Wanndering – on foot and in spirit

We started quite early on Day 4 despite being tired from the previous day of outdoor activity. We reached in time for the 7AM ferry and got off on the main island around 8:30AM. We raced back home retracing the roads that we had treaded 2 days before. Just around 1 hour to the border our fuel tank dried. We were very conservative filling petrol in Thailand. For starters, petrol costed 1.5 times that in KL and in Koh Samui it was much more costlier. However, the calculation turned out to be really faulty and we stranded on the road. Luckily we had just entered Songhkla and our engine ended dead just 50 mins from the Shell pump. How lucky can you get?

We refilled and hurried to border. Very typical, at Thai border they demanded RM 10 from all of us and no receipt!!! We paid without a murmer, you cant bargain with the border guys, can you?

The nightmare started in form of the traffic jams. Once we crossed Butterworth on E1, traffic got real worse. What routes we did at 120 on our way to Thailand, we ended doing 30 kmph!!! Everyone was returning after a the Chinese New Year holidays. We finally decided to stop at Ipoh to have dinner and wait for midnight hoping the jam would clear out. It took Nik’s smart driving cutting lanes to drop us back to KL at 2:30AM after almost 18 hrs of driving. We had clocked 1700 km over 4 days!

Not bad… but I have a long week to catch up with.. I slept dreaming with holiday sights interspersed with my next day at office.

The worst nightmare of the day started once we crossed the

Koh Samui wasnt that small an island I had on my mind. It is the third largest island in Thailand.  More importantly, it is not just a tourist island. It is a quite self-sufficient island with tourism being a major commercial activity.  That gives an unique flavour to Koh Samui – a tourist-friendly place, yet retains a local rural lifestyle and doesnt look made-up at all.

I regretted not planning for more time in Koh Samui. Koh Samui is for a mininum of 7-day trip to revel yourself in the local setting. An ideal trip to Koh Samui is when you go with your girl friend or wife, switch off your mobile phone and budget a minimum of 7 days. Commuting is easy locally with the truck-converted-to-taxi but it is advisable to rent a bike or a car. Renting a bike is real cheap and is fun too. Although, the roads are good, it is a little dangerous driving on the highway because of the traffic. So dont be surprised if you find bikers with their headlights on during the bright day; thats the only way that they can get the attention of the errant 4-wheel drivers.

There are a lot of beaches in Koh Samui:

• Chaweng – Its quite a long beach and is divided into north & south. You will find accommodation for all budgets along this beach. The boxing stadium is very close to this beach where the uniquely Thai ‘Muay Thai’ boxing matches are held.
• Lamai
• Laem Nan Beach
• Mae-nam – northern coast
• Bophut – fisher man village

There is much to Koh Samui than the visual treats. You can treat your culinary pleasures with the authentic Thai delights prepared from the fresh fruits and seafood from the island. I was pleasantly surprised to find excellent vegetarian fare when specially requested for.

Some not-to-miss activities

1. Elephant Trekking
2. Thai Boxing – Muay Thai
3. Thai curry preparation
4. Monkey, Elephant & Crocodile Shows
5. Quad-bikeride through the forest
6. Flying fox – Cable Ride adventure activity
7. Jungle Walk
8. National Marine Park & ‘submarine ride’

There are quite a few places to see – Big Buddha, Waterfalls, Grandfather  & Grandmother rocks, museum.

There are well organised tour companies with daily tours ranging from 1000 – 1500 bahts depending on the type of activity.  We managed just a day’s trip which included Elephant safari, water falls, monkey show, Thai cuisine experience & diving.

Useful Reading

1. http://www.kohsamui.org/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muay_Thai
3. http://wikitravel.org/en/Koh_Samui
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Samui

From Songkhla, we religiously followed our map and hit the Highway#408. Over 4 hours we drove past Hua Sai, Mon, Nakhon Si Thammarat. From Nakhon Si Thammarat, the road becomes Highway #401. On #401, we went past Tha Sala towards Suratthani and got a little alert after we drove past Sichon. Around 25 km you drive past Sichon, you need to lookout for Highway 4014 which leads to Khao Noi. (We saw it was spelt Khao Nam on the road). You need to head towards Don Sak which is where the jetty is located.

