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Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...
- Thread starter Lightcycle
- Start date
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/294.html
The ferry to Koh Phangun is filled with twenty-something farangs all looking like they are ramping up to go to a rave on the beach. Jacked-up dudes with tattoos and skinny girls with sun-bleached hair take up every available seat and the hot air inside is filled with the scent of sunscreen and sweat.
What the heck is going on?
And then we find out: there's going to be a full moon in a couple of days. We had no idea but now we are inadvertently on our way to the most famous Full Moon Party in Thailand. In fact, Full Moon Parties were invented on Koh Phangun, started by a bunch of tourists in 1985. Since then it's grown so large that tens of thousands of young partiers flock to the islands, dancing to electronic music all night, getting high on E and passing out on the beach.
Totally not our scene. I felt like the oldest person on the boat.
The ferry to Koh Phangun is filled with twenty-something farangs all looking like they are ramping up to go to a rave on the beach. Jacked-up dudes with tattoos and skinny girls with sun-bleached hair take up every available seat and the hot air inside is filled with the scent of sunscreen and sweat.
What the heck is going on?
And then we find out: there's going to be a full moon in a couple of days. We had no idea but now we are inadvertently on our way to the most famous Full Moon Party in Thailand. In fact, Full Moon Parties were invented on Koh Phangun, started by a bunch of tourists in 1985. Since then it's grown so large that tens of thousands of young partiers flock to the islands, dancing to electronic music all night, getting high on E and passing out on the beach.
Totally not our scene. I felt like the oldest person on the boat.
Neda catching some rays at the pool with a view
Even though we're staying at a small resort several orders of magnitude less nicer than the Renaissance in Koh Samui, it felt more homier sharing a bungalow with Mel and Anton and hanging out in the living room watching movies, yelling at the MotoGP race and planning out how we are going to fill our days.
Mel asked if we had watched "The Beach" which is set in Koh Phangun. I hadn't, so I put it down on my To-Watch list.
If we followed the Smaller-and-Smaller theme, we would be renting mopeds, but 125ccs is the lowest we're willing to go
Our resort is not near any of the towns so once again, we've rented scooters and we're going to explore the smaller island of Koh Phangun.
We're staying at the top of a hill and this is the view every time we leave it. Marvelous!
If I had eyes in the back of my head, this is what I'd see
Koh Phangun is a lot less developed than Koh Samui. There are fewer cities, the towns are smaller, less hotels, less bars and restaurants and less activities. About the only thing it's known for are the Full Moon parties every 29 days. But in between it's a sleepy island. We just happened to be here as the party is ramping up, so we see lots of farangs on scooters shuttling around the island.
If it wasn't for that, I think I'd prefer Koh Phangun over Koh Samui. A bit more slower paced and relaxed. Just like us...
Some stalls in one of the tiny towns on Koh Phangun
We're staying at the top of a hill and this is the view every time we leave it. Marvelous!
If I had eyes in the back of my head, this is what I'd see
Koh Phangun is a lot less developed than Koh Samui. There are fewer cities, the towns are smaller, less hotels, less bars and restaurants and less activities. About the only thing it's known for are the Full Moon parties every 29 days. But in between it's a sleepy island. We just happened to be here as the party is ramping up, so we see lots of farangs on scooters shuttling around the island.
If it wasn't for that, I think I'd prefer Koh Phangun over Koh Samui. A bit more slower paced and relaxed. Just like us...
Some stalls in one of the tiny towns on Koh Phangun
Our primary goal on Koh Phangun is to find the best beach on the island. And then lie on it and watch time pass. It's a rough life, but someone has to live it! 
Taking a break from the hot sun before braving the beach
Trudging through the village to our destination. Hard work!
This one looks good
Feeling the sand beneath our toes
Taking a break from the hot sun before braving the beach
Trudging through the village to our destination. Hard work!
This one looks good
Feeling the sand beneath our toes
Another guy living the hard life.
