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Location	Date
Singapore	May 20071178060400
Hong Kong	Apr 20071177887600
Vietnam	Apr 20071176937200
Cambodia	Apr 20071176073200
Laos	Mar 20071175122800
Thailand	Mar 20071174435200
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Thailand

Sort by date visited | alphabetical

Location	Date
Chiang Mai	Mar 20071174435200
Bangkok	Mar 20071173657600
Koh Phangan	Mar 20071172880000
Phuket	Feb 20071172102400
Krabi	Feb 20071171497600

Chiang Mai

21 Mar 2007

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Mar 21, 2007

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My apologies ladies and gentlemen for the late email.

So much has happened in the last week.. I have found it hard to find the time to let you all know. But! The time has come. You all can breathe easier now.

I've now arrived at Chiang Mai. A very cultural town a few hours away from the borders of Burma (Myanmar) and Laos. But what's important is how I got here. I will begin from where I left you all last.. on my way to Patpong for a Ping Pong show. ;)

11/03/07 10:43pm
We'd left the internet cafe to make our way to Patpong road to see the widely famed Ping Pong show. It didn't take us long to find a Tuk Tuk driver who was willing to take us to Patpong for the pricely sum of 50B ($2AUD).

Me: How much to Patpong?
Tuk tuk driver: 50B
Me: *Looking to Karina in amazement* OK

11/03/07 11:02pm
The amazement didn't last very long. Bangkok is much like Patong (Phuket), the entrepreneurs/salesmen are out to get as much money off you as possible. I had noticed that Tuk tuk drivers like to start out at prices of either 200B or 300B before negotiating down toward a more realistic price. But this driver.. just like the one yesterday who took us to Lumpini Stadium for 60B had an alternate agenda.

We turned down an alleyway and through into this dark car park.

Thai man: Ping Pong show?
Me: *Look of confusion as this was clearly not where we wanted to go. I turned to the Tuk tuk driver* Patpong?
Tuk tuk driver: Ping pong.
Me: Patpong.
Tuk tuk driver: Ping pong.
Thai man: Ping Pong show?!!
Me: Ok ok how much?
Thai man: 500B.

Frustrating. I asked Karina to get out of the Tuk tuk.. I kindly paid the man his 50B and set out to find Patpong myself. Karina and I continued to walk back out of the alleyway onto the main road set to ask for directions to Patpong when...

Tuk tuk driver: Ok.... I take to Patpong.
Karina: This man is cute!

Hahaha. The Tuk tuk driver felt guilty and took us to Patpong for no extra charge. Patpong only happened to be a couple hundred metres down the road.

11/03/07 11:23pm

Patpong.. Loud. Bright. Fast. Sleazy. Sporty? (That's just wrong) When Thai salesmen see foreigners they are quite aggressive. They will pitch you and walk with you for a couple metres before your rejections take effect. Thai people are typically courteous and polite, so the method to turn down a sales question is to put a warm smile on your face, say no, and wave to the ground. But here at Patpong.. they dont take 'No' for an answer.

We walked through the first few stalls and into chaos. Before we knew it we were surrounded by salesmen all with their pitch cards displaying the variety of services that their bar offered. Some salesmen were assumptive, some were aggressive, and some were both. At one point I was attacked by 4 salesmen all of which were shouting...

Salesmen: COME. ITS FREE. JUST LOOK. 1 MINUTE. COME.

I had my smile on. I kept saying 'No'. I kept waving to the ground. The key this time.. was to keep walking. The salesmen have territories and it is impolite for them to trespass. However there was one saleslady who started talking to Karina about her bar... who then started stalking us. She followed us for a good 10 minutes before we had to relocate to the McDonalds across the road in an attempt to escape.

12/03/07 00:12am

Ping Pong show! I would normally have photos of such a life changing event.. but hey.. I run a MA+ show here. We sat down at our own table.. with the usual mix of sex tourists and drunken tourists at our sides. Naked Thai ladies/performers and scantily dressed ladyboys.. who by the way all dance in the same manner. They all keep their legs together (for obvious reasons ;)), raise their arms above their heads, and then shake their hips and arms furiously. Quite humorous to watch.

