3rd December 1997
We arrived in Bangkok to 33ºC with 70% humidity. Quite a change from chilly Delhi. I always thought India was that hot, not Thailand.
But blessed was the service, modernness and welcoming smiles.
We found a hotel by following a Dutch couple who had been to Bangkok before. Then we hit Khoa San Rd. As soon as I saw it I thought of two people. My sister, and my friend Vicky. I think that this is their kind of party heaven. Bars spill over onto the roads with stalls selling every kind of knick-knack available. It’s a shopper’s paradise as well. Western music pumps out loudly from the street bars and everybody dressed in short shorts & tight tops. This is not what I expected at all. There is not even a little bit of authentic Thai about this road – well, except for the food. The food is delicious. We had chicken with cashew nuts. If the food is like this throughout Thailand I am going to be very happy.
4th December 1997
I think the heat drugged us as we woke up extremely late. I was so excited to see something of Thai culture, so we headed straight off to see the Grand Palace.
It is far richer and more colourful than the Hindi temples we saw in Jaisalmer, India.
I loved the attention to detail and the excellent workmanship. The temples are far more refined. The first temple we saw was the one containing the emerald Buddha. It was hard to see the Buddha because he sits so high up. It is a very holy place for the Thais. They hold lotus flowers and burn incense as part of their religious ritual.
Like in the Palaces in India, they use hundreds of little mirrors to decorate the outside walls of the temples. The big different is that they are all patterns. There are no people made up from mirrors.
Around the temples stand trees that have been stunted in their growth and made to grow only in certain directions. They looked like big bonsai trees.
The gardens in the temples were so neat, so clean, so in proportion and full of exquisite detail that an atmosphere of orderliness, balance and perfection prevailed.
Before you go into the Palace grounds, they check that you are appropriately dressed. It never fails to amaze me how some people arrive with shorts barely covering their bottoms and shirts showing their belly buttons and think this is fitting to wear in a religious place. I’m sure they wouldn’t wear those outfits to their local church!
We spent the evening trying to decide whether to go to Vietnam and Laos or to Indonesia. It was a tough decision. The weather did not increase our decision making skills at all. Neither did it do anything for our temper. Eventually, we decided in Vietnam and Laos.
5th December 1997
What an exhausting day! We found out that with visas and airfares it would cost + £250 to go to Vietnam and Laos. Coupled with that, Vietnam has changed its policy on border exits by land. Due to finding tourists with forged visas, they have closed down land exits. How can tourists be so stupid? So we either had to take a chance with being able to exit Vietnam by land or we had to change our plans completely. So we changed our minds and bought 2 tickets to Jakarta on 20th January. It will give us 7 weeks in Indonesia. It was such a relief to have made the decision. I think Indonesia is going to be great fun.
Today is the king’s birthday. The Thai’s are much more royalist than even the English. No Thai person will hear a bad word about their King or Queen. He is turning 70 today. Crowds have come from all over the country to celebrate in Bangkok.
We made our way to Same Lang field opposite the Palace. At 8:00pm a hush fell over the crowd. While everybody lit their candles, the national anthem was sung. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful anthems I’ve heard. When the anthem was finished, all raised their candles and saluted the King.
After this, huge bangs were heard as fireworks lit up the sky. It was one of the most impressive shows I have seen. The crowd really showed their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the show by “ooohh-ing” and “aaahh-ing” at every big explosion.
After the show there was a boxing match. This kind of boxing is brutal and very fast. The aim is to kick for the head followed by a couple of swift punches that leaves the opponent reeling. I was surprised at how resilient the fighters were. Not once were either of them knocked down.
Again, I think the crowd felt every blow. There was a clear favourite and whenever he was hit the crowd made the groaning sound one makes when hit in the stomach. They also seemed to move with clenched fists, jerking with every punch he threw. As he scored they clapped and shouted encouragement. With support like that, he couldn’t help but win.
Walking home, exhausted from the heat and activities, I was not prepared for what I saw next. Passing the night food stalls I did a double-take. I don’t think I will forget it for the rest of my life. The sight of fried cockroaches (huge ones), deep fried crickets and the delicacy fried pupae. There was a person sampling each delicious delight before he made a decision as to which he should buy many of. Apparently the cockroaches, with their legs and feelers, were the best, so he promptly bought ten. I think this is one Thai specialty I will leave to the Thai people. Not even Graeme was willing to try it!
6th December 1997
Again we slept as if drugged. This place is too damn hot – that’s official. When it’s too hot to get close, even a little bit close, then it’s too hot. We can’t stay here too long. After a quick lunch we decided to visit the Vimanmek Museum. Looking at the map, we decided to walk, which was a huge mistake. An hour later we were still walking. Bangkok is a big city. We made it to one part of the museum with ½ an hour to spare.
The building used to be the old Throne hall. Housed inside were the most amazing pieces of art. The pieces were all very small and of intricate design. There was glasswork portraying deer, tiny little baskets hand woven and sculptures of birds covered in blue beetle wings. One had to look carefully, else it was easy to be fooled into believing it was feathers covering the birds.
From here we tried to go into the Teak Museum which used to be a Palace. We were told that we were too late, so we walked around the beautiful grounds. True to Asian tradition, every flower and leaf are in their place. Not a blade of grass grows over into the path. Even the trees are cut into shape and trained in the way that they can grow. I like these kind of gardens, except for the fact that you’re too scared to walk on the grass. When I see a patch of luscious green grass, all I want to do is walk barefoot and feel the grass in between my toes. I’ll have to wait until I visit Kirstenbosch again.
Due to our walk we were tired and very hot, so we decided to go and sit in an air-conditioned cinema and watch a movie. We saw The Peacemaker with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. It was refreshing to watch a movie where a man and a woman work together without falling into the sack.
During the movie and object caught my eye. On further investigation, it proved to be a rat running from one side of the cinema to the other. Presumably eating the popcorn and chips that always get spilled onto the floor. I sat with my feet up. It proved too much for one westerner who got up and left. Just goes to show, that even in Bangkok, which is as first world as cities go, rats can still live.
7th December 1997
We dragged our bodies out of bed early this morning as we were doing the Sunday boat cruise down the river. It started at 8:00am sharp and being on the river mead that it was cooler. A relief from the unrelenting heat.
We sat at the back of the boat and the engine throbbed. Our feet looked as though they were doing a dance. Going down the river we saw old wooden houses built right over the river. The banks are lined with these houses with high palm trees behind them. The odd high rise block of flats books out of place in this exotic setting.
Our first stop was the Support Foundation of arts and crafts. Students come and learn how to sew, weave, make glass objects, draw, paint, etc. It was my heaven. I wish they had such schools at home. The work they produced was incredibly cheap. Again, I was sorely tempted to buy but the thought of my backpack getting heavier & heavier stopped me. The good pieces go to the Abhisek Dusit museum where we had been yesterday.
The Bang Pa – In Palace was our second stop. It is a beautifully serene setting for a summer palace. Surrounded by numerous ponds & lakes and beautifully tended gardens.
We walked past the main ponds watching the turtles in the water. Much more exotic to have turtles than swans. We made our way to the main house but sadly weren’t allowed in. The King & Queen still come and stay here occasionally.
The King built himself a tower from which he could view the whole of the countryside. Graeme climbed all the way to the top. It was too hot for me. I stayed down to admire this Palace. It was built in chinese style to satisfy a whim of one of the kings – what a whim! Inside it si quite oppressive. All the walls are decorated in red and gold. Again, we couldn’t go right inside but the outside was enough.
Wandering around the gardens we found many hedges that had been shaped into all kinds of animals. My favourite was the herd of elephants. I had to have my photo taken with them. Before I knew what was happening, three Thai girls had come up and were having their photos taken with me and the elephants. It was as if a westerner was to be as much of a shoe piece as the hedge elephants.
From the Palace we made our way via boat again to a Wat (a Buddhist temple) which is part of a bird sanctuary. The birds that nest there are the open-billed storks. There was an observation tower built right in the middle of the trees in which they nest. At the top we could just about touch the trees the birds were in. Graeme just stared open-mouthed. Such a close up viewing of these birds is rare indeed.
It was a little bit of a relief to get off the throbbing boat onto solid land. We had to buy Larium tablets and a Dutch couple were selling them. We bought 33 tablets for USB20.00. Later we discovered that if we had bought them in England we would have paid £25.00 for 8. We wouldn’t believe our good fortune.
8th December 1997
Another admin day. Today was a trip to the GPO. We had to post all our letters and travel journals home. We couldn’t post anything in India as the postal staff are renown for stealing the stamps. In some cases (my case especially) the stamps for all my letters are worth a week’s wages. So I hope everybody will forgive me for not having any of my news sooner!
We took the river taxi to the GPO. It is an excellent system only getting off and on is a bit tricky. The boat only has one corner docking against the Pier while 40-50 people try to balance and go from the pier on to the boat in about 10 seconds. How the old people manage is a mystery – sometimes there is quite a step involved.
Walking along the road towards the GPO we passed a shoe repair man. He had set up his stall in the middle of the pavement. He had a lockable cupboard and a stool. All his tools of trade were laid out neatly just waiting to be used with his skill in repairing shoes. He had an opportunity with us. The sandals Graeme had bargained for in Udaipur were slowly but surely coming apart and giving me blisters. What can we expect for £2.00? So he sewed my shoes together. He was tut-tutting to himself at how badly the shoes were made and how pink my little toe was. He was feeling very sorry that such shoes existed. While sewing he asked us the standard question “are you married?” We always say yes. In the Middle East, India, South East Asia, in fact anywhere not first world the concept of living together is not really understood. But the next question always makes us laugh “how many kids do you have?”. When we say none, we always get the most sympathetic looks. It’s like there is something wrong and they will pray for us. We might invent a little John and Jane, however this would probably involve a host of new questions, not the least being “why aren’t they here?” Parents and children are very rarely separated here.
As “farangs” (Thai for foreigner) we were naturally charged more for the shoes. But when he asked for B100 we felt like we were really being taken advantage of. Especially when we saw a previous customer pay B20 for his newly heeled shoes. I don’t know if in any other culture we could have said we would only pay B50 and still receive a smile and a hand-shake. Even though we paid more than double the local rate.
The word “farang” is derived from a Thai word meaning French. The Thais are extremely proud of the fact that they have never been colonised or occupied for an extended period of time. In 1675 they had 600 French soldiers in their country. Fearing that they would be taken over, they expelled all of them and executed the foreign leader. Then they shut themselves off from the west for 150 years to prevent any such colonisation. Thus all foreigners became known as “farangs”. We are all considered to be a little strange. It is almost as though Thai people humour us tourists. They take such delight in knowing that none of the countries that us tourists come from have ever ruled over them.
