Wanderings in the Land of Smiles
It's been a while I have not been blogging. There is no real reason for that. I've been only lazy. But today I'd like to share some insights on my travels in Thailand. First of all, the country is getting reopened for tourists. Secondly, I am excited to discover some places by myself (or with friends). Both have pros and cons. Third, I have collected some get-away or hiding-out spots for myself from Bangkok when the metropolis starts to be overwhelming. But it came with some price.
I've wanted to write about my October trips for ages. Then, I want to write about my group trips and finally about my weekend-aways. (I'm on one of them, currently writing from Amphawa, look at my view. )
So everything started in October when places started to open up, plus, I've also got my immunity by having received two doses of vaccine and in general, it was easier to travel. I still don't dare to use the public transportation so I booked a car from Instyle Private Car to take me to places. It's quite pricey. A van would be max 100 bahts, and the train even cheaper (if there is a train somewhere there). Compared to this, a one-way ride to Ratchaburi, for example costs 1500, and to the nearest coastal town, it is around 1200. (Maybe it's cheaper if you don't live at the end of BKK suburbs like I do.)
Back in October, we had a 4-day national holiday. Now that I work at a Thai-style school, the long breaks for October are over: we start the year in May and it finishes in March/April (at the beginning of April), so the breaks are a bit twisted compared to the classic academic year.
Anyway, I planned that I would spend a day in Ratchaburi and the rest of my holiday, I'll spend at the sea. I really wanted to visit an island, and Koh Si Chang is the one which is closest to the capital, so I booked a hotel in Sri Racha first to take the ferry the next day. Disclaimer: that was one of my most horrible days in the land of smiles. But before going into that, let's roll out some details about my Ratchaburi day.
Financially, it was pretty expensive to book a taxi like that as the fare for the whole day was 3900 bahts (about a 100 dollars). In exchange, the car service gives you a guide, who explains everything about the historical events and monuments that we crossed, we stopped at even more places than it was pre-planned and also shared some interesting facts about Ratchaburi. Other than the ride, I didn't spend a cent - except for food - as most places I wanted to visit were for free.
I visited a wat where monks make shadow puppets, some other style of temples, a beautiful garden where you have to pay 5o bahts to enter, but then you can exchange it for a cup of coffee (in my case, for a cup of bubble tea), the art district, the ceramic workshop and of course, the Khao Ngu (Snake Mountain) Stone park. All of them were beautiful.
Shadow puppets in the museum room
One of the entrances of the wat
Decorated sampao (?) boat
One of the caves, visited, at another wat (still in Ratchaburi)
Mural in the second wat
Entrance of the cave
The reason why I only have pictures of the entrance of the cave and could not descend
One of Buddha's footprints along the way
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Chinese temple from inside
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View from the Chinese temple
The Chinese temple I've been to
Art café
A picture from the art café
Ceramic workshop
Ceramic workshop
Khao Ngu Stone Park
The view of the stones
My lunch near the stone park
Bats
Bat cave
The following day with similar expectations I boarded the car and headed to Sri Racha. First, the driver almost couldn't find my destination which was the Inspirium or the Space Museum. That was the biggest Space Museum I've ever been to! Even bigger than the one in Norway! It was an awesome experience! I totally loved it. I think I spent at least half a day there, I even had lunch there and a cup of ice chocolate. You could try everything there: trying on a scafander, picture yourself as an alien, try out the simulation of astronauts, reading about the history of space exploration... in other words, it was amazing. The reason why it is there because Thailand's biggest antennas (or satellites?) are also in Sri Racha. Apparently, all of these are on the territory of a university where you could study astronomy, space, telecommunication and such.
The entrance to Inspirium
Astronaut equipment
Training
Walking on the moon simulator
Satellites
When I got out of the museum, it had been raining hard. Instead of a motorbike then, I booked a taxi instead. I travelled to my hotel, I chilled out but honestly, I couldn't walk around so much because it was raining. I cannot even remember what I was looking for (some other museum? or wat?), but eventually I ended up getting a foot massage, and reading my book. (That was the first time I had read a Murakami book and I started with Dance, dance, dance.) Next to my hotel, there was a Japanese restaurant, too. It felt so timely to read a Japanese author.
