ROAD TRIPPING

Last weekend we spontaneously decided to road trip to Koh Lanta. Now, if you know anything about Thailand, you might know that koh means island - and since our preferred method of transport here is the scooter . . . That's right folks, we decided on the grand adventure of scooting to an island!

The whole journey only took about 3 hours and cost 100 baht in gas. Add to that 50 baht for copious snacks and another 50 for the drive-on ferry and you have a grand total of 200 baht for the day - or $7! A mighty fine deal, especially considering friends of ours came the following day, took twice as long and spent twice as much via minivan. Plus, we were able to avoid the incessant pick up stops, caterwauling Thai music, and jam packed seating arrangements typical of every Thai minivan ride. We got to make a day of it instead, hitting the open road to check out the sights and sounds of rural Thailand and cruising in the sunlight.





While we managed to make it the whole way without getting lost, (partly because there were only three major roads, and partly due to our genius and well planned friend Richie who calculated how long each leg of the journey was and matched it to his speedometer. Cheers, Richie!) we weren't without mishap. As I was driving, my bike started to feel a bit wobbly. I thought I was imagining things until I remembered that about 20k back I hit a major bump. I pulled over and sure enough, I had a flat tire. Luckily, across the street was a mechanic / motorbike salesman / tire guy or whatever you want to call his multipurpose shop. I actually pulled over because I saw the universal Thai sign for that kind of shop: a pile of discarded tires on the side of the road. That's one of my favorite things about Thailand, bike fixer guys are a dime a dozen - there's literally one every 5k at least.





Note the ubiquitous discarded tires I was referring to above. The guy pulled a four inch nail from my tire, so I'm glad I stopped when I did! The whole affair only lasted ten minutes and cost me 120 baht - $5. Much nicer than in the states where that would have taken two hours and cost me 120 dollars!





I'm not going to lie, bums and lower backs were significantly aching once we arrived. Luckily, that's nothing a few paracetamol (Tylenol) and a $10 massage on the beach can't change.





We were able to have a nice four day holiday because the schools shut down all week save Monday due to the protest situation in Bangkok. Side note - the south of Thailand is a big supporter of the movement, and apparently politics and education are not separated here. But I digress . . .

Koh Lanta was a lovely spot. A bit pricey - but we stayed near the beach (not in those huts, I wish!) It as so nice to have our own scooters to tool around as we please. We pretty much kept to one main beach / bar - the Pirate Bar on Long Beach (Phra-Ae), owned and operated by some sweet Reggae men. The boys played pool there during the day while the girls soaked up the sun, as we do. We went to a cool beach party at Korner Bar the last night, but I didn't grab any photos. There was still a lot we didn't get to see, but I have plans to set up base on Koh Lanta again for my birthday weekend in March because it's pretty close to the Emerald Cave I've been dying to get to! (The one featured on The Bachelor, shame on me.)

All in all it was a great weekend. Koh Lanta, I can't wait to see you again!

IN AND AROUND THUNG SONG: MORNING MARKET

Up next in my series of local sights is the morning market. I took these photos months ago, on a Saturday morning tooling around on scooters with my friend Vicki. We never wake it up early enough to catch the market in full swing, let alone to figure out what time it kicks off . . . But I do know that Thung Song usually gets going obscenely early, so it's likely the market gets set up around 5 or 6 am.

Fruit lady with apples, grapes, dragon fruit and snake fruit

Mangos, rambutan, grapes, and mangosteen

Fruit stand ; vegetables galore

  Guava, tangerines, and mangosteen

  Flower stand

So many veggies

  I couldn't identify many of these green things

A woman and her vegetables

Bowls of chilies

Gorgeous reds 


The market happens every weekend, but since I have school Monday - Friday at 8 am, I'm not sure if the same market takes place on weekdays as well. I do suspect that there is some type of market every morning though, because most Thais don't cook - they usually go to a market to get fresh takeaway from a cart vendor. This specific morning market didn't have any cart vendors, but it was around noon at the time so it's likely they were there and finished and went home with the crowd. It was quite lovely going late in the morning though, there were hardly any people so we had free range to stroll around, take photos, and not have to deal with the usual stares associated with being the token foreigners. 

