The trip began of course in Bangkok. Wow what a place. I loved it! A total assault of the senses around one corner the delicious smells of lemon grass, BBQ chicken and other yummy street foods. However around the next corner you catch a waft of sewage!
My first day in Bangkok was spent at the shops in the city. Come lunch time I was eager to try some of the "real" Thai food so I wondered down the alley called Food Plus. At first I was so over whelmed by the heat in the claustrophobic tunnel but the smells of the the amazing food being cooked right in front of me was too much to resist. And it did not disappoint, it was the start of the trip but still one of the best Thai dishes I have ever had!
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| Food Plus food alley |
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| Serving up deliciousness |
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| YUM! One of the best Thai dishes I have ever had! |
The Thailand Christmas Squirrel ??
Christmas in Bangkok
Rambuttri Road
Hanging out at a Night Market.
The road of madness in Bangkok!
Khoa San at Night
On my second day in Thailand I met up with the 10 others who had signed up for the trip and our wonderful tour guide Chompooh. After a meet up dinner (which mind you I had the Duck red curry which was AMAZING!) we officially began the trip the next day with a visit to the Temple of the Dawn or Wat Arun.
Wat Arun - Temple of the Dawn.
Happy Buddha at Wat Arun
Bangkok Skyline
Next time you break some pottery start building a temple!
The Stairs Up Wat Arun....eeek
The Reclining Buddha - One very chilled gold dude!
More gold at the Grand Palace!
Making Friends :)
Next stop Krabi! The start of our beaches tour, however to get there we were required to take the over night train. This turned out to be an the most unique Christmas eve on record!
The Night Train of FUN!
Our area of the train....the seats fold out to beds!
David...or The Moose from Canada (Calgary) enjoying the open windows in the bar carriage.
Christmas Eve drinks with the crew on a train somewhere in Thailand!
The Bar Carriage....The problem with spending too much time in the bar carriage is that you then have to visit the loo....
The Loo!
Shutting down for the night...
My Seat.....
.......That is now my bed! :)
The trip was a lot of fun a bit of rocking about and a few of the crew had some restless nights but it was worth it be on the beach for Christmas Day.
Krabi..... p.s this is one of many photos of long tails!
Christmas Lunch
Christmas Dinner. (P.S the best Panang Curry ever!!)
Our Captain.....Jack Sparrow
The beautiful Koh Phi Phi Leh - Well known for the as where the movie the Beach was filmed!
Snorkelling Selfie
Monkey Beach
Captain Jack doing some sea urchin fishing
Leith taking a jump!
Shaun following suit.
Yay, Shan wasn't missing out!
Just keep swimming swimming swimming....
After two days at Krabi and snorkelling about it was time to explore more of Thailand's Islands and we headed to Koh Yao Noi, which was honestly just amazing. Remote, underdeveloped and lovely. However before we could relax with a beer at sunset we needed to get there. Which shouldn't have been a problem other than our driver getting lost and driving all over the place and down deserted roads that led to know where but jungle!
Yay we found the other group and now hopefully won't miss the boat!
Driving towards the pier...
.....boating away from the pier!
Team Intrepid on the boat!
The locals clearly not as excited as us.
Arrival Chicken and Cashew and a beer....yum...
........and what about the view?!
My Bed for the next few nights!
Ahhhh Hammock Time!
The bathroom in the hut!
Our wonderful guide Chompooh and Guest House Owner Mr Ling demonstrating how one extracts rubber from a Rubber Tree
Soccer on the Sand Bar
Bliss
The next day started with a stop at the home made sarong shop and then we boarded another boat to cruise some islands and enjoy the beach, sea and sun.
Chilling in the Andaman Sea
Our day boat.
One of the many Islands we cruised around, but was too busy to stop.
Matt, Barb, Jess and Clair bobbing about
Matt not quite in full swing
After swimming, lazing on the beaching, jumping off boats and being attacked by Jelly Fish (don't worry a bit of coca-cola and baby powder all was fine) we headed back to the island for an afternoon of lounging in hammocks, massages and the occasional scamper through the jungle.
We were after the Hornbill a bird which is frequently found on the island and although we could hear it we couldn't see so I took a photo of the crew that went chasing after the dam thing!
One of the guest house huts.
Barbecued local fish after a hard day.
Another Moon Rise.....
......Another Beer :|)
Two days after chilling on a remote island it was time to head back to the bustling tourist machine that is southern Thailand and we were heading to the heart of it, Phuket!
First though Leigh had to have a burn down the pier at Koh Ya Noi
The rickety jetty we arrived at on Phuket.
Before making our way to Karon Beach we stopped at the Gibbon Rescue Rehabilitation centre. This refuge is for many of the gibbons that are abused to entertain tourists. Often they are taken from their mothers at a young age to be photographed with the tourists around Patong beach and many of the other popular strips. These poor little monkeys have been drugged and abused and some of the stories are quite horrific. The centre takes them in and for those that they can rehabilitate them to release back into the wild.