The next day I left early on to catch the ferry to the island. The island looked beautiful from afar. When I got out of the ferry, I just saw that there was no Grab on the island, but one could rent a motorbike. Well, you know I don't drive so that was off the table for me. A "P'Win" came by that I quickly waved down and he charged me only 3o bahts. I had a worrying gut feeling from the moment I found out that there was no Grab (taxi ordering), but I tried to push it down. Then, when I arrived at the hostel, I found out that it was only me who had a reservation. Of course, silly me, Koh Si Chang is not even the most touristy place, and I was travelling there right after opening. (November 1 was the first date that tourists - with actual tourist visa - could enter Thailand, before that, it was only valid visa, like working or marriage papers allowed in.) (And even these tourists had to stay 5 days in Phuket or somewhere with an SHA+ hotel.) (Or wait. Was it when Test'n'Go was introduced?) Anyway. I'm trying to think about it because it's gonna be important in describing my other adventures on the island.
So first, I found out, there is a frog in my bathroom. I ask the landlady to clean it out. Ugh. Then, I ask if it's possible to rent a bike here. They already contact a tuk-tuk driver to bring me to a place with renting bikes. If you know me, you know, this is the thing I HATE the most. Others deciding about me. I mean, I just asked. I'm a very indecisive person when it comes to mundane decisions (but a very abrupt one when it needs to be decided if I should move to a country of which language I do not speak....). And, also, I just asked. My second question would have been that are there any means of transport around? Because if yes, then obviously, I'll choose that and not bike under the fucking hot Sun! But by the time, I opened my mouth (and there was a communication barrier anyway), I realized that I'm riding in the tuktuk. The guy gave me the rustiest bike ever. Well, the question arises, why did I accept that offer at all? Because the other bikes were way worse.... at the same time, the "bike renting place" was next to a house where who knows what kind of water was pouring from a canal. I mean... anyway. It wasn't my best idea to rent it, but also because of the language barrier I had no way to carry out a conversation about it, plus, I was in the middle of the nowhere, so I felt like... let's just get on with it.
What I didn't consider (and didn't research) about the island, that it's mountainous. Once I changed the gear on it, it broke down. You know, those kind of old bikes where you have to roll them twice first and once back and then it's going... a bit. It was definitely not helpful that the inclination of the mountain was 45 degrees. (The outside temperature felt like that as well, in Celsius.)
Expectation: easy ride on flat earth (pun intended), and relaxing experience on the beach.
Reality: hangry and mad at Thailand, Thai people (who were just passing by as I was tossing my bike while walking on the mountain, laughing at me), and my tears and sweat mixed on my face. I only had one apple to eat and needless to say, I already ran out of water, too.
So, I decided, I will leave the bike at the shore. I just ditched it at a far point of the beach, didn't even bother stand it up. How will I go back? No idea. I needed at least an hour to calm down and eat first, I chugged in at least half a liter of Coke and a liter water before I changed into my swimsuit and even then I was angrier than I could value the clear blue sea and sandy beach. I was like Petőfi: "What for Carpathians for me, I only love the Plain." (freely translated by me), but in my mind it was more like: "Who cares about the blue sea if the road to there is this...?!". Big shoutout to W (to my only Thai friend), who called me to calm me down and just talking to him I could already feel the irony of the situation.
Ok, now that I ditched my bike (which I rented), I had time to be anxious about how much I would need to pay for it. The hostel said that they would be open until 7 pm, so ... I guess, I had a couple of hours to kill. It was fine. I took a tuk-tuk, visited the Royal Residence (Summer Palace), a wat (not the one I wanted to but the one I was taken to... ). My state of mind must have been interesting by then because the monk who was guarding that wat asked me "Are you okay?".
The view of the Royal Palace was really stunning. I really calmed down there. Until I saw that the only tuk-tuk person available there is the old man (who looked more like Confucius btw), that I rented "the bike" from. We locked our eyes for a moment and I immediately knew that he recognized me. Anyway, I quickly stepped back, trying to kill more time around, but also being close to the entrance to catch the first arriving tuk-tuk. I already prepared the money for the man (I knew they charge 1oo bahts whatever the ride is) and tried to make him hurry when he came in and dropped some tourists... but turns out that he's kinda best friend with the Confucius who disguises himself as a bike-lord and they chat. LOL. (And obviously, I'm the only farang tourist on the island, right? :-D ). What a burn for me!!!
