Reflection on Thailand

I'm putting a full set on photos on Picasa so it will be easy to share. 

Although the blog shows last entries first, you can us the list to your right to go the earliest entries first. 

To wrap up this blog I have a few impressions to share.

Wats

We enjoyed the Wats which can be found everywhere. Wat Pho and the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok is something we will never forget. We don't understand all of the complex symbolism, architecture  and mythology, but there was no mistaking reverence for the images of the Buddha, which are everywhere. The images are to remind Buddhists about the path. And the wild creatures help ward off the evil thoughts that plague humanity.

The Grand Palace has a fabulous mural that must be 1000 feet long. 

trekking

We made two 3 day guided expeditions into the mountains to stay with the hill tribe people, mostly Karen who moved from Burma 100 years ago and settled in rough terrain. We walked through virgin forest, cut over forest, recovering forest, farmland and villages, following farm and hunting trails. The people live in the villages and farm land that is often several miles away, where ever they can cut and burn forest and get water to it. They subsist on rice, chickens, pigs and hunting. We saw a year supply of rice for a family stored in a raised hut of about 6X6X4 feet deep. We slept on bamboo floors in bamboo huts with blankets and it was cold.

Transportation,

Buses, long tail boats, pickups, trains, planes, tuk tuk (motorcycles with a side car) took us everywhere cheaply and efficiently, even if a little on the unsafe side (it seemed to us).  With no apparent regulations, driving seems to be "weave" style, with everyone taking care to to not hit each other as they raced around. 

Food

Great food everywhere, I think everyone in Thailand can cook. We ate from street stalls, at guesthouses, and an occasional restaurant, with very few disappointments. Soups, curries, noodle and rice dishes, all very good and cheap, typically not more than $1 for an abundant plate of food. We did not get sick from the food.

Accommodations

Almost all of the rooms were spartan but comfortable, good beds, clean, and with a bathroom.

We averaged about $10.

The sea

We took several boat trips to the Islands in the Andaman Sea. The remarkable limestone spires and mountains rise vertically out of the emerald water. We stayed on Ko (island) Chang for three nights. This tiny place had nothing going on but guest bungalow operations, most with restaurants. Contex Bungalows where we stayed, is on a little beach, and the congenial family run operation made us feel at home, and the food was great. 

A caution: bring TP, because the toilet may not have any!!!

And here are a few downside impressions.

Pollution

Air quality was not very good, except for a few days. Sewage seems to be largely unregulated, trash was pretty much everywhere. Towns kept things cleaned up, but rural areas could be fairly trashed out.  

Traffic

We discovered an entirely different way of driving, which seemed to consist of avoiding each other as a driver would weave thru traffic, Out on the highway, it was typical for everyone, including buses, to pass on blind curved, and for oncoming to just move over.

almost everyone seems to have a motorcycle, and pedestrians have no rights, so watch out. Crossing streets was an adventure.

Scams

Petty scamming seem fairly common. In Bangkok, a favorite scam was for a well dressed English speaking Thai to approach tourists, who were looking at a map or seemed to be lost.

It happened to us twice before we cut these clowns off. They would asked where you wanted to go, then tell you that is was closed, or dangerous, and that they would take you to some really nice sights. If they could get you into a certain store, they got a commission. This is all described in Lonely Planet.

Another simple scam was short changing, or asking a high price for a taxi ride. We met two young guys who were charged 1600 baht for a 400 B ride from the airport.

For the  most part Thais people are friendly and helpful. For example,We got several rides in pickups, and the folks refused even gas money, and people always want to be helpful.

Bangkok, last day

Khao San Road, the Bangkok "Disneyland"
Wat Arun
Wat Arun

We are home after 30 hours of travel. Luckily, on the longest leg 0f 10 hours we had 3 seats each and could lay down and sleep. It is so nice to come home to this beautiful weather. 

But the brief wrap up is: from our little seaside town we caught the 5 am train to Bangkok. This was 2nd class and a little funky and noisy, but it was still fun to see things from a train. Brenda was feeling a little sick but we made it in about 5 hours and went to the little place we had previously booked. It is near a district that caters to western tourist bigtime. I thought of it as a little like a Thais Disneyland. Shops, bars, hawkers, masses of us. But Brenda and I had been out in the culture for 5 weeks and realized this was a good way to come down, so in the 1 1/2 days we went to Wat Arun (temple of the Dawn) and just walked around the area and did a little shopping, a little resting and some good eating. It was a good way to end the  trip, and to ease into the above 30 hour ordeal. We got a taxi to the airport, and off we went at 1:15 am on the 26th, and arrived at  2 pm on the 26th. 