Karina and I watched the ladies pull objects out of themselves, smoke cigarettes with the flexing of their PC muscle (Karina had the pleasure of lighting those cigarettes) and then I was given the privilege of playing Ping Pong. Yes. She shot them at me. Yes. I had a paddle. Yes. I hit them straight back at her!

Hahahaha. Apart from that though... there really wasn't much else. We tipped the girls for the entertainment and left for our Bangkok residence.

12/03/07 1:40am

Tuk tuk drivers wouldn't take us back to Khao San road for the 50B that it took to get us here. I managed to get them to offer 100B for the trip (down from 400B).. but they wouldn't budge past that mark. We then hailed a taxi who ran on a meter. For a 15 min taxi ride it cost us 63B ($2.30). We gave the guy 70B and told him to keep the change... why? We are compassionate people. :)

12/03/07 11:15am

Woke up to face another jam packed day.

12/03/07 12:03pm

Woke up again. Haha.

12/03/07 12:45pm

Went downstairs for breakfast. Porridge the order of the day. What can I say. I love my oats.

12/03/07 2:24pm

The real day begins. Karina needed to head to the Vietnamese embassy to secure her Vietnamese visa. Instead of hailing a Tuk Tuk I had decided to catch the local bus to Lumpini for 7B. The buses in Thailand dont actually stop at its designated bus stop. The drivers slow down to about 5km/h and the locals run and jump on! Unfortunately for us we were at the wrong end of the bus stop and missed the bus. :P Seeing that taxis work on distance (they work on time in Australia) we hailed another and paid 40B for the trip. Joy.

12/03/07 4:02pm

After Karina's visit to the embassy we had one hour left to visit some of the temples here in Bangkok. We hailed a cab and made our way to Wat Traimit.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/PIC_0003.jpg

This statue was once covered with clay. It wasn't until the 60s that a monk had noticed a chip in the clay exterior producing a strange yellow glow. The monk pulled out a hammer and chisel and proceeded to find this magnificent seated Buddha. Solid gold. It was claimed that the Thais covered the statue with clay to prevent invading armies from Burma stealing the statue.

12/03/07 4:34pm

Our Amazing Race continued as we hailed another taxi to Wat Pho.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/PIC_0009.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/PIC_0021.jpg
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A reclining Buddha. Solid gold. 46 metres long. 5.5 tonnes. Gems and Mother of Pearl embedded into the Buddha's feet. This thing must be worth a fortune. Oceans 14 anyone? :)

12/03/07 9:13pm

An insane craving for hommous and falafels led us to a vegetarian restaurant near our humble abode, 'Ethos'. Apart from hommous and falafels it advertised free WiFi.... uh oh! Met the store owner, an Australian by the name of Greg, and had an interesting conversation about spirituality and meditation.

Fun fact: Buddhists don't eat after midday.

Argh. That would be torture!

13/03/07 6:15am

Wake up. We had purchased tickets to tour some sights outside of Bangkok. The bus was to leave at 7:00am and we were due back at 6:00pm. I don't know about you guys but I am not a morning person. If any of you come in contact with me in the morning you must ask me one important question:

"Kris, what time did you wake up this morning?"

I need at least one hour before I am my happy self again. Karina is all too aware of this and has adapted. ;) Hahaha...

Karina: Hi Kris!
Me: F**K OFFFFFFF!!!

Hahahahaha... na nothing like that. ;)

13/03/07 8:30am

Our first stop: Damnoen Saduak.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33745.jpg

The floating markets! Unfortunately not many tourists come to purchase anything from the markets but come to participate in the experience. Karina and I (the A-List) aren't like other tourists. We enjoy the bargaining process and explore the opportunities that present themselves.

