Mahout training at Thai Elephant Conservation Centre
It makes sense when you find out that the organisation that runs the park is the Forestry Organization- they can't log with elephants anymore so they employed the mahouts that worked the elephants in the camps as 'mahout trainers'. These guys are pretty good considering they were loggers and are now tourist trainers. A bit like asking logging workers in Tasmania to stop cutting old growth forests and show japanese tourists how to use a forklift.
The place has 70 elephants and employs four vets who work at the centre, in the mobile clinic and in rotation looking after the Kings elephants. They provide health care free of charge to elephants, even privately owned ones. Mostly the elephants were treated for eye/ear problems and emaciation.
When we arrived we were asigned an elephant and a mahout and after saying hello he directed me to get onto the elephant's neck. We then proceeded to get on and off a few times (either from the side or off the head as the elephant leaned down) before being participants in the twice daily bathing show. There is a command for spraying water at someone (boon bong?maybe) which they used as liberally as possible. I think Jono ended up half submerged on this first bathing trip. This was followed by the first of three shows in which it has to be said Jono was the star attraction. All the elephants line up and show the basics command, on and off on the side.
When Em says star attraction, I say child actor with poor working conditions. Seriously I was the schmuck who had to stand in the middle of the arena while my very cool elephant Luc Khan walked over to me and put a Mahout hat on my head. If that wasn't enough embarassment, another elephant walked over to me and sprayed a trunk full of water on me after the hat was placed on my head.
For those interested:
Soong Song - get on the elephant. It helps you up with it's leg. Very, very cool.
Hap Song - get off the elephant from the side.
Tak Long - get off the elephant by sliding off the front. You then jump over the elephant's head back onto it.
Nan Long - Sit
Map Long - Lie down
Non Long - Lie down on side
Look- Get up
Gep Bon - Pick up whatever it is.
Bon - raise your trunk.
Getting to work with an elephant was very cool and also a little sad as well. Thailand unfortunately doesn't understand animal welfare, environmental enrichment, behaviour and learning theory behaviour and training. It's not like the western world is a long way ahead in this regard. They are and they aren't. Unfortunately most of the elephants at this park had no environmental enrichment, had very few opportunities to exhibit normal behaviours and quite a few exhibited stereotypic behaviours (ie behaviours that have no point or benefit). I was able to take some videos of the sterotypic behaviours and the enclosures they were in and some of it was poor to say the least. The explanation I got from the co-ordinator was that it was the elephant's personality. So after a few hundred and more years of training elephants they still don't realise that it has a high likelihood of being an induced state brought on by stress of some kind. The mahouts are actually quite good trainers and do care for their elephants. Some are far better than others, unfortunately not even the two Veterinary schools in Thailand have assited them with improving the elephant's welfare. As Em put it, sheep get better yards in Australia and they don't weigh 3-5 tonnes. And remember we're talking about an endangered species!
There is such a wonderful opportunity in this country to develop areas for ecotourism that encompasses the native animals of the region, while still maintaining the traditional skills of the mahout/tribal people, with a modern understanding of training. A scientific approach to behaviour and learning theory persay. Elephants don't need to be chained with heavy iron/steel links. If you can find a way that they want to work a theoretical piece of string would hold them or better yet a fenced enclosure where they could be housed with combatible elephants (Some elephants like to kill other elephants if given the chance). Unfortunately many citizens of Thailand live in conditions no better than the elephants. Until then not a lots going to change unless some NGO's step in and fund it.
On another note the two other people we did the elephant training course were AUSTRALIAN. Read sigh of relief. Intelligent Australians to boot. One is working for DFA in Thailand and spoke Thai which made life a lot easier and the other was a bookie from the Gold Coast with a law degree. Jono's tips later on in the year. And the best bit was they gave us a lift back to Chang Mai, not before we stopped off at the Mandarin Orient and bought the second best cheesecake in the world (according to Em). First was New York Cheesecake in NY.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Friday, 27 March 2009
Day 15
Toured the temples in town today. Jono will elaborate....
So our tour today took in a few of the temples within the old city moat in Chang Mai and ended with the Monk Chat at one of the larger and more beautiful temples in Chang Mai city. One of the temples we visited was made almost entirely of Teak back when the stuff was plentiful and Kings/Rulers wanted a legacy to be remembered. Some of the later century temples were funded by British teak companies, whether or not they built them with teak or not.
In Thailand temples are much more casual affairs in terms of visits and gathering than the average church. This has its good and bad aspects. Great for community gatherings not so good for being hassled by tuk tuk and taxi drivers annoying you as soon as you put your shoes back on. One 0f the more clever scams that goes on up here are the so called teachers/bankers who are hanging about the temples during the weekdays to befriend tourists. They don't try to get you to go anywhere intially, they just, piece by piece, temple by temple work you over to get you to go to a certain tailor or attraction.
One guy we met was a 'teacher' (it was Friday, so you do the maths where his class was) who spoke very good English but I think I hijacked him with so many questions that he wasn't able to give his speil. (For those of you going he probably was a teacher you're just being cynical, I've seen him three times around the temples since then. That's a lot of school excursions for one week, especially seeing most kids are on school holidays.) The othey guy we met was a banker from Bangkok who had a friend working for the Commonwealth Bank in Adelaide (a double strike) who had come to Chang Mai to shop for a new suit for work (hint hint he was waiting for us to say we were looking for a tailor). And then he royaly stuffed up because he told us it was a Buddhist holiday (hence why he wasn't at work on a Friday). Now for most tourists that wouldn't ring any bells except that as you may remember we were heading back down the road to go do the Monk Chat for the afternoon and the Lonely Planet says it doesn't run on holidays. So as we head to the Monk Chat I'm going this will be interesting, a scammer telling the truth but alas he wasn't.
So anyway we get to the Monk Chat and met a Buddhist Monk of 25yrs old, name Phra Tea who we discussed Buddhism and meditation with. We also discussed kangaroos and my shoes and freckles but you've heard that all before. Monks in Thailand are Theravada Buddhists which essentially means they practice meditation as compared to Mahayana Buddhists elsewhere eg China who practice Kung Fu. Other differences but you get the drift. The central meditation they practise is Vipassana (a type of insight meditation), which is known to be the meditation Buddha used to reach enlightenment under the Boddhi tree. The middle way as such. We also got to find out that they also practice a range of meditations. The most interesting one for me was the meditation that allowed the monk to 'leave their body' to assist people 'in heaven or hell' especially those who could not enter a temple. So the Monk would go to assist them in the inbetween stage before they reincarnate. Sounds a lot like astral projection. Apparently takes about 2 years to develop the skill and meditative skills that extend to about 2 hours straight, such is the concentration required to achieve this 'out of body' state. Fascinating to say the least.
