early in the morning the train arrived in Bangkok (5.50 am), the plan was to find a travel agency as soon as possible and get to ArranyaPrathet to cross the border with Cambodia and from their on to Siem Reap! We took a tuk tuk to Khao San road since there are the most travel agencies, none of them were open before 8 am and you really should leave before 8 am if you want to get to Siem Reap at a decent time. The border can be a bit time consuming and staying for the night in Arranyaprathet is not that much fun. So we asked around and there was one guy with a private taxi that could take us to a TAT (tourist authority thailand) near the trainstation... Let's say everyone makes mistakes. Anyway, when we got there all of them were closed so he called them and they opened the door in their pyjamas. They arranged us a minibus that would take us at 7 am so a bit later we were on our way.
The boarder crossing here is really corrupt and very crowded so we followed the group and arranged our visa at a specialized restaurant. The same one I used last year. After 10 minutes they came back with our visa and everything was ready, normally if you do it on your own you have to wait at least 2 hours and on average 5 to 6 hours. I will try this the next time I cross the border...
Two german people joined us to cross the border (they were also in the minibus) and everything went smooth, a bit later we were stuck in the bus station again. I asked him several times if the bus would be ready and we already paid for it, he always said yes but when we got there he said we had to wait for more than 2 hours and that the bus would take about 4 hours. This would mean we miss a free evening in the Angkor ruins. The germans agreed that we should try to get different transport and we arranged a taxi by paying a bit extra. The taxi was a fast ride: he never drove slower than 110 km an hour, in these countries that is unusual.
Once we arrived in Siem Reap we checked in at Baca house: a guesthouse that is owned by a dutch guy who is also doing development work in a village nearby. We also arranged a tuk tuk to bring us to Angkor wat for sunset and finally got something to eat. Breakfast was cornflakes without milk, lunch we didn't have so I was really hungry. Kevin ordered a hamburger and french fries but he said something was wrong with it so he barely ate.
For the sunset most people go to a hill with a temple on top called Phnom Bakheng, but we didn't want to go to the crowded place. Instead we went to Angkor wat, which was really nice because it's always very crowded except for the sunset. We first looked around a bit and when we were at the inner site of Angkor wat some kind of a tour guide approached us and said with a wink: 'You want to go up?' We replyed that of course we want to go up, but that it is restricted for tourists and that it is a real pity. He replyed: 'You pay me little money, I know police, I can take you up to go and look.' With that sentence he got my attention so we started negociating about the price and when we were both happy we went up. He first put out his shirt that said he was an official from there and then he ducked and walked past some fences and lead the way up. We had to duck too, it was exciting, of course we followed the reconstructed stairs and were careful not to break nor touch any carvings or stones. After an amazing tour we went back down and sat and a quiet spot with a nice view on the sunset.
In the evening we actually planned to go to bed early and get up and 4 to see the sunrise in the temples again. This plan changed when a chinese showed up and we started talking and after a while we made plans to go for a drink in town. We found a nice cocktail bar and it was getting late before we knew. Next morning 4.00, that will hurt.
this might be a bit long, but it's well worth it! It was a great day!!!
4.00 am, BZZZ the alarm went off and we could enjoy a nice
hot shower. Yes you are reading it correctly: the water heater was working!!!!
Despite it being so early we were in a good mood: we would visit one of the
most beautiful national parks in the world! At a bit past five the woman from
the guesthouse woke up and gave us the motorbike so off we went. It was still
dark so we drove very carefully which also made us miss the sunrise. Kevin
could enjoy it from the back but I had to pay attention to the road L, I had to avoid a lot
of dogs who have the habit to sleep on the road. Sometimes I just wanted to
drive them over but that would have meant a crash for us so I nicely braked
whenever I saw one. We had a crappy breakfast at a local restaurant and went to
the national park where the Ranger sold us a childrens ticket. We felt so
young again! The first stop was a rock formation and it was a damn beautiful
one as you can see on the picture. A trail led to a viewing point in the back,
the ground had some cracks, we wanted to jump over until we saw how deep it
was: it was at least 8 meter deep. This time I saw it too so its not a mistake
of Kevins geometry. We decided to find a less deep place to cross (still about
4 meter) and carefully stepped over it. The viewing point itself was not that
impressive however the end of the sunrise made it a bit mysterious and we
enjoyed. It was already worth the trip just to see this. We went back to the
motorbike and followed a bus full of Thai women to the visitor centre.
Pha Taem is not only the name of the national park but its
also the name of the cliff where you have a very nice view over the Mekong, a
sunrise and just any nature. We tested if Kevin was afraid of heights and let
him stand on the edge: in Thailand they dont have fences or anything so you
can just run off if you want. This is not really advisable; you probably wont
be ably to try it again. When we walked on the trail and got down to the bottom
of the real cliff we saw that it was REALLY high and it was more than
vertically down. Its pretty hard to explain the beauty and the measures in
words but I hope you get a small idea, if not just scroll down to the pictures
maybe they can help. We found a railing to help you on the slippery path but
again, it wasnt advisable to use this one. It wasnt loose no no, it was just
the home of giant red ants that can really bite and dont let go! The path
continued to the prehistoric (3000-5000 years old) paintings on the cliff; this
national park doesnt only contain natural beauty, its also the home of the
oldest paintings in Thailand. Like the Thai that were following us, we took a
picture or two. A bit further we lost the Thai but then we got some other
company: there was a snake crawling half a meter from our feet. A nice
situation to show the differences between Kevin and me. I: Ooh: snake! Be
carefull. Kevin: Ow nice, lets follow it and take a picture. I: you dont even
know whether its poisonous or not, no! Leave it alone and get going. Kevin:
Ah, its not poisonous and if you have a picture its ok, they have an
antidote.
