Author: Joel

Krabi Province, Thailand

The Krabi Life

Joel

I’ve spent the past few days trying to squeeze in as much as possible in my rapidly dwindling days of leave. I signed up for three tours around the area, including speedboat trips to beautiful islands, hot springs soaks, sea kayaking excursions, snorkeling, swimming, beach time, and a forest temple visit.

I’ve decided that the town of Krabi, where I’ve based myself for the week, is probably better and cheaper than most of the alternatives. Unlike the ugly sterile resort towns I’ve come across in the area, Krabi retains a lot of his pre-tourist flavor, has lots of great streetside foodstalls and markets to snoop around in the evenings.

I took my first tour yesterday, where a local company whisks tourists out on a speedboat to famous beaches and snorkeling spots around islands in the area. It used an itinerary that has been in place for a number of years, but modifications have had to be made since the tsunami hit here on December 26th. While most of the deserted beaches (including “The Beach” beach) and superb snorkeling spots we visited are probably the same as they were before. They all have crystal clear water, long white sandy beaches, and spectacularly huge karst limestone cliffs protruding out of the water and coastlines. On the other hand, the coastline was clearly lined with a demolished seawall, and some of the islands with developments we were supposed to visit remained closed to visitors because they’re so devastated.

On Ko Phi Phi island, where we were originally scheduled to have lunch, we now just cruised the boat up close to gawk at the distruction. It is estimated that between 750 and 6000 people died there alone. All that’s left is a long line of demolished beach shacks and lots of demolition taking place — with backhoes loading the debris onto ocean barges.

It seems as though every one around here has a story to tell about the tsunami. Our tour group leader was on one of the beaches we visited where he held onto a palm tree with one arm and his wife with the other to prevent being swept out to sea. They said there were three waves that came in. The first was small and kind of cool, but the second and third were the large devastating ones. Fortunately the initial small wave scared a lot of people to safer, higher ground.

Today I did a tour that was what I thought was going to be a jungle trek that circulated by some hot springs, cool crystal clear pools, and a famous forest temple. Unfortunately, we just seemed to drive between all the destinations — so I didn’t get the workout I have been hoping for. I guess the tour company is trying to maximize their potential client base by opening their trips up to anyone (including the chronically inactive).

The forest temple was really pretty cool. I actually visited the place a few days beforehand to scale up the 1237 (!) steps to the top of one of these huge limestone cliffs you find all over the place around here. It was really grueling, as you can imagine, but the views from the top were really quite amazing. The Buddhists seem to like to position temples on top of high hills, but this had to be one of the highest I’ve come across. It was almost as difficult walking back down again, using different muscles. My legs were complete rubber by the time I got back down to the ground. I spent a few hours up there, just relaxing, recooperating, and enjoying the views. Other visitors seemed to act like they sprint up there on a daily basis.

When we visited this temple today, we didn’t bother scaling the steps on our inactive tour. Instead we visited some other interesting parts of the temple including a secret valley positioned in between several of the cliffs. Monks were living in shacks and caves all over the grounds. It’s a pretty neat place to explore.

Tomorrow I’m heading off to do a kayak trip around a local island where I will also have some time for some more snorkeling, swimming, and beach time. I think I will finally get the active day I’ve been looking for.

Krabi Province, Thailand

Another Election Day

Joel

Ah yes, another country, another election. Today is Thailand’s big election day, which I think only comes up every four or five years. Alcohol sales have been banned since 6PM last night. Sounds like Pennsylvania!

I’m now in Krabi, which isn’t all that far from Phuket and the December Tsunami hit areas. I just flew down here from Sukhothai and Bangkok last night. My first impression is that it really is a beautiful area. The air seems much cleaner than it was up north, and there are huge karst limestone rock formations jutting out of the land and sea. Like the rest of Thailand, the people here seem very relaxed and friendly. Thai people give minimal hassles about anything — especially when you compare them to the hustlers I encountered in India and Egypt. Thailand is proving to be a great place to just cool your heels and hang out.

I will spend my day running some personal errands and looking for some adventurous excursions. It seems as though tourism is still reeling from the aftermath of the tsunami and occupancy levels are very low around here.

