If you're interested in finding out more about the children's centre that I visited near the end of my time in Thailand, they have an English-language website at http://www.childlife-maesai.org/index.html
And there's some photos of our visit at http://www.vigoclub.com/BoardTalk2.asp?id=Q000002935;talk - if you look carefully you might spot me hovering in the background...
I'm back in Edinburgh now. It feels pretty strange to be back!
Things are pretty crazy - catching up with friends and work, but I'm slowly working through the 1500 photos I took, so I'll put a select few online when I can, and I'll try to write up a bit about the fantastic time I had in Tokyo.
Cheers,
T
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Photos of Sydney
I've uploaded a few photos of Sydney. I had a fantastic time there eating delicious food and being a tourist. I've now arrived in Tokyo and am staying with my sister. It's an amazing place - very different to what I expected. There's all the tall buildings and fluorescent lights and crowds as made famous by Lost in Translation, but walk a few metres away and you're on quiet tangled streets with houses only one or two storeys high.
I'm planning a visit to a place where you can eat as much pudding and cake as you want in 90 minutes for £7... It's been nice knowing you all.
I'm planning a visit to a place where you can eat as much pudding and cake as you want in 90 minutes for £7... It's been nice knowing you all.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Thursday 16th Feb, Sydney
After a wonderful last few days in Thailand travelling around with Tone and his friends, I'm now in Sydney staying with my friend from uni, Nicky (the same person I was visiting in Hong Kong).
Tone and his friends had travelled up from Bangkok to take a load of donations of food, clothing, toys and money to a school that a young guy set up for kids from hill tribe families that had become homeless for various reasons. I found it really shocking that the Thai government doesn't support them in any way. People from the hill tribes aren't considered Thai - they don't have Thai ID cards and get no welfare at all. So these kids are living in a tiny group of buildings among the paddy fields, and the school is totally reliant on donations. I'm finding it really difficult to explain what it was like to be there. On one hand it was really uplifting to see how happy and well balanced these young kids were. But at the same time there was something quite draining about visiting and making friends with them and seeing how happy they were with everything that the group had brought, and then driving away again after spending a few hours there.
The other amazing thing I did with the group was on Monday - a big Buddhist religious holiday. We got up at 5.30 and drove for an hour or so to a really remote village, which is unique in Thailand because the monks there ride on horseback to collect their morning offerings. So along with a couple of hundred Thai people that had come to make their offerings for the festival, I stood in this hillside settlement and watched in the crisp morning sunshine as the seven monks came riding over the hill through the forest in their beautiful saffron robes chanting. The head monk was the most striking person I have ever seen. He sat on his horse, smiling happily and calmly among the crowds of worshipers making their offerings. He was quite chunky and his body was covered in intricate tatoos. He was followed by another older monk, an dthen by five young novice monks, each with tatoos. They'd be far too young to get tatoos in the UK!
I'd brought some food, soya milk and cartons of orange juice, so I stood in line with everyone else and made my offerings. The main monk was quite amused to see a farang there.
Tone had to go back to Chiang Mai to work, but the others gave me and my bike a lift all the way back to Bangkok! I was lucky that they were so kind, because I would really have struggled to get a space on a bus or train with the holiday - I'd not realised it was happening.
And after a journey that was pleasant thanks to a co-passenger who spoke good English, and scary thanks to a driver who drove adrenaline-drainingly fast, I arrived at Bangkok at 1.30 in the morning. I left my bike and all my stuff except my wallet and passport in left luggage and got a taxi to Khao San Road (backpacker central) and after a few attempts, found myself a room at 3.30 am. I felt I ought to make the most of my last night in Thailand, but despite it's party reputation, absolutely nothing was open at that time, and they stop selling beer in the shops at midnight. I got chatting to a group who were drinking on the pavement - a Canadian called Ty, an Australian called Jimmy, and six crazy japanese guys. They informed me that you can still buy beer illegally in the shops - just smile, and give them 100B, and they might keep the change as a bonus (though in my case they just charged me the normal price of 50B).
After some in-depth and drunken conversations about the state of Thailand, the two of the crazy Japanese guys started pushing each other around and shouting, and a Thai taxi driver threatened to call the cops, so bearing in mind the strong need not to get on the wrong side of Thai police, me, Ty and Jimmy made a hasty exit to our respective guesthouses. It was time to sleep anyway - it was past 5, and we were the last people on the street apart from the hookers.
After very little sleep I got up to make the most of my last day to do some shopping. I have discovered the best way to get around Bangkok: the motorbike taxi. It is so fast because they can dodge up the side of the traffic jams like a bike, but it's faster than a bicycle thanks to the motor. And it is so much fun! And because I'm a passenger I can take in all the scenery that I can't when I'm cycling (because I'm having to watch the traffic) or when in a bus or taxi (because the roof gets in the way). I went to the bike shop and sorted out a box for my bike, then hit the MBK mall and spent lots of money on software, DVDs and a shiny new digital camera (Pentax Optio WPI 6 mpx for anyone that's interested), then headed out to the airport, dismantled my bike and checked in with no problems at all - they didn't even charge me extra for the bike!
The flight to Sydney was pleasant - I was sitting between a well travelled middle aged Australian from the same suburb as my Dad's cousin who I'm off to see tomorrow, and a young Spanish guy who's birthday it was that day and was off to live with his girlfriend for three months. I got the train into the city centre and discovered that rather than being scorching hot and in the 30s, it was raining.
I found Nicky's flat on the edge of Chinatown without any problems and was welcomed by her boyfriend Rowney. I knew he was big into cycling, but it turns out he's REALLY into cycling. He's an ex-pro racer, mostly mountian biking, and competed in the olympics! He was pretty famous in the late 90s when mountain biking was at it's biggest. I'm sure I must have come across him when I used to read the biking magazines religiously as a teenager. He's got three absolutely amazing bikes in the flat. He now sells Yeti bikes - his road bike frame was custom made for him. He took me out for a ride around Sydney and at one beauty spot up on the cliffs an old American guy came up to us and was suitably awed by it. I don't really know much about high-end bikes, but even I am impressed. What impressed me was how seriously fit he is. We rode about 30 miles and he was clearly taking it extremely easy as I struggled to keep up. It was a great way to see the city. We rode past the parliament buildings, and then suddenly arrived at the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge. Then we went past the botanic gardens and east through Kings Cross, Double Bay, through the posh suburbs with the occasional stunning modern house and lots of dull pillbox houses, watched the bmx-ers at the skate park at Bondi Beach, then stopped to see his friends at a bike shop. Rowney very kindly fixed up my bike a bit - including changing my drop-bar handlebars to be at the correct angle. i've spent the last six weeks with them set up wrongly! Doh! It's totally changed the handling, and feels much more comfortable. We had a delicious veggie burger, then headed back through a huge park (centennial park) and back to Nicky's flat.
In the evening when Nicky got back we drank some delicious Australian beer and wine, and Rowney made tasty babaganoush, followed by fantastic gnocchi. Nicky's got herself a good man here! I'm really enjoying good western food again. I love Thai food, but I got kinda sick of having rice and veg so often as the only vegetarian option in the many villages I was passing through. But I know that in a couple of weeks I'll be aching for it again.
Today's been an interesting rambling exploration of Sydney. I wandered around downtown looking at the shops and bizarre mix of architecture - bland skyscrapers, elaborate neo-classical collonial, and the occasional unexpected art-nouvau facade or gothic revival church. I did the touristy thing of going up a tall tower to see the view, and wandered around the beautiful botanic gardens and learned all about orchids - a plant that was amazingly prevelant in Thailand, but which I struggle not to kill in Edinburgh.
I ended the day by wandering around the Opera House. Yesterday I'd been seriously underwhelmed by it. It's one of those buildings that has occupied a place in my imagination for a long time thanks to it's very striking architecture, and having seen so many beautiful photos. So when I actually saw it there was no way that it could possibly live up to that. The same thing happened when I first saw the Pantheon. But this evening as I walked around it in the bright, pre-thunderstorm light, I fell in love with it. The shapes are so beautiful, the views change so much as you get closer, or move to another angle.
As the thunderstorm hit I felt very glad that I wasn't one of the people doing the walk over the arches of the bridge, and ran for a bus back to the town hall, where Nicky had booked us tickets for an evening lecture about sustainable building. It was an interesting lecture, even though it barely scratched the surface of the issues. The atmosphere of the lecture was very different to similar events I've attended in the UK. Much more chilled out and informal, with people swearing occasionally and cracking jokes that were actually funny.
We wandered home past Darling Harbour admiring the night time views of the unsustainably-illuminated skyscrapers. I feel like it's a pretty nice city from my first impressions. Flicking through the free live music paper is breathtaking - there's so much happening. People seem pretty friendly for such a big city. It's quite an under-stated place - it's not breathtakingly beautiful like Edinburgh or Florence. But it does still have a certain beauty about it with the opera house, nice public spaces and sculptures. But it is ridiculously large. Cycling 30 miles yesterday I hardly saw any of it. I'll see a lot more of the suburbs tomorrow evening as I head out to meet my relatives. And because of it's size and it's rather poor public transport the car really is prevelant here.
Tone and his friends had travelled up from Bangkok to take a load of donations of food, clothing, toys and money to a school that a young guy set up for kids from hill tribe families that had become homeless for various reasons. I found it really shocking that the Thai government doesn't support them in any way. People from the hill tribes aren't considered Thai - they don't have Thai ID cards and get no welfare at all. So these kids are living in a tiny group of buildings among the paddy fields, and the school is totally reliant on donations. I'm finding it really difficult to explain what it was like to be there. On one hand it was really uplifting to see how happy and well balanced these young kids were. But at the same time there was something quite draining about visiting and making friends with them and seeing how happy they were with everything that the group had brought, and then driving away again after spending a few hours there.
The other amazing thing I did with the group was on Monday - a big Buddhist religious holiday. We got up at 5.30 and drove for an hour or so to a really remote village, which is unique in Thailand because the monks there ride on horseback to collect their morning offerings. So along with a couple of hundred Thai people that had come to make their offerings for the festival, I stood in this hillside settlement and watched in the crisp morning sunshine as the seven monks came riding over the hill through the forest in their beautiful saffron robes chanting. The head monk was the most striking person I have ever seen. He sat on his horse, smiling happily and calmly among the crowds of worshipers making their offerings. He was quite chunky and his body was covered in intricate tatoos. He was followed by another older monk, an dthen by five young novice monks, each with tatoos. They'd be far too young to get tatoos in the UK!
I'd brought some food, soya milk and cartons of orange juice, so I stood in line with everyone else and made my offerings. The main monk was quite amused to see a farang there.
Tone had to go back to Chiang Mai to work, but the others gave me and my bike a lift all the way back to Bangkok! I was lucky that they were so kind, because I would really have struggled to get a space on a bus or train with the holiday - I'd not realised it was happening.
And after a journey that was pleasant thanks to a co-passenger who spoke good English, and scary thanks to a driver who drove adrenaline-drainingly fast, I arrived at Bangkok at 1.30 in the morning. I left my bike and all my stuff except my wallet and passport in left luggage and got a taxi to Khao San Road (backpacker central) and after a few attempts, found myself a room at 3.30 am. I felt I ought to make the most of my last night in Thailand, but despite it's party reputation, absolutely nothing was open at that time, and they stop selling beer in the shops at midnight. I got chatting to a group who were drinking on the pavement - a Canadian called Ty, an Australian called Jimmy, and six crazy japanese guys. They informed me that you can still buy beer illegally in the shops - just smile, and give them 100B, and they might keep the change as a bonus (though in my case they just charged me the normal price of 50B).
After some in-depth and drunken conversations about the state of Thailand, the two of the crazy Japanese guys started pushing each other around and shouting, and a Thai taxi driver threatened to call the cops, so bearing in mind the strong need not to get on the wrong side of Thai police, me, Ty and Jimmy made a hasty exit to our respective guesthouses. It was time to sleep anyway - it was past 5, and we were the last people on the street apart from the hookers.
After very little sleep I got up to make the most of my last day to do some shopping. I have discovered the best way to get around Bangkok: the motorbike taxi. It is so fast because they can dodge up the side of the traffic jams like a bike, but it's faster than a bicycle thanks to the motor. And it is so much fun! And because I'm a passenger I can take in all the scenery that I can't when I'm cycling (because I'm having to watch the traffic) or when in a bus or taxi (because the roof gets in the way). I went to the bike shop and sorted out a box for my bike, then hit the MBK mall and spent lots of money on software, DVDs and a shiny new digital camera (Pentax Optio WPI 6 mpx for anyone that's interested), then headed out to the airport, dismantled my bike and checked in with no problems at all - they didn't even charge me extra for the bike!
The flight to Sydney was pleasant - I was sitting between a well travelled middle aged Australian from the same suburb as my Dad's cousin who I'm off to see tomorrow, and a young Spanish guy who's birthday it was that day and was off to live with his girlfriend for three months. I got the train into the city centre and discovered that rather than being scorching hot and in the 30s, it was raining.
I found Nicky's flat on the edge of Chinatown without any problems and was welcomed by her boyfriend Rowney. I knew he was big into cycling, but it turns out he's REALLY into cycling. He's an ex-pro racer, mostly mountian biking, and competed in the olympics! He was pretty famous in the late 90s when mountain biking was at it's biggest. I'm sure I must have come across him when I used to read the biking magazines religiously as a teenager. He's got three absolutely amazing bikes in the flat. He now sells Yeti bikes - his road bike frame was custom made for him. He took me out for a ride around Sydney and at one beauty spot up on the cliffs an old American guy came up to us and was suitably awed by it. I don't really know much about high-end bikes, but even I am impressed. What impressed me was how seriously fit he is. We rode about 30 miles and he was clearly taking it extremely easy as I struggled to keep up. It was a great way to see the city. We rode past the parliament buildings, and then suddenly arrived at the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge. Then we went past the botanic gardens and east through Kings Cross, Double Bay, through the posh suburbs with the occasional stunning modern house and lots of dull pillbox houses, watched the bmx-ers at the skate park at Bondi Beach, then stopped to see his friends at a bike shop. Rowney very kindly fixed up my bike a bit - including changing my drop-bar handlebars to be at the correct angle. i've spent the last six weeks with them set up wrongly! Doh! It's totally changed the handling, and feels much more comfortable. We had a delicious veggie burger, then headed back through a huge park (centennial park) and back to Nicky's flat.
In the evening when Nicky got back we drank some delicious Australian beer and wine, and Rowney made tasty babaganoush, followed by fantastic gnocchi. Nicky's got herself a good man here! I'm really enjoying good western food again. I love Thai food, but I got kinda sick of having rice and veg so often as the only vegetarian option in the many villages I was passing through. But I know that in a couple of weeks I'll be aching for it again.
Today's been an interesting rambling exploration of Sydney. I wandered around downtown looking at the shops and bizarre mix of architecture - bland skyscrapers, elaborate neo-classical collonial, and the occasional unexpected art-nouvau facade or gothic revival church. I did the touristy thing of going up a tall tower to see the view, and wandered around the beautiful botanic gardens and learned all about orchids - a plant that was amazingly prevelant in Thailand, but which I struggle not to kill in Edinburgh.
I ended the day by wandering around the Opera House. Yesterday I'd been seriously underwhelmed by it. It's one of those buildings that has occupied a place in my imagination for a long time thanks to it's very striking architecture, and having seen so many beautiful photos. So when I actually saw it there was no way that it could possibly live up to that. The same thing happened when I first saw the Pantheon. But this evening as I walked around it in the bright, pre-thunderstorm light, I fell in love with it. The shapes are so beautiful, the views change so much as you get closer, or move to another angle.
As the thunderstorm hit I felt very glad that I wasn't one of the people doing the walk over the arches of the bridge, and ran for a bus back to the town hall, where Nicky had booked us tickets for an evening lecture about sustainable building. It was an interesting lecture, even though it barely scratched the surface of the issues. The atmosphere of the lecture was very different to similar events I've attended in the UK. Much more chilled out and informal, with people swearing occasionally and cracking jokes that were actually funny.
We wandered home past Darling Harbour admiring the night time views of the unsustainably-illuminated skyscrapers. I feel like it's a pretty nice city from my first impressions. Flicking through the free live music paper is breathtaking - there's so much happening. People seem pretty friendly for such a big city. It's quite an under-stated place - it's not breathtakingly beautiful like Edinburgh or Florence. But it does still have a certain beauty about it with the opera house, nice public spaces and sculptures. But it is ridiculously large. Cycling 30 miles yesterday I hardly saw any of it. I'll see a lot more of the suburbs tomorrow evening as I head out to meet my relatives. And because of it's size and it's rather poor public transport the car really is prevelant here.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Thursday 9th Feb, Chiang Rai
Didn't sleep too well for some reason. So I got up at 5.30 and went to see the market. Lots of the local hilltribe women there in the beautiful traditional dress. Again I was wrong about it being just for the tourists. Had a breakfast of coffee and deep fried dough, then wealked up the hill to watch the sunrise.
Set off at 8ish - a few very steep hills, some pushing, then a wonderful ridge and long descent back down to the plains and rice fields - the mountains dissapearing into the haze and memores.
My plan had been to cycle north to Mae Sai - the northernmost point of Thaialand, then cycle to Chiang Rai the following day. But while cycling today I saw a signpost and realised it was the same distance to Mae Sai and Chiang Rai - both along the main highway 1. ANd a few folk had said that Mae Sai was nothing special, so I decided to make today my last day of riding and chill out in Chiang Rai for a couple of days before meeting Tone.
The ride along the highway was fine. It was funny to pass all the stalls selling the same thing agian. At first it was oranges for five miles. Then it was pineapples for 10 or so miles. It was funny because I'd just been thinking an hour before that the one thing I'd miss by not spending time in Bangkok before I go would be pineapple because I'd notseen it for sale in the north. So I was glad to eat some.
But the road passed quickly - dead flat, gentle tail wind, averaging 15 mph. I made an 8km detour to see the heavily advertised Karen Long Neck Village. It was a total fake, as is all the Karen Long Neck stuff. The whole 'village' had been built entirely for teh tourists, with different sections inhabited by different hill tribes shipped in specially. And as you approached they hurriedly put on their traditional costumes. But at least I didn't feel guity about taking photos.
So now I'm in Chiang Rai - a much smaller and quieter place than I'd expected. Spent the afternoon at the hilltribe education centre learning a bit more about the people I've seen over the last few weeks. It was a good exhibition, though some of their stuff about the slash & burn agriculture was rather academically out-dated. They had an interesting exhibition on opium, which included a short article on the early use of herion as a way to get people off opium addiction!
Had a good green curry in the adjoining restaurant - cabbages and condoms - a charity that aims to make condoms as widely available as cabbages.
Spent the evening shopping at the night market - bought some beautiful handwoven bags and watched some dancing, then experimented with wierd food - the best of which was the spicy papaya salad - very tasty, but left me struggling to breath.