I think Bangkok’s GPO could teach us “farangs” a thing or two about efficiency. In a flash the book I wanted to send home was boxed, taped and wrapped in string and for only R1.30. There was no problem, no fuss. Our letters were weighed and stamped and sent off to their rightful owners. Only the phone system was laborious. Graeme had to fill in each number he wanted to phone and pay a deposit which would be refunded if not used. This process had to be repeated for each country he wanted to phone.
We were catching a bus at 7:00pm to Mae Sot in the North of Thailand. But before we did that, we wanted to send all our friends emails. It was at that moment that the Hotmail server in America decided to do an upgrade. It was extremely frustrating. I know that I won’t be able to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and send them our news on India.
9th December 1997
I guess one overnight bus journey is pretty much another. You’re bored out of your mind and no-one gets any sleep. We arrived in Mae Sot at 6:00am. The sun hadn’t risen yet. We were taken to No. 4 Guest House by a cycle rickshaw who proceeded to wake up the whole house announcing our arrival. The owner came out wiping sleep from her eyes. We felt so bad, but it was great to be able to go to bed straight away. The Thai are like the Indians in that they don’t understand about mattresses. Apparently the harder it is, the better the mattress. I had more comfortable nights camping on the grass in Ireland than sleeping in hotel rooms in India. It looks like Thailand is going to be a repeat of India. Every hour you wake up and have to change position as your one side has gone numb.
Mae Sot is 6km from the Burmese border. It prides itself on being a bit of a wild kind of town. The main source of income being teak, arms and opium smuggling across the border. After a refreshing sleep, we made our way to the black market which is in Moei City on the Thai side of the river. Across the river we could see a Burmese village. The buildings in Moei City were concrete, glass and painted structures whereas the Burmese village was constructed out of wood with thatch roofs. We were surprised at the number of people crossing the border. If people walked on foot they weren’t stopped. Only cars were checked. It seemed to us that the Burmese came over to shop. In the black market they could buy anything. And I mean anything. Material, gems, nuts, radios, etc right down to those cheap fluffy dog toys with the annoying mechanical yap. They could even buy Burmese money. Tourists are obviously not allowed to go across. The Burmese government is a very strict dictatorship. It’s the usual story – the government get rich my suppressing the poor and making them poorer still. The Burmese government have restricted tourist travel to ensure that the tourists do not see things they are not supposed to. So although we couldn’t cross, we got to see Burma. But as is usually the case across a river, one bank looks very similar to the other side!
Graeme and I tried to shop for a Jade Buddha to put on our printers tray. Sadly no-one had what we were looking for. We will keep trying further North.
Back at our guest house we met a Dutch man who had become a Buddhist monk for a month. He said that there were + 325 rules he had to follow. A nun has many more rules – typical! It must have been quite an experience to have been so involved in such a unique culture.
As we had only had cashew nuts the whole day (R10.00 for 1kg) we were looking forward to a delicious dinner. We ordered lemon fish. It was more like garlic fish. You couldn’t see the fish for the garlic cloves. But it was absolutely delicious. We ate all the garlic so that we would stink and the mozzies would hate us. The fact that we would stink and no human would want to come close to us didn’t worry us too much. We didn’t want to get Malaria.
Over our bed there was a huge mozzie net. They make you feel so protected from the outside world. It was quite romantic to have our own little world inside our bedroom.
10th December 1997
Today we were going to Mae Sariang, which is 165km North of Mae Sot. To get to the bus station we had to get on a cycle rickshaw. Altogether we must have weighed about 150kg. He had leg muscles the size of a buffalo’s. His forehead barely broke into a sweat during the 10 min cycle to the station.
When we got there we found out there was no bus but we could take a Songthew. This is like a bakkie but seats have been placed down the sides, and a roof on top. There are seats but there is no glass or back bit to prevent people from falling out. Sitting the back you can feel the wind through your hair. It makes such a difference not to have to look through glass when passing through beautiful scenery. And stunning jungle scenery it was.
It is the dry season now but everything is still brilliant green. For miles and miles all we saw was untamed jungle. Dotted along the road were villages. All the houses are built out of wood and they stand on stilts to prevent being flooded in monsoon season. Even the storage platforms in the middle of the rice fields are elevated. None of the houses, or huts, I should say, had TV’s or any of those trappings. I found it so refreshing after Bangkok. When passing through, I kept expecting to see poor Indian like villages. These villages, although basic, are not poor. Cars are parked under thatch roofs. The food stalls are clean. No animals wander the streets and everybody is dressed rather well. There couldn’t have been more of a contrast between these villages and those in India. Children don’t come running out shouting “school pen, chocolate, rupee?” Presumably they are at school. With a 94% literacy rate, I think they probably are.
Our driver stopped suddenly at the side of the road next to a straw basket. A man came out with 5 more baskets and the driver bought them. We were very intrigued. As we were driving through opium country, we thought it was highly likely it could be opium. This made us very nervous as drug offences are taken extremely seriously, i.e. execution. He stopped to pick up 6 more and our backpacks were just about put on our laps to make space. Driving on in the distance we saw a police check. We braced ourselves for questions but nothing happened. Either it was our overactive imaginations or the policeman was bought off. The funny thing is both are highly likely.
We arrived in Mae Sariang and went to say in the River Side Guest House. The view from the wooden deck was of the river and reeds with a Wat poking its roof over the top of the reeds.
Towards dusk we went into our room and you could just about hear the mozzies squeal with delight, especially when Graeme came in. They started their motors and headed straight for him – he didn’t stand a chance against such an army.
To try and make us less tasty we had garlic again in our food. Dinner was fun as we had the company of two Dutch girls who had travelled up with us from Mae Sot. They have two of the most naturally beautiful smiles I have ever seen. Their eyes would dance when they thought something was funny.
11th December 1997
We obviously hadn’t eaten enough garlic. Graeme was bitten to shreds. We may have to buy a mosquito net. The mozzies, though, weren’t the only thing that kept us awake last night. We were staying in wooden rooms where the ceiling didn’t quite reach the walls so we could all hear what was happening in each other’s rooms.
Next door to us there was an American about our age staying by himself. At about 9pm we heard a Thai girl go into his room. The squeaking of the bed springs lasted about 2 hours then she left. Graeme and I couldn’t believe that a “backpacker” would be visited by a prostitute. Just goes to show how naïve we are.
Today we just relaxed. We sat on the balcony overlooking the river and watched some boys swimming in the river. They were having the time of their lives laughing and splashing. Graeme and I can’t get away with things like that – especially in Thailand. What a pity we have to grow up sometimes.
In town Lonely Planet had recommended a restaurant that served frogs fried in batter. Graeme got me to try some, but only after much encouragement. It tasted like fishy chicken. There is a surprising amount of meat on a frog. I am glad I tried it, but I don’t think I would go out of my way to order it again.
12th December 1997
We woke up at 8:30am thinking we had plenty of time to catch the bus. The Dutch girls told us that it came at 9:00am so we had only 15 min to pack our bags, get dressed and be on our way. Not an easy feat for Graeme & I. We can be in a room for just an hour and our backpacks look like they have just exploded all over the room. So after a mad scramble and a trot to the bus station, we arrived by 5 minutes to 9.
So we waited and waited. The bus only came at 11:30am. At least we had a little time to collect our thoughts and wake up a little. Again, the scenery en route was spectacular. Jungle, forests, rivers and rice paddies all in rich greens and yellows. We stopped half way for lunch and ate caramelised banana. Graeme & I couldn’t get enough of them. We have such a sweet tooth, the two of us.
We arrived in Mae Hong Son in the early evening and were going to catch a tuk tuk to our guest house. It was 700m out of town. But when we thought about it, we were planning to do a trek so a 700m walk shouldn’t daunt us. We had arrived at our guest house and been there for about 10 minutes when a Canadian couple arrived. We asked if they were interested in doing a trek. The answer was yes and for the next four days we were to never look back.
Their names were Terry & Linda and we discovered that they have been living in Cape Town for the past 18 months. We spent the next two hours just hearing all the news of the TRC, old Winnie and the new developments along the coastal road. We couldn’t hear enough news.
While we were chatting our trekking guide, La, came to talk to us about the trek. He got us so excited telling us that we would be completely in the wild. We didn’t want to see any other tourists on the way. La was very quick to point out that there would be no opium smoking on our trek. This suited us fine.
After dinner we decided to go and see the light and sound show that the citizens of Mae Hong Son put on. We were going to be charged B250 entrance fee. More than double the charge for the ordinary Thai people. But in the end they let us in for B100. We are very glad that we did not pay too much. Most of the dialogue was in Thai so we didn’t understand much of the history being acted out on the stage. The costumes were amazing. During the show they lit lanterns then let them go and they flooded up into the sky. They were like big stars floating.
13th December 1997
After a hearty breakfast of eggs and toast, we set off. The truck drove us for about an hour away from Mae Hong Son. We stopped along the way to look at the view. There were a couple of monks taking photographs. One of them took a liking to Linda. He chatted to her and wrote her name on his hand. He was very un-monk like. Usually they don’t talk to anyone, let alone women.
Our walk started at the bottom of a mountain which sloped up 45°. Ten minutes of climbing had all of us huffing and puffing except for Graeme. He is amazingly fit. He had all our gear in his backpack and he climbed the mountain like a goat. Maybe one day I will get that fit. Terry, who is 42, and me at 24 were the two who struggled. The oldest and the youngest.
The village where we were to spend the night looked exactly like the photo. We had to walk past the buffalo one by one in case we scared them. The pigs ran around looking for things to eat off the ground along with the dogs, cats and chickens. Despite having all the animals and no facilities, it was surprisingly clean. Cleaner than most areas in Delhi, that’s for sure.
La allowed us to collect our breath for 20 min then sent us off up another hill. It was only a 15 min walk to the next village he told us. 45 min later we arrived. It was early evening and the ladies of the village were all sewing. One lady even had a sewing machine although there was no electricity. She was using one of those old Singer machines. I remember using them in Std 5 to make something or other.
The kids came running around us. They were playing a game with a price of wood that had string around it. When they pulled the string of quickly, the wood spun. Whichever one lasted the longest won. It was clearly a male game because none of the little girls were included. The girls had dollies to play with. In true little monster boy fashion, the boys would run off with the dollies pretending to break them with the girls in full chase. Kids are the same all over the world, no matter the culture or remote-ness.
