Back to Guatemala

Posted on August 8, 2012 by bettertogether

After wonderful week in Belize, we were really sorry to leave it. Nevertheless, we had only one week left and we had to head to Guatemala. It was not a regular trip though. After 3-hour ride in an american school bus along the magnifcient Maya Mountains and tropical forest we arrived to Punta Gorda (Belize). From there we took a boat to Livingston – a costal town in Guatemala, which can not be reached by land. What makes this place special is the blend between guatemalan and Garifuna culture. This place is inhabitted similar to Belize coast by Garifuna people, which are very friendly and easy-going. Their favourite activity next to playing drums is drinking caraibean rum. They excell at both. The food is, however, more similar to Guatemalan specialities including soups, tapadas (seafood stews), grilled meats and omnipresent tortillas.

Since Livingston has no road connection with the inland, we took a lancha (river boat) to Rio Dulce. The trip itself was a nice experience: we passed canyons, jungle, hot springs, lilly ponds, pirate castles, and bird island. The river was also amazing – at times it was even 200 m wide. The trip ended at the lake Izbal from where we took a bus to Guatemala City. Guatemala City is neither an interesting point on a travellers map, nor it is safe. Therefore, we took another bus to Antigua – a tourist paradise. Antigua is a small colonial town surrounded by three vulcanos (one active). It is very colorful thanks to the paint on mostly one-storey buildings and flowers everywhere. Cobbled streets make it look more natural then modern cities like Guatemala City or Flores. There are plenty of restaurants serving traditional food such as: chicharon (grilled meat served with salsa, potatos, spring onions, tortillas and salad), tamales (stuffed banana leafs), pepian (chicken in tomato sauce), frijoles (entrecote). On top of this it is an excellent base for hiking vulcanos and exploring Guatemala highlands. No wonder that this place is on UNESCO World Heritage list.

Tomorrow we are hitting the road again to explore some modern Maya culture and handicraft. More on this soon.

Graifuna drummers

Posted on August 2, 2012 by bettertogether

Sorry for not updating our blog regurarly. We were all the time on the way and Bartek was to lazy to write about our adventures in English. Lets start from where we left off…

After relaxing on the Mazunte beach we went to San Cristobal de las Casas in the district of Chiapas. We went on a boat trip to a Sundero canyon, which is a magic place surrounded by cliffs and tropical wildlife (including crocodiles). We stayed just one night in San Cristobal and went to Palenque to see Maya ruins. After Palenque we went to Guatemalan border. When we got there we were informed that the villagers blocked the road and the mexican immigration was closed. Nevertheless, the boaters offered to take us to Guatemalan immigration which solocited illegal fees but otherwise were nice enough to let us enter Guatemala. In Guatemala we went to El Remate which is a town next to famous Tikal ruins.

We went to the ruins next morning at 5:45am. However, the sights were worth the early wake up. Tikal is in the middle of the jungle and on arrival we could hear the sounds of animals including dozen species of birds and howler monkeys. The ruins were amazing – high pyramids with steep stairs hidden in the jungle and narrow trails trough the jungle connecting them. We also saw some monkeys, spiders, tarantulas and beautiful butterflies on the way.

After Tikal we spent one day on an island called Flores from where we went to Belize.

In Belize, we first went to the island Caye Caulker which is next to the second longest reef in the world. We took a full day snorkling tour to the reef. We swam with sharks, sting rays, manatees and around coral garden. It was like swimming in the aquarium.

Finally, we reached Hopkins on the mainland,where we enjoyed sun, pristine sand beaches, Garifuna culture, drumming and baths at full moon! Intrestingly, just after arrival we were offered some weed and rum (of course we rejected both).

For next 3 days we want to keep to ourselves, so sorry if you do not get any messages.

Finally honeymoon!

