After a lengthy 40 hours in transit from Bangkok to Ottawa, I'm back home, wondering if the last 6 weeks was simply a dream. The fact that I have a pile of (very) dirty laundry and a pretty nice tan lets me know that it was real. But it's amazing how easily one can fall back into "normal" routine, even after being gone so long. Guess what? The world doesn't stop when you leave the continent!!
I managed to come home with some strange intestinal issues, which I believe I picked up on our last night in Bangkok. We wound up eating at a "local" Thai place where you simply choose your ingredient and they cook it up right there and deliver it to your table. We choose squid, pig intestines, some sort of bivalve, and pork short ribs. I believe either the mollusc or the intestines are the cause of my uncertain stomach. Until last night, I wasn't able to eat solid food and have it stay inside for more than an hour or so, following a session of cramping. Today seems to be better, but I did decide to start the course of Cipro I had just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?
So, it's back to reality. 90 days until the Canada-Wide Science Fair and that means from now until May 20th, chaos will reign. It's started already. I haven't been in to work yet this week but have spent most of my time in science fair meetings. I have a sneaky suspicion that weekend meetings will become the norm (meeting at 10am this morning will start the season off). Our new office is ready to be occupied and all our committees are in full work mode. Which was actually very encouraging to come back to.
I was wide awake this morning at 4am, went back to bed for 2 hours and finally decided to get up at 6am. I figure if I can continue this early morning trend, it will allow me to get a run in before work (or a spin class) so that I don't have to worry about doing cardio in the evenings. It's not quite a New Year's Resolution, but more of a solid realization that time management is going to be a huge factor in the next 3 months, and if I want to get back into shape after this much time off, then I have to plan out training in a more regimented fashion.
Yes, I will post on the remainder of my trip, most likely later today when I have a bit more time. It's alot to recap and will take a bit of thinking and creativity. Luckily, there are many photos to prompt memories.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
Thailand to Cambodia, overland
It's been quite a while since I last posted, but it's not because I haven't wanted to or that nothing exciting has been going on! Today is my last day in Thailand - flying out bright and early tomorrow morning, back to the cold and snow. I think culture and temperature shock will occurr!
Since I last posted, I've traveled back and forth to Cambodia. It's going to take a couple of posts to get all the information down, so bear with me! Photos will be coming soon.
As a summary, in the last 6 weeks or so, I have traveled by the following methods, across borders, through towns, and in the Andaman Sea:
Tuk tuk - both Thai and Khmer
Speed boat (river and ocean)
Motorcycle (both driving and passenger)
Mini-van, mini-bus
Bus
Pick-up truck (in the cab and in the box)
Walking
Long tail boat - both Thai and Khmer
Dive boat (big and small)
Taxi
Plane
It's been quite the experience - for anyone who wants to travel around SE Asia, my advice is to forgo the normal methods of transportation (ie. planes) and go overland or oversea! It's the best way to go!
January 22nd. After flying back to BKK from Phuket, I met up with Nat and John at the Ambassador Hotel. We spent the afternoon on Khao San Road, eating street meat and indulging in Thai buckets. The evening was spent at the Suan Lam night market, only to be woken up abruptly at 4am the next morning by our wake-up call, in plenty of time to make it down to Hua Lamphong train station to catch our commuter train to the Thai-Khmer border. We had stocked up on train-friendly food items the evening before (not needed since train meat and random drinks were plentiful for the entire ride). Once at the train station, we purchased our tickets for the border: 48 baht each!! For a 5 hour train ride! Sweet! Okay, so the entire train was 3rd class, but still, it was great!
The ride to the border was relatively quiet and very scenic - lots of rice paddies, farming villages, small train stations. I managed to catch a few winks of sleep to make up for the horrid night of 'sleep' the evening before.
Once at the border town of Arayan Prathet, we walked through immigration and into a no-man's land somewhere between Thailand and Cambodia where we had a bit of lunch before standing in line to be let into Cambodia. Crossing borders on foot is always an interesting experience - it can take anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the paperwork and the number of tour groups who are lined up with you.
On the other side of the Cambodia line, we had the somewhat frustrating experience of negotiating a ride from Poipet to Siem Reap. Let the games begin!!! The drive was expected to be 4 hours (dependent entirely on the insanity of the driver). We wound up stuck in a bidding war between 2 private car drivers. Our ultimate choice was, in hindsight, the wrong one! But at the time we just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. The trunk was packed with bags, the car with people, and off we went.
I'm not entirely sure how to explain or describe the ride from Poipet to Siem Reap. Nat's cartoon of the trip is probably the best in terms of a summary. "Hellish" might be a good word. Exciting? An adventure? Death-defying? All good words! The "road" was worse than anything I have ever been on, logging and quarry roads included. HUGE potholes and culvert bumps, road construction the entire length of the highway, cows, chickens, toll trolls, bicycles, other drivers. There are no rules driving on that road - it's a free for all. Either side of the road is fair game (Thais drive on the left, Khmer on the right, this road either side worked), and playing chicken with every vehicle you came across seemed the norm. It was quite the ride. I was sitting in the front, and I swear I lost 10 years of my life just staring out the front window at the conditions in front of us. To top it all off, our driver seemed to have Turret's syndrome as well! He kept taking his hands off the steering wheel and cracking his knuckles, making weird, spastic head motions, and mumbling violently to himself.
4.5 hours later, in the dark, we were very relieved to find ourselves in Siem Reap itself. But the journey wasn't over! Our car driver decided he'd try and drop us off at a tuk-tuk stand because apparently "dirty cars weren't allowed in Siem Reap". We loaded into 2 tuk-tuks and asked to go to the Jasmine Lodge. Ha! We were being taken for a ride. Luckily, having been here long enough, we were smart to this scam and wound up jumping out of the tuk-tuk near to where we thought our guesthouse was. Close enough. A bit of a walk landed us at the guesthouse, very dirty, exhausted and ready for sleep. We had made it to Cambodia, although there were times during the ride that I didn't think surviving that road was a possibility!!
Since I last posted, I've traveled back and forth to Cambodia. It's going to take a couple of posts to get all the information down, so bear with me! Photos will be coming soon.
As a summary, in the last 6 weeks or so, I have traveled by the following methods, across borders, through towns, and in the Andaman Sea:
Tuk tuk - both Thai and Khmer
Speed boat (river and ocean)
Motorcycle (both driving and passenger)
Mini-van, mini-bus
Bus
Pick-up truck (in the cab and in the box)
Walking
Long tail boat - both Thai and Khmer
Dive boat (big and small)
Taxi
Plane
It's been quite the experience - for anyone who wants to travel around SE Asia, my advice is to forgo the normal methods of transportation (ie. planes) and go overland or oversea! It's the best way to go!
January 22nd. After flying back to BKK from Phuket, I met up with Nat and John at the Ambassador Hotel. We spent the afternoon on Khao San Road, eating street meat and indulging in Thai buckets. The evening was spent at the Suan Lam night market, only to be woken up abruptly at 4am the next morning by our wake-up call, in plenty of time to make it down to Hua Lamphong train station to catch our commuter train to the Thai-Khmer border. We had stocked up on train-friendly food items the evening before (not needed since train meat and random drinks were plentiful for the entire ride). Once at the train station, we purchased our tickets for the border: 48 baht each!! For a 5 hour train ride! Sweet! Okay, so the entire train was 3rd class, but still, it was great!
The ride to the border was relatively quiet and very scenic - lots of rice paddies, farming villages, small train stations. I managed to catch a few winks of sleep to make up for the horrid night of 'sleep' the evening before.
Once at the border town of Arayan Prathet, we walked through immigration and into a no-man's land somewhere between Thailand and Cambodia where we had a bit of lunch before standing in line to be let into Cambodia. Crossing borders on foot is always an interesting experience - it can take anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the paperwork and the number of tour groups who are lined up with you.
On the other side of the Cambodia line, we had the somewhat frustrating experience of negotiating a ride from Poipet to Siem Reap. Let the games begin!!! The drive was expected to be 4 hours (dependent entirely on the insanity of the driver). We wound up stuck in a bidding war between 2 private car drivers. Our ultimate choice was, in hindsight, the wrong one! But at the time we just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. The trunk was packed with bags, the car with people, and off we went.
I'm not entirely sure how to explain or describe the ride from Poipet to Siem Reap. Nat's cartoon of the trip is probably the best in terms of a summary. "Hellish" might be a good word. Exciting? An adventure? Death-defying? All good words! The "road" was worse than anything I have ever been on, logging and quarry roads included. HUGE potholes and culvert bumps, road construction the entire length of the highway, cows, chickens, toll trolls, bicycles, other drivers. There are no rules driving on that road - it's a free for all. Either side of the road is fair game (Thais drive on the left, Khmer on the right, this road either side worked), and playing chicken with every vehicle you came across seemed the norm. It was quite the ride. I was sitting in the front, and I swear I lost 10 years of my life just staring out the front window at the conditions in front of us. To top it all off, our driver seemed to have Turret's syndrome as well! He kept taking his hands off the steering wheel and cracking his knuckles, making weird, spastic head motions, and mumbling violently to himself.
4.5 hours later, in the dark, we were very relieved to find ourselves in Siem Reap itself. But the journey wasn't over! Our car driver decided he'd try and drop us off at a tuk-tuk stand because apparently "dirty cars weren't allowed in Siem Reap". We loaded into 2 tuk-tuks and asked to go to the Jasmine Lodge. Ha! We were being taken for a ride. Luckily, having been here long enough, we were smart to this scam and wound up jumping out of the tuk-tuk near to where we thought our guesthouse was. Close enough. A bit of a walk landed us at the guesthouse, very dirty, exhausted and ready for sleep. We had made it to Cambodia, although there were times during the ride that I didn't think surviving that road was a possibility!!
Friday, January 18, 2008
playing catch-up
Alright, it's been more than a week since I've made a full entry in here, so I thought I'd play a bit of a game of catch up and let everyone know what I've been up to!
In summary: diving, diving, more diving, Railay beach for 4 days, diving, diving, more diving.
I've managed to complete both my Open Water dive certification and my Advanced Adventurer certification while here, and log 15 dives. For my Advanced Adventurer certification, I chose navigation, deep dive, wreck dive, underwater photography, and night dive as my specialities. In doing so, I was able to do a full day trip out to the 85 foot sunken car ferry, King Cruiser (wreck dive and deep dive - 31 metres), Koh Doc Mai (really cool underwater caves great for photography), and also to Shark Point (just simply pretty!). The night dives have been some of the best I've done so far. There is something very mysterious, exciting, nerve-wracking, and peaceful about diving at night with only a torch for guidance along the reef. I've done 3 night dives so far and loved every one of them. Alot of strange creatures come out to play and feed at night - sea urchins, cuttle fish (my personal favorite, especially the big Pharaoah cuttle fish), strange tarantula-like crabs, and hundreds of lion fish. One of the highlights (one of many) was seeing a cowrie with its mantle out. I've never seen a cowrie in the water before and they only come out at night.
Last weekend, I took a boat from Phuket harbour to Koh Phi Phi and then on to Krabi and Railay Beach. I spent 4 hours in Koh Phi Phi harbour town, enough to make me realize I wouldn't want to stay there! At the Krabi harbour, I was swindled by a taxi driver and brought to the long tail boat dock where I caught a ride down to Railay Beach East. I stayed at the Railay Bay Resort and Spa, in a private bungalow near Railay East. It was a very nice spot - secluded, AC, comfy bed (unlike what I've been sleeping on at the muay thai gym!). Railay itself is an amazing place -all limestone karst formations, everything from caves to vertical cliffs to huge sink holes. I'll post up some photos later, but they don't do justice to the amazing scenary.
Railay itself is pretty quiet - a few large resorts, a few small guesthouses, and 2 strips of shops and restaurants. I found it quite a bit more expensive than Phuket, which isn't that surprising since it is remote and there's no choice of going further away to eat! But I had some excellent sea food (the barracuda was exceptional!!) and one of the best hamburgers I've had in the last long while that I didn't cook myself.
