Phuket

So I'm home now. Which feels a bit confusing and I'm working on forcing my body to adjust to the time, I think I'm actually doing pretty well.
I figured if I don't write this now though, it'll never get written. So here goes, the end of my trip.

We learned that Omar, the place we stayed, was cheap because it was right across from a very loud bar, which wasn't the easiest to sleep through.
Our first night, despite being so tired, we figured we should probably stay up a bit, so we wandered out to take a walk.  Just our luck it started pouring, and I really mean we got soaked.  However, we knew our choice was wander or sleep, so we just went from store to store, looking ridiculous trying to stay under very narrow overhangs, but luckily we weren't the only ones doing it so who cares right?
Thursday we went to the beach for a while, which was actually pretty nice.  Not as pretty as Phi Phi, but still nice.  It was pretty hot though and we really wanted to find shade so we again just went shop to shop to stay a bit cooler.  For lunch (sorry to talk about food again) we got amazing mango sticky rice, where they even gave us an entire mango cut in half since they knew we were sharing. It was perfect.

Then we went and got fresh lychee from a fruit stand.  I'll be honest, I loved it, but I don't think it tastes that different than canned, though opening it is a fun experience.  I never would've guessed how the outside looks.  The guy at the stand also asked us if we'd ever tried mangosteeen (when I first heard it I thought of a Jewish mango and was convinced I'd heard him incorrectly, but I looked it up and that's the real name), we of course said no.  The outside is round and you have to break through it and then a layer of purple mush and then inside that it has sections like an orange except more like the texture of mango I think.  Anyway you can eat the sections separately (which Jessica and I did when we split them) or you can just pop the whole thing in your mouth since it's so small anyway.  Sometimes the biggest section has a seed but otherwise it's ridiculously delicious and sweet.
As we headed on we found a bar that had connect four games set up and as we both just wanted to sit in shade it seemed perfect so we got to play for a while, until another woman came and gave us dirty looks for not buying anything (the other workers had seemed fine with it), but we got uncomfortable and left.  Who would've thought you could put so much thought into that game? Though by the end we were making incredibly stupid mistakes and just not noticing either that we were letting the other person win or that the other person had let us win but we just missed it.

Then, sadly, it was time for Jessica to leave, and I was on my own in Thailand.  Not my top choice of places to travel alone.
I found a place that was really cheap for dinner (my budget was getting tight and I refused to pay the bank fees to take out any more money), and that's where I learned that the cheaper the place the more you got. I ordered just a meal and they gave me fresh fruit for free for dessert.  It was amazing, and I sat there for a while reading, since it was dark and I knew that from there I'd have to go straight back to the room since it wouldn't be safe to be out alone.  Sadly though, I ended up back early.
Friday I caught a cab to go to Patong (another beach in Phuket).  There's Chabad there, which is a very religious Jewish group that has centers around the world, which comes in handy when you're traveling and need somewhere Jewish to go.  I figured since Jessica left I should spend Shabbat there, plus it would give me an opportunity to light Hannukah candles and hopefully feel a bit more of the holiday spirit, since as nice as it was that I was remembering the holiday by drawing candles, it was still pretty sad for me.
Anyway so I got this cab and I'd found hostels online that were cheap, since it's not easy to find cheap place in Patong (I was going for about 300 baht a night) and written out their names and addresses.  Unfortunately, it turns out that in Thailand (or at least Patong) addresses mean nothing, and he asked me for their phone numbers.  I, not having had a phone for any of my time in Thailand, clearly did not have the numbers because why would I pay attention to phone numbers if I didn't have a phone?
Anyhow we drove all over Patong, introducing me to what I would typically think of as a third world country.  It looked so dirty, and he had no idea where we were going.  Well to be fair, we found one of the hostels, but it was full.  Finally I had him drop me on the street that I knew Chabad was on (though I had no idea how far down the street from Chabad I might be) and tried to find a cheap place.  It was much harder than I expected and I ended up paying a bit more than I'd wanted to, but I ended up in a private room at Paradise Inn, instead of a dorm style so that was kind of nice, though it meant I had less money for food.
I decided that I should probably figure out where Chabad was before it got dark, so I headed over there, and this Israeli guy was shocked that I was alone in Phuket and told me he'd show me around.

