Long day in a minibus

Day 44 (13/05/08): Chiang Khong, Thailand

I had a very early start to the day, I have been having a lot of those recently. My minibus left at 8:30 in the morning and as I walked down the streets of Pai at this time, there was no one else to be seen. The minibus left about ten minutes late, and it was a very windy three hour trip back to Chiang Mai. Luckily, having driven most of the New Zealand, I am pretty used to windy mountain roads and spent most of my time reading my book, while some of the other passengers looked very green. I had a half hour layover in Chiang Mai before my next minibus left. In quite a coincidence, the travel agent I was dropped off at, was next door to the guest house I had stayed in, so I knew the area pretty well. I spent the time quickly sending off an important email to confirm my booking at the Gibbon Experience, and then getting some lunch.

The minibus to Chiang Mai was pretty packed, and we had bags down the aisles. I was last to be picked up, and sat next to a young english guy who had just started his travels. We chatted for a little while, and then settled down for the 5-6 hour trip to Chiang Mai. Once again I spent most of the time reading my book, occaisonally looking out the window to see all the barren rice paddies or small villages. The minibus stopped a couple of times, and so it was nice to get out and stretch legs and buy some snacks. The minibus also had a tendency to bounce a lot whenever it went over a bump, something that was quite annoying but sent a bunch of Austrians into fits of giggles whenever it happened.

At about 6pm we pulled into the small border town of Chiang Khong, with the country of Laos just across the Mekong river. Most people on the minibus had bought a package that included their night's accomodation at a guest house. I instead walked down the road, and at the suggestion of another couple on the bus, found a very nice little guest house overlooking the river. I had my own little bamboo hut again, although this one was a bit more modern with more solid walls and a lino floor. Once again the bed was just a mattress on the floor with a mosquito net. The bed was suprisingly comfortable though.

With not much of the evening left, and tired from a whole day of travel, I relaxed on the deck and looked over the Mekong river to Laos. It was the first time I had seen the Mekong, a river which I will be following for the next few weeks through Laos, Cambodia and finally Vietnam. For dinner I joined an Irish guy who was sitting by himself. He is working in Laos at a bear conservation project, and has to pop back to Thailand every month to get another visa. He works closely with the Gibbon Experience people, and so I will probably see him there. We went an explored the 'Tee Pee Bar' after dinner. Literally a wooden and thatch teepee hut on the side of the road. We had a few beers there, and then were joined by a large group of Irish guys. We shared a few beers, as I struggled to understand a whole bunch of Irish talking in heavy accents. I left before them, only to get a lot of ribbing about Kiwis from the collected Irish, but after such a long day I was ready for sleep.

Trekking to Caves

Day 43 (12/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

Once again I awoke to the sounds of roosters, pigs, buffalo and the various other barnyard animals. Breakfast was rice soup with onions and lots of garlic. It takes a special kind of determination to eat such strong garlic that early in the morning, but I knew I would need my energy for the day. The trekking for the morning was pretty easy. We followed the river again, and then managed to convince Ray to take us up the hill path. Evidently, it hadn't been used in some time as the path was pretty overgrown and Ray had his machete out clearing the way. At one point we had to make a big detour; we were walking along a thin path around the side of a hill, and a large tree had fallen over, taking with it a very large clump of bamboo. The resulting blockade was very thick and high, and so we climbed down the hill into a dry rice paddy to get around. (Being the end of the dry season, the rice paddies are all dry and barren, although other crops have been planted in some).

Back to the river, sandals on, and we trudged through some brilliant boggy mud. The thicky oozy smelly mud that is very smooth. It didn't really matter, as we were walking through the river so much our feet were never muddy for long. I did spot a few leeches on the path, but none of them got us. At one point we came across a village, and right in the middle of it, by the river, was a huge concrete bridge being built. Apparently a few years ago a big flood came down the river and wiped out the bridge, so they were building the replacement. It was just very weird walking through the jungle, with no signs of habitation, and then turning a corner and finding a huge construction project with tonnes of concrete.

We only walked for about two and a half hours, with only one stop halfway. At about lunchtime we one again emerged from the wild straight into a reasonably large tourist area at the site of a large cave complex, Tham Lot. Here we had a simple lunch at one of the eateries, part of our trek package. Also included was a guided tour of the cave. We followed an old Thai lady, who carried a large gas lantern, and she led us into the cave itself. The place is huge beyond imagination. At the entrance to the cave are thousands upon thousands of swallows, who were flying about. Apparently if you go there in the evening, you can watch the 50 000 birds leave the cave. It would have been a great site, but alas, we would not be there for it. Our little Thai guide spoke very little english, but had memorised the english names for the various things within the cave. We walked around inside the cave for close to an hour. The main chamber was so big, that the light from the gas lantern didn't reach to the far walls. It was quite eery walking along in total dark with nothing to see except the ground and your feet.

Running through the main cavern is a river, and we walked across a rickety bamboo bridge in the darkness, and then climbed various wooden stairs that had been built into the cave. I have been in quite a few caves before, but these ones were by far the most amazing. Apart from the very large stalactites and stalagmites, which were impressive enough on their own, there was also an abundance of other rock formations, some of which I didn't understand the geology of. There was a large rock formation that glittered with what looked like diamonds, little 'cups' that looked like small rimmed craters, a giant rock formation that very literally looked like it was covered in popcorn, giant hanging sheets of rock that looked like folded curtains, small ridges that ran along the ground, giant pillars and large sinkholes. There is also a small caveman painting of a deer, which they think is a few thousand years old. Overall, the caves were very very impressive.

We got back to the small village of Sappong by motorbike taxi. The trip was quite scenic, winding through the jungle and farmland, although that wasn't the most memorial part of the motorbike ride. Climbing up a steep hill quite slowly, a large SUV came straight down the middle of the road, forcing my driver to swerve into the grassy verge, and ever so lightly touch into the bamboo fence. It wasn't really an accident, as we were going so slow, but it didn't make my driver very happy. Ray stopped behind us, and we pulled the scooter out to continue the journey, although my driver went a lot slower! From Sappong back to Pai on the local bus, and I checked back into my same guesthouse, and got the same bamboo hut I had before! Unfortunately this time the electricity didn't work for some reason, but no big deal. The small remainder of the afternoon was spent doing laundry, updating this blog, and investigating transport to Laos. I only have a few days left on my visa, so need to get out of Thailand quickly. I booked a 9 hour minibus ride that will take me to Chiang Khong on the border, leaving early in the morning. In the evening I met the other person from my trek for dinner and a few beers, although we both had a reasonably early night after the last three days of activity.

Trekking in the Rain

Day 42 (11/08/05): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

If there was one theme to this trek, it was food. We awoke to a huge breakfast put out for us, once again it was enough to serve four or five people. We started walking, and trekked up quite a few large hills, giving us amazing views from the top. One of the things I most enjoy about the landscape here are the enormous cliffs. Jutting straight out of the landscape are giant sheer cliffs, with any surface that is perfectly vertical covered in dense vegetation. They look magnificent, although they were offset against the gray skies that silhouetted them...

