It's my party and I'll Thai if I want to!

So, in April, we got a 5-day vacation from work! My friend and I headed off to Thailand and did just about everything you could possible do in 5 days.   It was a crazy 5 days. Due to the travel and tour plans that we made, we never got to sleep in past 9am and It. Was. Hot. 30-40 CONSTANTLY. If you're ever heading to Thailand, go in the winter. My God.  Air conditioning is a life-saver when looking for accommodations. 

Apparently April is the hottest month in Bangkok and we almost melted. My poor Canadian body was not happy in the humid, or sticky heat, but between iced drinks and air conditioning, we (mostly) survived.  It didn't help that I broke out in hives 4 days before leaving and was still fighting the itch (and looked like I had a terrible disease) on the plane and certainly for the first half of the trip (luckily the swelling in my face went down before we get there or I really would have been grumpy). The hives were a reaction to the antibiotics or or other drugs that I was taking for my tonsillitis (see previous post entitled 'drug cocktail and sea partings')

We flew into Bangkok and stayed at a hostel called "Penpark Place", which is in the same area as Kao San Road, the infamous tourist night-life destination. The hostel was nice and quiet, set back from the noise of the main street. We had a double private room with a communal washroom.  Clean. Air conditioned. Generally a very nice place :) We had only booked two night there because we had a trip to Kanchanaburi booked, but we decided to return to the same hostel for out last night before heading out.

Drinks
If you're ever in Thailand, you will find that many people drink out of bags… No, not brown-bagged liquor bottles, literally plastic bags with liquid in them.  Easy on-the-go transportation of your favorite, usually iced, beverage. It works surprisingly well, and possibly more hassle-free than disposable cups… just make sure you don't put too many holes in it…

Fresh fruit drinks are quite commonly sold on street stalls.  They're a delicious and cheap way of keeping hydrated and cool.  If you're not feeling up to puréed fruit, you can always opt for a coconut, usually sold at the same fruit stand and hacked open with a machete.  Another drink we discovered is Thai Tea. It's a black tea of sorts, but they use condensed milk instead of sugar and cream to flavor it. The end result is a terracotta orange colored, opaque liquid that is Amazing. Simply awesome. We got it every time we saw it being sold. We also creeped on a guy making it the first time we tried it.

Ayutthaya Food Tour

On our first full day in the country, we went on the "Ancient Ayutthaya Food and History Tour"  that took us out of Bangkok to Ayutthaya, the second city that served as Thailand's capital before being destroyed by war. We spent the day sampling Thai food (and sweets) and being guided around temples and ruins of the old city.

The tour company picked us up from out hostel at 8 in the morning and dropped us off around 5. We had two restaurant meals with our tour guide. Breakfast consisted of (ground) chicken rolls, served with a chilly sauce and fresh Thai basil leaves, fried egg omelette, and another dish that I can’t remember, though  I do remember liking it.

For lunch, we sampled fresh lobster (the yellow brains are the specialty of the restaurant. Very creamy), fresh fish curry and pomelo. For desert, we tried some Thai Bingsu (Bingsu is the Korean shaved-ice and condensed milk desert. The Thai have adopted and altered to make it their own.  Between you and me, the Koreans do it better)… I feel like I'm missing another main dish but I have no pictures and no recollection. Anyways, amazing food. The restaurant was over a river and when you were done with your food, you could toss the leftovers over the edge of the balcony and watch massive cat fish devour it… they really like lobster. The fish in the river were considered sacred or something, so they were not in danger of being the next meal while they gorged on their not-so-lucky cousins.

Treats

We sampled many different sweets on our tour. Similar to Korea, Thailand also enjoys sticky rice-cake-y candies. We sampled a few different kinds at a street stand. We watched them make one that consisted of a rice-flour sticky wrapping encasing a sweet peanut ball… if that makes sense.

Another popular treat was something similar to cotton candy, only had the disturbing texture of fake hair. It's called Roti Saimai, and they essentially boil a sugar-water mixture and then stretch it into long strands as it cools. You then wrap the strands in a thin flour tortilla and munch away…And that's a wrap!! Hahaha, Very strange. Not bad. The tortilla balances out the sweetness of the hairs… a bit.

We also spent a night (2 days) in Kanchanaburi. We went kayaking on the River Kwai, hiked (and swam in) the Erawan waterfalls (7 tiers! Fancier than any cake I've ever had!) and rode on an elephant. We also went to the death railway, which was built by WWII prisoners of war. Apparently there's a movie about it… No big deal or anything. Kanchanaburi is also where the Tiger Temple is located (well, near by), though we didn't end up going to it.  Little too expensive on a teacher's wages when she's trying to pay off school debts :(  The town itself was much smaller and run down compared to Bangkok.

There was a strangely large population of middle/old aged white men sitting in the bars along the street. I assume that it is Britain's Florida; where the old people go to die.  Strangely, it was only old men. So either their wives were at home, it's where the old single people go to die.  Either way, very different feel than the youthful presence on Kao San Road.  That being said, it was much prettier than Bangkok. I tend to gravitate towards places with trees and grass, and Kanchanaburi did not disappoint :) Our hostel (Sam's House) was right on the River Kwai, so there was plenty of wildlife around us. Sam's House was more rustic than Penpark Place.  Each room was a separate bungalow with a bedroom and washroom. The air conditioning wasn't as… functional, but it got the job done eventually.

Bangkok

We headed back to Bangkok and hit up the Grand Palace (it was crawling with pushy Chinese tourist) and Wat Pho. The Grand Palace was, well, grand! Very rich, shiny, and overwhelming.  We didn't stay long due to the crowds and the heat. I'm not joking when I say it was overwhelming.  No matter where you stood, someone was touching, or pushing you.  It made everything feel a little claustrophobic. It didn't help that the buildings and statues were all so close together that it was impossible to take a picture where you could see the whole structure.



 Wat Pho was just as impressive but had much more of a relaxed, Buddhist feel, aided by the never-ending Buddha statues, and a very large reclining Buddha at the heart of it all. We had to pay to get in to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (be prepared for that) which was unfortunate, but I can sort of understand why.  The grounds were well-kept and the price kept the tourist level down a bit (in Wat Pho, at least).

Overall it was a great trip and great adventures!