Thailand

As our 60-day tourist visa comes to an end, we spent our last week in Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok.  I must admit that by now, we are “templed out” and a little tired of sightseeing.  Luckily for us, in spite of it’s size there wasn’t a plethora of tourist attractions to tempt us.  Even better for us, we enjoyed the hospitality of a few people who made us feel quite at home.

We rationalized our splurge on a four star hotel for our week long stay in Bangkok with the knowledge that the next two months will be rather hectic and definitely low budget as we set out to explore Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  This might be our last chance at a decent bed, or so we told ourselves.  Unfortunately it was busy during this week so we had to split our time between two hotels: Centre Point Sukhumvit 10 and the Best Western Premier on Sukhumvit 1, the former being our favourite.  Both hotels offered great amenities of which we availed ourselves almost daily – pool, steam room, gym.  At the Centre Point Hotel, we were upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite complete with kitchen, dining room, living room and of course a bedroom.  We even had a washing machine in the kitchen, something I took full advantage of by washing every piece of clothing in our packs.  Fresh, clean clothes, ahhh, the simple things that give us pleasure!

Our sightseeing excursions were limited to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho – Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Jim Thompson House along with a few markets around town.  Bangkok is a city of contrasts where old and new merge into a bustling, noisy metropolis.  It is more modern than I expected and far more Westernised too.  Yet there are still glimpses of the past, like the guy who set up shop on the street with his old foot powered Singer sewing machine, working away in the open air, under the glare of the sun.

The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings in the heart of Bangkok. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (and later Thailand) since 1782. The king, his court and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The present monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), currently resides at Chitralada Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year.

Wat Pho

Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images, the Reclining Buddha, which is 160 feet long.

Jim Thompson House

This is the residence of an American named Jim Thompson who settled in Bangkok after the second world war, during which he was a CIA agent.  Trained as an architect, he became an active advocate for the Thai silk industry, gaining worldwide recognition for his success in rebuilding the industry, for generating international demand for Thai silk and for contributing to the growth of the silk industry.  Mystery shrouds his disappearance in 1967 at the age of 61 while visiting the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.  He vanished without a trace and to this day there is no explanation for what happened to him.

Today, the house is a popular tourist attraction, showcasing the unique house he built for himself blending Thai and western styles, along with his vast art collection.

The best part of the week was having the chance to meet up with some family of friends.  Dan is married to Laurel, a high school friend of Chris’.  Dan works in Singapore but was on a business trip to Bangkok this week, staying at a hotel within spitting distance of ours.  We enjoyed one of the best steak dinners we’ve ever had at an Argentinian restaurant (El Gaucho) – even better than any steak we had in Argentina.  It was a fun evening with good conversation and lots of laughs.  Dan took charge of the wine list and the menu and astounded us with his generosity in treating us to such a memorable meal.  Thanks again Dan!

We met Mike and his wife Nat the night before – Mike is the brother of my friend Sylvia in Ottawa.  He has been in Thailand for ten years.  Sylvia introduced us via email, and Mike then invited us to his home where we met his lovely wife Nat and his three dogs, beautiful Doberman’s.  We enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at their place before heading out for dinner.  It was such a pleasant treat for us to visit with them in their home, and again a complete surprise when Mike treated us to a lovely Thai dinner.  Mind you, we were all slightly aghast to discover we closed the joint down past 2:00 am, way beyond our normal bedtime.  At least we didn’t have to get up in the morning like Mike and Nat.

We met up with Mike and Nat again later in the week, for a repeat of the first night only this time we called it a night at a more sensible hour (midnight).  These late nights really did us in and we were grateful we could just take it easy the next day.

And so concludes our visit to Thailand.  We have fallen in love with this country and vow to return again in the future.  We can easily envision ourselves spending winter months here like many ex-pats do.

Tomorrow we head to Laos by plane (to Chiang Rai) and bus (to Chiang Khong) where we will spend two weeks.  After that it will be Cambodia for two weeks and then Vietnam where we will spend our final month before heading home on April 8th.

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Rated amongst the world’s top dive sites, the Similan and Surin Islands offer an escape from the overcrowded beaches of Phuket.  Both groups of islands are part of a large archipelago about 90 km west of the mainland in the middle of the Andaman Sea extending north into Myanmar.

The Similan Islands are comprised of nine distinct islands all within close range of each other, and another island, Koh Bon that lies 17 nautical miles north of the main cluster. The entire area is protected under the Similan National Park.  The islands are  easily accessible by speed boat from Khao Lak.

The Surin Islands are further north and are comprised of five distinct islands.  Protected under the Mu Ko Surin National Park, these islands are also a popular destination for divers and snorkellers often travelling by boat from Khao Lak.  The closest town from which to reach the islands is Khuraburi, a tiny fishing port that has not yet been hit by the tourism bug.  The park is home to one of the most famous dive sites in the world, Richelieu Rock.

