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Arriving in Bangkok is an absolute assault on the senses. The noise, smell, traffic, hustle and bustle all hit you the minute you leave the air conditioned express train from the airport (which may as well be called the tourist train). We arrived at our hostel having dodged mopeds and hundreds of stray cats down the dark "pedestrianised" alley to find a lovely little place called Cosy Bangkok (as recommended by Laura and Tal- Thank you). We decided to go and find some dinner, and picked a random district from the lonely planet guide to wander around which supposedly has places to eat. We got off the train and saw hundreds of street stalls serving all manner of concoctions which looked less than desirable; even Tom was not up for trying them. So eventually, I am ashamed to say, we noticed a Starbucks and settled on a cheese and ham sandwich.... not so adventurous for the first night in Thailand?! A bit dazed and confused we eventually found that we could eat pretty nice and cheap food in the huge malls that tower above the rest of shanty like Bangkok so all was not lost.
Our original plan was to take the sleeper train to Chiang Mai however we found out when we tried to book a ticket that repair works were going on and the train won't be running till December (still hoping to catch it eventually). So, tempted by the beaches and peace of Phuket we booked a one-way flight and left Bangkok's hustle and bustle.
We decided to stay on Patong beach, with little research before booking, and ended up in Asia's version on Magaluf. Thai bar girls, tuk tuk drivers, street vendors, neon lights, fat naked Europeans and thousands of stray dogs surrounded us. It actually made us miss Bangkok! The only shining light at the end of this very dark tunnel was a restaurant called Pum's which made amazing Thai curries and was our one place of sanctuary. After 2 days, we booked a boat to Koh Phi Phi, in search of the Thailand I had imagined (but still feared we may be 15 years too late?!).
Finally! Although still busier than we hoped for, Phi Phi was 100 times better than Patong. We booked a hillside room, that had a balcony and a view of the sea (just!?) and one morning we heard a bit thud on the balcony and when we opened the windows we saw a monkey! We put our hands up on the window and when Tom made faces at it, it copied! It was absolutely unforgettable. Safe to say we were going to enjoy Phi Phi much more than Patong!
Something we suspected before this trip that has been reaffirmed many times is that although Tom can eat anything I am a bit fussy (shocker right?!) so I have turned into a bit of a slave to trip advisor. Through my "research" we found a place called Garlic Restaurant that looked a bit like a shack, but every lunchtime and dinner it was packed so we gave it a go. We ate amazing food here such as Papaya Salad (Tom's fave) and Massaman curry (my fave), most of the time costing us less than £6!? They also give you a Thai phrase sheet so the very patient waiters had to sit through my attempts at mastering the lingo.
We stayed for 6 days in Koh Phi Phi and enjoyed spending time on the beach, in the warmest ocean ever (seriously, it's like a bath), and I even embarked on another snorkelling trip - this time without a life jacket!? Overall it's a very nice place, but a bit like the rest of Thailand, we thought it would have been nicer 15 years ago before the drunken English spoilt it - which seems to be a regular occurrence in South East Asia.
From here we got on another boat to Koh Lanta, which was much more our speed with beachside bars and restaurants that didn't compete to see which could play the loudest music , and far fewer drunken people hanging around. We started to get a bit beached out so decided to book onto a cooking class, which was great - we made Red and Massaman Curries as well as sweet and sour stir fry. All were delicious but as before Massaman Curry was by far my favourite. None of our group could finish the feast we made so our teacher suggested she give it to us to take a way. We all thought this was a great idea and assumed that they might have some boxes like we get at English take a ways, but we were wrong......after some expert twisting and clipping she handed us a plastic bag full of curry and wished us well. Turns out eating curry out of a bag isn't the easiest thing to do in the world, but we managed!
From Koh Lanta the plan was to move through the Thai Islands until we eventually got to Kuala Lumpur however I realised that I was only lazing by the beach as Bangkok has scared me all those weeks ago (having explored more of Asia I have warmed up to Bangkok, don't worry parentals.....we'll have fun when you come!). So I put on my big boy pants and got a flight back to Bangkok where we embarked on a marathon trip to Laos which I will fill you in on during our next blog (Spoiler alert - I LOVE it here).
Much love to all xx
- comments
Karen Love it, love it, love it. Love you both Mum xxxx
debglithero cant wait for the next installment,sitting here with baited breath. mum xx
Polly Massaman is my FAVOURITE too!! Curry out of a bag sounds fun hahaha!! Lots of love xxxxx
hannah and sam Love it!!! me and sam are currently looking into Phi Phi no was we were think of going to patong,,,, but u may have saved us fro there :) hope ur both well xx