I spent the 3 days I had on Railay exploring, relaxing, reading, and snorkelling. The first morning, I got up early and decided to go to the hidden Princess Lagoon, just north of Phrang Na bay. I found the "trail head" and saw 2 people (bare foot) climbing up towards the trees. Some trailhead! It was one of the steepest trails I have ever seen, aside from what I've climbed in Nepal, complete with tree roots and rocks polished to a gemmy sheen by years of people walking on them. Luckily, partially knowing what I was getting myself into, I had worn good running shoes (although in hindsight, climbing shoes would have been more appropriate!). I started up this steep trail, ignoring the frayed hemp rope which was attached to who knows what at the top. I quickly overtook the insane couple in their bare feet, and climbed up and up and up. About 100 feet up, I discovered the first of the free climb sections, delighted at that point to do a bit of true climbing (hah!! that thought would come back to haunt me!) and scaled up quickly. At the top of the 15 foot section, I found a little side trail leading off into the jungle to the lookout - a window looking out towards Railay Bay West and a definite Kodak moment. After poking around the side trails for a bit and fighting strange hanging tree branches and searching for monkeys (none to be seen on the entire 'hike'), I headed back downwards towards the lagoon. Easy going for the first section, and then a rope leading down what can only be classified as a limestone slip-n-slide! If I hadn't feared for my short bottom, I would have slid down, but as it was, I was able to turn backwards and abseil down in leaps and bounds to the bottom. Well, the bottom of the easy section of the hike anyway. There I found the most massive trees I have ever seen - huge coconut trees and other tropicals that seemed to have come out of Heart of Darkness or some such movie. Possibly Jurassic Park! People had carved their names into one of the large coconut trees, which for some reason upset me.
Heading down, I manged to catch a glimpse of sunlight which let me know I was close to the infamous lagoon. It was at this point that I discovered that this nice little hike and workout was going to turn out into a 5.7 free climb! 3 separate overhangs greeted me, each a good 15 foot in height, each with slippery hand and foot holds, scary worn out hemp ropes, and sharp, jagged rocks below the overhangs which looked quite capable of splitting ones head open! The first one, I took as a challenge. Hey, I'm fit, I've climbed, it wasn't too bad of an overhang, how hard could it be? No problem, except for the HUGE FUCKING SPIDER hanging onto one of the hand holds! Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely detest spiders and usually react in pure terror. Especially man-eating sized ones. Calm, calm, calm. It wasn't going to harm me if I just slid past it. Maybe it was a vegetarian spider... I made it down, half abseiling, half climbing, hoping the ropes would hold. No problem! Paula 1, spiders and cliffs 0. So far so good.
Again, the 2nd drop off, although a bit more difficult and requiring a bit more thinking before stepping over the edge, was conquered without any broken bones (no spiders were harmed). Feeling somewhat brave, cocky and on an adrenaline rush, I moved down to the 3rd overhang.
My first thought was "holy fuck, I will never make it down that alive". My second thought was thinking back to the person who shall remain nameless who suggested that I go and visit this lagoon and thought "were you guys fucking crazy?!!!". Turns out they were smarter than me and didn't go down these overhangs, something I found out after returning bleeding and scaped up! Anyhow... :)
I admit, I sat on that 3rd ledge for a good 20 minutes, contemplating the rocks (very nice, almost made me appreciate soft rock geology!), had some water, and then tried to figure out how badly my head would be smashed open if the ropes didn't hold, or if my right arm didn't hold out when I started to descend! I started the descent 4 times, unsuccessfully. Finally, I decided "fuck it, if other people before me have done it, it can't be that bad, right?". So I stepped over the ledge, attempted to find foot holds, of which there were none for my short legs, and finally realized the only way I was going to get down was to go down hand over hand down the rope. Easier said than done. I slipped that last couple of feet, landed not so gracefully on the jagged rocks below, scraped up my legs and wrenched my right middle finger pretty good. But made it down in one piece! Then realized I had to get back up. Did my insurance cover helicopter evacuation? Could I survive at this lagoon with the litre of water in my bag and the small fish in the water? Adrenaline kicked back in and I wandered down the last bit to the lagoon.
Only to find out that the tide was out!!! Shit! All that work to find a shallow, mud-filled hole!
Argh.
But a very nice, peaceful mud-filled hole it was. I wandered around a bit, took some photos, had some water, washed my wounds. Until 4 Russians showed up and started making a whole hell of alot of noise and I decided my time at the mud lagoon had come to an end.
Not surprisingly, getting back up was no where as difficult as getting down. I was able to see where to put my hands and feet, found a chimney to shimmy up which offered alot of leverage, and, exhausted, got back up to the top viewpoint. Getting back down to the trailhead wouldn't have been difficult if I hadn't been exhausted, so as it was, I had to watch my step carefully and make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes. At the bottom, very dirty, sweaty, bleeding and tired, but exhilarated and happy, feeling a bit like an adventurer, I headed back to the mortal realm of the beach to clean off.
The rest of my time on Railay was not nearly as exciting as that morning! I spent one day out at Koh Poda snorkeling (beautiful), and the rest of the time relaxing, exploring various caves, taking sunset photos, and enjoying the food and drink on Railay East.
Back in Phuket after 4 days on Railay, I went straight back to diving. This past week, I went on a night dive on Wednesday (very cool - lots and lots of cuttle fish!!), did 2 long tail boat dives off Koh Pu on Thursday (excellent visibility, best I've seen yet, but this was the first dive I have ever been truly cold on - frozen in fact, and the water temperature was 29 degrees!), and a day trip out to Racha Noi and Racha Yai yesterday, 2 islands directly south (1.5 hours) of Phuket. They weren't the most memorable dives I've had - the visibility was excellent, but the sea life wasn't plentiful for whatever reason. We did see some really cool nudibranches (sea slugs), some huge morays, and did a few swim throughs, but it was pretty quiet. Still, an excellent day out. That is until we hit 3 metre swells on the way back. I had taken sea sickness tablets prior to the last dive, but they were no match for the harsh conditions that we rode in on the way back. The worst was that the wind was E-W and we wer going North. So the motion of the boat was perpendicular to where we were going, the worst possible thing for my sensitive equilibrium. I did my best for the first 15 minutes, sat on the bench inside the boat and tried to convince myself I wasn't going to be sick. Then I went to the washroom and that was it. The confined space, being thrown around like a pinball inside a jar, the puke factor took effect. And after a lecture by our dive master about only throwing up off the back of the boat, not at the front, the sides or in the toilet, I broke the rules and used the toilet. I made it back to my seat beside my instructor, feeling a bit better, only to have the waves get bigger and that was it, again. This time I managed to race to the dive deck at the back of the boat and our dive heroine of the south seas spent the next while upchucking ever so gracefully into the swells at the back of the boat!! I started to pray to the sea gods for either (1) dry land, or (2) a quick death at sea. I was so happy when Phuket harbour came into view. Joel wasn't feeling all that well either, so the two of us had a very quiet ride back to the dive shop in the van!! I was sick all evening. And the world kept rolling and swaying all evening long as well. I finally took a gravol, some melatonine and tried to sleep, hoping the nausea would go away over night. It almost has, although the world is still not all that steady and the queasiness is still slightly there. I'm still not entirely looking forward to eating anything!!
I have 2 more days in Phuket and then it's back to Bangkok to meet up with Nat and John. Yeah!! Today, I'm headed up to Surin and Kamala beaches, north of Patong, as I hear they are beautiful. Tomorrow, I might head inland to a waterfall north of Chalong. We'll see!! I plan to enjoy the sun and warmth. I've been spending my evenings at the dive club, having a beer or two and chatting with the instructors and owners, who are a great bunch of people. Wednesday evening, after my night dive, I went off to another bar with them. 2 beers and I was exhausted!! Plus I hadn't had supper. I took off around midnight and headed home, but the next morning I felt like crap! Dehydration kicks in pretty easy here, especially with no food and a couple of beers!!
In summary: diving, diving, more diving, Railay beach for 4 days, diving, diving, more diving.
I've managed to complete both my Open Water dive certification and my Advanced Adventurer certification while here, and log 15 dives. For my Advanced Adventurer certification, I chose navigation, deep dive, wreck dive, underwater photography, and night dive as my specialities. In doing so, I was able to do a full day trip out to the 85 foot sunken car ferry, King Cruiser (wreck dive and deep dive - 31 metres), Koh Doc Mai (really cool underwater caves great for photography), and also to Shark Point (just simply pretty!). The night dives have been some of the best I've done so far. There is something very mysterious, exciting, nerve-wracking, and peaceful about diving at night with only a torch for guidance along the reef. I've done 3 night dives so far and loved every one of them. Alot of strange creatures come out to play and feed at night - sea urchins, cuttle fish (my personal favorite, especially the big Pharaoah cuttle fish), strange tarantula-like crabs, and hundreds of lion fish. One of the highlights (one of many) was seeing a cowrie with its mantle out. I've never seen a cowrie in the water before and they only come out at night.
Last weekend, I took a boat from Phuket harbour to Koh Phi Phi and then on to Krabi and Railay Beach. I spent 4 hours in Koh Phi Phi harbour town, enough to make me realize I wouldn't want to stay there! At the Krabi harbour, I was swindled by a taxi driver and brought to the long tail boat dock where I caught a ride down to Railay Beach East. I stayed at the Railay Bay Resort and Spa, in a private bungalow near Railay East. It was a very nice spot - secluded, AC, comfy bed (unlike what I've been sleeping on at the muay thai gym!). Railay itself is an amazing place -all limestone karst formations, everything from caves to vertical cliffs to huge sink holes. I'll post up some photos later, but they don't do justice to the amazing scenary.
Railay itself is pretty quiet - a few large resorts, a few small guesthouses, and 2 strips of shops and restaurants. I found it quite a bit more expensive than Phuket, which isn't that surprising since it is remote and there's no choice of going further away to eat! But I had some excellent sea food (the barracuda was exceptional!!) and one of the best hamburgers I've had in the last long while that I didn't cook myself.
I spent the 3 days I had on Railay exploring, relaxing, reading, and snorkelling. The first morning, I got up early and decided to go to the hidden Princess Lagoon, just north of Phrang Na bay. I found the "trail head" and saw 2 people (bare foot) climbing up towards the trees. Some trailhead! It was one of the steepest trails I have ever seen, aside from what I've climbed in Nepal, complete with tree roots and rocks polished to a gemmy sheen by years of people walking on them. Luckily, partially knowing what I was getting myself into, I had worn good running shoes (although in hindsight, climbing shoes would have been more appropriate!). I started up this steep trail, ignoring the frayed hemp rope which was attached to who knows what at the top. I quickly overtook the insane couple in their bare feet, and climbed up and up and up. About 100 feet up, I discovered the first of the free climb sections, delighted at that point to do a bit of true climbing (hah!! that thought would come back to haunt me!) and scaled up quickly. At the top of the 15 foot section, I found a little side trail leading off into the jungle to the lookout - a window looking out towards Railay Bay West and a definite Kodak moment. After poking around the side trails for a bit and fighting strange hanging tree branches and searching for monkeys (none to be seen on the entire 'hike'), I headed back downwards towards the lagoon. Easy going for the first section, and then a rope leading down what can only be classified as a limestone slip-n-slide! If I hadn't feared for my short bottom, I would have slid down, but as it was, I was able to turn backwards and abseil down in leaps and bounds to the bottom. Well, the bottom of the easy section of the hike anyway. There I found the most massive trees I have ever seen - huge coconut trees and other tropicals that seemed to have come out of Heart of Darkness or some such movie. Possibly Jurassic Park! People had carved their names into one of the large coconut trees, which for some reason upset me.
Heading down, I manged to catch a glimpse of sunlight which let me know I was close to the infamous lagoon. It was at this point that I discovered that this nice little hike and workout was going to turn out into a 5.7 free climb! 3 separate overhangs greeted me, each a good 15 foot in height, each with slippery hand and foot holds, scary worn out hemp ropes, and sharp, jagged rocks below the overhangs which looked quite capable of splitting ones head open! The first one, I took as a challenge. Hey, I'm fit, I've climbed, it wasn't too bad of an overhang, how hard could it be? No problem, except for the HUGE FUCKING SPIDER hanging onto one of the hand holds! Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely detest spiders and usually react in pure terror. Especially man-eating sized ones. Calm, calm, calm. It wasn't going to harm me if I just slid past it. Maybe it was a vegetarian spider... I made it down, half abseiling, half climbing, hoping the ropes would hold. No problem! Paula 1, spiders and cliffs 0. So far so good.
