So I'm living in a prolonged vacation in Vietnam. Where do I go for vacation?
Thailand.
Right
off the plane, the weary expat is thrust into temptation. I hadn't been
exposed to old animal fat, oversized pretzels and congealed dough for
over a year. But, not being into that sort of thing anyway, we pushed on
to Phuket.
Phuket
can be appreciated before you even land. It is a karst landscape, not
unlike Ha Long Bay but way more spoiled, with tiny islands and inviting
crescents of tiny beaches.
7-elevens
dominate the market infrastructure. Outside of the US they are vital
resources--not just for trusted gooey snacks but also for phone cards,
information, drug and hygiene supplies. Elsewhere we are left to haggle,
and Phuket is not generous with tourists.
Phuket is a fairly large island topped by "The Big Buddha." It's a Buddha and it's very big. Anyhoo...
We were extremely fortunate to stay at Mom Tri's Boathouse. It has an
excellent restaurant and is in a busy part of town, yet faces its own
beach.
Thai
food is better in Thailand. Thankfully, it is possible to avoid too
much spice. Here we gorge on perfect Tom Yum soup and an incredible
pepper-fried soft-shelled crab, served by one of many lady-boys.
Our
trip was dominated by a day-long island-hopping tour on a fairly
frightening and loud speedboat. The scenery is spectacular and the
snorkeling is pretty decent. But it took sometimes around an hour
between islands, and once we get there there's not much to do and no
escape from the pummeling sunshine. We can take pictures of pet iguanas
for a fee--even sitting under an umbrella will incur a charge. Shortly
after this picture I got the camera wet, which really put a drain on the
trip. Not shown is the beach famous for the movie "The Beach," which
was nice but overcrowded, totally without shade and the mountains were
reverberating with engine roar.
As
a mixed blessing, our room was upgraded to a sumptuous and huge villa
with private swimming pool. The day tour gave us no time to enjoy it,
and the next morning we were off to Bangkok.
After
Phuket, Bangkok was a shopper's paradise. A hot that cost us $8 in
Phuket (the same as a day's motorbike rental) cost only $2.50 in
Bangkok, and shirts cost from $1 to $3 dollars. A new camera cost about
the same as in the US, which would cost more in Vietnam.
Our
view from the new and ultra-modern Novotel. Bangkok is a huge,
not-so-attractive sprawl with glassy skyscrapers shadowing rows of
slums. The train system was extremely appreciated. Walking is not easy
along traffic-dominated streets, but you can easily walk under the
raised trail platform.
The King is everywhere, but he's always caught in the middle of a candid pose.
Shrines
are also everywhere, sometimes surrounded with a mini-carnaval for
tourists. There are cages crammed with munias that you can release for a
donation, a sight that makes me think very non-buddhist thoughts about
the captor.
The street food is interesting, but we didn't try any. This street smelled like a pig toilet, so we weren't very hungry.
Green
spaces are hard to find, but I made a journey to a decent sized park
(actually an overgrown golf course). After the commute, I had about 40
minutes of birdwatching--not ideal for any trip, but I got a few new
common birds. I'd read about these contraptions in the inflight
magazine. They are little waterwheels that oxygenate the water, but the
magazine used the word "King" in every sentence, even credited him for
designing the prototype.
Time
for dipping our toe in an extremely modern pool on the 9th floor, then
we're rushed back home. It was a time when we really, really needed to
relax. We didn't get to to that at all--not a well planned trip. Oh
well, we'll have to go back.
