BANGKOK (May 9-14,
2013)
We continued our Thailand adventures on the mainland after
flying from Phuket to Bangkok. After hearing how crazy Bangkok is from other
travellers and reading about all the scams to watch out for I was a bit anxious
to fly in. We booked five nights stay in order to ensure enough time to sort
out our visa for Vietnam and get some sightseeing in. I’m not sure if it was
the area we stayed in (near Siam Square as opposed to the backpacker ghetto of
Khao San Road) but we never really felt overwhelmed and actually enjoyed our
time in Bangkok, scam-free! We did pay a bit more for staying in this area but
we saved on transportation costs by being close to the BTS instead of taking
taxis so it worked out well. Not to mention the staff at the hotel we stayed at
were so friendly and full of information!
Our first full day in Bangkok was devoted to getting our
Vietnam visa and we managed to apply and receive the visa on the same day. We
did pay a bit more for “express” service but it was nice to have it taken care
of and then have the rest of our time in Bangkok to spend on sightseeing.
The major sightseeing day was spent at the Grand Palace/Wat
Phra Kaew and Wat Pho. To get to the area we took the BTS and then a river ferry.
Cheap transport and nice viewing along the way. The Grand Palace is the old
royal residence and encompasses many temples including Wat Phra Kaew where the
Emerald (actually made out of jade but originally thought to be emerald) Buddha
is kept. As you can imagine there were millions of tourists here, an absolutely
packed place and another scorcher of a day. But we were still able to enjoy our
time taking in the beautiful bright colours of the temples and the intricacies
of the exteriors and the murals on the interiors.
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| The Emerald Buddha in his "summer" costume |
The other wat within walking distance we ventured into was
Wat Pho. This wat is known for its Reclining Buddha, the largest in the country
measuring in at 46m in length and 15m in height. With the heat continuing to
rise and the wat being much smaller than the last, we spent only about an hour
wandering around and hiding in the shade before returning to our hotel.
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| One end of the Reclining Buddha |
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| And near the other end |
In addition to this sightseeing we spent some time at the
MBK, a popular and busy mall, to check out some prices on electronics and eat
at the food court which had cheap but yummy Thai dishes. After doing some
research on the internet we found the electronics prices in Thailand aren’t
actually cheaper than Canada or only about $20-50 so we didn’t see it worthwhile
getting anything.
Our last evening in Bangkok we took a trip out of town to
the Amphawa Floating Markets. These markets are known for good food and nice
handicrafts and souvenirs. These were refreshing to visit because 1. It was out
in the countryside and 2. It wasn’t nearly as touristy as a neighbouring
floating market. I think we only saw about seven other Westerners. The area is
also known to have fireflies but unfortunately we didn’t see any.
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| Sunset over Amphawa Floating Markets/Walking Street |
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| Shot from a bridge overlooking some of the food boats |
After our five nights in Bangkok we caught a bus to
Sukhothai which took six hours. The roads were smooth and the bus had air
conditioning so no complaints from us!
SUKHOTHAI (May 14-16,
2013)
The draw to Sukhothai for both us and other travelers is the
historical park, a World Heritage Site. The Park is the remains of the ancient
city, the first independent Thai kingdom, with ruins dating back to the 12th
Century. The other draw for us was that it was a mid-way travel point
between Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
The area of Sukhothai is split into New and Old with the Old
housing the Sukhothai Historical Park. So we spent two nights in New Sukhothai
and the one full day exploring the Park.
It’s a short 12km trip between New and Old.
Once we arrived at the Park, we rented bicycles to get
around and an audio tour unit to share and then we were set to explore! We stuck
to the Central Zone but even staying in that area we managed to spend three
hours there. We learned a lot about the
specific architectural style of the temples and gained a better understanding
of the Buddhism religion. We loved seeing something so different
architecturally compared to Canada and learning the extensive history of the
area, another aspect our country cannot provide being so young. It was also a
refreshing change of environment having previously been in Bangkok, a big city,
for five days.
