Backpacking in Thailand

I took the cheap (less than 50$ and less than an hour) AIRASIA flight from Phonm Pehn and headed to Bangkok . The cheapest way though not the easiest is to take the bus/boat across the border. Since, i heard couple of incidents about the long and tough bone crunching trips across the border and the corruption involved about getting the Visa ,I decided to avoid it !!

I reached Bangkok in the morning and got my Visa on Arrival (1000 Bhat) . Indians and some other countries only get a 15day Visa ,for a longer stay, its best to get one before leaving your country else one can always take the pain of renewing it in once inside the country.

I had decided before heading out for this trip that i would only be using the local modes of transports-bus/train/tuktuk/rickshaws and no taxis or flights and thats what i did for the rest of 2 weeks.

I hopped into the free bus #1 from the Airport to the Bus Station near the Airport. Asked around a bit and hopped into another bus. Once on the bus, I tried to purchase a ticket to the Train Station but somehow the conductor and people around weren't able to comprehend the word 'Train'. I decided to get off somewhere and maybe get onto another bus, however things worked out as a person(turned out to be a lawyer) figured there was a bit of confusion around and came by with his sparse knowledge of English and helped out. He was really helpful and wrote down all the English equivalents for 'Train' ->'ROTFAI' and others like 'BUS' 'AIRPORT' etc. The traffic at Bangkok needs to be experienced and I was stuck on the road for almost 2hrs after arrival and couldn't reach the Thonburi train station in time for the train to Kwai , had to swap my plans from heading to ROTFAI and headed to 'STANI KHONSONGH'->Bus stop.

Thailand has a great road network and there are loads of bus services (both local and outstation) specially from the backpacker areas, however, I decided to trust the Govt. buses and headed to the govt. bus terminals. Later i figured the Govt. buses are the cheapest whereas the private ones leave from convenient spots but charge more than double the fare.

Bangkok has two train stations:
- the main one is Hulampong and the other Thonburi.
The Main Bus stops are :

-EASTERN (EKAMAI) BUS TERMINAL :This connects Pataya,Rayong,Chanthanburi,Trat (main land departure for Ko Samet and Ko Chang) etc. -NORTHERN and NORTHEASTERN BUS TERMINAL(Moh Chit) :This connects Chiang Mai,Khorat,Ayuthaya etc. -SOUTHERN BUS TERMINAL(Thonburi) :This connects Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin, Surat Thani, Phuket, Hat Yai etc. Its also very easy to travel by bus or sky train or MRT within the city.

Kanchanaburi/Kwai
Reaching Kanch:There are two daily trains that connect Kwai/Kanchanaburi from Bangkok , however the most frequent way is to take the bus.
The A/C bus that I took from the Thonburi bus station costed me 99 Bhat only and i was in Kanch in 2-2.5 hrs approx.

I got down at the main bus station and since it was raining took a rickshaw to the 'Blue Star GH' , recommended by a friend. The place is on the river, nice little huts and got myself a non A/C one for just 180 Bhat a day.

Kanchanaburi turned out to be a nice little laid back town and was a good way to begin my trip after a bit of a hectic trip across Cambodia .

I spent couple of lazy days here- reading books, getting lost listening to music and meeting loads of travelers. I also visited the museum, strolled across 'bridge on the kwai', the cemetery and took a round trip on the death rail. I also had some yummy street food meals for 20 bhats only.

I also met UTH, a thai who has been traveling for 15 years around the world, loads of Europeans-students, people off work and also an English Lady working with the Karen Hill tribes nearby along with a UN sponsored NGO. We spoke about the plight of these hill tribes who are mainly refugees from Burma and are basically illegal immigrants. They can't take up legal jobs in Thailand and they don't want to go back to Burma either. They are mostly illiterate and they are trying to survive mainly on aid and local subsistence farming in the forests. I also really liked the discussion we had about the issues of Women in general especially in developing countries and around the world.

I moved on to Chiang Mai from Kanchanaburi.

Chiang Mai/Chiang DAO
Reaching Chiang Mai(CM):
One can reach CM, either by flying from Bangkok in any one of the cheap airlines (should take around an hour only!!) or take the bus/train from Bangkok.

