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Thai
Journals ...
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30/9/1999
Thursday night
11:17pm
- my bedroom
Today was my last full day
in England – well, at least for a while anyway. I don’t think I’ve
ever had the feeling like the one I’ve had today. Very strange is
all I can say! Foreign currency, travelers’ cheques – it all looks
very hectic. God knows how I’m going to manage my money over the
next month ...
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1/10/1999
I’m sitting in a well dodgy room
located in the Greek equivalent of Kings Cross, London… mmm… nice… The
flight was actually pretty cool - lovely stewardesses good service and I
didn’t even get earache on landing. Tommy has just discovered that it m ight
not be such a good idea to pack sun cream into a bag that’s going to travel in
pressurized surroundings … very messy! This hostel really is a dump; the
‘Argo’ as it’s known around these parts, is situated in a dark tree-lined
street complete with the odd bin-a-fire and groups of smelly drunks. The hostel
manager is quite funny though, tales of when he went travelling … Amsterdam
etc… in his earlier days … Apparently all he did was get high and fuck
whores … He still seems high these days and after sharing his tales with a
couple of pints of lager, Heineken to be precise, precedes to inform us that
only yesterday he fucked a whore and now he feels pretty cheap - Nice bloke! On
the positive side though, he did introduce Tom and me to sunflower seeds - which
were a bit like micro-pistachio nuts – and also leave us with an amazing
quote:
“When you’ve got money – you kick
ass!”
Acropolis and downtown
Athens tomorrow… Not that we can spend much money …
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2/10/1999
Day 2. It’s funny … this time of
year is supposed to be cooler in Greece. It’s not. Every Greek person we’ve
spoken to can’t believe it’s so hot; being used to the weather in the UK, nor
can I. Today we visited the ancient Acropolis of Greece. Lots of steps, some
pillars, more steps and Sun. And I mean Sun with a capital S. Fuck me it gets
hot in these places! Reaching the top of this building was a mission in itself
… just thinking bearded people probably wore white robes and skipped up and
down the giant staircases all those years ago makes me tired. Fortunately the
Greek authorities are kind enough to provide a couple of water taps at the top
… which was nice. Prime photo opportunities here. And there’s even a museum
containing relics from these times …
Found a quaint little place to eat in the
afternoon – An Oasis in an old town, Plaka. Had Pizza and more Heineken.
Our last night in Greece involved
drinking beer at a couple of seedy joints near the Argo. First stop - little bar
with plenty of Greek people. Not very interesting, although I think the poster
on the door attracted most of the punters … Next we headed for some tables on
the corner of the street. They were full up with students of a foreign nature,
French maybe. We found ourselves some room and bought a bottle of H. I also
opted for some food … plate of chips and micro waved meat-on-a-stick. I think
Tom had the right idea when he opted for nothing … but still. Whilst eating
and drinking, two German travellers stopped by to ask us how to get to a certain
hostel. Apparently they were supposed to meet a couple of friends on this
hostels roof … very cheap accommodation! They turned out to be members of the
Rainbow People community and told us stories of commune living and gatherings
they’ve attended. One of them was evading everything German because last time
he was there, he was arrested for taking part in a peaceful demonstration. Quite
sound people though – full on travellers – made me and Tom seem like a couple
of wet-eared virgins.
