Christmas week

I left the Chiang Mai region on Tuesday with the intention of spending Christmas in a town called Phitsanoluk (often called P-Luk) , once the capital of Thailand some 500 years ago. The bus ride was rather uneventful, save for the an odd sign just a few kilometers from P-luk. Another sign right alongside it identified the area as "Indochina". I'm guessing that this is the intersection for the whole SE Asia area?!? The road to Danang, Vietnam supposedly runs continuously to India, I suppose the road to Kuala Lampur is also continuous.

There's not too much to do in P-Luk. Aside from a few wats and some ruins from the old capital palace, the most interesting attraction is the factory where bronze Buddha statues are created. While walking around the area, I encountered a four-foot long, 3 inches wide snake of some variety. He was slithering around the buddhas in a dark corner. I asked the woman there if the snake was a pet. She nodded her head, but a few moments later she saw the snake and freaked out. Apparently it wasn't a pet.

I've found that P-Luk is just a nice hub for doing stuff around the area. I biked my first metric century (100 kilometers in one ride) in three years, along Highway 12 (the same highway that leads to Danang). It was mainly one straight line along the flat savannah of lower Northern Thailand. I was so encouraged by the flatness that I convinced myself that I can ride to the national park with my camping gear, cameras and backpack, which is 80 kilometers from P-Luk.

I almost left for the park on X-Mas eve, but made a last minute decision while waking up to stay one more day to experience what Thais do for X-Mas. There was a street party along the river that featured over 50 food stands, as well as live performances of traditional Thai dances and music, handicrafts, pirated CDs and DVDs, clothes and other "stuff". It turned out to be a good decision.

Among the highlights of food tasted were roasted pork and Thai fried ice cream - a ball of ice cream is covered in a donut and flash fried in oil then topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkles and served with a side of fruity jello.

Christmas Day was a roller coaster, both literally and figuratively. It started with biking to Thung Salaeng Luang park. I read that this was supposed to be the best trail riding in all of Thailand, so I was stoked to bike out there even with all my stuff (probably weighing 30 lbs). The first 50 kilometers were mostly flat (which I already experience a few days earlier), with only one minor hill to climb.

At about the sixtieth kilo, the hills started to get higher. It wasn't climbing the elevation that started to make me cranky, rather it was the fact that once at the top of each hill, there wasn't any fun downhill to give me momentum to go up the next hill. Adding to this was that I was probably getting a little dehydrated (it wasn't a hot day, so I wasn't drinking as much water as I normally would), which showed when I misread the map when plotting a spot to take rest.

My attitude started to sour when I told myself to stop at the 63rd km marker where there should be a waterfall. Upon approaching said marker, there was nothing around. 64 passed, nothing. 65 passed, still nothing. With each passing marker, my frustration grew. By the 67th km, I pulled out the map again and realized that the waterfall was actually at the 72nd km mark. Aaaarrrgh!!!!!!!

But all this rage faded upon reaching the promised land. 80 kilometers had exhausted me, but my spirits lifted when I saw a bike trail on the side of the road just one kilometer from the HQ. Ahhh, a good sign if I already see a trail!

Then the mood changed once again at the ranger station. While registering for the campsite, I asked a ranger where the foodstalls were. She informed me that they permanently closed down a while ago, but that the closest town to get food is just twelve kilometers away. My heart just fell to the ground. Bike another twenty-four km! Yipes! I didn't want to do another century, but it seemed to be my only option. [Actually this is untrue. I did have a stash of jerky that I could've just gnawed on for dinner.] I dropped off my stuff at the campsite and headed out to town. Fortunately, there was a roadside food stand just a kilometer from the park's HQ, so I delayed the journey to town for the next day.

When I got back to camp, I started to read a book (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - a great book, highly recommended!) while sitting on a large rock in the river. No more than two pages were read when I poked my head up and noticed a new tent was pitched and four PYTs (Pretty Young Thing for you Michael Jackson fans). They were sitting in front of the tent and waved at me. One of them walked over to me (just ten meters away) and offered me some snacks. We made some small talk then she invited me to dinner. What a stroke of luck! or rather a Christmas Miracle!?! They are second year students in P-Luk out for a one-day camping excursion. We had Thai-style ramen noodles and roasted sweet potatoes and corn in the campfire.

The next morning I met another group of nine campers who were on holiday from Bangkok. Mostly teachers from the same school, every year they get together during the holiday break to celebrate the birthday of Tom. When they found out that I was American, they invited me to hang out with them so they can practice their English. They poured me a cup of coffee and we chatted for a while. Soon enough, they asked if I would join them on the next leg of their journey - to camp up in the mountains in a cabbage farming village called Tab Berk, 1800 meters in elevation.

One thing I've learned in Thailand is to always accept an invitation to go camping with Thai people. Obviously, the company of Thais is always enjoyable. But what is most enjoying is the food that they bring to a party. This was no exception! We stopped at a market to pick up some food: four red snappers, corn, sausages, fruits and veggies, club soda and three bottles of scotch whisky (hey! it's Tom's birthday!). At the last minute, Moo grabbed me and we sprinted to the butcher stand to purchase a shank of pork. Apparently, pork was not a planned item and Moo saw that this grave error be rectified. I was in full agreement.

The next morning we parted ways; they went back to Bangkok and I headed back to Thung Salaeng to take care of some unfinished business - biking. Knowing that there was a twelve kilometer climb en route to the park, I chose to take a bus instead of biking. About four km from the park HQ the roads were moist from a brief rainfall. For a second I considered just staying on the bus and go back to P-Luk because I didn't want to hang out in a park while it's raining. I buried that urge thinking, "I wouldn't be keeping it real if I let a few drops of rain stop me from biking thru the best trails in Thailand."

