The scuba diving in the nearby Similan Islands of Thailand is frequently listed as one of the top ten sites in the world, and it did not disappoint. We spent two days living on the dive boat, and saw a few things we'd never seen before, like a sea snake and the beautiful lion fish (poisonous). The water was very clear, and at times there so many small fish swimming in giant schools all around us that it felt like it was snowing fish! Living on the boat also gave us the opportunity to do our first night dive: dive lamps illuminating a path through the darkness in front off us like extra-terrestrial spaceships on patrol. Among lots of sleeping fish, we saw a really cool octopus and noticed that the fan corals seem to really open up at night.
After splurging on the dive trip, we decided to "go local" and use the bus to get to our next destination in northern Thailand. It took two different buses and two different taxis to get to Chiang Dao twenty four hours later. I must admit this was a low point of the trip for me personally, which I will describe in a comment below in case anyone is interested. But we shook that off quickly, and we've been having a wonderful time seeing and doing interesting things in Northern Thailand. Temples are everywhere here, and we've enjoyed their beauty and the ubiquitous tall staircases which seem designed to encourage contemplation during the long ascent.
We spent one afternoon walking through the cave system that the town is named after. A small portion of the cave has been wired with electricity for lights, but to go deeper requires a local guide with an gas lamp. Our guide spoke only a few words of English - they were: "watch your head" and "be careful, slippely." (sic) Another day, we rode an elephant up to visit one of the "hill tribes." This time our elephant was a bit more "reluctant" at times. It can be quite scary sitting 12 feet up in the air on the back of an unhappy beast - I began to wonder at what point we should be concerned about his grunting at the handler and his willful deviation from the trail. Would he buck us off to fall on the rocks below or roll over to crush us? Either way, there wasn't much we could do about it. In fact, the worst that happened was he pointed his mucusy trunk back up at us all (the handler was riding on top too), and to show his displeasure, blew - like a giant disgusting sneeze.
Later, we went floating down the river on a bamboo raft, which was interesting in part because we got to see the gravel mining operation: about 10 guys standing in waist deep water next to open boats a bit larger than canoes. They crouch down under the water to scrape their bucket through the gravel bottom to scoop it up and deposit it in their boat. When the boat is so heavy with gravel that the lip of the boat is just one inch above waterline, they walk the boat upstream to waiting trucks, where it is shoveled out and taken away, presumably to make roads or cement or something.
Along the way, we've discovered some more strange little differences in the world here. For example, napkins are always scarce for some reason. If a restaurant offers them at all, they are actually thin sheets of tissue paper - far too fragile to keep my grubby fingers clean when eating. Similarly, toilet paper is also unavailable in many public restrooms. But there's always a water hose sprayer attached to the wall next to a toilet - some sort of hand bidet I have been too timid to try.
That's all for now. Next time I'll tell you how we discovered we are allergic to tigers!
For the travelogue to be completely honest, I must admit to some recent frustration: We just spent 28 long hours on two buses and two taxis to get from Phuket area to Chang Mai. We took the "Super VIP" bus for a few extra dollars to get better reclining seats for the overnight journey. The first leg wasn't bad, but the second leg was unbearable at times. In a region where serious disease (malaria, dengue, B-encephalitis) is carried by mosquitos, we were upset to find a greater density of them on the bus than at any time or place so far on our trip - it seemed there were always two or three flying around us, in spite of our swatting magazines at them for hours! For "entertainment," the busses have TV. But sitting directly beneath the speaker made it difficult to even think clearly above the blaring sound effects and laugh tracks of the Thai gameshows displayed. It got only slightly better as we drove out of range and the TV went to white noise static - for hours and hours! Occassional bus stops permitted use of the toilet - for 3 Baht (about a dime), which is a hole in the ground you stand over, and no toilet paper is supplied (that's an extra 5 Baht). But what frustrates me most is that it seems routine for people in certain areas to take advantage of tourists whenever possible. For example, the guy who speaks English behind the taxi stand demands a flat rate fare for our destination, and then seems to pay less than half of that to the taxi driver. Eventually, we've discovered that if we negotiate directly with the drivers (like the Thai people do) we could get the real price. But it is wearing on my mood to be constantly on guard for people trying to gouge us for an unreasonable amount. Okay, that's it - ranting is over now. [Since then we've encountered so many kind and generous people - the vast majority]
ReplyDelete