Shortly after we started walking, the rain came down. We had just reached the top a large hill, and there was a small bamboo shelter in there, under which we took cover as the first drops started falling. We were shortly greeted by a couple of local woman with a bunch of young kids in tow. They were all splashing around in the rain and the puddles and having a great time. A huge beetle flew past (it was literally the size of a small bird), which they all chased after and one of them managed to catch. All the other kids then chased him, trying to get the beetle for themselves. He turned the tables by chasing and scaring the smaller kids with the big beetle. And all this was taking part in the heavy tropical rain.

As the rain started thinning out we headed off again, with raincoats and hats on. Although the insulation from wearing a raincoat meant I was soon dripping wet on the inside with sweat, as well as the outside with rain, which seemed rather pointless. The raincoat was soon taken off. We reached the river, which we would be following for the rest of the day, and so we changed into our sandals, and spent the next hour or so, criss-crossing our way over the river. The water was nice and cool, and I think it was the first time my feet were clean in a long time. Unfortunately, being this close to the river, and with the rain, meant that my special little friend the leech was out again. Luckily they weren't many of them, nowhere near as many as Malaysia. Although I was in sandals, with no shoes between me and the leeches! I only got three of them on me, and I got them off quickly enough before any blood was flowing.

We stopped for lunch at an old elephant camp. There were just a few burnt out bamboo huts left, but it was still a very picturesque place to eat. Once again there was no shortage of food, we had rice with chicken and vegetables. To keep with the jungle theme, we ate out of bamboo 'bowls', sections of bamboo that had been cut in half. It was very cool. Ray was looking for some dry bamboo to make a fire for tea, as everything was wet from the rain. But neither of us were too bothered, and so we didn't bother making another bamboo jungle teapot.

Another hour and a bit of walking, and we arrived at a Karen village, where we would be spending the night. This village was quite large, with over 300 families, and large fields of potato and corn (and rice in the wet season). Once again, we were staying with a family, although we stayed in a much more modern constructed wooden building. The family had solar panel, battery rack and inverter, so in the main part of their house, they even had a tv! I had a wonderfully refreshing bucket shower with some very cold water. Then while Clare had a nap, I helped Ray cook our food for the night. The Karen people use a small concrete brazier, in which they light a fire. A pot or wok can then sit on top of this brazier, and a gap in the concrete allows them to control the fire and hence the heat. In the kitchen hut were two of these braziers, and while I didn't prepare any of the food, I helped stir fry several of the dishes in the wok over the fire.

Dinner was quite early, and enough to feed an army. Once again we did our best, but there was plenty left afterwards. We then went on a tour of the village, visiting several different families. Ray's father was the schoolteacher here many years ago, and as such Ray knows a lot of the people in the village. The first person we visited was the oldest man in the village, at 100 years and 3 months! He was quite a little man, his legs about as thick as my arms. He had a huge smile, which showed that he was missing his front teeth. Most amazingly, his thighs and forearms were completely covered in traditional tattoos. He joked a lot, and using Ray as our interpreter, we found out about how he came to the village and about his family. It was very well done on Ray's part, considering that these people speak the Karen language, which is completely different to Thai. Ray told us that he can speak Thai, Lahu language, Karen Language, Burmese, Lisu Language and some English! Very impressive.

Later on in the village we met the old man's wife, who was 93, and just as friendly. We then visited a few of Ray's friends, each of whom was drinking the local whiskey. This 'whiskey' wasn't too bad, actually coming in labeled bottles and made by a local distillery. It tasted more of cheap vodka then anything else, but at 28% was rather smooth and easy to drink. I was passed many cups of it, and not wanting to be rude, finished them all. One large family we visited had just killed a wild pig, and had a large number of people over to celebrate. The meat was shared between everyone, and we arrived just as they started cooking it. We even tried a few pieces. One of the things they were making was a 'pork tartar' of sorts. The raw meat was chopped very finely and then a number of spices were added to it. It tasted pretty good. I also tried the pork soup, which was quite good and spicy as well. Some of the children had those giant bugs we had seen earlier, and Ray dropped one into the fire for a few seconds before eating it. He offered it to us, but we both kindly refused. One last stop at our neighbour's hut to drink some more whiskey, before we all collapsed into bed to sleep off the whiskey and the day's exertions.

Pai Trekking

Day 41 (10/05/08): Hills North West of Pai, Thailand

It was a very early start for a Saturday morning. There were only two of us going on the trek, myself and a lady named Clare from England, who had just spent the last few months doing community work in Borneo, Malaysia. Instead of taking the normal truck to the start of the trekking route, we took the local bus with our guide, Ray, to the small town of Sappong. Here Ray bought some food and supplies from the market. We then jumped onto three motorbike taxis to take us to the start of the walking trail.

The trekking itself was very nice. Unlike my trek from Chiang Mai, all three of us were very fit, and so managed to keep up a good pace, with only a few short water breaks. It was deathly hot though, and very shortly my whole shirt was dripping wet with sweat, and due to the humidity it never evaporates off you, leaving you constantly wet. It is in the middle of the hottest part of the year here, which is the reason it is low season, and no one else is out trekking. Although we did meet a small work group of men who were building a bamboo hut. It was pretty amazing to watch them work, they make everything out of bamboo, and about the only tool they use are machetes.

At lunchtime we stopped and Ray produced some bags of fried rice, biscuits and snacks which we tucked into with great gusto. There were even some orange type fruits, very similar to a mandarin, but with a green skin and pips. Ray then showed us how to make tea in the jungle. Using his machete he chopped down a section of bamboo, and then chipped a hole in the end, with a long pouring spout. The ridges along a piece of bamboo are actually internal walls, and so we had a waterproof cylinder with a hole in the top. This was filled with river water, and then placed on a small fire made of bamboo. Even though the outside of this bamboo kettle blackened, it never caught alight, and after half an hour or so, the water inside was boiling away. Using some leaves as oven gloves, it was removed from the fire, and some Jasmine tea added to it. Small tumblers were carved out of bamboo as well, and just like that we were drinking tea jungle style!

Another short walk after lunch, through more amazing countryside brought us to a small village of about 30 families. The people were of the Lahu Hill-tribe, with their own language (Lahu) and customs different from the Thai culture. We were staying with a family, and very similar to my Chiang Mai trek from a few days ago, we were staying in a large bamboo hut, with several beds arranged on the floor. Even though we had just finished lunch a few hours before, snacks and drinks were brought out, and I tried some of the local moonshine whiskey, which I was only able to finish after mixing it with some coke.

Shortly after arriving and sitting down in our bamboo house for the night, the skies opened up and a great torrential rain came down. The dirt walkways of the village quickly turned to mud and even all the pigs, chickens and dogs went looking for cover. We thought we had timed things pretty well! An hour or so later it stopped raining, and we went for a short explore of the village, a process which resulted in our sandals being completely covered in mud. The kind of thick sticky red mud that clings to everything and congeals in huge globs around your feet and shoes.