Crystal clear waters and white sands. Not bad.
We hopped from beach to beach by scooter before we found one we liked. Some of them were too noisy - fishing boats and ferries pollute the air with noise and the waters with refuse, but we finally found one that we could spread out a blanket and then we set our timers so we knew when to turn over like turkeys basting in the oven. We're really enjoying ourselves in Koh Phangun!
Our neighbours for the next couple of hours
We alternate between baking on the sand and then cooling off in the refreshing waters
Junk boat trawling the waters of the island
Junk boats originated from China but are found all over SE Asia. You can charter these traditional junk boats to take you all around the islands and the marine parks.
Speaking of which, there are a lot of Thai words that I recognize from Chinese. More than half of the numbers are derived from Cantonese. Anton also pointed out some words that he recognized from Tamil, so between the two of us, we really don't understand any Thai at all...
We've gone into a lot more stores with Anton and Mel, and we've picked up more slang. A popular phrase is "same same", when a Thai person is trying to tell you something is similar.
However, we've realized when a Thai salesperson tries to convince you that something is "same same", often it is not similar at all.
I'm going to try to sell this picture to some postcard companies in Hawaii, Jamaica and Fiji. Same same.
Havin' a swingin' ole time!
Koh Phangun is actually Thai for "Farangs on Scooters". They (we?) are everywhere!
Okay, so I downloaded that movie, "The Beach" and we all watched it.
Holy hell, that's not the kind of movie you want to see while you're actually on the islands. Like watching an airplane disaster movie as your in-flight entertainment!
Hanging out with fellow travelers, John and Jen from BC
John and I have been e-mailing through the blog for a while and it just so happened that we were all on the islands at the same time. So we met at the bar right beside our resort, where we grabbed a couple of drinks while watching the spectacular sunset. Not a bad way to spend the evening!
Everything is so chill
Billy Corgan spinning the beatz. Absolutely Smashing!
Just before the sun sets, everyone tries to capture the moment
Loving the stacked layers of colours when the sun starts to disappear
We really like hanging out with Anton and Mel. They've got a very chill and unhurried approach to traveling, which means they book lots of one-way tickets and have plenty of flexibility to stay, roam or go. This fits in so well with our style of travel. We literally do not know what we are going to do tomorrow and I think that that's awesome!!!
Fishing boats out in the Golden Hour
It's not all smiles and giggles here on the islands.
We've been wrapped up inside our riding suits while in Thailand for months now and this is our first time out in our bathing suits. Neda got a nasty sunburn *EVERYWHERE*! If you are not easily offended by a bit of skin, here's a small peek:
[video=youtube;m4VBIbROOlY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4VBIbROOlY[/video]
The Full Moon is coming and I'm reminded of the movie we just saw. Time to leave Koh Phangun...
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/295.html
Our vacation from our vacation from our vacation is nearly over. We're quickly unwinding our travels in reverse, catching taxis, ferries and planes back to where we originally came from.
First stop, the ferry docks at Koh Phangun
While we board the ferry, we watch fishermen haul their boats in and out of the water
After only two days in Koh Phangun, we are escaping this island right before the Full Moon parties kick off. Unsurprisingly, the ferry is almost empty. There are no twenty-somethings leaving Koh Phangun. Just a bunch of old people...
Our vacation from our vacation from our vacation is nearly over. We're quickly unwinding our travels in reverse, catching taxis, ferries and planes back to where we originally came from.
First stop, the ferry docks at Koh Phangun
While we board the ferry, we watch fishermen haul their boats in and out of the water
After only two days in Koh Phangun, we are escaping this island right before the Full Moon parties kick off. Unsurprisingly, the ferry is almost empty. There are no twenty-somethings leaving Koh Phangun. Just a bunch of old people...
Back to the big cities of Koh Samui
We are only spending the night in Koh Samui before we fly back to the mainland in the morning. We're staying in Chaweng Beach, which is the largest city on the island and only a couple of kms away from the airport.
