Sathorn Unique "Bangkok Ghost Tower"

Bangkok has many spectacular attractions, however I arrived looking for something a little different, something that offered a little more excitement than the endless temples that occupy the city. I did a little research and discovered the “ghost tower”, its actual name is the Sathorn Unique and it’s a 43 storey, unfinished and abandoned building. The Sathorn Unique was originally intended to be a luxury residential building but the Asian financial crisis in 1997 left no money for its completion. The more I read the more intrigued I was, stories of the building being haunted, suicides taking place, having to bribe mafia, pieces of the building collapsing as risk seeking travellers climbed the deserted structure left me desperately wanting to experience the Ghost Tower for myself. After all I had read I was a little concerned about visiting the tower alone so I convinced 2 fellow travelling adventure seekers to join me. We grabbed a water taxi and made our way to the Sathorn Unique, all three of us bringing along notions of having to scale walls to enter the building and climbing 43 floors to arrive at a deserted rooftop. Reality soon slapped us in the face…. As we exited the water taxi we soon realised that we were being joined by 15 other tourists with the same idea, our dreams of a stealth commando mission to the top of the tower evaporated.

When we arrived at the base of the building we were greeted by the “mafia” that many people had mentioned, it was actually just two middle aged guys who I assume were the care takers, the fee was 500 baht to enter and they weren’t very willing to negotiate.  I was quite impressed to see a desk in front of the stairs, apparently there was quite a booming tourist trade charging people to enter and these guys had set up a make shift office. It seemed, as often is the case, that many of the dangers that belonged to the Ghost Tower were slightly (at times greatly) exaggerated by those that had previously visited the building, this was an exciting day out but other than getting too close to the edge I didn’t feel as though I was taking a great risk by paying this place a visit. We paid our money and began the climb, we pretty much had the whole building to ourselves and exploring the abandoned building felt like a real adventure. The higher we went the larger the rooms were and you could by their sheer size that the penthouse apartments were designed for the very wealthy. Every room had a balcony and as we ascended the view just got better and better until we walked out onto the rooftop which truly was breathtaking. There was about 20 other people on the rooftop and I was pleasantly surprised to see so few, it wasn’t the huge crowd I feared would be up here and we were all here with the same spirit of adventure.

The roof of the Sathorn Unique was like nothing I have ever experienced, I had seen photos of people standing precariously close to the edge but really had no idea of the sheer drop that was behind them. Something like this would be impossible in most countries, I can honestly say that looking down from a ledge 43 floors up with no rail and no safety gear is a really mind blowing experience. We were lucky to arrive in the afternoon so we were treated to a spectacular sunset over the Bangkok skyline, the Sathorn Unique “Ghost Tower” was not just one of the highlights of my visit to Bangkok but a highlight of my trip so far.

Add caption

Add caption



Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption



Add caption

Add caption



Phuket

My accommodation for the majority of my trip has been quite modest and a large percentage has been spent sleeping on thin single mattresses on the floor of small rooms that people have been kind enough to let me stay in, needless to say that a 2 week stay in a Phuket resort was going to be an interesting change.  The main reason for my stay at Kamala beach was to catch up with my brother, niece and nephew for the first time in 2 years and after some very excited greetings we were soon tanning by the resort pool and sipping on a cold beer. Kamala Beach was quite a good base, the quaint resort town had its fair share of cosy beachside restaurants and a few bars to keep things interesting, it was far enough away from the bright lights and party atmosphere of Patong for some quiet family time but a Tuk Tuk ride would get you in the middle of the bar district quick enough.

It was great to chill out next to the pool or on the beach and I tried my best to make the most of the relaxation, it only lasted for 1 ½ days though before my short attention span had me searching for the resort gym and booking island and jungle tours. I went on a boat trip to Phi Phi islands, some of the beaches we visited were absolutely stunning but they were so full of tourists you could barely see the sand and we spent much of the time pushing our way through the crowds, it felt like we were cattle being herded from one corral to the next. We went snorkelling between islands and I was quite surprised by the lack of coral, I was also surprised to see how many people on the boat couldn’t actually swim, I’d never seen somebody go snorkelling while wearing a floatation jacket before. We snorkelled for an hour and it was time to get back on the boat, as I patiently treaded water and waited for my turn to get back on board somebody grabbed hold of me from behind and started pushing me below the surface. I came up with a mouth full of water expecting to see my nephew laughing at me but was confronted by a frustrated looking Indian guy wearing a floatation jacket trying to swim over me on his way to the boat ladder. I was amazed that someone wearing a buoyancy device would actually push someone not wearing one underwater, especially in a non-emergency situation. I couldn’t resist grabbing his leg and pulling him under as I swam past to the ladder, the look on his face when he surfaced was the highlight of my day.

