"One night in Bangkok..."

Bangkok! Known for it's racy night life and cheap knock off goods we've spent our last three days here bumming about.  We stayed in the very touristy area which was the perfect place to sit with a drink and watch the people go by.  There were the young party animals, the hippies, the people who thought they were hippies and our favourite the washed out old guy who came twenty years ago and never left.  One of these colourful gents lived in our guest house and cornered us with all sorts of life drama.  Our last day, as we were heading out for breakfast he was just coming home, shirt unbuttoned so you could see his bony ribs sticking out, covered in scars, eyes puffy and droopy at the same time, hair all matted.  He shook his head and said he was so confused. He had just spent three wonderful days with a..um..lady of the night and then last night she kicked him in the teeth and he could not figure out why..I had some guesses but decided to keep them to myself.

We really enjoyed our last few days and as the thought of seeing yet another temple left us feeling lukewarm, we instead hit up a bunch of art galleries showcasing Bangkok's up and coming artists. Later in the day a walk through Chinatown resulted in us getting hopelessly lost.  Squeezed in narrow alleys we were surrounded by a phenomenal amount of stalls selling some of the most useless bric-a-brac we have ever seen; it seemed like we stepped into some weird alternate dimension that we couldn't get out of.  Eventually we found streets again with names and traffic and daylight...

Wanting to soak up as much of Asia before we left we made the most of our Bangkok nights.  We indulged in massages on the street which are the same as regular massages but instead of candle light and the sounds of nature there is the glow of a neon  7-11 sign and the sound of street vendors (but that's part of the fun). Bangkok has some interesting night markets. The first was a flower market that operated in the middle of the night so the flowers don't melt (as we do) in the city's heat.  Three city blocks and a huge covered area where overflowing with the most colourful flowers I've ever seen.  Our second night we sought out the illusive vespa night market, a gathering of Bangkok's alternative crowd. Selling and buying used treasures were hipsters, punks, hippies and the occasional tourist.  While it was hard to find we were rewarded with live music by a punk band before making the trip back home.   Bangkok didn't disappoint and our last night we ate our way through the city streets one last time before having to say good bye to Thailand culinary pleasure. 

R

Fish & Elephants

Heading back in a southern direction we made a 2 day stopover in little visited Kamphaeng Phet. The hotel was terrific, run by a exceptionally friendly man who was very happy we chose to stay at his place. Looking at his sign-in book we were the first check-in for 1 full week. (staying off the beaten track – yep!). The first night we gathered up some amazing food at the night market, a couple of beers and ate down by the river with the locals.

The following day we rented a couple of 30 year old bicycles and headed off to a UNESCO world heritage site surrounding the town. It was a collection of many ruins and temples stretched through 10 km of pathways in the forest. It might sound boring, but it was actually very enjoyable as we were the only 2 tourists there. We found one other person, an employee giving his weed whacker a break by having a nap on the middle of the sidewalk.

Next on the itinerary was a journey to Kanchanaburi. The journey involved 3 different local buses totaling 9 hours. A bit long and hot, but these travel days are where we come across the funniest and most authentic interactions with the locals. During a 20 minute stopover we decided to grab a quick lunch getting the “very spicy, are you sure?” comment. Renee and I get that all the time, and usually it isn't too bad, so go ahead with it....And she was right. It was so hot it felt like a prank someone was pulling on the dumb tourist, but nope, all the locals were eating it too.

In Kanchanaburi we decided to splurge on a tourist packaged day trip to see some of the area attractions. In the National Park we climbed a 2 km series of 7 waterfalls up the mountain. We stopped for swims along the way, however all the pools were full of little surprises (and big). They were 8 - 20 inch long river fish who swarmed your legs and nibbled on you under the water. They didn't have teeth, but they liked to suck the dead cells off your skin (For Free!). Funny to see all the tourists (us included) huddled around the edge of the pools watching the few brave souls swimming and screaming their faces off. Unlike regular fish that avoid people, these swim up close to your body resulting in a few getting smacked around by arms and legs, sorry fish.

Next stop was the elephant rides which was good but Renee and I only covered about 100 m as our elephant was more keen on eating the nearby trees than walking. This was followed by an elephant bath that quickly turned into 'Renee and Colin get thrown off an elephant into the river' but all in good fun. Later in the afternoon we stopped at the “death railway” site where under Japanese Occupation in WWII thousands of POW's died building a railway from Bangkok to Myanmar. A train ride along this railway back into town concluded our days activities. Tomorrow we venture the mega city of Bangkok.

