Tuesday 26 June 2012

Tales of Northern Thailand..


After being in the wilderness of the little village of Bansai, where we did our HelpX volunteering, we got a night bus to Lampang, which was a lovely and laid back little town (although the third largest town in Northern Thailand) just 100km south of Chiang mai. 

Lampang is also called "mueang rot ma" in Thai, meaning "Horse Carriage City"
















Elephant bath time!
Here we visited lots of local markets, some impressive temples and the thai elephant conservation center! At the elephant conservation center (TECC), we was able to get up close to the elephants, many of which had been rescued from bad treatment and neglect (Including elephant trekking centres for tourists...) and were pleased to see that TECC is actively involved in conservation and scientific research (some of which has been published!).



When we got to Chiang mai, we first spent the better part of a week doing some voluntary work in the suberbs at a dog rescue shelter called Care for dogs. The shelter primarily deals with adoptions, the after care from surgery/ sterilisation and for the rescue of dog's that have been invlved in bad cruelty cases. They also assist in controlling the population of street and temple dogs through sterilisation programmes, which involve taking the animal to the shelters to neuter and then returning the animal (if fit and healthy) back onto the streets, as many of the street and temple dogs do not make suitable pets!

The dogs enjoying a play in their sandpit :-) All the dogs were kept in one big enclosure rather than seperate kennels, which seemed to work really well- No stereotypical behaviours or constant barking!

 
Whilst volunteering at Care for dogs we got to do a wide variety of tasks...
On a typical day we would help with the feeding and poo-picking, a job that needs to be done, and then we would spend a few hours washing and bathing the dogs that needed medicinal washes (most of the dogs enjoyed their bath time too), take dogs for walks in the nearby jungle forest (watching out for the pesky mosquitos!) and just hangout with the dogs and spend some quality time with them :-)

Bath time for Grayson, in prepartion for the adoption fare!

Puppy cuddle time :-)

Very sweaty, midday walkies in the forest!


Currently, there are around 100 dogs at the care for dogs site, so spending some time interacting with the dogs just patting and talking to them, showed them that not all humans are bad- which was an important task, especially since many of the dogs on the site come in as cruelty cases. 

Not your typical "Handsome" dog, but his nice nature has found him a home in Switzerland!

The care for dogs adoption fare @ Chiang Mai airport

This little pup found a home at the adoption fare


We also would routinely spend the end of our each day in the young dog and puppy area, where we would socialise and play with the puppys and teenegae dogs! It was in here, during our afternoon visit to the puppy and teenage enclosure that we fell in love with a young, white male dog who the centre have named Polo. He was a very shy dog, who would often watch us playing and cuddling the other puppies from a distance. Day by day he would come closer and sniff at us or lick our arm until our last few days at the shelter he would allow us to touch him, pick him up and play with him too! It felt really good to create this bond and teach the young dog that not all humans are bad. We really enjoyed our short time volunteering at care for dogs :-)

Bonding with the white male dog

Adopt me, please??
 
After volunteering at CfD, we stayed in a traditional thai wooden teak guesthouse, Chok Dee, near the popular Somphet market in Chiang Mai. We were also pleased to find where the locals ate, where we had some very tasty food (tom yam soup, spicy papaya salad and some super fruit smoothies!).

The ancient moat which surrounds the old city of Chiang Mai

Temple touristing around Chiang Mai




Awaiting the 15 hour train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok!
We took the night train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, which should take around 15 hours, but it took just over 17! 
This time we decided to book the 2nd class sleeper, so we was at least able to get some rest in preparation for Bangkok and we experienced some really great views leaving Chaing Mai as the train headed up into the mountains!


2nd class sleeper train to Bangkok- seats that transform into bunkbeds!
Views of Northern Thailand from the train...

We have spent our last couple nights in Bangkok, staying clear of khoasan (tourist capital!) road and just exploring by foot the sweaty and bustling capital of Thailand!

Busy Bangkok!

Assisting with some food preparations at a food stall in Bangkok...

We ended up in the middle of the June 2012, thai "red shirts" democrazy rally in Bangkok...

Which brings us to today, the day we leave, the day we have been hoping wouldn’t come around so quickly after 222 days of travelling
Today is the day that we pack up, and instead of heading to the next guesthouse, or the next town or even country, we instead pack up and go home! From our arrival in Mombasa, Kenya, just 32 weeks ago and  to our departure from Bangkok, Thailand in just a few hours time...we have have experienced alot from start to finish and now possess so many memories!


"I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen..."

Friday 22 June 2012

Tales of Southern Thailand...


