Thailand by LAND part Two

Refugees and a New Country (28 Nov 2009)

So from Sokhothai we took another long distance double Decker bus to the town of Tak and from there a Mini bus to the border town of Mae Sot. The latter was a bit scary as we had to go over a mountain pass and the bus driver tried to break the world record for that distance. Arriving in Mae Sot we walked from the bus station to the guest house, at first in the wrong direction. Mae Sot, 7 km from the Burmese border, has a fascinating cultural mix. Walking down the streets and markets we saw interesting ethnic mixtures, Burmese men in their long sarongs, Hmong and Karen Hill tribe women in traditional hill tribe dresses carrying large baskets on their heads. Many residents are western Doctors, NGO ( Non Government Organisations) workers and also Army personnel. At the moment over 150000 Burmese refugees live in camps scattered along the border. In these camps international organisations provide humanitarian aid like health care and schooling. A huge volunteer program has been established in Mae Sot. Many guesthouses accommodated these volunteers and most guesthouses are very nice and very cheap.
We stayed at Ban Thai Guesthouse (same name again) which is on a large property set back from the main road. We had a large bungalow set among beautiful gardens, with nice teak furniture and TV (at least 50 channels) and the most comfortable mattress. All for the price of AU $18 per day. No restaurant was attached to the guesthouse, but many restaurants line the main road within a few minutes’ walk. At dinner that night, we talked to one of the staff in the restaurant and he admitted to be a Burmese escapee. He was not allowed to leave the premises at all. Mae Sot is also a black market trading town between Myanmar and Thailand, mainly teak. On the second day we wanted to do our Visa run. Fortunately, at the time of our visit no border fighting between Myanmar’s government and ethnic Hill Tribes happened. We were told they can break out at any time. So, off we went to the bus stop, 200 m from Ban Tai. We waited one hour before we went back to the guesthouse. No buses on Sunday? The manager there kindly called a Tuk Tuk to take us to the Friendship Bridge at Mae Nam Moei, 6 km away. Arriving 10 minutes later we checked out of Thailand, walked across the bridge over the river Mae Nam Moei, and checked into Myanmar (Burma). The border officials were very friendly and kept our passport. We entered the town of Myawadi and walked up and down the main road for half an hour. It looked pretty much like Thailand but more deteriorated and poorer. So, check out of Myanmar and walk over the bridge again to the Thai immigration booth for new Visa. We only got another 15 days. Before we went back to Mae Sot by local sawngthaew we walked through a vibrant market next to the river that legally sells Burmese goods, including a large range of very nice teak furniture, tapestry, woven products, jade and gems. Back at Mae Sot we enjoyed a walk through town but could not find the night markets. So we ended up at an Italian restaurant where we had a good Thai curry.
There was really not much to see around Mae Sot (we were templed out –remember) and the Tigers at Chiang Mai were waiting for us, so the next day we took the Minibus back for the trip to Tuk. This time the trip took twice as long (slow driver) and the van was stopped at least 5 times by border officials for passport controls. They didn’t really wanted to see ours, just glanced at it for half a second but very thoroughly checked the other passengers’ documents so see if they were Burmese refugees. At Tak bus station we changed into a big bus for the 6 hour trip to Chiang Mai.