Em was like a posion chalice while we were there, because Monks aren't allowed to touch females even accidentally so she had to be very careful, so were they.
So after a good hour of talking we went over to hear the monk chanting but it wasn't on because of the novice monk ordination happening over the weekend. Not all was lost. There were a bunch of kids playing badminton, along with shooting each other with BB handguns (yes they're legal in Tland; they hurt too. A lot.) So I invited myself into the games, I haven't played Badminton for a long time, especially without a net and certainly not in 35degrees, but it was great fun especially seeing we understood very little except pure silliness.
So our tour today took in a few of the temples within the old city moat in Chang Mai and ended with the Monk Chat at one of the larger and more beautiful temples in Chang Mai city. One of the temples we visited was made almost entirely of Teak back when the stuff was plentiful and Kings/Rulers wanted a legacy to be remembered. Some of the later century temples were funded by British teak companies, whether or not they built them with teak or not.
In Thailand temples are much more casual affairs in terms of visits and gathering than the average church. This has its good and bad aspects. Great for community gatherings not so good for being hassled by tuk tuk and taxi drivers annoying you as soon as you put your shoes back on. One 0f the more clever scams that goes on up here are the so called teachers/bankers who are hanging about the temples during the weekdays to befriend tourists. They don't try to get you to go anywhere intially, they just, piece by piece, temple by temple work you over to get you to go to a certain tailor or attraction.
One guy we met was a 'teacher' (it was Friday, so you do the maths where his class was) who spoke very good English but I think I hijacked him with so many questions that he wasn't able to give his speil. (For those of you going he probably was a teacher you're just being cynical, I've seen him three times around the temples since then. That's a lot of school excursions for one week, especially seeing most kids are on school holidays.) The othey guy we met was a banker from Bangkok who had a friend working for the Commonwealth Bank in Adelaide (a double strike) who had come to Chang Mai to shop for a new suit for work (hint hint he was waiting for us to say we were looking for a tailor). And then he royaly stuffed up because he told us it was a Buddhist holiday (hence why he wasn't at work on a Friday). Now for most tourists that wouldn't ring any bells except that as you may remember we were heading back down the road to go do the Monk Chat for the afternoon and the Lonely Planet says it doesn't run on holidays. So as we head to the Monk Chat I'm going this will be interesting, a scammer telling the truth but alas he wasn't.
So anyway we get to the Monk Chat and met a Buddhist Monk of 25yrs old, name Phra Tea who we discussed Buddhism and meditation with. We also discussed kangaroos and my shoes and freckles but you've heard that all before. Monks in Thailand are Theravada Buddhists which essentially means they practice meditation as compared to Mahayana Buddhists elsewhere eg China who practice Kung Fu. Other differences but you get the drift. The central meditation they practise is Vipassana (a type of insight meditation), which is known to be the meditation Buddha used to reach enlightenment under the Boddhi tree. The middle way as such. We also got to find out that they also practice a range of meditations. The most interesting one for me was the meditation that allowed the monk to 'leave their body' to assist people 'in heaven or hell' especially those who could not enter a temple. So the Monk would go to assist them in the inbetween stage before they reincarnate. Sounds a lot like astral projection. Apparently takes about 2 years to develop the skill and meditative skills that extend to about 2 hours straight, such is the concentration required to achieve this 'out of body' state. Fascinating to say the least.
Em was like a posion chalice while we were there, because Monks aren't allowed to touch females even accidentally so she had to be very careful, so were they.
So after a good hour of talking we went over to hear the monk chanting but it wasn't on because of the novice monk ordination happening over the weekend. Not all was lost. There were a bunch of kids playing badminton, along with shooting each other with BB handguns (yes they're legal in Tland; they hurt too. A lot.) So I invited myself into the games, I haven't played Badminton for a long time, especially without a net and certainly not in 35degrees, but it was great fun especially seeing we understood very little except pure silliness.
Day 14
Today we did a cooking course at Baan Cookery School.
Thailand has at least 4 types of eggplant, the only one of which I have seen in Oz is the purple lady finger like ones- I think there Italian. In Thailand they had pea sized ones, baby tomato sized ones some of which are sweet and some not and then larger ones that look like a gourd. The mushrooms come in lots of varieties and there are about 10 different green and leafy things that I have forgotten names of.
We cooked 5 dishes and ate them all so we could hardly move by the end of the day, swearing we wouldn't eat for a day we went to one of the larger plaza shops and had popcorn while watching The Knowing.. (do not see this film it was 3 hours of my life I will never get back material).
Actually Em ordered the popcorn and the drinks; the girl doesn't understand calorie restriction. And yes the Knowing had the potential to be just another bad Nic Cage film. It was far worse than that. Think Battlefield Earth and add in some Christology. Unfortunately Gone in 60 Seconds was his last good film. The highlight of the film was standing up for the salute to the King, which is the second time on this trip I've unexpectedly had to stand to attention. The seats in Thailand cinemas are great they recline like Gold Class but at about AUS$4.50 for a ticket their a bargain bonanza except that you have to look through subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Thai script is not always discrete with its accents.
Thailand has at least 4 types of eggplant, the only one of which I have seen in Oz is the purple lady finger like ones- I think there Italian. In Thailand they had pea sized ones, baby tomato sized ones some of which are sweet and some not and then larger ones that look like a gourd. The mushrooms come in lots of varieties and there are about 10 different green and leafy things that I have forgotten names of.
We cooked 5 dishes and ate them all so we could hardly move by the end of the day, swearing we wouldn't eat for a day we went to one of the larger plaza shops and had popcorn while watching The Knowing.. (do not see this film it was 3 hours of my life I will never get back material).
