Slummin' it with Mama and Papa

Temple of the Emerald Buddha
Originally uploaded by camandkristin.

We arrived in Thailand after an uneventful flight from Auckland, via Sydney, and pulled into our hotel where my (Kristin's) parents were joining us to spend three weeks travelling with us. You could tell they were happy to see us, as they were outside in the parking lot waiting for us when we pulled up. They had been in Bangkok for a day already, and had splurged on a nice hotel for them (and us) for the first night before they converted over to being "backpackers". They are now slumming it with us :)

We spent our first day in Bangkok navigating the skytrain, metro, river boat, and taxi systems. A taxi in Bangkok is basically usless, as it can't get through the congested streets. No wonder there are a million scooters on the roads. We made our way to Wat Phra Kaew, where there is the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha, a model of Angkor Wat, and about 12 billion bits of tile, gold and other glittery things that cover all the walls. It's quite a thing, and if it weren't of extreme religious importance to the Thai people, I'd venture to call it gaudy...

That same night we caught a night train north to Chiang Mai. We splurged on air conditioning, but didn't take a sleeper car- don't want Mum and Dad to get too comfy too early! We spent 3 days in Chiang Mai touring around, including a day trip out to the jungle to do some elephant riding and Bamboo rafting. Our guide Rambo (of all things...), named my parents Mama and Papa (guess who was "Tiny Baby"...) and since then we have learned that is their name to pretty much all Thai people. It's quite funny really, but is obviously meant as a term of respect.

Riding the elephants was great, although we all have the moral "issue" tugging at us, but I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be that close to them. We also did some river rafting on a bamboo raft, with Cam standing "Huck Finn" style at the back.
Chiang Mai has a lot of great things to offer- like 30min foot massages for $1.50, or a full body massage for $5. And there are enough markets around to keep even the most avid shopper busy for days. And we're not the most avid shoppers...

After Chiang Mai we took another night train back to Bangkok- this time opting for the sleeper car which was great except for the fact that they didn't feed us. Fortunately we had a few supplies in our bag, so we all supped on 2 peices of bread and 8 ritz crackers with peanut butter! Mum and Dad are true backpackers now ;)

Upon arriving in Bangkok we changed our plans for the millionth time, and decided to book a flight south to Phuket to get ourselves closer to the beaches. We had some hours to kill, so left our backpacks in the security of the travel agent at the trainstation and went off to find an air-conditioned mall. We had our first experience with a swindling tuktuk driver which ended with us being left in the middle of some Bangkok ghetto and him getting no money. We found a reputable taxi and got to the mall eventually. There is something to be said for the skytrain system... Anyway, after wyling away the time we returned to the train station and found our bags on the floor outside, with a rope draped over them as a feeble attempt at security. Super. Amazingly they were all there and intact.

We caught our flight to Phuket which arrived an hour and a half late putting us in a pickle as we had no where to stay and it was 11pm. But, as usual, we managed and found a taxi and a guesthouse (a real slummer- my parents are doing well...). To top off the already long and painful day, Cam found that his bag had been opened and a small money purse stolen. The purse contained only coins that we have been collecting from all the countries we have visited, and was intended as a gift for our neice and nephew, Jessie and Luke. Now some complete idiot has a bunch of money he can't use, and we have lost one of our most valuable possesions- as it is completely irreplaceable. We know it was a baggage handler at the airport, because after finding our bags outside at the train station we checked that everything was there, which it was.

Anyway, the next day we spent a much needed day of rest at Patong beach, which must be the tourist capital of all of Thailand. We saw far too many speedos and topless women for our taste (isn't it strange how those who shouldn't, do?), but enjoyed the swimming. We all came home sunburned, especially Mum and Dad who have winter skin right now :) Patong is 30 minutes from Phuket Town. Phuket Town is where the "real people" live, and where we stayed. Patong is where people go and come home saying "We LOVE Thailand", but who haven't seen more than the 30m of beach infront of their resort. Patong was an area that was hit by the tsunami, but the only visible signs of it happening now are the replanted palmtrees on the brand new beach promenade, and the "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs pointing up the hill.

Today we bussed to Krabi which already looks more promising for our style, and tomorrow we will investigate a few more of the beaches in this area. Tonight Mum and Dad don't have a/c in their room- let's see how that goes...

Overall we are finding Thailand great, but it is interesting to see the difference between the tourist scams here and in South America. We can't put our finger on it, but overall it is less enjoyable than in SA- their scams here must work too often, they don't have the time for people like us!

Until next time...
Kristin and Cam