While the winter is taking over in the Northern Hemisphere we decided to go to the warm countries and started in Thailand on the way to New Zealand.
Ko Samui
December, 2022
The first night in Thailand… we arrived in the evening and the first thing we did was a massage… of course. The next day – a light meal on the beach, a massage on the beach, coffee on the beach… Well, you get the picture, nothing new here, just showing off.
A testimonial by Yoav Armony: I don’t like strangers touching me. I love foot massage though. But it comes with an asterisk – only the feet (not even a centimeter above the ankle), without sticks and other aids and ‘gentle gentle’ (or in the local language ‘soft soft’). But this set of instructions makes any masseuse, no matter how old she is, giggle for the entire hour and report to everyone around her about the strange white man. In the end they do what they want anyway… Ira, on the other hand, surrenders her body to all possible massage techniques.
15 years since we visited Ko Samui. During this time, according to foreign publications, more than 20 million tourists passed through the island. Obviously we were worried that it was not the same place. And… a surprise. Still full of magical corners where you feel like Robinson Crusoe, still the Thais (all without exception) welcome you as if you were the first customer of the year. Still everything is cheap and everything green – great fun!
Lamai Thai Cooking School, Ko Samui
December, 2022
It is a known fact that if you want to learn a foreign language, you must move to the country of its origin… by the same token, if you want to learn authentic cooking you must do so in the place of its birth… So we took time out of our jam-packed schedule of massages and beach and went to a Thai cooking class.
The location is great (on the open balcony facing the sea), the teacher is really nice and professional, a small group of 3 couples (Slovak, French, and Israeli). Can’t say there were any exciting revelations, but there were some insights:
– Making a spring roll is really easy
– Making a real hand-made curry sauce is really hard
– The big secret of Thai food is that it is cooked in small portions and served immediately (less suitable for a Friday night dinner when it comes to large quantities, preparation in advance and heating).
In any case, we enjoyed ourselves and ate a delicious five-course meal.
Ko Samui
December, 2022
Is there such a thing as too much chocolate? Every psychology and education book will say that of course there is, but I’ve never felt that way, maybe because I don’t really like chocolate. On the other hand, I like foot-message. Indeed, in the first few days we massaged every spare minute, pretty quickly we dropped to twice a day, and last night we looked at each other and asked, shall we skip? Skip! And we skipped. Looks like we ate too much sweet.
That’s why we rented a car and tomorrow we will start the journey in Thailand by driving. Assuming there is a massage everywhere along the way .
Phu-Naphat Resort Kanchanaburi
December, 2022
The mainland of Thailand is very different from its islands. First of all there are no massages! We drove mostly on side roads and it seems that the life is happening around the road. There are no villages to walk around, but just houses scattered along the side of the road and next to every one there is a stall that sells everything (especially bananas). The whole atmosphere is calm to the point of sleepiness.
In a national park we saw monkeys (a big family that just walked along the road), one snake and many butterflies. In a flower farm (Maple Garden) we ate fresh lychee straight from the tree and saw many flowers and people taking advantage of every possible photo angle. And today our hotel is actually a barge that floated on the River Kwai (the one from the movie and the bridge)… Serenity. So what after all is similar between the islands and the mainland are the cute Thais who always want to help and smile and laugh at everything.
Erawan, Huai Mae Khamin Waterfall
December, 2022
In the last few days we passed through several national parks in Thailand. The last two had seven waterfalls in each and of course Yoav had to swim in them all! I enjoyed more the role of a photographer (especially since the water is wet). In principle, nature here is quite monotonous, although of course everything is very green and full of vegetation.
The plan right now is to continue to New Zealand via Australia. We checked a little the prices in the Down Under…, OMG! Now we have an idea how the tourists feel when they arrive in Tel Aviv, or maybe we just have gotten accustomed too much to a good thing…
Bangkok
December, 2022
– Yoav…
– What?
– There is a frog in the bathroom…
– Well, what did you do with it?
– Nothing… we didn’t really connect…
Our feet are bathed in a tub of water, before the massage.
– Yoav…
– What?
– I have lemon in my water…
– Lemon is good… Lemon adds a lot
This is our dialogue before the foot massage. After a 14 km walk in Bangkok, we deserve a foot massage. We wandered the streets, between the Great Palace with its many temples, and the Reclining Buddha temple. Everything is very touristy, very shiny and lots of gold and overall very impressive. But what will we really remember in the end? The tiny cafe, with barely two tables and a capacity of maybe ten people, which on a hot afternoon hosted a mini-concert of three musicians/singers who performed nice songs and sang really beautiful. And of course the frog in the bathroom…
Bangkok, Thailand – Summary
December, 2022
Thailand – If the motorcyclists leave their helmets on the motorcycle, the locks in the houses are old and simple, and the tourists walk with their backpacks on their backs, it means we will like the place. Add to that people who giggle all the time (when they understand you and especially when they don’t). And we haven’t mentioned the sea, sun and coconut… so here is a great place to spend a few weeks. But there is one condition in being a tourist in Thailand – you must like a massage.
We actually saw three different Thailand countries:
The first is the islands. They are designed for peace and serenity and are full of tourists, but in a way that doesn’t bother you. After two hours it will seem to you that you were born here and you are looking down on the tourists that have just arrived. Despite the number of tourists, the islands do not feel crowded and there are plenty of places to be alone.
Second Thailand is the continent where you feel like it’s a third world country. People live on the street, it seems that everyone is either a farmer or a peddler (or both). The level of English is zero including in tourist sites. And it’s not surprising because you hardly see Europeans, most of tourism is local.
And the third Thailand is Bangkok. Here we were pleasantly surprised, very clean, there are not many beggars and even those who try to sell you something do it gently. The feeling is that the whole city without exception is one big and crowded stall, a food market, clothes, machines, Buddhas, electronics and everything for cheap. In Bangkok, a pedestrian is considered a distraction even if he is crossing a crosswalk and if the light is green – it is enough for a driver to sense a hint of hesitation on your part and he will drive towards you as if you don’t exist.
We of course preferred the first Thailand.
Since we love India, we will always compare every place to a subcontinent. Thailand has two fundamental advantages. It is clean here even in the most crowd places and most importantly when you ask for non-spicy food in a restaurant it is really not spicy.
Finally we noticed that the Thais leave their shoes outside the door but bring the mopeds into the living room. And now New Zealand is waiting for us.
HE 