We are in the small seaside town of Prachuap Khiri Khan, away from the tourist buzz. The little, plain, cheap ($7) Attichai Hotel is on the main downtown street a few blocks from the  sea, the night market and train station. The town is on one of two pretty bays defined by huge limestone towers and islands. Took a walk to a fishing village which was really colorful, stinky, and fishy. It is one of the places where traditional boat building occurs. We've really enjoyed our stay in town, The people are friendly, the streets are clean, and it feels like old Thailand. 

Early morning we take the train to Bangkok and start wrapping this trip up. We'll have a day and a half to see a few things we missed.

Hot and humid and really nice.

serious hammock time on Ko Chang

Contex beach from the veranda and restaurant.

Ko Chang paradise

Sometimes things work out really well. We caught a longtail ferry to Ko Chang (ko=island) and found a simple eden on a tiny island (about 2x6 miles). Contex bungalows are on a small beach about a 1/2 walk from the "main" beach with more bungalows, but people come here to hang out because there is nothing to do. The resident population of 250 raise coconuts, cashews and rubber and run bungalow operation. We walked on the narrow roads and paths, swam, read and ate wonderful Thais food prepared by the sisters who own and operate. It has really been refreshing. There are no real bars, and only a small store.

Then, this morning on our bus ride to the next stop, after a 5 hour drive the driver and his sidekick neglected to tell us we had arrived. I realized something was up and sure enough they dumped on the highway 8 or 10 miles past our destination. So we started walking, and then a couple in a pickup stopped and happily took us into town. Just got here and have a room for 7$ in a clean little hotel. Gotta go to the night market now to eat.

a flying lizard

The view from our bungalow at Khoa Sok

we found a little haven not overloaded with tourist or motorbikes at Khoa Sok NP. Our little bungalow is in a forest setting overlooking the Sok River. It is very nice and peaceful. We took a grueling hike in the jungle yesterday, 16K total, about 10 of it was on what is generously called a trail. Up and over, along ledges, climbing rooks, picking thru roots, but is was pristine and beautiful along the river, and nobody around. We could hear monkeys calling. Today we are doing the first day in a month of doing nothing but hanging around, reading, laundry and such.
tomorrow off on another adventure to a small island. Starting north towards Bangkok.

Fishermans shrine at Rai Lai beach. This is a animist shrine having nothing to do w Buddhism or Muslims.

At rai Lai beach, near the fishermans shrine

We have been in Krabi for a few days now. It is a hub for traveling to Islands in the Andaman Sea. We took the cheapo "4 island tour" (400 Baht). These little islands are beutiful, but absolutely hammered by tourists boats. Our longtail boat (so called because a car engine with no sound supression runs a prop at the end of a 15 foot shaft) belched black smoke the entire trip and was LOUD. Our last stop on this tour was to a famous beach which may be one of the worlds most beautiful beaches, with a backdrop on limestone cliffs all around. Sadly we were part of a mob of 1000 tourists who crouded this 1/4 mile long beach, and there were at leasrt 40 longtails parked on the beach. Also, just off the beach a few feet sat several exclusive resorts. But all that said, we we happy to visit this very special place. A highlight was the cave at one end with a fishermans shrine (not buddhist or muslim) , a statue a a fertility goddess, and a pile of lingham all around.

We are headed for a Khao Sok National Park now where we hope to find trails and wildlife, and a quiet bungalow in the jungle.

Phang-Nga

We keep finding the good stuff. Went to a little local forest park today and it was really nice. Little stream running down thru a limestone valley and a wild  trail going to the features such as a bat cave, a fish cave and a tangled jungle. Really a treat.  We started walking back to town about 8K and the first truck to come along gave us a lift. As we walked to road we passed little local rubber, coconut and banana plantations, and people greeted us all along with sawadee (hello) and a smile. So different than Bangkok where the smile is based on getting your money.

Now the down side: everybody in Thailand from 12 year old school kids to grandmas drive a moterbike, and pedestrians have no rights at all, so watch out. They won't run you down, but they will swerve around instead of stopping.