Halleluya, exactly what I said when I found  it

He took me to the beach and I realized how easy it was to find and told him I was fine from there, so thankfully he left, as he was getting to be a bit of the creepy man that I was trying to avoid, as opposed to the nice Israeli who was going to keep me away from creepy men, who I had hoped for. (Though I won't complain about the fresh pineapple and the mango smoothie he bought me, since I was sort of starving)
Anyway I was pretty happy he left and enjoyed my day on the beach.  It was actually pretty cloudy, meaning  it wasn't too crowded, and the water was perfectly warm and relaxing was just what I needed.
That evening, as I headed out to Chabad to FINALLY light Hannukah candles (on the 7th night for the first time, but it's never too late to start right? I figured it was better than nothing).  On my way out of the inn, I had to walk through a small mall type thing, and I actually saw the Australian family we'd met on our day trip in Bangkok! I remembered how much they complained though and I was in a rush, so since they didn't see me I didn't bother saying hi.  About 5 minutes later, though, I ran into Laura, one of the Irish girls who was on our tour of Uluru! Who would've guessed? I cannot describe the joy and relief that both of us felt.  We were both alone in Patong and a bit nervous, and she had been spending her days on tours but was nervous to leave her hotel after dark, and I knew that my plan was also to stay in after dark.  We seriously saved each other.
Anyway so she'd just eaten dinner but had nothing else to do before it turned dark and really didn't want to just head to her room already so early, so she joined me! It was really nice.  It was also good we got there so early for seats, because the room got so hectic and crowded and some people had to wait for a second seating for dinner.  It was FULL of Israelis and everything was Hebrew, but I tried to explain to Laura what was going on.  Unfortunately, because it was so crowded and noisy, I could only just hear the blessing for the lighting of Hannukah candles, and it was pretty hard to pray, since the men were on the men's side, but there was no women's side, you just had to stand by the dinner tables as close to the divider as possible.  Since it was so crowded though I couldn't get there and just gave up, but for a few of the nice Kabbalat Shabbat songs everyone in the room joined in which was nice.  It wasn't quite what I'd hoped for but it was sure better than nothing.
Dinner was pretty good, and I finally had meat which I hadn't had for a while, plus I was pretty hungry since I hadn't eat much.  I wasn't kidding when I said I was budgeting, I was also rationing my food.  Thankfully for Shabbat at Chabad they have a kuppah, which is basically like you just donate the amount of money you can (before Shabbat) and that pays for your meals for Shabbat.  (I felt bad since I hadn't put much, but again, I was basically starving myself so it's not like I had and just didn't give).
It was nice having Laura there and chatting in English, since sadly my mind just was unable to speak Hebrew (though I could of course understand).  There was some singing though which I very much enjoyed and made me appreciate being with Jews.
After dinner Laura and I headed back to her hotel, which was conveniently just across the street.  Wow, we were quite clearly on very different budgets.  Her hotel was BEAUTIFUL and I felt like a princess walking inside.  Now, this was probably also due to the fact that I had just not been in the nicest places (they were all good enough, but after all of the places I'd been, this looked like heaven to me).  Also, everything in her fridge was complementary so she gave me a bottle of water, which was one less I'd have to buy, and then we headed to the restaurant in the hotel and she bought us drinks.
She was very understanding of me being unable to buy, and the fact that I'm a broke student, while she works.  Anyway it was really nice just sitting and chatting, and there was live music, but at 10 we realized I should go so that I didn't walk back too late alone in the dark.
The next morning I headed back to Chabad, and this time since it was quieter was able to actually pray.  At lunch I found a South African couple, so again had some English.  They, like I, had thought the night before that they were the only English speaking people in the room.
After lunch I had planned to go to the beach but was exhausted, since the windows of our rooms don't go to outside, they go to the hallway, but since I only had a fan I'd left the window open so I heard everyone going and coming the night before and hadn't slept well.  So due to that I passed out and by the time I went to go to the beach it was pretty cloudy again, only when I got to the beach I realized that this time it looked actually like rain clouds, unlike the day before.
Before I actually stepped on the sand, while I was debating whether to just suck it up and go swimming or turn back, it started pouring. I ran from shelter to shelter and finally just gave up and got soaked and spent the rest of the day sitting in my hostel reading.  I headed back to Chabad, and since there were many fewer people this time I actually got to see them light Channukah candles, and when they went to say Havadallah I stood at the back so I could be closer to the Channukah candles and finally enjoy them (on the last night).

Then Laura and I had planned for me to come meet her at her hotel again, and we headed toward the night markets on the beach.  As we were getting close we started seeing all these people dressed up, and realized that there was an end of the year Patong parade going on!  It was pretty fun, lots of flashy cars with music blasting and crazy floats with girls dressed in crazy outfits.  There were kids dressed as jellyfish and so much more.  It was fun getting to see that.

After wandering through the markets (and seeing some NASTY looking street food), we headed to a quiet outdoor bar and got some drinks, and then they gave us some free shots.  It ended up a bit of a crazier night than we'd planned for (even though we just sat there the whole time) and there were some fireworks.

