Singapore, Australia and Thailand

Chiang Mai and the surrounding area


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Page last updated 9 September 2006

Singapore

Due to flight availability (or lack of it) I was 'stuck' in Singapore longer than I wanted to be. It had always been my intention to include a stopover to break up the long journey to Australia but a couple of nights would have been fine. Instead I was there for 5 nights which was too long. I decided against staying in one of the touristy hotels along Orchard Road and instead found an interesting sounding hotel in Chinatown on the Internet - The Inn on Temple Street. This was a mistake. Located in the heart of Chinatown the hotel was converted from four shops and sounded like it had a lot of character.

The reality was a tiny room, probably the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in, at a high price (relatively speaking for Singapore), in not a great area. Chinatown is fine for a quick visit but not the best place on the island to stay. I would not recommend staying at this hotel. I was also disappointed that despite booking on-line, in advance and being told I was getting a good deal, the hotel were quoting much lower prices for people walking in off the street.

Some tummy problems stopped me from doing as much as I had planned. My one excursion off the island was to Pulau Ubin where I spent half a day cycling around.

Some facts about Singapore
	Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of only about 682.7 square kilometres. The USA is about 15,000 times bigger.
	Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands.
	There are two distinct monsoon seasons in Singapore: the wetter Northeast Monsoon from December to March, and the drier Southwest Monsoon from June to September.
	The tallest buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. There are three of that height: the OUB Centre, the UOB Plaza and the Republic Plaza.
	Singapore lies slightly more than one degree north of the equator. It is hot and wet all year round, with an average temperature of about 27 degrees Celsius. The days and nights are always about the same length. It never snows.
	Singapore has no natural disasters - earthquakes, typhoons or volcanic eruptions.
	Forests cover less than one-twentieth of Singapore. The area occupied by farms is less than one-fiftieth of Singapore.
	The highest point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which is only 164 metres tall, or less than half than the total length of the running track in an Olympic-sized stadium.
	The three most popular sports are jogging, swimming and walking.
	Nearly 9 out of 10 Singaporeans do not stay in a house with a garden. They stay in flats.
	The number of visitors to Singapore every year is about double the population of Singapore.
	All healthy Singaporean men aged 18 and above must serve at least two or two and a half years in the military forces.
	Singapore's subway system, The Mass Rapid System or MRT has a total of 51 stations, 16 of which are underground, and 34 are elevated. It runs for a total of 89.4 kilometres, or twice the length of Singapore island. (This fact is now out of date).
	Singapore's best showing in the Olympic Games ever was a silver medal won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in Rome in 1960.

Singapore

Shopping in Singapore

Singapore is a mecca for shopping, especially it seems for electronic gadgetry. However, not everything is a bargain. You need to hone your haggling skills and be prepared to do some work to get the best prices. Bartering is expected and the price given initially is always higher than what you have to pay.

I got fleeced in Singapore years ago when I decided to buy a camera without knowing what I really wanted. When I got home I found the same camera in my local high street at a cheaper price. Try not to buy on impulse. Know beforehand exactly what you want, that is, the make, model number and how much you can buy it for elsewhere, either in a shop or on-line. With this information go from shop to shop purely for the best price and play one shop off against another.

You will soon find out what is the lowest price they can sell the product for. If you do not know exactly what you want it is easy to get confused due to the huge choice of goods that will confront you. Then, if you have only just decided on a certain model it is unlikely you will have an idea of the price back home to know if you are saving money by buying in Singapore.

You may not actually be saving money by buying in Singapore and current exchange rates also make a big difference. As an example I was looking for a spare battery and an additional memory card for my digital camera. I knew that in London I could buy a battery for around Ł33 and a 128Mb memory card for around Ł100. I spent a couple of hours and eventually got the memory card for about Ł70 but nowhere would anyone offer me a battery for less than I could get it for in London.

A few years after this trip my circumstances changed dramatically and I found myself spending a lot of time in Singapore. I have created a separate section on Singapore.

Sydney

I have a great travel tip for Sydney. Before you go make sure that you have a brother living there with a penthouse apartment overlooking the harbour! If your visit coincides with New Year, even better as the fireworks display on New Year's Eve has to be one of the best in the world.

Sydney

While in Sydney, Paul and I dived at Shelly Beach which is near Manly. This was a new experience for me in that we just rented some equipment and went diving on our own. It was a surprisingly good dive and even better due to the fact that there was no boat journey involved. It was purely a case of suiting up on the beach, then a short swim before descending. Being a shallow dive it was possible to stay down comfortably for an hour, which we did. The highlights were a sleeping Wobbegong and some big Blue Groupers that followed us around. This was also the first real opportunity I'd had to experiment with my underwater camera housing. Here are the results of some of those first pictures.

Diving at Shelly Beach

Cairns

Cairns was hot, damn hot. Immediately after getting off the plane I was hit by a wall of heat and humidity. It must have been worse than usual because even the locals were finding the conditions tough. It was one of those places where air conditioning was a necessity rather than a luxury. The town itself is not very big and appeared to be the backpacker capital of Australia. Activity wise, there isn't much going on in Cairns itself. It is used as a base for trips into the surrounding rainforest area and of course to the Great Barrier Reef.

