EnglandMole ValleyGatwickGatwick Airport51°9’35” N 0°10’43” W
April 5 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
19:30
Welcome back! Hope those of you that do, had a good Easter. Hope those of you that don’t, enjoyed the time off.
Thailand this time, and with my amazing partner-in-crime along for the ride. Vicki and I have both wanted to visit Thailand for years - both since and before we got together in 2007, and yet we’ve never quite got around to it. We’ve talked about the why - we both know a bunch of folks that have visited Thailand multiple times over the years, and what they’ve told us is that it’s changed, it’s massively modernised from what it was, and that it’s not the same experience anymore. We listened to them.
More recently, and in some part due to me having so much more time to travel, we decided that our experience of Thailand would be our experience. We’ve both been to Goa multiple times, and whilst we’d not necessarily say it was the same experience of 20 years ago, we still love it. Why should Thailand be different? There are still amazing places to explore, there’s still incredible food to eat, there are still great people to meet - and what we’ll come back with are OUR memories of Thailand, our perspectives, our experiences and our judgements.
We’re on a late flight out of Gatwick, and much like our trip to South Africa earlier this year, it’s made for a pretty laid back departure from the UK - even easier this time as we’re flying on Emirates from Gatwick, just up the road from Brighton. Our cab arrives at 17:30, and we’re safely checked in, through airport security and into Brewdog by 18:30. I’m flying on Emirates quite frequently this year, so the pathway from home to departure lounge beer is becoming a well worn one for me. I now realise the bar we’re in is opposite one of the bars we used to visit c. 15 years ago before flying, when we were both a LOT more anxious about it. We spend some time discussing a fateful occasion, when after necking about a bottle of wine each in pretty sharp order, we order another to decant into water bottles to ‘keep us going’ until the drinks trolley makes the rounds on the flight. Thankfully, we’re both a lot happier flying these days. I dive into a few excellent ciders, while Vicki browses various offerings from the wine menu.
21:00
Our flight is the last out of the airport tonight. It’s a slightly strange sensation knowing that everyone left in the airport is going to the same place as you. The bar starts shutting down around us. We’re not *quite* the last to leave, but very close to it…Read more
ThailandBangkokPhra NakhonKhlong Bang Lamphu13°45’45” N 100°29’46” E
April 6 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
22:30
I suspect these updates will be a daily affair. It transpires that having my travel partner in crime with me means that my ‘spare’ time for writing is occupied with much laughter and stuff. There will always be times when Vicks is sleeping, and I am not.
Lots to catch up on though. Our first flight from Gatwick was a breeze. We both managed about 3 hours sleep from a total flying time of a shade over 6 hours, which is a pretty good result. We land around 07:30, and have a frankly leisurely transit at Dubai airport, with more than enough time for a couple of beers at Hard Rock Café. I love transit airport bars, particularly those with such a geographical reach as Dubai. All time-zones are represented, and we enjoy guessing what body-clock time different travellers are on. There are the Europeans, for whom it’s 04:00 or thereabouts, the North Americans, who are at the midnight end of the day, and Asians, who are approaching lunch. For all, it’s definitely beer o’clock.
Our second flight is an equally straightforward affair. Flying time on this leg is only 5 1/2 hours, as we’ll catch a heavy tail wind most of the way. Again, we manage some decent sleep. 3 hours for Vicks, and near enough to that for me. We should both feel fresh enough on arrival to manage to head out for some beers and food.
Deplaning in Bangkok, we’re met by a wall of heat. From the air-conditioned cool of the plane to the tropical humidity of the city is a body shock. Immigration is done in a jiffy - neither of us is asked any questions about our stay, visas etc etc. The drive into the city is a slightly fraught affair, our driver determined that we’ll make it to our hotel in record time. Fair play to him - Google Maps reckoned it was a 40 minute drive, but we arrive in less than 30. It’s 20:00 local time, and we both feel like our journey has rushed past very quickly, despite the distance we’ve travelled.
Checked in and cooled down, we head out into Banglamphu for an explore and for some sustenance. I’ve marked a bunch of places in Google Maps that are worth a visit, and most appear to be cocktail bars. We womble to one of the food places I’ve recommended, which transpires to be a tiny restaurant serving some cracking Thai staples. We share some fried rice noodles, a green papaya salad and some fried dumplings - all of which are excellent. I’m a huge fan of these Thai salads, and often make a version at home with cucumber, carrot and shredded raw swede. When ordering, we’re asked how hot we’d like it. “Tourist spicy’ is our reply. We agree on 1 chilli, and that’s about right. I could stomach more, but I’m not sure it would be in my long-term best interests. Including a couple of beers, the damage is about £12.
We wander a little further towards the river, and find the incredibly named “Adhere the 13th Blues Bar.” We sit at a small street side table watching the world go by, me with a beer and Vicki with a Pina Colada. This tiny joint is heaving, and a band is warming up. The smells of Thai weed drift down the street. The band are good, playing boogie-woogie style blues pretty effectively. A trio of middle-aged European men arrive, and I can’t help but think ‘sex tourists.’
We’re both approaching the finishing line. We manage one more beer at a backpacker bar in the back streets of Banglamphu, and stumble back to our hotel room. It’s 23:00, and we’re both hopeful that our sleeps earlier will mean we get a decent sleep through the night. Fingers crossed etc etc.Read more
ThailandBangkokKhaosan13°45’38” N 100°29’52” E
April 7 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
11:00
Needn’t have worried about sleeping/jet-lag. We both sleep pretty much through the night. I wake up a shade before 10:00 feeling hugely refreshed. I wake Vicki as agreed at 10:00, and she declares she needs just a few more sleeps. Gives me a chance to catch up on my travel musings. We’ve nothing much planned today. Some general mooching and exploring. Feels deluxe to be able to take the morning very very easy….