Actually Em ordered the popcorn and the drinks; the girl doesn't understand calorie restriction. And yes the Knowing had the potential to be just another bad Nic Cage film. It was far worse than that. Think Battlefield Earth and add in some Christology. Unfortunately Gone in 60 Seconds was his last good film. The highlight of the film was standing up for the salute to the King, which is the second time on this trip I've unexpectedly had to stand to attention. The seats in Thailand cinemas are great they recline like Gold Class but at about AUS$4.50 for a ticket their a bargain bonanza except that you have to look through subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Thai script is not always discrete with its accents.
Day 13
Our first attempts at navigating were amusing (Jono took a while to work out the east west direction issue he was having) and we got to see a fair amount of the city on our way to the women's prison at which we had a traditional thai full body massage. I will let Jono explain how he managed to head butt the poor lady trying to massage him.
I was massaged by a convicted felon...whooo! And not just your run of the mill felon, a amphetamine dealer...Ben Cousins eat your heart out...hang on he probably did when he was you know. And the fact she was due for release in 6 months made it all the more entertaining.
Thai massage for those who haven't experienced it is a bit like being thrown about a room by a woman and walking out feeling way better than when you went in. In reality it's a combo of massage as we know it, stretching and some outdated chiropractic manoeuvres. And pain is not an optional extra. So during this event one calls Thai massage my masseuse was trying to stretch my torso out with said pseudo chiropractic manoeuvre and I may or may not have resisted a little bit as she moved her head forward, mine may have moved backwards a little bit and possibly thwacked into her cranium. She spent a long time laughing about it and saying things in Thai and basically the jist of the matter is I won't be visiting Chang Mai in 6 months.
Dinner we had at a vegetarian restaurant in town. It was the best meal we have had so far (Jono even agreed). Really tasty (and really spicy) food that didn't taste like it was missing something. The restaurant was in this lovely garden with a Japanese style lawn and pebbled area and arching trees over a tropical garden bed. The dishes were about 50B each and the banana in caramel/coconut sauce was delicious.
I was massaged by a convicted felon...whooo! And not just your run of the mill felon, a amphetamine dealer...Ben Cousins eat your heart out...hang on he probably did when he was you know. And the fact she was due for release in 6 months made it all the more entertaining.
Thai massage for those who haven't experienced it is a bit like being thrown about a room by a woman and walking out feeling way better than when you went in. In reality it's a combo of massage as we know it, stretching and some outdated chiropractic manoeuvres. And pain is not an optional extra. So during this event one calls Thai massage my masseuse was trying to stretch my torso out with said pseudo chiropractic manoeuvre and I may or may not have resisted a little bit as she moved her head forward, mine may have moved backwards a little bit and possibly thwacked into her cranium. She spent a long time laughing about it and saying things in Thai and basically the jist of the matter is I won't be visiting Chang Mai in 6 months.
Dinner we had at a vegetarian restaurant in town. It was the best meal we have had so far (Jono even agreed). Really tasty (and really spicy) food that didn't taste like it was missing something. The restaurant was in this lovely garden with a Japanese style lawn and pebbled area and arching trees over a tropical garden bed. The dishes were about 50B each and the banana in caramel/coconut sauce was delicious.
Day 12
Arrived in Chang Mai to find it wasnt as horrible as the guide warned but quite mild at night (to a level were you stop sweating) and the guesthouse is clean and the owner a very good host.
The fact is for the first time in 3 1/2 weeks I stopped sweating and the temp must have been close to a balmy 20C with very low humidity. To say I was a little releived is an understatement. At one stage on out journey I thought I was going to have be fitted for a bra or halter top such was the development in my sweat glands.
The guesthouse is run by a Thai guy called Adam. His guesthouse is #2 on tripadvisor for places to stay in Chang Mai and about 1/3rd the price of the #1 place to stay. Rightly so he actually cares about you enjoying your stay and has done everything we couldn't do to make sure everything went smoothly.
The fact is for the first time in 3 1/2 weeks I stopped sweating and the temp must have been close to a balmy 20C with very low humidity. To say I was a little releived is an understatement. At one stage on out journey I thought I was going to have be fitted for a bra or halter top such was the development in my sweat glands.
The guesthouse is run by a Thai guy called Adam. His guesthouse is #2 on tripadvisor for places to stay in Chang Mai and about 1/3rd the price of the #1 place to stay. Rightly so he actually cares about you enjoying your stay and has done everything we couldn't do to make sure everything went smoothly.
Day 11
Today we headed into town yet again to head to Chang Mai. Had great roast duck noodles (minus roast duck for me) and sticky rice with mango. They serve the rice and mango in a styrofoam box and the sauce comes in a little plastic bag tied with an elastic band. In fact lots of things come in plastic bags tied with elastic when you take away.. drinks with undefined chunky bits in the bottle and a straw in the top, soups and curries and also the fish cakes I bought at the train station.
The next 24 hrs were unpleasant, not horrible but just unpleasant- being on a bus all night sitting at a train station for 5 hours then sitting on a bus all day. All worth it to get to the lovely Chang Mai.
Em says unpleasant I say hell on earth. In fact other than being locked up that would be close. Boats and Buses are now on my list of machinery that shouldn't have been invested in for the masses. They really have should been confined to the super rich and travelling rock bands. We travelled on VIP buses. Now the only difference between VIP and 1st Class buses are that the A/C works all the time versus randomly and you get your hostess who gets to wear a uniform that General Gadafi(?) would have been proud to design (or wear).
On intersting part of the journey was the stop for dinner and lunch. The bus pulled into this station were we all got off (we only knew this thanks to a kind english speaking thai fellow traveler- the bus hostess in a short skirt, little hat and high heels didnt speak any english) and were herded into a cafeteria where everyone sits at communal tables and share the 6 dishes on offer. 15 mins to eat use a toilet more user friendly only as it does sway under your feet like the ones on the bus and get back on the bus.
Oh the toilets. Now a double reason buses get on the list of being misused by the general public is the concept that it is possible to use a toilet hygenically while moving at high speed on uneven ground. My one and only trip to the toilet on this 24hr bus trip that involved the bus toileting system was late at night. It was dark and the roads were country style were a 6 foot pot hole is a smooth bit of bitumen in this country. Now for those of you who may have forgotten toilet paper is not in common use in this country, replacing it is a bucket of water or a handheld spray gun. On the VIP bus you don't have a spray gun just bottles of 'toilet water' which must be a primary school skills class here because I don't know how you are supposed to be able to functionally create a clean, baby bottom fresh feeling from a 1.5L water bottle. Let's just say I walked out of that toilet wetter than I went in and less clean than I'd hoped. (Note to self: Pre-bus trip enemas are a legitimate medical procedure.)
