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Koh Phangan is overall my favorite island in Thailand but I prefer to go there when the full moon party isn't going on. Not that it's a bad event, I just usually prefer to associate with a different sort of person than the beach party group. The last time I went to Koh Phangan during a full moon party some random guy from northern Europe came up to me and told me "We having party on the boat tomorrow you should come just boom boom boom all day you know." I am not a bro, nor am I gay, nor am I female, so I wasn't exactly interested. If you do go for the full moon party get your room reserved well in advance (like two weeks before). As always, I would very much recommend Lighthouse Bungalows, if you click the ? near my name you can see just the posts I've made in this thread, I gave a much more detailed post on why I like that place a short while ago.
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May 26, 2011 22:15
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Anyone else think Indonesia is the most overlooked, underrated country in SEA?
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May 26, 2011 22:25
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Macunaima posted:Anyone else think Indonesia is the most overlooked, underrated country in SEA? Totally agree (with Malaysia a fairly close second): easy language, friendly people, huge country with a variety of things to see, inexpensive. Not counting Aussies doing the Bali thing I think maybe 1 goon in 25 that's posted in this thread has gone though  loving forget about that "no planes, land crossings only" bullshit and hop a cheap flight to Jakarta already, sheesh.
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May 26, 2011 22:42
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Macunaima posted:Anyone else think Indonesia is the most overlooked, underrated country in SEA? Aside from Bali, yeah. It's high on the list of places I want to explore when I can scheme a few months off. Also agree re: Malaysia running a close second, although where the Philippines rank can't be much lower...
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May 26, 2011 22:53
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Even Bali is amazing, away from the Kuta-Sanur-Ubud ghettos. Some of the best travel experiences of my life involved a motorbike and remote parts of Bali.
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May 26, 2011 22:59
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Macunaima posted:Even Bali is amazing, away from the Kuta-Sanur-Ubud ghettos. Some of the best travel experiences of my life involved a motorbike and remote parts of Bali. I even had a good time in Ubud (low season, not too long after the bombs so it was extra-low), although Kuta was pretty grating. My sister did a summer Indonesian language program in Yogyakarta through US-INDO (a bilateral organization) a few years ago, it was heavily subsidized and I'd encourage people in school or just out of it to apply. Looks like the deadline for this year was last month, but think about it for next year. The Indonesian government also has the Darmasiswa scholarship for full-year study of Indonesian language or culture, although it basically covers (the already small) tuition and gives you a pretty marginal living stipend. My ideal SEA motorcycle trip is buying a Minsk in Hanoi and riding it as far as I can until it blows up. Hopefully I'd be able to get down to Malaysia and take the boat over to Sumatra and work my way east from there. Indonesia might be nice to do on a bicycle too.
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May 26, 2011 23:46
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I've been looking into a 3 week Indonesia trip for the last month now. Since I live in Korea I have been looking at the Air Asia prices and they fly into some random rear end places in Indonesia. I think flying into Bali will be a good starting point? (I have no idea what I want to see) Worst comes to worst I can just try surfing for 3 weeks even though its been awhile since I touched a surfboard.
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May 26, 2011 23:59
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Thanks for the advice. I'll cut Vietnam out of the plans as it seems that I am underestimating how much time I'll be spending in each place. I really do want to see Angkor Wat so I'm going to stick with Cambodia. I'm going to rent a bike in Chiang Mai and do the Pai, Mae Hong Son loop and visit the hill people. That should take about a week right there.
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May 27, 2011 00:03
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Indonesia might be nice to do on a bicycle too. I met a couple of Germans who were bicycling the length of Flores, and appeared to be having a great time. I got a 150cc motorbike on Bali, and took it all the way to Maumere, at the eastern end of Flores. That's the stuff dreams are made of, island-hopping through Indonesia on a motorbike. The inter-island ferries are dirt-cheap, even when you're bringing onboard a bike.
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May 27, 2011 00:12
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Tuff Ghost posted:I'm going to rent a bike in Chiang Mai and do the Pai, Mae Hong Son loop and visit the hill people. That should take about a week right there. Excellent idea. I rented one there, got completely lost up north, and wound up spending a few days on Doi Inthanon in a little village. I highly recommend a week or two of Thai language in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, which I did before making my own bike loop.
