Bangkok

Loaded up to walk across the city


Soi Cowboy jfgi


diver in the aquarium



Thousands of paper planes in the siam plaza


Chinatown



Well this journey has certainly kept me on my toes, moving from city to rural village and back into another asian mega-city.
Bangkok has to be seen to be believed it is a sprawling concrete jungle with layer upon layer of public transport ranging from 2 levels of monorail over the 6 lane motorway which in turn sits above the multi-level underground metro system. Walking is definitely the way to see and experience the city, hopping on the odd skytrain to move from one district to another. The first day i arrived in Bangkok i came into the train station at 9am after a 16hr train ride from Trang. I did get some sleep but in that heat and fully loaded with my backpack and frontpack i was tiring fast in the sun.
Wading through the cries of taxi and tuk tuk drivers i have perfected the look of "no i do not want to be ripped off and forced to buy exotic gems or a badly tailored suit"
(the tuk tuk drivers stop off and force you to go inside and buy something so they earn a comission or gasoline coupons) Moving away from them i found the underground station and discovered i could get to the city centre for 40 baht, not the 300baht the taxi drivers were demanding. Security is big in bangkok although it is mostly just for show, i think its the only city i have ever seen OVER-Employment. where each business has people employed simply to bug passers by into buying something
Upon entering the subway station i passed through metal detectors and had to remove my 20 odd kilos of baggage to show the security guard, although just vaguely pointing and saying "computer, books, camera" seemed to make him happy and off i went
The underground and Skytrain system in bangkok runs like clockwork, its spotless and freezing from air conditioning, in the city centre i walked a few streets and asked in a few places until i came upon the perfect hostel Suk11 here i stayed for 2 days as i got my bearings. Day one i started and being wary of the tuk tuk drivers i walked constantly for 8 hours, seeing chinatown, the golden bhudda, a few monuments and then out of nowhere a Massive political rally, the Redshirts as they are known are a pro-democracy group who last year shut down the city with riots and bombings. This year they seemed much calmer and were partying 50,000 strong at the democracy monument. I waded through the madness to the far side in order to find Khao Sahn road, the most famous road amongst backpackers and travellers, it is a non stop spectacle with street vendors, performers and a plethora of travellers from every walk of life, one doesnt know if you are watching the spectacle unfold or are actually part of it by just being there.

myself and paul walking the streets of bangkok







frog in some spices, it was... interesting


aul golden bhudda


After my 2 days in Suk11 i had to move on as they were booked up. So thrown out onto the street with my bags once again i had no idea where i was going next, but a quick trip to an internet cafe brought up an interesting looking hostel on the outskirts of the city, far from the chaotic streets and parties. i booked my first 2 nights once more and found my way there via skytrain. Finally i had found the right kind of place to chill out and take it slow with the option of going into the local markets or just a bit further to the skytrain direct to the city centre. UDEE is the place which means well rested in thai, that is true of this place, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is clean and relaxed. Here i met some great people, Mandi from oz and Paul from the states who i joined forces with on a few treks through the city. St patricks day was a laugh. after venturing through the city to see some more sights we eventually jumped into a tuk tuk and bargained a dirt cheap price to get to kaoh sahn road. here we met up with harry from london who had been in udee for a short while. joining him was Xavier from chile and a random american couple we got talking to at a streetside restaraunt over noodles and beer. I didnt meet one irish person and i think it suited the evening, we had great fun.

Kaoh Sahn road


Chinatown



Excellent japanese food, basically cooking raw meat in the boiling broth


Underground lagoon, part of the Siam Paragon Aquarium


Watch repair on the street side, 2 watches fixed for 95 baht plus battery Thats(2.50)