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3/10/1999
8:30pm – Greek Time: I’m now sitting
in Athens International Airport waiting for our flight to Thailand. So far, the
journey has been good – no hassles, no problems. But for some reason, I can’t
help but feel a little worried about the next stage … most probably pre-culture
shock … if there is such a thing. I think I’m going to draw a picture to calm my
nerves whilst I wait for the plane to take me to 'The land of Smiles'
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6/10/1999
Kao San Road
 It’s 10:30am, Wednesday morning. The
last few days have
been … well, amazing. Bangkok has to be the most different
place I’ve ever been – which is hardly a surprise as I’ve only ever left
England once and that was to Denmark ages ago. We are staying in a guest house
in Kao San Road, ‘Hotel Kao San Privacy’ This road has to be the most hectic
I’ve ever seen. Everywhere you turn there is either a guest house, drinking
house, traveller or of course about a million and one things to buy … A
typical street where I live consists (from the outside in) of a row of houses,
gardens next – if any at all, pavement then road. Not here !! You’ve got the
buildings, granted – but from there on in everything gets a bit messy … On
top, around, underneath or in front of the buildings ranging from tatooists to
tailors, you have what I can only describe as market stalls of the Glastonbury
ilk – but even that is a huge understatement. Ornately carved Buddhist
statues, giant dead insects, glitterballs, silk & other fantastic materials,
the craziest T-shirts, sandals, hair platting, fake hair platts, fake ID’s,
fake CD’s, walkmans, instruments, ashtrays, hash pipes – I think you get the
drift ! And I haven’t even started with the food …
All of this spilling onto the street with
the only means of navigating the maze-like corridors, formed by stalls and
rucksacks, being a series of bumps, scuffs and sorrys. Alternatively, you could
opt for walking along the street – but this too is a law unto itself.
TAXI’s, Tuk-Tuk’s, pushbikes, coaches, buses & Thai’s all fighting for
tourist’s : “Where do you wanna go”, “Give you the best price”,
“I’ll take you there”, “Have you been to the crocodile farm”, “Seen
the Thai Boxing”, “Seen our pretty pretty Ladyboys”, “Need a new suit”
O.K., I’m going to a pub.
We
went to Gullivers Tavern – an American style drinking house with exceptional
service - which was to be the norm for the rest of our time in Thailand so we
found out. Here we met an English guy from Surrey. Good advice on things to do
& a discussion about Manchester Utd. Everybody has heard of Man U. - seems
to have become a universal means of communication especially with Thai’s. As
we found out on our mad shopping spree which occurred next…
Being
drunk with cash in Bangkok is not a very good mixture. The seemingly infinite
maze of market stalls shone as if to say ‘you
need this giant insect encased in plastic’ or ‘a glitter ball is what
you’ve been looking for’ … fortunately these attractions didn’t tempt
me, but thanks to the overwhelming beauty and insistence of a certain Thai girl,
I parted with some of my Thai money and purchased what one can only describe as
a Jedi Outfit. Well, it’s more of a cotton hooded top, but being pissed and
wearing the garment, I couldn’t help but jump around wielding an imaginary
light-sabre and slightly disturbing Tommy. Well, we were miles away from home
and everything here is strange so why not eh?!
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5/10/99
The
Dusit Zoo Adventure
Our
objective today is to get to Dusit Zoo. A peaceful refuge situated in the middle
of Bangkok. I’m not to keen on the idea of visiting a Zoo, with the animals
caged and bored etc. but it was a joint decision and it proved worthwhile.
Stepping
out onto Kao San Road in the heat of the midday sun, we decided to take a
Tuk-Tuk ride as it would be the cheapest and probably quickest way of getting to
the zoo. Alas, we were wrong. Very wrong…
Tuk-Tuk’s
are kind of like taxi’s for beginners (the drivers seem to be very young –
anything from 15 – 25) and they resemble a mini-trike complete with a bench
and canopy. The name Tuk-Tuk arises from the sound they make – a bit like ‘a
chainsaw gone berserk’ as the Lonely Planet guide so eloquently put it.
‘So
off to the zoo ?’ Wrong. Off to one of Bangkok’s splendid Buddhist temples.
‘Stop here for 10 minutes’ the driver TOLD us. So we did. Shoes off and a
brief study of Buddhist monks and statues was the procedure. Very peaceful …
‘I hope the Zoo’s near here
…’ Maybe, but off to another Buddhist temple first. ‘Stop here for 10 minutes’
we were told again. Shoes off, gaze in awe at the craftsmanship and relish the
tranquility … Very peaceful …
‘Right,
are we going to the Zoo now ?’ Well, if the zoo looks like another Buddhist
temple then … hmmm, by now we were familiar with the drill: 10 minutes, shoes
off etc… Very peaceful!