It was a really fun night and again, I am so grateful that we ran into each other.  After saying no to numerous people coming up to us trying to make us buy things we didn't want, we finally bought cute string friendship bracelets to remember how we saved each other.
When I woke up the next morning I went for a quick swim and then packed up and left.
The minibus ride was actually rather interesting, seeing the jungle and some towns where actual Thai people live, as opposed to the touristy areas I'd been in.
Going into a jungle is one thing that I'll still have to do sometime, since I missed it both there and in Cairns.
Nothing too interesting about my flights, though Air Asia makes you pay for meals and didn't have any in flight entertainment even from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney.  That was annoying and I will be avoiding that airline from now on.

So that's the end of my travels.
Thanks to everyone who followed my blog.  I'll be honest, I wrote it more for myself as a travel journal than anything else, but it was quite exciting seeing that people were reading it (especially from places where I'm not sure I even know anyone).

I loved Australia and I'm hoping to go back after I graduate to work for a year or two.  I wish it was closer and I could just go back and forth, since I'm really going to miss it (and already do).  Being home I didn't realize how lonely I'd get, I miss always going on adventures, though it is nice to relax a bit.
When I first got off the plane I had to ask my dad which side of the car to get into if I didn't want to drive, and when I was driving I looked the wrong way down the street.  It doesn't feel real being back here, but I guess I'm back to real life.

Thanks to everyone who made this semester my favorite.

Koh Phi Phi

Monday morning we took a ferry out to Koh Phi Phi (Koh means Island).  There, people stay on Koh Phi Phi Don, the bigger of the two islands.

We found a really nice and inexpensive tour, which took us around the smaller Phi Phi island (Koh Phi Phi Leh).  I think it's my favorite overall tour we've done.
We were supposed to stop on a beach with lots of monkeys, but the tide was too low for the boat to get us there.  Instead we skipped it and just saw the monkeys from the boat, and instead headed on to cliff jumping.  When we'd booked the tour we weren't told that we could do cliff jumping, so we didn't pay for it and couldn't go.  I suggest that you pay the extra money for it.  It looked like a lot of fun and I wish I'd had the opportunity to go.

We made a stop in a large cove for swimming, with really warm water, and then stopped again for snorkeling.  The snorkeling there was amazing.  I've been snorkeling before and this was probably one of my favorites.  The fish were all so close, since it was pretty shallow, and they were incredibly colorful and beautiful.  Our guide also brought me toward the island and pointed out some small sharks.  I never thought I'd be chasing sharks instead of the other way around.  It was really amazing.

From there we went to Maya Bay, where apparently some film called "The Beach" was filmed.  Again, neither of us have ever seen that movie, and probably should now.
They made us pay to get off at the beach, so I thought about just staying on the boat, but then they said we'd be there for an hour so I gave in.  I'm pretty sure it was a bit of a scam, as Jessica opted to stay on the boat, and finally the driver told her just to get out, so she didn't end up having to pay.  The beach was nothing special, maybe it would have been cooler if we'd seen the movie, but we just sat one the sand waiting for them to tell us we could leave, since we were hungry and just wanted to get to the dinner.

We finally moved on and were supposed to watch sunset, but like every other sunset and sunrise we've been supposed to see, it was too overcast.
We ended up in this tiny little hidden cove and sat on the sand while they prepared a barbecue.  This redhead guy from Ireland sat with us and we just hung out on the sand, though the tide was coming in, and we kept getting pushed further and further up the beach until there was barely space left for everyone.  Then they did a cool fire show, and lit people's cigarettes with the fire.  Again, I'm not quite sure how to describe, but it was cool to watch.

Afterward we swam through the small opening that led to the cove, and when we went where there was no light, in the water we could see these plankton that light up when they're irritated, so every time you moved around you could see them light up.  At first I tried finding them on the inside of the cove, but it was too bright and I thought it was a ripoff, since that's why we'd booked the tour to begin with, but the Irish guy told me to try going out farther, and I'm so glad I did.  I've always wanted to see those and now I have.  Apparently lighting up is a defense mechanism or something, but I just thought it was beautiful.  There was also occasional lightning which made it all just more awe inspiring.
Yesterday was more relaxed, with us just doing souvenir and gift shopping and hanging out on the beach.  Talk about hot, we just sat there and were dripping with sweat.  It was pretty nasty.  The tide was also incredibly low and after walking out pretty far the water was still below my knees so I had to just lie down in the water to cool off.
On one of our walks we also ran into this guy letting you hold a monkey in a diaper.  The monkey was so nice and so soft!  He just sat there on your shoulder and arm and he grabbed onto my wrist with one foot and one hand to steady himself.  It was love at first site.  I tried to take him home but they wouldn't let me.
In the evening we headed up to the viewpoint, a bit of a steeper climb than we'd anticipated, but it was well worth it.  If it hadn't been overcast it would have been brilliant at sunrise or sunset, but it was still cool seeing the island from up high.  It makes you realize just how small the town is, and how much of the island is too mountainous to live on.