I am glad i moved hostels when i did because the more i explored the streets around UDEE i found i was in real local bangkok, tourists were rare and the locals were nice even the food seemed better as they were cooking for themselves rather than catering for drunk farangs on the street corners. I never got a feeling of unease in the city and even the scams and rip offs that bangkok is famous for are pretty easy to avoid with a bit of common sense. As i ventured through the streets i discovered some real gems of traditional thai city life, Food i cant even describe, shops selling things i didnt even know existed and small food carts surrounded by plastic furniture. The smell of the city is something i will never forget and each street had its own special oudor. Far from here the city centre was a whole world apart with towering shopping centres and plazas, most notably the Siam Paragon Plaza, one of asias biggest and to an irish backpacker it was just incredible how on the streets with homeless beggars and streetwalkers through one glass door you suddenly arrive in the most expensive and lavish shopping plaza i have ever seen, 8 floors with whole levels dedicated to food, Fashion, technology, music, jewels and perfumes, etc, even the cineplex was enourmous with 3 seperate cinemas each with 8 screens or more, I spoiled myself and went to see Rango in the big screen. definitely worth it. from here i wandered through window shopping just taking in the madness of it all, like a car dealership on the 3rd floor selling maserati and lamborghini! though when hungry i returned to the streets to get some freshly cooked pad thai with shrimp, or unidentified meat on a stick. not exactly 5 star dining but i never had any stomach upset. City life is tiring though so i decided to move on after 5 days and made my way to the train station with some vague ideas in mind, i met a tour guide who showed me to a small office around the corner and i sceptically reviewed all of my options, Eventually i decided upon a bus trip to surat thani where i would get a ferry to ko samui island and had everything from transport to accomodation sorted in less than half an hour.
So that was Bangkok, in all of its chaos. I am now on Samui island and have been having a truly immersive experience here. more on that later. until then
i leave you with another selection of photos from bangkok and will link to the photo album on facebook once it is uploaded

Talk Cha!

An eel in the Aquarium


tuk tuk transport!


Street Food


Traffic at its usual hectic pace


Paul trying some cricket!


Forget exfoliation creams, St paddys night, we wandered in here and
for 120 baht you dip your feet in this pool for 20 mins and these fish
literally eat the dead skin and whatnot from your feet and legs
its an extremely wierd feeling but its cool

Ko Lao Liang. Island Resort

Banana Beach


My trusty bumblebee as i came to call it, using this i covered most of phuket in my time there


Phuket town


Above are a small snippet of my time in Phuket before i left for Ko Lao Liang

Hello once again, I write this latest update from the UDEE Hostel in Bangkok I have been in the city for 3 days now and I am slowly getting to grips with big city life once again, its hot, noisy and swollen with people from every walk of life. My first two days were spent in probably the most famous Hostel in Bangkok Suk11 after that however they were fully booked so i've moved to a much quieter more residential quarter of the city where life is a bit more relaxed, but more about Bangkok later, this article will be about where i spent the most amazing 11 days on a tiny island in the andeman sea
Well what can i say about paradise, After my time in Kuala Lumpur i booked a flight online to fly to Phuket in thailand. Upon arrival i stayed in the Phuket Backpacker Hostel the place was nice enough but i found it hard to like Phuket town, its centered very much on the flashpacker lifestyle where partying and sunbathing are the primary activities. The longer i spent there the more i wanted to leave. So one evening i began googling the islands of the south and reading about their pro's - con's and attractions. While doing this i began scouting around google earth looking at a map of the east coast of peninsular thailand. All of the major islands were there with reviews and website links talking of how beautiful and accomodating the resorts were, with busses and tuk tuk's to transport people around the beaches and villages. I was tempted but still i wanted something more remote, a bit more like the much sought after but never attained beach from Di Caprio's death knell to the undiscovered island of Ko Phi Phi. As i browsed the map I just clicked on the view button to change from map view to satellite photograph, and pow! there it was this tiny little bump in the ocean with no name, no map markings and no roads. I knew straight away this was the place for me. Some further googling revealed the island to be Ko Lao Liang, twin islands in the andeman sea. HERE you can see what i mean, toggle the button in the top right between 'map' and 'satellite'
Once I had decided that this was my destination i found the contact email, corresponded with Mike Weizman who organised my booking and pickup for the ferry,
Strangely though that morning at 6.30am i was waiting... and waiting for the pickup minibus, which never arrived, confused i rang mike and he discovered that the ferry company had fluffed the details and there was nobody coming to pick me up, Initially i felt this might not bode well for what was to come, how wrong i was.
After talking with Mike on the phone once again he told me that if i could get a public bus from Phuket to Trang he would ensure i would be picked up in trang and transported directly to the island.
5 hours on a bus driving through rural thailand is an experience in itself. Stopping in tiny farming towns to pick up locals at makeshift bus-stops, driving past mile after mile of rubber tree plantations and massive Karst limestone cliffs on the roadside. After all of the little experiences along the way i was tired but feeling good. Immediately upon stepping off the bus i was Greeted by Pon, the co-manager of the island. He was on the mainland doing the supply run and i was the last thing that needed collecting. So into the pickup truck and away we went. As soon as we both lit up a much needed cigarette and the cd player started pumping Master of puppets, I knew we were going to get along just fine.
From trang we drove into basically the middle of nowhere to a small local port about 10k upriver from the bay, here we boarded the Longtail supply boat and began the hour long trip out to sea.


