genuine and honest than elsewhere in Thailand. The city definitely had a Mountain/Hippie vibe and the tourists/western locals appeared to be seeking inner peace – Thai massage, vegan dining, and eco-tourism is what we saw in our 4 days there.
For us, a big reason Chiang Mai was so great was “Om” and “Fern Paradise”. Fern Paradise is a bed and breakfast accommodation located 15 min out of the city and Om is the day-to-day manager (it is owned by his father). The property is essentially a small botanical garden maintained with love and care by Om’s father. Our room was a small cabin built in a tree that contained air-con, a flat screen TV and a mosquito net over the bed. At Fern Paradise the birds sang, the squirrels ran around, the largest snails we ever saw oozed down the sidewalk at night, and breakfast was served every morning on verandah next to a running stream. It was peaceful and refreshing, especially after the hustle and noise of Bangkok. On top of all this, Om was a shining star. He picked us up at the airport (and drove responsibly), ensured transport to and from the city at a fair price, and protected us like a friend. In fact, he is now our friend on facebook! He was genuine and helpful and was a major reason we enjoyed Chiang Mai so much. We also met another American Couple (Kurt and Kristen) at Fern Paradise and had a good time with them over some beers and breakfast conversations.
As a location, Chiang Mai is an interesting place to spend some time. The city center is historically significant. The first buildings dates to the late 13th century and the old wall and moat still remain. The oldest temple reportedly contains a Buddha relic and the City Pillar Temple is impressive despite being mostly destroyed in an earthquake in the 1500s. We were fortunate to be at City Pillar during a Buddhist festival to observe the religious rituals and experience the excitement of what seemed to be a celebratory event. Night markets were the main evening activity in the city. Most of the stalls were filled with hippy clothing, lots of jewelry and silk scarves abounded. We wished that we had space in our bags to take home some of the great buys but alas we did not. Erika decided to ditch some other stuff in Chiang Mai, though, so that she could do a little shopping. The food in Chiang Mai was pretty amazing as well! A lot of the food was sold on the streets and some of it looked delicious while some of it was just interesting --particularity the deep fried beetles, worms and grubs (we did not partake). The weekly Sunday market was a bit different, being more like a festival than a market. Blind musicians played the streets and people performed various talents for large crowds. However, after several nights (and days) spent perusing the many markets, we were marketed-out (well, Tony was…)
Aside from the great experience with the elephants (see past post) we also got out of Chiang Mai for a long trek through the jungle. Two local guides --“Bond” and “Yo”-- led us for about 5 hours through the jungle. The scenery was deep green jungle, with lots of bamboo and farms cultivated by the local villages. Bond explained that 20 years ago almost all the agriculture in the region was the famous “Golden Triangle” Opium (the golden triangle is the border region between Laos, Burma and Thailand that was a major Heroin producing region). However, in the last 20 years the King of Thailand established programs to promote the farming of legitimate cash crops. We walked through farms growing all the tropical fruit you could imagine and past a number of rice fields. Bond found one very large tarantula. Thankfully, Bond was unable to locate other jungle creatures, particularly the scorpions and Cobras which live in the area. Yo was also very entertaining. She grew up in a hilltop village and spent the majority of the hike collecting almost everything in the jungle for that evening’s dinner. She brought home wild ginger, lemongrass, wild fruits of all kind (Bond would climb the trees to knock down the fruit for her), and many bamboo shoots. She came home with a backpack and a plastic bag full of wild food, and both arms laden with bamboo shoots. She told us all about what each of the foods could be used for and was incredibly happy with her spoils of the day. It was fun to share in the experience. We did trek through one village, which was an interesting experience but not in a good way. The poverty was upsetting, the animals were sick or diseased (one dog was paralyzed in his back legs and was reduced to dragging himself around and begging for food), and a house in the village had burned down two days prior. We felt the village was being exploited as a tourist stop, which is a growing sentiment amongst Chiang Mai visitors. We gave a family there one of our portions of food and left feeling a bit down. Also saddening was the elephant tourist camp on the way out. The vacant look in the elephant’s eyes, the lack of water and the heavy chains on their legs made us feel that all the negative stories we heard about elephant tourism in Thailand were correct. This same scene played out several times in Phuket, and it never fails to upset us. Elephants are beautiful, amazing creatures and they deserve better.
