Last Week in Thailand

We spent some time in Krabi trying to figure out our travel plans; we’ve decided to go to Vietnam next and applied for visas and arranged flights. Once we had our travel arrangements made we went to Ton Sai, one of our favorite beaches, to spend our last week in Thailand. It was a great week, warm during the day and cool at night, pouring rain in the afternoon and tides changing from hour to hour. We saw a few old friends and made a few new ones. We spent some time in Krabi Town; going to the morning market and sampling the different foods there. We went kayaking again, this time to a further destination. Koh Poda is about 8 km away from Ton Sai and being in the open ocean it took a bit more work to get there, taking us almost an hour and a half to get there. We were rewarded with beautiful beaches once we arrived though. There were quite a few boats on the island but only one kayak; apparently we were the only ones crazy enough to paddle out there… We spent some time swimming at the main beach before finding our own quiet spot on the other side. The fish on the main beach are so used to being fed by tourists that they swim around you hoping for a piece of bread or something. It was cute for a little while until one bit me in the leg, people shouldn’t feed fish on the beach :(. After a couple of hours we started paddling back and we were both sore and exhausted at the end. The last few days were spent relaxing and reading on the beach.

We flew into Bangkok with only two nights to spend. It seemed like enough time as neither of us are really into big cities and the chaos that comes with it. Bangkok is such a beautiful city though with so much to see and do, I find myself wishing I could stay longer. We are staying in the main tourist area of Khao San Rd; lined with restaurants, bars and shops selling just about everything. Since we didn’t have much time to visit the many historical temples around Bangkok; we had to choose just one. We decided to go to Wat Pho and of all the temples in Bangkok, I’m really happy we were able to see this one. Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok; housing the country’s largest reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha is 46m long and 15m high, showing the Buddha passing into final nirvana. It’s truly an amazing site to see, covered in gold while the feet/eyes are made from mother of pearl and truly larger than life.

Afterward, we took the express boat down the Chao Phraya River which cuts through the city of Bangkok, the west being the old city while the east is full of modern high-rise buildings. The boats are used by many for commuter transport so you see a mix of professionals, school children, monks and tourists. It’s a great and inexpensive way to get around Bangkok. We didn’t really know our way around the city so we wandered through side streets along the river trying to find the boat station. These tiny streets are mostly used for storing and selling spices and dried goods, which leave a pungent aroma in the air (especially the dried fish). Once we arrived at the station we decided to head to Chinatown. We’ve heard from other travelers that it is one of the busier/crazier parts of Bangkok. Once again, we didn’t really know our way around so we ventured through the streets making our way through the traffic, sort of like a game of frogger except the consequences are worse. After about 20 minutes we arrived in the middle of the chaos of Chinatown. It seems that every major city has a Chinatown and for the most part it’s all the same; thousands of people, stores, food vendors, etc. It’s the same in Bangkok but on a large scale. The shops are located in no particular order, e.g. a jewelry store will be next to a dried fish stand, then a traditional Chinese pharmacy, then an underwear store, and then a durian fruit stand. Also, the traffic in Chinatown is just like any other congested city in Asia; organized chaos. Cars, bikes, tuk-tuks, buses, trucks, motorcycles zoom past thousands of people and there are very few accidents. Overall Chinatown was a fun experience but didn’t have much to offer for shopping, except for the tasty and interesting snacks from the food stalls.

We have a 6:45am flight to Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow. We are both looking forward to seeing a new country and Hanoi is another capital city with experiences to offer. Hopefully it will be just as fun to get lost in.