Posted on July 23, 2012 by bettertogether

As much as we enjoyed last two weeks: first, wonderful wedding at which we met all old friends and then the travel to Mexico, it was very hectic and, honestly, stressful time. Therefore we longed for some rest at the beach sipping coctails and just enjoying each others companionship. The dream could finally come true once we arrived to Mazunte – a small village situated at the Pacific Ocean.

Mazunte is a charming village with a nice mexican atmosphere and without the noise of the typical beach resorts (such as Acapulco). Its beaches are rather pristine, beautifully hidden in the rocky bays. Many of the bungalows are facing the sea and have a beautiful view and are surrounded by the mesmarizing sound of the forceful waves of the Pacific. People here have much darker complexion, but also seem a lot more friendly (but with Mexican indifference). There are not many tourists here, but many of them seem of mexican or hispanic origins making the place more authentic (you do not hear that much english in here).

However, Mazunte is no paradise. Barely a month ago it was hit by a hurricane that took off the roofs of 60% of houses (it does not say much, because the roofs are made of palm leaves). Fortunately, when we came most of the houses have been already rebuilt and we found little traces of the recent hurricane. What struck us the most is the heat – coming from the more mild climate of the highlands, we were all wet as soon as we left the bus. It is actually hard to do anything during the day, because the high temperature and high humidity are almost unbearable. Of course, most of the rooms here do not have an air-conn making it hard to escape the heat. Secondly, the insects keep going everywhere and invisible mosquitos bite like hell. The only possible activity during the day is just staying in the shade and waiting for the evening cool to come. Suprisingly, that is exactly what we needed!

We got a nice room with a terrace and a sea view, but most of the time we spent reading, looking at the sea and drinking flavoured agua. In the evenings, we could have strolls on the beach or to a wonderful view point from nearby rocks.We also tried swimming in the ocean, but very strong waves made it rather a hazardful activity.

It is a pitty to leave this relaxing place – tonight we are heading to San Cristobal de las Casas to hunt more Maya treasures.

Around Oaxaca

Posted on July 19, 2012 by bettertogether

Today we decided to take an organised tour around tourist attractions close to Oaxaca – Mitla ruins, petrified waterfalls (Hiervo el Agua), rugs weaving factory in Teotitlan of Valley, Mezcal destillery (am alcoholic bevarage similar to tequilla) and El Tule which is the home to one of the oldest trees in the world. It was rather commercial tour and the guide took as to many shops where we were supposed to buy local goods. We decided that it was the last time we took such a tour. Tomorrow, we are heading to the Oaxaca beaches.

Oaxaca – the land of chocolate

Posted on July 18, 2012 by bettertogether

Imagine a land where everything is made of chocolate… No, this is not the beginning of the Hansel and Gratel fairy tale – it is an authentic place in Mexico and it is called Oaxaca.

After rather longish trip from Mexico City through Sierra Madre mountains we finally arrived to Oaxaca. Although it was already after sunset the place made an impression of a quiet and quite elegant town. Cobbled streets, one or two storey buildings, colonial-style city plan and friendly mexicans on the streets made for a good beginning. Our beds in the cosy Pochon hostel were already waiting for us and after a quick refreshing we went out to eat some Pozole (mexican-style meat soup).

However, real expolration of the treasures of Oaxaca did not start until next morning. Next to spacious plazas, impressive mexican-baroque churches and quiet parks we found busy street markets with handcraft, vegies and food.

Above all, the main specialization of Oaxaca is cocoa. In different forms: chocolate, hot chocolate, in coffee or even… as a spicy dark sauce called mole negro. It is usually served with some tortillas or in a chicken stew. That is right – chicken served in hot chocolate! We tried it on one of street markets and it was absolutely delicious. Like nothing we have eaten before, in a good sense. If you ever come to Oaxaca, you have to eat some (don’t worry we are bringing some of the sauce home, so you if you hurry we can share some).

We just hope the witch (known here as Montezuma) will not catch us tomorrow and punish with the food poisoning.