We are still alive and well so you know that he followed my advice
and we proceeded to the next spot: more paintings! On the way Kevin didnt want
to take the lead any more, there were spiders and he got afraid. I think he is
really strange: hes not afraid of a snake (50% chance its poisonous), not
afraid of heights but he doesnt dare to walk between 2 trees without making
sure there is definitely no spider. So I had to take the lead again. After a
nice tour we got to the end of the paintings and went up the cliff for the way
back. The sky was blue now and thus perfect for pictures, there were some nice
rock formations that suited as a background. The way back was way shorter but
we had some trouble with our motorbike: it didnt want to start. The Thai
people had to help us and vroom vroom we took off again. This time to a
waterfall and another rock formation close by: the path didnt see a lot of visitors
and lets just say that there wasnt really a path. In the beginning there were
some rocks signing a way to go but after 30 meter they disappeared. We followed
our ears to guide us to the waterfall which actually wasnt that exciting; ok I
admit that it was different but it was just 3 meter high. The special thing
about this waterfall was the way that it created holes in the stone, it made
its own slide into the pool below. After looking around there for a bit and
trying to find something spectacular we gave up and went to look for the rock
formation. Again there was no path to be found so we had to follow our
instinct, we had a nice switching of leading the path though. When there was a
tree around so a chance on spiders, I had to take the lead, when there was
grass I kindly let Kevin pass. This was the landscape that you see on
television when they are looking for snakes, Im not really afraid of them but
I think its common sense to avoid them. We did agree that as soon as one gets
bitten, the other one first takes a picture before really helping. This to make
sure that the doctors can identify the snake and get the correct antidote, not
because for some crazy guy this would be cool.
The rock formation was also not really that impressive, the
first one was way nicer, however this one looked a bit cute. It was really fat
with a big flat stone on top.
It was still quite before noon so we decided to go to a
waterfall which was mentioned in the lonely planet. It was a drive of 19km but
by now Im pretty used to driving a motorbike and we had a nice ride. The waterfall
itself was nice but it wasnt really worth the effort: you could get a view
from a pagoda but that was pretty far away. We took the guidebook again and
there was some mention about a path on top of the waterfall and at the bottom
of the waterfall. We went looking for a path down and yes there was one however
it was an artificial stairway . Down there we had some fun at the rocks,
especially Kevin, who was jumping like a monkey but it got a bit boring and
Kevin went up higher and higher so I had to follow and take pictures. We were
getting pretty high and there was some kind of sign however it was Thai so we
didnt know what it said. I suggested that we could take this way up the book
said that there was a road on top and there was a sign here, makes sense no?
Kevin didnt mind at al because the stairway had a lot of spiders. So we went
up till a moment were we didnt really find a path anymore which you can see on
the picture, then we found some holes in the wall like a climbing wall. These
holes were made artificially so it seemed like a path, the whole time Kevin was
a lot more comfortable climbing and jumping from rock to rock until this point.
He doesnt like holes, since there can be spiders and bugs and other things you
cant see in them. So from that point on, I could catch up with him. Afterwards
we realised that we probably should have used some more safety, at least I used
a helmet, but Kevin didnt
When we got back to Khon Jiam we checked the
train hours and saw that wed have plenty of time to get to Ubon: we got back
at the guesthouse at noon and the first sleeping train leaves at 18.30. So we
took our time to go and get lunch and we arranged a pick-up there to drop us
halfway where we could catch a bus. The two of us kept falling asleep over and
over again so it was a pretty quick ride. We still had quite some time so we
first had a drink and a chat with an Englishman who we met on the bus and was
going to Bangkok as well. After a while we went into the city to go shopping
and find an internet bar, we got a private guide with a gun: there was a nice
police officer who led us around town in search for an internet café. We felt
very safe since the safety pall was still on, however he had some problems with
his foot (maybe shot it before ).
Monday evening we were planning our trip to Cambodia and
Ubon for the next few days, but there was one little problem, Kevin didnt have
any passport-photos for his visum. He started searching for a photographer,
with his knowledge of Thai he started asking for directions, it took a while
but he finally found one, closed Next one then, also closed Eventually he
found a family sitting outside who were so friendly to help him find one. A guy
from the family told him to get on the back of his motorbike; he would bring
him to a photographer. He went to the same two as Kevin did, both closed of
course, but he didnt give up. Eventually he found another one which was still
open and so Kevin finally got his photos. When he came back, he noticed that it
wasnt that urgent: I found some information on the internet that the visa run
is easier from Bangkok. We would first go to Ubon Ratchathani, then continue to
Khong Jiam to visit Pha Taem. After that we can take a night train to Bangkok
and from there on well take a bus to Siem Reap. The next day we woke up early
(6.30 AM) to catch our bus to Ubon, but it didnt arrive. They told us that the
bus had an accident, we woke up early for nothing, and we could have slept for
another three hours. Since we didnt want to waste all the time waiting, I went
for a post office. In the bus to Ubon we had pretty comfortable seats and it
didnt take Kevin long to fall asleep. He didnt even see that I gave my place
to an old lady who was having trouble standing in the alley. For two hours the
standing was ok, but then the bus got crowded and it didnt take long before I
started feeling nauseous. In about five minutes I went from completely healthy
and fit to completely sweaty, blind, nauseous, dizy and I was even shaking.
Luckily Thai people are also friendly and as soon as they noticed they dragged
me to a seat while I was trying to move forward. Another 30 minutes later I
felt better again and I could access my backpack to get raisins. Skipping lunch
is not good for me
From Ubon we wanted to take the bus directly to Khong Jiam,
but they said there was only one bus every day and we missed it. We took a bus
to a city between Ubon and Kong Jiam: Phibun and from there on we took a tuk
tuk to finally arrive in Khong Jiam at 8 pm. We checked in and went for a drink
and dinner in a local restaurant where I got treated an extra beer by Kevin.
The entire day wed been listening to love songs and boysbands, in the restaurant
it was exactly the same so we made a bet: if the next 5 songs were all love
songs or boysbands I had to buy Kevin a drink if not, he would buy me one. I
asked if I could change the song and I found 199 love songs and songs for a
boysband, but there was one other song. I put it on and well it was a lot of
laughter, the title is: Happy Birthday and the beer was mine!!!
Tomorrow well go to Pha Taem, I hoped for a
blue sky so that it would be even more beautiful, Kevin didnt agree: Then
its way too hot! The woman from our guesthouse suggested to wait another day
since it would rain tomorrow. Nevertheless we reserved a motorbike (Pha Taem
can only be visited by either pick-up truck or motorbike) to leave at 5 am.
Kevin said that it wouldnt rain, we didnt have any rain when we were about to
visit something.
this morning we woke up early to go to the morning market in town, a shower was necessary to wake me up after about an hour sleep. Showering is done by pooring water over your head, it's something else than what we are used to. On the morning market we witnessed the skinning of paralized fish: they hit the fish with the broad side of the knife so that it looses consciousness and then they scrape off the skin, after that they cut the fish open and get the intestines out. I hope you are not about to eat now...