Again, the 2nd drop off, although a bit more difficult and requiring a bit more thinking before stepping over the edge, was conquered without any broken bones (no spiders were harmed). Feeling somewhat brave, cocky and on an adrenaline rush, I moved down to the 3rd overhang.
My first thought was "holy fuck, I will never make it down that alive". My second thought was thinking back to the person who shall remain nameless who suggested that I go and visit this lagoon and thought "were you guys fucking crazy?!!!". Turns out they were smarter than me and didn't go down these overhangs, something I found out after returning bleeding and scaped up! Anyhow... :)
I admit, I sat on that 3rd ledge for a good 20 minutes, contemplating the rocks (very nice, almost made me appreciate soft rock geology!), had some water, and then tried to figure out how badly my head would be smashed open if the ropes didn't hold, or if my right arm didn't hold out when I started to descend! I started the descent 4 times, unsuccessfully. Finally, I decided "fuck it, if other people before me have done it, it can't be that bad, right?". So I stepped over the ledge, attempted to find foot holds, of which there were none for my short legs, and finally realized the only way I was going to get down was to go down hand over hand down the rope. Easier said than done. I slipped that last couple of feet, landed not so gracefully on the jagged rocks below, scraped up my legs and wrenched my right middle finger pretty good. But made it down in one piece! Then realized I had to get back up. Did my insurance cover helicopter evacuation? Could I survive at this lagoon with the litre of water in my bag and the small fish in the water? Adrenaline kicked back in and I wandered down the last bit to the lagoon.
Only to find out that the tide was out!!! Shit! All that work to find a shallow, mud-filled hole!
Argh.
But a very nice, peaceful mud-filled hole it was. I wandered around a bit, took some photos, had some water, washed my wounds. Until 4 Russians showed up and started making a whole hell of alot of noise and I decided my time at the mud lagoon had come to an end.
Not surprisingly, getting back up was no where as difficult as getting down. I was able to see where to put my hands and feet, found a chimney to shimmy up which offered alot of leverage, and, exhausted, got back up to the top viewpoint. Getting back down to the trailhead wouldn't have been difficult if I hadn't been exhausted, so as it was, I had to watch my step carefully and make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes. At the bottom, very dirty, sweaty, bleeding and tired, but exhilarated and happy, feeling a bit like an adventurer, I headed back to the mortal realm of the beach to clean off.
The rest of my time on Railay was not nearly as exciting as that morning! I spent one day out at Koh Poda snorkeling (beautiful), and the rest of the time relaxing, exploring various caves, taking sunset photos, and enjoying the food and drink on Railay East.
Back in Phuket after 4 days on Railay, I went straight back to diving. This past week, I went on a night dive on Wednesday (very cool - lots and lots of cuttle fish!!), did 2 long tail boat dives off Koh Pu on Thursday (excellent visibility, best I've seen yet, but this was the first dive I have ever been truly cold on - frozen in fact, and the water temperature was 29 degrees!), and a day trip out to Racha Noi and Racha Yai yesterday, 2 islands directly south (1.5 hours) of Phuket. They weren't the most memorable dives I've had - the visibility was excellent, but the sea life wasn't plentiful for whatever reason. We did see some really cool nudibranches (sea slugs), some huge morays, and did a few swim throughs, but it was pretty quiet. Still, an excellent day out. That is until we hit 3 metre swells on the way back. I had taken sea sickness tablets prior to the last dive, but they were no match for the harsh conditions that we rode in on the way back. The worst was that the wind was E-W and we wer going North. So the motion of the boat was perpendicular to where we were going, the worst possible thing for my sensitive equilibrium. I did my best for the first 15 minutes, sat on the bench inside the boat and tried to convince myself I wasn't going to be sick. Then I went to the washroom and that was it. The confined space, being thrown around like a pinball inside a jar, the puke factor took effect. And after a lecture by our dive master about only throwing up off the back of the boat, not at the front, the sides or in the toilet, I broke the rules and used the toilet. I made it back to my seat beside my instructor, feeling a bit better, only to have the waves get bigger and that was it, again. This time I managed to race to the dive deck at the back of the boat and our dive heroine of the south seas spent the next while upchucking ever so gracefully into the swells at the back of the boat!! I started to pray to the sea gods for either (1) dry land, or (2) a quick death at sea. I was so happy when Phuket harbour came into view. Joel wasn't feeling all that well either, so the two of us had a very quiet ride back to the dive shop in the van!! I was sick all evening. And the world kept rolling and swaying all evening long as well. I finally took a gravol, some melatonine and tried to sleep, hoping the nausea would go away over night. It almost has, although the world is still not all that steady and the queasiness is still slightly there. I'm still not entirely looking forward to eating anything!!
I have 2 more days in Phuket and then it's back to Bangkok to meet up with Nat and John. Yeah!! Today, I'm headed up to Surin and Kamala beaches, north of Patong, as I hear they are beautiful. Tomorrow, I might head inland to a waterfall north of Chalong. We'll see!! I plan to enjoy the sun and warmth. I've been spending my evenings at the dive club, having a beer or two and chatting with the instructors and owners, who are a great bunch of people. Wednesday evening, after my night dive, I went off to another bar with them. 2 beers and I was exhausted!! Plus I hadn't had supper. I took off around midnight and headed home, but the next morning I felt like crap! Dehydration kicks in pretty easy here, especially with no food and a couple of beers!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
In scuba heaven
A short note for now as I think I'm suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion and need to find water and/or a nap! I'm currently on Railay Beach, where I've been for the last 2 days. I'm headed back to Phuket tomorrow afternoon, to finish off the week with a bit of Muay Thai training (haven't done alot of that since I discovered diving!) and a few more dives.
Last week, after completing my Open Water certification, I went on to complete 5 specialites for my Advanced Adventurer certificate as well!! The last day was a full day trip out towards Koh Phi Phi where we visited Shark Point, King Cruiser (an 85 foot sunken car ferry wreck), and Koh Doc Mai. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I'm posting two photos here, but I'll put more up later.
This was taken around 20 metres depth at King Cruiser - most of the wreck is accessible still! Even the toilets, which were in much better shape than some I've seen in Thailand so far!
Nemos, nemos everywhere!! Doing underwater photography is not as easy as I thought. Getting the exposure right, and staying still enough while controlling your buoyancy and breathing, are difficult skills to manage! Throw in a night dive with a torch in one hand and a camera in the other, and I think I need alot more practice! Thankfully, Joel, my instructor, took alot of photos as well, which compensated for my somewhat scattered attempts! Although I did manage to come away with a few good shots.
The reef at Koh Doc Mai, a wonderful mix of both hard and soft coral. Absolutely stunning.
One of the many jelly fish swimming around! The little ones are pretty cool too. This one was in the process of being "lunch" to a school of small fish. Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Addicted to scuba diving
I am now a scuba diving addict. Yes, I'll admit it, even stand up at a meeting and say my name and admit it. I have found a sport, along with Muay Thai, which I could spend alot of time doing!
Saturday, I started my SSI (Scuba Schools International) Open Water certification with the Phuket Scuba Club. It is a 4 day course, with many DVDs, chapter readings and homework in the evenings, and 'confined' skills dives during the morning and afternoon. The advantage of doing an open water course here in Thailand is that "confined" water means just off Karon beach! It's not done in a pool, so getting used to the salt water, currents, waves and the hazards around you is inherent right from the beginning. I must admit, the taste of salt water is not to my liking, but you tend to get used to it (unless you swallow gallons of it, which I have done on occassion while practicing certain techniques). The course has been excellent and very thorough. For the first two days, I was alone with my instructor, Joel. The initial day, the first time descending was a shock. Actually, more than a shock. It scared the shit out of me! Yes, humans, a long way back, evolved out of marine life, but nowadays, man was never meant to breathe while underwater! Instinctively, it's something that you get a little uncomfortable with. Discomfort, slight apprehensive and even fear are three things I have had to get in touch with and conquer. Everything about diving is so new to me and it's been a fantastic learning and growth experience.
The skills I have learned include things like sharing air, controlled emergency ascents, taking off and putting on your equipment underwater, taking off and putting on your mask while underwater [try doing this and only breathing through your regulator without breathing in through your nose - difficult! Especially when you're used to have something clamped between your teeth (mouth guard) and breathing through your nose. This results in gallons of icky salt water up your nose and ultimately in your regulator, and a rushed ascent to surface to cough up all the horrid wet stuff]. Each day, I've gotten more and more comfortable in the water, and thus using less and less air on dives.
So far, I've logged 4.5 hours of dive time in the reefs around Karon beach. Unless you've had the experience of diving with all the amazing sea life in a tropical ocean, you can't even imagine how incredible it is. It's serene, calming, and very humbling. 72% of our planet is water and you truly get a sense of how much more diverse life is under the ocean. It's like having your own personal salt water fish tank, or being in the movie "Finding Nemo"! I've seen moray eels, filibrated eels, huge schools of chevron barracuda, many, many lionfish and scorpion fish (both poisonous), and every type of bright coloured fish you can imagine - angel fish, squirrel fish, puffers, groupers, damsels, etc.
Yesterday, while doing fin pivots on the bottom (15 feet deep), all of a sudden my instructor came up to me, whipped me around aggressively, brushed at my shoulder and then moved away. What the hell?! He scared the shit out of me and got me very agitated, until I looked forward and there, staring me in the face, was a huge lionfish! Apparently, it had crept up behind me and had been sitting on my shoulder happily enjoying the ride. Except that these fish are poisonous and have big spines all over their body! And the spines were basically touching my head and shoulders, which could have resulted in a very, very nasty sting and most likely a trip to the emergency ward! But it wasn't aggressive, just curious. As are most of the sea life that I've run across. Even the giant puffer that we followed yesterday, got tired of us following us and decided to turn around and just stare, bug-eyed at us. I hope to see a shark or ray at some point in the next couple of days or next week.
This morning, I did my 2nd last dive to certify. We dove off a long tail boat at Koh Pu (crab island) on the rocky side. It was to be our "deep" dive for the certification, and we bottomed out at 18.1 metres depth. Not too shabby! The boulder field that we swam through was incredible. I saw my first anemone, along with clown fish and anemone crabs (apparently very rare), and numerous sea cucumbers, shrimp, seastars, and a whole host of fishes. It truly is amazing. The only problem is that you can only stay down for an hour on 200 bar of air! And an hour flies by so fast. Way too fast.
Needless to say, I haven't trained Muay Thai since Friday, which actually doesn't bother me all that much. I can train at home, where I'm comfortable and where I get the best of instruction anyway. Being at a gym here certainly makes me aware of, and appreciate, how good I have it at home! Not that I didn't before, but this solidifies that knowledge. But I can't dive in coral reefs at home, so I"m taking all the time I can to experience this here. It's relaxing me to no end. Deciding not to fight was the best decision I could have made!!
I've signed up to do my advanced diver course, which allows me to complete 5 specialities in 2 days: underwater photography, navigation, night diving, wreck diving, and deep water (30 metres). The photography section will be nice as I'll get a whole CD of photos of fish and me and videos and such to document the experience. I haven't been allowed to carry a camera underwater during my certification for Open Water. It also gets me out to a number of other dive sites around Phuket, and will make me a more comfortable diver, logging 5 additional hours of dive time before the weekend. So if I want to dive in Krabi, I'll feel ok in the water without my own instructor.
Time is flying while I'm here. I've been here 2.5 weeks already, which hardly seems possible. I'm finally adjusted to the time, and the temperature. 32 degrees doesn't feel hot anymore!! And water temperatures of 26 degrees actually feel a bit "chilly" in the morning! Although most of the time we are diving in 28 deg water. No wet suit for me! Other people do, but I don't seem to feel the cold as much (lots of insulation I guess!).
