. . . but first, Bangkok again
Arrived
at the Hotel De Moc in in the Palace/Kho San Road area and checked
in. It's very 1970's and cheap, very clean but with an odd damp
smell pervading the whole place. We think it is the ancient air con
system but you get used to it after a while!
There are loads of vintage cars parked all round the grounds both American and European. We wanted to book a train down to Trang in the south but they were all full and the flights were a bit pricey so we headed off to the bus station and booked an overnight bus for Tuesday instead. This seems such a simple and quick thing to do but it takes ages to do anything – so that was the afternoon gone. Next day we head to the Paragon Shopping Complex for a bit of window shopping, lunch and then to the cinema to see Hugo.
Detail
of the Day: Fleas take no notice of insect repellent! By the time we
got back to the hotel that evening, Celia was covered in more than
100 bites. We think they got into her bag from the floor of the taxi
or at the bus station. So all the while we were sitting in the
cinema they were snacking on her face, hands, arms, back and legs.
The weird thing is that John did not have a single bite anywhere.
She was in a right state as they were itchy and painful all at once
and she had so much poison in her system she felt ill too. So it was
antihistamine tablets and tried to get some sleep. Her bag was made
of cloth and had lots of seams, so that had to be thrown out and her
clothes washed very carefully in lots of soapy water. Celia didn't
get much sleep that night and the next day her face looked as if she
had gone three rounds with a boxing champ, as not only were her eyes
swollen, they looked bruised as well. “It wasn't me!” Said John.
We
arrived in Trang at 7 am after our 12 hour journey and caught a dodgy
tuk-tuk, that had a lot of trouble starting, to take us into town.
We booked a taxi and boat ride at one of the many tour operators to
take us to the island of Koh Ngai.
45 minutes in an ancient taxi brought us to the jetty at Pak Meng and we caught our first glimpse of the mysterious and wonderful Trang islands in the Andaman sea. We had a 30 minute long-tail boat trip on very blue sea in the sunshine, weaving past small and tall limestone islands that are mostly uninhabited and approached our resort on the island of Koh Ngai.
There
is a dream-like quality to the island that doesn't take long to weave
it's magic on you. Waving palms fringe the glistening white sands
and sparkling sea. Hornbills and Mina birds flit around the trees.
Hibiscus, magnolia and bougainvillea are everywhere, plus many other
flowers and shrubs we can't identify, and the hill behind us is lush
green jungle to the very top.
There
are no cars and only 5 or 6 places to stay, plus a couple of bars and
a dive shop, strung along the beach. It is very quiet and peaceful
and perfect for a walk at sunset and a drink somewhere before dinner.
One of the bars had a barman who did not know about measures and
John's serving of Jack Daniels catches him unawares and Celia has to
give full support for the walk back to the hotel. Next day it's
hangover in paradise!
Catch
of the day is usually barracuda, shrimps, snapper and so on –
perfect when you love fish like us! However, meat eaters and veggies
are also catered for.
The
days drift buy as we swim and snorkel in the reef-protected waters,
looking at the fish or just floating and gazing at the other islands
off-shore. Celia's face returns to it's normal size and shape and
the bites fade away.
One
afternoon a huge tropical storm started brewing and lightning was all
around for an hour or two and then it hit us with torrential rain and
wind and very loud thunder. It was truly magnificent. However, we
still managed to Skype James and talk over the noise of the storm.
He thought it was highly amusing that we were in bad weather.
We
had a a fantastic music bonus because Tu, one of the owners of the
dive shop next door, was a wonderful guitarist and singer (as so many
are in Thailand) and also very generous in sharing one of his guitars
– so John was In heaven.
As
we sat beneath the stars and drank beer, swapping songs with Tu and a
Canadian called Bill, who played and sang 'Harvest Moon' in a
gorgeous quiet style, you felt mesmerised by this magical moment.
The crowd grew with a lovely Dutch couple and this went on until 2 am, however, as John wasn't on the Jack Daniels, it was an easier stroll home.
Celia
had a long conversation with another of the Dive shop owners called
Ton, who is also an architect, about how difficult it is to persuade
builders and developers to build, firstly with the correct planning
permission, and then to respect the environment. Ton said that
planning laws are flouted all the time in Thailand and often an
architect isn't used at all and the buildings are made using
sub-standard materials.
Our
last night on the island there was a great guitarist called Tom from
UK and his lovely girlfriend Jessie, from Ireland, plus a couple of
Swedes. John, Tom and Tu jammed away. It was starlit and beautiful.
A fantastic memory to take with us.
Thursday
8th March
This
is the nearest big town to the Malaysian border and has been known to
have some terrorist activity in this more Moslem part of the country.
It all seemed pretty quiet to us as we wandered round the markets
with the usual combination of odd smells from the butcher and fish
stalls, selling a myriad choice of food. There are some very old
shops, selling all your temple offering needs, plus flashy new gold
shops, but we were glad to get on the bus at 3 pm and head off for
our first land border crossing on this trip. We'll tell you about
that in our next blog …
Sunday 26th – Monday 27th February
2012
There are loads of vintage cars parked all round the grounds both American and European. We wanted to book a train down to Trang in the south but they were all full and the flights were a bit pricey so we headed off to the bus station and booked an overnight bus for Tuesday instead. This seems such a simple and quick thing to do but it takes ages to do anything – so that was the afternoon gone. Next day we head to the Paragon Shopping Complex for a bit of window shopping, lunch and then to the cinema to see Hugo.
Detail
of the Day: Fleas take no notice of insect repellent! By the time we
got back to the hotel that evening, Celia was covered in more than
100 bites. We think they got into her bag from the floor of the taxi
or at the bus station. So all the while we were sitting in the
cinema they were snacking on her face, hands, arms, back and legs.
