Having spent a few days in Bangkok on a previous trip (which is quite enough), we immediately made for the Andaman coast to enjoy a skosh of Thailand’s shoreline splendor.
The gorgeous peninsula of Krabi was our first and most enjoyable destination. We ultimately spent 10 days here - a few more than we had planned - compliments of airport-closing protests in Bangkok (more on this below…). We spent our time snorkeling, kayaking and relaxing on beautiful white-sand beaches among the vast and encompassing Karsts (big, cool rock formations) for which the Thailand coastline is famous. Turkey had beaches, but not like this…
We also took a short trip to visit the gorgeous, albeit overrun, islands of Ko Phi Phi. Made all too popular by the film “The Beach”, the splendor of the stunning bays & inlets around these islands was enough to overlook the myriad of passenger-toting speed boats and chock-a-block souvenir shops.
And now for the rest of the story… A few days into our stay, the Bangkok airport, from which we were scheduled to depart, was seized by a coalition of protestors rallying against the former Prime Minister of Thailand. The airport ultimately remained closed for 10 days (though, at the time, we had no idea when it might reopen). While we were comfortable with a few extra days in ‘paradise’, we were also eager to honor commitments on the next leg of our trip. Our scheduled departure date came and went, and so began the arduous process of negotiating our escape with our airline.
Two days of quarrelling and concession (the latter solely on our part) with the uncooperative and indifferent representatives of American Airlines laid burden on our last few days in Thailand. Ultimately, we were forced to abandon two legs of our scheduled itinerary (forgoing a much-desired visit to Hong Kong) and to purchase new flights leaving from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - only 800 short overland kilometers away from our location in Thailand.
During the next 36 hours, we joined our traveling brethren in a mass exodus of Thailand, by whatever means necessary. Between a boat, a few busses and hours of huddling in tiny bus stations to take shelter from torrential rain, the zenith of our journey was undoubtedly a ride in the back of an open pick-up with 14 other passengers (yes, 16 total, with luggage – in a pick-up…) to traverse flooded roads on which our bus could not pass. We found our way into Malaysia just in time for our departing flight.
In the end, Thailand’s political woes made for an interesting experience, if not a good story, and its' reputation as a seaside playground is well deserved. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves here.
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| Link to Thailand Photos |
1 comment:
Oh my gosh you guys... the stories you will have. When you return, people will ask "so how was your trip"? And you won't even have an answer to begin with. We are so excited for your return! And... I love Thailand. But my stories are a spec on a clover compared to yours. ;)
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