Beach Bums

Seventy-two hours of doing sod all bar eating, drinking and sunning.  A short post then …

Spoilt for choice, we decided to commence our beach idleness (in earnest this time, after our false dawn on Koh Tao – relaxing it wasn’t!) on Ko Phangan Island’s Haad Yao beach, a quiet oasis on the north west coast of the island. 

There’s really not an awful lot I can say without going into superlative overdrive – I will refrain for all our sakes.  I’ll just say that it was very nice and leave it at that.

Our accommodation is worth a quick mention.  It was set in the hills overlooking the beach, with a  balcony blessed with constant shade and a fantastic view.  Not since the dark days of Guangzhou have we spent so much time in our digs – a perfect retreat from the relentless sun.  This was particularly useful for Anna, who starts to burn enroute to the beach, let alone on it!  Ours is the hut in the centre of below picture, with the large green window (Anna’s sarong).

The beach was practically a self contained community – there was no need to venture to the road above.  All forms of sustenance were consequently consumed on the beach, a very pleasant arrangement indeed!  Best enjoyed with eyes open mind.

So, we have now left the Gulf and made our way to Thailand’s west coast (Krabi), with a view to visiting an island or two here.  Weather permitting - as I type it is raining cats and dogs.  We will let you know shortly I am sure.

Before signing off, a quick story to make my mother sigh.  Dumped in the middle of nowhere at the end of an 11 hour journey, we were forced to take a taxi the last few kilometres.  Which is all well and good, provided you remember to pick up your wallet upon reaching your destination.  Quickly realising my faux pas,  I chased , but to no avail (scaring many Thai’s in the process with my crazy waving and cries of anguish – the word ’special’ springs to mind …).  I was then sped around town on a motorbike, fearing for my life (lack of helmet mostly) and I tell you something, the first thing I thought when I saw our taxi driver grinning like a cheshire cat with my wallet in the air was:  I should lose my it more often because finding it is the best feeling ever!!  Seriously, I recommend that you all give it a try sometime – you won’t be disappointed.*

 *Provided you find it, of course

Back to School

So much for a nice relaxing beach break!  As the name of this post indicates, Jords and I have been doing an awful lot of studying for the fact that we are on one of the beautiful islands of Thailand, but the hard work has all been towards a very worthwhile cause.  On the 24th March we both became PADI Open Water Divers and we are now qualified to dive to 18 meters unsupervised wherever in the world we choose next!  Quite likely to be the Great Barrier Reef we’re thinking!

We spent all of our 4 and a half days on the stunning island of Koh Tao, enrolled on our dive course, although we still had a couple of breaks to enjoy the views both in the day…

and mostly at night…

On our first day in Koh Tao we found somewhere to sleep, enrolled in a dive course and by the afternoon we were already learning the theory of diving (from 2-6pm) watching a DVD and reading through our course book.  The next day we woke early to continue the rest of our theory and met with our group at 8am!  The group consisted of me, Jords, a Canadian called Amber and our instructor Tristan (French). 

After a full morning of theory we were given just half an hour to grab some lunch before our practical lessons began.  We went to a small bay just off Koh Tao called Japanese Gardens to learn 25 skills that we needed to master.  These involved removing our masks and trying to not let water pour up our noses, ‘losing’ our breathing regulator and recovering it again – all pretty safe in just under 2m of water but could be different at 18m!  All of us grasped the basics and whilst we were practising our skills little schools of beautiful fish were swimming around us which was quite incredible but there was still much better to come!

Our group got on really well so for the next 3 nights Jords, I, Amber and Tristan all ate dinner together at an excellent and cheap local restaurant.  The next day we had our first 2 proper dives and a new addition to our group – Andrew – an American joining us for our last 4 dives.  Below is a picture of the group sadly lacking Jords who is behind the camera.

Our dives on the first day went to a maximum of 12m and we saw some pretty cool coral and fish.  On a slightly annoying note there was loads of sea lice which sting you underwater – feels bad when you are underwater but there is never any mark that they have been then when you get out!  They are painful nonetheless!  After our 2 dives we returned to the dive shop and completed our final exam and passed with flying colours!

