Okay so lets start this blog entry with a quick disclaimer... Anybody who was hoping for some amazing update because of my last entry of "what happens in Bangkok stays in Bangkok" will be dissapointed. There is no crazy "Hangover 2" storyline about to unfold here. The only times I have been sick was when I ate nuts on 2 separate occasions!
We spent the majority of our time in Bangkok on 3 streets, the main touristy streets around Kho San Road. They are entirely geared towards tourists, with various comedy t shirt stalls and bars covering the streets. I think that you are supposed to spend a lot of your time in Bangkok going out at night...drinking. And true to the stereotype, thats what we did. There are plenty of places to go and it is easy to stay out until 7am. We saw a guy when we arrived with a beer, looking worse for wear. We saw him every day, no matter the time, with a beer in his hand. We left Bangkok and came back a few weeks later, there he was. At least we didn't hit it that hard!
I suppose the craziest thing we got up to was going to a ping pong show, just to see what all the fuss was about. Alex didn't come with us, but we went with a few German guys, one of whom we originally met in India and happened to bump in to. It wasn't to impressive really, you aren't missing out on anything if you haven't seen one. Just makes you feel a bit seedy!
We did go out and see a few sites in Bangkok. We all saw the worlds largest lying down Buddha (yet another worlds largest <insert some sort of pose or building material here> Buddha ticked off the list) in a temple complex nearby. I managed to get up early one day and walk down to the grand palace complex before just wandering around the city for a few hours with my Ipod in. The grand palace complex is pretty gaudy, but very impressive. The sunlight bounces off all the jewels and gold to dazzle you whichever way you look, and you can't help but start taking copious amounts of photographs. The emerald buddha (you guessed it...the worlds largest emerald buddha) housed within has to be the most jewel bedecked item I have ever seen.
We spent Christmas in Bangkok, which was very strange. I didn't really like it to be honest. Not because of Bangkok but just because you should be at home for Christmas. We did manage to find a great Christmas dinner in an Irish pub, complete with complimentary santa hat and party popper (we even had mince pies). We still had a good day, just not quite the same as home.
We wanted to get down to Koh Phangan for the new years eve full moon party so we headed to a nearby island in the south called Koh Samui on the 30th ready to get a ferry over the next day.
The full moon party was as expected really...pretty mental. The beach is lined with stalls selling buckets of alcohol, all with deadly mixes and stupidly cheap, whilst bars blast out songs so everybody is just dancing on the beach all night. There are fire spinners who should enter Thailands got Talent or something as they are stupidly good. After a while they get out a large skipping rope and set it on fire...
Whichever genius thought "lets get a giant skipping rope, set it on fire, then let hordes of drunk people try and jump it until it burns me" is a fool...but a genius nonetheless. I thought it was dumb at first, but then once I had drank a few buckets I got involved (sorry mum and dad) as did Ant (sorry Ant). Alex just filmed us.
The countdown is a bit hazy, but I remember large scaffolds with fireworks on and lots of cheering...thats enough for me.
Alex and I managed to make it home the next morning on a ferry, Ant wasn't so lucky and got stranded for around 4 days because of storms. With some typical Ant luck he met some rich Thai people who he quickly befriended and stayed with for free until he made it back to us.
Back on Koh Samui we waited out the storm and went to watch a Thai boxing match which was a lot of fun. We put a 10 Baht (20p) bet on each match just to make it a bit more exciting.
My favourite island was Koh Tao, the next one we went to. The island and beach were just a lot nicer in general, and I also learnt to scuba dive and trapeeze, both entirely new experiences for me.
My accomodation was included with my scuba diving training so I didn't see too much of Ant and Alex whilst on Koh Tao, being with the other people from the diving school. I had so much fun that I signed up to do the advanced course straight afterwards. I think the highlight for me was the night dive. I absolutely loved it! It felt like I was exploring some alien planet, with only my flash light showing me the creatures of the deep.
To celebrate my birthday Ant and Alex took me out for a steak dinner and a drink on the beach which was nice of them. I had to be up at 6am the next day to dive so we couldn't have a big one. They went back to Bangkok the next day to sort out visas but I stayed to finish my course.
After finishing diving some people from the dive shop went to do some trapeezing which I did (the video is at http://vimeo.com/35093459). That was a lot of fun, and a bit scary being up 10metres high. In the evening we went out for a korean BBQ and then got drunk on the beach. In one bar I was playing a nice innocent game of connect 4 with my dive instructor. What she didn't tell me was that if a guy loses then he has to go behind the bar, drop his trousers and get spanked 10 times by the barmaid...I lost. And jesus, the barmaid did not hold back with that stick. I did get a free gas chamber out of it though. Yeah, apart from that I loved Koh Tao.
Back in Bangkok Ant has gone to meet up with his Thai friends who he met at the full moon party so I haven't really seen him. Alex and I have been to the Tiger Temple today, which is a weird experience. Essentially I think those monks may have lost their way.
It is supposedly a sanctuary containing over 100 tigers, 2 lions, and 3 bears. However, it is a massive tourist trap. Once you are in you can go and crouch next to lots of tigers and pet them whilst a volunteer takes photos of you. The rest of the time you can wander around, seeing monks vaguely abusing tigers to get them into nice poses for photos. There are rumours that the tigers are drugged to make them docile and it wouldn't suprise me at all. They all look pretty monged out. Still...a great photo, no? I don't have much of a conscience regarding that kind of thing anyway, and they didn't really look unhappy (just very very sleepy).