Okay
– enough Buddhist temples already – we want the ZOO… ‘OK, Ok’ the
young Thai smiled, ‘But a bit of petrol for my ride first…’ Driving at
insane speeds (for the size of the vehicle) down narrow roads and alleyways, we
wound through a network of shanty towns and finally came to a stop. ‘Stop here
for 10 minutes – I get petrol – you do shopping’ The Thai disappeared
round a corner. Tom looked at me with an expression on his face that mirrored
what I was thinking: Were we ever going to get to Dusit Zoo ? We smoked a ciggy
and waited…
Eventually
the Thai came back carrying a petrol canister and filled the trike, we were off
…
 Excuse
me, thanks for the sightseeing tour, but the Zoo is gonna be closing soon and we
were really set on seeing it … ‘No problem, no problem’ beamed the Thai,
‘Just one more stop and we be there!’ …
‘Do
you want a cup of tea’ the tailor asked ‘Here’s our catalogue – a nice
raincoat or a suit for back home perhaps?’ We were sitting in a tailors shop -
apparently an uncle of the Tuk-Tuk
driver. How we arrived here, I cannot remember, I
don’t even remember coming in through the door – and I certainly didn’t
want to spend £100 on 2 suits and a sports jacket that were being thrust into
our faces, smart as they were. Very polite gentleman though, but he really did
want us to buy something. We just wanted to see the elephants.
After
finishing our cup of tea and saying ‘Farewell, Lovely work’ etc. etc. we
jumped onto the Tuk-Tuk and the Thai boy, smiling as always, kicked the chainsaw
into action and we were off again. Fortunately this time we arrived outside
Dusit Zoo.
One
piece of advice: Tuk-Tuk rides are fun and cheap but if your late for a wedding
or something:
GET A PROPER TAXI !
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7/10/99
Thursday Morning 6:45 am
Yesterday
we checked out the last of Bangkok’s delights that we wanted to see: The Grand
Palace. The epitome of Thai Buddhism. Again, getting there was a small mission
in terms of various Thai’s telling us that the palace was closed and would we
like to go to the crocodile farm instead … Yeah yeah, yeah, right … We chose
a TAXI to get us their as we were pressed for time and wanted to get there
whilst the sun was still shining …
Pulling
up to the Palace, the surrounding wall really gives you the idea of just how BIG
the area is. It’s actually a series of Temples that the Royal Family used to
inhabit, but these days monks are the only residents. Outside the gates are tons
of sales-people who really do try to SELL you whatever it is they are offering
– postcards, paintings of the temples etc. etc. it’s hard to find your way
to the entrance amid all this kafuffle. There were even Thai’s still trying to
convince you that the Palace is closed for the afternoon and maybe the crocodile
farm is a better bet … well, let me see …
As soon as we paid our entrance, we
were adopted by an American guide who offered a tour of the whole complex for
roughly £10 each. Well worth the money as the American lady knew everything
there was to know about the Palace, it’s history, Buddhist history, English
history and even a little about Manchester United. She also advised us to buy
some water before we got started as the sun was starting to get real hot and we
had to ‘respectable’ clothes whilst inside the Palace grounds. The tour lasted
about an hour with a 10 minute stop at the ‘Temple of the Emerald Buddha’ for
some meditation and even a sneak into a restoration tent where we saw people
painting the gold leaf onto the walls. Gold leaf and chipped pottery was the
decoration of this place and it was pretty breathtaking as you can see from some
of my snaps.
Adjacent
to the Grand Palace is ‘Wat Po’ another temple complex which houses the
famous ‘Reclining Buddha’. I’ve never seen feet that big in my whole life
!! Inside Wat Po we were lucky enough to get a blessing from one of the oldest
resident monks who seemed to enjoy drenching us with water and gave us each an
orange cotton bracelet. A nice good luck charm that set us on our way for the
11h train journey to Surat. Which is where I am now. We got here at 5:30, er,
no, make that 4:30 A M… I’m sitting outside a small café waiting for a
coach that is going to take us over some water to Ko Samui – our next
destination.