COLIN

Hopping on and off the tourist trail....

We left our sleepy little mountain towns and headed to the city of Chiang Rai.  Renting a scooter has quickly become our favorite way of seeing the country side and with a hand written map from a sweet lady at our hostel we hit the dusty trails.  We stopped to explore an overgrown temple and visited a lone monk in a cave who lived with a few Buddha statues and some cats. In a Hill Tribe village we said hello to some elephants at a camp but opted out of going for a ride. The women who drew our map explained we could cross the river over a small bamboo bridge and take a different route home, it took some back and forth but we managed to find it.  It's hard to see in the picture but this bridge is in need of a little repair, not only are most planks loose but it also swings adding to the adventure.  I thought it was great fun but Colin failed to share my excitment and made me get off and walk across.

After our day of sightseeing we headed to a busy local restaurant for dinner, we shared a few dishes and when we were almost done we both commented that there was a different texture in the dish than usual.   I examined my spoonful more closely to see what was different.  In northern Thailand many people still eat bugs and there on my spoon was a big fat juicy fried moth larvae (giant maggot).  Colin and I eyed it up and figured we'd both already eaten several so why waste food and finished the rest.  Protein, right?!

Our next stop was Phayao.  We are fairly certain we were the only foreign tourists in town and feel the town may be unfairly over looked.  The city lies on a large naturally occurring body of water.  The guide books call it a swamp, the locals refer to it as a swamp and after seeing it we concur it is in fact a swamp but maybe calling it a "shallow lake" or something a little less off putting would bring more visitors as it really is quite a pretty town.

We visited a large temple and outside was a small market with women selling bags of live assorted fish.  Each bag had an eel, some smaller fish and little turtles in it.  We were curious and figured it was for a soup, I mean we just ate maggots would it be so strange that they have live dinner in a bag?  I approached one of the ladies and pointed to th bag making an eating gesture with my hand and mouth.  Her brow furrowed and she got up and came over with a look of much concern. She shook her head and made a motion that informed us you buy the baggy and release the fish into the swamp for religious purposes....not eat them.  I hope we didn't horrify her too much.

After visiting the temple with the not-for-eating-purposes-fish there was little to do in town.  We were told you could hire a boat to take you out onto the swamp to a sunken temple and we thought it a fun idea and headed to the water front at sunset.  Expecting the usual motorized long-tail we were surprised to find paddle boats and two elderly gentlemen watching over them.  We speak no Thai and they had little English and so we assumed the boat that was currently out would be returning with two youthful paddlers who would take us out.  We were wrong.  The two  65+ men loaded us into the boat and started paddling.  On our way out the other boat passed us on it's way back with two even more elderly men!  The temple was interesting but our boat ride was fabulous.

R

Lady With A Knife - Northern Thailand

From the mega tourist scene of Chaing Mia we headed north to find somewhere more quiet. Riding a few hours in the back of a caged pick-up truck we eventually reached the small town of Tha Ton. The main attraction here is to climb “9 levels” of Buddhism up the mountain to a Buddhist temple sitting on top. Each level hosted some kind of shrine or monument with some Monks calling the surrounding hillside their home. The reward was a terrific view of the valley on one side, and a look deep into the mountains of Myanmar on the other side. In the evening we enjoyed a birthday beer and a nice spicy pork curry, fiery hot!

Early the next morning we jumped in the back of another taxi pickup heading a couple of hours further north high up into the mountains of Mae Salong. The 36 degree temperatures gave way to 22 degrees high altitude temperatures - No more Sweating! Our first mission was to work our way 3km down the mountain ridge to a nearby tea plantation. We were interrupted by a couple of torrential downpours, scurrying for cover onto some locals front porch. On the way back up the hill we stopped for some spicy Thai soup at a small village restaurant and enjoyed a tasty cappuccino. 


Here is where the fun begins for Renee, as she stubbed her toe (same toe she stubbed twice in the past 2 days and most other days for that matter). It was on a 2 inch rise at the convenience store but things were a bit bloody so we hobbled home. Upon entering our hotel room with 5'11" door-frame smacked her head resulting in a big lump within 2 minutes. Leaving the washroom after bandaging up the toe she whacked her head on the bathroom door-frame sitting at 5'9". Another big bump, side by each (twins) and a swollen bloody toe.

Renee called it a day, so I headed up into the mountains on a little hike. To get to the top there are 718 steps (I didn't count, said so on the map). The wetness of my shirt confirmed there were at least 718 steps. On the way down a friendly woman was chopping small pieces of bamboo near the road with a machete. After a short chat, she handed me 4 foot length and said "walking stick for you". I said thank you and continued on my way. 