Walking around the very western malls in Chaweng Beach looking for dinner
We don't really want to eat western food, so we head back outside
But there are many farangs who travel all the way to Thailand and are happy to pay western prices for a hamburger and fries.
Ah! This is more our speed
Waiting for our seafood dinner. Crab and noodles tonight. Again!
The next morning, some photo opportunities at the Koh Samui airport, waiting for the plane to Bangkok
And then an hour later, after touching down at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, more nice things to take pictures of
We're not done with Mel and Anton yet! Neda and I had planned to pick up our CRFs in Bangkok and ride a bit north to check out some ruins. Since our friends still have a couple of days of vacation left, they rented a car and we all piled in and headed up together.
It was all highway to Ayutthaya, just over an hour's drive north of the city. I stared out the window as boring, flat urban landscape packed with towns, roads and vehicles scrolled past. Being in a car is both monotonous and hypnotic. We're traveling during the middle of the day and I glanced over at the temperature gauge on the dash of the car. The numbers slowly crept up: 38C... 39C... 40C! So humid too! Missing the islands already. So glad we are in a car on this boring slab-run with the air-conditioning blasting glorious cold air on our faces!
I may even indulge in a short nap in the back seat...
Wat Chaiwatthanaram at sunset
We arrived in Ayutthaya in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel, then waited until sunset to venture out to see some ruins. There are quite a few in the area. The hotel manager suggested we visit Wat Chaiwatthanaram. It's the most well-known of the temples and is the picture on all the postcards of Ayutthaya as well as Google Images.
Well, if it's on Google Images, we *have* to go take our own pictures then and add them to the library!
Do you have this picture, Google Images? Well you do now! SEO tag: Ayutthaya Ayutthaya Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya, the capital of what was once known as Siam (now Thailand), was once one of the largest cities in the world. More than a million people lived here in the 1700s. But most of it was destroyed when Burmese invaders burned it to the ground in 1767. Most of the city was made of wood, but the parts that still stand now are the stone remnants of the temples.
After sunset, we play around with the shadows of the floodlights, lighting up the stones
This is actually the moon peeking out from behind the tower
Getting late, time to go. Lots more to see tomorrow!
There are many different ruins in Ayutthaya, all are within a few kms of each other. There are bus tours that shuttle you to and from all the sites, and we try to beat the tourists that pour out of these behemoths. We've heard that you can also rent bicycles and ride between the ruins, which is a terrific way to die of heat exhaustion. We'll stick to the air-conditioned car, thank you very much Tourism Board of Ayutthaya.
After sunset, we play around with the shadows of the floodlights, lighting up the stones
This is actually the moon peeking out from behind the tower
Getting late, time to go. Lots more to see tomorrow!
There are many different ruins in Ayutthaya, all are within a few kms of each other. There are bus tours that shuttle you to and from all the sites, and we try to beat the tourists that pour out of these behemoths. We've heard that you can also rent bicycles and ride between the ruins, which is a terrific way to die of heat exhaustion. We'll stick to the air-conditioned car, thank you very much Tourism Board of Ayutthaya.
Visiting another site in the morning, Wat Chaiwatthanaram in the background
The red bricks look like they've been scorched from the time when Burmese invaders burned the city to the ground
Neda ponders Buddha's Head amongst the tree roots in Wat Mahathat
This is one of Thailand's iconic images. No one knows for sure how Buddha's head became entangled in this tree's roots. During the Burmese-Siamese war, the attacking forces chopped off the heads of all the Buddha's in the area. There's speculation that one of these heads might have rolled under a young tree and over time the tree's roots grew around the head.
This dog lives here, so he doesn't find it all that interesting
There are a few decapitated Buddhas on the grounds. But some have managed to keep their heads
The forests around the area are teeming with wildlife. Here's an egret by the lake.
We were driving between sites and Neda spied something on the side of the road. She yelled out to Anton: "STOP THE CAR!"