When we got back she told us that we could pick the mushrooms for breakfast, she grows them herself which is pretty interesting to see. After that we couldn't help her anymore and she sent us away for a walk. Patchara and I left first and apparently she also told Sup to go for a walk, so everyone who understands English was gone except for Kevin. He managed to ask where we were and Sup got a displeased Kevin to join her walk. When we came back breakfast was ready and what kind of breakfast: fried mushroom, french fries, sticky rice with fried dried beef, fried fish, 2 types of soup,... We really enjoyed that breakfast!
Then we went off to see her rice paddy, apparently her soil has been tested and it's supposed to be very good to grow rice (we already knew that the taste of her rice was good from the meals that we had). On the way there we stopped at a frog farm, yes they grow frogs to eat: there is even a famous dish in the northeast which is made from spicy frog skin. I still haven't tried it but when I see it I definately will and then of course I will share the flavour with you. The walk on the rice paddy was really warm but it was well worth it, we got a very nice view and learned about the rice. When we arrived back at the house Sup wasn't with us: she stopped somewhere to look at the cows and afterwards at a machine that shifts the shaft from the rice itself. Kamrob came to get us and lead us to the machine, nothing special actually: it resembled the machine used to do the same with wheat. While we were there we got invited to see an OTOP farm, this is a self sustainable farm, we could make soap and learn about there way to keep fish, ducks, pigs, ... When we were walking in the garden, he showed us how you could see whether or not a snake is poisonous. It's a pretty strange way since you have to catch it first and then look at his teeth, I won't try it... I think the snake will bite me before I get it to open his mouth! During the walk he also picked bamboo shoots that we had to peel and cut so we could eat it afterwards. She also made some great papaya salad, which was way to spicy for Kevin... There was some miscommunication that made us have double lunch: our host had already made lunch but the ones from OTOP were also making lunch. I didn't really mind but I was really full afterwards!
It was about time to say goodbye, we still had to go to Nang Rong and there were two impressive temples on the road... The first temple we passed had giant statues, a magnificent view and a museum that was interactive in this way that you could hit a lot of bells and gongs. Kevin felt free and in Rambo outfit he hit the bell! (see the picture). We got introduced to the fortune telling at the temple: you had to pick a stick from a pile and that would have a number on it, this number corresponds to a paper that has a full explanation of your future! Patchara's faith and mine are connected, while Sup had the total opposite of Patch and Kevin picked number 9 for 3 times in a row! 9 was one of the few without an english translation...
Of to the next temple, on the road I started to feel the lack of sleep and I took a nap. They stole my camera while I was sleeping and took this really charming picture of me... It felt like 5 minutes later when we arrived at the next temple, a totally different one. The abbot dreamt of making a temple completely out of glass but since he couldn't realise that, he covered his temple with glass bottles. I believe my text for today is long enough and the pictures speak for themselves.
hi all, The 21st of august we would pass some traditional villages
and go to the home of the daughter of the nanny of Patchara, which is
in a village in Si Saket.
Kevin and Sup got a nice breakfast but
when Patchara and I came to the table five minutes later, all the toast
was gone and there was no rice so we decided to go out for breakfast.
Some miscommunication between us and the driver made us miss breakfast
and got me really hungry at noon! Instead of getting breakfast, we
stopped by the silk weaving village. Kevin, Toon, and Sup enjoyed
puzzling over the workings of weaving machines, which were manually
operated by four people. Patchara was also quite intrigued, though she
might have been happier at a chicken grilling village by that point.
Dont worry, were not hungry yet. Well eat at the nearest pit stop
on the waymaybe in an hour or so, was Kevins helpful comment. As
we exited the village, Toons searching eyes and tummy led him to spot
a restaurant on the roadside not 100 meters away. He miraculously
managed to communicate to PKamrob that he wanted to eat. The driver
complied, as he probably didnt want to be in a car with a hungry Toon
and a cranky Patch. Four of us promptly ordered various kinds of
noodles, while Kevin munched away on fifteen bananas. Once stomachs
were full and tempers improved, we headed in the direction of Sri Saket. Along
the way, we stopped at a basket weaving village where a very nice old
lady let Kevin decorate the bottom of one of her baskets. Her husband
walked in and offered to teach him to make the whole thing, free of
charge, should the foreigner come back and marry his youngest daughter.
The oldest one has already been married off to a Thai-speaking American
who has since become an industrious exporter of Thai baskets. The
whole family was so kind as to chat with us while a petite
four-year-old girl, presumably the couples granddaughter, tottered
over with a bottle of cold water half her height and two wine glasses.
The old lady told us between mouthfuls of betel gum that she started
weaving everyday after school at the age of fourteen and that she is
now sixty four. When she started, a pack of raw material could be
bought for five bahts, it has since gone up to 250. With that she could
make two baskets in five to six days and sold them for 350 each. Later
on, we stopped at two different ruins. Kevin and Toon bulked at the
atrocious entrance fee of 50 bahts, and missed out on examining a
beautiful Khmer temple that was restored in the Laotian style during
the Ayutthaya period. (I hope it is obvious to the reader that Supinya
is the author of this section of the blog entry). Instead of visiting
the ruins we preferred an ice cream and yes it was delicious!
We
continued the trip by car to Si Saket, where we had quite some trouble
finding the village, Thai roadsigns aren't the best in the world. It
also seems that explaning directions is not really one of there
qualities but we got to their home so everything is ok. When we arrived
she started cooking and oh it was delicious: I really like fried rice
so I eat it quite a lot but this one was better than any I've had.
There was also fried dried beef and sticky rice for Kevin, seems that
he is starting to appreciate some of the food here. In the evening we
tried to explain them how to play rummicub with cards and we did well,
after 5 minutes of struggling Kamrob said: 'Rummicub'. He knew the game
all along... It was really fun! However it soon became time to go to
'bed': Kevin, Kamrob and Me could sleep on a mat of straw (like the
ones we use to go to the beach) which made the night pretty long and
without much sleep.
