Week 7+8 Northern Thailand

As I begin to craft this blog entry, I can tell it is going to be one of my favourites already. You see, despite my initial reluctance to drag my lazy butt off the paradisaical beaches of the south, I may just have had the best week ever. 

Now technically I hopped over to Ayutthaya and Sukhothai first, but I'm too darn excited to tell you about Chiang Mai and Pai, so that's where I'll begin.

Chiang Mai

Now Chiang Mai itself is a pleasant enough place, but the sight-seeing is limited. It's unique selling point being that the city center is surrounded by a large, ugly wall and a slightly more aesthetic moat. It has a number of cool Wats (Buddhist temples) to take in, but quite frankly I'm a 40 Wat type of guy and Thailand has tried to plug a 100 Wat bulb in. There are just so many of them! Still, I can tell you're itching to see one, so here you go...

Clearly doing their best not to be photographed - but I got 'em!

The really cool thing about Chiang Mai is that it has an abundance of adventure activities you can do just outside of it. Prices are fairly decent and if you have my expert negotiation skills you can perhaps get a discount too. To be fair though, negotiation has never been easier. We found a three day trek through the jungle that we wanted to do. I asked for a 20% discount. The salesman paused a moment and then said "how about I give you a 25% discount because I want you to have a good time". Thai people really are just that nice.

The trek was insanely fun. It started with an elephant ride down an impossibly steep incline. I had no idea elephants were so sure footed. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of riding an elephant before; it's kind of like sitting on a giant sweaty, prickly pin cushion that punches you in the butt with every step. I couldn't stop laughing as I was jostled side to side through the trees - until of course, one whacked me.

For those of you looking for a more comfortable ride - sit in the basket!

Then it was bath time. An extremely perilous activity where my naughty elephant pooped in the water and then sprayed it in my face. This was apparently quite hilarious to the guides.

It's an elephant's life isn't it?

After bath time, it was time for a quick snack of several hundred bananas

We said our sad goodbyes to the elephants and started our trek through the jungle. Our guides would stop occasionally and show us interesting things. I chewed on some cinnamon bark, rubbed my mosquito bites with tiger balm bark and drank water from vines he cut down. 

I claim this as Tye Land!

We stayed in one of the hill tribe villages for the night which was interesting/ uncomfortable. We were the only tourists around. Intermittently you would hear someone in the group shout obscenities as they discovered some horrendous insect on them. My favourite moment was when I noticed a luminous beetle on my friend David and shouted "AHH! what the frick is that?!" I then followed it with "Ok Dave, don't freak out, but..." That was as far as I got before Dave freaked out.

Traditional village life, there you see a traditional village mobile phone

I caught a rat for dinner - mercifully we never got round to eating it

This was hanging just outside the entrance to our doorless/windowless room for the night

A spot of authentic jungle lunch

During the evening our guide would entertain us around a camp fire, although I'm not sure that was his intention. He gave me a bamboo mug of "Jungle juice" to try. This was actually rice whiskey brewed in the village (a.k.a moonshine) and made me cough and splutter. My guide shrieked with delight "It like whiskey, same same, but different.....WAAHHH". He was also fond of saying "Oh my Buddah, Jungle Joe like moonshine". Unfortunately he liked it a little too much and the next day was so hung over that he tried to cancel our 2nd day of trekking. Eventually we got 4 hours trekking out of him.

Honestly the most uncomfortable night of my life. At 4.30am it sounded like Old McDonald's farm.

Doing some bamboo rafting

This may have been the scariest thing I've ever done

 Upon returning from our trek we wasted no time in booking ourselves on to "Flight of the Gibbon" - a zip line activity through the jungle. It was apparently voted Thailand's best tourist attraction. My guide put on a huge show when I came flying into him and hit him square in the gibbons.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

So this is a gibbon - somewhat reminds me of my sister and nephew

Pai

After Chiang Mai we visited Pai. I cannot express how much I have loved Pai. It's this really chilled out, picturesque town tucked away in the rolling mountains. Waterfalls and hot springs dot the land. I was also really grateful to finally have the temperature drop below a billion for a few days.

Our little travel party rented scooters and whizzed around the area. I must admit I was really nervous at first to ride a scooter; the last time I did, I crashed severely injuring myself. It wasn't long however before I felt completely at ease and confident enough to reach the dizzying speed of 80km/h on the good roads.

 

My favourite waterfall (yes I'm wearing the same vest in every photo)

And this is why it was my favourite... we literally did this for about an hour.

 

Life of Pai - (Pai Canyon)

Me on my 0.1 elephant power scooter

Ayutthaya

I'm fairly ambivalent about Ayutthaya. The main activity here is renting a boat to go and visit the various Wats. You can take pictures of stuff where you're not really sure why its significant.

