With Latham’s approaching flight this evening, we decided to save some of Bangkok’s best of last. Today we went to the Grand Palace. When they named it, they really were not kidding!

Golden statue

It was incredible. Amazing murals on the walls depicting religious art tied between Hindu and Buddhist themes, sweeping traditional Thai architecture, and beautiful shimmering tiles on the walls and roofs.

Wall Mural

The grand palace

Golden religious images, bumbling tourists, armed guards in spiffy starched uniforms, and immaculate landscaping also appeared in the huge royal complex. Though the King no longer lives here, none of the splendor has escaped the Palace grounds. It was quite a sight!

Wat in the Palace

Palace guard

We bid farewell to Latham and off he went into the night. On the way back, Saben was attacked and bitten by a bastard street dog and 2 of its equally wild eyed compadres. Great. Now he’s got rabies. Guess we’ll be off to the clinic tomorrow for some rabies shots…

A parting shot

So it’s officially 2010. Feels nice, like a clean sheet of paper and sharpened pencil. Ready for anything!

Best way to start the new year

Maybe it’s just our imagination but it seems like the sky is more bright blue, the water is more clear, and the temperature is just comfortably warm. After a fun day on the beach, we walked to the tip of the island just before sunset. We picked up some (already very dead) coral along the way thinking they will be nice reminders of Koh Samet on some rainy, cold day at home.

The end of the island

Lindsey at the end of the island

After getting some of the sand off us, we went back out for a nice dinner to say ‘Thank You’ to Latham for helping us out while we are away and for coming all this way just to see us.

Dinner

Dinner was delicious: Fried pork and pineapple with steamed white rice, prawns with basil and chili, prawns in garlic sauce, and springs rolls with homemade duck sauce. Yum! It was quite a feast and it was about all we could do to get back up the little hill to our home All in all, a great start to 2010, indeed!

It’s New Year’s Eve! And what better way to start the last day of the year than with a glorious dose of Thai sunshine and a big breakfast. In case you’re curious, breakfast in Thailand for us consists of omlettes, toast, fresh fruit (watermelon, banana, and pineapple), bacon, and hot tea. That’s the breakfast of champions right there.

Lindsey awaiting breakfast

Of course, no day would we complete with the majority spent at the beach. Or, more correctly, in the unbelievably clear ocean.

But now, for the real story of New Year’s Eve.

The entire coast of the island was thumping and blinking brightly with the music and colored lights. Every light on the island must have been on. Hell, we were probably visible from space tonight! Thais and foreigners alike strolled the beach, some looking fabulous and some looking comfortable, relishing the last day of 2009.

The island light up

All throughout the night fire lanterns were being set off from the beach; picnic blankets littered the sand with groups of friends and BYOB gatherings next to the bustling packed restaurants and beach bars. Fireworks went off at all places and times so you had to be careful to watch were you were walking lest you receive a bottle rocket to the face. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and energy at being able to celebrate the new year on such a magnificent place.

Firedancer

We watched a crazy fire show performed in front of one of the restaurants that was packed with 300 or so patrons and another 200 or so outside in a giant circle around the fire dancers. Most of the boys looked to be about 15-16 years old, a few maybe 18-19 but barely more. That’s one thing, you never see an old fire dancer. They put on quite a show that lasted almost an hour.

Us setting our hopes for the future afloat

Latham setting off his lantern

Close to midnight, we set off our own fire lanterns, sending our hopes and wishes for 2010 along with them. Amazing how such a simple little thing can make you feel so happy. They floated up into the sky along with dozens of others. All night it looked as if the full blue moon was gathering up everyone’s lanterns and wishes under her wing for safe keeping.

Lantern floating over the island

We spent our evening walking up and down the beach drinking and laughing and enjoying the atmosphere and trying to avoid being blown to bits with some of the fireworks drunk people had taken to setting off. It was incredible, truly, because there aren’t sufficient words to describe how awesome the night was or all the sights and smells and sounds or the energy in the air. It was great to be alive and even greater to be on Samet for this.

Happy New Year!

Us!

Fireworks

Saben and Latham

When midnight came, some of us kissed, some smoked celebratory cigars, and we all toasted to the beginning of what Lin and Saben think will be a most excellent year. Happy New Year!

Despite the beautiful weather early this morning, it turned out to be a kind of grey, stormy-ish day. Saben and Latham tried to go snorkeling but the water was a bit too murky without any sun and didn’t get to see much. Started sprinkling rain mid-afternoon so we made today an internet and drinking inside kind of day. Better luck tomorrow!

Random beach shot

Slept in, ate a big breakfast, and hung out at the beach all day. What more can we say? It was fantastic! For once, Lin and Saben could leave their valuables in safety and go gallyvanting off into the ocean for the sun and sea—without taking turns! Look! There are even pictures to prove it!

Us!

