Wat Pro: Buddha in Bangkok

 One of the biggest temples in Bangkok is Wat Pho.

Its most famous feature is the Reclining Buddha: 46mts long and 15mts high, this pose signifies the Buddha's passing into nirvana and it is a very impressing (and shining) statue.

Inside the structure there are 108 monk bowls. For less than 50p you can buy some very small coins to be dropped in the bowl for good luck. All you hear in that side of the room is the 'ching ching ching' of the monies being dropped... So I had to do it too :-)

Me and the husband in the temple

Aside from the reclining Buddha, there are many more rooms and small the temples. The one that impressed me the most is the one with rows of Buddhas in their meditation pose, all in shiny gold colour.

Outside the Way, there are the ever-present street food vendors. I love being in Asia for the fact you can get really cheap and nice fruit you would not be able to afford in Europe. The lady here is selling sliced mango, watermelon, pineapple, papaya and a local apple. Mango definitely gets my vote!

We briefly stopped also at the Royal Palace but the queue was long and the ticket pricey so we just walked around the gardens. The Thai King has his own ATM and noney changer in that area :-)

Tired and hungry, we made our way back to Khao Sarn Road (the backpacker area of Bangkok). We stopped at a local side street café to get some food. Pork noodle soup and duck with rice went down a treat - though I think we were being served Chinese food, not Thai :-)

The joys of the night buses

The thing about travelling is that you have more time than money so, if at home I would not consider taking a long distance bus when I can fly/get a reasonably priced train - on the road you do exactly the opposite, embarking on 12/16hrs bus rides every week or so.

That is why we found ourselves again on an over night bus from Bangkok to the northern city of Chiang Rai. We were offered a VIP bus for little more money than the standard one. We decided it was worth the extra expense Asia being Asia, where I have seen "luxury" written on Indian 1970s buses that are still running...

I have to admit we were pleasently surprised... This has probably been the best night bus so far: with our blankets and pillow, a TV (with 2 movies in English!), free water and sweets, one carton of maize-flavoured green tea (don't ask) and a chair that has got a massage function!

Cooking in Bangkok

We decided to kill a morning in Bangkok with a cooking course: over 3 and half months away and I must admit I miss cooking.

Hidden in a back road near Khao Sarn Road, we found this cookery class online and we spent the morning cooking up a storm.

First stop: the local market. We walked (in the Asian pouring rainy season rain) to the market and followed our teacher while she was showing up spices, noodles, fruits and weird herbs&veggies.

Chilli galore

Curry paste

I think these are veggies



Fish

I carried the basket

Ben carried the eggs

Then we went onto cooking.

We pounded chillis, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coriander roots, shallots, garlic, pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and shrimp paste to make Phrik Kaeng Phed - red curry paste... And we added coconut milk and sweet basil leaves to make a creamy curry.

All ready

Pestle and mortar

Another dish was Larb Kai, a dish originated from the north of Thailand - a "salad" of minced meat and lots of herbs, lime, mint leaves, spring onions and fish sauce.

Larb Kai

Golden bags

We cooked a couple of more dishes, one was broad rice noodles and pork with soy sauce... It takes 5mins to cook and 6mins to burn!! The started we cooked was "golden bags", crispy pastry stuffed with minced pork and mixed vegetables.

Now, let's eat!

At the end of it all, we finally got it all... And, can I say, it was fab!

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Koh Phi Phi Don

It's been a few busy days in Koh Phi Phi - a small group of islands in the Andaman sea.

Weather was a bit hit and miss but when the sun came out, the islands just look so beautiful!

First stop was the View point: you walk up a steep hill to see both the bays of the island. It was a bit hard (especially in 30+ degrees heat) but well worth it.


Viewpoint

Another day was occupied by diving: we went to 2 different sites (near the small uninhabited island of Koh Phi Phi Leh)... The visibility was not the best because of the weather but we still saw some catfish, clowfish, cuttlefish and very pretty seastars (one called the crown of thorns!).

We also stopped for lunch in a beautiful stop: in front of Maya bay, where "The Beach" was partly filmed.


Maya Bay - The Beach

All dived out!

Yesterday was out last full on day on the island and the sunniest. We set out for a walk to another beach called "Long Beach". It is a 30mins trek, well signposted but it can get sometimes a bit wild!






We stopped in a small cove for a dip while we were walking around. I love the limestone cliffs coming right out of the sea and the colours!


While walking...

Long beach

I have been really enjoying Phi Phi, the Andaman sea is really beautiful even on the Thai side :-)

Last night was rounded off with a Thai massage (the lady walked all over my legs but it feels so good afterwards), a manicure, a pedicure, seafood dinners and beers and we're on a boat+bus to Bangkok tonight. Cannot wait to get to one of the craziest cities on earth!



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Sawadeeka Thailand!

We are finally in Thailand.