Big Buddha

 A river - (some photos are hard to caption)

Miscellaneous interesting things

Sukhothai

Sukhotai is very similar to Ayutthaya in that there is lots of old stuff to see (circa 13th century). It used to be the capital of Thailand (as did Ayutthaya at one point). It was a lot more fun that Ayutthaya, for one because the sight-seeing is more visually appealing and two, because you can ride a bicycle around the ruins.

 The main Wat in the Sukhothai ruins

 This view certainly didn't ruin my day

 Parked myself here for a bit of R&R

So that's Thailand! I've had the most incredible time here and would love to come back again some time. Unfortunately their silly visa rule means I need to exit the country (to Laos) tomorrow. I'm a tad nervous the bus gets me to the border crossing only one hour before my visa expires.

Trip Stats

Places Visited: 8 - Bangkok, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Tao, Koh Phang-an, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Pai

Distance Covered: 2600km

Week 5+6 Southern Thailand

Hello again devoted readers! Some of you may have noticed it's been a while since my previous post. This is on account of two reasons. First, I wasn't sure whether to do a blog about Thailand when every man, woman and ladyboy has already been here. And two, I was just mega busy lying on various beaches...

Bangkok

I started my Asian adventure in Bangkok, as did everyone else it seems. I absolutely loved the city. Not just because you can graze on delicious street food all day long, but because the city is so diverse and interesting. It's also super easy to meet other travellers; I even bumped into two people I'd met once before back in England.

Having a roof top coconut in Central Bangkok

Fooling around in the shopping centers

 Wats this then? (Barely funny joke, requiring the preliminary knowledge that Buddhist temples are called Wats)

The famous Khao San Road - backpacker party central

 If you like Buddhas this is the place for you

Koh Phi Phi

Even though I enjoyed Bangkok, I must admit I was in somewhat of a rush to get to the beaches. Naturally being a huge fan of the film "The Beach", my obvious first choice was Koh Phi Phi. It is astonishingly pretty, but it does suffer from an over influx of tourists.

Life's a beach right?

I'd say about 30 minutes after arriving in this paradise I was getting pretty bored. The island has a number of grossly over priced things you can do, but instead I found myself a German friend and we decided to try swim from one pinnacle of the island to the other (about 1km I guess). It was great fun on the way out, but to our misfortune the tide went out as we tried to return. This left us "swimming" in about a foot of water above sharp rocks, coral and dozens of sea urchins. Two hours later we finally made it back, cuts all over our ligaments and backs badly burnt, but never in higher spirits. 

In the evening we rewarded ourselves with beers as we watched the Thai guys play with fire. There is also a boxing rink where tourists are encouraged to beat the living day lights out of each other for a free drink. I must say I was heartily tempted, but didn't fancy it with all the ailments I'd accrued that day.

I want to be these guys!

An hour trek in the 38C heat to bring you this beauty

Koh Tao

Perhaps the thing I wanted to do most on my travels was learn to scuba dive and I was told Koh Tao was the best place for this. So I hooked myself up with a night ferry to do just that. It was really fun to rock on the waves and chat with other travellers.

My bed for the night

Getting my Padi Open Water Scuba Diving qualification was honestly one of my favourite travel experiences ever. It's another world to be weightless, surrounded by thousands of fish. The only thing you hear is the sound of your breathing and bubbles. 

Super excited for my dive!

Koh Tao was one of my favourite places so far. It is just incredibly beautiful and relaxing (during the day at least). At night there are parties all along the beach, with yet more fire shows. I tried my luck at skipping on the fire rope and predictably was rewarded with a nice burn all down my arm. It was almost as painful as the Thai massage I'd had earlier!

Not too bad right?

Koh Phangan

And then we get to Koh Phangan, the legendary home of the Full Moon Party. For once the hype was justified. The atmosphere of thousands of people dancing on the beach was just incredible. I am now completely covered in fluorescent paint, having only had a few hours sleep last night.

There was a different party on the island each night. My favourite was the "Pool Party" where hundreds of people splashed away, while the sea and stars provided the back drop. The "Waterfall Jungle Party" was also not without its charm, albeit the waterfall was dry. I have been super lucky to share these experiences with three Canadians, who I'm travelling with at the moment.

 The view from our room

 

Trying to get me a coconut

Super pleased  with myself when I finally got some

All in all, I absolutely adore Thailand and can't wait to explore up North!