We already had a few days without internet
so there has been no update for the blog so far. The 18th of august
we had a transport day from Rayong to Bangkok;
we walked to the bus station where we got in a minibus. The minibus was not the
most comfortable one that we have had; the driver was pretty bad to say the
least! Kevin is like a professional driver compared to this one and that says
something I didnt feel safe at all: he had a manual car but I dont think he
ever learned how to drive a manual. He was driving in fourth gear at a speed of
140 km
an hour and when he drove a bit slower he went a gear lower and that we felt.
Well I felt it, Kevin was mostly asleep and he was relaxed. In the minibus we
asked where we had to get off and change transport to get the closest to
Patcharas home. One of the other passengers told us that we had to get off in
Nam Tha and take bus 129 there, we didnt completely understand him so he went
with us to the bus and off we went. We drove quite a while and we didnt have a
clue where we were and where we had to go but we had the address in our hands
and some other passengers noticed that. When the bus stopped they signed to
follow them and we got dragged into another bus: a free one this time. The bus
got pretty crowded and went empty again. Then the same people told us to get
off again and we had to take a taxi from there. Apparently it was shorter to
take the previous exit of the highway and thus the taxi went backwards (on the
highway!!!) After another 20 minutes we arrived at home Piampongsant and could
have some snack and dinner there. Kevin could try a lot of different kinds of
food and fruits, they even made French (Belgian) fries. For the rest of the
day/evening we didnt do much and went to bed early because we had to leave
early (8.30, which is not really early but early enough) in the morning.
Next day we went on our trip together with
Patchara, Supinya and the private driver Kamrob. We went to the Living Hill resort,
a place close to the national park Khao Yai which we didnt visit. Instead we
went to some guys garden, not just a garden no, its more like a forest. The
guy was one of the starters for preserving the wildlife and trees. Kevin found
an animal there and Kevin said: it looks like a rabbit but it is not a rabbit,
it also looks like a squirrel but it is no squirrel; it looks like a wasbeer
but it is not a wasbeer; I dont know what it is but its flurry. Kevin has a
strange way of describing animals, but I have to say that we all had a picture
of the animal in our head (Sups comment: Kevin has a strange way of
describing anything) In the garden, there was also some kind of meditation camp
going on.
In any case, we proceeded deeper into what
Kevin and Toon thought to be a forest; though Patchara and Supinya knew better
and recognized it immediately as a small plantation thats being used for
agricultural experiments. There, we saw several strange trees and plants, a
gaggle of school children, some rather aggressive dogs but no snake, to
Supinyas great relief.
On the first night outside of Bangkok, Kevin kindly taught Sup(inya) to play some of the
Flemishs favourite card games, and proceeded to tell her that she doesnt know
ANYTHING about Belgium
if she doesnt know how to play cards! Forget La Grande Place (= de
grote markt voor hen die enkel nederlands willen gebruiken in Brussel =
iedereen!) in Brussels or het frietje! Its the cards
that really mark out Belgium
from the rest! He then went on to show Sup how bad she is at zenuwen (nerves)
by beating her using only his left hand. (not literally)
Unfortunately Kevin and Toon had yet to
discover that card games are associated with gambling in Thailand, and that
theyd have a hard time convincing most people to play.
The next day, the boys went off each on an
ATV and drove into the countryside! At the start Kevin was driving really
slowly and I had to wait all the time, but once he got used to it, he became a
crazy driver and off we went! A bit further we got a phonecall that we were too
far away, apparently there was a sign that ATV cant go across the bridge but
we cant read Thai. There was a nice road with mud and a hill with an amazing
view where we took a few pictures as proof. Meanwhile we were showing the
village that we went to GroepT; yes we were both wearing our GT T-shirt We
returned but noticed that we still had some time so we went for some drifting.
We had fun but the driver declared us crazy Today we would go to Phanom Rung
historical park and to Surin, Phanom Rung features some nice ruins with
beautiful carvings however Kevin thinks its a pile of rocks but that it has a
nice jurassic parc view. He enjoyed for about 15 minutes watching the stones
and running around, but he cant enjoy it the way Sup does: she stayed for more
than an hour and still didnt see it all! Kevin doesnt understand Sup and Sup
doesnt understand Kevin. We took a jumping picture but counting in Thai is not
Kevins favourite, the first time he was way too late and the second time he
was way too early. The picture kind of failed however it is a funny one. We
continued to Surin (with some more jurassic parc views on the road) where we
had some trouble finding a guesthouse, we wanted to go to a guesthouse near the
dam but we didnt write down the address so we first had to look for an
internet bar. To go to the internet bar we rented a motortaxi, but when we
called them nobody answered the phone. This meant for us that we first needed
dinner, Kevin finished his plate for the first time and it was just rice with
crispy chicken: a traditional Thai dish!!! We tried to call again and someone
picked up the 4th time we tried and she said that they went
bankrupt. This time we took one from the lonely planet and called them, they
werent open Third time, best time so we went to this one, a nice cosy
guesthouse with a lot of cats!
Patch: We got two rooms for the four of us
and settled in.We regrouped downstairs
and discovered that Kevin has lost his key! How was it possible after a few
minutes? So we went to the rescue and helped him look.All of us spent some time looking in the
bathroom, in the bags, on the beds, but we still couldnt find the key.Finally, just as Kevin was checking the
toilet for the third time, I saw something reflecting light on his back
pocket.It was the key! Yay! I found it.
See, if only people would spend more time looking at Kevins ass, we might have
found the key earlier.