I have the nicest hotel room here that I’ve had on my trip. For the first time since I left the U.S., I actually have a shower that is not on the wall above the toilet. In fact, I even have a shower curtain! And a color TV so I can try to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play in the Super Bowl tomorrow morning (if I can find it on here).

Sukhothai Province, Thailand

Buddhism by Bicycle

Joel

Sukhothai has proved to be a great place for bicycling. I must not be the only one who feels that way because the streets are lined with many bike shops. I spent a few days in the town, and on both days I ended up peddling all over the place.

On my first day, I headed for “Old Sukhothai” on a mini bus with some German rock star friends (whom I met on my 3 day trek along the Burma border). Old Sukhothai is an old Khmer city, built in the 1300s when it served as the capital of the kingdom of Thailand. The city is completely closed off to cars, so it is really nice to rent a bike and cycle around to see the many temple ruins. Usually a large Buddha figure would be all that was restored in the middle of each of the temple ruins. It was a beautiful laid back place to spend a relaxing day casually cycling about and shooting lots of pictures.

On the second day, we all did a 2 hour bike trip up along the top of a river levy through thick bamboo forests and farms (full of tobacco and sweet corn) to see another Buddhist temple that is famous for its sculptures depicting the history of Buddhism. Our trip was part of a tour conducted by the owner of my German friends’ guesthouse (which I couldn’t get into because it was full). He took us through the grounds and showed us all the sculptures and explained the history of Buddhism for us.

I think it is interesting to note that our tour guide, a European expat, did not consider himself a to be a Buddhist (only an admirer). But then again, I haven’t found anyone around here who will call themselves Buddhist, even though this is a predominately Buddhist country. I guess the monks probably might. I just haven’t gotten around to asking them yet. Most Thai people seem to quickly distance themselves from the religion as a way of showing they are not nearly devout enough to be considered true Buddhists. It’s funny to think about that when so many Westerners seem quick to proclaim themselves Buddhist.

According to our European tour guide, even the majority of monks you see did not really become monks to pursue their religious convictions. Many are just taking refuge from the outside world because they’re either too poor and know the temples will support them, or they’re just wanting to get some support with room and board while they pursue personal projects. The artist who created the sculptures we looked, for example, served as a monk at the time, much to the dismay of the temple. It was also disclosed that a chinese/thai massuer who tagged along on our trip also served as a monk for ten years, but his real aim was to study the art of traditional Chinese and Thai massage, study psychology, meditation, and a few other things. Other examples were also given as well. It seems that the whole system in Thailand for supporting monks also serves as the social safety net for the country.

Sukhothai Province, Thailand

From the mountains to the sea

Joel

I’ve decided to continue on with my tour of Thailand by heading south from the mountains north of Chiang Mae (aka the foothills of the Himalayas).

I found some pretty good deals on domestic airline tickets, so I’ve flown to Sukhothai for a few days and will continue flying down to Krabi (well south of Bangkok) for my final week in Thailand. Word’s out among travellers that many areas hit by the tsunami are recovering fast.

Sukhothai is one of Thailand’s former capitals and is rich in history. I will be visiting the old moated and walled historic sites in the next few days.

Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

My first big mountain biking experience

Joel

My big mountain biking experience seemed to go pretty well. I’ve done a lot of road biking, but mountain biking seemed to be a whole different experience.

I had a variety of routes to choose from, and the easiest would have been to be dropped on on top of a 5200 foot mountain (where all the routes started) so I could just glide to the bottom. Instead, I took a route that included some rollercoaster climbs uphill as well. The problem is, riding uphill on a mountain bike is much tougher than riding up hill on a paved road. First, we had to dress up like gladiators to ensure our safety. The bikes themselves contained massive shock absorbers. The paths we took were very rough with large rocks and deep ruts, and although the bikes were design to handle these huge obstacles, they were prone to wheelie when riding over any sizable debris uphill. I’m sure if I have the experience I could have handled it better. That being said, I survived just fine.

We rode the bikes about 3000+ feet down very steep hills in beautiful terrain through farms and coffee plantations. One of which we stopped by for some fresh home grown coffee.

The tour company was actually run by a couple of expat Americans, who seemed to be on to a good thing with lots of solid business.

Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Up on the elephants back…

Joel

Well, it turned out to be ten people instead of six — but we all had a great time on our trek. In all, we hiked about 35kms over three days up and down beautiful mountains running along the Myanmar (Burma) border. We camped in isolated huts on top of some of the mountains with no power or plumbing and saw nobody but hill tribe people the entire time. We never saw or even heard a car or any roads until the end of our third day. Although it was technically a jungle, it was quite dry this time of year. It was nothing like the jungles I hiked through when I was in Fiji or Hawaii (which required a machete).

The elephant ride we took for part of the journey on our second day was very interesting, historically speaking. Thailand has a long tradition of using elephants for hauling heavy goods around and for fighting in wars (where they have been used to ram down the doors of forts, among other things). Although the ride was a bit rough in the seats provided on the elephants back, the ride was much more comfortable when you sat on the elephants neck. Occasionally they would stop at streams to fill up their trunks and shower themselves down in the heat. Of course, this is a whole different experience when you are sitting on top of them.

The traditional Thai food was fabulous throughout the trip and the local guide and the people who came along, from Germany, Canada, and the U.K., were enthusiastic and fun to spend time with. The Canadians (from the Yukon) brought along a pet squirrel they picked up in a local market which proved to be fascinating to the village kids.

For the last leg of our journey, where we cruised down a river on bamboo rafts, we had a lot of fun trying to sabotage each other’s boats — causing most of the rafts to fall apart on the way down stream. As it turned out, they dismantle them to ship them back upstream where they rebuild them, anyway, so we didn’t have to feel guilty on the ride back home to Chiang Mai.

I decided to extend my stay here a few days so I can go on a mountain biking trip over more mountains tomorrow.

Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Meanwhile, back in the jungle…

Joel

I’ve been hanging out in the northern city of Chiang Mai over the past few days. It’s the second largest city in Thailand, but it’s still got a very small town feel to it. Chiang Mai seems most noted for its large number of Buddhist temples and Buddhist monks running around. It’s also considered a good base for exploring the northern reaches of Thailand, near the Myanmar (Burma) and Laos borders.

Tomorrow I’m setting off on a three day jungle adventure with a half dozen other people from my guesthouse. It will include a bit of hiking, a bit of swimming, some bamboo rafting, and, of course, elephant riding (as one does in Thailand). We’ll be sleeping in traditional huts in hill tribe villages (with those people with the elongated necks from wearing too many necklaces) up in the mountains.

Bangkok, Thailand

A Culinary Paradise

Joel

I’ve been spending a few days wandering the back streets and neighborhoods of Bangkok. There are lots of Buddhist temples and some monks about. They also have a Chinatown and Little India, like many southeastern Asian cities. The people are very nice and hardly anybody hassles you about anything.

One of the nicest features of this place is the fabulous food. There seem to be endless places to eat with all kinds of food from around the world, but mostly Thai (of course). I love Thai food and have been having a wonderful time sampling many of the streetside stalls. As per the advice I’ve received, I make sure the food is kept cold and then cooked up fresh in front of my eyes. They seem to know exactly what ingredients to add to make everything taste special. The streetside cooks usually don’t know too much English, so you just have to point at what you want. I usually point at just about everything and shrug my shoulders. They’ll through in all kinds of exotic spices and fresh herbs and come up with something great. Even when I ordered popcorn from a streetside vendor it was flavored with a sweet coconut milk concoction. You can often get very cheap fabulously tasting meals for around A$1 (US$0.75). And to think most Thais don’t seem to have an ounce of fat on them! I guess it just must be healthy eating.

I found a great guesthouse on a back street in a nice quiet area in the center of town, but next to some of the big shopping areas. Bangkok seems a bit more modern than I expected. Probably a mix of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, the public transportation system is a bit of a mess. They have a nice skytrain (monorail) that doesn’t seem to go enough places, a brand new subway that has just been shut down due to an accident, boats that cruise up and down the main river, and lots of heavy traffic everywhere else.

I’ve booked a trip on the overnight train to Chiang Mai tomorrow night to see some of the sights in the northern part of the country. From there I will probably slowly work my way back down to Bangkok, and possibly into southern Thailand (if the post tsunami problems improve) or east into Cambodia and/or Vietnam. I will have to see. I’ll be here for close to four weeks.

China, Hong Kong

A billion here, a billion there

Joel

From one future world power to the next, I find myself chillin’ out in Hong Kong for a few days. What a relief it is to be here! What a contrast Hong Kong is to Delhi and Cairo.

