Please note that most of the spellings are not correct as I wrote them down phonetically so I would know how to properly say them:) Words with an asterisk are also Malay words:)
Common Phrases:
Terima Kasi: Thank you Sama sama: You’re welcome Senang Bertemo Dengan Anda: Nice to meet you Sama: Same Lagi: Again Tidak: No Ya: Yes Awas: Caution Ah-ir: Water (spelled air!) Ah-peh-too: What is… Bantu: Help
Tangan: Hand Kaki: Foot Mata: Eyes Telinga: Ears Hidung: Nose Muka: Face Ramboot: Hair
Animal Related:
Binatang: Animals Kandang: Pen for animals Anjing: Dog Kuching: Cat Nyamuk: Mosquito Monyet: Monkey Bulu: Fur
Miscellaneous:
Asap: Smoke Ah-pee: Fire Toe-pee: Hat Sapu: Broom Belajar: Study Kayu: Wood Jangan: Finished Gatal: Itchy Loop-ah: Forget Besok: Tomorrow Bunga: Flower Najis: Dirty Haram: Forbidden Halal: Allowed Chantik: Beautiful Gagah: Handsome Kerya Bagus: Good job Besar: Fat Gigit: Bite Aurat: means women must be covered from head to their wrists and ankles Muhrim: You can’t be affectionate with others unless they are family or your spouse
I will say for the record that yes, the following scenario was pretty much 100% my fault, and no, I don’t recommend anyone else to follow in my footsteps (as the ending results may vary greatly!!).
When I first arrived in Thailand in December of 2014 I didn’t bother to look at my passport stamp before leaving the immigration desk. Instead it was probably the next day, after I’d slept for several hours catching up on lost sleep, that I bothered to look (out of curiosity) at the stamp in my passport.
It was then that I’d noticed something interesting about my stamp… The entrance date was correct, but the “valid until” stamp said December, 2015…
A year later??? That can’t be right!? As I started to research information on tourist visas for Thailand, I quickly realized that a mistake had been made. Tourist visas if entering by plane are ONLY valid for 30 days. If entering by land I believe it is only 15 days. To get more than 30 days, extensions must be made and paid for.
Well, at first I was a bit panicked about this incorrect stamp but nothing online seemed to address my issue. All the visa problems were related to stamps giving LESS than the proper time allotted, never once did I run into anyone saying they were given MORE.
Perhaps that was due to people not wanting the outside world to know they had been “granted” longer than legally allowed… In any event, I was still worried about what to do in the several weeks that followed and almost did a border run within the 30 days, but the more I spoke with fellow tourists (some who had been there for months on end with proper extensions) it seemed that it really wasn’t a big deal. There was no special stamp for 30 days vs. extended stays, so I thought no biggie!
Everyone (seasoned Thailand travelers) seemed in agreement that there wasn’t even a special visa stamp for year applications. So needless to say, I simply blew off making border runs and figured I would deal with it whenever I was ready to leave Thailand.
So the day came, about 9 months later, that I was ready to leave. Up to the border patrol in Tammalang Pier I strolled with my ticket in hand for Langkawi, Malaysia. I passed over my passport to the seasoned employee… All seemed well for a few seconds… Then his eyebrows furrowed.
I was asked to step out of line and into the back where I was basically scolded for my mistake. I tried to reason with them saying it was one of their own people’s fault for giving me the wrong stamp, but really when it came down to it (and I knew this already) it was my own fault. So I was given two choices. A) Pay the maximum fine for over-staying my visa (20,000 baht) or B) Go to the Police station.
Needless to say I picked A!! I wasn’t even going to test choosing option B, lol!! But the only problem then was that I needed cash! I only had about 70 baht on me, so I basically begged for and borrowed a motorbike, drove myself into town, got the max allowed out of an ATM (20,000 baht), drove back, paid my fine, got a lovely full-page stamp in my passport outlining the infraction (stating boldly my mistake in full detail), finally got my exit stamp, and boarded the ferry to Langkawi Malaysia.