Sup: There was one beautiful three-month-old, almost-blind, black kitten that
took quite a strong liking to Kevins equally strong smell and started climbing
up his body as if climbing a hill. Kevin, meanwhile, looked a little pained
when the kitten ventured near his crotch, but was otherwise fine until Sup
explained rabies to him and told him that could contract it from the cats
scratch. At which point, he vigorously examined his hands, and refused to let
the kitty climb him from then on. Giggling, Sup went up to take a shower, only
to find another cat at her feet when she closed the bathroom door. All attempts
to throw it out failed, as frankly Sups reflexes are not very fast to begin
with. Finally, she walked downstairs in hopes that the curious (and admittedly
overly friendly) cat would follow. It did, and was soon mesmerized by Kevins
clever manipulation of the hotel room key. (He was allowed to have the key by
that point, since Patch and Toon were there to supervise.) There was also a
pair of twin kittens that launched coordinated attacks on Patchs toes, but thats
another story.
last night we checked in in a nice hotel with airco and a hot shower! It's a little bit more expensive but 7.5 euro each including breakfast is still ok considered what you pay in belgium. We planned a day at the beach and so this morning we went: we were looking for a bicycle or motorbike rental but apparently there are none around here so we took a motorbike taxi to a bicycle shop. He didn't understand us correctly that we want to hire one, not buy. At least it was on the way to the beach so we started walking there, after about 45 min we finally reached the sea and well it is worth it: we got our private bounty beach! After a little swim we bought a small plastic ball to enjoy ourselves with. I'm better at it than Kevin, seriously kicked his ass!!! Then we went for lunch but the restaurants nearby were really expensive... So we kept on walking for again about half an hour until we found a local restaurant. We had 2 delicious grilled fish and some white rice, actually 2 giant bowls of white rice, I couldn't even finish it... Kevin liked the fish more than the ones he ate at home, he said: 'it tastes a bit like rice'. This kind of made me upset and I told him to stop eating, it tastes way better than rice!!! This was fresh fish from the sea, unbelievable.
We went back to our beach since the other beaches were pretty dirty: Thai people just throw their trash away on the beach. It's something they will have to change if they want to keep the environment beautiful. We again had a nice swim but Kevin was afraid of a jellyfish that he though he saw so he stayed close to the beach, until his legs were almost completely under water... Kevin found a stick and wanted to play baseball, it didn't go so well: he missed a few times. So I tried and with my second strike the ball was broken... I'm way too strong :D it's probably the workout from a few days ago... Kevin took the ball away from me and started playing golf with it (again missed 10 times more than he hit the ball).
we hitchiked to our hotel again where we are now changing to go out to eat: in two directions: I'll go to the local restaurant while Kevin wants to go to the KFC. It's my mistake: on the way back I saw one and pointed it to Kevin, I should have never done that but at least he ate some fish today.
today we had a transport day: we went from chanthaburi to rayong. First we had to return the motorbike :( it served us well! Then we had to pick up Kevins laundry and have breakfast. I had a spicy breakfast this morning, it didn't look spicy when I pointed at it, but gosh I was happy that there was rice and water available. Kevin went for french bread with jam...
At the bus station it took us quite a while to explain that we wanted to go and explore the caves on the road so we wanted to get off somewhere half way. There we got on a Songthaew and got dropped of at the national park, there was nobody there... After exploring the area we found someone and he gave us rubber boots and a flashlight. We left our luggage there and off we went into the jungle. The first cave was one full of bats and that you could smell from far away!!! When we went in, we also started to hear it and the further we went, the noisier it became. When we looked up, we saw them moving and there were many of them and just two of us... The noise became a bit too loud and we headed back out of the cave towards the next one. At the next cave there was water and there were also flying animals, however smaller this time: musquitoes. We tried to get through the water, but it was to deep for our boots and we had to go another way: a smaller one where we did fit in and we could go 10 meter further. It was a very nice cave to look at! Kevin started feeling ill so we headed back to the rangers office. After a rest of half an hour we walked to the bigger road and hitchiked to the highway: we got a fast ride (130 km an hour on the wrong side of the road and he couldn't see 100 m before him because of the hill) quite crazy if you ask me but it was comfortable :P the songthaew took us more than half an hour while this ride was there in about 10 minutes. We bought our bus ticket and went to Rayong, a big busy city where English is no problem. We found ourselves a nice room and tomorrow there is a breakfast included so we can enjoy american breakfast again! In the evening we still went to an evening market where Kevin found french fries! The potatoes here aren't as tasty but the frying procedure was good and so we enjoyed! After a weird shake we went back to our hotel where we are writing this lovely post while listening to some Thai Karaoke music.
the last two days we spent in chanthaburi: saturday morning we started with a breakfast in our guesthouse and then we went to the motorbike rental to hire a motorbike for the day. It took quite a while before they understood that they had to teach me how to drive... After a class of 1 minute we left for muang sing, a national park at the beach to go snorkling there. We started very slow and stopped after 10 km at a waterfall of 30 meter high. We didn't have to pay the usual entree fee of 200 baht so we were happy and started to walk the nature trail: a slippery path through the jungle with some signs on the road teaching us the way of the jungle. We saw a lot of bamboo, rocks, lianas, big trees, musquito and a big waterfall! The water around the waterfall is full of fish, it's an attraction to feed these fish whith long green beans while standing/ swimming in the water. The fish are so 'hungry' that they swim on top of eachother to catch the beans. After the nature trail we went to look on a hilltop to get a nice view of chanthaburi province and the sea.
We went back on our motorbike and drove towards Laem Sing Beach, about 20 km further. At the beach we noticed that we wanted to be at the other side of the beach but with our best thai and the tourist informations best english we managed to hire a boat to go snorkling. A 30 minutes boat trip brought us to a coral reef where we could swim with the fish. I had some trouble with breathing but Kevin became one with the sea (although he is slightly more red and white). He also saw a very big fish that according to him was at least 1 meter long... After 15 minutes I had enough trouble breathing and went back to the boat to relax and enjoy the view. Kevin stayed for almost an hour looking for different colors/ big fish...
By the time we came back ashore it was already quite late so we had to hire the motorbikes till monday... Kevin felt a bit ill so we went to relax some more at the beach before driving back to our guesthouse. The way back was either shorter or we drove a (little) faster, I believe it was the latter since I was getting hungry... :p In the evening we still went for a long relaxing massage by female hands...
Saturday was a nice day, we did about half of what Kevin planned to do here in Thailand: jungle trekking, waterfall, snorkling/ diving, motorbike and massage.
Some more things to do include: elephant riding, kayakking, floating market and shopping.
