The King's birthday

We made it back to Bangkok just in time for the King Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday celebrations, but unfortunately he lay ill in the hospital so the festivities were a bit lite this year.  Fortunately they didn't forget that they had the opportunity to riffle off some serious fireworks right outside our window in the heart of Bangkok.  Happy b-dizzle King Adulyadej!

Bangkok tuk-tuk revisted

I don't care how bad of a rep these guys get, I still love the challenge of the haggle and adventure of a traverse across Bangkok on the back of shiny moto-chariot.  Yeah sure they will try and drag you around town for hours to gem and suit shops for their gas vouchers... but that's only if they sense you are a novice.  Who wants to be toted around town in a pink taxi when you can feel the wind in your hair, and beard!  It's great to be back in Bangkok.

Chariots of glory

Every city has its trademark form of transportation, such as NYC's yellow cab and in South East Asia it is the tuk-tuk. Although the name is the same across nations, the form of tuk-tuk varies, and in Thailand it is in the form of a fancy little open air roofed steel trike with the driver up front and passengers in the rear. Some of these are vary simple and often clearly neglected from an aesthetic standpoint, although this is clearly not the norm. Owners often grace these vessels with wildly colorful paintjobs, bells and whistles (literally), extra lights of nearly every color, and more chrome than a '57 Buick. I have even seen a few with flames reminiscent of a '78 Firebird. Competition is fierce, so it helps the owners to pimp their ride to entice paying customers. There is a lot of cajoling, some muscle flexing, and promises of the fastest shortcuts. You must be careful though because these guys get paid by store owners to bring you to their shops, so if you hunt for a tuk-tuk strictly on price you may end up in two suits shops, three gem stores, and hotel lobby doorstep before you get to carted that temple you were hoping to visit. You can always try to catch a regular pink taxi, but you are just as likely to get some off meter shenanigans as you are with the tuk-tuks so you might as well opt for the agile little tuk-tuk, besides if you ask me they are pretty mean lil machines.

Insectavore

Crickets, scorpions, and larvae, oh my!

Fish massage

Dangle your toes... if you dare.

Street of silver

Bangkok is where you get your shopping done. Known for its silver markets we bedded up for the night on Rhambuttri Road just next to Khaosan Road. Luckily the rains ended just after checking in and the markets on Khaosan came alive. Cheap clothes, artwork from around South East Asia, loads of silver jewelry, good street eats, tattoo shops galore, bootleg CD and DVD stands, and questionable offers for rides to the ping pong ball show await you. We somehow managed to knock out about a third of our holiday shopping, necessary now since shipping takes about two months back to the states. If you enjoy audio and visual stimulation you will love this market. Lots of amazing colors and lots of interesting conversation. You find yourself getting into the challenge of bargaining which is a game and skill that must be mastered to fare well in South East Asia. Everything is marked cheap compared to Western standards, but you know you haven’t gotten to the real price until the vendor exclaims you are crazy at least once and cries they can't feed their kids if they sell to you at your price. As you walk away they yield and confirm the sale for your price and laugh while congratulating you for bargaining like a real Thai. You walk away with your gear, their respect, and some extra baht for a beer at the next stall.

Farang-free night market

We have been eating the same varied Thai dishes that are offered up by pretty much each and every restaurant on Koh Phanghan and Koh Tao for the past five weeks. We had memorized the menus and other than a few times we were able to get our hosts at Love Lip Bungalows to whip us up some real local food we had not experienced some real Thai food... the Thai food that Thai's eat on a daily basis. So after we got into Surat Thani on the mainland we headed out for the local night market. Surat Thani is not a tourist town and at best is mentioned as a waypoint in the guide books. We were excited about the opportunity to experience a little bit of culture and food that was not packaged for resale to westerners. We arrived at the night market to find a crowd of mostly what appeared to be hourly wage workers stopping by after a long days work for groceries and some quick food to tame the hunger of a hard days work. We were not surprised we were the only westerners in the entire market and certain this would mean we could get our hands on some real Thai food. The stalls were merely makeshift kitchens and grills fashioned to motorbike sidecars. The options ranged from Thai curries over rice, meats on a stick (god I love this stuff), fish and octopus on a stick, breads and pastries, oddly colored liquids of uncertain purpose, to sweets of questionable origin. I went in after some Laab, minced meat in citrus sauce with basil and some Thai curry, which I have had before on Koh Phanghan. The taste was delicious, but it came with a Thai chili spice that provided I heat which I have never experienced before in my life and will probably require a trip to the clinic if I experience it again. None the less it was a great taste of local Thailand, and unlike markets in many other countries in the world were you run into dogs roaming about we ran into a pet of a different sort, this elephant, trying to quench his hankering for some sweet fruits.