We spent an entertaining 30 mins distracting them from their games by letting them look through our cameras and binoculars. I have never before seen a group of really young kids (2-5 years) voluntarily line up. The discipline was amazing. Each kid took their turn with no pushing or showing. They would come out from behind the camera excitedly shouting all they had seen then go to the back of the line to start again. They could have kept going all day if we let them.
But back to the village we had to go. We arrived all sweaty and hot. The thought of going to bed without a wash was not appealing so we made our way to the river. The villagers thought it was quite funny. They wash once a month or so. As tar as they were concerned, our faces weren’t dirty, so why wash? It felt really good to have a natural river wash.
We returned to a delicious dinner of chicken, vegetables and rice. We were starving after all our exercise. The house we stayed in was immaculately clean. There was no furniture as you sleep, sit and eat on the floor. The only fixture was the fireplace. They had decorated it with flowers and squares of material. It inspired me. One day I would love to just decorate a Christmas tree with flowers.
Missionaries had come to the village and converted about 5 families. I don’t know when they came. As it was approaching Christmas all the Christians from the area were celebrating. The village we were in happened to have a delegate from each of the surrounding villages staying. They went from Christian house to Christian house singing carols (in Thai) and reading form the Bible. When it came to our house’s turn, they asked if we could sing them a carol. Do you think we could remember any of the words to any of the carols? Terry beat us all by knowing two more lines of Away in a Manger than the first verse. We couldn’t even remember Silent Night.
The villagers were very polite and sat through all our badly off key one line attempts. How they could not laugh, I will never know. They must have thought we were a very poor excuse for a Christian. I wonder if they believe all westerners to be Christian?
14th December 1997
We all woke up after a very uncomfortable night’s sleep. Wooden board is harder than sand. Poor Graeme’s hip bone was in agony.
While answering the call of nature, I was surprised by a curious buffalo. It was a little disconcerting to be stared at by this huge beast to say the least. It definitely woke me up better than a cup of coffee ever could have!
Breakfast was a curious mixture of rolls, egg, rice, jungle leaves and squirrel (I kid you not!). I could not bring myself to try the squirrel. Frogs are one thing, squirrel quite another. Graeme said it tasted just like all other meat. The jungle leaves was one of the best spicy salads I’ve had. I would love to be able to grow that one.
Today’s walk was mostly down hill to a waterfall. Along the way we had to cross a river. Of course I slipped and hit my leg one whopper of a bang. My shin swelled up to half a tennis ball. There wasn’t any pain at the time, so I could walk the rest of the way at a reasonable pace. Most of it was slipping and sliding downhill. I provided much entertainment falling on my bottom. By the time I had reached the end, my shorts were covered in mud. I don’t think either my leg or the shorts will ever be quite the same again. We were glad to reach our spot by the river so we could swim and wash. How Terry and Linda managed to remain so clean, we will never know.
While lying down for a rest, Graeme discovered that he had lost his wallet. Although we had kept our money in our money belts, it was upsetting to lose our fake student cards. Graeme decided to back track a little to see if he could find it but with no luck. We will have to replace them in Bangkok. We can get right up to year 2000 or become a journalist or press photographer in less time than it takes to eat a bad meal.
While Graeme was out looking, Linda and I sat doing some home crafts. Weaving with banana leaves is harder than it looks, because the leaves start to dry really quickly. I would not make a good village girl not being able to weave properly.
That evening La made us a chicken stew and he was incredible to watch. Absolutely every cooking and eating utensil was made from bamboo. He cut a length of bamboo, put the chicken in with onion, garlic, flour and water then let it boil on the fire. Amazingly it didn’t burn through. Rice was cooked in thin pieces of hollow bamboo. When we cracked open the bamboo the rice was all stuck together in a tube shape. He served us our dinner on bamboo like trays with small bamboo spoons. I wish I could have kept them. They would make a great show and tell project at school. Before going to sleep we had coffee and brandy in our special cups. This was to help us fall into a deep sleep.
15th December 1997
Luckily falling into a deep sleep on hard boards with insects crawling all over one is a rare occurrence. WE slept under a bamboo structure which was mighty uncomfortable. So we were all up fairly early and raring to go. Graeme, Terry & Linda went for an early morning swim at the waterfall. I couldn’t make the climbing over the rocks. My leg had begun to throb and every step was painful.
Today I would have put hop-along Cassidy to shame. But everybody was very good and stopped every 15 min for me to catch up. We walked through some of the best forest scenery in the world. Graeme was in another world enjoying he peacefulness and beauty. The forest was quite similar to the ones by Storms River although there were no Loeries. In fact, there were surprisingly few birds living in the forests.
Through the middle of the forest there was a river which we had to cross several times. This is when Graeme’s height is a real advantage. His knees barely got wet while the rest of us had to roll up our shorts trying not to get wet. We stopped at a good spot and ate lunch while cooling off with a swim. The water is warm but still refreshing.
After a further ½ hour walk we reached the bakkie that was to take us back to town. I must admit to being very relieved to see it so that I could rest my bruised leg.
La stopped off at the Hot Springs so that we could have another swim. Taking one look at the rusty dirty water we decided to give it a miss. But we enjoyed our first ice-cream and cold beer in 3 hot days.
All we wanted after that was a good clean behind the ears. So we all had a shower and headed off into Mae Hong Son town centre. We decided to rent motorbikes so that we could visit a town called Mae Aw along the Burmese border tomorrow.
Never having ridden a motorbike before, I was a little scared so I decided to share with Graeme, although Graeme had also never ridden before. Not that that held him back at all. After 10 min he was riding like an old pro.
We went to have dinner at the Sunflower Café which is owned by Fiona, our guide’s wife. She is from Australia and 6 months pregnant. It must be hard for her to have her husband away such a lot, being pregnant and running a café from breakfast to dinner. And she does it without help and a constant smile on her face. We had real farang food – lasagne. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. After a month of hot, spicy, different tasting food, it was wonderful to have plain delicious western food. We topped it off with cheesecake and filter coffee. We’ve never had it so good. By 8:00pm we were in bed asleep. Us adults can’t handle the pace.
16th December 1997
The plan was to get a really early start on our motorbike day trip as Linda & Terry had to catch a flight back to Chiang Mai in the afternoon. But we were so exhausted, we only got going mid morning. This still left us plenty of time. It was a 22km trip to Mae Aw along the most stunning jungle and rice paddy scenery. I kept asking Graeme to stop so that we could take photographs.
Our first big stop was to visit a waterfall. This waterfall is in the dry season. In wet season the level of the water rises so high that you can’t see the rocks. Northern Thailand has many, many rivers with 100’s of waterfalls. I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing different kinds of waterfalls. That sound of running/falling water is so comforting to me.
We left the waterfall to head up and up this winding road. Graeme handled the bike like a pro. No matter how steep the road was, he and the bike managed to get us up there, round hairpin turns and gravel roads.
Mae Aw was a sleepy village inhabited by Chinese immigrants. It has a lake in the middle with Chinese tea shops dotted around the lake. We stopped and had a cup but were robbed at R1.00 per cup. It was watery and tasteless. A typical tourist trap.
The town sits 300m from the Burmese border so we passed the bamboo fence marking the border and looked into the Burmese valley. It was completely deserted. We met a local who said the nearest village was a two hour walk away. Every so often the villagers at Mae Aw are raided by the Burmese army. Then a whole lot of fighting starts. What a way to live.
At Mae Aw we saw the farmers in their fields of rice. Most of the farmers in this remote area are subsistence farmers. They are extremely poor but they all help each other. There is no such thing as you go hungry because your crop failed. The sense of community between members of a tribe is incredible. Although I don’t know how the comradeship spreads over different tribal groups living on the same mountain. It is to the credit of the Thai people that vastly different tribes can live in extremely close quarters without fighting – ever!
It makes a change from the tribal situation in Africa. I think the Thai people are not aggressive at all. They would much rather talk than pick up a spear.
We spoke to La about the family unit in the Karen villages. He said that in the Karen culture the woman is the head of the family. If the man wants to do anything he has to get her approval. Just shows that women’s lib is not just a western thing. Apparently this came about because of the men’s opium smoking. It makes them very lazy and so to prevent them from plunging into absolute poverty the women make all the financial decisions. So she should if she is the one out there in the field all day planting rice!
After visiting Mae Aw we made our way to the Fish Cave. This is a holy sight because the fish used to be regarded as being able to kill at will. In the second world war Thailand was occupied by the Japanese much to the Thai’s disgust. The Japanese saw these big fat carp in this cave and thought they would make a tasty meal. Every single Japanese soldier died from eating the fish. When the Thai people had eaten them, they were fine. So the fish were obviously looking after the Thai people.
Nowadays they can explain it that during a certain time the fish produce a certain bacteria which makes them extremely poisonous. Anybody who ate them at that time of year would die. Nevertheless, they deserve their holy status by giving the Japanese the right message at the right time.
Along the river at the bottom of a small waterfall the monks had built a musical instrument out of bamboo. It involved a length of bamboo with water running down it into a piece of bamboo. When this piece was full of water, it would tip over and go clunk on a rock. There were several being filled and clunking on the rocks. Graeme said that if he had seen things like that as a kid, today, he might have been an engineer, not a marketer.
We had dinner again at the Sunflower Café. It was too tempting to resist. We had a chat to Fiona again. She has decided to go to Australia to have her baby and I can’t say I blame her. With the high AIDS rate it is a risk. But with the fall in the Baht they have to work extra hard to be able to get there.
Sadly we say goodbye to Terry and Linda today. Graeme and I are going to miss them very much. They were such easy fun people to be around. I hope Graeme & I will be as young as they are at their time in life. Hopefully we will get to see them again in Cape Town in May next year. We will have to se the programme called Sinbad on SABC at the moment because Terry was the director of the series.
17th December 1997
Today was one of those travel days. We caught the bus from Mae Hong Son to Soppong. Then we had to get on a motorbike to make our way 8km to Tham Lot. Half way there the bike that I was on got a flat, so the guy had to go back. Graeme’s guy had to take me first then come back and fetch Graeme. This guy drove like he was late for his own funeral. I don’t feel very safe and secure on motorbikes at the best of times, but this was scary. I was squeezing the driver’s shoulder so hard that I am sure I gave him a bruise.
