one night in bangkok

Okay, we actually spent two nights in Bangkok.  But, we couldn't resist starting this post without a throwback to a classic, which my brother reminded us about shortly before we landed in Phuket (thanks Dre).  Incidentally, although this song may have topped the charts from South Africa to Switzerland in 1985, the Thai government banned it around the same time - they didn't want it to give anyone the wrong impression about Thai culture and society.  We would hate to give anyone that impression either - so, to be clear, we thought the City of Angels (of the East) was awesome.  Full of unique culture, history, buzzing energy and modern charm.  It was an excellent end to our travels through Thailand.

For starters, we were in very good company for this portion of the trip.  Aman's cousin, Sonia, who was wrapping up a trip to Delhi, decided to drop in for a couple of nights before heading back to the States.  We also met up one night with two of Aman's classmates from business school (and their lovely families) who all live in and around Bangkok.

We were fortunate enough to visit Bangkok on the day of an especially important Buddhist holiday, known as Magha Puja.  Translation: the wats were teeming with devotees clutching lotus flowers and incense, and dotted with monks in colorful robes leading prayers.  It was all very impressive to see.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Grand Palace because the prince was there on official business (what nerve), so almost all of the buildings were off limits.  But we did make some worthwhile stops to Wat Arun ("Temple of Dawn") and Wat Pho.  The former has a classic prang (tower), beautifully decorated in porcelain flowers and mythical figures, which you can climb for spectacular views of the city.  The latter has a chapel that houses the world's biggest reclining Buddha (47 meters long).  It was a sight like no other.

Wat Arun:

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho:

As always, be careful with your personal belongings when touring these sights.  Here is a helpful reminder that we saw at the entrance of Wat Pho.  It's not just the locals you have to watch out for...

Yet another one of our Bangkok favorites was the Jim Thompson House.  None of us had heard of Jim Thompson before we got to Thailand, but we all thought the details of his personal story (and his house) were fascinating.  An American born, one-time spy who fell in love with Thai culture and moved to Bangkok after World War II.  He is credited like no other for his contribution to the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s.  Some people say he revitalized it, others say he started it.  He was equally well-known, or so they say, for smuggling art into Thailand from neighboring Asian countries.  His impressive private collection of art is on display at his house, which itself is a piece of architectural genius - it was constructed (without nails) in traditional Thai style from six teak structures that Thompson brought in from various corners of the country. Thompson, of course, is not there.  He disappeared from Malaysia (without a trace) in 1967.  His story is amazing to take in as you survey the grounds, which have been kept as he left them.  A good place to go, especially if you are looking for a break from the temples.

We ended our stay in Bangkok with a fancy night out at Lebua, that trendy restaurant on the roof of the State Tower....  you know, the one where they shot some scenes for the Hangover 2?  (Please don't spoil it for us, this is another one on our "to see" list...)  Great views of Bangkok after dark.

So, in short - no, Bangkok definitely did not disappoint.  After 18 days and hundreds of miles traveled, Aman and I brought our Thailand adventures to a close here.  Our mini-journey brought us from sunny, pristine beaches and turquoise blue warm waters, to a cultural capital situated among the highest mountains in the country, to one of the world's greatest metropolises bustling with life.  We easily could have used another week before moving onto Cambodia.  But, the adventure must continue...

planes, trains and automobiles...

... and a ferry boat.  There was also a ferry boat.

Aman and I used every conceivable method of motorized transportation to get from the islands of Thailand to the mainland.  From Ko Tao, we took a boat to Ko Samui and then flew to Bangkok.  With only a few days to cover the north, we didn't hang out there long but rather jumped on an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai that evening.

The process of getting from the airport to the train station in Bangkok certainly was a fun one, due to the fact that we had to first stop at the travel agent's office to pick up our train tickets.  When we explained this to the person at the airport who was responsible for directing people to taxis, and telling the taxi drivers where to go, it created massive confusion.  Probably because our taxi driver neither spoke English, nor understood the concept of making two stops.  In fact, he initially refused to do so.  We got in the car anyway determined to change his mind along the way.  As we pulled away, Aman pulled out our local phone, called the travel agent, communicated the situation and put our man on the phone.  A conversation in Thai ensued...  Minutes later, we were on our way to the travel agent.  Another crisis averted, thanks to traveling with a local phone.  It's been one of the few things that have saved us repeatedly, and we wouldn't recommend doing it any other way.