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May 27, 2011 00:14
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Macunaima posted:That's the stuff dreams are made of, island-hopping through Indonesia on a motorbike.
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May 27, 2011 19:55
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I'm going to Thailand for 10 weeks, about half of which will be spent volunteering on farms in Chiang Mai. What kind of gifts would my hosts appreciate?
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May 27, 2011 20:55
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Injuryprone posted:I'm going to Thailand for 10 weeks, about half of which will be spent volunteering on farms in Chiang Mai. What kind of gifts would my hosts appreciate? Thais love to drink.
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May 27, 2011 21:00
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Injuryprone posted:I'm going to Thailand for 10 weeks, about half of which will be spent volunteering on farms in Chiang Mai. What kind of gifts would my hosts appreciate? Go to Burlington Coat factory or an outlet mall to get inexpensive name brand schlok. Small Coach and Kipling purses or wallets for girls are great gifts -- there are plentiful fakes in Thailand but most ladies would love to have a real one, especially if it was from America and therefore free of it-might-be-fakeness. I realize you're going to go on Amazon now and search for "Coach" and see a bunch of poo poo for 400 dollars but if you get to the discount store or outlet they'll have small branded items for ten or fifteen bucks. Stuff with the playboy bunny on it is popular as well, it's not really associated with porn there, just fashion for girls. T-shirts are a bad idea as Thai people are tiny and they won't be able to wear what you bring. Cheaper accessories also are a bad bet because, quite honestly, you can't beat Thailand for quality/coolness/value in that sort of thing. Guys are harder. I suggest you just get a bottle of whiskey fairly frequently when you go out with folks. Doesn't have to be everytime, of course, but spending 50 or so bucks (in chiang mai) so that everyone can drink for the night is a good social value for the money imo. Name brand sunglasses are good for either sex. Err on a less conservative look than you would normally go for as far as eyewear goes. For a place like a farm there are going to be some basic household durables that aren't around, so just pick them up in town and causally hand them out. A new sun hat, some toys for the kids, betel nut and the associated kit if grandma chews it (get help from the vendor for that one as you need to get more than just the nuts so they can be utilized), a couple of fishing poles, stuff like that. I always just made up a ridiculous story top explain away the gift -- I'd found it in the forest, a large German man in red clothes and with a white beard had forced me to take it, whatever. Thai people won't usually have that Anglo-Saxon "you gift has shamed me for I was possibly unable to afford it myself" thing, but if you can make the gift a humorous affair and reassure them that getting the item was not something you feel you spent a lot of money or effort on (even if you did, relatively speaking) it certainly won't be an issue. When I visited Isaan I was sometimes staying with relatives of Thai folks I know from NYC. One family got a little microwave, the other a couple of those electrified tennis rackets people use to keep the Thai air force at bay. In Bangkok my bougie buddies got the name brand stuff. I brought two little zip down the side wrist wallet things that girls sometimes use. Keep the packaging and leave the tags on (ink out the price, of course). Edit: Oh, kool-aid is kind of a fun one. They don't really have anything like that there that I'm aware of, which is weird because, like in most of Asia, instant coffee is hugely popular. raton fucked around with this message at 21:42 on May 27, 2011 |
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May 27, 2011 21:12
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Macunaima posted:Excellent idea. I rented one there, got completely lost up north, and wound up spending a few days on Doi Inthanon in a little village. I highly recommend a week or two of Thai language in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, which I did before making my own bike loop. I have very little experience on a bike. I'm going to try and take a MSF course before I go, but I'm still going to make the trip, MSF or not. Am i going to have a problem renting a bike with no license? I'm just going to stick to something automatic under 200cc.
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May 27, 2011 21:21
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Tuff Ghost posted:I have very little experience on a bike. I'm going to try and take a MSF course before I go, but I'm still going to make the trip, MSF or not. Am i going to have a problem renting a bike with no license? I'm just going to stick to something automatic under 200cc. You won't find much bigger than 100cc for tourist rental in Chiang Mai, and certainly not many automatics. The other fun thing about motoring in Thailand is driving on the left.
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May 27, 2011 21:24
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Tuff Ghost posted:I have very little experience on a bike. I'm going to try and take a MSF course before I go, but I'm still going to make the trip, MSF or not. Am i going to have a problem renting a bike with no license? I'm just going to stick to something automatic under 200cc. 0 problem renting one, but if you get into an accident driving a vehicle you're not licensed for, just about every health insurance policy will deny your claim.