From Kanch :take the bus from Kanchanaburi -Suphanburi -Ayutthaya and then the train from Ayuthhaya -CM.
or
take the bus from Kanachanaburi- Bangkok and then train/flight to CM . This is a shorter way !!

I took the shorter route. Luckily, since this is an off -peak season , I was able to get the train tickets to CM for the same evening. The trains in Thailand are clean, safe with security in each compartment and also cheap.The train saves you money on staying over at a Guest House and you also get a good nights sleep unlike a bus ride.

The train left at 6pm and I was at CM , early next morning . On the train, I met a Syrian Lady who teaches at the international school there and she provided me loads of useful info. about CM. As we got talking talking about her country and how tradition or patriarchal the society was, I found loads of things common between the issues women face in Syria and India even in the current so called modern age. Both of us took the Sangthew from the station and I got down near the Tha Phae Gate, end of the Moat. I looked around for the Daret GH, suggested by another traveler I had met at Kanch and checked in. Great clean rooms for 140 Bhat only !!

CM is in the Northern part of Thailand and is also the 2nd largest town in Thailand after Bangkok but such a change from the chaos of BKK. The traffic here is far less, there are lots of cyclists no traffic snarls and since its at an altitude hence a lot cooler than the usual unforgiving Thai heat during summer. It also bounded by moats, a wall built across the town, about 700 years ago to prevent Burmese Invaders.

As I walked around i found tons of second hand bookshops, local handicraft shops, and Wats , though some parts of it is a little touristy with only Guest Houses, internet cafes.
CM is a stopover for the adventure seekers who head out for trekking, mountain biking, rafting etc. I signed up for a day's trek to Chiang Dao(CD) and the visit to the hill tribes. I headed out to the beautiful surroundings of CD early next morning.

I spent couple of days here at CM and CD and also got myself some tintin tees from the night market. I wanted to go all the way to Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son but time was running out since i wanted to visit one of the beaches and decided against it.

I then headed for my next short pitstop !

Ayuthaya
Reaching Ayuthaya:
From BKK : There are regular bus services or one could take the train from Hulampong Station.

I also wanted to at least visit one of the lovely Andaman beaches of Thailand before heading back home and had couple of places in mind but finally decide on Krabi after speaking to couple of travellers. I had a day's time to wander around before that and so I took the night train from CM and reached Ayuthaya early next morning and spent the day visiting the ancient temples at the UNESCO world heritage.Wandering around these ancient ruins makes one wonder how advanced the Asian countries were with regard to architecture ,engineering,sciences etc. centuries ago.


Krabi/Phi Phi:
Reaching Krabi:
From BKK you could fly into Krabi or take the bus or train.

My route:night train from Hulampong Station to Surat Thani->A/C Govt bus from Surat Thani to Talat Kao Bus station , Krabi (around 4hrs ride)->Sangthew to Krabi town

I decided to give myself a bit of treat and checked into the "City Hotel" in Krabi town, nice big rooms with a TV for only 300 bhat. First TV viewing on my trip and guess what I see when i turn it on, surprise of surpise.. French Open men's final, watched a great hard fought match between Nadal and Federer.

This southern part of Thailand was devastated in the recent Dec 2006, Tsunami. I didn't see any of the destruction from what i was reading there since its been totally cleaned up and everything built over again.

One could take the boat connections to the various islands around this place from Krabi.

I went to Phi-Phi , one way Express Boat(1.5hrs) costs 350Bhat. Here you find spectacular clear bay, limestone beaches ,sheer cliffs. One can go rock climbing, scuba diving, snorkeling. Loads of fun stuff to do here.

I also ventured out by taking a Sangthew from Krabi into the lovely beaches of Ao Nang and Fossil Shell Beach another day.

With my vacation almost coming to an end i headed back to BKK and spent my last 2 days there just relaxing and walking around near the GH.I also walked over to the world famous backpacker zone of Khao San which was about 10mins walk from my GH. I skipped the usual visit to wat pho,wat arun,grand palace since i had seen it a decade back in a month's trip to BKK. I also skipped the famous patpong strip and other touristy locations.


Pics from my trip:

Kanchanaburi
Bangkok
Chiang Mai/Chiang Dao
Ayuthaya
Krabi/Phi Phi

Useful Links:
Thailand Railways
Travelfish
Kanchanaburi
Ayuthaya