Three Times the Charm in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand

On my third grand adventure to Thailand, Allen and I had three big destinations in mind with many islands in between. We would spend one night in Bangkok, three nights in Phuket and four nights on Koh Phi Phi Island. Here I am on Khao San Road in Bangkok enjoying the commotion and Thai beverages.

 

We arrived in Bangkok on a Sunday night after a four hour flight from Taipei. We then took a shuttle van down to the popular Khao San Road, not getting there till around 8 at night. The center of the backpackers haven, Khao San Road is full of endless markets, bars, restaurants, carts, shops, tuk-tuks, street entertainment, sculptures, paintings, Thai massages at every turn of your head, and people from all corners of the world.

 
Our hostel was located in a side street between Khao San Road and its neighboring main street. The location of Nitan Hostel was superb for a one night stay in Bangkok. It was surprisingly adorable with free breakfast, clean hot showers, comfortable dorms with wooden frames versus the squeaky, iron bars used in most.  Our first meal we had was at a famously loud restaurant/bar that pours out into the streets during the late evening hours. I didn't realize till much later that I've been before on my first two visits to Bangkok. The looks are quiet different from the day to night.

 We had Pad Thai and a handful of Thai beers before continuing up and down the streets markets stopping here or there, whenever a refill was needed. We spent our night happily walking from one vendor to another spread throughout the streets. When we spotted an alleyway with close quartered shops we sifted through them as well. I bought a few nick nacks from street vendors and paid 10 baht for a picture of fried critters from spiders, snakes, scorpions, crickets, worms, and roaches. Graffiti filled up most of the walls and store gates, every once in awhile a western fast food joint would pop up and occasionally a nice hotel, but for the most part it was a fast-paced atmosphere with spots of trash and the constant flow of tourists. It seems near impossible to capture the feeling or even the look of Khao San through pictures or words. Things are happening at every step, every turn, and even with your senses heightened, and being on alert as a well prepared traveler, you're still bound to miss something.

Day 1 Patong-Phuket, Thailand 

Satisfied with the night, we walked back to our room for a short sleep before our early flight the next morning. We had to hustle to grab a taxi to the airport for our one hour flight to Phuket in southern Thailand. After our rather bumpy landing, we arrived in the early afternoon to extremely hot weather in Phuket, Thailand. The airport was finishing up construction, but after finding our van and stopping at a booking office we were finally arriving at Patong Beach.

 November is the beginning of the best time to visit Thailand, as it begins the dry season. We checked in to one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in Lub*D Phuket Patong. It looked like a mansion from the outside with wide grand entrance for its visitors.  Breakfast was not included, however it did provide a swimming pool, hammocks, boxing area and ring, photo booths, lounge and lobby areas, computers, chill out rooms, game rooms, pool tables, foosball, air hockey, and a restaurant all on the main floor. We had a private room on the third floor, but dorm style rooms are also available.

Yellow and Green Curry. Our first meal in Phuket-Patong

 After check-in, we walked to the first Thai restaurant down the block and had yellow and green curry with giant fried prawns and Chang beers. Yum. It finally felt like we had arrived. We walked down Patong Beach for sunset and some appetizers. Soft sand and mildly blue seas, the temperature was perfect and the waves were coming in nice and high. Fun enough to play in without getting your suit knocked off.

After the beach, we relaxed in the hostel's pool, showered, ate at Thai Taco Taco Thai, then we booked tickets to the world famous Simon Caberat Lady Boy Show. Quite the spectacle.My favorites were "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend," "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago but with a Disney twist using popular villains such as Cruella, Ursala, and Maleficent. I also loved seeing the lady boys dressed up so sparkly and exotic, living out their dream on stage. A few other memorable ones were "Barbie Girl" done by a single obnoxious lady with big fake hooters and another overweight lady who came into the audience singing "I Will Survive" even pulling a man onstage with her. The lady boy who performed Beyonce's "Single Ladies" was fierce as ever. I really enjoyed watching the dances from different cultures such as India, Brazil, and China.

Afterwards the entire cast lines up outside of the theater for a picture. They will urge you, even beg you to take a photo with them. Once you do they instantly turn lethal and demand their 200 baht, which you had no idea you owed them. 

