Thailand Part 3
Okay, sorry this is a littler later than planned but things got busy at the end of the week and I was exhausted. Here is the rest of my thoughts and reflections on my trip to Thailand over Easter break.
I finished as we were on the ferry from Phi Phi Island to Phuket. It was a crowded boat but I was fortunate to get a seat on the bottom deck of the boat inside. I quickly feel asleep and slept most of the hour and a half ferry ride. Diving had made me exhausted not to mention we woke up at 7:00 that morning.
When we arrived at Phuket, Sara, Christine, and I took our luggage off because we were near the front of the line. Christine and Sara found our driver (we had booked a mini-bus ride from the ferry prier to our hotel at Patong Beach). I waited for Emily to let her know that we had her luggage. We then loaded into our mini-bus (it's the size of a mini-van but there are nine seats in the back instead of five. We got in first so we were at the back and unfortunately we were the first stop. It was nice to finally arrive at our hotel.
Our hotel, Swiss Palm Beach, was really nice. We basically has a condo/apartment. It was two floors. The first floor had a living room area, a kitchen, a dining room, and a bathroom. A spiral staircase led upstairs to two bedrooms (one with a double bed and one with two twin beds) and a bathroom with a shower. The only downfall that I found was that there were only air conditioning units upstairs in the bathroom but not one in the living room only a fan.
We had an interesting welcome though. As we were searching around we ran into two geckos running around our place. Surprising enough to me, I am the most comfortable with dealing with bugs and animals in the house. I trapped one of the geckos in the bathroom and then picked it up using toilet paper and took it outside. I was not able to catch the other one but we never saw it again after that afternoon so we assumed that it left. (I was also the one to kill the cockroach outside on the balcony later on).
We changed clothes and headed to the beach. They told us it was five minute walk to the beach but it was more like 1-2 minutes. It was really close. The beach was really nice as well. We got there about sunset. I was dehydrated and not feeling well so I didn't walk down to the beach. I sat on the sidewalk while the rest walked down to the water. I ended up talking to the lifeguard on duty there (the first lifeguard I had seen at a beach in Thailand and I don't think his job was the same as lifeguards at beaches in the States). He thought I was from Australia. After a few pictures at the beach we started to walk down the road in search of dinner. I wasn't well so I didn't want to walk as far and Christine really wanted to find a Dairy Queen that we were told was a bout a 15 minute walk away. It ended up that Sara and I went to Subway to eat and then went back early and Christine and Emily went in search of Dairy Queen.
Once Sara and I got back we both got massages right there at the hotel. It was nice way to end the day. I was about to go to bed when Emily and Christine arrived. We made plans for the next day and I went to bed. I was so exhausted that I knew I needed a day to sleep in and do nothing (I hadn't had a day to really just sleep in two weeks or so and I usually do that every Saturday). So they got up and spent the day at the beach and I stayed at the hotel in bed or on the couch watching soccer (it was fabulous to be in Thailand because every time I turned the TV on there would be a soccer game on) until about 3 in the afternoon. I met them at the beach and laid in the shade for a little over an hour (I was still sunburned and didn't want to get any more sun). I was very thankful for the rest and knew it was the best thing I could have done.
When I got to the beach Sara and Christine were leaving to go para sailing. They really enjoyed it. It wasn't really something that appealed to me. When they got back Christine went to get a shower and the rest of us stayed at the beach for a little while longer. It was a really nice beach. The water was much deeper than at Phi Phi (or at least at the beach we went to at Phi Phi). It wasn't very clear but it wasn't a bad beach either. It was somewhat crowded but no worse than a lot of beaches in the States. We all eventually went back and got ready to go out for dinner.
On our way to dinner we stopped at an Internet cafe because they needed to book a hotel for their last night in Bangkok and I needed to reprint my itineraries because I had thrown away my original copies by accident. We found a restaurant a little while later on the beach but about the time we sat down at a table on the beach our waiter told us it was about to rain. We quickly changed tables inside (before everyone else did thankfully). About 3 minutes later it was a downpour outside. Of course none of us had umbrellas with us so we took our time eating and the storm passed while we at dinner. The dinner was okay. The funniest thing to me about dinner was that on their menu every time they had a Mexican dish they spelled it Maxican. You know I understand some misspellings because of English being a second language but Mexican is not a word I really expected to see misspelled.
