Finally... The Far East!

At last part of the Far East at a time. How much time dreaming and planning a trip to the remote and ancient land ... and how not to start from Thailand, the ancient Siam, a land that is still reminiscent of temples, beaches, thousands of years of history and the smile of his meavigliosa People ...
... and then here we are on the departure in March, last month in which the heat will give us the opportunity to turn a little for the country ...
As always departing from Barcelona, accompanied by my "half" ... my Yoli ... and a fun event in BANGKOK with two friends, already part of some of our trips ...

 

BANGKOK

The long journey passes through a film, a dormitina and a lot of programs that we hope to bring to an end ...
As soon as the plane just dropped out from the airport to be aware of where we are: a breath of warm air and moist, accompanied by smog overwhelms us and from that moment you start to sweat (it will end only the aircraft back. ..)
A long journey by taxi in the district of Fineschi Banglamphu, where to stay at Viengtai, beautiful, cheap and with a missed breakfast!
After a dormitina us to launch the chaotic streets of BANGKOK and now we are invaded by a sense of curiosity and joy ... the smells are intense and bright colors ...
Start the trading and rent for a few cents a typical tuk-tuk to take us around all day.
We begin with a number of fascinating temples, including Wat Arun from which you can 'aprofitti a beautiful view over the city, the Wat Pho with its famous reclining Buddha covered completely in gold, very long 46 meters high and 15 (l' air that you breathe inside of this temple, and truly impressive ...), and Wat Traimit where you can admire another Buddha more 'than 5 tons of gold ...
Visit our "cultural" ends with the area that includes the impressive Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Immersion in the magnificence of what was the residence of the emperors ... incredibly charming ...
At night, exhausted, we sit in one of the many restaurants on the street, and for a ridiculous price, eat their fill '...

DAMNOEN SADUAK FLOATING MARKET

Early in the morning we leave the market at a time "floating", so Chaim because here all exchanges and purchases are conducted between channels of water. Instead of finding the traditional stalls where present its goods trade, which varied from food to exotic souvenirs for tourists, carried out on the long, narrow wooden boats, like canoes ... (Unfortunately we must also say that the boats are now becoming real floating tourist shops ...)
Council strongly recommend going to this market, which is about h. 1:30 from BANGKOK, very early in the morning, when the hordes of bus tourists have not yet come ... and especially if you decide to go by taxi as we did, just to get the earliest possible time the contracted price.
Let us return to the chaotic capital in the afternoon and, although tired, we literally dived between the thousands of stalls to make us a little of both Thai famous shopping ... and now we realize that every purchase made here is a real bargain. .. literally buy everything (we will then account to cool well we should bring back all throughout the holiday ... but that smart ...)
... not to forget the meeting in a hotel with our dear friends Andrew and Benny and the wonderful hours of Thai massage for only 3 euros !!!... unbelievable ...

AYUTHAYA

Yoli poor. Although now we are accustomed, I recognize that the visit of an archaeological site with me can 'take dramatic connotations. Thank god we accompany our friends, so 'I can "vent" my desire to speak of history and ruins with Andrea and leave a little in pace Yolanda ...
To reach AYUTHAYA book a trip of a day in one of BANGKOK innumervoli agencies (including lunch, but do not expect great things, but ...), and after collecting a few people for all hotels in the city we are moving towards the north ...
Once in the old Siamese capital of the kingdom (from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century), first thing to go on a boat to navigate a large channel formed by the confluence of three rivers, and that encompasses the whole town ... relaxing and perfect for panoramic pictures ...
The visit of the ancient city deserves punishment, with a wealth of ancient temples now in ruins and with its fascinating history of resistance to the thousands of attacks, launched mainly from the nearby Burmese people ... resistance which Thais speak with pride ...
Noteworthy is also the ancient reclining Buddha, where we had the good fortune to meet a group of faithful to pray intent between intense smell of burning incense ...
... even the temples and the most modern market in the city make it that much more enjoyable ...
Let us return to the last time in BANGKOK ... nothing to say, we have already been kidnapped by both famous charm of Thailand ...

KO SAMUI e KO PHA-NGAN

Salutati Benny and Andrew, who riincontreremo after a few days in Krabi, we reach the airport and a flight to BANGKOK Airways (company reliable and economic) landed in KO SAMUI, the largest of three islands that form a small archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand .
It may sound stupid, but deserves to be mentioned Airport KO SAMUI. A collection of huts form what is undoubtedly the most beautiful airplane airport I have ever seen ...
Housed in a beautiful bungalow from the beach and here we decide to relax a couple of days ...
KO SAMUI is an island that certainly deserves a stop, but is certainly not the best we can 'offer thailand. Probably only a few years ago was a paradise, but McDonald's, Burger Kings and pizza, it seems to be more in Rimini that orienting Asia. Unfortunately, even the largest of the beaches was not up to our expectations ... the only positive note of all this' is the ability to make good purchases, but it does not pay ...
Even if invaded by a multitude of backpackers, it's definitely more intimate and welcoming the close (about 1 hour by boat) island of KO PHA-NGAN, to which we devote an entire day, relax between sea and sleep on the beach of fine white sand ...
The fourth day we take a long journey between the boat and bus to reach Krabi, where we meet with our friends ...

KO PHI PHI ISLANDS

After the umpteenth time we reach the ferry fialmente the island of Phi Phi ... expect to find in the small port of our friends Benny and Andrew with surprise and even Ilaria, another friend, colleague, and her inveterate traveler ...
The island we love from the moment the foot resting on the ground.
Ko Phi Phi is an island incantevole, touristically active but, given the modest size, is not overloaded and thus ruined, for example, Samui ...
Housed in one of the bungalows on the island that the center offers, and drop your bags, we immediately launch a "collect" a bit of sunlight ...
We dedicate one day, as well as to relax, to discover the narrow stadine that form the center of us agree on a boat trip for the next day ... it's not difficult to find one from the main beach Ao Lo Dalam ...
The tour of the boat should not be missed, we have to visit lots of beautiful white sand Piagge and cristalina water, and then snorkling is an emotion you can not miss ...
Finally, we devote a day to visit the nearby island of Phi Phi Leh, famous for having the background to the filming of the movie "The Beach" ... the island you can visit, but it is a protected park you can not stay, but the beaches and the water here undoubtedly remember what for us is the ideal of paradise ...
Worthy of note is the nightlife in Phi Phi. After a good dinner on the seashore, you can find a lot of BARETTINI on the beach to spend the night and have fun ...