Flight to Thailand purchased and a bit of Googling done and off I headed to Thailand for 4 weeks at the start of October 2015. Easyjet flight from Belfast to Edinburgh, then onto a Qatar Airways plane to Bangkok, with a stop halfway in Qatar.
I have to say I was very impressed with Qatar Airways. Great service, nice planes and good airplane food!! Free flowing drinks helped the time go by too. I had about 12 hours to kill in Doha airport in Qatar overnight, so I ambled about the terminal.lots of expensive shops, fancy cars being raffled and the strangest kids play areas I've ever seen. Millions of people buzzing about too, so was great for a bit of people watching. But, there are only so many hours you can fill aimlessly wandering and watching, so I went upstairs and paid into one of the lounges for the last several hours before my flight. Quiet, comfy seats, all the food and drink you could take and served to you. Well worth the cost.
Doha Airport, Qatar
So, after 35 hours, I arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. Madness all around. I was tempted to just jump in a taxi to take me to my hostel in the city and away from the throngs of manic people. However, I really like taking the public transport when I get to a new country or city, as it gives you a good insight into your new surroundings and people.
Oh boy, how hot was it though!! So humid as well. A light grey tshirt, carrying a backpack and walking around and waiting on trains was a bit of a mistake!! I was melting, internally. It was showing externally.
Took about an hour to negotiate my way from the airport and across the city, changing lines at a couple of points, but for a couple of quid compared to the cost of a taxi, my budget wasn't blown within the first hour thankfully.
I stayed at a great hostel in the Silom area - Lub d Hostel. Handy to get to and to then get around the city for sightseeing, with plenty of food places, shops etc on the doorstep. Bangkok is a very easy city to travel around with the underground, skyrail and boatlines.
Bangkok Trains
I'll not go through all the amazing places you can visit whilst in Bangkok, a quick search on the internet and you can find loads of stuff. A great website I found for information on the common tourist stops, as well as a few more unusual sights was www.bangkok.com
Wat Pho, Bangkok
Crazy tuktuk ride!
CHIANG MAI
Next stop was up in northern Thailand to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a city in mountainous northern Thailand that dates back to the 1200s. Its Old City area still retains its walls and moats from its history as a cultural and religious center. It’s also home to hundreds of elaborate temples and several great markets.
I went to Bangkok train station and purchased a ticket for the overnight sleeper train due to leave the following evening. It only cost about £16 for the 14 hour rail journey. It departed at 10pm and the carriage attendant made up your bed for you, complete with sheet, pillow and privacy curtain.
I had bought some snacks to keep me going as I suspected there wouldn't be any food onboard. After having visited the toilet on my carriage, before it even left the platform in Bangkok, I knew I wouldn't be drinking much during the journey. I nearly vomited at the smell in the small space and did not visit the sewer room again for the rest of the journey.
10pm Sleeper Carriage 2nd Class
Bangkok Train Station
Chiang Mai Train Station
Arrived into Chaing Mai around luchtime and caught a songthaew to my hostel. Stayed at Deejai Backpackers this time, but paid a little extra for my own room.
Getting on the songthaew
This is a lovely city, really enjoyed my time here. Lots of temples, great places to eat and the Sunday market walking street was a great way to spend an evening. Everything under the sun for sale, for miles and miles of closed off streets. Some amazing food stands too and I also stopped for a foot massage half way through the evening which was nice.
Sunday Night Market
The main reason I wanted to travel up to the north though, was to pay a visit to the Elephant Nature Park. Here they rescued elephants from the tourist and logging trade. Some of the stories were horrific, but thankfully they are all safe and free to enjoy living a happy natural life at the park. I would really recommend a visit. You get up close with the elephants, feed them, touch them, bath them, walk with them. Beautiful big creatures. The centre also puts on an amazing buffet lunch for visitors too.