Set off at 8ish - a few very steep hills, some pushing, then a wonderful ridge and long descent back down to the plains and rice fields - the mountains dissapearing into the haze and memores.
My plan had been to cycle north to Mae Sai - the northernmost point of Thaialand, then cycle to Chiang Rai the following day. But while cycling today I saw a signpost and realised it was the same distance to Mae Sai and Chiang Rai - both along the main highway 1. ANd a few folk had said that Mae Sai was nothing special, so I decided to make today my last day of riding and chill out in Chiang Rai for a couple of days before meeting Tone.
The ride along the highway was fine. It was funny to pass all the stalls selling the same thing agian. At first it was oranges for five miles. Then it was pineapples for 10 or so miles. It was funny because I'd just been thinking an hour before that the one thing I'd miss by not spending time in Bangkok before I go would be pineapple because I'd notseen it for sale in the north. So I was glad to eat some.
But the road passed quickly - dead flat, gentle tail wind, averaging 15 mph. I made an 8km detour to see the heavily advertised Karen Long Neck Village. It was a total fake, as is all the Karen Long Neck stuff. The whole 'village' had been built entirely for teh tourists, with different sections inhabited by different hill tribes shipped in specially. And as you approached they hurriedly put on their traditional costumes. But at least I didn't feel guity about taking photos.
So now I'm in Chiang Rai - a much smaller and quieter place than I'd expected. Spent the afternoon at the hilltribe education centre learning a bit more about the people I've seen over the last few weeks. It was a good exhibition, though some of their stuff about the slash & burn agriculture was rather academically out-dated. They had an interesting exhibition on opium, which included a short article on the early use of herion as a way to get people off opium addiction!
Had a good green curry in the adjoining restaurant - cabbages and condoms - a charity that aims to make condoms as widely available as cabbages.
Spent the evening shopping at the night market - bought some beautiful handwoven bags and watched some dancing, then experimented with wierd food - the best of which was the spicy papaya salad - very tasty, but left me struggling to breath.
Wed 8th Feb, Mae Salong
This morning I fell in love with the town of Thaton. I went to a wee roadside stall for a breakfast of coffee and American-style pancake, with which I sampled loads of the lady's home-made jams. I got chatting to a German who lives there for 3 months a year, who recommended a walk up to the temple, so I did.
It was exhausting, but absolutely amazing. Because it is in such a beautiful, popular location it gets lots of donations from rich Thais from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. And also, according to the German, one of the top monks in Thailand lives here - apparently he's rather irreverently called the Hi Fi monk due to his un-Buddhist love for the best hifi equipment. So all this money has led to a big complex of buddhas, temples, stupas and accommodation for themany monks, spreading up the hill.
The view, even from the first wat, was amazing - the low morning sun over the paddy fields and river, the low cloud. After half an hour of walking through all this up the steep hill I came to a massive new stupa they were building - the beautiful colourful patterns and gold bands shining in the sun. They were playing Buddhist music (tibetan). Below me the cloud was blowing up the steep forested valley past the tiny huts of the hill tribe villages in Burma, over the ridge, and down to Thaton. It was so, so, beautiful. It really moved me. I'm sure I have seen more beautiful places in my life, but something about the context, the timing, the music, my emotional state, my conscioussness, made that a very special moment.
From there I descended to the misty ridge to see the final site - a standing gold Buddha. I returned to the stupa, where I got chatting to teh guy who was doing the aluminium sculpting on it. As I went back down the mountain I stopped at the main Wat area for one last look at the view, and got chatting to a young monk, who asked if I would help him withi his English studies. So for half an hour or so we went through his textbook, me correcting his pronunciation (and the occasional mistake in the textbook!) He was really interesting to chat to.
Then I headed back to Thaton for a second breakfast of scrambled eggs, and hit the road at 10.30.
The ride ambled pleasantly along the valley for 15 miles or so through the orange groves (stopped for some freshly squeezed), then I hit thi hills. I tired myself out a bit on the first one in my stubborness, so stopped at a village that was being run as some sort of ethical community tourist project. I got a guided tour, but it all felt a bit staged - the "village blacksmith" who'd clearly just lit the fire moments before, the three pristinely dressed women playing music and dancing around a log, etc. But it was interesting, even if only to see an attempt at ethical tourism. But the craft shop was brilliant. I ended up buying two beautiful handwoven cushion covers with embroidered geometcial designs. I found it funny that I bought them - I had cushions as decorations.
I struggled to find a veggie lunch anywhere along the road, so ended up with junkfood.
The last 10 miles or so were really tough - v. steep - lots of 1st gear, lots of pushing. Took almost 2 hours. But very pretty to be in the mountains again.
Eventually reached Mae Salong - a very long straggling village. It's Yuannanese (Chineese). I'm staying at a friendly, beautiful, and ridiculously cheap guesthouse (Shinsane) for 50 B! Had a hot shower, then chatted to a friendly Israeli guy who'd passed me pushing my bike earlier. He's been travelling in Burma and loved it. I took a walk to one of the many tea shops and drank tea with a group of old ladies. The ritual was interesting. They put the leaves in a small pot, add boiling water, and drain straight away into a glass jug, which is used to fill teh tall thin china cups and the small round cups to preheat them. The second fill of the pot is then poured into the jug, and into the tall thin cups, which we then pour into the round ones, and sniff at the empty tall ones, and then drink from the round ones. The pot is repeatedly filled and poured into the jug, which is used for constant top ups. Very delicious. It was the family's freshest tea - just ready that day.
I asked if I could buy some, but a customer had already tried it and bought the entire batch. I got chatting to the owner, and was asking him about his plantation and business, so he took me out the back and talked me through the process. They pick the leaves and put them in the hhot sun forfive minutes to ferment, then bake them, tuble them, compress them, tumble, compress, etc, then dry them in hot blown air. All this taking a day or so. And then it'sready to be drunk! He took me onto the roof of his house to show me his fields on the mountainside above and below. They also make soy sauce the traditional way, and were drying the beans on the roof.
I went back to the guesthouse for a delicious meal of fried mushrooms and veg done in northern Thai style, then chatted to the Israeli guy again and we went for some food at a place claiming to be vegetarian, but wasn't particularly. He got me very enthused about cycling in Mongolia... So the list is now New Zealand, Nepal, Laos, Iran, Indonesia, and now Mongolia.
It was exhausting, but absolutely amazing. Because it is in such a beautiful, popular location it gets lots of donations from rich Thais from Chiang Mai and Bangkok. And also, according to the German, one of the top monks in Thailand lives here - apparently he's rather irreverently called the Hi Fi monk due to his un-Buddhist love for the best hifi equipment. So all this money has led to a big complex of buddhas, temples, stupas and accommodation for themany monks, spreading up the hill.
The view, even from the first wat, was amazing - the low morning sun over the paddy fields and river, the low cloud. After half an hour of walking through all this up the steep hill I came to a massive new stupa they were building - the beautiful colourful patterns and gold bands shining in the sun. They were playing Buddhist music (tibetan). Below me the cloud was blowing up the steep forested valley past the tiny huts of the hill tribe villages in Burma, over the ridge, and down to Thaton. It was so, so, beautiful. It really moved me. I'm sure I have seen more beautiful places in my life, but something about the context, the timing, the music, my emotional state, my conscioussness, made that a very special moment.
From there I descended to the misty ridge to see the final site - a standing gold Buddha. I returned to the stupa, where I got chatting to teh guy who was doing the aluminium sculpting on it. As I went back down the mountain I stopped at the main Wat area for one last look at the view, and got chatting to a young monk, who asked if I would help him withi his English studies. So for half an hour or so we went through his textbook, me correcting his pronunciation (and the occasional mistake in the textbook!) He was really interesting to chat to.
Then I headed back to Thaton for a second breakfast of scrambled eggs, and hit the road at 10.30.
The ride ambled pleasantly along the valley for 15 miles or so through the orange groves (stopped for some freshly squeezed), then I hit thi hills. I tired myself out a bit on the first one in my stubborness, so stopped at a village that was being run as some sort of ethical community tourist project. I got a guided tour, but it all felt a bit staged - the "village blacksmith" who'd clearly just lit the fire moments before, the three pristinely dressed women playing music and dancing around a log, etc. But it was interesting, even if only to see an attempt at ethical tourism. But the craft shop was brilliant. I ended up buying two beautiful handwoven cushion covers with embroidered geometcial designs. I found it funny that I bought them - I had cushions as decorations.
I struggled to find a veggie lunch anywhere along the road, so ended up with junkfood.
The last 10 miles or so were really tough - v. steep - lots of 1st gear, lots of pushing. Took almost 2 hours. But very pretty to be in the mountains again.
Eventually reached Mae Salong - a very long straggling village. It's Yuannanese (Chineese). I'm staying at a friendly, beautiful, and ridiculously cheap guesthouse (Shinsane) for 50 B! Had a hot shower, then chatted to a friendly Israeli guy who'd passed me pushing my bike earlier. He's been travelling in Burma and loved it. I took a walk to one of the many tea shops and drank tea with a group of old ladies. The ritual was interesting. They put the leaves in a small pot, add boiling water, and drain straight away into a glass jug, which is used to fill teh tall thin china cups and the small round cups to preheat them. The second fill of the pot is then poured into the jug, and into the tall thin cups, which we then pour into the round ones, and sniff at the empty tall ones, and then drink from the round ones. The pot is repeatedly filled and poured into the jug, which is used for constant top ups. Very delicious. It was the family's freshest tea - just ready that day.
I asked if I could buy some, but a customer had already tried it and bought the entire batch. I got chatting to the owner, and was asking him about his plantation and business, so he took me out the back and talked me through the process. They pick the leaves and put them in the hhot sun forfive minutes to ferment, then bake them, tuble them, compress them, tumble, compress, etc, then dry them in hot blown air. All this taking a day or so. And then it'sready to be drunk! He took me onto the roof of his house to show me his fields on the mountainside above and below. They also make soy sauce the traditional way, and were drying the beans on the roof.
I went back to the guesthouse for a delicious meal of fried mushrooms and veg done in northern Thai style, then chatted to the Israeli guy again and we went for some food at a place claiming to be vegetarian, but wasn't particularly. He got me very enthused about cycling in Mongolia... So the list is now New Zealand, Nepal, Laos, Iran, Indonesia, and now Mongolia.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Tuesday 7th Feb, Fang. On the road, footloose and Malarone free
Well I'm feeling much better today, so it looks like it may well have been the Malarone. I got up with my appetite fully restored, and had a rather unpleasant breakfast of instant coffee and steamed white buns (a typical Northern Thai breakfast, apart from the coffee being instant).
Set off immediatly onto a 2km steep push, then an absolutely glorious but impossibly steep and twisty 10km descent, ears popping, struggling to a halt every few minutes to let my rims cool down from all the braking.
I descended through the orange groves stopping for a delicious bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice, then paused at a beautiful Wat, where I got chatting to the Singaporian English teacher, who introduced me to the head monk at the Temple. He spoke a bit of English and was keen to hear about Scotland and so he showed me around the temple and we chatted for an hour or so. He was astounded to hear how much money I earned. I still find it difficult talking about that, as the disparity between what I earn and what a rural Thai person earns is so vast.
I left a donation for the Wat, and he insisted on filling up my bag with delicious oranges and other fruit which I've been munching on throughout the morning.
I'm now taking a relaxing lunch break, before cycling another 20 or so miles this afternoon, where I'll decide whether to go for a super-strenous day to a beautiful Chineese village in the mountains with delicious tea, or whether to take the river boat to the City of Chiang Rai and chill out, or whether there's some other fascinating option to fill my last few days...
I am really appreciating being well again, and able to ride. I hope it lasts.
Set off immediatly onto a 2km steep push, then an absolutely glorious but impossibly steep and twisty 10km descent, ears popping, struggling to a halt every few minutes to let my rims cool down from all the braking.
I descended through the orange groves stopping for a delicious bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice, then paused at a beautiful Wat, where I got chatting to the Singaporian English teacher, who introduced me to the head monk at the Temple. He spoke a bit of English and was keen to hear about Scotland and so he showed me around the temple and we chatted for an hour or so. He was astounded to hear how much money I earned. I still find it difficult talking about that, as the disparity between what I earn and what a rural Thai person earns is so vast.
I left a donation for the Wat, and he insisted on filling up my bag with delicious oranges and other fruit which I've been munching on throughout the morning.
I'm now taking a relaxing lunch break, before cycling another 20 or so miles this afternoon, where I'll decide whether to go for a super-strenous day to a beautiful Chineese village in the mountains with delicious tea, or whether to take the river boat to the City of Chiang Rai and chill out, or whether there's some other fascinating option to fill my last few days...
I am really appreciating being well again, and able to ride. I hope it lasts.
Mon 6th Feb, Doi Angkhan
I do choose good places to be ill! In the summer I got sick in teh beautiful and relaxing villa in Italy. And in Thailand I don't think I culd have ended up at a better place. It's so beautiful here in the mountains. And it is relatively cool as it is so high and there are even some clouds. I think I am adjusting to Thai temperatures though. Yesterday evening I came out in the dark in trousers, 2 t-shirts, a long sleeved cycling top and a micro-fleece and saw on teh thermoometer that it was still 20 degrees C! And it is so quiet. It doesn't seem to be on the farang tourist train, and Thai tourists only really come at weekends. Now that I've been here a couple of days a few people recognise me and say hi as I pass.
This morning though really justified my decision to come here. After waking at 7ish feeling a little better, I descended back into bed watching a dull football match with a bag of crisps (needing to replace lost salts - at least that's how I justified it to myself), i finally dragged myself out and set off to explore teh Angkhan Royal Agricultural Research Centre next to the village. It is stunning. The first area I went to was an enclosed space nestled against the beautiful limestone cliff, filled with beautiful ferns and orchids; the visula beauty backed by the soothing sounds of teh water.
The next section was the bonsai trees. Very pretty, but my interest was more in watching the guys cleaning teh big glass dome. Then a group of Thai tourists arrived and suddenly I was surrrounded by pretty girls and a ladyboy getting their photo taken with me, to the sound of "neung, sawng, saam" (1 2 3). Amusing.
Thai tourists are shameless photographers. Where I'll be tying myself in knots about the ethics of photographing a villager in their beautiful outfit, they'll be happily snapping away. Damn geography degree. As I was cycling up the hills 2 days ago quite a few folk were hanging out of their windows taking photos of the crazy farang.
After visiting the beautiful colours of the vegetable arden and teh pretty rose arden I came to teh sensory garden. It was spectacular - the colours, the textures, and teh smells! The smells. I have discovered my favourite smell - osmanthus.
Feeling exhausted and tired by the short 1km walk I stopped for a delicious coffee and cake, and as I idly flicked through the menu my appetite came roaring back - all the delicious dishes prepared with their own fresh vegetables. In the end I opted for some simple but delicious spring rolls. While I was eating there were a few drops of rain - I thought that was very strange - the first I'd felt in Thailand.
I went back to sleep in my room for the afternoon, waking to watch yesterday's rugby game between Scotland and France. And amazingly Scotland played well and won! That cheered me up. While that was on an enormous rainstorm hit, with thunder and lightning echoing around teh mountains. After it stopped I went for another walk amid the amazing smells and beautiful crisp clear evening light. Had a delicious punnet of strawberries, then went for another crappy overpriced pizza, and while there a powercut hit. I was quite glad - it killed the dreadful country music they were playing as punishment for me being so pathetic as to eat Western food.
The evening amid the powercut was quite pleasant - I sat around a brazier outside my hotel with an old Thai guy, and chatted to another guy who was holidaying en-route to display some night vision stuff at the Chiang Mai motorshow.
This evening I finally figured out that my illness is due to the side effects of the malaria tablets I've been taking (Malarone). My symptoms match those on GSK's leaflet, and I've been ill for too long for it just to be some dodgy food. Malarone's a relatively safe malaria pill, but I guess by exerting myself so much with the cycling I've brought out the side effects. I've decided to stop taking them, as it's been over a week since I was anywhere that might potentially have been malarial, and I'm not going to be anywhere else that is.
This morning though really justified my decision to come here. After waking at 7ish feeling a little better, I descended back into bed watching a dull football match with a bag of crisps (needing to replace lost salts - at least that's how I justified it to myself), i finally dragged myself out and set off to explore teh Angkhan Royal Agricultural Research Centre next to the village. It is stunning. The first area I went to was an enclosed space nestled against the beautiful limestone cliff, filled with beautiful ferns and orchids; the visula beauty backed by the soothing sounds of teh water.
The next section was the bonsai trees. Very pretty, but my interest was more in watching the guys cleaning teh big glass dome. Then a group of Thai tourists arrived and suddenly I was surrrounded by pretty girls and a ladyboy getting their photo taken with me, to the sound of "neung, sawng, saam" (1 2 3). Amusing.
Thai tourists are shameless photographers. Where I'll be tying myself in knots about the ethics of photographing a villager in their beautiful outfit, they'll be happily snapping away. Damn geography degree. As I was cycling up the hills 2 days ago quite a few folk were hanging out of their windows taking photos of the crazy farang.
After visiting the beautiful colours of the vegetable arden and teh pretty rose arden I came to teh sensory garden. It was spectacular - the colours, the textures, and teh smells! The smells. I have discovered my favourite smell - osmanthus.
Feeling exhausted and tired by the short 1km walk I stopped for a delicious coffee and cake, and as I idly flicked through the menu my appetite came roaring back - all the delicious dishes prepared with their own fresh vegetables. In the end I opted for some simple but delicious spring rolls. While I was eating there were a few drops of rain - I thought that was very strange - the first I'd felt in Thailand.
I went back to sleep in my room for the afternoon, waking to watch yesterday's rugby game between Scotland and France. And amazingly Scotland played well and won! That cheered me up. While that was on an enormous rainstorm hit, with thunder and lightning echoing around teh mountains. After it stopped I went for another walk amid the amazing smells and beautiful crisp clear evening light. Had a delicious punnet of strawberries, then went for another crappy overpriced pizza, and while there a powercut hit. I was quite glad - it killed the dreadful country music they were playing as punishment for me being so pathetic as to eat Western food.
The evening amid the powercut was quite pleasant - I sat around a brazier outside my hotel with an old Thai guy, and chatted to another guy who was holidaying en-route to display some night vision stuff at the Chiang Mai motorshow.
This evening I finally figured out that my illness is due to the side effects of the malaria tablets I've been taking (Malarone). My symptoms match those on GSK's leaflet, and I've been ill for too long for it just to be some dodgy food. Malarone's a relatively safe malaria pill, but I guess by exerting myself so much with the cycling I've brought out the side effects. I've decided to stop taking them, as it's been over a week since I was anywhere that might potentially have been malarial, and I'm not going to be anywhere else that is.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Sunday 5th Feb, Still in Doi Ang Khan
Today I learned the Thai for "it's beautiful here", "I feel ill" and "where is the toilet".