Today we took an easy day with a late breakfast/ brunch and then off to a small road so that Kevin could learn how to drive a motorbike. He is still alive and in one piece... :D The rest of the day he mostly spent in bed except for an evening walk towards the festival that is still going on. He feels a little ill... I went for a city walk and to do fitness in the park. The fitness was quite interesting: they have a lot of different metal constructions but the guidelines are in Thai. So I just followed someone else and did the same thing, my arms hurt a bit now, I guess he was in better shape :( I did kick his ass in leg exercises :p. Now I just got back from some concerts and dance acts, the festival still goes on!
today we went to a fort, the gem mines, fruit plantations, a temple and a chedi on a hill with a wonderfull view. We got there on foot and trough hitchhiking. The maps here are not really on scale so we started to walk but when we asked the way after 5 km, she said still more than 3 km :s. So we started hitchhiking, I think the 20th car that passed took us with him and dropped us off at the fort. The people were soo friendly and gave us some fruit, Kevin was really happy with it and it was yumm! We took a stroll and a small photoshoot there before we went to the temple, Kevin wanted to stay in the temple: he said that it wasn't that interesting but it was cool :D I think the paintings on the wall and the ceiling were nice, but anyway we went back to the fort and left for a chedi on top of a hill. According to the map it's right across the street, in reality it was more than 5 km away so we hitchhiked again. A space engineer (who works for an oil company, pretty strange carreer path...) in a nice old-timer mercedes took us with and dropped us at the stairs on the hill. The stairs were being cleaned by some schoolgirls who were giggling when we passed and one of them even dared to talk to us, it wasn't much of a conversation but these small things make your day! On top of the hill we did get a magnificent view: we could see the beach (which is about 25 km away) and some hills/ islands, we could also see the gem mines and the fruit plantations. We went down again and looked at the mining, however we couldn't get inside. There was also a rubber plantation... The way back we got one long ride in the back of a pick-up. A day full of experiences!
hi all, our last day in Myanmar we spent in Bago, a town 50 km from Yangon which mostly serves as a stop to go to Kyaiktyo (golden rock pagoda). But it is also the home to what they say the biggest snake in the world and some temples. The city is not really my favourite, it's very noisy and the electricity is very unstable. When we arrived they told us there would be electricity from 11 pm till 12 am, that was what the government promised them. In reality we had electricity from 22.30 till 23.45 and from 1.00 till 1.05 and some more times for five minutes during the night. Which is really irritating since there is this automatic all lights on, so you wake up everytime the electricity goes on and then you have to shut down the lights :p.
Next morning we went to complain to the hotel owner and he told us that this is normal, but offered us a nicer room and a discount so I guess it was ok. We went out to see the temples, they were different than the once we had seen until now (trust me, I have seen quite a lot of temples so far) but these where colourful (chinese influence), less maintained (grass and dirt everywhere, which was the result of the very poor people that live here) and they had the strict laws of the birmese tradition. We walked quite far and we didn't want to walk back from the last temple so we asked a group of college students if we could ride with them to the city center. They didn't speak a lot of English but it seemed like they understood and they even shared us some of their snacks.
A nice day to end our trip in Myanmar!
the pictures below are some pictures of the typical transport in Myanmar
the last two nights of my parents' trip was spent in luxuary, thanks to the mother of Patchara and Supinya we could stay in a 6 and 5 star hotel. The best hotel we've ever had and an even better breakfast (3 star michelin chef), this translated in some specially designed dishes: an eye-opener (a very tasty strawberry mix with some extra's to prepare your mouth for breakfast), smoked salmon with cheese and a sauce, mached been roll, ... and of course a very big buffet. We spent 2 hours enjoying the breakfast so that we didn't need lunch and I wasn't even that hungry for dinner. I had an amazing dinner as well, the first time I met the father of Supinya and Patchara, we went to Lin Fa restaurant inside Siam City hotel (the five star hotel we stayed at). We had Peking Duck and Hongkong steak and some other dishes, the Hongkong steak was amazing: I've never had a steak that was that soft and tasty, hmm!
we've also visited the weekend market, a crowded market full of souvenirs, clothes, drinks,... My mom enjoyed buying things while my dad's wallet became thinner and thinner... :P Then it was time to say goodbye and move to the appartment in the house of the family Piampongsant, not that big a change in matter of luxuary. In the morning the cook prepares a nice breakfast, after that we can go to a museum or to an activity in town and in the evening there is again a royal meal to enjoy! The days flew by and we visited Vimanmek Mansion in the rain, which was nice and refreshing, next day we went to suan Pakkard Palace and Jim Thompson's House, the day after that we went biking in a park with a nice butterfly garden, thursday I took Patchara to old town via the subway and then we walked past some temples (where there was a funeral going on) through the gun street to old siam shopping center followed by a walk to the golden mountain with a stop at two other temples which were pretty interesting, then we went to the beach of Cha-am and Hua Hin where we went swimming in a pool in a very nice hotel, saterday we stayed at home and tryed to cook (it didn't turn out as it's supposed to be but the taste was great and that's the most important), sunday I could go with to a cousins' cousins'
buddhist ceremony and then there was a family reunion. The last day we spent at Bang pa in, a palace close to ayutthaya: the weather was great so time for a photoshoot!
in the attachment you can find my experiences in Bagan for the second day (in dutch) we went by bicycle to some less known ruins but they had some fascinating frescoes and murals inside! so enjoy...
the next day we got up very early since there was a slight chance that we could go on the morning flight, we got picked up from the hotel at 6.15 but before we reached the airport we got a phonecall that it was not necessary because the plane was full. We would have to take the evening flight. Since we had an entire day, we planned a trip to mount popa: a monastry with a lot of monkeys on a high peak near an extinct vulcano. On the way there we stopped at a local factory where they made oil from peanuts, however this time no motors were used, just manpower and a cow! It was very interesting to see the difference with a few days ago. They also artisanly made palm sugar, palm wine, palm alcohol,... A nice stop! We continued the road and on the way we could see the desert-like landscape change towards a tropical forest, it gave amazing views.
Mount popa itself was more a thing that is nice to see, but not really something incredible. It is nice to think about how they got all the bricks and building material up the rock and whether they first build the staircase or the monastry...
