More Phuket, return to Bangkok, and train ride to Aranyaprathet

Since the last time I posted, we went back to Phuket for a little over a week, returned to Bangkok for about a week and then took a train ride to Aranyaprathet, a border town on the Thai side of the Cambodian border.

Our time in Phuket was spent in Patong, a "beach town" in Phuket (I use the term "beach town" lightly, as it was insanely crowded and you actually had to pay $3 to even sit on the beach. It was pretty miserable). Still, in Patong we found some fun things to do, and walked along the main street and beach street many times looking for book stores, good restaurants, and small souvenirs to take home. We have been reading a LOT, so any new (preferably cheap) bookstore that we find is usually worth stopping in. The cheaper the better, so that we don't feel guilty when we leave books behind!

We also found a great all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant, where you choose your own meat (you can pick anything - shrimp, beef, pork liver, bacon, chicken, squid, bass, etc) and vegetables and cook it at your table. This was one of the best meals we had, even though we were a little worried we would go down with food poisoning in the middle of the night due to under-cooked meat. Luckily, we did not :) The best part of this diner was that it only cost us 120Baht, or $4USD. AWESOME! Finally, we had a chance to rent a scooter one day, and visit the largest Buddha in Thailand. Pictures of a few lookouts and the Buddha can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.co.th/bridgetholmstrom/MoreThailand

After returning to Bangkok, we decided to stay in a more luxurious place and spend some time at the pool. We explored the streets in the district around us, as well as checking out Khason Road and some more touristy parts of Bangkok that we didn't try the first time around. We also spent some time figuring out our upcoming trip across the border to Cambodia.

The train ride from Hua Luomphong train station in Bangkok to Aranyaprathet took almost 6 hours, over an hour longer than expected. For a third class, non air-conditioned train, it cost 96Baht for two people (3USD total). After 7 weeks in Thailand this was our first time truly seeing inner Thailand, as our other trips were all by ferry, plane or overnight bus.

We saw many things: huge farms, irrigation systems and pools of water, pigs, water buffalo, men fishing with nets, very few large towns (mostly just farms and open land), smaller sheet metal shanty towns, random beautiful Asian style Buddhist temples in the middle of nowhere, people on scooters meeting the train to pick up friends and family, students riding on the train for over an hour just to get home from school, people selling fruit, meals wrapped in bags to take home, vegetables for cooking (no need to go to the market!) and drinks, and varied small houses in the middle of the plains. It was different than what we had seen before - the train was a great way to see more of the country.

As I am running out of time, I can't add pictures to this entry...but check out the link above! Send me an email if you have a chance, and hope everything continues to go well at home :)

Phuket and on to Singapore

First of all, I am sorry I have been so slow with updates! I just realized it has been about two weeks. To make up for this, I have added pictures from both Ko Lanta and Phuket, and also from Singapore. These albums can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bridgetholmstrom. Please check them out if you have a few minutes!

We spent about 5 nights on Ko Lanta, where I was able to take my cooking class. I learned to make homemade Chili paste, Coconut Chicken Satay, Stir-fried shrimp and vegetables in chili sauce, Tom Yum (a really good seafood soup!), and Red snapper in Chili paste. We got to eat everything we cooked, and it was all delicious! I have a lot of other dishes I am looking forward to trying at home as well. My cooking class also went over the major and minor Thai spices, herbs and flavoring agents, so I think I will be well=prepared to try new dishes :) Below is a picture of me with my dish of Tom Yum.

Here is the sunset our first night on the Ko Lanta beach

We went to a snake show the day we rented a scooter to explore Ko Lanta. Below is a picture of me posing with a snake. Yuck!

James and I liked Ko Lanta, as it was more of a town (there were real cars on the island, not just scooters! And a paved road!) and our hotel also had a beautiful infinity pool and a tv in our room. When we moved on to Phuket for 3 days, we were able to watch a lot of inauguration coverage on TV. We had three news channels - BBC, Fox News, and Aljazeera, so we switched between them. Needless to say, we were happy we were not in DC to witness the crowds. Aside from the 5am bar nights, it would not have been fun to be there!