The weird thing is that John did not have a single bite anywhere.
She was in a right state as they were itchy and painful all at once
and she had so much poison in her system she felt ill too. So it was
antihistamine tablets and tried to get some sleep. Her bag was made
of cloth and had lots of seams, so that had to be thrown out and her
clothes washed very carefully in lots of soapy water. Celia didn't
get much sleep that night and the next day her face looked as if she
had gone three rounds with a boxing champ, as not only were her eyes
swollen, they looked bruised as well. “It wasn't me!” Said John.
Tuesday
28th February
In the afternoon we set off through the usual heavy traffic to the bus station for our 7 pm. Bus. We weren't sure what to expect but it was brilliant. Brand new bus with large, nearly fully reclining seats, blankets, bottled water, snacks and a Thai film. We stopped at services in the middle of the night and it was a bustling throng of people buying food from one of the many brightly lit stalls, but the hygiene was not up to the usual Thai standard, so we gave it a miss. Particularly as we did not recognise any of the ingredients being cooked and the smells were a bit overpowering (think dried fish and entrails). The tannoy did not stop blaring messages, so we were glad to get back on our lovely bus and get back to sleep.
In the afternoon we set off through the usual heavy traffic to the bus station for our 7 pm. Bus. We weren't sure what to expect but it was brilliant. Brand new bus with large, nearly fully reclining seats, blankets, bottled water, snacks and a Thai film. We stopped at services in the middle of the night and it was a bustling throng of people buying food from one of the many brightly lit stalls, but the hygiene was not up to the usual Thai standard, so we gave it a miss. Particularly as we did not recognise any of the ingredients being cooked and the smells were a bit overpowering (think dried fish and entrails). The tannoy did not stop blaring messages, so we were glad to get back on our lovely bus and get back to sleep.
Trang & Koh Ngai Island
Wednesday 29th February – Thursday 8th March
Wednesday 29th February – Thursday 8th March
 |
| Trang Harbour |
We
arrived in Trang at 7 am after our 12 hour journey and caught a dodgy
tuk-tuk, that had a lot of trouble starting, to take us into town.
We booked a taxi and boat ride at one of the many tour operators to
take us to the island of Koh Ngai.
 |
| All our worldly possessions |
45 minutes in an ancient taxi brought us to the jetty at Pak Meng and we caught our first glimpse of the mysterious and wonderful Trang islands in the Andaman sea. We had a 30 minute long-tail boat trip on very blue sea in the sunshine, weaving past small and tall limestone islands that are mostly uninhabited and approached our resort on the island of Koh Ngai.
There
is a dream-like quality to the island that doesn't take long to weave
it's magic on you. Waving palms fringe the glistening white sands
and sparkling sea. Hornbills and Mina birds flit around the trees.
Hibiscus, magnolia and bougainvillea are everywhere, plus many other
flowers and shrubs we can't identify, and the hill behind us is lush
green jungle to the very top.
There
are no cars and only 5 or 6 places to stay, plus a couple of bars and
a dive shop, strung along the beach. It is very quiet and peaceful
and perfect for a walk at sunset and a drink somewhere before dinner.
One of the bars had a barman who did not know about measures and
John's serving of Jack Daniels catches him unawares and Celia has to
give full support for the walk back to the hotel. Next day it's
hangover in paradise!
The
down side of staying on a small island resort is that you are a
little restricted in choice of foods and accommodation, and prices
are a little higher, but this is a small price to pay for a
delightful experience.
Catch
of the day is usually barracuda, shrimps, snapper and so on –
perfect when you love fish like us! However, meat eaters and veggies
are also catered for.
The
days drift buy as we swim and snorkel in the reef-protected waters,
looking at the fish or just floating and gazing at the other islands
off-shore. Celia's face returns to it's normal size and shape and
the bites fade away.
Early
morning is the time for a walk before it gets too hot and sunrise is
a beautiful time and you see more too – including sea eagles and
hermit crabs.
One
afternoon a huge tropical storm started brewing and lightning was all
around for an hour or two and then it hit us with torrential rain and
wind and very loud thunder. It was truly magnificent. However, we
still managed to Skype James and talk over the noise of the storm.
He thought it was highly amusing that we were in bad weather.
As
we sat beneath the stars and drank beer, swapping songs with Tu and a
Canadian called Bill, who played and sang 'Harvest Moon' in a
gorgeous quiet style, you felt mesmerised by this magical moment.
The crowd grew with a lovely Dutch couple and this went on until 2 am, however, as John wasn't on the Jack Daniels, it was an easier stroll home.
Celia
had a long conversation with another of the Dive shop owners called
Ton, who is also an architect, about how difficult it is to persuade
builders and developers to build, firstly with the correct planning
permission, and then to respect the environment. Ton said that
planning laws are flouted all the time in Thailand and often an
architect isn't used at all and the buildings are made using
sub-standard materials.
Our
last night on the island there was a great guitarist called Tom from
UK and his lovely girlfriend Jessie, from Ireland, plus a couple of
Swedes. John, Tom and Tu jammed away. It was starlit and beautiful.
A fantastic memory to take with us.
Trang & Hat Yai
Thursday
8th March
We
were up early to get the boat back to Pak Meng pier where a minibus
was waiting to take us back into town and then a second minibus to
Hat Yai about one and a half hours journey north west.
This
is the nearest big town to the Malaysian border and has been known to
have some terrorist activity in this more Moslem part of the country.
It all seemed pretty quiet to us as we wandered round the markets
with the usual combination of odd smells from the butcher and fish
stalls, selling a myriad choice of food. There are some very old
shops, selling all your temple offering needs, plus flashy new gold
shops, but we were glad to get on the bus at 3 pm and head off for
our first land border crossing on this trip. We'll tell you about
that in our next blog …
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