Thailand, Bangkok

There was a hitch in my June holiday plans. I was already set to go to Sydney but my friend pulled out at the last minute. I had done all the travel research and it had came to nothing. Thank god, I had not booked any accommodation! I couldn't explain how pissed off I am right now. 

Sometimes, friendship really sucks but this episode had made me realized that nothing could stop my passion for travelling. I decided to go on a solo trip and change my itinerary to Bangkok, instead of Sydney. After researching on Bangkok, I mustered all my courage to book a flight via the Singapore Airlines (SIA). 

Absolutely, not going on a budget this time because I think I deserved a real break. And yeah, finally... I'm off to a great escapade.

My lunch on-board SIA. Ta-daa... 

This will at least keep me full for the next 5 hours. 

From the Suvarnabhumi Airport, I took the airport railway and transferred to the BTS train to get to the hotel. I love Bangkok. It was fun getting around on foot, and scanned the vendor carts lining up the streets. When tired, I found myself a nice bench or sat at a cafe and do some people watching. 

Here's the surrounding neighbourhood at Ratchathewi. I didn't take many photos as I wanted to blend with the Thais. I even passed off as a Thai because each time I came into contact with anyone, I was spoken to in Thai first. Unfortunately, my inadequacy in their language gave me away.

The intersection towards MBK was always busy with traffic. The reason why there was not much traffic in this photo is because it was taken at 9 am. I am an early riser, even when I am on holiday. I woke up automatically at 5.30 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So I gave up sleeping and began my day. Well, the shops were still closed but it actually felt good to take a walk along the quiet streets.

I had quite an adrenaline rush on Sunday as I came face to face with an anti-government demonstration. Loud speakers were blaring political slogans. The large crowds which had gathered on the ground and on the bridge cheered whenever the political activists fired some powerful speech.  I just came out from MBK and my heart was drumming its own rapid tune. 

Every now and then, a patriotic song was played. The atmosphere was "electric". A couple of policemen were around as crowd control, but when the National song was played, they sang with the crowd.

 

Photo credit to http://www.demotix.com/node/2137067

I didn't take this photo, but it's exactly the location where it happened on that day.


I crossed my fingers and prayed that it's not the Red Shirts. Fortunately, it's not. Their shirts were pink. Funny, how colour made a difference here. But what was more amusing was how my mind managed to convince me that these pink activists were less 'dangerous' than the reds! How ridiculous was that?!

There were a couple of Guy Fawkes masked men on the bridge too. They were dancing and teasing some people, who were watching the demonstration. I did not like the way they were acting so I hurriedly walked away. I didn't want to get myself involved in this political turmoil. 

Instead, I took the train and went to Chatuchak, where the atmosphere was more amicable and calm. I was looking forever for this clock tower because there were many Muslim food stalls around the area. But, I ended up not eating at any of the stalls. I bought some fruits to snack on since they looked more appetizing.

 
I bought this coconut ice cream too as it seemed like it was the latest craze if you go to Bangkok. This was one of the best presentation I found in one of the stalls. The stall owner also gave me a free cup of coconut drink to quench my thirst. The ice cream was a delightful treat. 

My trip to Thailand feels incomplete if I leave without eating the glutinous rice with mangoes. It's yummy and definitely one of my favourite Thai food.

On the whole, I find my solo trip liberating and reflective. A lot of times, I found myself ruminating about things that I wouldn't have given a second thought. I had been living in a fast paced life all along and it suddenly felt awkward to walk unhurriedly, chew my food properly, and enjoy my day without having any plans ahead. This must be amusing to some people but hey, you have got to try solo travelling to understand what I am trying to say.

Thailand, Krabi Outdoor Adventure

We spent most of our trip on outdoor adventures. In fact, this was the first time I did so many different phsyical activities consecutively.

On our third day, we went to Phang Nga, which was around 3 hours away from Krabi, for white river rafting, all terrain vehicle (ATV) tour and elephant trekking. Pheww.. Even saying them in one breath was tiring.

The rainfall on that day made it more thrilling during the rafting. It was cold as rain water soaked my clothes and the chills got into my skin, but I did not mind a teeny bit. For me, it was a fine trade-off to the hot, humid weather that I am accustomed to.

The great company of the raft guides also made it extremely fun as they purposely splashed water on everyone in the rafts. And all of us returned the splash in good spirit. I realised that to be able to splash lots of water with the paddle required a technique, which sadly, I wasn't able to master, so in the end I was wet from head to toe. Grrr.. but our clothes got dried pretty fast once the rain stopped and the sun came out again.

The battle of the ATVs. I wish I could own one of them but the ATV wasn't as great as the river rafting though. I guess I was hoping for more, like what the brochure picture showed when we bought the full day tour.

Elephant trekking was kind of scary for me at first, because of the swaggering movement of the elephant and the position where I was seated. It was a bit lopsided because I'm heavier than Cp so I felt like the whole carriage was going to fall on my side.  

I kind of suspect I also had a fear of height although I don't feel anything close to nausea or light headedness. I only had this weird feeling like I was going to fell off and hit the ground every minute, so could this really be a minor state of acrophobia?

Our big, strong elephant brought us into the jungle and stepped along the river bed. Everthing about the landscape was surreal and beautiful. It could have been better if I could have just curbed that creeping fear of falling off from the elephant.

On the next day, we went kayaking at Ao Thalene. I've never known that kayaking through the soaring limestone cliffs could be so therapeutic. It was so peaceful and cooling that it's almost meditative.

This was me in one of the hidden caves. I didn't dare to venture deeper because it's dark.

And one of the monkeys greeted us as we kayak through the maze of mangroves.