Feeling good after Chiang Mai we moved on to Phuket -- which immediately reminded us why travelling in Thailand can be so confounding (see the above post).
World famous for its beaches, night-life and the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami, Phuket is the most hyped travel destination in all of Thailand. Admittedly our time there was dampened by bad weather resulting from a cyclone off the cost of Bangladesh. Rough seas and tons of rain meant we couldn’t snorkel, swim or do much of anything. We didn’t get to see the famous lime-stone formations or enjoy the beaches. Even dampening our expectations because of the weather, we felt like Phuket was over-rated, over-priced (compared to the other parts of Thailand) and somewhat disappointing.
The first day was literally awash, so we spent the time having a western day, watching “Star Trek” at the local western shopping centre and eating Pizza. The most memorable moment of the day was during the advertisements before the movie when we were prompted to “show our respect for the King”. Everyone in the theater stood up, and so did we. It is illegal to insult or show disrespect to the King in Thailand. To do so can result in being arrested and possible jail time -- if they say show respect, we were going to show respect. A montage of photos of the king was shown and a song was played, then everyone sat down and the adverts continued.
The second day the terrible weather continued so we had an enjoyable time being shown around by “Tin” in his Taxi/personal car. The scenery in Phuket is very impressive in places and we were treated to some great vistas (the flight in was also spectacular where the limestone formation were visible from the air). The gibbon rehabilitation center was a highlight and very moving. These apes are acrobatic masters swinging without effort and at great speed through their pens. Like the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, the Gibbon Rehabilitation center was doing great work trying to save Thailand’s Gibbons from the cruelty of Thailand’s tourist trappings and environmental destruction. They had very modest resources but are doing their best and we walked away happy that some people were working to save this intriguing animal. However, the rest of Phuket was quite ordinary. Patong (the main tourist city) was a dirty red-light district full of touts, hawkers and people who like cheap accommodation, food, drinks and sex. We spent one hour there and it was one hour too much. The beaches were okay but not spectacular, and the experience was sullied by the constant harassment by touts. Overall we left Phuket feeling it was a once beautiful island that was slowly losing its soul to Western tourists whom were all too happy to ruin it.
Before leaving Thailand we had a stop in Hat Yai, which is home to both the largest transport hub in South Thailand and a strong Muslim insurgency responsible for multiple fatal bombings and other attacks over the past several years. Because of the latter, the USA State department specifically asks its citizens to avoid the city. Our only reason for going to Hat Yai was because we needed to get to Penang, Malaysia and the bus was the only way from Phuket. Seven hours on a bus from Phuket to Hat Yai meant we needed to spend the night there. The one good thing about a strong terrorist presence is it gave us a perfect excuse to stay in our fancy hotel, eat at the tasty buffet, listen to live music in the bar and watch movies on TV (“We are Marshal”). Also… Hat Yai isn’t that nice and from our very brief transit through town, there didn’t appear to be anything that we wanted to visit.
The following morning we took a mini-van to Penang, Malaysia. To Tony’s great surprise this was not a completely miserable experience. While the driver was an hour late, smoked in the car and we had to share with 7 other passengers in a small van without seatbelts, at least the driver was only a speed-demon and not a complete maniac. Crossing the border was interesting. The Thai border was chaotic, dirty and the essence of a developing country… and then peaceful bliss on the Malaysia side. Manicured, clean, well presented and orderly. Malaysia was a welcome change. Thailand had started to wear on us as detailed in the post above.
Our post-Bangkok travel in Thailand included four nights in Chiang Mai in North Thailand; three nights on Phuket Island on the Southwest Coast and one night in Hat Yai in the far south near the Malaysian Border.