Anyway, after the wat and everything, I still have 2 more hours to kill. So I went for a massage at the island too and just to be sure, I decided that I would also have dinner (for safety's sake, to arrive one hour later than the hostel reception would close). Yeah!
Expectation: I do my stuff and sneak in the hotel, unnoticed.
Reality: The hotel fucking called me where I was!!!! (Later, it turned out that Confucius tuk-tuk driver found the bike and let the hotel know that he didn't find me. So, the hotel is worried that just before reopening and after the Phuket-murder YET ANOTHER tourist is gone. Huh. So they didn't charge me extra, instead, they invited me for dinner.)
As for dinner, I had it in the only open restaurant. It was super good! Shrimp with noodles and the soup with cabbage leaves and meatballs. The only person who could talk in English was the cook and she offered me to take me home once I was done with the food. Honestly, that was my only happy moment on that island.
After the incident, I took a shower, and sat on the veranda to read. It turned out, there were other, local tourists at the hotel, too, BBQ-ing and Mukatta-ing. Finally, I was surrounded with people, lively noises and beautiful feelings. Until the frogs came back... I wave to the hotel lady again, please could you just stash him again in the bush, please? She comes and we get rid of him in a harmless way. Then his child comes! He puts his forefoot on the door - looks at me, looks at the door, looks at me, looks at the door. He is even more reluctant than his father (or mother?) to let it go. Maybe, I should kiss him and he would turn into my Prince Charming? A friend warned me: I should not. It might turn into my ex.
Some pictures of the island:
From the ferry
You can tell, I was not happy...
The water was beautiful though and super clear!
Royal Residency Garden
Royal Residency pavillon
A Buddhist temple - not the one I wanted to visit, but the one I got to...
Lighthouse - and that's enough of the island, too.
And I start reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaku Endless Pilgrimage. The next day, I took the boat back as early as possible, happy to get the island rid of me. I rather waited 2 hours for my taxi than spending a minute more on this - to me - cursed island.
Note to self: never visit an island alone. Visit it with someone who can rent a motorbike. ( I kind of ditched that note anyway as I'm planning to visit Koh Samet next month - let's see how that would work out. ) (But it's far more touristic and anyway, the tourists are flocking back to the country by now.)
I can laugh at this story now, but... I was really crying and thinking of just packing my bags and take off after this experience. It took me a long time to travel again, in my December holiday I even stayed the entire time in Bangkok. In November, I discovered a couple of cafés where I could write stories in silence and at night (sadly, not for the blog, though). The book club started to meet up once a month in person, and I made some new friends, too... So I was in my own world. Occasionally, I went to Bang Kra Chao to cycle for half a day, but that was all.
It took a long time to recover but eventually, I started to go out again, but this time with pre-paid tours and tourguides. I hoped to save some money on transportation. I took part in a 4-day trip to Chiang Mai and Rai, a day trip to Ratchaburi (strictly only to make some friends), and a camping trip that is organized by the bike club's leader.
The group tours are not enjoyable. Not for me, at least. Yes, it's very nice that all my things are taken care of (no need to communicate with Thai people, I don't have anything else to pay, as all the entrance tickets and everything are already included), but keeping the dynamic is very hard. Some people take longer time to explore something, some others less. Some people are picky about their foods, some others are too indecisive what to choose. Sometimes, I just cannot find a person to tag along with during the trip and that's hard. Then, I'll tell myself, well, at least, I'm here and I don't have to negotiate about my whereabouts and I have a comfortable van to transport me to the next site. But when it comes to hiking, I'm too slow. When it comes to food, it's all the same to me (but omg, not spicy, please). When it comes to daytrips... all the places we have such a little time and it's killing me that I cannot make these trips alone, by myself, and devoting them as much time as I want to.
National park view
Miss Linh =)
Limestone erosion
Ancient petrified riverbank
Chiang Mai lanterns
Fruit salad breakfast
Lanterns at the market
Blue Wat
White Wat - symbolising the blood that was shed while building it...
Phu Chi Fah - close to Laos
Contemplating among my mountains
Danger!!!
Waterfall - Nam tok
Contemplating at the waterfall
Conclusion of this trip.
