So after just 31 hours in transit from Miami to Thailand, we touched down in Bangkok with expectation and excitement for the new adventures that would great us, a new country, a new continent, a whole bunch of suprises. Our first adventure was just getting from the airport to our guesthouse without being ripped off by the taxi driver, he did manage to scam us of 100Baht (roughly R30) but it could have been far worse, welcome to Bangkok!
Our first morning we realised we have stepped into a brand new world, there were food stalls with new exotic smells (not always a good smell mind you, just exotic), pretty girls (some with and some without willies), lost and lonely looking types with a beer in hand at 7am (some also have a pretty girl in hand..once again not certain if they have all the standard equipment), orange robed monks with silver bowls asking politely for "alms", 3 wheeled tuk-tuks offering to take you to ping pong show (dont ask), side walk clothes stores selling the coolest stuff youve ever seen at the coolest prices - "Mr, Mr, how much you pay? Hmmm?" and a real understanding that you are now in Asia!
We soon confirmed that "Yes!" Bangkok is a crazy place but it is also crazy cool and we were having a blast! We checked out the weekend market day 1 and had to restrain ourselves from buying EVERYTHING, its all just so good and so cheap but then again do we really need a live squirrel in dungarees? Or a bigger than life size steel sculpted "Predator" or "Alien" figure? We somehow managed to restrain ourselves though and made away with just a couple bags of stuff and a tattoo for the M. This was also the day that we discovered the street food and just how damn good it was! Plus did we mention its super cheap! At R6 for a Phad Thai (stir fried noodles) we were laughing and our tummies were smiling.
But when you travelling you cant hang around gawking at the city like a country bumpkin on his first trip out of the farm for too long so off to Ayuthaya we went. Ayuthaya is the old capital of Thailand and a city of temples and ruins around every corner. Here we rented some old school bikes with fruit baskets up front and little ring ring bells to tour the city and the temples. These ancient structures are amazing, huge spires set on the water, detailed sculptures and roofs, flights of steps up to prayer rooms and buddhas in every pose scattered throughout the spiritual sites. Walking around these monuments you get the feeling of just how large a civilization and city this once was and how advanced they were for thier time. Very cool! We also cycled out to an elephant camp outside of town and got to play with a bunch of big and little elephan
ts for a couple hours during feeding time. These cute but bristly pachederms are considerably smaller than our own African greats but a hell of a lot friendlier with their favourite games mainly being shove the tourist with your head and look for food all over their person with your trunk. Not to mention the occasional sneeze in the V's face (karma for all the times she has done it to M).
Our first morning we realised we have stepped into a brand new world, there were food stalls with new exotic smells (not always a good smell mind you, just exotic), pretty girls (some with and some without willies), lost and lonely looking types with a beer in hand at 7am (some also have a pretty girl in hand..once again not certain if they have all the standard equipment), orange robed monks with silver bowls asking politely for "alms", 3 wheeled tuk-tuks offering to take you to ping pong show (dont ask), side walk clothes stores selling the coolest stuff youve ever seen at the coolest prices - "Mr, Mr, how much you pay? Hmmm?" and a real understanding that you are now in Asia!
We soon confirmed that "Yes!" Bangkok is a crazy place but it is also crazy cool and we were having a blast! We checked out the weekend market day 1 and had to restrain ourselves from buying EVERYTHING, its all just so good and so cheap but then again do we really need a live squirrel in dungarees? Or a bigger than life size steel sculpted "Predator" or "Alien" figure? We somehow managed to restrain ourselves though and made away with just a couple bags of stuff and a tattoo for the M. This was also the day that we discovered the street food and just how damn good it was! Plus did we mention its super cheap! At R6 for a Phad Thai (stir fried noodles) we were laughing and our tummies were smiling.
But when you travelling you cant hang around gawking at the city like a country bumpkin on his first trip out of the farm for too long so off to Ayuthaya we went. Ayuthaya is the old capital of Thailand and a city of temples and ruins around every corner. Here we rented some old school bikes with fruit baskets up front and little ring ring bells to tour the city and the temples. These ancient structures are amazing, huge spires set on the water, detailed sculptures and roofs, flights of steps up to prayer rooms and buddhas in every pose scattered throughout the spiritual sites. Walking around these monuments you get the feeling of just how large a civilization and city this once was and how advanced they were for thier time. Very cool! We also cycled out to an elephant camp outside of town and got to play with a bunch of big and little elephan
ts for a couple hours during feeding time. These cute but bristly pachederms are considerably smaller than our own African greats but a hell of a lot friendlier with their favourite games mainly being shove the tourist with your head and look for food all over their person with your trunk. Not to mention the occasional sneeze in the V's face (karma for all the times she has done it to M). Next we took the train to Lop Buri a city known only for its Monkey Infested Temples. The hotel we stayed at was right across the street from the temple and hence was the playground for the monkeys with them jumping on the buglar bars all day and night much to our amusment. Once you step out of the hotel though you realise just how much the monkeys are in charge. They hang out on str
eet lights and electrical cables using them as jungle gyms, they cross the traffic filled streets in packs like a biker gang causing the cars to screetch to a noisy halt and before stealing sandwiches from overly friendly tourists. Basically they are almost as cute as they are a nuisance. We went to the one lesser visited temple and after 3 monkeys climbed all over Vix and nibbled on her head we ended up hiring a 10 year old with a slingshot as protection from the overly eager advances, it was money well spent as the kid was like Richard Gear in the Bodyguard and kept the monkeys friendly!
