Bangkultureshok

Hey Everyone,

I am writing this blog with one of the most beautiful views in front of me...Ko Phi Phi Island on Thailands South West coast. It has been a bit of an adventure so far in Thailand. We finished up in Australia with the great barrier reef, tropical rainforest and finally Sydney...all amazing.

We flew into Bangkok late at night, around midnight to a mass of people trying to get us to take a cab to our guest house...pure chaos! We finally got a cabbie who took us to where we were staying off of Sukumvit rd after scaring the crap out of us by not knowing where we were staying and trying to phone our guesthouse with no answer and getting out of the cab and asking people on the street even though we had the address written down. We finally got to our place and the security guard let us in to our air conditioned room...so nice since it was still 29 degrees and HUMID at 1 in the morning!

Unfortunately we got off to the wrong start in Bangkok with some tuk tuk drivers and their well dressed accomplices who got us to go the the so called Tourism Authority of Thailand office aka TAT but theirs was T.A.T. Very glad we didn't have a good feel about it and didn't book anything from them...but we had to pay another driver to get us back to where we were and it was over double the price! The next day we almost got scammed again...a cheap sight seeing tour...with stops at some stores...we didn't bite and got out as soon as they said one stop...another set up of guys told us that the major temple was closed and didn't open until later and they could take us on a tour to the other temples which were only open in the morning and closed in the evening...again we didn't bite and walked around the corner and sure enough the temple was open! I HATE TUK TUK DRIVERS!!!

The Temples are just amazing. There is so much gold leaf and ceramic tiles and pillars...it is really amazing. Plus we saw the BIGGEST Buddha I can ever imagine all in gold. Spectacular. We also got a bit of shopping in on Kao Sahn Road.

Now the best part of Thailand so far was our VIP bus trip from Bangkok to Krabi. Talk about rockstar treatment. We got to the bus station and it was just rammmed full of heaps of Thai people all going away for Thai new year, and one maybe two other tourists like us, really cool. Now all the buses leave around the same time so everyone hangs out at the bus station eating and waiting for the big moment. It was insane! When the time came people came pouring in the thousands to the platforms to get on the hundreds of buses getting ready to leave...then one by one they load up and head out...there are police directing traffic and blowing whistles, such unimaginable organized chaos. But the bus was so sweet. We had these massive fully reclining chairs which where more like a lazy boy then a bus seat. We got fed donuts and drinks and got a moist towel in the morning (overnight bus). Best overnight ride in any vehicle in my life! After a few hours all the buses stop and we got herded into this place for some food before being herded back to the bus.

Now this morning was totally wild. We got off of our shuttle bus to the boat port where they put a sticker on you and send you off on a long tail boat before you know what's happening and then toss you on a bigger boat to head off to Ko Phi Phi. We are here and can finally relax...the island isn't quite what I imagined...not quite as nice as i pictured, still absolutely beautiful...I think we are on the wrong side with all the long tail boats and the smaller not so nice beach with garbage nearby, we have been spoiled with some of the nicest beaches so far so we need it to be mind blowing...tommorow I am going to go explore the island by foot (no vehicles on the island) and find us what we were looking for...beautiful beach with a nice quiet place to chill...so if anyone reads this in time and has some suggestions send us an email!

Oh ya I love the back alley food in Bangkok...my recommendation: skip the restaurants and eat with the thai locals at these...delicious and super cheap (around $1 or so canadian for a nice red curry).

We are exhausted and ready for some R and R. Hope everyone is doing great and we miss you all very much!

Love,
SarahandRoo