Kanchanaburi to Koh Tao (Tim)

OK this is a partial update, because Ryan is also quite keen to post a blog, and it wouldn't do to have us both talking about the same things. Luckily, enough has happened since the last one to warrant two seperate posts.

Following our adventures in Kanchanaburi, we decided to start our long journey south by moving on to Ratchaburi, where the famous floating markets are situated. This was quite a risky decision, considering there is absolutely no information on this city in our travel guide, the book we rely so heavily upon. After getting to the local bus station we jumped on a bus several people assured us was heading in the vague direction of Ratchaburi. The journey seemed pretty straight forward up to the point where we had to get off, which was the tricky part. We had absolutely no idea if we had already passed the city or not, and after a broken exchange of Thai with a ticket-man, we knew even less where we were. He seemed to be saying the last stop was the city centre, as was the present stop, and the next one.

We ended up jumping off at a place that sort of seemed right, but was actually (we later found out) a place on the outskirts of the city. Absolutely clueless without help from the guide, we had to ask a taxi driver to take us to a 'good guesthouse', and he actually chose a very good one. I think the three of us were actually quite excited to have no idea where we were, and decided to jump on buses and get off at a random stop more often.

Later outside a 7/11 convenience store, we were attempting (and failing rather badly) to operate an international payphone when a Thai boy around our age came and helped us out, for which we were very grateful. On our way back to the guesthouse, he approached us once more, this time with his entire family, asking if we would like to maybe visit their house, or accompany them out eating. Instead, they ended up guiding us around the floating markets the following day, which was entirely necessary considering our clueless state. I have photos of the three kids (Pompom (the guy), Sisi and Nana) but I can't upload them at the moment so I'll have to re-edit this post later. We ended up staying the night in their house down to their relentless insistance that we ought to. It turned out that Pompom was on school holiday and completely bored, wanting some adventure - and so it came to be that he ended up coming along with us for a while.

We'd had enough of being inland, and made the decision to head straight for the beach to a popular seaside town called Cha-am. It was the first time we had used the train in Thailand, and I think it will probably be the last. It seems only Thai's use them - as we passed through the carriages searching for somewhere to sit, we drew the stares of absolutely everyone in the carriages, similar to the looks we received in Minburi when we first arrived in the country. It's a strange feeling standing out so much (the huge backpacks slung over our shoulders don't help).
Turns out there isn't really much to do in Cha-am (apart from banana boating, which is entirely brilliant) and we moved on very quickly to the more foreign-populated Hua Hin. Here, we were introduced to another Thai family (Pompom had a school friend named Candy living in the town) and were invited to their house for a meal, and then to a family birthday the next day. It's hard to comprehend the generosity and kindness of Thai people unless you are experiencing it first hand.

Pompom left for home on the second day, and on the third, we were finally reunited with Rose (and her volunteer partner, Amy) who is living out here, teaching English in schools. It was great to see her again after 7 months and we celebrated properly in the evening. The following day, we moved on to Koh Tao (Koh meaning island) by catamaran - the journey was pretty grim as the weather was rough and the boat see-sawed badly, causing rather uncomfortable nausea. They played Narnia to try and distract people, in English with English subtitles, but for some reason they didn't match up, which was entertaining in itself. "Bye Mother" came out as "I'm a He-man elephant rider" - someone must have been having a laugh.
It was worth the ride, in any case, as we ended up having a very good time (well..Id didn't so much) on the island as Ryan will document in the next post.

Some photos at last! (Tim)

Ok, finally I've managed to hook my camera up to a computer and so at last there are some viewable photos of our trip so far. There are only a couple here because it takes a long time to upload them, but at least its a start. I'm afraid they are not in chronological order, but I will do my best to explain them.



Me and Ryan eating battered fish on a floating restaurant we visited with Prayad the night before we left Minburi and headed to Kanchanaburi. Many large catfish swam around the lake just outside the restaurant and if you threw any scraps over the edge, the whole surface moved for an instant as the food was consumed. There is one photo that makes them look exactly like piranhas.



The piranhas/catfish.



A Chinese style Buddha statue we found at the entrance to a cave, particularly noticeable for its scaryness.



An elephant we found in the markets after crossing the bridge over the River Kwai. We bought some bananas and cucumbers from the owner to feed to it. This one was nowhere near as large as the huge ones we rode on our jungle trek.



Sunset on the River Kwai, from outside our raft room. I took this one..I was quite proud.



Another shot from outside our River Kwai raft room, with some mountains in the background, and Ryan and Shaun on the pier.



Pryad, Shaun and Ryan on the small jetty leading to the fish restaurant. You can't really see much of the lake in this shot, but it's a good photo of the guys.



Our Japanese companion on the jungle trek, Yusaki. Whilst staying with the mountain tribe in the evening, a few of the locals came and played us some music. Here, they are trying to teach Yusaki how to play their harp/guitar-like instrument.