We had come to Tham Lot to see the caves. They have a whole series dotted around the hills here. We couldn’t go in the afternoon because Graeme was feeling sick. It is either two things, Malaria or a reaction to the Malaria tablets. We have to go to Chiang Mai to have a test done. He can’t go on lie this.
The Cave Lodge is a lovely spot set in the middle of the forest. Our bungalow overlooks the trees and a river. We pay R12.00 a night for the two of us in this piece of paradise. We think we may come here for Christmas as this is such a perfect spot. But we will have to see how Graeme’s test results come out. I am so relieved now that we brought our own sterile needles.
We met up with the Dutch girls who we met in Mae Sot. They had hooked up with two German men. Naughty, naughty backpackers can be some of the most promiscuous people around.
18th December 1997
Graeme is feeling a little better but only a little. We were to see the cave then go on to Chiang Mai and Graeme felt so tired after the cave that we will go tomorrow. Travelling on a bus is amazingly taxing, especially if you are ill already. I hope that everything is going to be alright.
The Tham Lot cave is under the highlights of Northern Thailand and it well deserves to be. There are 3 main caverns all going off from the main one that has the river flowing through it.
We hired a guide with two Dutch people and started to explore. I was very happy that it was not commercialised like the congo caves. No coloured lights and no ropes. Just a kerosene lamp and huge caverns to explore. I found it quite eerie because the lamp would light up only some of the stalactites and mites causing deep shadows to show between then. There was no way you could see in the shadows.
They had many names for the different shapes of rock. There was the frog, the peacock, the elephant, etc. But most importantly, they have the Buddha. The likeness to a sitting figure with crossed legs is almost uncanny. This would explain the numerous monks visiting the caves.
To get to the last cavern we had to go on a bamboo raft down the river. The raftsman had to hold on tight to our raft otherwise we would have landed up about 3 miles downstream – it was very fast flowing. The stalactites were brought to life by the lamp. They looked like hundreds of daggers pointing downwards. Every so often we would see a rock twinkling. This was where crystals had been formed.
Towards the end of the tunnel the smell got so bad we had to cover our noses. It was the combined smell of bat and fork-tailed swift shit. They have both made their homes in the case and it being dry season there was no water to clean the rocks. So breathing through our mouths, we visited the last cavern. In here there were wooden coffins some 3,000 years old. The bodies had been taken out but you could still view them in the visitor’s area. Why couldn’t they just have left them in the coffin? Scattered around are broken pots and spoons. Whether they were left for the dead people or whether people lived here they don’t know.
One of the caverns we visited was particularly beautiful. In the wet season water runs down a waterfall. The calcium in the water has coated the sides of the rock and formed half circular pools. It looks very much like Pumlukka in Turkey. I would love to see it with the water running down it.
After seeing the caves, Graeme could barely walk. He went straight to bed. His temperature kept rising sharply then falling suddenly. In the early evening he asked me to take a look at his back. I got the fright of my life when I saw two little blisters. We spent the night trying to keep Graeme warm then cool as needed.
19th December 1997
In the morning a few more blisters had appeared but his temperature had dropped a little. So we got on the bus headed for Chiang Mai. We were making straight for the hospital.
Expecting to be diagnosed with some sort of weird and wonderful tropical disease, it came as a bit of a surprise when the doctor took one look at Graeme and said “ah yes, a case of chickenpox. Take these paracetamol and call me in the morning”.
What he didn’t tell Graeme was how it would itch. Graeme feels like his skin has a million fleas crawling all over it biting and stinging him. The worst part is that if he scratches he will scar.
Chickenpox is worse to have as an adult. Somehow it hits you harder.
I am just so glad that I have had it. Otherwise the next few weeks would have been a bit of a write-off while Graeme recovered and I got sick.
We spent just about the whole night watching movies and trying to stop thinking about the itching. It was mission impossible.
20th December 1997
Graeme had to stay in the hotel room while I went to go and get breakfast. We don’t know if he is contagious with his blisters. Now he is just covered in them.
At reception I was told that because we hadn’t told them we were staying more than one night we would have to move rooms. Apparently two months ago our room 427 had been booked to someone else. The more I asked them to please put the other people in another room (it was exactly the same type of room) the more I got “you’ll have to move”. No matter that a person is very sick and possibly contagious.
After I had packed all our things I got a call saying we could stay in the room. It must have dawned on them that it would be a little silly to move us. It must be a hotel’s nightmare to have sick contagious guests. But 12,000 miles from home, we have nowhere else to go. This is the time we miss home the most. There are none of those little comforts that make being sick bearable.
Graeme was stuck in the room all day. I went out to visit the hospital. I wanted to set my mind at rest about my leg. It was still very sore to walk on and blood was leaking into my foot creating a red area just below my ankle. But the doctor put my fears at rest. Nothing was seriously wrong. It would just take time.
Going to the hospital is amazingly cheap. To see a doctor and to get two sets of medication they charged Graeme R14.00. For me they charged nothing. It was a bit of a relief because we didn’t know how expensive it would be.
Graeme still hadn’t slept by the time I got back. We ended up watching CNN broadcasts. They get so boring after a while with the same stories being told over & over again.
In the evening Graeme was ready to pull his hair out with the itching all over his body. We went for a walk to try and get some of the frustration out. It didn’t work very well because he still couldn’t sleep. I was starting to get really worried as it had been over 48 hrs since he’d had some sleep.
21st December 1997
But at about 5:00am he fell into a deep sleep. Sometimes you get so tired that not even a million itchy blisters will keep you awake. I think it is going to take a while for Graeme to recover his strength from this. We will find somewhere quiet to spend a couple of days just sleeping, reading and eating.
The looming of Christmas is the last thing on our minds. We have never felt so un-Christmassy in our lives. Normally we are hectic buying presents, going to parties and finishing those last few loose ends at work before going camping.
This time of year is a family time of year and we are going to miss our family terribly.
22nd, 23rd, 24th December 1997
I managed to finish writing all my letters and get out to the GPO, but Graeme was sick of being cooped up indoors so we decided to see some movies. Only 3 movies were showing in English so we watched them on different days. Graeme was feeling so weak that it was all he could do to eat his ice-cream after the movie and crawl into bed. Very unlike Graeme.
The movies we saw over these days were “The Jackal” and “I know what you did last Summer”. The former was excellent, the latter complete rubbish. But we would watch anything to save us from those CNN broadcasts.
On the 24th we watched a report on Robert Mugabe and his land re-distribution policy – just in time for Christmas he made an announcement that the land of 4,000 farmers will be taken away from them and given back to the native people. Graeme and I watched him speaking and we were open-mouthed. The farmers are staggered by this announcement. What we’d like to know is how far behind is S.A. in making this kind of move? While the land should never have been taken in the first instance, isn’t it possible to reach a middle ground solution?
The same day we went on a trip to the zoo. Normally we find zoo’s very depressing with the animals in cages smaller than rooms in our houses.
But this zoo had a walk through area that made you feel you were in the wild. We saw a stunning black bird with some light purple feathers. It was great to just sit and listen to the birds after all our T.V. blasting.
Walking past two apes sitting on he grass we had a sense of de ja vu with the hands out-stretched, the slumping body language and the puppy dog expression that were so human, it was uncanny. It felt as though two people had dressed up.
We felt most depressed when we saw the bears in the cage. They didn’t have any clean water and very little space. This reminded us of why we hate zoos so much. Some of the most beautiful animals there were the buck. Buck to me have the most peaceful expression. No other animal can match it.
A buck’s stare will quietly regard you. You can see such gentleness in their souls.
We didn’t stay much longer. On the way out we saw a tiger. But it was making such a pitiful meowing sound in its small area that there was absolutely no pleasure in it. We had to leave before we broke down in tears.
That night we headed down to the Night Bazaar. This is knick-knack shoppers paradise. I was looking for a big fan which I want to hang above our bed. Graeme was very good about coming with me. This kind of shopping is one of his pet hates. I decided to wait until I get back to Bangkok before I buy a fan. Backpacking with it would be impossible and posting it would cost more than the fan.
So Christmas Eve was not very Christmassy. One of the Christmas Eve’s that sticks out most in my mind was when we all went for a swim at Sunrise beach. The water was incredibly warm. My father would put us on his shoulders and he would burst through the surf while we jumped/fell in the water. Absolutely knackered, we came home to a delicious meal of roast lamb & fillet. We never had a great Turkey tradition. Then we would all sit round the table, crack our crackers, wear our paper hats and laugh. My dad would always toast absent family & friends. My favourite treat was the sparkling red and white grape juice that was saved just for Christmas. I also loved the never ending supply of Quality Street.
After we had cleaned up we would go to bed. I tried my hardest to keep awake so that I would hear my mom come in with our stockings. I didn’t usually make it, but that year I did. I sat in the dark fingering all the little goodies that my mum took so much time and effort to get for us. I took such pleasure in trying to guess what each item was then putting it all back to save it for the morning when I could see it all. For 18 years I had the same stocking that my Nana had made for me and it remains one of my favourite traditions. I can hardly wait to do it for my children.
Over the years Christmases have changed as they always do when you grow up. New members have been added to the family and old traditions have fallen away. But the spirit of giving, of family, of love, will always remain the same.
This year I missed my family on Christmas Eve. There was no lamb and mint sauce, no crackers and no Christmas Tree lights. It is at such a time that you realise how important your family are to you. I can’t wait to celebrate it next year.
25th December 1997
Christmas Morning. Ho, Ho, Ho.
There was no coffee and mince pies but we did have one of the most delicious meals we’ve had in Thailand. It was shrimp and pork in filo pastry, followed by sweet & sour seafood, topped off with tiramisu and cappuccino mousse. It was to die for.
Before going to see a movie we stopped off at the hotel and received our first and last Christmas card. It’s not every year you get only one!
“To Annalee and Graham,
Greetings from 11 Alpen Way. We all missed you last night at our Christmas supper. There was much speculation about what you would be doing though. Hope that Graham is now well enough to get out and about. Unfortunately the presents on this card will have to be in your imagination. For Annalee there is some perfume, sexy underwear and a new Trade Mark cap. Graham has a beach towel, books and a t-shirt. I’m sure that you will have spoilt us as well. We are going to Debbie & Chris within the hour for our Christmas yum-yums. I will have a bite of baked ham for you as well as a mince pie. The whole Burger clan send you their best wishes.
Love
Mom
The movie we went to see was called Titanic. It was simply excellent entertainment. It went for 3hr 14 min and it felt like 10 mins. I am, as everybody knows, a total sucker for a love story. And the story of Jack and Rose is as full of love as they come. Graeme loved the special effects.