Maybe I should've followed my instincts. As I was descending down the three kilometer hill to get to the campsite, I excercised caution because the road was slick. What I was not factoring in was the weight and bulkiness of the huge backpack behind me. On the last turn at the bottom of the hill, the tires slipped and I was down for the count. The first thing I checked was my left hand: no blood from where a previous blunder still shows a scar, but a blood blister did form underneath. #$%#! It seems that this hand will never fully heal. The only blood was just a flesh wound on the left elbow. There were also two huge scrapes, one on the hip and the other on the shoulder. While these were just minor wounds, biking was now out of the question because the hip took most of the impact and pains me so. I can still bike, but I would rather not. I should be back on the horse in a few days, don't you worry!

pork!!

spicy pork snausage balls

on the top is pork jerky, bottom right is moo todd (sun dried pork strips that are fried in oil creating a bacon-flavor sensation), bottom left is beef jerky

northern foods

Moo tawd: I am in pork heaven up here in the north! Above are strips of pork drying in the sun. Once dried, it gets fried in oil to a crispy texture. The end-product are strips that taste like bacon! A friend from Bangkok introduced me to this while in Mae Hong Son. He also brought to the table eggs that were grilled in their shells - a winning combo!

Pork and bacon jerky: Finally! after four months, I finally found jerky! The Thai twist is that they add coriander to the soy sauce marinade for a refreshing sensation. On an eight-hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, I was able to survive with just water and a bag of beef jerkey.

Khow kow moo: a shank of pork that has been slowly steamed (not braised) and is served over rice. The pork is so tender. Usually, a small portion is served over rice for 50 cents. In a Chinese village near Pai, a restaurant serves the whole shank with skin and fat for almost $4... this is meant to be for a whole family, but Gabor and I ate the whole thing - gluttony at it's finest.

Hanglay: a northern specialty. Pork is slowly simmered (possibly steamed) and served with a dark red curry sauce. Not especially spicy hot, but extremely tasty. One restaurant in Mae Hong Son has the pork so tender that it melts in the mouth. I usually don't eat too much of pork fat or skin (yeah, cardinal sin of pork lovers is to waste pork, but I eat so much much pork, that I gotta draw the line somewhere), but I had to make an exception for this bowl of goodness.

kaoh soy: wide yellow noodles are served in a spicy red curry broth, with some sort of meat added - usually chicken, beef or pork. Crispy fried noodles are thrown in on top for texture, as well as pickled cabbage and sliced shallots. It's usually only 50 - 75 cents. Since I've been up north, I probably have this five times a week for lunch/breakfest/brunch.

fried chicken: previously reviewed, but it needs to be revisted. Some of the northerners have fried whole legs and sometimes half the bird, which keeps the natural juices inside. I must say that this is the way to go... soooo juicy. The batter is somewhat thicker than other places... maybe someone stole the Colonel's method of the double-dipped batter?!?

Northern sausage: I know I've forsaken sausages when in the south because of the bone-factor, but was conviced to give it another try up here. I found a place that roasts a coil of sausages in an oven. I just had to try it. Nice and spicy, reminded me of an andoullie sausage. And there were no crunchy bones! There are also sausages that are like the Cajun Boudin - rice and glass noodles are added to pork and rolled into either a suasage link or many little balls. I'm not a big fan of these, but they are really cheap.

Fern leaves: I've had this in a couple of varieties - steamed and served with oyster sauce (preferred), as a salad with roasted garlic and dried shrimp (the shrimp/garlic combo is too strong of a flavor) and an addition to a soup (not really a big player). These ferns have many tiny, sharp thorns on the stems, which have been playing havoc on me when I'm biking on some of the trails in Chiang Mai - if one thorn tears into me, ten others follow. Eating them is a small bit of revenge.

Mae Hong Son - The Thai Alps

I spent the last week in Mae Hong Son, located in the far northwest corner of the country. Up until a few years ago, this town was barely noticed by tourists, in part to its inaccessibility. Even today, the roads are steep, winding and of poor quality, though it is changing with new pavement being laid down in some areas.

Of tourists spots, MHS is probably the least visited by non-Thais. Evidence of this is that I only counted maybe ten westerners in my week there, this pales in comparison to the ten I see every minute in Chiang Mai. The people that do come here are mainly Thais and Japanese.

{On a side note, people always wonder what nationality I am. It has turned into a game for me. People will look at me and assume that I am Thai. Then I open my mouth and if I speak Thai (what little I know), Thais will look at me funny like I am mentally retarded or have a speech impediment. They will ask me where I am from. I will reply that I'm American. They will give a second funny look, as I was lying or jerking their chain. Then I will tell them that my parents are born in Hong Kong. Their faces light up, as if they guessed correctly on a game show saying (translated), "Ahh, I knew you are Chinese!" and start smiling. However, in the northern towns, there are people that will assume that I am Japanese, presumably because of the huge numbers of Japanese tourists that come thru.}

I met up with my Hungarian friend, Gabor, for a few days. He's also a photographer/reporter (the only Hungarian correspondant in Southeast Asia he contends). Basically, we did the same thing as we did in Pai - look for interesting photo ops via obscure trails in the mountains or in villages.

One place was called Maeo Microwave, the latter word added because it was adjacent to three microwave towers on top of a mountain. The road to the village was so steep that our motorcycle stopped dead on a few hills, either because of us being too heavy on the steep angle or else the gas in the bike was so far back in the gas tank, that the engine ran out of juice.

After Gabor left, I explored the countryside via bicycle. Just like Pai, the rolling hills were fun, though at times intense. One climb was a solid fourteen kilometers up, more than half of it was on dirt trails. It was so steep that the rims on the bike were almost melting the break pads on the way down.