The next 24 hrs were unpleasant, not horrible but just unpleasant- being on a bus all night sitting at a train station for 5 hours then sitting on a bus all day. All worth it to get to the lovely Chang Mai.
Em says unpleasant I say hell on earth. In fact other than being locked up that would be close. Boats and Buses are now on my list of machinery that shouldn't have been invested in for the masses. They really have should been confined to the super rich and travelling rock bands. We travelled on VIP buses. Now the only difference between VIP and 1st Class buses are that the A/C works all the time versus randomly and you get your hostess who gets to wear a uniform that General Gadafi(?) would have been proud to design (or wear).
On intersting part of the journey was the stop for dinner and lunch. The bus pulled into this station were we all got off (we only knew this thanks to a kind english speaking thai fellow traveler- the bus hostess in a short skirt, little hat and high heels didnt speak any english) and were herded into a cafeteria where everyone sits at communal tables and share the 6 dishes on offer. 15 mins to eat use a toilet more user friendly only as it does sway under your feet like the ones on the bus and get back on the bus.
Oh the toilets. Now a double reason buses get on the list of being misused by the general public is the concept that it is possible to use a toilet hygenically while moving at high speed on uneven ground. My one and only trip to the toilet on this 24hr bus trip that involved the bus toileting system was late at night. It was dark and the roads were country style were a 6 foot pot hole is a smooth bit of bitumen in this country. Now for those of you who may have forgotten toilet paper is not in common use in this country, replacing it is a bucket of water or a handheld spray gun. On the VIP bus you don't have a spray gun just bottles of 'toilet water' which must be a primary school skills class here because I don't know how you are supposed to be able to functionally create a clean, baby bottom fresh feeling from a 1.5L water bottle. Let's just say I walked out of that toilet wetter than I went in and less clean than I'd hoped. (Note to self: Pre-bus trip enemas are a legitimate medical procedure.)
Day 10
Slept in and had four more showers before heading out to Phuket town. Had one of the those annoying waste 1/2 and hour of our time sitting where the helpful reception desk lady told us the bus was before finding out it was 50m down the road and we had missd two buses while we were sitting there moments. The bus ambled its way into town (there are no bus stops, the driver just honks regularly to let people know where he is- this confuses most tourists who have no idea what he is on about) and dropped us outisde a school. At this point I felt a bit like a dying rat being circled by vultures as the 6 tuk tuk drivers proceeded to get in our face offering us a lift. Applause for Jono's resolve to just walk away.
In reality I would have liked to do something else but there are laws in this country. Since Phuket but not in Chang Mai I have decided that anyone that gets in my face when its hot is going to end up more confused. It's a bit like Weekend at Bernie's at the start of the film when the guy is walking over a bridge in the park and a guy pulls a gun on him and he just looks at him and says "not today it's too hot". I've decided to just stare them down and say leave me alone. My other option is much more fun and I'm opening this to all readers to chip in with suggestions. The competition is called Where do I want to go in a Tuk Tuk? Recently I've been asking to go to the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Dandenong, the MCG and Broken Hill. I haven't been quoted a price yet or punched which is good too. So any suggestions would be great.
We booked our 24hr bus ride and crossed our fingers the buses really existed and headed back to the hotel (detour of getting lost for about 40mins).
We had dinner at one of the many scandinavian resturants which have an english/thai menu and then a danish/italian/thai menu. Every table was full of regulars who knew the staff (one table was sharing photos with one of the waiters using bluetooth on their mobiles). Great thai food.
But the best part of the meal was the five year old boy who went flying past me to the kitchen with his mother behind him as he projectile vomitted into the owners open arms with the most fortunate plastic bag in the history of plastic bags that was already in her hands. We already had received our food at this stage. Nothing fills you with confidence at a restaurant when another customer throws-up in front of you...Needless to say I walked out satisfied that my last 24 hours on this planet were upon me. I also feel for the person that ordered Pad Thai as we were leaving...could you really tell the difference?
Oh and tim we bought mangosteens (Jono hasn't had them before) which I agree are the best fruit on the planet- though did you know that the skin can be used as a textile dye- works even when you just drop some on your clothes!
Mangosteens are the best fruit except could someone send Em a bib cause she gets them everywhere...even places where she's not even eating them...I don't know how she does it...I had to clean the bath on my holidays, who does that!
In reality I would have liked to do something else but there are laws in this country. Since Phuket but not in Chang Mai I have decided that anyone that gets in my face when its hot is going to end up more confused. It's a bit like Weekend at Bernie's at the start of the film when the guy is walking over a bridge in the park and a guy pulls a gun on him and he just looks at him and says "not today it's too hot". I've decided to just stare them down and say leave me alone. My other option is much more fun and I'm opening this to all readers to chip in with suggestions. The competition is called Where do I want to go in a Tuk Tuk? Recently I've been asking to go to the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Dandenong, the MCG and Broken Hill. I haven't been quoted a price yet or punched which is good too. So any suggestions would be great.
We booked our 24hr bus ride and crossed our fingers the buses really existed and headed back to the hotel (detour of getting lost for about 40mins).
We had dinner at one of the many scandinavian resturants which have an english/thai menu and then a danish/italian/thai menu. Every table was full of regulars who knew the staff (one table was sharing photos with one of the waiters using bluetooth on their mobiles). Great thai food.
But the best part of the meal was the five year old boy who went flying past me to the kitchen with his mother behind him as he projectile vomitted into the owners open arms with the most fortunate plastic bag in the history of plastic bags that was already in her hands. We already had received our food at this stage. Nothing fills you with confidence at a restaurant when another customer throws-up in front of you...Needless to say I walked out satisfied that my last 24 hours on this planet were upon me. I also feel for the person that ordered Pad Thai as we were leaving...could you really tell the difference?
Oh and tim we bought mangosteens (Jono hasn't had them before) which I agree are the best fruit on the planet- though did you know that the skin can be used as a textile dye- works even when you just drop some on your clothes!
