The Life and Times of KJ

Carrying on from my previous post we did indeed get the Thai massages and they were very good indeed. It will not be the last time I have a middle aged woman put her hands all over me...Well that's only if a massage is the outcome :-) Bridget was nearby to make sure she kept it civil and her hands not anywhere they were not meant to venture. The next day after some pizza we headed back to Chiang Mai in our jeep planning to clean up as we were planning on leaving the next day for Laos. I was not feeling so good, and by the time 3pm came by I was heaving up the contents of my fragile stomach, not to mention the other end. This went on till about 10pm that night when the bug must have disappeared. It was a good feeling this, as it meant I may have had some semblance of stomach lining left. I have attributed it to the seafood on the pizza. A big no no thats for sure. I had been good up to now but getting seafood when you are 100km form the sea is very silly...

Still feeling very much under the weather the next day we postponed our trip and were planning to leave on Tue the 4th Dec. Great :-)

On Tuesday I was a little better. Ok to travel. 1hr before the bus was to pick us up at 11am Bridget got the 'shits' then the spews and something I did not have. Stomach cramps. Nasty. By 7pm that evening she could barely move. A bit scary really. I got her to a hospital. She stayed there overnight as did I on the comfy but not nearly big enough sofa. A drip in her arm for 15hrs. We were now running out of time for a Laos trip. Bugger. (Was going to say 'Shit Happens' - but in our case it really did :-{) I decided the best move was to head to the Islands of Southern Thailand instead. A big change of plans and direction thats for sure.

On the Thursday after 3 days delay and 3 nights extra in Chiang Mai (It was almost a 2nd home) we hopped on the night train bound for Bangkok. After a restless sleep we hopped on the day Train to Surat Thani (21hrs on trians in 22hrs). A not so nice town but had the best pizza (or western food for that matter so far in Thailand). We also meet a British couple. We were to meet up later in Koh Phangan.

On Saturday the 8th Dec we got the boat to Koh Samui. A very developed Island. Not as bad a Phuket I hear but I did not like it too much. On the taxi ute we got chatting to a few Americans and decided to see if we could get accommodation where they were staying as it sounded like good value and was on the less developed of the main beaches. Turned out it was a good choice. We got a nice little bungalow 30m from the water. Below is a picture from the attached restaurant. It was a great restaurant too. Meet many dutch people as it turned out as the owner was a weird Dutchman. We hired a scooter for the 2 nights we were there. After freaking Bridget out trying to go up hills the 125cc could not handle we managed to see the whole island really well. You could zip around it in 1.5hhrs. There were many distractions along the way however. Beaches, snake farms, view points, shopping, restaurants Etc.

Below is a picture in Samui of the 'Rugby Bar'. It is in the main part of the Island called Hat Chewang. That evening we went to a movie. Was a great theatre. Just as the only english movie (The Golden Comapss) was to begin everyone stood up. For the next minute lovely music and a slideshow of a chronology of the kings life flashed by on screen. Was an interesting experience when you are watching an American blockbuster.

Below is a picture for the electrical engineers out there. This sort of wiring job is everywhere in Thailand. no wonder on the islands, especially Koh Phangan we have experienced so many power cuts aye.

Below is a picture of one of the major natural wonders at Samui. It is called the grandfather rock and I have seen this picture on the net and on emails a number of times. Quite cool to actually see it in person.

There were a few waterfalls to visit on Koh Samui but after seeing the impressive ones in the Mountains way up North about 1400km away these were mainly a let down. Still walking up 300 steps next to the lower reaches of a waterfall is a good way to work up a serious sweat in the 30+ heat with huge humidity. Every time I relished the scooter as it cooled you down when you were zooming along.

Below is a picture of a big caterpillar thing I nearly sat on crawling along the top of a deck chair. You certainly get use to bugs over here. They are everywhere from Flies to mossies to cockroaches to big hairy caterpillars.

Last Monday after 2 nights on Samui we headed to Koh Phangan. The home of the famous full moon parties. We missed the party however but it was a lovely place. Far better than Samui and much more relaxed generally. We were to stay at the Blue Lotus resort. A lovely place on Bai Kai beach half way between the 2 main towns. We had a nice bungalow and the restaurant was also good for tucker.