Later we watched a programme with some details about filming the movie. It was the most expensive movie to date to film. The director had gone down to visit the titanic at the bottom of the ocean and from footage filmed here created the sets. Right down to the fireplace detail. He was a master artist at bringing it all to life so vividly. He was so chuffed at being applauded by the experts of the Titanic that he didn’t care what the critics of his film had to say. I don’t think there will be many critics. Graeme said it was the kind of movie “he could watch again”. High, high praise indeed.
We had to stay up to phone home. Finding an international phone in Chiang Mai is like looking for a yet on Mt Everest. So we had to end up deciding to phone from our hotel.
Before phoning we went for dinner and Graeme drew me his Christmas present. Looks like this poor guy needs a lot more love to bring the smile back to his face.
Phoning home felt strange. I felt so disconnected. But all was well and I hope everybody enjoyed their ham & mince pies. Roll on Christmas 1998.
We went to sleep wishing each other a Merry Christmas and holding each other tight.
26th December 1997
Today was the day we were to leave Chiang Mai and chicken pox behind. We planned to visit Doi Inthanon National Park. It was time to get back into nature – enough of this city living.
Before leaving we checked our email boxes. I love having email. It means I can get in touch with most people at the click of a mouse. Of course, it helps to have their correct address. I have sent 5 combinations to my father. I am crossing my fingers that one of them gets through.
We caught the bus to Chom Thong. Graeme was so tired he fell asleep sitting up. Unfortunately there was nothing to hold his head up so he kept swaying and once bumped his head on the window – ouch!
We gratefully arrived at Little Home Guesthouse and promptly fell asleep.
27th December 1997
We hitched a ride into town in the back of a bakkie. Graeme says he loves travelling with me because if there is a dirty patch to find, I will find it. And that’s why I love travelling with him – if there is a mozzie in the room, it will find him!
So I managed to find the dirtiest patch in the bakkie to sit on. Looking a bit shabby we went to go and hire a motorbike. The guy obviously thought we didn’t look too bad because he asked us for B250.00 for the afternoon. We were a bit taken aback. So after some bargaining we agreed to B200 for 24 hours. Going to Green Market Square is going to be no fun because I won’t be able to bargain there.
It felt good to be back on the bike with the open road and the whole afternoon ahead of us. Our first stop was Mae Klang waterfalls. A series of rocks falling in steps with the water running over them.
We were tempted to swim a little down stream but didn’t have our costumes and there were too many people.
Walking to Mae Klang falls you pass the portable food stalls. In S.A. it would be good old boerawors with onion or sosaties. Not so in Thailand. Here it’s delicacies like roasted lizard with chilli sauce or the favourite deep fried frog which cracks in your mouth. Give me boerawors any day of the week!
On our way to the second waterfall, Graeme decided that it was high time I learned to ride a motorbike (a moped actually).
I was a little nervous but once you’ve grasped the click forward to change gears up and backwards to change down while not revving, it’s easy. In 5 minutes I was able to take Graeme on the back and drive us all the way to the second waterfall. Mostly I went very slowly because there is not much between you and the ground you can see rushing underneath you.
We stopped here and had a delicious braised chicken. I have to start the yearly ritual of the post Christmas diet. My jeans are fitting far too snugly around my bottom. It is so hard to eat properly when travelling. There are so many delicious things to taste. But try I have to. I did some exercises yesterday and am stiff today. A shocking state of affairs.
The second waterfall was really beautiful with spray wetting us due to the water hitting the rocks at the bottom.
It is unfortunate that while talking my cap hit Graeme on his nose – exactly in the spot where one of his chicken pox scars lay. It really hurt him. He is very worried that they will scar. He has quite a few deep sores especially on his scalp. It is such a horrible experience to go through now. I think we should all have it as babies.
Wanting to see as much of the park as possible before nightfall, we set off to the third waterfall. We had to do a short walk to get there so we were hot and sticky on arrival. There was no one around so a skinny dip was too tempting to resist. We did have to take turns guarding though. It was incredible to stand under the water and see the water falling from above, we really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere in our own private place.
But we didn’t linger. It was quite late and I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of a huge National Park at night on a tiny moped. We did go a little further to a view point. It was a steel rung ladder that went two storeys straight up where the wood was so old it had rotted away. Graeme was brave enough to go all the way up, but not I.
Back at the guest house we had ordered dinner. Spicy pork and soup. Much to our surprise the pork arrived raw. They were a little taken aback when we asked to have it cooked – but us farangs are strange anyway. We were a little unsure of it when we got it back, but Graeme ate it anyway.
28th December 1997
Graeme woke up not feeling so well. We knew we should never have trusted that pork. It is always easy to be wise after the fact. So it is a good lesson to learn – when it comes to food it’s better to be over cautious than extra adventurous.
After breakfast of hot coco we had to get the bike back to town. This involved Graeme’s pack at the front then Graeme then me with my pack on my back with a little pack under each arm. Talk about overloaded. But our trusty bike made it all the way back. The Thai people along the way burst out laughing at this strange sight. The traffic cops we passed weren’t fazed in the slightest.
On the bus back to Chiang Mai, girls from the hill tribes would get in. They each wore their traditional village clothes. They seem to be extremely proud of their individual culture and heritage. We saw many women from the Lisu villages. Again they are immaculately clean and always neatly sewn. Never a tear or a hole. It is sad that their culture is being influenced by westerners. Who needs a coke in the middle of a tropical jungle? But to the Hill tribes’ credit, they are clinging on to their values and customs with a tenacity that is encouraging.
From Chiang Mai it was another bus ride to Lampang. I want to see the elephant training centre they have near Lampang. Apparently it is the only one in the world.
Graeme is again not feeling well. It is over 10 days now since he first started his fever with chicken pox. Surely he shouldn’t be getting fevers now? It is getting to the point where he is wondering if he should have a blood test. But where in Thailand would we get correct diagnosis? We’ll keep a close eye on it and if his fever continues we’ll make a trip to Bangkok.
“Thailand – the land of the smile
It costs nothing but means so much, it enriches those that receive it, without impoverishing those who give it. It happens in a flash, but sometimes the memory lasts forever. None are so rich that they can get on without it. And none so poor but are richer for its benefits. It is rest to the weary and daylight to the discouraged. Sunshine to the sad and nature’s best antidote in times of trouble. Yet it cannot be bought – borrowed or stolen. For it is something that is no earthly use to anyone unless given away.
And if in the rush of business a man is too tired to give one, then leave one of yours – for no one needs a smile so much, as those who have none to give!”
Anon
That evening I left Graeme to sleep and went in search of a phone. I got lost and happened to walk into the police station. They must have taken pity on this poor woman by herself because a policeman offered to take me to the telephones. When he brought his bike around, he had bought a bottle of water. After using the phone, he took me back to the hotel. Such friendliness we had not known since being in Thailand, but we soon found out it was typical of the people of Lampang.
We went for dinner at a romantic spot on the river. We had ordered drinks and our glasses were half empty. I was shocked when the waiter came over and filled them. We have been travelling in cultures where the western idea of “good service” is not the norm. It is such a pleasure not having to wait 20 min just to catch the waiter’s eye to order.
After dinner we went for a walk and got lost. We stopped to ask the locals which way we should walk back to our hotel. They called a friend over who insisted on driving us back. It was such a luxury to be in a car again.
Graeme was still not feeling 100% so we decided that he should stay in tomorrow and I would go to the elephant park.
29th December 1997
It took me a while to open my eyes this morning but once I remembered that I was going to see the elephants I jumped out of bed. It is hard to explain what part of me an elephant touches. It’s just that when I see them I see a gentle soul in a huge body. A soul that is wise from its ancestors. An elephant has all the grace of a ballerina yet all the strength of, well, an elephant. It’s sensitive exploring trunk touches you so gently. They live in very social herds that look after each other. However, I think that if you angered an elephant his wrath would have no mercy. To gain an elephant’s respect and regard would be an achievement indeed as both are not given easily.
We got off the bus at the turn off. I met three Germans and we went into the camp.
Our first elephant greeting was a mommy and baby elephant. This baby was 8 months old. It came up to my thighs and had a thin tiny trunk. Standing with them is the mahout. A mahout and an elephant are soul mates for life. The mahout will care for, train and doctor (with the advice of a vet-none of this branding nonsense in Thailand) his elephant. The baby kept wrapping its trunk around the mahout’s shirt and trying to pull it towards its mouth. Finally giving up on this game, it went in search of all the mahout’s pockets. I suppose it was hoping to find a banana. All the while mommy stood by patiently. As a mom elephant you would have to be patient. A 17-22 month pregnancy followed by 2-3 years breast feeding. Those facts alone made me glad I am not an elephant.
Every day the elephants put on a show. They all line up biggest (12 years) to smallest (3 years) then they start performing. They start by going round in a circle holding each other’s tail then they spread out and lie down. They seem to handle getting up much better than camels. Apparently the elephants sleep like this for four hours a night. Next was the logging show. They train these young elephants in the different styles of logging so to preserve the art of logging.
Logging has been made illegal to prevent elephants being abused. The maximum weight an elephant can pull is 800kg. Quite a few logs!
They even train the elephants to walk on logs, narrow logs, so that they can cross rivers. One of the elephants could turn itself around on one log. But he has to do this very slowly. It’s hard to balance 4 tonnes of muscles on a single log.
One mahout had trained his elephant to do a special trick. The mahout would leave his hat on the ground. When given a special command the elephant would pick up the hat, walk to his mahout and gently place the hat on the mahout’s head.
Another elephant had a different trick. He would show us humans how elephants drink from a bottle by wrapping its trunk around the bottle then letting the water pour down its throat. When it was finished the bottle would be thrown to the ground. But today the elephant dutifully picked up the bottle and put it in the bin.
All these tricks received enthusiastic applause and cheering. There was also much oohing and ahhing at how cute they looked.
At the end of the show they all lined up again from biggest to smallest and took a bow. This is done by going down on their fore legs and nodding with their heads.