When we got down we treated ourselves to mani pedis.  For those of you who know me, I am NOT a pink person.  I chose a nice kinda pink but more purple color for my nails, figuring I'm going home to winter so a bit of a darker color might be better on my fingers, even though my toes are summery aqua. The woman did one finger and goes, oh I think it's a darker shade.  No, it was not a darker shade.  It was pink. Completely pink, no purple in it at all.  My hands look like how I would have done them as a little girl.  I look like Barbie.  Honestly though, while I would probably never get this color again, I think I'm slowly getting used to it.
Anyway, last night we figured we should probably go out, since everyone raves about the night life on Phi Phi.  We've been hearing all about buckets, so we figured we had to get one.  That's all it is, you order a drink, and it comes in a bucket, that's all it is, alcohol in a bucket, but it's obviously much more than you'd get out of a cup, and you just walk around with the bucket.  We decided to get a cocktail (strawberry daiquiri) so we'd actually enjoy it, and just split one.  It's also much cheaper just to buy on the street and take it with you different places.
We brought our bucket to Slinkys, which had a sign about not bringing outside alcohol, but how can they tell if they're also selling buckets?
We just sat with the bucket and watched their fire show, which was even cooler than the one the night before.  It started raining too, but with the heat it actually felt great and didn't phase us.  Ibiza Bar also had a really cool fire show and was a bit quieter.

We wandered around and found our redhead Irish friend in the Irish Pub (surprise) and met this other Irish guy who brought us to Dojo, where they had beer pong.  Then we met these two guys, one from England and the other from Sweden, who at first thought we were Swedish, then Spanish, then Mexican.  They brought us with them back to Dojo and introduced us to a bunch of their friends, and they let us have some of their buckets and we just had a fun time dancing with them for a while.
Two guys also tried to convince us they were Israeli, but unlucky for them I speak Hebrew and they don't.  They were actually Italian and we're not sure why they decided to be Israeli instead.
We saw a kick boxing fight between two kids, also, and we noticed that a lot of parents brought their kids to the bars for the fire shows, which seemed a bit odd and irresponsible.  Also on the beach they  have fire limbo, where you have to go under a burning rope.

Why someone thought it was a good idea to have their kid out, I'm not sure

We also made friends with a bunch of the guys who were trying to get people into their bars as we kept passing them.
Anyway I will admit that night life on Phi Phi is a lot of fun, and I understand how it pulls people in and so many people end up staying much longer than they anticipate.  The place is just hopping at night and seems so much more crowded than during the day.
This morning we read on the beach a while before taking the ferry out to Phuket, where we are now.
While finding a cheap hostel wasn't easy in Kata (one of the beaches in Phuket), we finally found one that offered us a reasonable price.
Alright off to bed! The rest of my time will be in Phuket, which I've heard isn't the greatest so I guess we'll see how it goes.

Krabi

Once in Krabi, the first language I heard was Hebrew, with this cute Israeli family on the same bus as us.  It was so nice to hear and know that I still remember at least how to understand.
The bus dropped us in Krabi Town and told us to walk down the road to our hostel.  These girls didn't know where they were going so they just walked with us, and ended up finding a hostel on the way.  It was a lot cheaper than the one we were supposed to stay in, so in the end we decided to stay there, too, since our deposit had been so small anyway, and we just stopped by the other place to let them know we weren't coming.  Turns out it's good we decided to tell them, or they would've charged us, so we made sure to tell all the other places we didn't stay that we weren't staying also.

