Touchdown in Thailand

Bangkok seems like a blur.

It’s not too often in life when you can say something like that. However, that is definitely the quote of the day as I sit tableside at The Sanctuary on Had Thien in Koh Pha-Ngan. In other words, at a little bamboo table, in front of a hippy hideaway, on the beach in a little cove, on a little island of the coast of Thailand. Don’t get me wrong; it took a lot of work to get to this little paradise.

Let me explain.

So, Robin and I landed in Bangkok at 3am Saturday morning after a long flight from San Francisco, with a stop in Taipei. From there, we zoomed down the expressway in a taxi to our first hotel in Bangkok, the Bossotel. We checked in to our hotel weary eyed and in a blur.

The next day, we took a boat taxi up the Chao Phraya River to Wat Pho where the enormous, golden, reclining Buddha rests his head. The beautiful, reclining Buddha is encased in a large building surrounded by other smaller buildings and towers detailed with gold, mother of pearl, ceramics, gardens, and guardian statues worth fearing, if not just standing in awe of.

After Wat Pho, Robin and I wandered up the side of a traffic-congested road to Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and The Grand Palace. These grounds are chock full of history, faith, and beauty. From a museum full of royal jewels to a building so detailed with gold and mosaic that it makes your jaw drop one hundred times within the hour. Pictures can’t begin to give you a sense of the majesty of this place. You really have to be there to take it all in together. Everywhere you look, you can see one amazing wonder after another, and it is all within a few acres. Here, I began to realize something about the Thai people that I had not known. I was in awe of the level of respect, pride and faith displayed by the detail in the sculptures, paintings, buildings, and jewelry. I just gotta’ give them props. I am in search of that kind of faith and focus myself, the kind that just makes you work, love, and play with an intention that doesn’t stop.



I could go on and on in detail about every little realization, sight, sound, and smell I have experienced in these last few days, but I am afraid that much happens when I travel, and covering 5 days in one entry in the kind of detail I would like to express would take more time than I would like right now. Hopefully, I can get in more typing more regularly in the future.

I will, however, cover the basics. Keep in mind that we wanted to head south to the beaches and out of Bangkok ASAP.

On the second day, we discovered that our hotel was fully booked and we had to spend most of that day looking for new accommodations; especially after we found out that all of the trains heading south were fully booked as well. Oh, and then we found out all of the planes were fully booked too. Hey! I though this was Thailand and tripping around any direction you choose at any time you chose was possible. Word to the wise; PLAN YOUR TRIP, during the high season anyways. We did get a cab driver that took us to a super little hotel called Silom City Inn down a local side street. Fortunately, they had a reasonably priced “superior room” for us. However, the next day, we had to change rooms to a less swanky room with a less super view. But hey, at least they had a room!

During all of this traveling about, we did manage to ride in many tuk tuks, eat lots of Thai food, see Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), ride the skytrain, ride the subway, ride the ferry, ride the river taxi, visit the IH Bangkok office in Bangkok (the school I am going to go to), get hounded by guys trying to get us to see the “Ping Pong (and other small objects) Pussy” show, get taken to the wrong place several times by taxi and tuk tuk, drink lots of beer, dance in the Bangkok hip hop bar, get turned away from “fancy places” because I was wearing flip flops and Robin was wearing shorts, practice speaking Thai, go to an Irish pub, see some traditional Thai dancing, meet other travelers, walk A LOT, take many pictures, cry, and laugh!



We did end up getting a flight to Koh Samui (an island with a short ferry ride to Koh Pha-Ngan, our current place of residence), but it was much more expensive than the train we had planned. But, hey, we’re here, and I must say that the Koh Samui airport was worth the experience, like something out of the Tiki room at Disneyland. From the airport, we took a tourist bus to the ferry port, and rode across the ocean to the little piece of paradise known as Koh Pha-Ngan. From the ferry, Robin and I hopped aboard a long tail boat for a very wet journey through the choppy waters, to The Sanctuary.



This place is straight out of Swiss Family Robinson. Hippies, hammocks, vegetarian food, and yoga galore all set on a beachside hill, with trees and boulders growing through the rooms, restaurant, and spa. Yes, please. They have an enormous, yummy, family meal where you can sit with everyone else and eat as much veggie food as you can for a pretty inexpensive price. They even project a movie on a big screen afterwards, and you can lie out on the floor on pillows and mats. Last night, we watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, very eye-opening. I urge you to see it and pass it along to your friends. I guess the whole thing isn’t a very “Thai” experience, but it sure is fun for a few days.

We are much more travel-savvy now. I think that at this point, we have our accommodations planned for the next 4 nights and our train tickets bought for the remainder of our vacation.

Oh, and I promise to write more often, especially since Robin and I now have to spend less time and energy looking for a place to sleep, and a way out of town. Yes, Captain Kirk, we have finally landed.