And thats Thailand. When we have passed through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos we may spend a bit more time in Thailand to see some more countryside. Depends how much time we have I guess. Ant is still with his Thai friends so hopefully he will catch us up in Cambodia the day after we arrive.
We spent the majority of our time in Bangkok on 3 streets, the main touristy streets around Kho San Road. They are entirely geared towards tourists, with various comedy t shirt stalls and bars covering the streets. I think that you are supposed to spend a lot of your time in Bangkok going out at night...drinking. And true to the stereotype, thats what we did. There are plenty of places to go and it is easy to stay out until 7am. We saw a guy when we arrived with a beer, looking worse for wear. We saw him every day, no matter the time, with a beer in his hand. We left Bangkok and came back a few weeks later, there he was. At least we didn't hit it that hard!
I suppose the craziest thing we got up to was going to a ping pong show, just to see what all the fuss was about. Alex didn't come with us, but we went with a few German guys, one of whom we originally met in India and happened to bump in to. It wasn't to impressive really, you aren't missing out on anything if you haven't seen one. Just makes you feel a bit seedy!
We did go out and see a few sites in Bangkok. We all saw the worlds largest lying down Buddha (yet another worlds largest <insert some sort of pose or building material here> Buddha ticked off the list) in a temple complex nearby. I managed to get up early one day and walk down to the grand palace complex before just wandering around the city for a few hours with my Ipod in. The grand palace complex is pretty gaudy, but very impressive. The sunlight bounces off all the jewels and gold to dazzle you whichever way you look, and you can't help but start taking copious amounts of photographs. The emerald buddha (you guessed it...the worlds largest emerald buddha) housed within has to be the most jewel bedecked item I have ever seen.
We spent Christmas in Bangkok, which was very strange. I didn't really like it to be honest. Not because of Bangkok but just because you should be at home for Christmas. We did manage to find a great Christmas dinner in an Irish pub, complete with complimentary santa hat and party popper (we even had mince pies). We still had a good day, just not quite the same as home.
We wanted to get down to Koh Phangan for the new years eve full moon party so we headed to a nearby island in the south called Koh Samui on the 30th ready to get a ferry over the next day.
The full moon party was as expected really...pretty mental. The beach is lined with stalls selling buckets of alcohol, all with deadly mixes and stupidly cheap, whilst bars blast out songs so everybody is just dancing on the beach all night. There are fire spinners who should enter Thailands got Talent or something as they are stupidly good. After a while they get out a large skipping rope and set it on fire...
Whichever genius thought "lets get a giant skipping rope, set it on fire, then let hordes of drunk people try and jump it until it burns me" is a fool...but a genius nonetheless. I thought it was dumb at first, but then once I had drank a few buckets I got involved (sorry mum and dad) as did Ant (sorry Ant). Alex just filmed us.
The countdown is a bit hazy, but I remember large scaffolds with fireworks on and lots of cheering...thats enough for me.
Alex and I managed to make it home the next morning on a ferry, Ant wasn't so lucky and got stranded for around 4 days because of storms. With some typical Ant luck he met some rich Thai people who he quickly befriended and stayed with for free until he made it back to us.
Back on Koh Samui we waited out the storm and went to watch a Thai boxing match which was a lot of fun. We put a 10 Baht (20p) bet on each match just to make it a bit more exciting.
My favourite island was Koh Tao, the next one we went to. The island and beach were just a lot nicer in general, and I also learnt to scuba dive and trapeeze, both entirely new experiences for me.
My accomodation was included with my scuba diving training so I didn't see too much of Ant and Alex whilst on Koh Tao, being with the other people from the diving school. I had so much fun that I signed up to do the advanced course straight afterwards. I think the highlight for me was the night dive. I absolutely loved it! It felt like I was exploring some alien planet, with only my flash light showing me the creatures of the deep.
To celebrate my birthday Ant and Alex took me out for a steak dinner and a drink on the beach which was nice of them. I had to be up at 6am the next day to dive so we couldn't have a big one. They went back to Bangkok the next day to sort out visas but I stayed to finish my course.
After finishing diving some people from the dive shop went to do some trapeezing which I did (the video is at http://vimeo.com/35093459). That was a lot of fun, and a bit scary being up 10metres high. In the evening we went out for a korean BBQ and then got drunk on the beach. In one bar I was playing a nice innocent game of connect 4 with my dive instructor. What she didn't tell me was that if a guy loses then he has to go behind the bar, drop his trousers and get spanked 10 times by the barmaid...I lost. And jesus, the barmaid did not hold back with that stick. I did get a free gas chamber out of it though. Yeah, apart from that I loved Koh Tao.
Back in Bangkok Ant has gone to meet up with his Thai friends who he met at the full moon party so I haven't really seen him. Alex and I have been to the Tiger Temple today, which is a weird experience. Essentially I think those monks may have lost their way.
It is supposedly a sanctuary containing over 100 tigers, 2 lions, and 3 bears. However, it is a massive tourist trap. Once you are in you can go and crouch next to lots of tigers and pet them whilst a volunteer takes photos of you. The rest of the time you can wander around, seeing monks vaguely abusing tigers to get them into nice poses for photos. There are rumours that the tigers are drugged to make them docile and it wouldn't suprise me at all. They all look pretty monged out. Still...a great photo, no? I don't have much of a conscience regarding that kind of thing anyway, and they didn't really look unhappy (just very very sleepy).
And thats Thailand. When we have passed through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos we may spend a bit more time in Thailand to see some more countryside. Depends how much time we have I guess. Ant is still with his Thai friends so hopefully he will catch us up in Cambodia the day after we arrive.
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