Best & Worst, Thailand

Golden Buddha statues at Wat Pho, Bangkok

Concrete statues at Wat Pho, Bangkok



Don't be scared Denton... it's just a statue! (@ Bangkok Zoo)




Fire Dancers- common entertainment at restaurants, resorts, or parties





Squid Fried Noodles- one of Marisa's favorites

 


Dog Beach, dog pack




Hammock lounging at Dog Beach




HUGE spider!



GECK-O! This gecko was ~12inches long! The biggest one we've seen




Traps, rat bait, and rock to cover the whole where they climbed in... YUCK!




Gorgeous day on Koh Phangan from our House on the Hill

 BEST

• Staying in the ancient walled city of Chang Mai. Our friendly guest house owner was fluent in Thai, French, and English.
• Chang Mai; trekking tour and group. We went on a trekking package that included several excursions, wrapped into one day; hiking to a waterfall, riding an elephant, and white water rafting. We went with an extremely entertaining group of people. Specifically, 4 Malaysians that are old high school friends having a reunion weekend together. They were absolutely hilarious, treated each other like siblings, and were truly a joy to be with.
• Chang Mai; the Sunday night market. This was by far the largest market we went to in all of South East Asia(and almost every city had one). For the Sacramento folk- think of Second Saturday, times 20 and make it EVERY week- not just once a month. Yes… that’s what we’re talking about. We sampled some amazing food, and checked out the local handicrafts. Unfortunately, many of the vendors sell the exact same thing. So imagine 20 similar products that are being sold a thousand different vendors. It would be entertaining if you could haggle, but I think the Thais believe they are above haggling and negotiating. They often laughed in Marisa’s face as she suggested a price that was half of what they had originally offered. (Editors Note: offering half is standard to opening negotiations- since you’ll end up paying closer to 75% of the original price)
• Koh Phangan; Full Moon Party. Thousands of people partying on a beach until the sun came up… Definitely a once in a lifetime experience and we’re thrilled we got to do it.
• Koh Tao; We took a class in scuba diving and receiving our open water diving certificate.  We took the class through Buddha View Resort and had a blast. We loved all the people we met, made lots of friends, and learned some new skills. We felt like we were part of a fraternity- but for people in their mid-20s. It was the best fraternity we didn’t know we wanted to be a part of.
• Bangkok; it was hot, humid, and could swallow you whole. Bangkok was huge and bustling. We conquered this city by foot until we were exhausted (which didn’t take long)- then we got cheap foot massages. An accidental and unplanned local water taxi ride up a canal turned out to be our favorite ride through the city.
• Mango Sticky Rice. Marisa developed a slight addiction to this Thai dessert. They often don’t sell it until after 4pm, which is a shame since it should be eaten for breakfast and every meal in between. Often available for 30-50 baht ($1-2).

WORST

• Koh Phangan; Jungle Party. Overpriced. Trance music (=terrible). And only a few hundred people at a venue meant to hold thousands.
• Koh Phangan; house on the hill- electricity bill (exceeding $200 for 16 days of use), rats, scorpion, "mosquito-thirty" and "bug o’clock".
• 40 hour journey from one part of the country to the other and having $118 stolen from Denton’s backpack. Someone cut into his pack, while we were taking a ferry, emptying his spare wallet, then returning the wallet and everything else like nothing happened.

A few anecdotes about Thailand…

• Our neighbors of our ‘house on the hill’ had a cat that they kept on a leash to the front porch. The cat would regularly meow loudly. We suspect it was begging for its freedom. We also suspect it was leashed up so it wouldn’t become prey to cobras and/or pythons that shared our jungle hillside. 
• (Disclaimer: This has been true for all of Southeast Asia, not just Thailand)… We have yet to see a local person wash their hands…ever. Not exaggerating… Not One Person. Honestly, (especially when eating) we don't let ourselves actually think about this.
• While we were eating in our local restaurant, we watched as one server pierce the ears of another server. Uhhh… ???
• The Thais celebrate the New Year (which was April 13) by holding a nation-wide water fight. This includes throwing water from buckets, water guns, or garden hoses onto passing cars, motorbikes, passengers, or pedestrians. It is also customary to throw baby powder, after you’ve been drenched. The baby powder turns to a nasty oily texture and truly burns your skin (especially your eyes!) We loved splashing ice-cold water on people and watching their reactions. We also loved being drenched by the locals and participating in such a spontaneous and FUN tradition. 

“Dog Beach”

• The first time we went to ‘Dog Beach’ we were tossing the Frisbee to each other, when the Frisbee went in the water, Marisa was leisurely retrieving it, when out of nowhere, a Rottweiler ran up and grabbed it and refused to give it back. We fought with the dog and when we gave up, it attempted to bury it. That’s when we were able to make our move and get it back. However, a large (4 adults + 6 kids) German family thought it would be fun to play Monkey-in-the-Middle with the dog. So they played with their own disc and tossed the Frisbee to the kids and adults, just so the dog wouldn’t get it. Occasionally, when the dog did get it- they would drag the Frisbee (and growling Rottweiler) into the water, and hold the Frisbee under the water. Eventually, the dog would lift its head out of the water to breath and the family would have their Frisbee back to continue the game.  To give the dog credit, he was very persistent and this game continued for at least an hour.  
• Our second encounter of Dog Beach is where the beach truly earned its honorary name.  We hadn’t been at the beach long, when we noticed a pack of wild dogs (around 6-9 dogs) bothering a nearby couple. We laughed at the neighboring couple because they were very distraught by the pack. Soon enough, the couple left the beach. The pack wandered over to where we were lounging. They trampled over our stuff and spread out all around us. Initially they were sweet because the dogs wanted attention and human affection. They just wanted to be close to us. However, they were bloody and scabby from fights, had dog boners, and were snarling at each other, so the need for attention and affection wasn’t mutually shared between dogs and humans.  Finally, we got up and relocated to another part of the beach. Denton was enjoying the ocean and Marisa got comfortable with a book in a hammock on the edge of the beach.  During this time, the pack of dogs was joined by a huge, local pig.  The pack and pig made their way from one side of the beach to the other, stopping at every couple or family in between. Once they reached the end of the beach, they turned and combed through the beach again. This time, they caught sight of Marisa in the hammock and surrounded her. Marisa heard someone laughing (she assumed it was Denton) and yelled, “This isn’t funny!!” The person laughing turned out to be a fellow Dog Beach victim. The dogs were chased away by the pig, which started to search through our bag. Marisa yelled, “Aren’t you going to do something?!” again, this was directed to Denton. Denton ran over to protect our belongings from the pig, and a Thai employee from a neighboring restaurant chased the dogs away. As we walked across the beach to where our motorbike was parked, we watched the pig chase the pack of dogs several times. It was hilarious and disgusting, all at the same time. And so… we didn’t visit the beach again, in fear of being terrorized by the dogs and pig.

At different times, Thailand was friendly, bizarre, frustrating, and warm. In conclusion, we have mixed emotions toward Thailand. We would encourage everyone to go and decide for themselves what Thailand means for them. We don’t feel comfortable giving it a “two thumbs up,” yet we also couldn’t give it a “two thumbs down.” So… it’s up to you to decide for yourself.