Thailand & Laos Honeymoon: 9th August – 30th August 2009

After our wedding day (see previous blog entry), Heather and I spent three weeks in Thailand and Laos for our honeymoon, hoping for a healthy mix of relaxation and adventure. To start with, we flew to Phuket and stayed for 5 days at a private beach resort away from the main tourist mayhem. We had our own private outdoor jacuzzi, delicious room service meals, shared gym, pool, lovely views over the water, and were treated to amazing complementary buffet breakfasts every day. We’d originally planned to spend the full 5 days chillaxing about in the resort, but once we discovered the scooter hire place across the road, the lure of adventure became too strong.

We soon ended up at chaotic Patong Beach, replete with its sea of banana lounges and myriad of sellers of every description. Heather had her hair braided very swiftly and cheaply there, but we were soon exploring elsewhere. While it’s an experience we’re glad to have tried once, we were happy not to repeat it… The following evening we stumbled upon another intriguing once-only experience: ‘Fantasea’. This cheesy extravaganza boasted light shows, music, dancing, singing, animal shows, fireworks, etc, etc, etc. The show itself was preceded by a buffet meal in its 4000-seat food hall… Every associated attraction was over-the-top and tacky, but mostly quite amusing and entertaining. It was sad to see two amazingly powerful (and rare) white tigers being kept in a lifeless and tiny enclosure. The performing elephants were impressive; hopefully they were treated a little better than some of the other animals we saw there.

We also booked a boat and sea kayaking tour to the limestone islands east of Phuket. Even though this was meant to be the quiet season, it still felt as though we were in a factory-line procession of tour groups. We were ushered here and there, waiting in line, observing boat after boat being led through the same caves and past the same cliffs. The scenery was pretty amazing, though the experience was tempered by the ‘lemming effect’.

After Phuket, we made our way north towards Chiang Mai via Bangkok by bus and sleeper train. We spent a few hours exploring Bangkok on foot. Then… assured of an amazing tuk-tuk deal, we agreed to jump in and explore the major attractions for 10 baht (AUD$0.40) each. While it started well, we soon began to realise that we were being directed towards suit makers and jewellery stores rather than tourist attractions. Our tuk-tuk driver ‘Nong’ became irritated at our lack of interest in these shopper’s delights. It turns out that they’d be given petrol vouchers if we spent enough time inside one of these accredited stores. However, we weren’t playing along! So, by the time we reached the next Buddhist temple, he dropped us off, picked up some other passengers and we never saw him again… We felt like we’d been ripped off! When we thought about it for a moment though, it actually worked out well for us – we explored more of Bangkok than we could ever have managed on foot… for free.

After our second sleeper train, we arrived in Chiang Mai to a pristine guesthouse and ultra-friendly owner and his wife… The highlights here were scootering, night marketing and elephant riding. We scootered up the nearby mountains to an elaborate Buddhist temple and the Royal residence and gardens, but got a flat tyre on the way up! One of the guys wanted to charge us an extravagant amount to call for help, but we didn’t have enough cash on us. Just when we thought we were really stuck, a much more helpful man called the guesthouse owner for us and they arranged a replacement bike. We were on our way again in an hour.

That night, we explored row after row of market stalls selling a massive range of crafts, clothes and food. It was quite a draining process by the end of it, but we managed to return with our arms full and only AUD$35 lighter in the pocket.

The following day, we joined some local mahouts (elephant trainers) for some bareback elephant riding. We were trained in the six main commands, fed the elephants to develop rapport with them, and then began our practical training. Heather and I were then assigned to our elephant for our trail riding: a slow plodder! We took turns at being the driver (sitting on the neck behind the ears) or the passenger (sitting on the back). These incredibly powerful animals were quite tricky to get moving, and while it wasn’t so much an exhilarating experience, they certainly commanded respect. The highlight for us was washing the elephants, who relished the chance to cool down at the end of their walk.

Our next adventure was the Gibbon Experience, located in the Bokeo Nature Reserve in the rainforests of north-eastern Laos. From the Laotian border, it was a 1.5hour drive, followed by a short boat trip, 1-hour walk, half-hour off-road adventure and another 40-minute walk to reach the zip-line network. We were given our harnesses, a few instructions and some directions before launching ourselves onto these canopy lifelines. It was immensely freeing to be flying along these steel wires way above pristine forest and deep ravines. We were given a lot of latitude to test out these different routes for ourselves – unlike the highly safety-conscious Western tourist operators. We stayed two nights in different treehouses, only accessible by zip-line. They were surprisingly luxurious, with mattresses, mosquito nets, showers, sinks and squat toilets (holes)! Food was provided by the local guides, who also took us on early morning walks to search for gibbons. The mornings began in beautiful cool mist. The stillness was disturbed on our first morning walk by the highly energetic and varied gibbon calls. We followed the sound through the dense forest, and fortunately Heather managed to get a brief glimpse of a quickly retreating gibbon. Surprisingly enough, there were very few other wildlife sightings on the trip, besides a bright green snake, a bounding lorus, a wide variety of butterflies and various oversized insects. The experience itself was wonderful, and for the nine of us in our group, it’ll be memorable for its beauty, excitement and speedy trekking.

Rather than opting for either the excruciatingly long slow boat trip down the Mekong River or the prohibitively dangerous fast boat, we flew by plane to the more densely populated parts of Laos. The five days we spent in the French-influenced town of Luang Prabang were some of the most relaxed and pleasant of our trip. We stayed in beautifully designed wooden bungalows beside the river and treated ourselves to French wine, cheese, baguettes and rambutans. How luxurious… We also embarked on some adventures, including mountain-biking to the milky waters of the Tad Sae Waterfalls, kayaking down the Mekong River to Pak Ou Buddhist caves, and climbing up to the top of Phousi hill in the centre of town. We had some amazing meals and also enjoyed the night markets, which were much smaller than Chiang Mai but probably better quality on average. This was definitely a place worth spending some time in.

On the way down towards Thailand, we decided to stop at the small tourist town of Vang Vieng, on the southern end of the mountainous northern region. Set in a beautiful riverside location and fronting onto striking limestone cliffs, this a popular stopping-off point for tourists between Luang Prabang and the capital, Vientiane. A favourite past-time for tourists is floating down the river on inflatable tubes, stopping off at various riverside bars for drinks, revelry and water swings. We opted instead for a kayaking trip that also included tubing through a partially water-filled cave. It turned out to be such a great option, given that we were also able to experience the riverside bars and water swings without being swamped by the teaming tourist hordes.

Our honeymoon finished with a long trip down to Phuket Airport, broken only by a short rendezvous in Bangkok again for a Thai cooking course. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we were impressed with how well tourists are catered for: efficient transport, delicious meals, varied accommodation, and great value for money. We particularly enjoyed the mountainous northern regions of Thailand and Laos.

Given the excitement of the wedding, honeymoon and Heather’s sister’s wedding in Canberra soon after, it’s been tough to readjust to life back in Samoa. However, now that we’ve set up the house and are settled back at work, we’re starting to get back into more usual routines. Hopefully we’ll set-up some healthy patterns as Heather, Isabel and I begin life as a little family.