Scoot Airlines

The best flight that we found into Asia was through Scoot Airlines. Scoot is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It was half the price, coming in at eight hundred Canadian for the two of us. All other direct flights were at least double that. Our flight went straight from Athens to Singapore (10.5 hours). One of the cheapest flights we found, other than Scoot, was $1,350.00 each but it was indirect and would have been an 18-hour trip. Before we booked our flight we read a bunch of reviews on Scoot and there was no shortage of complaints and horror stories. But we concluded that most people only go online to complain rather than praise and you have to have realistic expectations. If you are paying less than half price then you shouldn’t be expecting a red carpet.

Yes, you have to pay for everything on the flight and no, there is no entertainment available even if you were willing to pay for it. There are no complimentary snacks or beverages. They even charge you for water. The prices are stupid and the portions small, but again, what else would you expect? We ate at the airport before our flight and then ordered a few snacks and soups and drinks on the flight. We spent fifty bucks on shitty plane food. Was it worth saving seven hundred and fifty dollars or more? Yes.

Apparently the guy in front of us did not read anything about Scoot and he was appalled by pretty much everything and was a real dink to the staff. He carried on like a whiny toddler with a French accent. Coincidentally he was also about the same height as a toddler. If he weren’t so rude it would have been comical.

The staff took it all in stride. Perhaps they are accustomed to people’s unrealistic expectations and poor behavior. The attendants were all very sweet and the plane itself was no worse than any standard plane. It was a new plane and had the same amount of legroom and space as other planes its size just no bells and whistles. A flight is a flight is a flight. I don’t think anyone really enjoys flying more than a few hours. I tap out about 6 hours in. I start to get super squirrely and just want out.

Overall our experience on Scoot was nothing but positive and the price just can’t be beat when you’re traveling on a budget. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with them again.

We arrived into Singapore at 3:30 am and rented a very basic room to crash in for the next 8 hours before heading back to the airport to catch our flight to Bangkok. This was a nice short flight, just over two hours. Again with Scoot.

Cultural Etiquette

There are some important things to note when traveling Thailand in order to avoid accidentally offending people. The head is considered sacred and you should never touch anyone’s head. As a teacher of younger grades this is something I do all the time back home as a sign of affection.

The feet are the dirtiest and lowest part of the body and it is extremely rude to put your feet up while sitting. You should sit in a way that the bottoms of your feet are not pointing at anyone. You should also not use your feet to do things. I have pretty sweet foot/toe skills. Andre jokes that if I lost my hands I could get by with just my feet. I wish I had more useful talents. I would have to abandon this skill set while in Thailand.

When visiting temples make sure you have your shoulders, elbows and knees covered. Remove your shoes before entering temples, homes, shops etc.

Fun Facts

Keep some toilet paper on you. Many bathrooms are squat toilets if you are not in more touristy areas and even if a place has a western toilet there may not be toilet paper. I think having some tissues on hand is good practice wherever you travel. You never know if you’ll have a neighbor that can “spare a square” no matter what country you’re in.

Alcohol is not sold between the hours of 2 and 5 pm. We discovered this one afternoon when we popped into a 7-11 (they are everywhere) and found a sheet pulled down behind the door of the fridge containing alcoholic beverages. Apparently this is to prevent high school students from purchasing alcohol. The school day ends at 2pm and by 5pm they should be home with their families.

Jam Hostel

We stayed at a fantastic place in Bangkok called Jam Hostel. It’s been a long time since Andre or I have stayed in a hostel, but this one had private rooms and a really great common area to hang out in which gave us an opportunity to meet other travelers. We were hoping to chat with people who had been in Asia for a while and get some suggestions on places to go. We ended up meeting a ton of interesting people and got a lot of great tips on Asia and other destinations we are thinking about.

The second day of our stay was Halloween. As we walked down Khaosan Road we saw quite a few local people, adults and children, dressed up in costumes, which I didn’t expect. There was also a party going on at Jam. After things wrapped up at the hostel all the guests headed out but we stayed to relax and ended up helping clean up the mess left behind.

This was the best thing that could have happened because we soon realized the young woman we were helping out was actually the owner’s wife who helped to run the place. Before we got into cleaning we had a long visit with her and learned about her journey to Thailand from China, and how she went from studying molecular biology to running a hostile. Xi was a brilliant and insightful lady with a beautiful heart. She told us how the every Christmas she and the guests buy presents for the children at the nearby temple and wrap them up and deliver them. They actually go to the temple every week. Last year one of the guys dressed up as Santa and the kids just loved it. She also volunteers her time with women who have been rescued from human trafficking.

It turns out she also knew Edmonton because her brother attended the University of Alberta.

Stranger Than Fiction

We heard so many great stories but the best one by far was about a Chinese couple that checked into a Bangkok guesthouse. Forgive me if I get some details wrong…

The couple that checked in appeared a bit older (by older I was told 26 lol) and seemed a little too serious. Not the type that stay in a hostel. Regardless of the heat, they were both fully clothed with long sleeves and pants. The woman wore a large brimmed hat to avoid getting any sun, which is typical. Our storyteller said that the man looked like he had never seen the inside of a gym and likened his figure to Winnie-the-Pooh. Apparently, they only stayed one night and then took off the following morning for the island of Koh Tao.