14:45
Vicki attempts to wake up on several occasions, and fails. At 12:15, I decide I’ll try another sleep, and have a fab 45 min doze. I decide 11 hours is definitely enough. Vicki does not. She finally wakes up at 14:00, after 13 1/2 hours. A tremendous effort. I’ve long since given up trying to persuade her against these kinds of sleeps. I’m no longer jealous of them, as I can all but match her on the sleeping front when I need to. I’ve also just learnt that there’s no point. When she’s minded to sleep for as long as possible, there’s nothing I know of that will change her mind. While she’s slept, I’ve been updating our plan for today. That’s a bit of a misnomer really - I’ve been gradually been deleting stuff that we now won’t get to. It’s all good - nothing during our stay in Bangkok is set in stone, and I’d far rather we were both rested and relaxed. I think we’ll head out this afternoon to the Khao San road, and maybe on towards the Riverside neighbourhood. We need food first though…
22:00
Admittedly, we only make it out of our room around 15:00, but it feels like we’ve had a full and productive day. Leaving the hotel, we’re met by a wall of heat - proper shock to the senses. We march (lies) up the Samsen Road in search of lunch. There’s a well reviewed place not far from us. Walking through their door, it’s beautifully cool, and as we sit at our table, we walk past a giant wine fridge. Much like my time in Sri Lanka, wine will, I suspect, be fleeting in Thailand. Grab it while you can etc etc. The bar has a cool sounding Thai IPA on draft which I order, and we spend a little longer than we really should asking for a glass of Chardonnay for Vicki. My beer arrives quickly, along with the water we’ve requested. There’s some confusion about Vicki’s wine. Our server spends several minutes stood in front of the wine fridge looking confused. She phones someone to request help. None is forthcoming. Eventually, she brings over a completely different bottle of white wine, and asks if it’s the right one. It’s close enough, so we acquiesce. It’s actually pretty decent - an oaky Aussie Chardonnay. Vicki looks very pleased with herself.
Looking at the menu, the food sounds amazing, albeit much pricier than the tiny place we ate in last night. We both remark that it takes very little time when we’re travelling to stop converting everything from Baht (or other currency) to £ each time we see a price, but rather to compare prices to others we’ve seen nearby. This place is comfortably double what we paid last night, which makes it a treat. We order some braised and stir-fried pork with holy basil, and some grilled sirloin with Thai fried rice. Both are delicious.
Sated, we head back out, aiming for the Khao San Road. This is the backpacker hub made so famous by The Beach, but changed beyond all recognition now. It’s seen a significant upgrade in the past 20 years, and is now a neon lit, paved highway of bars offering buckets, and weed shops. There is, of course, an Irish bar.
The sun’s beating down, and we deserve a beer. We walk along one of the streets running parallel to Khao San, and plonk ourselves onto a sofa outside My Darling. It feels like a beach bar without the beach. As we drink our Tiger (me) and wine (Vicki), we watch the street hawkers selling their wares to the customers. Nearby is an English family. Looks like Mum, Dad and two boys, both of whom look to be around 20. Dad buys a bifta from one of the hawkers, and shares it with his boys. Another hawker proposes some sort of taser device, which they snap up, and then proceed to shock each other with. It’s top drawer entertainment.
The booze makes us hotter than we were, which feels like it’s defeating the object. I find us a bar a couple of hundred metres up the road that looks air-conditioned. We make for it with very little haste. Walking into the chilly bar is a bit of a moment for both of us, It’s about 38C today, and feels every bit of it. There’s some sort of Happy Hour deal on at the moment on cocktails, so Vicki orders several strawberry daiquiris. I grab a glass of wine, but promise to help out with the third cocktail. We spend a lovely hour or so chatting, catching up on our correspondences, reading, cooling.
When we leave, the sun has set, and it’s starting to cool a little. We make for the rooftop bar of the place we had lunch earlier. There’s a lovely breeze at 6 floors up, and there’s some very cool house playing in the background. We grab a bottle of wine to share, and hit the off switch. There’s a very pretty, glam Thai lady sitting on her own at the bar. I more than slightly suspect she’s a hooker, working a smart hotel bar. She starts chatting to us, and I feel a little ashamed. She is Shaanxi, a Thai born US citizen living in San Diego, who is in Thailand for work. Well - she’s actually in Thailand for fun, before she heads to Malaysia and the Philippines for work. I would have pegged her at around 30-35, but she’s actually mid to late 40s. She has a bit of a horror story to tell us about an allergic reaction to a mossie bite that leaves her in hospital in Bangkok for 2 days, coughing blood, and with a massively swollen face. She’s a very pleasant distraction for half an hour, but at no point do I feel like telling her I thought she was on the game.
Our boozing has left us peckish, and we head back into Banglamphu, stopping at a hostel restaurant not far from our hotel. We have another Som Tum (think it was 2 chillies this time, noticeably warmer), some shrimp fried rice, and some pork Laab balls - all tremendous. The wine’s not bad either. We’re both flagging a little, so I suggest to Vicks that we head back to the hotel for a rest/ recuperate.
Bless her - she’s fast asleep next to me. It’s been a tough day…Read more
ThailandBangkokWat PhoKhlong Wat Arun13°44’41” N 100°29’28” E April 8 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
09:30
I’m frustratingly awake a little after 06:00. I was asleep before 23:00, so it’s not like I’ve not had a decent amount. It’s more that my darling wife fell asleep well before me, and has continued to sleep for two hours after I wake up. It’s just not fair. I’ve spent a happy enough couple of hours working out our plans for today. We’re going to do our very best to do more than a glorified bar crawl. So - that’s slightly fewer bars, slightly more random pictures of weird shit. Hold tight for feedback…
16:30
We have repaired to our hotel room to recover before our tuk-tuk food tour later. The temperature is crushing. We head out for some breakfast around 11:00, and then jump on the courtesy tuk-tuk from our hotel down to the Grand Palace at 12:00. The sun is sweltering. We quickly clock a poster informing us that we are not appropriately dressed. Long trousers for men, and I suspect they’d cast aspersions on Vicki’s leggings as well. Fair fucks - we should have checked ahead of time. We plan to head on to Wat Pho - famous for the giant, gold reclining buddha. It’s a 15 minute walk, but we feel like we’ve walked double that distance. I stop to douse myself in factor 50 sunscreen. As we near the entrance, I spot the same poster. We’re not having much luck today, and are starting to melt. We quickly decide to head for the river, and hope we find a bar we can shelter in for a while. Walking past both the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, they look very pretty, but there’s no way I’m wearing long trousers in heat like this.