Quite by chance I stumbled across 'Reef Teach' while walking around town. This is an educational facility for visitors to the reef and, as I discovered later, quite an institution in Cairns. The man behind Reef Teach is Paddy Colwell, a diving instructor / marine biologist, and Irish eccentric in the finest tradition. His two hour evening show is designed to be entertaining and informative which I found it to be. Paddy also takes small groups of divers out to the reef and points out things of interest while under water.

I was interested in going the next day but there weren't enough other people interested to make up the numbers. Instead I went diving with Cairns Reef Dive, a recently formed and very impressive operation. The popular dive sites take about an hour and a half to get to but the boat was quite comfortable. I liked the fact that there weren't too many people on board and only about half were divers. Consequently there was lots of room to get suited up before diving unlike some boats I'd been on previously. The actual diving wasn't the best I'd done compared to the Red Sea and Similan Islands for example but wasn't bad. I can at least say now that I have dived on the Great Barrier Reef, even if I do consider it to be overrated.

Dangerous creatures of Australia

Some well known ones	And some not

Day 3 of my visit to Cairns was spent on a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation area. My only criticism about this type of tour is that they try to do too much in one day. We rarely got more than a half hour at each stop and it reminded me of the Japanese Tourist Syndrome. At each stop there is just enough time to get off the bus and take a few photos before setting off for the next stop. I would much rather have fewer stops and spend more time at each place. I guess this is a personal preference and the format may suit a lot of people.

My next and final day trip in northern Queensland was to the Atherton Tablelands. This was not an area I had heard of before so had no expectations or preconceived ideas. It turned out to be a really enjoyable day in a very scenic part of the state. The tour guide was the typical outdoor Aussie bushman type complete with khaki shorts and Akubra hat. He talked incessantly while he drove us around and by the end of the day, in addition to finding out some facts about the area, we knew all about his failed business, crooked ex-business partner, ex-wife, and his plans to enter the Sydney-Hobart yacht race the following year with his son who (he told us proudly) resembled a Greek God and drove the local girls crazy. What a character.

Queensland

Bangkok

On my first trip to Thailand in 1987 I spent about 4 or 5 days in Bangkok but on subsequent visits just skipped through. On this, my 4th visit to the country, I decided to spend a couple of days in the capital. Despite being one of the most frenetic places on earth it is still a lot of fun. I stayed at the Silom City Inn located between Silom and Surawong roads, not the finest hotel but quite adequate, and a short walk to the infamous Patpong area.

The main thing that I noticed about Bangkok this time was the traffic which had actually seemed to decrease. An toll expressway has been built above street level along with a train system and this has eased the traffic situation on the original roads. Getting from the airport to the city centre these days is a fairly easy journey whereas I can remember this taking three hours before.

Bangkok

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai left me mildly disappointment. Having been to Thailand 3 times before and not visited the north I felt compelled to do so on this trip. Like Singapore I had found what I thought was a pleasant sounding place to stay on the Internet - The Red Hibiscus. The place was fine apart from its proximity to a very busy road. The traffic in Chiang Mai seemed worse than Bangkok (if that's possible). At certain times of the day it took me 15 minutes to cross the road due to a constant stream of traffic with no breaks. The noise was awful and I left Chiang Mai a day earlier than I had planned to.

My disappointment, I expect, was due to the reality failing to meet my expectations. I had envisaged Chiang Mai to be a haven of tranquility, full of teak Lanna style buildings and gentle, smiling faces. I guess I shouldn't have been so naive, especially as this is the second biggest city in the country.

While there I took a day trip to visit an elephant training centre and see some of the countryside. It was good to get out of the city but the format is very 'touristy'. What I mean by this is that there is set pattern. The tourists are taken to an elephant farm where the elephants put on a show. Then everyone gets taken on an elephant ride through a village where the villagers are waiting to sell souvenirs and trinkets.

After this there is a bamboo raft river ride followed by lunch and a ride in an ox cart. On the way back there is a stop in an orchid farm. I would prefer seeing people and animals in normal situations rather than in something artificially fabricated for the tourist industry. But it wasn't really that bad and besides, on this day trip I met Alex and Claudia from Germany who I followed to Khaolak, on their recommendation, and have remained friends with since.

Khaolak

From Chiang Mai I had a plane ticket to Phuket but knew that I wouldn't be staying on Phuket itself (more about this later). I had thought about going round to Krabi but, on the advice of my new friends I'd met in Chiang Mai, I abandoned this plan to go to Khaolak. I had not heard of this place before and, after getting there, assume this applies to most other Brits.

German tourists seem to make up about 80% of visitors with a sprinkling of Scandinavians and Japanese. I met about 4 people from England and was surprised to be told in one bar that I was the first English person to have been there. It had been open for 6 months! Khaolak is a delight. It is just an hour north of Phuket airport by taxi.