I visited one of the famous long-neck hill tribes, which is sorta like a tourist rip-off/exploitation of a poor population. The village doesn't have much of an economy (blow is a picture of clothes being made), though they have realized that tourists will pay money take pictures of the villagers. This has turned into a big money maker for these villages, but the social cost is that hordes of tourists (both Thai and outsiders) invade the village to take a bunch of snapshots. I am reminded of Lisa Simpson asking Homer, "How would you like it if slack-jawed yokels came into your home to take pictures of you?" Yeah, yeah, I know I am part of the problem in this sense, but the reality is that the village is gteting money... money they would not otherwise have.

back in Chiang Mai

up in the mountains, north of Pai

farmlands near Pai

Though my stay in Chiang Mai was supposed to be only a month, things change (as always). The day after my birthday, I traveled 120 kilometers to a small town called Pai. Pai is a artists' community (both Thai and foreigners) that attracts like-minded tourists. Most of these tourists are dreadlocked hippies, but they often travel together in groups, so it's easy to avoid them.

The town is northwest of Chiang Mai and up in the mountains. The bus ride was painfully slow at times, both up and down the mountain as it inched around the hairpin turns. To make the ride more interesting, the already-full bus picked up five more passengers just after leaving Chiang Mai. They were forced to stand in the middle walkway between the seats, so I got up and let a couple girls take my space. As we went thru the mountains, I was reminded of being on a MUNI bus in San Francisco because my body was shifting left and right with the bus.

Pai itself doesn't have much in terms of landmarks or fancy attractions. But it is close enough to many parks and caves. A Hungarian that I befriended in Chiang Mai met up with me for a few days. We traveled north thru another set of mountains to a huge cave. We hired a bamboo raft (more like a canoe) and checked out three sections of the cave that have rock formations and cave paintings from many centuries ago. We also trekked thru random forests in hopes to find ancient coffins made from wood that were stashed up in caves. We were successful once and it turned out to be an archeological site and off limits.

I left Pai a few days ago and am back in Chiang Mai to take care of some business. I had to renew my visa by crossing the border into Myanmar, but didn't do anything there. Just a quick in and out. (There's strange things going on in Burma - the capital just up and moved a few weeks ago without any real explanation to the outside world... it's doubtful anyone inside of Burma really knows either.)

Tomorrow I think I'll be departing this city for another adventure...

This is part of the fence on the southeast corner of the Old City in Chiang Mai.

The hill tribes don't really have many sources of income, so some resort to a form of begging. These girls dress in traditional clothes and ask for money when tourists (like me) take thier picture.

These are a couple of cats that live in a temple... probably abondoned due to poor health. The Thai word for "cat" is "meow".

inside a temple

Wat Chedi Luang , about 600 years old

Why didn't Wal-Mart think of this? On the front of a hotel in Chiang Mai, a Christmas tree is lit, topped with the Star of David.

Chiang Mai life

Life has been moving along very slowly compared to the previous month. Back then, I was darting around from town to town, doing something exciting every day. Being in the big city has turned things around. Doing something each day isn't a priority because I have so much time here. Well, I have to admit that on some days I wake up krusty and resolve to waste the day doing nothing.

Do to the availabilty of so much food, I have changed my eating schedule. I now have about four or five feeding sessions daily. If I go for a bike ride, I'll get some sorta breakfast, usually boiled rice and meat or noodles. Around the noon o 'clock hour, I'll have a rice dish or more noodles. Late afternoon is prime time for fried foods to be coming out of hot grease... I have a couple places earmarked for freshly fried pork chops and chicken wings when the clock hits 4 PM. The sunsets at 6:30ish (a consistent thing year-round) and I look for something substantial to eat, maybe a curry dish with rice or a stir-fry. After midnite, I have a favorite place near my guesthouse that serves up pad-thai and rice with chicken (or pork) with basil and chili peppers for 50 cents each. With all that said, I still only spend about $5-6 a day on food. (I'm not sure I'll be able to eat in good conscience at Commander's Palace again.)

I probably go for a bike ride about four or five times a week. If I feel only slightly krusty, I'll still force myself to go for a road ride to sweat out the alcohol from the night before. Last week I was able to do an 80 km ride without any difficulty and probably had enough gas to go another 20km, if it wasn't getting close to nightfall. I found a great set of bike trails behind the city's athletic sports center. (The center has a giant stadium, five indoor stadiums, tennis court, swimming pool and even a velodrome. I tried to ride the velodrome, but couldn't build enough speed on my mountain bike to successfully stay on the almost vertical edges of the oval-shaped loop.)

Last week there was a week-long festival called Loi Kratong. People release paper lanterns that rise in the air due to burning paper in the center (much like a hot-air balloon). The concept is that the bad sins of the past year will fade away. Hundreds of lanterns are released each night, giving the effect of the sky coming under artillery fire, except the artillery is rising instead of descending. Floats made of banana leaf carry lit candles and are released down the river. The festival gives everyone a reason (though I don't think anyone here ever needs a reason) to light fireworks and firecrackers and toss them anywhere and everywhere.

Winter is slowly setting in; temperatures are falling down to probably low sixties at nite, but the days are still warm... probably low eighties.

more food

Crickets: it's a big thing in Chiang Mai to eat crickets, beetles and other bugs. It's supposed to be a great source of many vitamins. I only had one cricket... just one. It tasted and had the consistency of popcorn. Not disgusting, just conceptually I was grossed out.

Steamed Pork buns: These are basically the same thing as what is found in Chinatown - white dough stuffed with a pork filling (also available are sweet jelly and bean curd) and steamed. However, there are many varieties to this. My favorite so far is found in Krabbi - they use shredded pork and spice it up with chili peppers. Bangkok has a fancy version where they use shredded pork with a piece of hard-boiled egg and shitake mushroom. Up in ChiangMai is the closest thing to Chinatown in North America - BBQ pork bits with a red tangy sauce.

Crispy mini-crepes: street vendors make a crepe the size of a billiard ball and add a filling of coconut and/or green fruit jelly, which I think may be guava. The crepe batter is poured on a hot surface just long enough to get a toasty brown color on one side, then is removed. By the time it cools, it is almost as crispy as a fortune cookie.