Approaching the riverside, we find a cool (literally and figuratively) little bar/restaurant and dive in. The Chang they bring me is perhaps the sweetest nectar I’ve ever tasted. Vicki is sat in front of a giant fan. As we finish our beers, we decide we’re not yet ready to brave the heat again, so order a couple of gin and tonics. We could put roots down quite happily… The views over the river are great. Across the river is Wat Arun, another stunning example of Buddhist temple architecture (which we won’t be allowed into due to dress code etc etc). I have a squiz in my Lonely Planet, and yes - they do advise that you check the dress code requirements for these monuments. C’est la vie.
We decide to head further to the east of Bangkok, towards Chinatown. The best option is to jump on one of the regular boat buses that meander chaotically up and down the Chao Phraya river. It’s a short, 5 min walk to the ferry pier, and we’re both steaming by the time we arrive. We buy our tickets (all of 20p each), and sit in the waiting room for our ferry. There’s a digital display showing that two boats are going to arrive soon that are heading the wrong way (for us) up the river, but there are no scheduled boats going the way we need. Suddenly, the tannoy system kicks into life. We blindly follow people in making for the boarding point. Hopefully there’s a) going to be a boat, and b) it’ll be the right one. There is and it is. We (very) quickly board the Orange boat heading East. We’ve got 4 stops to go. Cruising down the river is amazing. The views of life on the shore are fascinating - a mixture of family homes on stilts over water, food and drink places, and the occasional hotel. A few longtail boats speed past us - serving as private water taxis. The boat’s pretty busy. For the folks of Bangkok, it’s much like taking the bus.
We disembark at Marine Department, and head for a restaurant I’ve heard great things about, which is only a couple of minutes walk up the road. We arrive, and the only seating options are outside in the sun. We decline. We walk further to find another well reviewed place, which is closed. Today is a public holiday, and quite a few places have shut.
I find one last place to try, and we set off. I can just about bare the heat, which is suffocating. I can see Vicks is starting to struggle. We’re about halfway to this alleged hostelry when we pass a 7/11. We dive in to cool down in the stunningly cold A/C. I suggest we grab some cold water, and Vicki approves. She looks a bit peaky, and I suggest she has a little rest before we continue. Bless - she’s been properly taken down by the heat, and has a little sit down next to one of the chilled food sections. We decide that continuing to march around this heat isn’t going to do anyone any favours. We grab a cab to take us back towards Banglamphu. We seek refuge in Tani, where we had lunch yesterday. We know the room is cool, the food is great, and the wine may or may not be available. We have a fabulous lunch, a really pretty good bottle of Prosecco to share, after some more confusion on the part of the service team to find what we’ve ordered. We’re just grateful when they turn up with cold things.
Back in our room, the A/C is cranked up to the max, and we’re trying to summon the energy to head back out around 18:00…
23:30
Well that was FUN. We jump in a cab around 17:45 to take us over towards Chinatown. The car is a Mitsubishi Xpander. True story. As the sun starts to set, it feels like the very worst of the heat is beginning to pass. We arrive at the mall near which we’ll meet our guide and fellow tourists. Both of us are feeling a touch sideways. Difficult to put finger on, but just a sense of being out of sorts. Vicks uses the word discombobulated. I retort with dazed and confused. Neither of us is wrong. It feels like we have a light touch of heat stroke - a little dizziness, light nausea, and I’ve had a banging headache all day. In the mall, we find a grocery store and buy cold water and a couple of chocolate bars. They help us feel a little better.
Meeting time for the tour is 19:00, and we’re quickly bundled into our tuk-tuk for the evening’s entertainment. Our first stop is at a Michelin recommended noodle shop. We have a quick look at their ‘kitchen’ which is 4 oil drums being used as charcoal burners in what can best be described as a back-alley. The heat is staggering, but the skill on show breathtaking. Their stir-fried chicken noodles are sublime. Amazing marinade on the chicken, hand pulled rice noodles with an other worldly texture, eggs scrambled in at the end of cooking, then finished with some moderately spicy pickled chillies, and some sweet and sour sriracha. Banging. The price for these noodles of all noodles? £1.20 for a decent bowlful.
Our second stop is slightly more esoteric. It’s run by an Uighur Muslim, who emigrated to Northern Thailand (Chiang Mai) about 15 years ago, and then on to Bangkok around 8 years ago. She brought the flavours of the Chinese Muslim traditions with her, but cooks with local ingredients that would be out of place in China. Galangal aplenty, fresh white pepper, egg noodles, and coconut milk. We’re served another healthy portion of chicken, stewed in a spiced coconut broth, with egg noodles, and deep dried wonton wrappers. Our guide, Bill, directs us to top the bowl with a squeeze of lime, some raw red onion and some pickled cabbage. It’s delicious, and whilst I might have thought the onion and cabbage overkill, they both really add to the taste of the dish.
By stop 3, we’re flagging a little. Happily, it’s a more family style affair, with sharing plates laid across a large table. Some grilled pork neck is just brilliant, a pork soup like a hug in a bowl, a salad of pickled bamboo shoots not quite what I expected, and a Som Tum (green papaya salad) actually a bit bland. Vicks and I both love this salad, but particularly when it’s got bang and punch in equal amounts. This is delicate, subtly fragrant, and as a result, just a touch underwhelming.
We’re rolling towards the finish line, with a stop at a snack stall for sweet treats. I couldn’t really tell you what they are. Honestly - all three that we try are a little strange. One is deep fried egg yolk noodles with stewed persimmon, one is a little doughy coconut cake, and the last is a sort of rubbery disc of ‘something’ with some crunchy banana in it.
We’ve christened our driver ‘Jeff’ mainly so we have something to shout to him to cajole him to drive faster. There are 8 people on our tour, in 4 tuk-tuks. Whilst the race isn’t official, there’s quite a lot of scheming and skullduggery at play. On one single corner, we somehow conspire to go from 1st to 4th. We are disappointed. Jeff doesn’t seem to care.