Despite an unruly bunch of twenty-something year olds in our car, the train ride to Chiang Mai was comfortable enough, and fairly uneventful.  In fact, by some stroke of divine intervention, we were lucky enough to share a compartment with the tour guide for our unruly neighbors.  She was a young woman from Chiang Mai who worked for a local not-for-profit organization called Bring the Elephants Home.  We got to chatting and she asked me what Aman and I intended to do in Chiang Mai.  Uh, we're still figuring that out....  She asked me how long we were staying.  Um, just two nights....  She asked me where we were staying.  Yeah, we're not sure yet...  She looked at us with mix of puzzlement and pity, before taking out a piece of paper and pen.  By the time Aman and I got off the train, we had a suggested two-day itinerary, a stellar hotel recommendation, a rough map of the town area, estimated travel costs to and from major points of interest, and her phone number, in case we needed anything.  Lovely.

Chiang Mai - the cultural capital of Northern Thailand - was awesome, as expected.  This is true even though we visited during one of the most polluted times of the year - the so-called "burning season," which starts around January/February and ends when the first rains come in early May.  During this time, the farmers systematically slash and burn the fields that cover the hills to prepare them for the next season.  It creates a constant haze, not to mention, the distinctive smell of burning leaves.  It was a little bit irritating (for the eyes mostly), but not that bad.

The first stop for us in Chiang Mai was Doi Suthep, the city's most famous Buddhist temple perched on a hilltop about 15 kilometers outside of town, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Our timing, though unintended, was brilliant.  We got there around 3:00 p.m., and the late afternoon sunlight reflected on the copper-plated pagoda was just beautiful.

Due to the hazy day, we really couldn't see much of what was supposed to be a great view of the city.  But, I loved these little garden monk-gnomes that I spotted in one of the gardens surrounding the pagoda:

That night, we took a lazy stroll through the very busy Sunday night market, a cool sight with people streaming up and down Rachadamnoen Road, before we realized that we were absolutely exhausted from the previous day and night's travel (it's approximately 900 miles from Ko Tao to Chiang Mai), and called it an early night.

We woke up the next morning with a lot to do.  Namely, an all day tour that involved floating down a nearby river on a bamboo raft, an elephant trek through the woods, a foot trek to a waterfall, and visiting a local hill tribe.  It was a good package for us since we didn't have a lot of time up north, and we wanted to do a little bit of everything.  Plus, it brought us out to the countryside for a calming day.  I was particularly fascinated by the thatched huts that we saw in the hill tribe village.  They are made of bamboo and dried leaves, and I am still not convinced (as I was told) that the roofs only need to be replaced every two to three years.  Amazing.

On our third and last morning in Chiang Mai, we hit the streets of town for some good ole foot exploration.  We walked around for hours, and peeked around in a number of really cool wats (monastery temples).  Giant golden Buddhas, balustrades adorned with fiery dragons, temple roofs and facades elaborately decorated in red, green and gold.  It was quite a change of scenery from the islands, to say the least.

Alas, before we could say pad thai, we were back on an overnight train to Bangkok.

It was not enough time up north, but we enjoyed every bit of it.

too many islands, too little time

The islands of Thailand, easily one of the most anticipated legs of our journey this year. For one, Aman and I share an insatiable hunger for all things beach.  But more importantly, Thailand (along with China, Turkey, Greece, and Tanzania) is one of the countries on Aman's "top five" list.  (My must-see countries, for those curious, are India, Vietnam, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil.)  So our start in Thailand was a very exciting one.

We began on Thailand's largest island - namely, Phuket - which made a lot of sense for us since we were entering Thailand via Singapore, as we work our way from south to north, from maritime through mainland Southeast Asia.  When we touched down, we had nothing more than two nights booked on Patong beach (a popular spot on Phuket's west coast overlooking the Andaman Sea), and eighteen days to make it to Bangkok.  It was time to start planning and, in fact, most of our short time in Phuket was spent lounging poolside at our modest three-star beachfront hotel (i.e., taking advantage of WiFi to do travel research) and figuring out how many islands we could reasonably squeeze in given the fixed amount of time that we had to explore (answer: two).  

