It’s been 7 months since we’ve seen family, so we are both very excited to arrive in Bangkok where we are due to meet Jenn’s brother, Alex and his partner, Scott. Even the lengthy immigration queue does little to dampen our spirits. The queue does however, mean that rather than arriving at the hotel early, we actually bump into each other in reception as we check in. What are the chances? They’ve flown from Hong Kong, we’ve flown from Taipei, and we arrive at the lobby within minutes of each other.
Our hotel is the perfect place to chill out for a couple of days. We catch up over Japanese food, sake, and excellent cocktails…
I also decide that a hair cut is in order. My mother-in-law is the only other person I know who has had a hair cut in this fair city. It has gone down in legend. Going back some years now, Yvonne had asked for her hair to be cut by the small amount she was demonstrating to the stylist with her fingers. About half-an-inch off. Pretty safe…
Unfortunately, the gesture was taken to mean, that, that, was the actual length of hair she desired. Thus rather than having half-an-inch removed, she was left with that amount of hair uniformally! Fortunately shorthair suits her and she took the incident in better humour than I would have done!
The story spurs me to research extensively on Google for an English speaking salon. Manage to avoid any major disasters. That said, my stylist doesn’t speak any English and my requests are funnelled through an interpreter. Pretty surreal.
New Years Eve finds us doing very little and saving ourselves for the evening. The hotel is in a pretty quiet part of town. In fact, it’s far cleaner, and less frenetic than my memories of the last time we visited. It’s all rather civilised. Aside from the giant water monitor lizards and the somewhat unpleasant aroma from the nearby canal, you could almost be in any major city in the world.
The sanity and tranquillity was however, never destined to last long in Bangkok at this time of year. After a few cocktails to get us underway in the hotel bar, we head out for the main event, a fireworks party on the river. Given that we are all purportedly intelligent people, it stands to reason that none of us would have had the foresight to book a taxi! The consequence is either a lengthy wait or braving a tuk-tuk. We opt for the latter… interesting experience to say the least!
We manage to arrive miraculously unscathed! The entertainment is billed as being a retro 70-80s band. I don’t state this lightly, when I claim, without hyperbole, that the band is the worst I have ever listened to! The female vocalist would be just about acceptable at an amateur karaoke night, whilst the male vocalist should never be allowed near a microphone. That said, it doesn’t seem to matter and everyone appears to be having a great time.
The live massacre of hits (from every era apart from the 70s and 80s – ironic huh?!) by our vocalists, is interspersed by drag artists (at least we think they were drag artists) performing (pun intended) amongst the tables. It’s certainly a spectacle and good fun!
Jenn and I were last in Bangkok for New Years Eve back in 2016. We had booked a riverside hotel with a view, in order to watch the legendary fireworks. Unfortunately for us, King Bhumibol passed away in October of that year, and as a result the country was in official mourning. Result, no fireworks. Not a single one!
No such issues this time, with spectacular fireworks marking the start of 2024! We make it back via tuk-tuk just in time for a glass of champagne in the hotel bar before closing.
Next day we fly together to Laos. Apparently, the country is up and coming on the tourist trail. At least that’s what Scott tells us! 😉 The landscape as we come in to land is certainly pretty special.
Our days in Luang Prabang are pretty laid back for the most part. The weather is perfect, hot during the day and markedly cooler at night. We explore some of the temples, enjoy the ridiculously atmospheric riverside at sunset, and eat our body weight in local cuisine.
To the latter point, we decide, collectively (although championed by Jenn) that a local cooking class would be a nice idea. We duly make our way to the Tamarind cooking school. The first thing to say about the school, is that it is outside and next to a very scenic lake. It’s pretty jungly here, so my internal mosquito alarm starts to ring violently. The irony is not lost on me that we are learning to feed ourselves at the same time as being royally fed upon. Circle of life and all that!
Anyhow, the cooking class is good fun. We learn to make dipping sauce, sticky rice, Mok Pa (fish in banana leaves), and have good fun stuffing minced chicken into lemon grass stalks! Fair to say that none of us are natural cooks, but we do manage to produce a reasonably passable meal. I think it was aided by the fact that chilli is very forgiving, and there was a lot of it!
Nevertheless, we feel pretty pleased with our nights work, until Alex mentions that he’s not feeling great. Given that he bows out early from our post-dinner drinks, we go to bed slightly nervous for him. He did after all have to partner me in the al fresco kitchen!
The following morning we are all due to head to Kouang Si waterfall.
Alas, Alex has spent all night being ill! We are not sure of the exact cause. There was mention of an undercooked sausage at breakfast, the heat may have been a factor, but it feels most likely that he had managed to poison himself (ably assisted by your truly). Fair to say that we all feel gutted for him. Never nice being ill and in this instance it serves to deprive him of the days activity.
Whilst Alex convalesces the rest of us head out (pirates code in this family – fall behind, left behind 😉). Together with our guide, we make our way through interesting jungle, complete with the most amazing variety and quantity of butterflies we’ve ever seen. They may even have out numbered the spiders, of which there were a multitude!
The waterfalls themselves when we arrive are worth the 3 hour trek. The large number of tourists that have made their way there by car, suggests that we are not alone in our appraisal. There is also a moon bear sanctuary. Nice to see the locals doing what they can to protect their wildlife.
Even as we enjoy our buffalo ice-cream on the journey home, there is a slightly sad edge, on account of our stricken comrade (even pirates have hearts). Would have been nice if we could have all shared the day together.
Still, Alex is nothing if not resilient and he manages to join us for dinner that evening.
On our final morning together we enjoy the delights of a café bar overlooking the ever evocative Mekong river. Alex and Scott and due to fly to Bangkok that afternoon, before heading home, whilst Jenn and I are travelling further south by train. Can’t believe that our few days together have come and gone in a mere blink.
Feel very fortunate that we are able to do these things, and grateful that Alex and Scott made the effort to come and join us. It’s great to have unique experiences, but even nicer when you can share them with family and friends. What a great start to 2024!
Happy New Year!
Glad you had a nice time with Alex and Scott. The tuk tuk ride reminded me of the one we had in India more terrifying than I care to think about! X
Great you all had a lovely time together.
Shame Alex missed out on the waterfall walk. But really can’t believe Scott managed it with all those huge spiders around!
Wow! Haircut incident could have been very bad. Pleased that Jenn took it in her stride?
I don’t like the spiders.
Poor Scott. Not nice to be ill abroad.
Pleased you saw the fireworks this time round.