Our penultimate stop is at the flower market, a huge engine of enterprise that is open 24/7. We learn a little about how to fold lotus flowers properly, see huge mountains of marigolds being prepared for forthcoming religious celebrations, and are shown some weird and wonderful vegetables by Bill.
It’s pushing 22:00, and Vicks and I are both ready for a beer. Happily, our last stop is at a riverside bar, very near where we pit-stopped earlier today. The view across to Wat Arun is incredible. The temple is lit up, and contrasts so vividly against the backdrop of the city. A drink is included in our tour price, so we both grab a Cuba Libre, and kick-back. We’re on a 5th floor rooftop terrace, and the breeze is taking the edge off the heat.
At 22:15, Jeff takes us back to our hotel, which we ignore and head to a bar we found last night that serves half decent wine at more than half decent prices. I love going back to a bar that we’ve only visited once, only to be greeted like long-lost friends returning from adventures. Couple of wines later, and we’re ready for rest. We’ve made some decisions about our plans tomorrow that should avoid us having to do too much walking in the insane heat. As it’s not a public holiday, we should also find it easier to locate cool oases along the way to simmer down.
SHOULD.
SHOULD.Read more
ThailandBangkokSamphantawongWat Pathum Khongkha Ratchaworawihan13°44’9” N 100°30’36” E
April 9 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 31 °C
10:00
Day 5 is off to a somewhat bumpy start. Neither of us has slept well. While reading last night as Vicki fell asleep next to me, I could feel a thickness in the back of my throat. A couple of times, while still awake, my breathing started to sound a little like a snore. This does not bode well. Sure enough, around 02:30, I receive a ‘gentle’ nudge to stop me snoring. Normally, this is only when I’m sleeping on my back, to encourage me to roll on to my side. Tonight, oh no - I’m already on my side, and yet still… This happens a few times, and I sense us both becoming frustrated. At 03:30, I decide to read for a while, to (hopefully) let Vicki fall into a deeper sleep. At 04:30, I try to sleep again, and am just starting to drift off when I receive a sharp kick to the shin. Nothing to do with snoring this time - I think Vicks is just in the midst of a very vivid dream. It’s accidental, but still a shock. I finally get back off to sleep. When the alarm goes off at 09:15, we compare war stories. Poor Vicks was later kept awake by some noisy folks in the hotel. It has not been a successful night. It takes me no time at all to suggest Vicki gets some more sleep. An overly tired Mrs Hubs is not going to have fun today…
21:37
Well, we HAVE had fun, largely because we’ve scaled back our ambition to cater to the insane heat we’re experiencing. Today is going to hit 39C, with a ‘feels like’ temperature of 47C. Shortly after my last entry, I head out to grab us an iced coffee from the shop next to our hotel. Even at 10:00, the heat is just a mind-shattering assault. We decide that we need to keep walking in the heat to an absolute minimum today, and plan for any outdoors activity later in the afternoon. I play around with a few ideas, and come to the conclusion that we’ll have lunch by the river, then head onwards towards a graffiti park in the financial district, with frequent stops along the way to rehydrate.
Lunch is at an awesome place called Naam 1608, and when I say it’s by the river, I mean it’s on the river. Our table is hanging out over the water, and the views are incredible. There’s also a breeze coming off the water that helps cools us, and some electric fans in a supporting role. It’s still hot, but manageably so. We have some incredible food - a spicy glass noodle salad, some stir-fried duck with basil, and some fried rice. The heat of the salad particularly is towards my upper limit for chilli. Or at least, it’s towards my upper ‘comfortable’ limit. Vicks is far more careful than I am in avoiding the many slices of birds-eye chilli through the dishes. My bravado will return to haunt me at some point…
After lunch, we jump in a cab to take us over towards the financial district. After 3 days in Bangkok, my geography of the city is starting to piece together. There are several places I recognise as we pass them, and some others that ring vague bells. We’d planned a walk through one of Bangkok’s most beautiful parks this afternoon, but sack it off due to the heat. Instead, we have our cab drop us at a lovely hotel, with an even lovelier bar. What starts as a brief pit-stop transforms into a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hour sojourn, replete with cocktails, wine and Prosecco. The bathrooms are spectacular, and come equipped with Japanese toilets - featuring, um, ‘additional cleaning functions.’ It appears the first I visit is out of order. Not to be denied, I use a different cubicle shortly before we leave, and am rewarded with a really rather lovely sensation in the derriere section of the orchestra. There is an incident when one of my dearest friends who shall remain nameless (isn’t that right, Ali?) laughs at the use of the word ‘pegging’ in my day 3 write up. Vicks has to resort to Google…
By 17:00, we figure it might be safe to go outside. We make it as far as a little street food market about 50m from the bar we’ve been in. Some food seems in order, so we pop into an Izakaya specialising in Yakitori - small skewers of (typically) meat cooked over charcoal. The undoubted highlight of our visit is a can of sparkling plum saké with jelly through it. I’m not kidding - proper jelly. It sounds like it should be disgusting, but really is not. We have a lovely tuna sashimi salad, some squid eggs, quite a few different bits of chicken (but stop short of the gizzards), and pork belly. V tasty.
Around the corner, we take a wander through the graffiti park, where a vigorous game of football is in progress. The wall art is pretty varied. Some of an incredibly high standard, and pretty imaginative; some is more basic tagging. It’s great to see a public park like this at least in part given over to folks to express themselves in this way.
We’ve an early start in the morning, needing to be at the airport by 08:00 for our flight down to Koh Samui. We head back over to Banglamphu for a glass of wine (or 3 as it turns out) at So-Samsen, before heading back to our room to get packed up.