Interestingly the Thai for beautiful and toilet are very similar - soo-ay and soo-am. I'll have to be careful when I next reply to questions about the attractiveness of someones daughter...
I didn't sleep very well - rather uncomfortable without a mat, and felt ill. We got up at 5am to go and watch the sunrise on top of the mountain with 100 other campers. It was very bizarre - there was a whole row of bonfires and cafes there in the dark. It looked pretty cloudy and I was feeling awful, so I ended up sleeping in Ton's pickup. I'll look at their photos.
We then drove to a small mountainside village where they grow strawberries on teh steep terraces. we picked a tasty tubfull in the beautiful morning light. It was the first time Ton had picked strawberries. He was amazed that at home parents grow them in the garden.
We then passed through another mountain village with the townspeople walking to the fields in their beautiful outfits, then went to an army post at the Burmese border. I had not realised how close I was to teh border - the roads do very different things here to what is shown on any of the 4 maps I've seen. I stuck my arm over the border through the barbed wire fence. They had interesting sandbag bunkers, and had used the same sandbags to make raised flowerbeds.
We drove back to our tents. Ton and Tha Ton made a breakfast of noodles and veg, and two boiled eggs for me. I was feeling dreadful by this point, so I said goodbye and found myself a really nice room for 300B - big comfy bed, TV, and most importantly for someone in my condition - an en-suite toilet. Spent most of the day asleep and woke up to see England thrashing Wales rather unexitingly. The sports chanel is the only English language chanel. I hate sport on TV. I think I must have left it on as I slept for some kind of comfort-crutch.
I don't know what I'll do if I dont' get better soon. I'd like to do more riding round to the Laos border, but round here it's all really strenous. And I only have 5 days riding left. At worst I'll get a lift to the main road and the bus to Chiang Mai, and do a coach and elephant-back tour of Doin Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand) and then meet up with Ton.
It is so frustrating being ill and seeing the days and the wonderful opportunities slipping bye, I am more ill today than two days ago - I guess I overdid it yesterday.
I've managed to leave my room to the plush resort where they've let me use their computer in the back of the office, once they'd finished dealing with a really arsey old man from Vienna and his young Thai wife... Made me rather ashamed to be European.
Speaking of being European, I think tonight, for the first time on my trip, I am going to give in and eat western food for supper. I can't stomach Thai food right now.
Interestingly the Thai for beautiful and toilet are very similar - soo-ay and soo-am. I'll have to be careful when I next reply to questions about the attractiveness of someones daughter...
I didn't sleep very well - rather uncomfortable without a mat, and felt ill. We got up at 5am to go and watch the sunrise on top of the mountain with 100 other campers. It was very bizarre - there was a whole row of bonfires and cafes there in the dark. It looked pretty cloudy and I was feeling awful, so I ended up sleeping in Ton's pickup. I'll look at their photos.
We then drove to a small mountainside village where they grow strawberries on teh steep terraces. we picked a tasty tubfull in the beautiful morning light. It was the first time Ton had picked strawberries. He was amazed that at home parents grow them in the garden.
We then passed through another mountain village with the townspeople walking to the fields in their beautiful outfits, then went to an army post at the Burmese border. I had not realised how close I was to teh border - the roads do very different things here to what is shown on any of the 4 maps I've seen. I stuck my arm over the border through the barbed wire fence. They had interesting sandbag bunkers, and had used the same sandbags to make raised flowerbeds.
We drove back to our tents. Ton and Tha Ton made a breakfast of noodles and veg, and two boiled eggs for me. I was feeling dreadful by this point, so I said goodbye and found myself a really nice room for 300B - big comfy bed, TV, and most importantly for someone in my condition - an en-suite toilet. Spent most of the day asleep and woke up to see England thrashing Wales rather unexitingly. The sports chanel is the only English language chanel. I hate sport on TV. I think I must have left it on as I slept for some kind of comfort-crutch.
I don't know what I'll do if I dont' get better soon. I'd like to do more riding round to the Laos border, but round here it's all really strenous. And I only have 5 days riding left. At worst I'll get a lift to the main road and the bus to Chiang Mai, and do a coach and elephant-back tour of Doin Inthanon (the highest mountain in Thailand) and then meet up with Ton.
It is so frustrating being ill and seeing the days and the wonderful opportunities slipping bye, I am more ill today than two days ago - I guess I overdid it yesterday.
I've managed to leave my room to the plush resort where they've let me use their computer in the back of the office, once they'd finished dealing with a really arsey old man from Vienna and his young Thai wife... Made me rather ashamed to be European.
Speaking of being European, I think tonight, for the first time on my trip, I am going to give in and eat western food for supper. I can't stomach Thai food right now.
Sat 4th Feb, Doi Ang Khan
Today I felt a bit better, so I decided to press on. I still felt weak and slow, but didn't find it so frustrating because I knew I was a bit ill. I pretty quickly turned off the main road and spent the day on one of the quietest roads I've been on. The area feels very different to anywhere I've been before. The land was more open, and felt more like forest than jungle. I saw my first citrus trees of the trip.
Half way through the morning I met two nice Belgians who were riding teh same way as me, nd over teh day we rode together quite a bit and chatted.
At lunch I paid with a 500B note, something I try to avoid in rural areas. She gave me change as if I'd given 100, but I smiled and said five, and immediatly she put her hand in her apron and brough out the other 400 - she didn't even pretend or make a fuss.
and after lunch came a headwind (my first of the trip) and the steepest, toughest hills of thr trip! I would have struggled even at full fitness. I caught up with the Belgian couple and we pushed and rode together. They've ridden all over Europe (including the alps) and New Zealand and said that this was teh hardest they'd ever done! I'm not sure what altitude we reached, certainly over 1000m. It got so beautiful - lots of really steep mountains on all sides, one of the most beautiful places I've seen.
When I reached the junction to teh first place with accommodation I stopped to wait for the Belgians to see what their plans were. Two young Thai guys stopped to chat. One of them tours a lot on his bike - the first Thai I've met who does.
They ended up giving the Belgians a lift to the next village, and offered to let me camp with them, so I followed behind on the first downhill all day. They had a spare tent and sleeping bag, and we pitched up in the garden of a school among the cherry trees. Had a chilly Thai-style shower - baltic at first, but as always I slowly adjusted to the cold water. Then we went for supper in teh village.
It's an amazing place - nestled amongst the mountains. It seems predominantly muslim, and most of the residents are Yuannanese from China. The two Thai guys - Ton and Tha Ton (like Tom with an 'N'. Tha means 'tall') - chose some delicious veggie dishes which we shared. This area is much cooler than the rest of Thailand, and is famous for its vegetables. One dish had amazing mushrooms in a dark, sweet and sour style sauce. Another was delicious veggies in a similar sauce. One was a cripsly vegetable a bit like fried seaweed, with some kind of dark pickled eggs that looked rank, but tasted amazing.
We chatted lots. They both work for a company that provides business advice. They are up from Bangkok working in Chiang Mai, so drove to this area to camp for the weekend. It seems a very popular thing to do for Thais - there are loads of people camping at the official campsite. Apart from the Belgians and me there don't seem to be any other farang. Thais only get about 7 days holiday a year, so weekend trips are very popular.
Ton made me an amazing offer. On the 11th I can go with him and some friends to a remote village in the very north to take some donations. We'll camp for a night or two, then he'll drive me and my bike back all the way to Bankok, stopping to see a place where monks ride horses to get their morning donations, to see teh coffee fields, and to see a long neck Karen village if I want to. And we will be in Bangkok at midnight or so before my 5pm flight on the 14th! Such an exciting and great offer!
Half way through the morning I met two nice Belgians who were riding teh same way as me, nd over teh day we rode together quite a bit and chatted.
At lunch I paid with a 500B note, something I try to avoid in rural areas. She gave me change as if I'd given 100, but I smiled and said five, and immediatly she put her hand in her apron and brough out the other 400 - she didn't even pretend or make a fuss.
and after lunch came a headwind (my first of the trip) and the steepest, toughest hills of thr trip! I would have struggled even at full fitness. I caught up with the Belgian couple and we pushed and rode together. They've ridden all over Europe (including the alps) and New Zealand and said that this was teh hardest they'd ever done! I'm not sure what altitude we reached, certainly over 1000m. It got so beautiful - lots of really steep mountains on all sides, one of the most beautiful places I've seen.
When I reached the junction to teh first place with accommodation I stopped to wait for the Belgians to see what their plans were. Two young Thai guys stopped to chat. One of them tours a lot on his bike - the first Thai I've met who does.
They ended up giving the Belgians a lift to the next village, and offered to let me camp with them, so I followed behind on the first downhill all day. They had a spare tent and sleeping bag, and we pitched up in the garden of a school among the cherry trees. Had a chilly Thai-style shower - baltic at first, but as always I slowly adjusted to the cold water. Then we went for supper in teh village.
It's an amazing place - nestled amongst the mountains. It seems predominantly muslim, and most of the residents are Yuannanese from China. The two Thai guys - Ton and Tha Ton (like Tom with an 'N'. Tha means 'tall') - chose some delicious veggie dishes which we shared. This area is much cooler than the rest of Thailand, and is famous for its vegetables. One dish had amazing mushrooms in a dark, sweet and sour style sauce. Another was delicious veggies in a similar sauce. One was a cripsly vegetable a bit like fried seaweed, with some kind of dark pickled eggs that looked rank, but tasted amazing.
We chatted lots. They both work for a company that provides business advice. They are up from Bangkok working in Chiang Mai, so drove to this area to camp for the weekend. It seems a very popular thing to do for Thais - there are loads of people camping at the official campsite. Apart from the Belgians and me there don't seem to be any other farang. Thais only get about 7 days holiday a year, so weekend trips are very popular.
Ton made me an amazing offer. On the 11th I can go with him and some friends to a remote village in the very north to take some donations. We'll camp for a night or two, then he'll drive me and my bike back all the way to Bankok, stopping to see a place where monks ride horses to get their morning donations, to see teh coffee fields, and to see a long neck Karen village if I want to. And we will be in Bangkok at midnight or so before my 5pm flight on the 14th! Such an exciting and great offer!
Friday, February 03, 2006
3rd Feb, Sick Day
Well, I'm still ill, so had to take a day off riding in this rather dull town. I got up at 7.30 to see if I was better and spent half an hour watching a bizarre parade of schoolkids along the only street through town - their bands and chearleading and baton throwing snarling up the traffic for miles! Anarchy starts early in Thailand!
Spent most of the day sleeping, but have ventured out briefly for emails and to attempt to get some food. It feels very strange not having an appetite after weeks of eating ravenously.
I think getting sick is the only bad thing about travelling on your own, and even that's not too serious. Just frustrating and dull.
Spent most of the day sleeping, but have ventured out briefly for emails and to attempt to get some food. It feels very strange not having an appetite after weeks of eating ravenously.
I think getting sick is the only bad thing about travelling on your own, and even that's not too serious. Just frustrating and dull.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Thursday 2nd Feb, Chiang Dao
I am absolutely wiped out and feel like crap, but I'll attempt to capture some of the feeling of the great morning I had before illness began festering in my tummy.
Last night was pretty quiet. I went to a very small busy bar and had a tall bamboo mug of delicious herbal tea, followed by an even more delicious mug of ginger tea, and chatted to a rather dull Canadian teaching English in Korea.
I got up at 6 and as I emerged into the darkness and the sound of the crickets and cockerels a figure stumbled out of the darkness - a very happy man who'd spent the night smoking opium and weed, who was looking for his friend's room. We had a pleasant chat and he staggered back into the happy darkness.
I was packed and in town before sunsires to get a seriously unhealthy breakfast of deep fried dough, coffee and an egg pancake.
I set off through the beautiful cool mist - droplets of dew forming on the bleached-blonde hairs of my arms. As I reahed the big 1250m pass these droplets gradually mingled with the perspiration.
I really, really enjoyed the ascent. My legs were strong and rested, the jungle and views beautiful, the traffic light, and the temperature relatively cool. Did lots of thinking - jobs (a bad idea when you're having such a great ride - all you want to do is carry on riding), plans, relationships, forming a theory on Generation Lonely Planet.
I got an email yesterday from someone called Ian with an email address not in my address book, but that I vaguelly recognised. It was a short but friendly email, and I really couldn't think who this Ian was. It seemed to be from someone I'd met in Thailand but I couldn't remember giving my email address to anyone called Ian. I sent a brief reply. Today I realised that it was Ian from work, on holiday in South Africa. Doh!
The ascent was quiet as it was still pretty early - just a few mopeds and pickups, and a coke lorry and a beer lorry, slowly crawling down the steep twisting road, gears and brakes roaring, on their way to refuel Pai.
At the top of the pass I stopped at the cafe and had a delicious coffee, and sat there in the glorious sun, feeling great, and wrote a couple of postcards with a purring cat on my lap licking at the dregs of my coffee.
The descent was long and good. I almost hit a huge snake! It was wriggling furiously across the road as I swooped around a corner, going too fast to stop. If it had been crossing in the other direction I would have hit it. I had visions of it getting caught in my wheel and thrown on top of me...
Stopped at a row of cafes in a wee village, where all the cooks and diners entered into a big shouted conversation about which one had something veggie. I ended up with rice and omlette.
I met three guys cycling in the opposite direction. Didn't speak to the first one as he was ahead of the others and I was being half-heartedly chased by a dog at the time. But the other two were really friendly - a German and a Spaniard who had been travelling for 7 and 12 months across Europe and India. They recommended Nepal very strongly, and also the area around Manila in the Phillipines. Hmm, more trips beckon... They also said that they sleep most nights for free in Wats. Sounds like something I should try. Though it does feel slightly unethical because I can afford a guesthouse and will not really be many places where there isn't one.
Just before I hit the main road north from Chiang Mai I came across the Wat that the two americans on the boat to Surat Thani had been so enthusiastic about. It was incredible. Stepping out of the lowland midday head into the cool dark vast space, the walls beautifully muralled with scenes of Buddha's life, intricate collumns decorated with mirrored coloured glass and carvings, a beautiful ornate red and gold panelled ceiling, and a large gold buddha presiding over it all.
And then I hit the main road north. It was the busiest traffic I'd seen since I left Bangkok one and a half weeks ago, and was really shocking and unpleasant. I retreated into the big market selling deep fried chicken feet and gorged myself on roasted bananas and some kind of baked eggy, creamy cakes in an attempt to put off the unpleasantness.
As I set off along that road I began to feel so tired and unhappy, my spirits lifting with teh occasional break in traffic or a friendly wave from a family in their quiet cafe, only for my spirits to be slowly erroded by every blast of exhaust fume or short ascent. The road got nicer after 10 miles or so - quieter, back into the forest. I had a long break for a cold Pepsi and water and felt a little better, but still very tired. Passed elephants grazing by the roadside.
Eventually pulled into town at 5 after 85 miles and spent about half an hour trying to find the cheap hotel listed in the Lonely Planet (I only found it when I had to stop for a broken-down moped and happened to glance up a side-street). It was deserted. For once I was glad of the barking dogs, hoping they would alert teh owner. But no. They stopped and carried on scratching in the dirt. The only other person around was a lovely wizened old man sitting there chatting away to me in Thai, his green tracksuit trousers pulled up over his round naked belly. Eventually a kind shopkeeper showed me teh hidden bell, which, after two rings, produced the owner. It's a beautiful old wooden hotel.
Despite a shower and clean clothes and bowl of noodle soup I still feel awful and my stomach is aching. Either I gave myself food poisoning yesterday on my cooking course, or I've been eating too much sugary fried crap.
The only other farang in town is a rathe bemused French woman. This is her first night outside the cities in the north, and I guess this isn't what you might expect of a 'rural' Thai town. It's a typically untouristy, unglamorous, un-beautiful, uninteresting, busy, lovely little town with simple cafes, a few shops and a main road running through buzzing with mopeds.
Last night was pretty quiet. I went to a very small busy bar and had a tall bamboo mug of delicious herbal tea, followed by an even more delicious mug of ginger tea, and chatted to a rather dull Canadian teaching English in Korea.
I got up at 6 and as I emerged into the darkness and the sound of the crickets and cockerels a figure stumbled out of the darkness - a very happy man who'd spent the night smoking opium and weed, who was looking for his friend's room. We had a pleasant chat and he staggered back into the happy darkness.
I was packed and in town before sunsires to get a seriously unhealthy breakfast of deep fried dough, coffee and an egg pancake.
I set off through the beautiful cool mist - droplets of dew forming on the bleached-blonde hairs of my arms. As I reahed the big 1250m pass these droplets gradually mingled with the perspiration.
I really, really enjoyed the ascent. My legs were strong and rested, the jungle and views beautiful, the traffic light, and the temperature relatively cool. Did lots of thinking - jobs (a bad idea when you're having such a great ride - all you want to do is carry on riding), plans, relationships, forming a theory on Generation Lonely Planet.
I got an email yesterday from someone called Ian with an email address not in my address book, but that I vaguelly recognised. It was a short but friendly email, and I really couldn't think who this Ian was. It seemed to be from someone I'd met in Thailand but I couldn't remember giving my email address to anyone called Ian. I sent a brief reply. Today I realised that it was Ian from work, on holiday in South Africa. Doh!
The ascent was quiet as it was still pretty early - just a few mopeds and pickups, and a coke lorry and a beer lorry, slowly crawling down the steep twisting road, gears and brakes roaring, on their way to refuel Pai.
At the top of the pass I stopped at the cafe and had a delicious coffee, and sat there in the glorious sun, feeling great, and wrote a couple of postcards with a purring cat on my lap licking at the dregs of my coffee.
The descent was long and good. I almost hit a huge snake! It was wriggling furiously across the road as I swooped around a corner, going too fast to stop. If it had been crossing in the other direction I would have hit it. I had visions of it getting caught in my wheel and thrown on top of me...
Stopped at a row of cafes in a wee village, where all the cooks and diners entered into a big shouted conversation about which one had something veggie. I ended up with rice and omlette.
I met three guys cycling in the opposite direction. Didn't speak to the first one as he was ahead of the others and I was being half-heartedly chased by a dog at the time. But the other two were really friendly - a German and a Spaniard who had been travelling for 7 and 12 months across Europe and India. They recommended Nepal very strongly, and also the area around Manila in the Phillipines. Hmm, more trips beckon... They also said that they sleep most nights for free in Wats. Sounds like something I should try. Though it does feel slightly unethical because I can afford a guesthouse and will not really be many places where there isn't one.
Just before I hit the main road north from Chiang Mai I came across the Wat that the two americans on the boat to Surat Thani had been so enthusiastic about. It was incredible. Stepping out of the lowland midday head into the cool dark vast space, the walls beautifully muralled with scenes of Buddha's life, intricate collumns decorated with mirrored coloured glass and carvings, a beautiful ornate red and gold panelled ceiling, and a large gold buddha presiding over it all.