During dinner we made our plans for the next day. We all wanted to ride an elephant but all of the tours had things that we didn't want to do. We knew that we could book just an elephant ride back at the Internet cafe so we decided to do that. Before we left the restaurant though we asked the lady there (almost every place in Thailand had someone that would book tours for you) how much it would cost for an hour elephant ride. Her price was cheaper at 700 baht (by the way I forgot to mention before that baht is Thailand currency. They don't have dollars they have baht.) This price also included pick up and drop off at our hotel. We booked our elephant ride for 10 the next day and then headed out for a little shopping. We also stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream. Before heading in for the night we stopped to get something to drink and to play cards for a while. It was nice to be out but I was very tired and ready to go to bed. We made it in around 11:30 or so that night.
The elephant ride was our first activity for the day. We had breakfast at about 9:30 before leaving out. It was a good breakfast and the ride to the elephant place was about 10-15 minutes. The elephant place was sitting on the side of the road. We got there just as a group was finishing their rides. We quickly got on two elephants (Christine and I on one and Emily and Sara on another). We crossed the road (craziness!) and headed up a road into the jungle parts of the mountain. About 15 minutes in we stopped for a few minutes and our guide asked if I wanted to ride on the elephant not on the bench. Of course I agreed to (when else would I ever get to actually ride on an elephant). I stayed there for the rest of the ride which was about 30 more minutes. For the next 10 or so the guide was still sitting in front of me but once we stopped at this part in the jungle and he took pictures he never got back on. It was scary at first because I kept thinking that I was going to fall off. It was big dips to each side with each step. After a while though I got much more used to it. Sara also got to ride on the elephant for the last 15 minutes. She struggled at first like I did but I'm sure it was harder for her because her elephant was going up a hill at a steeper angle than when I first got on the elephant. It was fun adventure. I was even sneezed on by the elephant so I was ready to get a shower afterwards but nevertheless an experience that I will never forget.
After our elephant ride we made it back to our hotel, had lunch, had massages, hung out at the pool, arranged our taxis to the airport for the next day, and booked dinner reservations. It was a very relaxing afternoon. I liked having it low key and not rushed. We had made reservations at a nice restaurant about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We dressed up more than usual (well at least for me) and walked to our restaurant. We got there to find out that somehow our reservations were booked at another restaurant but that there was a table there as long as we could give it up by 8.
We decided to stay and then we saw the menu (remember this is a nice restaurant with candlelight on the tables overlooking the ocean) and were shocked at the prices. The cost of a drink was 2/3 the price of what we had been paying for our whole meals all week. However, when we did the math we realized that it actually was only 15-20 dollars US and that it wasn't that bad. It was just overwhelming compared to what we had been paying. We finally decided to stay. It was the best meal for me of the trip. Christine and Emily had very spicy food and Sara's vegetable Pad Thai was pretty spicy as well. I had ordered baked herb rice in pineapple. It was not spicy at all and was very good. It was actually cooked in the pineapple. I had never had a meal like it but it was fantastic. It was a great way to end my trip in Thailand.
During our meal it started to rain, so we sat around for a while thinking that it would end. Finally we got a Tuk Tuk (with covers on the side) to take us back to our hotel. I had to leave at 4:45 am the next day so I stayed at the hotel to pack up and prepare for bed. The other girls were not leaving until 10 so they went out for a while. I was ready to head back and I was very grateful that I was going back on Sunday so that I would have Monday to rest. The other three were heading to Bangkok for one more night before going back to Hong Kong on Monday. They didn't get in too late so I was able to talk with them a little before we all went to bed. I slept on the couch for two reasons: one so Sara wouldn't freeze and two, so that I would hear the phone for a wake up call (there was only one phone and it was downstairs).
At each place in Phi Phi and Phuket Sara had been freezing during the night and not sleeping well. So the night before we turned the air up so it wouldn't be so cold. However, I woke up drenched in sweat and couldn't get cooled off so I had moved downstairs to the couch. Since I was leaving early I decided just to sleep on the couch and that way I wouldn't burn up and Sara wouldn't freeze not to mention the fact that I was leaving in the middle of the night (nothing that unusual for me since I usually leave Blairsville about that time to get to my Hong Kong flights on time).