That might be pushing it

We were pretty tired from traveling so we made it a relaxing day, wandering through Krabi Town and getting Thai Massages.  Mine didn't really hurt, though Jessica said hers did.  It felt good though to be a bit relaxed.
We met up with the British girls we'd booked after, Emma and Sophie, and went to a night market/walking market.  It was cool seeing all the locals out and shopping also, knowing it wasn't just a tourist thing.  Emma and Sophie got street food, but Jessica and I, since we're not traveling for so long, didn't want to risk it.  Instead we went to an Italian restaurant, the four of us, and we sat and chatted for a while before heading back to call it an early night.
Saturday morning we all got up and the four of us headed to Ao Nang.  This guy tried to offer us a ride for 50 baht more than a bus.  We're not sure why he thought we were so stupid.  And then after that he tried to make us pay HIM in advance for the bus.  Is he crazy?  Luckily we got there without being ripped off.
It was a perfect beach day.  A bit too hot to stay by our stuff but the water was amazing and the four of us just hung out and got two lie lows (floats in British English) and just floated around, occasionally falling off and often getting pushed back in to shore and having to paddle back out.  There were some nice shops around that we also checked out.
It was really great to have such a relaxing and calm beach day.  That night we thought we'd go for a drink, and we found a cute reggae bar where you have to take off your shoes and there were wooden swings, but it was dead so we didn't end up staying.  Actually basically everywhere was dead and we couldn't decide if it was just too early or if that's how it usually is.  We ended up heading to bed early.
It was also the first night of Channukah.  In a place where Christmas is barely celebrated, I'm not at all surprised that Channukah isn't.  My friend, Pam, had given me Australian gelt, so I had one of those, and we drew a channukiah and have been drawing a new candle each day.
I realized I haven't mentioned, a lot of people in Krabi are Muslim, and a lot of places you have to take off your shoes before walking in, including our hostel and a bunch of shops.
Sunday was a bit more exciting.  We got a tour to James Bond Island.  I will admit, while it was fun, I'm not sure if it was because of how tired we were or if the tour just wasn't that amazing, but while parts were nice, overall it wasn't my favorite.
First of all, the drive was much longer than we'd anticipated.  We'd thought we were going to just drive to a boat, but instead we drove pretty far before the boat.  Our first stop was James Bond Island (aka Ko Tapu, located in Phang Nga Bay) is in the 1974 James Bond film, "The Man with the Golden Gun".  Neither of us has actually seen the movie (well I might have but if so it was when I was younger and I definitely don't remember it), so it wasn't that exciting, but the island was nice with some caves, and it was a pretty cool looking rock.

From there we headed to an area where we could canoe (by that I mean, we got into a canoe and a guide brought us around).  We got to go through caves and see different rocks.

He also pointed out to us these strange little things that looked like fish but were jumping around on land (I just looked up on wikipedia and I'd assume they're some sort of amphibious fish).

Sorry it's unclear but they're there

Then we headed to a floating village for lunch and... more shopping.  Shocker.  Every place has basically the same things it's just figuring out who has it cheapest.

Then we went back to land and got back on a bus, and went to the Monkey Temple.  There were so many monkeys out front!

We went into the temple with a big buddha and a cool cave area with stalagmites and stalactites, and climbed up (carefully since it was slippery).  I loved it in there.

Then back in the daylight we paid for food for the monkeys.  Those things are aggressive! They tried stealing the whole bag from Jessica, and the small ones were scared to come near in case a big one would try to fight it.

We even saw a baby with an injured leg who couldn't get much food because the other monkeys kept stealing from him.

I know my dream has been to see monkeys, and it was pretty cool feeding them, but no lies these ones made me pretty nervous.

Then we headed for a swim in a waterfall, but the water was very cold and you couldn't see so I didn't stay in long since I wasn't enjoying having things brush against my legs and sometimes nip and not know what it was.  I'm assuming it was fish but still it was creepy.
When we got back to the hostel we were supposed to meet up with Emma and Sophie, but we were both exhausted and accidentally slept through our meeting time, though we found them where they'd gone for dinner and joined them before calling it another early night.
That's about it for Krabi.  I must say I really enjoyed the quiet town, and loved Ao Nang beach.
Next up, Koh Phi Phi.

Bangkok: Home of 8,000,000 people

Thankfully our flight with Qantas was a bit more enjoyable than with Virgin, with food and a movie.  We had a one night stopover in Sydney, with Sarah (our RA) as our savior, allowing us to crash with her, and the family I’ve been staying with was amazing enough to come out and pick up my luggage, since I’ll be staying with them again for my one night between Thailand and home.

The flight to Bangkok was another easy one with Qantas, though unfortunately we didn’t sit together, but it wasn’t a big deal since we both just watched movies anyway.

Oh, I don’t have my own laptop with me, so I won’t be able to put any pictures in my posts until I get back home.  Sorry about that.  I’ll have to go back and add them later.

Landing in Bangkok couldn’t have been more different from Alice Springs and Ayer’s Rock.  We went from the middle of nowhere to the middle of everywhere, from emptiness and stars to crowded streets and smog.  For anyone who thought Sydney was a crowded Sydney, they clearly haven’t been to Bangkok.

We stayed in Silom, at Saphai Pae, a very clean hostel in a perfect location.  Our roommates were very nice, one an American Japanese man around my father’s age, and the other a Chilean guy a bit older than us who is studying at Sydney Uni and came out to have dental work since it’s so much cheaper.

Wednesday we woke up pretty early and walked down to the river and hired a private long boat to take us around.  It was the king’s birthday (Dec 5), so the entire city was celebrating, and the floating markets, which are generally only open on weekends, were open for the holiday.  The king’s birthday is a HUGE deal.  I thought Melbourne cup was big, but here EVERYONE was wearing yellow (the king’s color. Don’t ask me why yellow, I never quite figured that out), and there’s no tax allowed and there are discounts on everything, since it’s a worker’s day (I don’t quite understand that either, but it sounds like the workers themselves get all the money they make?).  We read about the king a bit online, and it turns out it’s his 85^th birthday, and he’s the longest reigning monarch.  He also has made the place peaceful

Anyway, so it’s super hot and humid in the city, but on the long boat the weather was great with the nice breeze we got.  