It was kinda humorous at the end there as when I had to return to the main immigration desk hours later (after paying the fine) I ended up with the same officer who caught my mistake. When I approached, he just gave me a jovial smile and shake of the head. I had to chuckle at that and smiled. No hard feelings 🙂 At least I wasn’t asked never to return to Thailand! I paid my fees and got straight with the law.
So I’ve learned my lesson, which I’d actually seen written several times in visa blog discussions: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR STAMP BEFORE LEAVING THE IMMIGRATION DESK!!! Avoid future hassles!!
As for the money, if you really think about it, it’s probably the same amount I would have had to spend in border runs and legal extensions of my tourist visa anyway. C’est la vie!
Te invito a salir de la rutina además de escaparse del calor en esta temporada especialmente aquí en Phoenix Az. donde las altas temperaturas no te invitan a visitar un parque por el extremo calor que hace. Así que para cambiar un poco de clima solo tienes que manejar 2 horas aproximadamente para disfrutar de los pinos, lagos y animales silvestres como venados, alces, ardillas y uno que otro coyote y demás.
Esta vez visitamos Woods Canyon Lake, se encuentra a 34 millas de Payson Az. De verdad vale la pena visitarlo y disfrutar los pinos, el lago y sobre todo la temperatura de 78 grados F. a diferencia de 115 grados F. de Phoenix.
Y lo mas importante, los beneficios que te da el caminar por el bosque, mas si vas en compañía de tu familia. Aquí algunos de ellos:
Favorite beach: toss up between Ao Luek, Hin Wong and Koh Nangyuan
Favorite island dog: Am (Through the Looking Glass)
Favorite beach bar: Mol’s Beach bar Hin Wong
Favorite sandwich shop: Through the Looking Glass (chicken, bacon & mayo!!)
Favorite Monthly Rental: P’un House (in Sairee. If you are a light sleeper, do bring some ear plugs to drown out street noise! Another great place to check out too is Sabai House or the Bottle House.)
Favorite view: The View bar
Favorite gym: Island Muay Thai
Favorite Italian food: Thaita
Favorite Thai food: Mint Kitchen (I specifically recommend the green curry!!)
Favorite homemade booze: Baileys from Taste of Home
Favorite night out entertainment: Lady Boy Cabaret
All good things come to an end, and after over 2 months on the beautiful island of Koh Tao, it was time to say goodbye. After a lovely farewell dinner and late-night drinks with Deb and Rick, Anna (a longtime friend from Scotland visiting Thailand for 5 weeks) and I headed off the following night for the island of Koh Phi Phi Don (pronounced pee-pee, not fee-fee!!). Koh Phi Phi Don, located in the Andaman Sea, just south of Krabi on the mainland is the larger of two islands there (the Phi Phi islands) made most famous by book “The Beach” by Alex Garland. Well, more specifically Maya bay on Phi Phi Ley (south of Phi Phi Don) was the filming site for the movie of “The Beach”. The book was written after the author visited and was inspired by the Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park, south of Koh Tao in the Gulf.
Ferry Dorm Room
Do I drink too much?
Saying Goodbye
We traveled on the night ferry, which left the dock around 9pm. Before boarding however we stopped in to 7-11 to stock up on some booze and snacks (of course!) for the journey, then after dropping our stuff of at our beds in the dorm room of the ferry, we headed to the top deck for some fresh air and to properly wave Koh Tao goodbye. We were one of only 3 people on the top deck but seriously had the best view and air quality there than any other place on the boat! We hung out for several hours on the top deck watching the stars as we lumbered along, sipping on Smirnoff Ice and chatting away. Around 11pm we started to pass the Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park (inspired the book “The Beach”!), watching the scattered islands appear in silhouette forms lit only by the moon.
Koh Tao Dock
Anna Saying Goodbye
Dorm Chillin
A little after midnight we headed to the dorm room for some sleep (we were due to arrive on mainland again at 5am, so sleep was necessary!!). The beds were decently comfortable but at first I had a very hard time sleeping as the smoke from the engines smelled like it was being pumped directly in the dorm room and it felt like I could barely breathe! I almost took my blanket and pillow back up to the top deck so I could sleep without being choked by the smoke, but ended up passing out nonetheless in the dorm.