After all this tiring exercise they were hungry. So they all lined up at the fence with their trunks stretched out. This is quite a sight. A row of ten trunks with a mass of 30 tonnes behind them. But the elephants were as gentle as lambs. I took a bunch of bananas and went to feed them. They take the banana so gently from your hand. Their huge trunk tip wrapping itself around the banana. Then popping it into its mouth. In many ways this eating act of the elephants reminded me of small children. With a mouth completely full they would still reach out for more bananas. These were either passed up to the mahout or dropped on the ground to reach for some more. A special treat is the sugar cane but for some reason the mahouts don’t allow their elephants to eat it after a show. When the elephant is given a sugar cane it dutifully hands it up to his mahout. But every so often when he thinks the mahout isn’t looking, he gets a twinkle in his eye and tries to sneak it into his mouth. The mahout always notices, however, and gives a sharp rap on the forehead, whereupon the trunk would come up with the sugar cane. You can almost see the elephant thinking “darn, foiled again, better luck next time!” I hope the mahouts give the elephants the sugar cane. They certainly deserve it.
After lunch what could be more delicious than a shower in the river? The mahout stood right on the back of the elephant while the elephant sprayed himself cool.
I went for a ten minute elephant ride. You feel like a real colonial with your umbrella and your elephant seat. They are a darn sight more comfortable than a camel! It was just a 10 minute walk around the park.
When it was time to leave we passed mommy and baby elephant. I had saved a banana for them both. I tried to give the baby his banana but he couldn’t take it. The mahout said I had to peel it. So I gave the peeled banana to it’s outstretched trunk. Like any baby it had co-ordination problems. Getting the banana to its mouth took a few hits & misses. But what can you expect from an elephant still being breast fed? Mommy elephant took her banana without any problems but after putting it in her mouth she wanted to explore the giver. I was a little nervous having this huge trunk explore my feet and run up to my hands. She left me a little souvenir and all I can say is it’d hat to see an elephant with a cold.
On the way back a bakkie stopped and gave us a lift back to town. Half way back we stopped at a market. Here we got to see the Lampang specialty. Earthworms skewered on a stick then braised. Graeme’s right, these Thai’s will eat anything.
I got back and found Graeme moderately better. We had thought of moving on to Ko Chang tonight but after all my descriptions of the elephants he wants to go and see them too. This is not something that anybody should miss if they come to Thailand.
30th December 1997
We set off early but had to wait for a bus going to Chiang Mai. The bell on the bus didn’t work so it only stopped about 1km up the road from the elephant centre. It’s quite a walk in the heat of the day. We were all hot and bothered by the time we reached the centre but one look at baby elephant cheered us up.
We saw the same show as yesterday. I wonder if these elephants ever get bored. They do get a holiday. Between March & May the centre is closed for the elephants’ summer vacation. I wonder where they go and what they do?
I was surprised at how hard the elephants skin is. It feels like thick plastic. The hairs on the top of it’s head are really tough and thick.
Somebody had given poor baby elephant a piece of sugar cane. It was trying it’s hardest to chew it but with no teeth was not having much luck. All too soon it was time to say goodbye. Visiting the elephant centre has been one of the highlights of Thailand for me.
We had planned to go to Ko Chang for New Year, however we read in the book that it is a very high risk Malaria area. As Graeme has not been taking his tablets because they make him ill, we changed our minds. It was a good thing really as getting to Ko Chang in time for New Year would have left us so exhausted we couldn’t have enjoyed it. So we will be spending New Year in Bangkok then going south to a Marine Park.
We splurged and bought VIP tickets R30 for a 7 hour trip. But we had 5 hours to kill before the bus left, so looking in the book we found an activity that made us say yes – let’s do that. None other than Thai massage.
The charge is R15 for an hour of full body massage. What we didn’t know about Thai massage is that they like to stretch every, and I mean every, muscle in your body. Graeme wanted to know if this was some sort of bitter sweet torture. It does hurt a little but by the end you feel like a rag doll you are so relaxed. After the massage we had a herbal sauna. The smell was slightly medicinal but it cleared all the airways. The lady masseuse noticed the few sores still left on Graeme’s back, so wasn’t having those left unattended. No, they were rubbed with a special ointment presumably to help them heal faster. Bless her.
We got on our bus to find real luxury. A pillow, blanket, ample leg room, coke, and doughnut. The pillow covering was done in a shocking pink with yellow frilly edging. Who would want to steal those? The only low light was the non-stop kick boxing movie at ear splitting volume.
31st December 1997
We arrived in Bangkok at 6:00am. We always feel very fragile as we usually don’t sleep and are all stiff from sitting.
We caught the government bus to Banglamphu. We had decided to stay in the same hotel. Catching the bus at the bus station was no problem but knowing where to get off was. We knew we were in a big city when no-one wanted to help us. What is it about big cities that makes people so unapproachable and unfriendly? Eventually the conductor helped us and just in time, too.
We took a room with a balcony and fell into a deep coma. But in Bangkok it is so humid it’s impossible to really relax. It is supposed to be more humid than most other Asian cities. I can only think that this is because of it’s size. Absolutely no wind gets through.
We had lunch on the balcony. Our view was the Wat that is just across the road from us. Nothing could be more typically Thai.
We went to the internet café. I love opening my email box and seeing who’s written. It is such an easy way to stay in contact, I think everybody should have one. I wish everybody had one. Although it’s still cheaper to write a postcard, but you can’t put a price on staying in touch with those you love.
I phoned my Dad to wish him a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It was wonderful to hear his voice.
We didn’t mean to but we spent over two hours at the Café. We rushed to Siam square because we wanted to see a movie. We got there in time to get two seats but in the second row from the front. We saw 7 Years in Tibet and from where we were sitting we almost felt as though we were standing on the side of the Himalayas looking up at the snow capped peaks. The movie had the most breathtaking scenery. It made me regret that we never made it to Nepal on this trip.
It was a sad movie to watch. It depicted a true story between the Dalai Lama and an Austrian mountain climber during the second world war years. An the intolerance and cruelty the Chinese showed the Tibetans when taking them over. Today you hear of the terrible things the Chinese are still doing to the Tibetans, i.e. a woman is only allowed to marry and become pregnant with the permission of the Chinese authorities. Many Tibetans are trying to escape into Nepal. From the people we’ve met who’ve travelled to Tibet say that although there are some monasteries, they are basically just a show piece. Public relations that enables the Chinese to say “look – we let them practice their religion”. The Dalai Lama (like the Pope) is the head of the Buddhist religion. He had to flee Tibet in 1956 and lives in Kashmir now. When we were there we could have gone to see him. Now I wish we had.
To see the new year in and the old year out we had decided to visit the red light district of Bangkok. It was certainly an interesting and memorable way to spend New Year’s Eve. It consists of a couple of alley ways with go-go bars and sex shows on the inside and a lively market selling every kind of fake designer item you could possibly want. As you walk along touters try to tempt you into the shows with every act imaginable and some unimaginable ones.
We sat down outside at one of the bars soaking up the atmosphere. Everybody was in a party mood. Laughter was drowned out by the sound of music. This was interrupted by fireworks bursting into the air. Unknowingly we had stopped where next door there was a gay/transvestite bar. We got an eye-full when one of them walked past us. He was dressed to kill. White garters and suspender belts and long blonde wig, huge long eyelashes with outlandish make-up. He walked with such pride strutting his stuff. The group looked like they were having the most fun out of everybody in the street.
12pm came and went far too quickly. There was no Auld Lang Syne or kissing and hugging everybody. It is not the Asian way. I can’t believe it is now 1998. Two years to go until the millennium. Where has the time gone and where is it going? It seems incredible to me that I left school 7 years ago. So much has happened and so much has changed. Not that that’s unexpected.
For Graeme and I it’s five years since I picked up the feather and started to caress his face and the rest, as they say in the classics, is history. Five wonderful years of history together.
1st January 1998
In true Graeme and Ally style, we woke up late, very late. We ate lunch while trying to write letters home. I went to post the letters while Graeme checked the e-mail. I have been so out of things that I forgot today was a public holiday – silly me.
The only thing left to do was head to the bus station. We planned to go down south and stay on one of Thailand’s tropical islands. Graeme needs time to rest and relax. He still hasn’t fully recovered from the chicken pox.
For R65.00 we bought VIP tickets on the bus. We got seats like in 1st class airplanes. With a blanket and pillow. A snack was handed out then we headed off while watching Braveheart in Thai. After 2 hours we stopped, we were invited to dinner (all included) then continued on our way. Our seats were so comfortable that we slept like babies. Very unusual for us on a bus. When it comes to bus travel in Thailand, 1st class is definitely the way to go. It’s R20 difference between 1st and 2nd as well as a whole night’s sleep. Who could ask for more?
2nd January 1998
We arrived in Satun feeling fresh but we still had a way to go. A motorbike to the taxi rank, a taxi to La-Ngu, a Songethew to Pak Bara then a boat to Ko Bouhlen. Just a little exhausting.
On the boat over we met a German and his Thai wife. He is hoping to come and live in Thailand but it is not so easy. He has to bring money into the country. We sat and chatted to them over lunch and planned to charter a boat to go round the island tomorrow.
This island is a piece of tropical paradise. We are staying in a beach hut for R10.00 (I kid you not) a night. The island is very similar to Paradise Island in Mozambique. E thought that Paradise Island would look great if they tore down the ugly 1950’s hotel and built little bungalows like they have here.
We spent the afternoon just lazing on the beach. I think this is going to be similar to Olympus, just sitting in the sun, snorkelling in the sea and sleeping in the shade.
3rd – 14th January 1998
The days here soon settled into a wonderful dreamy routine. We didn’t get to go on the boat trip as planned but we managed to go on another one. We went to five different snorkelling spots. The first one was very deep and I kept looking around me and expecting to come face to face with a big shark. I find it quite a disconcerting feeling to only be able to see 3ft in front of me then only dark green. We quickly had to move on to the third site because we kept being stung by tiny jellyfish. You are swimming quite innocently then, zap, they sting you on your lips, your nose and then all over your body. The worst part is you can’t see them to avoid them.
The third spot was really good though. It is such a silent world underwater. The sea plants seem to move in a slow motion dance while the fish dart in and out of them. The only sound is the constant crackle of the coral. The fish were very small compared with those in Paradise Island but many of the same varieties. This surprised me because I thought they would be different. What was different was the coral and the small sea animals.
Some of the coral looked like a huge brain while some looked like the bare branches of a tree. All of it teeming with life. Attached to the coral were deadly looking sea anemones. They were like a pin cushion with long knitting needle like spikes sticking out in all directions. We kept well out of their way.
One of the Thai people caught a black and yellow lobster. It was such a tiny little thing. I am sure it would have been illegal to take it out at home. Graeme had the whole boat in hysterics as he crooned to it like a little baby. A very un-endearing baby.