Along the way we saw some really big lizard, which our driver assured us wasn’t a crocodile, though neither of us had thought it was.  

It was cool seeing all of the houses along the water, and some appeared to be only accessible by boat.  The temples we road by were massive and beautiful (like Wat Arun), though again extra crowded because of the king’s birthday.

Wat Arun

The floating market was interesting.  I think we went to a smaller one.  It sounds like the bigger ones are farther away.  It was neat though, although the only thing at this market was food, and neither of us was particularly hungry since we’d had a nice breakfast with our Chilean roommate, Alejandro, at the hostel.  Regardless, it was cool seeing people cooking the food and filling orders from their boats.  People were also feeding the fish, and the water was just as crowded with fish as the city was with people, with them falling over each other trying to get the food people threw in.  Everyone was incredibly friendly, despite our difficulty communicating.  Thank goodness counting on your fingers is universal, or we wouldn’t have figured out what most things cost.

Mystery fruit

Talk about inexpensive.  We got two tangerines for about 30 cents, and they threw in a third one, we’re still not sure why.  We also got a $1 Thai beer, Chang, which wasn’t great but we figured we’re in Thailand we should try their beer.  Ever since we’ve noticed that Chang is a huge thing, making water and other drinks also, and is advertised everywhere.

The boat then dropped us at the King’s Palace, but opening times were different for the king’s birthday, so we took a tuk-tuk instead around the city.  A tuk-tuk is sort of like a cab, but open with just a roof but no walls, and it only sits two really comfortably.  I think it’s one of the things that might be easier to show in a picture.  Let’s talk cheap again, it was 40 Baht, about $1.50, for about 4 hours of driving around.  Some guy at the palace ordered it for us and told the driver where to take us, saying we should come back to the palace around 1 to look around, though sadly we never made it.

We got to our first stop quickly, as tuk-tuk drivers are pretty crazy and aggressive.  Basically, the road rules here are that there are no rules, and if you can go you should.  Some people drive on the wrong side of the road, drive between cars even if there’s no lane, drive around cars on any side.  As long as you can fit you may as well go, and there is definitely no speed limit, though I didn’t feel unsafe at any point.

Our first stop was a temple with a giant Buddha (Wat Intrarawihan).

Jessica bought a little cage of three birds, and released them at the Buddha’s feet, apparently a symbol of freedom (of course) and good luck.  Honestly I’m glad she did it because those birds were pretty tightly packed into the big cage, so it was good to let them free.  Just before she released them, though, a cat came over, so we had to avoid the cat so it wouldn’t kill one of the just freed birds.  Cats over here seem to be like in Israel, dirty stray cats everywhere around the temples, and then dirty stray dogs everywhere around the city.  It’s a bit crazy, and the dogs just lay around the streets, looking like they’re about to be killed by the crazy drivers.

Then the madness began.  Our tuk-tuk driver brought us to so many shops, mostly tailors and jewelry.  We quickly caught on that they get commission for bringing stupid tourists like ourselves, and we were trying to be nice to the driver, but at some point enough is enough.  At one place we walked in and said we just wanted to look around and the salesman was so rude we just walked out, and then our driver made it sound like we owed him one for not looking around long enough.  I don’t think he realized that he was taking two broke students around to buy stuff that was nice but we couldn’t afford.

Even when we asked him to take us to a good place for lunch, he brought us somewhere more expensive than either of us would have liked (granted, by Australian and American standards it was still cheap, but neither of us want to spend that much on a meal again).  That’s also where I learned that for some reason fish dishes seem to be more expensive than seafood, chicken, or meat, so I’m going to stick to strict vegetarianism most likely (unless of course we go out for sushi).

At the last store we stopped at the salesman, Kevin, was incredibly nice, and they had beautiful dress designs, so we stayed and chatted a while and they gave us two free Chang beers, and then they helped us convince the driver to just take us back to the palace, though it was already well past 1.

It was crazy crowded and there were lots of people in different uniforms and it looked sort of like the end of a parade, and there were car escorts.  It’s a shame we missed the king himself and the actual parade, but it was still exciting just being around all the people, though a bit overwhelming as well. 

There are these beautiful butterflies here of all different kinds flying around.  Actually I was a bit surprised because they were in the city itself as well.  There are also pretty average looking birds, but some of them make really cool sounds, one even sounded like a monkey (granted I think about monkeys a lot, but even Jessica said it sounded like monkeys without me mentioning it).