And then I hit the main road north. It was the busiest traffic I'd seen since I left Bangkok one and a half weeks ago, and was really shocking and unpleasant. I retreated into the big market selling deep fried chicken feet and gorged myself on roasted bananas and some kind of baked eggy, creamy cakes in an attempt to put off the unpleasantness.
As I set off along that road I began to feel so tired and unhappy, my spirits lifting with teh occasional break in traffic or a friendly wave from a family in their quiet cafe, only for my spirits to be slowly erroded by every blast of exhaust fume or short ascent. The road got nicer after 10 miles or so - quieter, back into the forest. I had a long break for a cold Pepsi and water and felt a little better, but still very tired. Passed elephants grazing by the roadside.
Eventually pulled into town at 5 after 85 miles and spent about half an hour trying to find the cheap hotel listed in the Lonely Planet (I only found it when I had to stop for a broken-down moped and happened to glance up a side-street). It was deserted. For once I was glad of the barking dogs, hoping they would alert teh owner. But no. They stopped and carried on scratching in the dirt. The only other person around was a lovely wizened old man sitting there chatting away to me in Thai, his green tracksuit trousers pulled up over his round naked belly. Eventually a kind shopkeeper showed me teh hidden bell, which, after two rings, produced the owner. It's a beautiful old wooden hotel.
Despite a shower and clean clothes and bowl of noodle soup I still feel awful and my stomach is aching. Either I gave myself food poisoning yesterday on my cooking course, or I've been eating too much sugary fried crap.
The only other farang in town is a rathe bemused French woman. This is her first night outside the cities in the north, and I guess this isn't what you might expect of a 'rural' Thai town. It's a typically untouristy, unglamorous, un-beautiful, uninteresting, busy, lovely little town with simple cafes, a few shops and a main road running through buzzing with mopeds.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Wednesday 1st February, Pai
I can't believe a full month of 2006 has passed already!
Today has revolved around food even more so than a normal day. I woke pretty early so wandered around Pai in the cold quiet streets. None of teh restaurants had opened, putting pay to my plan of a westernised breakfast of scrambled eggs. Instead I did a tour of the food vendors on the high street - dim sum from one, deep fried dough from another. Egg roti from one combined with a fantastic cup of Thai filtered coffee from another. Then a wander and some postcard writing, then back for a crazy cup of Thai tea - bright orange and very sweet. Lovely.
I cycled out of town a couple of km to a lovely riverside resort where they do veggie Thai cooking lessons. I was the only student. We started by driving to the wednesday market (lucky timing!) which was a crazy bustle of tents with people from teh mountain villages selling all sorts of fruit and veg. We then drove to a place that sells fresh coconuts. Then we spent an hour or so chopping all the garlic, chillis, ginger, shallots, lemongrass, and all the strange Thai ingredients. Then we spent about two hours grinding everything to an impossibly smooth collection of pastes in the pestle and mortar. It took so long! And despite my massive breakfast I was getting really hungry. And then finally we cooked three delicious curries and pad thai. And then finally, finally, I got to gorge myself on the most delicious food I've had in Thailand.
The red and green curreis tasted so amazing with the fresh coconut milk - way better than tinned. Of the two I think I preferred the red curry with pumpkin. But that's partly because I had green curry just before I was ill in Koh Tao, and partly because I'm not a fan of the mini-eggplant we put in the green curry. The third curry was a norther-Thailand style curry. No coconut this time. Instead - red curry paste, Tamarind, dark soy sauce, textured vegetabel protein (the first time I'd ever cooked with this - pretty nice), delicious straw and shiitake mushrooms, and pineapple. Really rich and dark and strong.
And my teacher was great - really interesting to chat to. He's Thai, from Bangkok, but had to leave the city for unspecified reasons. He told me about the dreadful rural hospitals where they prescribe paracetemol for everything, and about the huge 2m flood they had here last year.
I then spent the afternoon digesting with a big pot of green tea next to the river and chatting to a friendly American couple who live in Colorado. They'd come for 2 months of rock climbing, and here they are 3 months later. My enthusiastic description of my ride must have been infectious, because as teh afternoon wore on out came the map, and plans were formed to go to the nearby city of Chiang Mai to buy bikes and cycle around N. Thailand and into Laos down the Mekong. I hope they do it!
I cycled back to my guesthouse, where I did battle with the dribbling shower that randomly switched between boiling and freezing, and changed into my freshly laundered clothes. I can't describe how good that felt...
Back on the road today - a long day if I'm to make it to a guesthouse - a rather unlikely 105 miles with a 1400m pass inbetween. Think I may be having a night in a police box or under the stars.
Today has revolved around food even more so than a normal day. I woke pretty early so wandered around Pai in the cold quiet streets. None of teh restaurants had opened, putting pay to my plan of a westernised breakfast of scrambled eggs. Instead I did a tour of the food vendors on the high street - dim sum from one, deep fried dough from another. Egg roti from one combined with a fantastic cup of Thai filtered coffee from another. Then a wander and some postcard writing, then back for a crazy cup of Thai tea - bright orange and very sweet. Lovely.
I cycled out of town a couple of km to a lovely riverside resort where they do veggie Thai cooking lessons. I was the only student. We started by driving to the wednesday market (lucky timing!) which was a crazy bustle of tents with people from teh mountain villages selling all sorts of fruit and veg. We then drove to a place that sells fresh coconuts. Then we spent an hour or so chopping all the garlic, chillis, ginger, shallots, lemongrass, and all the strange Thai ingredients. Then we spent about two hours grinding everything to an impossibly smooth collection of pastes in the pestle and mortar. It took so long! And despite my massive breakfast I was getting really hungry. And then finally we cooked three delicious curries and pad thai. And then finally, finally, I got to gorge myself on the most delicious food I've had in Thailand.
The red and green curreis tasted so amazing with the fresh coconut milk - way better than tinned. Of the two I think I preferred the red curry with pumpkin. But that's partly because I had green curry just before I was ill in Koh Tao, and partly because I'm not a fan of the mini-eggplant we put in the green curry. The third curry was a norther-Thailand style curry. No coconut this time. Instead - red curry paste, Tamarind, dark soy sauce, textured vegetabel protein (the first time I'd ever cooked with this - pretty nice), delicious straw and shiitake mushrooms, and pineapple. Really rich and dark and strong.
And my teacher was great - really interesting to chat to. He's Thai, from Bangkok, but had to leave the city for unspecified reasons. He told me about the dreadful rural hospitals where they prescribe paracetemol for everything, and about the huge 2m flood they had here last year.
I then spent the afternoon digesting with a big pot of green tea next to the river and chatting to a friendly American couple who live in Colorado. They'd come for 2 months of rock climbing, and here they are 3 months later. My enthusiastic description of my ride must have been infectious, because as teh afternoon wore on out came the map, and plans were formed to go to the nearby city of Chiang Mai to buy bikes and cycle around N. Thailand and into Laos down the Mekong. I hope they do it!
I cycled back to my guesthouse, where I did battle with the dribbling shower that randomly switched between boiling and freezing, and changed into my freshly laundered clothes. I can't describe how good that felt...
Back on the road today - a long day if I'm to make it to a guesthouse - a rather unlikely 105 miles with a 1400m pass inbetween. Think I may be having a night in a police box or under the stars.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Tuesday 31st Jan, 8pm, Pai
Today was one of those days when i should have got up at 6am, and been riding with the sunrise.
Today was one of those days when i shouldn't have had a large bottle of beer the night before.
Today was neither of these.
Today was one of those days that started with a big four-egg scrambled egg and pot of green tea reading the paper, followed by a big mug of delicious coffee at another place, only hitting the road at 9.
Today was one of those days where I resorted to caffeine and sugary junk food to get me over the four high passes and 110 km/70 miles.
Today was wonderful.
The first four miles were along a beautiful valley with steep jungled cliffs rising up through the morning mist. There was an amazing view at one opint of the sun just peeping over the cliff - it's rays spreading through a palm tree out onto the mist. I was completely unable to photograph it.
From there I started up the first pass with a stunning view back to the mist-filled valley past a pretty Burmese-style Wat. That first pass wasn't too tough, and at the bottom I stopped for my 11 o'clock egg fried rice & veg.
The second pass was a bit tougher - quite like yesterday's. On the descent I actually braked despite the great road - the views over the mountains was breathtaking! Breathtaking views on the descent, after a breathtaking, lung-bursting ascent. It got me thinking that cycling is rather like Thai massage - painful, but you know that it's worth it. Slightly (only slightly!?) masochistic. I met a German couple there going in the opposite direction having cycled through Laos (and like everyone else they gave it a glowing recommendation for cycling). Very friendly folk. We exchanged route advice, then carried along on our separate ways.
The third pass was the killer - high, steep, hot. I made it, and stopped for a delicious local arabica coffee at the top to the sound of the beautiful bamboo pipes that they play here. Met another German couple on the descent and chatted. They'd cycled Cambodia & Laos. Their altimeter was showing 750m well below the summit.
Stopped for lunch in Soppong in a rather seedy, fly-infested cafe. It was market day, so the village was busy with rather poverty-stricken looking folk from the local mountain villages.
As I left the village looking at the mountains ahead I really wasn't sure whether I should carry on and try to reach Pai in one day. I knwe that there was one big pass ahead, and the 2nd Germans had told me that Pai was at the top of a 1400 m pass, and that i wouldn't make it. They were wrong on both counts.
But the pass was a struggle with my tiring legs. But once I got into the rhythm of it all I had a great time - the views, the steep switchbacks, and the regular waves and beeps and shouts of encouragement from passing mopeds and pickups. But from 2km before the top, and for the majority of the descent they were doing resurfacing work (levening the road according to the sign - apparently unleavened roads are not very practical), and the riding was horrible. At one point I was riding through mud - it flying up covering my bike and me. For the descent I couldn't even think of releasing my back brake as I crawled at 7mph down the steep loose sand and gravel, the dust from two aggregate lorries spewing up into my face and eyes, making me even more filthy than I already was. i was so sure that I was going to come off that I stopped and put my T-shirt back on so that the gravel rash wouldn't be quite so bad.
But I made it, and even managed to overtake the two horrible lorries. And when i reached the completed road, the riding was fabulous - fast 40mph roads, swooping bends, stunning views, and an excellent surface. And then I passed the 15 km marker - the point in the day when i know I can make it. And at sunset I arrived in Pai - the hippy capital of Thailand.
I've got a lovely room down next to the river. I'm dressed in my swimming shorts and spare cycling top as every single other item of clothing is being washed for the first time in rather too long. I've arranged to have a vegetarian thai cooking course tomorrow (a REST day!) and I have a beer full of belly (can't believe I just typed that). Sorry. I have a belly full of beer and pad see-ew (delicious flat noodles cooked in soy sauce with veg & tofu) and am feeling rather sleepy, but really want to make the most of being in a lively town with no cycling to do tomorrow.
And for once the internet cafe isn't full of testosterone-fuelled teenage boys shooting each other screaming with excitement thanks to the wonders of online gaming. Instead every internet cafe in town is full of farang checking emails and football results, and in the case of the chap sitting next to me, looking at porn.
This time tomorrow I shall be a culinary master...
Oh. A few folk have said that I should include a map of where I am. I would, but it's rather a hassle. OK I'll try. but in case it doesn't work - find a map of thailand. If you look at it there's a big lump at the top, and a tail going south. I spent the first three weeks cycling down the east side of that tail from Bangkok to an unmarked town, then got the boat to an unmarked island just next to Ko Pha-Ngan (diving), crossed it from Surat Thani to near Krabi (rock climbing), went to an island half way between Krabi and Phuket (partying) then got the bus to half way up the big lump from Phuket via Bangkok to Sukhothai. I then cycled west to the border with Burma (just north of Mae Sot), then cycled all the way up that border to the north, and I've now just reached the top and started cycling east (I'm just north west of Chiang Mai). My vague plan is to head north some more following the border to where Laos, Burma & Thailand meet (the golden triangle), then head down the Laos border until I run out of time - then popping back to Chiang Mai and cycling up Doi Inthanon (yes, rather high and steep) then bussing it back to Bangkok and then to Cambodia for a couple of days in Angkor Wat. But my plans are rather susceptible to change.
And here, hopefully, is a map of thailand...
Today was one of those days when i shouldn't have had a large bottle of beer the night before.
Today was neither of these.
Today was one of those days that started with a big four-egg scrambled egg and pot of green tea reading the paper, followed by a big mug of delicious coffee at another place, only hitting the road at 9.
Today was one of those days where I resorted to caffeine and sugary junk food to get me over the four high passes and 110 km/70 miles.
Today was wonderful.
The first four miles were along a beautiful valley with steep jungled cliffs rising up through the morning mist. There was an amazing view at one opint of the sun just peeping over the cliff - it's rays spreading through a palm tree out onto the mist. I was completely unable to photograph it.
From there I started up the first pass with a stunning view back to the mist-filled valley past a pretty Burmese-style Wat. That first pass wasn't too tough, and at the bottom I stopped for my 11 o'clock egg fried rice & veg.
The second pass was a bit tougher - quite like yesterday's. On the descent I actually braked despite the great road - the views over the mountains was breathtaking! Breathtaking views on the descent, after a breathtaking, lung-bursting ascent. It got me thinking that cycling is rather like Thai massage - painful, but you know that it's worth it. Slightly (only slightly!?) masochistic. I met a German couple there going in the opposite direction having cycled through Laos (and like everyone else they gave it a glowing recommendation for cycling). Very friendly folk. We exchanged route advice, then carried along on our separate ways.
The third pass was the killer - high, steep, hot. I made it, and stopped for a delicious local arabica coffee at the top to the sound of the beautiful bamboo pipes that they play here. Met another German couple on the descent and chatted. They'd cycled Cambodia & Laos. Their altimeter was showing 750m well below the summit.
Stopped for lunch in Soppong in a rather seedy, fly-infested cafe. It was market day, so the village was busy with rather poverty-stricken looking folk from the local mountain villages.
As I left the village looking at the mountains ahead I really wasn't sure whether I should carry on and try to reach Pai in one day. I knwe that there was one big pass ahead, and the 2nd Germans had told me that Pai was at the top of a 1400 m pass, and that i wouldn't make it. They were wrong on both counts.
But the pass was a struggle with my tiring legs. But once I got into the rhythm of it all I had a great time - the views, the steep switchbacks, and the regular waves and beeps and shouts of encouragement from passing mopeds and pickups. But from 2km before the top, and for the majority of the descent they were doing resurfacing work (levening the road according to the sign - apparently unleavened roads are not very practical), and the riding was horrible. At one point I was riding through mud - it flying up covering my bike and me. For the descent I couldn't even think of releasing my back brake as I crawled at 7mph down the steep loose sand and gravel, the dust from two aggregate lorries spewing up into my face and eyes, making me even more filthy than I already was. i was so sure that I was going to come off that I stopped and put my T-shirt back on so that the gravel rash wouldn't be quite so bad.
But I made it, and even managed to overtake the two horrible lorries. And when i reached the completed road, the riding was fabulous - fast 40mph roads, swooping bends, stunning views, and an excellent surface. And then I passed the 15 km marker - the point in the day when i know I can make it. And at sunset I arrived in Pai - the hippy capital of Thailand.
I've got a lovely room down next to the river. I'm dressed in my swimming shorts and spare cycling top as every single other item of clothing is being washed for the first time in rather too long. I've arranged to have a vegetarian thai cooking course tomorrow (a REST day!) and I have a beer full of belly (can't believe I just typed that). Sorry. I have a belly full of beer and pad see-ew (delicious flat noodles cooked in soy sauce with veg & tofu) and am feeling rather sleepy, but really want to make the most of being in a lively town with no cycling to do tomorrow.
And for once the internet cafe isn't full of testosterone-fuelled teenage boys shooting each other screaming with excitement thanks to the wonders of online gaming. Instead every internet cafe in town is full of farang checking emails and football results, and in the case of the chap sitting next to me, looking at porn.
This time tomorrow I shall be a culinary master...
Oh. A few folk have said that I should include a map of where I am. I would, but it's rather a hassle. OK I'll try. but in case it doesn't work - find a map of thailand. If you look at it there's a big lump at the top, and a tail going south. I spent the first three weeks cycling down the east side of that tail from Bangkok to an unmarked town, then got the boat to an unmarked island just next to Ko Pha-Ngan (diving), crossed it from Surat Thani to near Krabi (rock climbing), went to an island half way between Krabi and Phuket (partying) then got the bus to half way up the big lump from Phuket via Bangkok to Sukhothai. I then cycled west to the border with Burma (just north of Mae Sot), then cycled all the way up that border to the north, and I've now just reached the top and started cycling east (I'm just north west of Chiang Mai). My vague plan is to head north some more following the border to where Laos, Burma & Thailand meet (the golden triangle), then head down the Laos border until I run out of time - then popping back to Chiang Mai and cycling up Doi Inthanon (yes, rather high and steep) then bussing it back to Bangkok and then to Cambodia for a couple of days in Angkor Wat. But my plans are rather susceptible to change.
And here, hopefully, is a map of thailand...
Monday, January 30, 2006
Monday 30th Jan, Mae Hong Son
What a wonderfully relaxing day!
Was awoken by the music from the town loudspeakers at 6.30, and dozed 'til 7, then went to a friendly little cafe in a beautiful teak building for a breakfast of egg fried rice & veg. After a bit of discussion I gota good pot of green tea - she called it Chaa Chiang Mai.
Said goodbye to the Israelis I met last night at the guesthouse, and set off at 8.30 in the cool morning sun. From looking at my dreadful 1:1,500,000 scale map I was expecting a tough hilly day, so I'd only planned to do 70km to the next big town. But actually it turned out to be a really easy day with one gentle pass and lots of pleasant up and down through quiet valleys and pretty jungle. I stopped after a couple of hours for a second breakfast of fried rice. Saw a group of organ donors touring on their motorbikes - one almost crashed into a police pickup on a corner passing me. Saw the Israelis three times as tehy diverted up to see villages in teh mountains. Stopped again at a very friendly place advertising fresh coffee, where they fed me bananas (and coffee of course) and the old man who spoke excellent English told me how corrupt Prime Minister Thaksin is. They have beautiful looking bungalows there is anyone is ever in the area.
(Songvitthaya Siang-Arom, Waleekarn Garden, 53 Moo 6, Huaynamoon-Ban Huay Pong Karn Nok, Tambol Pabong Amphur Muang, Mae Hong Sorn Province 58000, tel 0-9073-9337. The phone connection can be a bit dodgy at night due to Prime Minister Thaksin's corrupt plundering and privatisation of the telecom sector, so if you can't get through his daughter in Bangkok takes bookings on 0-2427-4827).