I ended the night with my first full body massage of the trip.
And plenty more to look forward too.
Ko Pun Ka

Day 2: James Bond Island Tour

Tuesday was our first full day in Phuket and we signed up for a day tour that would take us around to five different islands, including "James Bond" island, lunch at Panyee where a floating Musilim village and school can be found, Hong Island for kayaking, Panak for underwater caves, and No Ka for swimming and our missed chance for parasailing.

The day tour is named "James Bond" island tours for the well known rock formation that shows in the
1974 James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. It was actually our fourth island on the tour, full of short hiking routes and loads of souvenir markets. Our first stop was Panak where we walked through cave tunnels to an open forest in the middle of the rock formations where the trees crawl up to the sunlight. Half the year it is underwater and while we were inside we could see the deep roots of the trees, taller than most of the men in our group, sturdily holding up the trunk during the dry months. There were some crabs and jumping fish in this area, too. Kayaking was our next stop, everyone was assigned their own kayak with a 'pilot.' Ours took us along the regular route with a few extra low-rise rocks we sailed under. Some larger crabs, and oyster looking shells ran along the underside of the rock formations. These also spent half the year underwater.

Ko Panyee, the island with the floating Muslim village was quaint and serene. The buffet style lunch provided through the tour, was delicious and I even had enough time to check out the school and a few of the houses around the village. 

Houses built on stilts by Indonesian and Malay fisherman. About 360 families live in this village.

Fresh fruit, seafood, and meat markets are not only abundent
in Panyee, but also on many islands of Thailand.

Thai Alphabet

Walking through and appreciating the beauty of this village was a highlight for me.
This is also were I was able to interact with Thai children and watch them at play. 

The beach opposite of Ko Ta Pu, also known as, James Bond Island, was full of souvenirs. 

The island is also called Khao Ping Kan. There are numerous photo opt places for the hundreds of daily visitors. Be prepared for lots of climbing and steep steps. Limestone rocks all around Thailand are an amazing wonderment, above is just another example. 

Thousands of Thai tour guides, we definitely got the best one!

The final stop was No Ka where we were finally allowed to swim and relax. We spent just over an hour here watching the sunset and a few people paragliding while wading in the luke warm, white sand waters. We had no idea this would be the only time we'd see paragliding and missed the opportunity. After a swim, a swing, and holding a cute little critter on the beach, we boarded the boat with our energetic tour guide and headed back to mainland. We chatted with a family from germany, a man from Wyoming, and a couple gents from France throughout the day.

While Allen took a dip in the pool, I got ready for our night out in Phuket at Bangla Road, the heart of Phuket's nightlife. Before we made it out, we had more Pad Thai, shrimp, and curry at a food stop #9. We did some bargain shopping through the street markets, and then arrived at Soi Bangla. We started at Tiger with two buckets, then ventured out to Soi Seadragon where you'll find most of the Go Go Dancers. We had a final bucket at Soi Freedom, where we played Connect 4 with a local Thai woman.

Ko Pun Ka

Day 3: Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

The following day was a perfect day for a long boat ride to Koh Phi Phi. There was a freak rainstorm that flooded the streets of Patong while we road out to the docking station to get on the two hour ride to KPP. The weather on the island was beautiful after the storm had passed. No cars or motorbikes are on the island, so we walked to Ibiza House Phi Phi where we would stay four nights. Upon arrival, we walked into the largest, realest pool party I've ever witnessed happening. There were only two hours left, so we grabbed a drink and boogied down in the pool. We had Indian food this night, went to the beach, the Only Bar Phi Phi, watched the fire shows, and to finish the night, I got a massage.

Day 4: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday was our first full day on the island, as well as it was Thanksgiving. We signed up for Captain Bob's Sailing Booze Cruise and enjoyed an amazing coconut chicken and potato curry beforehand. The cruise was a bit pricey for anyone budget traveling, but those there to do it all, it is highly recommended and raved about when researching the area. Of course, you can also book on arrival as we did, or get your own private long boat from a native Thai for much less in price. We wanted the social aspect included in this day trip since the other tours we would be doing were private.

