Well my friends I am now well on my way to becoming the first person to have successfully seen every square inch of Bangkok.
As I write this blog I am back in Bangkok.
What can I say? I guess you would like to know how I have spent my last 3 weeks. Well it all started with a train journey………
On the 25th of June I left Bangkok for my trip to Phuket. After a 12 hour overnight train trip down the coast to Surat Thani, a 2 hour break and then a 3 hour bus trip to Phuket (Patong Bay) I was ready to sleep.
I don't know how to sum up Phuket. I hopped off my bus and suddenly felt as though I was down at Frankston Beach on a hot summers day. Oh it was so comforting to hear the bickering and screaming from hundreds of Australian tourists, all looking burnt to a crisp running around in boardies and thongs.
I knew that Phuket and I would not get along, which was the case. So after two days I had certainly seen enough of the over crowded beaches and had been hassled one too many times about buying a watch, having a massage or taking a bloody tuk tuk ride. Phi Phi Island was my next destination.
Phi Phi Island was amazing. Anyone who has been there or seen the movie The Beach will certainly know what i'm talking about. On my second day I organised a day trip to go snorkelling and cliff jumping, and boy was that fun!! I met a great group of people on this tour. The tour took us to Monkey Beach where we watched hundreds of monkeys in their so called natural environment…… Cliff jumping from a height of 18 meters was an experience to remember… and so was landing on your back after your 5th jump and winding yourself to no end!!! The tour also took us to Maya Bay which is home to "The Beach" in the film the Beach (like I said to mum, just google it!). My time on Phi Phi was spent with good company and a few sleepless nights. But the scenery is like nothing else, and terribly hard to capture in a photo. So it's my advise to just come over and experience it yourself!
It was at this point that I decided to leave Phi Phi Island and head on down to Kuala Lumpur. After another long journey of over 12 hours of travel time I finally made it to my beautiful boutique hotel in Kuala Lumpur (when I say Boutique they really actually mean a hostel and rooms with no windows). Kuala Lumpur was different to what I thought it was going to be. I guess I have found out for the first time how much religion plays a part in different societies and countries, in Australia we are lucky to have such a diverse nation full of different religious groups and many different cultures. Malaysia's predominant religion is Islamic and Thailand's for instance is Buddhism. You instantly notice a difference between the people and the day to day activities of both the countries. Malaysia has so much to offer in terms of food. They are lucky to have so many different types of beautiful fruits and lots of fusion style foods.
I left KL in the wee hours of the morning to fly back to Bangkok to go to the island Koh Samed, which was about a three hour drive from Bangkok. The beaches on this island were exquisite. I spent the weekend with three friends I had met previously when I was in Bangkok. I ate a fish eye which was interesting…. apparently they are good for you, and I haven't got sick yet so lets hope I don't. The weekend was filled with lots of drinks, fun and laughs. Probably a perfect end to my first month away.
Bangkok is a marvellous city. Many people I spoke to told me how disappointed they were with Bangkok, I just think you need to give it time. Speaking of time, it's only a month until ill be meeting my sister in Hong Kong. So i'm thinking that I will be leaving Bangkok on Wednesday and busing into Cambodia. So i'll be speaking to you next from Cambodia.
Live your dreams.
x
