|
A JOURNEY TO THAILAND‘If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at home’ - Confucius
Thailand has a whole diverse array of choices for the holiday maker/ come traveller; from beaches to mountains, from bars to temples, from city bustle to countryside serenity. One thing is for certain, each time you re-visit this glorious country you will have a brand new experience, new tastes and new adventures. I have decided not to write this for the mid to long – term traveller but more for the holiday maker who has around two weeks to spend in the land of smiles. However, whatever your plans are, you may find some of my ideas a useful guide. Personally I book my flight to Bangkok and arrange a 2 night stay at a good hotel before embarking upon my adventure. From the time of writing this (2004), economy flights from the UK direct to Thailand using either BA, Qantas or Thai Air works, out at around £380 - £500 per return flight dependant upon when you book. Of course there are some good deals out there, some include one or two nights stay in Bangkok. You need to really shop around either through the internet or via travel agents. One of the best ones that I have found is Trailfinders (www.trailfinders.com) and I have used them for the past few years with no regrets. Flights from Heathrow to Bangkok take around 11 hours, so it can be a bit of a long haul. Thailand is 7 hours ahead of us, so if you begin your journey on a Friday morning at say 10.30am. you should arrive at Don Muang airport (Bangkok) for around 6.00am on the following Saturday morning! Apart from feeling a little tired in the evening after arriving in Bangkok, I generally feel very little “lag”.
Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, however, unless talking to foreigners who don't know any different, Thais will never call their capital city Bangkok - some Thais in the more remote provinces may never have even heard of it being called Bangkok. Instead, in Thai, it is known as Krung Thep (pronounced as grung-tep), which roughly translates to 'City of Angels'. Krung Thep is actually an abbreviated version of the ceremonial full name; ‘Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit’ In the official English Romanisation, this is certified as the longest place name in the world by the Guinness book of records. So given the length of it, it's not hard to see why it's shortened in every day use. The full name itself is never actually used, though it can be seen on a few signs around Bangkok as part of a tourist campaign. Another version, Krung Thep Mahanakhon, is quite common in official documents, car number plates and the like. Despite the length of it, an impressive number of Thai people are still able to recite the entire name off by heart. They wouldn't necessarily understand what it means though, as many of the words are archaic and no longer used in modern Thai. The full name actually translates to a string of superlatives, which give some idea of how fond King Rama I must have been of his new city: "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn". This is a fast moving bustling city, hot and sticky. The pace is frenzied and appears stressful and yet the Thai’s are very tolerant especially when driving in the heavy traffic. When you arrive at Don Muang airport, after having your passport stamped, you are likely to find yourself inundated by touts who offer you a taxi and cheap hotel. Generally these are okay, but I would recommend you go outside the airport and grab a red and green meter taxi. If you are in a hurry you can opt to drive via the expressway, ideal if you arrive during the rush hour. There is a toll fee which you give to the taxi driver but it only amounts to a pound or so and is worthwhile, sometimes knocking off over 30 minutes from your journey (depending where your hotel is).
I would recommend you book before you travel although most hotels will try to accommodate you. I use the Bossotel Inn which is located a few metres away from the Chao Phraya river and away from the entire bustle (www.bossotelinn.com). Bossotel Inn is a mid-range hotel which offers superior air-conditioned suites at around £20 per night. You can arrange your day trips either from the receptions travel staff or, just across the road, is a travel agent called “Bangkok journey ltd” (www.bangkokjourney.com) where you can arrange your internal flights and day trips.
This is just one idea of many variations that you can try. Firstly, if you arrive early in the morning, I suggest you get unpacked, have a nice relaxing shower and grab some breakfast at the hotel. Try some fresh fruit and juice to perk up your energy. Grab some water, a camera and a wad of Bahts and head for the Chao Phraya River (just to note; ensure you cover your legs and arms and don’t wear open toed shoes if you intend to visit the temples). Grab yourself an early morning longboat trip along the river and take in the sites. You can stop at Wat Arun for around 20 Baht. The boat operator may say you only have 10 minutes but tell him you want 20 minutes as this is more than enough to take in this great site. Depending how early you are, you may be able to check out the famous floating market where you can check out all the fresh fruit and perhaps treat yourself to a freshly cooked meal of Phad Thai. Ensure you ask your boat operator to take you to the drop off point for the Grand palace. It’s another 20 baht I’m afraid, just to set foot on dry land!
Just a short walk and you will see one of the jewels of Thailand. To be honest you will not see everything in a full day, but I guarantee what you see will amaze you. Try to get in to see both the Emerald Buddha (at the Wat Pra Keoh) and the King’s palace. Do what the Thais do and offer incense to the Buddha. Make sure you copy them exactly so as not to offend. After a couple of hours around the Grand palace, grab some lunch from one of the many food stalls, it’s fresh, excellent value, and tastes great!
Once refreshed make your way towards Wat Po, where the reclining Buddha is housed. Along the way you might want to haggle for some Buddhist amulets as souvenirs. Wat Po is quite a large complex so you will probably lose your bearings a little. After seeing the reclining Buddha find your way to the massage school where I would recommend a full hour herb massage, which costs around 400 Baht. If you are lucky you may find a little school where they hand make and paint papier-mâché Khon masks from the Ramakien traditional fable. I managed to get myself a couple for around 600 baht each. After your hard days touring, treat yourself to a tasty banana roti from one of the street vendors outside before grabbing yourself a meter taxi and heading back to the hotel for a power kip! (You can get a tuk-tuk but they tend to want to take you to a tailors and jewellers first!). For the evening I would suggest getting tickets to Lumpinee stadium to watch some live Muay Thai (Well this is a Muay Thai web-site after all!) You can get ringside for around 1200 Baht and you will get a programme and a key-ring thrown in! You can get ringside for around 1200 Baht and you will get a programme and a key-ring thrown in! After your evening of blood and gore take a stroll to the night market in Patpong. After having fun haggling for your genuine designer fakes, you can grab a decent meal in any of the cafes and, dependant upon your taste, even take in a show. Remember though, that once you are in one of these establishments you are going to be hassled to buy drinks throughout the duration. So, quite a lot to do on your first day - trust me you will sleep well! If you are staying for 2 days I suggest you book a day trip to Bang Pa-in palace and Ayutthaya. Both of these will blow your mind.