Viking Cave, now closed to tourists for the production of birds nest soup. It was named Viking Cave for the prehistoric drawings found on the cave walls, believed to be drawn by sea gypsies or pirates who stopped for shelter from storms. Birds Nest Soup is a very popular delicacy in China and Taiwan (who knew). This edible bird's nest is among the most expensive animal product consumed by man. The birds that make these nests use their saliva to do so. They are called swifts, and thousands occupy the cave still. Workers risk their lives climbing unstable bamboo in order to gather these nests. Our tour guide said one Thai worker dies on average per year.   

Our groups were so large that they divided us into teams, red, blue, and the best, black.Surprisingly we had a lot of Americans, this made for a loud, wild bunch, which if I'm completely honest, are not as considerate as say European or Asian travelers. We also had some Australians, New Zealanders, and a group from Ireland on board. We fed bananas to the aggressive monkeys at Monkey Beach, just past Vikings cave, before heading to Maya beach and a lagoon where we do an activity they like to call "diaper drinking." They call it this because those who are not off exploring or jumping off the boats, are wearing their life jacket between their legs as if it was a diaper while drinking a cold one. 

Black Team @ Maya Beach

After the monkeys we went snorkeling in a large lagoon. The water was turquoise blue and I was giddy with excitement to see so much coral and fish life just below us.

Friends on the boat!

We should have next gone to Maya beach, instead they had everyone begin drinking, swimming, jumping off the boat for the 'party' part of the day. Unfortunately for many and most, this meant the pricey stop at Maya Beach of 400 Baht was easily forgotten. We enjoyed a simple dinner and a breathtaking sunset anchored in the sea. It was a long day so a nap was in order for most everyone. Later I had more Indian food and a foot massage before heading to bed.

Day 5 

Again lucky to miss the rain overnight, when the morning cleared we took the hour hike up to Phi Phi Viewpoint.

                

Koh Phi Phi Viewpoint

Had more delicious Thai food and then spent a few hours relaxing at the beach. The tide rises every night and lowers again every afternoon. You have to walk quite a ways to make it to the water during the day and at night you'd have to watch your step as it comes up nearly to the young travelers enjoying buckets and dancing on the beach.

Just before 9 o'clock we went to the Muay Thai Reggae Bar, where every night is guaranteed one Muay Thai fight, as well as volunteers from the audience can participate for a free bucket of booze. We had front row seats and enjoyed watching the fights so much we didn't leave until nearly midnight. When we finally made it to the beach for the nightly dancing, fire shows, and buckets galore, we quickly ran into some friends from the previous day's sailing cruise and spent the night with them. We danced at Aphache, Slinky, and Ciao Bella. Unlike Koh Phanghan where the full moon party takes place on the eastern side islands of Thailand, the music was shut down at 2 am.

Hotspot. Every night. 

Day 6: We waited till late Saturday afternoon
before getting out to enjoy our last full day in Koh Phi Phi.

More shopping, shrimp Pad Thai, papaya,
mangoes, massages, and a last visit to the beach.

Tattoos in Thailand seem to be a top tourist attraction as well. 

Day 7: Back to Phuket

Our last morning, we woke up at 5 am for snorkeling where we were lucky enough to see a couple reef sharks. Both of the sharks that I saw were no longer than my leg, but it was exciting!  

Last sunrise in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand.

We had another stop at Monkey Beach, where one monkey actually jumped onto the boat and grabbed a banana hidden among the plastic bags. We were able to get much closer this early morning than the previous time with hundreds of other tourists.

Can you spot the monkey eagerly awaiting bananas?

Up close and personal.

Real personal. 

Relaxing in the shallow lagoon before ending the last tour of the trip.  

Goodbye Beautiful Thai Islands. 

Mid afternoon it was time to take the boat back to Phuket where we stayed at a hostel just miles from the airport. It was off a small dirt road and very quiet, we walked until we found a main road where we had a pleasant last evening of pizza, Pad Thai, kebabs, and Chang.

I last visited Thailand in April 2016 and then again November 2016. In early October the King of Thailand passed away. Rest in Peace. 

"The more you love your decisions, the less you need others to love them."
-K