Throughout my emails I have given you little travelling tips... and this is a tip on how to bargain in Thailand. In this sale Karina wanted a pair of sandals.

Karina: How much?
Saleslady: 800 Baht ($32AUD) *She also types the price into a calculator to avoid any communication mishaps*
Me: *Negative body language*
Karina: Too much.
Saleslady: Ok how much.
Karina: *Picks up the calculator and types in...* 50 Baht.
Saleslady: *Looking dejected* Nooooo... you must give me more!
Karina: 50 Baht.
Saleslady: Noo.... 300 Baht.
Karina: 50 Baht.
Saleslady: Can not! ... 250 Baht...
Karina: 50 Baht.
Saleslady. Please!!! Give me more money.
Me: F**k it Karina.. give her 100 Baht... $4 Australian dollars.
Karina: Ok.. 100 Baht.
Saleslady: Can not!! Ok I give you last price... 200 Baht.
Karina: 100 Baht.
Saleslady: *Shakes her head*
Karina: *Starts to walk away*
Saleslady: Okkkkkkkk.... 100 Baht.

Hahahahahaha. Classic. The saleslady's asking price was 800B. Our offer price was 50B. For you mathematicians out there... that's almost 5% of the asking price (6.25% to be exact). We upped it to 100 Baht because.. we are compassionate ;) Thai people dont exactly earn much money so I dont feel its ethical to aggressively negotiate to save a couple of Baht. Just negotiate to get rid of the ridiculous mark up and then reach an agreement. Depending on what you are asking for and what the asking price is.. a good rule is to mark your price at 25-50% of what they offer.

Fun. :) I bring to you, the Floating markets of Damnoen Saduak:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33698.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33707.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33731.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33768.jpg

13/03/07 11:45am

We arrived at the River Kwai. Sound familiar? It should. A book was written about this river.. and then a movie was made about the book.. 'The Bridge over the River Kwai'.

What happened here?

The Japanese controlled the area (Kanchanaburi, Thailand) and ordered for the construction of a bridge over the River Kwai so that guns & ammunition could be transported into Burma and India. The Japanese used POWs (Prisoners of War) to construct the bridge, the majority of them coming from the Pacific.. including Austraila. The Allies bombed the bridge strategically to keep the Japanese from supporting the war effort in Burma/India with new supplies. In response to the bombings the Japanese ordered the POWs to rebuild the bridge (to which they would work 18 hour days), and moved their camps to the edges of the bridge. The reasoning: the Japanese rationalised that the Allies would stop bombing the bridge knowing that they might kill POWs.. that they might bomb their own people. Tragically, war is war. The allies continued bombing the bridge. Thousands of POWs died from the bombings, through illness and through the many attempts to construct the bridge. War is war.

Thais have set up a memorial near the bridge and here is a picture of the bridge as it stands today:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33777.jpg

13/03/07 2:12pm

What we had been waiting for all day... something that Karina had been wanting to visit for months and a place that I had been eager to see upon arriving in Thailand. The Tiger Temple.

It has been said that local villagers found an injured Tiger cub and went in search of somebody who could take care of it and nurse it back to health. No-one would take care of the cub until the villagers arrived at the local monastery. The monks at the monastery nursed the cub back to health. Ever since that day villagers had been relocating tigers to the monastery for much needed care and attention. The tiger temple was then opened to tourists in 1999 (if my memory serves me correctly).

When you arrive you are warned not to wear anything that is yellow, orange or red as the colours may startle the tigers. There was one German tourist who had been travelling with our tour group.. who was extremely keen to see the tigers. He was wearing an orange t-shirt.. He ignored the signs and continued to make his way down to the canyon were the tigers are kept. I had my camcorder on me and sadistically wished for some action. I had grand visions of recording the mauling of a German tourist on tape and then auctioning the tape to television networks. But it was not to be. The tigers were on chains. AND it was 40 degrees that day. The tigers were rendered placid.

