A Small Taste of Siam

I'm going to zip through this last part of the journey, given that it's been 3 months since it happened, and I can't for the life of me get motivated to write a long and involved blog entry whilst I'm busy doing absolutely nothing here in Australia. Here goes anyway...

After leaving behind the experience that was Cambodia, we found ourselves in a pimped-out modern minibus, cruising down a 4-lane paved highway which could easily have been anywhere in the Western World. It was quite a strange feeling, and for me, it almost felt like the end of the trip right then and there. No more negotiations of treacherous dirt roads on a 2-stroke motorcycle, with truck bearing down on you coming the other way, and a full-size bus itching to get passed on your tail. Oh how I will miss it.

I can't really say I was looking forward to Thailand as a whole to be honest. To me, it seemed like a richer, more modern, more tourist infested version of the countries we'd just visited. I'd gotten used to quieter side of life, where people treated you like a person of interest (mostly), as oppose to a walking wallet.

One aspect of Thailand made it all worth while though, and for this alone I could live here forever.

Thai food has a reputation, and a good one at that. Having experienced the best of Indian, Chinese & Vietnamese in the previous months though, I wasn't all that excited about it. That is, until I we made our first stop in Thailand, at a petrol station with some food stalls close by.

It was hard to believe, but what I ate then and there was up there in the top 3 meals of the entire trip thus far, and it was only my first meal of many in Thailand. I did however hold over my enthusiasm for the coming week and a half of meals, as the fact was that I was hungry after a long bus journey, and Cambodian food wasn't all that great in comparison to anything.

I soon discovered though why Thai food has the reputation that it does. The culinary delights I experienced in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, mostly in the off the beaten track restaurants, were simply delicious, and still relatively cheap.

So to Bangkok then. What to say about this great city. Overflowing (with tourists and residents alike) is probably the first word which comes to mind. In all honesty though, I probably didn't give Bangkok a fair go. Having come from Cambodia, I had grown used to the rural settings and a lack of any hustle and bustle associated with big cities. In the back of my mind, I sort of resented big cities packed to the brim with tourists. We really didn't make much of an effort to see the sights in Bangkok. We spent the majority of our days exploring the many restaurants on offer, and getting foot massages whilst watching the world go by. Bliss.

We took what was our final overnight train to Chiang Mai, a city full of tourist offices, second hand book shops, markets and resident ex-pats. A great place to chill out and live the good life.

No trip to Chiang Mai would be complete without a visit to one of the dozens of Elephant refuges dotted around the surrounding countryside. In short, it was a blast! The highlight of the day was at the very end, when we had the opportunity to wash our elephant with nothing more than a small scrubbing brush. We did this in a pool of water whilst still on the animals back, and occasionally we'd have to watch out for floating... ummm... bits of waste... that usually don't float. Understand that these were no normal "bits of waste" - they were the size basketballs! All fun and games though.

Did I mention anything about Thai food? No? Brilliant. Incidentally, Thai food in Europe and Australia is decent, but nothing compared to what you find in a small local restaurant in Thailand itself. I still dream about some of the dishes I had to this day.

By the end of our stay in Chiang Mai, we were well and truly ready for Australia, and a more Western flavour of hospitality. (For me, it meant one thing - going to a beach with decent waves. Couldn't wait!)

And so it ended. A small taste of Thailand, a country we'll undoubtedly return to one day, if for nothing by the cuisine!