Krabi Dock
Ferry to Krabi
Phi Phi Don in Distance
A little before 5am we arrived at the Suratthani mainland dock and were escorted to a local eatery. We hung about there for several hours, then were picked up by a mini-van for the 4 hour journey to Krabi. I don’t recall much of that part of the trip as I was mostly passed out (though we were pretty tightly packed in!!) but once we arrived in Krabi we were once again dropped at a local eatery for more food or drinks if desired. From there it was another hour until we were taken via tuk-tuk to the Krabi dock for the almost 2 hour ferry ride to Koh Phi Phi Don. By far this was the longest stretch of traveling I’d done so far in Thailand to get to the next destination; over 14 hours in total. What we arrived to ultimately on Koh Phi Phi Don was, well…. Interesting to say the least!
As this blog not only serves as a site for information for fellow travelers, it also serves the purpose of being my memory. Something that years from now I can read about and think fondly back on. As the Thai language is a very foreign and tricky, before I forget all the words I know I wanted to jot them down:) You will notice that several of the Thai words seems to be the same, yet have different English meanings. This is because depending on how the word is spoken (i.e. an inflection or intonation) the meaning changes. And of course I’m not writing the Thai words as they would actually be spelled, but rather in the way they sound so the pronunciation is correct. So here we go…
Poured: Please
Sa-wah-dee-ka: Hello/Goodbye (spoken by females)
Sa-wah-dee-kap: Hello/Goddbye (spoken by males)
Khob-Khun-Ka: Thank you
Mama: Very
Khob-Khun-mama-Ka: Thank you Very much 🙂
Chai: Yes
Mai Chai: No
Ka/Kap (female/male): Sure, Yup, ok, uh-huh, your welcome
Hong: Room
Nam: Water
Hong nam: Bathroom
Sue-Aye: Beautiful
Ma (long A sound): Dog
Ma (short A sound): Come
Ma (long A sound with voice down): Horse
Klap Ma: Come back
Mayo: Cat
Sah-bye: Good
Mai Sah-bye: Not good
Sah-bye-dee: Good health
Mai Sah-bye-dee: Bad health
Tong: Stomach
Gai: Chicken
Kai: Egg
Kai Gai: Chicken egg
Tao-Rai: How much?
Ah-you-da Rai: How old?
Moo: Pork
Ooo-ah: Vomit (this one was an animal clinic word I learned and NOT learned because of the next word, lol!)
Mao: Drunk
Naan Tell-lie: How long?
Lawn: Hot
Mack: Very
Lawn mack: very hot
Nit Noi: Little bit
Mack Noi: A lot
Wah-Nee: Today
Prune-Nee: Tomorrow
Maroon-Nee: Day after tomorrow
Moon-Nee: Yesterday
Numb Ken: Ice
Toe-Who: Tofu
Mee: Bear
Mee Panda: Panda Bear 🙂
Ko: Beach
Tao: Turtle
Took-kay: House gecko
Baan: House
Phone: Rain
Non (pronounced like Noni -as in the juice- without the I): Sleep
I’ve been traveling in Thailand now for over 5 months now, so I thought perhaps now is the best time to break out with a few things I love or at least find the most interesting about Thailand:)
It will be a working list and isn’t in any particular order with the exception of the first one. 🙂
#1: NO SHOES!!!
I absolutely adore how before entering any building, home or place of work you must first remove your shoes! This goes for just about every place, with the exception of some grocery stores (though no one would squawk if you didn’t have your shoes on) and with some restaurants as well. But for the most part (including in the vet clinic where I volunteered) you have to kick off your shoes before entering. I will admit sometimes it’s a pain to do so (if you are wearing anything other than flip flops) but otherwise, the no shoe rule is my favorite cultural behavior and one that I will be using wherever I end up for good:) I love, love, LOVE it!!