Week 4 - India

If you wanted to experience Indian culture and could only visit one city, I would recommend Varanasi. Many travellers proudly proclaim it as their favourite place, while still others describe it as "overwhelming". I am sympathetic to both view points. On the one hand it is immensely intriguing; being the birthplace of Buddhism (530BC approx), the holiest of pilgrimage cities for Hindus and supposedly the oldest living city in the world (3000 years) all at once. 

A cruise on the Ganges provides a view of the prettily named Puja ceremony

On the other hand, Varanasi is an assault on the senses. As you walk through the dusty streets, heat pricks your skin, acrid fumes burn your throat and the sound of a hundred horns deafen you. Everywhere there is colour and movement. Your nose might delight at the scent of a sweet pastry one moment and the next revile at that of rotting rubbish. It is a strange moment when you realise the sweetest scent of all is that of a passing perfumed corpse.

One of the few streets without fear of being run over

Most of the sites lie along the River Ganges. The most obtrusive of which is perhaps the Naga Sadhus - the naked holy men. There were more genitals than you could shake a chapati at! Followed closely by the cremation sites where bodies were burning for all to see. I found myself strangely calm as I gazed upon a charred foot.

This lady squashes poo for a living - let no man or women ever complain about a Monday morning again!

A mercifully distant shot of the cremations

In the evening the city comes alive (as if it weren't already!) with lights and boats and music. 

It's kinda like Glastonbury Festival really - loud, smelly and lots of weed everywhere

I was waiting for a song I knew to join in...

After the hectic atmosphere of Varanasi nothing could be more welcome, or more different than the quaint town of Darjeeling. There are magnificent views of Kangchenjunga and Everest on a clear day. It was not a clear day when I did the 4.30am pilgrimage to watch the sun rise... Still there was tea a plenty to console me afterwards. 

I have now had the world's best tea (apparently) - they sell this stuff to Harrods

Let's just say that's Everest in the background

So that's it, one hectic month in India almost over. A month ago I would scarcely have believed how diverse, beautiful or infuriating India could be. As much as I have enjoyed my trip and will no doubt laugh when recalling its difficulties, I must confess I am now looking forward to some relaxation in Thailand!

Trip Stats

Distance Covered: 4100km

Places Visited:10 (Delhi, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi, Darjeeling, Kolkata)

Chunder Count: 0

Delhi Belly Count: 0 (sort of)

Scams fallen for: 2

Scams avoided: literally dozens

Week 3 - India

Week three already and I'm growing somewhat accustomed to the many resplendent forts and palaces. At first I tried heartily to soak in their individual histories and stories, but inevitably they were always built by Maharaja something something Singh (insert random number) between 1400 and 1800. Instead, I have taken to amusing myself in other ways...

Filming monkeys in Amer Fort (Jaipur) - he looks cute now, 

but in 5 seconds it's like a scene from Planet of the Apes

 Just when I fort I'd seen em all! (Sorry :P)

I had heard mostly negative reviews of Jaipur from fellow travellers and so I went with low expectations. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the cities unique personality and tourist attractions. I was mightily impressed that it had both the world's largest cannon, Jaiwana (capable of firing 22 miles no less) and an intriguing collection of astronomical instruments at Jantar Mantar.

They call Jaipur the "Pink City" - looks kinda orange to me (Hawa Mahal View)

Yep looks about right... (Jantar Mantar)

Next up it was time for something different, a safari to Ranthambore National Park to find me a tiger! Even though I knew our odds were slim (I estimated 20% from park facts), I couldn't help but point excitedly and have the group agasp at a rock or common deer more than once.

Unfortunately taking pictures of the wildlife proved difficult, either because they were hiding, running, or in the tiger's case, did not exist.

No ideer why they couldn't all be this friendly (again, trully sorry :P)

Yep, so these are women, they tend to run or hide less often

This is where we waited for the tigers. Saying "here kitty kitty didn't seem to be working"

Perhaps the grandest landscape I have ever seen - masterfully I have managed to completely not capture it on camera

Next up was the woeful train of the night. I had foolishly allowed myself to be booked a SL. class train to Agra (I believe it stands for slum). After a short four hour delay, I was finally able to board and find my bed. I flicked a cockroach off it and jumped from a passing rat before making myself uncomfortable. This was going to be fun. I was of course the only western face out of several hundred people on the platform. Even my mp3 player seemed to mock me. "The day I caught the train" came on and then another song chided "there's no place I would rather be, there's no place I would rather be". 

Still, I think I took the news that the train was in fact now going to be going to another city very well. Details, details and 13 hours later at 3am I collapsed (clothes still on) into my hotel bed.

I've had worse, but not often

Right as rain I sprung at 7am to see the almighty Taj Mahal. What blog would be complete without a picture of one of the wonders of the world. 

Simply stunning - we do not mock the Taj