Thailand and food are synonymous. So I took the opportunity to go to a Thai cookery class when I was in Chiang Mai. It was fab. First we chose what we wanted to cook - Green Curry, Yellow Chicken Soup, Pad Thai and Caramel Bananas. Then we were taken to the local food market to buy all our ingredients. Amazing sights and smells of fresh fruit, vegetables and spices. Then to the kitchen.
It was a great afternoon of slicing, dicing, chopping and mashing. Of course we got to eat each dish after we had cooked it. Yum. Included in the cost were all the ingredients, transport, instruction and we also got a cook book with all the recipes to take home.
Chang Cooking & Restaurant
Asia is great for cheap flights. As I was a bit restrained time wise, I booked a flight down to Phuket Island with Bangkok Airways. Phuket is a rainforested, mountainous island in the Andaman Sea and has some of Thailand’s most popular beaches.
I came out of the airport to a torrential downpour and thunder and lightening. October is the tail end of the rainy season. So it was still hot, but with the occasional rain shower. They didn't last long though and it was quite refreshing from the hot humidity for a while.
The first night I just stayed at a local beach, close to the airport. It was called Nai Yang beach. I stayed in a little bamboo hut a few metres from the ocean. It was a nice chilled out place. The cat outside my hut, stalking the rat inside my hut, was anything but chilled though. It wanted its dinner. One night was enough for me here and then I moved on down the coast to Kata Beach.
Bamboo Hut and Nai Yang Beach, Phuket
Phuket is very touristy, lots of Russian and Scandinavian tourists. It felt just like any other beach resort. Everything was a lot more expensive and less authentic. I felt a bit disappointed here though, especially after coming from Chiang Mai. I had planned to do a weeks training at a Muay Thai gym, but after a few days, I just wanted to move on as I wasn't really enjoying it.
Kata Beach, Phuket
KOH SAMUI
Jumped onto another Bangkok Airways flight across to Koh Samui island. Thailands largest island in the Gulf of Thailand, is known for its palm-fringed beaches and for coconuts. Samui airport is the best airport I have ever been to. It is all open air, with circular hut type buildings for the departure gates and baggage belts and well manicured landscaping.
Plane landing Samui Airport
Open air departure gates
From the airport I made my way to Lamai Beach. From here I was getting collected at pre-arranged pickup point, to be taken up into the mountain forest for a weeks silent meditation retreat.
Another night in a beach hut at Lamai, Samui
So after bumping around on a bench in the back of a pickup truck I arrived with several others to spend a very quiet, relaxing 7 days in the forest.
As it was a silent retreat, we handed in our mobile phones and weren't allowed to read, write, talk, listen to music, take photos etc for the next week. We also slept on wooden beds and had a wooden pillow to rest our heads on. Showers were cold water only and the only time we ate food was at 7.30am and 11.30am each day. Wake up 4.30am and lights out at 9.30pm. Each day was filled with sitting and walking meditation sessions and we also had a couple of hours talk by a monk on mindfulness and the teachings of the Buddha and how we can apply it to everyday life.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this week. It was great to not have to think about anything and be totally relaxed. The beds were surprisingly comfy and meditation isn't some hippy nonsense if you keep an open mind and just let it happen.
The lack of eating however was a bit of an issue, as I love my food and usually eat little and often, so it took a few days to adjust to only eating before noon each day. I knew it would only be for a week though and I wouldn't starve in this time! The week was donation based and I would definitely go back here again - Dipabhavan Meditation Centre, Koh Samui, Thailand.
Dipabhavan Meditation Centre
Meditation Hall
October 2015 Meditation Group
After the week was over, I just ditched my plans to travel to a couple of other islands close by and just stayed at Utopia Resort in Lamai Beach until I needed to get back up to Bangkok for my flight home. It was such a wonderful place, just off the main shopping/restaurant street and right on the beach. It had such a nice relaxed atmosphere and the people who worked there were so friendly, that I felt I didn't need to go anywhere else and just stayed to enjoy the rest of my time in Thailand.
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