Every evening a small town square turns into big eating place
A short life of a squid
This Thai dog did not want to eat a sausage I gave it.
- "Never trust a foreigner"
Its a hell of a lot of coconuts here...
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Trip around the island
going to be ready on Sunday. Have to survive with my
reading glasses till then. Big dent in my funds.
Hired a motorbike for 150 Baht for 24 hours.
East side of the island accessible by this kind of roads, or worse...
But when you get there - its a dream...
Met some nice fellow russians: couple of tourists, traveller
and last one is trying set up his business here.
and last one is trying set up his business here.
Friendly
When I was picking up my rucksack at the airport,
first I tried to take a similar looking one – only to
realise that it was much heavier than mine.
It belonged to a New Zealander, Richie, with whom
I went to look for a bus to Khao San Road
(he took the first room available for 700 Baht, I went on,
ending up with t-shirt and jeans being soaking wet).
People at tourist information centers were just desperate to help,
and they did help us. I expected them to be like their colleagues
elsewhere, sitting and waiting for customers to come in.
These ones were watching people passing by and then
they descended on some of them who remotely looked
puzzled or in need of help. My gut reaction was:
Oh my God! Its a hard sale! Say no to everything!
They were not selling anything, it was their job.
Some other guy seeing me coming out of a guest house
showed me where the next one was. Waited there and then
explained me how to find another one.
He was not doing hard sale, he was hoping to do business
with me: he had a tuk-tuk (sort of motorbike on 3 wheels
with space for passengers) and he offered to take me for
a local sightseeing tour for 10 Baht.
Its a freaking 20 cents! And he probably has a family to feed...
Life is hard.
Some sightseeings:
Please notice the unity of colours...
first I tried to take a similar looking one – only to
realise that it was much heavier than mine.
It belonged to a New Zealander, Richie, with whom
I went to look for a bus to Khao San Road
(he took the first room available for 700 Baht, I went on,
ending up with t-shirt and jeans being soaking wet).
People at tourist information centers were just desperate to help,
and they did help us. I expected them to be like their colleagues
elsewhere, sitting and waiting for customers to come in.
These ones were watching people passing by and then
they descended on some of them who remotely looked
puzzled or in need of help. My gut reaction was:
Oh my God! Its a hard sale! Say no to everything!
They were not selling anything, it was their job.
Some other guy seeing me coming out of a guest house
showed me where the next one was. Waited there and then
explained me how to find another one.
He was not doing hard sale, he was hoping to do business
with me: he had a tuk-tuk (sort of motorbike on 3 wheels
with space for passengers) and he offered to take me for
a local sightseeing tour for 10 Baht.
Its a freaking 20 cents! And he probably has a family to feed...
Life is hard.
Some sightseeings:
Please notice the unity of colours...
Climate
From Thai Tourist Office: The average annual temperature
is 35°C with three distinct seasons – hot from March through
May, rainy from June to September, and cool from October
through February.
Rainy? -OK. it rained once, I wish it rained more often. It
would come handy by this blazing heat. I don't have a
thermometer but it feels to me like 30°C at night and up to
40°C afternoon.
It is pleasant temperature at night – one sleeps without any
cover and a fan on. Pictures from films like “Saigon” spring
to mind...
Last night was the first night I slept normal hours, all nights
before I slept European night hours. Bloody jet-lag.
Its a pity I can't sleep in a hammock, there is one outside of
my door. Perhaps with a little bit of exercise I'll get it...
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Train
I asked at the reception of my guest house how one goes
from here to one of those islands. They asked which one?
I didn't know any better and pointed my finger: that one!
Koh Phangan. One takes a train (12 hours), then bus (2 hours)
and then a ferry (3 hours). Train leaves at 5pm and the
whole thing would cost 1050 Baht. When do I want to go? -
Today (I was told elsewhere that train alone cost 800 Baht
and thought the price was good). Come back here in two
ours to pick up your tickets. OK, I went out and had a bowl
of my favourite soup and the tickets were there!
The train itself reminded me of Soviet Union, with a little
twist: to make your sleeping place private - the used
removable curtains.
On arrival at the train station a couple of guys were
running around asking people where they go.
My experience tells me - its taxi drivers looking for clients.
But these ones had some kind of official budge, I showed
my ticket, he took me outside the station, pointed to the
bus: big bus, yours. And indeed it was mine.
5 minutes later we were on our way.