I also went on an Elephant tour through the jungle, initially I was in two minds about this tour because I had heard that the animals were often mistreated. I can’t speak for all the handlers but mine seemed to have a real bond with his elephant and treated her very gently, even when she was being stubborn, Riding through the jungle on the back of the huge and majestic animal was a very memorable experience. The day trip also included bamboo river rafting, a trip to the monkey temple and a visit to a turtle conservation centre, all of which were fantastic. We had a really great day until they brought us to a small zoo, the enclosures were absolutely atrocious, nothing more than small concrete cells, seeing bears, monkeys and otters in those conditions almost brought a tear to my eye. The worst was a big crocodile which was around 4 – 5 meters in a concrete enclosure with no water and only a foot or two bigger than it was, the big reptile was just lying there, we asked why there was no water and the reply was that the cage filled up when it rained, It makes me appreciate the zoos we have in Australia, why anybody would want to see an animal in these conditions is beyond me.

Between the tours and sightseeing on the motorbike I was able to see most of the attractions that Phuket had to offer but no trip to Thailand would be complete without heading to the red light district to see some of the famous night time shows. We jumped in a Tuk Tuk and headed to Patong’s walking street, when I arrived I didn’t know where to look, I’ve never seen so many bars with Go Go dancers, there were beautiful girls (and more than a few lady boys) in every direction. The ping pong show was a definite eye opener and the lady boy caberet was an absolute laugh, somehow I ended up on stage for both performances, if you are going to have a night out in Patong you might as well make it a big one.

All in all it was a great 2 weeks in Phuket, catching up with my brother Wolfgang in Thailand was always going to be memorable and I had a great time hanging out with Sandra, Dennis and Stephanie. It was sad saying goodbye at the airport, usually I’m the one leaving for my next adventure not the one staying. I had to stay another 2 days in Phuket while I waited for a seal to be replaced on the shaft drive of the BMW, I was very glad when I got the big girl back and was able to get on the road to Bangkok.

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

 

KL to Phuket

After almost a month of waiting for the bike to arrive in Kuala Lumpur I was finally able to open up the shipping crate and be reunited with my baby …. Yah!!!! Although my stay in Kuala Lumpur was quite a bit longer than I had intended once again I was fortunate to have met some very generous people during my visit that made the stay a great experience. My friend Larry loaned me a Harley Davidson Fat boy while I was waiting for my bike to arrive and invited me along for a ride to Malacca with a group of local riders, Larry along with his friend Sunny were a huge help organising my bike and were a wealth of helpful information. I was also fortunate to get to hang out with my friend Ellyne who inspired me with her volunteer work throughout Asia and her all round selfless attitude to everyone around her. What started off as a forced stay while I waited for my bike turned out to be a wonderful month of meeting new people and enjoying KL, my bike had arrived however and it was time to move on once again.

I had originally planned to spend some time touring around Malaysia but I had organised to meet my brother who lives in Germany for a short holliday in Phuket and the shipping delay meant that I was on a tight time schedule to get to Thailand. I usually avoid major highways and stick to smaller roads if I can but after 5 months riding on Indonesian roads the highway to the Thai border was an absolute dream, cruising along at 160 km or more for most of the 500km trip wasn’t a problem. I was told that the border was open until 11pm but I was quite keen to cross before it got dark, I arrived just as the sun was setting. I had to buy Thai 3^rd party insurance for 50 Ringit at the border town of Changlun, it took me a little while to find a shop that sold it but it was quite a simple process, from there I rode the 10 km to the border and hoped all would go smoothly. To my surprise I was across the border and riding on Thai roads within half an hour.

It was dark and I was cruising along the highway of a country where I had just arrived with no idea where I was going to stay. I figured I would keep riding and eventually a hotel would pop up soon enough, 80 km later I arrived in Hat Yai  and thankfully found quite a nice little guest house with secure parking. By now it was a getting late and I was quite hungry so with not many options for food available I’m quite embarrassed to say that my first meal in Thailand was at MacDonalds. It was another 400km from Hat Yai to Phuket, with the road taking me past some stunning, forested Thai landscape. It wasn’t long before I was riding over the bridge to the island tourist mecca of Phuket where I planned to join the throngs of resort dwellers sitting by the pool sunbaking with an exotic cocktail in hand.