Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Thailand again!
After a month in Laos, we had to cross Thailand again on our way down South... And there was still plenty to see there!
Isaan
Just behind the Lao border lies Isaan, the biggest and economically poorest province of Thailand. This is nevertheless an extremely interesting place, the lack of money being compensated by a rich cultural diversity. The region was part of the Lane Xang kingdom (see "Laos: The North"), and the majority of Isaan people still speak Lao dialects. Today, it is the homeland of the best thai boxers, pop music stars, Bangkok taxi drivers, homemaids and bar girls...
Coming from Laos, the poverty wasn't striking. Isaan even seemed relatively wealthy with large well-maintained roads, modern houses and shopping malls. We arrived at Chong Mek and went straight to Surin via Ubon Ratchathani by train. A comfortable change after a month of rough bus rides!
Unlike the rest of the province, Surin and its surroundings is more influenced by Cambodia. 70% of the people speak Cambodian and they are many Khmer ruins scattered around.
We stayed there a couple of days, enjoying the easy-going Isaan way of life at the night market, which is one of the best in the Northeast, and in the streets, where music can be heard everywhere. Not the syrupy mainstream Luk Thung (imagine Celine Dion under Valium), but the orientally funky Mor Lam (sung in Lao, combining traditional flutes with cheap keyboards), hypnotic Kantrum rock (boosted Khmer folk songs) or the more traditional Bong Lang bands (Isaan ceremonial music, dominated by percussions). Surin is also one of the best places in Thailand to shop for silk:
Our next stop was the small town of Nang Rong, around which are some of the most spectacular Angkorian ruins. Our timing couldn't have been better! Once a year, when the sun shines through all 15 doors of Phanong Rung, there is a festival of huge parades up the hill to the temple. A tradition believed to go back 800 years.
Bangkok and around
Then it was back again in Bangkok... Our bags were heavy with souvenirs and it was time to send some parcels home! After our thai massage course in Chiang Mai, we absolutely wanted to have a closer look at Wat Po temple, repository of the traditional thai massage and medicine scriptures and famous for it's huge reclining Buddha. It also had some entertaining statues demonstrating stretching positions:
Despite there still being much to see, the heat forced us out of the city. The islands were waiting for us... But on our way down, we did two more stops.
First, Amphawa near Samut Songkram. We stayed for the night in a luxurious resort for Bangkok weekenders with a wonderful pool and air-conditioned bungalows.
In the evening, we had a marvelous candlelight seafood meal at a restaurant on the bank of one of the rivers in the middle of nowhere. The speedboat pick-up service in the starry night lit up by fireflies was half of the romance! The next day, we visited the Amphawa district, an atmospheric Thai Venice.
Then it was Petchaburi, a nice little historical city crammed with temples.
But the heat was so overwhelming we could hardly appreciate the town. The sweating started at 9 am and went on until 9 pm. It was high time for the islands!
Ko Tao
Ko Tao, meaning turtle island because of its shape, is half way down the Kra Isthmus, in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a centre for scuba dive training.
The first 6 days, we just relaxed reading and snorkeling on a uncrowded beach while the rest of Thailand was getting soaked for Songkhran, the 4-day long national new year celebration where water is thrown at each other as blessing.
Then we did some serious diving! Claudia studied for her PADI certifications (up to advanced open water diver) while Gilbert did some fun dives. Underwater life was interesting enough, with plenty of colourful fish and soft corals.
But after 2 weeks of beach life in a very traveller oriented place (meaning both thai and western food were too often bland and expensive caricatures of the real thing), and despite us meeting some very nice and interesting people, the urge of discovering new horizons pulled us back on the road... direction Malaysia!
Isaan
Just behind the Lao border lies Isaan, the biggest and economically poorest province of Thailand. This is nevertheless an extremely interesting place, the lack of money being compensated by a rich cultural diversity. The region was part of the Lane Xang kingdom (see "Laos: The North"), and the majority of Isaan people still speak Lao dialects. Today, it is the homeland of the best thai boxers, pop music stars, Bangkok taxi drivers, homemaids and bar girls...
Coming from Laos, the poverty wasn't striking. Isaan even seemed relatively wealthy with large well-maintained roads, modern houses and shopping malls. We arrived at Chong Mek and went straight to Surin via Ubon Ratchathani by train. A comfortable change after a month of rough bus rides!
Unlike the rest of the province, Surin and its surroundings is more influenced by Cambodia. 70% of the people speak Cambodian and they are many Khmer ruins scattered around.
We stayed there a couple of days, enjoying the easy-going Isaan way of life at the night market, which is one of the best in the Northeast, and in the streets, where music can be heard everywhere. Not the syrupy mainstream Luk Thung (imagine Celine Dion under Valium), but the orientally funky Mor Lam (sung in Lao, combining traditional flutes with cheap keyboards), hypnotic Kantrum rock (boosted Khmer folk songs) or the more traditional Bong Lang bands (Isaan ceremonial music, dominated by percussions). Surin is also one of the best places in Thailand to shop for silk:
Our next stop was the small town of Nang Rong, around which are some of the most spectacular Angkorian ruins. Our timing couldn't have been better! Once a year, when the sun shines through all 15 doors of Phanong Rung, there is a festival of huge parades up the hill to the temple. A tradition believed to go back 800 years.
Bangkok and around
Then it was back again in Bangkok... Our bags were heavy with souvenirs and it was time to send some parcels home! After our thai massage course in Chiang Mai, we absolutely wanted to have a closer look at Wat Po temple, repository of the traditional thai massage and medicine scriptures and famous for it's huge reclining Buddha. It also had some entertaining statues demonstrating stretching positions:
Despite there still being much to see, the heat forced us out of the city. The islands were waiting for us... But on our way down, we did two more stops.
First, Amphawa near Samut Songkram. We stayed for the night in a luxurious resort for Bangkok weekenders with a wonderful pool and air-conditioned bungalows.
In the evening, we had a marvelous candlelight seafood meal at a restaurant on the bank of one of the rivers in the middle of nowhere. The speedboat pick-up service in the starry night lit up by fireflies was half of the romance! The next day, we visited the Amphawa district, an atmospheric Thai Venice.
Then it was Petchaburi, a nice little historical city crammed with temples.
But the heat was so overwhelming we could hardly appreciate the town. The sweating started at 9 am and went on until 9 pm. It was high time for the islands!
Ko Tao
Ko Tao, meaning turtle island because of its shape, is half way down the Kra Isthmus, in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a centre for scuba dive training.
The first 6 days, we just relaxed reading and snorkeling on a uncrowded beach while the rest of Thailand was getting soaked for Songkhran, the 4-day long national new year celebration where water is thrown at each other as blessing.
Then we did some serious diving! Claudia studied for her PADI certifications (up to advanced open water diver) while Gilbert did some fun dives. Underwater life was interesting enough, with plenty of colourful fish and soft corals.
But after 2 weeks of beach life in a very traveller oriented place (meaning both thai and western food were too often bland and expensive caricatures of the real thing), and despite us meeting some very nice and interesting people, the urge of discovering new horizons pulled us back on the road... direction Malaysia!