Soon after that I came to a stunning viewpoint that I almost missed as I zoomed down the beautiful hill. The view was down to a steep valley that was just widening out with a small teak house down in the distance, with bright paddy fields surrounded by dark jungle above. Some Thai tourists took my photo there.
After that wonderful descent I passed three Brits on bikes doing a day trip going in the opposite direction, who shouted that the noodle shop a few hundred metres along the road was good, so I pulled in for lunch at a beautiful quiet cafe among the paddy fields and watched the women rolling cigars. After I finished eating I spoke to the women, mostly in sign language, and worked out that the cigars are rolled in banana leaves, and mixed in with the shells of a nut that has a shell like a huge peanut and grows on the trees here. I bought a bag of 5 cigars for 5 B. Not sure quite what I'll do with them.
The women were really friendly and chatty. They gave me something that they were eating - hopefully the the most foul thing I will ever eat. They were a solid soggy ball of dark green leaves, that were extremely bitter and tasted like concentrated sweat. I managed to eat half by leaving it in my cheek for five minutes waiting for the taste to subside, and then slowly chewing it until I was able to swallow.
One of the women told me that there were hot springs nearby where I could get a massage, and I replied enthusiastically, so she got me to turn around on teh bench and gave me an amazing back massage - it made my whole body tingle.
I said goodbye and cycled a couple of km to the hot springs, where for 150B I got a rather unglamorous room with a huge tiled bath, where I soaked my tired body in the deep hot sulphurous water.
I went to chat to the women at the massage area and shared some food and spoke what little Thai I could, then had my first ever full body massage. It was amazing. At first I found the Thai massage extremely painful - lying there on my back with the muscles in my left leg being pressed and squeezed - my other limbs feeling grateful that they were being spared. But after a while I appreciated the pain led to a good feeling and grew to love it. Having her walk her palms up the back of my aching legs was wonderful, and the hand and foot massage was phenomenal. I'd really like to learn how to do that.
I felt amazing. And one whole hour of massage for 150B! Two pounds! Incredible! I'm going to struggle adjusting to UK prices again.
I sailed the last 10km to Mae Hong Son, pausing only to visit a heavily advertised village of one of the hill tribes. But it looked exactly the same as many of teh other villages I've passed through over the last few days, except that the villagers were less friendly and seemed a bit fed up of all the tourists passing through staring to consume their culture. It left me feeling quite bad about the way these people are packaged for tourism as hill tribes to be consumed and ticked off a list, like bird-spotting or stamp collecting.
Mae Hong Son is a very busy place - quite touristy, but probably more Thai tourists than farang. I'm in a lovely cheap (100B) guesthouse next to a pretty lake surrounded by a few temples, food stalls, and old women doing some sort of yoga or Thai Chi. I wandered around town aimlessly looking at the temples and food market. At one pretty, quiet old wooden temple some boys were playing a game I'd seen most evenings in the villages and towns, and they invited me to join in. It's a sort of group keepy-uppy, but played with a small wicker ball. I'm absolutely crap at football, but gave it a go. The ball was surprisingly heavy, and extremely painful on my unprotected flip-flopped foot. The boys laughed pleasantly when I missed or kicked it in a random direction, and cheered when I managed a good header or knee kick. A great laugh.
I then hit a pleasantly run down cafe to watch the latest episode of Chanel 7's Thai soap that I've been following since Bangkok (tonight bumfluff boy's lost his memory and has been stolen from his girlfriend by the evil straight-haired girl). There I had a lovely fruit shake and painfully hot red curry. I bought the Thai English language paper, which had lots of interesting stuff about all the current scandal with the prime minister selling off their media to foreign companies.
One thing I forgot to write yesterday - I saw my first live snake (previous ones were all squashed). It was about a foot away from my wheel as I cycled slowly up a hill - about 3 feet long, dark green. I got quite a fright as it slithered away through the rustling leaves.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Sunday 29th Jan, Khun Yuam
Today's ride was only 65 miles, but my legs were really tired from yesterday. I got up at 7 and had breakfast at the guesthouse - omlette and toast. I then set off, but quickly stopped at a couple of roadside stalls - one selling the tasty small round chewy banana and coconut fried things, the other selling yams deep fried in batter (not v. tasty, but I'd never tried them before). A few miles later outside town I stopped at a really friendly woman's stall selling sliced banana deep fried in a batter with sesame seeds. Delicious. I saved most for snacking on the road.
The morning's ride was rolling along the valley, and not particularly interesting with my tired legs. I stopped after 20 miles for another breakfast of Kaa Pad Kai (egg fried rice with veg) then carried on, stopping an hour or so later at a beautiful cafe in amongst vast 300 year old trees. And from there the ride began to get really beautiful. It went up over the one pass of the day into a beautiful narrow winding quiet valley in the hills.
I noticed the Japanese guy from the guesthouse stopped at the side of the road, so pulled over to say hi. He really is touring on that trial bike! He's got a 30 litre rucksack balanced on his handlebars, with his beautiful panama hat balanced on top of that. We chatted a bit. He's been basically on the same route as me, but he took the main road through the mountains where I went via the more northern road with the police and the teachers and scouts. I stopped to get water and he carried on. He didn't seem to into riding together, which was a pity.
A few beautiful miles after that, feeling tired, three guys at the side of the road shouted something in Thai, I think they were asking where I was going. I decided to stop and chat, and they poured me a glass of ice cold Chang beer in the warm afternoon, and that was me for the next hour or so. They were three Karen farmers. One spoke pretty good English, so we chatted lots. He farms up in the hills towards the Burmese border. His main crop is peanuts and garlic, but he also has water buffalo, pigs, bananas, etc. He isn't religious, one friend was Christian, and the other Buddhist. Interesting to see such a mix. In the non-tribal area of Thailand pretty much everyone's Buddhist, except in the south (like where I was in Krabi/Ko Phi Phi) where there are a lot of Muslims. Another of his friends joined us for beer - he drives elephants for logging. They were a great bunch - so friendly and generous and fun. They were constantly joking and punching each other. They taught me that Karen word for fun - Law Ni, as well as a few other useful Thai and Karen phrases. And every time my glass was more than an inch from the top it was topped up again. Eventually I said 'no more' (po law) and wobbled my way down the absolutely amazing 10 mile descent into the town of Khun Yuam.
It's strange. Although the Lonely Planet talks quite a lot of rubbish (for example it says that Thai people don't use chopsticks) and some of it's maps are pretty horrendous, usually its descriptions of places are pretty accurate. But it's description of this town is completely off the mark. I'd expected a tiny place like I was in two nights ago in Mae Salit - one or two cafes that closed at sunset, a couple of small guesthouses. But actually it's a big town stretching about 3 km along the road with loads of shops, cafes, two or three fairly classy places to stay, and the internet cafe where I'm writing this.
I've had a very hearty supper - a plate of pad thai (fried noodles & egg) at one tiny wee place, and a plate of some very spicey veg and rice at another.
I seem to write about food a lot... Sorry. But I eat so much and it's such an important part of my day. And it's so tasty!
The morning's ride was rolling along the valley, and not particularly interesting with my tired legs. I stopped after 20 miles for another breakfast of Kaa Pad Kai (egg fried rice with veg) then carried on, stopping an hour or so later at a beautiful cafe in amongst vast 300 year old trees. And from there the ride began to get really beautiful. It went up over the one pass of the day into a beautiful narrow winding quiet valley in the hills.
I noticed the Japanese guy from the guesthouse stopped at the side of the road, so pulled over to say hi. He really is touring on that trial bike! He's got a 30 litre rucksack balanced on his handlebars, with his beautiful panama hat balanced on top of that. We chatted a bit. He's been basically on the same route as me, but he took the main road through the mountains where I went via the more northern road with the police and the teachers and scouts. I stopped to get water and he carried on. He didn't seem to into riding together, which was a pity.
A few beautiful miles after that, feeling tired, three guys at the side of the road shouted something in Thai, I think they were asking where I was going. I decided to stop and chat, and they poured me a glass of ice cold Chang beer in the warm afternoon, and that was me for the next hour or so. They were three Karen farmers. One spoke pretty good English, so we chatted lots. He farms up in the hills towards the Burmese border. His main crop is peanuts and garlic, but he also has water buffalo, pigs, bananas, etc. He isn't religious, one friend was Christian, and the other Buddhist. Interesting to see such a mix. In the non-tribal area of Thailand pretty much everyone's Buddhist, except in the south (like where I was in Krabi/Ko Phi Phi) where there are a lot of Muslims. Another of his friends joined us for beer - he drives elephants for logging. They were a great bunch - so friendly and generous and fun. They were constantly joking and punching each other. They taught me that Karen word for fun - Law Ni, as well as a few other useful Thai and Karen phrases. And every time my glass was more than an inch from the top it was topped up again. Eventually I said 'no more' (po law) and wobbled my way down the absolutely amazing 10 mile descent into the town of Khun Yuam.
It's strange. Although the Lonely Planet talks quite a lot of rubbish (for example it says that Thai people don't use chopsticks) and some of it's maps are pretty horrendous, usually its descriptions of places are pretty accurate. But it's description of this town is completely off the mark. I'd expected a tiny place like I was in two nights ago in Mae Salit - one or two cafes that closed at sunset, a couple of small guesthouses. But actually it's a big town stretching about 3 km along the road with loads of shops, cafes, two or three fairly classy places to stay, and the internet cafe where I'm writing this.
I've had a very hearty supper - a plate of pad thai (fried noodles & egg) at one tiny wee place, and a plate of some very spicey veg and rice at another.
I seem to write about food a lot... Sorry. But I eat so much and it's such an important part of my day. And it's so tasty!
Sat 28th Jan, Mae Sariang
Today has been exhausting.
I woke at 6.30 to the sound of firecrackers marking the last day of the Chineese year, to the sound of cockerels crowing, and the guesthouse owner singing and playing his guitar. I ignored these sounds and tried to sleep longer. It had been a rather cold night.
I enquired about breakfast and he pu tme on the back of his bike again and drove me down the river road to a wee cafe where we drank coffee sweetened with condensed milk and eat deep fried dough, then drank endless cups of delicious green tea, while he told me about the political situation in Burma (like most people in this area he is Karen). He's got a green card because he's been here a long time. He says there's been a ceasefire for two years, but did not seem particularly positive about the military democracy. He then drove me to a little shop where I bought a 5 baht packet of biscuits for the road - six very tasty custard-cream style biscuits. The cream was flavoured with the bizarre Thai fruit (I think it's called Rambutan) - I quite like it.
The first 15 miles was fairly flat along the river, and pleasantly cool in the morning's mysterious mist. With the big river and the jungle and mountains it felt like something from Apocalypse Now. And there's something about being on the border that reminds me of last year in the south of the USA.
I stopped after the first 15 miles for breakfast in a confusing Karen village. But for some stupid reason I forgot to buy water or replace the junk/emergency food I eat last night when all the cafes were closed... And over the following hours I realised how badly I'd underestimated the day's ride.
There was a really gruelling unrelenting climb to a high pass, I'm sure it must have been 1000m or so. It was 4 - 5 mph in 1st gear most of the way, with the occasional super-steep bits - sometimes I powered up them - feeling every muscle in my legs, arms and back. And sometimes I just gave in and pushed, especially in the patches where the road surface deteriorated. And all the while my small stash of food was running lower and lower. By the time I reached a shop at 1.30 I had one biscuit, a few sweets and a chocolate bar from the plane left, and I had started on my emergency half litre bottle of green tea from Hong Kong airport.
I had a junkfood lunch at the shop, of coke, biscuits and one of the foul tasteless white long-life rolls filled with fluorescent goo that seem to be so popular here.
The shop was pretty much at the top of the pass, but it didn't stop being demanding. If anything it was worse. From there it was 20 or 30 miles of steep up and down, with very little flat ground. And it wasn't even as if I could rest on the downhill - it was so steep and windy, and most of the time the road surface was dodgy. On the first descent soon after my lunchbreak I relaxed and went too fast and hit a pebble - immediate snakebite (double puncture). So I had to spend half an hour fixing that and putting on my one spare tube.
So after that, on every descent I was raised up out of the saddle so my legs could absorb the shock of any impact over pebbles or potholes, concentrating really hard trying to spot the loose stones and potholes amongst the dappled shadows of the jungle, and also trying to read the road ahead for bends, super-steep descents, oncoming traffic (rare) and animals, all the time feathering the brakes so I didn't go too fast, but trying not to overheat the brakes or rims and putting myself at risk of another puncture, or crashing and damaging my bike or my self.
While fixing my puncture I got pretty worried that I wasn't going to make it. It had taken six hours from 8am to do just 35 of the 75 miles! Although my legs were coping with the mountains it was very slow going.
I stopped briefly at a few small Karen villages for a bag of delicious tangerines, or water, smiling to the old ladies with red saliva running down their chin from chewing something (Khat?) and waving to the kids.
Despite the difficulty it was actually a great day - so beautiful up high in the mountains, so little traffic, so many friendly people smiling and waving at the roadside or on passing mopeds or sawngthaew. And although most of the descents were slow and tough, there were a few where the roa surface was good, and they were magical - finally I could let go and fly. Swooping down through the jungle around the soaring bends - I felt amazing.
And finally I reached the flat valley, and after 15 miles I pulled into town as the sun was setting and after some confusion with the Lonely Planet's dreadful map I found a nice guesthouse with a hot shower. I showered then had a rather unpleasant meal of soya meat substitute and 'holy' basil. I found a wee bike shop and bought a spare 700 Presta bike tube! That made me happy. I went to an internet cafe where I blogged 'til it closed. I got hungry again, but everything was closed, but I managed to get a big bag of crisps and a small bag of nuts.
I saw a few farang (foriegners) in the town - the first I'd seen for over 3 days - but none were at all chatty. There's a Japanese guy staying in the same hotel, but he didn't say much. I guess his English probably isn't that great. He's got a Trek trials bike with him. The owner of the guesthouse seems to think that he's touring, but it seems unlikely on a bike like that (small frame for doing stunts and huge fat chunky tyres, and no racks to put panniers on).
I've changed my plans for the next few days. I'd planned to go east from here to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. And although the road sounds great, I can't be bothered coming back the same way, and the one alternative road looks too difficult. So I'm just going to carry on North along this beautiful road, and hopefully do Doi Inthanon from Chiang Mai.
Today's been the toughest day's cycling of my life, except perhaps the first long ride I ever did, which was with Mum aged 6 or 7 cycling the 12 mile round trip to Sanquahar (the village near where I grew up). For some reason I'd only had one weetabix that morning instead of my usual two. So on the way home, never having cycled beyond the end of my drive before, and completely out of energy I flaked out. I don't know how mum managed to get me home. Thankfully that didn't happen today...
I woke at 6.30 to the sound of firecrackers marking the last day of the Chineese year, to the sound of cockerels crowing, and the guesthouse owner singing and playing his guitar. I ignored these sounds and tried to sleep longer. It had been a rather cold night.
I enquired about breakfast and he pu tme on the back of his bike again and drove me down the river road to a wee cafe where we drank coffee sweetened with condensed milk and eat deep fried dough, then drank endless cups of delicious green tea, while he told me about the political situation in Burma (like most people in this area he is Karen). He's got a green card because he's been here a long time. He says there's been a ceasefire for two years, but did not seem particularly positive about the military democracy. He then drove me to a little shop where I bought a 5 baht packet of biscuits for the road - six very tasty custard-cream style biscuits. The cream was flavoured with the bizarre Thai fruit (I think it's called Rambutan) - I quite like it.
The first 15 miles was fairly flat along the river, and pleasantly cool in the morning's mysterious mist. With the big river and the jungle and mountains it felt like something from Apocalypse Now. And there's something about being on the border that reminds me of last year in the south of the USA.
I stopped after the first 15 miles for breakfast in a confusing Karen village. But for some stupid reason I forgot to buy water or replace the junk/emergency food I eat last night when all the cafes were closed... And over the following hours I realised how badly I'd underestimated the day's ride.
There was a really gruelling unrelenting climb to a high pass, I'm sure it must have been 1000m or so. It was 4 - 5 mph in 1st gear most of the way, with the occasional super-steep bits - sometimes I powered up them - feeling every muscle in my legs, arms and back. And sometimes I just gave in and pushed, especially in the patches where the road surface deteriorated. And all the while my small stash of food was running lower and lower. By the time I reached a shop at 1.30 I had one biscuit, a few sweets and a chocolate bar from the plane left, and I had started on my emergency half litre bottle of green tea from Hong Kong airport.
I had a junkfood lunch at the shop, of coke, biscuits and one of the foul tasteless white long-life rolls filled with fluorescent goo that seem to be so popular here.
The shop was pretty much at the top of the pass, but it didn't stop being demanding. If anything it was worse. From there it was 20 or 30 miles of steep up and down, with very little flat ground. And it wasn't even as if I could rest on the downhill - it was so steep and windy, and most of the time the road surface was dodgy. On the first descent soon after my lunchbreak I relaxed and went too fast and hit a pebble - immediate snakebite (double puncture). So I had to spend half an hour fixing that and putting on my one spare tube.
So after that, on every descent I was raised up out of the saddle so my legs could absorb the shock of any impact over pebbles or potholes, concentrating really hard trying to spot the loose stones and potholes amongst the dappled shadows of the jungle, and also trying to read the road ahead for bends, super-steep descents, oncoming traffic (rare) and animals, all the time feathering the brakes so I didn't go too fast, but trying not to overheat the brakes or rims and putting myself at risk of another puncture, or crashing and damaging my bike or my self.
While fixing my puncture I got pretty worried that I wasn't going to make it. It had taken six hours from 8am to do just 35 of the 75 miles! Although my legs were coping with the mountains it was very slow going.
I stopped briefly at a few small Karen villages for a bag of delicious tangerines, or water, smiling to the old ladies with red saliva running down their chin from chewing something (Khat?) and waving to the kids.
Despite the difficulty it was actually a great day - so beautiful up high in the mountains, so little traffic, so many friendly people smiling and waving at the roadside or on passing mopeds or sawngthaew. And although most of the descents were slow and tough, there were a few where the roa surface was good, and they were magical - finally I could let go and fly. Swooping down through the jungle around the soaring bends - I felt amazing.
And finally I reached the flat valley, and after 15 miles I pulled into town as the sun was setting and after some confusion with the Lonely Planet's dreadful map I found a nice guesthouse with a hot shower. I showered then had a rather unpleasant meal of soya meat substitute and 'holy' basil. I found a wee bike shop and bought a spare 700 Presta bike tube! That made me happy. I went to an internet cafe where I blogged 'til it closed. I got hungry again, but everything was closed, but I managed to get a big bag of crisps and a small bag of nuts.