Nonetheless the tigers' helpers took some great photos:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33789.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33798.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33800.jpg

After the adult tigers were taken back to their cages we were then free to roam the park. What was a quiet park with the occasional roar from a tiger turned into an orchestra of squeals, shouts, and grunts. Pigs, cows and goats came running from all directions. All fighting for the feast that lay on the ground. The staff had evenly spread out buckets of corn, bananas and pellet feed. The pandemonium was quite exhilarating.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33878.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33888.jpg

Another important first:

I had the privilege of witnessing a peacock display its feathers. I have footage of this process. Karina took photos. I remember always wanting to see a peacock display its feathers when at Taronga Zoo but was never lucky enough to be witness. It truly is beautiful.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33883.jpg

Seeing that motivates me to trek into the jungles of Papua New Guinea to see the many birds of paradise that habituate there. Maybe next year. :)

13/03/07 9:42pm

Back to Ethos for Free WiFi exploitation, Chai tea, falafels, hommous and pita bread. Yum. ;)

14/03/07 6:10am

Another EARLY morning. After weeks of sleep ins.. I've only woken up after 7am ONCE in Bangkok. Why did I wake up early again? I had a train to catch. Where was this train going? North of Thailand.. to the sleepy province of Lampang.

14/03/07 5:50pm

Arrived at Lampang. It was quite the train ride. All I seemed to do was sleep and eat. Unlike other long distance transport options, the train service in Thailand seems to pride on keeping its passengers well fed. For 580B (~$23AUD) ... very worth it.

15/03/07 6:30am

ARGH! AGAIN. BUT! This is where a real story begins. We woke up early aniticipating Pubat's arrival. Pubat is the chirpy salesman who pitched and introduced us to the 'Sea Sunset' resort, that magnificent resort with glorious sunsets. I enjoyed Pubat's company and we had many conversations while at the 'Sea Sunset' resort... definitely the funniest and most interesting person that I had spoken to while travelling. It was during one of these conversations that Pubat invited me to.... his WEDDING. A THAI WEDDING. Wow. The magic of travelling. You meet people. Your plans change. Your experience broadens.

15/03/07 12:10pm

After some food we had arrived at Pubat's fiance's village.. which was about 1 hour out from Lampang town. We'd all arrived knowing that the villagers had never seen a 'farang' (foreigner)before. It wasn't just Karina and myself.. but three other Sea Sunset mainstayers also were given an invitation to the wedding: Carl, Adam and Tim. We were given a quick introduction to the locals.. who were in absolute awe. We were fed. We were offered drinks, water, beer, and whiskey. The hospitality and generosity was unbelievable.

15/03/07 4:50pm

Woke up hungry after an afternoon nap. Witness the sunset:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34053.jpg

Pubat then shepherded me to the seated area to have a small meal before dinner. There I was... sitting all by lonesome.. waiting for food to be served to me...

Villager: Farang!
Me (Farang): *Looks over*
Villager: *Waves me over to eat with them*

Little did I know that this particular villager would warm to me. Little did I know that this particular villager would grow warmer as he got drunker. Little did I know that this particular villager would find it extremely amusing that I had more hair on my legs than he. Little did I know that this particular villager would find it amusing that I had more muscle than he did. I spent the rest of the night protecting myself from his wandering hands. I really couldn't distinguish whether he was being drunkenly friend or he just happened to be more open with his secksual orientation when he was drunk.

Everyone else thought it was hilarious that I was being felt up. So there are many photos of he and I together:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33907.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33908.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34069.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20090.jpg

Here is a photo that I took of the group:
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33905.jpg

From left to right: Karina, Homosecksual villager, Adam, Carl and Tim

15/03/07 7:30pm

Dinner time. The last supper before the big day, before the day of the wedding. Traditional Thai Green curry was served. The best green curry that I've ever had.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33911.jpg

After dinner we all decided to retire early in preparation for what was to be a BIG wedding day.

16/03/07 5:00am

I wake to the sound of flatulence. The other 6 decide to have a contest of sorts. Unfortunately I did not have any input... I am saddened by the fact that I did not have the gas necessary to show them what an Aussie Peruvian could do. Gah!