What you will read in the other post is that we found Thailand to be a vexing and complicated place. The one stop in our travels in Thailand where this did not universally apply was Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai was fantastic and we truly enjoyed it. In retrospect this was because the people there seemed to be more genuine and honest than elsewhere in Thailand. The city definitely had a Mountain/Hippie vibe and the tourists/western locals appeared to be seeking inner peace – Thai massage, vegan dining, and eco-tourism is what we saw in our 4 days there.
For us, a big reason Chiang Mai was so great was “Om” and “Fern Paradise”. Fern Paradise is a bed and breakfast accommodation located 15 min out of the city and Om is the day-to-day manager (it is owned by his father). The property is essentially a small botanical garden maintained with love and care by Om’s father. Our room was a small cabin built in a tree that contained air-con, a flat screen TV and a mosquito net over the bed. At Fern Paradise the birds sang, the squirrels ran around, the largest snails we ever saw oozed down the sidewalk at night, and breakfast was served every morning on verandah next to a running stream. It was peaceful and refreshing, especially after the hustle and noise of Bangkok. On top of all this, Om was a shining star. He picked us up at the airport (and drove responsibly), ensured transport to and from the city at a fair price, and protected us like a friend. In fact, he is now our friend on facebook! He was genuine and helpful and was a major reason we enjoyed Chiang Mai so much. We also met another American Couple (Kurt and Kristen) at Fern Paradise and had a good time with them over some beers and breakfast conversations.
As a location, Chiang Mai is an interesting place to spend some time. The city center is historically significant. The first buildings dates to the late 13th century and the old wall and moat still remain. The oldest temple reportedly contains a Buddha relic and the City Pillar Temple is impressive despite being mostly destroyed in an earthquake in the 1500s. We were fortunate to be at City Pillar during a Buddhist festival to observe the religious rituals and experience the excitement of what seemed to be a celebratory event. Night markets were the main evening activity in the city. Most of the stalls were filled with hippy clothing, lots of jewelry and silk scarves abounded. We wished that we had space in our bags to take home some of the great buys but alas we did not. Erika decided to ditch some other stuff in Chiang Mai, though, so that she could do a little shopping. The food in Chiang Mai was pretty amazing as well! A lot of the food was sold on the streets and some of it looked delicious while some of it was just interesting --particularity the deep fried beetles, worms and grubs (we did not partake). The weekly Sunday market was a bit different, being more like a festival than a market. Blind musicians played the streets and people performed various talents for large crowds. However, after several nights (and days) spent perusing the many markets, we were marketed-out (well, Tony was…)
Aside from the great experience with the elephants (see past post) we also got out of Chiang Mai for a long trek through the jungle. Two local guides --“Bond” and “Yo”-- led us for about 5 hours through the jungle. The scenery was deep green jungle, with lots of bamboo and farms cultivated by the local villages. Bond explained that 20 years ago almost all the agriculture in the region was the famous “Golden Triangle” Opium (the golden triangle is the border region between Laos, Burma and Thailand that was a major Heroin producing region). However, in the last 20 years the King of Thailand established programs to promote the farming of legitimate cash crops. We walked through farms growing all the tropical fruit you could imagine and past a number of rice fields. Bond found one very large tarantula. Thankfully, Bond was unable to locate other jungle creatures, particularly the scorpions and Cobras which live in the area. Yo was also very entertaining. She grew up in a hilltop village and spent the majority of the hike collecting almost everything in the jungle for that evening’s dinner. She brought home wild ginger, lemongrass, wild fruits of all kind (Bond would climb the trees to knock down the fruit for her), and many bamboo shoots. She came home with a backpack and a plastic bag full of wild food, and both arms laden with bamboo shoots. She told us all about what each of the foods could be used for and was incredibly happy with her spoils of the day. It was fun to share in the experience. We did trek through one village, which was an interesting experience but not in a good way. The poverty was upsetting, the animals were sick or diseased (one dog was paralyzed in his back legs and was reduced to dragging himself around and begging for food), and a house in the village had burned down two days prior. We felt the village was being exploited as a tourist stop, which is a growing sentiment amongst Chiang Mai visitors. We gave a family there one of our portions of food and left feeling a bit down. Also saddening was the elephant tourist camp on the way out. The vacant look in the elephant’s eyes, the lack of water and the heavy chains on their legs made us feel that all the negative stories we heard about elephant tourism in Thailand were correct. This same scene played out several times in Phuket, and it never fails to upset us. Elephants are beautiful, amazing creatures and they deserve better.