From there we caught the 15 Baht (50 cent) public boat back to our dock, to go get ready for dinner.

Jessica’s family friend has a cousin in Bangkok, Pe Aw (pronounced Pay Aw, that’s her nickname, but her real name is long).  She came and drove us to a really cute place for dinner, which seemed much less touristy, and she ordered for us, ensuring that we got the best food.  She was very understanding about me being vegetarian.  We had an amazing tofu soup dish, an Asian omelet (very different from American eggs- they cook it in a wok full of oil and mix it around. We were huge fans), and a veggie dish.  Of course we had rice with them.  Pe Aw was very helpful telling us how Thai people eat.  First of all, they eat with a fork and spoon, using the fork really only to help cut and shovel things onto the spoon.  They also eat EVERYTHING with the rice, including soup, so you’d have a bite of soup then a bit of rice.  They don’t really use napkins, and definitely not in your lap.  Apparently there’s also a vegetable (it was in their shrimp soup so I didn’t have it) that they put in food, but you’re not really supposed to eat it.

Jessica also accidentally ate a chili that looked like a mushroom, so Pe Aw taught her to take a whole spoonful of sugar and hold it in her mouth until it felt better and then go spit it out.  Apparently it worked great.  (I’d heard of putting sugar on spicy food to make it easier to eat, but I’d never thought of this)

For dessert, apparently mango with sticky rice is very popular, so we tried to order it, but they were unfortunately out of the rice part.  The mango itself was delicious though, slightly warm. Apparently there are a bunch of different kinds of mango out here and this happened to be Pe Aw’s favorite one.

We also grilled her for a few Thai words that we thought might come in handy.  Here’s what we learned:

Hello: Sawasdee Ka

Thank you: Kob Khun Ka

Bathroom: Hong Nam

The Ka means that the person speaking is a female.

After dinner Pe Aw took us to a market that is open also at night, called Asiatiques.  It was a bit overwhelming, a bit like a much fancier Paddy’s Market in Sydney, or a shuk in Israel.  It was fun looking around, though we were both pretty exhausted, but we enjoyed walking around and seeing the river, and browsing through cute clothes.  I’ve been trying to find a watch necklace, because there had been a ton in Sydney and I’d thought I could get it for cheaper here, but so far I haven’t even found one here, so I’m still on the hunt.

We saw one of those fish foot massage things, where they eat the dead skin off your feet, and we figured we should give it a try.  Oh. My. Goodness. We could not stop laughing.  It tickled so much, and I cannot imagine how people do it for a full 15 minutes, like we were supposed to.  I don’t think we lasted even two.  I also at some points felt a bit uncomfortable, able to feel the fish bite instead of when it just felt like a tickle.  Maybe sometime in my life I’ll try again, and maybe if I compete to see who can stay longer I’ll actually make it the full time since I hate losing.  It was really nice for Pe Aw to bring us around like that.

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early, didn’t even eat breakfast, and got on a tour bus (a pretty sketchy one).  That’s when I really noticed how awful the smog was, since it was supposedly sunny outside, not cloudy, but it looked like the city was in a low cloud.

We ended up actually being with an Australian family, which was nice, though they were a group of complainers so at points it was annoying.  It was also funny that they commented how few rubbish bins there were, considering that that’s how I feel about Australia as well.

The driver was absolutely crazy and made me feel less safe than I had in the tuk-tuk.  He drove quickly, which I didn’t really mind, but he also swerved a lot and stopped short once, almost hitting the car in front of us.  He also tailgated like nobody’s business, about an inch from the cars or trucks in front of us at points.  Anyway, we survived and that’s what matters, though at some point people yelled at him and he finally slowed down.

We stopped at a World War II Cemetery and Museum, along with the Bridge over the River Kwai.  To be honest, we hadn’t signed up for the tours because of these, and they were pretty boring, so aside from crossing the bridge, we mostly just looked in little shops.  Then, because two girls in our van were too late, we ended up not being able to take a cool train ride we were supposed to have.

Bridge over the river Kwai (Warning: remember to be sure not to get run over by the train)

Instead, we skipped it and went right to lunch on a floating restaurant.  After lunch we got on rafts, got pulled up the river by a long boat, and then were ditched and floated back.  It was really relaxing and despite already being the afternoon, finally felt like the day had begun.  The water was a great temperature to stick our feet in, and we saw cute houses by the river, and a beautiful bird.

From there, we did what we’d really come for: we went to ride elephants.  Jessica and I of course were on the same one, a pretty big (I know all elephants are big but I mean bigger) male, named something close to Pataya.  We were mostly on a seat on his back, but when the rider got off to take our pictures, we took turns riding right on his neck.  It was cool how he responded right to the rider’s calls and followed him where we were supposed to go.  I’d definitely do that again sometime. 