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May 27, 2011 21:25
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I live in a former britsh colony in the Caribbean, so I got the left-sided driving down pat. As far as the insurance coverage, I figured as much.
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May 27, 2011 21:33
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You don;t need a course, just get an automatic like a honda click or scoopy (I think that's what they were called). They're very easy to drive, spend your first hour getting used to it, get some gas on the ring in Chiang Mai and just drive sane (and sober!), keep plenty of distance from cars and so on. Then drive up and down doi suthep, you've got it under control by then 
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May 27, 2011 22:17
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Just remember that sand or water on the road is a much bigger issue for motorcycles than cars. Keep an eye on the road surface all the time.
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May 27, 2011 23:10
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So I just booked a flight to Bangkok for 8/10 to 9/14. I don't really have any specific plans yet, I just know I'm going to train muay thai for at least 2 weeks, maybe more. My head is swimming with possibilities though. Some questions for now, I'm sure I'll have more later... can I get prescription sunglasses/glasses made there for cheap? I can't see poo poo without my glasses or contacts and I think getting some rx sunglasses would be a good idea, maybe I should wait til I get there to get them? Can I get good contact lens solution there too? Or should I just bring my own. I would wear only my glasses but since I'm there to train I gotta wear contacts at some points. I also remember reading either this thread, or the previous thread, a long time ago, and some people had recommendations on travel clothes and that kinda stuff. I can't seem to find those posts anymore in this thread. What kinda stuff do you guys recommend wearing? I'm still tempted to bring one pair of jeans for like going to the bars or whatever, I don't really like how most travel pants look on me. Is this a bad idea?
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May 28, 2011 08:21
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A friend of mine lost his glasses and got new ones pretty cheap, but I think if you go for designer frames the price is not that low. Regarding clothes, check this thread. Some people here recommend dress shirts, other recommend synthetic t-shirts and most say no jeans. That said, I have the same problem as you: I hate travel trousers because none of them fit me, so I always carry a pair of light jeans (I have a Jack & Jones pair that has a synthetic-ish feel and dries quickly) in case I feel like going out in a bit of style. For the rest: shorts, one or two shirts, one or two good looking cotton t-shirts and a few synthetic t-shirts. People talk about Capilene and other super expensive brands, but I have a few Decathlon-Equarea ones that are ridiculously cheap and function just as well for me. On the other hand SmartWool socks are totally worth the price. I usually wear flip-flops, but when I need to walk a lot or hike I wear sneakers. I went to some drat hot places with them (SE Asia, Southern Egypt and Jordan for example), and my feet stayed dry even after day long walks under the sun. tzz fucked around with this message at 10:08 on May 28, 2011 |
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May 28, 2011 09:36
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Injuryprone posted:I'm going to Thailand for 10 weeks, about half of which will be spent volunteering on farms in Chiang Mai. What kind of gifts would my hosts appreciate?
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May 29, 2011 09:29
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Jerome Louis posted:I also remember reading either this thread, or the previous thread, a long time ago, and some people had recommendations on travel clothes and that kinda stuff. I can't seem to find those posts anymore in this thread. What kinda stuff do you guys recommend wearing? I'm still tempted to bring one pair of jeans for like going to the bars or whatever, I don't really like how most travel pants look on me. Is this a bad idea? for god's sake just wear normal clothes, you do not need special 'travel clothes' for anywhere you're going to be going to
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May 29, 2011 13:08
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brendanwor posted:for god's sake just wear normal clothes, you do not need special 'travel clothes' for anywhere you're going to be going to Yeah, bring (or buy, Bangkok is home of the $17 pair of Diesels*) a pair of jeans, ditto a decent long-sleeved button-down shirt. You don't really need special travel clothes, although those thin, wicking socks are pretty great and I really need to buy some more pairs. *fake
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May 29, 2011 13:39
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Pompous Rhombus posted:*fake Genuine copies. Also - Exoffico underwear is great.
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May 29, 2011 15:37
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How easy is it to stick to a low carb diet in Thailand? Are there a wide variety of all-meat dishes available, or at least stuffed with enough meat that you can pick it out and avoid the rest?