Reflections on Bangkok? We’ve both really enjoyed our time here. It’s been a little different than we’d perhaps intended. We’ve treated it as a several day insight into the food culture of Bangkok, without necessarily tapping in to the history and scenery of the city. The city is vibrant and exciting, and has an incredible amount to offer. We both agree we’d happily return, but would first try to understand whether the heat we’ve experienced is an off-kilter season, or as we both suspect, evidence of climate change. If the latter, we’d have to try and visit during one of the cooler months. That said, Bangkok doesn’t really have significantly cooler months. Average highs for April are typically 34C. The lowest monthly average (December) you’re likely to see is 31C.
We’re both ready to head South, and continue our adventure in the islands, first in Gulf of Thailand, and then over in the Andaman Sea.Read more
ThailandChangwat Surat ThaniBan Mae HatAo Mae Hat10°4’58” N 99°49’25” E
April 10 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
09:20
Today is comfortably the longest travel day we have before we head home. The alarm clock at 06:00 is no-one’s best friend, but I’m more than impressed when Vicks and I are both ready to leave our room by 06:50. Our flight to Koh Samui is 10:10, so we’re aiming for the airport around 08:00. Traffic is surprisingly light. In the city centre, it’s busy but not manic. Once we’re out on the expressway, the vast majority of traffic is headed into the city, rather than out. Chaos only ensues when we get to the airport. 400 cars and vans are competing for approximately 17 drop-off spaces.
Inside the terminal, things couldn’t be easier and calmer. A very sweet Bangkok Airways employee helps us with our baggage tags, and another then helps us drop the bags off, before handing over our boarding passes. Soup to nuts in about 5 minutes flat. We pass a pretty vague security check, unsure whether that’s all the security we need before boarding. We head down to the domestic departures concourse, stop briefly at the Bangkok Airways lounge for a sandwich. Boarding is at 09:40, so we’ve plenty of time.
14:35
The flight down was blissfully brief, but had a slightly rocky start. We’re due to board at 09:40 for a 10:10 departure. Per the plan, we’re corralled onto an airport bus around 09:35 for the (hopefully) short drive out to the plane. The bus does indeed drive out towards some planes. It then turns around, and heads back to the terminal. No explanation is offered. Happily, there’s A/C on the bus, otherwise there might be mutiny. The A/C is cranking out so hard, in fact, that a couple of folks complain of the cold. Idiots. After ten minutes of waiting with no explanation, we begin to get a little bored. A Thai gentleman asks the driver and airline official what’s going on, and reports back to Vicki that they’re ‘moving the plane’ to another part of the airport. Weird… After another 15 minutes, the airline official tells us that it’ll be another 5 minutes. 10 minutes later, we are de-bussed, back into the terminal. Still no real explanation as to what’s going on. The best we can manage is that there was a technical fault with our original aircraft, but someone’s found another one down the back of the sofa - it’ll be here in 10 minutes, then they’ve just gotta bung some unleaded in it, and we’ll be off. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Back in the terminal, there’s a little grab and go cart that sells various snacks and drinks, including ice cold cans of Singha. Rude not to / settling nerves etc etc. Finally, about 40 minutes after our original departure time, we’re loaded back onto the bus, and to our plane.
We’re on a propeller plane - not a single engine / 4 seat type job, but a 60 odd seater. Same aircraft we flew on once or twice in Vietnam, and that I travelled on from Nairobi down to the Masai Mara a few years back. It’s fairly cramped inside, and I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get used to the sensation of being so low to the ground, when we’ve most recently flown the upper deck of an A380. All that said, I find the thrum of a propeller engine a little surreal, and definitely soothing. I can sense Vicki tensing a couple of times in the seat next to me, but on reflection, we both agree it’s a pretty easy way to head Southward bound…
Koh Samui Airport is teeny. There are actually a few international flights that land here, but it’s predominantly used for small, domestic flights. The ‘arrivals hall’ looks like a gazebo my old school mate Henry used to have in his Dad’s garden. The luggage carousel is the smallest I think I’ve ever seen. The heat immediately feels degrees easier than in Bangkok. Yes - it’s still hot, but straight away we both feel like it’s easily manageable.
Our ferry departs from the other side of the island in about 3 hours. Our cab drives us over to Na Thon - around 35 minutes. Gazing out of the window doesn’t make me want to fall in love with Koh Samui. It feels very built up. Shacks - whether housing massage parlours, restaurants, cannabis cafés - line the streets in unending fashion. We got about 10km without spotting a tree. I’m not sure it’s even a town that we’re in - but rather just a conurbation build up along the North coast of the island. Not really my cup of tea.
We’re at Na Thon by 13:30, and have a couple of hours to kill. There’s an interesting sounding café/bar a couple of hundred metres away, so we heft our bags onto our backs, and make our way. The Road Less Travelled is a very cool, bohemian style hangout. There’s quite a bit of confusion when we ask for a glass of wine, but we get there eventually. Their food is amazing - a kind of Eggs Benedict type affair for Vicki, and a spicy glass noodle and prawn salad for me. It’s a really rather pleasant place to spend a couple of hours while we wait for our onward journey to resume…
23:50
The ferry from Koh Samui leaves at 16:00, so we’re at the ferry terminal by 15:30. We’re not really sure what’s going on, except that we need to put a tag on our bags, and a sticker on our t-shirts. It’s all a little confusing. We board around 16:15. Downstairs there’s a very cool (temp wise) cabin, which is also very sterile. We elect to sit on the middle deck where we can actually breathe, and feel the ocean breeze as the ferry moves. The boat is full - very few seats available, but we find a little corner to make our own. My t-shirt sticker falls off, but I attach it to the back of my Magsafe iPhone case - a move I will later regret. We have a quick stop to make in Koh Pha Ngan, then full steam ahead for Koh Tao. There’s a hazy quality to the sun - it actually doesn’t feel that hot or that strong. I’m more than happy leaning against the edge of the deck, watching the world go by.
We’re a touch late arriving into Koh Tao, but happily our guesthouse is only 100m walk from the ferry pier. There’s a really laid back feel to the place. it’s definitely taken a leaf out of the book of surf-houses I’ve stayed in over the years. Their bar opens up onto the beach, and we watch a staggeringly beautiful sunset over the water, while we slightly bizarrely enjoy a Thatcher’s Gold - a cider I normally associate with being at Glastonbury.