HAIR CUT

Despite all warnings from friends, family, and every foreigner I can imagine, I decided to get my hair cut in Thailand today. Actually, my (farang = foreigner) friend Lindsey recommended the woman that she and our Thai friend Vallapa go to, and my hair was so beyond gross that I figured something was better than nothing. 8 months with tangles, humidity and split ends was creating desperation. Luckily, it turned out really well!





Only in Thailand does the hair salon double as a wedding gown shop and a dry cleaners. And only in Thailand does my view from the chair contain shabby store fronts, tin roofs, and banana trees.

IN AND AROUND THUNG SONG: THE RIVER

This is the first in a series I'll be posting the next few weeks called In and Around Thung Song. I've got a couple of posts lined up that deal with the sights I see on a day to day basis where I live. Then eventually, I'll get around to posting pics from my travels :)

A few weeks ago my friends Pieter, Leandi and Terri took me down to the river for the first time. It's about a 20 minute drive out of town, an interesting and picturesque drive with plenty of typically Thai sights to see. The last time we went out there I noticed a child with a kite that was soaring 20 meters in the air easy, a cemetery, a handful of men walking their cows down the side of the road, a brand new mansion complete with a fountain out front, a graveyard of scattered and broken spirit houses, and a house with a monkey chained outside. You know, the usual. I'll try to follow up with a picture post of the drive there because all jokes aside it really is a scenic drive that is so lovely and typical of the the gorgeous Thai landscape. 

So these photos are from two separate occasions, when I went out the first time and Terri's birthday. On the latter occasion, we brought beer and paint supplies; the boys bantered back and forth on the rocks while Louise, Terri, and I produced some beautiful art work! It was a lovely afternoon spent in a great spot and I must say we'll probably return often. 

THE ONE WHERE WE USE THE BALCONY AS AN OVEN

Alex and I share a tiny studio apartment so we often have to get creative with how we use our space and appliances, or lack there of. We have a fridge, but for cooking all we have is a panini press (a hand me down - don't ask).

Yesterday we wanted to eat the baguette we froze, but we didn't want to wait for it to thaw, nor do we have a microwave/oven to heat it up. Thai improvising: let's hang it outside in the sun to warm it up!


McGuyver over here, setting up our contraption:




Check out that Thai engineering: And here's our multipurpose balcony / bakery / laundromat / greenhouse:




The best part is, it totally worked! Within 45 minutes our bread was thawed, warm and ready to eat.


(Points to you if you got that the title was a reference to Friends, which we've been watching a lot of lately)

NEW YEARS EVE

For New Years we had a five day weekend, so Alex and I took off to Ao Nang, Phi Phi, and Phuket with our friend Richie.

I didn't take many photos because I already have a lot from those places, which I'll put up eventually. ^__^
Phi Phi was lovely, albeit crowded for New Years. Yet again, on Phi Phi we end up feeling like we're on Mount Olympus - I don't know why but for some reason it feels like the worlds most beautiful people only hang out there. As usual, the highlight of our weekend was the food - so many good dishes we don't usually get. We stumbled upon an amazing Middle Eastern place and chowed on hummus, falafel, and salad - and in Phuket we found a great Irish place that served pub type food, but for someone in desperation for french fries and gravy it was essentially the best thing I've ever eaten.

We also rented scooters in Phuket and tooled around to some of the other beaches, where we tried and failed to play beach paddle ball.




It's always an adventure in Thailand - this weekend's shenanigans included a lack of any running water for 2 of the 3 nights we stayed in Phuket, so we ended up taking baby wipe showers on NYE. 2014 - or the year I learn to be low maintenance :)





We went to a party on the beach for New Years, and it was crazy busy - but in a good way. People were walking around selling fireworks, so we bought one and set it off. So did a lot of other people near us, which resulted in a stunning fireworks show that also had you slightly concerned for your life. Mai pen rai, this is Thailand.

Here's Tom setting off the firework we bought:

Lighting our Firework NYE '14 from Nikki Elizabeth on Vimeo.

And here's video of the crazy fireworks show.

NYE Fireworks from Nikki Elizabeth on Vimeo.