Luang Prabang, day 1

Posted on March 11, 2010 by bettertogether

Finally, we got to Luang Prabang – a town located on a small penisula in the serpents of Mekong river which in spite of western influences managed to conserve its colonial-age character. We did not know much about this place, but now we could explore it on our own.

When we woke up some of our travel-mates were already having breakfeast. Quickly, we brushed our teeth, left our loundry, packed our bags and joined the rest. Once we sat at the table we were offered strong Lao coffee, which was far better than coffee we drank in Thailand. From a menu which was clearly oriented at European tastes we chose Shakschuka, which is actually an Israeli dish made from eggs, tomatoes, onions and something which tasted like mushrooms, but was probably bamboo. The dish was delicious, but the best of all was a grilled baguette accompanying the dish. Baguette are uncommon in Thailand, but because Laos used to be a French colony, there are quite popular in Luang Prabang. We really missed a piece of bread in Thailand, where every dish consists of rice, and the crispy baguette was much more than we hoped for.

kosze

Other guests of the guest house recommended us things to see in Luang Prabang. There are not many monuments in the city – several Buddhist temples and a museum. However, we were told that the best way to feel the atmosphere of this place is to have a stroll along the Mekong river and get lost in the narrow streets at the riverside. That’s what we did.

stragan z shakeami

The first thing we noticed was that Luang Prabang was much more quiet than other cities we knew in Southeast Asia – because of UNESCO regulations the trucks are banned within the old town. It made the impression that the town is frozen in time, yet it was full of life: people lived their normal life without noticing the tourists passing by. Above all, the were no annoying tuk-tuk s stopping, ringing at you, and asking if you need a ride. What a relief after staying in Chiang Mai. We read the Lao people are more lazy than Thais and you actually you have to force them to help you.

swiatynia

The impression of being lost in time was amplified by the colonial architecture of the small houses with large balconies. On the balconies there was a plenty of flowers which made the streets colorful in contrast to gray streets of Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Krabi. Each street was different – the architecture of the houses, the flower compositions and people made each of them unique. In between the streets there were tens of gold-decorated temples inhabited by orange-robed monks who vastly enriched the picture. Gradually, we started to be enchanted by the atmosphere of Luang Prabang and if not lack of time we could stay there a week just exploring the small streets, temples, pubs or simply looking at the river.

studiujacy mnich

mekong river

On the other side of the river, there were several temples and a village. You could get there by means of a 100 m long bamboo bridge raising about 12 m above the water. The bridge did not look very stable and started shaking when we walked across, but we got safe to the other end.

bamboo bridge

fishing

novices swimming in the river

The speciality of the village was paper and silk weaving. Both were still manufactured by hand and we could watch the process even breeding the silk worms. We were especially amazed with women patiently weaving fabrics with intricate patterns from silk threads. We spent about an hour watching the hand-made materials in an adjacent shop.

paper weaving

silk weaving

silk worms

At the end of the day we decided to take a romantic trip on Mekong river. Just before the sunset we hired a small boat only for ourselves. We enjoyed it very much: the slow flow of the river, people working on the river banks, monks having a bath, fishermen pulling out the nets, the sun sinking behind the hills whose light filtered by the dust tinted everything in red, but above all we enjoyed being there together…

mekong river

When we were back on a solid ground it was already dark. We walked back towards our guest house stopping at night market. The assortiments included mainly local products, many of which were hand-made: silk, t-shirts, funny slippers. We even foun (and tried) various spirits sold in bottles with real cobras and scorpions. There was also a food departmemt where we ate delicious papaya salad and grilled chicken. We wished we could stay there longer, but we had to get early enough to our tent to get some sleep before another exciting day…

On the road – Heading to laos

Posted on March 9, 2010 by bettertogether

Believe it or not one of the greatest river of the world – Mekong – is dry. It does not happen very often. There are many theories how it could happen – the most widespread is that the Chinese blocked the dam and only little amount of water flow into the downstream river.

