Big City Lights

Bangkok is huge! I think there are like 9 million people. Our first experience in Bangkok was somewhat less than positive. We took a cab from the train station to Siam Square--where Isaac knew of some cheap hotels. After changing some money, we ran into a gentlemen who advised us to go to the Tourism Authority of Thailand before booking any hotels. He claimed that this would enable us to get the "Thai" price rather than the tourist price. Before we could blink an eye, he had us in a Tuk Tuk (like a motorized rickshaw) and off to the TAT.

Unfortunately, even the government is up for a scam. The hotel they sent us to (in Chinatown)had a special room for us--looked remarkable like a jail cell--dirty and windowless. After discussing our next move, we left the hotel to return to TAT to get our money back. The TAT claimed that we had spent 30 minutes in the room--therefore we could not get our money back. We were pretty pissed, but the best we could do was get 1/2 of our 600 baht back. Furious, we headed back to Siam Square where we found a much more agreeable room at a better rate--at least there was a happy ending.

Siam square is neon overload. Every possible expensive trendy store can be found in one of the 5+ malls in the area.


Even in Bangkok the fresh fruits and flowers abound!

Modern sites of Siam Square

Siam Square's more mellow side.

After wandering wide-eyed through Siam Square, we got the skytrain to an area that had a "Lonely Planet" recommended restaurant and bar. The restaurant was overpriced and mediocre Indian food, but the bar was pretty interesting. It was called "The Londoner" and was full of westerners and western prices.

Freedom is spelled S-C-O-O-T-E-R

Well the Tiger Temple cured us of ever wanting to be involved with another Tour group again (I forgot to mention the Israeli tourists sticking their hands into the cages of some of the less "social" tigers).

To solve this problem, we rented our own transportation for $3/day.


..And we called her lightning!

And with this new found freedom, we decided to explore a few more of Thailand's National Parks. We were a little hesitant at first, given the driving skills we had observed, but Isaac, always up for an adventure, agreed to drive the 90+ kilometers to take us to Sai Yok National Park.

Aaaahhh the wind in our hair! We reached the first part of the park and were a little disappointed. Basically, what we saw was a waterfall on the side of the highway. We marched forth determined to find greener pastures. Much to our delight Sai Yok Yai (as opposed to Sai Yok Noi--north and south) was much more pleasing. There are a few small waterfalls in the area...


Waterfall at Sai Yok Yai National Park.

and another cave. The guidebook mentioned that travel to the cave was best done via long-tailed boat. (Isaac's Note: It's worth mentioning that the 2003 Lonely Planet is incorrect with regards to the mapped directions to Sai Yok Noi and Sai Yak Yai. Neither does it have the best directions to Tham Daowadung, since there is highway access a little beyond the Sai Yok Yai park entrance.) We hired a boat driver that spoke very little (if any) English and managed to communicate our desire to visit Tham Daowadung. The ride on the boat made us a little uneasy as many of the folks we saw along the river either laughed or made shooting motions at our boat driver. I was pretty convinced we were going to be left for dead in the jungle somewhere. We reached our landing spot and our driver sort of directed us to the cave. We passed the National Park office where we found a few napping employees who confirmed that we were, indeed, on the trail to the cave. It seemed as though no feet had traveled the path in years, but when we finally reached the cave we were greeted with a whole herd of Asian students and their guides crammed into the cave! The cave, although dry, was quite lovely.


Formations in Tham Daowadung (Daowadung Cave).


Little Marguerite next to big stalamite in cave.

After dragging Isaac kicking and screaming from the cave, we managed to find our boat driver anxiously waiting our return. It seems the river water level recedes in the afternoon (dam regulated) and navigating back to the launch site was a bit trickier. Our fearless captain made it look easy, however. As we drew closer to the boat dock, we saw the strangest sites. Large floating bars being towed along behind small long-tailed boats. It was great! Our favorite was the one shown below getting a closer look at one of the nearby waterfalls.


"Rent-a-Raft" At Sai Yok you can rent a floating bar to be towed by a long-tailed boat. These guys are pulling right up to the waterfall for a shower.

