Bangkok

The next stop in Thailand was Bangkok. A month or so before we arrived, there had been some violent protests in the city, with even some foreigners getting killed, so we weren't sure if it was going to be safe or not. However, just before we were planning to go to Bangkok, the protesters seemed to have been dispersed and some level of peace established. I wasn't that familiar with the politics of the situation, I was just worried about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. During our time there, though, we didn't have any problems and things seemed to be back to normal, except that the city seemed pretty empty and a lot of the infrastructure built up for tourism was deserted. For a city so reliant on tourism, it must have been a big hit to their economy. Looking on the bright side, it meant for us that we had a lot of the places to ourselves and didn't have to worry about fighting any crowds, although being one of the few tourists around also made us a bigger target for scammers and the like.

Our first night in Thailand, we decided to check out Thai kickboxing, or Muay Thai. It had come highly recommended and despite being a little expensive, was very worth it. The ticket sellers try to push the ringside seats onto foreigners and charge a hefty premium for them, but Phil and I elected for the upper bowl, which in a small stadium offered nearly as good of a view as the ringside seats. The best part of the upper bowl, though, was being in mix of things with the locals and noise of the crowd.

Lumpinee Boxing Stadium

Phil Choosing a Dish from the Sumptuous Bounty

Previously, I didn't have any exposure to Muay Thai, which made things all the better since everything was new to me. I found the whole atmosphere to be very cool. When the fighters first came out, a small band would start playing music that seemed to come straight of a Hollywood kickboxing movie. The fighters would go through a set routine of stretching and dancing before each fight, which was really interesting at first, but after several fights became monotonous to watch.

Opening Routine Known as Wai Khru Ram

During the fights, the fighters would lock up and knee each other in the sides. Each knee would bring an "oomph" sound from the crowd and set off a big round of betting among the locals. The bets were for a surprisingly large amount, but there never seemed to be any trouble with people not paying up. Phil and I tried to figure out how the betting worked, but left as confused as we started. Either way, it added quite a bit of entertainment and made the Muay Thai more exciting.

Fight and Waves of Betting

There were a couple good fights, but most of the fighters were pretty young and small. One of the fights was between a couple of foreigners, a guy from France and a guy from Spain, but that match wasn't as good. They mostly reverted to western style boxing, instead of using the kicks and knees that the Thais preferred. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to watch and we had a great time.

Young Fighters

Betting in the Stands

Wai Khru Ram Opening Routine

Foreigner Fight

The next day in Bangkok was the day I will always remember as the scam day. It really seemed we went from one person to the next who was trying to scam us or sell us something we didn't want. We started off walking towards the river area and an old, kindly looking man chatted with us for a little while as we were walking, then after establishing trust, started pushing a boat ride through the canals. We bit and decided to take the boat. Despite seeing some slightly interesting things in the ramshackle houses built along the canals, there wasn't too much to see and it seemed like we might have gotten ripped off.

Houses Built Along Canal

Floating Market of One Woman Selling Overpriced Goods

Monks Sitting Along Canal

Giant Monitor Lizard on Banks of Canal

The Everlasting Love for the Thai King

At the end of our canal ride, and after an attempt by our boat driver to pilfer a little more money from us, we went to Wat Arun, one of the main temples in Bangkok. 

War Arun

Steep Stairs Up Temple

Gargoyles Holding Up Temple

Wat Arun

View of National Palace from Wat Arun

After Wat Arun, we were planning to go to the Grand Palace, but a policeman told us that it was closed that day and directed us to some other temples. At first, we thought he was being very helpful and were happy, but it turns out we had fallen for one of the classic Bangkok scams. We were taken to one of the main temples, the Golden Mount, but after that, we were taken to jewelry and clothing shops, all trying to push crap on us and scam us. While we didn't lose any money, we did waste our time and it was quite frustrating. If you can't trust a police officer in the capitol city of a country, then there's a problem. Despite being frustrated, we still went around and saw some of the sites of the city, but this time completely ignoring anyone who tried to talk to us, no matter how friendly they seemed.

Market and Street Food

Riding in a Tuk Tuk

Ascending the Golden Mount

Top of the Golden Mount

Metropolitan Bangkok

Traffic Near one of the Protest Areas

Victory Monument

On our last day in Bangkok, we finally saw the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is the highlight of all the tourist sites in Bangkok and contains Buddhist temples, government buildings, and other interesting sites. 

Inside Grand Palace

Thai Children Doing Thai Greeting

Gatekeepers

Strong Gargoyles

Government Hall

Change of Guard

We also went to the nearby Wat Pho, or "Reclining Buddha", which contains the largest reclining Buddha in the world. Not sure why he's reclining, but maybe he just likes to relax. The Buddha is about 150 feet long, which makes for one big reclining Buddha indeed. There are some other interesting Buddhist sites in the temple and we spent some time checking everything out.

