Day 402-403 Shopping Bonanza

We got off the plane and it was welcome home, or should I say welcome to Bangkok, our South East Asian home. It’s finally grown on me. It’s actually a pretty interesting place with loads of stuff to do. I’m not going to defend the fact it’s a bit sleazy but if you’re not interested in that it shouldn’t bother you.

Our trip was coming to an end and the main objective of the last day was to pack or bags to the point of bursting. We hit Kohsan Road to bargain with the stall workers to get a good deal. We walked up and down the road after jeans, shorts, shirts and loads and loads of t-shirts. We got some pretty good deals and once you start you just want to keep going and buying more. Lots of other cool things to be bought aswell include figurines, pictures, bells; fake id’s and pretty much everything else. It’s good craic trying to get the stuff for cheap. It’s a good Business Negotiation lesson, Trump and Sugar learnt it here I tell you.

After some lunch it was time for the lads to treat themselves to a facial. Laugh if you will but for the equivalent of €5 why would you say no. We got all sorts of creams on our faces that made them shine and clean. Fantastic and rejuvenated we left the beautician. Hard to believe 24 hours time we would be separated. Later on that night myself and Mike went back to get pedicures and manicures. Once again our defence is that it was cheap.

Mike and I took another walk down Kohsan Road and saw some freestylers performing. Mike decided he wanted in on the action. He performed with both of the guys one of whom was African and the other Thai. They performed solo and then some combo moves to the cheers of the onlookers. A good show was put on by all. We headed back afterwards and went to bed.

We awoke bright and early to ensure we got the most of our day. We enjoyed the “Last Breakfast” together and reminisced about all the good times. We all got a few last minute gifts and just enjoyed the banter that Bangkok has to offer.

We had come full circle in Asia. Experienced the beautiful Angkor’s that the Kingdom of Cambodia has to offer, travelled through the flooded streets of Siem Reap, got an insight into the horror that 1,000’s experienced in the killing fields and being lucky enough to meet one of only seven survivors, taken a boat down the Mekong, experienced the overnight rat trains of Vietnam, soaked in the beautiful beaches in Nha Trang, shopping till we dropped in the Tailor town of Hoi An, viewed the thousands of beautiful islands of Halong Bay, witnessed the famous Water Puppet show of Hanoi, chilled and drank Beer Lao in Lac Sao and Vientiane, tubed down the Nam Song river in Vang Vieng, experienced the magic of Luang Prabang, slept our way down the Mekong in Laos, viewed the Elephants paint Van Gough, seen the beautiful Maya Bay (location of the “Beach”.) and seen all the Buddha’s of Bangkok.

South East Asia was a 10/10 trip made special by everyone especially a good GAP group. Thailand thank you, Kingdom of Cambodia thank you, thank you Vietnam and thank you Laos.

Conor

Day 401 Phuket

We got up pretty early in the morning (I had to sort out my visa!!!) and had breakfeast in one of the many restaurants around the island. We had a great day yesterday but now it was time to make our way back to Phuket. Inside the boat there were free soft drinks and water melons. There was a full video of the Corr’s on the ferry which sparked a debate. I claimed that there are at least 10 world famous Irish singers/bands in the world; dos anyone agree? Having missed the sights on the ferry over, I decided to make the most of the hour and a half journey by waiting at the top end of the boat. The day was slightly cloudy but that didn’t spoil the sheer beauty of the Island’s in the distance. I paid particular attention to Maya Bay and it looked amazing in the distance. We have been on plenty of ferries over the past year or so and I started to reflect on it all.

We then arrived in Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by a bridge. The island is mostly mountainous with a mountain range in the west of the island from the north to the south. The day was very over cast and it was getting dark so we got a taxi to our hotel. Our taxi driver was useless; he didn’t know where our hotel was even though we had the street. We eventually got there and checked into our room. We got a bite to eat and then had a stroll around the town. It appeared to be even sleazier than any of the other places we had been in Asia. The massage ladies were as eager as beaver’s to get you into their little rooms!! It wasn’t the most pleasant place in the world, at night time anyway. I booked my flight back to Australia that night.

We got to bed early and woke up for the second half of the Man United CSKA Moscow game as my alarm never went off. We were 3-1 down when I turned on the tv but luckily we got back in it and drew 3-3. Once the final whistle went I hit the hay as we had to be up early for our flight back to Bangkok, the place where our South East Asia tour began and the place were our travels would end and more importantly the place where Mike would bid his farewells to us.

