Friday, January 2, 2009
Mosquito bait
With only Jim and myself to work with, the 24-hour journey from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Trat to Koh Chang was a breeze. I found our third-class, overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok particularly impressive as the THB 611 (AUD$27) fare included dinner, breakfast, clean blankets, and relatively comfortable seats.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Labels: Thailand
Friday, December 26, 2008
The lost boys
We left Luang Prabang via slow boat to the Laos-Thailand border on December 19. Our journey along the Mekong River spanned two days, with an overnight stop at the tiny, generator-powered town of Pak Beng.
Arriving finally at the Lao border town of Huay Xai past sunset, we spent our last night in Laos at a very good, and surprisingly well-priced, restaurant -- after I’d had my requisite hot shower, of course.
Early the next morning, we were ferried across the Mekong River towards Chiang Khong in Thailand. As we approached the immigration post, Jim and I caught sight of two Argentinean girls, each struggling to drag a backpack, suitcase, and duffel bag up the muddy slope. I photographed the scene to document the classic example of over-packing, but soon paid my karmic dues as my camera went missing that very afternoon in Chiang Mai.
We reached Chiang Mai after a painful five hours on an overcrowded minibus, passing an incredible number of flags, images of the King, and other such patriotic displays along the way. Once in Chiang Mai, we farewelled British backpacker Nash, who we’d met on our first day on the boat and had become a reliable card-playing sixth throughout the journey.
Nestled in the mountains of Northern Thailand, the city of Chiang Mai is home to about 1 million people. Once the capital of the 13th century Lanna kingdom, modern Chiang Mai is built around a moat and defensive wall, within which are remnants of a dilapidated old city.
While it lacks the high-rise cityscape that characterises a metropolis, Chiang Mai is a decently sized, well-developed city, complete with operational traffic rules, international restaurants and franchises, and true high-speed Internet. With life in Chiang Mai costing a fraction of what it would in comparable Western cities, I could see how it had become a modern-day Isle of Circe in Mik’s and Eli’s Odysseys.
We saw Mik for the first time in several months by Chiang Mai’s busy Sunday Market. Arriving on his ‘baby’ scooter, he packed us onto a songthaew (a taxi of sorts) and checked Max, Jim and I into the very nice Baan Chinnakarn guesthouse.
THB 250 (AUD$11) per night bought us a large double room at the guesthouse that featured a hot shower, TV, bar fridge, fan, outdoor washing area, dressing table and wardrobe. An additional THB 50 would buy us wired Internet access; however Jim and I chose to dine at the neighbouring Mexican restaurant and access its wireless network from our room instead.
It is wintertime in Chiang Mai, but we wouldn’t have known it had we not seen Eli wearing a ski jacket and two pairs of trackpants to dinner on Sunday night. I, in a knee-length skirt and loose-fitting shirt, had barely thought to bring a jacket that night, and afternoons are so warm for Jim and I that we have often sought sanctuary in air-conditioned cafes.
During the lead up to Christmas, we spent our days ten-pin bowling, bar-hopping in the Old Market, playing pool and marvelling at the numerous bar girl-Farang (white-skinned foreigner) pairings at a bar called Number One, and getting our boogie on at Spicy’s, a dodgy nightclub said to be one of the few open past 2am.
On Christmas Eve, Mik, Eli, their group of young expatriate friends and Thai girlfriends introduced us to the wonders of Mookata. Held in a warehouse bustling with no less than 300 patrons, Mookata is an all-you-can-eat hot pot-cum-barbeque. Each group of two to four diners gather around a coal-heated, steel pot in and on which food is cooked, while meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles, sauces, pre-cooked entrees and desserts are displayed buffet-style on rows and rows of tables.
We met up with the same group of people for Christmas lunch, which was on a floating restaurant in the nearby national park. After lunch, Mik led Joel, Viren, Max, Jim, myself, and his girlfriend Zuki on a fireworks-shopping expedition and three-hour-long pyromania session by the Military Hotel to herald in Boxing Day.
Joel, Viren, Max, Jim and I were spending a lot of time together, and differences in personalities and lifestyles were putting a strain on the group dynamic. On Christmas night, after a particularly polarising evening and a little too much drunken ‘banter’ from the boys, I decided that I needed a little more time alone.
