Grand Adventure Part 3: Thailand and Singapore

Luckily we made it on the bus. The only thing that kind of sucked was that we were planning on spending the night in the Bangkok Airport so I did not get a shower until we were in Phuket: and in that humidity and heat, my skin got really sticky and I am pretty sure I started to smell. Anyways, the first bus we got on had no storage in the bottom and there we only about three empty seats. The bus was pretty cramped and there was no air conditioning. It was like that until we got to the border which luckily was only a three hour drive.

Crossing the border into Thailand was one of the sketchiest things I have ever done. After the bus dropped us off on a dirt rode and drove away, we were on our own until we got to our next bus in Thailand. We crossed the border out of Cambodia and had to walk a kilometer before we were in Thailand. Oh and a side note, I am working on converting to the metric system while I am here because Americans are the only people in the world who don’t use it, and I get really confused when people say temperatures in Celsius, heights in centimeters, and weights in kilos.

 Tuk tuk in Bangkok.

When we got to Bangkok, a few of our friends were staying there for an extra day so they let us put our stuff in their hostel. We spent that night on Khao San Road which has the best nightlife in Bangkok. I got to work on my bartering skills and had a great Phad Thai for dinner. Then it was off to the airport to stay the night and catch our early flight to Phuket in the morning. The airport was so cold that I could barely sleep. I wandered around for a while and ran into a computer with a webcam, so I Skyped my momma for a bit.

 Trying to catch some z's in the airport.  My rice hat served many purposes.

When we got to Phuket I finally got my shower! And by shower, I mean that I only shaved my legs because we were headed to the beach. None of us had packed any towels with us so we tried buying ones on the street. That was an epic fail! Phuket is probably the most touristy place in Thailand and they really overprice their beach towels. Not just over priced for Thailand, but over priced for anywhere in the world. One guy tried selling us a towel for $350 baht! That is around $12 USD, and we couldn’t get him any lower than $10. He claimed that he bought it for that much, so we told him that he got ripped off. We ended up just using out bath towels from the hostel for the next couple of days which we also used to take showers. That was the point in the trip where I started to constantly have sand on and that was also the day we all got sun burnt on the beach.

 

Sunset on the beach we were at our first day in Patong.

 

 Tan lines/burn from just one day on the beach.

The next day we went to a beach just outside of Patong (where we were the first day.) It was exactly as Lonely Planet described it, “a little slice of paradise”. We hung out there all day and went back to Patong for sunset. That night we got to experience nightlife in Patong. Let me just say I have never seen so many transvestites, or as the Thai call them “lady boys”, in my entire life. Just on one block there were probably over 20 just standing there on the sidewalks. There were also a ton of strip clubs with lady boy dancers. While walking along the street I saw these guys holding iguanas trying to get tourist to pay for pictures with them. Right as I walked by, one of them followed me and put an iguana on my arm. I was just standing there trying not to freak out and trying to ignore the pain of the lizard on my sunburn when another man came up to me and placed another iguana on my other arm. Sadly, no one took any pictures.

 

Little slice of paradise.

 

 Lady boys.

In the morning we hopped on the Phi Phi Cruiser to none other but Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee). The boat ride was quite fun. We all sat on the top deck because inside was way too hot. It was so beautiful when we got there. There were tons of boats and the water was an aqua blue color. I really liked Phi Phi because it was small with no cars and the views were amazing! After we found a place to stay, we walked to the beach where a kid’s pet monkey tried to steal Mike’s towel. A couple hours later, we hiked up to the top of one of the mountains and watched the sunset.

 

Hanging out on the Phi Phi Cruiser.

  

 Shoreline on Koh Phi Phi.

  

I wasn't lying when I said a monkey tried to steal Mike's towel.

Top of the mountain where we watched the sunset.

After the sun went down, we partied Thailand style. We started with some buckets at a reggae bar—yes, they serve you your alcohol in a bucket. Then we went to the beach where there were several bars; all with fire dancers, fire jump ropes, fire limbos, and rings of fire! Crazy right? All of them had specials too where you could go and get a free bucket during certain ten minute periods. At point, we also got orange designs painted on us. After things started dying down, we found some foreigners playing guitar on the beach and joined them for a bit. That was a great night!

  

Our buckets!

  

A guy doing some fire jump rope.

  

I was scared of the fire being so close to my face so I went extra low.

  

I jumped through this hoop three times to get this picture!

  

This paint stayed on my legs for about two days.

The next day we did a day trip where a boat took us around to several beaches and snorkeling spots. The snorkeling was incredible! I saw tons of rainbow fishies and other bright color fishies in the perfectly blue water. We also went swimming in a blue lagoon and got to visit Maya Beach where the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. We ended our day by watching the sunset from the boat.

 

On Bamboo Island.  This was the boat we took around the whole day.

  

Great snorkeling here.

  

Swimming in a lagoon.

  

Floating towards Maya Beach.

 

 Self explanatory.

Thailand has some great food as well! I had a ton of fruit shakes—always banana though because that is my favorite. I also tried Thai pancakes…several times. Thai pancakes are AMAZING!!! I am going to learn how to make them. Basically it was like a crepe, kind of crispy though, with bananas on the inside and Nutella on top. Soooo yummy!

 Suntans!  Thanks to my gramps for the olive skin!

The following morning we took the boat back to Phuket because our trip was coming to an end. We stayed on Kata Beach this time. Our hostel had tons of bugs in it, and I think I had bed bugs in my bed or the window was left open because when I woke up in the morning, I had about twenty bits all over me.

We flew to Singapore the next day and toured the city only a little bit. Luckily, I had already been there because we were all so tired from the previous ten days of traveling, walking, sun, and lack of sleep, that we just kind of hung out after about an hour of city touring. At night we went to Little India for dinner where I ordered a dish that was supposed to be “not that spicy”, but my mouth was on fire and my eyes were watering after the first bite. Then, Steph, Kiwan, and I went to Clarke Quay where we got some Japanese ice cream and hung out by the river. Steph and I caught the MRT for our last sleep in the airport once when it started to get late: we were not too keen on the idea of paying for a hostel to get four hours of crappy sleep and then having to pay for a taxi to the airport, so we just toughed it out one last time.

 

Singapore skyline.

 

 Clarke Quay.  This place lights up at night!

The next morning we caught our final flight back to HK and then it was off to school. By this point, I had sand in everything I brought with me, peeling skin, and a million bug bites—all signs of a fantastic trip!

 The start of my peeling that eventually spread to my arms, stomach, legs, and hands.