Fly from Bangkok directly to Chiang Mai, this will take little more than an hour, or you can take a 10 hour night train for a fraction of the price. I personally chose to fly for less than £60. Chiang Mai is a refreshingly slower pace than Bangkok and it’s a little cooler too! Again, there is so much to do here; from visiting the long-neck tribes to looking after your own elephant. From a Muay Thai point of view, it doesn’t get much better; you can train at Lanna camp, which is the premier Muay Thai camp in Northern Thailand. Run by Andy Thompson and his wife, this is a thoroughly traditional and professional training camp and caters for beginners and fighters alike. If you really want to get a true taste of what real Muay Thai is all about then I cannot recommend highly enough Lanna camp. Chiang Mai doesn’t have as many temples as Bangkok but those that it has are well worth the visit. One of the main attractions in Chiang Mai is the night market, this is the shop-a-holics dream come true! Try to step into some of the shopping malls for some excellent bargains on antiques etc. I managed to purchase a 40 year old sword for under £25. As with Bangkok, you won’t starve, there are food stalls and restaurants everywhere. Staying in Chiang Mai is less expensive than Bangkok, I stayed at the TOP NORTH HOTEL (41 Moon Muang rd) for 1 week for 4,800 Baht, which was under £60! A great hotel situated near the city walls, all rooms have satellite T.V plus air-con and a ceiling fan. There’s a swimming pool too, so you can cool down after a hard days training or shopping!
Try to enrol on one of the many cookery courses on offer, I just did a day course and it was great fun plus you get to eat all day! Another course worth doing is the Thai traditional massage course. You can do a basic course for 2 days learning 145 massage positions. This is well worth doing and you are presented with a certificate & book at the end. Trekking is very popular in the North and you can do anything from a day to several days. I chose to do a day and it included everything from; Elephant riding, rafting, visiting hill-tribes and swimming in a waterfall, and they threw lunch in too! My week's itinerary in Chiang Mai was as follows;
Thursday: A day trekking; Elephant ride through jungle, rafting down the river, visited 2 hill-tribes and swam in waterfall, Muay Thai training early evening. Night market (you guessed it, shopping!).
After a hectic, ‘hands on' week in Chiang Mai, it's time to relax by heading for the white sand beaches, clear seas & blue skies of southern Thailand. I took the flight from Chiang Mai – Bangkok – Krabbi and the whole journey, including waiting times, was appx 3 hours. The alternative is train, then bus and this will take a leisurely 24 hours! Once at Krabbi airport it's about a 500 Baht taxi ride to the beach resort of Ao Nang (appx 30 minutes drive). Hotels are a little more on the expensive side, although 2,500 Baht a night (appx £35), at the Ao Nang seafront hotel is hardly expensive for your own chalet with air con, mini bar, 2 showers & a bath, satellite TV, King size bed, coffee area and a veranda not to mention breakfast! This was pure luxury, the swimming pool was a hop and skip away and the beach two more hops and a leap! After settling into the hotel it was straight to the beach to enjoy the fantastic sunset. The long-tail boats, returning after a hard day taking the tourists to all the islands, set the scene.
As ever, eating anywhere in Thailand is a palatable delight. Southern Thailand has a large Muslim community and some of the dishes are reflected by this. Fish dishes cooked with coconut milk are a speciality. Try the street vendors for freshly cooked Roti (similar to crepe) and their variety of fillings from savoury to sweet (they even do peanut butter!). Shopping as always is fun and should always be so. You can get great bargains anywhere in Thailand, but remember this is their livelihood so don't push the price down too low. A good rule of thumb is to take two thirds off the asking price and you'll be about right. I always start a little lower just for the fun of bartering and then it really kicks off! But all in the spirit of things or as the Thais say -SANUK (fun). Make sure you book your island trips etc as soon as possible. There are some hidden gems out there. Although the long boat is more traditional, try to get a speed boat, they're a lot quicker, more comfortable and great fun! Your tour guide generally picks you up at the hotel around 8.30am, dependant upon where you are going. Ko Phi Phi and Hong Island are two of southern Thailand's most beautiful islands but I, surprisingly, was impressed with ‘The beach' from the film of the same name. This was really picturesque. For the more active of you, try kayaking. There's a variety of places you can go, I chose Hong Island. There's an excellent hidden beach and cove where you can snorkel until your hearts content. The fish literally eat out of your hand! Their colours are amazing and the when you feed them the sea becomes and instant Jacuzzi from their frenzy. The kayaking was great fun, but you need to be fairly fit or at least a little experienced as it can be a hard slog after an hour! Make sure you cover your shoulders too, as this is definitely a place where you will burn. Back in Ao Nang and some serious shopping. There are quite a few tailors and they're top quality too. If you need a new suit then get measured up. Two made to fit suits plus two made to fit shirts and a spare pair of trousers per suit, plus a couple of silk ties, will set you back around about £150, or less, dependant on how well you barter.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||
 |
 |
|
|