Well I was able to wake up at 4 by myself without a lot of alarms (mainly because I knew I had to). My taxi trip was uneventful because there was no traffic but more cars than I expected at that early morning hour. I checked in for my flight but couldn't go to the gate because the immigration offices were not open. Even though I checked in about an hour and 45 minutes before my flight the time went by very quickly. I talked with my dad some before leaving and read some of my book. The flight to Bangkok was quick and very smooth. I slept for almost all of it. On the way out of the flight I found two other ICS teachers that had been on the same flight and were going to be on the same flight to Hong Kong. The Auti's had spent their Easter break in Phuket after the conference. I spent some time with them in the Bangkok airport and then called home one more time (I was trying to use up the time on my phone card that I had bought) before loading onto my last flight home.
Again I slept most of the flight and arrived in Hong Kong mostly refreshed. I had left my Hong Kong ID in my checked baggage so I had to wait in line at immigration (instead of using e-channels). It didn't matter too much because I got to baggage claim about the time the bags started to come up. I found my bag, got dinner, and headed to the bus for City One. When I went upstairs on the bus I ran into two other ICS people, Kathie and her husband Tom. They had spent their Easter break in Vietnam. It seemed like a great trip. I got back to my apartment about 4:30. I started laundry, went to the grocery store, ate dinner, and crashed for the night.
I loved my trip to Thailand. I have enjoyed every place in Thailand that I have been and their food (which is great for a picky eater like myself). I hope to one day head back to Thailand and enjoy the beaches and sun again. I know, however, not to go in the summer months because the spring was already blazing hot! Thailand is a great place and unfortunately many Americans don't know that. When I was there most people that I met were from Europe, Asia, or Australia. Very few were from North America. It is a place that I highly recommend. It might take some time on an airplane to get there but it is worth it once you get there. It is also cheap (compared to other destinations). The people are wonderful and the atmosphere is very laid back and relaxed. (I knew that I was back in Hong Kong as soon as I got off the plane because people were rushing to the train to immigration baggage claim).
Well I think that is all about my trip to Thailand. I will post pictures soon. This week at school we have SAT testing (it's a standardized test). Although it is only for a few hours each morning it wears everyone out. I will do my best to get the pictures up by mid-week (assuming that I get pictures from Christine by then) and I will also post about my experience of getting my haircut this weekend.
Have a great day!
I finished as we were on the ferry from Phi Phi Island to Phuket. It was a crowded boat but I was fortunate to get a seat on the bottom deck of the boat inside. I quickly feel asleep and slept most of the hour and a half ferry ride. Diving had made me exhausted not to mention we woke up at 7:00 that morning.
When we arrived at Phuket, Sara, Christine, and I took our luggage off because we were near the front of the line. Christine and Sara found our driver (we had booked a mini-bus ride from the ferry prier to our hotel at Patong Beach). I waited for Emily to let her know that we had her luggage. We then loaded into our mini-bus (it's the size of a mini-van but there are nine seats in the back instead of five. We got in first so we were at the back and unfortunately we were the first stop. It was nice to finally arrive at our hotel.
Our hotel, Swiss Palm Beach, was really nice. We basically has a condo/apartment. It was two floors. The first floor had a living room area, a kitchen, a dining room, and a bathroom. A spiral staircase led upstairs to two bedrooms (one with a double bed and one with two twin beds) and a bathroom with a shower. The only downfall that I found was that there were only air conditioning units upstairs in the bathroom but not one in the living room only a fan.
We had an interesting welcome though. As we were searching around we ran into two geckos running around our place. Surprising enough to me, I am the most comfortable with dealing with bugs and animals in the house. I trapped one of the geckos in the bathroom and then picked it up using toilet paper and took it outside. I was not able to catch the other one but we never saw it again after that afternoon so we assumed that it left. (I was also the one to kill the cockroach outside on the balcony later on).
We changed clothes and headed to the beach. They told us it was five minute walk to the beach but it was more like 1-2 minutes. It was really close. The beach was really nice as well. We got there about sunset. I was dehydrated and not feeling well so I didn't walk down to the beach. I sat on the sidewalk while the rest walked down to the water. I ended up talking to the lifeguard on duty there (the first lifeguard I had seen at a beach in Thailand and I don't think his job was the same as lifeguards at beaches in the States). He thought I was from Australia. After a few pictures at the beach we started to walk down the road in search of dinner. I wasn't well so I didn't want to walk as far and Christine really wanted to find a Dairy Queen that we were told was a bout a 15 minute walk away. It ended up that Sara and I went to Subway to eat and then went back early and Christine and Emily went in search of Dairy Queen.