Raja Ferry runs a ferry to Koh Samui and back every hour from 5AM to 7PM. Ferry was a fantastic experience with more than an hour of cruising in a relatively peaceful waters with the sun setting at the backdrop.

Koh Samui Ferry- Seating Koh Samui Ferry – Cargo

We booked hotel rooms right at the Jetty. It is not highly recommended to do so because they have very limited choices. For paucity of time, and to avoid wasting time looking for a hotel just for 2 days, we decided to book the hotel at the Jetty. Rooms came cheap @ 1000 Baht per night. Our Hotel was right behind the Boxing Stadium near the Chaweng Beach. Not a great location but what the heck, the rooms were clean and market was pretty close for all the shopping.

Around 15 km from the popular commercial hub, Hat Yai, Songkhla has all the making of a sleepy beach town. We drove along the beach and stopped at the end of the road. Lo! we found a economical and a nice hotel and bunked for the night. The sleepy town is only stirred by a line of night clubs with live music or semblance to it. In the night, we walked along the beach had our dinner and a couple of drinks.

The beaches in Songkhla aren’t great but they are far less crowded. Tourism is also localised and you wont see many foreigners. Needless to say, language is a big constraint and even the cuisine is heavily local and menus in most of the restaurants are in Thai. We were lucky to find a waitress who was studying in an University somewhere in Thailand and had come for holidays there and could speak English.

Songkhla is easy to miss and skip while you are touring in contrast to many of its famous cousins, but if you just want to get away, especially if you are in Malaysia, this is not a bad place at all.

We saw a couple of temples in Songkhla & hit the highway the following day around 12-noon.

It needed a RM 15 map (PERIPLUS Travel Map – Koh Samui), a nice Indian dinner at Brickfields and not to mention 2 bored bachelors to decide to go on a road trip to Thailand for the Chinese New Year. Nick has a good BMW and he had promised his colleagues that he would treat them with a trip sometimes and everything fell in place.

7:30 AM: The start, sleepy eyed holiday morning, we started off only to realise we were already late for breakfast. After a quick breakfast and fretting to locate the E1 expressway, we finally hit the tar around 9AM. Smart as we were, we hit the road when everyone decided to go out on the Chinese New Year and E1 at certain stretches had become Jalan Sultan Ismail of the day. Beamer was good and we cruised at great speeds on the empty stretches.

We didnt have any idea where exactly in Thailand were we supposed to go. I remembered once on my way to Bangkok, I met a beautiful girl on the flight who was mentioning about Koh Samui and how she and her boyfriend (thats when my heart broke) were planning to stay there for 2 months. When I looked at the Thailand map, I figured Koh Samui was closer than Phuket and we voted out the Phuket option. So Koh Samui, it was!! We had not done any bookings and we were mentally prepared to stay at any place if we didnt get the bookings.

Malaysian Highways are great except for the momentary botheration at the frequent toll booths. We crossed Ipoh, Butterworth and just before Alor Star, we stopped for a break. It was almost 4 hours of driving by then. We hit the road after a short bio break and sped to the border. Malaysian border is at Bukit Hitam. Bukit Hitam borderpost is extremely organised. You dont need to get off your car for the stamping, just pass the passport through one open window and a smiling person behind the counter will stamp them and return. TAKE A STAMP EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE RESIDENT CARD. Habitual of not taking a stamp at the airport as a Gold Card (resident) holder, I made the same mistake at the border post only to be sent by Thai authorities 500 m by walk back to Malaysia to get the stamp.

As soon as you cross the no-man’s land full of duty-free places, Thailand is thrust on the face with chaos. First you need to park your car to take the visas and stuff. Next, corruption is rampant. The lady office charged me RM 15o for a RM 100 visa and I had to submit without protest. No Receipts, no record! If you are driving someone’s car, dont forget to get the letter duly signed by the owner. They wont allow the car to be driven into Thailand without it. Border is open 9AM-9PM but do check before hitting the road. Building and shops start at the first centimetre into the Thai border. We stopped at the border, had our late lunch. Sleazy places start right at the border. Rooms are cheap. There are couple of good restaurants. Border crossing may take 20 mins if you have all the documents in order. (Passport with Malaysian exit stamps, car authorisation letter & relevant papers, RM100 for visas)

Bukit Hitam Malaysia Border

First Step in Thailand

4PM: We started again. By this time, we had realised that we wont be able to make it to Koh Samui that day. We checked on the map and the closest big place was Shongkla which was roughly 80 km away from the border. Thai highways are good but the village crossings make it a little dangerous for speeding. There are acute turns and hilly roads and when the rest of the road comes in sight you will be taken for a rude shock by a traffic signal which would be blushing red! Be very careful of speeding on corners and ups.

