Thailand - South

Thailand...oh my! I’ve divided my trip into south and north, the south being more beachy and islandy, with the north having more mountains and waterfalls. Thailand has a dip in its rainy season in June/July, so we decided to head south first and soak up as much sun before it got wetter. We arrived in Bangkok airport, quickly made friends with a German family and rode on our first local “tuk-tuk” – sort of like a Thai taxi on three wheels. 

They drive quite fast and dangerously, so we had to simultaneously hold our luggage while trying to keep ourselves inside the vehicle. We went to a Thai travel agent to sort out our first few days and booked a bus and three nights’ accommodation in Krabi, south of Thailand (near to Phuket but not as touristy.) We stayed a night in a Bangkok hotel near to the famous Khaosan Road and walked the market in the evening. The vibe was so cool, people so friendly, lots of bartering, cheap food, fresh fruit, clothes, bags, hair braids, massages etc. 

I bought a nice little leather bag for 400baht, having bartered it down from 750baht! 100baht is about R25, so to give you a feel as to how cheap it was:

Foot massage (1hr) = 200baht

Pad Thai (big Thai meal) = 30baht

Dresses = between 150-300baht

Leather slops = between 300-500baht

Coke = 20baht

Bag of mango/pineapple = 20-30baht

We met up with our German family again and had some Pad Thai for dinner, which is a traditional Thai meal consisting of noodles with cabbage, some veggies, spices, chicken/pork and nuts – very filling and delicious. 

I also paid for a manicure and for fish to eat the dead skin off my feet for 15mins...weird sensation! 

The next morning I got a haircut and bikini wax before we took our night bus down to Krabi for 14hrs. They played “21 Jump Street” on the television, but with seriously bad English subtitles, which made it hilarious to watch. Made some friends with Swiss, French and Poland travellers along the way as most of the people that use these buses are tourists.

We arrived, checked in to our hotel which was 1minute away from the beachfront and headed straight for the full-body massage tents on the beach. 

I also got a couple beaded braids in my hair and then got a lift with a local on her bike to a good place for lunch. Chicken fried rice was also fast becoming one of my favourite meals for only 50baht with a coke...still keeping it under 2euros! We had chicken panang for dinner (DELICIOUS) as suggested by a local and chilled on the street at “Mr Cock’s bar,” with a good mix of tourists, easy-going people and some friendly Thais. 

The next day we went on a “4 island tour” taking us to the four small islands just off Krabi, in a longtail boat. There were about 50 other tourists on the boat with us and we stopped at each island to swim, snorkel or eat and just relax. 

The water was so warm, clear, beautifully greeny-blue, fish swimming right up to you, white sand and scenery straight out of those Thailand advertisements that you think are fake. 

The next two days in Krabi we just spent lazing around, driving the bike, eating at a local market, swimming, lying on the beach, having drinks with our German, French and Polish friends etc, with the rain only drizzling down for about an hour in the afternoon, not affecting our trip much at all. 

The weather was still humid and warm, but much more bearable than South Korea or Japan. I tried some new fruit called “rambutan” which is very spiky looking on the outside, but very similar to a litchi on the inside. 

On the evening of the 31^st, we took a night bus back to Bangkok to meet up with my friends, Kristin and Charlotte. They had just flown in from Taiwan the night before and so I explored a bit more of Bangkok with Kristin the next day. We saw the famous “Reclining Buddha” statue in a place with lots of temples and then we decided to get lost and just walk wherever we wanted to, with no direction or plan in mind. 

She got her palm read by a fortune teller and then we found ourselves on a water taxi, luckily taking us closer to where we lived. We had a bit of a girl’s night and shared an ice-cream fondue and then got foot massages for half an hour. Pure bliss!