The bus in its neon pink glory that hurtled us down the coast to trang






At the pier moving the supplies from Pickup to Longtail before we headed for the island



So Finally at around 4.30 on the first of march I arrived,
Instantly I felt welcome, not like in phuket where I was just another farang with money that needed spending on stupid boat rides or guided tours, no this place was different. I was shown to my tent and then left to my own devices, The accomodation seems sparse at first but the longer I came to spend there the more I realised I had everything I needed and more. Each tent has two sections to it split by a zip up wall
there is a double mattress provided with a small table, a reading lamp, electrical sockets for when the power comes on and even a large powerful fan in case the heat becomes to much at some point
Outside you step into a dreamworld where you step out of your tent into soft white sand and walk to the communal area, Built entirely from bamboo this is basically a roofed awning protecting diners from rain should it happen. other than that the bar is the next stop, a tiny hexagonal hut built from driftwood and bamboo this became my spot to chill out just meters from the beach lounging in a hammock reading a book and enjoying a Milo chocolate shake prepared so well by Kyoxx, a young burmese boy who genuinely does just live on the island, brought there by Pon on christmas day he's an orphan who has become part of life on the island and you can see he loves it.
The two managers on the island are Pon who i mentioned, a Thai metalhead who was great fun to talk to and he also taught me how to smoke thai tobacco with dried palm leaves instead of rolling papers, Rough smoke but beautiful flavor once you get accustomed to the burn. Then theres Lawrence, an englishman from the lake district who came here 6 years ago and has settled into thai life quite comfortably, the two of us got on like great mates and he and pon made me feel most welcome, so much so my 3 day booking went on, and on to become an 11 day stay.
I met a great group of travellers on the island aswell, Adrien and Lin from Switzerland, Emile and Katrine from Denmark, a gang who when we combined our efforts managed to drink the bar dry on the night before the renewed supplies would arrive!!
That night at high tide (1-2am) we also discovered the incredible phenomenon of Phosphorescent plankton in the sea, running into the pitch black night you crash into the water and like nothing i have ever experienced before. The seemingly inert water comes to life and millions of microscopic plankton light up in an eerie blue glow. Imagine millions of blue LED's filling the water but they only glow when disturbed so each swimmer has an eerie glow of blue surrounding them as they kick and paddle. It was an incredible experience and i will never forget how we were like children giggling and whooping at something unlike which any of us had ever seen.
During my days on the island I was delighted to discover i had time once again to Read! in most hostels here there is a drop off pick up policy so as you finish a book you leave it in the next hostel and pick up something else from the bookshelf.
When not relaxing or reading i was usually to be found in the water, Snorkelling a few meters from the beach you will see coral formations, clownfish, barracuda, Shoals of fish numbering in the tens of thousands, colors like i have never seen.
Then there was the kayaking. It has been years since i picked up a paddle but once i sat down and started to move it was like i had never stopped. On the first day i circumnavigated both islands in a figure 8 taking about 3 hours to do so, and from this i saw a few places i wanted to explore in greater detail. The following day i hit the water again, this time armed with my camera in a drybag, I saw some beautiful scenery, wildlife and even discovered 2 rather large caves, which although slightly risky to enter, were not beyond my capabilities so i bit the bullet and plunged into the headland, and wow am i glad i did. Blue Glowing waters illuminated by the sun bursting in the tiny cave entrance massive echoing caverns filled with the thunder like no noise on earth as the air was trapped and escaped with each wave.

Longtails


The caves!




blue waters and white sands, check!