Then we quietly tiptoed out, took out our cameras and... Water Monitor Lizard. This guy was pretty big, about a foot and half long. Gorgeous creature, but very shy. He slinked away from the cameras very quickly.
Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit
Bird Dog
Wat Phra Sri Sanphet is the largest temple in Ayutthaya, well known for its chedis (Thai Stuppas) all lined up in a row
These aren't the original chedis. They've been restored after the Burmese attacked in 1767. This wasn't the first time Ayutthaya had fallen. The war between Siam and Burma had raged for centuries and the first time Burma took Ayutthaya was in 1564. After they razed it the second time, the city never recovered.
Looks like there are still ongoing archaeological efforts to find more of the ruins at Ayutthaya
Wat Lego. When the Burmese tore these temples down, they inadvertently
stepped on the bricks strewn on ground and were repelled due to the excruciating pain
Temple of the Reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutharam. I like how they gave him a real cloth robe. That's a lot of material!
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/296.html
Lopburi is only an hour north of Ayutthaya, but the Buddhist temple there, Phra Prang Sam Yot, is a major tourist attraction.
But the temple itself is not why people come here...
Monkeys. Everywhere.
It would be totally like a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie, were it not for the fact that the temple is on a tiny grounds that is surrounded by the bustling city of Lopburi.
Monkeys are not just confined to the temple grounds, they spill out onto the city streets
Lopburi is only an hour north of Ayutthaya, but the Buddhist temple there, Phra Prang Sam Yot, is a major tourist attraction.
But the temple itself is not why people come here...
Monkeys. Everywhere.
It would be totally like a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie, were it not for the fact that the temple is on a tiny grounds that is surrounded by the bustling city of Lopburi.
Monkeys are not just confined to the temple grounds, they spill out onto the city streets
The owner of the hotel last night in Ayutthaya warned us against coming here. The monkeys sometimes get very aggressive with the tourists (especially if they think you are hiding food from them) and there have been some reports of rabies due to bites and scratches.
That doesn't stop a lot of people from coming anyway. Including us
The little ones are so mischievous. One of them takes a liking to Mel
It's the baby monkeys that are the most daring. They sneak up on tourists behind their backs and look for piggy back rides. There are signs on the temple gates advising people to leave their wallets, glasses, cell phones, etc. in the car because the curious monkeys will find them, play with them and break them. Sounds like something I would do. Huh, I should really be wearing a sign like that around my neck!
Curious creatures. They get into everything and everywhere
There's a security guard at the gate of the temple. But we soon discovered he is not guarding the temple from tourists. He carries a stick that he uses to beat away the more aggressive monkeys. He also uses a slingshot that he pings rocks at them. I was happy because either he was a really bad shot or he just aims in their general direction to scare them off!
Mostly they are driven by food
You'd think the locals would be sick of their town being overrun by monkeys, but we saw many people drive up and dump food near the grounds. I think the monkeys are good for tourism.
And then tourists come and bring them more food. These guys are well fed.
That doesn't stop a lot of people from coming anyway. Including us
The little ones are so mischievous. One of them takes a liking to Mel
It's the baby monkeys that are the most daring. They sneak up on tourists behind their backs and look for piggy back rides. There are signs on the temple gates advising people to leave their wallets, glasses, cell phones, etc. in the car because the curious monkeys will find them, play with them and break them. Sounds like something I would do. Huh, I should really be wearing a sign like that around my neck!
Curious creatures. They get into everything and everywhere
There's a security guard at the gate of the temple. But we soon discovered he is not guarding the temple from tourists. He carries a stick that he uses to beat away the more aggressive monkeys. He also uses a slingshot that he pings rocks at them. I was happy because either he was a really bad shot or he just aims in their general direction to scare them off!
Mostly they are driven by food
You'd think the locals would be sick of their town being overrun by monkeys, but we saw many people drive up and dump food near the grounds. I think the monkeys are good for tourism.
And then tourists come and bring them more food. These guys are well fed.
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