Dinner followed shortly, and once again there was no lack of food. Clare and I did our best to eat as much of it as possible, but there was easily enough food for five people. Like always, it was fantastic, and included a few dishes made in the Lahu style. After dinner a small group of local school girls put on a little show for us. They were dressed in traditional costume, and sang a few songs for us, accompanied by some dancing. Afterwards we had to teach them a few songs ourselves, and so stuck to the classic nursery rhymes, of which they already knew the chorus to 'Old Macdonald'. We spent the rest of the quiet evening relaxing in our hut and chatting to our guide, before collapsing into bed. I fell asleep listening to the pigs, chickens and dogs, with the occasional cow and water buffalo throwing their voice into the melody. I woke up to the sound of the roosters, then fell back asleep to them, to be woken by them again, to fall back asleep again. I guess that is the nature of roosters.

Doing nothing in Pai

Day 40 (09/05/08): Pai, Thailand

Pai is quite famous for a town where you do nothing, they sell t-shirts on the street saying things like "doing nothing in Pai". It is a very relaxed sleepy town, and that is what I did all day. I managed to catch up on all my missed sleep, and woke up at the relaxed time of 11:30am, after spending nearly 14 hours asleep! Despite the heat and humidity outside, my little bamboo hut was relatively cool, with my little fan keeping a nice constant stream of cool air over me.

There are a number of pretty sights in the Pai area, several waterfalls, some cave systems and a hot water spring. The recommended way to get to these is to rent a scooter and head there yourself. I am very dubious about renting a scooter, I have seen way too many tourists walking around in bandages after having scooter accidents. And heard too many stories of travellers blowing their travel budgets after having to cover the cost of a wrecked scooter. Renting a bicycle is my prefered option, however I didn't really feel like cycling up and down all the local hills in the heat. You sweat enough just sitting in one place, let alone trying to grind your way up the steep hills on a rent-a-bike.

Instead I just spent what was left of the day walking around the town, investigating the different tour and trek companies. I would really like to do another 3 day trek in this area, even though I just did one in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of companies offering three day treks, in which you visit a number of different hill tribes and even do some jungle survival stuff. However, as it is just in the start of the low season, almost none of the companies had treks starting tomorrow. Typically you need at least 4 people for them to run a trek, and so because I am travelling by myself, I was a bit stuck. The best place I found looked really interesting. Not only do they take you on a three day trek, but you also get taught a number of jungle skills, such as cooking, hunting and some bamboo crafts. Unfortunately they needed a minimum group of four. I came back later in the afternoon, although no one else had booked. Continuing to look around, I did find one place that was willing to run the trek with just me, the guide said it would be me, him and his aunt. His english wasn't that good, and the trek route didn't look particularly good either, and so I decided against it. Eventually I found a decent looking trek company that is running a trek for tomorrow, they already had one other person signed up. I decided I might as well sign up with them, and so paid over my money. The treks here are a lot more expensive than the treks from Chiang Mai. I'm paying almost twice as much as I did for the trek from Chiang Mai, although it will be quite a different sort of trek, with a much bigger emphasis on visiting the local tribes and learning their customs. Apparently giving gifts is a nice thing to do, and so I went and got some pens and candles, which are the recommended gifts for the hill tribes.

It is now the early Friday evening in Pai, and the sleepy little town is holding up to its reputation. Shortly after this I will go and get some food, and then try and find if anything ever happens here, although I do have a bright and early start tomorrow to begin my trekking.

Pai

Day 39 (08/05/08): Pai, Thailand

My alarm went off only a few hours after getting into bed. Very sleepily I woke up and packed my bags to get ready for my trip to Pai, further north of Chiang Mai, towards the Burmese border. Unfortunately the mini-bus was filled up, and so I had to wait until 2pm. I idled away the time looking through second hand bookstores, finding a new book to read. I even traded in the other novels I was carrying, which has eased the load nicely.

The three hour minibus ride to Pai is rather windy, cutting up through the forested hills on a narrow windy road. In many ways it reminded me a lot of New Zealand. While the scenery was stunning, I ended up sleeping for most of the journey, partly because I was so tired, and partly to cut out the annoying elderly american who was talking in that loud brash way that only americans can.

Pai itself is a very small little village in the hills of Northern Thailand. In the past few years it has become a bit of a backpacker and hippy gathering spot. The town itself is very small, you can walk around it in about 30mins or so. Upon getting off the minibus, the first people I walked into were some Brits who I had met on the Perhentian Islands, and later Koh Phangan. Just another example of the small travelling world. I chose not to stay in the town itself, but instead walked a few minutes down the road to the river. Going across the river is a very rickety bamboo bridge, and along the far bank is a big collection of bamboo huts. The bridge really is quite rickety, a few long thick bamboo poles, covered in a bamboo matting, that in some places is more holes than mat. It can be a bit nervous when you are walking across it in the dark of the night.

I managed to find my best deal for accomodation yet. For a mere 80 baht ($3.30NZ) a night, I get my own bamboo hut on the river, with large bed (well futon on the floor), fan and attached bathroom with hot running water! (its one of those small electrical units that heats the water as it is run). Not only is it the cheapest place I have ever stayed at, it is also one of the nicest! It is the first time I have had a place with a hot shower since Singapore. The entire hut, including walls, floor and ceiling is all made of bamboo, even in the bathroom the mirror frame and vanity is made of bamboo. I think the place is absolutely grand and a very atmospheric place to stay in.

It was early evening by now, and I ate some food before spending a few of the evening hours wandering around. I found a flier advertising what was happening in town, and that night there was supposed to be a jazz and reggae festival in a local park. I had to ask several locals where the park was, before I managed to find it. However it turned out to be a school fundraising thing, with a large stage full of Thai schoolkids doing some song and dance routines in Thai. Surrounding the area where a few carnival type stalls, with a bouncy castle and some other activities for schoolkids. There was nothing really appealing, so after only a few minutes I was out of there, and walked back to the town.

Pai is a very quiet place, and there didn't seem to be much going on. Admittedly it aws still quite early in the night, however I was deathly tired and decided to head back to my little bamboo hut for a good night's sleep. My plan for tomorrow was to investigate the town a bit more, and then find a good trekking company to go on another trek with. I only have a week left in Thailand before my visitor's visa runs out, so I'll spend a few days doing a trek here, and then head off to Laos to do the Gibbon Experience on the 15th, which I have just booked for. I was in bed by 9pm, and slept solidly for the next 14 hours!

Trekking Photos

I have finally managed to find an internet cafe where the USB works, so here is a small collection of photos from my three day trek into the Thailand hills.

At the zoo

Day 38 (07/05/08): Chiang Mai, Thailand

A late start to the day after the festivities of the night before. I did manage to catch Helen and say goodbye to her, she is leaving to go to Laos. I will be making the same journey soon, but want to spend some more time in the North of Thailand first. I decided I would finally go to the Chiang Mai zoo. While I like animals, the main reason I wanted to go was to see the Giant Pandas they have there. So I grabbed a tuk-tuk and off I went.

The Chiang Mai zoo is nowhere near as large or impressive as the Singapore zoo, but I still enjoyed myself, just slowly walking around and having a look at things. The zoo itself is quite nice, and most of the animals were in large open enclosures. Once again, the tourist map was more than useless, and so I just walked around aimlessly until I was sure I had seen everything. To see the Pandas you had to pay an extra fee, which allowed you into their enclosure. I didn't mind paying, as I know that the money is going towards the conservation of the Pandas. There were only two of them, and the female didn't do much except sleep. Luckily the male put on a bit of a show, walking around and eating bamboo a few meters away from me.