Hullo!
After a chat with the Gibbons we continued our journey to Karon Beach. Our first night on Phuket would not have been complete with out a trip up to Patong beach and a eye popping night on Bangalore Road.
View from my Room at Karon Beach
First though was dinner and the HOTTEST dish I have ever had. It was delicious but my god there must of been 20 chillies in there!
Chompooh with all her wisdom left us after dinner and left the drunken debauchery to the crazy tourists.
Shaun and Matt...all smiles after.....table tennis...
Dutchy, Barb and Jess
Bangalore Road. If you want to find a Lady Boy, a Russian stripper, ladies that have the most amazing pelvic floor muscles, lots of booze and games of connect four then this is the place for you!
Barb, Shaun and I in the Tiger Bar
A very intense game of connect four...drinks were on the line!
Our bar tenders who kept winning at connect four.
#Loser
After a night of madness the next day required some more subdued reflective culture so off to the Big Buddha we went.
Buddha's View
The big Buddha that sits on top of the hill keeping watch of all the madness of Phuket
Monkey on Buddha's Roof
Crammed in the back seat...good times
When we did finally make it into town a Green Curry Pizza was in order.....from The Cook
Old Town Phuket well known for it's Sino-Portuguese architecture
We finally made it to the night market! Which included lots of genuine fakes and food!!
The Intrepid part of the tour sadly came to an end on New Years eve. This was the first group tour I had done and I loved it. The group were a lot of fun and although we all came from different backgrounds and countries our passion for travel, adventure and even the odd nudie swim (not partaken by the women in the group) had us all enjoying each others company. However the time had come for me to catch my own boat to Ko Phi Phi Don.
Koh Phi Phi Don
My resort on Phi Phi which was actually at the top of a hill
So far up a hill actually that my bag needed it's own carriage up!
No Carriage for me though....just lots of steps.
Phi Phi Village
More long tails on the beach....
Just in case you don't know where you are....Or where you are going.
Not only was my hotel on top of a hill the only way to get to it was either by boat or a trek through a the jungle
Jungle Chicken
More Steps....
More long tails...
One way to get your Bamboo.
The plan for new years was to see the new year in on the beach with the rest of the revellers and lots of fire works....
Of course no party in Thailand is complete with out the bucket of booze!
The Beach Bars preparing for the crowds to hit the shores.
The youngest most talented fire twirler I had ever seen....or simply child labour!
Fire Works galore all going off right above our heads.
It was crazy!
Especially when the fire skipping rope came out!
The next day there were lots of tourists with bandages around their ankles and feet from the burns!
My New Years Eve Buddies
Happy New Year!
After a party like that this was the best hang over cure!
My little Hut on Phi Phi
The Gym at the Resort!
As the sun set on the first day of 2013 I enjoyed my last meal on Phi Phi as the next day I was off to Koh Lanta!
My first activity on Koh Lanta was of course to go to the highly recommended Lanta Seafood for some tasty salt and pepper calamari
YUM!
The best Mojitos in Thailand is found at the bar, restaurant and cooking school Time for Lime!
More deliciousness
Time for Lime
Of course the first thing I did when I got to Lanta Old Town was find lunch...at this lovely place called Beautiful Restaurant
Beautiful!
Lanta Old Town was once the original port and provided a safe haven for trading vessels heading to Singapore. Many of the old stilt houses are about 100 years old!
You find these signs all over the west coast
Trusty Old Blue!
After a day in the rain the next day was all about the beach but while admiring the volley ball players I couldn't help but notice the odd application of sunscreen
.....???
Cruising the beach with Bike Cam
The beach machine!
Long Tails at Sun Set
Yes I got a little carried away with the sunset pictures but it was just beautiful!
Chicken Penang at L. Maladee
Sala Dan Village
I spent my last night in Thailand and Koh Lanta back at Time for Lime for a cooking class. What a wonderful experience this was. We learnt all about the secret cutting code of Thai food, how to make our own red curry paste and the most incredible crispy spring rolls. This was absolutely one of my highlights of Thailand!
The items at the top of the photo are cut in a way that means you should eat this food. The bottom means it's just for flavour...don't eat!
No more Kikimo soy sauce you've got to get the real deal!
My killing knife....I only killed the Garlic and Coriander root though :)
Spring rolls all rolled and ready for the hot oil...
Our Master Chef Mai
Crispy Spring Rolls and Stir Fry Chicken with Roasted Chilli Paste
Red Curry and Stir Fry Vegies.....YUM!
Thailand was a delight, I can't believe it's taken me all these years to get there. The food was beyond my expectations, the beaches beautiful and the people friendly and fun. The whole trip was a brilliant way to end and start a year. I will certainly be back and until then will be treating my friends to lots of Tasty Thai!