No matter what the reason is, it destroyed our plans of going with a slow boat on Mekong from the Thai-Lao border to the beutiful city of Luang Prabang. The bus option did not seem appealing to us because it was not nearly as romantic as going through the serpents of Mekong and the Lao roads had very bad reputation. Nevertheless, we decided to go by bus and bought a package including 2-day bus trip, dinner and one-night accomodation. It proved out to have its up- and down-sides, but lets start from the begining.

First, we took a mini-van from Chiang Mai to a town located at Lao border called Chiang Khong. We shared the bus with a guy from London Roger, who plays a very important role in our story, a middle-aged Canadian, a teenager from Holland, a couple from Switzerland heading for rock climbing in Vang Vieng and three english girls whom we already knew from our trekking trip.

white temple

During the 4 hours long drive to Chiang Khong, we stopped at White Temple in Chiang Rai ( Wat Rong Khun). It is a very unconventional conterporary temple made completely in white. The temple is still under construction, but it is already very impressive. The paintings inside the temple feature scenes from Matrix, Star Wars and other sci-fi motives.

sculpture in white temple

When we arrived at Chiang Khong we filled in the Lao visa application and paid 100 baht to a lady, who was supposed to take care of our visas. We ate dinner and talked to our travel mates. We were interested if it is necessary to take Malaria pills in Laos. Some people said that in Laos in contrast to Thailand there is a danger of getting malaria from mosquito bite. Most of the people took some pills but complained about the side effects, the most common being aweful nightmares. Since we were not going to travel in rural areas we decided not to take any antimalarial drugs, but we had some Malarone in our first-aid kit as an emergency medication.

After dinner we went for a walk along Mekong. Since Chiang Khong is a small village there is not much to see, so we had shakes and went back to our room.

mekong

On the next day we crossed Mekong with a small ferry. We got our passports back from the visa-lady, but we had still to apply for our visas – she did suprisingly little for the money we gave her. Another suprise waited for ous at the border. A Lao guide told us that we were supposed to take local bus to Luang Prabang, which takes 14 hours to reach the destination not 9 as we were told. Moreover, the morning bus was already full and we had to wait 3 hours for the next one. All in all we would not arrive at Luang Prabang in the evening, but early in the morning on the next day.

There was an alternative option: if we paid 200 baht each we could get a mini-van which would take as to Luang Prabang in 9 hours. It raised the costs of our trip to almost 2000 baht, but everyone agreed to pay it.

After a short while, we all had our visas and we got on a small mini-van. The road to Luang Prabang offered nice scenery: first it we went along the Mekong valley and then up to the hills, where it made thousands of curve.Unfortunately my stomach was protesting very badly with each curve. To make it worse, the road was very bumpy. There were intervals where the ride was quite smooth, but they were interleaved with periods of rodeo style ride. The further we went, the worse the road became. At times it was only a dirt road hardly to be recognised in the clouds of dust left by passing cars.

road to luang prabang

The slow ride towards Luang Prabang left us plenty of time to watch the Lao countryside. The scenery was much different from what we saw in Thailand. Most of the houses were made from bamboo or wood and they did not seem to contain modern facilities. The people inhabitting them differed much from Thais both in the facial characteristics and clothing. The landscape was dominated by hills, but the views were hidden behind thick smoke produced by the numerous fires in the woods normal for the dry season. We stopped twice to eat in villages, but the food we were served in a sort of motorway restaurant was rather raw and expensive.

The trip to Luang Prabang proved to take longer than expected – altogether it took 12 hours instead of promised 9 hours. We tried to kill the time by watching the first season of “how I met your mother” on my ipod and we almost saw all of the episodes.