Chaing Mai – Tigers and Mountains

As we got to Chiang Mai late that afternoon some other backpacking tourists warned us (and we also read it in the Lonely Planet that the Tuk Tuk drivers in Chiang Mai take you not to the guesthouse you request but take you to a different one, where they get commission. We had a reservation at SK Guesthouse http://www.sk-riverview.com/ and called them to pick us up from the Bus station. They said to take a TUK TUK. A bit worried, we got in the vehicle but our friendly driver took us straight to our requested premises. SK House was another good choice, as the guest house had a nice common area, full with antiques and traditional Thai scenes painted on the doors. A bonus was the good and cheap restaurant and the internet room with hi-speed access. Our room was good too, just a bit noisy, as it faced the internal courtyard.
Chiang Mai has a lot to offer. You could easily spent 2 weeks here, take cooking and art classes, shop until you drop and see the many sides around the city. The mornings are fresh and crisp around this time of the year and we were glad we had our warm jackets. The days warmed to nearly 30 degrees but it was a dry heat. So we did some of the tourist things, walked the “old City temple walk”. Yes, more temples! Most of them are very impressive and were well photographed by us. You can look forward to see all our photos of the hundreds of temples. Only kidding. We also visited the Chiang Mai Ram Hospital for some minor problem. I was very impressed of this modern hospital. Our old Kodak camera stopped working that day and we had left our new Olympus at the boat (thought it was too heavy). So, for the sake of Mike and his Tigers we bought another little Olympus at the big shopping centre.
Next day finally arrived (Mike was excited like a little child the day before Xmas). We hired a motorbike (a Honda 100cc) for $5 a day and drove to Tiger Kingdom, www.tigerkindom.com 12 km north of Chiang Mai. Arriving at the reception desk of this relatively new park, we had the choice of being with the baby tigers (2 months), toddlers (4 months), 7 months old or big ones (over 18 months of age). I wanted to play with the little ones so I decided to go to the 2 months old cubs. And you guessed it, Mike wanted to see and play with them all, preferably all day long. Because he bought the whole package, including being accompanied by a photographer, he was given a bonus 30 minutes with two young lions cubs, about 7 months of age. To make a long story short just look at our photos at face book, and the smiles on our faces will tell the story of this fantastic half day at Tiger Kingdom.

Afterwards we took the scenic drive of the forested loop of the Mae Sae valley, passed orchid farms, elephant camps, butterfly parks, botanical gardens and waterfalls. The drive took us to an altitude of 1600 m and being on a motorbike we regretted not having taken our jackets, it was very very cold up there. We stopped at the Mae Sae Waterfall, but didn’t feel like walking much. The only other stop was at the village of Samoeng, the western most extension of the loop and 35 km from Tiger Kingdom, where we strolled around the local wet market and ate a pancake.
The next daythe little Honda took us back to the mountains to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a temple/monastery near the summit of Doi Suthep (1676m). This is one of the most sacred temples in Thailand. At the end of the winding road a staircase of 306 steps leads to the wat (Thai for temple). Looking down from up there to Chiang Mai was not bad but it was hazy. Like most wats in Thailand, souvenir shops surround the temple. “Have a look at my shop” they all asked and soon we had bargained for a big elephant made from teak. Weighing more than 7 kg. What now? Take him down on the bike? Ok, he (it’s a male elephant) can sit between us. Down the mountain I was holding the elephant with one hand and Mike’s belly with the other. I was glad when we got back to the guesthouse. Who had that idea?
we stayed 5 days in Chiang Mai enjoying good food, live music, the atmosphere at the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, and many other markets. Being two weeks on the go now, we started to get a bit tired and homesick. Travelling is a good thing but there is nothing like home, even if it is a small sailboat.
The bus trip to Bangkok took 13 hours. The lady at the ticket counter offered us 1st class, we hesitated for a few seconds (we were only changing Baht to Dollars in our mind) and down came the price, we paid for 2nd class and got first and had the privilege to sit in the double Decker bus right in the first row, second level, and enjoyed the views of rural Thailand and of course the legroom.