No Shoes
#2: Nature
The diversity of the landscapes here are extraordinary! From the beaches to jungle to islands, mountains, rivers and lakes, Thailand seems to have just about every kind of terrain one would want to find.
#3: House Geckos
I just adore these creatures! They are simply a much larger version of regular geckos and they are quite beneficial to have in the home since they take care of the majority of other insects in the home (including spiders, yay!!). They also make the cutest and most interesting sound. They start off with a quick series of chitters, then make a series of staccato sounds in repetition. When I first heard their sound I thought I was crazy because it sounded like they were saying “F you” in slow repetition. However, I’ve come across many other travelers and very-well-spoken-in-English-locals who have also pointed this out, so I guess I wasn’t as crazy as I thought, LOL!
#4: Animals
I know I just wrote about the geckos, and they technically would qualify in the animal section as well, but I just love those little buggers so much that they got their own section. However, I do also adore the large variety of other kinds of animals here in Thailand. From elephants, street dogs and cats, variety of monkeys, flying squirrels, regular squirrels, lizards, birds, the diversity is so rich! You just never know what you are going to find! The sea life is also beautifully diverse and lush! From corals to sting rays, sharks, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers, and a huge variety of fish, it’s amazingly impressive!
#5: Kind & Honest People
The people are generous and kind, patient and welcoming. I have yet to run into a rude local here and though I’ve heard from other fellow travelers that it all depends on where you go, in my opinion and experience the people have been nothing but kind. In addition to the generous and kind nature of the people here, they are also very honest. In particular when it comes to money. I’ve been other places where I’ve handed over too much money (from being tired or just not thinking the correct exchange rate) and they’ve gone on their way with the extra money in hand. Here, there have been several occasions where I’ve handed over too much and they immediately return whatever over I’ve paid, even if it’s just a single baht! I’ve gotten so comfortable with their honesty that there have also been several times when my mind wasn’t working properly to understand how much I owed in Thai that I’ve simply held a bunch of bills and let them pick what they needed. I love that kind of honesty as it makes one feel more comfortable in their surroundings!! Now, that’s not to say some people won’t try to overcharge you for something (cab ride, etc) but if you ask upfront what something will cost, they stick by it.
#6: No sleazy men
Traveling in Latin American countries, one thing I had to get used to that also really annoyed me at times, but just had to learn to ignore, was the cat calls, whistles, stares and hissing sounds (they literally sounded like snakes to be honest) men would constantly make toward any female as you walked by. Here, no such behavior exists! The men are much more respectful in that way and even to the point where I sometimes wondered why I wasn’t getting any looks from locals, and it simply is because their culture, unlike others, is to not display emotions of affection in any way in public. Hence, no cat calls, uncomfortable stares or hissing sounds!
#7: Packaging with plastic bags
This one I personally struggle with from the environmental perspective and really wish they would cut back on their use of plastic bags, but I do also find it interesting and entertaining how they package to-go food or drink items. Coffee, sodas, rice, soups, and more are packaged in a plastic bag tied off with a rubber band for take away. Other items like rice and pad thai are put in styrofoam containers, so it’s one evil for the environment versus the other… While I can understand the simplicity and ease of using plastic bags, I wish in general they would cut back because they insist in using a ton of bags for very few items. I’m always refusing bags (as I generally bring my own or just don’t need one) but you really have to be on the ball to say you don’t want a bag as they are very quick to snatch one out. The straws also drive me nuts (though technically from the hygienic perspective it’s better) as they will give you one for each can or bottle purchased (including for beers) so if I walked in and bought 2 bottles of water and a soda they would put in 3 straws!
#8: Built to last
Another thing that really impresses me about Thailand is the construction of their homes and buildings. Yes, there are several homes that are made entirely from bamboo and other wood (though bamboo is a very highly resilient wood to begin with!) but many homes, stores and general buildings are built to a very high quality standard and are built to last! It’s amazing watching them construct a home or other building because their scaffolding is simply rickety looking pieces of wood that you wouldn’t think would hold people walking or working around them, yet the finished product is brick and concrete with tile throughout.
