August 2012 – Brave or Foolhardy

August 31, 2012

Chiang Mai – Centre

Jumping onto the local sorng tao buses yesterday we were dropped off at the impressive South Gate to the city wall of Chiang Mai. It was to be the start of a full on tour of the city centre which which had thus far failed to achieve despite staying nearby for over a week.

We approximated the lonely planet walking tour but focused on some key objectives.

1) a shop selling items made by street children to begin our souvenir hunt.
2) lunch at the blue diamond cafe
3) escaping the heat at the air conditioned cultural museum
4) visiting the Wat for monk chatting
5) finishing souvenir buying in the night market

Ihave to sau that given we have a young family, they have really come along during our trip. If we had asked them to walk this much in one day back in June it would have caused a cacophony of wailing before we were even half way round.

Lunch was delightful, I had a handsome tuna and avocado salad washed down with hill tribe coffee.

Walking to the cultural centre we were acutely aware that Chiang Mai is a traveller haven and on those streets the backpackers are in the majority.

Following a top up on the history of Chiang Mai and the Lanna Kingdom we felt that we were going to expire before the day was done

We therefore made a stop at Central Plaza Mall because we all thought the afternoon/evening activities would go more smoothly with a rest and an ice cream.

Chatting to the monks was neat and we spent nearly an hour discussing the teaching of meditation, objectives and moralities.

By the time we got oto the night market we were hungry and my nemesis awaited. There is a food court procedure here that I will never understand the benefit of. You cannot buy food with cash. You have to convert cash to coupons and then spend the coupons. It is utterly pointless in this age and I spent 30 mins dancing between stalls, cashier booths and the separate place to purchase drinks. I will not miss that element of Asia at all.

The night market was fairly predictable so I will close to say we had a full and fulfilling day.

[geolocation]

August 27, 2012August 27, 2012

Visit to Plan International – Chiang Rai

We made a visit today with Plan International to a school in the hills of Northern Thailand. It was one of the things we had planned to do before we left the UK.

On the way we stopped at a supermarket to pick up some gifts to offer the school. We chose with the help of the charity representative stationery, sports equipment and games. Things that they have difficulty buying with the school budget. We got a bit carried away, but it’s all for a good cause!

We headed up into the hills and the scenery was breathtaking. It was about 10:30 when we arrived and we discovered that it was coincidentally the day when the school inspectors were in. Amazingly they managed to accommodate us in addition to the inspectors, I’m not sure a UK school would have managed so well had OFSTED been in on the same day,

The children at the school had prepared first a demonstration of the Akaq hill tribe dance and music. Our kids then got a chance to join in and I am proud to say they had a go. Emma proved quite talented at the dancing and bamboo stick tapping despite her bad foot and Luke enjoyed joining the boys on the cymbals. It was interesting to see the school children move from detached performing for visitors to engaged and entertained by our children being prepared to join in.

Next there was a presentation about what the school does with the charity and the money it receives. They focus in school on developing agricultural skills in addition to formal education, and use the crops and livestock to ensure that everyone in school receives a nutritious lunch free of charge. They also work in the village with teenage mothers, basic hygiene and ensuring that births are registered to enable access to education, healthcare and jobs.

We were then taken on a tour of the school grounds and saw the chickens, pigs and crops before we had lunch. The fresh eggs and fried rice were delicious. We were escorted throughout by a very excited group of children, very keen to show us everything from how to clean an egg to how to feed the pigs. It was lovely to see their relaxed relationship with the teacher showing us round. The younger ones hugging him and all of them talking freely. We might have expected a more authoritarian approach but that wasn’t the case.

Our children made friends with some of the pupils of the school and there was a real sense of understanding I think about how the children live in the remote community. The children were shy to talk to us directly although some of them had quite good English.

The children at the school were very excited and loved the gifts that we took. They wanted to take photos of us with the gifts, all a bit embarrassing! Our guys were a little disappointed that the football pitch was too waterlogged for them to help test out the new footballs.

In the afternoon we continued our tour but also went on a trip to one of the pupils houses. Her dream is to run her own business based around her family’s coffee plantation.

They showed us round their house, which we think was one of the largest in the village – they had three bedrooms which was very unusual in a place where often the living, cooking and sleeping happen in one room. Despite that, the floor felt very unsteady – reed matting laid over bamboo poles. They also showed the children how to make the pig food from the trunk of a banana tree and then their coffee plantation. The views were stunning!

We were made to feel so welcome and the local kids wanted to be with us all the time. We had an amazing day and were sad to leave, but we were also exhausted.

This next picture will render better if you click on it so it has a page to itself.

August 25, 2012August 25, 2012

Chiang Rai

With Emma’s foot still to sore for much in the way of moving around, we decided to continue as planned and head by bus to Chiang Rai as this would give her a reasonably stationary day. It means we have left Chiang Mai behind without actually visiting the city but we plan to go back later on….

We caught the VIP bus for the trip. This more than halves the trip time, down to only three hours. It was also very comfortable and we were given green cake to eat. No idea what flavour it was meant to be but some of us liked it!