Saturday, I started my SSI (Scuba Schools International) Open Water certification with the Phuket Scuba Club. It is a 4 day course, with many DVDs, chapter readings and homework in the evenings, and 'confined' skills dives during the morning and afternoon. The advantage of doing an open water course here in Thailand is that "confined" water means just off Karon beach! It's not done in a pool, so getting used to the salt water, currents, waves and the hazards around you is inherent right from the beginning. I must admit, the taste of salt water is not to my liking, but you tend to get used to it (unless you swallow gallons of it, which I have done on occassion while practicing certain techniques). The course has been excellent and very thorough. For the first two days, I was alone with my instructor, Joel. The initial day, the first time descending was a shock. Actually, more than a shock. It scared the shit out of me! Yes, humans, a long way back, evolved out of marine life, but nowadays, man was never meant to breathe while underwater! Instinctively, it's something that you get a little uncomfortable with. Discomfort, slight apprehensive and even fear are three things I have had to get in touch with and conquer. Everything about diving is so new to me and it's been a fantastic learning and growth experience.
The skills I have learned include things like sharing air, controlled emergency ascents, taking off and putting on your equipment underwater, taking off and putting on your mask while underwater [try doing this and only breathing through your regulator without breathing in through your nose - difficult! Especially when you're used to have something clamped between your teeth (mouth guard) and breathing through your nose. This results in gallons of icky salt water up your nose and ultimately in your regulator, and a rushed ascent to surface to cough up all the horrid wet stuff]. Each day, I've gotten more and more comfortable in the water, and thus using less and less air on dives.
So far, I've logged 4.5 hours of dive time in the reefs around Karon beach. Unless you've had the experience of diving with all the amazing sea life in a tropical ocean, you can't even imagine how incredible it is. It's serene, calming, and very humbling. 72% of our planet is water and you truly get a sense of how much more diverse life is under the ocean. It's like having your own personal salt water fish tank, or being in the movie "Finding Nemo"! I've seen moray eels, filibrated eels, huge schools of chevron barracuda, many, many lionfish and scorpion fish (both poisonous), and every type of bright coloured fish you can imagine - angel fish, squirrel fish, puffers, groupers, damsels, etc.
Yesterday, while doing fin pivots on the bottom (15 feet deep), all of a sudden my instructor came up to me, whipped me around aggressively, brushed at my shoulder and then moved away. What the hell?! He scared the shit out of me and got me very agitated, until I looked forward and there, staring me in the face, was a huge lionfish! Apparently, it had crept up behind me and had been sitting on my shoulder happily enjoying the ride. Except that these fish are poisonous and have big spines all over their body! And the spines were basically touching my head and shoulders, which could have resulted in a very, very nasty sting and most likely a trip to the emergency ward! But it wasn't aggressive, just curious. As are most of the sea life that I've run across. Even the giant puffer that we followed yesterday, got tired of us following us and decided to turn around and just stare, bug-eyed at us. I hope to see a shark or ray at some point in the next couple of days or next week.
This morning, I did my 2nd last dive to certify. We dove off a long tail boat at Koh Pu (crab island) on the rocky side. It was to be our "deep" dive for the certification, and we bottomed out at 18.1 metres depth. Not too shabby! The boulder field that we swam through was incredible. I saw my first anemone, along with clown fish and anemone crabs (apparently very rare), and numerous sea cucumbers, shrimp, seastars, and a whole host of fishes. It truly is amazing. The only problem is that you can only stay down for an hour on 200 bar of air! And an hour flies by so fast. Way too fast.
Needless to say, I haven't trained Muay Thai since Friday, which actually doesn't bother me all that much. I can train at home, where I'm comfortable and where I get the best of instruction anyway. Being at a gym here certainly makes me aware of, and appreciate, how good I have it at home! Not that I didn't before, but this solidifies that knowledge. But I can't dive in coral reefs at home, so I"m taking all the time I can to experience this here. It's relaxing me to no end. Deciding not to fight was the best decision I could have made!!
I've signed up to do my advanced diver course, which allows me to complete 5 specialities in 2 days: underwater photography, navigation, night diving, wreck diving, and deep water (30 metres). The photography section will be nice as I'll get a whole CD of photos of fish and me and videos and such to document the experience. I haven't been allowed to carry a camera underwater during my certification for Open Water. It also gets me out to a number of other dive sites around Phuket, and will make me a more comfortable diver, logging 5 additional hours of dive time before the weekend. So if I want to dive in Krabi, I'll feel ok in the water without my own instructor.
Time is flying while I'm here. I've been here 2.5 weeks already, which hardly seems possible. I'm finally adjusted to the time, and the temperature. 32 degrees doesn't feel hot anymore!! And water temperatures of 26 degrees actually feel a bit "chilly" in the morning! Although most of the time we are diving in 28 deg water. No wet suit for me! Other people do, but I don't seem to feel the cold as much (lots of insulation I guess!).
Friday, January 04, 2008
A whole world of bananas
Tonight, I found the banana pancake woman in Kata. All is now well with the world. I hadn't seen any of these vendors to date while here, so the random walking tonight proved to be very fruitful!! I thought I was going through banana pancake withdrawal. I certainly am going through mango sticky rice withdrawal, but I can find that again in Bangkok. I am certain that banana pancakes are good for training. What's not to like? Banana in dough all fried up? But here, you can get one with egg as well, for that extra protein kick. And don't forget the Carnation milk and chocolate!!
Speaking of bananas, there's a whole world of banana species out here that I never knew about. Yes, the standard Chiquita-type banana that we are all familiar with is found here, but in addition are all other shapes and sizes! Tiny little fingerling ones, red ones, brown ones, big ones, small ones... My personal favorite, the meatiest of bananas I have ever encountered (if one can call a banana "meaty"), are the fat, stubby ones. About 3-4 inches long, and a good 1.5 inches in diameter. Awesome. I have 12 of them in my bungalow right now. They have become a staple after training and for breakfast. There are other fruit here I have just not figured out yet. Sour apple is okay, as is green mango (not my favorite). I can't say I'm a fan of papaya. Never liked it at home, and I haven't developed a liking for it here either. There are a few other fruits kicking around that I need to ask what they are as they are totally foreign to me. But taste good!
Three days of training have passed and I have to admit the puke factor came into play today! A typical afternoon training session goes as such:
3:30pm : run anywhere from 3-8 kms (I usually reserve longer runs to do by myself if I'm not training at that time)
4pm: skipping or bouncing on a tire (excellent workout I've discovered!)
4:30pm: stretching. Also excellent. Nothing like a good 20 min of stretching
4:45: shadow boxing, round 1 (goes on for 15 min or so)
5pm: wrap hands, shadow boxing round 2
5:25pm: depends on the day, but either sparring or bag work
5:30-6:30pm: a combination of bag work and pad work (at which time the puke factor starts hitting); 10 push ups between rounds every time
6:30pm - 7pm: sit ups, plyometrics, more sit ups, 15 min of cool down stretching
Morning training is the same, starting at 7:30am. Yup. I'm a little sore today after just three days of this so far! I've only been doing one session per day this week, and plan to advance to 2 per day next week, if I feel ok. No point in pushing it. And doing only one a day, plus an additional run or weights, I manage to get in some actual vacation as well!!
I did inform them that I'm not fighting while here, and the reaction was not one I would have expected. One of the owners was quite understanding, the other was pissed. Two of the head trainers were not happy either and still keep asking me if I want to fight and I have to keep saying no thanks. A weight was lifted off me when I finally told them no, and now I feel I can train in peace and not stress out about getting back to 100 % in 3 weeks. For some reason though, the idea of being injured and not training for a month didn't seem to make sense to them. I didn't think it was a difficult concept to understand!
Yesterday I went to the Phuket Aquarium and learned all about fish and swimming bug things and coral and plants/trees. At least now when I dive tomorrow, I will know what I am looking at. Walking the beaches here is like deja vu from working in Swap Shop at Science North! All those shell and coral names that I knew for so many years are apparently still stored in the hard drive and I actually remember them!
I've gotten into a bit of a routine after the evening training session. I shower, get dressed and head out on the moped to Kata. I have found this small restaurant (I hesitate to use the word restaurant as it's actually more a street vendor with a roof and a sit down area) run by a woman and her two daughters just outside the main center of Kata. It has 2 tables and awesome food!! For 30 - 60 baht ($1 - $2), I can eat a great meal. The chicken with basil and garlic is particularly awesome! As is the pad thai. Although it doesn't beat out the Phuket noodle dish with seafood I had on Karon beach - incredible. Yes, I am eating my way through Thailand! Thankfully training burns off a hell of alot more calories than I am putting in! And I'm staying away from the more fatty dishes which contain either fatty meats or coconut milk. Although I guess the banana pancake pretty much negates the concept of avoiding fatty things eh?!
Tomorrow I am going diving with a PADI-certified dive operation out of Kata. It's 2 hours in the classroom in the morning, then an intro lesson just off-shore on Kata beach, and 2 dives in the afternoon, one off a long tail boat. I can't wait. I might do my open water certificate with them, but I'm deciding if I want to spend the money or not.
Speaking of bananas, there's a whole world of banana species out here that I never knew about. Yes, the standard Chiquita-type banana that we are all familiar with is found here, but in addition are all other shapes and sizes! Tiny little fingerling ones, red ones, brown ones, big ones, small ones... My personal favorite, the meatiest of bananas I have ever encountered (if one can call a banana "meaty"), are the fat, stubby ones. About 3-4 inches long, and a good 1.5 inches in diameter. Awesome. I have 12 of them in my bungalow right now. They have become a staple after training and for breakfast. There are other fruit here I have just not figured out yet. Sour apple is okay, as is green mango (not my favorite). I can't say I'm a fan of papaya. Never liked it at home, and I haven't developed a liking for it here either. There are a few other fruits kicking around that I need to ask what they are as they are totally foreign to me. But taste good!
Three days of training have passed and I have to admit the puke factor came into play today! A typical afternoon training session goes as such:
3:30pm : run anywhere from 3-8 kms (I usually reserve longer runs to do by myself if I'm not training at that time)
4pm: skipping or bouncing on a tire (excellent workout I've discovered!)
4:30pm: stretching. Also excellent. Nothing like a good 20 min of stretching
4:45: shadow boxing, round 1 (goes on for 15 min or so)
5pm: wrap hands, shadow boxing round 2
5:25pm: depends on the day, but either sparring or bag work
5:30-6:30pm: a combination of bag work and pad work (at which time the puke factor starts hitting); 10 push ups between rounds every time
6:30pm - 7pm: sit ups, plyometrics, more sit ups, 15 min of cool down stretching
Morning training is the same, starting at 7:30am. Yup. I'm a little sore today after just three days of this so far! I've only been doing one session per day this week, and plan to advance to 2 per day next week, if I feel ok. No point in pushing it. And doing only one a day, plus an additional run or weights, I manage to get in some actual vacation as well!!
I did inform them that I'm not fighting while here, and the reaction was not one I would have expected. One of the owners was quite understanding, the other was pissed. Two of the head trainers were not happy either and still keep asking me if I want to fight and I have to keep saying no thanks. A weight was lifted off me when I finally told them no, and now I feel I can train in peace and not stress out about getting back to 100 % in 3 weeks. For some reason though, the idea of being injured and not training for a month didn't seem to make sense to them. I didn't think it was a difficult concept to understand!
Yesterday I went to the Phuket Aquarium and learned all about fish and swimming bug things and coral and plants/trees. At least now when I dive tomorrow, I will know what I am looking at. Walking the beaches here is like deja vu from working in Swap Shop at Science North! All those shell and coral names that I knew for so many years are apparently still stored in the hard drive and I actually remember them!