Prang Nau is so laid back, but time to leave.

"James Bond " Island



We arrived at Phuket airport an opted out of doing anything there after reading and hearing about the over the top tourist BS, so we got a bus (after resisting a hoard of taxi drivers) and arrived in a non descrept town of Prang Nau in fantastic surroundings of tremendous limestone spires. We found a fantastic inn for 17$ and really like the totally local and friendly flavour.

And things got better. The boat tour out to Prang Nau Marine National Park was fantastic. It is an area of huge limestone mountains flooded by the sea in the last 12K years. And the best remaining mangrove forests in T. Caves and the shoreline drip with stalagmites (or is it stalactites?) One stop was "James Bond Island", so named because a Bond film used this location. Not surprising, the tiny island has been turned into tourist trap with stalls lining the only flat spot, and a mass of boats pulled up.

The mountain village we stayed in
Back in Chang Mei after a 3 day trek near Pai. Good hiking but the guide shorted us a little to save himself some money. Took a wonderful walk down a small river, wading it many times. Also drank a bit of local moonshine, which seemed a little weak, and then we shared a bottle of Thais wiskey, which was weaker still. Overall we enjoyed the trek. The hill tribes live a subsistence life, hunting, farming corn and rice, raising chickens and pigs, and using bamboo for everything.

We have been eating our way through Thailand, food everywhere and I'm getting fat!!!

Sukothais

We spent a day riding bikes around Sukothais Historic Park, location of the first Thai kingdom
circa 700-800 A.D.

Our sleeping hut in a Karen village, with all seven trekkers sharing

In Pai, N. Thailand.

The last day in Chaing Mei we wandered into a Wat, and a monk was giving blessing of good luck to the locals. He waved us in and we also got the treatment. Chanting, water springles and a wrist band for good luck.

Landed in Pai after a 80 mile 4 hour bus ride over the mountains in a 3rd class bus. Wild ride and crammed with people. Wild and scenic jungle clad mountains.

Found the lovely Breeze Guesthouse for 600 baht (18 US), and it is luxury. On the river bank, just a block from the action.  Pai (3000 pop) is a sort of Thai/bohemian/tourist hangout in a nice valley surrounded by tribal villages in the hills and mountains. One a weekend day it was crammed with Asian tourist, outnumbering westerners 10 to one. We walked to a village about 4 K out of town, and found that they had built sort of a tourist trap of souvenir shops next the the village, and vans full of Asians kept up a steady stream. But the walk between was full of authentic little shops,  farms, and roadside alters to fertility.

The plan is to trek for 3 days, 2 nights in the mountains and visit more villages, but we are waiting for word that they have 2 more people to make it a 4 person expedition.

When we leave here we fly south to the beaches and islands of the Andaman Sea, most famous of which is Phuket.

bamboo rafting in the Karen hilltribe region of N. Thailand

One of many Buddha

Brenda takes on the challenges of the trek.
The trek group in front of our hut.
We have been in the busy historic city of Chang Mei a week. We spent several days exploring the city, finding the extensive markets, and walking to Wats (Wat=temple). At one the sign encouraged us "chat with a monk" so we did. He spoke English, and even had a greeting in Gaelic when Brenda mentioned Ireland. We discussed his life and the practice of meditation. What he said about it is very much what is being taught here in the US, although he lives an cloistered life unlike most meditators.   A  highlight was a trek in the mountains to visit the Karen hill tribe villages. We walked for a few days and finished with a bamboo raft trip down river. It is hard to believe, but the Karen people live in mountainside villages, farm rice, corn and veggies, hunt and gather, and use bamboo for everything, including the houses. They also practice some slash and burn agriculture. We slept in bamboo huts for 2 nights and the guide and villagers prepared great fresh meals over a fire. The people here know very little of the outside world and very few have left the mountains ever. Motorcycles, solar panels and TV have made some inroads, but not much.

The trails we followed were all local hunting and farming trail, passing thru dense jungle and passing seasonal farming sites, where people spend the rice and corn growing season out in huts away from the village.

The first evening after dinner, we spent some time with an older village couple having tea and talking with Dat, our guide. Dat told us that he had never seen the ocean, and in his one trip to Bangkok he was so perplexed by the traffic that it took him an hour to cross one of the major streets. Dat is a great person, a Karen villager learning English.