Bangkok ¬- Ladies and Gentlemen fasten your seatbelts

We arrived in Bangkok around 8 pm in peak our traffic. Bangkok is known for its traffic jams and slow move and we experienced it firsthand. Roads and highways were to their fullest and our bus moved only very slowly. Many roads are 2 stories high and the seconds level is a kind of toll road with no traffic light or roundabouts. Being on the second level front seat on the bus and on the second level of highway was like flying over a city in a jet plane, only slower. So we actually enjoyed the bad traffic and took in the many millions of lights and noises. From the Northern Bus terminal we took the Sky train to our hotel. We booked this the day before and our choice was a 3.5 star hotel, close to a train station and not over $50 incl. breakfast. Other guesthouse accommodation didn’t sound very appealing to us and were and not much cheaper than hotels anyway. Walking down Soi 4 of Sukumvit road we quickly realised that this erea is indeed a red light district with bars, nightclubs and more bars and of course hotels. The sex industry is in its full swing here. Hundreds of elderly men, most of them bold, with teenage Thai girls holding hands .I better hold on to my skipper before anyone is going to drag him away from me. Our hotel was indeed very nice and I wondered if it was a normal hotel or a kind of “hourly rooms” hotel. Well, the admiral was very naive. I was the only westerner looking women and probably the oldest one at breakfast. Some men had breakfast with their Thai lovers; other guys were having their breakfast alone. It was the 5th of December and today was the Kings birthday. A public holiday, celebrated by locals with parades and fireworks. We took the sky train to National stadium station and started walking towards the Grand Palace. The closer we got the more people filled the streets, nearly all of them wearing a pink T shirts. Also, a large number of police and military personal wandering around. People were already sitting at the roadsides on rugs or on nothing to watch the celebrations and fireworks scheduled for the night. So, we walked past the Grand Palace towards the river and took a river ferry for a short trip to Chinatown. We’ll come back to the palace another day when there are less crowds. But Chinatown was not much different, crowded and chaotic with street so busy that even walking was very slow. By midafternoon, all we wanted was getting back to the hotel and put our feet up. But we didn’t miss out on the kings Birthday celebrations( speeches and more speeches followed by a splendid firework) as we watched from our TV at the hotel at night.
On Sunday we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. One of the biggest markets in Thailand with over 1500 stalls. Luckily most of them were inside some sort of hall. Everything imaginable is for sale, from handmade silks, fashion clothing, art and antiques to pottery, leather, books, woodcraft, and even cats and dogs. I had a great time exploring this market and I had the impression that this is not just for tourist; most of the shoppers were actually locals. Only the skipper was a bit bored, there were no Electronic, Tools or useful items for sales. Later on in the afternoon we had a sticky beak at Central World Plaza, apparently the biggest shopping centre in South East Asia. It was big alright. We could only see a small part of it and were fascinated by the food courts. Later that night short stroll took us to the Arabic quarter of Bangkok, where we found a nice restaurant selling kebabs. It’s kind of strange to see Muslim women, covered completely but the eyelids, next to Thai prostitutes and transvestites standing at the traffic lights.
By the end of the day our feet and legs were really sore and tired. We didn’t want to see more markets or Shopping centres. So the only thing left for us to visit was the Grand Palace. On Monday we ask at the reception if we could check out a 2 pm and they said it was OK. We left just after 7.30 am and again took the train and ferry to get there. The complex of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keaw, known as the temple of the Emerald Buddha is very impressive. So many beautiful mansions and temple buildings and so many tourists. Our new camera ran out of battery after the first few photos. Well this will speed up our visit. We got back to our hotel at half past one, packed and left the hotel to make our way to the Southern Bus terminal. Getting there was a bit complicated, (Sky train, change to another Sky train line, Ferryboat and then a local bus. But it didn’t cost much and we had plenty of time. Our big bus to Satun was leaving a 5.30 pm for the long 14 hour trip. We had enough of this 7 million people, air polluted city full of scams and tourist traps. Not that we were a victim. Jemimah was waiting and we needed a “holiday.”
Until the end of the year we will stay at Rebak Marina Resort http://www.tajhotels.com/ preparing for our journey to the Andaman Islands in early January. We wish you all a very happy Christmas and best Wished for the Year 2010.
Bye for now Mike and Rosi

Thailand By Land ( 21 Nov - 9-12 2009)

Hallo again! Now Jemimah being back in the water we decided to do a bit of land travel before X mas. Missing out on cheap flight to Vietnam we decided to travel to Northern Thailand by land. Jenny and Peter( Tiaki) kindly drove us to Kuah ferry terminal. They needed to stop at the local hardware shop for something so we accompanied them, only to find the perfect Christmas present for the admiral. The HONDA Generator she always wanted so badly. We paid a deposit and promised to pick it up in 4 weeks. A taxi to the ferry terminal would have been so much cheaper!!!!!
The ferry from Langkawi to Tammalang Pier in Thailand takes only 90 minutes. So with the 1 hour difference in local time we arrived after half an hour in Thailand including going through immigration and customs. A short drive by tuk tuk took us to the bus terminal in Satun and from there a 14 hour bus trip overnight to Bangkok. This long distance bus was very comfortable, lots of legroom (very important for the admiral). I settled down with a good book to read for a few hours before bedtime. But by 6.30 the lights inside the bus went all off. Well, maybe we should try to sleep earlier. Arrival in Bangkok was scheduled at 4 am. But shortly after the lights went off, the music came on. Loud Thai rock music till almost midnight. Is this the way Thais travel?

