Heading back to Bangkok after our amazing time in Myanmar weirdly felt like going home. As our third visit to the city it felt reassuringly familiar, and we stayed a night before heading to the train station to take our second sleeper of the trip so far. We were heading for Nong Khai, a small town close to Laos and from where you can catch a train across the Friendship Bridge to complete the border crossing.
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Pad See Ew This is just a quick post to share another one of the amazing recipes we learnt to cook in Thailand, this time for a dish called Pad See Ew. This is a really quick and easy stir fried dish which can be made suitable for vegetarians with some basic swaps. Ingredients
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We loved this dish and actually thought it was nicer than Pad Thai – which is actually cooked for tourists and very rarely eaten by locals. The flavour of Pad See Ew is much better! The texture of the noodles can be a little strange to western tastes (we didn’t have a problem but it is personal preference, so if you don’t like the thick noodles, they can be substituted for thinner rice noodles).
After the more relaxed vibes of Chang Mai we decided we were obviously not horizontal and chilled out enough and therefore headed for the hippy magnet that is Pai. We soon discovered however that the road to get to Pai was far from a mundane affair, as our mini bus driver hurtled around the 762 tight corners and hairpin bends up and down the hills of Northern Thailand. It all proved too much for one of the girls in our bus who threw up the contents of her stomach after 3 hours (luckily for us actually into a bag and not just in the van). This in turn made a Thai local go very very green, and we watched him go pale, sweaty and dry heave until he got off. Again luckily he managed to hold it down so there wasn’t too much of a scene. By the time we finally made it to the sleepy riverside town we were ready to embrace the endless Sunday morning vibes and spend our couple of days eating brunch, drinking coffee and just generally lazing around - so relaxed were we that we didn't even capture a single photo of our three days there. In the evenings we wandered down to the centre of town for the nightly walking street where the usual street food and tourist items were available – this time with a notable added selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. It seemed many of the people drawn to Pai were there less for the party and more for hippy commune feel, with many hotels and hostels offering river views and meditation courses. By the time we headed on to our next stop, Chiang Rai we had fully braced ourselves for a repeat of the journey up – this time however our bus mates seemed to have slightly stronger constitutions, greatly improved by our new driver who took the corners much more gently. The bus to Chang Rai leaves out of the station in Chang Mai (keeping up with all the names?) so we headed to by tickets for a same day bus – little did we realise the bus was incredibly popular and we were VERY lucky to actually secure two same day tickets. We saw an American couple later on refused the same tickets because they were full, so it’s safe to say we avoided a problem that wouldn’t have been insignificant given our now quite tight schedule. The main highlight of Chang Rai is the White Temple – a relatively new but no less impressive Buddhist temple located about 20 minutes outside the main strip.
We know it’s been a long time since we posted a recipe, but we haven’t actually been self catering since we left New Zealand! Whilst in the van we were fan of one pot meals, including an improvised spicy mixed bean and chorizo stew with rice, the smell of which was complimented by many other campers. Given we took a fantastic cooking course in Chang Mai, we thought we’d share a couple of our favourite dishes from the day, starting with a classic Green Curry.
Getting back on the backpacker trail we headed back on the train up to the tourist hotspot of Chang Mai. It’s not hard to see why people flock here from Bangkok – it has all of the cute cafes and restaurants, history and beautiful buildings with less of the mayhem that can be so overwhelming. We stayed in a guest house run by veteran Kiwi expat who was very helpful in giving advice about what to see. We were lucky as we arrived at the weekend, and so were able to wander round both the Saturday and Sunday markets which close whole blocks of streets to cars and scooters and are instead filled with every kind of item you can imagine. Our day in Chang Mai were mainly spent wandered around the old city, visiting the various Wats, sipping soy lattes in the quirky cafes and browsing the colourful array of clothing, shoes and miscellaneous objects that are aimed almost solely at tourists.
After a bit of research it seemed Bangkok has a reputation for being a love it or hate it city. I think this seems to stem from the fact that it is most people’s first experience of Asia, which, if you come from Europe or the US can be slightly overwhelming. The sights, sounds, tastes and smells (for better or worse!) are overpowering and intoxicating and I think it probably leads to a little bit of culture shock for those stepping off the plane. After 5 months of travelling on 4 different continents and having seen many things, Bangkok was vastly more exciting than scary. Having all the hallmarks of a modern city with arguably more character than the super slick Singapore, Bangkok was a perfect pit stop on our way to Northern Thailand. Our central hostel was close to the famous Khao San Road which manages to combine night clubs, scorpions on sticks, bespoke tailors and basic but delicious street food stalls, expertly. Many of the surrounding streets offer similar attractions but a little less hectic, making the whole area perfect for wandering around, sampling food, getting a foot massage and having some drinks.
After the (mis?)adventures of Phuket we headed away from the island on our new most used form of transport – the Thai mini bus. We learnt quite quickly that getting from A to B in Thailand is actually very straightforward. You go to the bus station and state the name of the place you want to go. Someone will point you in the direction of the correct ticketing window and you buy your tickets. Nine times out of ten it’s that easy – though for some more popular routes and for trains you may need to book in advance to secure your place.
N.B. I wrote a whole post about Kuala Lumpur but managed to delete it by accident before it could be posted. We'll add it in at a later date! Whilst the correct pronunciation of Phuket is as shown above, we incidentally had a rocky time during our first taste of Thailand. We've broken down our 3 night stay by the highlights (or more accurately low points).
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Hi! We're Alice and Joseph, currently on a year long RTW trip :) Archives
September 2018
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