On our 4th and final day we did our 2 dives to 18m which were pretty spectacular.  Our first dive was just incredible – the visibility was fantastic and we saw a whole host of marine life that you just wouldn’t see from snorkeling.  Our final dive was more concentrated on the practical ’skills’ that we had learnt in the shallow water and we all completed them successfully too!  Unfortuantely as we were underwater taking photos was a little tricky (as you may expect!) but below is one we captured of our dive instructor Tristan!

We are currently sunning ourselves on the island of Koh Phangan enjoying a much needed rest!

War and Waterfalls

That pretty much sums up our brief stay here in Kanchanaburi. 

Three or so hours west of Bangkok, Kanchanaburi is a small town close to the Thai-Myanmar border, famous for being the home to the River Kwai Bridge.  War museums dominate accordingly. 

The best by far (he says, having visited just the one … ) was the Thailand-Burma Railroad Museum.  The bridge itself is infamous because of the film but in reality it was but a mere pinprick in a construction that spanned over 400km.  The usual suspects apply – the scale, magnitude, barbarity, inhumanity, etc., etc.  I feel like a broken record but then perhaps you could say the same for evil … ?

Regardless, it was an excellent and informative museum, which made our later trip to the bridge (see below – I’m a slave to chronology) itself all the more powerful.  The shot below, taken at an Allied POW Cemetary across the road from the museum, gives some idea as to the aforementioned scale of what took place.  The total number of fatalities runs into the tens of thousands, some 4,000 of which were British.

Anyway, not wanting to overdose on the history, we took a wonderful trip to Erawan National Park on our second day here.  The Erawan Waterfall is the heartbeat of the park – 7 levels of delightful falls, rapids and lagoons. 

Much to our astonishment the park was scarcely populated and we had whole falls to ourselves thoughout the day.   Crystal clear, the water was blissful.  That is, apart from the fish.  Fair enough, they were there first and all that but nippy little buggers!!  They kept their distance when we were swimming but the second you stood still … nip, nip, nip!! Suffice it to say, it was always a relief to emerge with both ankles.   Anna felt safer on the rocks …

The 7th and final tier (up with the Gods, predictably) was the pinnacle and not just for the welcome lack of an indidgenous population.  Here I am filming the new Gillette advert, such was the beauty of the location.

Having had a welcome and refreshing break from the war stuff, we rounded up our brief stay with a visit to the Bridge.  It was bombed during the war so much of the bridge is not the original structure built by the POWs.  However, the huge concrete legs (for want of some techical terminology) are.  We were able to walk across – slightly nerve-wracking as there is not an awful lot preventing you from falling to the depths below, a problem heightened by fat tourists ignorant of the principles of give way …

Amazingly, the bridge/railroad is still in operation to this very day, as we witnessed at firsthand whilst enjoying a cold beer down on the river.

As wonderful as said cold beers were, you cannot help but wonder what would go through the mind of any returning POWs – seeing the landscaped gardens, the floating restaurants, the hordes of (selfish fat) tourists … how life changes.

As it is about to for us.  Since our relaxing stay on Phu Quoc Island, we’ve been busy bees, constantly on the move and covering a lot of ground.  To the Islands of Southern Thailand it is then, for (ahem) a few days of stationery-ness on.  Movement will be restricted to changing beach and/or island.  If we can raise ourselves from the warm sands and cool seas, we’ll let you know how it is … 

Jungle Trekking in Chiang Mai

After a sweltering few days in Bangkok we decided to head North in search of an adventure and for a much needed break from city life.  We decided that Chiang Mai would be the place to achieve this and after a 14 hour train journey we arrived!

Chiang Mai is well known for it’s jungle treks and this was our main purpose for choosing it as our destination but it is also a charming little town and the atmosphere is very chilled which made a nice change from Bangkok!  On our first day we shopped around a little to see what treks were available but we eventually went with the one our guesthouse offered as they had a very good reputation and we were not disappointed.  We signed up to a 2 day and one night trek which consisted of visiting Bong Duet National Park.  Within this park was Mork Fa waterfall and hot springs, a 9km trek stopping at 3 different hill tribes along the way (2 different Karen tribes and we stayed with the Lahu tribe overnight), elephant trekking and finally bamboo rafting.