In the bus there were two German guys, doing the same trip,
they asked how much did I pay and were unhappy to here
the answer. They payed 1500 Baht each. Lottery.
When we arrived to the port - ferry was waiting for our bus
and left within 2 minutes.
I was impressed by efficiency of the whole thing.
Back on land, we were surrounded by people wishing to rent
bungalows. After I told them my requirements they lost
interest in me :) but was given an address anyway.
A guy on a motorbike brought me to this place
(10km away) for 100 Baht, where I am still now, paying 300
Baht a night, 30 meters from sea (perhaps 20), no people in
sight. My host rented out 2 bungalows out of 10, and so far
I haven't seen my neighbour.
A view from inside my bungalow
The sea is very warm and looks like from a
poster, I laughed when I went for a swim, not believing its all
real. But I was so tired, that the rest of the day I spent trying
to sleep and not being able to...
I have a friend in my bungalow (about 35cm long):
from here to one of those islands. They asked which one?
I didn't know any better and pointed my finger: that one!
Koh Phangan. One takes a train (12 hours), then bus (2 hours)
and then a ferry (3 hours). Train leaves at 5pm and the
whole thing would cost 1050 Baht. When do I want to go? -
Today (I was told elsewhere that train alone cost 800 Baht
and thought the price was good). Come back here in two
ours to pick up your tickets. OK, I went out and had a bowl
of my favourite soup and the tickets were there!
The train itself reminded me of Soviet Union, with a little
twist: to make your sleeping place private - the used
removable curtains.
On arrival at the train station a couple of guys were
running around asking people where they go.
My experience tells me - its taxi drivers looking for clients.
But these ones had some kind of official budge, I showed
my ticket, he took me outside the station, pointed to the
bus: big bus, yours. And indeed it was mine.
5 minutes later we were on our way.
In the bus there were two German guys, doing the same trip,
they asked how much did I pay and were unhappy to here
the answer. They payed 1500 Baht each. Lottery.
When we arrived to the port - ferry was waiting for our bus
and left within 2 minutes.
I was impressed by efficiency of the whole thing.
Back on land, we were surrounded by people wishing to rent
bungalows. After I told them my requirements they lost
interest in me :) but was given an address anyway.
A guy on a motorbike brought me to this place
(10km away) for 100 Baht, where I am still now, paying 300
Baht a night, 30 meters from sea (perhaps 20), no people in
sight. My host rented out 2 bungalows out of 10, and so far
I haven't seen my neighbour.
A view from inside my bungalowThe sea is very warm and looks like from a
poster, I laughed when I went for a swim, not believing its all
real. But I was so tired, that the rest of the day I spent trying
to sleep and not being able to...
I have a friend in my bungalow (about 35cm long):
Eating out
Streets are full of stalls, selling all possible things
and cooking all possible things in front of your eyes.
I love a variation of a noodle soup, ate it several
times and still want more. 
It is general knowledge (among westerners) that
one drinks boiled or bottled water, but the day
was so hot and the water with ice looked so appealing...
While I was eating I noticed at the corner of my
eye that something was moving next to my leg.
I don't know what it is, it was sitting on a wall
under my table... 
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Flight
I am off! Finally decided to buy a ticket to Canary Islands,
but my ticket for €100 was gone, only for €160 were left.
Then I saw an offer for €260 to Thailand and bought it.
The plane took off at 17:30 yesterday (18.09.09) and landed
10 hours later and 9k km away in Bangkok.
The route was something like this:
Duesseldorf-Hannover-Warsaw-North of Black Sea-
-Georgia-Afganistan-Delhi-Calcutta-Bangkok.
At 1:30am when we were half way – somewhere between
Delhi and Calcutta – we saw sunrise...
Meals were delicious, it helped though that I was very hungry.
Pity there was no internet available on board...
We landed at 4:00am (9am local time)
and the first impression was: humid.
Second: hot.
Immigration officials gave me standard 1 month visa
and didn't charged me for it, nice.
From airport I took a bus (150 Baht) to the area of the city
where a lot of guest houses are: Khao San Road.
Soon I knew what I was looking for:
it had to be quiet.
I found it at the third attempt, cheap, simple and quiet.
200 Baht a night (100 Baht ~ €2).
It is so simple that it does not have electric sockets in it :)
Wi-Fi costs 50 Baht for 2 hours, should be enough for me
for 2 or 3 days I am here.
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