I saw a few farang (foriegners) in the town - the first I'd seen for over 3 days - but none were at all chatty. There's a Japanese guy staying in the same hotel, but he didn't say much. I guess his English probably isn't that great. He's got a Trek trials bike with him. The owner of the guesthouse seems to think that he's touring, but it seems unlikely on a bike like that (small frame for doing stunts and huge fat chunky tyres, and no racks to put panniers on).
I've changed my plans for the next few days. I'd planned to go east from here to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. And although the road sounds great, I can't be bothered coming back the same way, and the one alternative road looks too difficult. So I'm just going to carry on North along this beautiful road, and hopefully do Doi Inthanon from Chiang Mai.
Today's been the toughest day's cycling of my life, except perhaps the first long ride I ever did, which was with Mum aged 6 or 7 cycling the 12 mile round trip to Sanquahar (the village near where I grew up). For some reason I'd only had one weetabix that morning instead of my usual two. So on the way home, never having cycled beyond the end of my drive before, and completely out of energy I flaked out. I don't know how mum managed to get me home. Thankfully that didn't happen today...
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Friday 27th Jan, Mae Salit
What an incredible three days it's been! The task of attempting to capture the experiences in words is seriously indimidating...
The conversation with the drunk Slovakian on Tuesday night was fascinating, especially his time in Bangkok. It was as if someone had given him a list of every way to get ripped off. He'd asked at teh airport about a place to stay, and had been told he couldn't get anywhere for less than 1000B a night (250 - 300 is reasonable). He ended up in a hotel for 800B. The taxi there cost him 500B (he didn't make them use the meter - it should have been 250 - 300B). At teh hotel he drained the bar in his room (1000B) then went to teh first bar he came to outside his hotel. He was right in the red light district, so as soon as he sat down a beautiful girl came and sat with him telling him how beautiful he was, smiling at him, and putting his hand on her leg. He had to pay her 1000B for her company. When he came to leave he discovered that the bill for his coke and beer was 400B (100B would be reasonable)! As he walked past the next bar they persuaded him to go in - they said beer was only 100B. But it was an exact repeat - girl & ego 1000B, and beer 400B!
The next day, feeling skint, he took his last cigarette and decided just to sit and watch the world go bye. As he flicked away his cigarette but a policeman stopped and fined him 2000B! Feeling very unhappyp he decided to treat himself to a massage at teh hotel for 300B - teh only thing he didn't get ripped off for. But the pretty girl and the physical contact made him horny, and he persuaded the masseuse to sleep with him for 2000B. All in he spent 20,000B in 2 days! So he fled to Sukhothai where prices are good and scams are rare.
The following morning, Wednesday, I got up at 5am and rode the first hour or so in darkness. Mostly I was on the same road as to old Sukhothai, which was populated and well lit, but for 20 or 30 mins after leaving that road I was cycling in pitch darkness relying on my lights and the white line at teh edge of the road. It was fun to watch the colour of the sky change behind me - I've not watched a sunrise properly since I was in the States last year.
I couldn't find a cafe for breakfast, so stopped to buy a big bag of crisps. The kind shopkeeper gave me a bottle of water too, free. Soon after that I came to a town and stopped for a proper breakfast - rice & veg. By lunchtime I reached the large town of Tak. I stopped at the not particularly useful tourist info, then hunted for some veggie food, which involved following a friendly guy in his car half a kilometer across town to a lovely 100% veggie cafe where I had two plates of very tasty food and chatted to a Belgian guy - the last Farang I saw.
I set off through town a bit confused because the roads bore no resemblance to teh map - an extra bridge - wasted a few km in the hot sun. I was getting a bit stressed because I knew I wasn't going to make it over the mountains to the next place with a guesthouse. And I wasn't really sure about getting food or water - there was only 1 town marked on teh map for the next 100km. But for the 1st 20 km as I headed north up the quiet valley from Tak there were a few shops and cafes in among the beautiful stilted teak houses.
And then I turned west into the mountains.
I'd been watching the mountains slowly appear through the haze all morning - at first thinking they must just be a big line of clouds. And I went up, and up. Exhausting but beautiful. It was a really quiet road - the main road over the mountains was 25 km south. Near the top of the first 970m pass I was getting exhausted, so stopped to talk to a friendly guy, and we walked together for 20 minutes or so chatting. His name was Chokla, and he was a Karen refugee from Burma. 20 years ago the Burmese army had attacked his village burning many houses and killing many people, and afterwards there was nothing to eat. So he came here. Now he spends his days hauling 100 kg baskets on foot around the mountains. At first I couldn't understand what fruit or vegetable it was that he collected, but then we turned a corner in the road - and there were huge piles of cabbages! Very unexpected! And there were lots of Karen hill people there cutting them and taking off the outer leaves. They all dress so beautifully. The women in long blue silk skirts. Chokla was wearing dark loose trousers, a long blue top, tied with a pink cloth, and a beautiful cloth square bag with tassels. When we reached the village at the top of the hill we stopped for me to get some food. I tried to explain I was veggie, but ended up with rice and some kind of mince. Not nice, but I eat it. I bougth Chokla a beer. The owner of the cafe was teasing me mercilessly, trying to set me up with her beautiful daughter. They offered that I could share her mosquito net that night. I was tempted - it was turning into a very cold evening up there in the mountains - but remembering my friend George's experience with 'joke' offers of marriage I decided not to risk it.
Chokla pointed me in the direction of the police station where I would be able to sleep, and there we parted ways. He doesn't have a passport, so has to run and hide when he sees the police.
I saw a policeman at the village shop, and he threw my bike in the back of his pickup and drove me the last half a km to the police box at the top of the pass and showed me a concrete-floored pavilion where I could roll out my bivvy bag. As I started to put on my warmest clothes another policeman asked if I would like some Thai shisky, and there began a wonderful night.
I joined them at their table on the hillside and the Thai whisky was passed around in an old Jonny Walker bottle filled with herbs. Delicious. Drunk straight in small shots. They also gave me lots of rice and an omlette, and some of the delicious local cabbage - very fiery and peppery.
They were such a friendly bunch. One of the younger ones spoke pretty good English and we chatted lots. They work there for 3 weeks at a time, then get 3 days off. Tough. He lives with his very beautiful wife and son and daughter on teh other side of Sukhothai. Last year they had to work in the south in the 3 provinces where there has been a lot of trouble (the area is predominantly Muslim, and they want independence). And he very kindly let me share his room in the police station. I had a wooden platform bed with a thin mat and a very welcome warm blanket. I slept very well, waking occasionally with a dead arm.
I rose with them at 7 and they cooked breakfast for us all - rice, omlette, cabbage, and a vegetable that my phrasebook translates as jackfruit.
Chawang, the policeman I got friendly with, was a bit worried because a zip on his bumbag was open and he'd dropped a few bullets. They all have guns - pistols. Though when I went to get some water I noticed that one guy had a rifle next to his bed too.
I was sad to say goodbye. They were the friendliest, most chilled out group of police I'd ever met. One of them was on the whisky again already at 9!
I started the day with a wonderful 10 mile descent through the beautiful mist-topped mountains and jungle. I noticed that there was a shop at the bottom of the pass (I'm including a few tips for other cyclists who may be reading this). There was another at the top of the second pass after another steep 10 miles or so. While cycling along the ridge of the second pass I saw a sign to a national park and waterfall, so I decided to take a look. As I got to the park I saw that a scout camp was in residence. I got chatting to a friendly teacher, who invited me to walk to the waterfall with them all. So I watched their drill, then followed behind chatting to a teacher who spoke good English. He and most of the kids are Karen from Burma (though at first with his accent I though he said they were Korean).
The waterfall was a long tough steep walk, and I was exhausted by that day's 25 steep miles and the 95 miles I'd done the day before. The waterfall was pretty, in amongst the jungle in the mountains. Amid the amused stares of a hundred scouts I stripped down to my pants and waded in the waterfall - very refreshing after two sweaty days of mountains.
It is funny being around Thai people, or at least these ones. They are much more touchy-feely that I'm used to. The teacher I was speaking to on the walk was always taking my arm or hand to talk to me or show me something. And one guy was really stroking my arm and leg hair - it's bleached blonde by the sun.
Back at the camp they offered me lunch, and whisky, and there went my plans to cycle further that day, and there began another fantastic night!
I was drinking shots of Thai and Karen whisky all afternoon and evenig with the teachers, being poured from a big petrol can, while all around ran scouts, playing in the river, fighting with bamboo poles, cooking. Again - it's great to see how chilled out everyone and everything is. In the UK you'd never get teachers getting drunk infront of the kids, you'd never have openly gay teachers (including one very handsome young man with his eyelashes tinted violet!) We all had fun drinking - them teaching me little bits of Thai and Karen. And they let me share one of their tents. I was a bit chilly with just my bivvy bag on the ground in the mountains, but slept well with very vivid dreams, including one about being on a huge boat going through Amsterdam. And I keep dreaming that I'm home again.
In the morning I hung around feeling very hungover drinking sweet coffee and eating a breakfast of sticky rice dipped in something hot and spicey. It was so beautiful with the sunrise and the jungle, and the mysterious smoke from all the campires, and the scouts running around.
I set off at nine but was quickly overtaken by two of the teachers in their pickup, who offered me a lift. For some reason I accepted, despite the fact that it was downhill all the way. At Mae Ramat I bought some water and put on some suncream watching two beautiful Karen girls in their blue silk skirts with their babies hung infront of them in red slings.
Then I set off North up the valley along the Burmese border on a pleasantly hilly and quiet road amont the mountains, teak forest, banana tress, terraced fields, pigs, goats, chickens, cows with their big sharp curved horns. I passed a huge refugee camp - it stretched for 2 or 3 km - thousands and thousands of small bamboo shacks crammed into the beautiful valley nestled among the limestone cliffs. I found out afterwards that there's about 40,000 Karen refugees living there! At one gate I tried to go in, but wasn't allowed. Perhaps a good thing. Even just at the gate I felt like I was really invading - hundreds of people staring at me. But a little further along I stopped at a shop selling beautiful handwoven traditional Karen clothing. I was tempted to buy a bag like they all carry, but didn't.
I stopped at a town after 30 miles or so for 2 bowls of tasty noodles. I passed a guesthouse and resort there that weren't in the guidbook or tourist info. I did a diversion a couple of km over a super-steep hill to a cave where the river ran straight into the limestone mountain. Two young boys with torches guided me as we waded through the river and looked at the glittering dry waterfalls of stalagtites, and the bats. Not particularly outstanding, but it was worth it just for the amazingly beautiful valley that it is in. Absolutely superb - a small green valley among the steep jungle covered limestone mountains, with a quiet village of teak houses on stilts with Karen hilltribe folk sitting around, and water buffalo wandering in the fields plastered in damp mud to keep cool.
I finished the day at 60 miles (max speed 42.7 mph - fastest yet on this trip) in Mae Salit - a quiet village with a guesthouse listed in the Lonely Planet. It's very basic, but friendly and cheap - 80 B - cheapest yet! I got a plate of rice and veg across the road and showered. Well not a shower - I sluiced some cold water across myself and got fairly clean.
The owner of the guesthouse drove me down to the river on his moped (scary! I'm not a good passenger) and I walked back up. The border guard at the river had sandbags protecting his lookout - first time I'd seen that.
The owner of the guesthouse said that a Japanese couple on bikes were here last night, and 5 Australians the night before. The police in the mountains mentioned the Australians too. I'd hoped to get some more food, but the restaurant had closed, so I had to raid my emergency crappy junk food. Not sure what I'll do ain the morning if it's not open. Late start I guess. I'm very tired.
The conversation with the drunk Slovakian on Tuesday night was fascinating, especially his time in Bangkok. It was as if someone had given him a list of every way to get ripped off. He'd asked at teh airport about a place to stay, and had been told he couldn't get anywhere for less than 1000B a night (250 - 300 is reasonable). He ended up in a hotel for 800B. The taxi there cost him 500B (he didn't make them use the meter - it should have been 250 - 300B). At teh hotel he drained the bar in his room (1000B) then went to teh first bar he came to outside his hotel. He was right in the red light district, so as soon as he sat down a beautiful girl came and sat with him telling him how beautiful he was, smiling at him, and putting his hand on her leg. He had to pay her 1000B for her company. When he came to leave he discovered that the bill for his coke and beer was 400B (100B would be reasonable)! As he walked past the next bar they persuaded him to go in - they said beer was only 100B. But it was an exact repeat - girl & ego 1000B, and beer 400B!
The next day, feeling skint, he took his last cigarette and decided just to sit and watch the world go bye. As he flicked away his cigarette but a policeman stopped and fined him 2000B! Feeling very unhappyp he decided to treat himself to a massage at teh hotel for 300B - teh only thing he didn't get ripped off for. But the pretty girl and the physical contact made him horny, and he persuaded the masseuse to sleep with him for 2000B. All in he spent 20,000B in 2 days! So he fled to Sukhothai where prices are good and scams are rare.
The following morning, Wednesday, I got up at 5am and rode the first hour or so in darkness. Mostly I was on the same road as to old Sukhothai, which was populated and well lit, but for 20 or 30 mins after leaving that road I was cycling in pitch darkness relying on my lights and the white line at teh edge of the road. It was fun to watch the colour of the sky change behind me - I've not watched a sunrise properly since I was in the States last year.
I couldn't find a cafe for breakfast, so stopped to buy a big bag of crisps. The kind shopkeeper gave me a bottle of water too, free. Soon after that I came to a town and stopped for a proper breakfast - rice & veg. By lunchtime I reached the large town of Tak. I stopped at the not particularly useful tourist info, then hunted for some veggie food, which involved following a friendly guy in his car half a kilometer across town to a lovely 100% veggie cafe where I had two plates of very tasty food and chatted to a Belgian guy - the last Farang I saw.
I set off through town a bit confused because the roads bore no resemblance to teh map - an extra bridge - wasted a few km in the hot sun. I was getting a bit stressed because I knew I wasn't going to make it over the mountains to the next place with a guesthouse. And I wasn't really sure about getting food or water - there was only 1 town marked on teh map for the next 100km. But for the 1st 20 km as I headed north up the quiet valley from Tak there were a few shops and cafes in among the beautiful stilted teak houses.
And then I turned west into the mountains.
I'd been watching the mountains slowly appear through the haze all morning - at first thinking they must just be a big line of clouds. And I went up, and up. Exhausting but beautiful. It was a really quiet road - the main road over the mountains was 25 km south. Near the top of the first 970m pass I was getting exhausted, so stopped to talk to a friendly guy, and we walked together for 20 minutes or so chatting. His name was Chokla, and he was a Karen refugee from Burma. 20 years ago the Burmese army had attacked his village burning many houses and killing many people, and afterwards there was nothing to eat. So he came here. Now he spends his days hauling 100 kg baskets on foot around the mountains. At first I couldn't understand what fruit or vegetable it was that he collected, but then we turned a corner in the road - and there were huge piles of cabbages! Very unexpected! And there were lots of Karen hill people there cutting them and taking off the outer leaves. They all dress so beautifully. The women in long blue silk skirts. Chokla was wearing dark loose trousers, a long blue top, tied with a pink cloth, and a beautiful cloth square bag with tassels. When we reached the village at the top of the hill we stopped for me to get some food. I tried to explain I was veggie, but ended up with rice and some kind of mince. Not nice, but I eat it. I bougth Chokla a beer. The owner of the cafe was teasing me mercilessly, trying to set me up with her beautiful daughter. They offered that I could share her mosquito net that night. I was tempted - it was turning into a very cold evening up there in the mountains - but remembering my friend George's experience with 'joke' offers of marriage I decided not to risk it.
Chokla pointed me in the direction of the police station where I would be able to sleep, and there we parted ways. He doesn't have a passport, so has to run and hide when he sees the police.
I saw a policeman at the village shop, and he threw my bike in the back of his pickup and drove me the last half a km to the police box at the top of the pass and showed me a concrete-floored pavilion where I could roll out my bivvy bag. As I started to put on my warmest clothes another policeman asked if I would like some Thai shisky, and there began a wonderful night.
I joined them at their table on the hillside and the Thai whisky was passed around in an old Jonny Walker bottle filled with herbs. Delicious. Drunk straight in small shots. They also gave me lots of rice and an omlette, and some of the delicious local cabbage - very fiery and peppery.
They were such a friendly bunch. One of the younger ones spoke pretty good English and we chatted lots. They work there for 3 weeks at a time, then get 3 days off. Tough. He lives with his very beautiful wife and son and daughter on teh other side of Sukhothai. Last year they had to work in the south in the 3 provinces where there has been a lot of trouble (the area is predominantly Muslim, and they want independence). And he very kindly let me share his room in the police station. I had a wooden platform bed with a thin mat and a very welcome warm blanket. I slept very well, waking occasionally with a dead arm.
I rose with them at 7 and they cooked breakfast for us all - rice, omlette, cabbage, and a vegetable that my phrasebook translates as jackfruit.
Chawang, the policeman I got friendly with, was a bit worried because a zip on his bumbag was open and he'd dropped a few bullets. They all have guns - pistols. Though when I went to get some water I noticed that one guy had a rifle next to his bed too.
I was sad to say goodbye. They were the friendliest, most chilled out group of police I'd ever met. One of them was on the whisky again already at 9!
I started the day with a wonderful 10 mile descent through the beautiful mist-topped mountains and jungle. I noticed that there was a shop at the bottom of the pass (I'm including a few tips for other cyclists who may be reading this). There was another at the top of the second pass after another steep 10 miles or so. While cycling along the ridge of the second pass I saw a sign to a national park and waterfall, so I decided to take a look. As I got to the park I saw that a scout camp was in residence. I got chatting to a friendly teacher, who invited me to walk to the waterfall with them all. So I watched their drill, then followed behind chatting to a teacher who spoke good English. He and most of the kids are Karen from Burma (though at first with his accent I though he said they were Korean).
The waterfall was a long tough steep walk, and I was exhausted by that day's 25 steep miles and the 95 miles I'd done the day before. The waterfall was pretty, in amongst the jungle in the mountains. Amid the amused stares of a hundred scouts I stripped down to my pants and waded in the waterfall - very refreshing after two sweaty days of mountains.
It is funny being around Thai people, or at least these ones. They are much more touchy-feely that I'm used to. The teacher I was speaking to on the walk was always taking my arm or hand to talk to me or show me something. And one guy was really stroking my arm and leg hair - it's bleached blonde by the sun.
Back at the camp they offered me lunch, and whisky, and there went my plans to cycle further that day, and there began another fantastic night!
I was drinking shots of Thai and Karen whisky all afternoon and evenig with the teachers, being poured from a big petrol can, while all around ran scouts, playing in the river, fighting with bamboo poles, cooking. Again - it's great to see how chilled out everyone and everything is. In the UK you'd never get teachers getting drunk infront of the kids, you'd never have openly gay teachers (including one very handsome young man with his eyelashes tinted violet!) We all had fun drinking - them teaching me little bits of Thai and Karen. And they let me share one of their tents. I was a bit chilly with just my bivvy bag on the ground in the mountains, but slept well with very vivid dreams, including one about being on a huge boat going through Amsterdam. And I keep dreaming that I'm home again.