We left Sai Yok just as the sun was setting--90+ km to go back to Kanchanaburi in the dark! Well despite the cold and a dog with a death wish that tried to stand in our way, we managed to make it back in Isaac's capable hands.

After some discussion, we decided we would leave Kanchanaburi the following morning in order to spend a few days in the big city.

Where we left off...

So we left Phunphin for Bangkok via the overnight train. We bought tickets for an air-conditioned sleeping berth--so it was pretty sweet--you can see how much Isaac is enjoying his top bunk!

We arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in Bangkok at 6 am and immediately caught a bus to Kanchanaburi (west of Bangkok).

We quickly found a room at one of Kanchanaburi's many river guest houses--on the famous River Kwai. One of the distinctions of this town is that it is a popular vacation spot for Bangkokians--especially teenagers. As a result, the river supports a wide variety of floating discos on weekends and holidays --sadly, we only heard one of these floating fiestas during our stay.

So the first order of business was visiting the "Bridge over the River Kwai" seen right. The bridge is the center of much tourist activity in Kanchanaburi--there are a few War Museums in the area that we decided to skip.




To complete our afternoon/evening, we decided to check out the infamous Tiger Temple. Although the Lonely Planet strongly recommended avoiding this attraction, we couldn't resist. To our defense, the description of the Tiger Temple is that it is a Buddhist Temple turned rehabilitation center. The story goes that in 1996, a baby tiger was rescued from a poacher near the border with Myanmar and (for reasons unknown) brought to the temple. One thing led to another and now they have quite a collection of tigers and other wildlife. Ok, so basically, they are breeding tigers so they can sell tickets to tourists who are dying to know what a tiger feels like. Some of the tourists, so we hear, found out what a tiger's teeth and/or claws felt like--thus we signed a waiver. (The pictures say it all).

Isaac's long lost daughter on our way to Khao Sok.

Sniff Sniff

Well kids, its our last night in Thailand, and we're pretty bummed. Sorry we haven't posted anything lately--its been kind of hectic trying to fit everything in--and trying to stuff our new pet tiger in our backpacks...

Anyway, we're going to see a movie in Bangkok this evening (Isaac's tradition) and we promise to post a complete log of our latest events and a complete set of picture highlights when we get back.

We'll see some of you soon!
M&I

Just a few pics from Khao Sok

Khao Sok National Park's Lake, Chiaw Lan.














The ubiquitous "quaint" bungalow--fan, no hot water, no toilet seat.













Recognize that butt? There were some exciting swimming holes in this cave.


















While he/she ain't Superman, it does fly. Quite a shock to see this little guy shoot out of the canopy and into the dining area.

Leapin Lizards!

Sawatdee! (Greetings in Thai),

We've just spent two days in the deepest, darkest jungles of Thailand. (Ok, maybe not the deepest and darkest--but they are pretty cool). We went to Khao Sok National Park where we became acquainted with Dam, our fearless tour guide.

We took a two day tour to a huge Lake (Chiaw Lan) that lies between the park and another wildlife refuge. Remarkably, the scenery was similar to that of the Krabi area--huge limestone cliffs jutting straight out of the water--Isaac had to continually wipe the drool from his chin. We took a boat out to our accommodations--floating bamboo bungalows--had lunch and departed for a nearby cave tour.

The cave was fabulous--we had to swim/wade through chest deep water, saw crazy spiders, tons of bats, and awesome formations. I'm not really sure our tour would have passed any American caving association standards, but we all got out ok, so I guess there's no problem.

We were then treated to a few evening/night safaris during which we saw gibbons, langurs, great horned bills, black horned bills, eagles, and owls. Sadly we missed out on the tigers, elephants, and clouded leopards--but our guide, Dam, swears that if we took the 5-day 15,000 baht ($375) tour he would guarantee all of the above. Our group (the two of us and a recently married couple--man from Austria woman from Thailand) was then stuffed full of fresh fish, seafood, fruits, and the local libation, Sang Som (a kind of local rum).