Besides strategizing our next move, the highlight of our brief time in Phuket was a romantic evening at the Bangla Road Boxing Stadium, where we took in some live Thai kickboxing, or muay thai, as it is referred to locally.  It was a big fight night - ten different matches in various weight classes that ranged from 60 pounds (9 to 10 year olds) to 160 pounds (tough guys from all over the world), including a championship bout and one match between a local Thai woman and a Belgium girl.  Wild stuff.

From Phuket, we sped off on an afternoon ferry boat to Ko Phi Phi (Don), a popular island situated two hours off the coast of Phuket in the Andaman Sea.  It was a fantastically serene ride, with the bright blue sky above us, the tranquil blue-blue water surrounding us, craggy limestone scenery in the distance, and smiles of contentment on our faces.

Ko Phi Phi itself was spectacular.  The island is largely uninhabited, and its precipitous cliffs are covered with lush vegetation.  The biggest town on the island is located on a sandy isthmus between Loh Dalum Bay to the north and Ton Sai Bay to the south.  No vehicular traffic exists on the island.  The only "roads" are wide, stone-paved footpaths that see the occasional bicycle (popular with local kids who have a habit of yelling "BUPBUP!! BUPBUP!!" as they weave in and out of pedestrians) or handcart distributing goods (i.e., Chang beer) around town.   

Aman and I rented a longboat our first day to take us around Don's neighboring island, Ko Phi Phi Lei.  We snorkeled in a couple of remote places (tons of colorful marine life... out of this world), before heading to Maya Beach, which is perhaps most famous for its starring role in that hit Leonardo DiCaprio movie, the Beach....  Regrettably, neither Aman nor I have yet to see that one, so we express no opinions about it.  Maya beach, however, was awesome.  

Walking around town that night, we kicked off our flip-flops, per the local etiquette, and stopped in a dive shop, of which there are plenty in Ko Phi Phi, so that Aman could make some inquiries.  By the time we were ready to leave the shop, about 20 minutes later, Aman's curiosity in diving had developed into a need, so we decided to go out on a boat the next day.  I didn't take the plunge (I am still waiting to develop an interest in diving...), but Aman had a blast.  In fact, his diving experience would influence our decision to skip Ko Samui (where we had planned to go after Ko Phi Phi), and head for Ko Tao (very well-known for its affordable diving certification courses) two days later.  This flexibility has been one of the "ups" of structuring the little details of our travels as we go along.

Apart from our days on the waters between Phi Phi Lei and Phi Phi Don, we strolled aimlessly around town, and hit the few beaches that you can reach by foot without needing to hire a longtail boat.  We found great places to eat (Khun Va for green curry prawn pizza, Sushi and More for stir-fried chicken glass noodles, Calamaro's for everything), and great places to chill at night (Carlito's).  Overall, we really enjoyed Ko Phi Phi - so much so that, after our second or third day, we decided to stay an extra night before leaving for Ko Tao.  

Ko Tao is located on the other side of the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand.  To get there, Aman and I traveled by ferry boat (from Phi Phi to Krabi), mini-bus (from Krabi to Chomphon), and night boat (from Chomphon to Tao), which took about 27 hours.  The night boat was an experience in and of itself.  I don't know where they found our vessel. With paint peeling from its railing and its deck floors blistered with rust, our boat looked as if it had sat on the bottom of the ocean floor at least once in its life (or might end up there sometime soon).  Forget about a snack bar - it was mostly cargo (raw building supplies and bulk items) and only about twenty passengers on board, including a young Dutch couple and a proper Brooklynite named Rue.  For the passengers, the boat was outfitted with an air-conditioned sleeping cabin (let's say, of minimalist decor) on the second level. Before turning in, Aman and I spent most of the night outside on the upper deck, drinking the couple of Changs we grabbed before getting on board, sharing travel stories with our fellow travelers and taking in a bright starry night on the dark open water.  

We woke up in the morning to a bustle of activity (in the form of loud clanging) on the dock, but an otherwise peaceful morning on the water.