In the morning I hung around feeling very hungover drinking sweet coffee and eating a breakfast of sticky rice dipped in something hot and spicey. It was so beautiful with the sunrise and the jungle, and the mysterious smoke from all the campires, and the scouts running around.
I set off at nine but was quickly overtaken by two of the teachers in their pickup, who offered me a lift. For some reason I accepted, despite the fact that it was downhill all the way. At Mae Ramat I bought some water and put on some suncream watching two beautiful Karen girls in their blue silk skirts with their babies hung infront of them in red slings.
Then I set off North up the valley along the Burmese border on a pleasantly hilly and quiet road amont the mountains, teak forest, banana tress, terraced fields, pigs, goats, chickens, cows with their big sharp curved horns. I passed a huge refugee camp - it stretched for 2 or 3 km - thousands and thousands of small bamboo shacks crammed into the beautiful valley nestled among the limestone cliffs. I found out afterwards that there's about 40,000 Karen refugees living there! At one gate I tried to go in, but wasn't allowed. Perhaps a good thing. Even just at the gate I felt like I was really invading - hundreds of people staring at me. But a little further along I stopped at a shop selling beautiful handwoven traditional Karen clothing. I was tempted to buy a bag like they all carry, but didn't.
I stopped at a town after 30 miles or so for 2 bowls of tasty noodles. I passed a guesthouse and resort there that weren't in the guidbook or tourist info. I did a diversion a couple of km over a super-steep hill to a cave where the river ran straight into the limestone mountain. Two young boys with torches guided me as we waded through the river and looked at the glittering dry waterfalls of stalagtites, and the bats. Not particularly outstanding, but it was worth it just for the amazingly beautiful valley that it is in. Absolutely superb - a small green valley among the steep jungle covered limestone mountains, with a quiet village of teak houses on stilts with Karen hilltribe folk sitting around, and water buffalo wandering in the fields plastered in damp mud to keep cool.
I finished the day at 60 miles (max speed 42.7 mph - fastest yet on this trip) in Mae Salit - a quiet village with a guesthouse listed in the Lonely Planet. It's very basic, but friendly and cheap - 80 B - cheapest yet! I got a plate of rice and veg across the road and showered. Well not a shower - I sluiced some cold water across myself and got fairly clean.
The owner of the guesthouse drove me down to the river on his moped (scary! I'm not a good passenger) and I walked back up. The border guard at the river had sandbags protecting his lookout - first time I'd seen that.
The owner of the guesthouse said that a Japanese couple on bikes were here last night, and 5 Australians the night before. The police in the mountains mentioned the Australians too. I'd hoped to get some more food, but the restaurant had closed, so I had to raid my emergency crappy junk food. Not sure what I'll do ain the morning if it's not open. Late start I guess. I'm very tired.
Tuesday 24th Jan, Ancient Sukhothai
It's amazing. I sat writing this in my journal in the ruins of a thirteenth century Wat, the rough pockmarked laterite columns glowing red in teh evening sun, a 12m high Buddha standing behind me warding off fear, and a 1 and a half metre high gold-flecked buddha sitting cross legged beside me holding a tangerine on his lap. This was up on a hillside a few miles from the main area of ruins, which were visible pushing up through the distant trees.
I set off at 6am this morning to cycle to the old city. I'd intended to set off at 5 to catch the sunrise, but couldn't get out of bed. But there wasn't much of a sunrise. I stopped at a very surprising market in the grounds of a modern wat beside the road and got a grilled corn on the cob and some deep fried dough for breakfast.
Despite arriving before 7am there were two tour buses there already, but it was such a big place that it didn't matter. I spent a couple of hours exploring the main ruins, and to be honest I was a bit dissapointed. It was just a big flat area with lots of nice moats and ponds, and ruined brick buildings and columns and lots of brick stupas.
At 9 I stopped for a really delicious coffee - Thai Arabica beans - and watched the tour buses roll into town.
I then spent a few hours cycling around teh outlying ruins, and as the day progressed the place really grew on me. The ruins are so charming in their tumbled-down-ness and overgrown-ness. Mostly I was alone, except for a few cows and the occasional farmer. The tour groups don't seem to venture away from the main area of ruins. The highlights have to be the place that I wrote my diary (Wat Saphan Hin) and Wat Si Chum - which had a beautiful 15m Buddha squeezed into a tall square building.
I had to get the minibus back because I was cycling around all the rundown, over-grown Wats with a little too much disregard for the thorns, and I did not have my pump or puncture repair kit with me, and despite there being a million bikes for hire in the village next to the ruins, they'd never come across a Presta valve before. So I hired a beat up single speed tiny mountain bike for 20 Baht, and used it for the rest of the day. I spent a while in the moderately good museum too. But sunset on the wat on the hillside was very special.
Getting the Sawngthaew (pickup converted into a minibus) was fine - that was the first time I'd used one. They just put the bike in the back beside me and charged me 30 Baht.
As I pushed my crippled bike into the guesthouse a middle aged couple smiled and asked if I was cycle touring. They were too. They'd just spent four weeks or so cycling in Burma! It sounded pretty unenjoyable - bad roads, and regular hassle from police and immigration because there's strict limits on where you're allowed to stay. They are Peter and Sally Blommer - www.ridetheroad.com.
After a good chat about plans (basically we've got the same route, though they've got 60 days; I've got 20) we went to the guesthouse where they're staying and had a chat to the Belgian owner who is a local cycle tour guide. He was very friendly and basically confirmed that my planned route was a good one. He gave me a longer, quieter alternative route for tomorrow, and said that if I'm ever stuck for a place to stay, just to go to the police box in town and string up my mozzie net and lay out my bivvy bag.
I got a plate of something unrelated to what I ordered on the tatty English-language menu at a stall on the night market, then spent half an hour or so fixing the two thorn punctures in my front tyre with the enthusiastic help of two Thai guys from the guesthouse. One repair leaks a bit, but seems to be holding out. Had a big bowl of Masaman curry (a Muslim dish from S. Thailand), which they kindly put Tofu in, as did the woman who made me an amazingly delicious noodle soup at lunchtime - but actually I hate tofu. Am I the only vegetarian that feels this way?
Had a big chat with the lovely guy at the guesthouse. He used to be a pharmacist. I then got chatting to a friendly drunk Slovakian. One thing I've noticed is that there's loads of French people here - there's not been many in other places.
I set off at 6am this morning to cycle to the old city. I'd intended to set off at 5 to catch the sunrise, but couldn't get out of bed. But there wasn't much of a sunrise. I stopped at a very surprising market in the grounds of a modern wat beside the road and got a grilled corn on the cob and some deep fried dough for breakfast.
Despite arriving before 7am there were two tour buses there already, but it was such a big place that it didn't matter. I spent a couple of hours exploring the main ruins, and to be honest I was a bit dissapointed. It was just a big flat area with lots of nice moats and ponds, and ruined brick buildings and columns and lots of brick stupas.
At 9 I stopped for a really delicious coffee - Thai Arabica beans - and watched the tour buses roll into town.
I then spent a few hours cycling around teh outlying ruins, and as the day progressed the place really grew on me. The ruins are so charming in their tumbled-down-ness and overgrown-ness. Mostly I was alone, except for a few cows and the occasional farmer. The tour groups don't seem to venture away from the main area of ruins. The highlights have to be the place that I wrote my diary (Wat Saphan Hin) and Wat Si Chum - which had a beautiful 15m Buddha squeezed into a tall square building.
I had to get the minibus back because I was cycling around all the rundown, over-grown Wats with a little too much disregard for the thorns, and I did not have my pump or puncture repair kit with me, and despite there being a million bikes for hire in the village next to the ruins, they'd never come across a Presta valve before. So I hired a beat up single speed tiny mountain bike for 20 Baht, and used it for the rest of the day. I spent a while in the moderately good museum too. But sunset on the wat on the hillside was very special.
Getting the Sawngthaew (pickup converted into a minibus) was fine - that was the first time I'd used one. They just put the bike in the back beside me and charged me 30 Baht.
As I pushed my crippled bike into the guesthouse a middle aged couple smiled and asked if I was cycle touring. They were too. They'd just spent four weeks or so cycling in Burma! It sounded pretty unenjoyable - bad roads, and regular hassle from police and immigration because there's strict limits on where you're allowed to stay. They are Peter and Sally Blommer - www.ridetheroad.com.
After a good chat about plans (basically we've got the same route, though they've got 60 days; I've got 20) we went to the guesthouse where they're staying and had a chat to the Belgian owner who is a local cycle tour guide. He was very friendly and basically confirmed that my planned route was a good one. He gave me a longer, quieter alternative route for tomorrow, and said that if I'm ever stuck for a place to stay, just to go to the police box in town and string up my mozzie net and lay out my bivvy bag.
I got a plate of something unrelated to what I ordered on the tatty English-language menu at a stall on the night market, then spent half an hour or so fixing the two thorn punctures in my front tyre with the enthusiastic help of two Thai guys from the guesthouse. One repair leaks a bit, but seems to be holding out. Had a big bowl of Masaman curry (a Muslim dish from S. Thailand), which they kindly put Tofu in, as did the woman who made me an amazingly delicious noodle soup at lunchtime - but actually I hate tofu. Am I the only vegetarian that feels this way?
Had a big chat with the lovely guy at the guesthouse. He used to be a pharmacist. I then got chatting to a friendly drunk Slovakian. One thing I've noticed is that there's loads of French people here - there's not been many in other places.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Transition to the North
I've been in transit for the last 27 hours, and it's been surprisingly pleasant and painless.
I got a very relaxing ferry with hundreds of other farang to the rather grim party town of Phuket. Boat is such a civilised way to travel in Thailand - I just sat on the deck sunbathing, reading and dozing. From there I unloaded my bike and set off rather vaguelly following the minibuses and motorbike taxis to find the bus terminal in Phuket. This was the first time I'd tried to take my bike on the bus, but they were absolutely lovely about it. They tried to charge me double the fare to take the bike (an extra 12 pounds) but I smiled and lauged and said paeng in my best Thai (it means expensive) so they knocked half of that price off and there I was in a 'VIP' bus on a 13 hour ride to Bangkok, back up the road I'd cycled down a week or two earlier. The VIP bus is the size of a standard 52 seat coach, but only has three seats per row, and only about 10 rows. You have tonnes of leg room, even a lanky farang like me, and the seats recline almost to horizontal. And the air conditioning! Whooo. Too much for me - I was freezing in my hot-weather gear - even with the complimentary tartan blanket. It was only in the last hour of my journey that I figured out how to turn off the blast of icy air. But despite that I slept really well on the overnight journey.
I arrived at the south bus terminal in Bangkok mid rush hour, and had to cycle right across the city to the northern bus terminal. Quite an adventure. Partly because I didn't really know where I was going, and party just because I was back amid the pollution, the swarms of mopeds, and the roaring buses, trucks and tuk-tuks. It was great fun! I found my way there after 10 miles, with a pleasant finale through a calm park full of ponds and joggers.
Getting my bike on the next bus proved a little trickier. At two identical ticket windows they smiled and shook their head pointing at the bike. But for some reason I wasn't worried. I knew somehow it would work out. I tried a third window back next to the first one I'd tried, smiled a lot, and got my ticket! And after a quick plate of rice and noodles and glass of something strange and sweet and icy cold, I got on the bus to Sukhothai. Only 1st class this time, so normal seats. But that was fine - it was daytime now and I didn't particularly want to sleep.
The journey was easy and uneventful, other than a pleasant old lady infront of me talking to herself in Thai the entire way. And now after a final short bike ride from the bus terminal to the town centre, I've got a lovely little room in a teak-built guest house next to the river. I've had a very relaxing evening going to the night market for a plate of noodles, and will make an early start tomorrow to cycle to the ruins of Sukhothai, then the following day I'll set off for some serious cycling for a couple of weeks around the border between Thailand and Burma. There looks to be some pretty exciting mountains around there...
I've just uploaded a few photos - mostly of the family I stayed with between Bangkok and Chumphon - http://www.flickr.com/photos/80637765@N00/
I got a very relaxing ferry with hundreds of other farang to the rather grim party town of Phuket. Boat is such a civilised way to travel in Thailand - I just sat on the deck sunbathing, reading and dozing. From there I unloaded my bike and set off rather vaguelly following the minibuses and motorbike taxis to find the bus terminal in Phuket. This was the first time I'd tried to take my bike on the bus, but they were absolutely lovely about it. They tried to charge me double the fare to take the bike (an extra 12 pounds) but I smiled and lauged and said paeng in my best Thai (it means expensive) so they knocked half of that price off and there I was in a 'VIP' bus on a 13 hour ride to Bangkok, back up the road I'd cycled down a week or two earlier. The VIP bus is the size of a standard 52 seat coach, but only has three seats per row, and only about 10 rows. You have tonnes of leg room, even a lanky farang like me, and the seats recline almost to horizontal. And the air conditioning! Whooo. Too much for me - I was freezing in my hot-weather gear - even with the complimentary tartan blanket. It was only in the last hour of my journey that I figured out how to turn off the blast of icy air. But despite that I slept really well on the overnight journey.
I arrived at the south bus terminal in Bangkok mid rush hour, and had to cycle right across the city to the northern bus terminal. Quite an adventure. Partly because I didn't really know where I was going, and party just because I was back amid the pollution, the swarms of mopeds, and the roaring buses, trucks and tuk-tuks. It was great fun! I found my way there after 10 miles, with a pleasant finale through a calm park full of ponds and joggers.
Getting my bike on the next bus proved a little trickier. At two identical ticket windows they smiled and shook their head pointing at the bike. But for some reason I wasn't worried. I knew somehow it would work out. I tried a third window back next to the first one I'd tried, smiled a lot, and got my ticket! And after a quick plate of rice and noodles and glass of something strange and sweet and icy cold, I got on the bus to Sukhothai. Only 1st class this time, so normal seats. But that was fine - it was daytime now and I didn't particularly want to sleep.
The journey was easy and uneventful, other than a pleasant old lady infront of me talking to herself in Thai the entire way. And now after a final short bike ride from the bus terminal to the town centre, I've got a lovely little room in a teak-built guest house next to the river. I've had a very relaxing evening going to the night market for a plate of noodles, and will make an early start tomorrow to cycle to the ruins of Sukhothai, then the following day I'll set off for some serious cycling for a couple of weeks around the border between Thailand and Burma. There looks to be some pretty exciting mountains around there...
I've just uploaded a few photos - mostly of the family I stayed with between Bangkok and Chumphon - http://www.flickr.com/photos/80637765@N00/
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Partying on Pi Pi
Sorry for the radio silence - been a busy few days.
Climbing on Railey was amazing. It's such a beautiful location - a small bay nestled in amongst the vast limestone cliffs with the jungle spilling down into the bay. And it had a really great atmosphere - everyone climbing all day, then towards evening up on the cliffs you hear the reggae music starting up in the rasta bars and everyone heads down to eat and drink.
I tore myself away from there and got a boat to Ko Phi Phi. It was really badly devestated by the tsunami, but you wouldn't really know it now. I think they rebuilt the bars first, now the accommodation's almost back to normal (though still in pretty short supply and relatively expensive). The only thing I've noticed is that when you get off the main drag you see where a lot of the Thai folk are staying - basically sheds made of corrougated aluminium and a few beams. Pretty tough.
I've been staying in a dorm in the Rock Backpackers with a great bunch of folk. I didn't realise how much of a party town this is. I went out last night with a Croatian/South African, a Jewish Chilean, an Israeli, an Irish guy from Cork, an Australian and a Dutch guy. We watched a couple of Muay Thai boxing matches (completely staged) then they have a thing here where tourists fight - really bizarre and funny. No serious injuries last night. Though during the Muay Thai tagteam fight they had a staged ruckus where all four fighters came out of the ring and were brawling with a group of Thai guys. A metal tray was being used as a weapon, and at some point it flew across and smacked me on the head. Nothing too serious though.
Anyway, a hungover morning this morning - I didn't make it snorkelling - so climbed up a hill on the island over the cliffs to admire the view and sweat out the alcohol.
I'm now about to catch a ferry back to the mainland and try to get myself and my bike on a bus to Bangkok to start cycling north...
Climbing on Railey was amazing. It's such a beautiful location - a small bay nestled in amongst the vast limestone cliffs with the jungle spilling down into the bay. And it had a really great atmosphere - everyone climbing all day, then towards evening up on the cliffs you hear the reggae music starting up in the rasta bars and everyone heads down to eat and drink.
I tore myself away from there and got a boat to Ko Phi Phi. It was really badly devestated by the tsunami, but you wouldn't really know it now. I think they rebuilt the bars first, now the accommodation's almost back to normal (though still in pretty short supply and relatively expensive). The only thing I've noticed is that when you get off the main drag you see where a lot of the Thai folk are staying - basically sheds made of corrougated aluminium and a few beams. Pretty tough.
I've been staying in a dorm in the Rock Backpackers with a great bunch of folk. I didn't realise how much of a party town this is. I went out last night with a Croatian/South African, a Jewish Chilean, an Israeli, an Irish guy from Cork, an Australian and a Dutch guy. We watched a couple of Muay Thai boxing matches (completely staged) then they have a thing here where tourists fight - really bizarre and funny. No serious injuries last night. Though during the Muay Thai tagteam fight they had a staged ruckus where all four fighters came out of the ring and were brawling with a group of Thai guys. A metal tray was being used as a weapon, and at some point it flew across and smacked me on the head. Nothing too serious though.
Anyway, a hungover morning this morning - I didn't make it snorkelling - so climbed up a hill on the island over the cliffs to admire the view and sweat out the alcohol.
I'm now about to catch a ferry back to the mainland and try to get myself and my bike on a bus to Bangkok to start cycling north...
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Wed 18th Jan, Ao Leuk
I enjoyed the boat ride yesterday from Koh Tao to Surath Thani on the mainland. I wrote my diary and postcards, but every time I touched the paper with my sweaty, sun-cream-covered fingers my pen stopped working. I chatted to two nice Americans - one is a manager type in TV in Hollywood, the other works in a camera shop in Vegas and recommended me a good camera to buy in Tokyo (a Pentax Optio WPI).
I cycled the 4km from the pier past the sunken ferry to the town of Surath Thani. I'd been dreading it thanks to a negative report from the Norwegians I met a week or so ago, but actually I liked it. It's a nice untouristy town. Stayed in a rather grim concrete hotel, but had a big room. I eat at teh night market, but felt really out of it and tired, so went back to the hotel and realised that I was really sunburned after a day topless on the boat (idiot). So I drank lots and went to sleep at 8.