The official taxis will quote a fare of 1000 Baht or more but I found an independent guy who charged me 700 Baht and, once we got there, spent a while driving around looking for a place for me to stay. I should mention that the taxi had no seatbelts and he drove like it was his last day on earth but hell, that's half the fun of a vacation in Thailand.

Khaolak

Khaolak is still relatively unspoilt but for how much longer it is difficult to estimate. One of the diving instructors I was talking to gauges how much a place is developed by the number of tailors there. Throughout Thailand there are thousands of tailors offering cheap 'designer' suits made in no time at all. These places normally always have Armani somewhere in their name! She was telling me that in Khaolak last year there were three tailors. There are now 42.

All I can say is get there quick before the place is ruined. For divers one of the great things about Khaolak is its proximity to the Similan and Surin Islands. Instead of 7 hours from Phuket, a liveaboard boat from Khaolak can get to the Similans in four hours and it is possible to do a day trip on a high speed motor boat.

The Similans offers world-class diving. I had been previously in 1996 for a 4 day liveaboard trip and this time chose to go for a 2 day trip with Seadragon on the M/V Ma Nam. I am pleased to be able to report that the Similans has changed very little in the 6 years since I was last there (it is a protected National Park after all) and is still a fantastic place to dive. A Similans trip is an absolute must for divers visiting southern Thailand and should be considered by non-divers and/or snorkellers.

Similan Islands

Being so close, a day trip to Phang Nga bay seemed an obvious thing to do. Alex arranged a car and driver so that we could have our own tour. The driver took us to Phang Nga where his friend had a long-tail boat (in Thailand it doesn't matter what you want, someone will know someone who can provide you with what you are looking for!). The Phang Nga area has large Muslim and Sea Gipsies communities. At one time presumably it was a quiet fishing village but that all changed with one event - the making of the James Bond film 'The man with the Golden Gun'.

Part of the film was set in Phang Nga bay. Koh Khao Tapu was used for Scaramanga's island and Koh Khao Phing Kan, a limestone column, was where the villain had secreted his deadly weapon. These places are now on the mainstream tourist trail and there are tours to 'James Bond' island advertised everywhere. The sea gipsy village on stilts has been turned into a huge lunch and souvenir stop for the tourists and it is all very commercial. The area itself is beautiful with limestone cliffs and weird rock formations that come straight up out of the sea.

Phang Nga Bay

On the way back from Phang Nga bay our driver stopped off at a Wat unexpectedly. I was really pleased to discover that this particular Wat (Suwannakuha) is home to a colony of monkeys.

Wat Suwannakuha - the monkey temple

Phuket

I first went to Phuket on my second visit to Thailand in 1992. I remember taking a taxi from the airport to Patong beach and, after finding a place to stay, taking a stroll along the beach. Within no time at all I was in conversation with some friendly locals and the crew of a yacht that had stopped for a couple of days before heading off to another exotic location. I remember one thing quite distinctly. Having only been there a few hours I said quietly to myself, "this is paradise". I spent a few days in Patong and then went on to Kata beach which was just idyllic. How things change. When I went back a few years later in 1996 the main beaches of Patong, Karon and Kata were noticeably busier but it was still okay. Patong had become too noisy for me so I spent the whole time in Kata.

Patong beach, Phuket

I had my own ideas what these places might be like in 2002 but wanted to confirm my suspicions. The experience was not a pleasant one. From Khaolak I took the bus one morning into Phuket town and then took a tuk-tuk to Patong. The first thing I noticed was that I hardly recognised the place due to the development that has been taking place. I swear that there is another road now, running parallel to the beach but this may just be my hazy memory playing tricks on me. There are certainly more roads running at 90 degrees from the main road away from the beach.

The busy main road is full of street vendors and motor cycles for rent. Instead of local restaurants and bars there are the obligatory Irish Pubs, Molly Malones etc, KFC's and MacDonalds. In the 'Land of Smiles' the Thais in Patong don't. I was offered various goods while looking around and a polite refusal was met with either a surly response or total indifference.

I felt sorry for the tourists there who were expecting an idyllic beach holiday with swaying palm trees etc., and didn't appreciate what has happened to Phuket in recent years. I did not feel sorry for the arrogant tourist types there posing on motorbikes and in jeeps who have no respect for the country or its people and perpetuate this destruction. Seeing at first hand what the wrong kind of tourism can do to such a beautiful location in such a short space of time makes me extremely sad.

Links and resources
The Inn at Temple Street	My accommodation in Singapore
Cairns Queenslander Hotel	My accommodation in Cairns
The Red Hibiscus guesthouse	My accommodation in Chiang Mai
Reef Teach	Cairns based education facility for the Great Barrier Reef
Billy Tea Bush Safaris	Tour operator in Cairns for trips to Cape Tribulation, Daintree and Cape York
Northern Experience Eco Tours	Tour operator in Cairns for trips to the rainforests and Atherton Tablelands
Australian Venom Research Unit	Australian venomous creatures (and there are lots of them)
Sea Dragon Dive Center	Khao Lak based dive centre for local diving and trips to the Similan and Surin islands
Thai Students On-Line	Read about Thailand from people that live there