#9: Muay Thai
Whether it’s enjoying an evening out watching fights or joining in training yourself, Muay Thai is entertaining, engaging and a real real-kicker! Granted not all fights are created equal as some are much more entertaining or gruesome than others, but all the fighters have a real sportsmanship about them that isn’t as easily found in countless other sports. What I love the most is the fights where it’s evident that the competitors are friends. They encourage each other between fighting rounds but when the bell goes off, all bets are off and “may the best fighter win” kicks in. Another thing I love about Muay Thai is the sense of tradition and culture. The fighters respect the ring, the judges, their opponent and their God. The more I train in Muay Thai, the more I understand the fights as I watch and questions I had before while watching fights are now answered because of my own training. I won’t go into that here, but will in a future post for sure!
One of the first things I learned when I arrived in Thailand was the word ‘falang’. It is the word that Thai’s use to describe a foreigner. Now, whether this word is meant to be an insult or not, I still haven’t figured out for sure. According to some fellow travelers however, it is meant to be an insult, an impolite expression to describe people basically with white skin.
While I’m not entirely sure the exact connotation this word is supposed to carry, here is my take on it. Perhaps at one point this word was supposed to be an insult. Perhaps even today, depending on how the word is spoken (whether spat out with spite or generally inserted to refer to specific people present) it may or may not have a derogatory meaning attached. But what my opinion is overall on the issue: it just doesn’t matter.
There are a lot of words out there in the World that people of one race or origin use to describe other people who either don’t look alike or are from somewhere entirely different. And though I know that even today many of those hateful words are still used to inflict pain or rile up others, to me, allowing a word to change my attitude or way of thinking or feeling is just ridiculous.
I’ve been called a falang countless times while here. And while sometimes I could say that the way in which they said the word was rude or hateful and meant to be an insult, why bother letting it bother me? To give a negative reaction back to someone who may be trying to be hateful is to allow them to win. For me to be upset at being called a falang means that I’ve given my power over to another. I’ve allowed them to change my behavior for the negative.
This is why personally, I find no offense in the word or being called a falang. Falang simply means foreigner in my book, no matter the tone in which it’s spoken. Because let’s face it, that’s what I am! There’s no debating that. I can’t tell you the number of times traveling with others that I’ve had a discussion on ‘falang’ and what it means. And it’s even more surprising to me how many find it insulting. Again, perhaps once upon a time it had a bad meaning attached to it, but today I don’t see why people are still carrying around the idea that it does.
We are all products of our reactions. If we allow our reactions to be negative or hateful, that’s what we will continue to be and to spread. If we choose not to let words or allow ourselves to feel other people’s negativity, yet simply move forward in a positive light, then light and positivity will be all that’s spread. Simple choice to me.
When we first arrived in Prachuap, we had only paid for 2 nights because the owner said that for the 13th (what would have been our 3rd night) all the rooms were booked. You see, Songkran, the Thai New Year (also known as the Water Festival) was just around the corner so many Thai’s were traveling to their favorite vacation spots to celebrate the occasion. So while for the first day here was simply spent lounging on the beach, the second was dedicated to trying to find somewhere else to be for the night of the 13th. As we wandered the main road trying to find accommodations for the 13th (and were constantly told ‘no space’) we kept thinking more and more outside of the box with suggestions like “well, if it’s only for that one night that there’s no availability at the Ban Thai Hut, then we can just ask if we can store our bags there and sleep on the beach! No worries!”.
As fate would have it however there WAS space at our hut, it was just that the price was going to be increased for the nights of the 13th and 14th. Of course for Holidays they would up the price… Even though the price hike was annoying, it was really a God-send that we didn’t have to go anywhere because on the morning of the 13th (when we would have had to pack up and move locations) we woke up to an absolutely HUGE thunderstorm that rocked on with lightning and thunder for most of the day. We kept laughing at the prospect that we had thought to sleep on the beach… Lol!
Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm_2
Thunderstorm_3
April 14th was the official day to celebrate the Thai New Year. However in most places, especially larger cities such as Chaing Mai and Bangkok, they choose to celebrate for an entire week. Songkran, as mentioned above is also known as the water festival, and is aptly named because for the duration of the celebration days of Songkran people go crazy with water fights! Buckets of water are thrown on passersby, cars, motorcyclists, bicyclists, basically anything with a pulse (though they don’t target the dogs thankfully!! :)). If you aren’t hit by a bucket of water, you will be hit by a hose, or a water gun, or by a truck driving by with people in the bed of the truck chucking out water all around. It’s absolute water mayham!! I loved it!!!!
Water Fight Kids
Water Fight Kids_2
Water Fight Kids_3
There are a couple of confusions surrounding the Holiday however… Well, the first isn’t a confusion as much as a concern really. But apparently the number of motorcyclist deaths DOUBLE each year during Songkran because of crashes related to people chucking water on them while they drive!! I did see a news report from Bangkok this year however saying the death toll was down more than 20% from last year, so that’s good…
Getting into the actual confusion bit about the Holiday; Songkran is the Thai New Year. Yet on January 1st, their year turns over. They went from the year 2557 to 2558 on January 1st. So……….. The question remains in what way is Songkran the Thai New Year? I have yet to have this explained to me nor to find anyone who actually knows the answer to this (and I refuse to Google it just yet as I’m curious to actually find someone who knows). What I have heard from some is that Songkran is more of a “last chance” for water “festival” meaning that mid-April marks the beginning of their dry season where not so much rain can be expected for months until the monsoon season hits… Still confusing is that they also celebrate the Chinese New Year… So essentially it seems in Thailand that they celebrate the Western New Year (January 1st) when their physical calendar year also changes, they celebrate the Chinese New Year, AND Songkran which is their “actual” New Year and/or perhaps just a water celebration before the dry season… Anyone else confused?
Water Fight Kids_4
View from Bar
Water Fight Kids_5
Moving along, the actual day of Songkran (April 14th) was overcast but not rainy and in this sleepy little town of Prachuap, it was rather low-key. About a 5 minute walk from our place were 5 kids set up on the side of the road equipped with a hose, large buckets, smaller buckets (for use to chuck water) and several water guns. When there wasn’t any traffic to pummel with water they simply turned on each other or scooped up small buckets of water to pour on themselves, lol!! It was great fun watching them and all the smiles on the faces of those going by who were hit with water. And it was even more fun watching the random truck pull up and start a water fight from the bed with the kids on the street.
Water Fight Kids_6
Water Fight Kids_7
Water Fight Kids_8
Water Fight Kids_9
All in Good Fun
Water Fight Kids_9
We watched this activity for several hours drinking beers and chatting in between. At one point I went back to the hut for my camera and saw some guys painting each other up with some festive paint (a new part of the Songkran tradition apparently) and after asking if I could take their picture, they proceeded to give me the blessing of slathering some paint on me too 🙂
Painted Up
Painted Up_2
Back at the bar where we were drinking, we met a couple for the UK who had been living in Prachuap for a while, and they invited us to “the wall” for some more drinks. The Wall is literally the sea wall along the main road of Prachuap on the South side of the pier that splits the bay. We had yet to go to that side, so took the opportunity (in our already quite intoxicated states as we had missed eating breakfast and lunch) to go. We hoped in the bed of the truck and headed over to the wall. I was furiously trying to take pictures along the way and totally neglected to think about the prospect that while the Songkran celebration was quite docile along our little local strip of the bay, it would potentially not be the same on the other side of the pier where it was known to be more touristy.