We started the day at 9am by meeting our group and guides.  Our 2 Thai guides were great fun and we knew them simply as Pon (Rambo) and Ladyboy.  The rest of our group consisted of 3 Swedish girls, 1 Dutch girl and 3 Dutch guys, all of whom were great fun to be around.  We were loaded into the back of a pickup truk and drove for half an hour to a local market where our guides picked up the food they would be cooking for us throughout the trek.  The first stop for us was Mork Fa waterfall and we all went for a nice dip in the freezing cold (but very refreshing) water!

We then drove a little further until we came to the hot springs which marked the beginning of our lengthy trek!

The trek was both beautiful and challenging!  I never knew I could sweat as much as I did in those few hours and Jordan seemed to think it was amusing to take photographic evidence of my immense pain and also to update me on the latest colour of my face…do I look amused?!!

(I feel it necessary to let you all know that my stomach is generally rejecting all Asian food and in the morning I had been sick and had an upset stomach, so the fact that I was able to do the trek at ALL, on an empty stomach, is quite something!) 

Anyway, after what felt like hours of agony, we arrived at the Lahu village around 6pm and we promptly jumped into the cold revitalising river for a ’shower’!  After that we sat down to what Jordan informs me was a delicious dinner cooked by our guides but I managed just a spoonfull or two of rice before I started to feel sick so it was just a pineapple dinner for me!  Pon then sat us around the campfire for some delicious popcorn (and some interesting buffalo skin and frog) and a fun ‘Hi Rambo’ game which carried the punishment of face marking with the charcoal from the bottom of a cooking pan if you messed up!  Clearly none of us were very good at this game!

The next morning we woke up early and I personally was aching all over – Jordan was not of course!  We had an exciting day ahead of us and after a nice ‘western’ breakfast of egg, toast and coffee we climbed aboard our elephant for our hour long trek!  It was a very enjoyable experience and it was lovely for someone else to be doing the hard graft!  Our elephant was the biggest and he also seemed to know exactly where he was going so we had no ‘driver’ which was also a little scary!

After our ride we were dropped off to start the bamboo rafting leg of our journey.  This part was great fun and we went through a few mini-rapids which was very cool! 

After the rafting we stopped for lunch (delicious pad thai) and then jumped back into our pickup truck for our 2 hour journey back to Chiang Mai.  All in all this experience was one of the best so far and although very tiring it was well worth the effort!  Unfortunately there is no rest for us travellers so in a couple of hours we are boarding another sleeper train back to Bangkok which should arrive at 5.30am tomorrow and then on to Kanchanaburi.

Where’s Buddha?

The answer: everywhere.  Especially here in Bangkok.

We arrived in Thailand a couple of days ago, bussing in from Siem Reap.  A standardly arduous journey, although more for the ceaseless waiting around (for a bus, on a bus …) than the buses (drivers included) themselves, which were ok.

The road from Siem Reap to the border was interesting (read unmade).  Rumour has it the Thai Government is subsidising the lack of progress on the road building front to ensure that travellers keep pouring money into the various Thai airlines.  Naturally, I was far too tight to fall for that one!

Bangkok itself is pretty damn big!  We seemed to be driving through it for well over an hour before we arrived near the infamous Khao San Road.  It is spectacularly well developed in areas too, with shopping centres, cinemas, etc. to put those in the UK to shame.  Sadly, the prices sky rocket accordingly (though not for the cinema, a fact we duly exploited) …

Spent much of yesterday in various temples.  By far and away the most impressive of these were the Temples of Wat Phra Kaew.  Some of the architecture here is as breathtaking as that at Angkor, albeit world’s apart.   We were fortunate (or not, depending on your heat tolerance … I love you darling!) that it was a glorious day – the temples literally sparkled. 

Anna, overheating …

Of the aforementioned Buddhas, the Green Emerald Buddha (buried within the above temple in Wat Phra Kaew) and the ludicrously big reclining Buddha in nearby Wat Pho were the pick of an almighty bunch.  Unfortunately we forgot to charge the battery on our camera so will have to leave the giant Buddha to your imaginations.  If it helps, I can confirm (by way of the Lonely Planet) that he measures 46m in length and 15m in height.  And rather than ’reclining’, think more luxuriating on a rather comfortable sofa …

Tonight (4 days ago!) we are taking a night train to Chiang Mai, which promises to be a welcome tangent to our journey so far.