Our accommodation whilst staying in the jungle - wooden huts constructed over a hill. It was an amazing place to stay, but difficult to capture on camera. Also, surprisingly comfortable to sleep in.



An amusing photo of Ryan looking like he is about to fall off of his elephant. Me and Shaun were riding on the one behind, and Yusaki was behind us. You really don't realise how large and absolutely hugely powerful elephants are until you have to get on one. It's amazing a living thing so large can exist.



The floating markets of Ratchaburi, taken from an overlooking bridge. Market stalls line the river banks, and many boats bearing fresh fruits and Thai cuisine glide up and down the river.



Another photo of sunet on the River Kwai. On this one a floating disco boat can be seen.

Rivers and jungle, oh my! (Ryan)

It's taken me long enough to get round to writing on this thing, which seemed a great idea at the start, and indeed still is, but which I never seem to have the time for. Well, friends, I've now taken it upon myself to bore you to death by ranting at you about our travels. I hope you enjoy it.

Well, since the first post that Tim made after the first couple of days, a lot has happened. We had a day in Central Bangkok, which was pretty hectic. It's good fun wandering around completely foreign places and then, when we couldn't have any less clue where we are, just hopping into one of the many many taxis and going to somewhere else to get lost. Whilst I'm talking abot taxis, I might as well tell you about the traffic (*snore*). There's so much of it, it's ridiculous, and they're far less strict with little things like lanes and things like personal safety than we are in our wee land. Bikes just fly between cars and people sometimes wander down the middle of the street at lights trying to sell you things. Three people to a bike isn't unheard of, and the passengers are rarely all adults in those cases. And there are that many taxis and sawngtheaws (a sawngtheaw is a sort of modified truck-type thing with a massive roofed back and two benches inside) that I have no idea how any of the drivers scrape a living. Communication with the drivers themselves ranges from pointing at the Thai script in the guidebook for where we want to go, to sometimes actually doing it vocally.

Right now we're very close to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, which we went to investigate over the weekend, taking in a couple of museums. It seems that almost every museum here in Kanchanaburi is associated with the Bridge. It's amazing how small and fairly dull the thing is in real life, given how many people died making it, and the rest of the railway. We've been across it on foot and by train.

Anyway, to the jungle! On Sunday we set off at 8 to go do some sight-seeing and then do some real jungle trekking. The sights were a hotspring, which was bloody hot and there was a big asian bloke there who wanted to hug all of us; before that we went to a waterfall, which over here increasingly seems to be the local swimming pool; lastly we went to see Hellfire Pass, a place where the Death Railway had to be cut through rock to about twenty-five feet deep. Fascinating stuff, all of it, but the jungle capped it all off. After about two and a half hours in the humidity we ended up having to walk up a river, which went to about shin-deep in places, and this wearing our boots. It was here I discovered that waterproofing works both outside to in, and inside to out. Thankfully Noi, our guide, made a fire overnight to dry them all off for us. On the second day we walked from the village where we stayed to some elephants, then went bamboo rafting. The village where we stayed that night was stunning, perhaps for its simplicity, which would appeal to town-dwellers, I guess. In the moonlight the stilted huts where we stayed just looked incredible. Interestingly, Shaun got bitten by something, on the foot (we were all going barefoot because of the boot issue). The something, our guide thought, may well have been a scorpion. But never fear! Noi stuck a piece of bamboo on it and it sucked the poison out and all was well.

Last night, after getting back, we went out to eat with our new Japanese friend Yasaki, who we trekked with, and then me and Tim stayed out drinking with an American called Pete and some local women, who may well be taking us out tonight, which will be just swell.

Tomorrow I think we'll leave and spend a night in a place called Ratchaburi before we move to the beaches further south, starting in a place called Hua Hin. We've just about exhausted the tourist potential of this area and we should probably get moving. Two months all of a sudden doesn't seem like much time at all. Still can't believe how long we'll be away for, and in fact nor can many of the people we've spoken too, but that's the fun of it. Haven't actually met any folk our own age yet. Everyone seems to be older and both amazed and envious of what we're doing at 18 and 19.

On a last note, prices here are amazing. We've been eating together all the time and probably haven't spent more than a fiver, and the rooms are less than two quid a night. The money don't half go far out 'ere. Anyway, epic tale over, we're off to get some din-dins and head out, but fear not, I'll be back to enthrall you all soon!

