Tag Thailand
Going traveling without doing any homework whatsoever is a strange experience. About six months ago our friends invented us to go on vacation with them over Chinese New Year and we agreed. Since we didn’t have any strong preference, they selected Phuket in Thailand as the destination. During the months before taking off, we were too busy to do any research so when we landed, the only piece of information we had was the location of our hotel. Luckily my wife had booked a villa with a private pool so we spent the first morning relaxing poolside while trying to … Read the rest
Just a few meters out from the beach the sand gives way to an entirely different landscape; forests of bony coral fingers covered in green algae; meter wide shelves of brown coral in uneven stacks, so thin and brittle they look like they would break at the slightest touch; clusters of sea urchins with spikes 20 centimeters long. I must stay mindful of how I move, lest I should hurt myself or damage the coral. Hundreds or even thousands of fishes swim back and fourth through this landscape; tiny blue ones flitting out of sight in a moment, flat black and white ones with long filaments at the ends of their fins, gliding majestically along, big silver ones nibbling on the coral, and ones that lie still on the ocean floor, their mottled skin acting as near perfect camouflage. A few meters further out the seabed drops precipitously away beneath my feet and the water turns a deeper shade of blue. I suddenly find myself floating in the middle of a school of neon yellow, tiger striped fish. They whirl around me, nervously at first, but as I slow my movement to a minimum they come in closer, curious about this new presence. As soon as I move a hand towards one, it swims away with a flash. Moments later another comes inching closer again. It's like a curious dance we're doing, the school of fishes and I. It lasts a few minutes until I take off in a different direction, continuing to explore.
The massive Mercury four-stroke is churning up a huge swell as it pushes us forward, shooting a plume of foam into the air behind us. The drone of the engine is competing with the noise of the wind to drown out the sound of conversation. Despite the relatively calm sea, we are bouncing on the waves with a rhythmic thud, thud thud; riding up the crests then crashing down into the troughs, spray soaring into the air with each beat. We are quickly passing little islands - lush green hills poking out from the turquoise sea - as the mainland recedes into the distance behind us.
I’ve been at home for a while now and had time to reflect a bit about the trip and the countries I visited.
Though the region is called Indochina (from the two main cultural influences on the region), it’s much less homogeneous than you might think at first glance. Geographically they are of course very similar with jungles and mountains and very similar climates. The difference lies in the people and culture. In my experience Laos and Cambodia are very similar and Thailand, though more developed, is culturally close to them as well. Vietnam sticks out as very different from the other … Read the rest
I’m back home and I’ve had a fantastic trip! I’ve actually been at home for a few days now but I haven’t posted anything until now because it’s taken a few days to unpack my stuff and sort through all my photos. Now I’m done with all that and it’s time to write the last post.
Before I sum up my trip however, I want to do a little bit of promotion:
The people I stayed with in Mae Hong Son were so nice and so hospitable I think they deserve a special recommendation. If you (or anyone you know) are … Read the rest
I didn’t really have a plan for what to do for new years but I got a few ideas from my guides at the elephant camp. Since new years eve happened to be on a Saturday there was a night market in town, so I went there to start my evening with some street food. It’s a huge market, and it was very crowded but I did find some tasty food.
The night market
Someone told me there would be activities at the various temples, and there were, but they seemed to be mostly for worshipers. I skipped that and … Read the rest
The street is filled with people, they mill about among the vendors, buying snacks and souvenirs. The air is filled with didgeridoo music, a deep driving rhythm, almost like hard rock. The sky is filled with floating lanterns, glowing orange lights that drift upwards on the breeze.… Read the rest
Chiang Mai is rife with activities like rock climbing, zip lining, bungee jumping, you name it. I’ve tried all of them at some time or other except one, petting elephants. A lot of the time when people are allowed to get close to some kind of animal it’s kind of exploitative, and dangerous to both man and beast. There are lots of operators that offer tours that include petting and riding elephants or even circus like shows. The problem is that the elephants are often trained using a metal hook that causes pain and even when their not, according to … Read the rest
The grey trunk comes snaking around me from behind, the moist end sniffing out the bananas in the bag on my hip. At the same time, the elephant in front of me also reaches her trunk in my direction, trying to get at the tasty treats. I can barely get the bananas out of the bag fast enough for them. As soon as I do, it only takes a second before one of the elephants has grabbed it and deposited it in its mouth. They are as tall as me and weigh two thousand kilos each but they act like … Read the rest
The road back from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai is bit longer than the previous two days so I was planning to get an early start. However, just as I was getting ready to go, my hosts invited me to go sightseeing with them and they were so nice to me I just couldn’t say no. They took me to Su Tong Pae bamboo bridge. It’s pretty similar to the one in Pai but they claim this is the original, the one in Pai a copy. They kept being super nice to me so tried to at least buy … Read the rest