We first arrived in Koh Samui, but the weather was a bit pants so did not get up to much... Just getting massages (one hour for less than £3), phad thai (tasty noodles with tofu, peanuts and chilli) and some local beers (Chang!).

We then moved on to Koh Tao. This turtle island (Tao means turtle in Thai) has got everything you need: lovely beaches during the day, some nice food and parties at night (I also got dragged to the pub to watch a Liverpool game...) We rented a quad one day to travel around the island and hit some pretty nice beaches.






We are currently in Koh Lanta. This island is in the Andaman sea, on the other side from the previous two. We had to take a night boat, surprisingly comfortable with double beds and A/C as well as two minivans and a couple of small ferries. It took us a while but we got here in the end, after a mere 17hours...


Night boat

It is 'low season' on this side of Thailand so the place is very quiet which means nice beaches with very few people.

We were welcomed by a lovely sunset and today we rented some bikes to go explore a little bit. We went to Phra Ae beach (or long beach) - it's so long you cannot even see the end of it and for a while we were the only ones there!

Now off for some more curry :-)


Sunset at Klong Khong beach



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Kitchen time!

After moaning cause I haven't been able to cook since I started traveling (pain in the arse to go out for every meal and doing no washing up, right?) I took a cooking course in Chiang Mai, spent the whole day eating/cooking today. Green curry, chicken cashew nut, hot and sour prawn soup, fishcakes, sticky rice with mango... had them all!

Masterchef Australia, make some room cause I'm coming over!

Stressful times

My visa runs out pretty soon... so after 8days in Koh Tao, I wanted to make my way up north and then out of the country.

• 14:00 - a taxi picks us up from the hotel
• 14:30 - ferry boat to the mainland
• 19:50 - bus to Bangkok (it stinks!)
• 3:00am - got dropped off in BKK, in Khao San Rd (full of bars...and drunk people at that time) ... so we start waiting and waiting and waiting...
• 5:00am, a bit hungry ... we get a Burger King (I know, I know!)
• 5:30am - been sitting outside the police station for 1.5hrs now, used their toilets a couple of times (and no, not even the police has toilet paper!) and saw a few ladyboys/prostitues being taken in.
• 8:00am -minibus comes to pick us up, all bags crammed in a 12seats bus, that was going too fast for my liking
• 10:30am -first stop, I couldn't resist Thai food so had a chicken curry at this time of the morning (I know, I know!)
• 13:45 -we get another ferry 
• 16:00- Koh Chang, finally!

Then obviously we had no accomodation, so we had to take taxis up and down the island to find a suitable bungalow, but that's another story!

The shoe issue

Taking your shoes off before going into a restaurant might seem pretty strange for some... but that's the way they do it over here.

Pharmacy, take your shoes off.
Hotel reception, take your shoes off.
Beach bar, take your shoes off.
Supermarket, take your shoes off.

Most of the time you find them when you're back...

(except New Year's Eve... left them outside the bar from 630 til 4am, they were gone! Had to walk barefoot til 12 the next day cause all the shops were closed!)

You just have to embrace this barefoot-ness! And buy new flip flops from time to time!

Full Moon Party 2010

And yes, I was there!

Getting ready, everyone seems to be drawing flags on themselves... so I did mine!

We went on the beach, danced a little bit, had a few drinks, met some new people... I loved it!
And I can't wait for the next one on Christmas Day!

Malin posing under the Full Moon Party poster :)

Going to the beach the morning after was a bit shocking... a lot of flip-flops, bottles, straws (they even give you straws for bottled water here!) and a lot of drunk people asleep in the sun... but we survived it!

The Rock

I got to Koh Phi Phi yesterday, the island I saw getting off the boat is like paradise... blue sea, white sand - amazing!

I looked for a hostel, cause I had no booking so I found this place.

The toilet gets flushed with a bucket.

All the people that have been here for more than 3days have bruises for going up and down the stairs.

The matress is rock-hard (and full of sand, after a few hours!)

The walls are covered with not very nice writings (there is a massive C-word right in front of my bed, just to give you the good morning!)
The showers are basically in a restaurant so it's like garlic shower... then you have to wash again! 

... but I love it! And for less than 3euros a night, can't ask for much, right?

Think am going to stay a bit longer as I couldn't help but smile and be happy while dancing on the beach til 2am last night!

Hooray!

My plane to Bangkok was delayed (again!) but made it to Thailand - hooray!

Celebrated the first night in BKK eating a cricket (mmm), drinking champagne (the air hostess gave it to me cause I swapped my seat with someone else!) and watching the sun rise on a roof top.

After 3days in the capital, I made it to to Phuket (VIP night bus where the only programmes they were playing on the tv where Thai ones... ehm, not funny). It's been raining on and off (so humid!) but finally made it to the beach today - was like a child, jumping and kicking the sand!

Plan is more beaches tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and the day after the day after tomorrow!

Oh, yeah - not to mention the Thai beers and the Thai food.