We all got a little too much sun today and wore ourselves out completely with all the splashing and swimming we did. But man, was it fun! Nothing like a little beach vacation to cure whatever ails you. In our case, we’ve regained some zeal for traveling and running high and feeling energized from the last 4-5 months of tough travel.

All of us!

Travel Tip:

Lodging on Koh Samet is best booked when you arrive. You will find better deals and, most importantly, get to look at the place before you pay for it. There are so many beaches on this small island, which is quite walkable or, if you prefer, you can rent a moped for speedy convenience. All the beaches are beautiful white sand and the water is all beautiful clear turquoise. The beaches are all quite developed as well so you can eat, play, and sleep all in one area. Prices are fairly competitive in restaurants and the range of lodging options should pose no problems regardless of your budget. Everyone knows how cheaply we like to travel and we found a place we were very comfortable (even living a bit luxuriously, to tell the truth!) during the highest of the high season—New Year’s!

Beautiful clear water

It’s not exactly fun but if you spend a few extra minutes checking several of the bungalows, you will likely find yourself a better deal. All the more money to spend on drinking beer/snorkeling/eating ice cream on the beach, right?! There are plenty of shops for snacks, drinks, sunscreen and the like, internet cafes (very expensive though, usually 2 baht/minute), beach bars, quiet places, social places—whatever you want, it’s here. There’s even a hospital in town in case you party a little to hard.

“Uggghhhh.” We all three grunted at the alarm clock in unison. It was suggesting that we get out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6:45. Why, oh why must buses to beautiful beaches run so blasted early? Is it some kind of karma pre-payment plan for getting to go somewhere lovely while the rest of the city zips around on the back of a moped huffing diesel exhaust? Maybe…

The goal

By 7:15, we were eating breakfast and on our way to Koh Samet via minibus. It was a cramped but air conditioned 3 hour ride with a short lunch break in between. Once we arrived we still have a 15-20 minute ferry ride to the island and then another couple hours of hunting down cheap lodging for 3 during the holiday season ahead of us as well.

Ferry in the bay

We disboarded the ferry with a giant leap upward onto the dock (no stairs, what?) and then made like a sneaky snake through the national park booth which kept our wallets weighted down with an extra 200 baht, thank you! Normally we would feel guilty about not helping pay for the upkeep of a national park anywhere in the world but it seems, like many places, that the astronomical fee only for foriegn tourists and all of the infastructre on the island is maintained by the hotels.

Our little beach hideaway

Anyway, we merrily jaunted down a long and sandy road. Our search for lodging was underway and we were hunting like no tomorrow for the right place to house our new giant companion comfortably and affordably. Finally we made it all the way to Ao Pudsa (Pudsa Beach), a small quiet beach with just enough conveniences and facilities to save you from having to walk all the way back to the park entrance (where the main beach is). We scored a newly renovated room with a TV, fan, private bathroom with hot water (whoa!), oh and let’s not forget the best part—a mini fridge! It cost 700 baht for the three of us per night and was 50 meters from the beach. Not too shabby for the Christmas/New Year’s holiday.

Our swanky room

Well, by the time we finally made it to Samet and got settled into a place to stay, it was late afternoon and only a couple more hours before sunset so we took the time to explore our surroundings. From the ferry dock, we walked maybe 3 kilometers to Ao Pudsa but there were tons of places to stay along the way. It was a good place for us, kind of in the middle of the bigger beaches back toward the docks and then some more, smaller beaches the other direction over the hill.

Supper by seaside

We dined at a great restaurant right beside the clear turquoise water as the sun set. Not a bad way to end a typically dull travel day. This place is going to cure whatever ails us with its incredible tropical beauty, wonderful people and amazingly delicious food. Ah, Thailand!

After a stout breakfast of eggs and toast, we set out for a walking tour of the city’s main attractions. We left Khao San district and headed for the sizable Democracy Monument.

Democracy Monument

We crossed the massive intersections and continued on to check out the Giant Swing—a leftover from religious festivals that is no longer used due to the high number of deaths that occurred on it (or off it, rather). Across the road from the swing were the remnants of a “Bangkok 50 Years Ago” expo complete with excellent (and no doubt expensive!) classic cars from the 1940s and ’50s. Beautiful pieces of art!

The Giant Swing

If you look closely you can see a little drool starting to pool

On our way to Wat Pho we detoured into a quiet, serene city park with beautiful flowers and fat koi fish gobbling up bits of food left by some kind heart or happy child. Bangkok is so beautiful, organized, clean, and just fabulous all around. The King really knows how to take care of his people and his country.

Canal running by the park

Wat Pho was absolutely stunning. Thai architecture really celebrates Buddhism in a special way. It’s neat to see how different Chinese, Tibetan, and Thai people all celebrate Buddhism with slightly varied and all equally beautiful architecture.

Inside the complex

Wat Pho’s large complex just sparkles and glitters when the sun shines brightly on the colorful roof tiles of the smaller wats. On top of the sheer magnificence of the complex, we got to see the world’s largest reclining Buddha! Covered in gold with mother of pearl inlay on the soles of the feet, it is a truly impressive sight.