We found our map pretty useful and as long as we kept seeing the Highway#208 and Hat Yai road sign, we were on the right track. Hat Yai is a larger city and is 15km from Shongkla which is by the sea. We stopped at Songkhla

Useful  links

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukit_Kayu_Hitam

We werent sure what do the next day. I had an option of choosing the floating market or the Pattaya Beach. For some reason, I chose the Pattaya Beach and I am glad I did that. My friend was pretty uninformed and eventually it turned out that it is a great place for adventure sports, lazing, Ripley’s museum and not mention sinning.

We took the bus from Bangkok to Pattaya which costed us less than 200 Baht and around 2 hours to reach the place. Once you get down, you can take those <let me find out the name> ‘shared taxis’ to the beach for 20 baht.

Half the streets were filled with rednecks escorted by their ‘paid’ partners. I came to know of a interesting ‘tourism’ practice. You can hire ‘escorts’. The next time you see you see a caucasians with a thai, you know what it means!

Pattaya Beach is a great place for adventure sports like water scootering (600Baht for 30 mins), parasailing (500 Bt for a launch), for nice thai massages (starting from 200 Baht) and whole lot of option for pandering yourself. If you are carrying your international license dont miss hiring those bulky cruiser bikes to move around Pattaya.

‘Ripley’s Belive it or Not’ is another nice place of attraction. For a total package of 550 Baht you can visit the museum of rare artefacts, the horror house, the 3-d movie hall & mirror house. A nice 2-3 hour entertainment.

Its fun place to be, you can enjoy without ‘sinning’. The last bus back to Bangkok leaves around 9PM. Better wind up your beach activities by 7:30 and go back. My recommendation is dont do a ‘Indian trip’ viz one day trip, take a 2-3 days off and chill out a pattaya beach. Accomodation is cheap.

I came back to Bangkok late in the night, decided not to sleep so that I could spend more time with my friends before I left early morning back to Taipei. ‘What ? Just 3 days in Thailand?’ yes, unfortunately. But I learnt my lesson. I will plan longer trips in the future.

The rest of the guys got too drunk to wake up in the morning but I had lots too see. Only two of us set out for the grand palace. We reached there by a taxi. (Remember: The taxi drivers dont know English, you better get the names of the places written in Thai). We reached the Palace and it was closed for lunch-time. We decided to look around interesting places nearby. It took us just 20 Baht to visit 3-4 places
Wat-in & Wat Po

Wat means temple! ‘Wat’ a large Buddha!!! It is a nice, serene temple amidst the bustling city. Nice incense sticks burning, the large green lawns, the calm face of the Buddha are therapatic. As you walk out, you will find vendors selling sausages and some lizard-like creature (sorry, dunno what it is). This defines Thailand. Buddism co-exists easily with local sensibilities and culture

Golden Shrine

I didnt do too much reasearch about this place. But it is apparently where the kings prayed to the lord. It is very scenic when you climb to the top of the shrine. You can see the whole of the Bangkok city. The surroundings are nice and calm. There are people meditating for the Lord to ‘show the divine signs’.

The Grand Palace

The word Grand Palace is a misnomer in the sense that that is not THE place where the royal family stays. There is a building which is used by the royals during the ceremonies. The royal family actually owned a couple of properties there for sure but it is more live a beautiful museum of architecture. A range of architecture, inspired or a copy of an existing monument elsewhere in the world, adorn the palace. It is really a beatiful place. Make sure you take a guide who will tell you about the buildings because if you think you can understand the place using the pamphlets they give, you have grossly mistaken. Neither do they have English signs inside. There is a ‘automated guide’ but I am not sure how it works.