The zoo is spread over quite a large area, up and down some rather large hills. And so like my previous few days trekking in the mountains, I was once again walking up hills in the Thailand heat. I only spent a few hours at the zoo, but by that stage I had seen most of what there was to see. The Pandas were by far the most interesting things, but I also managed to get some good closeup views of hippo, crocodiles, orang utang and gibbons. Although while the rest of the zoo was pretty good, I felt that the gibbon cages were very small and there wasn't much for them to play with. To head back to Chiang Mai, I jumped on a local Songthaew, and had a slow trip back through the rush hour traffic of the early evening.

While I have really been enjoying eating all the different foreign foods, I am also starting to get sick of rice and noodles, which are the staple foods here. A lot of restaurants and eating places serve western food, but it is never particularly good and always two to three times the price of local food. Looking in the Lonely Planet guidebook, I found a nearby cafe that supposedly did good Italian and Mexican food, so decided to treat myself. I ordered chilli con carne, and looked forward to a the spicy meaty Mexican goodness. Unfortunately what I got was something quite different. A small serving of very bland mince and bean mixture, with about 6 of the weirdest corn chips I have ever seen, and side serving of brown rice. Bizarre. I was quite disappointed, considering the price I had paid, the only good thing about the meal being the sour cream. Oh well.

In the evening I met up with the people from my trek again, as well our two tour guides. We proceeded to have another great evening out, even if it was a lot quieter night. We just sat around and had (quite) a few quiet drinks. We ended up sitting at a street side bar until after the sun had risen, before we all decided it was probably about time we went home to get some sleep.

Trekking and Rafting

Day 37 (06/05/08): Hills North West of Chiang Mai, Thailand

I was woken up by Good and the rest of my group, with Good holding a large monitor lizard above me. I woke up, rolled over and said 'Oh, a monitor lizard'. The others were all a bit dis-appointed that I didn't have more of a reaction! A good filling breakfast to start the day, and we were off again on a short trek. The main activity for the day would be rafting; white water rafting in a modern raft, and then bamboo rafting.

After a short walk down a very steep hill, we arrived at the rafting base camp, were we all got kitted out with life-jackets and helmets. There were only two sizes of helmet, small, and very small. I managed to squeeze into one and after a few brief instructions, we were in the river and going for it! The river wasn't particularly wild, about a grade 3. Although there were a few quite fun bits, with the raft splashing down the white water between the rocks, getting us occupants very wet. Other parts were very relaxed, with us just floating down the quite river, admiring the mountains and jungle surrounding us. Several water fights broke out between the two rafts, which I must say our raft clearly dominated. At one point we all jumped out and floated down the river. Back into the rafts for the last small stretch of rapids, and after an hour and a half or so we were finished. The rafting was great fun, and the Europeans and Korean really enjoyed it, having never done anything similar at all.

The bamboo rafts were quite long, made by lashing a number of large bamboo pieces together with a few cross braces. Good called them 'bamboo submarines', and after all of us were sitting on it, it was several inches underwater. Our rafting guide jumped on, and used a bamboo pole to guide us down the very quiet and smooth river for about half an hour or so. It was very relaxed, and a nice way to finish the day. We arrived at a small camp, where we all got changed and had some lunch. An ice-cream vendor appeared (small scooter with side cart, playing the Thai version of the ice-cream jingle), which everyone indulged in. There was also someone selling photos of us rafting, and so for a reasonably cheap price, I got a great action shot of our raft going down some of the rapids.

The songthaew ride back to Chiang Mai was pretty quiet, as everyone was pretty tired after three days of activity. We all chipped in and organised a fairly decent tip for our guides, who we thought had done a fantastic job. We also made plans to meet at a guest house later that night for a few drinks. I checked back into my guest house, and even got the same room as before. I quick shower, and I found Helen again. We met up with her Irish friend, and went out for dinner. After dinner I left the two of them, and proceeded to walk around what seemed the greater part of Chiang Mai looking for the guest house we were meeting at. There are a number of small alleyways and small roads, which are often unmarked on maps, and the guest house I was looking for was down one of them. I asked some local tuk-tuk drivers for directions, and got quite different answers from two of them! Eventually I found my way there, and had a well deserved beer. Good and Pooza were there, along with the other Irish girls from the first day of our trek. Pooza thoroughly beat me in several games of pool, and we all enjoyed several good beers.

When the guest house shut, Good, Pooza and another guide friend of theirs took us to several local Thai pubs and clubs. It was a great evening, drinking and eating and dancing to Thai pop music. At the end of the night the Irish girls tried to teach us all how to do an Irish jig, although none of us managed to do it properly. Although it must have been quite a sight, the middle of a Thai dance club floor, a bunch of Irish girls doing a jig, with three Thai guys, a Korean girl and myself trying to follow along! It was one of those great crazy nights you only get when you are traveling on the other side of the world! I don't remember what time I got home, but I collapsed into bed and didn't stir until the next morning.

(Once again I apologise for the lack of photos with the recent posts. I will try to find another internet cafe from which I can upload a whole lot).

Trekking and Waterfalls

Day 36 (05/05/08): Hills North West of Chiang Mai, Thailand

An early start for some of our group members. Three of the Irish girls were only doing the two day trek, and so left early to go join another group. That left 6 in our group, and since we were doing the longer trip, we had a more relaxed itinerary. We had an option for the first part of days trek, an easy walk along the road, or a more difficult walk up the hill. I of course opted for the harder option, and so left with the Korean girl and the Canadian guy, and Pooza to go up the hill. It was actually fairly easy going, the climb not taking very long at all. At the top we were rewarded with a stunning view over the hills, jungle and farmland. The most interesting part to me was watching all the vegetation change. Up on the top of the hill, the jungle plants gave away to pine trees. It could have been a NZ forest, with the tall pine trees, and pine needles all over the ground. The weather was a lot cooler up here as well, and the humidity a lot lower. A huge difference to the heat and dampness of the jungle in the lower parts. At one point Pooza stopped, and made us all hats out of large leaves. We posed for a silly photo, and then promptly lost the hats.

The way down was actually a lot harder than the way up. It was a lot steeper and the ground was quite slippery. I fell over once and got mud all up my arm and hands. Going down slowly you could actually notice the heat and humidity building up again, as the pine trees thinned out and the jungle plants became thick again. We met the others at another small village, they had done a very relaxed walk along the 'road' (or what passes for a dirt road up in the hills of Thailand). Our route for the day would take us past three waterfalls, and so off we went.

The first waterfall was quite small, but with a deep pool, and a few of the others jumped in for a swim. The second waterfall was a lot larger, coming down off a steep rocky cliff. A few small huts were nearby, where we had a brilliant lunch of fried noodles. Then we all went off for a swim under the waterfall. I walked right underneath it and managed to stay for a few seconds before the pressure and weight of all the water drove me out. Much better than all the soft pressure showers in the guest houses! Off on another short walk to the third, and most impressive waterfall. This one was fairly large, about 10 or 15 meters high with the water splashing down over the rocks. At one point there was a natural spout, causing a deluge of water to fly out almost horizontal before falling down in an almost perfect natural shower. Soap and shampoo was pulled out, and everyone had a good wash under the water. Although the pressure was so strong that you had to make sure to hold onto your togs, else they be washed right off!