We’ve done Thai food seventy six ways since Saturday, so head to a seafood place a few minutes walk along the coast. The food is smashing - no idea what fish they actually cooked for us, but it was very tasty, and done incredibly well. The bar even serves Savannah Dry, so I’m coming back for sure.
We nip back to our room to drop off a couple of groceries, then head along the coast in the other direction to a place called Bamboo Beach Bar. Toes in the sand, cocktails in the hand sorta place. I discover a Thai brewed cider, which is way better than I thought it would be, and also manage to try a Gin and Manao, which Vicki Rish insisted is the best thing since crack. She’s not wrong. Definitely from the same stable as vodka limon, but even and more. There are some cool tunes being played - Bonobo style house. It reminds us a lot of Goa a ways back when. We could happily weigh anchor, but we’ve got an incredibly busy day of doing fuck all tomorrow, so decide that bed and sleep are our friends.Read more
ThailandChangwat Surat ThaniBan Mae HatAo Mae Hat10°4’58” N 99°49’25” E
April 11 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
10:30
We agree a 10:00 alarm, but I’m awake around 08:30. Our room is pretty basic. Clean, comfortable, cool etc etc - but it lacks some fairly straightforward amenities - like curtains. I often wear an eye-mask to sleep during Summer, so that I’m not woken by light. Don’t know if I’ve had a particularly vigorous night’s sleep, but it’s on the floor when I wake. The exertion of trying to reach it from my prone position, without falling out of the bed, means that I’m more than awake enough when I finally grab it that more sleep is not an option. Merde.
Now I’m awake, I realise it’s also pretty noisy. Our room is RIGHT next to the bar area. I can hear the water gently lapping- at the shoreline, which is an incredibly soothing sound. I can also pretty clearly hear other guests’ conversations in the bar area and in the property next door to us, which conversely means they’ll be able to hear ours. Noted.
Vicki continues to sleep next to me. Her ability to sleep through pretty much anything, but even more impressively - to wake, and then fall back to sleep in these conditions, is just astonishing. When the alarm goes off at 10:00, she declares more sleeps are needed, and who am I to disagree.
I write this from an increasingly sunny and warm decking area next to the bar. Koh Tao is famous as a diving destination, and there are countless diving boats heading off into the distance. I gave up on diving when I had terrible balance issues about 10 years ago, and haven’t been tempted to give it another go since. I can just about cope with snorkelling to a few metres deep, but not sure my vestibular system will cope with anything deeper than that.
Oooh, 10:30. Time to check on Vicki…
18:00
It’s been a stop/start kind of a day. Vicki agrees to some limited waking up at 10:30, and has had 10+ hours of sleep (again). I need to wash the travel off me, so have a quick shower before we head out for some breakfast. We find a cool little café where Vicki can quench her thirst for eggs.
She’s feeling a little delicate though. I suspect a combination of heat and travel have caught up with her. We agree it makes sense to stay within dashing distance of a decent dunny for the day. We spend a very relaxing bit of time down by the beach, watching the world go by. Around 14:00, I feel like a nap, so have one. There’s no way I’m letting Vicki have a full two hours more of sleep than me.
We’re both feeling a little peckish by 16:00, so head out to grab some food. There’s a great little Thai place just down the street from us. Ultra basic, but very tasty. They manage to cater to Vicki’s need for plain - with an omelette and some steamed rice. I’ve not had a curry yet, so have the green chicken curry. It’s superb. Her rice finished, Vicks decides to head back to our room while I finish up. Having finished my rice, and with half a bowl of curry sauce left, I opt to drink it from the bowl like a soup. The cunning cook lady has cunningly hidden three cunning birds-eye chillies at the bottom of the bowl. Thankfully, I only eat one of them before I realise. It’s a bit of a shock to the system though.
We repair to our guesthouse, and grab a drink by the beach as the sun starts to droop towards the horizon. Vicks heads off for a rest/nap, and I contemplate just how much effort it takes to do as little as we have today. Honestly, it’s not easy…
23:30
Vicks sleeps for a good 90 minutes, and I find her curled under a bath towel when I head back to our room. We’re both ready for a snack, so head out for some food. She’s not quite in a place to extend beyond steamed rice and water. I, on the other hand, have some fab fried prawns, and a slightly weird noodle ‘salad’ that is neither cold, nor strictly speaking, a a salad. A brief pit stop at the 7/11 on the way home for some more water and a couple of beers, and we spend the rest of the evening resting up. I finish a book, while Vicks watches a movie.
I’m conscious I’ve not really taken many/any photos today, so here are some taken by our lovely cat sitter, Kristine, of the boys at home in Brighton.Read more
ThailandChangwat Surat ThaniBan Mae HatAo Mae Hat10°4’58” N 99°49’24” E April 12 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
12:00
We’re both awake at 09:00, fresh faced, bright eyed, bushy tailed. We head out for some breakfast at a funky little café called the Chunky Monkey. An inescapable trait of getting older for us is figuring out whereabouts we are on the age spectrum of somewhere we visit. At Chunky Monkey, we are comfortably in the top decile. As we eat our breakfast, some more folks turn up who happily drop us down (up?) the order. One of them seems to be a minor celebrity, as customers ask to have their photo taken with him. Either that, or he’s just the oldest person they’ve seen in a long while. It’s warming up by the time we’ve finished, and we retire to the bar deck at Sunrise to think about the rest of the day. We’re still not in a rush to do anything of much at all.
15:45
Refreshed, we head out to a nearby backpacker hostel, Echo, that has a rooftop bar. There’s some Latin / salsa style music playing, some very stoned people cackling with laughter, and just a hint of a breeze to cool us down. They’re out of Manao, but have an apparently appropriate substitute in Singha Lemon Soda. The barman really reminds us of an American actor, but we just can’t quite remember of whom. Gazing across the Gulf of Thailand on a baking hot day with a sharpener in hand is a really special way to pass the time.