Mangosteens are the best fruit except could someone send Em a bib cause she gets them everywhere...even places where she's not even eating them...I don't know how she does it...I had to clean the bath on my holidays, who does that!
Day 9
Sorry for another lengthy delay but here we go again...
We went to Phi Phi Island for the day before arriving in Phuket. The guide recommended the climb to the viewpoint but did warn you that it involved a far amount of climbing. To which our reply was... a bit of a climb, should be a walk in the park we've climbed Cradle mountain 3 times. However not in 30 C and 80% humidity. But it was an amazing view.
This was one of the islands that was decimated by the tsunami and you really appreciate how easy it was to be destroyed from the top of the hill. The island is a bit like an infinity sign shape and most of the buildings are in the thin part which is probably 100 metres wide. So a huge wave pretty much swept right over it. There is a photo at the top of the island after the tsunami and it actually shows most of the buildings held up pretty well, the large ones anyway. Presumably all the local huts and bamboo bungalows went missing very quickly. It is almost completely rebuilt by the looks of it, just a few parts still being constructed. Its a really beautiful island, the cliff faces are amazing and the water once you get underneath it is pretty spectacular considering it was trashed by the wave and there is a fair pollution level with about 60 long tail boats running at any one time or sitting on the beach.
We then hired a long tail boat to do a bit of snorkelling on Long beach and were rewarded with a exciting array of fish life (and more dead coral). I think I saw some small sharks but I swam quite promptly in the other direction at that point.
We had a quick look at the beach lined with deck chairs and sunbaking tourists before getting back on the boat.
Arrived in Phuket and had to take photos of the bathroom it was so good.
We went to Phi Phi Island for the day before arriving in Phuket. The guide recommended the climb to the viewpoint but did warn you that it involved a far amount of climbing. To which our reply was... a bit of a climb, should be a walk in the park we've climbed Cradle mountain 3 times. However not in 30 C and 80% humidity. But it was an amazing view.
This was one of the islands that was decimated by the tsunami and you really appreciate how easy it was to be destroyed from the top of the hill. The island is a bit like an infinity sign shape and most of the buildings are in the thin part which is probably 100 metres wide. So a huge wave pretty much swept right over it. There is a photo at the top of the island after the tsunami and it actually shows most of the buildings held up pretty well, the large ones anyway. Presumably all the local huts and bamboo bungalows went missing very quickly. It is almost completely rebuilt by the looks of it, just a few parts still being constructed. Its a really beautiful island, the cliff faces are amazing and the water once you get underneath it is pretty spectacular considering it was trashed by the wave and there is a fair pollution level with about 60 long tail boats running at any one time or sitting on the beach.
We then hired a long tail boat to do a bit of snorkelling on Long beach and were rewarded with a exciting array of fish life (and more dead coral). I think I saw some small sharks but I swam quite promptly in the other direction at that point.
We had a quick look at the beach lined with deck chairs and sunbaking tourists before getting back on the boat.
Arrived in Phuket and had to take photos of the bathroom it was so good.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Day 8
We missed some patches in the sunscreen application process. Namely Jono's entire back, his calves and two triangle shaped areas on my bottom just where undies sit. Hmmm oops.
Oh and we don't do boats well, we spent the next 24hours rocking back and forth on the boat while standing, lying and even while sleeping. I wonder did Orlando and Johnny get motion sickness while sailing the Caribbean? Me thinks not...No really nobody tells you about the sinister little part of living in a tropical paradise; boating. It's evil and should be stopped, honestly what benefit is it if you spend the next day falling over because you take such big steps to compensate that you miss the ground entirely.
Day of recovery today, hired a bike and rode into town to use the internet and find some air con for a few hours. Motorbikes (read scooters) are cool, even if you only get the 100cc version that can barely haul two people up a hill. You have nothing to balance on and we had an auto so it was crusie control all the way. That doesn't stop Thai drivers trying to run you over or cross into your path with amazing regularity. In these situations you think that would never happen in Australia but then you realise that at least the drivers are better than those from say Hobart. They sometimes use brake lights and usually have their lights on at night. There aren't any Volvo or Subaru drivers (sorry Penny, Tasmanian Subaru drivers only). As for traffic lights fear not cause they don't exist...at all. It's genius, you never have to stop. Oh and the cool thing I forgot to mention about Bangkok is that the lights actually have countdowns to when the lights go green...did I hear you say starters grid...you bet. Loki, Scott and De Paoli eat your hearts out this place is a bonafide racetrack if you can get a decent bike or vehicle. They also countdown to the lights going red. Don't worry they go yellow first which gives you three or so more seconds before you really have to stop. Helmets are optional if you don't think your brain is squishable.
Tomorrow we are off to Phuket via Phi Phi island. Next place we stay needs a flushing toilet and hot water. The interesting thing about a tropical paradise while living in a bungalow on the beach is that after a while the sand invades the entire bungalow, theres no escaping it and that pretty much gauges when you leave tropical paradise...when you drown in the sand that you initially looked at climbing over the toilet seat and went, "Sweet beach sand stuff, go wherever you want I don't mind, it's your toilet too, let's all live in utopian tropical paradise together." Cut to three days later and it's just sand that is sitting on your toilet grating your thighs.
All the same you realise how fortunate it is to have the sand in the first place connected to an ocean with lovely islands poking out on the horizon and the horizon is so flat...brilliant.
Oh and we don't do boats well, we spent the next 24hours rocking back and forth on the boat while standing, lying and even while sleeping. I wonder did Orlando and Johnny get motion sickness while sailing the Caribbean? Me thinks not...No really nobody tells you about the sinister little part of living in a tropical paradise; boating. It's evil and should be stopped, honestly what benefit is it if you spend the next day falling over because you take such big steps to compensate that you miss the ground entirely.
Day of recovery today, hired a bike and rode into town to use the internet and find some air con for a few hours. Motorbikes (read scooters) are cool, even if you only get the 100cc version that can barely haul two people up a hill. You have nothing to balance on and we had an auto so it was crusie control all the way. That doesn't stop Thai drivers trying to run you over or cross into your path with amazing regularity. In these situations you think that would never happen in Australia but then you realise that at least the drivers are better than those from say Hobart. They sometimes use brake lights and usually have their lights on at night. There aren't any Volvo or Subaru drivers (sorry Penny, Tasmanian Subaru drivers only). As for traffic lights fear not cause they don't exist...at all. It's genius, you never have to stop. Oh and the cool thing I forgot to mention about Bangkok is that the lights actually have countdowns to when the lights go green...did I hear you say starters grid...you bet. Loki, Scott and De Paoli eat your hearts out this place is a bonafide racetrack if you can get a decent bike or vehicle. They also countdown to the lights going red. Don't worry they go yellow first which gives you three or so more seconds before you really have to stop. Helmets are optional if you don't think your brain is squishable.