Sadly, there was also a baby elephant who was chained up, and was playing with Jessica and putting mud on her, but then suddenly seemed to get frustrated.  People came up and gave him food though, so maybe that’s what he’d wanted.

After everyone was done, we headed on to a waterfall, which we weren’t quite dressed to play in, but we climbed up the part that seemed like you could slide.  It was more beautiful than I’d imagined it would be, and I’m glad we stopped there.

Jessica conquered the waterfall!

Too cute not to capture

Our next stop was the second we’d booked for: the Tiger Temple.  We went through one by one and got to take pictures petting tigers.  It was very much a quick operation, but I still am glad I pet tigers. 

At one point they told me to get up on a rock, which had a tiger sitting on it, and another jumped up as I sat there, so I got a bit nervous for a second but otherwise it was cool.

Conveniently he got a photo of the moment

It was sad that they were chained though, but I’m sure we wouldn’t have been allowed otherwise.  We also got to walk the tiger for a bit, and take a picture with a monk feeding the tiger from a bottle. 

That part actually made me really sad, because the tiger didn’t seem to want any more and the monk tried to force him so that more people could have pictures.  I was glad when they let him stop.  I’m also pretty sure I saw a monk smoking, which I did not expect.

Talking with people working there was interesting, apparently you can just volunteer for at least a month, though most seemed to be there for longer, and they provide room and board and the worker gets a small sum of spending money.  After going though, I can’t decide if it’s actually refuge for the tigers or mean, so I don’t think I could work there.

There were also some other animals around:

After returning to the hostel, our roommate told us that the power was out in Koh Samui, where we were supposed to fly yesterday morning so we ended up spending the night trying to figure out what to do, didn’t manage to succeed (I’m not sure if I’ve said but we don’t have phones out here, so we had trouble contacting people, and have been using pay phones.  The only other time we had to use one was to call Pe Aw to see when and where we should meet her.  Thank goodness that the world hasn’t given up on payphones because of cell phones, because if they had we would’ve gotten into trouble).  Anyway so we tried and failed to use the payphone to call the airline and when the front desk finally let us just call from there the office was closed anyway.

Instead, we got to get up at 3 am to go to the airport and see if we could figure it all out there.  Unfortunately we still had to take our flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui, but we were able to change our flight from Koh Samui to Phuket that was supposed to be three days later, and instead booked a flight from Koh Samui to Krabi on that same day (aka yesterday).  Bangkok Airways is the absolute greatest.  I cannot explain how helpful they were.  Even on the hour long flight, they gave us a pretty good meal, and by the time we were up in the air we were already landing again.

Now, I know we didn’t really go to Koh Samui, but I will say this, the Koh Samui airport is great!  Personally, I don’t mind flying in general, but I tend to hate the time I spend in an airport.  Here was so different.  We debated leaving to see the island a bit since we had 5 hours, but when we saw the airport and since we were so exhausted we changed our minds.  The airport is basically like an outdoor strip mall. 

The airport

Also surprising, we got the cheapest Pad Thai we’ve found, and it was delicious (with glass noodles. Yum)!  How the cheapest food was in the airport, I can’t tell you.

When we finally checked in (we were still outside once we went through the gate), they had all these comfy chairs and cute little tables right at the gate, and a small area with complimentary food and drinks! There were mini sandwiches and cookies and little cake things and some weird Thai dessert that I tried and learned I didn’t like and lemonade and iced chocolate drink and so much more.  If only we’d known there’d be free snacks even before the flight we wouldn’t have bought lunch (though since it was so delicious I didn’t regret it).

Our flight again was incredibly short yet incredibly nice with a meal despite only being in the air for 40 minutes.  I’m telling you, if you can ever fly Bangkok Airways ANYWHERE, as Nike would say, Just Do It.

Anyhow, our trip to Bangkok overall was very fun, though I’m glad to now be out of such a dirty, crowded city, but I’m still glad I experienced it.  Plus, Jessica and I got to check things off our bucket lists that we never even had time to write on them.  Who knows if that’s possible but we’ve done it!

Cultural facts:
Thai people eat with a spoon, with the fork helping just to get the food onto the spoon and maybe cut some things.
Some bathrooms don't have toilet paper in the stalls, but instead it's where you'd expect to find paper towels, so you have to take some and bring it in with you.
The king's birthday and father's day are the same because the king is the nation's father.
They celebrate Chinese New Year in February and Thai New Year in April.
There's a water festival in April, when people are supposed to pour water into elders' hands, but end up also just spraying water at everyone in the streets.
There are two seasons, hot and hottest (as Pe Aw said). Thankfully we're just in hot.

Modes of transportation taken:
1. Train
2. Longboat
3. Private Tuk tuk
4. Public boat
5. Car
6. Public Tuk tuk