Meanwhile, in a hotel room not too far away, Max had made a similar decision. And so the group split into three the very next day, with Max heading to Koh Samui with two other Australian friends he had bumped into in Chiang Mai, Mik leading Joel and Viren southwards to Bangkok, and Jim and I heading straight to our New Years destination, Lonely Beach on Koh Chang.
Arriving finally at the Lao border town of Huay Xai past sunset, we spent our last night in Laos at a very good, and surprisingly well-priced, restaurant -- after I’d had my requisite hot shower, of course.
Early the next morning, we were ferried across the Mekong River towards Chiang Khong in Thailand. As we approached the immigration post, Jim and I caught sight of two Argentinean girls, each struggling to drag a backpack, suitcase, and duffel bag up the muddy slope. I photographed the scene to document the classic example of over-packing, but soon paid my karmic dues as my camera went missing that very afternoon in Chiang Mai.
We reached Chiang Mai after a painful five hours on an overcrowded minibus, passing an incredible number of flags, images of the King, and other such patriotic displays along the way. Once in Chiang Mai, we farewelled British backpacker Nash, who we’d met on our first day on the boat and had become a reliable card-playing sixth throughout the journey.
Nestled in the mountains of Northern Thailand, the city of Chiang Mai is home to about 1 million people. Once the capital of the 13th century Lanna kingdom, modern Chiang Mai is built around a moat and defensive wall, within which are remnants of a dilapidated old city.
While it lacks the high-rise cityscape that characterises a metropolis, Chiang Mai is a decently sized, well-developed city, complete with operational traffic rules, international restaurants and franchises, and true high-speed Internet. With life in Chiang Mai costing a fraction of what it would in comparable Western cities, I could see how it had become a modern-day Isle of Circe in Mik’s and Eli’s Odysseys.
We saw Mik for the first time in several months by Chiang Mai’s busy Sunday Market. Arriving on his ‘baby’ scooter, he packed us onto a songthaew (a taxi of sorts) and checked Max, Jim and I into the very nice Baan Chinnakarn guesthouse.
THB 250 (AUD$11) per night bought us a large double room at the guesthouse that featured a hot shower, TV, bar fridge, fan, outdoor washing area, dressing table and wardrobe. An additional THB 50 would buy us wired Internet access; however Jim and I chose to dine at the neighbouring Mexican restaurant and access its wireless network from our room instead.
It is wintertime in Chiang Mai, but we wouldn’t have known it had we not seen Eli wearing a ski jacket and two pairs of trackpants to dinner on Sunday night. I, in a knee-length skirt and loose-fitting shirt, had barely thought to bring a jacket that night, and afternoons are so warm for Jim and I that we have often sought sanctuary in air-conditioned cafes.
During the lead up to Christmas, we spent our days ten-pin bowling, bar-hopping in the Old Market, playing pool and marvelling at the numerous bar girl-Farang (white-skinned foreigner) pairings at a bar called Number One, and getting our boogie on at Spicy’s, a dodgy nightclub said to be one of the few open past 2am.
On Christmas Eve, Mik, Eli, their group of young expatriate friends and Thai girlfriends introduced us to the wonders of Mookata. Held in a warehouse bustling with no less than 300 patrons, Mookata is an all-you-can-eat hot pot-cum-barbeque. Each group of two to four diners gather around a coal-heated, steel pot in and on which food is cooked, while meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles, sauces, pre-cooked entrees and desserts are displayed buffet-style on rows and rows of tables.
We met up with the same group of people for Christmas lunch, which was on a floating restaurant in the nearby national park. After lunch, Mik led Joel, Viren, Max, Jim, myself, and his girlfriend Zuki on a fireworks-shopping expedition and three-hour-long pyromania session by the Military Hotel to herald in Boxing Day.
Joel, Viren, Max, Jim and I were spending a lot of time together, and differences in personalities and lifestyles were putting a strain on the group dynamic. On Christmas night, after a particularly polarising evening and a little too much drunken ‘banter’ from the boys, I decided that I needed a little more time alone.
Meanwhile, in a hotel room not too far away, Max had made a similar decision. And so the group split into three the very next day, with Max heading to Koh Samui with two other Australian friends he had bumped into in Chiang Mai, Mik leading Joel and Viren southwards to Bangkok, and Jim and I heading straight to our New Years destination, Lonely Beach on Koh Chang.