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May 29, 2011 15:49
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Quantify! posted:How easy is it to stick to a low carb diet in Thailand? Are there a wide variety of all-meat dishes available, or at least stuffed with enough meat that you can pick it out and avoid the rest? It's pretty much carb-city, between rice, fruit, noodles, etc. There are some meaty dishes (laap without sticky rice), and I guess you can special order stuff (and get lots of weird looks), but overall it's going to be tough. Despite this, you'll notice Thai people are by and large pretty slender; I lost 5-10 pounds living there eating oatmeal for breakfast most mornings and rice/noodles pretty much every meal for lunch/dinner. Having spent a lot of time in Asia I view the low carb dogma (have skimmed the thread in W&W) with a healthy degree of skepticism.
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May 29, 2011 15:53
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Pompous Rhombus posted:It's pretty much carb-city, between rice, fruit, noodles, etc. There are some meaty dishes (laap without sticky rice), and I guess you can special order stuff (and get lots of weird looks), but overall it's going to be tough. Despite this, you'll notice Thai people are by and large pretty slender; I lost 5-10 pounds living there eating oatmeal for breakfast most mornings and rice/noodles pretty much every meal for lunch/dinner. Having spent a lot of time in Asia I view the low carb dogma (have skimmed the thread in W&W) with a healthy degree of skepticism. Yeah, it's another stupid fad diet. The Thai diet is packed with carbs, Thais love to eat, and they don't have the combination obesity epidemic/food neurosis that you see in the West. If you're traveling in Thailand, typically you'll be really active and on the go, and will need the energy from carbs anyway. As for travel clothing and gear, you can get anything you need in Thailand. The Khao San Road area caters to anything a backpacker would ever want or need, and Bangkok malls have just about every luxury good imaginable.
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May 29, 2011 16:06
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Jerome Louis posted:I would wear only my glasses but since I'm there to train I gotta wear contacts at some points. quote:I also remember reading either this thread, or the previous thread, a long time ago, and some people had recommendations on travel clothes and that kinda stuff. I can't seem to find those posts anymore in this thread. What kinda stuff do you guys recommend wearing? Modus Operandi fucked around with this message at 16:20 on May 29, 2011 |
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May 29, 2011 16:17
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Quantify! posted:How easy is it to stick to a low carb diet in Thailand? Are there a wide variety of all-meat dishes available, or at least stuffed with enough meat that you can pick it out and avoid the rest? I'm surprised at the posts above me. The rice always comes on the side, many curries and dishes exist that are basically herbs plus meat plus some sort of salty sauce, barbecued meats can be found everywhere and are cheap. It should be very easy to stick to your goofy diet, but as I've mentioned before if you go to SE Asia and don't easy every weird thing you can you're doing yourself a real disservice. Going to Thailand and never eating their noodle soups, the sticky rice in cane things, roasted bananas in caramel sauce or any other of the innumerable carb heavy dishes is just as backward and insular as going there and insisting that you won't eat meat or don't like shellfish or whatever. Borders on criminal, really. --- I think I'm going to start on a travel gear thread later today. Most people overdo it, but it is sometimes worth it to pick up some special items. (I've never mentioned it but all I wear now are exofficio boxers -- their safari shirts are loving ridiculous though.) raton fucked around with this message at 16:55 on May 29, 2011 |
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May 29, 2011 16:42
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I've boiled my wearable gear (or, as the dirty English say, "kit") advice down to a key rule: Anything that needs top notch stitching or specially designed adhesives to last, buy at home. So, if you need running shoes, hiking shoes, good backpacks, good socks or whatever, buy those at home. You *can* get them here, but you'll have to know how and you'll pay a premium and you risk getting low quality poo poo priced at high quality. I do a ton of trail running, for example, and I need good shoes. I pay $160 here for a pair of North Face running shoes that would be $90 at home. Good *authentic* backpacks and such are the same. Your average stuff like shorts, flip flops and even casual day packs are find here, but anything that you're going to put a lot of wear into you should buy elsewhere. For shoes, that means if they're going to get wet, buy them at home. For bags and such, that means that if you're going to be traveling with them you don't want the stitching falling out, so buy them at home. This is not at all complete advice, but it's a decent baseline rule. The low quality poo poo is like the worst stereotype of most things in developing Asia: looks great on the outside, has no substance. Also, actual shoes (not flip flops) above a US size 12 are nearly impossible to find, so don't bother. Of course you can find them or you can get fine shoes tailored at any size, but in terms of sports shoes or casual shoes, even at the priciest places in town it's hit or miss.