Tomorrow we are off to Phuket via Phi Phi island. Next place we stay needs a flushing toilet and hot water. The interesting thing about a tropical paradise while living in a bungalow on the beach is that after a while the sand invades the entire bungalow, theres no escaping it and that pretty much gauges when you leave tropical paradise...when you drown in the sand that you initially looked at climbing over the toilet seat and went, "Sweet beach sand stuff, go wherever you want I don't mind, it's your toilet too, let's all live in utopian tropical paradise together." Cut to three days later and it's just sand that is sitting on your toilet grating your thighs.
All the same you realise how fortunate it is to have the sand in the first place connected to an ocean with lovely islands poking out on the horizon and the horizon is so flat...brilliant.
Italics is jono rant (ill clarify this from now on to reduce confusion)
Day 7
We found Nemo!!!!! and he wasnt under the couch.
Today we went snorkelling on Koh Rok. We were taken by speedboat and had two snorkelling spots in the morning.
We jumped in for the first time and saw a tropical fish tank. There were fish everywhere- we saw big purple fish that shimmered green and pink as they swam and little striped yellow and black fish. The coral has been badly damaged by the number of people visiting but the fish were still gorgeous. There were anemones with lots of nemo fish living in them and beautiful coloured clams, some purple and some gry and black tiger striped.
We had lunch on a beach that was like i imagine tropical island to be white sand and water so warm, flat as a pancake stretching our to the horizon (if you just ignored the 100 other people and 10 other boats you could be in a movie of a deserted island). It was very sad to see how much rubbish was left sitting on the ground by inconsiderates, not sure if it's the tourists or the locals but c'mon people pick up your rubbish otherwise it all seems to find its way to Thailand.
One more spot of snorkelling where we saw the triangle shaped yellow and black fish with a pointed spine and some patches of coral before back again.
It was amazing just amazing.
Today we went snorkelling on Koh Rok. We were taken by speedboat and had two snorkelling spots in the morning.
We jumped in for the first time and saw a tropical fish tank. There were fish everywhere- we saw big purple fish that shimmered green and pink as they swam and little striped yellow and black fish. The coral has been badly damaged by the number of people visiting but the fish were still gorgeous. There were anemones with lots of nemo fish living in them and beautiful coloured clams, some purple and some gry and black tiger striped.
We had lunch on a beach that was like i imagine tropical island to be white sand and water so warm, flat as a pancake stretching our to the horizon (if you just ignored the 100 other people and 10 other boats you could be in a movie of a deserted island). It was very sad to see how much rubbish was left sitting on the ground by inconsiderates, not sure if it's the tourists or the locals but c'mon people pick up your rubbish otherwise it all seems to find its way to Thailand.
One more spot of snorkelling where we saw the triangle shaped yellow and black fish with a pointed spine and some patches of coral before back again.
It was amazing just amazing.
Day 6
The little gecko was on the roof of our doorstep today (there is of course only one and it is following us) and as jono closed the door (this involves lifting the whole door on its frame to engage the lock) it feel onto his arm. Gecko was breifly airborn (reflex action) but survived the incident.
We decided at about 530pm to walk 4km to a resturant the lonely planet recommends. It started raining after 15mins- the kind of rain asia does so well- drenched in 5 mins. It lasted only long enough to make us wet(Em and Jono) and miserable(Em was anyway). Some kind locals let us sit in the back of a ute for the last km. We arrived at the resturant wet and bedraggled to realise this place has guests that are clean tanned dry and smell nice. I pity the people we sat next to as the laundry service at the resort left us smelling faintly like our toilet does. To give you more of a laundry expeience imagine a piggery effluent outflow and that is pretty much how your clothes are washed here. They call it Eaude Island. The meals were yummy but we had to laugh at the ambience music- like being in a Australian Geographic shop- we were waiting for the dolphins to start singing.
We walked back in the dark with our bellies full though and somehow managed to scam a lift but as we were getting into the ute tray some funny guy said 10 baht. So when they dropped us off I gave them 20 baht really to make them feel bad and appreciate my presence in their vehicle but really I did it for a laugh and when I handed it to them the guy said no but then dropped the money on the floor...can't win em all.
We decided at about 530pm to walk 4km to a resturant the lonely planet recommends. It started raining after 15mins- the kind of rain asia does so well- drenched in 5 mins. It lasted only long enough to make us wet(Em and Jono) and miserable(Em was anyway). Some kind locals let us sit in the back of a ute for the last km. We arrived at the resturant wet and bedraggled to realise this place has guests that are clean tanned dry and smell nice. I pity the people we sat next to as the laundry service at the resort left us smelling faintly like our toilet does. To give you more of a laundry expeience imagine a piggery effluent outflow and that is pretty much how your clothes are washed here. They call it Eaude Island. The meals were yummy but we had to laugh at the ambience music- like being in a Australian Geographic shop- we were waiting for the dolphins to start singing.
We walked back in the dark with our bellies full though and somehow managed to scam a lift but as we were getting into the ute tray some funny guy said 10 baht. So when they dropped us off I gave them 20 baht really to make them feel bad and appreciate my presence in their vehicle but really I did it for a laugh and when I handed it to them the guy said no but then dropped the money on the floor...can't win em all.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
day 5
We spent today remembering how to do nothing. Jono slept and I lazed in the hammock. We managed to get up enough energy to do some snorkelling around the beach and saw some pretty fish and an eel that was either trying to protect its little crevice or pretending to be edible to entice some fish over for its dinner.
For dinner we went next door where the waiter tried to convince me i woouldn't like the local dish (tourist kies this- being yellow curry) as it was strange and too hot, sorry did you say i dare you to try it... oh okay. It was lovely and not at all spicy (i think he toned it down for me even though i said he didnt have to).