The combined compound is open 8.30am to 3.30pm everyday. Cost is 200B.
Chao Praya River

Bangkok is aptly called the Venice of the east. Chao Praya River is an important mode of transport for the people. You can go on a ‘romantic’ boat cruise n those canals. Should not cost you more than 600-700 Baht for an hour’s cruise. Since we were two guys, we just decided to take the cheaper option to experience the boat ride – local shuttle boat costing us not more than 25 Baht. We stopped at some godforsaken place. We sat at the tab

We had a nice evening on one of the river-side restaurants. Splendid place!
Check some cruises here http://www.bangkok.com/river-cruises/

Everything said about ‘tourist-friendly’ Thailand, when it came to the road-signs and english-speaking taxi drivers, I thought Taipei was a lot better. Still worse, the taxi-drivers in BKK are more prone to cheating. Buddhism, kept aside, BKK is as sinful as any other materialistic ciy in the world but slighly worse because of the open flesh business.

Thai’s major past-time is eating, it shows! While I craved for Thai cuisine back home, we had a real food problem in BKK being vegans. If you are a vegan in Thailand, better carry something with you while you are traveling. We, however, found refuge in 7-11 retail-chain, which sells real cheap veg ‘burgers’; clean, cheap, healthy and fills your stomach.

We had a rented a taxi for a day because these locations were real far away from where I stayed – Asian Insititute of Technology.

Thailand is constitutional monarchy and while you drive through the amazing roads (India has a lot to learn from them), you see the kings photos and the royal flags fluttering all alongside. It is a pretty sight to see.

Ancient Place : If you ever doubted that Thai was a tourist place, you should see this! The way they have packaged and marketed this place is a lesson for India. I have travelled so many places in India and we have way lot to offer, but we are pathetically bad at presentation. Ancient Place has replicas of nearly 100 monuments of Thailand, some existing some long destroyed. It would take a you a whole day to go around this place. Cycles are provided as a part of the ticket which would cost 300Baht for a foreigner. It is a whole day excercise if you like history and architecture. There are nice lounge-like cafeterias inside the location and you could also rest during the hot afternoons.

          
Samvat Prakaran Crocodile Farm
It is a not-to-be missed placed. If you are wondering why so many crocs got together, it is because it is FARM like a poultry farm, where crocs are bred for their skin. Nevertheless, it has been converted into a nice attractive park. Entrance is about 250 Baht (USD 6). This park is one of the best illustrations of how Thailand has remodelled into a tourist-friendly place. In addition to the crocs, there are monkey shows, crocodile fishing, elephant dances, nice parks.

Phat-Pong Market

Ok, it is a sleazy place for people to pander themselves. But it is also a nice place to have a evening in Bangkok well within your moral limits. I wonder why there are so many transsexuals in Bangkok!!

It was a spur of a moment reaction to go to Thailand. It was my first foreign trip made at my own expense. The biggest lesson I learnt was NEVER travel to any country for less than week. Even before you get the flavour of the new country, you would be back to the mundanities of your usual life.

Early on, I was flaunting to people that I would be spending my weekend in Bangkok. Later after hearing to the number of ‘Hmm…BAANGGGKOKKK’, I realised my folly. A single guy going to Bangkok for a weekend – lethal combination. No matter how much saintly you appear to the people who listen to it, they would still think you are going to BKK for something nasty. I shut my loud-month thereafter, only mentioning to people, whenever asked that ‘I am taking a long weekend off’

My friend Sethi was leaving Bangkok for good and I thought it is better to have someone known to you in a strange country. I had already told to Mukesh what all I wanted to see in Bangkok and he had made the necessary arrangements. I flew Thai Airways, whose quality of serive and the air-hostess remind you of home – Indian Airlines.

VISA: Indians can get on-arrival visa for 1000 Baht (roughly INR 1100) It is easier than getting railway ticket in Mumbai. Dont forget to carry photographs for it. Its a 15-day single-entry visa enough for your mis-adventures in Thailand.

Even if you are for a small trip, things not to be missed in Bangkok

1. Samvat Prakarn Crocodile park

2. Ancient Place

3. The Royal Palace , Golden Shrine, Wat In

4. Phat-Pong Market

5. Floating Market

6. Snake Park