 For
the last two hours Tom and I seem to have made a friend. This Thai kid about,
well, he’s 19 apparently, but looks and behaves like a 6 year old … He keeps
running home and bringing us things that he thinks we want. Tom now owns a good
collection of ‘How to speak English’ books, a couple of CD’s a new T-Shirt
and a pen. He also keeps singing songs. I wish Tom would stop encouraging him
– what’s that – no it can’t be – it’s never Bon-Jovi =(
Quarter
of an hour till the coach gets here – I can’t wait …
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8/10/99
well, er, no – yeah,
9/10/99
–
It’s 1:35 am – Tommy’s just
corrected me on what day it is … can you tell I’m stoned ?! The last few days
have been unlike anything I could have imagined outside one of my craziest
dreams (and believe me – I have loads of them !!) |
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Ko Samui
(Part 1)
The
bus took us through the final stage of what had seemed such a mission, emerging
by a tropical coconut clad pier.
 The
scenery change throughout our
travels
has been
continually evolving and Southern Thailand has to be
the most striking yet. The view here is how I imagine the Earth should look like
– not covered in concrete, electric cables and exhaust fumes, but palm trees,
fresh blue sky and smiling faces – oh yeah – and it was VERY hot …
I
wished plastic seats had never been invented. My clothes were starting to smell
real bad and I was getting very paranoid about standing too close to people.
The
boat trip was reasonably uneventful apart from a wrong turn, a group of
over-friendly strangers and a free bottle of drink … but that’s a story
I’m gonna keep to myself !!
Also,
we met a Thai girl who was on her way to Ko Samui to find some work … So
far, Tom’s been the main ice-breaker as far as meeting new people has been
concerned normally with an expression such as 'Bloody Hot isn't it' ! The seats on the boat
were bloody plastic again so I didn’t speak to her much anyway …
Once
off the ferry, we caught the coconut bus to a place called Coconut villa upon
arrival at Samui. The bus ride was cool … me and Tom had to stand on the
bumper all the way to the villa much to the delight of the psychedelic
carriage’s passengers - mostly locals who seemed to find our balancing act so
amusing ... or were they possibly laughing at my hair style ???
Coconut villa was a tropical resort
to it’s fullest – plush swimming pool, amazing private beach, very good food and
cool bungalows with en-suite shower and full air-con. Unfortunately we were the
only ones there so relaxation was the number one objective whilst we could. I’ve
never had to waste an afternoon / next day just lazing around a resort, so for
the first time it couldn’t have been a better place. This is definitely
going to be in my top 5 honeymoon choices
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Ko
Tao
Diving
on Ko Tao was our next goal, we had a ticket booked from Bangkok but just had to
get there. Unfortunately, by the time we found out when the coconut bus drove to
the town of Nathon, we only had 15 minutes to pack our shit together…
And
my bottle of water burst open in my rucksack, covering books, tapes and nearly
this diary…
And
once we had booked a speed boat to Tao, just about to get aboard, I realized I
had left my passport, plane ticket
and most of my money back in the bungalow in Coconut villa …. Bad morning man
!!!
We
arrived at Tao and got given
a two-bed bungalow c/w a variety of wildlife… a handful of lizards, tons of
biting insects and even a splendid albeit cheeky looking gecko ...
Comfort Tip:
Always check the mosquito nets
in your bungalow ... it is essential to use them and
more
so to check for any gaping holes ... These nets are
a godsend for protection but they're next to useless if one of those damn
mozzies finds its way inside !
We watched a video for the first part
of
our 4-day
diving course. Well, it’s 4 ½ days actually.
The diving video covered the basics of breathing underwater and showed us how
sight and sound gets distorted underwater ... the lady in the video was cool
... an amazing barnet and nails to die for - straight out of the 70's ...
There
are roughly 15 diving centers on this Island and come evening time most of the
students and instructors spend there time drinking alcohol and relaxing on the
beautiful beaches that Southern Thailand seems to gracefully thrust into your
face. So we
decided to blend into the small crowd that we found about 15 meters from our
bungalow ...