Mid way through dinner a little gecko came onto the table and started drinking from a splash of water on the table top. The waiters tried to come over with a tissue but we waved them away and we watched the gecko with awe as the waiters laughed at us. I assume its like watching a cockroach on your table.
For dinner we went next door where the waiter tried to convince me i woouldn't like the local dish (tourist kies this- being yellow curry) as it was strange and too hot, sorry did you say i dare you to try it... oh okay. It was lovely and not at all spicy (i think he toned it down for me even though i said he didnt have to).
Mid way through dinner a little gecko came onto the table and started drinking from a splash of water on the table top. The waiters tried to come over with a tissue but we waved them away and we watched the gecko with awe as the waiters laughed at us. I assume its like watching a cockroach on your table.
day 4
Arrived at surat thani and got on our first of many buses on our way to koh lanta. they kept getting us of one bus to reconfirm our tickets and get on another bus after a 20min wait. At least one was fairly good and we even got to watch quantum of solace (the dvd had to start four times before it did eventually play all the way through). we were supposed to catch a boat for the last leg of the journey but to jono's delight it was replaced by yet another mini bus. This driver was even more suicidal than our bangkok driver but at least he made up some time. the bus driver however did ditch us about 4 km from the hotel because of the road. A ute from the hotel picked us up (unfortunately with only one seat inside) this left jono in the tray with a bag of fish and all our bags. He had to walk two kilometres back up the road to retrieve his bottom after we arrived. The fish were lovely companions however.
at about 2pm we arrived at koh lanta. finally a swim in the ocean so warm it was almost a bath and lovely bungalow with a hammock (just don't look at the bathroom or breathe after flushing the toilet with the bucket).
time to rest and recover. We had a whole fish (jono had spent some time with this fish so it seemed the obvious choice) and cocktails looking over the beach. One of the girls who lives here (i assume a daughter of the owners) danced with fire twirlers (on the end of a line i don't know what they are called) and was amazing considering she looked about 10 (dangerous no don't worry it was only flaming petrol).
day 2b
We visited Wat Arun and repeated our exciting tour of Chinatown- this time actually finding the lonely planet guide walk. Yummy lunch at Hong Kong noodles. It was an incredibly hectic place with wholesales vendors selling thousands and thousands of plastic stuff.. like paddy's market x 1000.
We also managed to stumble into a vet clinic in chinatown. Two vets with fairly good english showed us a dog being treated for a corneal ulcer. They even sold hills food.
day 3
We started the day by trying to visit the forsenic museum by catching the ferry only to find that it was closed on sundays. Instead we visited the National museum to read the thai version of thailand's history. There were some lovely statues and carvings but it was sad to see how badly they are being preserved.
Next adventure was the overnight train to Surat Thani on our way to Koh Lanta. We went upmarket with our 2nd class air con seats thanks to advice from previous intrepid adventurers tim and steph. Unfortnately we spent the first part of the journey with obnoxious english backpackers playing the 'i never' game. the thai conducter/stand up comic who kept offering us more chang beer (sorry we can't have more if we didnt have any in the first place) also wore thin. oh and they don't turn lights off at night so my top level sleeper was about 50cm from a large flourescent light all the way there. Oh and the toilet wasn't really a toilet but a secret escape hatch through the floor.
Friday, 13 March 2009
day 2
Jono says I'm not funny enough so here he is....
Well let's get back to day 1 cause really when you've been in a 28km race from the airport to Kao San Rd in a detuned pink Toyota it really deserves more than a few lines. So in Bangkok the reality of getting screwed is more than just expected if you don't get scammed you probably feel left out because the scammer probably feels sorry for you or you look like a bum...either way the next day you'll probably turn up in hot pants hoping to get noticed but I digress. At the airport everyone wants to be your friend especially if that means getting you into an unmetered taxi before the official taxi rank. Once you do get the real taxi rank you feel like the fake taxis are a better choice...the choices of taxi drivers are guys who look at your little internet map and go "I think I know" and drive either pink or green and yellow toyotas with LPG tanks in the bank that look a little like grandpa's do-it-yourself bbq next to the incinerator. So the expressway in bangkok consists of a really nice 4 lane highway into the city the speed limit is about 80km/h the whole way, our driver did roughly 140km/h except when he was 50 metres from a tollway at which point he slowed to 120km/h. Now remember after you first learnt to drive and then you were the passenger for the first time and you instinctively tried to brake with your foot against the floor as you were coming to a stop, well I never got a chance to do that because this guy never tried to stop. He quite happily crossed 4 lanes without indicating or braking or doing anything legal to get to other side at one point I was looking inside another cars back seat we got so close. And if you thought we were going fast the two fast and the furious Civics that went past us in a heartbeat when our driver was doing 150km/h really got my respect.
Enough car stuff...on our first trip which was to find the Grand Palace we had the joy of being told the Grand Palace was close for the morning. It was kinda hot and I was a little miffed about trying to cross roads where cars seem to line you up for fun so I turned to this complete helpful stranger and told him that the Grand Palace was never closed. 1. In a new country this is not a good idea. 2. When they are with there friends and you're not- shut up. 3. If they take offence to you being honest with them all you've got is f^%$^ off and then you're pretty much done. The scariest part of getting to the Grand Palace was corn lady who along with her posse of Pigeons would walk up to you with a bag of corn and thrust it into you hoping you'd knock it out of her hand and she'd make you pay. She was out of a hitchcock movie, she actually had a run of pigeons flying at us with corn flying our way...we ran away from her on the way back home...poor pigeons corn really doesn't cut it for them. But if you reckon they're diets bad you should see the street cats.
The emerald buddha was pretty cool except he's really far away which is a pity but it's a bit tower of babel here, lots of very tall wats. Everyone wants to be up high I guess.
Anyway reclining buddha was very cool apart from the fact it took us 20 minutes to find the dude.
Day 2
River ferry - best transport in Bangkok by a mile and the funny thing a guy selling merchandise actually told us the right way to go...unbelievable. Wat Arun was very steep, a bit like climbing up to Marions' lookout at Cradle but with less Oz...Oh I almost forgot on the plane I decided to give Australia the movie a go. Now Ben had mentioned back in Melbourne that the little Aboriginal kid who narrates the story had a line about white woman heal the land ie Nicole Kidman. What? Yeah I know I didn't think it would really be a line from Baz but holy shit I nearly fell off the plane when I heard the kid say it. Unfortunately I didn't get past 30 mins of the movie before turning it off. I think the whole healing land thing was a culmination of watching the worst Aussie cliches from Bryan Brown and David Wenham and Hugh EVER. Jack Thompson was pretty good though but I guess I''ll never know how well Nicole healed faraway downs.