This morning we hiked to a viewpoint 300m above the lake and listened to the ethereal cries of the gibbons--wow those guys can sing! Finally, after a whole day of waiting, Isaac was granted his wish of experiencing some deep water soloing on some of the cliffs. And his advice? If you are planning on staying in Railay to climb for more than a month, a side trip to Khao Sok is well worth the trip.

We just risked life and limb riding a bus from the dam to Phunpin (nearest train station). Bus drivers are even nuttier than the taxi drivers! We are about to hop on the night train to Bangkok. By six o' clock tomorrow morning, we should be roasting in the big city.

Ok, enough words--separate post with pictures is coming.

Miss you!

Feelin' Groovy!!

Aaaaahhhhh! Another couple of days wiggling our toes in the water and our fingers in the pockets. I'm afraid we have to report more of the same today. We spent yesterday morning "sending" a few climbs along the beach and the afternoon swimmin wit da feeshes.

...Before I go any further, I feel the need to mention something about the beach from which we snorkel. Its called Phra Nang beach and its on the tip of the Railey peninsula. It's a fantastic beach with really nice sand....but a rather strange shrine at one end. Perhaps we can just show you and you can figure it out for yourself.

Anyway, snorkeling was a blast. We saw banner fish, angel fish, clown fish, crabs, parrot fish, pipe fish (we think that's what they're called), gorgeous coral, live cowrey (sp??) and little caves with some rare cave fishes (not to be too technical with the names). Marguerite was a little giddy after the trip due perhaps to a mild case of hypothermia or dehydration--but all in all it was a good time. Sorry we have no pictures to share of the event. Blue lips in 80 degree weather ain't natural, man!

Climbing has also been a blast. Who can beat climbing on the beach. This morning we did a fantastic outdoor gym-type climb called Groove Tube (shown left).

Then, we went to the Thaiwand wall and had amazing views, cool shady hang outs, and good company (well most of it anyway). The scariest climb we did all day was this sketchy ladder to get up to the belay area (shown right). Note the very safe placement of the ladder (especially the right foot!)

Last night we treated ourselves to an authentic Thai massage (well, the ladies were Thai and they were rubbing our muscles--I guess that's authentic). It was quite rough and perhaps a little painful, but good for those sore vacation muscles.

Ok, we think we've maxed out the space for this post. We'll have to let you know about the other excitement later. Stay tuned!

We leave tomorrow for Khao Sok National Park--it boasts the largest flower in the world and a 160 million year old rainforest! Sounds like a good photo op!
It will be rather sad to leave this place. Isaac has run into many of his old friends from previous Thailand excursions. I (Marguerite) am constantly amazed by the length of stay for most folks here--the average is over a month (aah to be a woman of leisure!!!)

That's all folks!

Today's Photos (Plural - for Will)

Sang tao - It's not the wind-in-your-face feel of a motorcycle, but it's light years better than a taxi.












Itsy, bitsy, spider... The 1000 baht note in the bottom half of the screen is approx the size of a one dollar bill, and it's stuck to the (probably pissed off) spider's web.

















Marguerite, before the fun part. Ton Sai beach (Hat Ton Sai) is in the back ground.

















For those who wonder about how to use computers... they had to pull the Mazda out from in front of the seats so we could use this one yesterday.









Marguerite, in the middle of the fun part. Who can beat climbing on the beach like this??! Well, we're not quite ON the beach in this photo...