This is where Zoe and Nick the British lot were staying so it was good to get to know them better over a few too many drinks (note: cheap Thai whisky is very nasty - might as well drink petrol) and numerous card games. Below is a common beach on the west side of the Island. Lovely places. Again we explored the whole island on bikes in the first 3 days we were here. After having one bike break down in the middle of nowhere and returning 3 other bikes due to faults the shop was not to happy with me. Still when the brakes don't work they can have it :-)

Brakes are very important on this island as there are a few hills which have a 20% grade (See pic below) It was great fun to get up as you needed run ups and simply need to gun the engine. Not so much fun when your bike keeps stalling and this happened almost all the way up right near the top. Here I am holding on the front brake trying to stop it rolling back down the hill. No way to kick start it here so I needed to slowly roll in backwards to the bottom to kick start it and zoom up the hill without Bridge on board. After doing a little snorkeling and swimming and lots of relaxing and reading we fulfilled one of Bridge's dreams. To stay in a resort with a pool over looking the beach. This was a great idea and we manged to do it in the main town for a couple of nights without breaking the bank to severly. The beach was lovely here with enough surf for body surfing.

Here is a pic of the main beach In Haad Rin where we stayed. We both really like the atmosphere and beauty of this spot.

One of the many drop in bars restaurants in Haad Rin is pictured below. The place is setup for it with the full moon, half moon, and black moon parties happening weekly. We went out one night. Man it was a great time on the beach having drinks, watching fire shows and participating in games. I managed to win a Vodka bucket by using all the years of soccer skills I have built up :-) Basically there is a big board and you needed to kick the ball through a hole just larger than the ball itself. I managed to score through he toughest hole and score a great prize (only won all night). All drinks come in buckets or plastic cups so that the beach does not end up polluted in glass. Not to mention your feet.

Here is a picture of all the buckets available for purchase. $1NZ = 25Baht.

Here is another scene from Haad Rin beach. Both the 2 nights we stayed here we watched films in the bars, restaurants. All the films are clearly pirated but its a great way to relax the evening away with a few nice drinks and good tucker. I still love the heat over here but that's only because I am doing nothing too strenuous. As soon as you run or climb a big hill the sweat starts coming. Staying hydrated is a big must over here and also remembering always to drink bottled water. We had some great storms while staying in Haad Rin also. Serious tropical showers which after 20mins left many streets semi-flooded.

After 5 nights on Koh Phangan I can say we both had a great time. The island is not overly developed, as many younger people are around unlike all the older rich package tour people scattered all over Samui. Today (Sat 15th) we have just arrived on Koh Tao. Our third and last Island. It is also by far the smallest, size and population wise. I like it already and will report in a few days how our time here went. The net is not cheap but had to get some pics up. Hope you enjoy them and they inspire you to get out there and see some lovely places and experience some different couture's for thos eof you who have not. Anyway I leave you with a few pics of a lovely sunset I took at our first resort Koh Phangan and a typical lunch meal.

A few thoughts:

We feel like idiots being the only ones riding bikes with helmets
In Phangan and other places many people hurt themselves on the bikes. We have heard of many stories first hand. The scars the bikes leave behind are slanged the Phangan Tattoo
Utes are everywhere all the time used for all things. I thought NZers were into Utes. That is totally not so.
Dogs for Africa also. Dogs everywhere its just insane really, Most look healthy and safe apart from the obvious scrappers.
Generality the rule of thumb is that Thai food even if you are sick of it is what to get here unless you have heard otherwise. The 2 burgers I have had have been very average.
I knew this was the case and I have been better than I thought but I am not the best at just doing nothing and lying on the beach when there are still other places to see, walk too, drive too whatever.
Also not the best idea to read the book "The Damage Done" while actually in Thailand. I highly recommend this book. Especially to you drug traffickers on there :-)

Well as I mentioned in the last post we were hiring a little 4WD for 5 days to explore North Western Thailand. We had our little wee beat up Suzuki Carriban delivered to us last Wednesday morning. It has been a few action packed days since then. 4 to be exact. Before we left we farewelled Claudia & Damien as they too were leaving for more Northern pastures on their bikes. We will hopefully meet up again soon. Picture of the 4 of us at the Guest House we were staying in at Chiang Mai.

The first few mins of driving were the most nerve wracking. We had an old beat up car which idles a bit slowly and has the worst steering lock ever and hectic busy city streets to deal with. We also had to fill up. Still all went well and we were on our way to see the Mae Ye Waterfall. A lovely terraced (30 something terraces) waterfall in Doi Inthanon National Park. Of interest is that you pay to enter all the National Parks in Thailand I have come across. These falls were very tranquil and must present a very different site in the monsoon season.

It was about lunctime now and we headed deeper into Doi Inthanon NP. Doi (= mountain) Inthanon is the highest peak in Thailand (2600m). One thing I want to mention is that while almost all the roads we have travelled are paved or made of concrete slabs they are often bumpy and full of potholes. They are also very steep and winding. They do not seem to stick to valley floors like many roads in NZ. They go up to a ridge then down time and time again. Millions of hairpins also, much steeper that ones in NZ. After visiting the Stupas (kinda temples) very high on Doi Inthanon (pronouched without the 'h') we drove to the top and did a nice nature walk.