As a result of the delay we arrived at Luang Prabang at midnight. We still did not have any accommodation booked and at this time it would be hard to find anything in a foreign city. Our driver did not know the city either and wanted to drop us somewhere at the outskirts. Fortunately enough, one of our travel mates Roger, knew a lady who owned a guest house and gave her phone call. Quickly she came on her motor bike and led the driver to her place. The rooms were full already so she offered us a tent in the garden. After 2-day trip we hoped for something better, but better this than nothing.

We had Lao beer and talked with other guests about the highlights of Luang Prabang, after which we went to long-awaited sleep.

09.03.2010

Deep Water Solo

Posted on March 2, 2010 by bettertogether

Soloing is the purest form of climbing – no rope, no harness, no quickdraws, no bolts, no grades, no partner. Just you and the rock. There are no limits, nothing to constrain your moves. You can climb whereever you want and you choose freely the route you climb. It is like doing the first ascent everytime – you feel like no one was there before.

climbing

It is exactly what deep water solo is – climbing solo without any other equipment than your shoes on the rocks emerging directly from water. When you fall you get wet, but otherwise you are safe. Some time ago I saw David Lama deep water soloing on breathtaking rocks in Thailand. Since then I dreamt that someday I could try it.

deep water solo

When we decided to travel around Thailand I knew that I would like to do deep water solo (DWS). It can be quite difficult to organize it on your own: you have to rent a boat and hire a boatman, you have to know where to go and when the high tide is. Therefore when we arrived at Ton Sai we booked a DWS trip offered by one of the climbing schools there, which included the boat, a guide, climbing shoes (if you dont want to put yours in a salty water) and lunch. Since there were not enough people for the trip, we had to wait 2 days, but it was worth it.

deep water solo

On the day, we got on the boat with 7 other people, many of which were still beginners. Everyone was very excited. First, we went to an rocky island close to Ton Sai, cliffs of which were suitable for climbing. The cliff we were supposed to climb on featured routes both for beginners and advanced climbers (5-8a in French scale). We could choose a spot we wanted to start from and a kayak would transfer us between the boat and the spot. The first guy decided to give a try to the easiest route. He got on the kayak, to the rock, up the wall, and very quickly he was on a shelf about 8m from the sea level. He did not stop there, though. He traversed the shelf, climbed up a small stalaktite and then on a slightly overhanging route to a small cave. It was a very good climb, but now he needs to get down – and the only way is to jump from a height of about 20 m. He hesitates and then does it, as he jumps he turns a little to the back and makes a large splash when he hits the water, but he is ok. Nice beginning!

Maja and me decide to go to the easy climb together. I get out of the kayak, climb up a ladder on a shelf, take some chalk stored in a small cavity in the rock to dry my hands and go up. At first I am a little shaky, although I am just above the sea level (it is high tide) and the climb is easy. I see Maja climbing up on the rock and following me. After some moves I start feeling more comfortable, but I am still more cautious than while climbing with a rope. Finally, I get on top of the shell and Maja joins me right after. So far so good. I looked down and I see an abyss just below me. The sea level seems so far from here, much further than it looked like while we were safely sitting on the boat. It is frightening, but it is the only way to get down. Maja jumps first, she falls in the water straight, and soon her head appears on the surface. I am much relieved. Now my turn. I always liked climbing up and never thought much about getting down. When you have a rope it is straightforward, just repell down. But now… Ok, I jump and after a short moment I climb back on the boat.

That was all right, but the jump was intended. What if you simply fall of the wall when you climb. To try it out I choose more difficult route starting under a roof. First I traverse a to the left around a stalaktite to avoid climbing the roof. Then I try to get over the roof, but I lost a lot of energy already and dont dare to do it. I jump off the wall and I am in water again. Next try – I climb the ladder directly from the water. I am all wet, so I use some chalk, but there is little left. Nevermind. It is for fun only. I manage to do the traverse much quicker and I almost manage to climb over the roof. It looks much easier there; layered rock makes for good holds and step. However, when I try to push myself up, my wet hand slips out of a very convenient pocket. I fall, but I enter the water ok and the height was not so large either. After all I am an expert at spectacular falls.