Penang curry: uses a red curry base, but the heat is tempered a little bit and peanuts are added. Very tasty; so far my favorite curry. Origin is from Malaysia's Penang region.

Som Tom salad: unripened papaya is shredded then pounded with sliced carrots, tomatoes, palm sugar, chili peppers (usually many), Thai eggplant and garlic. Can be very hot.

Thai ceviche: raw fish marinated with lime juice, sliced kaffir lime leaves, garlic and lotsa chili peppers.

l'il wieners wrapped with won ton wrappers and deep fried, served with a chili pepper/ketchup sauce: surprisingly very tasty, but of course, it's fried!

sausages: many varieties are offered, but I've only tried one. It was a chicken sausage with chili peppers and garlic. I tasted something crunchy and got grossed out, thinking it was probably bone. So far, this has ended my craving for sausage (such a shame, I know).

Roti with fruit: simliar to the Muslim Roti gai. A pancake with fruit filling like pineapple or banana. I'm not a big fan because they add a thickened condensed milk sauce and granulated sugar. It's just too soggy.

Pork riblets: cut-up ribs, about 1-inch in size, deep fried and served with thinly sliced garlic, shallots and chili peppers.

Roast duck, sliced and served over rice : just like what I could get in Chinatown.

jok: Chinese rice porridge served with meat. very similar to what is in Chinatown, except this place (in Chiang Mai) blends the rice to a finer degree.

Dim sum: har gow, sui mai, pork bunds, crab meat and mini-corn cob, ground fish & something... basically what's found in Chinatowns, except they are served with a soy-vinegar sauce (savory & sour), which I'm not a big fan of. Just like in Chinatown, to get full on this dim sum costs more than the average Thai meal.

Deep fried pork chop (also pork shoulder blade): battered just like fried chicken... of course it's delicious!

Pepsi Latte: Do they have this in America? It's a new product here in Chiang Mai. When I touched the bottle in a restaurant, the waitress quickly and repeatedly advised me against ordering it. When a Thai person doesn't want to sell me something, that says a lot!

Green curry burger: my new favorite food?!? The meat is seasoned with a green curry before it is formed into a patty. Tastes great! The chili flavor is predominant over the coconut.

beef jerky: It's about time I found some jerky! Beef is thinly sliced, marinated with soy, garlic, probably fish sauce, then sun-dried. The version I had wasn't as good as I was hoping.

Crispy pork: a whole slab of pork is deep fried until it is crispy like what we know as a pork rind. The skin and meat gets really crispy, enough to withstand being in a broth with noodles.

Peanuts: many varieties - Candied with sugar and sesame seeds (made to give everyone cavities), roasted with salt, pan-fried with salt, kaffir leaves and chili peppers (not as good as it sounds... I didn't like the lime flavor), cashews aplenty

Banana chips: thinly sliced chips with an almost caramel-like crispy coating. Very addicitve.

Waffles: a big dessert treat in ChiangMai. Fruity fillings, chocolate fillings, it's even served with a hot dog on a stick.

Kow Thome: similar to jok, but Thai style. Leftover rice is reheated in a tasty broth and served with meat, cilantro and green onions.

first few weeks in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second biggest city and is located in the northern part of Thailand. The first impression of the city I got was the feel of an ancient city. The Old City is in the center and is surrounded by a moat. Remnants of brick walls are scattered along the moat and give it it's historical feel.

I found a guesthouse in the northeastern corner of the Old City - single bed with bathroom inside (as opposed to a shared bathroom) and hot water for the shower. Cable TV is also included, but for some reason, ESNP is not included, so I get screwed on any chance for NFL action. All this for only 150 baht a day ($3.75)!

Around the area are many cheap food spots. Most of the places I've been eating at usually cost about 60-cents a plate. Mainly noodles and fried rice. (There will be a bigger food write-up soon.)

The northern region of Thailand is supposed to be a mecca for mountain biking. My first trip was a ride up the Doi Poi mountain. The information that I was going with told me that there was a Buddhist temple 5km up, then the national park entrance with bike paths another 4km. What I didn't realize was that it was a steep, constant uphill climb.

When I got to the park, I found that the one bike trail was not really feasible for bikes after the rainy season. Every 20 meters, I had to get off the bike because of fallen trees and braches on the path. After 1km of this, I turned around and continued up the road/mountain to get to the top. Had I realized that the top was another 8km up, I probably would have turned around.

As I climbed upwards, I kept thinking that the end would be near or I would just keep climbing until the road started going down. That didn't happen until the 17th kilometer. What kept me going were the street signs notating that Phuping Palace (pronounced pooping palace) was coming up. Using my Beavis voice, I repeatly said "pooping" until reaching the summit. The payoff was a nice 24 minute descent down the winding roads.

The next time I went to this mountain, I hired a taxi to take me to the top (120 baht ~ $3). From there I found what I have been reading about - single-track trails alongside the mountain with rolling hills, surrounded by lush green trees and plants and flowers. The terrain was varied, too. I found a trail that led downhill and was as wide as a fire road. Due to my unfamiliarity with the trails, I took it slow and mellow. ( I didn't want to drift off the side during a turn, of course).

That turned out to be wise, because the surface degraded into a rocky terrain. For a solid two hours, I was going downhill, but not pedaling. It was a complete upperbody workout because all I was doing was using the breaks and steering between rocks. Eventually I made it to the bottom of the mountain, but on the opposite side and had to go another 25 km on the road to get back to Chiang Mai. No complaints - I figured something like that would happen.

Chiang Mai also has one of the highest concentration of temples in the country. On one block in particular, there are four alongside and across from each other. It's a good thing that they are buddhist, otherwise I can see how turf wars could break out. I spent a couple of days wandering around, but it got to a point of sensory overload and they started to all look the same.

photos from southern Thailand

My understanding of this kind of tree is that the roots do not grow too deep in the ground. Instead, they grow outside of the ground, resulting in a weird looking tree trunk.

