Namaste Bangkok part deux

So I'm back in Bangkok again! Of course in a totally different way as planned.
I've been literary all across the country. I teamed up again with Kyle who I met in Nepal.
We decided to head down to Phuket from Bangkok by nightbus. We had front seats in a doubledecker :D Thinking of the possible view that was great! Only thing was that during the night there isnt a lot to be viewing on this endless long road down. We also forgot that there was this big ass television screen in front of the bus. It screened this terrible, yet sometimes weirdly interesting thai fantasy soap. Combined with really having a hard time to find that comfortable position it led to an almost sleepless night. Arriving on the 5th of december (!) this wasnt your average Sinterklaas. In fact the only Sinterklaas experience I had this year was eating a few pepernoten which were brought to Thailand by Dutch girls (hallo Lisa en Willemijn ;) 5 December however is big in Thailand too! Its the Kings Birthday.
This means, even more, decorations. Flags, lights, portraits nothing is to wild for the king! When we were waiting for the bus to Phuket suddenly there was this announcement tune. The next thing that happened was the slowing down of every person. Whatever they were doing. It either was the national, or the Kings anthem ( I reckon the last) Everybody stood up, and listened to the song. When it was finished, as if watching the perfectly rehearsed play, everybody slowly started moving again and continued whatever they were doing. In Phuket itself we ended up going to one of the most popular beaches, and we knew that! It was overly touristy. It felt like Khoa San Road (The tourist spot of Bangkok) with a beach. When the Thai celebrate the birthday of their King, they do it sober. It was not allowed to drink in public, and you saw people sneaking into bushes just to drink. Furthermore the clubs/restaurants close at midnight, while its usually partying all night long! How different from celebrating Queens/Kingsday back home..
The next day was a rather strange one. Before going out that evening I went back to the room to get some extra cash, since you never know right?! I found out I was being robbed of all my Thai money. It was quite a lot since I had recently pinned some. It seemed to be the only thing they got off me. While there were plenty other things they could have taken. Calling with my insurance really helped and it actually went very smooth. I received back almost all my cash! I did have to make an official report at the policestation. Sure..!! The officer on duty wasnt to happy with having to summaries the events. Kyle thought maybe because the officer knew it didnt really matter that much. Which in a way could make sense! We ended up going out afterall. It did help :) Clubbing a bit, starting a renewed taste for pancakes (never ate so many of them as during this trip) which is still ongoing. Ending the night playing games with some Thai bargirls. Getting my ass kicked on all the different kind of games. Im sure it was just because they do it every night!

So then I decided it was time to do some isle hopping on my own! Easier to be said then to be done, but I got there :D I chilled at Koh Samui, Koh Paghnan and Koh Tao. (East coast of Thailand) At Koh Samui I had a guesthouse 10 seconds of the beach. Loads of laying at the beach, reading, getting burned and swimming. It wasnt all perfect.. Had some pretty rough times being back on my own again after weeks of intense and intimate contacts all over. I decided to head to Paghnan and get accomodation, which was supposedly to be hard during the Fullmoon Party. It turned out to be a less hard. I ended up at the Sanctuary, being lured in by the cheap dorm and yoga. It appeared to be an almost isolated resort! Commonly accessible by longboat.
Ill probably come back to my experience there in a later blog.

Full Moon Party; hell yea it was on! The only thing I knew for sure when I came to Thailand. We went to the party beach in the evening. Which wasnt that easy. You were getting faced by boatdrivers who really used their monopoly :( Raising prices and taking of whenever they feel like. We shared the ride with a Japanese couple. From the first tiny wave till the end of the drive she screamed. Im still unsure whether it was joy or fear. I couldnt really be bothered by it actually. I just enjoyed the ride. It was truely great to sail and approach the party ground by night! Seeing the beach from the distance. The endless line of lights, the kakofony (proper English?), the fire(works). The beach had really changed. Upon my arrival I already thought it needed a lot of imagination to change it into the promised party grounds. But it did just that! Stages being erected, decorations all over the place. Even all the sidealleys were transformed. There were buckets of alchohol everywehere you could see. Getting a bite before it took off. IT WENT ON , till the break 'o dawn! I especially enjoyed all the fireshows and there were plenty. Juggling, spitting fire, jumping rope on fire , limbo dancing under a fire bar and jumping through a burning hoop. I can proudly say I did the latter 2. Strolling along the grounds. Meeting people and dancing. Oh how I danced! I cant remember to have danced so much. Every 10 meters had a different stage and there were different genres to please the entire crowd. Ending the morning with some other Dutchies who where running around with a selfmade Dutch flag, and of course you want to do it too! (Funny detail the Thai flag is red-white-blue-white-red, which often confuses)

Skipping a bit forward Id like to share my VISA run story. This means you cross any border connected to Thailand and upon return you get an extension of your visum. Since mine was due to expire today I needed it badly. The plan was really simple. I would take a nightferry from Koh Tao. Rent a scooter and drive around 150 kilometers to the border in Birma, drive back and the next day go to Bangkok. What happened was that I did get on the nightferry, floating dormitory. The sea was quite rough and I had trouble getting to sleep. I had to go to toilet, and had to go outside for this. With the ship moving back and forth this wasnt easy. Arriving outside and seeing the rough sea it hit my. Holy Shit im on a boat! So I arrive at 5 in the morning, being a true wreck. I managed to get to the place I needed to be to rent my scooter. I think it was my luck that they didnt have a proper scooter to rent, because I would have taken it. In stead I went by minivan to the border. Here I was in for a surprise. I thought I would arrive at a landborder, this was NOT the case. I had to go by boat to Birma! And so I went. About 2 hours later I got my proof of having entered and exited Birma and got my visum renewed. Since it was still early I checked if I could go to Bangkok the same day, which was possible! I had good company and it was a nice ride .. untill the bus broke down. So your stranded in the middle of the night in God knows where. There was another bus being called but no clue on when it would arrive. Trying to get a hold of a taxi or minivan proved really hard, but was in the end succesfull! Almost all the passengers got on. The driver went as fast as the car would let him. This made the little bumps in the way true attraction rides. Us bouncing all over the taxi. That didnt make him go slower. We were just very confident that he was a skilled driver, which to my impression he really was. So somehow I ended up at the airport, it being the most practical place to leave the van. So really tired I tried to sleep there for half an hour. Then I decided this wasnt ideal, I really needed a proper bed and dark room, and got a taxi back into town. Finding a place that wasnt full proved a bit hard but in the end I managed. Slept for a couple of hours. Still very tired I went out to find a better place to stay. After having found one I went out to get some food. It was a bit harder then I expected it to be. The food was everywhere, but my feet were done. I knew when I bought some flip flops I should have gone for a better pair (I forgot my sandals at one of the islands) Now I was faced with the consequences. My feet were bleeding a bit, swollen and aching like hell. I had serious trouble walking and even went barefoot because it was to painfull. I still went on thinking it would turn out okay. I needed some concerned people to convince me to actually go to the hospital. Turned out there was a free clinic just around the corner. One of the Thai gave me a lift to the place which was really nearby (I was seriously considering a tuk-tuk. ) My feet got cleaned and got band aides. Now I got a stick and am limping through Bangkok on a stick. Not your average way of preparing for, and celebrating, Christmas. Not to worry, Im smiling as I write this blog and Im already able to walk pieces without my stick.

Live from Bangkok, Thailand, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Love