On Koh Tao they decided to rent a scooter so that they could explore the island, even though they had never driven one before. You can probably already see where this is going. Anyhow, typically around this part for the world companies will either take a modest cash deposit or your passport. One would think this is a no brainer, right? Instead of putting down the 2000 Baht (around 100 Canadian) the guy decided to leave their passports. Soon after he lost control of the scooter going up a hill and they ended up in the bush just off the road. Neither one of them got hurt but they were unable to retrieve the scooter which was just a little banged up. The husband was worried someone might take it so he had his wife stay with the scooter while he walked back to the rental shop. When he explained what had happened the guys at the shop told him that it would cost him 30,000 Baht. He got very angry at the absurd price and told them he had left his wallet with his wife. They then offered to drive him back to the scooter for 150 Baht. He had an idea. He declined the offer and walked back. His idea was to not pay the money and instead run away with his wife and abort their passports. The first of many excellent ideas.

They did not want to go back towards the shop for fear of being seen and so they proceeded forward with their plan on foot up the hill, having no idea what they would find. Of course by then, their phone had died so they couldn’t use their map app which would’ve shown them there was absolutely nothing awaiting them. After walking hours through unbeaten land with no shade they came to the water’s edge. At this point the husband, in his infinite wisdom, decided that he would have to swim and find a boat that could come retrieve his wife and take them back to the safety and security of their guesthouse. At this point in his life he had only ever swam in pools.

Soon after entering the water he realized he was in over his head, literally, but worried that his wife would fall in while trying to help extract him. She couldn’t swim. He somehow kept himself afloat as he drifted down the coastline of the island. Luckily, he washed up onto land further down the island where some local people ran to help assuming he’d been part of some ship wreck. He then arranged for them to grab his wife and get them back to their guesthouse.

When they returned to their accommodation and relayed their story, the people there told them it was a small island and the rental company would most assuredly find out where they were staying. And most especially since they had written down that very information when renting the scooter.  So they ran to their room and packed as fast as they could and made their way to the dock, but all the transport boats leaving the island were done for the day.

The only boats going out at this time were the squid boats that fish at night. I’m sure the locals found it very perplexing that tourists were wanting to hire a squid boat for transport. After spending the evening with the fishermen they were eventually dropped off on the mainland and proceeded to take an all day bus back to Bangkok to return to their original guesthouse. Believe it or not, this was all still part of the grand plan he orchestrated whilst staring at the scooter stuck in the bush. They knew the guesthouse had a scanned copy of their passports from when they had checked in.

When they arrived the storyteller was shocked to see that they were still wearing the same clothes they had on when they had originally checked in, except now they were filthy and torn and the woman’s hat was missing.

In order to get a temporary travel document to fly back to China they told officials that they had lost their passports. While they waited several days to receive the travel passes they never left the cover of their guesthouse. They said they were so depressed because…

Wait for it…

They would have to explain to their friends and family why they had gotten tanned.

They said that they would never return to Thailand because “they are all a bunch of gangsters” and that the only good part of their whole trip was meeting the guesthouse worker here in Bangkok. Who was not Thai, but Chinese.

Amazing.

By the way, the Thai people are some of the friendliest and happiest people we have ever met who are extremely welcoming and kind to tourists.

Hostel Outing

During our stay there was an excursion one morning to go to a temple and possibly visit some local school children. There was about ten of us that ended up going. I convinced a couple new girls to come along and pestered another guy named Sammie to join. It was almost 10am and he hadn’t slept yet as he had been up all night partying. I could not believe I actually broke him down, but he came along. Sammie was one of my very favorite people from Jam. I think we both took a million photos of the temple. He was gracious enough to share his pictures with me so I have some of them included in the photo gallery. Thanks Sammie!

 

We also had the opportunity to watch some school girls practicing for the upcoming lantern festival, Loy Krathong.

 

Lazy Days

We honestly didn’t do a great deal in Bangkok. Other than my one day adventure with the hostel we mostly spent our days eating delicious curries and stir fries, enjoying daily full body Thai massages, and reading. Andre got a hair cut and I got a foot massage in the same place while I waited for him. I didn’t need a trim as Andre has become my new hairdresser. He doesn’t get scissor happy and he ensures me that it is straight. My hair is rarely down so it doesn’t really matter. Cuts By Dre has great service and it’s super cheap.

His cut was done before my foot massage so he told me he was going to quickly run to see if there was a book store close by and that he would be right back. Famous last words. I waited patiently. And waited. The ladies working there started looking at me like I had been abandoned. I assured them that “my husband” would return for me. They smiled and laughed and said “bad husband”, to which I laughed and agreed. Turns out he got lost and couldn’t recall which little side street he’s left me on. So that’s a little story about the time I almost had to get a job and live at the hair/massage shop.

Just walking around the streets of Bangkok we had a great time. Khaosan Road is particularly lively and you will find everything from traditional Thai street food to less common menu items such as grasshoppers and scorpions. There are also no shortage of places offering massages, tailor made clothing, and various forms of adult entertainment. Food and clothing stalls litter the sidewalk and share space with tuk tuks (they are now really jacked up versions), taxis and motorbikes.

One random fun thing we encountered was this late night workout in a nearby park. This guy was fabulous. I don’t know what he was saying. Even though he’s speaking Thai, Andre strongly wanted to believe that at one point he was saying “run like hell”, and who am I to rain on his parade.

 

121 days in…

Next stop is Koh Chang.