Water Fight Kids_10
En Route to The Wall
En Route to The Wall_2
Just as we pulled up in the heart of the area we had to stop in the road because of traffic. It was then that I realized how much celebration was going on and tried to as quickly as possible to put my camera away when I was hit from head to toe with a bucket of ice-cold water!! Yup, they don’t care what you have on you, what you are wearing, what precious things you have that you may not want to get wet; if you are out and about, no matter your state, you will be soaked!! They even have special bags they sell for phones and tablets so you can take pictures but keep them dry, lol!! I was soaked and my camera also got hit through, but in the spirit of it all (I was warned it could happen) all I could do was laugh and enjoy the great cheer! But needless to say the picture-taking came to an abrupt end!!
En Route to The Wall_3
En Route to The Wall_4
En Route to The Wall_5
En Route to The Wall_6
En Route to The Wall_7
En Route to The Wall_8
En Route to The Wall_9
En Route to The Wall_10
We got some more drinks and I purchased a roll of toilet paper to dry my camera with and simply sat on the wall chatting for hours! The conversations lasted long after the sun went down until we were past the point of being in any way sober and were then in desperate need of food! We parted ways with our “wall” friends and headed to find food and pass out accordingly. Good times! Another Happy New Year it was! 🙂
I’ve debated several times whether to actually give away the location of this next place we traveled to (are still are after a week, with no plans to jump up and leave just yet)… I honestly can’t believe it hasn’t been discovered more! While there are a handful of Europeans living here, foreigners are a very uncommon sight. Thai tourists and locals (of course) are the ruling majority. It’s just my kind of place to really feel like a part of the culture and life!
We bought tickets for the mini-bus to this gem of a place from Hua Hin, and though were told it would only be an hour wait for the bus to arrive, it turned into almost 2 before we even got on. And when we did get on, the bus was so full that literally 2 of the passengers had people sitting on their laps, all the seats were taken AND 3 people had to stand (rather uncomfortably by the looks of it) in the aisle of the bus. Essentially a bus equipped to seat 14 passengers had 19 PLUS our huge travel bags (which are about the size of a small human). Luckily within the hour or so however people started exiting the bus, so space opened up a tiny bit to at least allow everyone to have their own seat. I suspect that the bus was so crowded because of the upcoming Holiday of Songkran.
Crowded Mini-bus
Arriving in Prachuap
Once we arrived, we set off on motorbike taxis to a place called Ban Thai Hut, where we were told had cheap accommodations. We settled on a tiny hut complete with a bed, bathroom, fan and TV (which we’ve yet to actually plug in or turn on) just a short walk across the street from the beach. The place is absolutely darling, and while very rustic (there are some parts of the room we fear to put too much weight on just in case the floor falls through) it has been suiting our needs quite well.
Mini-Hut for Buddha
Ban Thai Hut
Ban Thai Hut_2
Ban Thai Hut_3
Prachuap Khiri Khan is the name of this adorable town. It consists of 3 semi-circular bays separated by jutting hills and islands. Farthest to the North is the little Ao Noi bay then the Prachuap Khiri Khan bay and finally Ao Manao. Each location offers so many outdoor things to do that it just boggles my mind when the locals say tourists only stay here for a couple of days because “there isn’t much to do”. Seriously?? They have a Wat inside a cave in Ao Noi, beautiful beaches on all three bays, hikes to a Wat on the top of a hill in Prachuap, a hike to another tiny Wat at the top of another hill (Khao Lommuak) which gives the highest panoramic view of the entire area, plus snorkeling (I still have to check that out myself!) and within driving distance several day trips could be planned to surrounding National Parks! There is so much to do around here that when you add in days to just relax and beach, you would need at least a week to get it all done leisurely!
Prachuap Beach
Prachuap Beach_2
Prachuap Beach_3
Prachuap Beach_4
Now Those are Crabs!
Prachuap Beach_5
But I digress… This place really is darling though! I would recommend it over and over but hope that even when it does get properly discovered, the integrity of the place as it currently is doesn’t get destroyed. The weather is always delightful (though admittedly quite hot), the beaches are never overcrowded, the beach water is deliciously warm and refreshing and there is a ridiculous amount of fun sea life to play with (hermit crabs, clams, sand dollars, etc). Seriously, what more could one ask for?
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
Ramblintraveler 