Once Sara and I got back we both got massages right there at the hotel. It was nice way to end the day. I was about to go to bed when Emily and Christine arrived. We made plans for the next day and I went to bed. I was so exhausted that I knew I needed a day to sleep in and do nothing (I hadn't had a day to really just sleep in two weeks or so and I usually do that every Saturday). So they got up and spent the day at the beach and I stayed at the hotel in bed or on the couch watching soccer (it was fabulous to be in Thailand because every time I turned the TV on there would be a soccer game on) until about 3 in the afternoon. I met them at the beach and laid in the shade for a little over an hour (I was still sunburned and didn't want to get any more sun). I was very thankful for the rest and knew it was the best thing I could have done.
When I got to the beach Sara and Christine were leaving to go para sailing. They really enjoyed it. It wasn't really something that appealed to me. When they got back Christine went to get a shower and the rest of us stayed at the beach for a little while longer. It was a really nice beach. The water was much deeper than at Phi Phi (or at least at the beach we went to at Phi Phi). It wasn't very clear but it wasn't a bad beach either. It was somewhat crowded but no worse than a lot of beaches in the States. We all eventually went back and got ready to go out for dinner.
On our way to dinner we stopped at an Internet cafe because they needed to book a hotel for their last night in Bangkok and I needed to reprint my itineraries because I had thrown away my original copies by accident. We found a restaurant a little while later on the beach but about the time we sat down at a table on the beach our waiter told us it was about to rain. We quickly changed tables inside (before everyone else did thankfully). About 3 minutes later it was a downpour outside. Of course none of us had umbrellas with us so we took our time eating and the storm passed while we at dinner. The dinner was okay. The funniest thing to me about dinner was that on their menu every time they had a Mexican dish they spelled it Maxican. You know I understand some misspellings because of English being a second language but Mexican is not a word I really expected to see misspelled.
During dinner we made our plans for the next day. We all wanted to ride an elephant but all of the tours had things that we didn't want to do. We knew that we could book just an elephant ride back at the Internet cafe so we decided to do that. Before we left the restaurant though we asked the lady there (almost every place in Thailand had someone that would book tours for you) how much it would cost for an hour elephant ride. Her price was cheaper at 700 baht (by the way I forgot to mention before that baht is Thailand currency. They don't have dollars they have baht.) This price also included pick up and drop off at our hotel. We booked our elephant ride for 10 the next day and then headed out for a little shopping. We also stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream. Before heading in for the night we stopped to get something to drink and to play cards for a while. It was nice to be out but I was very tired and ready to go to bed. We made it in around 11:30 or so that night.
The elephant ride was our first activity for the day. We had breakfast at about 9:30 before leaving out. It was a good breakfast and the ride to the elephant place was about 10-15 minutes. The elephant place was sitting on the side of the road. We got there just as a group was finishing their rides. We quickly got on two elephants (Christine and I on one and Emily and Sara on another). We crossed the road (craziness!) and headed up a road into the jungle parts of the mountain. About 15 minutes in we stopped for a few minutes and our guide asked if I wanted to ride on the elephant not on the bench. Of course I agreed to (when else would I ever get to actually ride on an elephant). I stayed there for the rest of the ride which was about 30 more minutes. For the next 10 or so the guide was still sitting in front of me but once we stopped at this part in the jungle and he took pictures he never got back on. It was scary at first because I kept thinking that I was going to fall off. It was big dips to each side with each step. After a while though I got much more used to it. Sara also got to ride on the elephant for the last 15 minutes. She struggled at first like I did but I'm sure it was harder for her because her elephant was going up a hill at a steeper angle than when I first got on the elephant. It was fun adventure. I was even sneezed on by the elephant so I was ready to get a shower afterwards but nevertheless an experience that I will never forget.
After our elephant ride we made it back to our hotel, had lunch, had massages, hung out at the pool, arranged our taxis to the airport for the next day, and booked dinner reservations. It was a very relaxing afternoon. I liked having it low key and not rushed. We had made reservations at a nice restaurant about a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We dressed up more than usual (well at least for me) and walked to our restaurant. We got there to find out that somehow our reservations were booked at another restaurant but that there was a table there as long as we could give it up by 8.
