Thailand

 

 

Time to start living...

 

 

This picture is taken right after we met Sindre and Amara in Bangkok. And look at the beautiful view from our hotelroom in the background.
The next morning Amara's brother drove us to Pattaya. Ha had a pick-up truck. On this picture Robert is pointing his finger on something.
Since we had a little too much to drink our first night in Bangkok, we were not as good shape as we could. But Sindre bought us some KFC food and we felt a bit better.
Me with a stupid grin om my face. Bangkok was very hot and people everywhere.
As you see, most cars in Thailand are better than in Norway. And please notice the wiring just under the bridge. This was a good wiring.
Robert taking a sip of his Coke.
And my good friend Sindre always gets happy whenever food is served. Here he enjoys his Kentucky fried chicken while displaying a kind of stupid grin.
Robert while he tries to sleep on the back of the pick-up in 140 km/h.
Sindre while trying to sleep. Don't look too happy though..
Another picture of the road. There's a lot of pick-up trucks in Thailand because you are allowed to have passengers on the truck body.
The beautiful view just outside my hotelroom in Pattaya. We stayed at a nice hotell wich only cost 250 NOK a day.
We had rooms on the top floor. Here is the view to the north. The beach was named Jomtien and was a little south of Pattaya center.
And here is the view to the south. As you can see, lots of palmtrees and a long beach.
Thai people are usually a bit shorter than europeans like me. Showers where always to short and non-adjustable so I had to bow down to get my hair under the shower.
Here we are at the hotels pool-bar. We stayed here most of our second day in Pattaya.
This is a very funny picture of Robert. "Pom poj" means fat or "big stumick" in Thai. Say no more Robert, say no more...
Drinking Pina Colada from a coconut in the pool bar. No, Sindre is no wearing a t-shirt.
Sindre and Amara at the same bar.
Sindre and Robert shows us some silly faces again.
When Sindre and Amara went home to Khonkhaen, we went to the island of Koh Samet. A lovely island just an hour by car and an hour by boat from Pattaya. Here we rented motorbikes. Here is a picture of some buddhist worship monument.
By a lovely beach. This was the same place we came back too when we wanted to party in the evening.
I can almost smell the sea and hear the waves again when I see this picture.
They didn't have helmets for the motorbikes so my hair looks kind of stupid on this picture. God damn, I need a haircut. I haven't been to a hair dresser yet...
This is in the very north end of the island. This was the end of the road.
Thai fishing boats anchored up.
More thai fishing boats.
This harbour was full of boats. A beautiful place.
And this beach was beautiful as well. It belonged to the resort at the very north end of the island.
At the same beach with some fishing boats in the background.
The beach at the resort. Didn't seem to be a lot of people there although it looked like a very nice place.
Some little animal has crawled in to the sand on this beach. I didn't put my hand inside to see what kind of animal it was.
Robert looking at the map to find out where we should go next. The name of the resort in the back.
The road back from the resort. From the sea the island looked almost unpopulated, but there were lots of people living under the palmtrees.
Some places where very nice, and some places where a bit dirty. On this picture you see some funny looking birds. Looked almost like chickens, but I dont think it was.
It was kind of strange to drive on the left side of the road. I don't think I would have tried to drive a motorbike in Bangkok, but this island didn't have much traffic.
Some places there was houses standing on poles in the sea. What a funny way to live.
This is actually a restaurant, but I didn't know it when the picture was taken. It was also a fish-farm where they had sharks and other funny fishes. We came back to this place by boat later.
Some more houses standing in the sea.
Near the center of Koh Samet city.
Always funny when a car came driving by. Traffic had to pull a side and let the truck trough as roads where too narrow most places.
A genuine thaiboxing-ring. Wouldn't want to meet the island champion in that thing.
Pepsi had made it's way to this island as well. I don't what they call it in thai, but you can rekognize the logo.
Robert on his bike by some bungalows.
Me with stupid hair again. I don't remember quite where this beach was.
Some trees by the beach.
Riding motorbikes trough the jungle. The roads was very poor here.
On the south tip of the island, the roads become so bad that we turned around. I wonder what we could have missed...
Wouldn't want to go in to this jungle hole... Looked like it had some kind of a warning sign.
Here we are snorkling from a boat we rented for a day.
Exploring some rocks and funny fish at the bottom.
Planning where to dive next.
Smiling for the camera as I take of my flippers.
Robert with something funny on his head.
Robert looking for a good place to go next. The sight in the water was not too good so our skipper took us the sea-farm with the restaurant.
Blue skies ahead. The skipper also had his son with him. He was more than helpful with everything.
It was a speedboat so we could go from place to place in no time. We had the whole boat all for our selves.
Approuching the harbour again. This time from the sea.
At the fish-farm they had "white-tip reef sharks", but I don't think this was them. But they where the biggest.
Some other fishes. Don't know they're names.
Some other fishes that went crazy when we feed them.
They looked a bit like small sharks, but behaved more like fish.
Some more sharks and turtles.
Robert feeding fish.
Feeding huge sea bass.
This shark gave me a no good look. I think it was hungry.
A big turtle.