While it is possible to visit these islands on a day trip, live-aboard tours are very popular.  I was somewhat reluctant to do a live-aboard because I am prone to sea sickness; just the idea of being trapped on a boat for more than a day made me queasy.  Finally I agreed to a 2 day, 1 night diving excursion with six dives included.  We were staying at the Poseidon Bungalows and they kindly arranged the tour for us with Similan Seven Sea Club.  We had no idea what to expect but felt some reassurance by the good reviews this company received on Trip Advisor.

A speedboat took us from Khao Lak to Koh Bon, the site for our first two dives.  The waters were pretty rough and I was surprised that Chris was suffering from some mild sea sickness while my stomach was fine.  At Koh Bon, we transferred to the main boat which would be home for the next 36 hours.  The boat was anchored in a sheltered bay, but it still pitched rather wrecklessly to and fro.  Chris’ seasickness worsened, and for some reason I continued to be immune to the restless sea.

Once on the main boat, we got kitted up with our gear.  I was surprised that everything fit perfectly even though we hadn’t tried anything on ahead of time and the equipment was of very good quality.  Even though there was a large group of divers on board, we were organized into small groups of four to a dive master.  We did two dives at Koh Bon each of which had a lot of current that prevented us from fully exploring the site.  We didn’t see the infamous manta rays that frequent this area nor did we see any sharks.  But there were lots of beautiful coral and smaller fish to keep us entertained.  Our final dive of the day was at Hin Yao on Island #8.  Again we faced tremendous current that formed a wall around us, limiting where we could go.  In the fading afternoon light, we didn’t see anything remarkable on that dive.

Day and night, there was no respite from the heaving and  pitching of the boat.  Even within the protection of the bay, we were tossed around a lot. In between dives, I found refuge on the top deck where I lay on a mat, with my eyes closed, rocking side to side with the rhythm of the boat. Remarkably, I didn’t feel any seasickness during the entire time on board.  Chris was mildly seasick, but nothing that hampered his fun.  As a precaution, we both took gravol before going to bed and slept like babies all through the night.

The food on board was typical Thai food, cooked to perfection.  We ate well for every meal and snack in between dives.  There were three bathrooms with showers on board, sufficient for the size of the group.  Our room was very tiny, with two sets of bunk beds.  I can’t imagine four people sharing the room, we found it squishy for just the two of us.  But the beds were comfortable, the linensclean and cozy.

On the second day, we dove at Beacon Reef  (Island #8), Christmas Point (Island #9) and Breakfast Bend (Island #8).  Chris considered Christmas Point to be one of his most favourite dive sites of all time.  The site was comprised of huge rocks covered in colorful coral.  Large schools of fish were everywhere.  Sunlight filtered through the water casting beautiful light on the rocks.  It was a very unusual site and simply stunning in its natural beauty.

All too quickly our tour was over and we were whisked back to shore by speed boat.  This was the first time I really enjoyed diving and  I think it was because I was feeling so well.  What a difference it makes when you aren’t throwing up, or dealing with a throbbing headache.

Scorpion Fish – well camouflaged amidst the rocks!

Lots of clown fish (Little Nemo) clean themselves amongst the anemone.

Sunrise at the Similan Islands.

Two days later, we travelled by bus from Khao Lak to Khuraburi where we launched our second diving excursion – 2 days / 1 night at the Surin Islands, with Blue Guru Diving.  This time we would sleep in a bungalow on one of the islands rather than on board.  Little did we know how thankful we would be for that arrangement.  I was in really good spirits for this trip after such an enjoyable and successful diving trip earlier in the week.  Such enthusiasm was short-lived.

Right from the start, things seemed to go wrong on this trip.  From the low tide that delayed us almost an hour when some debris got tangled in the propellor, to the violent seas that wreaked havoc on board.  There were several near misses when the hot water container came crashing down just inches from one of the dive master’s head, Chris was thrown from his seat on a large cooler as both Chris and the cooler were pitched across the deck when one wave hit particularly hard.  During our first briefing, I was literally knocked to the ground when the boat jerked wildly in the pitching sea.  I was okay all the way out to the dive site, keeping my eyes focused on the distant horizon, and almost willing my stomach into submission.  But everything changed when we stopped at Richelieu Rocks, our first dive site.

As we got kitted up at the back of the boat, it was hard to maintain your balance, the seas were so rough and turbulent.  We were all stumbling around trying to get our gear on.  All of a sudden I broke out in a sweat, overcome with a powerful wave of nausea.  I knew as soon as we got underwater, it would be better, I just had to keep it together for a little while longer.  But it was taking everyone a while to get themselves organized – it was the first dive of the day, with unfamiliar equipment, and under strenuous conditions.  To make matters worse, we had to swim to a buoy where we would descend following a line because the current was strong at this site.  I must admit I was a little fearful about jumping into such large waves – I’ve never seen such waves before – and then having to swim against surge and waves and current.  But there was no turning back, in I jumped, and just focused on getting myself to the buoy which was actually a lot easier than expected.  But once at the buoy, we again had to wait for everyone to get there before descending. My stomach was turning violently as the waves crashed over me and tossed me around mercilessly,  I hung onto that rope like my life depended on it.