We head up the road to Breeze for a snack lunch. They give me some excellent vegan Vietnamese Summer Rolls, and Vicks demolishes her fish finger sandwich. She’s feeling her way back gradually on the food front. She risks a glass of wine, declaring this is likely to be what really indicates how her stomach’s feeling.
Dark grey clouds are beginning to gather. One of the weather apps I use reckons there’ll be storms later. Wouldn’t mind that to be honest. Not only do I love thunderstorms (who doesn’t?) but it might just freshen up the humidity a little. I have some boring Dadmin to do, so we head back to Sunrise. The A/C is welcome, as (clearly) is the bed, as Vicki falls into a deep afternoon sleep. I entertain myself by writing this journal, having a beer, and catching up on last week’s episodes of Masterchef.
Rock and roll baby, rock and roll.
21:30
I leave Vicki to sleep for a good 90 minutes. She’ll wake up if she’s ready to. Around 17:00 I dare to wake her, and she actually responds pretty well. I think I’ve judged it perfectly.
I sit outside watching the sunset while Vicks showers and gets herself ready to go out. Some Scandinavian divers are playing a few games of Kubb. I don’t really understand the rules, but it’s fun to spectate. I accidentally cheer at one point, and am unsure whether it was to celebrate a very good throw, or basically to laugh at a poor one.
Although I could sit at this table for the duration, we need to get fed. We head to a well reviewed Thai place on one of the streets heading up from the beach. It is, frankly, average. Everything’s just a bit bland. Not what we’ve come to expect.
To console ourselves, we head to Breeze for a glass of rosé. We don’t know when we’ll see wine this nice again. I mean, it’s *probably* tomorrow, but you can’t take anything for granted.
Reflections on Koh Tao - a BRILLIANT place to kick back. This was always gonna be a lazy couple of days, and it’s worked out exactly that way, irrespective of Vicks’ sickliness. We’d definitely come back here - and happily expect to laze and relax, or be more active and adventurous. We’ve made it a grand total of about 300m from our guesthouse, and I get the sense there’s a whole island out there that we could and should explore.
Back at our room Vicki prevaricates in order to avoid having to pack. We catch up with some friends back in the UK, who are rapidly approaching their weekend. I guess, so are we - but we’re barely aware of what day it is. Bisto.Read more
ThailandChangwat Surat ThaniBan Mae HatAo Hat Yao9°46’28” N 99°57’57” E
April 13 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
17:20
We’ve an alarm at 07:00, but I’m awake comfortably before it. I’ve not slept badly, but equally don’t feel like I’ve had nearly enough. I promise myself a chunky afternoon nap when we get to our accommodation on Koh Pha Ngan.
The early alarm is to make sure we’re at the ferry pier in time for the catamaran to Thong Sala, a 1 hour journey South of us. Since my Sri Lanka trip, I’ve been inspired by Vicki to invest in some packing cubes. They make packing a WHOLE lot quicker/easier. Vicki takes a little longer, but we’re both packed and ready to go a clear 1/2 hour before we need to be.
Our catamaran starts in Koh Tao today, so we board immediately after checking in, and grab a bench seat in the shade (just) to await departure. The boat’s a little late leaving - maybe 10-15 mins, but the breeze once we get underway is a delight. It may only be c. 10:00, but the sun is already strong and hot. The sea is substantially choppier than our journey to Koh Tao on Wednesday. There’s a noticeable lilt and roll to the boat’s motion. We both feel a touch strange for a few minutes as we adjust to it, and elsewhere on the boat there are some casualties with their heads between their knees. There’s a refreshing spray coming up from the sea as the boat crashes down into it, and I enjoy the feeling of being just a touch soggy. Unbeknownst to me, this is not the dampest I will be today. The 1 hour journey passes quickly enough, and we’re soon docking at Thong Sala pier.
Our accommodation is up on the North West of the island, a 10km / 20 minute drive from the pier. Today is the first day of Songkran, the Thai New Year, the main feature of which appears to be water based fun. We saw countless water-pistols being sold in Koh Tao, and as we drive along the coast, our cab is constantly having water thrown at it - from buckets, water-pistols, hoses - even a pressure washer at one point. We’re safe and dry in our vehicle, but see countless scooter riders who are DRENCHED, and frankly a little bit wobbly as they’re riding along. We’d talked about hiring a bike while we’re on Koh Pha Ngan, but think we’ll leave it a couple of days until the celebrations have died down a bit…
Our room at TropiCoco is ready for us on arrival, and is lovely - a garden bungalow, with a beautiful terrace in the garden, and the comfiest bed either of us can remember being in on our travels for quite some time. I think we’d both sleep if we tried, but we’ve not eaten yet today, so lunch is called for. The resort has a beach bar attached to it. They serve us some good wine, an outstanding Spicy Thai Basil Chicken dish with rice, and a way better than we thought it would/should/could be pizza.
We head for the shortest of wanders after we’ve eaten, largely in the interests of finding a (some) new hat(s) for Vicki. Sadly (snigger) the hat shop is closed for Songkran, so shopping is off. We grab a few supplies at the 7/11, and park ourselves at the restaurant that’s attached to the beach bar at TropiCoco. If that sounds convoluted, it sort of is. We discover an Italian family running things, and the brilliant pizza starts to make more sense. Their menu promises a selection of great Italian favourites - those pizzas, some great pasta options, traditional meat and fish dishes. I’m completely sold when I see their description of Spaghetti Carbonara as containing only Guanciale, Eggs, Parmesan and Pecorino cheeses. We decide to book a table and come back for dinner this evening, helped in no small part by our discovery that they have a bottle of Café Patron behind the bar - a tequila and coffee liqueur that we can no longer source in the UK, and which has been a real favourite of ours for years.