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| One of the Buddhas in Wat Mahathat |
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| A large bodhi tree like the one Buddha laid under and eventually achieved Enlightenment |
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| Standing Buddha in Wat Mahathat |
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| Wat Si Sawai, originally Hindu temples |
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| Adrian with some elephants at Wat Sorasak |
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| Ta Pha Daeng Shrine, the oldest structure in the Park |
We returned to the hostel by 3pm and spent the rest of the
day and night trying to cool off from the 38 degree weather. Unfortunately not so successful staying in a
fan room and the temperature not going below 26 degrees. So our sleep wasn’t
the best but regardless we left the next day and took another six hour bus ride
to Chiang Mai.
CHIANG MAI (May
16-21, 2013)
We were excited to arrive in Chiang Mai because not only was
it our last destination in Thailand but we planned to do a number activities
here. This city has so much to offer – adventure tours, numerous wats, abundant
Thai culture with muay thai matches and cooking classes and a chilled out vibe.
This was possibly my favourite place in Thailand because of the activities we
did but the locals were much more friendly and welcoming while still holding
onto their customs and traditions as opposed to catering to the Westerners like
on the islands.
Our first activity was a half day of spending time with
Asian elephants at a camp. We learned about them and got to know them by
feeding them bananas and getting slobbery suction kisses from them. We then got
into Mahout training and got taught phrases to direct the elephants and how to
get on and off the elephant safely. Soon
we were all trained up and Adrian and I shared an elephant ride around the camp
then to a watering hole. Here we bathed the elephant with some wood that
produces a natural soap/shampoo when scrubbed. After that we took a short ride
back to the base and had some lunch. Our half day was summed up when we all
received Mahout training certificates. A bit cheesy but pretty standard for
activities such as this.
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| Kisses! |
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| Up on top and feeding her bananas or "boon" for food |
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| Cooling down and bathing our elephant |
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| Ride back to camp |
Our second activity was the next day – a full day Thai cooking
class out on a farm! We all got picked up by a minibus and started the day out
at the company’s in-town location for an orientation and to decide which dishes
we would like to cook. There were six categories and we were to choose one from
each – stir fries, appetizers, soups, curry paste, curry and dessert. Adrian
picked a hot basil chicken stir fry, spring rolls, coconut milk soup, green curry
(paste) and bananas in coconut milk. I chose chicken with cashew nuts stir fry,
glassnoodle salad, tom yum soup, massaman curry (paste) and mango with sticky
rice for dessert.
Once we got out to the farm we learned about their
sustainable living practises and took a tour through the farm to see all the
rice, herbs and vegetables they grow there.
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| At the farm |
Back in the kitchen we were shown how to make sticky rice
and then learned how to make pad thai. From there it was “non-stop cooking”
like our instructor, Indy, liked to say cooking up our first two dishes, stir
fries and appetizers. Adrian’s and my dishes didn’t turn out too bad! Then we
were given a 20 minute chill out break. After it was more non-stop cooking,
grinding up our curry pastes, cooking the curries, making soup and putting our
desserts together.
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| Non-stop cooking! |
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| Our curry pastes - red, massaman, panang and green |
By the end of the day we were absolutely stuffed with our
own dishes and from sampling others! We had a great group for the day and so
not only did we learn a lot about Thai cooking but we were also in good company
doing it. We had two Canadian girls now working in Hong Kong, a Dutch couple
and a girl from China. As a parting gift we all received a cookbook with all
the meals we cooked that day plus some others. Can’t wait to cook some of these
dishes at home!
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| 306 steps to the wat |
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| Buddha, Buddha, Buddha |
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| View of the city below |
We spent our last night checking out the Night Bazaar and
then organised our bags for our flight the next day – Chiang Mai to Bangkok,
Bangkok to HANOI, VIETNAM!
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