Emotional stuff,

Gary

Day 399-400 “The Beach”

We arrived in Phuket at around one o’clock and we were hounded in the airport by millions of travel agents, each wanting us to go on their taxi’s and to avail of their special offers for Phi Phi Island. We got a taxi and tickets for the ferry at a reasonable price. The ferry took two and a half hours. We were pretty tired and so we didn’t get to see the views on the way to the Island. We arrived on the Island and to our surprise it was very up to date. Internet café’s, restaurants you name it!!! Ko Phi Phi is considered to be one of the most naturally beautiful islands in the world (in fact, there are six islands in Phi Phi). They lie 50 km south-east of Phuket and are part of Hadnopparattara-Koh Phi Phi National Park which is home to an abundance of corals and amazing marine life. There are limestone mountains with cliffs, caves and long white sandy beaches. Ko Phi Phi was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, when nearly all of the island's infrastructure was wiped out. Redevelopment has, however, been swift, and services like electricity, water, Internet access and ATMs are up and running again, but waste handling has been slower to come back online.

We booked a tour that would bring us to all of the main attractions around the Island. The following morning we were greeted by the glorious sun and headed off on or adventure. The last stop on this tour was Maya Beach…”The Beach” and this was probably one of the main attractions that tempted me to travel in the first place!! Our boat was pretty small and had 6 other passengers. We chatted to two London girls for a bit who absolutely loved Thailand and had been to some of the other Island’s a few years ago. Our first port of call was Ao Ling (Monkey Bay) on Koh Phi Phi Don. This was hilarious and full of Monkey’s….hence the name!! When we stopped to get off, the Monkey’s surrounded us and wanted food. One of the Monkey’s even took a drink of water out of a bottle! We then snorkelled at the famous Hin Klang which was amazing. It was my first experience of snorkling and it lived up to its billing. The water was so clear and there was millions of fish in my face. I just started singing in my head….”UNDER THE SEA!!!!!!”. When we finished we relaxed and had a swim in Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island). This Island was in peak condition and the weather helped make this a great experience. Our tour included lunch so we filled our bellies and headed back to the boat. On our way to Phi Phi Leh (Maya Bay) the weather turned from the sun shining to the rain pounding down on us. The tide was rough and we couldn’t even make out the island such was the amount of rain. We were hanging on…quite literally!! The rain was smacking me in the face and I was worried that this would ruin the one place I was desperate to see. Fortunately (luck of the Irish) the sun came out again and before you knew it we were snorkelling again in some of the clearest waters on the planet…wohooooo!!!

Then, the moment I had been waiting for. The boat started pulling into Maya Bay, which is partly enclosed by the high sea cliffs. This particular Bay was used in the famous film “The Beach”. One of the reasons why Andrew Macdonald, producer of "The Beach" chose the Bay was the sea cliff’s as they make the place a secret. It's like a big secret, a swimming pool and a beach in private. It was like we were hidden from the world and that this was our own little Island. The time we spent on that beach, allowed us to free our minds from everything….football, football, football and in my case the dreaded Australia visa!!! We took photos and all had a little think about what it would have been like to live on this beautiful Island. I did a few of my Leonardo DiCaprio impressions and we all had a good laugh at that! The tide was in which meant that the rocks in the water could be felt by our feet but that didn’t spoil the moment. Our time here was up and we said goodbye to Paradise!

“And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for, 'cause it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment... it lasts forever...”

Gary

Day 397-399 Back In Bangkok

Being back in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Bangkok was weird at first but we adapted quickly. We headed straight for the Royal Hotel to drop our bags and relax after the trip the night before. Tonight was to be our final night as a group.

We all met up on the Ko Shan Road for a few drinks and then headed to a beautifully decorated restaurant just off the hectic Ko Shan Road. Dips and Priya rejoined us after meeting up with their new tour group that would take them all the way down to Singapore. They informed us that there was only one other guy in their new group and the rest were party girls! We had a brilliant meal and enjoyed a few beers before saying goodbyes’ in the rain to our tour guide Caroline. She had been a great guide so we gave her the traditional round of applause as she left! We headed into a pub called Gulliver’s Tavern and all played a game of pool with Gary beating a local who had been undefeated in over 10 matches. Great performance! After this we all hit the hay to rest before our big day of shopping in M.B.K tomorrow!

Before heading to the shopping centre we had to say our goodbye to Dips and Priya. We wish them well on their next adventure!

M.B.K. (Mah Boon Krong) is Bangkok’s most famous shopping centre with 8 floors packed with over 2,000 shops that sell everything you could think of! The cool thing about it is that in the shops pretty much any price is negotiable! After a few hours of shopping we headed to Pizza Hut for a break before saying more goodbyes to Phil, Renee and Rachel all of whom are heading to Australia.

