There are many things that define a country and whilst we can’t claim to be living like locals, at one with the people or even taking the time to consciously examine cultural norms anywhere, it is impossible not to be able to get a sense of how one country differs from another. Obviously, within countries there are also differences between regions that shape the tourists overall view of a country and what defines these regions and countries can be so subtle and sometimes so dramatic. I love the way nature provides a ready warning that change is likely to be coming. Crossing mountain ranges, obvious changes to land use and vegetation all tend to signal a change to who the people are and what they are doing.

We left Surin in a space-cab Hilux with Molly and Julia on the workman’s bench crammed behind the front seats, made that little bit more luxurious with an extra foam cushion.

The road out of Surin was quiet and well maintained but as we moved south, the roads became less trafficked and narrower. As we turned east and left Surin province the road deteriorated significantly and for about 5-10 km crawled along, bouncing in and out of gaping potholes at about 10 km/hr. Hitting a T-intersection we were surprised that only 90 minutes out of Surin we were finding road signs to the border - Choam Sa-Ngam only 13km away!

For the last 20 minutes we had seen jungle clad hills raising to the south and running east west. All that we really knew about the border area was that from just on the other side of the border there were escarpment views out over the North West corner of Cambodia so it was a fair assumption that the range of hills was the border.

The last couple of km wound uphill to the border post on the Thai side – suddenly the tar road was left to itself, heading into the jungle and Cambodia on it’s own whilst we diverted down a dirt track to a couple of bamboo shacks and a gate house. We pulled up, had an ice coffee with the driver and he headed over the border to “do some shopping” – for what we weren’t sure. We sat around just taking in where we were.

There was a small camp close to us, we assumed it was military as there was no other reason for people to be there – there was one drinks hut and there had been a few empty shacks back where we left the tar but on this day, things were pretty quiet.

We headed over to the gate house, noting it was staffed by two soldiers and passed a few people walking in the other direction. As we walked down the dirt road some people pushing trolleys with hay and coconuts overtook us when we stopped to take photos. Then up to Thai immigration, stopping at the departures window of a tiny portable office.

A lady road past, giggling and babbling at us and then someone yelled out in Thai – it would appear that not many people actually visit immigration and that most people who were either Thai or Cambodian had a fair amount of freedom to come and go across the border.

A very animated man turned up and said welcome to Cambodia – he was the Thai Immigration officer. He quickly burst out laughing and then declared that this was still Thailand. I pointed to the other side of the border and said Laos in a questioning voice…….he said no, Cambodia, looking very worried that we really didn’t know what was going on. Then we all laughed. He didn’t stop there though, thumbing through the passports he questioned Julia’s photo page, asking whether it was really her or not – when she nodded yes he shook his head, looked at her and said woo, very pretty eh?

And so our time in Thailand ended with the smiles and laughs that the country is famous for. We walked on and wondered what reception awaited us in Cambodia. 

First the bangkok collection - just a few to catch us up. The photos below include Molly and Julia on stage in a closed down English Pub, sunset over the Golden Mount and Wat Saket, through a bit of Thai smog and Molly at the Bangkok Railway Station (Hualamphong).

 

And a few more of Surin - also check Where's Molly for more from Surin. 

 Several years ago we met some ladies travelling through Vietnam who had recently come from Thailand, crossing into Cambodia and then Vietnam. Their stories of border touts, harassment on buses and general sense of being unsafe had made me wary of taking Molly into Cambodia, particularly independently and from Thailand on the most travelled tourist route. No matter how understanding and compassionate you are, it is difficult not to be annoyed or disappointed through the experience of unrelenting touts pushing unwanted goods and services upon you.

With the above in mind we sat in Bangkok trying to decide if we would follow our original roughly planned route that would see us in Vientiane, Laos after an overnight train from Bangkok. More and more we were thinking of Cambodia so that we could visit Laos as part of a Northward journey snaking across from Vietnam. For Julia the temples of Angkor at Siem Reap were a big draw card whilst for me the southern beaches of Cambodia sounded interesting. Molly generally just goes with the flow!

So after a small amount of research, I went to the Bangkok train station and booked tickets for Surin, in the North East of Thailand. All that we knew about Surin was that it had an annual Elephant round-up in November and that there were two Thai-Cambodia border crossings to the South of the town that were quiet and rarely saw tourist traffic.

We took a rather leisurely day train, departing Bangkok on the 10.05 am with a little bit of concern that the Red Shirt protests may kick off at any time. The fact that Julia had decided to wear a Red Shirt didn’t seem to put any Thai’s off side with us and clearly there were no problems with protestors as the train departed within 60 seconds of its due departure time. 

