Normally, I would leave mid-September for Thailand or other warm climates, but this year I delayed my travels until after celebrating my aunt‘s 90th birthday down in Lincoln City, Oregon on October 25th.
It turned out to be a good change of events since I had broken my left ankle on August 6 and just got my cast removed on October 21.
I would’ve had to cancel my normal reservations. Check out my previous blog entry for details of this accident along with my aborted hike to Canada from Stevens Pass
My older brother, Jim, joined me to travel down to Oregon from Seattle by car to celebrate my Aunt‘s 90th birthday.
On the way down, we stopped by to see Jefferson, Jim’s son and my nephew, who works at this E bike store in Portland
I also completed my views of the Dambo trolls in the Pacific NW by stopping at the Ole Bolle troll in Oregon, who is peering into a small Scandinavian house—looking for cookies— on the grounds of the Nordic Northwest center just outside Tigard.
After a blustery drive, we ended up in Lincoln city and celebrated at this Cliffside house that her kids, Colleen, Lura, and Drew, had set up for the party.
We had a fun time meeting up with some of the relatives and meeting some we’ve never met before. Here’s a few pictures of the event.
We returned by car to Seattle and some torrential rain storm with winds up to 70 miles an hour on Monday, October 27. The following day I got my final physical therapy session along with some take-home exercises to continue doing to strengthen my ankle. I also had another blood draw for the Covid research project I have been with since March 2020 when I got Covid.
On October 29, I took the light rail from Seattle to the airport under gloomy skies.
I got there about three hours early since I wasn’t sure how the government shut down would affect the TSA security lines or the later flight with Korean Air.
I had gotten three separate emails and texts from Korean Air inviting me to get my online boarding pass ahead of time, but each time I tried, the only seats available would cost $50 or more. Forget that.
There was no line at the Korean Air ticketing desk, and I asked the agent for an aisle seat and it turned out both legs of travel were at the back of the plane, but that’s OK. It was quiet back there, food service was quick, and it was close to the bathrooms.
I was disappointed they didn’t show “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and the other choices I’d either seen or wasn’t interested in so I got some book reading time in along with sleep.
When I arrived the Thailand immigration procedure now required an eVisa online so I ended up using their kiosks to get mine which was fairly easy.
The immigration lines were extremely long since many other aircraft head landed at the same time as we had. However, I remember from the last time I was here, over on the far right side of the immigration hall they had a section for diplomats and seniors. There was only one person in front of me, so I got through quickly with a 60 day eVisa for Thailand.
Since it was 10:30 PM on October 30, the airport train still ran until midnight from the bottom level of the airport for ฿45 that takes a 40 minute ride to downtown Bangkok with connections to the skytrain at the Phaya Thai stop. I then rode the skytrain for another ฿35 to the Nana stop. I walked a short way to my Orchid Inn hotel on Soi 4.
Halloween morning I went to a local pharmacy to get some blood thinner pills since I did not get my 90 day refill before I left, but the pharmacist said I needed to go to the hospital to get a prescription from the doctor.
I was going to the Bumrungrad Hospital anyway to make an appointment with my dentist for a check up, and repair my front veneer that I had glued back on with superglue. Dr. Pacharee was on vacation so I made an appointment for November 19th morning.
For my blood thinner prescription, I had to first see a nurse and Doctor who prescribed the blood thinner—that cost $50. Since I was overseas, I thought the pills would be cheaper or the same as back in the US, but was I surprised with the cost per pill of $7 where back home it was $1 per pill for my mail order 90 day supply.
On Saturday, I took the skytrain out the Bang Sue train station to purchase my night sleeper train to Hat Yai for November 19th. These sleeper trains book up quickly and from experience it’s no fun to ride a night train in the third class carriage with no A/C and no place to lie down.
From Hat Yai I was going to travel to Ko Lipe Island, which I had never visited before. I was curious to visit it because a popular blogger named Nomadic Matt was inspired to begin his travels and business after experiencing time on this island.
The train station had this beautiful model of a ceremonial boat.
I then got back on the skytrain to the Chatuchak weekend market to shop for a new Hawaiian shirt and the popular elephant patterned PJ bottoms, to have lunch and then browse again through the many shops.