I got up at 6 today and had a crappy breakfast from the 24 hour shop, and set off at 6.45 through the cool morning mist. The mist only lasted until 8, when I stopped for a proper breakfast of rice and fried veg. And after that it turned into the hottest, hilliest and longest day yet. I'm heading to a beach near Krabi for some rock climbing, which is on the west coast and I needed to cross Thailand in one day as I wasn't sure of any accommodation half way. Some bits were very hard work, it was so hot and hilly. I mostly survived on bananas - some I bought, others were given to me for free at a lovely friendly roadside market.
It was a relatively quiet road through beautiful limestone hills, and at one point the road turned into gravel for a couple of miles, where they were resurfacing. That was horrible - really dusty. But generally the road was good - so many people waving and smiling and saying hello.
I stopped at one small slightly hidden market. I think I was probably the only farang ever to go there. Everyone smiled curiously. I had fried bananas. Just as I was leaving a girl on a moped invited me to come to her house to rest, so I did, and it was great. Her mother was sitting there on the porch at her sewing machine, and a crowd of neighbours and family arrived, then slowly disperesed as teh usual questions were asked and answered - age, family, travelling alone, where from/to, how long for, did I think the girl was beautiful (her older sister asked that), how much my bike cost (I always get a bit awkward with that as I'm aware that it is the equivalent of about 6 months wages for a typical Thai).
It was really pleasant to sit and chat and drink a coke among such friendly, happy, generous people. The only wierd thing was that they offered me something that looked like a lolly, and turned out to be a frankfurter on a stick. I made a quick decision to eat it and not be rude, and I still consider myself veggie!
I finally made the 90 mile journey and arrived at the town of Ao Leuk, a rather non-descript town nestled amongst beautiful jungle-clad limestone spikes. I checked into a rather swanky resort at the base of a limestone lump with a hole through the centre. Most expensive yet - 600 baht - aircon, pool, ensuite, comfy bed, breakfast.
I dumped my stuff and cycled to the nearby national park and walked about 1km around a beautiful series of gentle waterfalls emerging from teh limestone gorge, among beautiful soaring trees with stunning buttress roots. I'd read in teh Lonely Planet that it was possible to swim there, but in the shade of the trees and cliffs at 5.30pm I'd cooled off and didn't fancy it, but then I saw a father and his two boys in one pool and it looked so much fun that I put on my swimming trunks and swam in another beautiful pool. It was wonderful to clean off the day's grime and sweat in such a magical setting. I was worried about leeches, but didn't see any. Saw two big spiders though. Saw lots of dead snakes on the road today, two about 3 feet long!
After some food I went back to the hotel where I chatted to a rather confused Canadian who's the only other farang here - he was hoping to do a wildlife tour, but no one here speaks English.
Then I went for a swim in the dark in the pool, watching the stars come out with the bats skimming the water around me, then had my first hot shower in Thailand - two weeks! I almost don't smell! I got pretty sunburned again today, despite the factor 30.
Later on in the evening I heard some singing coming from the hotel restaurant, so decided to take a look. In the restaurant I got a rather large beer and sat watching girl after girl take to teh stage in various combinations of stripper shoes, fmb's and miniskirkts. But they weren't strippers or anything, they just stood there looking miserable singing melancholy cheesy Thai pop songs, tugging at their ill-fitting clothes and running off as soon as the last chorus finished.
The place was filled with Thai men, each one accompanied by one of the girls as soon as he'd sat down and ordered a drink. For some reason they didn't even try to sit with me. Maybe my shower hadn't been as effective as I thought...
It was a very bizarre event in this slightly seedy 80s resort.
I cycled the 4km from the pier past the sunken ferry to the town of Surath Thani. I'd been dreading it thanks to a negative report from the Norwegians I met a week or so ago, but actually I liked it. It's a nice untouristy town. Stayed in a rather grim concrete hotel, but had a big room. I eat at teh night market, but felt really out of it and tired, so went back to the hotel and realised that I was really sunburned after a day topless on the boat (idiot). So I drank lots and went to sleep at 8.
I got up at 6 today and had a crappy breakfast from the 24 hour shop, and set off at 6.45 through the cool morning mist. The mist only lasted until 8, when I stopped for a proper breakfast of rice and fried veg. And after that it turned into the hottest, hilliest and longest day yet. I'm heading to a beach near Krabi for some rock climbing, which is on the west coast and I needed to cross Thailand in one day as I wasn't sure of any accommodation half way. Some bits were very hard work, it was so hot and hilly. I mostly survived on bananas - some I bought, others were given to me for free at a lovely friendly roadside market.
It was a relatively quiet road through beautiful limestone hills, and at one point the road turned into gravel for a couple of miles, where they were resurfacing. That was horrible - really dusty. But generally the road was good - so many people waving and smiling and saying hello.
I stopped at one small slightly hidden market. I think I was probably the only farang ever to go there. Everyone smiled curiously. I had fried bananas. Just as I was leaving a girl on a moped invited me to come to her house to rest, so I did, and it was great. Her mother was sitting there on the porch at her sewing machine, and a crowd of neighbours and family arrived, then slowly disperesed as teh usual questions were asked and answered - age, family, travelling alone, where from/to, how long for, did I think the girl was beautiful (her older sister asked that), how much my bike cost (I always get a bit awkward with that as I'm aware that it is the equivalent of about 6 months wages for a typical Thai).
It was really pleasant to sit and chat and drink a coke among such friendly, happy, generous people. The only wierd thing was that they offered me something that looked like a lolly, and turned out to be a frankfurter on a stick. I made a quick decision to eat it and not be rude, and I still consider myself veggie!
I finally made the 90 mile journey and arrived at the town of Ao Leuk, a rather non-descript town nestled amongst beautiful jungle-clad limestone spikes. I checked into a rather swanky resort at the base of a limestone lump with a hole through the centre. Most expensive yet - 600 baht - aircon, pool, ensuite, comfy bed, breakfast.
I dumped my stuff and cycled to the nearby national park and walked about 1km around a beautiful series of gentle waterfalls emerging from teh limestone gorge, among beautiful soaring trees with stunning buttress roots. I'd read in teh Lonely Planet that it was possible to swim there, but in the shade of the trees and cliffs at 5.30pm I'd cooled off and didn't fancy it, but then I saw a father and his two boys in one pool and it looked so much fun that I put on my swimming trunks and swam in another beautiful pool. It was wonderful to clean off the day's grime and sweat in such a magical setting. I was worried about leeches, but didn't see any. Saw two big spiders though. Saw lots of dead snakes on the road today, two about 3 feet long!
After some food I went back to the hotel where I chatted to a rather confused Canadian who's the only other farang here - he was hoping to do a wildlife tour, but no one here speaks English.
Then I went for a swim in the dark in the pool, watching the stars come out with the bats skimming the water around me, then had my first hot shower in Thailand - two weeks! I almost don't smell! I got pretty sunburned again today, despite the factor 30.
Later on in the evening I heard some singing coming from the hotel restaurant, so decided to take a look. In the restaurant I got a rather large beer and sat watching girl after girl take to teh stage in various combinations of stripper shoes, fmb's and miniskirkts. But they weren't strippers or anything, they just stood there looking miserable singing melancholy cheesy Thai pop songs, tugging at their ill-fitting clothes and running off as soon as the last chorus finished.
The place was filled with Thai men, each one accompanied by one of the girls as soon as he'd sat down and ordered a drink. For some reason they didn't even try to sit with me. Maybe my shower hadn't been as effective as I thought...
It was a very bizarre event in this slightly seedy 80s resort.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Island Exploration
I finished my diving course yesterday, and am now a PADI certified open water diver. It was a brilliant morning of diving. I began to get slightly more in control of my buoyancy, so could enjoy all the fish and views a lot more. I can't really say much more about it, other than to encourage anyone who's never done it before to try. It is fabulous. I am so seriously tempted to do the advanced course. But I know that although it seems like i have a really long holiday, time is slipping by and there is much more that I want to see.
April, one of the people on the course, is staying on to do advanced though. Sadly last night she and her Catalan boyfriend David broke up and today went their separate ways through Thailand. But despite that David brought out a delicious bottle of Catalan white wine that he'd brought all the way from Barcelona and shared it with the group to celebrate completing the course. The celebrations continued late last night as me and the two Germans on the course finally got to take full advantage of the wonderful bars lining the beach now that we didn't have to dive the following day.
There are some lovely bars here - they put rugs out on the sand with really comfy cushions and have candles in the sand and fire jugglers on the beach. After some relaxing cocktails and seriously strong jugs of Beer Chang we danced to some ultra-cheesy techno, then paddled home under the (almost) full moon.
This morning was a bit of a struggle - getting out of bed, making decisions about where to go. In the end I decided to spend an extra day on the island because I've seen nothing but one beach and the ocean floor. I unlocked my bike after four days on un-use, and set off along the one concrete single track road, which quickly turned up into the hills, and became a super-steep, gullied, windy track surfaced with an inch or so of sand and dust. It was lethal. When I could cycle I could barely go faster than 6mph incase I hit a puddle of sand and fell off, or came round a corner to a steep hill unable to stop, and fell off. And when I was cycling I was sweating like mad. And even pushing up and down the worst was a real struggle. But at the end of each section of tortorous track I would come to a beautiful quiet beach lined with palms rising up into the jungle, dotted with huge limestone boulders, the sea as calm as a lake. The miles of struggle would be forgotten as I took of my shoes and t-shirt and walked into the 28 degree water, then swam among the shoals of beautiful tropical fish above the coral. It really was a magical day.
At one cafe conveniently located at a hillside viewpoint I got chatting to a couple from Inverkeithing (just across the Forth Road Bridge). They were really friendly and interesting - she's a photographer and had come here to learn underwater photography, he does care work and has just moved up from London. It was good to talk to people who know about Buckfast. They were watching Trainspotting in the same restuarant as me the other night (all the restuarants show films in the evening - it's very relaxing after a hard day's diving). I bumped into them at a beach later in the day by chance, and we're meeting up soon for a few drinks.
I also bumped into a German couple that I spent an evening with about five or six days ago at the Youth Hostel - that was very strange. I passed them on their moped, and for some reason recognising them gave me a real shiver. I kindof assumed that in a place like this you see someone, and they're gone - a very ephemeral connection. But actually people seem to drift in the same sort of direction. A lot of people I've met start off heading south like me from Bangkok to these islands, then back north to Chiang Mai.
I'm leaving the island tomorrow for the mainland, then the following day I'll cycle coast to coast (rather easier than this time last year in the states!) to Krabi for some rock climbing.
The only other thing that's new is a rather dreadful haircut. But it was worth the three pounds just for the amazing head massage that I got at the same time. And it's better than getting a haircut when I get home and having a daft tanline across my forehead. My T-shirt and shorts tan looks ridiculous enough already!
Oh, and also, I've gone deaf in my left ear after the diving, but the folk at the dive shop say that's pretty normal and it should be back to normal in a couple of days. But it makes conversation really quite difficult, and doesn't help my balance cycling on the crazy tracks!
Bye for now,
T
April, one of the people on the course, is staying on to do advanced though. Sadly last night she and her Catalan boyfriend David broke up and today went their separate ways through Thailand. But despite that David brought out a delicious bottle of Catalan white wine that he'd brought all the way from Barcelona and shared it with the group to celebrate completing the course. The celebrations continued late last night as me and the two Germans on the course finally got to take full advantage of the wonderful bars lining the beach now that we didn't have to dive the following day.
There are some lovely bars here - they put rugs out on the sand with really comfy cushions and have candles in the sand and fire jugglers on the beach. After some relaxing cocktails and seriously strong jugs of Beer Chang we danced to some ultra-cheesy techno, then paddled home under the (almost) full moon.
This morning was a bit of a struggle - getting out of bed, making decisions about where to go. In the end I decided to spend an extra day on the island because I've seen nothing but one beach and the ocean floor. I unlocked my bike after four days on un-use, and set off along the one concrete single track road, which quickly turned up into the hills, and became a super-steep, gullied, windy track surfaced with an inch or so of sand and dust. It was lethal. When I could cycle I could barely go faster than 6mph incase I hit a puddle of sand and fell off, or came round a corner to a steep hill unable to stop, and fell off. And when I was cycling I was sweating like mad. And even pushing up and down the worst was a real struggle. But at the end of each section of tortorous track I would come to a beautiful quiet beach lined with palms rising up into the jungle, dotted with huge limestone boulders, the sea as calm as a lake. The miles of struggle would be forgotten as I took of my shoes and t-shirt and walked into the 28 degree water, then swam among the shoals of beautiful tropical fish above the coral. It really was a magical day.
At one cafe conveniently located at a hillside viewpoint I got chatting to a couple from Inverkeithing (just across the Forth Road Bridge). They were really friendly and interesting - she's a photographer and had come here to learn underwater photography, he does care work and has just moved up from London. It was good to talk to people who know about Buckfast. They were watching Trainspotting in the same restuarant as me the other night (all the restuarants show films in the evening - it's very relaxing after a hard day's diving). I bumped into them at a beach later in the day by chance, and we're meeting up soon for a few drinks.
I also bumped into a German couple that I spent an evening with about five or six days ago at the Youth Hostel - that was very strange. I passed them on their moped, and for some reason recognising them gave me a real shiver. I kindof assumed that in a place like this you see someone, and they're gone - a very ephemeral connection. But actually people seem to drift in the same sort of direction. A lot of people I've met start off heading south like me from Bangkok to these islands, then back north to Chiang Mai.
I'm leaving the island tomorrow for the mainland, then the following day I'll cycle coast to coast (rather easier than this time last year in the states!) to Krabi for some rock climbing.
The only other thing that's new is a rather dreadful haircut. But it was worth the three pounds just for the amazing head massage that I got at the same time. And it's better than getting a haircut when I get home and having a daft tanline across my forehead. My T-shirt and shorts tan looks ridiculous enough already!
Oh, and also, I've gone deaf in my left ear after the diving, but the folk at the dive shop say that's pretty normal and it should be back to normal in a couple of days. But it makes conversation really quite difficult, and doesn't help my balance cycling on the crazy tracks!
Bye for now,
T
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Learning to dive on Friday the 13th...
Learning to dive has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
It didn't start too promisingly, being friday the thirteenth. One of the first things that you have to do, standing up to your waist just off the beach, is breath from the tank of air with your mask on and stick your head under water. That was wierd, but good.
One of the next things you have to do is do the same but without your mask on. I completely freaked! It took me ages to force myself to breath like that.
And after that everything was amazing. The first day was mostly just practicing in shallow water things like what to do if the air runs out, or you loose your mask. But today we went out in the boat to a proper dive site and we were diving at 14 metres in fantastic conditions - the sea was flat and still, it was sunny, the visibility was fantastic. It is an amazing feeling to be swimming around underwater past the beautiful coral, surrounded by beautiful fish that just don't care that you're there - seeing some incredible things like moray eels and bizarre brightly coloured fish and things growing on the coral.
Time passes so quickly. We did two forty minute dives and they felt like 10 minutes.
The one slight fright we had was when one of the pipes on one person's equipment burst (apparently a very rare thing) but it was fine - she didn't panick, and followed the proper procedures to share air with the dive master, and surfaced without any problems.
The place I'm staying is great. At first I was a bit dubious about it. It was quite a shock to the system coming to a busy beach resort after cycling through really quiet un-touristy areas for a week. I spent the first afternoon before the course on the beach swimming and writing, and felt kindof out of place surrounded by all the beautiful tanned people. But actually now that I've been here three days I really like the atmosphere. It's not a big party place because everyone is on the island to dive. People are just really chilled out and happy.
And because it's full moon party tonight there are hardly any people on the diving course at the moment. On the open water PADI course that I'm doing there are two German girls, and a woman from San Fransisco and her boyfriend from Barcelona. We're all getting on really well, and it's great having one instructor for so few people.
But one bad thing did happen on friday the 13th. I got ill for the first time. I'll not go into detail, but it was not at all pleasant. But thankfully it only lasted from after diving yesterday until early this morning, so I was able to dive again today as normal. April (the San Fransiscan) was pretty ill too, and David (the Barcelonan) was feeling weak and tired, and I heard quite a few other people at this resort saying they were ill too, so I suspect one of the restaurants was serving something a bit iffy.
But because of that I decided not to go to the full moon party on the neighbouring island. I just don't have the energy or motivation to stay up all night dancing. Seems a pity to miss out on one of the world's biggest parties, but I don't actually care.
I'm going to take an underwater camera with me tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to make some attempt at capturing how it feels.
It didn't start too promisingly, being friday the thirteenth. One of the first things that you have to do, standing up to your waist just off the beach, is breath from the tank of air with your mask on and stick your head under water. That was wierd, but good.
One of the next things you have to do is do the same but without your mask on. I completely freaked! It took me ages to force myself to breath like that.
And after that everything was amazing. The first day was mostly just practicing in shallow water things like what to do if the air runs out, or you loose your mask. But today we went out in the boat to a proper dive site and we were diving at 14 metres in fantastic conditions - the sea was flat and still, it was sunny, the visibility was fantastic. It is an amazing feeling to be swimming around underwater past the beautiful coral, surrounded by beautiful fish that just don't care that you're there - seeing some incredible things like moray eels and bizarre brightly coloured fish and things growing on the coral.
Time passes so quickly. We did two forty minute dives and they felt like 10 minutes.
The one slight fright we had was when one of the pipes on one person's equipment burst (apparently a very rare thing) but it was fine - she didn't panick, and followed the proper procedures to share air with the dive master, and surfaced without any problems.
The place I'm staying is great. At first I was a bit dubious about it. It was quite a shock to the system coming to a busy beach resort after cycling through really quiet un-touristy areas for a week. I spent the first afternoon before the course on the beach swimming and writing, and felt kindof out of place surrounded by all the beautiful tanned people. But actually now that I've been here three days I really like the atmosphere. It's not a big party place because everyone is on the island to dive. People are just really chilled out and happy.
And because it's full moon party tonight there are hardly any people on the diving course at the moment. On the open water PADI course that I'm doing there are two German girls, and a woman from San Fransisco and her boyfriend from Barcelona. We're all getting on really well, and it's great having one instructor for so few people.
But one bad thing did happen on friday the 13th. I got ill for the first time. I'll not go into detail, but it was not at all pleasant. But thankfully it only lasted from after diving yesterday until early this morning, so I was able to dive again today as normal. April (the San Fransiscan) was pretty ill too, and David (the Barcelonan) was feeling weak and tired, and I heard quite a few other people at this resort saying they were ill too, so I suspect one of the restaurants was serving something a bit iffy.
But because of that I decided not to go to the full moon party on the neighbouring island. I just don't have the energy or motivation to stay up all night dancing. Seems a pity to miss out on one of the world's biggest parties, but I don't actually care.
I'm going to take an underwater camera with me tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to make some attempt at capturing how it feels.
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