Colorful & lively Bangkok

Spending few days in Bangkok has been like entering an aquarium: from the quiet & relax island life, I was suddenly immersed (again) into a big city life, with thousands of persons walking around, selling all kind of stuff, crying, shouting, begging money, horning from their car, taxi or tuk-tuks... in a word: messy. But in 2 other words: colorful & lively, which are those I will remember :-)

After an afternoon of travel from Ko Phangan, I reach my Bangkok hotel around 8pm, then quickly move to join Emma and some acquaintances to Khao San road, and later to see an infamous "ping-pong" show... Well, I knew i wouldn't like it, and I can confirm. More than the shows themselves which could be fun (I said "could"! ;), I hate the context and system it contributes / supports: mafia, sexual traffic, woman abuse, etc... Well, it was very touristy though, and some performances are impressive, but still, this will happen only once!

The day after, first views of the city come from a boat-bus ride on the Chao Phraya river which crosses Bangkok North to South. Perfect glimpses of the various aspects: skyscrapers, temples, food shacks and ruined buildings.

Wat Arun

Local meat balls of whatever... I ate them, not too bad ;)

The 1st real temple seen is Wat Intharawihan, a bit unknown, but it has its own charm. And a tall buddha! ;-)

Wat Intharawihan buddha

Monk praying

After this, I reach the more touristy Marble temple, which is indeed nicer. Located in a quiet and nicely done garden, it feels a bit isolated from the city mess and provide calm... enjoyable in the 45°C heat! I appreciate to see the temple is really used by monks - a buddhist school looks to be on-site-, and to see them doing their prayers / meditations. Interesting to see this different religion practices.  

Marble temple

Monks praying at Marble tempe

3rd temple... yes, busy day! The famous Wat Pho, where the reclining buddha stands. Very colorful buildings, columns, sculptures, temples buildings, roofs... despite the end of the day light and clouds, it was still very nice to see.

The white, lucky belly, buddha

A view within Wat Pho temple

A view within Wat Pho temple 

THE reclining -& huge- buddha

 The 2nd full day is dedicated to a 20km bike-tour of Bangkok... I find it is always great to discover cities like this, you see so much quickly, but still in a close-way, I love it. We are just 5 to follow a local-guide, this is perfect (except the 45°C...).


Quite easy to take pics while biking... so I did many. Cannot comment all and tell all the various areas crossed, but it was really good to ride through streets you would never ever enter if you are just a tourist, and see how Thais are living, working and socializing. Just seeing quickly of course, but better than not.

During the tour, we take some good time to visit the other famous temple of Wat Arun, with its high center "prang" / spire. Decorations on it and all others prongs or buildings around are very nice and well-done. 

Me at the top of Wat Arun, with Grand Palace behind

a Wat Arun sculture

Luck luck luck!?

 The crazy footbag soccer play which happens all around Thailand... could catch quite an impressive game while crossing the city, impressive to see them play and do acrobatic freestyle jumps to shot this tiny ball!

A footbag game... better be agile!

Overal, I liked Bangkok. It is a true city, with a real soul, a deep culture and habits, with a lot of interesting things to see. It is messy and dirty in some way, but not so bad at the end of the day, you quickly get used to it. Living there would be probably fun for few months then difficult, but I would be happy to come back.

yeah ;)

Ko Phangan beach & partying

So, after 2 days of intense diving, time to relax :-)
I set-up in a nicer hotel, on the Haad Rin beach, where the Full Moon Parties are happening, and where most of the nightlife is during low-season.

Surprisingly, the beach is really nice! At least before the FMP, from what the locals say.

Taxi &/or fishing boats on Haad Rin beach

The hotel is also really good, directly on the beach with a large pool and nice chalets, it does provide a good improvement from the previous backpackers hostel or the impersonal & cold Dubai hotel :-). Stay there if you come here! (it's Palita lodge, not even expensive)

Most of all, staying 4 nights (four nights!!!) in the same room & bed is the biggest luxury I could dream of!



So, while enjoying the white-sand beach and green bay around, we rent a scooter with Emma & friends to tour the island. While the Chinese temple in the middle wasn't as nice & big as expected, it still provided good photo shots... and an unexpected "15mn meditation" under the guidance of a Russian buddhist-monk living there... interesting! Got a red & white wrist bracelet to "attract luck", not sure it works, but so far I keep it. It just turned pink & white, but ok, fine.