It has been 4 and abit weeks since we arrived in Satun (A province located in the far, far south of Thailand) by ferry from Langkawi!

Our 1st Songthaew (thai for two rows) taxi of Thailand!


We was then supposed to be transferred onto a V.I.P, air conditioned bus, which would take us straight to our first Thai destination of, Krabi! But instead we was told we had to wait a further 2 hours for a different bus... which was an old, rickety, uncomfortable and extremely sweaty karaoke bus which took twice the amount of time to reach Krabi as we had hoped. -we got there in the end! 5 hours late...

The Karaoke bus which replaced our V.I.P bus...



Welcome to Krabi...

We stayed in Krabi a total of 3 days... It was a nice city by the sea, surrounded by lots of islands (A total of 154 Islands in the Krabi province!) such as Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta Islands. 
Krabi also had lots of local food markets, selling all sorts of local cuisine from the popular and tourist friendly Pad Thai, to fried bugs, pig innards, sausages made from unknown meats and spicy curries! Aswell as the neverending choices of stalls to eat at there was the beautiful Central temple of Krabi, Wat Sai Thai, which also doubles up as the tsunami safety zone aswell as a local gathering point for buddhist events and weddings!

Krabi city river

Super spicy special breakfast in Krabi!

Wat Sai Thai Temple and the storm clouds behind...

Taking shelter at the temple whilst it rained for a good hour!




























The weather was a little miserable during our time in Krabi and we wanted to visit another island! Due to us being in Thailand during the low season (May to september/october), pretty much everything is half price! As there is not as many tourists as usual, we chose to visit Koh lanta Island (compared to phi phi where it is busy year round more or less...perhaps due to that old leo dicap’ film called the beach?)

The Swedish loving Island of Koh Lanta!

We arrived in ko lanta to some lovely weather :-) but, unfortunately, it didn’t last long! Actually, it lasted nearly 2 and a half hours! 4 days of rain and powercuts were to follow!! but this didn’t stop us from exploring... we managed to see the old town, took some of LAW's (Lanta animal welfare) rescued street doggys for a wet and windy stroll on the beach, explored the country by scooter, visited some more beaches...which would be lovely if the sky wasn’t grey and the waves about 4ft high!

Dog walkies on the beach, Koh Lanta

The Lanta Animal Welfare dogs taking Max for a walk :)










A glorious day at the beach, Koh Lanta!

After 4 days in ko lanta we headed North-east (Via Bangkok) to Buriram province, where we would start our final HelpXing volunteering of our travels! After a 15 hour train ride, and then a 6 hour bus ride we arrived in the town of prakhonchai (In Buriram province), got caught in a terrential rain shower and took shelter in a machanics garage! The owner of the garage didn't speak any english, but through our limited knowledge of thai and google translate we managed to get a free lift to a nearby guesthouse :-)

About to board the 15 hour train from Trang (3 hours east of Koh Lanta) to Bangkok!

Trang to BKK, then onward to Prakhonchai!

During our HelpX stay we lived with a Canadian guy and his thai wife and daughter on a kind of eco friendly, organic, rice paddy farm in a small village called, Ban sai. Here we slept on the floor in a shed, ate lots of their homegrown rice, planted trees, fruit and veg, discovered the tasty jackfruit and also spent a few days teaching English in one of the top schools in Thailand! It was a nice, professional school and the classes which we assisted with were children mainly from age 7 to 11! It was really fun and a totally different experience to the voluntary work we have done so far! -the children would call us Miss Abi (Mhiz Ah-beee) and Mr Max (Mhist-are Mhaaks)!

Max, and the other volunteer, Jetty, taking a rest from the sweaty work in the fields!


The HelpX host's swimming pool that didn't contain any chemicals, just lot's of algae!

One of the pups at the farm :-)

Whilst living in the little village of Ban sai, we also joined in with a festival, celebrating one of the local men in the village becoming a monk! It was a big celebration, that went on for 3 days solid! On the last day we happened to be going into the village for a much needed drink of ice tea and got roped into dancing around the village with the locals, followed by a lorry with a band on it and lots of old men offering out whisky and throwing iced water- random but fun experience, and I was given an original farmers hat made from bamboo!


Volunteers day visit to Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung temple in Prakhonchai


The Bansai village's local buddhist temple

After finishing our weeks HelpX volunteering with the family/ school in Prakhonchai we made our way to northern thailand... first stop, Lampang- the only town in Thailand where horse drawn carriages are used as public transport!

Saturday 16 June 2012

Memories of Malaysia. Pt 2.