The whole area was really beautiful, and what I really liked about the days trek was the variety of different environments we were walking through. Everything from the thick jungle, to the pine forests to bamboo forests, to lightly wooded areas. It was fantastic, and incredibly beautiful as well. For the last part of the trek we followed a small stream downriver, walking through a stunning valley surrounded by all sorts of plants, bushes and trees. We came to a small 'jungle camp', a collection of a few bamboo huts next to the stream. Once again a large hut had a few beds lain out, and all of us lay down and drifted off for a short nap before dinner. Dinner was cooked by our guides, and was once again fantastic. Thai Yellow curry, bamboo shoot salad, and boiled 'jungle vegetable', which had been freshly collected. These were the young shoots of the ferns which grew along the river. Boiled up, it looked and tasted like spinach. We munched it all down, everyone going back for seconds until it was all finished.

It was a nice relaxed evening. We sat around the bamboo table, on the bamboo benches and played cards. One of the guides made a bonfire, and we sat around that for a short time before a brief rain shower sent us back to the covers and more cards. We developed a funny custom whereby the winner of each round of cards rubbed their finger on the bottom of the soot covered cooking pot, and then drew on the face of the loser. After a few laugh filled hours, everyone had black all over their face, including the two guides (who were very good at cards). The guides were drinking beer, and so of course I joined them. At midnight, feeling a bit peckish, they guides cooked us up a really delicious rice soup, complete with a large collection of vegetables. Everyone else went to bed, and I spent a little while drinking beer and talking to the guides. It was quite possibly their last trek together. Good had applied for a job with the American consulate as a translator. He really loved being a guide, but only got paid when they were groups, and in the low season it was particularly hard. The translator job would be a lot more serious and hard work, but at least he was guaranteed a regular income. Mostly he was worried for Pooza, his young assistant. They got on really well, and had a good time together, Good giving Pooza a lot of responsibility and freedom, and they weren't sure what kind of guide Pooza would end up with. He said that a lot of the older guides would just treat him as an assistant, and make him do all the bad jobs. Pooza told me that if he didn't get a good guide, he would go back to the city and try and find a job, most likely in one of the new opening fast food places (KFC, Pizza Hut or Burger King). It's quite sad really, Pooza was well educated, studying as a monk for 6 years, and having studied at university afterwards, but there just wasn't anything else available.

In the early hours of the morning I crept back into our bamboo hut, and collapsed asleep after a hard day of trekking.

Trekking into the Hills

Day 35 (04/05/08): Chiang Mai, Thailand

The day started early with me packing my bags ready for the trek. I could leave things at my guest house, so pared down my bag to just the few things I would need on the trek. After a quick breakfast, I was picked up in the class Thai Songthaew. A few more stops to pick up the other trekkers, and we were off. Through some statistical anomaly, the other people in my group were all Irish, well almost all. There were 5 Irish girls (2 pairs and a single), a French girl, South Korean girl and a Canadian guy. In another case of traveling being a small world, two of the Irish girls discovered that they actual knew of each other back home through several mutual friends, but had never met.

Our guides were two young guys, Good (his nickname) was the leader, with Pooza his assistant. They were a great laugh and proved to be excellent guides. We had a quick stop at a market to get water, while the guides grabbed some food for our trip. It was a typical Thai market, with all sorts of things being sold. There was even a table with a large number of fresh fish flapping on it, while the lady slowly took her time to finish them off and then gut and clean them.

Back in the songthaew for another hour or so, and we arrived at a very beautiful teak house in the jungle to have a lunch of fried rice. After lunch and the first activity for us was elephant trekking. Each elephant has a wooden platform with a bench seat strapped to its back. I shared with the Canadian guy (our platform even had an umbrella) and the mahout, sitting on the elephant's neck, led us off. While it was quite fun sitting on the back of an elephant, the 'trek' was quite pedestrian, just doing a small loop around the local area for just over an hour. Still it was fun, and the scenery was pretty good. Even though it was quite hard to take photos, as the ride wasn't very smooth, rolling forward and backward, and side to side with the movement of the elephant. There was a constant battle between the elephants who kept stopping to rip plants plants to eat, and the mahout to keep it walking. It is quite amazing just how strong an elephant is, reaching into a cluster of bamboo and just ripping it out.

Back in the songthaew for another half hour or so, and we were ready to begin our trek. We were staying with a hill tribe for the night, and so that means that we would be walking up hills! The trek was about two and a half hours, most of which was uphill, sometimes quite steep. It didn't look like anyone else in the group ever walked farther than from their front door to their car door, so the going was pretty slow. We stopped every twenty minutes or so, and most of the others would collapse and pant. I personally found the going pretty easy, with the slow pace and constant stops, even the steep hills were pretty good. The scenery and landscape were stunning though. At one stage we were following a stream up a canyon, and it really was very beautiful.

Shortly after 5 in the evening, we reached the hill tribe village. Not technically of Thai ethnicity, the hill tribe people have their own language and customs. There are actually quite a few different hill tribes, often originating from Burma, Laos or China, each with their own language and customs. We were staying in a large bamboo hut, were a number of simple mattresses and blankets had been lain out for us. A very good dinner of green curry and vegetables was cooked for us, and we sat around the common area of the hut eating dinner. The night was spent drinking a few beers, and sampling the local moonshine 'whiskey' that the locals brew. I ended up sitting next to the guides, who were drinking the moonshine, and they kept offering it, so I ended up drinking quite a bit of it! Although its actually quite a weak spirit, and I imagine you would have to drink a fair bit of it to feel anything. Good, our lead guide, knew quite a few songs on the guitar, and so in a short time we were all singing along to the Beatles and Oasis. This attracted the attention of one of the other tour groups in the village, and we were joined by two English girls and a very drunk Spanish guy, who joined in our festivities for the night.

Lazy days

Day 33 & 34 (02/05/08 - 03/05/08): Chiang Mai, Thailand

I had two lazy days in Chiang Mai. I was still a bit sick, and was trying to throw the last of it off before I went trekking in the hills. Both days I slept in late, read my book and generally accomplished nothing. I had plans to go to the Chiang Mai zoo, but they never eventuated. The weather wasn't particularly cooperative either, with it raining most of the time.

One thing I did do was go to the Chiang Mai night bazaar. I met up with Helen and her Irish friend, and we spent the evening wandering around the stalls and shops. The variety was quite good, but most of it was still the same tourist rubbish you see all over the place. Once again I didn't buy anything, although the girls found a few interesting things each. There

The second night I was by myself, and spent an hour or so wandering around shops and restaurants, looking for an interesting place to eat (the food at my guest house is cheap, but not particularly good). Then the rain came back, hard. I was a good 20min away from my guest house, and by the time I got back there I was absolutely soaked! I had actually found quite a nice looking place to eat, but I thought it would be rude to walk in like a wet rag and drip water everywhere. In the end I just got a simple meal from my guest house, and spent the night (a saturday night!) in my room reading. I was pondering the idea of going to a pub, but the heavy rain killed that idea.