There is one intersection in the heart of Krabbi that has these cavemen holding the streetlights .

Limestone cliffs overlook Rai Ley beach. As you can see, high season has arrived with the influx of tourists.

Above are the tree vines that I saw in Koh Sok rainforest. These vines are about three stories in length and seem strong enough to support the body weight of a human (though I didn't try this theory out).

A wall of foliage has spread across two trees over the river in Koh Sok.

Above is the sight of the beach party. The beach is actually double the length of what is shown.

self portrait on James Bond island.

on the move again

Oct 30 @ 7:30 AM - left Phang-Nga (where I was hanging with Debbie and Eric) by bus
Oct 30 @ 10:30 AM - arrive in Phun Phin train station
Oct 30 @ 4:30 PM - leave Phun Phin via train
Oct 31 @ 5:30 AM - arrive in Bangkok train station
Oct 31 @ 2:30 PM - leave Bangkok via train
Nov 1 @ 6:30 AM - arrive in Chiang Mai train station

Yipes! 33 hours of actual travel time; 47 hours from start to finish. At least I was able to take a shower in Bangkok's train station. I was getting sweaty and stinky after the second leg of travel. The long hours did take its toll on me. After a short nap in my hotel room this morning, I realized that I left my sunglasses in the train's sleeper compartment. I will miss them (I've actually had them since my days at Helm... some seven years ago).

nine days in Krabi

Krabi (pronounced grab-BEE) is a great town, especially compared to Phuket, the only other big city I have visited. It is mainly a hub to get to other destinations around the area. Tourists would fly into Krabi then take a boat and/or bus to get to some exotic island nearby.

I was there to just hang out and use the area as a hub to get to some biking destinations and check out the local limestone formations and Buddhist temples. As mentioned previously, I checked out a wat with a golden Buddha some 600 meters and 1227 steps up. Another day, I took an island tour with the infamous "James Bond island". This island (picture forthcoming when I find a better computer/Internet shop) was used for a scene in The Man With The Golden Gun.

One thing I realized about the southern part of Thailand is that it isn't the biker haven that I am looking for. I'm using the bike, but only for transportation purposes. It gets me to a park, but the trails are not wide enough or friendly for a bike (meaning lotsa roots blocking the paths and very slippery sections). I can't wait to get out to the northern part of the country where I have confirmation of many bike trails of long distances.

I met a Thai who is creating his own organic farm. He's probably one of maybe a hundred (probably much less) people in the country doing this. He created his own organic fertilizer thru composting of plant matter in full-sized oil drums. It looks like black tar, but he claims it's organic and it works. He's growing bananas, guava, coconuts, chili peppers, papaya, tomatoes, star-fruit, basil and other herbs. I tasted the star fruit and it is much sweeter that ones I've tried in America (I think farmers have to pick them before it gets ripe so it won't spoil during the overseas transport to Whole Foods). The bananas were much sweeter than any I've tried in Thailand so far.

I got invited to hang with a group of Thais on a beach party/camping adventure. There were six Thais and three foreigners (me and a couple from Europe). Starting in the morning, we toured around the islands. The highlight was finding a lagoon that was knee-high deep in water. Many starfish were hanging out (picture forthcoming). Eventually we found the perfect beach to set camp.

The area was originally inhabited by a group that was turning the island into a swallow conservatory. They would actually shoot at any boat that would get near the beach (probably to prevent poachers from stealing the birds' nest for Chinese gourmands). But now, this area is free to the public and is still a best-kept secret. The beach is half a football field long and no more than ten meters deep. There's other land, too, but not much worth exploring. The water was blue, perhaps more blue than what I've seen in Phuket and Hawaii, and was shallow enough for me to get a little snorkelling in.

Lemme just say this. Thais know how to have a beach party. On the agenda was this: grilled pork and chicken with two types of dipping sauces, yellow curry chicken, Thai chicken soup, leafy vegetables in a coconut sauce, four types of fish (baracuda and grouper were the only ones I recognized) and blue-spotted stingray. The latter was new to me - the gills were the only thing consumable and the texture reminded me of a portabello mushroom and tasted like tuna. For refreshments, two cases of beer (though one was almost consumed during the tour), two bottles of Thai rum, Pepsi (there is a cola war in Thailand, too), club soda and tequila. By the end of the night everything was consumed except the tequila. Upon waking up in the morning, it was deemed necessary by others to finish that so we won't have to transport it back to land... mission not accomplished. Halfway thru the bottle it was agreed to stay another night.

Unfortunately, I couldn't be involved in round two. I was scheduled to meet Eric and Debbie in another town the next day.

out and about

I finally have been able to forget what day of the week and what the date actually is on a consistant basis now. While in Phuket, I was able to keep with current events due to being in constant contact with cheap Internet access. Now that Super Information Highway is rare and not-so-super.

It began when I arrived in Rangon to extend my visa. Didn't do too much there, it's not much of a Big-time town, it was the final day of the Vegetarian Festival. Unfortunately, the followers here just don't seem as hard-core as the people in Phuket are. Aside from the lower number of "spirits" present (I only counted maybe ten people), these spirits didn't have any fresh scars on their faces (though I didn't check to see if anyone had sliced their tongue).

I did meet a Danish man named Preban. He married a woman from Bangkok and moved to this area about six years ago. Fortunately for me, he was also a biker. He took me out to the Rangon Canyon, a forty kilometer round trip. A few hills, but is getting me in condition for what I expect to experience when I roll up north.

After finishing the ride, I grabbed my stuff and jumped on a PT bus for Laem Son national park. Not much of a stop, though. The tsunami did a job along the coastline/beach, but there was not any commercial areas demolished. Supposedly, there are lotsa birds around, but I didn't see many. The next morning, I jumped on a bus and headed for Kaoh Sok again.