When I am back on the boat, we go together with Maja to the other route again. When Maja climbs up
to the shelf I try a traverse which ends in a small cavity. The height is about 10m and I jump safely into the water. By the time Maja has reached the shelf and she is in the boat again.

Although Maja is not usually very enthuisiastic about climbing, she wants to try the traverse as well. She does very well, but at first she chooses the hard way and has to retreat back into water. Her second try is better – she gets on top of a small stalaktite, but because of height does not dare to climb further. Not too bad for someone who is affraid of heights.

beach

After the emotions, we take a break on the nearby beach and have a lunch. Meantime the guides demonstrate their skills on some boulders. They are really good (I can hardly make two moves on the same routes) and they climb barefoot.

Our next destination is another cliff. This one has a very steep overhang and the beginning which ends up at about 10m above sealevel. No go for such a sissy like me. Fortunately, there is an easier entrance to the right featuring smaller overhang and a smooth silghtly reclining wall. On the other side, there is an enormous stalaktite from the to of the roof almost reaching the water. In total about 8m high. It looks familiar though. Our guide tells us that it is the spot where David Lama did his famous water solo. The movie I saw back home showed exactly this climb and now I am here and I am going to try it myself. Very cool!

climbing

I decide to climb first the right route. The start is hard, but then it gets a little easier. When I am about 5m above sea the problem starts – the rocks is very slippery, I already ran out of chalk (imagine that the heat reaches 35 C), the steps and holds are very small and in case I fall I will probably scratch against the wall. I feef very nervous, I start shaking, the guide advices me to go to the left. But how, I fear that when I move I will slide down. I try to calm down, I take a deep breath and move a little my feet. Now, I can reach a nice pocket from where it is only easier. After some 7 more meters I am in a large cave. I can climb further, but I hesitate few minutes am then jump.

The second route up the stalagmite is easier. The most difficult is getting up the ladder and then jumping from about 18m. It costs me a lot of courage, but when I am back in water I am happy I did it. Of course, I did not climb as high as David Lama, but still this is something to tell about back home.

Maja got really excited about deep water solo and she even lost her height fear. While all other girls on the boat were disappointed because the routes in the second round were too difficult for them, Maja fought very hard she was the only girl who managed up to climb the routes. Everyone was cheering up for her, when she climbed both the right route and the up the stalagmite. Both routes were more difficult than what she usually climbs, but I suppose the warm ncouragement by the handsome Thai guides worked better than my patient instructions.

climbing again 🙂

After everyone is exhausted, the boatman starts the engine and we swim back to our beach.

Overall, deep water solo is very exciting adventure and I would recommend it to everyone climber and non-climber. Once again I learnt that the limits of our capabilities are not in our physical traits but in our minds. When you finally learn how to challenge your fears and free your mind, deep water soloing makes you feel free.

Ton Sai beach, 2 March 2010

Orwells Thailand

Posted on February 23, 2010 by bettertogether

Thailand has been already over 50 years a popular turist destination. Farangs (Thai for tourists) from all over the world travel to Thailand to enjoy beautiful beaches, delicious cousine, low prices and Thai women. Thai economy wins a lot from this touristic bussiness and the Thai people came to perfection of offerring the visitors what they are looking for. To such a degree that one can even have the feeling of being in a artificially created world, such as the one descried in Orwells 1984. This is exactly what we felt when we got off a tuk-tuk in an unfamiliar place somewhere in the middle of Bangkok to great disappointment of our tuk-tuk driver. But let us start the story from the beginning…

