Via Bangkok to Koh Samet

From Singapore, our South-East Asian Odyssey next took us to Bangkok. I've been to Thailand a loong time ago (15 years ago it must be now- jeez I'm getting old!) - but I didn't make it to Bangkok this time. And it was Mathilde's first visit to Thailand - so we were both very keen to explore Bangkok!

After arriving at the airport, we jumped into a taxi and tried to guide our taxi driver to our hotel. Not the easiest of tasks due to a bit of confusion with our address. Some confusion between the main Sukhumvit Road and the streets off Sukhumvit which are called  Sukhumit Soi's... Anyway, to cut a long story short, we eventually arrived, and hit the bed pretty much straight away....

The next day, we got up bright'n early, and eagerly set off to explore Bangkok. Sukhumvit didn't strike us as a particularly interesting area to explore (unless you're into, let's say, a certain kind of of late-night tourism Thailand has a bit of a reputation for...). It is kind of interesting to walk around the area to get an idea of everyday life of Thai people - but I think there are nicer places in Bangkok for that.

Anyway, we decided to head towards Siam square and the modern part of the city, and visit Jim Thomson house. Now, Jim Thompson is what I would call an interesting character. Trained as an architect, he ended up working for the OSS (the predecessor of the CIA) during World War II, and was sent to Thailand. After the war, Mr. Thompson stayed in Thailand, and decided to get into business, co-founding the Thai Silk Company. It turned out to be a very lucrative business, and the money he earned allowed him to build this fascinating house we were visiting. Mr. Thompson's death was at least as unusual as his life - he mysteriously disappeared in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia (there are plenty of conspiracy theories relating to his disappearance - including that it was the CIA that had him killed, of course!).

Anyway, the house... Located by a Klong (a canal), the house, or rather collection of houses) was reconstructed form 6 ancient Thai houses in 1959 (built using traditional Thai methods and so forth). Apparently the complex is the most authentic example of a traditional Thai house in Bangkok. Mr Thompson was also a very keen collector of Thai art and antiquities, and there is a very impressive collection of items on display. (one theory about Mr. Thompson's disappearance is that the Thai government had him killed since he wanted to ship all his stuff back to the US).

Having checked out Mr. Thompson's house, we headed across the canal for a random walk in the streets of Bangkok. We picked a pretty good spot to check out "everyday life" - people getting about their business, the streetfood vendors, small family-run shops (nice change to the Western worlds standard high-street shops that seem to invade all cities...). I even managed to find a nice little, decidedly un-fashionable barber shop where a nice lady agreed to give me a haircut.

My hair nice and short, it was time to grab some lunch, so we decided to make our way to a shopping mall next to Siam square, where we found a nice food court recommended in our guide book. Excellent choice - I've rarely paid so little for such excellent food! Our appetite sated, we headed off for a spot of shopping, yippee!!

After visiting the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (a nice little museum a bit similar to the Guggenheim museum, with an interesting-ish photgraphy exhibition), just across the street from the shopping mall, we jumped on the skytrain and made our way back to our hotel, where we enjoyed the rooftop pool for a bit (we definitely needed it, the heat in Bangkok was pretty oppressive!). For dinner, we decided to try some Korean food nearby, in the Korean quarter. (Bangkok is an excellent place to have all sorts of Asian cuisine). We had a Korean BBQ - pretty good!

The next day, it was time to leave the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and head for Ko Samet. We figured a visit to one of the Thai islands was pretty much mandatory - and Ko Samet is the closest one easily accessible from Bangkok. We grabbed a minibus from Bangkok to Ban Phe, on the mainland, from where we jumped on a boat to Ko Samet.

After arrival, we decided to head out on foot and try to find our hotel. Not an easy task, given the oppressive heat and the luggage we were carrying around, but after a few wrong turns and some helpful locals, we finally managed to find the place, the cheerfully colourful Baan Supparod, and took possession of our bungalow. We didn't feel particularly ambitious this afternoon, and basically just headed down to the nearby Sai Kaew beach. A pretty nice spot to catch some rays and have a swim - even though it's pretty heavily developed, with restaurants lining the beach which no doubt was pristine and paradise-like some 10-20 years ago...

For dinner, we found a nice little beach-side restaurant, where we had some freshly caught (apparently) fish. The setting was pretty much perfect - pretty nice dining barefoot in the sand... And let's not forget about the entertainment either - some young entertainers put up a nice fire show on the beach. The food was a little bit disappointing, but all in all, we had a very nice evening!

After a pretty nice breakfast at our hotel, we headed off to explore the island. We were a bit more ambitious this time, and decided to take the coastal footpath which follows the Eastern coastline (the Island is about 8 kilometres long in total). A pretty nice walk, it must be said, we stopped on the nicer beaches to cool off in the sea (well, not sure it cooled us down much, the water felt almost as hot as the air!), or to have a refreshing coconut. Our lunch stop was pretty disappointing (I had a rather plain Phad Thai...). We did see some of the less glamorous aspects of Ko Samet during our hike, too (the waste disposal activities of some of the resorts looked decidedly dodgy - of the kind "let's dump all the rubbish behind the resort where the tourists won't go and look anyway")

Anyway, we finished our odyssey at a very nice beach called Ao Kio, towards the southern tip of the Island. Now this beach was paradise - hardly any tourists in sight, amazing sand, clear water, and hardly any signs of civilization to be seen. So we spent quite a while chilling out at this lovely beach, enjoying the sun & sea... One nasty little discovery - either somebody ripped us off or the factor written on the sun screen oil is measured on a different scale compared to Europe (we both got burnt in spite of covering ourselves up in factor 50 sun screen on several occasions!). Feeling lazy, we decided to take a taxi back to our resort...

After another nice dinner on the beach (the best meal we had on the island...), it was time to hit our beds. And then the next morning, 'twas sadly time to leave Ko Samet and head back to Bangkok, after a couple of leisurely hours spent on the beach by the hotel.

Ko Samet was a pretty nice, relaxing break after quite a few intensive days in Singapore and Bangkok. But signs of over-development are pretty evident, unfortunately... Still, just what the doctor ordered!