By now my cold was almost all gone, with the exception of a somewhat annoying cough. So I figured I was ready to go trekking! I booked a 3 day trek through my guest house, and tomorrow morning, I'll be off!

Into the North

Day 32 (01/05/08): Chiang Mai, Thailand

The overnight sleeper train was actually very nice. I had an upper bunk bed, and even though it was quite small, very narrow and slightly too short, it was comfortable. We did have to wait at the train station for quite a long time, as the train was over an hour late. Not much really happened on the train, most people retired into their bunks, drew the curtains and read books or played cards. I was reading the required backpacking novel 'The Beach' by Alex Garland (made famous by the recent movie starring Leo diCaprio). The book talks about backpacking around Thailand, staying on Khaosan road, Koh Phangan island etc. It is quite interesting to read a book about places you have just spent a lot of time at, and describes experiences that you have had, right down to the little things that wouldn't make sense unless you have been there.

Once again, I didn't get a great nights sleep. The a/c on the train, like in all of Thailand, is set to freezing cold. So I woke up in the middle of the night and everything was freezing. The supplied blanket was pretty meager, and I couldn't be bothered climbing out of my bunk to find my bag to dig down to the bottom to find something warm. Likewise I couldn't be bothered trying to dig around for my eye mask, as the curtain didn't do much to block out the light. Either way, the train was very nice for an overnight journey, much better than the overnight buses.

The train pulled into Chiang Mai station in the mid morning. I had thought that Bangkok was bad for touts, but the train station here was manic! It was packed full of people offering tuk-tuk rides, tours or guest houses, and it was impossible to walk a few meters without being assaulted. We had already selected a guest house out of the Lonely Planet guidebook (the cheapest one of course), and finally gave in to a tuk-tuk to take us there. The guest-house was rather nice, and our room even had its own bathroom, although we took the cheaper option with only cold water. After all, I haven't had a hot shower for over a month, so why break the habit?

Chiang Mai is a large, quite modern city. In the center of the city are the remains of the old fortified city. A large square wall runs around it, surrounded by a moat. On each of four sides of the wall, right in the middle is a large re-enforced gate, although some have now been enlarged to allow for traffic. My guest house was just on the edge outside the old city, overlooking the moat and the east gate. In the afternoon we went on a short walk around the old city. It is very nice and has a great atmosphere to it. The local government has gone to a lot of effort to preserve the city. No tall buildings are allowed with 93m of a temple (which apparently covers something like 85% of the city area), the rivers and moat have undergone a large cleaning and anti-pollution program (there are now fish and turtles in the moat), and there is an extensive recycling program. It is all very nice to see compared to the dirt and pollution of Bangkok.

Walking around the old city was, as always, hot work. Although while Bangkok seemed to be perpetually overcast (most likely the pollution), Chiang Mai had clear sky and you could feel the heat of the sun. The most interesting things to look at were some temples, which although I have seen a lot of, can still be very impressive. The biggest attraction around Chiang Mai tend to be the activities, the most common of which are treks into the nearby jungles and mountains. I am planning to do one of these at some point, probably in the next few days. Although I have also seen adverts for a whole range of other things; white water rafting, elephant trekking, mountain biking, rock climbing, even bungee jumping and paintball! So there you have it, Chiang Mai, adventure capital of Thailand!

My head was still feeling very bad, and my noise was running like Forrest Gump, so the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and reading a book (the area around the Guest House has a huge number of second hand bookstores, so I went and got myself a new book). Some good bed rest was in order to try and recover as much before going trekking.

That night I had tickets to a Muay Thai boxing match (otherwise known as Thai kick-boxing). I had been really keen on going to one of these, but hadn't managed to get to one yet. It wasn't a particularly big stadium, and most of the audience were foreigners. There were 8 fights during the night, starting off with some quite small kids (33kg), moving through some teens, a female fight, and finally into the main fights of the night (63kg). They were very impressive, and I really enjoyed watching them. It is very different to modern (western) boxing, although some fights just went into a clinch a lot, which can get quite boring. The main fights of the night, with the adults, were very well done, the competitors were all very good, and I particularly liked watching the different styles of each of the fighters. Although the funniest, and possible most enjoyable part of the evening was at the 'half time' show. Four boxers come on stage, all young men, and put on blindfolds. They then went around the ring swinging wildly and trying to smack each other. To make things more interesting, a fifth guy went around pushing the boxers in the direction of each other and generally trying to cause mayhem. Even though he could see, and tried to avoid the swinging gloves, he still took quite a few hits. It was a great laugh.

The other aspect of Thai boxing that I really liked was the sportsmanship. Each competitor always treated his (or her) opponent with respect, and always saluted at the start of each round. At the conclusion of the match, each competitor drunk from their opponents corner. I thought it was a very nice touch.

After the last fight, most people got up to leave. A free cabaret show had been advertised for immediately afterwards, and I was somewhat tempted to find out what it was about. However, after seeing a few lady-boys walk out in bikinis and big feathers, I decided I had seen enough, and joined the rest of the people leaving. It was a short walk back to the guest house, where I found my roommate asleep, and so read my book for a few hours using my headlamp.

(No photos unfortunately, like many internet places, the USB at this place doesn't work).

Raiding some Temples

Day 31 (30/04/08): Ayutthaya, Thailand

Once more, a night of terrible sleep. Although this time it was due to a blocked nose, wracking cough, bad headache and even some backache. This flu has hit me pretty hard. I took some painkillers, which helped things out a fair bit. I even succumbed and ordered some comfort food - a hamburger (I have rarely eaten Western food while travelling). Although the burger wasn't actually very good. Refusing to let the flu get the better of me, it was now time to go an explore some of Ayutthaya!

We investigated some of the guided tours you could take, but decided they were all too expensive. After all, we had legs didn't we? So with me at the map, off we walked down the street to the Historical Park. Ayutthaya is famous for its large number of Wats, almost all of which are now ruins, due to the many wars between Thailand and Burma over the last few hundred years. First stop was Wat Ratchaburana, a particularly impressive ruin, focussed around a large 'Prang', which is richly decorated with stone statues and engravings. We braved the perilous steps and actually climbed right up it to get a great view of the surrounding area. Also scattered around are numerous Buddha statues, most of which are now headless, or otherwise similarly ruined. Some were mere blocks of stone, and only on close inspection could you see the odd bit of decoration that once marked it as a torso.

Across the road is the Historical park housing the ruins of Wat Phra Mahathat. While this complex is considerably larger than Wat Ratchaburana, most of the buildings are in much worse condition. Originally built in the 14th century, it was burned down a couple hundred years ago. It is mostly brick and mortar construction, and after several hundred years, some of the stupas are now on a bit of an angle (like Pisa, only less Italian). This Wat is also home to the famous 'Buddha head in tree roots' thing. It's quite pretty to look at it, but nothing incredibly special. The whole experience of clambering around these ruins, some of which are hundreds of years old, really make you feel like Indiana Jones, or Lara Croft.