I also discovered the world of rockclimbing while i was there, Unbeknowst to me the island is actually quite famous amongst rockclimbers as a paradise of great climbing combined with the out of the way venue and beautiful scenery
Laurence not only being a manager at the island is a professional Rockclibmer who has worked on developing climbing routes on not just this island but many other climbing meccas in the area. I worked my way up the first cliff wall which is called the discover climbing route, it was great fun and its bloody hard excercise i'd definitely be interested to try it again. There are so many other stories from that island, Watching lightning storms at night from the beach, or playing frizbee in the sea for hours, never a dull moment because even when i might spend an hour just watching the wildlife of geckos, birds, monitor lizards, the word bored never even occured to me.


The Food!! Fresh fish every day, Giant shrimp, Barracuda, Squid, I wouldnt class myself as a fish eater but every day the food was spectacular



The island was hit by the Tsunami in 2004, thankfully on lao liang nobody was killed but there is still an early warning tower and an escape route at the north end of the beach



from the top of the escape route there is a great view of the beach



Just taking a break



One of the rockclimbers showing us how its really done



So for now thats everything about my amazing time at lao liang island it was an experience i'll never forget and perhaps someday i'll go back there again
I leave you with another small collection of photos and i will update very soon with the bangkok chapter. plus i will be working slowly on a video of all the footage i have taken while travelling. if anyone wants to see more of the photos they are available on my facebook page




No Shoes for two weeks




Laurence and Mr Pon at the bar

Leaving Malaysia

It seems like only yesterday i landed in KL airport and found my way to the Reggae hostel, yet today is friday and tomorrow i check out at midday and have to head to Phuket Thailand. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay here and Kuala Lumpur has been a great introduction to the backpacker lifestyle. The people i have met here have given me a good idea of what im heading into. A lot of people are arriving in KL at the end of their trip so they have stories and advice from the places i havent reached yet.
I must mention David Graham who was a very gracious guide to a newbie on his first day in KL, we both stayed in Reggae 2 so on my first day i tagged along with dave to discover the petronas towers, KL city centre, how to haggle in chinatown, and the best way to avoid exorbitant tourist prices around the city, I continued through as many points on my map as i could find and after my 5 days i think i can fairly say i have seen a decent share of whats to be seen in KL.






As for staying in a hostel in general its a lifestyle not unlike college. Everyone is making their own way in an unfamiliar environment, we're all saving our cash and looking for the cheapest bargain, and everyone is a bit unwary and nervous on their first day in a new dorm. Nights are usually quiet with intermittent drunk people crashing onto their bunks, snoring, mumbling and the faint glow of screens from iphones, ipads and various mobile devices availing of the free wifi to book tomorrows tickets. It's the same everywhere I guess, as the sign in Delaney's Irish bar said, there are no strangers here, just friends that haven't met yet.
After the first few encounters it becomes normal to just introduce yourself at random to anyone you see wearing a backpack or cargo shorts. Soon short term friendships are forged and there is always a reason for celebration, be it someone arriving in a new place, Leaving to go home, Birthdays.. Etc. The nervous tension between strangers is easily dissipated by suggesting a beer/coffee/shishah in the local backpackers haunt. Here for example we have the Reggae bar its a bit of a dive but its a good spot to grab some food and use as a rendezvous point. Talking to people who have been to Landmarks or cities ahead of you is the best reviewing service one could ask for, genuine accounts of how expensive things are, whether they were worth the distance and expense, dangers to avoid and unknown gems to be discovered.






So now I am just relaxing in the hostel writing this blog and drinking a coffee, certain creature comforts are still available although slightly different at the same time, for example the coffee is good, but instead of milk the standard additive here is powdered creamer, Carlsberg is available everywhere but glasses are much smaller than a pint. Small differences but it makes you realise you really are 11,000 kilometers from home. Thankfully the spectrum of nationalities adds to the feeling of comraderie, for example i started my trip with an australian roomate, followed by a chance encounter with Jochen a german zoologist i met in the national bird park, that evening we teamed up with Viktor a russian economist who is holidaying through SE asia. This morning as i left the hostel i joined forces with Tsu a korean girl who wanted to see Bukit Bintang the central shopping district (i was going nearby to find an irish bar) It almost reminds me of my Rockwell days where these nationalities were the normal demographic. I Still havent met any irish people but im not too bothered as im sure i'll find plenty of them in Oz.
Thats everything for now i think so i shall leave you with some various photos from the last few days and I will re-establish contact once i touch down in Phuket Thailand. For those interested i will be in the Phuket Backpacker Hostel

Talk Cha!!