the plan for today is a temple marathon: we got up (Kevin: way too early) at 4 am to go and see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, it was way too crowded but the sunrise was very nice. The pictures mostly failed, but I blame the camera, all the others had very fancy cameras. We continued past Ta prohm kel, which is totally not impressive at all but had a nice view and it was our second temple so ok, to Phnom Bakheng. Phnom Bakheng is a hill with a temple on top, it's THE spot for sunset watching but this means that it's way too crowded at that time. We took the long way up, it took for ages and Kevin was complaining that it was way to early. When we went down we found the elephant path without elephants which was a lot faster.
Baksei Chamkrong means 'bird with sheltering wings' if it's supposed to look like that, it totally failed. This temple looks like a square piramid with a typical Khmer Sanctuary on top, the stairs are quite steep and erosed which made it hard to climb. We biked further to Angkor Thom, but on the way we passed a little temple called Bei Prasat, Kevin asked me to take a picture of every temple we passed so that we could say that we've visited them all. This one was not worth a long visit, but there was a nice prao on the river which looked photogenic. Next is Angkor Thom, the biggest complex!
We entered trough the south gate and arrived first at the Bayon, this was pretty nice because the temple gets very crowded during the day. This temple is the one with the many four faced towers, one of the most amazing temples in Angkor. After walking trough the alley's for a bit more than an hour Kevin was sick of it and wanted to go to Baphuon. Baphuon is a huge square temple with a declining Buddha figure in the back, currently this temple is under reconstruction by the French which makes it impossible to visit. We decided to make a little detour in the jungle to visit Phimeanakas. This temple is only accessible from the backside so that it's less touristy and very nice to visit. It was also the perfect time for a break to drink and eat a bit, the view was astonashing if you didn't look at the reconstruction which is everywhere. You had to sacrifice a bit to get the nice view: it was really hot and there was almost no shadow. We finished our detour while passing some reconstruction in progress, which was apparently restricted access... :o but we didn't see any sign. The reclining Buddha was not very clear due to the reconstruction, Kevin only saw some rocks but it was there!
It was getting time for lunch so we continued passed the terrace of the Elephants and came into an area full of souvenir sellers and girls with menus for the restaurants. Time to buy a lonely planet, some water and to go and eat. This was the first Thai souvenir experience for Kevin and he didn't really like it. Maybe it was because he didn't have enough sleep (that's just his excuse, a guy of our age should be ok with 3 hours). After lunch we went to some temples that aren't touristy, they had something mysterious about them. I had to take the lead since there were quite some spiders around but Kevin had to take the lead when we strayed of the path since I'm afraid of mines :p.
Now it was time to get on our bicycle again and go discover some more! For this we stopped at Krol Romeas, something completely different: it looked like an arena but it was actually an enclosure for animals. The explanation made it less impressive than we thought! Next we went to another big complex: Preah Khan, one of the most inspiring carvings to be found in Angkor and some nice trees for Kevin. He also had fun photographing some butterflies while I was checking out the visitor centre. The carvings illustrate many wars and victories of Jayavarman VII to impress his people and to be remembered in history. I have to say that he is being remembered so good job Jayavarman!
We went off the road onto a small dustroad going to Banteay Prei and Prasat Prei. They are two less touristy complexes but still in good shape and they give a nice impression on how the ruins are without restoration. But not as impressive as the big ones! So off to again something completely different: a complex of 13 pools of which 5 have been restored. The one in the middle houses a small sanctuary surrounded by 2 nakha's with strangled tails and the pool in the west still has an elephant fountain which looks really cute!
Next was a 'normal' temple complex: Krol Ko, we now say that it is normal, but if this would be the only temple around here, we would think it is amazing and brilliant! Next one was Ta Som, which features nice devata sculptures in the Gopura's. So after a short visit we went to East Mebon: a giant impressive structure with elephant and lion ornamental statues in the corners. Also the Frontons were nicely ornamented with detailed carvings. On the top we finally had a nice breese to cool down, it almost felt like air conditioning.
Now it was time for a long bicycle ride to Banteay Samré, the bicycle ride drove us through a nice village and beautiful rice paddies! At the temple we got overwelmed by souvenir salesmen (mostly children and some elder women). According to me and the book, this temple almost reaches perfection: there are a lot of carvings which I decyphered using the guidebook. I really liked the dancing shivas in a fronton on the western gopura of the second enclosure. I was taking quite long and Kevin already went back by bicycle (he was really slow since he was getting tired). I met him again at Pre Rup: another giant square piramid like temple however not that high. There are almost no carvings on the walls but the structure itself is amazing on its own.
We were running out of time and we still had to do Ta Prohm: the famous temple with the trees from Tomb Raider. A paradise for Kevin (with a capital K!) who took a lot of pictures of lots of trees. While totally discarting the brilliant carvings on the walls. On the way back we wanted to take a different route so we went of the track while following a trail and when we got back at the entrance we had to climb over a rope which said 'No Access' on the other side... Strange to say the least. The second time this happened to us and people looked really strange at us but we didn't know!
We passed Banteay Kdei while on our way to buy paintings at Angkor Wat. My mom made a reservation for 2 Buddha faces and thus we took our time to buy them. It took us more than an hour, so that the sun was already going down and it was completely dark when we got back in our guesthouse.
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.
. 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