Reclining Buddha

Mother of Pearl!

Line of Buddhas

Phil with Buddha

I have to admit that even after seeing so many Buddhist temples and sites, I am still not much closer to understanding what it's all about or the significance of many of the features. However, it's still interesting to see and a nice change of style from the Chinese Buddhist temples I've seen so often.

That wraps up our time in Bangkok. While it might not be my favorite place to visit, it still has enoughto make it worthwhile seeing at least once. We might have had a better experience if we didn't visit right after protests had nearly shut down the city or if we had managed to avoid some of the scams, but what can you do. For now, I'll check it off my list of places to see and leave the pollution and traffic to those who wish to stay longer. And here's a farewell by a well known character:

Thank You, Come Again

For more pictures, see: http://picasaweb.google.com/wallred10/Bangkok#

Ko Phi Phi

After Singapore, we flew down to Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is kind of a crap town, but you have to go through there to get to some of the nice islands in southern Thailand. After arriving in Phuket, we went to Ko Phi Phi or Phi Phi Island by boat and stayed for a couple days. Ko Phi Phi has some beautiful views and is a great place to relax. There is a town area with restaurants and hotels that is more developed and touristy, but someone had recommended a nice hotel called Viking Resort that is off the main stretch and is a bit more secluded and peaceful. There are a bunch of bungalows to stay in, a private beach, and a nice clubhouse to get good Thai food. We really liked it there and thought it was a great place to stay. For a bit over $10 per person a night, it's hard to beat.

Viking Resort Taxi

The Clubhouse

Path to the Bungalow

Our Bungalow with Open Air Shower on Right

Beach near the Resort

Night Thai Food Sampling

Fire Twirlers on Beach

One of the days in Ko Phi Phi we took a boat cruise to some of the sites in the area. You get to swim in some isolated bays with beautiful, clear water, go cliff-diving, snorkel along some coral, and see some neighboring islands and beautiful beaches. 

Cruising Near Rocky Islands

Clear Water Bay

Boats in Bay

Swimming in Clear Water

Cruising

The Captain of Our Boat

Another spot they take you to is Maya Beach, which was made famous by the movie "The Beach", starring the dreamy Leonardo DiCaprio. In real life, it is actually quite beautiful and a great place to visit. You have to jump out of the boat and swim to a rope ladder on some rocks, then walk for a little bit to get to the beach, which adds a little bit of adventure.

Maya Bay

Entrance to "The Beach"

Phil Soaking It In

Waves Crashing at the Beach

Lounging

My favorite part of the boat trip was snorkeling in the coral. I've never done anything like that before, so I was excited to try. It was a really great experience being surrounded by so many colorful fish and seeing the amount of life supported in such a small area. In the salty ocean water it was really easy to just float for awhile and watch the fish, periodically diving down deep to take a close look. I know that stretch of coral we saw is probably pretty plain compared to some of the top reefs in the world, so it really only kindled the beginning of an interest in diving. I would like to do more snorkeling or get a scuba license so I can do some more serious diving in the future.

Phil had a heavy-duty waterproof bag for his camera we used to take pictures underwater. We couldn't get crystal clear pictures, but it was enough to give an idea. These ones below don't really show how many different kinds of fish there were, but does show how many tiger fish were around.

Fish Underwater

Wes Snorkeling

Right as we were ending our boat trip, an extremely heavy rain came in. It was the rainy season during our whole trip in Southeast Asia. When we were in southern Thailand, it rained on schedule everyday in the afternoon, which was nice in that it cooled things down the rest of the day. In other places we didn't have such regular rain, which would have been nice when it got so hot.

Heavy Rains Coming In

Wes and Phil with Boat Driver

On the last day in Ko Phi Phi, we hiked up to the peak where you can get a nice view of the entire island area. From the viewpoint, you can see the thin strip of sandy land where the town is built. During the Asian tsunami a few years back, apparently the town got completely wiped out. Not a big surprise when you view it from above and see how unprotected it is. 

Town in Ko Phi Phi

Trees on Hike up to Viewpoint

The Sign Says it All

View of Bay

Don't Worry, This Dude Wasn't as White and Fat at the End of the Trip

That was pretty much our trip in Ko Phi Phi. It's a really beautiful island and although it is heavily touristed, you can still get some relaxation and enjoy some beautiful nature. As we were leaving the island and taking the boat back to Phuket, we had some great views with the sun out in full force. It was a nice way to give us a good lasting impression about Ko Phi Phi.

For more pics, see: http://picasaweb.google.com/wallred10/KoPhiPhi#