I've gotten into a bit of a routine after the evening training session. I shower, get dressed and head out on the moped to Kata. I have found this small restaurant (I hesitate to use the word restaurant as it's actually more a street vendor with a roof and a sit down area) run by a woman and her two daughters just outside the main center of Kata. It has 2 tables and awesome food!! For 30 - 60 baht ($1 - $2), I can eat a great meal. The chicken with basil and garlic is particularly awesome! As is the pad thai. Although it doesn't beat out the Phuket noodle dish with seafood I had on Karon beach - incredible. Yes, I am eating my way through Thailand! Thankfully training burns off a hell of alot more calories than I am putting in! And I'm staying away from the more fatty dishes which contain either fatty meats or coconut milk. Although I guess the banana pancake pretty much negates the concept of avoiding fatty things eh?!
Tomorrow I am going diving with a PADI-certified dive operation out of Kata. It's 2 hours in the classroom in the morning, then an intro lesson just off-shore on Kata beach, and 2 dives in the afternoon, one off a long tail boat. I can't wait. I might do my open water certificate with them, but I'm deciding if I want to spend the money or not.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year!!
Hey all you cold-climate types! Happy New Year! 2008, the year of the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa. Actually, that's a bit scary! 4 months from now, and all hell will break loose and sleep will be a thing of the past! 129 days to be exact.
Two days ago, I continued my exploration of Phuket island and discovered that the town of Phuket itself is dead boring. Not much to do, and since it was a Sunday, everything was closed on top of it! So I found my way out of the sleepy little town and headed for Koh Sirae, a small island just to the east of Phuket, connected by a bridge across a small causeway. Turns out this small little island is pretty much foreigner free (a good thing) and simply miles and miles of coconut, banana and rubber trees, and fishing villages in every bay. It was great! I spent a couple of hours exploring the majority of the island (impossible to get lost!), found Tsunami Village near the mangroves, and then decided to try out the restaurant at the abalone farm. Have you ever had abalone? It's pretty harmless as a food, a bit rubbery, but nothing to write home about. I also had something called a mantis prawn, or a mantis shrimp. Ugly sucker about 8 inches long with not alot of meat. They have an extremely hard exoskeleton compared to a normal shrimp (which apparently they feed on) and a bit of a fishy taste.
Yesterday, I spent New Year's Eve exploring around Kata beach. I discovered the viewpoint and then an awesome little private beach just to the southeast of Kata Noi. I followed this steep road down from the viewpoint until it turned into dirt, at which point a sign told me "go to beach", so, okay, why not?! It apparently was Mr. Siam's beach, and a beautiful little place, complete with restaurant, cold drinks, and the steepest friggin' trail leading a good 500 feet to the beach itself! After paying my 100 baht for access to the beach (and a bottle of water), I made the hike in sandals down to the bottom to discover only 4 other sun worshippers on the sand. It had the most awesome basalt outcrops so I bouldered up the side of one and plunked myself down for a sleep. The beach owner provided thick mattresses to lie on, so I scaled back down the rocks, went for swim and retrieved a mattress. Try bouldering up a cliff with sandals on and a thermarest in your hands! Needless to say, the exercise lead to a gash in my big toe (which now splits open and bleeds every time I whack it with my skipping rope, or pivot too hard on it), which I failed to notice until I got back up to the top of the outcrop. The gushing blood was the first clue that maybe I had done something to it! Oh well. A chunk missing from my right big toe, but I won't miss it. Although it was the first mishap of the day, that last day of 2007. I also wound up ditching my moped in downtown Karon, doing about 5 km/h, while trying to turn around along side the road in gravel. No damage to myself (except a skinned knee) nor the bike, but a good lesson in the dangers of traveling on one of these things. I've seen a number of fallen bikes in the middle of the roads and don't want to succumb to a case of road rash this early into my trip.
As the exciting party animal I am (NOT!), I wound up back at the gym and attempted to get my DVD player to work with no success (it's very fickle - sometimes it actually turns on, sometimes it will eat the DVD and not let it go), so I watched TV for a bit. My attempts at staying up til midnight were shortlived when I fell asleep at 9pm for the 2nd night in a row! Woo hoo!! The sun definitely takes the energy out of you. And I didn't even train yesterday!!
Today was another quiet day. I woke late (9am) and decided to forgo training in the morning for a ride into Kata for breakfast (crab and noodles) and then a coffee at the internet place on the main street. I then spent a while wandering along Kata beach, stooped over looking at various sea things washed up on the beach - coral, rocks, shells. I am attempting to find a cowrie for a friend back in Ottawa who collects them and doesn't have any from this region. Although in the process, I discovered the cool little patterns that the sand crabs make by extracting sand from their homes. They make little balls of the sand, and push them out onto the surface. Sounds boring, but the patterns that they make are fascinating!! Spirals, fractals, cones, etc. I now have possibly the world's best (only?) collection of crab ball sand formations! It's amazing what you can find to occupy your time when on holidays! The big crabs, they aren't at all creative and their dens have what amounts to blobs on the outside. The smaller crabs, the symmetry in their sand balls is amazing. Whenever I can figure out how to get the photos off my camera (need a card reader), I'll post some.
I also booked a day (Saturday) of diving. It's an introductory dive with a PADI certified company in Kata. They do a morning of videos and lectures, then take you out for a session in the water on the beach, then 2 dives in open water just off shore. If that works out ok, and my inner ear doesn't bother me, then I'll probably complete my open water certificate while here as well.
Late this afternoon I went for a run and then spent 10 rounds on the heavy bags at the gym, blood spewing on the mats from my toe. I'll have to figure out somehow to tape this thing up so it doesn't gush anymore. Tomorrow is my first day of real training. Not that what I've been doing on my own isn't training, it's just tomorrow is the first day with two full classes with the instructors. We have some nasty weather here right now, so I think I'll be happy to stay around camp. I drove out to Chalong Bay after training (mmm... banana pancakes on the pier...) and the boats are rocking around wildly, the sky is quite black and it looks like we're in for a storm. That said, since I'm not that eager to be on a motorcycle in the rain, I should head back! We'll see if I can last past 9am tonight.
Two days ago, I continued my exploration of Phuket island and discovered that the town of Phuket itself is dead boring. Not much to do, and since it was a Sunday, everything was closed on top of it! So I found my way out of the sleepy little town and headed for Koh Sirae, a small island just to the east of Phuket, connected by a bridge across a small causeway. Turns out this small little island is pretty much foreigner free (a good thing) and simply miles and miles of coconut, banana and rubber trees, and fishing villages in every bay. It was great! I spent a couple of hours exploring the majority of the island (impossible to get lost!), found Tsunami Village near the mangroves, and then decided to try out the restaurant at the abalone farm. Have you ever had abalone? It's pretty harmless as a food, a bit rubbery, but nothing to write home about. I also had something called a mantis prawn, or a mantis shrimp. Ugly sucker about 8 inches long with not alot of meat. They have an extremely hard exoskeleton compared to a normal shrimp (which apparently they feed on) and a bit of a fishy taste.
Yesterday, I spent New Year's Eve exploring around Kata beach. I discovered the viewpoint and then an awesome little private beach just to the southeast of Kata Noi. I followed this steep road down from the viewpoint until it turned into dirt, at which point a sign told me "go to beach", so, okay, why not?! It apparently was Mr. Siam's beach, and a beautiful little place, complete with restaurant, cold drinks, and the steepest friggin' trail leading a good 500 feet to the beach itself! After paying my 100 baht for access to the beach (and a bottle of water), I made the hike in sandals down to the bottom to discover only 4 other sun worshippers on the sand. It had the most awesome basalt outcrops so I bouldered up the side of one and plunked myself down for a sleep. The beach owner provided thick mattresses to lie on, so I scaled back down the rocks, went for swim and retrieved a mattress. Try bouldering up a cliff with sandals on and a thermarest in your hands! Needless to say, the exercise lead to a gash in my big toe (which now splits open and bleeds every time I whack it with my skipping rope, or pivot too hard on it), which I failed to notice until I got back up to the top of the outcrop. The gushing blood was the first clue that maybe I had done something to it! Oh well. A chunk missing from my right big toe, but I won't miss it. Although it was the first mishap of the day, that last day of 2007. I also wound up ditching my moped in downtown Karon, doing about 5 km/h, while trying to turn around along side the road in gravel. No damage to myself (except a skinned knee) nor the bike, but a good lesson in the dangers of traveling on one of these things. I've seen a number of fallen bikes in the middle of the roads and don't want to succumb to a case of road rash this early into my trip.
As the exciting party animal I am (NOT!), I wound up back at the gym and attempted to get my DVD player to work with no success (it's very fickle - sometimes it actually turns on, sometimes it will eat the DVD and not let it go), so I watched TV for a bit. My attempts at staying up til midnight were shortlived when I fell asleep at 9pm for the 2nd night in a row! Woo hoo!! The sun definitely takes the energy out of you. And I didn't even train yesterday!!
Today was another quiet day. I woke late (9am) and decided to forgo training in the morning for a ride into Kata for breakfast (crab and noodles) and then a coffee at the internet place on the main street. I then spent a while wandering along Kata beach, stooped over looking at various sea things washed up on the beach - coral, rocks, shells. I am attempting to find a cowrie for a friend back in Ottawa who collects them and doesn't have any from this region. Although in the process, I discovered the cool little patterns that the sand crabs make by extracting sand from their homes. They make little balls of the sand, and push them out onto the surface. Sounds boring, but the patterns that they make are fascinating!! Spirals, fractals, cones, etc. I now have possibly the world's best (only?) collection of crab ball sand formations! It's amazing what you can find to occupy your time when on holidays! The big crabs, they aren't at all creative and their dens have what amounts to blobs on the outside. The smaller crabs, the symmetry in their sand balls is amazing. Whenever I can figure out how to get the photos off my camera (need a card reader), I'll post some.
I also booked a day (Saturday) of diving. It's an introductory dive with a PADI certified company in Kata. They do a morning of videos and lectures, then take you out for a session in the water on the beach, then 2 dives in open water just off shore. If that works out ok, and my inner ear doesn't bother me, then I'll probably complete my open water certificate while here as well.
Late this afternoon I went for a run and then spent 10 rounds on the heavy bags at the gym, blood spewing on the mats from my toe. I'll have to figure out somehow to tape this thing up so it doesn't gush anymore. Tomorrow is my first day of real training. Not that what I've been doing on my own isn't training, it's just tomorrow is the first day with two full classes with the instructors. We have some nasty weather here right now, so I think I'll be happy to stay around camp. I drove out to Chalong Bay after training (mmm... banana pancakes on the pier...) and the boats are rocking around wildly, the sky is quite black and it looks like we're in for a storm. That said, since I'm not that eager to be on a motorcycle in the rain, I should head back! We'll see if I can last past 9am tonight.
Friday, December 28, 2007
1st day of training in Phuket (Chalong)
The last couple of days have been a whirlwind, but I've arrived in Phuket and am actually starting to feel relaxed. It's taken me almost a week to simply relax, not worry about work or the CWSF or the dog at home. Actually, that's not bad! It usually takes me a bit longer. I still feel somewhat tense, but that will diminish as training and the heat continues to tire me out.
My last day in Bangkok (27th) I spent going to Ayutthya to visit the old temples and purchase training daab for Krabi Krabong. The only problem is that I woke up in the moring at 9am, my alarm not gone off yet! I had set it for very early so I could catch a train and see all the sights before meeting Serge to buy daab. Apparently I had the clock set wrong (PM instead of AM) so had a bit of an unplanned sleep in! Although I slept through the night, so the rest was appreciated by my still somewhat jet-lagged body. I find that at 3pm every afternoon, I am ready to crash. It's getting better, but I'm still feeling a bit out of it. I think the exercise helps.
I dressed and got ready quickly, grabbed some quick food (horrid gross breakfast at the hotel), and took the Skytrain to Hualamphong train station. A ticket to Ayutthya was 30 baht ($1) and the trip was 1.5 hours. Total bargain!!! Although that was 3rd class, so no AC, but for that money and only a short ride, I didn't care.