It's huge

Light reflecting off the glazed tile roof

We lunched at a sidewalk stand on fried pork and rice, a simple but tasty meal, while we watching the traffic roll by. We are definitely fully appreciating the lack of horn honking here! Even if you are standing right in front of a car’s path, the will not honk at you. It’s great! Maybe all that hearing damage from India can be halted and prevented from worsening toward complete deafness.

Nothing like tasty street food

On the way back home, we stumbled across a long sidewalk flea market. It was not directed toward tourists so the stuff for sale was really neat and better priced than the usual markets. Tiny metal figurines of Buddha, old postcards, random collections of second hand clothing, shoes, and bags, jewelry, semi precious stones and carved religious images and so on. Great fun seeing what we could find!

Oodles of Idols

We absolutely love Thailand and we have only been here for a few days. There could be no better medicine for coming from India than to come to Thailand. Just imagine if we had visited Thailand first! At any rate, we are thoroughly enjoying everything about this place. The people are so wonderful, the food is incredibly tasty, everything is so clean and organized, and the country itself is so beautiful.

With our one year mark and a new travel mate in hand, we set out to start out Thailand sightseeing right. We hopped on the public ferry and rode the river to the skytrain.

View down the river

We got to see the cliffnotes version of Bangkok’s main attractions from the water: the Royal Palace, the Temple of Dawn, a very large Christian church, some great modern architecture mixed with some traditional Thai architecture, some amazingly huge and beautiful 5-star hotels, and just generally some good stuff. And all for the tune of 18 baht/pp!

Temple of dawn

At the last stop we got off and found the Skytrain, an immaculately clean and pleasantly air conditioned above-ground metro. For 30 baht we went all the way to Moh Chit to check out the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

massive market from above

It’s got everything! Clothing, furniture, household decor like candle holders, decorative trays, chopsticks, shoes, music and DVDs, books, trinkets, jewelry, even a few Chinese wares in the mix. There are also all kinds of food and drink stalls for when you need to refuel from all that shopping.

Quail eggs

Pad thai, fried jumbo shrimp, cups of fresh fruit, fried rice, grilled meat on a stick, ice creams, and more. Even if you don’t feel like buying anything it is still an entertaining place to just walk around.

Fried fish and shrimp

In the market

After a long day of walking and shopping, we made our way back to Khao San for some dinner and a noisy night out with much beer drinking and food cart eating in the streets!

Happy One Year on the Road! We’ve been traveling and blogging for a whole year now and we can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly. Can you? It really has been an amazing year. We have had a thousand memories that we wouldn’t trade the world for. A big thank you to everyone who has donated us money, encourgaed us along the way, and lived this last year with us through the site.

Thanks!

It seemed only appropriate to celebrate a little and some pad thai and beer hit the spot! On top of that, we enjoyed some nice spa services. Then the real kicker, Saben’s brother Latham, flew all the way over to celebrate our one year on the road and anti-chritmas!

Latham and Saben at a street stall pub

Christmas, Anti-Christmas, One Year on the Road, and Latham coming to visit all packed into one day–whoa! Needless to say, plenty of drunken debatchury ensued…

At sunrise we awoke to a morning as cold as the night had been. With nothing but our noses peeking out of our blankets, we were nearly frozen solid in the cold desert air. The stars were amazing but the wind that came with the blanket of night was almost more than we could take. Our toes hung over our tiny beds and let in an unwelcome draft that chilled our bones each time we stretched beyond the fetal position.

Boy and Camel, a story of freezing death

Sunrise was about as exciting as sunset; but that is just the way they are in the desert. It took quite a while for the sun to really warm things up and it was not until we were mounting the camels that the sand and air really started to heat back up. We shivered through a breakfast of boiled eggs, bananas, and lightly toasted bread alongside a small cup of sandy chai. Not the most glorious breakfast but better than going hungry!

In case there was a world wide toast shortage, we're sorry.

Getting the camels ready

It was a fun 2 hour ride back toward town, mostly quiet and peaceful but then more exciting toward the end when we got to race our camels. Turns our Saben’s camel, named Rocket, was faster than Lin’s camel Papu (who was more interested in snacking along the way).

Saben riding his steed, or whatever you call a racing camel

The jeep ride seemed much shorter going back into town and we were eating a big, healthy lunch before we knew it at one of our favorite restaurants in town (the Ganpati Restaurant—amazingly clean all the time and really delicious food). As we were leaving the cook caught us on our way to the door and welcomed us to stay for an extra few minutes for some complimentary chai. We had been to the restaurant nearly everyday we were here for about a week and he had really taken a liking to us. He always stacked up our plates with extra helpings of already sizable portions and was always very happy to see us. We thanked him for the spicy chai and made our way to the bus stand to go to Jodhpur. A great way to end an already wonderful week in a quiet desert town!