The Other Side of the World: Bad Weather in Bangkok = Escape to Cha Am

So last week it either rained or was cloudy ALL week. I was wearing sweaters to school and not sweating once on the walk over there (a unique experience in this city). Even though it was probably still high 70s I was freezing! and there was no sun.

Due to the poor weather, it made the mood of the week quite lazy. We didn't leave the apartment much. On Wednesday Rachelle and I went to a market near Chula and did some shopping and browsing and then had a great sushi lunch. Then we headed over to check out the Jim Thompson store. Jim Thompson is a former CIA agent for the US who founded one of most renowned silk stores in Thailand. He has stores all over Bangkok and the stuff inside is amazing, although it is quite expensive. Jim Thompson actually disappeared mysteriously as well, my dad is reading a biography of his life so if you have more questions I can direct you to him for the answers :)
Wednesday night Rachelle, Eye, Niko, Antoine, Eye's cousin, and I all went to the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra performance conducted by a French conductor in honor of the French Thai festival that has been going on in Bangkok for the last couple of months. The show was great. They played Carmen which was quite good (although I didn't know that a French composer wrote the famous piece about a Spanish love story). Afterwards all of us had a nice dinner and went out for a few drinks.

Bangkok Symphony Orchestra

Outside the Concert Hall/Cultural Center

Eye and her cousin at dinner after the concert

On Friday, my friend Rachel and I fled the bad weather of Bangkok and headed to a beach town called Cha Am. It was only a two hour ride from Bangkok, so we arrived around noon and headed straight to the beach. The weather was perfect and there were nearly no people around. If there were people they were only Thai. The whole weekend we saw only a handful of western tourists in the town of Cha Am. It was clearly a popular Thai weekend spot, which was cool in and of itself because we just got to observe.

So basically the weekend consisted of Rachel and I reading on the beach and watching the Thai vacationers swim in the water in their clothes and ride around on banana boats behind what seemed to be a jet ski but now quite and enjoy the shade underneath the many umbrellas that lined the beach. You could rent a chair for 30 baht a day and just sit under an umbrella or in the sun and order fresh sea food and beer and they would bring it right to your table. The sea food was amazing, I've never had such good sea food, except maybe in Maine, and it was cheap too!

Jellyfish on the beach- they were everywhere in the water which really freaked me out but none of the Thai people seemed to get stung so they much not be stinging jelly fish?

Our set up on Friday

The banana boats and makeshift jet ski

One of the main attractions on the beach were the horses, you could get your picture on one for a price

Thais on a banana boat

Fresh squid and Som Tom (Papaya Salad) Yum!

In the evening Rachel and I rented bicycles. Friday night we headed over to this fishing village just north of Cha Am. We rode out onto the break walls and saw the sights, it was actually quite beautiful. We also got to see a cool market and all the fresh squid and fish being hauled in from the day so the tourists and Thais could eat it in the many open restaurants at night.

In the fishing village

More jellyfish!

View towards the mainland down the canal

Fresh squid being brought in off the boat

All the old traps for fishing

Out on one of the break walls

Giant squid statue on one of the break walls

So pretty, the weather was perfect

Cha Am shoreline

This is where we ate Friday night, they have a hard time spelling "Crab"

Saturday night we rented a tandem bicycle, not usually an uncommon sight in Cha Am but when you add two white girls to the mix we became quite a spectacle. We rode down towards Hua Hin and saw some much more upscale resorts and a few weddings, some outdoor Karaoke. Then we had some drinks at a really nice place for happy hour and then headed to dinner. Dinner on Saturday was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. We had panang curry with seafood and a sweet and sour fish dish. The curry was filled with fresh seafood, squid, prawns, fish, mussels, everything, and it was so fresh. It was delicious.

Fresh seafood along the road, it was so good!

Yes that is a four person bike with an extra seat on the back and we would frequently see these full in the evenings

Rachel's and my lovely tandem bike, that was much too small for us

sitting lonely on the street while we enjoyed happy hour

The very fancy hotel we enjoyed happy hour at, the pool came almost up to the bar

A full four person bike haha

We don't stand out....

The most delicious meal EVER

Sunday was basically the same, we hung out on the beach until we decided to head back to Bangkok. The weekend was just what I needed, a nice getaway to good weather and some time to think and read.