On October 24th, Queen Sirikit had died. She was 93 years old. Flags will be flown at half mast for 30 days and for 90 days, people are expected to show reverence by wearing dark clothing and act respectively to each other. Government employees are expected to wear black clothing for a one year mourning period. She had major influence in advancing the Thai silk and design industry as well as several initiatives that assisted the poor, especially in rural areas. She was much beloved by Thais and was a great influence internationally.
When I visited the Soi Cowboy entertainment area, made famous during the Vietnam era, it seemed like business as usual.
After four nights in Bangkok, I took the Sky Train from the Nana station to Ekkami station to ride on a big new bus to Ko Samet—a three hour bus ride to Ban Phe at a cost ฿184.
Most evenings there have been torrential rain storms that have flooded many low lying areas and streets. During the drive down to Ban Phe we stopped for passengers at the flooded bus staton where customers had to wade in the water to get on our bus.
Before taking the ferry boat to Ko Samet Island, I wanted to stop by and see the massage shop called Lakshika Massage shop that Chollada Naka had opened in Ban Phe. For several years when I went to Ko Samet, she would be the one who gave me massages at the Sirion Massage place, and told me about her dreams to open up her own shop.
She finally did it, and located it in Ban Phe so she could be close to her aging and ailing parents. I took a short motor taxi ride to her shop.
The shop was beautiful with foot massage chairs, and massage beds.
She indicated she would be moving to be collocated to a hotel under construction with hopes that she would have more traffic, particularly with foreign tourist.
Afterwards, one of her employees gave me a motorbike ride back to the Nuanthip pier. I walked to the end of the pier and got the ferry boat to Ko Samet for just ฿70 which was a pleasant half-hour journey across the sea.
I usually stayed at the Runa-Runa guest house in the middle of the small village off of the Hat Sai Kaew—White Sand— beach area or the Blue Ocean guesthouse, but they were full. So I went on agoda.com and ended up staying at just a block away at the LaBella Guesthouse for the next 2 weeks.
The unit was very clean, neat, and spacious with a covered patio and a view of greenery outside. The place came with a hot pot as well as a mini fridge, and A/C. The France 24 channel was the only English language channel— the rest were in Thai language and mostly shopping channels. YouTube was my normal choice for checking out the recent election results both nationally and Seattle where the race for mayor was very close.
During several nights to early mornings, we have tremendous rain storms with thunder and lightning.
Most mornings I would first have coffee, orange juice, and a banana at my guesthouse and then head to one of the restaurants for an “American” breakfast of coffee, toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, and cabbage salad—usually Chilli’s.
I got my daily oil massages at the Sirion Massage place from different massage women for ฿400—$13USD— including tip during my stay.
After the hour massage, my daily routine was to go to the beach for a day of relaxing, exploring and reading on one of the many resort beach chairs rented for ฿100.
On the way, I would stop this smoothie shop for these delicious mango smoothies. It included a half a mango piece cross-hatched covering the drink for just ฿80. The shop was run by Wut and Toot, Da’s brother and sister-in-law.
While I relaxed in the lounge chairs. I sometimes bought pomelo, mango slices, or whole coconut from one of the the many vendors that worked the tourists along the beaches. The costs were about ฿60 or under $1.75 USD each.
I would take my daily one hour walk along the beach, and usually stop at 7-11 to pick up some food supplies.
On November 5, it was Loy Krathong celebration and Da had come over to sell these beautiful floats ay a table across from her brother’s smoothie shop.
The candle venerates the Buddha with light, while the krathong's floating away symbolizes letting go of all one's hatred, anger, and defilements. Many Thais use the krathong to thank the Goddess of Water and to honor loved ones.
She gave me this large float made from a cross-section of a banana trunk that it looked like a lotus plant with three incense and a candle that we took over to the temple pond along with the owner of the Sirion massage shop that she used to work at.
When I placed the float in the water, I did it in remembrance of my brother Steve and his wife Nona, who had just died this year as well as celebrating my aunt Glenda‘s 90th birthday. My float joined many others that floated on this pond.
This was a small celebration compared to the larger ones in Bangkok and Chiang Mai or in Chiang Mai. It’s combine with the ping Yai festival where they let loose large lanterns into the sky. Check it out.
The staff at several of the restaurants remembered me, including Buddies at the entrance to the beautiful White Sand beach area, and the Reef restaurant where my old Pudsa Bungalows used to be. My favorite meal was a filet mignon. It only cost ฿560—$17—which included roasted potatoes, variety of mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and garlic, a great value and delicious.
At Buddies’s restaurant, my favorite was the Penang curry.