Our mission upon arrival in Ko Tao was to find Phoenix Divers on Sairee beach.  It was very early in the morning when we got in, and most places - including Phoenix, once we found it - were not yet open.  But, if Aman was going to complete a three-day dive course before it was time to leave Ko Tao in four nights, we had no time to waste.  Aman stood guard waiting for the office to open while I went in search of coffee (of course) and, less than an hour later, we had him enrolled in an open water dive course.  For the next three days, he spent his days learning important skills such as how to equalize your ears, how to clear your goggles underwater, how to do a buddy check (every diver has a buddy, your buddy is responsible for checking all of your equipment right before you go underwater), and how to make various underwater hand signals (e.g., shark, turtle... and the one for "don't f@ck around," which seemed to be everyone's favorite).  

While Aman was busy being aquatic, I spent most of my time lounging at Monkey Flower, where we camped out for the second through fourth nights of our stay on Ko Tao. Monkey Flower is an unimaginable, secluded villa situated on the side of a cliff looking over Sairee beach.  

From the roof, you can either watch the sunset or jump into the pool and, from the edge of the pool, you can watch the fire-shows (very popular in both Phi Phi and Ko Tao) light up the beach at night.  Yes, the price was a little bit north of our modest budget for nightly accommodations, but you have to splurge every now and then, right?  Plus, it was well worth every baht.  The property is owned and managed by an expat named Lincoln, an upbeat native Californian and all-round cool guy who pulled out all the stops in taking care of us during our brief (yet amazing) stay.  From picking me up plus all of our gear and relocating us to the villa on day one (while Aman was out diving), to helping us remove a foot-long massive gecko from the bathroom (good luck or not, this guy had paws), to arranging us poolside massages, he was awesome.  He also provided a 24-hour car and driver (a nice Burmese kid named Win) throughout the duration of our stay, which helped tremendously in getting around.  Had he not, we may not have been able to go into town on the night before we left so that Aman could "sharm" his dive instructor, Jeremy, for kicks.

In the end, Ko Tao was awesome.  It was different than Phi Phi in the sense that it was a bit more developed with roads (they were bumpy, but they were still roads) and motor traffic.  And, the terrain of the island is more granite boulders than limestone crags.  The nightlife is great, but a little bit more laid-back and not as crazy as Phi Phi - it has more of a chilled out, dive atmosphere.  Great islands to visit if you only have time for two, and you want to experience a nice contrast.

sage advice

I can’t recall if there was an exact moment that Aman and I decided that, yes, we were going to do this…  we were going to put “life” on hold for a year and have an epic adventure around the world.  It was more of a slow progression that started with a whimsical conversation over a bottle of wine, I’m sure, and ended with us – weeks, if not months, later – sitting on the floor of our Tribeca apartment one night with my beaten-up Rand McNally world atlas, and scribbling down our respective “top fives” – the five countries that we each needed to see, if we were going to go for it.  I think that’s the moment, for the both of us, when it started becoming real.  At that point, we had spoken with close friends, family and, at times, total strangers about what we were thinking.  I expected the general reaction would go something like – Are you two crazy?  But, surprisingly enough, it was the total opposite – folks were excited for us, and downright supportive.  I will never forget one conversation in particular I had with a friend’s grandmother over the summer.  Despite her 90-something years, she was a sharp lady (I heard she bought shares of Apple through its IPO, back in the day).  She was also very well traveled and truly one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.  Within minutes of our introduction, she said to me – Do you want to know what keeps me young?  I have one drink of vodka every day.  Steal my heart….  Later in the afternoon, after Aman got ahold of her ear for long enough to tell her our plans, she approached me again to tell me how fabulous she thought it was.  She told me to do it now – go, before we have kids and college tuitions to pay, because by the time our kids have grown up, our knees may not work anymore.  Apparently, we don’t think about this when we’re young.  I laughed, and decided to myself, that this likely was the best advice I would receive about whether or not we should commit to this trip.  Since then, I have thought about this advice often, perhaps most recently, when Aman and I were in Thailand on the beautiful island of Phi Phi.  While there, we got this crazy idea one day that we should walk up to the “viewpoint” to watch the sunset, which is a popular enough thing to do while on Phi Phi.  No one told us that this required an incredibly steep climb (maybe it should have been obvious) – the viewpoint is 186 metres above sea level and the only way up involves walking up stairs after stairs.  For the finale, there is a windy, uneven footpath that rises sharply up the side of a mountain.  We didn’t realize just how high we were going until we were half way up and, at that point, we figured we might as well keep going – we were half way there.  By the time we got to the top, we were sweaty and winded, but the view was well worth the effort.  And as we watched the fading sunlight, I took a moment to be grateful for our good knees.  

