Thai Food

Our budget for food and water was $12 per day in both Phuket and Bangkok. We found that most restaurants in Phuket (and there are lots!) served the same staple Thai food: fried riced, fried noodles, noodles in soup, and curry. Restaurants also offered many Western dishes to satisfy any cravings for cheese burgers, steaks, and even fish and chips. Although Thailand is well-known for their spicy dishes, most foods are served mild with the ability to add fiery hotness using chili peppers, oils, and sauces.

Just a few of the spicy add-ons to choose from

We got a little tired of the repetitive menus around and decided to splurge on our last night in Thailand. We dined very well at Sawasdee in downtown Bangkok. I had the green curry with beef that was served deliciously creamy and piping hot. It put all the other curries I had on the trip to shame.

Green curry with beef, potatoes, and vegetables

Below are some of our more memorable eats!

Pad thai wrapped in egg

Phuket style noodles with pork and vegetables

Homemade raspberry and vanilla ice cream with a chocolate chip and coconut cookie

Wandering around Bangkok

It has been very easy getting around with the SkyTrain in Bangkok. It is similar to Hong Kong's MTR system but with much fewer lines. The only difficulty in terms of traveling is getting to the older part of the city where taxis seem to be the sole option. It does not help when we see huge gridlock and repeatedly hear cautionary tales of taxi drivers ripping off tourists.

Average amount of traffic in downtown Bangkok

Nevil has been feeling on and off so we have been out of the sun and have stuck to air conditioned places, namely malls. Downtown Bangkok near the Siam station is a modernized hub of activity with skyscrapers, 7 story malls, brand names, and lots of traffic. Over the past 2 days, our tired feet have walked through MBK, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre, and Central World. Some were more shiny, others more crowded, but all were frigidly cold inside despite it being 30 degrees outside.

Skating rink inside Central World for 250 baht.
Nevil thought it would be funny to show off his mad Canadian skating skills but later decided the rink was too crowded. 

Mangroves

We took a canoe trip through a small fishing area of Phuket and into the mangroves. Fishermen sat on their floating rafts with very simple fishing rods while others set lobster and crab sets at the bottom of the water. The lush green trees with their long spidery roots were so thoroughly intertwined that large animals could roam on top. The water was serene and the quiet afternoon allowed us to spot several animals including blue kingfishers, crabs that lived in the mangroves and small schools of fish. 

Mangroves in bright sunlight

Crab on the trunk of a mangrove

Gibbon Rehabilitation Project

We hiked up to the largest waterfall in Phuket, the Bang Pae waterfall, which was full of families with children going for a swim. The base of the waterfall was no larger than 1.5 meters wide but plucky teenagers dived down from tremendous heights. There really was not much room for any dives fancier than a straight pencil dip.

Nearby is the tremendous Gibbon Project which is a rehabilitation initiative for gibbons that have been captured and sold as pets or dragged around for entertainment and money making purposes. Some people will go into the jungles for the sole purpose of capturing a baby gibbon which usually results in 4 or 5 killed gibbons for each captured baby. They are often drugged and dragged around to bars, beaches, and resorts in hopes that tourists will pay to take a photo with one. The volunteers at the Gibbon Project track down this illegal business and bring the gibbons back to this sanctuary in hopes of one day releasing them back into the wild. They try to match gibbons together so as to start families but gibbons mate for life and are understandably choosy. Successful gibbon families are released into the wild and monitored for 2 years where they are slowly weaned off depending on humans for food.

I think its an amazing initiative and for anyone who is interested, they are always looking for volunteers! The project is also run solely by donations and more info can be found at http://www.gibbonproject.org/

One of the coolest things...

So when Nevil was feeling better, we decided to celebrate... on top of an elephant! We did a mini jungle trek on the back of a Thai elephant. Although it is no doubt exhilarating to be riding a giant animal, it is also quite nerve wreaking when going downhill towards a muddy swamp holding nothing but string and wood tied to the elephant. A little bumpy, a little shaky, but a whole lot of fun. 

Fellow adventurers crossing a flooded area

Jungles of Phuket

We met a baby elephant a little later on who loved bananas. She was a very energetic two year old and gave me a kiss on the cheek!

Muah!

Baby elephant!

"What do you mean you think you're going to die?!?"

So Nevil had been feverish and sore for the last few days and we concluded it was malaria. It's too bad we didn't take any anti-malaria medication before our trip. So at 9:45 pm when the left side of his body went numb, we spazzed, freaked out a bit and went on a journey to find a hospital.


Unlike North America where you can call a taxi company to send a ride to pick you up, the best bet in Phuket is to wave one down on the streets. But it was absolutely hopeless trying to get a taxi at night in the city's club district. Eventually, the manager of the guesthouse offered to give us a ride to the Phuket International Hospital about 40 minutes away. While I would say our situation was an urgent one, seeing as malaria can be fatal, I do not think it was necessary to drive 130 km/h on residential roads ontop of not staying between the lines. Good grief, I thought I was going to die too that night.

Anyways after two hours, the blood test came back negative for malaria, dengue fever, and a bunch of other serious illnesses. While the doctor did not know what kind of virus it was, it was not fatal which was very good news indeed. We went home as very happy campers in a taxi that drove at equally frightening speeds.

In sum: Nevil won't be dying anytime soon! Hurraaah!

Life Around Phuket

Kata beach at low tide

Nevil *finally* shaving after Cambodia and did no longer needed "natural mosquito protection"

Baby elephant pulled into the street begging business

How gasoline is normally sold in Phuket

Just a normal day in Phuket