We found our hotel in Chiang Rai easily, specially chosen because it has baths not just showers, much easier for keeping one foot dry! Fortunately it seems nice enough as well and they have upgraded us from one standard room and one delux (with the required bath tub) to two delux rooms in order to be able to place us together. Lovely.

Having ditched our luggage we set out to find a few essentials, including cash, and some tea. For some reason today our credit card has been refused at all ATMs. We were quite calm about it for the first five hours and phone call to the uk, less so over the next couple of hours and second phone call. Fortunately the second call did the trick and we now have access to funds again 🙂

We wandered further loking for tea and Phil spotted a row of stalls up a side road. We went up and stumbled into the midle of a huge music / food festival and dance competition. Lots of things going on and hundreds of food stalls. No information in English at all :-). Phil and I set out separately to find dishes for us to share. I found spicy, peanutty fried noodles with banana flower (strangely like a cross between banana and cabbage!) and fried rice with sausage of some sort. Phil came back with barbequed chicken, satay and some beef liver soup with a frighteningly jelly-like consistency. I think it’s fair to say my finds won the popularity contest ;-).

We then chose chocolate coated banana slices, candy floss and mini coconut ice cream cones for desert. Yum!

I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to try out a Thai massage, less than £1.50 for 30 minutes. Oh my goodness! I got cramp in my foot and it was nothing like as painful as what she was doing to me. I’m sure I will be black and blue tomorrow….. I can’t imagine that you could make it more painful if that was your sole purpose. I’ve never been so glad for 30 minutes to be over. Of course I went with the English approach and when asked if I enjoyed it said “oh yes, lovely thank you!”. Madness.

We topped off the evening by watching a few acts in the local Thai equivalent if x-factor by which point we had completely lost touch with the children in the hoards of screaming school girls so it seemed sensible to recover them and head back to the hotel. We will all sleep well tonight I think!

August 24, 2012August 24, 2012

Chiang Mai

We arrived off the overnight train from Bangkok tired and hungry. The train was due in at 8am so we had rashly decided against ordering breakfast on the train the night before thinking that we would purchase some once we arrived. Unfortunately the train was delayed by 2 hours, as it is every day we are now told!

We finally got some breakfast, and given it was of the rice and curry persuasion perhaps it was just as well that it was nearly lunchtime :-). We were met at the station by Hans our Dutch host for the next few days. He drove us 20kms or so out of the city to his beautiful hotel. We have a delightful Traditional Thai bungalow (on stilts) with gorgeous furnishings and a beautiful pool. Its a very easy place to get lost doing nothing!

Yesterday we dragged ourselves out, borrowing some of the onsite bikes. They are very high quality dutch bikes including a tag along for Susie this time. We did a 15km circuit including a visit to “the Thai Grand Canyon” otherwise known as an old quarry pit. We also stopped by an equestrian centre and, after considerable shouting through the gate to get anyone’s attention, we were allowed in the meet the horses, ponies, birds and dogs. Quite an amazing facility with a competition size dressage area and some beautiful horses. They wouldn’t allow us to ride due to the surface being waterlogged but suggested that if we come back next week it may be possible to have some lessons.

After a good session in the pool we headed out to the Chiang Mai night safari. Not an authentic Thai experience but hand feedng the giraffes will, nonetheless be one of my favourite memories. Less so the performing elephants and the staggeringly awful cabaret / magic show afterwards! Seemed designed to scare the already tired kids… Almost forgot that we saw the very rare Kangaloo from Austrarira!

This morning we planned to head into Chiang Mai itself but Emma scuppered our plans by dropping a jar, onto her glass, which smashed and dropped onto her foot creating a rather large and deep hole. I have never seen so much blood so quickly! Fortunately Phil was quick with the first aid kit and Hans drove us immediately to the local clinic. Emma was immediately put onto a trolley, wheeled inside and seen by a nurse. The nurse set up to suture, but having anethetised decided that afterall the surgeon was needed. My heart sank. Thankfully the surgeon was happy and simply put in the three stitches needed. A quick stop on the way back for some new flip flops which don’t touch the wound and nearly as good as new. The whoe thing including antibiotics, painkillers and wound dressing kits fir the next 10 days came to less than £10! The only pain is that Emma must keep it dry for 10 days until the stitches come out so no swimming or bathing elephants.

So instead of our day sightseeing the kids are sat around the bar watching childrens films and Phil has headed out to look for replacement items for our first aid kit! We are reviewing whether this will change our plans dor the last 10 days of our trip.

August 22, 2012August 22, 2012

Pictures updates

We have been busy taking photos around Thailand so thought the site could do with a spruce up too. A new theme and a new header. What do you think? Keep, revert back to fruit shake or search for a new one?

[geolocation]

The train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Peace

Feeding the elephants

Erawan Falls

Right, which is the bin?

Um… The pink tandem 🙂

Crossing the bridge over the River Kwai – pronounced like “square” without the “s”

A crowded tuk-tuk!