I only got a taste of this national park a month ago. It was just a weekend and I was only in the park at night for a lame hike. This time was great. The park is supposed to be older than the Amazon Rainforest and I can believe it. I saw the weirdest insects, plants, fungi, spiders and such. There are many waterfalls along the way.

As much of a great time I had in the park, half the fun of the area was outside the park. The river from the waterfalls form one river leading out of the park and along many of the resorts and bungalows. One of the places that I stayed in did a real nice job of landscaping. One particular bungalow was on stilts, up to the third story. One tree was rooted underneath the bungalow, but grew around the building and over the river. Within the tree were other plants growing. They were using the tree's branches as support and the roots would just fall downward. In front of the patio to this bungalow hung all these roots. The bungalow was empty, so I was just hanging out while it rained. I got the idea that this is what Tarazan would swing on to get from tree to tree. These roots actually felt like soft bark on a tree, no more than a half-inch in diameter.

On the other side of the river, another tree had other plants growing within it and was angled over the river. Eventually thru time, these plants grew and created a wall from one tree to the other. It seems that tree branches would fall from a tree, but a plant below would catch the branch and use it to grow outward. Eventually, a wall formed.

It rained each day I was in Kaoh Sok. I was able to do something in the morning, but after lunch, clouds would roll in and douse the park. After five days of this, I moved southwards on to Krabbi. It's been two days now, and the town has grown on me. There's a night market that busts out some great food. I've had this fish ceviche using chopped garlic, chili peppers, cilantro and lime. There's waffles on a stick, fresh fortune-cookies (instead of a fortune, there's coconut jelly), fried bananas, donuts, mussels and fried chicken.

I've climbed 1227 stairs, up 600 meters, to see a golden buddha on top of a hill. It overlooks the countryside, with nothing impeding it's vision.

Today, I took a cooking class. I now know how to make five types of curry pastes: Massaman (the yellow Muslim curry), Red, Green, Pagnan ( red curry based) and Jungle (red curry with many vegetables simmered). The teacher got carried away and showed us Pad Thai, Thai Fried Rice and Tom Yum Goon (sweet & sour soup).

Not sure what I'll do tomorrow... I'm still feeling exausted from the 1200 steps.

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THESE PEOPLE ARE REALLY KEEPIN IT REAL!

The story goes that 150 years ago, tin miners were hit with an epidemic in a town 15 kilometers northwest of Phuket. A visiting Chinese opera company also fell ill. The company believed that this was the result of them failing to head the nine emporor gods of Taoism. For nine days, they performed acts of penance, including piercing, meditaion and a vegetarian diet. At the ninth day, everyone recovered from the illness.

Every year this goes on. In Phuket, a temple will host a series of events that are open to the public. The nine emporor gods and monks from the past will manifest themselves through devout followers of good virtue. What this really means is that the spirit possess a person. People will work themselves up in a frenzy and take on another persona. Each day will have one big ritual. Firewalking over twenty yards of burning hot coals at least a few inches deep. Climbing a two-story ladder with metal blades edge-side up as steps. But the most intense thing that they do is the piercing.

At the crack of dawn, the spirits insert anything and everything through their skin and walk around town (kinda like a Mardi Gras parade). They use simple things like anywhere from 6 inches to two yard-long spears, knives, swords that would go through one or both cheeks. The goriest thing I saw was multiple barbed wire through the cheeks. Weird things were inserted - the chain that led to a kerosene lamp, a wooden horse statue, the barrels of two automatic rifles.

Other acts of penance during the parade are: swinging an axe up and over the shoulder into their backs, running a sword along the tongue, then along the forehead, a man would grab iron rods that have been kept hot by contact with a burning log and run his hand up and down the rod - this man was already annointed with oil all over his body and smoke would trail his hand.

As far as I can tell, everyone believes that the gods are present. I will say that these acts of mutilation and penance are very real and not a sham. Blood does drip/pour from those possessed. In the case of the second picture where two men are licking something, that something is a three meter double edged sword with teeth. They would just run their tongues along the blade, rest for a few seconds, then repeat licking the blade. No screams of pain, no acknowledgement of pain. As I write this, I am still trying to cope with what I have seen.

These people are keeping extremely and religiously real. Real to be so involved and passionate about one's religion. The residents of Phuket take this event rather seriously and yet don't consider these acts of penance and bodily possessions out of the ordinary.

These are only just a few of the photos that I've taken. I've probably taken four hundred photos, what you'll see is just an example of what goes on. Each parade (there's eleven temples that roll thru town) has anywhere from twenty to fifty spirits who get pierced, cut, whatever.

THESE ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF SELF-MUTILATION, BODY PIERCING AND BLOOD DISTURB YOU, AVOID LOOKING AT THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

more photos

the evil clown terrorizes Thailand.







Clean Food Good Taste: the sign of sanitation...







pork at the nite market

LEFT: overhead view of Ao Sane beach. I had a bungalow at the top end of the beach, underneath where the trees meet sand and water.

BELOW: fish washed ashore during the night's rainfall. There was no chance of revitilation by the time I arrived on the scene.

night market

green mussels in the front

blue spotted stingray

banana stand - on display are at least four different varieties of bananas.

vegatable vendor; the six plates in the top left corner are varieties of chili peppers

finally, some photos!!!

this spider was hanging out beside the road.

Sunset along the west coast of Thailand along the Andaman Sea.

Rotting bananas are used to attract various insect, bugs, flying objects. In this case, a blue butterfly takes a snack.

fried chicken

This is the fried chicken sold on the street. The sticky rice is on the right side of the plate and toated garlic is sprinkled on top. The plastic bag on the right is filled with a sweet vinegar chili sauce.

Cheap Trek

I finally purchased a mountain bike! After asking numerous people and following a few false leads, I found a cheap Trek just 20 kilometers north of town. While I was riding back to Phuket Town, I realized that I now had the means to tour across the countryside.

FOOD!