The heat by now was stupefying (nothing new there). So after a cold drink, a tuktuk to the National Museum sounded like a good idea. It is impossible to walk anywhere in Thailand, especially as a Westerner, and not be constantly hounded by tuktuk drivers offering you a ride. Unless of course, you actually want a tuktuk, as was our case. We started walking in the right direction, and it was only after walking most of the way there, that we finally got the tuktuk proposition. By which time of course, we didn't actually need a ride. The museum was reasonably interesting. Housing a collection of personal items belonging to an old Thai King from 150 years ago. More impressive was the collection of old ceramics, statues, and other everyday items, some of which dated back to the 13th century!

Walked back into town, by now on very sore feet, and am writing this post immediately up (in a nice air-conditioned internet cafe). We have train tickets booked for tonight, to Chang Mai. Quite a long train journey, but having learned from past experience, we booked tickets early to ensure a nice comfortable second class sleeper berth. My flu is still pretty bad (although painkillers are currently disguising it), so I am considering taking a few days off in Chang Mai, and just holing up somewhere and resting. The rest of my plan for Chang Mai involves going trekking in the mountains for a few days, so its probably best done in good health.

On an interesting side note, the tuktuks here are unlike any other I have seen. More of a cross between a regular tuktuk and a songthaew, they are little three wheeled trucks with two bench seats in the back (see the photo). Ten points to anybody who can remember the video game that one of these appeared in.

To the old Capital

Day 30 (29/04/08): Ayutthaya, Thailand

I didn't get much sleep, a result of the early checkout time and my late bedtime. I also woke up to that familiar scratching in the back of my throat, and a hint of phlegm in my sinuses, the typical precursor to a cold or flu. Oh well, nothing you can do about it, I will just grin and bear it! We had a quick bite to eat, before saying goodbye to Khaosan road and Bangkok. Bangkok is really a unique place, and while I really enjoyed my time there, it is also nice to keep moving and go explore and discover new places.

We caught a third class train to Ayutthaya. While I have had my share of third class trains, this one was only 1.5 hours, so nothing too bad. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Thailand, and home to a large amount of ruined Wats (Buddhist Temples). The town of Ayutthaya itself is technically an island, with a river running all the way around it. Getting off the train, we had to catch a boat across the river to get into the town itself. We wandered around in the typical fierce Thai heat, and after checking out several places, managed to find a cheap guesthouse. Like the place in Khaosan road I stayed at, it was only 90 baht each ($3.75 NZ) a night. Although unlike that place, this one was actually very nice! Decent beds, very clean, and a really nice bathroom! Brilliant!

By now it was mid-afternoon, and we were both pretty tired from all the travel. We decided to forgo any sight-seeing, and spent the remainder of the afternoon reading and at the local internet cafe. I would have spent a whole let less time at the internet cafe, but while I was there it started raining. The thick, heavy and unrelenting rain of a monsoon region. So I figured that staying warm and dry and catching up on webcomics was a much better idea than walking anywhere. My flu was now also in full swing, my nose constantly dripping and my head felt like it was in a cider press. Not very pleasant.

For an unknown reason, I was very hungry at dinner that night, and ended up ordering food three times (the waitress just smiled). Back in my room, I tried reading my book, but all the lack of sleep caught up with me, and coupled with my wracked body, I was asleep shortly after 9pm.

A day of nothing

Day 29 (28/04/08): Bangkok, Thailand

Unfortunately, today's entry is going to be rather boring. After all the busy past few days, and with a lot of late nights, I spent most of today sleeping. After waking up, I failed to do anything of any real value. I wandered around the streets, got some cheap noodles, looked in shops but didn't buy anything. As boring as that sounds, Khaosan road is such a crazy place, with so much stuff happening all the time, that even just walking up and down the street, taking in all the sounds, sights and smells can be a very interesting experience. Although you do have to develop a sort of 'tunnel vision', to avoid the touts. In all the tourist areas, and especially Khaosan road, wherever you go there will be locals trying to sell you all sorts of things, offer you tuktuk rides or hand fliers to you. In my opinion, engaging them with any sort of verbal response, even if you are saying 'no', just encourages them futher. My preferred tactic is to never make eye contact and merely ignore anything that they are yelling from their stall, stand, rickshaw or dedicated piece of pavement. If they are quite determined, a quick shake of the head or wave of the hand normally gets the message across. It isn't particularly polite, but I figure they aren't being very polite either.

In the evening I bumped into a few people I had known from other places in my travels, and we sat down and had a few beers together. Later on, we bumped into the Swedes and Canadians from the previous night, and before you knew it, I was up till the early hours of the morning again. It is a really weird experience, you know somebody for only two days, and get on with them really well, and spend a fair bit of time together. And then, just like that, you each go in your own direction, and chances are you will never see them again, ever. Although one of the Swedish guys is also going to China, and we might be there at the same time, so will meet up if we can.

Weekend Market

Day 28 (27/04/08): Bangkok, Thailand

If there is one thing that Bangkok is famous for, its shopping. Being a Sunday, we decided to head off to the Chatuchak weekend market. We braved the local bus system, which is actually rather easy, once you have the inside knowledge of what bus you want and where it actually stops. The bus was pretty crowded, and so I spent a rather uncomfortable 30mins standing like a sardine in a bus with only a few open windows in the Bangkok heat. Charming.

Arriving at the market is a sight to behold. I don't believe there is any other place like it on earth. One estimate puts the number of stalls at over fifteen thousand! Essentially a giant complex, with a large road/walkway running in a loop. However, the stalls are about 10-15 deep off this main road, and so you can get completely lost wandering in the darkened maze of small alleyways and passages between the infinite stalls. Everything is for sale here, although the focus does tend to be on clothes and accessories. Unfortunately, most of the clothes are in the standard Thai size - very small! But almost everything else you could imagine was for sale as well, jewellery, books, shoes, household items, interior decorations, furniture, artwork, pottery, garden tools, plants, pets etc, and of course food. The only thing I bought was food (no suprise there!).

The place is very crowded, completely packed with people, and mostly locals as well. After walking for several hours in the heat, crowd and Bangkok pollution, we had both had enough and manged to catch a very nice air-con bus back. Very civilised, even if I did have to chase the bus down the street before jumping on it!

That was all there really was to the day. The requisite mid-afternoon siesta took place, cheap dinner was acquired off a street stall, and the evening was spent drinking cheap street beer and chatting to other travellers. I actually had quite a late night. I met a bunch of Swedes and Canadians, and we spent the night drinking beers while they talked about ice hockey (apparently its all the Swedes and Canadians do!). I ended up walking back to my room well after the sun had risen!

Wats and Temples and a real big Buddha

Day 27 (26/04/08): Bangkok, Thailand

Today was spent doing some of the typical tourist stuff in Bangkok. A hardy breakfast of porridge and banana to make up for the previous nights beer, and we were off! Avoiding the waiting pack of tuktuk and taxi drivers, offering to take us places for 'cheap price', we walked for about 10 minutes down the street to the Grand Palace of the Thai King. This large complex houses the old palace of the King, as well as Wat Phra Kaew. Upon arriving, I was told I couldn't enter the complex, as my shorts (which ended just below my knee), were too short. This is after all, a place of Buddhist worship. However, for a small returnable deposit, I could have a pair of drawstring baggy trousers to wear. I joined the queue of all the other 'scantily clad' westerners, and a few minutes later, armed with my new ugly pants, I could go exploring!