We had heard before going to Thailand that the cinemas are supposed to be a unique experience over here and was one of the “Top 35” things to do according to our rough guide to South-East Asia so we said we’d give it a shot.

We ended up in the V.I.P section to watch “Law Abiding Citizen” and were shocked at how cold it was in the cinema. There was a blanket waiting for each of us on our reclining seats and we quickly wrapped up in it. We weren’t cocooned for too long though, we had to arise for a minute long tribute to the king of Thailand. It’s considered very disrespectful if you don’t stand up for it so we said we better not offend anyone!

The next day it was time to meet up with Priya(C) who had just arrived off her train to get Gary’s passport back. After breakfast we booked our flights to Phuket and then we headed to arrange a tuk-tuk to take us all over Bangkok to see all the main sites. We got the guy down to 20 baht (60cent) for the day including a stop or two, which we were happy to do for the guy.
Our first stop was at the 32 metre(100 foot) high Standing Buddha at Wat Intharawihan, which is an awesome sight. It used to be visible from any high vantage point in the city but is now hidden behind modern buildings.

Next we went to see a 700 year-old Buddha at Wat Traimit. It’s 15.9 feet high and weighs approximately 5 tons. It’s in a nice setting and is unrivalled in beauty! We visited a tailor’s next but we weren’t up for buying anything considering we bought a lot in Vietnam. I did a few freestyle tricks for them to pass the time.

Today was a Holy Day in Thailand so one or two of the temples we visited could not be entered. Finally we were brought to the Grand Palace. Outside it there was a crazy woman with about 100 birds trying to give us bird food. Gary took it and used bags and bags of it. The woman then tried to charge him 300 baht(6 euro) for it. He paid he 100 and left it at that.

On the way to Grand Palace we were shouted at locals to not enter the palace because we weren’t wearing long pants. We weren’t too bothered so we walked around it to Wat Pho, The Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Wat Pho was built as a restoration of an earlier temple on the same site, Wat Phodharam, with work beginning in 1788. It was restored and extended in the reign of King Rama III (1824-51), and restored again in 1982. Wat Pho is also the birthplace of traditional Thai Massage. It shelters the largest Buddha image in Thailand: the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas). Created as part of Rama III's restoration (1824-51), the Reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. It really was an awesome sight and well worth going to see!

After this we were all Buddha’d out and made our way back the hotel to have dinner with Priya the last person we would say goodbye to from the tour! It has been a great journey on the tour the last 30 days and one we will never forget! So much has happened along the way from people getting punched to people leaving due to depression!

We had another great meal and said our goodbyes before packing our bags in preparation of our early morning start on our journey to Koi Phi Phi to see “The Beach”.

Mike

Day 396-397 Home of the Elephant

We were all awoken once again for an early departure. We quickly had breakfast. The menu was pretty bad. We got fried eggs and a bit of a fry. The bizarre thing was that the hotel staff fried the egg in the microwave. Never imagined it was possible but there you go.

For the first time our bus was over an hour late. This was to make today even more difficult as we were only to have a few hours in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second city. Eventually we got on our way. Only one stop on the way and that was for us to visit a Cashew nut factory. This was good fun as we got plenty of delicious samples most notable was the coconut balls cashew nuts. We all stocked up on some.

We arrived in Chiang Mia and quickly freshened up and had lunch. No rest for the Wicked so we got straight on a tuk tuk destination Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. This was much anticipated so we all hoped it would be worth it.

The main reason behind us selecting this place to enjoy the elephant is due to the fact they treat the elephants exceptionally well. In Bangkok it’s cheap to go and see Elephant shows but those Elephants are beaten to the point they bleed. The conservation contains a hospital for the sick elephants. It’s almost like a retirement home for the older elephants.

The place was located 1 hour outside of Chiang Mia so once we arrived we rushed to see the Elephant show. This showcased how powerful the elephants are. They carried and stacked logs aswell as doing a few showboats for the crowd. The Mohuts then showed us how they get on and off the elephants. It was time for the main event which involved the elephants having a go at painting. Two of the elephants painted self portraits and the others painted flowers. Got to say the paintings were very impressive. I mean the result was much better then I could do.

Mike, Phil and I decided we would get an elephant ride. It’s one of those things that I always wanted to do. It was very enjoyable but a little bumpy. We went through the jungle up hill, down hill and even through water. Along the way we saw the Elephant Hospital were Gary was being kissed by an Elephant. It was an enjoyable afternoon with the Elephants but it was time to head back to Chiang Mia to catch an evening train.