Elephants and Scorpions

Arriving at the Southern Bus terminal in Bangkok we followed the signs to the “BUS TO PAK CHONG” and within 15 minutes were on our way again. The trip to Pak Chong took 3 hours .This government bus was a bit tatty but the aircon worked well. I was shivering all the way despite wearing my warm winter jacket. Arriving in Pak Chong, we found a market stall were we had a coffee. The coffee came with complementary tea. Do you drink the tea before or after coffee? We drank the tea to be polite (we only drink tea when we got the flu and then with sugar and rum). While enjoying our coffee we witnessed some monks receiving their free food donation from the local market stalls and in return blessing the market stall. It looked very ceremonial.

Finally we rang the guesthouse and they kindly picked us up from the bus stop near the market. Greenleaf Guesthouse http://www.greenleaftour.com/ is located 5 km outside Pak Chong. Accommodation is spotless but basic, cold showers only and no furniture other than a bed. We paid only $ 7 Dollars the night. The attached restaurant served delicious food by friendly staff, the best we had so far in Thailand. Tours can be booked at the guesthouse and we organised an afternoon cave tour for the same afternoon and the big tour into Khao Yai National Park the next day.
The cave tour took us first to a waterfall were we could have had a nice swim if we had our togs. We forgot them of course. One of the guides found a little snake, a very soft viper and handed it to us for a cuddle. Before my turn a fellow traveller was bitten by the snake and I gave the handling a miss. Back in the “pickup” we drove past fields of rice and vegetables and arrived at the bat cave next to a temple. The monks here were wearing yellow beanies. Our guide managed to find some creatures again, this time a big spider- scorpion. After the initial fright and goosebumps I managed to have a close look. Some travellers even toughed it and put it on their arms and face. Too much for my liking. Later on, we watched millions of tiny bats departing the cave. It looked like smoke pouring out of a volcano and the sound was like thousands of humming bees. Later at night back at the guesthouse we enjoyed a nice hot soup to warm up. It was too cold for a beer. We asked for a second blanket and gave the cold shower a miss.
The tour trough Khao Yai NP was excellent. We sat on open Utes (with a cover for shade), saw lush rainforests, lots of birds including the giant hornbill, white handed gibbons, macaques, and deer. An even larger scorpion, waterfalls and wild elephant evidence, like the mud on the trees at about 2,5 meter height and the trampled down vegetation and of course elephant poo. But we missed out on seeing wild elephants. Maybe next time. Later in the afternoon we were driven up to the top of one mountain to 1400 meter from where we could see hundreds of kilometres over this vast NP as far as the mountains of Cambodia. Thanks to Allison and Geoff (SY Saraoni) for their recommendation to visit this NP.

Monday 23.11.2009

Ruins and lots of Dogs

A very interesting 3 hour train trip took us to the ancient royal capital of Ayuthaya. Our third class wagon looked about 100 years old with wooden benches. Unfortunately there was only standing room for us in the aisles, which were merely the width of by bottom. That was ok until the hawker ladies came through the train with large baskets full of cocked food. We squeezed into any gaps we could find. At some point I asked the lady what she was selling. She answered” Chicken” in English. I looked at it and shook my head. The pieces looked small and dark. But one man sitting beside us bought some. I watched him eat and discovered that they were chicken all right. The size of freshly hatched chicks. Later I was told they were actually younger than that. They get them out of the shell just before hatching and grill them.

