Thailand: Patong...and the last days of ShelleyandErik Adventures

Our Phuket routine goes a little something like this—hotel breakfast, chill, hospital trip, walk around, DQ, people watching from our favorite bench, chill, movie, dinner.  Be sure to sprinkle (actually pour) in a ton of rain--this sequence repeated and lots of foul smells (plus Erik has a super sensitive nose, so he is ready for no smells). 

We stop at the hospital (in Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, and Patong Bay) every day for wound cleanings and more pain.  The hospitals we have been to have no air conditioning, bugs flying around, unclean rooms, zero English, no doctors and only a couple of nurses (usually techs doing the cleaning).

The sign looks better than the inside of this hospital!?

Leaving Erik back in the cool and dry hotel room to relax and heal, I headed up to the jungle in Kata to do some elephant trekking.  From what little English my elephant handler could speak and I could understand, my elephant was 45 years old and quite calm and very hungry.  The guide jumped off and let me sit right on the elephant’s head, with my legs tucked behind his ears.  He even made me a hat from a large leaf and took plenty of photos for me.  A bumpy ride but quite an experience, which of course ended with, “Will you buy a bracelet from me?”  Even when riding the elephant I was asked to buy, buy, buy!

Such a cute picture.  Shelley has been talking about doing this since arriving in SE Asia.  I am so happy that she was able to finally do that!

She got to ride on the elephant the way the locals do...lucky girl

Heading in the bush for some food

Walk a few steps, get some food--repeat.  Kind of like what we do on our walks!

Hello everyone back home.  Are you jealous yet?

The basket in the back is for the typical tourist, which Shelley is not!!

A view of Patong Bay

Each night we walked around, seeing all of the lady boys and “losers” and visited our favorite dinner spot, #6.  Cheap and cheerful and always with a few cockroaches scurrying around the table.  I’d say we’re ready for America and its definition of clean.

Last day here and the sun is still not out.  We’re packed and ready to go and will enjoy one final day on the island.  Up next is our three legged flight journey to Singapore to Hong Kong to Chicago.  Safe travels ahead we pray!

USA here we come!!!!!

Thailand: Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi

Our first full day and another full day of rain.  WHERE IS THE SUN??  We watched a couple of movies, read, went swimming in the pool and got eaten alive by the bugs.  We had dinner and that was really everything to do here, as when it rains you have to entertain yourself as the electricity went out again in the evening.

A rainy view from our balcony

We loved it here, just wish we had more sun

Another view of the lush green vegetation and the pool

Rain rain go away

Here is our cute little bungalow

Path down to the ocean

 Finally, a day full of sunshine.  There was a bug bite on my stomach (Erik’s) that seemed overly aggravated.  But, the sun was out and we were going to enjoy every bit of it as we had not seen the sun in days.  Since there were not many bungalows, we were able to really get to know some of the other guests.  We met three girls and their mom (all from Trinidad, but grew up in the US) and a German combined family (both husband and wife brought kids from their first marriages).

We had dinner with the girls and their mom and it was a great chance to hear about their adventures and share ours with them.

Day three and we only had about two hours of sun—we did make the most of it by the pool and along the beach.  The German husband turned out to be a doctor and I asked him to check out my bite as it was starting to hurt.  He looked at it and said it needed to be taken care of as it was infected.  He tried some things, before he said I would need to head to the hospital, but he would come with.

So, after dinner, worried Shelley, Erik and the German doctor (Gerald) headed to the islands hospital.  No air con, bugs flying around, and the nurse called the doctor who refused to come in.  So, Gerald asked for items to lance the infected bite and pack it with gauze.  I asked Shelley to leave the room as I did not want her to have to see this.  Yes, it was painful…but thank goodness Gerald was willing to join me and help take care of this.

Shelley tried to baby me a little, but knew it wouldn’t work.  She just prayed that I would be okay.  The next few days would be Shelley and I going back to the hospital to get the dressing changed.  It bothered me a lot as this was supposed to be our relaxing beach time of the trip, but the sun wasn’t out the next couple of days anyway.

On Friday, thanking Gerald one last time, we headed back to Phuket, with a layover in Koh Phi Phi.  We spent the day exploring the island.  There are no tuk tuks or cars on the island.  There are only bikes and motorbikes, which can be dangerous on these small sidewalks.  We checked out the markets, the beaches, and the many restaurants/pubs on this small island.  I am glad we stayed on Koh Lanta as this island is super touristy.  Shelley insisted on us having another of our favorite drinks, the mango shake and I insisted on having some pastries.  A win-win for both of us.  Bellies full, we headed to the hospital by foot on Koh Phi Phi to have the dressing changed where the doctor here gave me some antibiotics.  No more beer or swimming for me these last few days of our trip.  I will just sit under the umbrella and check out Shelley working on her tan and swimming.