All the other spots were very similar and by the last we were getting cold and ready to go back to shore. By the time we reached shore all we wanted was to be back out to sea for that good old sea breeze. It is hard to escape the heat, even at night.
Graeme and I would lie in our hut trying to sleep, relishing the few hours pre-dawn when it was cool. Eventually the heat would wake us up and drive us down to the beach for a swim.
One morning I was lying in our hut when I heard a crunch, crunch coming from just outside. I was immediately alert because I had heard that people had had some trouble with a drunk camper and it sounded exactly like stealthy foot steps. So I gathered up my courage to face this intruder and looked over the top of our hut. I didn’t come face to face with a person but a 3ft fat lizard. I don’t know who was more surprised – me or him. But unlike me, I didn’t give him a fright. He just looked at me with those unblinking eyes, let out his long tongue then turned away to continue his morning hunting. It took a while before my heart stopped thumping. Graeme & I both peeked over and watched him hunting. It was fascinating to watch him turning over the leaves, tongue snaking out in search of his prey.
Graeme and I would get up and have some breakfast then we would take the 10 step journey to the beach and plop ourselves down. We would while away whole mornings reading on the beach or swinging in the hammock.
One day I rested my weary eyes and built a sand castle. It had a moat with high walls. The castle was layered with two tall towers at the top. I decorated the layers with coral and shells. This attempt was much more successful than my last - my last being at prefect camp. We had been divided into teams and I was the team leader for one. The three others in my group had been given various jobs (unknown to me). So we started to build. I, co-ordinating on the knowledge of my class mates and they, telling me what they wanted to do according to what they had been instructed. Our time limit was 15 min and it was only with 5 min to go that I realised that I had to listen to my class mates rather than assume I knew where their strengths lay. So at the end we only had a half completed castle but I had learned a valuable lesson. Even if you think you know, listen. Wow, it was a hard one to learn.
Before lunch Graeme & I would have a swim. The water is so warm but not as warm as Paradise. At Paradise it was a little like a warm bath – not at all refreshing. Graeme and I would jump around and splash each other before setting off on a race to a certain goal in the distance. There was a time when I could beat Graeme in a short sprint but not any more. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to get fit again. We’ll have to see how long it lasts.
Lunch was always a lazy affair. Graeme’s favourite was seafood in oyster sauce on a hot plate. A really tasty dish. I can’t wait to get home and start cooking again using all the influences of spices and different ingredient combinations. One of our firm favourites is stir fry with chicken & cashew nuts. About the only ingredient I won’t be able to use as abundantly as they do here is garlic. Graeme & I counted 10 cloves of garlic in our stir fry once. Eating it is fine as long as we don’t have to go to work for the next month. Otherwise, we would have to issue our colleagues with gas masks.
In the afternoons we would snooze or walk on the beach. One afternoon we were walking and saw that a boat had got stuck in the sand. So we jumped in clothes and all and helped push and rock it back into higher water. Not an easy feat with those long boats. But 20 minutes later we saw the boat heading back to the mainland with a very relieved Thai at the rudder.
The next afternoon saw us searching for a coconut to eat. We found a tree but there was no ladder so Graeme had to throw a fallen coconut up to try and dislodge the coconuts high up in the tree. As you can imagine, this had about as much success as would trying to spear fish with a knitting needle. So we resorted to waiting until a freshly dropped coconut had fallen. We grabbed it and went to the kitchen to borrow an axe to open it. Try as we might, we couldn’t open it. Then the staff took pity on us and gave us one of their coconuts. Our one was too old to eat. In Thailand edible coconuts are exactly the opposite to African ones. If they are green, they are ripe – if they are brown, they are old.
We had trouble opening the green one until one of the ladies came to our rescue. She took great delight in showing us exactly how to chop a coconut. She put two straws in the top and Graeme & I drank our fresh coconut milk. It tasted like some sort of exotic cocktail. Sadly we couldn’t eat the coconut flesh.
As dark started to close in, the jungle insects would begin to hum. Graeme & I would know to run for cover before the mozzies came down in full force. They have the biggest and the meanest mozzies. Only 100% DEET keeps them away.
At dinner we formed a comfortable silence, each doing our own thing. Amazing, we always said we would never be one of those couples who are always silent. An easy promise to make in the glory of early romance. You don’t know then how blissfully peaceful silence between two people can be. If we weren’t doing our own thing, we would play our noun game. Even after 5 years there are new things to learn about each other.
By the 9th we had tried just about everything on the menu so our waiter whispered to us that they had prawns. Not just ordinary prawns, but huge L.M. size prawns. As it was my birthday, we decided to splurge and bought ½ kg of prawns done in sweet & sour sauce. It was to die for. This is definitely something I want to try at home.
If we weren’t being entertained the geckos would always put on a great show. A group of + would lie around the light jockeying for the best position. They would spot a midgie and their head would move so fast to catch it, you couldn’t see it. Graeme & I found ourselves fascinated. We would alternatively want to point out the midgie to the gecko so that he could have some dinner, then want to warn the midgie to stop him being eaten. It’s such a cat and mouse game.
After dinner we would sit and read. Thai’s are not big into desserts so we bought peanut crackle from the shop to sustain us. We got so hooked on it that we bought all 5 packets from the only shop on the island. We wanted to know we could always get it. It is so much nicer than the one at home.
Sometimes we would get so engrossed in our reading that the lights would suddenly turn off. The generator only works until 11pm. The first time we were plunged into darkness came as a real surprise. We had to feel our way out of the restaurant area back to our bungalow. Thank goodness for the full moon.
The light in our bungalow would work. On the first night we switched it on to find 3 big black cockroaches scurrying away. They had been feasting on this journal. That’s why it looks all eaten. Graeme took his revenge but they were very quick. So I had to take my journal with me wherever I went so that they wouldn’t eat it. Strange, that they didn’t like anything else.
To escape from the heat, the mozzies and the cockroaches (this is paradise, I promise!) we took our sleeping bags down to the beach. Before going to sleep we would go for a skinny dip then play aeroplanes to dry off. One night I was mortified to see 3 Thai’s get up after we had got into our sleeping bags. We hadn’t noticed they were there.
I just love sleeping out in the open. The fresh air brushing against your skin, the stars twinkling and the moon beaming. I sleep so much better. As you wake up in the middle eof the night, you see the moon has moved across the sky. You can always tell if you have a long time until dawn or not by the position of the moon. NO need to look at or set an alarm clock when sleeping out. You automatically wake up at dawn. Graeme & I would curl up together and watch the sunrise. Why does one never get tired of watching the sun rise up over the horizon or climb it’s way over the clouds? I don’t know the answer yet and I don’t think I ever want to know. I can never quite get my mind around the fact that the sun is rising here and on the opposite side of the world it is setting. It seems an almost impossible act for it to be getting light yet going dark at the same time.
On our second last day we met a South African at the newspaper stand. We had been checking the news on Indonesia. The president has said he’s not going to pay any money back to the IMF so the rupee has just fallen through the roof. So the residents have been storming shops to hoard food in case hypo inflation sets in. This in turn means the army is on standby. Some army members have called for the president to step down. Not the most stable of environments to fly into, so we have to keep a close watch on the news and perhaps in Bangkok phone the embassy.
Anyway, this South African invited us to join them for dinner. It was great to meet Marc and his Welsh wife Sharon. We spent the evening telling our India tales. India, if nothing else, provides some very funny stories.
Marc & Sharon were great drinkers and they shocked Graeme & I at how much they drank. In Thailand they have this whiskey which is supposed to be 80% proof. Between the two of them they polished off 3 half bottles. So I doubt the 80% proof claim. It must be watered down, but with what is the scary question. We heard reports that they put anti-freeze in it. What makes them drink such suspect stuff is beyond me! And in such quantities!
We have yet to see them today so no doubt they are felling very sorry for themselves indeed!
15th – 17th January 1998
We had thought we would leave the island and go to Ko Tarato (a National Marine Park). But we heard there was no international phone (we wanted to phone Julian for his wedding), the food was reported to be awful and they charged you a Thai fortune to stay on the island – so we thought to ourselves why leave paradise? I can see it becoming harder and harder to leave this wonderful island. We have never had such good tans and eaten so well. We decided to try the other restaurant on the island and discovered their amazing squid in red whiskey sauce dish. This has now replaced the favourite seafood on hot plate. Graeme has almost completely recovered from the chicken pox. We are now eating 3 meals a day (big meals) and walking along the beach. We haven’t felt so relaxed in a long time.
In the evenings we would draw each other. The goal was to keep you eye on the person and draw what you saw without looking down. Graeme definitely won the prize and for a person who professes not to have an artistic bone in his body!
Our 1998 New Year resolutions are coming on well. After the sun has woken us up at dawn we go for a swift walk along the beach. It feels so good to walk in the fresh air. Graeme & I want to start getting up early in the mornings at home and go walking in the forest. Easier said than done.
On the morning of the 16th we phoned Julian who was getting married. Both Graeme & I felt terribly homesick to be away from our friend on such an important day in his life. He sounded well, not at all nervous, only excited. I can’t wait to see the video and all the photos. In the evening at 10:00pm our time, 5:00pm S.A. time we started to go through the wedding proceedings. At 5:00pm Juliet would have been walking down the aisle, now they would be saying “I do”, next comes the signing of the register followed by the confetti or rice. I get so excited for weddings.
On the last couple of nights we discovered the joys of playing scrabble. It kept us entertained for hours. Graeme’s good. He never scores less than 240, usually 270. He is a master at adding “s” on the end of one word then making another word – usually on a triple score. Amazing to see him play. We are going to try and find a game in Bangkok so that we can practice and play in Indonesia.
There had been a little bit of rain and this made the mozzies worse. There seemed to be double the number. When we showered we would get bitten all over. You can just about hear the mozzies saying “Mig 3, I am going in, cover me from the rear”. “Ten four, Mig 8, I’m right behind you”.
It would be a constant battle. Humans against Mig mozzies. And can they move? Nobody stands a chance.
On our last night a group of Thai’s had arrived and had a big party on the beach. At about 12:00am we all settled down to sleep. At about 3:00am we were woken up by a woman who was shouting from the water’s edge. A group of Thai’s rushed to the shore. It seemed that sometime during the evening their boat had hit a rock and started to sink. Only by this time it was too late. What a horrible end to their weekend. When Graeme & I went for our walk at dawn they were still bailing out water and sand from their now beached boat. But it would make a good excuse for work. “Sorry boss, we couldn’t get back to work, our boat sank and we had to wait for another”. I couldn’t think of another place I would rather be stuck.