Later in the evening Renee and I were enjoying dinner at the hotel, when this lady appeared at our table. She told the owner that I owed her 100 baht for the stick I took from her. I was completely flabbergasted, telling the owner she gave it to me as a gift. The owner pasted on the words in Thai (She spoke English when I met her, but can't speak English now...hmmm?). I told her I will go grab the stick for her, but nope, she wanted money. Things became really heated as the owners son chimed in telling her to get lost. The lady took off towards her scooter, but the owner beat her to it grabbing her machete before she could. She lost her mind and some bystanders had to hold her back. Eventually she left the hotel and things cooled down, but the owner was furious, and terribly sorry for the way his fellow citizen had acted.

Later in the evening while at the internet cafe the hotel owner came bursting in looking like he had seen a ghost. We had been gone for an hour and fearing the worst he thought we had run away into the woods or worse the machette Lady got us. Neither was true and to his great relief we were simply surfing the net. When we checked out of the hotel I gave the stick to the owner as a gift. He said he was going to take the stick down the village chief to submit as evidence.

Aside from the above story, we have found ALL of the Thai people to be extrememly pleasant and helpful. Only 1 bad apple out of 100's of great interactions ain't bad at all. 


Side note two, Renee's toe and noggin are healing nicely!!!


COLIN

Chiang Mai!!!

From Ayutthaya we have headed north to Chiang Mai, Thailand’s cultural capital.  We arrived late at night via train rather drained but were immediately recharged when our tuk tuk dropped us off in the middle of the Sunday night market.  We’ve hit up several night markets in Asia but this one was special, along with all the usual bric-a-brac  for sale there were musicians, artists painting and sculpting, and our favorite a 6 year old boy doing portraits!

We packed our time in Chiang Mai full of fun activities and visited numerous temples, got massages from a group of inmates at the local women’s prison and meandered through several streets and local markets.

As our blog posts attest, we love food and Thai food continues to impress us.  So when mulling over what to do to celebrate Colin’s birthday a cooking class was an easy decision.  To escape the city we booked an all day course out in the country and with only 5 people in our class (we saw others in the markets with 15) it was a lot of fun and very relaxing.  We picked our 6 dishes to make and as we stirred and fried our instructor slyly asked if it needed more heat, almost daring us to put in another chili. We accepted this devilish dare and it defiantly kicked things up a notch but didn’t hinder the taste, we figure between the two of us we consumed a whapping 15 chilies…yowza!    We learned how to make fresh curry paste with a mortar and pestle and our instructor divided us into two’s and said this was a job that needed ‘man’s power’.  Now anyone who knows me knows I dislike being told what I can and cannot do and so I refused to let Colin help me pound the ingredients in to a paste.  The instructor came to look in my bowl and I proudly showed her my work which passed her inspection - ha, man’s power my @$$. We learned a lot (other than the fact that women can pound curry paste) and our favorite part, of course, was eating our fiery creations.  Our minds and bellies full we headed back to the city.

After cooking I had just enough time to head to one of the temples for what is called ‘monk chat’. As the name implies you get the opportunity to sit and chat with a monk.  He gets to practice his English and share his knowledge and I get to learn about Buddhism and his way of life.  I was early and had a good hour to talk with two of the monks before other showed up. At the end of visit they took us into the temple and taught us how to meditate, very cool.   Add all that new knowledge to what I learned earlier at the cooking school and I was good and done by the time I got back home.   Chiang Mai has so much to offer we could stay a week without even covering all there is to see and do.  But it is time to move on and head further north for some small town living. 

p.s : The next morning confirmed 15 chilies might have been one (or ten) too many... 

Heading North, Thailand

Next stop was the quiet town of Khanom situated on the gulf of Thailand. We were suffering from “tourist fatigue” meaning the hoards of westerners were getting to us, so we went off the tourist grid for a while. Khanom was an absolute gem, seeing only 2 other tourists in 2.5 days. The other added benefit of getting off the tourist trail is the costs for accommodation and food is 50% lower. The area had 14 km of beautiful beach, with 4 inch waves rolling in under blue skies (Yes I said 4 inch waves). We rented a scooter and stumbled across a series of waterfalls coming off the hillsides where we stopped for some pictures. Renee decided to dip her feet in to test the water beside some locals who were playing in the natural pools. The locals signaled to Renee that the rocks were slippery, so be careful. Within 5 seconds after the warning, Renee had fallen in the water fully clothed. Other than a bruise on her knee the only injury was her ego. I gladly stood back and took photos of her in her bubble of embarrassment.

