Gosandra travels round the world

Travel time: March - June 2007  |  by Sandra Goritschnig

Southeast Asia on a shoestring: Thailand

With one week only to traverse Thailand, I had to be stringent on the places to visit, and ended up deciding, that yes, beach would be nice, and bangkok is kind of obligatory.

after crossing the border, not too far to go....

after crossing the border, not too far to go....

From Kota Bharu after crossing the border I took minivans to get to Suratthani (seeing that the trains weren't running due to some rebel problems in Thailand's south), where I took the night boat to Koh Tao. Packed like sardines, but with mask and earplugs its quite ok.

on the night boat from Surat Thani to Kho Tao

on the night boat from Surat Thani to Kho Tao

Koh Tao is a very nice island, and I stayed at viewpoint resort, on the southwest corner of the island, with nice views over the bay and even to Koh Panggan, the party island. I spent most of my time in the water again, diving through some cool caves and snorkelling with sharks in shark's bay (guess where that name comes from).

stony buddha looking out to Koh Panggan

stony buddha looking out to Koh Panggan

Koh Tao beach...

Koh Tao beach...

After 3 days I had to move on and took the Seatran boat to Chumphon, and a bus to Bangkok. While waiting for my bus connection I managed to sneak into a thai party (since nobody spoke english and the thai language section in the guide book is only two pages), we communicated rather randomly, but there were speeches, dances, free food and free beer. what more do you need?

random gathering in Chumphon

random gathering in Chumphon

Arriving in Bangkok at 4:30 am is tough, especially with literally millions of taxi drivers around you who want to charge 100 baht for a ride of roughly 250 m (I walked). I didnt want to stay directly at Kao San Road, (backpackers paradise????) so i took a hotel room a bit off, but still close for the amenities. I indulged in the many temples of Bangkok, saw the Royal Palace, travelled along the river, saw Jim Thompson's museum (oh, if those silk scarves had been a bit less expensive...) and china town. In the evening successful sightseeing was concluded with a relaxing (???) Thai massage (I sometimes screamed) and some delicious thai food. mmmhhh.

one of those many golden buddhas

one of those many golden buddhas

Where the king lives. a french style house with a thai roof. does that look odd to you?

Where the king lives. a french style house with a thai roof. does that look odd to you?

public transport a la Bangkok

public transport a la Bangkok

the royal palace viewed from the river

the royal palace viewed from the river

Two days only, then I took off to meet Anne in Cambodia and check out the wonderful temples of Angkor.

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The trip
 
Description:
Very exciting times ahead, I'm gonna do a trip around the world! Starting from London I'll do South Africa, Singapore and South East Asia, Newzealand and the North American West coast and back to London. Wow! I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with you!
Details:
Start of journey: Mar 03, 2007
Duration: 4 months
End of journey: Jun 20, 2007
Travelled countries: South Africa
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
New Zealand
Canada
The Author
 
Sandra Goritschnig is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 17 years.
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