Bangkok
22 hours, 5 movies, and 3 meals later (shout-out to Philippine Airlines) and I arrive in Bangkok.
First thing's first, find my friends, acquire a SIM card for dirt cheap, and then head to the AirBnB.
It takes a little bit of navigation confusion, but we arrive there only to find out that AC is NOT provided throughout the unit, only in the rooms. And man is it ever hot! Oh well, at least we have a nice view, right?
The boys have arrived! (minus Sterling)
After we've dropped our body temperature back to normal, we head off around the neighbourhood to hopefully find some good street food. As it turns out, we're staying in a very suburban area of Bangkok, which is emphasized by the lack of tourists and all the weird glares and laughs we're getting from locals as we aimlessly wander through some questionable food-safety outdoor markets. No matter, we find a great restaurant right near our AirBnB thanks to our host's recommendation, and then quickly find out how spicy local cuisine can be. Yes, green curry is in fact the spicier curry. That night no one is ashamed to call it in early because we're exhausted. And tomorrow is a big day!
Two of Thailand's biggest temples, and we were done by early afternoon! We really enjoyed the Temple of the Golden Buddha because it was a lot less touristy than the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, but still grand and very ornate. We grabbed these tuk tuks to ride around to a bunch of different stops, and as it turns out, so they could try to sell us some tailored suits. Luckily I was looking for a bowtie so it wasn't a total loss! It was only a short walk from the last temple to our AirBnB but it worked out that the Dusit Zoo would be on the way. *Cue Andre's zoo knowledge*
After many oohs and ahs at the animals - although still not up to par compared to North American zoos - we got back to our AirBnB to prepare for a night of drinking and debauchery. Our friend J kills (Johnathan Chan) met up with us and had many stories to share from his recent travels in Vietnam.
We left for Nana Plaza, or the infamous 'sex plaza' if you've been reading Alex's blog, found a cheap bar and continued to chat.
Feeling a little more courageous, we then ventured into the belly of the beast - three stories of U-shaped walkways all lined with strip clubs and VERY aggressive employees who'll grab you by pretty much any body part to drag you into their establishment.
It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience - by which I mean I'll never return, but it will be a top recommendation for everyone visiting Bangkok.
Upon our return to the AirBnB we were excited to greet Alex Sterling who had just arrived.
Our host at the restaurant a few doors down
Once Again Hostel
Next we moved to one of the nicest hostels I've ever seen and got to live life in luxury compared to our previous AirBnB accommodation.
After some relaxing, we met up with a few new friends - Charlie, Elizabeth, and Taylor. Elizabeth and Taylor hadn't scheduled many of their Thailand plans so it worked out that they would be joining us for the next week and a bit. This night we went out for pad thai at Thipsamai, one of the world's best pad thai restaurants. And luck would have it that it was only a 2 minute walk from our new hostel. Oh boy was it ever delicious. We ALL got seconds of it, and we admired the endless accolades they had received from around the globe.
We then enjoyed some drinks on the rooftop and made new friends with people from all around the world, namely Raheel a guy from Texas who was there with his girlfriend. Alex and I had been boasting about our plans to climb the abandoned and dangerous Sathorn Unique Tower the next morning and Raheel was interested. We met up the next morning, caught a cab and started scoping the place out. Based on our research you'd have to *maybe* bribe a guard to let you in, and then it was 49 flights of crumbly cement steps to the top. However, we didn't even get to the gate before a guy stopped us to say how
1. This place is really dangerous and there's a steep fine for trespassing
2. Many people have died either climbing, showboating, or taken their own lives in the tower
and 3. Oh, I'm a cop by the way so don't try shit.
Well damn! Stubborn as we are, we did a full walkaround to see if there was another way in, but alas it was impenetrable.
It was then time to figure out some of our plans for after Bangkok because we had decided Phuket was a no-go due to bad weather and a great beach being closed by local authorities. We decided on Ko Samui and Ko Phangan where we would get to, first, stay in a villa all to ourselves, and second, attend the famous full-moon party. Travel and accommodation plans locked in, we went for a cheeky canal boat ride down to MBK Centre, the Bankok equivalent of the Eaton Centre.
Andre being Andre, he made sure everyone got Thipsamai this evening and we met on the rooftop to eat as a big family. It was awesome.