We decided to stay and then we saw the menu (remember this is a nice restaurant with candlelight on the tables overlooking the ocean) and were shocked at the prices. The cost of a drink was 2/3 the price of what we had been paying for our whole meals all week. However, when we did the math we realized that it actually was only 15-20 dollars US and that it wasn't that bad. It was just overwhelming compared to what we had been paying. We finally decided to stay. It was the best meal for me of the trip. Christine and Emily had very spicy food and Sara's vegetable Pad Thai was pretty spicy as well. I had ordered baked herb rice in pineapple. It was not spicy at all and was very good. It was actually cooked in the pineapple. I had never had a meal like it but it was fantastic. It was a great way to end my trip in Thailand.
During our meal it started to rain, so we sat around for a while thinking that it would end. Finally we got a Tuk Tuk (with covers on the side) to take us back to our hotel. I had to leave at 4:45 am the next day so I stayed at the hotel to pack up and prepare for bed. The other girls were not leaving until 10 so they went out for a while. I was ready to head back and I was very grateful that I was going back on Sunday so that I would have Monday to rest. The other three were heading to Bangkok for one more night before going back to Hong Kong on Monday. They didn't get in too late so I was able to talk with them a little before we all went to bed. I slept on the couch for two reasons: one so Sara wouldn't freeze and two, so that I would hear the phone for a wake up call (there was only one phone and it was downstairs).
At each place in Phi Phi and Phuket Sara had been freezing during the night and not sleeping well. So the night before we turned the air up so it wouldn't be so cold. However, I woke up drenched in sweat and couldn't get cooled off so I had moved downstairs to the couch. Since I was leaving early I decided just to sleep on the couch and that way I wouldn't burn up and Sara wouldn't freeze not to mention the fact that I was leaving in the middle of the night (nothing that unusual for me since I usually leave Blairsville about that time to get to my Hong Kong flights on time).
Well I was able to wake up at 4 by myself without a lot of alarms (mainly because I knew I had to). My taxi trip was uneventful because there was no traffic but more cars than I expected at that early morning hour. I checked in for my flight but couldn't go to the gate because the immigration offices were not open. Even though I checked in about an hour and 45 minutes before my flight the time went by very quickly. I talked with my dad some before leaving and read some of my book. The flight to Bangkok was quick and very smooth. I slept for almost all of it. On the way out of the flight I found two other ICS teachers that had been on the same flight and were going to be on the same flight to Hong Kong. The Auti's had spent their Easter break in Phuket after the conference. I spent some time with them in the Bangkok airport and then called home one more time (I was trying to use up the time on my phone card that I had bought) before loading onto my last flight home.
Again I slept most of the flight and arrived in Hong Kong mostly refreshed. I had left my Hong Kong ID in my checked baggage so I had to wait in line at immigration (instead of using e-channels). It didn't matter too much because I got to baggage claim about the time the bags started to come up. I found my bag, got dinner, and headed to the bus for City One. When I went upstairs on the bus I ran into two other ICS people, Kathie and her husband Tom. They had spent their Easter break in Vietnam. It seemed like a great trip. I got back to my apartment about 4:30. I started laundry, went to the grocery store, ate dinner, and crashed for the night.
I loved my trip to Thailand. I have enjoyed every place in Thailand that I have been and their food (which is great for a picky eater like myself). I hope to one day head back to Thailand and enjoy the beaches and sun again. I know, however, not to go in the summer months because the spring was already blazing hot! Thailand is a great place and unfortunately many Americans don't know that. When I was there most people that I met were from Europe, Asia, or Australia. Very few were from North America. It is a place that I highly recommend. It might take some time on an airplane to get there but it is worth it once you get there. It is also cheap (compared to other destinations). The people are wonderful and the atmosphere is very laid back and relaxed. (I knew that I was back in Hong Kong as soon as I got off the plane because people were rushing to the train to immigration baggage claim).
Well I think that is all about my trip to Thailand. I will post pictures soon. This week at school we have SAT testing (it's a standardized test). Although it is only for a few hours each morning it wears everyone out. I will do my best to get the pictures up by mid-week (assuming that I get pictures from Christine by then) and I will also post about my experience of getting my haircut this weekend.
Have a great day!
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6:04 PM
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