Day 3 - Day 5 (Tim)

8.3.06

Today we threw caution to the wind, and then followed it as we decided to make the trip into Bangkok. First stop was Lumphini Park - a place much like Queens Park in London, in search of early morning stalls selling snakes blood and bile to drink but the city traffic caused us to miss them. When we reached Wat Po, a large temple in which the 45m 'reclining Buddha' statue resides, a kindly man outside informed us that the place was closed for two hours whilst the monks slept, but that there are 3 other Buddha statues situated just a mile or two away that we could view in the mean time by taking a tuk-tuk (moped backed by a small, covered bench in which passengers sit)for about 30 baht, and wouldn't you know it, here's one now. Only after we jumped in did it strike us as odd..especially since the guide book said that the place was open all day. Before coming to Bangkok, we had read that conmen often employ the 'closed attraction' strategy as a means to obtain money from tourists, but I didn't actually think I'd ever fall for something like that - much too obvious. It is only after you have come across one of these fellows that you realise how charistmatic, proffessional and practiced they are at their trade. It was an annoying detour, but we were lucky we were only tricked out of a few baht (about 40p) and nothing more serious - like our passports for example. It certainly made me more aware of such things - a few more people tried this same trick on us later that day, but we were able to walk away from them and eventually got to see Wat Po.

10.3.06

Today we finally decided to fly the nest, and depart our sheltered residence in John's apartment, in favour of tiny hostels and backpacker hangouts. We rode the bus from Bangkok to the river-side (River Kwai, as in bridge over the -)tourist town of Kantachaburi. We managed to grab the last two raft rooms in a hostel by the river, offering simple and cheap accomodation. The view, capped off by the towering mountains in the background, is truely amazing. I have some photos of the sunset there, but am not able to upload them yet as I left my camera in the hostel.

Day 1 - Day 2 (Tim)

6.3.06

We touched down at Bangkok airport at about 8:30am local time(1:30am GMT), about 2 hours later than the scheduled time due to delays at Doha, extremely tired following a long period of sleepless travel. After a confusing hour spent filling in an arrival form, exchanging money, passing through customs and reclaiming our bags, we met the taxi driver John had arranged to pick us up. He explained to us in broken English that he had been waiting since 6am for us, for which we felt very bad but could not fully express our apologies due to the language barrier (we ended up paying him more than he asked for, so I think he understood our sypmathies).

We arrived at John's place with the intention of sleeping straight away, but had to visit the local supermarket first in order to pick up some bottled water (with the tap-water being undrinkable). It was a strange experience being part of a minority and drawing curious stares for being a clueless outsider.
After some much needed sleep, we ventured out to the soup stall on the corner of the street where I attempted to use some phrases I had learned before coming (such as "hello", "excuse me", "Do you understand English", and "I would like to eat something please"). This seemed to confuse the stall owners for a bit, and a local policeman stepped in to help translate. We ended up with a bowl of soup, in which strange balls of unidentifiable meat and lumps of custard floated, and a plate of rice and squid. It tasted good..sort of. Certainly different, anyway.

In the evening our host, Pryad, knocked on our door unexpectedly and said he was taking us to a BBQ place to eat. We accepted the offer of a second meal gratefully and were driven to a night market outside of Minburi, serving had some of the best tasting meat I have ever tasted, and went down well after the squid. On the BBQ stall, you pick as many scraps of raw meat of all varieties from a buffet and cook them on a small candle-heated metal cone..I wasn't quite sure what was going on to begin with, but after it was explained I ate so much...the food here is really very good.

Day 2

We felt a little more adventurous today, after yesterday's trip to the supermarket, and managed to hitch a ride to the marketplace in a taxi-bus hybrid (open-backed vehicle you jump in if it's passing the same way you wish to go). It was so incredibly hot around the markets, we easily lived up to the stereotype of the Wester foreigner - large, sweaty and clueless. Now we have learned from the Thais and wear an undervest to absorb all moisture, and wear a shirt on top of that for appearance, so now we're just large and clueless. We also use a special cooling talc. We still have a lot to learn in language skills. For now though, we will just have to get used to it.

Pre-launch

Right, a brief introduction - on the 5th March, three of us (Ryan, Shaun and I (Tim)) will be flying off to Southeast Asia for 6 months, leaving behind our cold but homely little island of Great Britain. Landing in Bangkok, we will first explore Thailand before going on to complete a circular tour of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, finishing off back in Thailand. I have created a very rough route map to give some idea of our proposed plan of travel (following first the southerly course from Bangkok to Phuket).

Since July of last year, all three of us have been working full-time jobs to earn the money required for this trip; Ryan registering cars in a Renault garage, Shaun scanning coupons for Neilson's, and I working in various factories and warehouses through an agency. And now the time has come - we have hoarded enough money to keep us going for a while, booked the flight, had the jabs (typhoid, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies), attained the pills (malaria), bought the equipment, planned the route and so at last on Sunday we can get the hell out of here.

This blog will document our progress throughout the coming months, and we shall attempt to post updates regularly as confirmation of our well being. Hopefully, it shall also have some entertainment value given that it is human nature to enjoy tales of misadventure.
For part of the trip, we will be able to post directly onto the site from internet cafes located around Thailand, but whilst in more sparse regions (i.e: Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia), my mother will be writing up the letters we send, much like Sarah's mum does for her site (which can be found at www.jungleblogging.com). I hope the end product is a vivid and coherent account of our journey in a continent geographically and culturally so disparate from ours.