Phili

Phuket > Bangkok > Ayuthaya > Chiang Mai > Chiang Rai

10 August 2004

How can I sum up Thailand? This is probably the best country in all my travels. There's so much to see in Thailand. Whether it's to explore the treasures of the country's buddas, trek the hills to visit the hilltribes, relax in one of the best beaches in the world in Phuket, or discover the nightlife of Bangkok. There's so much to do! The people of Thailand are one of the most friendliest I've ever met. Thai food is a must, I grew fond of the Thai Green Curry. Everything is a bargain, accomodation at one of the many backpacker guesthouses can cost as little as £2 a night! The Island of Phuket is truly unbelievable. Beaches here lure you together with the hot weather and sometimes, hot talent! Karon and Kata Beach are just 30 mins away from Phuket Town, away from the busy streets where you can experience real Thai culture. The beaches are clean and postcard like, you can relax here away from it all. It's quiet and very romantic when you watch the sunset. But if like us, sometimes you need abit of nightlife, head to neighbouring beach town Patong, here is where the partygoers play hard. There's a bar in every corner. The town may prove to be too seedy for some but it's worth a visit. This is where I first had my henna, which was later to become my permanent tattoo in Bangkok. There is so much to do! Visit the famous yet truly remarkable James Bond Island (pictured on this background), go elephant trekking, and if you're super cool like Dwayne (not me) go deep sea diving.
Dwayne and I headed up north to the capital city of Bangkok. This city fastly becoming commercialised. The streets are busy and hectic. When we arrived, the city had just opened it's first metro (underground). There are various ways to get around including the infamous tuk tuks, sky trains, express ferries, taxis, air-con buses or travel mega cheap with no air-con buses at only 4 bahts a ride, that's like 10p a ride! Bargaining in the markets is easy (after several attempts), if you're lucky, you can ussually pay half the asking price. There is plenty of fake designer goods from Diesel to Von Dutch. The Grand Palace houses some of the most amazing artifacts around. If you fancy a massage, I recommend the specialists at Wat Phat temple, it also costs incredibly cheap. Food is amazing, you can eat anything here from Traditional Thai Curry to Chinese, and ofcourse it too is cheap. Like many cities we have travelled, Bangkok has a large China Town and a Little India. Thai Boxing is a must visit! If there's one thing I've yet to mention, then that's the nightlife. You'll find all the traveller's drinking and partying at the magnificent Khao San Road. It's a street party every night drawing crouds all over the world. We headed further north to old capital Chiang Mai, a truly remarkable escape route out of the hectic world of Bangkok. It's quite a peaceful town, here all the guesthouses offers hilltribe treks. We took up the opportunity at our guesthouse called Libra. It's a great way to discover and get involved in small rural communities away from everyday essentials such as telly or even electricity or hot water for that matter. You also meet alot of other travellers. Chiang Mai also has one of Thailand's most impressive night markets. Here you can buy anything from cups to clothings. The quality is quite amazing together with the price you can bargain. This is where we took up our first trek - The Hilltribe trek. We met our group of travellers who we were going to be trekking with. There were a great and international bunch from America to England, to Germany and Australia, everyone got on very well. We drove up further north and stayed in two villages, both of which have a small community who live on growing and selling crops, there is no electricity! It's such a contrast to home, the kids here are kids! They have fun with other travellers and in the fields, they're very sweet and love having their photos taken. These kids don't need the Playstation! Although, travelling to these villages meant a hike of 5 hours or so... so plenty of walking through the hills and mountains. We went Bamboo rafting... so much fun actually having to control the rafts itself down the valley, been to the Chiang Dao Cave where we encountered my first ever wild snake, and trekked on the Elephant - sitting on the Elephant's neck so when they reached up the trees for food, it meant falling backwards - an unforgettable experience. The hilltribe's were nice poor villages who rely on alot of tourism, chickens and baby piglets are free to roam all over the place. The kids here are my favourite part of the trip, and making new friends with other travellers. Our last trip in Thailand was to Chiang Rai, our stopever for Laos. This nice small town was relaxing. We walked around alot, ate and strolled along the night markets. We also had what maybe was our final Swensen's Ice cream. Very chilled and exotic. Thailand is full is suprises. You can see that there are so many things to do. I've promised myself to return to this country in the future.