The Buddhist temple of Wat Phra Kaew was first, and I must say it was very impressive (check out the link for more photos). It comprises of a number of large and small buildings, altars and statues. Some of the buildings are covered in amazing decoration; gold leaf, gold tiles, small mirrors etc. One very large building in particular was completely covered in a small repeating patterns of gold tiles, sculpted parts, mirrors and colourful tiles. The amount of work to construct such a place is utterly mind boggling. All around the place were large statues acting as guards or 'supporting' the building. These too were covered in detail work and small decoration that was almost unbelievable to comprehend. Some buildings were just completely covered in gold leaf. We walked around, necks craned, sweating in the Bangkok heat, and were amazed at the amount of work it would have taken to create this place. Several of the larger buildings housed Buddhist altars, and after removing your shoes, you could enter. While the western tourists just marvelled at the sheer magnificence of the statues and the altars, many of the locals would actively kneel and pray. It was a very interesting experience. There were also large undecorated stone statues (my personal favourite), exquisite little gardens with miniature trees, pagodas and large ceramic containers with water plants and amazing flowers.

Within the same complex was the Grand Palace of the Thai King. Built in a somewhat in an 'East meets West' way, ultimately it was just a very large stately building, that paled in comparison so the magnificence of the gold-leaf buildings we had just seen. Before leaving, we went into a small museum housing some of the Royal Thai regalia, jewellery, swords and other accoutrements that come with being Royal. I actually really enjoyed the museum, and liked looking at the amazing artifacts. Rome of the rings were so encrusted with jewels and raw diamonds, that the ring was the size of a golf ball. Some serious bling. And oh, the musem was also wonderfully air-conditioned, another reason it was great.

Walked down the road to Wat Pho, home of the world's largest reclining Buddah. There entrance fee was cheap, and really worth it. The buildings around the temple complex were not particularly impressive, especially after the sights of the morning. However, the giant Buddha, that was pretty impressive. At 46m long, and 15m high, completely covered in gold leaf, it is a very impressive sight. Other than that, there isn't really much to say about it. It's just a really really big statue, all covered in gold. I guess you have to be there to fully feel its impact.

The rain come down then, the way it does in these parts of the world, hot, heavy and solid. We had now been on our feet for most of the day, and combined with the rain, caught a taxi back to Khaosan road. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, and I had the very good news that my car, back in NZ, had been sold! That adds a huge boost to my travelling fund, but if I am good I will leave it as my setup money for the UK, which I know is going to be very expensive.

The evening and night was spent with a few other friends, people I had met in Taman Negara, and Helen had met in KL. Sometimes travelling can be a very small world indeed. Although at one stage or another, all travellers go to Khaosan road, and I have already bumped into a few people I've met in other places. Small world indeed....

Exploring Caves of Murder

Day 26 (25/04/08): Kanchanaburi & Bangkok, Thailand

Another lazy morning. I didn't sleep very well in the night, the foreign food finally starting to play havoc with my stomach (it was only a matter of time). As such, I didn't get up for the dawn service (no real suprises there!). There is another famous cemetry just outside of Kanchanaburi, as well as a well known Buddhist Temple with a cave. The recommended way to explore these is to rent bicycles, so shortly after a late breakfast, Helen (my current travelling buddy) and I rented two bicycles and proceeded to explore the Kanchanaburi countryside.

It was great to be back on a bicycle, even if it was a crappy rent-a-bike. We cycled down a country lane, passing through some farmland before coming to Chungkai Cemetry. This cemetry was very similiar to the one from yesterday, a very neat and immaculate garden, with a large number of graves for the Allied Servicemen who died in the construction of the Thai-Burma Railway.

Back on the bikes and up a small hill (no mean feat in the heat and humidity) to the temple complex of Wat Tham Khao Pun, one of many cave temples in the area. This one is particularly famous for a 1995 incident where a drug addicted monk murdered a British tourist and dropped her body in a sinkhole. The cave system itself is very impressive. Small little holes lead through to big chambers which house statues of Buddha, altars and other Buddhist iconography. The floor has all been leveled and concreted in places, and a number of lights provide illumination. A large number of stalactites hang overhead the large Budda statues. It is hard to describe adequately, and photos can't really do it justice, but it was very impressive. It rained briefly while we were in the cave, and we emerged to the end of a short rainshower.

Back on the bikes and down the hill. We had passed a sign that said 'Kanchanaburi Monkey School' and decided to investigate. Down the end of dirt road was a small place that had a few monkeys chained up. It didn't look very nice, and neither of us wanted to support that kind of animal treatment, so we didn't enter. However, the dirt road had taken us down to the river, and so Monkey School aside, we were treated to a beautiful view of the river and the mountains. Made the whole side trip worthwhile!

Back to Kanchanaburi, and I did one quick bike ride to see the bridge for the last time. It was mainly just an excuse to go fast on a bicycle again, something I am missing dreadfully. I raced down the street, and even overtook an old lady on a scooter!

We had checked out of our hostel, and caught an organised minibus to Bangkok. Normally tourist transport like this is a rip-off, but in this case it was about the same as a taxi to the bus terminal, and the bus ticket. So a good deal, and a lot easier! We arrived in Bangkok in the early evening, right at the (in)famous Khaosan road, the mecca and gathering place of all travellers, backpackers and hippies. The street itself is a sight to behold. Packed to the gills with all sorts of people, from all age groups, nationalities, cultures and backgrounds. Street vendors hawking food, drinks, clothes, jewellery and other tourist trinkets. The buildings lining the street are all restaurants, pubs or hostels. Neon signs light up the night, and music fills the air, as each streetside bar tries to woo their customers. The cheapest drinking places are merely some plastic tables on the side of the street, with someone selling all sorts of cocktails and drinks from a small cart. Walking down the street is a minefield, as you try to ignore all the touts trying to sell you taxi rides, tuktuk rides, tourist trinkets or trying to get you into their bar. It is a crazy, mind-blowing, strange, exciting and disturbing experience. It makes Oxford Terrace in Christchurch look like a Kindergarten.

We found a hostel, right on Khaosan road that is really cheap. It is little more than a square room with two beds, a door and a ceiling fan, but you get what you pay for (a beer from a restaurant costs the same as my room for the night, about $3.75NZ). Apart from that, it is actually reasonably clean, although the term 'steel re-enforced sandbag' would be more appropriate than the term 'mattress'.

The night was spent drinking in one of the roadside 'pubs' (some plastic chairs under an umbrella) and talking to other travellers. Perhaps the craziest, yet sanest thing of all Bangkok, is that all the places shut at 2am, and shortly after this the place is pretty dead. The good news means that you can actually go and get a good sleep, wake up in the morning and be ready to explore and go sight-seeing. Even if you are sleeping on a sandbag.