We went on to Singapore and spent our time in the city while there. As it had been about 5+ weeks since we were in a well developed city, we ended up seeing 4 movies in theaters. Singapore was much more expensive than we originally realized, but we tried to see a lot of monuments and famous areas such as the fort, Orchard shopping district (The Champs Elyse's/Spanish steps area/Rodeo Drive of Singapore), National Museum, Little India (where we stayed), Chinatown, etc. Beer was surprisingly expensive unless you drank it during happy hour, as was food. Restaurants ran $10-20USD per meal, but in Singapore there are things called "Hawker centers" which are areas filled with low-cost food options. These typically ran $2-5 USD, so we were able to try traditional Singaporean dishes and also had some good Indian and Chinese meals.

Below is a picture of Parliament (long building to the right) and the City Hall (domed building).

Here is a picture of James (Stanley), standing under the "Stanley Street" sign! The picture was my idea of course, not his :)


I hope that everyone at home is having a good winter and enjoying the snow! I almost miss it... almost! Email me, and don't forget to check out the pictures!

-Bridget

Ko Jum and Ko Lanta

Hello all,

Yesterday, James and I left Ko Jum and came to Ko Lanta by ferry. We had a great time in Ko Jum, spending 15 days in all there - lying on the beach, monkey watching, eating amazing food, running, and meeting many new people as well!

We are enjoying Ko Lanta so far, and plan to move down the beach tomorrow. I am going to sign up to take one or two cooking classes - when I get back I hope to make curry, Phad Thai and other Thai specialties, so book me now! :)

The trip is best told in pictures. After some difficulty, I was finally able to upload pictures to my picasa album. These can be viewed in the Thailand album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/bridgetholmstrom/Thailand (I hope to add captions sometime soon!)

Below, the pier at Krabi town, from where we caught the ferry to go to Ko Jum


Our first day on Ko Jum, using the swing at Freedom Bar on the beach!


Beautiful sky

James and I sitting on the porch at bungalow #1, Joy Bungalows

Gorgeous beaches...

Bungalow #2, Sun Smile

Monkeys on the roof two doors down from us!

Me on the pier at Ban Ko Pu

Sunset from our balcony

E-mail me, I miss hearing from the real world back home! bridgetholmstrom@gmail.com

Finally - GO EAGLES! I have a feeling we are gonna go all the way!

Koh Jum = Heaven

Hello!

We have been enjoying our time so much here on Koh Jum - we moved bungalows the other day and are now on a much more secluded beach about halfway down the island. Our walk to town is a little further now, about 2.5-3 miles, but we made the trip today to buy a snorkel, a notebook exchange some money and also use the internet and eat at our favorite restaurant, Kungnang Seafood.

Our new bungalow, Sun Smile, has gorgeous views (will post pictures from Phuket or Singapore in a week or two!!) The only negative is the the food at the restaurant is lacking. Luckily, we walked down the beach to Jungle Hill restaurant (5 min walk) and the food is AMAZING! So, we have a great place to stay and a good restaurant to eat at. Food is typically $1.50-$2.00 for a large meal that would be about $9-15 at an American Thai restaurant...and it is better!

We have also seen monkeys three different times!! If you talked to me before the trip, you know how excited I was about the prospect of wild monkeys. We woke up yesterday to a pack of Monkeys on the roof two bungalows away from ours! They were in trees, climbing and going crazy everywhere!! We guessed there were maybe 20-25, including babies and a few big male monkeys watching the group. We have also seen a lot of crabs, a large black scorpion (which we were close to stepping on!), a banana spider, an octopus, star fish, many sea creatures and fish in tidal pools, and so many birds and other creatures.

We have loved it here so far, and I will try to give an update soon. Hope everything is going well back in the states :)

Koh Jum

Hello! We made it to the island on Dec 30 and are staying in a bungalow with no power, fans or AC! We have been having a great time sitting on the beach, exploring the island and eating amazing Thai food! We walk to town usually once a day, and walk on the beach. Aside from the fact that the mosquitos love me, everything is great and we are really enjoying it! This computer doesnt work well so I'm signing off. Hope everyone is doing well at home!