eet lights and electrical cables using them as jungle gyms, they cross the traffic filled streets in packs like a biker gang causing the cars to screetch to a noisy halt and before stealing sandwiches from overly friendly tourists. Basically they are almost as cute as they are a nuisance. We went to the one lesser visited temple and after 3 monkeys climbed all over Vix and nibbled on her head we ended up hiring a 10 year old with a slingshot as protection from the overly eager advances, it was money well spent as the kid was like Richard Gear in the Bodyguard and kept the monkeys friendly!After an afternoon of watching Super Sport on the telly (its sindicated out here) we got on the worst night train ever and headed for Chang Mai, capital city of the north. The city is built with a perfectly square moat around the old town like many of South East Asias older cities and would be home for another 3 days. Chang Mai has a crazy big night market which our taste buds enjoyed almost as much as the rest of our senses. We also went and watched a Muay Thai fight in the bar district. A slightly sureal experience really because as a "Farang" (foriegner) you sit on a nice couch at ring side sipping your cocktail while the locals crush each other in a frenzy just off to the side in order to get closest to the action. We would sit back an watch as both adults and kids would step into the ring and throw everything they had at each other while the locals cheered with every strike. Then intermission came and we were "treated" to a live cabaret show by the local lady boys dressed up like Vegas show girls sparkeling from head to high heel, we would later see them leaving 2 by 2 on scooters in the exact same outfit, what a bizare sight. Speaking of bizarre sights this was also our first real encounter with the "beer girls" of Thailand and their much older western patrons. Old men with Euros that translate into a fortune in Thailand with much younger girls (very often they dont have the company of just one) hanging onto them, playing pool, drinking cocktails and then late in the night climbing into a tuk-tuk and heading for the hotel after the price has been agreed upon. Here the roles were reversed from the South American standard the Mavrix had experienced, in South America if the V was on her own she would be hassled continually by macho latinos eager for her attention, here the M was in danger of being jumped whenever alone either by the "beer girls" or the "lady boys". Apart from the mayhem of Muay Thai and Lady boys we also did a Thai cooking course in Chang Mai, it was a great fun day when even the M managed to cook up something not only edible but quite delicious too.
Next stop was the hippie town of Pai. This little town nestled amongst rice fields, waterfalls and green mountains is super chilled and hippie cool. An easy place to get stuck! We rented scooters without a license (a fact that none of the rental agencies seem to care about) and learnt the basics on the roads and green hills around Pai driving to waterfalls and hot springs, dodging snakes and finding elephant camps along the way. It was here that we got our first ride (seat optional, we said no to our b
ums future disaproval and pain) on an elephant. We got a quick up and down tour of the surrounding hills before heading into the river for a bath with the ellie and a game of "lets soak the Farang" which our guide of midget proportions found extremely amusing. Pai also has a great nightlife, almost everywhere has live music, admitedly it's mostly Thais mispronouncing old Creedance Clearwater and Bob Marley songs but good for a laugh. The night market is also great and was where we would meet the worlds most precocious kid - Ping Ping. Her Mom runs a vegetarian street stall and she kidnaps all the foreigners and takes them all over the market using them as her own private mules to carry her, however once she is tired of being carried she makes a game out of running away and hiding in the throngs of people while she giggles maniacly and you sweat to keep up. Cool kid! But what a handfull!!!
ums future disaproval and pain) on an elephant. We got a quick up and down tour of the surrounding hills before heading into the river for a bath with the ellie and a game of "lets soak the Farang" which our guide of midget proportions found extremely amusing. Pai also has a great nightlife, almost everywhere has live music, admitedly it's mostly Thais mispronouncing old Creedance Clearwater and Bob Marley songs but good for a laugh. The night market is also great and was where we would meet the worlds most precocious kid - Ping Ping. Her Mom runs a vegetarian street stall and she kidnaps all the foreigners and takes them all over the market using them as her own private mules to carry her, however once she is tired of being carried she makes a game out of running away and hiding in the throngs of people while she giggles maniacly and you sweat to keep up. Cool kid! But what a handfull!!!Our next port of call was the city of Mae Hong Son where we planned on going trekking in the hills to visit the ethnic tribes of the area. However we met a Colombian couple (Cedric and Natalia) who were doing a loop back to Chang Mai by scooter and had a spare. The scenery was so beautiful and the offer so inviting that we decided to join forces with the Colombians and ride through the mountains for a few days. It was a really beautiful experience, sure the scooters were slow up hill carrying the both of us but that just gave you more time to marvel at the scenery of endless green mountains and rice fields, plus we got to stop whenever we felt like it and take photos or just chill. Once we got back to Chang Mai we received an email, a good friend of ours Liam that we had met in Nicaragua was coming to Thailand and would be in Bangkok in a few days. "Hell lets go see him!" we said, so back down to Bangkok we went!
Next ... Soth Thailand and adventures of Mavrix and the flying Lemo (Liam)
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