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May 29, 2011 17:03
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Sheep-Goats posted:I'm surprised at the posts above me. The rice always comes on the side, many curries and dishes exist that are basically herbs plus meat plus some sort of salty sauce, barbecued meats can be found everywhere and are cheap. It should be very easy to stick to your goofy diet, but as I've mentioned before if you go to SE Asia and don't easy every weird thing you can you're doing yourself a real disservice. Going to Thailand and never eating their noodle soups, the sticky rice in cane things, roasted bananas in caramel sauce or any other of the innumerable carb heavy dishes is just as backward and insular as going there and insisting that you won't eat meat or don't like shellfish or whatever. Borders on criminal, really. All those curries, soups and even salads like som tam usually have sugar (not much, but these low carb people eat almost no carbs at all) and not a lot of meat. I was going to say the same as you, but I assumed he's thinking about moving to Thailand, because travelling to another country and missing out on the local food because you want to follow a counter-intuitive diet seems way too stupid. Bonus points in stupidity for said country being one with one of the best cuisines in the world and with some of the slimmest people.
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May 29, 2011 17:04
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tzz posted:I was going to say the same as you, but I assumed he's thinking about moving to Thailand, because travelling to another country and missing out on the local food because you want to follow a counter-intuitive diet seems way too stupid. Bonus points in stupidity for said country being one with one of the best cuisines in the world and with some of the slimmest people. And believe me I don't want to miss out on local cuisine, I just wanted to know how much local cuisine fits with my diet (crazy as said diet may seem to everyone else). It looks like they don't fit together, so I'll abandon it wholly for the duration of the trip.
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May 29, 2011 17:12
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Quantify! posted:No, I'm thinking about visiting. Good call, go crazy and try everything. Even if you gain a couple of kilos, which almost surely won't happen, you won't regret it. Speaking of food, I tried a Northern or Northeastern dish in Ao Nang that I loved. It was basically fried rice with what looked like a cut from a big roll made from slightly minced pork. It was a bit spicy, but not much, and it had the right amount of bitterness that made the taste strong without overpowering all the other flavours. People might find it too bitter though, because the woman asked me if I was sure a couple of times before taking my order. Any idea how is it called? I'd like to see if it's feasible to cook it when I finally get out of this stupid no-pork country. tzz fucked around with this message at 18:24 on May 29, 2011 |
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May 29, 2011 18:19
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A big roll of what? I've seen (horrible transliteration ahead) Mahk Keua Yao Lad Khao Phad cooked like that, though I forget what the specification is for stuffed with Moo Sabp. Basically, what I've eaten like that is a specific variety of eggplant that's bitter, but smoky when grilled, stuffed with pork and served on top of fried rice. I tend to not like Thai style fried rice (as opposed to Malay, which is awesome) other than Khao Phad Nam Riep, but the eggplant (Mahk Keua Yao) is excellent when grilled and really adds an unusual flavor.
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May 29, 2011 18:50
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Pork roll, no eggplant. I'm not a big fan of Thai fried rice either, but this one was really good.
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May 29, 2011 19:10
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tzz posted:Speaking of food, I tried a Northern or Northeastern dish in Ao Nang that I loved. It was basically fried rice with what looked like a cut from a big roll made from slightly minced pork. It was a bit spicy, but not much, and it had the right amount of bitterness that made the taste strong without overpowering all the other flavours. People might find it too bitter though, because the woman asked me if I was sure a couple of times before taking my order. Did it look something like this? Then you had khao pad naem (ข้าวผัดแหนม) which is fried rice with sour pork. You can find "naem" (sour pork) easily in 7-11 stores in Thailand.
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May 29, 2011 19:17
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Ringo R posted:Did it look something like this? Then you had khao pad naem (ข้าวผัดแหนม) which is fried rice with sour pork. You can find "naem" (sour pork) easily in 7-11 stores in Thailand. Yes, that's the thing, thanks! I guess I should have searched for sour, not bitter. Too bad it's going to be super hard to find that fermented pork outside of Thailand.
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May 29, 2011 19:48
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Ah, sausage, heh. I wasn't familiar with that usage of roll. Yeah, you won't have any trouble finding it.
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May 29, 2011 19:53
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