This evening Em and I went on a walking tour of Chinatown from the lonely planet guide. Now one of the rules of a walking tour is following the map which we didn't do after the first 20 mins and walked down some of the coolest alleys ever...all shutting up shop for the day with the most bizarre shoes (ladies eat your heart out). Then we sort of found where we should have been going along the main street of Chinatown and managed to get back to touristville without getting hit by anything.
Tomorrow we're going back to Chinatown and Sunday night we get on the train to Ko Lanta near Phuket.
Well let's get back to day 1 cause really when you've been in a 28km race from the airport to Kao San Rd in a detuned pink Toyota it really deserves more than a few lines. So in Bangkok the reality of getting screwed is more than just expected if you don't get scammed you probably feel left out because the scammer probably feels sorry for you or you look like a bum...either way the next day you'll probably turn up in hot pants hoping to get noticed but I digress. At the airport everyone wants to be your friend especially if that means getting you into an unmetered taxi before the official taxi rank. Once you do get the real taxi rank you feel like the fake taxis are a better choice...the choices of taxi drivers are guys who look at your little internet map and go "I think I know" and drive either pink or green and yellow toyotas with LPG tanks in the bank that look a little like grandpa's do-it-yourself bbq next to the incinerator. So the expressway in bangkok consists of a really nice 4 lane highway into the city the speed limit is about 80km/h the whole way, our driver did roughly 140km/h except when he was 50 metres from a tollway at which point he slowed to 120km/h. Now remember after you first learnt to drive and then you were the passenger for the first time and you instinctively tried to brake with your foot against the floor as you were coming to a stop, well I never got a chance to do that because this guy never tried to stop. He quite happily crossed 4 lanes without indicating or braking or doing anything legal to get to other side at one point I was looking inside another cars back seat we got so close. And if you thought we were going fast the two fast and the furious Civics that went past us in a heartbeat when our driver was doing 150km/h really got my respect.
Enough car stuff...on our first trip which was to find the Grand Palace we had the joy of being told the Grand Palace was close for the morning. It was kinda hot and I was a little miffed about trying to cross roads where cars seem to line you up for fun so I turned to this complete helpful stranger and told him that the Grand Palace was never closed. 1. In a new country this is not a good idea. 2. When they are with there friends and you're not- shut up. 3. If they take offence to you being honest with them all you've got is f^%$^ off and then you're pretty much done. The scariest part of getting to the Grand Palace was corn lady who along with her posse of Pigeons would walk up to you with a bag of corn and thrust it into you hoping you'd knock it out of her hand and she'd make you pay. She was out of a hitchcock movie, she actually had a run of pigeons flying at us with corn flying our way...we ran away from her on the way back home...poor pigeons corn really doesn't cut it for them. But if you reckon they're diets bad you should see the street cats.
The emerald buddha was pretty cool except he's really far away which is a pity but it's a bit tower of babel here, lots of very tall wats. Everyone wants to be up high I guess.
Anyway reclining buddha was very cool apart from the fact it took us 20 minutes to find the dude.
Day 2
River ferry - best transport in Bangkok by a mile and the funny thing a guy selling merchandise actually told us the right way to go...unbelievable. Wat Arun was very steep, a bit like climbing up to Marions' lookout at Cradle but with less Oz...Oh I almost forgot on the plane I decided to give Australia the movie a go. Now Ben had mentioned back in Melbourne that the little Aboriginal kid who narrates the story had a line about white woman heal the land ie Nicole Kidman. What? Yeah I know I didn't think it would really be a line from Baz but holy shit I nearly fell off the plane when I heard the kid say it. Unfortunately I didn't get past 30 mins of the movie before turning it off. I think the whole healing land thing was a culmination of watching the worst Aussie cliches from Bryan Brown and David Wenham and Hugh EVER. Jack Thompson was pretty good though but I guess I''ll never know how well Nicole healed faraway downs.
This evening Em and I went on a walking tour of Chinatown from the lonely planet guide. Now one of the rules of a walking tour is following the map which we didn't do after the first 20 mins and walked down some of the coolest alleys ever...all shutting up shop for the day with the most bizarre shoes (ladies eat your heart out). Then we sort of found where we should have been going along the main street of Chinatown and managed to get back to touristville without getting hit by anything.
Tomorrow we're going back to Chinatown and Sunday night we get on the train to Ko Lanta near Phuket.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
day 1
the thai airways flight had virtually no one on the back of the planed so i could lie across the 3 middle seats for a nap and had 3 attendents for about 15 people. much more pleasant than the last flight i was on (from london to sydney) wedged between two businessmen with broadsheet newspapers.
our taxi ride woudl have been more alarming had we not be so tired. the drivers they talk about in the guides as kamikazee drivers was quite apt. he drove at 15okm/hr for a significant portion of the trip in the middle of two lanes. thankfully he didnt rip us off and drove us straight to our hotel.
we had a great day melting in the humidity. saw the grand palace and the reclining buddha (we even managed to walk into the thai entry to the grounds and bypass the 50B entry fee- we were wondering how it could be so hard to find a 46m buddha but we eventually worked out we had come in the wrong entry). we braved street food in khao san road (fingers crossed for tomorrow) and had pad thai in thailand.
tomorrow is working out how to get to phuket and so more bargaining. we will keep you posted...
our taxi ride woudl have been more alarming had we not be so tired. the drivers they talk about in the guides as kamikazee drivers was quite apt. he drove at 15okm/hr for a significant portion of the trip in the middle of two lanes. thankfully he didnt rip us off and drove us straight to our hotel.
we had a great day melting in the humidity. saw the grand palace and the reclining buddha (we even managed to walk into the thai entry to the grounds and bypass the 50B entry fee- we were wondering how it could be so hard to find a 46m buddha but we eventually worked out we had come in the wrong entry). we braved street food in khao san road (fingers crossed for tomorrow) and had pad thai in thailand.
tomorrow is working out how to get to phuket and so more bargaining. we will keep you posted...
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