2nd class train travel was very good with reclining seats, air-con and a hostess (well, actually a host in our case) selling a variety of foods and drinks, most of it more than a little different from what you would find in your corner store but beer is beer and chips are chips (unless of course they are crisps!). The scenery was pleasant although our entire stay in Thailand has been obscured somewhat by the smog of grass and forest fires. We left Bangkok on a day where the smog index was moderate which actually equates to noticeable and unpleasant, one off unhealthy according to the Bangkok Post.

Arriving in Surin, I had a mental map of the town so decided that the best course of action would be to walk around, get our bearings, find what was good and which hotel was close to everything. After half an hour of walking past businesses that you would find in any rural regional centre, none of which were attractive to tourists but all of which contained smiling, helpful locals, we decided to sit down, have a cool drink and let me explore alone. At this point we had seen two hotels but nothing was jumping out at us as somewhere we wanted to spend a few days relaxing. 

So off I went, and after doing two street blocks and still nothing, I went into a computer store – clearly if anybody spoke clear English then it would be the people in town keeping up with emerging literature on computer design and technology! Nope, naught, nothing…….except a very good map, hand drawn as I watched and with a clear Thai explanation of the difference between a round-a-bout and an intersection…..I think.

So I went back to join Julia and Molly only to  discover that they had been given a very detailed tourist map within 2 minutes of me leaving. Most points of interest were in English….except Hotels! 

So off we went, wandering the streets with more of a purpose now. As the sun was starting to set we looked to the west and did one of those typical westerner things in Asia – stopped in the middle of an intersection staring down the street, jaws dropped and unaware of the spectacle that we were. No, not another great sunset, not a crazy moto with 7 people on it and a wardrobe, in fact not even men with guns arguing over a gem sale gone wrong. Coming towards us amongst the traffic was an Elephant! We knew the place was famous for its November Elephant round-up but we didn’t know they were still part of daily life in Surin. It would appear that our reduction in planning had lead us to greater surprises, even if we were probably now missing so many other great attractions. 

So after moving to the footpath, we stood amazed for 5 minutes as the Elephant manoeuvred through traffic, was parked at the side of the road like a car and moved on again as if it was a Toyota Corolla (well, more like a 1st generation Hummer but you get the point), we headed off again. We soon found the Hotel that breeds mosquitoes, the Hotel that breeds smart-alec staff and the hotel that offers suites, connecting rooms and studios, all mysteriously disguised as the same room. So for $40 a night we got three beds in the best hotel in town and as it turned out, it was a great hotel. Sure the pool was missing some tiles, the staff spoke no English, the breakfast was bizarre (yep, even by Asian standards) and the papers were 3 days old, but it had views of the bus station, all of the staff smiled and it was so central that even after 4 days there Molly still hadn’t bothered with the cable TV.

Surin was a real breath of fresh air. Not many tourists but a fair number of expatriate guys who have found a happy, relaxing life in this part of the world. When drinking in the evening we were joined by elephants and for a dollar we could feed, pat and talk to them. I assume it has been said and written before but it can’t pass without saying again. Whilst these elephants are basically domesticated, walking behind their handlers without tether or restraint, it is difficult to look into their eyes and not think they are crying out for maybe just a change, for a different life or I expect genuine freedom. That is not to say that feeding them wasn’t a delight – more than just a novelty for us as they are the most curious of creatures, insistent about their food and I guess the largest of all domesticated mammals.

Other pics from Khao Lak will be at Where's Molly.............she is off shopping in Khao San road so there may be a delay!

As we have on most days we learnt (or should that be re-learned) a lesson as we left Khao Lak – trust no-one in a tourist town in Asia. In this case, especially don’t trust the old, sweet Thai guy that runs the travel agency outside the bust stop. Despite checking at 5 or 6 travel agents, we found that the best deal for bus tickets was with Mr Happy Travels himself, conveniently located outside the bust stop that overnight buses use on their way to Bangkok. There were options at all of the agents and given the great value, we opted for VVIP bus seats – the first class experience of bus travel and one I felt that Julia deserved after several overnight trips on the Princes Highway last year to see me. Does a VVIP bus exist – yes, 28 seat in a double decker bus! Lots of space. Does it travel the route through Khao Lak – apparently not (at least not on the day we left!).

So the bus we had was great, VIP, ¾ reclining seats, a/c, food, drinks, toilet, TV (2012 dubbed into Thai – not as good as watching it with Jessie in Geelong’s Gold Class cinema but still entertaining) – the VIP bus had it all. But we payed a little bit more so the frustration was the lie – a man looked me in the eye and on 3 occassions the same person assured me the VVIP was significantly better than VIP. The bus was rolling when we realized the con so the next two hours my sight was clouded red with visaions of me flying back to Phuket and hirting a car, driving to Khao Lak and throwing Mr Happy through his shop window – but hey, I’m in Thailand, so let’s just smile and wave boys, smile and wave!