At the restaurant there where holes in the floor with glass table over it. A very different way to enjoy your food.
And the ones who worked there, also lived there. Her is one of them taking our orders.
Robert while coming out of the bath-room. I don't know what he's smile is all about.
The skipper and his son fishing by the table. We gave him a beer and his son a coke.
The skipper's son catched a fish by the table. Don't ask me if he ever ate it.
Funny feeling with open air under your feet while you eat.
And if you lost some food, the fishes where more than happy. They're favorite was rice.
Robert enjoying an early morning Pina Colada at the beach
This was a beautiful day, and during the night a fishing boat had anchored up in the bay outside our beach.
Tubes for rent. Not to crowded on this beach. Just a wonderful place to be.
The same beach from another angle. As you see there wasn't many other people there.
This little native kid came over to our table.
Stunning scenary. We also rented the jet-ski you see on the picture, but unforunatly I don't have pictures of it.
Here Robert has rented a large tube for the day. Just look at his smile :-)
Getting prepared to go relaxing.
Again beautiful scenery in the bay.
They used this small boat to carry visitors to and from the ferries that came in to the bay.
It was very hot for a norwegian guy, so we spent most of the time in the shadow under the palmtrees.
Robert after taking a swim. Doesn't look too happy though.
Me while relaxing at the beach. This beach was lovely.
After a while, a big tube came in with the waves.
This was a hell of a lot better than Norway at the same time. My thoughts went in this moment to all my collegues who was at work...
Taxi's on Koh Samet has aircondition when they are on the move. You are sitting on the back of a pick-up truck on bumby roads through the jungle.
Through the bumpy roads in the jungle.
To get to the restaurant from the shore, you had to ring a bell and this guy would come with a raft to ship you over. This guy didn't look to thrustworthy on this picture though, but he was actually very nice.
Robert while having a big beer at the restaurant.
And as always it was very hot.
They grew sea-shells in ropes under the restaurant. Talk about fresh food.
Cheers Robert. Or "Sabadi kap" as I think is how they pronounce cheers in Thailand. If you are a girl you must say "Sabadi kaaa..."
Some tables at the restaurant. It had a beautiful atmosphere and lights under every table.
Robert starting to get "nit naj" drunk. "Nit naj" means "a little bit".
Walking along the beach to the disco. The beach was a bit dark and spooky at this time.
Along the dark beach as we saw the light of the disco in the distance.
Some big animal has been digging into the sand here. Same as before, I didn't put my hand inside to find out what kind of animal it was.
The same Buddha-statue that we saw when we first came to the island.
Robert showing his respect for Buddha.
For some reason they offered pink Fanta and incense to Buddha.
At the disco on the island. This was a charming place with many packpackers and Thai living toghether in perfect harmony. The only fighting we saw was between Thai people.
And this place was hotter than any other place on the island. Just look at me sweating.
Robert having a good time on the dancefloor.
You can just barely see Robert at the left corner on this picture.
I have no idea who this guy is.
Farang's and thai's in perfect harmony at the dancefloor. If you look in the background you see a girl drinking cocktail from a bucket. Same as we did :-)
Some british girls and maybe a Farang in the back who has had too much cocktail from the bucket.
Everybody dancing and smiling. A cheerful place to be.
Me and Robert. Hmmm, I look "pom-poj" on this picture.
Back at the beach on our last day. The coconuts where still hanging in the palmtrees waiting for a chance to fall down in our heads.
Robert at the beach.
And here the ferry arrived.
High tide at the beach.
This ferry was blessed by Buddha so there was no problem.
From the ferry, one last picture of our beach.
Me and Robert. I really need a haircut now...
Some other beach as seen from the sea.
One of the many peaks at Koh Samet island.
An other beach with resorts and restaurants.
The beach where the disco was.
I think this also is the same beach.
Another ferry supplying the island with new tourists like us. On this island we also saw many thai people having a holliday.
The east point of Koh Samet island.
Robert at the ferry. We where going back to Pattaya to stay with the other friends we arrived with.
This is the hotel-room we stayed in our last night in Pattaya. Standard was ok.
Soi number seven as seen from the nearest restaurant at the hotell in Pattaya. This was a norwegien owned restaurant and if you wanted to you could order norwegian dishes.
This guy had met this girl at an earlier visit to Thailand. I think that there could be some love in the air...
Robert at the new Bangkok international airport. Not too good picture though...
Robert at the same airport, but now on the inside.

Guest book

Reflections about Thailand.

- It's no point in travelling to Spain or Greece if you want to go on a holliday. Thailand has everything and more. If you want to party you go to Bangkok or Pattaya. If you want sun and swimming you go to an island

- Everyone is doing they're best to make sure you have a good time. They are clearly dependent on tourism and there is no need to go tipping everyone. Don't tip too much. 20 baht will do for the most.

- You must always haggle when go shopping. It's a good idea to bring a thai with you if possible. Prices are always higher in tourist populated places.

- Beware of boys that looks like ladies. Some have even gone trough a complete change of sex. I've heard some stories about someone who didn't see the warning-signs before it was too late...