On our way back to TropiCoco (all of 30m), I get soaked by a passing pick-up truck, loaded with kids and their various water devices. I cackle with laughter. We’re back at our room by 15:00, and asleep not much later. My alarm wakes us at 16:45. We need to get freshened up and out for dinner at 19:00. It’s a very hectic schedule…
21:30
We both have cracking sleeps. About 90 minutes for me, and a full 2 hours for Vicki. YUM. We head round the corner for dinner to the Italian place we visited earlier. It’s pretty busy - we suspect in part because a lot of the local Thai businesses are closed this evening for New Year. The food we eat is amazing. We’re tempted to have a starter of Café Patron - but resist the urge. Vicks has a very good Caprese salad, while I have a carpaccio of red tuna, which is sensational. I can’t not have the Carbonara, and it’s brilliant. Correctly made with about 4 ingredients, it’s properly banging. Vicks has a sea-bass fillet that is the size of a small horse, perfectly cooked, and gratinated with herbed breadcrumbs. Stunning stuff.
Amazingly, we hold out until this point to order our round of Café Patron. There’s some slight confusion when I ask if I can take a picture of the bottle. I manage to explain that it’s no longer available to buy. We suspect the bottle has been on the shelf for a number of years. When our shot glasses arrive, they’re accompanied by slices of orange, which seems strange until our friend Pawel explains that tequila is typically served with orange in Mexico, rather than lemon or lime. By the power of Grayskull, it’s good, and brings floods of memories back. A real treat. We reckon there are maybe two shots left in the bottle, and consider ourselves to have demonstrated huge amounts of restraint to leave these for tomorrow, even though this risks someone else snapping them up in the meantime…
23:45
We decide to spread our wings a little after dinner, and head to a beach bar a little ways up the beach from TropiCoco, called Vagga Bar. This somehow ends up reminding us both of Vagator in Goa. The seats at the bar are swings - a simply excellent notion. We spend a joyful hour or so swinging backwards and forwards, and sideways on a couple of occasions, nearly coming a cropper several times. There’s some great house playing in the background, but the bar is pretty quiet - maybe 15 customers. We’ll come back another (busier) night to check it out, for sure. We briefly discuss our plans for tomorrow, which amount to quite a lot of not very much. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday promise to be fairly full-on, so we’re making the most of some downtime until then. We walk back up the beach to the beach bar at our place, which is in the process of shutting down at around 22:30. Despite our afternoon naps, we’re both looking forward to a decent sleep in our ultra-comfy bed…Read more
ThailandChangwat Surat ThaniBan Mae HatAo Hat Yao9°46’36” N 99°58’1” E
April 14 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
17:30
This bed is awesome. SO comfortable. I sleep until 09:15, and Vicki only wakes with the alarm at 09:30. We’re both feeling significantly refreshed, and ready for a busy day of not doing all that much. We lounge in bed for a while, and eventually drag ourselves out to get some breakfast around 11:00. There’s a v cool little café a short hop down the road from us. Iced coffees aplenty, and some absolutely stellar poached eggs for Vicki. Hat shopping is back on for this morning, as the shop is in full flow. Vicki tries on every Trilby in the joint, and happily finds one that we both really like. Her sun hat is great, but it’s a little heavy for all conditions.
Satisfied with our morning’s work, we head down to Tropicoco’s beach bar for a well deserved rest. We share a Prosecco Sangria, which I enjoy much more than I was expecting. I have my first proper dip in the Gulf of Thailand, and am stunned by the incredible warmth of the water - not quite the refresher for which I was hoping.
After a late breakfast, we’re not exactly hungry, so head for a wander up the beach. The sun is beating down, but it’s only a short womble to the far end. We walk past a few places offering beach bungalows, and hear some decent music as we walk. At the far southern end of the beach, there are some stairs, leading to what we’re promised will be the ‘High Life.’ It’s actually a beach bar attached to a guesthouse, but the views are magnificent. They also have Savannah Dry in stock, so I fill my boots. Descending the fairly steep stairs is a lot trickier than ascending. Unscathed, we have another shortish walk up the beach. We pop into a wine shop which appears to be attached to our hotel, and grab a fab bottle of Rosé with which to encourage the afternoon along…
22:30
We spend much of the afternoon listening to a mammoth 7 hour set from Graham Gold - a DJ we know largely from his trance parties in London, and who lives in Koh Pha Ngan. He spins here regularly, and we’re going to see one of his last gigs of the season tomorrow night. It’s very different music to what we’re used to hearing from him, but we both really enjoy it, so much so that we almost forget to go out for dinner.
When we do finally make it out, we go in search of a restaurant called Apache. It involves a walk up a fairly dark and fairly busy main road. It’s not the very funnest of experiences, particularly when we realise we’ve walked too far, and need to double back. It transpires the restaurant we’re looking for is no longer there. I’ve been warned a few times that relying on Lonely Planet recommendations or even Google Maps reviews is a risky strategy. SO much has changed during and since COVID that previously thriving businesses have upped and disappeared. Often, they’re replaced by new entrants to market, but the advice is typically to rely on local advice and guidance.
We instead find ourselves at a place called Nang Sabai, the restaurant of a resort a couple of hundred metres down the beach from ours. It’s a lovely, if slightly chaotic place to spend time. Vicki has one of the best banana daiquiris either of us have ever had. I order some fried pork belly pieces as a starter. Aye carumba, they’re good. Simple breaded and deep fried, but served with a piquant mint, coriander and chilli pickle. Vicki has her first curry of the trip - a green curry with king prawn and pumpkin. It’s delicious. I have something that sounds incredibly weird, but isn’t - Na Mok. A traditional fish and coconut curry is mixed with minced prawns, then stuffed into a banana leaf. The whole thing is then topped with raw egg, and steamed to gently set the egg. On the menu, it’s described as ‘fish curry prawn mince custard.’ Of course I ordered it. It’s something entirely new to me, and I’m so glad I tried it - it’s phenomenal. The flavour of the fish curry shines through everything, but it’s the texture of the set egg custard and minced prawn that really sets it apart. I can’t get banana leaves easily in the UK, but I’ll be trying to replicate this somehow, once we get back home.
We take a wander down the beach, and stop in at Vagga Bar for a post-prandial. It’s only 21:00, but it feels like they’re shutting up shop already. Perhaps there are some early Sunday closing regulations of which we’re not aware. We swing briefly, but after a quick drink, we decide to head back to our room, for some more Graham Gold room-rave. Obvs accompanied by lovely glass of Rosé.Read more
