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Thailand: A Tribute to my Suffering

Posted on September 18th, 2006 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Thailand.

Lucky me this is a dock just off shore, and not a bridge over a canyon or a rushing river…

No, they use a few pieces of narrow bamboo nailed together to form a bridge over a rushing river.  This one I did have to cross, not to mention several that were not nearly so wide…

Did I mention that I took a rubber raft over a small waterfall?  I have no pictures of it - it’s enough that I live to tell the tale.

At least the elephants never sat on me, and the monkeys that leapt onto my boat never bit me…

But how do I end up in these situations in the first place?  Oh yeah…this time, it was Chris’ fault!  (Usually I have no one to blame but myself…)

3 comments.

Thailand: Bangkok

Posted on September 16th, 2006 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Thailand, Travel.

After months of talking about, with potential destinations ranging from Russia to Australia, Chris finally broke down and bought a ticket to Thailand.  We met up in Bangkok to begin our two-week adventure.

 
[Chris (left) and myself (right) at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.]

We, of course, made the obligatory stops at the Grand Palace, home of the Emerald Buddha, which is actually made of jade; and Wat Po, where a huge reclining Buddha figure is housed.  That’s neat and all, but I go there for the excellent full-body massages at the massage school on the grounds.  (Don’t bother with the foot massage - it blows.)

[A small part of Wat Po’s impressive Reclining Buddha.]

I introduced Chris to tuk-tuks, and she told me horror stories about what pass for buses in Georgia, where she’s doing Peace Corps (with less than a year left now!)  We also got rather angry with the tuk-tuk drivers near the tourist areas - they’re all scam artists.  Just take a metered taxi and you’ll save big bucks, not to mention time.

[Myself (left) and Chris (right) on a tuk-tuk.]

1 comment.

Thailand: Chiangmai

Posted on September 16th, 2006 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Thailand, Travel.

We ventured north via night train with two goals in mind: first, to go rafting; and second, to ride elephants.  Thanks to the help of the well-priced, friendly, and helpful agent of Wild Adventures travel agency, we were an immediate success.

[Awesome temple in Chiangmai - pity you can’t go in.]

Our rafting trip was with an excellent company, Peak Adventures, which I would highly recommend.  Great transportation, knowledgeable and friendly guides, and excellent instruction made for an excellent adventure.  The rapids, thanks to the recent flooding in northern Thailand, were 4’s and 5’s.  We went over a small waterfall - and I have no pictures of it.

[Chris (left) and myself (right) at the elephant camp.]

The second adventure was with a company called Journey, which was OK.  We rode elephants, where they really have a racket going.  Every five minutes they pulled up to another stand to make you buy another bunch of bananas to feed the elephant.  It started to get a little outrageous.

[Waterfall in northern Thailand where we went for a swim.]

We went trekking through a jungle and across farmlands to a waterfall.  Waterfalls, by the way, have a certain amount of suction that makes them rather dangerous to go swimming near…as usual, I learned this the hard way.

[Apparently Chiangmai’s most famous temple - it was hard to get a shot of it without large, brightly colored tour buses in front of it.]

We also spent some time within the city of Chiangmai, which had some beautiful temples, and some very tasty food, of course.  And at the Sunday Night Bazaar, we managed to buy a large quantity of clothes and sourveniers with minimal damage to our wallets.

1 comment.

Thailand: Phuket, Krabi, and Phi Phi

Posted on September 16th, 2006 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Thailand, Travel.

Our journey south led to more adventuring, and the unavoidable burning of my pasty white skin.

[Me, with a crispy, tender, flakey crust…like Hot Pockets.]

We started at Phuket, but quickly headed to Krabi.  If I had it to do over again, however, I would stay on Phi Phi, which fulfills all the dreams of a tropical islands, with huts for rent on the white sand beaches, overlooking majestic blue-green waters of the Indian Ocean.

[A beach on Phi Phi Don.]

We went Sea Kayaking (or Sea Canoeing) just off the coast of Krabi with a company called @rt Canoeing, which I do not recommend.  Our guide blew, we got no instruction, and it was generally sketchy.  Nevertheless, it was a fun, if exerting, activity that I would recommend - just try your luck with another company.

[Chris (left) and myself (right) in our sea kayak]

We paddled into canyons, lagoons, and mangrove swamps.  I thought mangrove swamps would be really cool.  Not to say that they aren’t, but in the end, a swamp is still a swamp, full of ravenous mosquitoes that want to eat your flesh - hope you remembered to take your malaria pills.  (We forgot.)

[Sea kayaking off Krabi, Thailand.]

The swamps, as it turns out, are also filled with monkeys that come scampering down the mangrove branches, some with babies clinging to their bellies, to leap down onto tourists’ boats in the attempt to steal food.  (Note: they were successful, but in exchange I did get some great photos.)

[Chris and a mischevious monkey.]

Our next adventure was with Barracudas Tour Agency, which I would recommend.  Setting off from Krabi in a large speed boat, we sped south across blue waters to the Phi Phi islands for scuba diving in coral reefs and swimming on white beaches.

[We went for a dip in the waters of this beautiful alcove.]

With bread in the pockets of the shorts I forgot to take off before jumping into the waters, I had swarms of fish on every side of me.  I swam with schools, or sometimes I would follow one specific fish.  I would swim to shallow reefs, or out to a drop-off where I could see nothing but fathomless blue.

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