It’s nice to go from watching where to step constantly (continually avoiding hocked phlem and pools of urine on the pavement) to surfing the spotless state-of-the-art subways and treking the spectacularly steep hills of relatively clean Hong Kong. This is certainly one of the world’s great cities.

Hong Kong probably has the nicest airport I’ve ever come across. It’s huge, and we landed at one of its most distant gates, but I was able to get from the plane into my hostel room (over 25km away) in less than an hour. I don’t think I waited more than two minutes for anything, hopping on moving sidewalks, airport shuttles, escalators, getting my temperature taken to make sure I didn’t have SARS, on through customs, through the baggage claim, onto a high speed train (that is so fast and smooth it feels like it’s levitating) into the city, onto a free hotel shuttle bus, and a then quick 1/2 block jaunt down to my cheap accommodation. The temperature taking, incidentally, consists of walking briskly past a heat sensitive camera with everone else. On large flat panel screens you see an alien view of everyone, color coded to reflect each body temperature. If someone had a fever, I suppose they would appear a different color and get yanked by security to the side. To get back to the airport, you actually check in with your bags in the city at a sleek train station and they take care of the rest. It is probably the most distant check-in from your plane you’ll ever find.

Hong Kong is very high tech in many ways. The whole city is wired for broadband. There is free Internet access in many subway stations and at the airport. I’m writing this blog at the central library, which has 500 such free terminals available on its many different floors. There are also mysterious containers whizzing over my head on the ceiling and into walls at either end of the building. I can only assume they’re full of books being sorted.

The public transportation system here is fabulous with probably the best subway system I’ve ever been on. There are illuminated maps on the walls of each rail car with flashing lights that show you exactly what station you’re at, which direction you’re going, which door you’ll need to exit from, and what connections you can make from the next station. In each of the underground stations there are very clear maps showing all the subway exits and where they surface so you can plot the best one for where your headed. They’re all assigned letters and have signs everywhere pointing the way.

Much of Hong Kong runs on smart cards these days. These are credit card sized cards that contain a computer chip you can store information on. You can use them here to purchase all kinds of things, from subway trips to bus trips to parking meters to restaurants to stores, etc. You just juice them up with cash at an automated terminal from time to time. The best thing about them is that you don’t even need to remove them from your wallet to use them. You just wave your wallet within close proximity of a smart card reader and it automatically registers where you’re coming from or going to or deducts whatever payment you’re trying to make. You never have to wory about fumbling for change.

Hong Kong is also very safe, and you can wander pretty much wherever you want, day or night. The neighborhood I’m in seems to be busy with shoppers every day up until midnight. Nobody seems to notice a Westerner like myself wandering around. This is especially nice after visiting India and Egypt, where touts were continually trying to herd you into their stores (honestly or deceitfully), never taking “no” for an answer.

Probably the worst thing about Hong Kong is the cost of living here. I’ve been here on business a few times before, and most of the people I met had to commute an hour to find reasonably priced real estate. And that’s before and after working 12 hour days and on Saturday mornings (which seem to be the standard office hours here). The cost of food and accommodation is quite pricey too — which is part of the reason I’m only stopping here for a few days.

Agra, Delhi, India

Where’s the Beef?

Joel

Just thought you might be interested in knowing (or being reminded) that you can’t buy beef in this country, seeing as the cows are sacredly roaming the highways. Even McDonalds has a mostly vegetarian menu (with a bit of fish and chicken thrown in for the visitors). Western restaurants post big signs on their walls stating they sell no beef products, supposably to quell any concerns from the locals.

I have been trying to eat mostly local cuisine, but I can’t say that I had really great Indian food. The best Indian meals I’ve had, oddly enough, have been on the flight coming in (Gulf Air) and the flight going out (Cathay Pacific). Maybe my lack of luck in Delhi restaurants has something to do with my eating budget!

I have been trying to be very careful about food poisoning — seeing as I’ve gotten very sick on a few occasions over the past year. So far, no problems in Eqypt or India. My water purifer is working a charm! Doesn’t sound like my neighbors can claim the same. I heard some horrible wretching through a wall in my guesthouse a few days ago.

Tomorrow I head for Hong Kong, where I will be doing a bit of cheap shopping until flying to Thailand on Friday.