18th – 21st January 1998
It was with heavy hearts that we sat down to have our last meal on the island. This is really a wonderful place. It’s an ideal honeymoon spot. I hope that one day we will come back.
We caught the ferry back to the main land. The skipper asked Graeme to pick up the anchor assuring him that it only weighed 3kg. Yeah, right! One side of it maybe!
We sat and chatted to an English couple on our way back. They told us about the world Trade Centre in Bangkok. Here you can buy electronic goods for very cheap. Graeme wants to get a Pison 5a with all the trimmings. Hopefully with email. We won’t know ourselves.
We paid the person for the boat but he had to go and get change. Graeme & I were so relaxed that we just hopped onto the Songthew and headed off to Lay-Nau. About 100m down the road we realised and had to stop. The Thai’s thought that this couple of farangs had definitely lost their minds. This was confirmed when we started to run back to get our money. Thai’s never rush anywhere. It disturbs their inner karma. I think they definitely have something there. We got our money and started again.
We made our way to Trang so that we could catch an overnight bus straight to Bangkok. Trang is supposed to be the cleanest city in Thailand and we did not see a piece of litter anywhere.
Much to Graeme’s delight, next to the bus station there was a Wallis ice-cream shop. He had been dreaming of ice-cream for the last 20 days. We sat in the air-conditioned restaurant and savoured the coolness.
Before getting on our bus we had a meal at the bus station. When we sat down at the table and inspected what we had been dished out, we couldn’t eat it. The meat part consisted of these really strange looking molluscs and stuffed pieces of I don’t know what. It was really terrible.
The bus journey was uneventful although I swear the seats get harder on every bus. We arrived at 4:00am and had to get to Khao San Road. The taxi & tuk tuk drivers have been hit b the falling baht so a trip that would have cost B50 now costs B200. We figured that the price of petrol must have increased and they figure what’s an extra dollar or two from a foreigner. All very well if you are travelling on USB, not S.A. rands.
All the guest houses were full so we had to stay in one right on Khao San Road. Our room was literally two beds and a fan. No window, no bed covers and barely enough room for our back packs – but I guess for R15.00 a night, we can’t ask for too much. We went to sleep straight away but our tummies woke us up yelling “lunch – feed us”!. So we went and had prawns in sweet & sour. Yummm. With our tummies satisfied we had to satisfy our wallets. We decided to head off to the World Trade Centre. Hoping to find a Pison 5a. We spent the afternoon combing this huge centre but found nothing. We peeked into the duty free shop and a Gucci scarf only costs R800.00. Some people have too much money! Graeme & I headed out of there before they charged us for looking.
We were so exhausted all we had the energy for was dinner and a movie. We had dinner at a Spur type place where you had a buffet – choice of soup, pasta with two sauces, 20 salads, then jelly & chocolate mousse for only R15.00. Graeme & I pigged out.
The movie we saw was called Devils Advocate. It was an excellent movie. Al Pacino was as good as ever. Normally I hate movies that have any sort of evil connotations but this was so well done that you didn’t get too much of that creepy feeling.
Last night’s movie having whet our appetites, we decided to go and see another.
To get to Siam Square we had to take a tuk tuk and boy are they getting hard core. We keep having to go from vehicle to vehicle until we get a reasonable price from one of the drivers. They would be happy to take us anywhere for B10 if we would just stop at one shop for 10 minutes along the way. We met a S.A. family who had taken one and they said it was 30 minutes of the hardest sales pressure they’ve ever experienced.
At Siam Square we went for a Haagen Dazs. It is our first and our last for a very long time. For a 500ml tub it costs R22.00. Some things in Thailand are cheap and some are very expensive, but it was delicious.
We saw the movie Nothing to Lose. It was one of those slapstick comedies and Graeme & I enjoyed the light-heartedness of it. After we came out the movie Starship Troopers was showing. So of course we had to go and see that. Truthfully, I thought it was terrible. It involves a bunch of insects fighting earth and the soldiers in the army. I can imagine 12 year olds really enjoying it. Graeme appreciated the special effects, he thought they were really good. Probably they are if you are into giant size bugs – which I am not.
Today we couldn’t see a movie as we had seen every English movie in Bangkok. SO we decided to go walk around Chinatown. This is a walk not for the faint hearted. What starts off as an innocent alleyway selling fruit & nuts turns into a horror of seafood. Every kind of fish you can imagine, and some you can’t, are on display. Their insides seemed to be a special delicacy so they took pride of place. The eeriest were the crabs. They had three trays of them standing 10 deep. They were all trussed up with their claws tied up in front of them. But they were still alive, so as you walked past, all 400 eyes would stand on their stalks and follow you round. It was horrible. Graeme & I always rushed past those stalls.
Along the way we visited a Chinese Wat. It is so different to the Thai Wat although their Buddhist religion is basically the same. Inside everywhere is red. The entrance hall is lined with four huge mean and angry looking gods. I certainly wouldn’t want to anger them. Past the entrance hall there was a room with a huge gold Buddha with an offering table in front. Worshippers pour oil into a burner then light incense and candles. The huge bundles of incense are left to smoulder away. The air is so thick with incense smoke that it hurts your eyes. Some people carry two cardboard containers – one with gold paper and another with silver wrapped around it. A lady told us that they offer these as a token for the gold and silver waiting for them in heaven. The Wat was particularly busy as next week is Chinese New Year.
We finished up at the market looking at fabric stalls. I was hoping to find a niece piece of silk but no luck. I’ll have to try in our last two days in Bangkok when we plan to do lots of shopping.
Being very hot and bothered we wanted to go for a swim and saw that the Awari hotel had a pool. On our way there we were distracted by a shopping centre devoted solely to computers. We spent a good two hours searching the place but not a Pison 5a in sight. They have the 3a and it’s half the price it is at home.
Perhaps they will have it when we return from Indonesia.
Before going to the hotel we had a bite to eat. While sitting a lone man started to chat to us. He told us he was an executive manager who flies all over the world and has been to C.T. He ended up telling us he knew of a very good tailor who will make things very cheap. He would love to show us there. Graeme & I paid the bill and headed straight out of there.
The Awari hotel is one of those hotels where the door is opened for you, your voice drops down to a whisper in the lobby and your feet sink into the carpet. We went to the eighth floor where they have a beautiful outside pool. But we were told we were very welcome to swim but it would cost us R40.00 each for the pleasure. So we decided to go and have a cold shower at the hotel instead.
On our return we discovered that somehow our keys had gone missing. So we told them at reception that we had to break into our room as we had put on one of those big viro locks. The guy shrugged his shoulders and said wait a bit and someone will come and help you. It took the guy 5 seconds to cut the lock. It was a relief that it wasn’t a big deal but seeing how easy it was to cut the lock did nothing for our confidence in viro.
Our trip to Thailand is at an end and I am sad. I have grown to respect and like the Thai people as well as love the countryside. For the next two years it is being promoted as “Amazing Thailand” and it certainly deserves such a description.
The countryside is a wonderful mix of tropical jungle, luxuriously green rice paddies and coral beaches.
You hardly ever see a cow, only water buffalo, which are used to plough the rice fields. Their ears are always flicking away flies and they always look fat because they are so well fed.
Like flowers on a lawn, Wat’s pop up through all the greenery. Glinting in the winter sunlight. The architecture in Thailand is completely unique. An architect in Thailand is considered to be one of the most important people in society.
We would pass through a village and no matter how small, they would have a beautiful Wat. Usually decorated with gold leaf and little mirror pieces making them sparkle. The Wat in these villages would serve as everything from a community hall to a frail care centre back to a place of worship.
Wherever we went in Thailand we would see Buddhist Monks. They usually held expressions of such peace and they always moved slowly and with such grace. Becoming a monk is a hard life to choose. They have 227 rules by which they have to live.
In the mornings we would see them with their bowls giving food to the poor.
Sculpture is considered to be the Thai’s highest art form. This famous Buddha is typical of the images we saw all over Thailand. Before I came to Thailand I always had the image that Buddha was a big fat man who looked like he was laughing at a really good joke. Now I know there are many kinds of Buddhas.
We got to see Thai dancing in Mae Hong San which was a real pleasure. I didn’t know that some of the headdresses can weigh several kilos due to all the silver. No wonder some of them don’t look very happy.
Putting on a dance production can be very expensive because most stories have over 100 demons – all with their own unique expression.
For me a wonderful highlight was the arts & crafts. Like India, each area has its own speciality. I wanted to shop till I dropped and dropped I certainly would have if I had – as I would have ha to carry everything.
I loved the vibrancy the Thai’s bring to their work. They almost have a hatred of murky, pale colours. The brighter the better. Their workmanship would be difficult to beat. Poor Graeme was very good to come round with me looking and taking note of how they do things. It brought out such a desire in me to get started on some artistic project but that will have to wait until I get home.
Last but not least, what makes Thailand so special and amazing are the Thai people. These gentle, unassuming people made us welcome wherever we went. They are extremely proud people yet so humble at the same time. One of the things that they are most proud of is that they have never been occupied by a Western power. This is unique amongst the S.E. Asian countries.
Their humility is evident in their religious beliefs and how strongly they follow the Buddhist teachings. They have a deep love and respect for their Royal family. It must be a unique relationship between the Thais and their Royals. Not only are the Thais involved in their king’s life, but he seems involved in theirs. All photographs of him see him with a camera around his neck.
Thailand is a peaceful nation. I wonder which nation could claim never to have been at war with their neighbours?
It is very sad to see these proud, humble, intelligent, hardworking people go through such economic hardship. Former stockbrokers are now fruit sellers, and the farmers are having to guard their rice fields. Theft has been almost unheard of in Thailand.
While travelling we met people who had come to Thailand once and couldn’t keep away. And as we explored we could see why. I know that one day I will be back, hopefully to celebrate with the Thais on the return of their economy.
Thailand – the land of the smile – I hope it never fades.
Epilogue
Instead of heading to Indonesia we sit on a plane bound for London. We decided to leave the Indonesians to their food riots and head for chilly England. We must be crazy.
It took us less than 24 hours between making our decision, doing all our shopping and catching our flights and we did shop till we dropped. The only time I’ve ever had such sore feet was at the end of an evening of waitressing.
So now we hit London. I have until 3 May 1998 and Graeme until 25 March. We are both going to get jobs and experience London living. I think it’s going to be fun.
And so ends one part of our adventure of life and begins another.