Once in Ayutthya, I walked around a bit and called Serge. I wound up spending the afternoon with him (an ex-pat from Luxembourg who handles selling daab and knives from various craftsmen in Arynik). He took me first to the royal elephant kraal where I got to touch my very first elephants!! There were a couple of babies as well, one just born on Christmas day (they named him Santa...) and they were so cute!! And hairy! The mothers were somewhat protective, but in general they let you play with their babies, feeding them, handling them no problem. The babies like to play games and head-butt you (and even at 2 and 3 weeks old, these "babies" wheigh 300 lbs!) or undo the shoe laces on your running shoes! It was a great experience. Although I came away with elephant snot and dirt all over me! You can actually book to stay at the kraal for days at a time. During your stay, you take care of an elephant, help to do the training, cleaning feeding, etc. It's actually not all that touristy and if i had more time on my hands, I might consider a stay there.
After lunch at an Italian place, I spent an hour or so choosing daab at Serge's place before going into the village to see the forges and workshops. The process of making the daab is pretty simple actually - they cut a blank (taken from railway train springs) to the shape they want, then do all the forging, hammering, etc. The heating is done in an open pit with wood, and the quenching done just in water (no differential hardening at all). The blades are either etched or carved by a diamond-tip scribe for whatever design they want. But some of the woods they use are incredible! Tamarind, rose wood, teak, etc. All hard woods and beautiful. I wound up buying a set of training daab, a 16 inch and a 24 inch daab, both with teak handles and fantastic etchings. Very happy. :)
I took the train back to Bangkok at 7pm (15 baht this time - $0.50 !!) and crashed. I walked around for a bit, had some noodle soup, took a shower and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get to bed early.
Yesterday, I was up at 5:30am to catch my flight to Phuket at 7:55am. Yeah!! It's a short, 1.5 hour flight down the coast, only to step out into sunshine and hot, humid 36 degree weather! And I thought Bangkok was hot!! Nope, nothing compared to here. It's hot and sticky and sunny all the time!! Awesome! As long as you let your body get used to it and drink lots of water. A driver from the gym picked me up at the airport, and we drove the 20 minutes to the Tiger Muay Thai, which is located in Chalong, south of Phuket town. It's a bit in the middle of nowhere, which is nice. Off the main roads that go to Rawai, Nai Harn and Kata/Karon beaches. I'm staying in a private tropical bungalow (complete with banana and coconut trees in my front yard, roosters in the back yard, and my own house geckos!!). I rented an automatic Honda moped as well as it's the easiest way to get around town. I thought it would be more difficult to operate, but so far so good! Although I haven't gotten up to speeds more than 45 km/h yet! Driving on the left hand side of the road is the real worry - it takes a bit of time to learn to look in the opposite direction from what you're used to. But I like having the bike - it gives me the freedom to come and go as I please.
I had my first training session yesterday afternoon. The head instructor put me in the Advanced group right away, which is fine except I haven't really trained in a month because of my shoulder, so I'm a fat lazy slug right now! Nothing like being thrown in head-first to get back into training. Friday's are sparring days, so after lots of warm up and stretching, then some bag work, I got to do a few rounds against this somewhat beginner from South Africa/California. She's been here for a month, so really new, but out-weighed me by about 75 lbs!! Oh man, I got pushed around the ring by shear weight! And no control either, so she managed to knee me right in the crotch which hurt like a bitch. It's still sore today. Not impressed by that at all. Then we did some pad work which almost had me puking in the heat! 50 knees on the bag, followed by 20 right kicks, 20 left kicks and 20 pushups. Repeat 3 times. Yup. Puke factor up!
This morning, at 7am (early so the heat didn't kill us) we drove in the backs of pick-up trucks to Nai Harn beach where we worked out on the beach itself. After 20-25 minutes of running up and down the beach (yes, I think everyone should be able to run up and down a tropical beach to train every day!! it's fantastic to run in sand with palm trees and the surf at your feet), we spent 2 hours doing various technique workouts, shadow boxing, and then finished the session with a tug-of-war! Nice way to spend the morning, that's for sure.
So far I like it here. The trainers are nice and most farang visitors seem to be as well. There are a couple of Canadians here as well (2 from Ottawa actually, but the guy is a bit of a twit and very high on himself - trains MMA somewhere in town). They would like me to fight in Koh Lanta on Jan 18th, but I'm very apprehensive since I haven't been training and my shoulder still aches. I don't want to ruin it for training at home, something more important than a few weeks here. That aside, on a personal level, I also don't want to fight here without my own Kru in my corner. That's important to me. Here, I'm just another farang who they can stick in the ring and make money off of. If I get the shit kicked out of, or even not, they don't really care about me as a person. It would be fun to fight, so I don't want to sound like a chickenshit and say no to a fight, but realistically? is it the best move right now? Probably not. So, I'm here to train hard, to learn, to get back into shape after being off injured for a month, lose the weight I put on during that time, and come back to Canada ready to fight in the spring. Yes? Still, a part of me says "chickenshit".
I'm sitting in a small internet cafe just near Karon beach. Me and my little moped are taking the afternoon to sight-see along the coast. I stopped outside Chalong and had roast duck and pork with rice, and now will enjoy the sunshine! Since tomorrow is Sunday and the gym is then closed for 3 days for New Year's, tonight there is a huge bbq at the gym. All you can eat and drink for 250 baht. Woo hoo!! I think if I drank beer here though, I'd be sick as a dog tomorrow. More water on the menu!!
My last day in Bangkok (27th) I spent going to Ayutthya to visit the old temples and purchase training daab for Krabi Krabong. The only problem is that I woke up in the moring at 9am, my alarm not gone off yet! I had set it for very early so I could catch a train and see all the sights before meeting Serge to buy daab. Apparently I had the clock set wrong (PM instead of AM) so had a bit of an unplanned sleep in! Although I slept through the night, so the rest was appreciated by my still somewhat jet-lagged body. I find that at 3pm every afternoon, I am ready to crash. It's getting better, but I'm still feeling a bit out of it. I think the exercise helps.
I dressed and got ready quickly, grabbed some quick food (horrid gross breakfast at the hotel), and took the Skytrain to Hualamphong train station. A ticket to Ayutthya was 30 baht ($1) and the trip was 1.5 hours. Total bargain!!! Although that was 3rd class, so no AC, but for that money and only a short ride, I didn't care.
Once in Ayutthya, I walked around a bit and called Serge. I wound up spending the afternoon with him (an ex-pat from Luxembourg who handles selling daab and knives from various craftsmen in Arynik). He took me first to the royal elephant kraal where I got to touch my very first elephants!! There were a couple of babies as well, one just born on Christmas day (they named him Santa...) and they were so cute!! And hairy! The mothers were somewhat protective, but in general they let you play with their babies, feeding them, handling them no problem. The babies like to play games and head-butt you (and even at 2 and 3 weeks old, these "babies" wheigh 300 lbs!) or undo the shoe laces on your running shoes! It was a great experience. Although I came away with elephant snot and dirt all over me! You can actually book to stay at the kraal for days at a time. During your stay, you take care of an elephant, help to do the training, cleaning feeding, etc. It's actually not all that touristy and if i had more time on my hands, I might consider a stay there.
After lunch at an Italian place, I spent an hour or so choosing daab at Serge's place before going into the village to see the forges and workshops. The process of making the daab is pretty simple actually - they cut a blank (taken from railway train springs) to the shape they want, then do all the forging, hammering, etc. The heating is done in an open pit with wood, and the quenching done just in water (no differential hardening at all). The blades are either etched or carved by a diamond-tip scribe for whatever design they want. But some of the woods they use are incredible! Tamarind, rose wood, teak, etc. All hard woods and beautiful. I wound up buying a set of training daab, a 16 inch and a 24 inch daab, both with teak handles and fantastic etchings. Very happy. :)
I took the train back to Bangkok at 7pm (15 baht this time - $0.50 !!) and crashed. I walked around for a bit, had some noodle soup, took a shower and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get to bed early.
Yesterday, I was up at 5:30am to catch my flight to Phuket at 7:55am. Yeah!! It's a short, 1.5 hour flight down the coast, only to step out into sunshine and hot, humid 36 degree weather! And I thought Bangkok was hot!! Nope, nothing compared to here. It's hot and sticky and sunny all the time!! Awesome! As long as you let your body get used to it and drink lots of water. A driver from the gym picked me up at the airport, and we drove the 20 minutes to the Tiger Muay Thai, which is located in Chalong, south of Phuket town. It's a bit in the middle of nowhere, which is nice. Off the main roads that go to Rawai, Nai Harn and Kata/Karon beaches. I'm staying in a private tropical bungalow (complete with banana and coconut trees in my front yard, roosters in the back yard, and my own house geckos!!). I rented an automatic Honda moped as well as it's the easiest way to get around town. I thought it would be more difficult to operate, but so far so good! Although I haven't gotten up to speeds more than 45 km/h yet! Driving on the left hand side of the road is the real worry - it takes a bit of time to learn to look in the opposite direction from what you're used to. But I like having the bike - it gives me the freedom to come and go as I please.
I had my first training session yesterday afternoon. The head instructor put me in the Advanced group right away, which is fine except I haven't really trained in a month because of my shoulder, so I'm a fat lazy slug right now! Nothing like being thrown in head-first to get back into training. Friday's are sparring days, so after lots of warm up and stretching, then some bag work, I got to do a few rounds against this somewhat beginner from South Africa/California. She's been here for a month, so really new, but out-weighed me by about 75 lbs!! Oh man, I got pushed around the ring by shear weight! And no control either, so she managed to knee me right in the crotch which hurt like a bitch. It's still sore today. Not impressed by that at all. Then we did some pad work which almost had me puking in the heat! 50 knees on the bag, followed by 20 right kicks, 20 left kicks and 20 pushups. Repeat 3 times. Yup. Puke factor up!
This morning, at 7am (early so the heat didn't kill us) we drove in the backs of pick-up trucks to Nai Harn beach where we worked out on the beach itself. After 20-25 minutes of running up and down the beach (yes, I think everyone should be able to run up and down a tropical beach to train every day!! it's fantastic to run in sand with palm trees and the surf at your feet), we spent 2 hours doing various technique workouts, shadow boxing, and then finished the session with a tug-of-war! Nice way to spend the morning, that's for sure.
So far I like it here. The trainers are nice and most farang visitors seem to be as well. There are a couple of Canadians here as well (2 from Ottawa actually, but the guy is a bit of a twit and very high on himself - trains MMA somewhere in town). They would like me to fight in Koh Lanta on Jan 18th, but I'm very apprehensive since I haven't been training and my shoulder still aches. I don't want to ruin it for training at home, something more important than a few weeks here. That aside, on a personal level, I also don't want to fight here without my own Kru in my corner. That's important to me. Here, I'm just another farang who they can stick in the ring and make money off of. If I get the shit kicked out of, or even not, they don't really care about me as a person. It would be fun to fight, so I don't want to sound like a chickenshit and say no to a fight, but realistically? is it the best move right now? Probably not. So, I'm here to train hard, to learn, to get back into shape after being off injured for a month, lose the weight I put on during that time, and come back to Canada ready to fight in the spring. Yes? Still, a part of me says "chickenshit".
I'm sitting in a small internet cafe just near Karon beach. Me and my little moped are taking the afternoon to sight-see along the coast. I stopped outside Chalong and had roast duck and pork with rice, and now will enjoy the sunshine! Since tomorrow is Sunday and the gym is then closed for 3 days for New Year's, tonight there is a huge bbq at the gym. All you can eat and drink for 250 baht. Woo hoo!! I think if I drank beer here though, I'd be sick as a dog tomorrow. More water on the menu!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Spoons: not just for soup anymore.
A few things I have learned about Thailand in the last couple of days:
1. Always tell your taxi driver to put his meter on before leaving.
2. Always bring kleenex into washrooms. And if going into a Turkish (aka: squatter) toilet, make sure your sense of balance is working that day.
3. Spoons: not just for soup anymore. Thais use a spoon like we use a fork. Actually, quite efficient.
4. Never travel by taxi at 3pm in the afternoon. BTS is much quicker, unless you're supremely bored and like watching rush-hour traffic.
5. Tuk tuks are rip-offs, period.
6. There are Starbucks in strategic places across town - for the coffee-addict amongst us, it is best to find these places asap otherwise you will definitely regret drinking Thai coffee.