16/03/07 6:30am

Awake again. This time for real. I walked outside to join Adam and one of the elders.. who then proceeded to pat Adam down. I have to add that the elder didn't leave ANYTHING untouched. Hahahahhahaha. What added to the humour, Adam didn't flinch and just let out a short "Whatever" and kept smoking. Hahahaha.

16/03/07 8:40am

The bride and groom had arrived from their pre-wedding hair, clothing and make-up prepartions. Meet Pubat:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20019.jpg

The bride and groom spend the night in two different rooms. Traditionally, the bride then walks from his room to meet his bride to be. Meanwhile, the villagers sing a song and clap to the song to commemorate the event.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20023.jpg

Inside the wedding chamber the ceremony began...

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33952.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33954.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33959.jpg

A village elder joined the two in matrimony.. and the union was highlighted by the tieing of commitment bands around the couples' wrists. Family and friends were all given the privilege to tie the bands.. and for the first time in the villages history, farangs (foreigners) were given the honour to tie bands around the wrists of the couple to be wed.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33977.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33981.jpg

It's a little hard to describe the emotion of the tieing. To me it was a GREAT honour to be tieing the band around Pubat and Nam's wrists. I felt privileged and happy to be a part of the wedding. I also felt privileged to help Pubat immortalise his wedding with film (and Karina with the camera). It takes something like this to complete a trip and I am glad I was given the opportunity.

After the tieing was complete it was off to the adjoined marital bed... words can only say so much:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20080.jpg

Hahahahahahhahaha. Pubat looks so happy. I wonder what he had on his mind? ;)

16/03/07 10:20am

What's next? Celebrations of course. Thai weddings are like none other. Alcohol is passed around like water. Water is passed around like water. A pig was slaughtered and bled the night before and food was provided in abundance. For a people who can't afford to send their kids to school they sure do know how to celebrate. For a people who live in relative poverty to the visiting farang they sure did seem to live in great happiness. Money doesn't buy happiness people. ;) And without happiness and love you really have nothing at all.

On that note.. the happy couple:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34007.jpg

The offers for alcohol are relentless. I guess the villagers expected us to be able to consume obscene amounts of alcohol. Out of our group only Karina and I were able to make it through the night and able to avoid the pitfalls of inebriation. The village women would walk around with a large bottles of home brewed rice whiskey and a small cup.. and then offer 15-50mL of the whiskey to whoever they saw. There were at least 2 or 3 of these women on constant patrol. There was also one woman with a large jug of water and a cup.. to keep everyone hydrated and to keep everyone partying throughout the day.

Tim enthusiastically accepting an offer:
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34018.jpg

The villagers were also really curious to see how we would dance... and continuously pulled us up onto the earth dance floor, dancing to a 5 track CD haha.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34023.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34039.jpg

We got to mingle with all the villagers and learnt some Thai along the way. A very joyous people.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20122.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20134.jpg

16/03/07 9:20pm

The day was filled with conversations with villagers who speak not a word of English, numerous offers for food and drink, and dancing right into the night.

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/Wedding%20179.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34064.jpg

A big day. A big night. A wondefully cultural and beautiful experience. I couldn't have dreamed of such a day.. and now I am eternally grateful that I was given a ticket.

People look for pictures that epitomise their trip, that represents their journey.. Thailand is filled with amazing beaches, awe-inspiring landscape and is extremely cultured. However.. Thailand to me is defined by its people. And to me, the kids of this village will always remind me of mischievous Thailand:

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34037.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV34038.jpg
http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/SNV33903.jpg

17/03/07 12:35pm

We left the villagers with a joyful experience. The villagers left us with an experience that will never be forgotten. Karina and I made our way to the bus station back to Lampang town. Our destination: Chiang Mai.

Which is where I am now. I've been here for a few days now.. and what has happened to me here will be left for another installation of my chronicle.