#vaKATEtion: Thaila-la-land 2017 Part 01
One of my favorite Leonardo DiCaprio movie is The Beach. Some says that the movie has ruined the Lord of the Flies book for the generation X which was written by Alex Garland. Honesty, the beginning of the movie was spectacular but towards the end, it was not adapted very well since the book was freaking auhhhmazing.
Anyway, why am I rambling about The Beach? Because on my bucket list, Thailand is one of the country I look forward to exploring and the setting of the book and the movie is in Thailand ( But they say that Alex Garland inspiration is the Philippines).
Thailand is the most famous gateway to Asia by almost all back packers, tourist and travelers across the globe. I’ve met people here in Dubai and outside of it who always say that Thailand is one of the best place they’ve been to and I get it. People are gravitating towards a place full of culture, amazing food, spectacular beaches, one of a kind parties, and generally locals who are very hospitable and has a great disposition in life.
I, myself, was not immune to it’s charm thus, the reason why my best friend Jay and I planned our first trip outside the Philippines and Dubai to be none other than Thailand.
Ko Wua Talap, Ang Thong National Marine Park
We wanted to experience Thailand on it’s full glory and we went their during the summer of this year visiting 5 of the top places to go when in Thailand.
Since my best friend and I are both in the travel industry, we drafted our own itinerary researching hard on the best routes, transportation, party to go to, accommodations and places we both want to see.
It was a challenge because we have only 7 days to visit 5 different places and try to experience and be a pseudo-backpacker.
From Manila we traveled to Bangkok and only stayed for 10 hours before flying to Koh Samui.
Got a good deal with Thai Airways
Riding the BTS to the city
We wanted to eat authentic Thai food and experience the wild side of Bangkok. An overnight experience was not enough but we did try to make the most out of it.
We went around Sukhumvit Road and bar hopped a little. Drinking local beers and people watch. There are so many expats and tourist around it feels like I’m still in Dubai.
We headed to Bangkok’s red light district in Patpong and I got amazed on how legit pretty are the Lady Boys are. I can say it was an experience.
The bars are facing each other and tables and chairs scattered the street so you can just sit down, grab your favorite poison and enjoy the show. People may get a little rowdy as the night goes on but it’s already expected.
The mango sticky rice was the champion of my night. All the best food are just food stalls by the side of the road or hole in the wall type of restaurant. Those legit thai taste you are looking for are prepared by the locals effortlessly plus is so cheap you can stuff your face until you cry sriracha sauce.
By two in the morning, we are already rushing to the airport to catch our flight to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui has the best looking airport for me with it’s open style. You’ll get the look and feel of a tropical island once you landed and checked out.
There are so many good places to stay in Koh Samui. If you’re a couple who are in their honeymoon the best place would be Maenam. If you will be going with your families go check out Bhoput and Lamai area. But if you’re like us, wannabe backpackers, party goers and adventure junkies, the best place to stay is in Chaweng beach and the number one hotel in the area is Ark Bar Beach Resort. Just make sure to choose a room far from the beach since it tends to get a little bit noisy when the party starts.
You know which bed is mine :))))))
We checked in, freshen up, put on our swimsuits and had coffee while waiting for our pick up for our full day tour of Ang Thong National Marine Park. It is an archipelago of over forty islands in the central gulf coast of Southern Thailand.
All of the islands are uninhabited and undeveloped except for two. One being Ko Wua Talap where the famous viewpoint and head quarter is located and other, Ko Paluay, which is inhabited by some locals who still earn a living from fishing.
Mind you we did not have any sleep after partying in Bangkok and we are running on low energy but the trip would be so worth it so had to push it.
We got our tour package with 100 Degrees East. We had so many options but this is by far the best tour package since they have their own speedboat and there are so many good reviews about them. They did not disappoint. Their team are fun, very friendly and accommodating.
From the life jacket which is by the way clean unlike most jackets on different tours, their snorkeling gears and diving gears are top notch.
The people who can join the tour is very limited to only 10 people however, it actually is better than joining big groups where in you won’t really be able to bond with all the people on the tour.
The local authorities manning the Marine Park will not allow boats to travel without life jackets even though you know how to swim. Safety first!
On our way to the Marine Park which would take around 30 to 40 minutes.
It was drizzling a bit but a little rain won’t be able to stop us.
The salt in my mouth at this point was overflowing due to over snorkeling. It was awesome though. We saw some sting rays, bazillions of sea urchins if you get tired of swimming you’d probably be dead once you step on them, a tiny barracuda and my heart skipped a bit, transparent fishies ( I don’t know what they are called), millions of dory and many more. I keep following the fishes, our guide was probably pissed off. HAHAHA
Thai feast in this beautiful island
We then kayaked around the other islands for us to explore them.
You can see the Sphinx like island on our back ground
Amazed at how beautiful are the islands
Our crew/bangkero/tour guide/life guard/waiter are the best photographers. They basically know where is the right angle to take good photos of all the islands we can visit and explore. Super props to these guys.
Ko Wua Talap, this is the headquarters of the Ang Thong Marine Park. This view is seen in so many postcards of Thailand I just had to take plenty of photos here.
You had to trek to get to this place so it is advisable to bring rubber shoes/ trekking shoes. But since we were wearing our slippers only we did not trek until the highest view point. Now that I think of it, I’m kind of disappointed but I was very tired so.......Yeah.....Lame excuses.
It was well worth it though and this post was suppose to be for 2017.
Guess what? It’s 2020 and I still want to post it. Fuck it!:)
prguitarman
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