The rest of the day was rushed. We wanted to get to Mae Hong Son but there was no chance. We got to Khun Yuan well after dark found a placeto crash and got some lovely dinner at someones house/restaurant (a very common site for those who live on the sides of main roads). This town was occupied by the Japaneses during WWII and many stayed here to live. The last surviving Japanese solider died in 2000.

The next day we headed straight to Mae Hong Son. A lovely wee town (9000 people). We stopped for gas and headed north (we were to return to stay that evening). Our plans were to head to a KMT village down some backroads called Mae Awe. It is a Chinese based settlement right near the border of Myanmar. There were a few armed solider checkpoints to pass through. On the way we stopped at yet another nice waterfall. You could buy fish food at the top of the walk. It was a good thing we did. Many happy carp were waiting to see us, well just be feed actually. There were some real big ones in there.

The village was also great. The food we had for lunch was distinctly different than the Thai food we were getting use too. One thing we have noticed is that the people are very resourceful in many ways. One is trying to get money off tourists. Even very remote places always seem to have people selling food/crafts on the roadside. Quite amazing I must say, especailly when upi are miles form nowhere. There are few places not truly effected by western people/culture though all generally are extremely happy to see us (sometimes bewildered, especially school children). That evening we stayed at Mae Hong Son and checked out the markets around the town lake. (see pic below)

On the 3rd day of the road trip I managed to coerce Bridget into letting us go off road with the Suzu. We were headed for yet another waterfall (Susu Falls) through some dense jungle, through 3 river crossings and some steep hills (you would have loved this Dad, 1 gear low range and still struggling a little). It was 8kms of 4wd heaven. We got to the end and the waterfalls were not that impressive. So much so I keep walking down the track (well a slight thinning of the jungle undergrowth) thinking bigger ones were ahead. I really needed a machete but keep at it. I came across 8 guys who were not impressed to see me. I think it was their patch for certain types of plants. I felt a bit worried and got out the remotest area I have been real fast. The fire ants were everywhere and quiet freaky really.

This was a great day. After more ks and more big hills we got to to the Thum Lot cave. 300m long, 50m or so wide with lots of passages. You needed to hire a guide with a lantern and a bamboo raft. You could not explore by yourself. I was sceptical yet in the end it was a very good $12 spent. The raft was great, a traditional bamboo raft. It was only knee deep though. The stalagmites, tights, columns and other cave associated structures were lovely and very large generally. There were also 4 coffins over 1000yrs old way up high in some of the shafts as well as a cave drawing 2-3000yrs old. I did not get good pics in the cave since I did not have time to setup being a guided tour and all. Below is a pic to the exit of the cave with a bamboo dam in place much to my amusement. Without the dam the river would have been only ankle deep and the bamboo raft drivers without a job and workout a way to get 400B of the tourists.

Today we are to be in Pai for our 2nd night. We came here after the caving. It is a funny yet hip wee place full of alternatives and a blending of western and thai and other cultures (many muslims). It shows in the food available and the likes of the availability of mystic services. They do some mean pineapple pancakes and I have fallen in love with fruit shakes. These are blended fresh fruit and ice together and taste supe yummy. In fact I will need to go get another after writing this post.

Today we just relaxed, slept in a little and then headed out for our 2hr elephant ride. What can I say. It was very touristy but also very authentic up here compared to the real tourist havens like Bangkok and Phuket. 2hrs siting bareback on the back of a 3.5tonne sheila with its backbone trying to smash you nether-regions to bits is an experience one way or another. I loved it but will not do it again if ya know what I mean. All should experience it though. The video of it will be something to behold. Especially when I was playing with it in the river. It threw me off like a dog shaking off a flea. Below is a pic of a smaller jumbo I was feeding. They eat 200kgs per day.

Plan tonight (it is 6.30pm) is to get a Thai massage. I have not had one yet, then some dinner. Maybe watch a band somewhere. Tomorrow we sight see our way back to Chiang Mai. Stay a night. Catch a bus to Chiang Kong. Then head over the border to Laos. From there a slowboat will take us to Luang Prabang over 2 days.

Thoughts:

Sorry about the length of the post (u don't need to read it). Its just as much for me as it is for you :-)

Showers. There appears to be no hot water cylinders. All water is heated in an electrical box you turn on in the bathroom. All shower heads are detectable.

Driving. People are very patient and still crazy. Never a hint of road rage and no crashes seen yet.

Many more Thai tourists than Western tourists. Especially in more remote areas we really are the odd ones out.

Apparently they all learn English at school. You would not think so though as many cannot speak a word of it.

Very annoying that many phrases are said differently on a gender basis. Females have the easier time. I think they have often laughed at me speaking in the female tongue :-)