Cheers Mrs. Kaufman.

rain rain, go away

So, the not so great news about our recent transit through Singapore was that it rained... at least once a day, at times, pretty heavy.  (Our trip to the island of Sentosa for a day at the beach was a complete washout.)  The good news, however, is that we didn’t let a little bad weather get us down.   

To be sure, our Singapore stop was very much a brief one – four days, to be exact.  Four days, the precise amount of time that Aman (being on an Indian passport) could spend in Singapore without having to go through the official visa application process.  Given the number of required visas we need in order to accomplish our travel plans this year (Aman, 13; Angela, 4) – coupled with the fact that one really does not need more than a handful of days to get a taste of Singapore, it's so compact – we decided that four days would do just fine.

We arrived on an overcast afternoon after a short flight from Bali.  We checked into our hotel, unloaded our gear, and took off in the direction of Orchard Road, the so-called Fifth Avenue or Champs Elysees of Singapore.  Umm, not sure whether this first stop made a great deal of sense for a couple who (a) can't really purchase anything they don't want to carry around for the next eight months, and (b) have a current combined income of zero.  But at any rate, what a change of scenery!  Sleek skyscrapers, glistening malls, a sparkling clean modern Mass Rapid Transit system, wide sidewalks full of two-way pedestrian traffic.  As good as an idyllic week at the beach can be, for us, it also felt good to be back among proper urban dwellers for a few days.  Especially on an early Friday evening when happy hour had just started to kick off.  We strolled around, found a great little cluster of expat bars at the corner of Orchard and Emerald Hill Road that gave way to a charming lane of late nineteenth century houses.  There, we grabbed a beer and a bite to eat.  A bustling crowd, live music playing in the background. It was a good welcome.

Over the next few days, we exhausted the city by foot.  Little India, the Arab Quarter, the Colonial District, Chinatown, Clarke Quay ... so many diverse little neighborhoods.  With its quirky little boutiques and colorful buildings set on a quiet narrow street, Haji Lane in the Arab Quarter wins the prize for most personality in our book.

Perhaps our most favorite of thing about Singapore though, was the food.  Having done our research, we had heard that Singaporean street food - the type you find at hawker centres and food courts - is hugely popular and unbelievably good, not to mention cheap. So we were happy to see a huge hawker centre nearby our hotel.  Even more delighted to see the place bursting at the seams on our first evening in town, with people at every table, and cheap plastic tables and chairs overspilling on to the sidewalks.  Aman and I decided that we needed to get involved.  Not having a clue how these places operate, our first visit was hilariously fun.  We first took a preliminary lap around for observational purposes.  Stall after tiny stall of different food options, each stall had a unique picture menu of about 5-10 items with no two stalls offering the exact same type of noodle or rice preparation.  We steered clear of any stall whose menu included photos of food garnished with chicken feet or descriptions of animal innards.  We also took particular note of the one stall that had the longest line.  Then, with a hastily made plan of attack, I secured two empty seats next to a friendly looking family of three while Aman made a run to the dim sum vendor.  While he ordered, I passed the time by spying at my neighbors' plates, debating whether they had anything appealing enough to start a conversation about what's good.  Upon Aman's return, I asked in a hush, "What did we get?"  "Uh, not sure," he replied with a laugh and a shake of his head.  "I just started pointing at things." It turned out to be some of the best dumplings on earth.  One type in particular (i.e., my favorite) was steamed, and filled with a bite-sized ball of pork and seasoned broth.  Yum.  Round two consisted of more dim sum and a trip to the stall with the long line.  More culinary goodness.  We would spend the next two nights eating at food courts, in a similar state of gastronomic bliss.

Lavender Hawker Centre:

Chinatown Complex Food Centre:

We woke up on the day of our departure to the same gray sky that greeted us four days earlier.  Having accomplished what we intended to do in Singapore (most notably, having a couple of Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel, the place of their invention), we were ready to move on.