It was seamlessly transitioned into a drinking night, where we introduced our wordwide fam to Canada's best drinking games and they showed us theirs. The destination - Khao San Road. Dubbed the Las Vegas Strip in Bangkok, we were excited.
James and I got a little lost on the way there, but eventually met up with everyone and enjoyed partying at a 3rd floor bar with fantastic live music. Now, James will tell you they were lip-syncing but I'm gonna call fake news on that.
Before stumbling back to the hostel we had to end the night right - some Thai McDonalds.
Ko Samui
Travelling by ferry between Surat Thani and Ko Samui
The next day was pure travel, so, hungover as we were we had to proceed with: cab ride, flight, bus ride, ferry, and finally another cab. Was it worth it?
1000%. Ko Samui was an absolutely stunning island, and the villa was equally gorgeous.
Sadly, we found out once there that electricity would not be included, so it would end up being our most expensive accommodation, but in my mind it was worth every penny. I mean, we had a VILLA to ourselves.
Our time on Ko Samui would be short but spectacular. The food was so good that we had a few restaurants we were becoming regulars at. One day we rented motorbikes and learned how to travel in style on these 2-wheeled menaces. On route to the famous Na Muang Waterfall, Sterling and I were not the most capable guides (woops), but as a result we stumbled upon some absolutely breathtaking views. As you can see, we DID finally get to the waterfall and it was beautiful.
Something that I started to get used to here was sacrificing sleep for sunrise opportunities. It paid off big time, because the public beach was a 10-min walk from our place and we were blessed with some of the most incredible light I've ever seen. The last morning before we left was a rather uninspiring sunrise, but I got to video-chat Jacqueline alongside my stray puppy friends so I loved it.
Ko Phangan
Next stop, party island! But actually, this place is known mostly for it's full-moon party/half-moon party/jungle parties (you get the idea), and thus it thrives off the tourist industry. We were lucky to have a place just outside of the busy centre so that we could enjoy our time and rest up for the eventual craziness of the full-moon party. The evening of the first day we headed up the road from our resort to the famed Amsterdam Bar. This place has the best atmosphere of any bar I've ever been to, and if that's not enough it has a stunning view looking west so you can watch the sun set while enjoying a drink. Even though Ko Phangan wasn't my favourite destination of the trip, I'd go back solely for Amsterdam Bar.
Day 2 was intentionally uneventful and without plans because at night would be party-time, so James and I decided to rent motorbikes and tour the island. What an experience! We were finally able to go decently fast because there were highways with basically no other traffic, and it was exhilarating. We toured the whole west side of the island in about 2 1/2 hours. Then it was time for food, and to prepare for the night.
Full Moon Party
Well, this was something else. Fire everywhere, booze buckets in every hand, and literally thousands of people. Although you'll have to ask someone else for more details, because I slept through it...
I want to first say that I'm a dumbass. I was the one in our group who kept reminding everyone to "pace your drinking" and "don't get too messed up before we get there", and then I went ahead and finished a mickey + 1 1/2 Changs before arriving at the beach.
Here's what happened that night:
What I remember: We got to Haad Rin beach around 11:30pm. I paid way too much money for, admittedly, very cool-looking dragon glow in the dark paint. We acquired our buckets* and I insisted on no energy drink in mine. We ran into some people we knew, danced on the beach, took some photos, and then I had to pee. This is where everything gets a little foggy. I remember going to the washroom, and when I came back I couldn't find anyone. I must have thought it would be good to let them come to me, because I remember sitting down against a tree stump and then zzzzzzzzzzz.
*(A bucket is 375ml of 40% liquor + ice + Coca Cola + Red Bull, however I was told that their energy drinks are not regulated like in North America, so they can use low-grade methamphetamines as stimulants - I figured this was a good thing to avoid.)
What happened: After I fell asleep our group started to get a little bit split up. Sterling went off with a friend and went into the ocean for a very brief time. He was also a dumbass this evening, because he broke both rules of Full Moon Party - Don't take off your shoes because of all the broken glass, and Don't go in the ocean because people piss in it and did I mention broken glass? He stepped on said broken glass and ended up going to the hospital and getting 14 stitches. James wandered off and had the more sober friends worried about him. Andre, Kyle, Elizabeth and Taylor headed home late. Alex and J kills survived until sunrise and got to watch the gorgeous view from the same beach.