Since we had still some time left in Bangkok we decided to go to National Museum. On our way to the museum we were stopped by tuk-tuk drivers, taxi drivers and touts, who offered us quick transport. After two days spent in Bangkok we were already confident enough with Bangkok public transportayion system so we rejected all of the offers. While saying polite no, thank you and goodbye (in Thai and english) to all of the drivers I did notice a woman walking in front of me and I nearly walked into her. She did not mind much, simply turned around and smilled. She was normal middle-age Thai woman. Her english proved out to be very good and she started conversation with us. She asked for our destination and informed us that National Museum is closed for a lunch break until 2pm. Instead, she recommended us visiting Buddhist highlights: Lucky Buudha, Tall Buddha and Golden Mountain. Then she added thst we were lucky because due to Buddhist holiday all of the hallmarks are open to visitors free of charge. More than that – we could even take a tuk-tuk for a round tour around to allof the highlights for only 20 b.

tuk tuk driver

It all sounded too good – tuk-tuks are considered expensive and unreliable and locals take them only if really in need. To give us more confidence, the nice woman equiped us with several phrases in Thai (sa-wat-dee=hello, shi-shi=slow) which would help us to communicate with the driver. Suddenly, out of nothing she finds a tuk-tuk whose driver is more than willing to take us for the tour for 20B. The driver is extremely nice and surprisingly speaks some English (Thai people try really hard to tell at least few phrases in english to the foreigners).

Feet of tall Budda

First, he takes us to the 20-meter-high Buddha. We take 20 min to see it, but after we come back our driver is still waiting for us. The next stop is TAT (turist information center) which can give us information about travelling afound Thailand. At the center a very friendly officer gives us numerous recommendations of interesting places to visit and even prepares a detailed day-by-day schedule of our trip. Finally he makes us an offer – a holiday package which includes all of the attractions he recommended plus accommodation plus flights; everyting at very low price. We consider the offer very seriously, but after all we are on our first backpacking holiday and we want to plan everything our way. Nevertheless, we ask the officer about accomodation options for an independent travel and he quotes a price of 1200 baht per night. Wow, that is really high, definitely not for a backpacker’s budget.

After we reject the offer the officer is somewhat less talkative, so we come back to our tuk-tuk. We find our driver in not such a good mood as well…

The next stop is lucky buddha – rather badly-kept Wat houses the oldest buddha image in bangkok and buddhas footprint. The keeper of the place tells us why tuk-tuks are so cheap today: there is a special promotion today and thr government pays the fuel. Moreover fabric factories can be visited for free. When we are back in our tuk-tuk the driver tells us that he needs special cupones to buy fuel and he will get them only if he takes us to a tailor.OK. Lets go. The tailor shows as a catalogue of suits and dresses, but we dont find anything in backpackers style. We leave. Our driver is apparently very unhappy and when we ask him to get us to the next spot he stops the vehicle and starts his story about coupons again. That’s enough. We get off the taxi and pay the driver 60B. It’a not much, but more than originally agreed on. We have no idea where we are, but at least we have still a few hours to catch our train to Trang.

I don’t know exactly when we started to be suspicious about the “special promotion” story. It started off quite strange, but everything seemed so perfect: a nice Thai woman stopping for a chat, a friendly english-speaking tuk-tuk driver, interesting buddhist highlights with few foreign visitors, helpful tourist information center. Isn’t it a dream of every backpacker or an ordinary tourist? Yes, it’s, but there were many lies as well: National Museum was not closed for lunchtime, there was no promotion day, Lucky Buddha was not a hidden treasure, but an ordinary image of Buddha found in many temples. The most confusing thing about the story was that all lies were made perfectly likely and they were accompanied by a good dose of true (and new to us)information. Suddenly, we felt like on the stage where everyone else is an actor following the script, but we were not told that it was only a play. Have you seen Trumpt Show? It was exactly like this: an ultimate reality show produced just for you without you realizing anything.

If that is what you are looking for Thailand can offer it to you as well.