The sun pokes out of course as we are leaving Kho Phi Phi

Here is a great view of the beach at Kho Phi Phi

We had a large boat back to Phuket, so no memorable or fun travel stories here for you…sorry!  We did meet a nice couple on their honeymoon from Texas.  They were young and had guides and drivers everywhere they went—which was only Bangkok and Koh Phi Phi.  I think that they were “mortified” by the way we traveled.  They couldn’t believe it when we hopped on two scooters driven by 80-year old Thai men to take us to our hotel.  They had a driver waiting for them.  In 2.5 weeks, they spent as much as one of us did in 3-months!?

Back on Phuket and so far the sun peeked out early in the morning and was gone by 9am.  I am so happy it has been so nice for us the past three months.  This is rainy season here, but they say that it is more than usual.  So, Shelley and I are playing UNO together, watching movies, taking walks, checking out different parts of Phuket.  Even though I cannot be out in the sun—in order to heal—I wish it was for Shelley.  But we are making the most of our time and still loving every minute of it.  

Thailand: Phuket then Koh Lanta

Woke up our first morning here and it was pouring rain.  Not a problem for us adventure seekers.  We headed out to see the area and familiarize ourselves with the markets, restaurants, and pubs.  We headed to the beach in the torrential rain to see what we would be enjoying the next couple of days before heading to the calmer islands of Thailand, as this is more of a party town.  Patong Bay is a relatively small bay and the beach is lined with chairs for rent—it was a perfectly straight line all the way down the beach.  But since the rain was coming down, the beach would be for another day.

One thing we have seen often in SE Asia, but not to this degree, was the amount of men walking around with their Asian “girlfriends” for the day.  Shelley and I term them “losers”.  They are typically older men, with super young Asian girls.  They buy them jewelry, clothing and food amongst other things.  There is no hiding this and they walk around as if it is okay—imagine your 85-year old grandfather holding hands and walking down the street with an 18-year old.  It is sad to see this and seeing how prevalent it is here.  That is something we will not miss seeing in this part of the world!

Next day in Patong Bay and it is pouring again—where is the sunshine??  Well maybe the wind and rain will keep us away from the beach but not the pool.  We chilled outside and swam and read our books for the majority of the day.

In the evening, we headed to the night market, had some ice cream (a great day is not a great day without it!), saw a water and light show (which Shelley thought was amazing, okay, not really) and had dinner at a place called No. 6.  Great Thai food with an interesting atmosphere where there were mosquitos, cockroaches, and people from all over the world.  It is a surprise we haven’t had more stomach issues on this trip.

We had an early wake-up call, as we jumped on a ferry to head to Koh Lanta.  This is an island a little further away than Koh Phi Phi (the one most people have heard of.  We wanted to try an island that was less affected by tourism, trash, and simply back to nature.

We thought we were over the travel stories from hell.  This one began innocently enough, but a storm blew in and our boat was not necessarily “water-ready”.  The wind picked up, the torrential rain began and our 3.5-hour trip turned into 7-hours of 8-10 foot waves, water coming in through the windows, the boat rocking back and forth and a captain who was not sure where he was due to zero visibility.  Talk about sea sickness.  Shelley manned the bags and I stood in the back trying not to heave, praying the boat wouldn’t sink and we could get off this watery coffin.

On the boat, while the weather was still nice and smiles all around

Fifteen minutes of comfort before the storms hit and become a long wavy rainy adventure

Some of the cool islands as we left Phuket

Another pic of the bay

We made it to Koh Phi Phi for a couple of hours

Ready for the second part of the trip and the sun has come back out, but it stormed again

We did make it, but knowing we had to make the trip back was not a good thought to have at this point.  We did arrive just as it was getting dark, and there was no electricity on the island.  The tuk tuk driver was able to get us to our hotel and we made it to an incredible bungalow of our own.  We took a stroll on the beach since it was going to be dark soon and unfortunately there was a lot of trash on the beach and of course I (Erik) stepped right on the mouth of a bottle that was buried on the beach.  With a bruised and cut foot, we decided to head back and try our luck with dinner. 

Walking along the road, past empty and closed stores and restaurants we happened on one that was opened and had a nice candle lit dinner—making this the new start after a long arduous day of travel and stepping on the bottle (which was almost the last straw for the day!)  With the rain coming (again) we grabbed some beers at a beach bar (we were their only customers the entire day) and I taught Shelley chess on a travel size magnetic playing board.  This was more challenging then the game itself!