Donuts - There's a few kinda donuts here. Chinese donuts are sold on the street for one baht apiece. They are fried in a wok and come in two-inch pieces shaped like a 'H'. Each donut is crispy and filled with big air-pockets. Oddly, they are not sweet. I had to add lotsa sugar and it was like a sugar donut back in the States. Dunkin Donuts has a presence on the Island. Each donut there costs seven baht. They have the same variety as American Dunkin Donut shops, with the exception of a donut-on-a-stick. It is a yellow cake donut that is smothered with icing and has some cute HelloKitty-like design.

Pan-fried fish with crispy herbs - a whole fish, possibly a red snapper, that is lightly breaded then fried. It is topped with very thin stips of basil, Thai chili peppers, garlic and a few other leafy-green herbs that have been flash-fried and crisp. A thick, caramel-coloured sauce is added.

Deep fried chicken - sold on the street, the chicken is cut up and fried in a wok with a batter containing slices of garlic, served with a spicy sweet/sour sauce on side. Each piece costs about 25 cents. The Colonel has a very strong presence. On one major street, there are three KFCs. An interesting note is that the Thais eat fried chicken only with a fork and knife, never handling them.

Red curry paste - purchased from a neighborhood corner store. Very spicy. Eric combined the paste with coconut milk and added to cooked squash, onions, potatoes and carrots.

Chicken with cashews - a standard Chinese dish. Carrots and onions are added in this stir-fry. There is a sizable Chinese population on the island with a considerable amount of political and economic power. Our neighbor made their money thru ownership of five jewelry stores and a few factories.

Crab with coconut curry - yellow curry with small crab pieces (usually unshelled). The crabs are slightly larger than blue crabs, but nowhere near the size of the west coast dungeness crabs.

Black pepper fried rice - an enormous amount of black pepper is added to the rice, for a plate-sized portion I would guess a whole tablespoon is added. It provides a nice punch.

Shrimp with tamarind sweet-sour sauce - nice and tangy, shrimp stir-fried with onions, garlic, ginger and carrots. The shrimp are of medium size (probably around a 50-count per pound size), but I have seen large sizes in the market (20 count).

Roti with chicken - bread dough that is flattened and pan-fried into a square pocket with a layer of chicken in a curry sauce. Served on the side is additional sauce with a few pieces of chicken and potato and a bowl of finely sliced cucumbers, shallots and Thai peppers soaked in a sweet white vinegar. Served only for breakfast. I like to keep the roti crisp and dip each piece into the curry sauce.

Muslim curry - a yellow curry with heavy tumeric flavor. This curry reminds me most of my first tastings of any curry in life. Served with potatoes and chicken.

Chicken on a stick - more street food. The breast is flattened, dark meat is sliced into pieces and other parts are marinated in a soy-ginger sauce. The dark meat and misc. parts are skewered and grilled. The breast is wedged between two bamboo sticks then grilled. A thick, brown sauce is glazed on as it grills to caramelization.

Thai (Iced)Tea and Coffee - costs 20 - 30 baht. The iced tea tastes just as it does in America. The hot tea is a nice touch. A pot of tea is served alongside a 6-oz cup, half filled with condensed milk. As more tea is consumed, the tea gets stronger because the milk-ratio drops and the tea brews within the pot. I really like the Thai Coffee. It is a nice strong brew, that reminds of Vietnamese coffee.

Fruit shakes/smoothies - the island is rich in tropical fruits. Coconuts, bananas (various types. all are less than five inches long and vary in width), pineapples, oranges, mangos, papaya, guava and many things I've never seen before in America.

Sodas - Coke and Pepsi are the major players, with Schwepps being found in stores catering to foreigners. The sodas are sweeter and go flat upon opening.

Frito Lay potato chips - I've had a couple of their flavors, but there are many weird flavors to try: Mexican BBQ, Shrimp, Basil, Lime to name a few. What I did try was "Extra" BBQ - a sweet BBQ flavor and Grilled Lobster. The first taste session of lobster was pleasing, though further tastings got grosser and grosser. Within the bag were huge boulders of flavor crystals that never made it on any chips.

Wrapped crabmeat - thin "cigars" filled with lump crabmeat and deep-fried like an eggroll. Served with a chili-pepper and sweet vinegar sauce.

Oysters on the halfshell - served with sliced chili peppers, toasted slivers of garlic and lime. Each cost 40 baht, $1 US.

Shrimp with chili pepper sauce - Red curry paste is fried in a wok before throwing in onions, chili peppers and garlic. Shrimp is added in the end.

first all-nighter in Thailand and, man, it was action-packed!

Last weekend was spent down at Debbie and Eric's weekend house in the southern tip of the island. They just rented it the weekend before; the place was just renovated days before that. They will be using it as a weekend place, spending most of their time in the city, closer to their work. It is located just a few minutes from the first beach that I visited - Nai Harn. It is also along a row of four other houses that also house farangs.

Friday marked the end of the workweek for the other farangs. (It seems that every foreigner except me works as a teacher, usually teaching English as a foreign language.) I greeted the first to arrive, Devlin, with a taste-test of the local beers while playing video games off of a bootlegged Sony Playstation 2. The beers were Leo (a low-brow version from the Thai-owned Singha brewery) and Tiger (not sure who owns it). Both had aftertastes that were not objectionable... but won't be winning any awards.

Devlin was starving and suggested to go to the Rawai Mini-Golf Course for a buffet. Hmmmm, eating at a mini-golf course? Is this like eating at a mini-country club? But with a price tag of 120 Baht ($3), I figured that I could get my fill. What a great move it was! BBQ ribs! fried chicken! Grilled asparagus wrapped with bacon! Grilled pork chops! Potatoes au gratin!

After dinner, we went back to Farang Alley to hook up with Devlin's neighbor. We sat around and caught up on current events, daily activities and the like. Once it got sufficiently dark outside (Phuket gets about 12 hours of sunshine, from 6ish to 6ish), we headed out to explore the Thai-nighlife.