Heading back to the mainland

Transport in Thailand has been really interesting. We are lucky enough, or more likely smart enough, to avoid some of the long run bus trips that are the basis for so many backpackers' travel nightmares. We needed to get back to the mainland today so naturally this involved no less than five forms of transportation. The real highlight being the 4x4 drive through the jungle back to the major port on Koh Phanghan provided by Luhr, the owner of Love Lip Bungalows. He had a mean little four cylinder lifted pick up that he was able squish 7 backpackers into with their massive duffels and overfed bellies. Of course Luhr was responsible for those overstuffed bellies and whenever we complained at dinner and pointed at his own which he left bulging out from his rolled up shirt, he merely replied "much Thai power". Maybe he was right and it is power, but what we learned this day after eating Luhr's going away present the night before of tuna, mussels, chicken, prawn, curry, etc. was that power can be a difficult thing to keep in your stomach after a long 4x4 trip on questionably tracked trails in the Thai jungle mountains. Luckily we had a nice and easy ride and a auto and supply ferry back to the mainland afterwards. The rainy season seas had not been whipped up into a sloshing mess yet so it was an easy journey under some incoming clouds which would bring the first strong storm of the season into the mainland that night.

Full moon get down

We decided the best course of action was to pack it in early after a good grilled seafood meal and a beer or two, so we did just that and were in bed by 22:00. When the alarm went off at 00:30 it was a little difficult to get motivated, but we knew we couldn't leave this island without having experienced the party that brings a crowd so big it doubles the island's population overnight. We got down to the beach around 00:30 and met up with some friends and were a little grumpy after just having woken up and now being surrounded by heart bounding drum and bass music and getting bumped into by wasted college kids and tripping in the dark over those who had found the deep end of a bag of MDMA all of whom are painted from head to toe in day glow body paint. We hiked up to the bar on the edge of the cove overlooking the entire beach to get a good perspective of the whole scene and were a bit under whelmed at the turnout of only a few thousand people. We headed back to the beach and stopped for a bucket which seemed to turn the spirits of the group and we felt like the spirit of the night was sinking in a little bit. The strong ocean breeze at our backs, the cool water on our feet in the surf, the laser lights, strong beats, bright full moon light, and good company amongst us... it was a very good night. It is a great environment for people watching with such a diverse group of folks with so much intent and angst they are trying to relieve through such care free means. Attractions like the quintessential fire spinners are very cool to watch, but observing your average thoroughly sloshed partygoer at an event like this can provide much more entertainment.

A fisherman's life

All Thai boats have a very distinctive shape with an aggressively arched concave hull and a bow rising steeply from the water. They always sport a fresh coat of paint in now less than 4 or 5 different shades of bright colors. From what I can tell they use some type of drag net or circle net to catch their haul. These commercial ships light up the gulf horizon at as the sun sets as they keep on working into the night. But fishing is an everyman's sport and on the beach in the evening you can find the young kids casting a rod off the rocks or the taxi boat drivers using a trident to gig all sorts of fish under the beam of a spotlight along the reefs. On Haad Tien even big mamma from Family Bungalow would have her son drop her out on the rocks just on the outer rim of the cove with a bag and a small pick axe. She would return a few hours later with hundreds of tiny clams not more than a centimeter in length meticulously picked off the tidal rock walls. When one of the locals on Haad Tien had caught a tuna everyone was alerted as the lucky fisherman would arrive at shore grinning as his mates would cheer him on. Those nights would offer the opportunity for some good grilled steaks on par with anything available back in the big cities... only these were caught and cooked with love and a lil bit o Thai spice.

Stuffed

I have left every Thai meal feeling completely stuffed. Possibly due to the lack of leisure alternatives on this isolated beach or possibly due to the number of good friends we have made here which we enjoy sharing time with, each meal has become an event and the food has never failed to deliver a good time. Although I believed I would be missing my American standbys, my actual experience has been quite different. Most often there are many western dishes available on the menus, but they have mostly lost their appeal on and I find my favorites to be Thai, and often involving some type of curry. Most of the Thai dishes the locals whip up for farang involve rice, veggies, chicken or pork, cashews or peanuts and some type of noodle or curry. Some are a little more interesting. Stuffed pineapple or if you are going all out the Thais would be more than happy to fry you up a snapper right from the sea... eye balls and all. Remember the cheeks are the tastiest.

Koh Phanghan leftovers

We leave our bungalo on Haad Tien today and head up to Haad Rinn and on towards the Thai mainland.  We are sad to be off after making friends with the owners of Love Lip Bungalo, but happy to have met such nice folks.  Posting some left over photos from Haad Yuan next to Haad Tien.

Yogi yoga

Yoga has a home in Thailand and is big business in Koh Phanghan, particularly on Haad Tien and Haad Yuan where we have called home since September. The Sanctuary was our first resting place, although seriously overpriced and staffed by people more than willing to make you feel unwelcome. All of the bungalo operators cater to the new agey type with all kinds of massage, yoga, fasting, detox, and wellness services. On any morning you can find the yoga faithful out on the beach.