So you want to hear about Thailand? Well forget the azure sea and the
fantastic food, the beautiful beaches and great snorkelling and
trekking opportunities, and the sophisticated city with wonderful
cultural stuff and great nightlife. No, what was great was arriving in
Bangkok and all the lights being on, shops where we could get clothes
to fit us, cheese! Its funny what you realise you've missed only when
you have it again!
Joking aside, Thailand is a great place and we'd definitely visit
again. We had three nights in Bangkok and did the main tourist sights
- the temples, the Grand Palace, a trip on the river and then went
shopping. That was great but so expensive after being in Nepal so we
didn't splash out that much but it was great just feeling we were back
in civilisation. We even went to the cinema - great big comfy seats
with table service! The one thing I found really scary in Bangkok
though was the taxis. While it was lovely being in a big, quiet,
air-conditioned saloon with suspension that worked, they still don't
use seat belts. There aren't even any to use in the back. Now I'm not
keen on that in Nepal either but in Kathmandu its rare to get above
30km/hr but Bangkok has proper motorways and we're doing about
100km/hr. And they still drive like Nepalis - must be the Asian way -
just cutting across lanes at the drop of a hat, though there was a bit
less use of the horn. But I think that was my only negative comment.
We then flew off to Koh Pha Ngan which is actualy the full moon party
Island. This wouldn't normally be our scene, fogeys that we are, but
it also apparantly has some of the best snorkelling in Thailand as
well as good trekking and we chose a beach as far away from the party
zone we could get. And it was lovely and peaceful with fantastic
snorkelling - coral in every colour and so many fish we felt like we
were in a Jacques Cousteau programme. Its just a shame the camera
won't work underwater as we spent so much time doing that.
The other main thing there was that we were quite isolated in our
lovely quiet bungalow on our lovely quiet beach - no electricity
during the day or hot water but after Nepal it still felt luxurious -
so we had to hire a scooter to do any exploring. After travelling
quite a bit of Europe on one it shouldn't have been an issue but the
number of people we saw in bandages or limping about miserably with
their new Koh Pha Ngan tattoos was a bit off-putting. Its because
there is so much sand on the roads - G said it was like driving on
marbles - but he was a real professional and we managed to stay on and
not add to our collections of scars from Greece!
After that we went up market again to a more developed island, Koh
Samui, staying in a very chic designer hotel. This was very different
with so many bars and restaurants to choose from every night. In KPN
we'd eaten in the Bungalow complex restaurant every night as the food
was great and cheap, we didn't have to drive and the atmosphere was
lovely just looking out to sea, but here Gordon was in his element
with choices of Steak, Italian, Mexican, Astralian.......... to eat
and bars with premiership football on all over the place! I liked it
too but perhaps not quite as much as KPN.
But Koh Samui does of course have a hash so we had to meet up with
them. That was a laugh and a lot more civilised than the Himalayan
Hash - less hills for a start! And they are more of what you might
call a mature hash - mainly retirees! Hampshire man and the other
WOG's (Worthy Old Gits in case anyone thinks I'm being Carol
Thatcher!) would have fitted right in! Gordon of course was
immediately seen as a trouble maker and got their worst punishment on
return to the circle - having to sit in a bucket of ice for the
duration. But as it is so hot there it wasn't too big a hardship. And
it was all very Thai with down downs given in coconut shells!
Afterwards we went back to one hashers pub for a few beers and free
curry and were given Dahl baht no less - just can't get away from
Nepali food!
I guess apart from it being such a lovely holiday one of the main
things that will stick with us is how different it is from Nepal.
There probably is a fair amount of poverty in Northern Thailand at
least but we didn't really see any evidence and it is just a
sophisticated country where they really try to make sure your holiday
goes smoothly and you have a great time, i.e. everything works. Even
the airport on Koh Samui was beautiful - all open air with flowers
growing everywhere, free soft drinks and snacks in the lounge and
childrens play areas, even though its only for domestic flights and
you woudn't be there for more than 30 minutes. A far cry from
Heathrow! Would be interesting to analyse exactly why Nepal and
Thailand have ended up so different - maybe one day.
So now we're back. On the plus side its a lot warmer than when we left
but on the negative side that's just as well as our well has run dry
and we have virtually no water! Drinking water is OK as we buy that in
bottles so we are going to have to be using that for washing, flushing
etc for the foreseeable future! Welcome back to Nepal where there is
always something new to go wrong! Lets hope the monsoon comes early
this year!.