Penang: The pearl of the orient

Penang is a state in Malaysia, as well as the name of the island within the state! Penang Island is located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is linked to the mainland via the Penang Bridge, which is 13.5km (one of the longest bridges in the world!) and a 24-hour ferry service! – both of which we got to experience, as we took the bridge across to the island and the ferry back to the mainland. We Stayed on the Island for 5 days, one of which was a long day spent counting mudskippers (creepy little half amphibian half fishy looking creatures!) and spotting some big monitor lizards whilst waiting for our Thai visas to be issued!

A 5ft monitor lizard we found lurking in the sewage system in Penang!

 In Penang itself there seemed to be a fusion of the East and West, as it is a city which is modern whilst retaining a traditional Malaysian charm! There’s certainly lots of history in Penang too, especially in the capital of Penang state, Georgetown, where there is lots of preserved heritage buildings from the colonial period. The history of modern Penang can be traced back to 1786...which is 200 years prior to the birth of Max!

The cycle rickshaw- the taxi of Southeast Asia!

A stolen cannon used to defend Fort Cornwallis in Georgetown, Penang

Whilst in Penang, we stayed in a really old Chinese guesthouse, called Pin Seng hotel, which apparently has had the same decor for at least 30 years (according to a backpacker we met...). So it was very basic, but also very clean too and...retro? We liked it anyway, even if it didn’t have proper walls,  toilets or hot water and an old Chinese owner who refused to wear anything from waste up!

Pin Seng hotel :-)


Penang is also renowned for its variety of tasty and well prepared Malaysian food for a fair price- we can vouch for this, as feasted on quite alot whilst here!

Tourists are welcome to eat economy rice, which is simple but tasty mixed rice!

A malaysian breakfast- chicken noodle soup!

A pick and mix of Malaysian savory treats on sticks...yum!














Whilst in Penang, we also visited the beach which was nearest to Georgetown, Batu Ferringhi. Personally we didn't think that it was the prettiest beach we had come across so far... it smelt alot of rotton eggs, and an hour after we arrived so did a huge downpour of rain! but we didn’t worry too much as we was off to Langkawi, renowned for its pretty beach, next!

Langkawi: the Jewel of Kedah

Langkawi was a lovely, lazy and laid back, little island. It was not overly developed or touristic either, although in 10 or even 5 years time this will probably be a different story, so at least we got to experience how the Island is at present! It also had a beautiful Malaysian charm about it, with little cafes and stalls to eat and drink at, as well as lovely beaches, hundreds (104 in total) of little islands to visit and some great wildlife too- Dugongs, eagles, Asian colobus and Macaques to name a few!

Langkawi Permata Kedah (the jewel of Kedah)

In Langkawi we stayed in a chilled out little guesthouse called “Daddys guesthouse” which was equipped with lots of hammocks to relax in and a resident cat who would give daily room and fridge inspections...

The cheeky cat that belonged to the guesthouse we stayed at :)


A day was spent island hopping on a small speed boat which was fun and a good way to see the nature... here we saw sea eagles being fed, swam in a lagoon, caught sight of the “pregnant lady” shaped island a visited a “private” beach (it was covered in other tourists...). We also experienced the cheeky crab eating macaque monkeys actually being tourist’s sandwich eating macaques and also saw the Asian version of Betsy (the African Angolan colobus), known to the locals as the dusky leave monkey, which was really exciting as they are usually hard to spot! Unfortunately they were so shy and high up in the tree’s canopy that we wasn’t able to get a very clear picture of one. 

The pregnant Maiden of Langkawi...an Island shaped like a pregnant lady!

Diving into the fresh water lagoon!


Some cheeky crab eating Macaques

The "Private" beach...


Hiring a scooter for 24 hours was also another great way for us to get out and see the nature of Langkawi with its rolling hills, lush fields, jungley forest and the pretty coastline! We also scootered our way to the cable car, where we travelled 700 metres upwards to the highest point of Langkawi for a very scenic view!

Scootering around Langkawi's countryside

Our Ascent upwards in the cable car!

700M above sea level!




























In total we stayed in Langkawi for 8 days, it felt like more of a holiday really than backpacking and we didn’t want to leave!! From Langkawi we began the last leg of our adventure onward to Thailand! 

M A L A Y S I A !

A very pretty sunset at Langkawi beach


We took a bumpy ferry across to Satun, which is a town in the far south of Thailand (about 980km from Bangkok!) and from there we had to embark on the onward journey to Krabi. Oh yes, a 5 hour journey on a rickety old bus with built in karaoke which played continuously throughout... 

On the ferry accross to Thailand!


                                            Goodbye Malaysia and Hello Thailand!

Bye bye for now Malaysia...