7. Carnation milk can top any food group, from sticky rice to ice cream to coffee to mango.
8. Riding for 5 hours in a Thai taxi will make you very, VERY car sick.
The last 2 days have been a melange of experiences. I am getting used to Bangkok - I discovered that I've learned the ropes when the cab driver who took me back from the Suan Lam Night Bazaar to the Ambassador Hotel tonight didn't put on his meter right away and decided that he wanted to bargain for a fare. No way man! He wanted 80 baht, a ridiculous amount for the distance of travel. I think he was either (1) impressed or (2) pissed when I insisted on the meter. Turns out the trip was 50 baht. Not a big difference if you do the conversion, but it was the principlet that counted - the "don't screw over a farang" principle!
Yesterday, I met up with Spencer, the German who runs the sak-yant.com website, who is an expert in sak yant and Buddhism in general. He met me on Khao San Road as he was willing to take me out to his Ajarn, the monk Hlwong Pi Pant. He used to be at Wat Bang Pra, but now has his own Wat, Wat Kho Phoon [Wat of the Concrete Cow (seriously!!)] way out in Ang Thong province, north of Ayutthya. I actually feel very privileged as I am the first farang that Spencer has taken out there in a long time, and I am most likely the last female to receive a sak yant from H.P Pant - there are workings afoot to restrict monks from tattooing females.
We took a cab out to Ang Thong, but took the long way around - via country roads rather than the main freeway. It was actually a great trip - I wouldn't have seen this scenary otherwise. Being out of Bangkok and in the countryside was a treat - rice field far and wide, local farmers in the fields or in the creeks/rivers harvesting crops and fishing, water buffalo roaming the roads, etc. It was nice to see something other than concrete. However, the taxi ride was not the most enjoyable experience for me! I think jet lag finally caught up with me and I was extremely car sick for the entire 2.5 hour ride out there. I had to get Spencer to tell the driver to pull over into a gas station so I could get some fresh air, some water and juice, and convince myself that I wasn't going to hurl all over the back seat! I've never been car sick in my life, so the only thing I can attribute this to was jet lag and the fumes along the roads.
We finally made it to Ang Thong after minor delays and being misplaced in random fields. Wat Kho Phoon is a collection of run-down buildings near a small village school. H.P. Pant has moved from Wat Bang Pra to restore this Wat - rebuilding the monestary and temple, and helping the near by school. Definitely a worthwhile endeavor and worth contributing to.
H.P. Pant himself is the first monk I have had direct contact with for any length of time, and it was a great experience. When we arrived, he was in his main office area with a number of his young (13-18 year old) disciples. And 2 minature poodles and one cat! It was a friendly, comforting environment to be in. H.P. Pant is a smiling, happy man with a great sense of humor. And given the language barrier between us, this was actually not a difficult thing to figure out!! He seems to very much enjoy his position (his job?) and the people who were there. He laughed and joked with me throughout my stay. When he was asking me what yant I wanted, and I said a Hanuman for protection and strength of self, he showed me the one he would do, but then kept joking and showing me a baby Hanuman - "Baby monkey! Baby monkey!!".
The yant I got is right below the gao yord by Ajarn Kaew. And it hurt worse, and took amost an hour to do. Because I'm a female, he had to do the work through a sheet while Spencer and 2 other of the boys held my back and shoulder. He kept asking "Ok?" to which I'd reply yes, and he'd respond "Cool, cool!!". Fuck no, not cool! It hurt like hell!! But it's very detailed and beautiful. At the end of it, he blessed the yant with the mantra, and gave me an original amulet from Wat Bang Pra (they aren't being made anymore). He told me I am "strong like a bull", which I think is a compliment? We spent a bit more time at the Wat, talking and joking, then had to leave as our taxi driver was waiting outside for us. He drove us to the wat, waited 2.5 hours, then drove us back to Bangkok. All for 1500 baht!
Actually, the cab ride was an experience in itself. The driver went looking for a fighting rooster while we were with H.P. Pant, so we had a long discussion on the way back to Bangkok about cock fighting. Here in the North, the roosters don't fight to the death. One basically turns "chicken" and tries to run off when it can't take the fight any longer. In the south, they do fight to the death. I had asked the driver to get me a spur if he found one, but since they don't kill each other here, they don't use spurs.
Back in Bangkok, I had the taxi and Spencer drop me off at Khao San Road so I could get a bit of fresh air and walk to the hotel. I was still feeling like crap from the return car ride (1 hour on th freeway, but still nauseous the entire way!), so stopped to get some food. I was back at the hotel, in bed, by 9pm! Merry Christmas!
I finally got a good night's sleep last night (the night before was horrible and my shoulder was aching something fierce), so this morning I felt ready to tackle the streets of Bangkok again. I decided on a long walk, mainly to get to the Monks' Bowl Village north of China Town, and then with thoughts of getting to the river (never made it there). I wound up stopping at a lapidary shop and looking at stones and rings. I broke down and bought a small (0.37 carat) ruby in silver in a ring. It's not a perfect stone (for 2000 baht, it couldn't be!), but it's kinda cute, and it is my birthstone. The salesman dealt with me as a regular customer initially, but before long came to realize I knew more than a normal person. Asking to see the stone in a microscope or a hand lens might have tipped him off! And showing him the flaws in a few of the other stones I didn't buy might have done that too... But it is a real ruby, and isn't fractured but has an inclusion or two, which I think is what gives it character.
The monk's bowl village was really neat. They make bowls for alms out of steel and copper in the traditional way - 8 separate pieces (representing the 8 ways of the Buddha) are hammered together, welded with copper wire, and then hammered and polished. There are 6 separate steps in the process, all done by hand. It takes 5 days to make one bowl and there are only 5-6 familes in the "village" doing the craft. Fascinating actually. The bowls are beautiful.
Ok, the minature poodle in this internet cafe just pee'd on the floor beside me!
After an unsuccessful attempt at getting a taxi to the Ambassador Hotel, I wound up hopping the BTS (skytrain) in rush hour traffic. I think I like the Baan Chantra in Banglamphu better, although it was more expensive. This is a big hotel in a business neighbourhood. Baan Chantra was quaint, quiet and in the old part of Bangkok. But being here will give me a chance to explore this side of the city.
I went for supper on Soi 38 (very spicey, amazing tasting squid and shrimp on rice!), and then headed off to the Suan Lam night bazaar at Lumphini station. What a freakin' crazy place!! Wow! It was so awesome!! Anything and everything you wanted to buy, eat or drink, and it was there! It's HUGE. I was totally lost at one point - had no idea where the exit might be! Actually, they had many handicrafts and art that I have yet seen in other stores/markets, which was a nice change from the knock-off crap. I picked up a really cool hand-made leather/paint Hanuman print to frame. In one section, you can buy coupons and then buy food and beer. Given that they were having some sort of German beerfest, I was able to get a dunkel wheat beer! No Beer Chang! And the music was something. Young Thais screaming English pop songs on stage. I say screaming as they weren't really singing. I think they were trying to sing (?) but their interpretations of songs by the likes of AC/DC were hilarious! Beer-induced I would think. But highly amusing!
Tomorrow I head to Ayutthya and Aranyik to visit the old city and buy daab. How I will get these things home, I have no idea. Actually, I'm having that problem in general - I keep seeing beautiful art and teak that I would like to buy, but how do you ship a 4 foot long teak lintel, or 3 foot high Buddha statue home?!
That's all for today folks. It's 1am and I have to be up early! Chok dee!
1. Always tell your taxi driver to put his meter on before leaving.
2. Always bring kleenex into washrooms. And if going into a Turkish (aka: squatter) toilet, make sure your sense of balance is working that day.
3. Spoons: not just for soup anymore. Thais use a spoon like we use a fork. Actually, quite efficient.
4. Never travel by taxi at 3pm in the afternoon. BTS is much quicker, unless you're supremely bored and like watching rush-hour traffic.
5. Tuk tuks are rip-offs, period.
6. There are Starbucks in strategic places across town - for the coffee-addict amongst us, it is best to find these places asap otherwise you will definitely regret drinking Thai coffee.
7. Carnation milk can top any food group, from sticky rice to ice cream to coffee to mango.
8. Riding for 5 hours in a Thai taxi will make you very, VERY car sick.
The last 2 days have been a melange of experiences. I am getting used to Bangkok - I discovered that I've learned the ropes when the cab driver who took me back from the Suan Lam Night Bazaar to the Ambassador Hotel tonight didn't put on his meter right away and decided that he wanted to bargain for a fare. No way man! He wanted 80 baht, a ridiculous amount for the distance of travel. I think he was either (1) impressed or (2) pissed when I insisted on the meter. Turns out the trip was 50 baht. Not a big difference if you do the conversion, but it was the principlet that counted - the "don't screw over a farang" principle!
Yesterday, I met up with Spencer, the German who runs the sak-yant.com website, who is an expert in sak yant and Buddhism in general. He met me on Khao San Road as he was willing to take me out to his Ajarn, the monk Hlwong Pi Pant. He used to be at Wat Bang Pra, but now has his own Wat, Wat Kho Phoon [Wat of the Concrete Cow (seriously!!)] way out in Ang Thong province, north of Ayutthya. I actually feel very privileged as I am the first farang that Spencer has taken out there in a long time, and I am most likely the last female to receive a sak yant from H.P Pant - there are workings afoot to restrict monks from tattooing females.
We took a cab out to Ang Thong, but took the long way around - via country roads rather than the main freeway. It was actually a great trip - I wouldn't have seen this scenary otherwise. Being out of Bangkok and in the countryside was a treat - rice field far and wide, local farmers in the fields or in the creeks/rivers harvesting crops and fishing, water buffalo roaming the roads, etc. It was nice to see something other than concrete. However, the taxi ride was not the most enjoyable experience for me! I think jet lag finally caught up with me and I was extremely car sick for the entire 2.5 hour ride out there. I had to get Spencer to tell the driver to pull over into a gas station so I could get some fresh air, some water and juice, and convince myself that I wasn't going to hurl all over the back seat! I've never been car sick in my life, so the only thing I can attribute this to was jet lag and the fumes along the roads.
We finally made it to Ang Thong after minor delays and being misplaced in random fields. Wat Kho Phoon is a collection of run-down buildings near a small village school. H.P. Pant has moved from Wat Bang Pra to restore this Wat - rebuilding the monestary and temple, and helping the near by school. Definitely a worthwhile endeavor and worth contributing to.
H.P. Pant himself is the first monk I have had direct contact with for any length of time, and it was a great experience. When we arrived, he was in his main office area with a number of his young (13-18 year old) disciples. And 2 minature poodles and one cat! It was a friendly, comforting environment to be in. H.P. Pant is a smiling, happy man with a great sense of humor. And given the language barrier between us, this was actually not a difficult thing to figure out!! He seems to very much enjoy his position (his job?) and the people who were there. He laughed and joked with me throughout my stay. When he was asking me what yant I wanted, and I said a Hanuman for protection and strength of self, he showed me the one he would do, but then kept joking and showing me a baby Hanuman - "Baby monkey! Baby monkey!!".
The yant I got is right below the gao yord by Ajarn Kaew. And it hurt worse, and took amost an hour to do. Because I'm a female, he had to do the work through a sheet while Spencer and 2 other of the boys held my back and shoulder. He kept asking "Ok?" to which I'd reply yes, and he'd respond "Cool, cool!!". Fuck no, not cool! It hurt like hell!! But it's very detailed and beautiful. At the end of it, he blessed the yant with the mantra, and gave me an original amulet from Wat Bang Pra (they aren't being made anymore). He told me I am "strong like a bull", which I think is a compliment? We spent a bit more time at the Wat, talking and joking, then had to leave as our taxi driver was waiting outside for us. He drove us to the wat, waited 2.5 hours, then drove us back to Bangkok. All for 1500 baht!
Actually, the cab ride was an experience in itself. The driver went looking for a fighting rooster while we were with H.P. Pant, so we had a long discussion on the way back to Bangkok about cock fighting. Here in the North, the roosters don't fight to the death. One basically turns "chicken" and tries to run off when it can't take the fight any longer. In the south, they do fight to the death. I had asked the driver to get me a spur if he found one, but since they don't kill each other here, they don't use spurs.