In the evening we took the plane to Yangon and got a taxi to Bago.
since we didn't make it to Mingun the previous day, we got up early and tried to get there today. It is a site where they have the largest uncracked bell in the world, something worth to see, no? Another attraction of Mingun is the unfinished Pagoda, only the square base was finished and that one is already 70 meter high! Now it's a ruin since it was severely damaged by an earthquake and despite there is nothing really buddhist about it, you have to climb it barefooted. This is more painfull than it looks: it's very hot and the red stones are just burning your feet, I was 'lucky' since I sprained my anckle an hour before we were climbing this pagoda. I could wear one shoe so that it wouldn't hurt that much. Getting up there was still painful, I can tell you, but the view that you get up there is definately worth it! The surrounding landscape is flat with some hills at one side and the river at the other side. My parents were able to walk around on the top while resting on some leaves from time to time. It is the only way to cool down your feet on these burning rocks!
we didn't do much for the rest of the day until we went for the train to go to bagan, the train was another experience. We had a ticket for a first class sleeper, but it didn't really turn out to be a sleeper, it was more a big cinema seat which was rather comfortable. The train was not that comfortable, the rails here are not flat so it was a bumpy ride! The sunrise from the train was amazing, there were some very small long clouds that were changing color every few minutes from blue to red to yellow, just amazing to see this sky above the dry landscape. Before the sunrise the farmers were already working the field since it was getting way too hot during the day.
Since we didn't sleep a lot, we rented a horse cart and went to the temples of Bangan, for me the best cultural heritage from our trip! It was soo worth it, our guide stopped at the temples that I asked him to go to and even added some interesting ones to the trip. Not only the temples stick out of the desert here though, everywhere you go, you see souvenir salesmen, women and children trying to get you to buy from them. We bought several paintings and some postcards, while we were enjoying the temples. I do have to admit that they have a nice selling technique here: they first guide you around the temple and explain some things about it, after that they ask you to take a look at their shop. I think it's a nice way of selling things, at least you learn something!
so the third day in Mandalay we tried to go to Mingun, another ancient city. To go there you have to take a boat across the river, we decided to walk there and see if we could hire a private boat since the government boat already left (it only goes once a day). On the road we saw a factory that made oil from peanuts, a factory might be a bit exaggerated: there were some rusty motors and cilinders and it kind of worked so I guess that's a factory. It was pretty interesting to see... We continued our path towards the harbour where we asked for a private boat, this was a bit too expensive so we decided to do something else and go to Mingun the next day.
In the lonely planet we found that there were some nice teak monastries in the neighbourhood so we hired a trishaw (a bicycle with two extra seats on the side). They took us to the first one, it looked marvellous: dark wood with impressing carvings everywhere. It was a really nice one! After this temple we walked to a buddhist university and after that we tried to find another teak monastry. This one was pretty well hidden, we kind of got lost so we asked directions in a temple. The one we asked directions to, didn't speak a word of english so he gestured to wait while he was going to get someone else. It took quite a while before he came back, but he was alone, he gestured to follow him, so we did. Then he stopped somewhere and gestured that we had to wait again, it was pretty weird. About 15 minutes later a monk showed up who could speak a little english, they had to wake him up from his nap... He decided to come with us and show us around at the temple we wanted to visit, it was good that he did because it was very difficult to find this one. But it was all worth it, an old monk opened the door and showed us around, there were golden statues, teak woodcarvings, some ancient books and even bamboo scrolls with the teachings of buddha on them. The spiderwebbs were everywhere and that made it only a bit more mysterious!
We walked home through some streets where they made jade bracelets, again with some old motors and for the rest they used their skills. We didn't get to see Mingun today, but it was still very interesting!!!
I'm still enjoying the hospitality of the family Piampongsant and will make use of their internet to post some more about myanmar, the second destination in myanmar was Mandalay, a big city in the central/north of Myanmar. The city is a famous tourist attraction because it is surrounded by ancient cities: Sagaing, Ava, Amarapura and Mingun are the four that we visited.
We arrived in Mandalay at 5 am so we tried to find a hotel/ guesthouse where we would be able to sleep a bit and spend the next night. A blue taxi (a very small mazda pickup where we barely fit) brought us around to see a few of them. We took the nicest one however it was very humid and the room smelled. After the bumpy busride everything was ok for us and it didn't take long before we were all sleeping, at 10 we woke up again and took a walk through the city. The city has a relatively easy structure, the streets are numbered and everything is square just like a chessboard. In the middle there is a gigantic palace, but the government asks 10 dollar entrance fee which is going straight into the pockets of the military so we didn't go. Instead we went to Mandalay hill, a mountain with quite a few pagoda's and on top an incredible view. We were joined by a novice whose name resembled Toontje, with such a name it can't go wrong and soon we reached the top while it was raining heavily. On the top there indeed was a very nice view over the Ayeyarwaddi river, the palace and the rest of the city. We went down from the west side, which is way less touristy, downstairs we ended up in a dirty poor suburb where they didn't meet a lot of foreigners: a big contrast with the southern entrance which is royally ornamented and where a lot of people are trying to sell things.
We were getting tired again and our belly was not fully recovered from the food we had in Inle lake so we took a blue car to our hotel and went for dinner and straight to bed.
I've been in Bangkok (Thailand) again for a few days now but finally I get some time to update my blog. It's been such a nice time here that I preferred to do other things, so for them who were getting impatient, I'm sorry .
so about my trip in Myanmar: The plan was to visit Inle-lake, Mandalay, Bagan and the region around Yangon. We first landed in Yangon, but the city is very ugly, noisy and smelly. It seemed like we went back in time for about 50 years, the cars and busses almost fall apart, most transport is on foot, by bicycle or trishaw. It wasnt that pleasant to visit and it was shocking to see how these people live. We went to the Shwedagon Paya at night, it was a piece of beauty not far from the centre, it has a lot of diamonds, gold, silver and whatever you want It is a true masterpiece and the most impressing pagoda Ive visited, trust me there are a lot of pagodas around here.
But its the only thing really worth visiting, the next day we took the bus to the centre and did the city walk suggested in Lonely Planet, taking the bus here is a true adventure, there are 60 bus routes and the people from the bus are shouting where they are going and trying to get you on board. We managed to get to there and we saw a lot of big buildings but they are all occupied by the government and even these buildings are not maintained. They are just standing there and nature is taking its toll. We took a flight in the afternoon to Inle-lake and it was completely different, Nyaungshwe is a small city where the people are always smiling and the nature around it is beautiful. We did a trek in the mountains towards a monastery in a cave and another meditation cave, after that we went to a hill tribe village where we had some tea. We were looking at how they dried the leaves to roll cigars and the old lady that lived there invited us in for tea. We continued are walk through the hills and went to another village, this time close to the lake. We saw a biological farm and a bit further a tree which had a lot of mangoes, when we tried to take a picture the woman came out and offered us some. To have an excuse and to not want to profit from her we said that we dont like the green ones that much. She went inside and got us a bag with 3 yellow mangoes just for nothing. People here are living in wooden and straw huts but still they share what they have On the way back, we saw a gigantic meditating Buddha statue in a differnt style than any other we'd seen before. We were a bit too tired to really appreciate this piece of art and continued our tour to the hotel.