The first stop was a quaint bar along the waters in Rawai. There was only one customer, a Brit who was talking to one of the bar girls. I was happy with the pool table. (Thais have a weird rule after a scratch - the other player gets two shots.) We only stayed for a couple beverages and moved a few doors down to this interesting bar with lotsa bar girls. As far as I can tell, bar girls do tend bar, but are there more for eye candy. Here we met up with many other teachers and eventually closed down the bar.

We went to a few more bars and it hit me... The music here has something to be desired. Western pop music is fully embraced here, but only a select song list is in heavy rotation. Boys II Men - "I'll Make Love To You", Black Eyed Peas' latest hit, Madonna... ughhh! The same music is played in every club!

Slowly, our posse thinned out, until it was down to me and three other people, Logan, Nate and Nick. I've hung out with Logan a few times already (he's from Sacramento); Nate, I've seen one other nite; I just met Nick that night. It was late (probably towards 3AM, but I wouldn't know - I don't have a watch or a cell-phone) and the only place that would be open was in Patong, halfway up the coastline (which is only 20 minutes away). We took three scooters and followed each other into the night. Nate took the lead and actually lost us past a hill.

Halfway there, upon our descent down a hill, we saw one oncoming headlamp just fade as it drifted left at the foot of the hill. At the same time, we see another headlamp dart towards and eventually pass us. Not sure what to make of this, we continue ahead, and after dipping to the bottom of the hill, the scene unfolds. Logan and I get off the scooter to tend to a scooter that was run off the road. Nick turns around to chase down the other scooter, but to no avail.

The fallen scooter contained a Frenchman, apparently sauced from the bars. He was trapped on the scooter, pinned beside the hill. His face had a few scrapes and blood. He had a Thai companion who was already off the scooter. She appeared fine, except for some bloody knuckles. I helped the man off his scooter. In his drunken state, he claims that the other scooter knocked him off the road. We suspect he was partially right and that his altered state didn't make things better.

By this time, it was well into the 3 AM hour and pitch black in the middle of nowhere. The Frenchman's scooter was in working condition, though the headlamp was not working. It was decided that Nick would take the Frenchman and taxi him to his home. Logan would follow in the blind scooter. The Thai girl said that she called her friends and that they were going to pick her up on the side of the road. I stayed with her at the scene until this happened.

With my limited Thai-language skills and her lack of English skills, there wasn't much to talk about. By the time Logan and Nick arrived, the girl's friends failed to pick her up. Logan found out that she lives along the way to Patong, so we insisted that she come with us. This was a good thing, since no cars passed us since the incident first began.

She took us to a bar (she's a bar girl, of course... what would a twenty year old be doing with a 50-year old Frenchman?!?) where we were greeted with a hero's welcome. Ten other bar girls cheered us as we rolled into the bar. They wanted us to stay, but we had other plans. (Memo: we must go back some other time ;)

We finally arrived in Patong at 4ish and the bar, The Jungle, was jampacked with revelers in an open-air setting. Thoughts of Spring Break come to mind! Loud music and lotsa bodies shaking. We made our way thru the crowd and ran into Nate. Figuring the night was just too crazy, we found a building that had a totally different vibe. It was very mellow and allowed for actual conversation without screaming. Eventually, the time caught up with us and the Jungle anounced that it was time to close. We left the dark bar and realized that the sun was peeking thru the mountains. Outside the bar, across the street, people were washing elephants, starting a brand new day.

thoughts about New Orleans

I've been reading about what's been going on back at my old town of New Orleans. It seems that I'll never be able to go back to the same place again. It looks as though my old neighborhood is still intact; I have only seen photos of downed trees and some crushed buildings, but haven't read any reports of serious flooding. The rest of the city, though, wasn't so lucky. It was gut-wrenching to see the areas along Lake Ponchatrain. My thoughts go out to everyone in the area.

Life's a beach

Spent the weekend on the beaches in the southwestern tip of the island. I was at a bungalow on the edge of one of the beaches for just 300 bhat a nite (yes, that's roughly almost $8). Granted it wasn't the Hilton, but it was just ten yards from the ocean, with waves crashing so loud against the rocks that I needed earplugs to sleep. Accomodations were just a bed with mosquito net, toilet, sink and showerhead.

An interesting site was to look out into the open sea at night. One would think to just see darkness, but the whole skyline was illuminated by fishing boats, working hard to bring the fresh catch to Red Lobster the next morning.

Photos will be coming soon. I'm waiting for high-speed Internet to be hooked up at the house. It should've happened two weekends ago, but Thai time moves in mysterious ways.

Wat Thep Khachonchit

I made it to my first wat (Buddhist temple) and just in time! After about fifteen minutes of picture taking, a serious rainfall started. I was able to run away from the temple while my shoes were still dry. (Shoes must not be worn in buildings with a Buddha) I sought shelter inside the neighboring temple that is under construction.

It's been about thirty minutes with no sign of letting up. There are make-shift apartments in this area - aluminum siding are used for walls. I see about eight units, but there are probably more. There is electricity. In fact, one of the units has the TV blaring some Thai soap opera and a stereo blasting some rock-n-roll at the same time. No one minds my presence here, they just go about their business.

Dogs, chickens and cats roam the area. Unwanted animals get dropped off by people, and the monks take them in as family. The monks will not kill any animals, but sometimes this is an unfortunate thing. Debbie has seen dogs with distemper or other terminal illnesses that just linger around in pain.

The monks are in the temple; the last I saw, they were eating. One of the monks was showing me around the temple, encouraging me to walk around and take photos. He took me underneath the temple that is under construction and showed me the pieces that get put up on the rooftop. They are solid pieces of metal, painted gold and red and are very heavy. He then led me to the prayer room, library, and up to the statue. While I was photographing the Buddha, the monk disappeared. Within moments, it started to rain.