We arrived back to the hotel and quickly had to grab our bags and dash for the train station. We lost another member of the team. Priya had decided to wait in Chiang Mia. CLAP CLAP Priya. We made it with 20 minutes till departure. That sounds like loads of time doesn’t it? Not when Gary decides to forget his passport and wallet. Oops big mistake. Gary decided to run for a taxi and grabbed some money off Rachael. He was in the taxi prepared for the hotel only for Caroline to get a call from the hotel telling how they have given the pouch to Priya. This was “Luck of the Irish” as Gary said. Priya would be in Bangkok in a few days so the pouch could be delivered personally then.

The train left the station at 5:55pm. We chatted for an hour while the train decided to halt a couple of kilometres down the track for no apparent reason. We got some dinner and had the banter with the train staff. We played some drinking games involving coins and cards. Good fun. It was 10pm and time for bed. The train consists of a regular booth with table but the train staff pulled back the table and transformed the booth into a bed and pulled down another section to complete bunk beds. It was pretty impressive and inviting. I hopped up and jumped into bed.

I got to say I got a pretty good night’s sleep thanks to sleeping tablet I got from a Vietnamese Pharmacy. I awoke a couple of times to find that we were stopped but the engine was still on. This was odd but went back to sleep. Next morning we awoke and put the beds away. We got the bad news that we were still a long way from Bangkok.

We arrived at 11am 17 hours later in Bangkok. Delighted to be off the train but upset that the tour was in its final hours.

Stay tuned,
Conor

Day 395- Goodbye Laos

The electricity came back at 5am and the fact that I left the lights on before it went, meant that I was woken up by the light shining down on my face. These early mornings are tough but worth it I suppose. Breakfast was quick and we boarded our slow boat again and had a little bit of a sleep. After an hour or so of chat we all had dinner on the boat which consisted of rice, vegetables, pork and chicken. It cost us 48,000 kip ($1 usd=8,400 kip) which is expensive enough for what we got but it is a lot of money for the family who run the boat. The little girl on the boat was adorable and always laughing. The views on this journey are breath taking but it takes a long time to get to the border.

At the border we said our goodbyes to the family and we got our passports stamped before heading to our hotel in Chiang Kong which is the only crossing point into Laos in this part of Thailand. It was Priya’s last night so we went for dinner in a small restaurant. The food was ok but 2 cats kept looking for food at us!!! The Mossie’s here are ridiculous and everyone got bitten! Tomorrow we will travel to Chiang Mai so we are very much looking forward to that!

Gary

Day 394- Pitch Black Pakbeng

Today we had an early six o clock start to get breakfast in before getting our slow-boat down the Mekong River. Slow-boats down the river take two days including an overnight stop in Pakbeng. Most travellers agree that the two-day journey to the old capital is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Before we left we played with a kid from the hotel who loved football. He was great craic, amazed by our skills and even tried to take the piss out of us himself! I was the goalkeeper and he was taking shots on me, he put the ball down and took the longest run-up you’re ever likely to see for a penalty. As he ran up he started giggling, then just before the striking the ball he jumped over it laughing and pointing at me! I’d been had! Great to see kids who have little enjoy the game so much. I reckon he’s going to be a Lao football superstar!

We met up with our local guide who brought us in tuk-tuks to the pier where we would board our long slow-boat. The boat was run by a family of five and they made us feel at home on the boat. It was necessary to remove our flip-flops when we were on the boat.Our first stop along the way was at a Lao Lao whiskey maker. We sampled every type of whiskey and most of us bought a bottle or two of it.The taste isn’t too far off Putcheen!

Next stop was at a remote village where locals tried to sell us bracelets and wristbands. We were recommended to support them and we did most people buying two. It was funny when one person was buying one, every kid would run as fast as they could towards them to try and sell there wristband. We also went inside a local shack and realised how lucky we have it. The kids were amazed by our cameras and thought it was miraculous to see themselves on screen. We were waved off by a wise woman who couldn’t believe how tall I was. It was a fantastic experience going to a village like this.

The views back on the boat were incredible but everyone was too knackered to tell most of the time. On the boat were these comfortable reclining chairs and everyone made great use of them!Upon arrival in Pakbeng we were greeted by a dog named Beer Laos. He is famous in this town and he led us up to the top of the hill. Pakbeng is a very small town with no internet and an electricity generator that switches off at ten o clock!

We went to a traditional Laos restaurant for dinner and the host knew Caroline so he gave us a free bottle of Lao Lao to enjoy! Not too shabby!Back at the hotel Dips, Phil and I enjoyed a fantastic shooting star show over a few beers in complete darkness and talked about how unique it was to be in a village with no electricity only a few flashlights dotted around the town, a remarkable experience!“This is why I came travelling, this is what it’s all about” - Dips

Take it easy,

Mike