And now Bangkok – WOW.

The province of Phang Nga, and specifically the coastline between Tham Lamu and Koh Khao Lak, was tragically exposed to the worst of the 2004 Tsunami. Depending on where you are and what you are reading, the death toll is put at around 4500 for the province alone with another 1750+ missing. The province accounted for about 75% of the fatalities in Thailand and the newly growing tourism industry centred around Khao Lak was devastated with most resorts, bungalows and villas destroyed. 5 years later the resorts have returned in a greater number but there are some noticeably large international hotel groups who will likely make it difficult for the smaller, locally run organisations.

For us, Khao Lak was beautiful, relaxing and truly a place we will come back to. In fact we have tried to leave once and stayed an extra 3 days just because we could! Think golden sands, quiet beaches, waterfront cafes and friendly locals and you have some idea of Khao Lak.

From Khao Lak we did a day trip out to the Similan Islands – a group of islands declared National Park within Thailand and reportedly to become a world heritage area. The 60km trip out to the islands takes only an hour (if your boat has 3 x 225HP outboards!) and the day is spent between a few of the islands, snorkeling from the boat, swimming at the beaches and even a little bit of rock climbing to lookouts. The water is as clear as you can possibly imagine and the sands are very white so that even if there was no coral the experience would have been worth raving about. As there was coral and tropical fish, the day was unforgettable, although I expect that diving in the area is significantly more impressive in regard to coral and fish varieties.

We stayed in a resort for several days, fairly remote on a long, quiet beach with little bamboo beach cafes close by set up by local entrepreneurs – great for watching sunsets over the Andaman Sea and hearing a little about Khao Lak’s recent tourist history (thanks Clemmens). At less than $90 a night it was within our budget as the inclusive breakfasts were superb and lasted us the day and we arrived with a few bags of biscuits with tuna, salsa and cheese as our evening meals. We were sad to leave, particularly as we intended to leave that evening for Bangkok.

Of course our plans were pretty rubbery from the start so we stayed longer, this time in the town of Khao Lak, now a full 200 metres from the beach but with a just as easy walk to the town and some of its great restaurants and cafes. The Thai meals we had in Khao Lak were memorable, the myriad of other European tourists amusing and the German café provided a great breakfast that included fresh breads and great coffee.  

As with any trip in a foreign country, the challenge for us in Khao Lak was differentiating between local prices, reasonable prices for a Westerner and ridiculously over-inflated tourist prices! We accept that it isOK to pay a little more than locals as we earn more, though I won’t get into the ethics of charging one human being more than another for the same item at the same time. However I am amazed at the greed that drives somebody to charge 6 or 7 times the price for a good or service – mind you I am more amazed by the lazy arrogance of tourists who are willing to pay anything because to them convenience trumps value every time. The effect on local economies of this kind of behaviour, over long terms, must be very divisive.

Our favourite example, and one that truly amuses Molly now, was a young Swedish lady sat behind us at breakfast in Patong - she wanted an egg with her continental breakfast so ignoring the pricing guide of the offered American breakfast (inclusive of all that the continental breakfast contained, totaling 117 Baht) she explained that she wanted one single egg with her continental breakfast and as it was extra, she would happily pay 100 Baht for it. The biggest laugh for Molly was finding that you could buy 10 eggs for 30 Baht.

Anyway, social comment aside, we loved Khao Lak way more than Patong and were surprised to find somewhere so special so early in our trip – we hope to go back and can see why people spend all year saving for that special 14 days of holidays each year to spend at somewhere like Khao Lak.

On the beach, checking out our old digs and leaving our land based ones.

We spent 4 days at Patong Beach in a great little guest house done in a Chinese – Thai style. Quiet, clean and for Patong it was reasonably priced (I can’t say cheap because that doesn’t seem to exist in Patong – Burger King is the same price as Australia!).

Wandering around Patong is a curious exercise and I started to wonder if a lot of the Thais in Patong are similar to Dolphins – always smiling but no-one knows for sure if they are really happy. Sure the Thai people we met in Patong seemed happy and genuine but some of the people we didn’t meet had that Dolphin like smile - the Thai people who were working in bars full of drunken Aussies and Brits, or providing foot massages to large bags of old, brown leather that used to be Danish businessmen and  Swedish hairdressers.

And as Molly says, haven’t any of these people heard of bras? There really are some people who are free and easy who could do with containing some of their excesses…..

As fun and easy as Patong was, we were glad to head North to investigate the beaches of the Khao Lak area.