Back in Bangkok, I had the taxi and Spencer drop me off at Khao San Road so I could get a bit of fresh air and walk to the hotel. I was still feeling like crap from the return car ride (1 hour on th freeway, but still nauseous the entire way!), so stopped to get some food. I was back at the hotel, in bed, by 9pm! Merry Christmas!
I finally got a good night's sleep last night (the night before was horrible and my shoulder was aching something fierce), so this morning I felt ready to tackle the streets of Bangkok again. I decided on a long walk, mainly to get to the Monks' Bowl Village north of China Town, and then with thoughts of getting to the river (never made it there). I wound up stopping at a lapidary shop and looking at stones and rings. I broke down and bought a small (0.37 carat) ruby in silver in a ring. It's not a perfect stone (for 2000 baht, it couldn't be!), but it's kinda cute, and it is my birthstone. The salesman dealt with me as a regular customer initially, but before long came to realize I knew more than a normal person. Asking to see the stone in a microscope or a hand lens might have tipped him off! And showing him the flaws in a few of the other stones I didn't buy might have done that too... But it is a real ruby, and isn't fractured but has an inclusion or two, which I think is what gives it character.
The monk's bowl village was really neat. They make bowls for alms out of steel and copper in the traditional way - 8 separate pieces (representing the 8 ways of the Buddha) are hammered together, welded with copper wire, and then hammered and polished. There are 6 separate steps in the process, all done by hand. It takes 5 days to make one bowl and there are only 5-6 familes in the "village" doing the craft. Fascinating actually. The bowls are beautiful.
Ok, the minature poodle in this internet cafe just pee'd on the floor beside me!
After an unsuccessful attempt at getting a taxi to the Ambassador Hotel, I wound up hopping the BTS (skytrain) in rush hour traffic. I think I like the Baan Chantra in Banglamphu better, although it was more expensive. This is a big hotel in a business neighbourhood. Baan Chantra was quaint, quiet and in the old part of Bangkok. But being here will give me a chance to explore this side of the city.
I went for supper on Soi 38 (very spicey, amazing tasting squid and shrimp on rice!), and then headed off to the Suan Lam night bazaar at Lumphini station. What a freakin' crazy place!! Wow! It was so awesome!! Anything and everything you wanted to buy, eat or drink, and it was there! It's HUGE. I was totally lost at one point - had no idea where the exit might be! Actually, they had many handicrafts and art that I have yet seen in other stores/markets, which was a nice change from the knock-off crap. I picked up a really cool hand-made leather/paint Hanuman print to frame. In one section, you can buy coupons and then buy food and beer. Given that they were having some sort of German beerfest, I was able to get a dunkel wheat beer! No Beer Chang! And the music was something. Young Thais screaming English pop songs on stage. I say screaming as they weren't really singing. I think they were trying to sing (?) but their interpretations of songs by the likes of AC/DC were hilarious! Beer-induced I would think. But highly amusing!
Tomorrow I head to Ayutthya and Aranyik to visit the old city and buy daab. How I will get these things home, I have no idea. Actually, I'm having that problem in general - I keep seeing beautiful art and teak that I would like to buy, but how do you ship a 4 foot long teak lintel, or 3 foot high Buddha statue home?!
That's all for today folks. It's 1am and I have to be up early! Chok dee!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas in the tropics
As a short summary of the activities on Christmas Eve, I have composed a rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" for you all. Enjoy! Remember, this creative little biddy was composed after a long day while lying in bed after 3 Beer Chang!
The 12 Days of Christmas (Eve), Bangkok style
One the 12th day of Christmas Bangkok gave to me;
12 crazy tuk-tuks
11 t-shirt vendors
10 nak muays fighting
9 dogs a-barking
8 stunning wats
7 smelly khlongs
6 monks a-praying
5 Beer Chang!
4 pig part soups
3 stunning wats
2 sak yant tats,
And a rooster in a banana tree!!
Thank you, thank you, I know my lyrical abilities have stunned you all!! Grin!
Christmas Eve in Bangkok was actually not as strange as I thought it would be. This is only the 2nd time I have not been in Sudbury for Christmas in 33 years, and I'm not entirely sure there's anything wrong with that. I feel a bad that I'm not with my family for all the group fun and festivity, but it's not the holiday I miss. I did call home yesterday, and again today while everyone was over for Christmas Eve supper. They had turkey for supper: last night I had what can best be described as "pig part soup".
For my festivities, I spent the morning walking around this area randomly, through back sois and along the khlongs. I find this is the best way to explore my surroundings, and to discover the non-tourist areas. I got myself good and lost actually!! I finally hopped a taxi and went to MBK. For all intensive purposes, MBK is a 7 story mall. But a mall unlike any in Canada! It contains 7 floors of knock-offs, cheap electronics, rows upon rows of silk, coconut and teak products, and whole floors dedicated to furniture or food! It was a lot for a jet-lagged farang to deal with on the 2nd day in the city! I spent a few hours cruising around the various levels, completely mind-blown at the number of stalls, the number of people, and the obscene sayings/pictures on some of the t-shirts!! Although the best one I have seen is "Adidogs", a play on the "Addidas" logo, which I thought was hilarious. I might pick up one of those! I did buy a few silk pictures for framing and gifts, but otherwise did not buy any souvenirs. I'm attempting to leave that for the end of the trip so that I don't have to lug anything around for the next 4-5 weeks.
About 2 hours into my foray, I got side-tracked and fell into a massage parlour. One of the best ways to spoil yourself: spend 1.5 hours getting a massage, pedicure and manicure! It was incredible. The ladies taking care of me were amazing, and also got a kick out of my calves, and then, I think, frightened of the calluses on my feet (saying "muay thai" seemed to explain all!). The entire experience was amazing and incredibly relaxing. There is nothing like a foot massage after a full day of city trekking! And now I have pink toes (first time for everything) and clean feet! Well, for an hour anyway - the dirt from the city seems to get right through my shoes and turns my socks and feet a lovely shade of grey.
After MBK, I took a moped taxi (insert huge grin here! way too much fun) to Ratchadamnern Boxing Stadium and bought a ring-side ticket for the fights. Being there an hour early left me time to do some shopping at the Raja store attached to the stadium, and participate in the Thai tail-gating party outside the stadium. Dozens of people were sitting on small stools around open-air food carts, drinking beer and waiting for the fights to begin. I grabbed a seat, the only farang in the crowd, and ordered a bowl of what I can only best describe as "pig part soup". The lady cooking said "pork - do you want everything?", so, being open to eating anything, I said sure! I think (but don't quote me on this), the soup contain liver, kidney, uterus, tripe, and then just general pork. As well as chilies and bok choy. It was great!
I watched 8 fights in the stadium, starting with 2 fights of 15 and 17 year olds (no young kids, which I was grateful for). It was a great display, sometimes of technique, sometimes of shear ferocity and balls. 3 fighters were taken out of the ring on a stretcher (2 of them due to knees to the liver/abdomen), but most of the fights were decisions. Very few elbows, which surprised me. I made friends with one of the security guards standing at the gate near the red corner and chatted with him, in very broken English, about the talent, trying to decide who was the better fighter.
After 3 beer Chang and 8 fights, I decided it was time to drag my sorry, tired self back to the hotel for some sleep. I took a motorcycle taxi (no, I don't have a death wish! This form of transport is just way too much fun!) from the stadium to Khao San Road where I went in search of a late-night snack of mango and sticky rice. Yum! I think this is my new favorite food. Khao San Road is an all-night party. Maybe later in the week, when my body (and mind) has acclimatized, but last night, hanging out wasn't an option! Grabbing my sticky rice, I looked in a few shops, and headed home.
Merry Christmas!
Another day breaks, another breakfast of curry, and let the fun begin again!!
Okay, maybe after another cup of coffee and a Tylenol...
The 12 Days of Christmas (Eve), Bangkok style
One the 12th day of Christmas Bangkok gave to me;
12 crazy tuk-tuks
11 t-shirt vendors
10 nak muays fighting
9 dogs a-barking
8 stunning wats
7 smelly khlongs
6 monks a-praying
5 Beer Chang!
4 pig part soups
3 stunning wats
2 sak yant tats,
And a rooster in a banana tree!!
Thank you, thank you, I know my lyrical abilities have stunned you all!! Grin!
Christmas Eve in Bangkok was actually not as strange as I thought it would be. This is only the 2nd time I have not been in Sudbury for Christmas in 33 years, and I'm not entirely sure there's anything wrong with that. I feel a bad that I'm not with my family for all the group fun and festivity, but it's not the holiday I miss. I did call home yesterday, and again today while everyone was over for Christmas Eve supper. They had turkey for supper: last night I had what can best be described as "pig part soup".
For my festivities, I spent the morning walking around this area randomly, through back sois and along the khlongs. I find this is the best way to explore my surroundings, and to discover the non-tourist areas. I got myself good and lost actually!! I finally hopped a taxi and went to MBK. For all intensive purposes, MBK is a 7 story mall. But a mall unlike any in Canada! It contains 7 floors of knock-offs, cheap electronics, rows upon rows of silk, coconut and teak products, and whole floors dedicated to furniture or food! It was a lot for a jet-lagged farang to deal with on the 2nd day in the city! I spent a few hours cruising around the various levels, completely mind-blown at the number of stalls, the number of people, and the obscene sayings/pictures on some of the t-shirts!! Although the best one I have seen is "Adidogs", a play on the "Addidas" logo, which I thought was hilarious. I might pick up one of those! I did buy a few silk pictures for framing and gifts, but otherwise did not buy any souvenirs. I'm attempting to leave that for the end of the trip so that I don't have to lug anything around for the next 4-5 weeks.
About 2 hours into my foray, I got side-tracked and fell into a massage parlour. One of the best ways to spoil yourself: spend 1.5 hours getting a massage, pedicure and manicure! It was incredible. The ladies taking care of me were amazing, and also got a kick out of my calves, and then, I think, frightened of the calluses on my feet (saying "muay thai" seemed to explain all!). The entire experience was amazing and incredibly relaxing. There is nothing like a foot massage after a full day of city trekking! And now I have pink toes (first time for everything) and clean feet! Well, for an hour anyway - the dirt from the city seems to get right through my shoes and turns my socks and feet a lovely shade of grey.
After MBK, I took a moped taxi (insert huge grin here! way too much fun) to Ratchadamnern Boxing Stadium and bought a ring-side ticket for the fights. Being there an hour early left me time to do some shopping at the Raja store attached to the stadium, and participate in the Thai tail-gating party outside the stadium. Dozens of people were sitting on small stools around open-air food carts, drinking beer and waiting for the fights to begin. I grabbed a seat, the only farang in the crowd, and ordered a bowl of what I can only best describe as "pig part soup". The lady cooking said "pork - do you want everything?", so, being open to eating anything, I said sure! I think (but don't quote me on this), the soup contain liver, kidney, uterus, tripe, and then just general pork. As well as chilies and bok choy. It was great!
I watched 8 fights in the stadium, starting with 2 fights of 15 and 17 year olds (no young kids, which I was grateful for). It was a great display, sometimes of technique, sometimes of shear ferocity and balls. 3 fighters were taken out of the ring on a stretcher (2 of them due to knees to the liver/abdomen), but most of the fights were decisions. Very few elbows, which surprised me. I made friends with one of the security guards standing at the gate near the red corner and chatted with him, in very broken English, about the talent, trying to decide who was the better fighter.
After 3 beer Chang and 8 fights, I decided it was time to drag my sorry, tired self back to the hotel for some sleep. I took a motorcycle taxi (no, I don't have a death wish! This form of transport is just way too much fun!) from the stadium to Khao San Road where I went in search of a late-night snack of mango and sticky rice. Yum! I think this is my new favorite food. Khao San Road is an all-night party. Maybe later in the week, when my body (and mind) has acclimatized, but last night, hanging out wasn't an option! Grabbing my sticky rice, I looked in a few shops, and headed home.
Merry Christmas!
Another day breaks, another breakfast of curry, and let the fun begin again!!
Okay, maybe after another cup of coffee and a Tylenol...
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