What I remember: Holy shit, it's 5am! I groggily wander to the washroom, and then pull out my phone to address the innumerable worried text messages and missed calls from Elizabeth, Sterling, and Andre. *Phone dies* Well that's great. So I catch a cab back to the resort. Luckily most people were still up or just getting back, so my arrival put their minds at ease about what must have happened to me. I then passed out for 3 glorious hours of sleep.
That same morning we had to return our bikes and start a long travel day which would end in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Chiang Mai
Here's a good representation of our hungover travel day after Full Moon Party
Big travel day #2. This once again involved way too many types of transportation, and many grueling hours telling your stomach to settle.
We arrived at a great hostel, and this is where our friend Ben Hudson joined the travel team. Since everyone was absolutely starving they went to the convenient Japanese food place next door. Andre and I were feeling a little more adventurous so we wandered about 20 mins to the rave-review Khao Soi restaurant Huen Phen. Their food was delicious, as to be expected in the food capital of Thailand. Unfortunately, however, they only serve Khao Soi midday so we decided we'd be back the next day, and we'd bring all our friends. And that's exactly what we did.
After our return for lunch, we walked down to a very pretty public park where some weightlifting and basketball ensued. After everyone was dead tired and probably dangerously dehydrated, we caught a short cab to the close-by movie theatre to indulge in some western cinema - Incredibles 2! Most people then headed home to relax and have some drinks, but Andre, Kyle and I stuck around for some window shopping and then to double dip with Jurassic World 2. Neither movies were that fantastic, but they WERE exactly as I hoped, so I had a blast.
Though we knew our time in Chiang Mai would be limited, we had to make the most of it and truly experience their cuisine. This is why we opted for doing a cooking class. We had the opportunity to learn about the local herbs they use straight from their garden, then we went for a walk through a nearby market to learn about all the varieties of vegetables, fruits, and rice that go into Thai cuisine. Once back at our stations we got to start cooking - making everything from pad thai to spring rolls, four different types of curry paste and finishing off with delicious mango sticky rice.
The next day was a little bit jarring, as we found out that our reservation ran out because someone (*cough* Kyle) hadn't booked the extra night. No matter. We found one close by which would be $5 for the night and had an awesome rooftop for drinks and card games. This here is when Nicholas Christopher joined our squad - and we Smirnoff Iced him the moment he did. That night was our last so we lived it up - went to a local jazz bar, wandered around the famous night market haggling our way into some great deals, and ended up at the well-known Zoe in Yellow bar.
Pai
Here's the situation - Pai is about 150km northwest of Chiang Mai and you have two main ways to get there - a 12-seater van, or a motorbike. James, Ben and I opted for the latter because the road to Pai is heralded as one of the funnest and most scenic rides in Thailand. Boy oh boy did we choose right. That was my FAVOURITE part of the trip. It's the greatest mix of city driving as you leave Chiang Mai, country road, and windy mountainous switch backs. Someone has counted, and there are 762 turns to Pai. Yep. Going into it I was a bit worried that it would be too difficult of a ride, but it honestly made me such a good motorcyclist.
Now, I've probably convinced you that biking to Pai is the better option, so I don't need to mention that our friends, having had an incredibly jarring and pukey ride in, looked like absolute corpses. Oh, oops!
The hostel we stayed at was way more than we could have hoped for. There was free breakfast AND dinner, plenty of social activities all day and night, and one of the most incredible views from their infinity pool.
For me, Pai was one of those cases where your expectation is so completely off from what you end up getting. Our plan had been to spend a single night and then head back and continue on for Laos. Once we were there, however, we were ready to forgo all previously made plans, giving up multiple deposits and bus tickets just to stay. This place was so incredibly beautiful.
Only 15 minutes away, we hiked the Pai canyon and then got back to our hostel for sunset. I know Pai is one of those places that I'll visit again.
From here, we biked back the next day and unfortunately Ben suffered a pretty bad fall - scraping his shoulder and elbow, and wrecking his bike pretty significantly. Our travels continued to Chiang Rai for a night, and then we ventured into Laos. Stay tuned for the next blog post!
Inspired by Andre and his need to rank everything, here's my rankings for places in Thailand: (hey, maybe it'll help you too!)
1- Pai. 2- Ko Samui. 3- Chiang Mai. 4- Ko Phangan. 5- Bangkok