Just another day at the beach

Well we've just concluded our first full day on Ton sai Beach. HOLY COW (I hope that doesn't offend anyone) this is a beautiful place. Yesterday we arrived via Sang tao (not sure if that's the correct spelling). In a nutshell, a Sang tao is like a pick up truck with a rudimentary cover over the top with two benches facing one another. The driving over here is pretty hairy, but our driver seemed pretty safe (its all relative). We went from Krabi town to Ao Nang (again forgive the spelling) where we took a long-tail boat over to Ton sai. We found a bungalow for 200 baht per night (roughly $5/day). Spent the day snorkeling--absolutely amazing here--then we went over to a bar that was advertising Thai boxing and a King Cobra Show. First there was a kid juggling some fire sticks--that was pretty good (complete with a burning ember landing on his back--ouch!). The thai boxing, I hate to say it, was a little boring. I have a feeling the contestants weren't all that serious about beating each other up. The snake show, however, was something else. This kid that was "charming" the snakes couldn't have been more than 18. First; he brought some small cobras out--poked at them and pissed them off for a while--until he could get them to stand up and let him kiss their heads. Then he brought out three non-venomous snakes and charmed them all at once. But for his finally, he brought out the biggest King Cobra I've ever seen (ok, so I haven't seen many of them). It was probably close to 12-15 feet long and as big around as Isaac's calf. The kid was sweating up a storm--when he tried to kiss this one's head the first time he was in for a shock, the snake lunged at him. As is the case in all such stories, though, the kid was finally able to give the snake a big smack on the head. As much as I hate the torture of animals for side show gimmicks, I have to admit, I was pretty impressed. Hopefully the snakes were treated well. Today we got on a 4-pitch climb called Humanality. It was pretty crowded--but we managed to get through. The rock here is so strange--like a cave turned inside out. There are stalactites everywhere. We're trying to compose a plan for the rest of our trip--but I'm starting to feel like sitting on the beach for another week or so sounds pretty good. Thanks for the comments--I changed it so you could post anonymous comments--sorry if you were put off before. Pictures are coming--I hope. (The internet cafes here are great--all have high speed service and they're pretty cool about plugging in cameras and stuff.) Wish you were here Ike and Rita

We've arrived!!

Hey everyone. We've finally arrived in Thailand--after 36 straight hours of sitting in airports or on airplanes--seriously, we left flagstaff at 2 pm on Sunday. We finally arrived in Krabi at 5pm on Tuesday--which is 3am Tuesday Flagstaff time. To top it off, Isaac and I got stuck in the center of the center aisle on the long flight from Los Angeles to Taipei. That flight had a previously unannouced stop in Anchorage, Alaska! Wait, isn't that going the wrong way?
Why yes it is. It was one of those awful refueling stops when they don't let you get off the plane. Anyway, at long last we made it. One of the great things about the flight was that China Airways is really up on the technology. Each seat had its own entertainment station--your choice of like 20 movies, games, shows, music. We even played Trivia against the other passengers on the flight from Taipai to Bangkok. Just when you think you're smart you get your meager brain cells handed to you by some 16 year-old (estimate) kid. A rather humbling experience.

We were both a little jet lagged this morning --waking up at 2 am. We sprung for a nicer hotel last night in Krabi (<$20). It was nice with AC, hot water, a TV, and a little refrigerator. Now we are waiting for some shops to open up. Then its off to Ton sai beach and some climbing.

Anticipation

Well, we leave today at 2:00 pm and the excitement level is reaching a peak. We will fly from Flagstaff to Phoenix to Las Angeles. Then we get on a plane to Taipei with our final flight to Bankok. It will be a long flight--we'll get into Bankok on Tuesday at like noon. We've filled the ipod with all kinds of goodies and I'm sure we'll have lots of great movies to watch.

Yeah!
Marguerite

Jeckyll

Jecky is more of a cartoon character. We think he's really a human stuck in dog clothing.

Rizo

I forgot to mention the dogs. While they won't be going to Thailand, they are involved in many adventures.

Rizo (to the left) is training for the circus--she's quite athletic.

Explanation

Isaac and Marguerite are two nice folks living in Flagstaff, AZ. We both enjoy outdoor activities especially rock climbing. This blog will document some of our adventures.

We decided to start a blog because a colleague of mine (Marguerite's) was doing it for her trip--and I am nothing if not a sheep!
Isaac and I are planning a trip to Thailand--actually he planned the trip to Thailand. The whole thing was a surprise to me until Christmas morning--isn't that cool?
Anyway, we're leaving on Sunday January 8. I'm pretty excited. We have loose plans to go climbing down in Krabi and spend some time travelling around Bankok and maybe Chiang Mai. Now you'll all be able to see if we follow through with those plans.