On the way back to our hotel (still no electricity on the island), we stopped off for some snacks, but had to remove our shoes prior to entering the store.  All we could think about is how they don’t use soap to wash their hands or toilet paper to clean themselves and we are walking in the filth that their bare feet brought into the store.   Great thought, isn’t it?  First time we shopped by candlelight.  Anyway, washed our feet at the bungalow, took a swim, lit some candles and called it a night.

Thailand: Two nights in Bangkok

Aahhhhh, the joy of air con in the Sky Train!!  Smile for the camera!

Ready to explore the city of Bangkok, we took the new Sky Train (which was super modern and had air con) to a stop where we jumped off and took a river taxi down the Chao Praya River to the Grand Palace downtown.  There were many cool sites along the river including the longboats with exposed V-8 engines driving the propeller—kind of cool.

Mmmmm...I'll have one of those (whatever those is??)!

River taxi sites

People's homes along the Chao Praya River

A pagoda

Another pagoda

Another pagoda

Naval base

V8 engine driving this boat.  Yeah baby!!

All pagoda'd out

Full pic of the boat driven by that V8 stolen from your car and shipped here

What Pho in the distance.  The largest reclining buddha resides here (see pics below)

Please smile Shelley...the smells will pass

Fine, I'll smile for the both of us

The boat we were on.  Real safe!?

Taxi sir?  I don't think so...

The Grand Palace—the former royal residence-- had some really beautiful grounds and history.  I’ll save you from the details, but the grounds are still used by the royal family for special ceremonies.  All you heard over the loud speakers outside the palace was not to trust anyone outside the walls.  Yet, there were tons of people trying to scam westerners and many still falling for it.  Once inside, the lady selling the tickets made sure we hadn’t been taken advantage of. 

We visited Wat Pho, the largest and oldest temple in Thailand that houses the largest reclining Buddha—46-meters long and 15-meters high, finished in gold leaf.  It was kind of cool—check out its toes in the pictures

From there we walked about 5+miles, 2-huge rainstorms through Chinatown.  I have not seen so much crap in one area.  Stalls and stalls of stuff, with lots of redundancies—boggles the mind.

Outside view of Wat Pho

The golden buddha

A mini version to give you an idea what it looks like because it is hard to take a good pic

It's toes

Full length pic

It has toe prints...how interesting?!

Cool looking towers

People come here and attach gold leaf to these sculptures

Another section of the temple

Ornate roof

More of the temple (almost done with temples everyone!)

Goodbye temples!

WHAT!! Is there a problem??

Last pic of the many many many many many many many temples we have seen

In the evening, we headed to the infamous Khao San Road where guys are actually girls, massages being offered aplenty, street vendors who sell junk they think westerners would be interested in, and cheap food, but expensive beer.  We sat down for a couple of hours and enjoyed the scenery.  It was interesting to say the least and one night was plenty.  And for about $1 each, we had some amazing street food.

Typical traffic jam in Bangkok.  We shall take the train from here

And they wonder why buses tip over here.  But check out the talent Shelley has!!

A cool pole near our hotel.  Just thought I would show you all

Shelley has been considering buying a fruit band for hair since Bangkok.  Good idea Shelley?

Just rained in Chinatown and one thousand degrees!!

Please find me respite from the heat Shelley!

Lipstick pink taxis are in abundance here.  Erik's favorite color

A memorial on our walk around the city.  Don't remember what it was for (sorry)

The crazy Khao San Road

Yeah right!?!?

 Day 2 in Bangkok meant packing and exploring a few more things before heading to the airport.  We headed to the cultural center, more time on the Sky Train, the huge mall selling all fake western goods, and finally to the airport to get down to the beautiful islands of Thailand.

Woke up to a jack hammer in the alley way.  Nice alarm clock...thank you Bangkok!

Awesome view from our hotel, okay maybe not

Shelley found another friend.  Look how happy she looks!

I cannot believe we ran into the lunatic actor who was born of aliens.  Shelley liked meeting him for some reason

Erik has been eating too much rice and noodles.  The art gallery was not pleased

Erik mocking one of Tom Cruises space friends!!

Erik found a friend too!  Fetch doggie

Don't know and don't want to know

Aaah, the cute couple enjoying the city life

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Okay

A non-eventful flight to Phuket, thank goodness!!  Late and to the hotel without being taken too advantage of by the taxi driver, we grabbed a nearby outdoor restaurant with some amazing Thai food and some mango shakes for desert!  We are ready to relax on the beaches of Thailand.