The next morning we rented bicycles and went through the countryside on the east side of the lake to a market. The ride started on a nice road, but soon this changed into a dirt track and about an hour later it changed in a road that was used for ox carts... After getting of and on the bike for about 20 times, we reached the market: it was totally worth it! The market was very busy, there were a lot of people wearing the traditional hilltribe outfits and the side of the lake was covered by at least a hundred small boats who had to go through a maze if they wanted to leave. My dad was not feeling well so it was the perfect time for a fotoshoot! The ride back went a lot easier and we noticed that there had been quite a lot of wind, so we were home in no time and decided to stop somewhere for a fresh beer. We went to the lake resort 2, the view was amazing, a quiet lake with green everywhere (the lake is not very deep so the plants just grow whereever).
Our last day at the inle-lake we rented a boat since we hadn't seen the main attraction yet: floating gardens. People there make small long islands in the lake and then grow tomatoes, peas,... on it. They maintain it from their proa, really amazing to see them pull out the weed while balancing on such a small boat. We also saw the famous leg-rowers: the fisherman here row with one arm and one leg while holding the net in the other hand and balancing on the other foot. Again an unbelievable way of balancing! We had to catch our bus, so we went back to our hotel...
this was our first stop in Myanmar, soon more will folow
we've succesfully entered myanmar and everything here is great except the internet, so this is a very short message. To let you know what we did: we've visited yangon for almost 1 day, but it's a dirty city except for the shwedagon pagoda, the most impressing pagoda I've ever seen...
now we have spend 2 days at the Inle lake and it's oh so beautiful here! Tomorrow we will leave for Mandalay. more details will follow once the internet gets better...
today (17th of july) we are going to try to get to Myanmar again!
I am now at the airport in Bangkok where I am enjoying the free goodies in the Bangkok airways lounge!
so yesterday we went to doi suthep, a temple on the top of a mountain where acoording to legend the elephant of the king died. It's quite a beautiful temple and there is an extraordinnary view over the city of chiang mai! Climbing the stairs was not really a challenge, acoording to the book you need to be in good shape, but I don't think so. They even built an elevator for less active people :o.
After wandering around at the top of the temple we went back to chiang mai and had a relaxing meal and fruit shake before we took the night bus to Bangkok. The night bus was not that nice and we didn't get a lot of sleep, but we'll manage and we are excited about going to the next country!
the past three days we've spent around chiang mai, the 13th and the 14th in a nature reserve (doi ithanon) in Ban Phra Mon, a small Karen hilltribe. I wrote in my previous post that I had very high expectations, I can tell you now that it was even better than that!
Our guide Surasit (or just Sit) was a great guy, at about 35 years old but he acted as if he just turned 20 so it was great to have someone from my age around. We first went to the top of Thailand: approximately 2565 meter above sea level. He told us that we would have a great view up there, but the weather gods didn't want us to see anything... It was very cloudy, but still the feeling of being on the highest place of a country is pretty nice. So now I can add Thailand to the list (after Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Great Brittan, ...)
Up on that mountain there is a nice path made for the queen to walk around in the jungle and I have to say it was really nice: a good road and a perfect smell of fresh air while Sit was teaching us the way of the Karen. However again the weather Gods didn't like us and it started to rain pretty heavily so back to the truck. After visiting 2 pagoda's with beautiful gardens, we could enjoy a very nice meal and a walk through a royal project garden. There were all kinds of flowers, verns, flesh-eating plants, fish,... All in perfect condition and I have to say that the greenhouses looked nicer than the 'koninklijke serres in Meise'.
Enough of the touristy visits and towards the pure nature! we followed a small trail amids the jungle and learned about herbs and which plants we could eat as many as we want and which plants that we can only eat once... Sit loosened up a little and he started making a lot of jokes, every time he saw a mango tree, he yelled at me: 'banana tree', he pointed to some strange formations in the rock and told it was because of the tsunami and that he had to glue the rock together again... There are way more jokes, but that could become a little bit boring :D
we started hearing some water and a bit later we came passed a very wide waterfall, it was great as you can see in the pictures. (check introduction post) we went down next to the river and saw some more waterfalls (it almost sounds like it's not special anymore, but I can tell you every waterfall is different and you never stop liking it!) about an hour later we arrived at some rice farms from a hilltribe. If you ever get to see rice fields in the mountains, really do, the view is amazing! The young rice is a little bit flashy green, the mountains make it seem like you are totally away from civilisation but then the houses and the people give some other color to the landscape and then to make it perfect there is a blue sky!
we drunk some hilltribe coffee, damn that was strong and then we took off to Sit's hometown where we would have dinner (prepared on a wooden fire in the middle of the house) and sleep in the house of Sit's sister.
Next day we went mountainbiking, with very steep parts where I even had to get off from my bike. Going up I only had to get off ones since there was a lot of mud but in the way down I walked quite a bit. My rear brake was not working and I am quite afraid when I go downhill without a rear brake...
Today we had a relaxing day here in Chiang Mai and visit some temples, so beautiful but nothing as exciting as the previous days
tomorrow we go back to Bangkok so that we can finally get into myanmar...
. Down there we had some fun at the rocks,
especially Kevin, who was jumping like a monkey but it got a bit boring and
Kevin went up higher and higher so I had to follow and take pictures. We were
getting pretty high and there was some kind of sign however it was Thai so we
didnt know what it said. I suggested that we could take this way up the book
said that there was a road on top and there was a sign here, makes sense no?
Kevin didnt mind at al because the stairway had a lot of spiders. So we went
up till a moment were we didnt really find a path anymore which you can see on
the picture, then we found some holes in the wall like a climbing wall. These
holes were made artificially so it seemed like a path, the whole time Kevin was
a lot more comfortable climbing and jumping from rock to rock until this point.
He doesnt like holes, since there can be spiders and bugs and other things you
cant see in them. So from that point on, I could catch up with him. Afterwards
we realised that we probably should have used some more safety, at least I used
a helmet, but Kevin didnt
hi all,
.
omachupe,
