After Siem Reap, we left for the long drive to Bangkok. Having landed in Ho Chi Minh city at the start of our trip, we were more than ready to attack this bustling metropolis. There was so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat... But we were wiped our entire stay, and ended up sleeping in pretty late every day, late enough for us to decide there wasn't that much time to start an excursion before the sunset around dinner time. We were just so tired. We wanted to visit the city, truly, but every time we'd put an alarm, we'd end up turning it off and sleeping until noon. We did manage to get out of our neighbourhood for one night though; we had ourselves a little date night. As if the trip itself wasn't an extended date already. Alright, so a date within a date.
We took a tuk-tuk out to one of Bangkok's big malls to watch Iron Man 3 in one of their VIP cinemas, where drinks were complimentary, and we sat comfortably in sofa chairs with blankets wrapped around us in the freezing but much welcomed air conditioning. Before the movie we had gone out to eat, where we had our first experience of a do-it-yourself kind of meal. We ordered vegetables, noodles, dumplings and meats to cook in a boiling crockpot. We even enjoyed a little blizzard at a Dairy Queen after the movie, which cost just as much as back home, unlike all the other local foods.
After three nights in Bangkok, where we enjoyed walking around at night amongst sellers, food vendors, restaurants, blaring club music or even live music, we left for the beautiful tropical island of Koh Phangan.
The island itself is infamous for its monthly Full Moon parties (which we didn't attend), so we where pleasantly surprised to see there weren't any gigantic all-inclusive resorts one may find in Mexico, but also on its sister island, Koh Samui. Basic bungalows and more luxurious villas were scattered along the coastlines and in the hills. There were even quite a few villages on the island, where locals seemed to live like kings and queens in the tropical scenery full of turquoise water, bright fishing boats, tall palm trees, rushing waterfalls, and majestic elephants.
We stayed at the Seaflower Bungalows in a spacious wooden bungalow not far from the beach. The beach was quiet, there was barely anyone else there, and it faced west, so we admired beautiful sunsets every night. After the sunset, a roaring fire was installed on the beach in front of small tables and cushions, and various meats and seafood were grilled every night. One night we ate grilled chicken wings and pork ribs, and another we tried grilled prawns and baked potatoes. Crazy enough, we watched every night the approach of a thunderstorm coming from the south. Five nights in a row we witnessed great lightning bolts under dark clouds coming towards us to swallow up the starry night.
We spent a lot of time reading in hammocks or on the beach, but we also took out a kayak one day and paddled over the coral reef off the shore of our bungalow, and admired the fish and their homes. Since it was the low tide, the water on our beach was very shallow, and consequently boiling hot. That didn't stop us from walking in the water and cutting ourselves on coral and getting pinched by a crab when trying to grab it (Alex). We also found a coconut floating in the water and named it Wilson.
Our favourite day of the trip so far was the day we rented two motorbikes for the day, and explored the island on our own. The island has many hills, some of them very steep, so it was a blast to challenge them. We honestly went everywhere and nowhere that day, not following any maps, but still (somehow) managing to fall upon some key spots we'd wanted to see, namely the Paradise Falls (since its the low tide there was barely a trickle coming down over the boulders, but it was beautiful nonetheless) and Had Rin beach, where the Full Moon parties are held, probably because its the best beach on the island.
Unfortunately for us, our day was just short of being perfect at this point. Even though we'd drenched ourselves in 60 SPF sunscreen before leaving, we could already see we were both burning. Wanting to cool off in the clear blue water, free of rocks and coral where we might cut ourselves, and deep enough for us to swim in, we practically ran in. Soon enough, we both started to feel tiny stinging pains across our legs, then on our arms also. At first we thought it was only the salt in the ocean, but the stinging persisted and intensified. So much so that we ran back out, cursing. It turns out that day wasn't a very good day to swim, because the little jellyfish were quite present. I even tried going back in the water further down the beach, but was greeted by the same inhospitable hosts. We were disappointed, but we still had had a great day, and raced back to our bungalow on our motorbikes. We ended our last night by releasing a big Chinese lantern into the sky, and made a wish.
After leaving the island with long faces, we headed back to Bangkok, a boat and bus ride that took twelve hours, stayed there for the night, then left again the next morning to take the train to the northern city of Chiang Mai, which in turn took fourteen hours. Exhausted and hungry, we arrived in our dorm and blew sighs of relief.
Fantastique... Quel beau voyage... Merci de partager tous ces beaux détails! Papa
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