Our next leg took us further north up the coast to Chumphon. Once again off the main tourist route, making for a very enjoyable 1 day stopover. The next day we headed to another quiet town of Phetchaburi. Here we found a hotel room with million dollar view over the river. The catch being the rooms greatly resembled old jail cells, but worse. With a cost of $6/night we figured 1 night would be okay as the sheets were clean and the price included 1 free bath towel and a free map of the city!

For both Chumphon and Phetchaburi we ate at the local street markets serving meals fresh out of the Wok. The food here is unbelievable, so incredibly full of flavor and spices. In Phetchaburi we forgot to bring tissues with us for the spicy food…the locals like watching the two of us eating our bowls of soup bawling our eyes out, faces red as a cherry. BUT, the locals sometimes cry when they eat their soups too, so we aren't the only ones. Man-o-man it is good stuff.

 

We have now moved further north to the historic town of Auytthaya which is surrounded by rivers on 4 sided effectively making it an island. The city is full of dozens of temples and old ruins. Upon arrival we took the “sunset boat tour” around the city to see the sunset over various ruin sites. It was quite impressive, and we also saw a couple of 6 foot monitor lizards on the river banks.

The previous 4 days have been a great run. We avoided the tourist shuttle buses and comfortable air-con cars on the trains. We rode the train 3 different days covering over 1000 km along with the locals in the back cars. They are truly kind people with many many of them all asking where we were going to ensure we didn’t miss our stop. Another benefit of the train is the amazing food being sold up and down the aisles. It’s like a dim sum, but with Thai food!

With temperatures around 40 degrees, the train gets a bit “warm” when stopped at stations, but for $0.25 that is a great way to lose 2 lbs in a hurry. 

COLIN

Thailand!

We have made it safe and sound to Thailand!  As with every new country there is a bit of a learning curve, Thailand's learning curve involved getting to know the heat factor of their chilies. In Malaysia two chilies in our meal gave us just the right amount of fire, so at our first Thai meal when asked if one chili would be alright we thought little of it and agreed...these were not the same chilies.  I hate the thought of wasting food and managed to finish my plate but not without going through a pile of napkins, copious amounts of water and sweat dripping from my face (pretty image I know).  Lesson learned.

With in three days of being in Thailand we encountered two of my favorite misunderstood animals, sharks and bats.  On Ko Phi Phi, a gorgeous island, we took a snorkel trip out to 'shark point' and dove in looking for the black tipped reef sharks. Lucky us we saw several, a good number of big guys that sleekly swam away if we got too close and then a little guy (maybe 1.5 meters) got curious and circled me and Colin, he got so close we could have touched him and right before taking his leave he stopped to get one last good look at us!

After Phi Phi we headed to the smaller and quieter destination of Railey Beach where jagged cliffs plummet into the ocean.  These cliffs and peaks are also home to caves which is were we found our bats.  We could smell them before we saw them, but the stink was worth it to get a relatively close up look at these creatures dangling form the cave ceilings.  Other than ogling at bats most visitors come to Railey to rock climb, we are not apt rock climbers but had a great time chilling in the sand watching them dangle from high above.

 From the white sand beaches we made our way inland to the jungles of Khao Sok National Park.  Now the jungle this time of year is a little soggy.  We got a great little bare bones tree house right in the jungle but with the socked in rain the jungle was not really ready to explore so we settled in for the afternoon with a bottle of wine and a couple of books and watched as lizards and birds tried to navigate the down pour.  Lucky the next morning the rain cleared and we headed out for a 6km jungle walk. At first I spent most of my time hoping to spot an elephant but quickly our walk turned into "leech watch!".  Loving the rainy conditions the jungle floor is literally crawling with leeches and not the kind we have at home that you pick off, no these guys chase you down and hold on for dear life.  As we entered the jungle another hiker was leaving with his shins covered in blood, another hotel guest said he was checking out early because he was fed up with all the leeches, we soon found out why.  Armed with a lighter we trekked lightly but managed to attract a good 30 of these bad boys who move way to fast for my liking. I wish I could tell you that when I found one crawling up my leg I calmly detached them using the lighter and carried on, unfortunately in reality I came running to Colin yelling  "Leech! Leech! Leech! Get it off! Colin, GET IT OFF!" .  Needless to say any chance of seeing wildlife from this point on was out the window....

R

Thailand is hot....how hot is it?! so hot they let their cats cool off in the refrigerator!