Feeling good after Chiang Mai we moved on to Phuket -- which immediately reminded us why travelling in Thailand can be so confounding (see the above post).
World famous for its beaches, night-life and the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami, Phuket is the most hyped travel destination in all of Thailand. Admittedly our time there was dampened by bad weather resulting from a cyclone off the cost of Bangladesh. Rough seas and tons of rain meant we couldn’t snorkel, swim or do much of anything. We didn’t get to see the famous lime-stone formations or enjoy the beaches. Even dampening our expectations because of the weather, we felt like Phuket was over-rated, over-priced (compared to the other parts of Thailand) and somewhat disappointing.
The first day was literally awash, so we spent the time having a western day, watching “Star Trek” at the local western shopping centre and eating Pizza. The most memorable moment of the day was during the advertisements before the movie when we were prompted to “show our respect for the King”. Everyone in the theater stood up, and so did we. It is illegal to insult or show disrespect to the King in Thailand. To do so can result in being arrested and possible jail time -- if they say show respect, we were going to show respect. A montage of photos of the king was shown and a song was played, then everyone sat down and the adverts continued.
The second day the terrible weather continued so we had an enjoyable time being shown around by “Tin” in his Taxi/personal car. The scenery in Phuket is very impressive in places and we were treated to some great vistas (the flight in was also spectacular where the limestone formation were visible from the air). The gibbon rehabilitation center was a highlight and very moving. These apes are acrobatic masters swinging without effort and at great speed through their pens. Like the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, the Gibbon Rehabilitation center was doing great work trying to save Thailand’s Gibbons from the cruelty of Thailand’s tourist trappings and environmental destruction. They had very modest resources but are doing their best and we walked away happy that some people were working to save this intriguing animal. However, the rest of Phuket was quite ordinary. Patong (the main tourist city) was a dirty red-light district full of touts, hawkers and people who like cheap accommodation, food, drinks and sex. We spent one hour there and it was one hour too much. The beaches were okay but not spectacular, and the experience was sullied by the constant harassment by touts. Overall we left Phuket feeling it was a once beautiful island that was slowly losing its soul to Western tourists whom were all too happy to ruin it.
Before leaving Thailand we had a stop in Hat Yai, which is home to both the largest transport hub in South Thailand and a strong Muslim insurgency responsible for multiple fatal bombings and other attacks over the past several years. Because of the latter, the USA State department specifically asks its citizens to avoid the city. Our only reason for going to Hat Yai was because we needed to get to Penang, Malaysia and the bus was the only way from Phuket. Seven hours on a bus from Phuket to Hat Yai meant we needed to spend the night there. The one good thing about a strong terrorist presence is it gave us a perfect excuse to stay in our fancy hotel, eat at the tasty buffet, listen to live music in the bar and watch movies on TV (“We are Marshal”). Also… Hat Yai isn’t that nice and from our very brief transit through town, there didn’t appear to be anything that we wanted to visit.
The following morning we took a mini-van to Penang, Malaysia. To Tony’s great surprise this was not a completely miserable experience. While the driver was an hour late, smoked in the car and we had to share with 7 other passengers in a small van without seatbelts, at least the driver was only a speed-demon and not a complete maniac. Crossing the border was interesting. The Thai border was chaotic, dirty and the essence of a developing country… and then peaceful bliss on the Malaysia side. Manicured, clean, well presented and orderly. Malaysia was a welcome change. Thailand had started to wear on us as detailed in the post above.
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