So, I spotted two not-so-far locations where I would also organize only my accommodation and my taxi. I made sure this time that I choose locations where I stay and I don't need to organize another transport. Meaning, the taxi picks me up at home and in one-two hours, it drops me at the hotel. The next day, he picks me up there, too and takes me home directly. The first time I spent in Amphawa, at the end of February, there was a park I could visit besides the floating market. It was wonderful. This time, I didn't mind that I'm one of the three guests of the hotel (well, basically it was a boathouse). Everything is very clear, I didn't have to wake up afraid of snakes, frogs and water monitors in the middle of the night and I finished the books I brought with myself, too). Perfect trip! (Or was it only perfect because I found the statue of King Chalawan?) Bang saen was a tiny bit disappointing. I had no problems with the location but more like with the sea. I didn't dare to swim because it was so dirty. The homestay was great though and the restaurant near the sea was awesome too (I tried ChaThai croissant!). The aquarium museum and the Burana University are awesomeness too. I almost considered to roll in to study marine biology. I saw sea horses, clown fish, eels and a lot more! (But I definitely spent at least an hour in front of the sea horses' cabin.)
My first solo trip: Amphawa (floating market).
View from my hostel.
Can't have enough from this view.
Rama II park and museum
My all-time fav Thai legend: Kray Thong and the King of Chalawan
When I found the statue!! :-)
King Rama II Park. Stunning views.
Oh word! How could I forget the Siamese cat café and farm from Amphawa?!
My second solo trip: Bang Saen (the closest beach found near Bangkok) :
Unfortunately the sea wasn't clear. So instead of bathing, I was reading and tried the "Cha Thai Croissant".
That's why my hair is wet:
Sam Roi Yot National Park - mangrove forest
Special monkeys in Prachuap Khiri Khan
And now I'm back in Amphawa. I can tell the tourists are back: it was more crowded than before. I couldn't even book a room at Se'Sun. I enjoyed that hotel more (because of the view). But in general... the current hotel is a bit claustrophobic and the common area feels like it's floating a bit. Let's hope I won't completely float away before I finish this entry.
I'm here with a friend who convinced me not to take the taxi. After some elaborate searching, we found a train-boat-train-bus connection. Sounds easy right? Well, I must tell you, your Thai should be on Intermediate level to conduct the whole journey (not the 2-year-forever-beginner-kaojaimai-Jaylerr level like mine). In the first leg of the trip, I was really happy and excited. We took the train from Wong Wian Yai to Maha Chai. The scenery was great, the small train stations cute, and I had already planned a hundred trips along the beautiful wats where the train had stopped. Next leg is to take a boat - well done. At Thalom Chok (or what's its name?), the next leg of the train would take you to Mae Khlong. Read that sentence again. WOULD. TAKE. YOU. Due to COVID, the train rides have been reduced to the daily fishermen's routes: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Perfect for locals, and less perfect for boosting tourists. Luckily, W. told me to call him any time, I encounter a problem. My favourite part was when he asked me through the phone: find a person that you could talk to, me: "there is nobody on the street!!!" (slightly agitated). Then I pop into a shop and I just hand the phone to a Thai lady, W. communicates with her and we take her suggestion: go back to Maha Chai on the boat and take the van from there. (The van is slightly farther from the market and ferry pier, but still doable - unless you have less than a deciliter water left in your water bottle....). Anyway. we made it and we arrived more or less the same time we had planned it. I am a bit disappointed with our windowless room... but. It is what it is. The food is great, the Thai lady was nice, the scenery is beautiful and ... there is shrimp paste everywhere. (Hint: I am tired of fish and shrimps after last week's teacher field trip which would deserve a whole other entry, my friends.)
Tomorrow, we are going to take the van back to BKK. Direct one. No more jerking around with whatnot boats and slow trains! (Let Mother River help us to find it easy and fast.)
As always, thanks for reading! :-)
PS1: Not feeling super spleeny or anything, but... trying to be grateful for what I have. So, if I took the taxi, I wouldn't have been able to tell you these stories.
PS2: Finally I had the time to write. At least a blog entry. That's good since I haven't done it for almost half a year?! :-(
PS3: As you might have heard, the van ride was super slow, partly, because the driver forgot to look at his watch and just calmly smoked and ate his lunch. We left with a solid 4o-minute delay. Nevermind. I made it back to BKK.
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