Part of the Chinese temple

Meditation time!
(the unseen part: it is probably 45°C in that room...)

Another day, I also try jet-ski... I (and surprisingly you would tell me) had never tried it! Not a big fan of motorized sports in general, but ok, it was fun for 30mn ;)

Haad Rin beach at night

Haad Rin beach at night... pretty quiet at this time of the month, it is crazy to imagine there are 30,000 night-clubbers on this small pan of sand during the FMP!!

We still have good fun & party at Cactus and around, everything is easy here.

The French & Dutch party crew ;)

Cactus bar... infamous?

A random foam party!

No FMP during the dates I am staying, but still can do a 1/2 moon party, which takes place in the jungle. Quite good, really, the area is nicely prepared and even if there is "only" 4-5 thousands persons, the party is definitely fun, with great, non-commercial house music.

A very colored party :-)

Leaving the island on Monday was a bit sad... I could have stayed a bit longer, i was really feeling well here! But ok, I guess Bangkok deserves few days, so let's keep moving :)

Sunset from sunset beach

Ko Phangan diving & whale sharks :)

The arrival in Thailand was nice: warm & humid weather, easy to do anything and to communicate with people.The heaven of backpackers & tourists for years does indeed facilitate everything you are trying to do, and is –still- damn cheap, even compared to Africa.
The “world-tour feeling" also started to grow bigger, as Thailand is the 7th country in a row, and I am entering a 3rd cultural area (putting all Southern Africa in the same pot, not sure it's right).

View from the plane of Haad Rin, 

South East peninsula of Ko Phangan, 

where the Full Moon parties are hold

From Bangkok, I flew directly to Ko Phangan, small island South of the Gulf of Thailand, famous for the Full Moon parties organized there since the end 80s. The place is also in the middle of great diving sites, so I organize 2 days of diving to become a certified divers.

Sail Rock diving site

The island has a very laid-back and relax atmosphere, while at the same time all the infrastructure to party, it sounds great ☺. 1st night starts well, meeting with my dive instructor and his friends to drink few beers on the beach.



The 1st diving day is great. So good to be back under water, and see all those fishes and corals. We dive on “Sail Rock”, one of the best diving site of the Gulf, and I can only comment it is very good.

1st dive jump

Note: the weather and water are so warm, it is crazy. 30°C at night feeling like 35, and 37-40°C during the day feeling with 45… you sweat a lot the 1st days!!
The sea is actually barely refreshing, and we can dive without wetsuit… the average water temperature between 20 and 0m is 30°C!!! Probably 32-33 at the surface, 27-28 at the bottom. I think the sea on the beach shores was around 35+ degrees, you need to go to the pool behind the beaches to refresh a bit during the day. And clearly, I never used hot water for any shower!
The 3rd dive of Day 1, i got to do the "Fish identification" course for the Advanced diving certification, and had to draw fishes that I was seeing under water... Quite fun to do, though clearly I can improve ;)
















Of course, from the boat cruise there is quite some good views on the island... cannot avoid to put few pics of those nice Thailand island forest ending onto white-sand beach shores then to a turquoise sea...

Yeah.... that's for my mom' ;))

2nd of diving day is… completely awesome. The Sail Rock diving site is known to have whale sharks from time to time… but it is quite rare. That day, we have been blessed. From the start, not even ready with the diving gear, we got a “small” 2.5m baby shark coming around the boat, and I quickly snorkeled around him. I actually jumped from the boat in front of him and got face to face at few meters… impressive!

A whale shark passing by the boat

Then during the 2 dives we did, we saw another 2-3 sharks… didn’t realize their size while in the water, but actually they were huge when looking at the videos afterwards. 4m for one, and probably 7-8m for another…

Check the size of the shark vs. the boat
and people on it...

Outstanding feelings when swimming with them in the water. They are gracefully moving their tail and body on a steady pace, while few fishes stick below them… Fantastic show to enjoy for 1-2mn. I guess the best is to share the compiled movie I edited! ☺

After all those great time and feelings, time for some beers on the beach with Luke (my instructor), as well as some Q&A to get the Advanced certification... easy :-)

Sunset from the Diving center beach

Oh! On the island I also meet up with Emma, friend from Geneva and previous neighbor... that is cool! We are checking the nightlife on the famous Haad Rin beach, but stay reasonable given I have to dive, we'll keep more for the 2nd part of the week!