Bangkok, 23 February 2010

Bangkok 1-2-3

Posted on February 22, 2010 by bettertogether

So here we are for the first time completely alone in the foreign city. What now? Bangkok is huge and we have only one day left… On the same day we are going to take a night train to Trang – provience located in the south of Thailand.

Here comes the first surprise-the train we were going to take is full. We only manage to get tickets for the train next night and only 2nd class top-level sleepers without air con, but only 500 baht and we are saving on accommodation costs.

After making the reservation, our next steps are taking us to Grand Palace- the famous buildings complex which used to be the residence of the King. It houses beautifully ornamented buildings such as: the palace, pantheon, corronation hall and the most famous The Temple of Emerald Buddha. Although Buddhas image which gave the name to the temple is not really emerald, it is the most worshiped image in Thai world.

Grand Palace

The place is really magical: from esthetical point of view it compares to places such as La Alhambra in Granada or the Old City of Jerusalam. One can hardly believe that the place like this can be located in the heart of Bangkok – the hactic, noisy and polluted capital of modern Asian world. Bangkok is a city of contrast.

Grand Palace

Unfortunately, today also merciless heat follows our steps. Coming directly from -10 degree we did not yet get to used to being fried alive in direct sunlight. I think that is what someone would feel if put inside micro oven set to maximal cooking power! Needless to say we are completely exhausted after spending 3 hrs in the heat.

Monks

Nevertheless, we don’t loose our time in Bangkok and continue to Wat Arun – a 100 m tower dominating over Bangkok. In order to get there we need to cross the river. At the harbour a number of agencies offer us their boat trips, but we want cheaper crossing service boats popular by Thai people. It proves not so easy to get on one of them because the “travel agents” force us to buy a ticket on their boat and do not let us go. Finally, they leave us alone and we get on a public boat, which we hope will take us to the temple… Not so fast, we overestimate our Thai reading skills and end up in another temple, located on the same side of the river but in a opposite direction.

On the prom

It takes the rest of our energy to find the right spot, but at least we could observe everyday life in a typical Bangkok street. Finally, we climb up the tower of Wat Arun, it is not easy in the temperatures, but the view of Bangkok is worth it. From (almost) top of it, we can see the urban planning of Bangkok: the modern city with skyscreapers on one side and run-down houses intermingled with gold-decorated temples on the other side of the city. All of this is intrinicately cut by a system of a river and channels.

View from Wat Arun

The enormous effort to get to the top of the tower is rewarded with fresh cocconut which we buy after we get back down.

Wat Arun and monk

On our way back home, we are taking, this time on purpose, an express boat which is going in opposite direction to see how the city looks from the river. The boat is full and we don’t get the best places, but we did get a glimpse of houses sitting along the river.

Wat Arun seen from the river

On the river

Now, we earned some relax. After a short shower we decide to try Thai massage. At one of the nearby massage shops nice Thai women offer us warm tea and large selection of body treatments: from feet care to whole body massage. We choose one hour traditional Thai massage. First, we are taken to a dimmed-light room where two materaces and fresh cloths are waiting for us. We have some trouble to wear unbelievably loose pants which would easily fit the two of us together, but after some help we manage. The massage involves stretching, pushing of our muscles to the degree that I almost feel them breaking. What for me feels like a torture, triggers in Maja only salves of laughter: she is so sensitive to touch that she gets giggles while being massaged by one of the women. The women move from tips of our toes towards upper limbs and head. Sometimes they even use their feet, legs and arms to shape our bodies into a deformed position. Honestly, after finishing it I was more appreciative to the physical strength of the women than healing effects of the massage.

The massage did wheat our appetites, so we have some warm Thai food sold at a street in Ko San neighbourhood. I eat pork with red curry and vegetables an Maja eats the same but with chicken instead. We finish our day with a pint of cold Chang (Thai beer), fresh papaya and sticky rice with mango. Everything delicious!!!!

Bangkok, 22 February 2010

Better Together

Travel Blog of Maja and Bartek

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