One of thousands of graves from the death railway in Kanchanaburi

Erawan Falls

August 22, 2012

A snippet of our Bangkok cycle tour

Cycle Tour In Bangkok Suburb from phildavies on Vimeo.

August 22, 2012August 22, 2012

Erawan falls Thailand near Kanchanaburi

Erawan Falls Thailand from phildavies on Vimeo.

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012

Kanchanaburi

We’ve had a lovely few days in Kanchanaburi. It’s a funny place with an entirely separate tourist village away from the main town. It’s a funny mix of World War 2 history (it’s where the bridge over the river Kwai was built), backpackers and middle aged men searching for Thai wives. We have done our best to avoid the latter which hasn’t proved too difficult as they only hang around in bars which also sell egg and chips and steak and kidney pie!

Our guest house has had bikes to borrow, inckuding a pink tandem with an extra child seat on the back. In the absence of any other bikes to fit, Phil has cycled this with Luke and Susie on the back while Emma and I have had our own bikes. We spent a day exploring the area including temples and war cemeteries. Very sombering to see the scale of them, and they are only for the allied troops and not the 100,000 or so local drafted labour.

We also fitted in a visit to the Erawan waterfalls – seven tiers, although we only climbed as far far as number five. Stunningly beautiful and somewhat eerie with a pale turquoise colour water. We swam in pool number four where you can slide down the waterfall like a theme park slide. Lots of fun, but none of us much liked the very large fish which nibble you in the water. Rather like a fish spa only a full body version with fish 10 or 20 times the size. Rather disconcerting and uncomfortable if not actually painful. Luke was particularly bothered by them and didn’t manage to swim.

We took a tour which took us for elephant riding andbamboo rafting. The elephant riding was more successful than our last experience witha trip through the jungle and into the river. It feels very precarious going up and down hill on the back of an elephant! We were able to feed the bananas at the end of the trip.

The bamboo rafting was nice but not amazing. We were towed up river and thenfloated back down. Pleasant enough.

We also rode on the tourist train across the death bridge and on for about 30 minutes. It’s a popular tourist trip and as such was very busy. The river is in flood at the moment because its rainy season. We’re lucky that we haven’t as yet been too impacted by the rain. It seems to be mostly in heavy showers in the late afternoon early evening and we haven’t got significantly wet so far.

Today we leave Kanchanaburi and head, first by bus back to Bangkok and then by overnight train up to Chiang Mai.

August 17, 2012August 17, 2012

Cycling tour in Bangkok

We have just finished a great cycle ride with “On” our guide for the day. It all started this morning getting a cab to a different hotel to meet up. We thought it was odd that one taxi driver refused to take us but thought it was the time of day, or not far enough. We then took a trip round a wet market at Makkasan station. Most of the sellers were from the same village where we were on our way to and they , true to form, all fell in love with Susie. We saw loads of fruit, the insides of chickens with the eggs still growing inside. Did you know that they start off as yolks before the shell is made? It might settle the age old argument about which came first!

We then waited nearly an hour for a train and the train ride itself took nearly another 30 minutes.

By the time we got there everyone was very hot and so we were quite worried that tears would flow if the bikes were not right. We had given the tour company a list of heights for the children in advance but you never know. It was only the second time they had catered for young children.

We got the bikes adjusted and set off and I have to say I was very proud of our three for getting on with it.

We cycled through rice fields and learned about how it grows, is planted and harvested and examined some that was nearly ready to be picked.

We also got a close up of the banana plant to see what else is used in cooking other than the banana fruit itself. Quite a bit more than I thought.

We also passed many shrimp and catfish farms. The shrimp farms are distinguished by the paddle wheels across them used to aereate the water as the shrimp need a lot of Oxygen.

We eventually came to the village and we had lunch in a lovely cabin built over the shrimp farms with giant doors and a cooking class layout inside. The food was delicious and all local from the greens beans to the chicken, rice and bamboo. We washed it down with coca cola and water. It was important to eat everything because the ingredients take a long time to grow!

The return journey was great with our kids teaching On the and games that have become quite common on our trip – “a sailor went to sea, sea, sea” etc.

We passed another train that had caught fire and paused for a look. Nothing different to the UK there then.

I took some pictures of the level crossing just before our station where in an ordinary world the traffic waits for the train. Here of course possession is nine tenths of the law so you park across the level crossing and stay firm in your traffic jam until you can move again. The train shoudl stop. We waited for 10 mins on the train!

Overall we had a really good time and the kids did us proud in the main.

Getting back to our hotel was more tricky. Remember I said a taxi driver turned us down on the outbound route? Well this time there was definitely something wrong with our destination as no fewer than 6 taxis said thanks but no thanks! It seems they don’t like traffic jams. Bummer if you are a taxi driver in Bangkok then because that is pretty much all there is!

I did a time lapse of Bangkok at night from our hotel the other night through to sunrise. I have put two pictures to give you a feel for it at the bottom of the photo stream. It could be quote cool as there are 3800 pictures to make it but I need a computer at home to combine them.