After
talking to some girls from London who were sitting by the 'live-music' bar
(Ho-ho-ho!), we
found out that we could buy some interesting Thai cigarette ingredients from a
desolate bar down the beach a ways … I can't quite remember what this bar was
called ... but the instructions were simple enough ... just walk down the
beach until you see some lights inland ... head there and you will see an
Octagonal bamboo bar playing Reggae music and lots of people sleeping in
hammocks. OK ... So about 20 meters down the beach we were engulfed in the eerie
darkness of the electric free night and were seriously starting to worry about
this mission ... We knew there
were wild animals on this Island and who else knew we were heading this way
aside from the two quite intoxicated Londoners who pointed us in this direction
? 'Tom - just ignore that howling and stop freaking me out ... please
!!'
After
about 10 minutes of blind beach stumbling a faint glow appeared out of the
darkness. Some trees ... a bush beaten path and an Octagonal bar ... Oh yeah -
and there really were loads of people catching Zzz's and rocking themselves to a
(Reggae induced ?) sleep in hammocks. We bought our turn and decided to head back to our bungalow to check it out.
Everything
was looking good until we were just about to open the door to our hut …
Snake !!! A well
dodgy looking snake had coiled itself around the doorframe to our hut, on guard with
a hiss and stare … not the most comforting welcome we've had and
maybe an indication of what was to come … A local saw the commotion and
hurried across to an adjacent hut, through a little door, emerging seconds later waving a
machete above his
head and shouting "Poison, poison … don’t touch … danger!!!” No
sooner had we seen him, he had lept over the railings of our hut and taken a
swipe at the snake, slicing it in two halves to the ground directly beneath the
bungalow ….
I thought snakes were like worms, chop them in half and you get twice the
danger … but the local assured me it was very dead and maybe later on the
Lions would come eat it up ... I thought he was joking ...
... so
we smoked the grass ...
... and
laughed at our safari...
... then
had strange dreams...
The
next few days we were being taught open water diving theory and practical
shallow diving. Taking your first full breath under water really is an amazing
experience. I think it’s gonna be cool when we start diving over the corals.
The
evenings here are really relaxed. Spoken to mainly women as the lads are mostly
Israeli and are far to hectic to hang with … Met a nice Israeli girl however
– Mikki, and our next door neighbor, Fredrica is a german traveler who seems
to like our taste in music, namely Hendrix and the Chilli Peppers …
The
best place we’ve eaten so far has to be the restaurant over the sea … I mean
when you peer through the cracks in the wooden floor , you can see the water
splashing about as if to say "Sonny ... you better hope this damn place
holds !" … To get there you have to walk all the way down the beach, along a
narrow rickety and extremely twisty jetty, until soft, dimmed lights illuminate
the pile of flip-flops and sandals surrounding the entrance. Here they don’t use
chairs, just ace triangular cushion-type-things dotted around low wicker tables … complete the atmosphere with some deep ambient tunes
providing a
very mellow environment to enjoy a good feed and or chill … maybe even take a nap in one of the
hammocks tied into the window frames … bit dodgy though as remember – this
place is over water !!
To be continued
...
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Please note that all pictures are © 2000/2001
SJ Waller . If you do feel the need to use them or take them or reproduce
them or do anything with them (apart from looking at) then please ask my
permission by using the e-mail form found on the menu.
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CONTENTS:
ATHENS
- GREECE
THAILAND - THE LAND OF SMILES
THE
ISLAND ADVENTURES
THE
LOVE STORY
GOODBYE
BANGKOK
SOME
GOOD THAILAND LINKS
THAILAND
TALES PHOTO STORY
This is an account of my adventures
in Thailand at the end of 1999.
I
travelled with a friend called Matthew but refer to
him as 'Tommy' throughout most
of
the journals. We
had no idea of what to expect from our time in Thailand
but as you will see from the following text - we were definitely
not disappointed.
The journal starts in
Greece which was a 3 day primer for Thailand ...
Read on ...
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