Overall, the kayaking activity was the most valuable experience in my Krabi trip to me. This was a part of nature that I felt was becoming more rare to see as a city dweller. And so I hoped I could kayak again and witness the same natural beauty.
 

Thailand. Krabi Island Hopping

One can never run out of activities while in Krabi. There's just so many interesting things to choose from. 

We went to quite a number of islands around Krabi on our 2nd day.

Our mode of transport was this small boat, which sped across the sea like a charm.

Our first destination was Bamboo Island. The island is the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. The sandy beach was white and powdery. The water was crystal clear. Even the rocks on the island looked very pleasing to my eyes.

Basically, the whole landscape provided a good opportunity for cameras to start clicking. We were definitely more interested in capturing images than going swimming in the sea like most people in the tour group did.

There were several more islands which we went to but I couldn't remember the names. On our way to Maya Bay (the island made famous in the movie 'The Beach'), we stopped for a while at Viking Cave. This cave is where bird nests are being harvested. We can't enter the place because it was high tide at that time and I think it was out of bounds too. For me, it's better to look from far to preserve the cave as tourists' footsteps can damage the bird nests.

According to the tour guide, there are dwellers living in the cave and their livelihood is to harvest and protect the bird nests from being stolen. Every now and then, the dwellers will go to the mainland to stock up their food supplies and other necessities. 

The highlight of Maya Bay is its entrance. The place was really picturesque and breathtaking. If not for the sheer number of tourists, the bay would have been a calm and serene place on Earth, with the 2 cliffs acting as its fortress and guarding its secrets.

Snorkelling was fun at the bay, but it was rather short.

The last island we went to is Koh Phi Phi. It was ok. I guess because I've been to so many islands on that day, I was not able to appreciate Phi Phi as much as other people did.

This is the island hospital, but it looks more like a clinic to me.

Overall, our day had been a fulfilling one. 
 

Thailand, Krabi

I'm back from Krabi. It seemed like yesterday since I set foot at Krabi International Airport, all geared up for some fun and adventure. Why did time seem to fly so fast when you are having a great time? I'm already missing the place and wish to be transported back to day one of my holiday trip.

The picture below shows the Walking Street in Aonang. There are many shops along the entire stretch of road, especially food stalls, tour agencies and massage places.

Spotted a Hello Kitty taxi parked under the shade. Really cute and here when we thought the driver must be a woman, it turned out to be a guy! Cool...

The natural wallpaper in Aonang is its cliffs. I felt so rejuvenated just by walking on the street. No stifling, humid air and crowded spaces. No traffic, no concrete jungle, and most importantly, no deadlines to commit to.

The Aonang Beach is just down the road. We spent some time walking along the beach during most of our evening there.

There's this fabulous eatery called Mayai stall by the roadside. We ate there on our first day as it seemed to be very popular with the locals, so we decided to give the place a try.

We ordered simmering, hot, shrimp tom yam soup and one appetising plate of chicken soy bean noodles. Both taste heavenly, especially with a hungry stomach. The plate and bowl were emptied shortly after they were being served.

I find that getting halal food in Krabi is not a problem because half of the population is Muslim. Most Muslims settle by the sea, adopting agriculture and fishery for their livelihood. Several mosques are seen in Krabi while we were on the road and these mosques are the centre of activities for the Muslims here. 

The other half are Buddhists who are mostly farmers working in rubber and oil-palm plantation. Within this group, the Chinese seem to dominate the resort and sales industry. Another special group which need to be mentioned is the Mokens. They are the sea gypsies who lived in the small islands near Krabi.   

At night, there were locals and tourists who paid 100 baht to light up a 'khom loi'. The 'khom loi' were let to float into the air and carried up to the sky by the cool breeze. It's an amazing sight.

These were some beautiful lanterns hanging in one of the streets. And because I'm a sucker for those lanterns, I'm not sure how many shots I've taken to get a good photo. This is the best among the lot.  

Stay tuned to the next part of my Krabi adventure.

Thailand, Pattaya (Sanctuary of Truth)

I was truly fascinated with this place. The Sanctuary of Truth was an unforgettable destination for me although the photo below made it looked like it's a normal temple. When I was at the site, I thought the entire structure was some kind of a Hindu relic that must have traveled through the time machine into our world. 

Standing at 105 metres high, this sanctuary is equivalent to a 20 storey building! A building that housed all kinds of statues and sculptures. While the place itself was massive, it felt empty because there were only workers finishing the incomplete parts of the building. Not surprising actually as not many outsiders knew about this place. 

Apart from this, the building is made of 100% wood. This means that metals and nails are not used at all in its construction. Instead, the builders rely on wooden pegs to bring the structure together.

To create this sculpture, large blocks of wood were hand carved from scratch. The tour guide told us that the sculptures were meant to show visitors the relationship between human beings and the Universe. The Eastern philosophy was also introduced several times in her explanation. 

 Actually, I didn't really get what she means by Eastern philosophy or what exactly it represents. From my own understanding, the sculptures depict how culture and religion have merged. And when we talk about religion; Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism seem to have very little distinction from one another based on how they were presented. Thus, I conclude that the Thais in general accept this as a holistic approach to their lives.

The cosmological sculpture on the high ceiling also signifies how human beings should live in harmony with nature and the universe. The circle of life is an important symbol which lay the groundwork for an ideal world formed by 7 creators - namely the Heaven, Earth, Mother, Father, Moon, Sun and Stars.

Besides the gods depicted in the 3 religion, sculptures of Apsara dancers (female spirits of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology) also decorated the building. The mystical element here also points out that both fantasy and reality do coexist in the belief system of the Thais. 

In a nutshell, I still do not understand what Eastern philosophy is but I do hope that the building of this sanctuary will get completed soon as it has been ongoing for more than 20 years.