Ayuthaya was the Siamese royal capital from 1350 to 1767. They call it the sacred city, intertwined with Thai nationalism and religion. The great empire of South East Asia, used by international merchants sailing between India and China during the era of the trade winds. Central Ayuthaya is surrounded by water on all sides, having been build where three rivers come together. A wide canal links them, encircling the town. Over 400 temples were constructed in the ancient city. The largest concentration (Ayuthaya Historical Park) now a Unesco World Heritage site. Efforts were undertaken by various kings and today by the Fine Art Department to restore the ancient temples.
We found a nice guesthouse within the “Island”. On the first day we took a tour which was offered by the guesthouse to see some of the best ruins lit up at night. The tuk tuk (a three wheeled pedicab) for this 3 hour adventure was so small that we could not sit upright and had only legroom for one bench but not for the opposite. One stop just before it got dark was the Elephant Kraal. In olden times a stockade for elephants, today a huge fence of teak logs keeps the elephants in. We saw many elephants being trained to do tricks. Some being washed, others just standing around eating and pooping. The attraction was a mother elephant that had a 2 months old baby. The youngster was running around freely and came to us when we called it but was so active it was difficult to make a photo and he or she nearly pushed us over several times. The next day we hired a motorbike and visited many of the ruins and temples. At Wat Chaiwatthanaram (say that after a few drinks 3 times in a row), one of the most imposing ancient Buddhist monasteries, I nearly had my little Kodak camera confiscated. At the exit of the temple I was approached by two temple security persons who were not very happy about me taking a photo of a Buddha. I actually made Michael stand behind that Buddha (without head) to make a photo. That is forbidden. They wanted my camera, but I kept saying that the batteries were flat and I did not make photos. I kept the finger on the lens cap, so when I switched the camera on it would go off straight away. They ask me to wait. What for? After a few minutes a women came and with spare batteries. I was very lucky because the batteries were not the right ones for my camera and they finally let me go, with my camera. I am glad we did not take our new big SLR Olympus. That one we left at the boat on purpose!

Many ruins looked similar than the ones we just seen 10 minutes ago. At night we enjoyed a good Thai curry at the night market overlooking the river. Walking through the streets we saw so many dogs lying around in front of homes and shops I was wondering if there are more dogs than people in this town. At night our sleep was interrupted by a lot of barking.

Thursday 26 Nov 2009

More Temples and Ruins

A six hour bus trip (this time first class) took us from Ayuthaya to Sukhothai, 450 km north of Bangkok. First class has the same comfortable buses as second class but a steward on board served coffee and water and during a stop we received a free meal. Sukhothai was the first capital of Siam and flourished in the 13th century and lasted 200 years. The temples and ruins of the era are considered to be the most classic of Thai styles. Sukhothai Historical Park, another World heritage site, was very impressive. The Historical Park includes remains of 21 sites and four large ponds within the old walls, with dozens of more sites within a 5 km radius. Our guesthouse called Ban Thai, situated in the new Sukhothai, was very nice. With a good atmosphere, excellent restaurant and comfortable rooms. The only downside was our mattress. Super hard. After a very uncomfortable night we upgraded from our room to the Bungalow for an extra $ 3 dollar. The mattress was still hard but there was a 200% improvement. A sawngthaew, a common name for a pick up truck with two benches in the back and used as buses, took us the 15 km to the Historical village in old Sokhothai for the cost of .80 cents per person. On arrival we hired bicycles to see the ruins and temples. It was fun! There were no cars inside the park and the landscape was very beautiful. It was a hot day, so at lunchtime we escaped into the museum. It was very good with an impressive collection of Sukhothai artefacts. Unfortunately our peaceful time inside the museum was disturbed by hundreds of young school children from Bangkok. For them we were more fascinating than the museum displays and they wanted to know where we came from. After the museum visit we had a second round of temples and ruins and went back to the guesthouse for Internet and dinner.
Our plan originally was to also visit the Historical Park of Si Satchanalai-Chaliang. Another world heritage site, similar to Sokhothai but set among the hills in a more peaceful setting. But we had seen sooooo many ruins and temples in the last week that we really did not want to see more. While in Sokhothai we discovered that our Visa given to us at Tammalang Pier/Satun was only for 15 days, because we travelled by land into Thailand. Air passengers are given 30 days. We still had 6 days left but wanted to stay around Chiang Mai more than a week. So what do we do now?