Finally we descended and I felt almost immediate relief as the waters calmed down around me.  But my stomach didn’t settle and within minutes I started to vomit into my regulator, and vomit, and vomit.  We had just started the dive and I didn’t want to ruin it for everybody by ending it prematurely, so I just coped the best I could, clearing my reg every now and then.  To add to my discomfort, we faced very strong current to the point that we were pinned against the rock, unable to go around at either end because of the fierce current.  So we simply went back and forth at different depths exploring the one side of the rock.  At one time, I’m sure this experience would have totally freaked me out….I was amazed at how calm I was and how I handled all these obstacles during that dive.   I was relieved when the dive was over, but reluctant to ascend to the stormy waters above.

Sure enough, as soon as I got on board, I continued to vomit. To my surprise, Chris was vomiting when he got on board too.  What a pair we were, lying on the benches, with a garbage bin between us.  No one else was suffering like us, but the dive masters acknowledged these were the worst seas of the season.  We were rendered immobile for a few hours and had to forfeit the next dive which was also at Richelieu Rocks.  Turns out that dive had no current and was the best dive of the day.  Figures.  By the end of the day, we headed to Pad Haad just off the coast of the Surin Islands for our last dive.   By then, the seas had calmed down and we were feeling well enough to dive again.  We enjoyed a very relaxing dive with very little current along a beautiful coral reef.

Chris and I were so glad we were staying on shore that night in a very comfortable wooden bungalow with private bath, but no hot water.  Food was served in a large dining area.  We were starving at this point as we had both missed lunch and hadn’t eaten since breakfast many hours earlier.  The food was adequate, but nothing really great.  It was an early night for us as we were both exhausted.

We opted to pay a little more to stay in a bungalow, rather than a tent.  A wise decision!

The next day gave us grey skies but calm seas, such a difference from the day before.  After one dive off the coast of the Surin Island, we went back to Richelieu Rocks where we enjoyed two beautiful dives in calm waters with very little current.  We couldn’t believe this was the same site where we had been incapacitated just 24 hours earlier.  Aside from the the few hours of severe seasickness, we ended up having a great time doing the rest of our dives.  Richelieu Rock is truly a spectacular dive site with the most beautiful soft purple coral imaginable.

When I think back to the difficulties I faced getting my open water certification before the start of our trip – the two rounds of  swimming lessons I took in advance to help me overcome my fear of and anxiety in the water, the failure on my first attempt at the course, the difficulties I had mastering some of the basic skills – I find it hard to believe that I have completed 33 dives at some of the most amazing dive sites in the world.   Even after I was certified, it took a lot of persistence and determination to conquer my fears, to control my anxiety and to cope with the physical discomforts that plagued me in the sea.  I feel particularly proud of this accomplishment and while I know I will never be more than a recreational diver, I am confident that there are many more dives ahead of me in the years to come.

Note:  We did not have an underwater camera during these diving excursions.  The underwater photos in this post were generously provided by fellow divers.  Thanks!

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Massages, custom-tailored suits, night markets, elephant camps, temple sightseeing and Thai cooking classes sums up the itinerary of most visitors when they come to Chiang Mai, and I must admit that we were no exception.  One Thai massage was more than enough for both of us; it took days for us to recover from the after effects of being pummelled and kneaded and bent in ways our bodies had never experienced before.  Chris splurged on a couple of tailored suits and custom shirts while I decided to forego the experience for myself.

At the regular night market, open every evening of the week, you can find everything imaginable, including lots of delicious street food.  As you know, we’re not doing much shopping on this trip, but I must admit I have been collecting badges of flags of the countries we have visited and have sewn these onto our large packs.  It makes for a great conversation starter and makes our bags easily recognizable which is a good thing from a security perspective.  I was thrilled to find a lady selling flags from most countries and stocked up on all the countries we were missing.

Our favourite night market has been the Sunday night market, which attracts both locals and tourists.  You need to get there early because by 9:00, you can barely move along the street that has been closed to traffic so that vendors can fill the sidewalks with their wares.  The best part of this market is the street food.  Contrary to our usual cautious approach to food, we made a point of trying different foods each week, and we’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve sampled.  Prices are ridiculously cheap, ranging from 60 cents for a snack to a buck or two for a full meal.

Speaking of food, after spending almost a month eating Thai cuisine, we thought we should learn how to cook it ourselves and so we spent a day at a farm about a half hour outside of the city, cooking up an array of dishes in the company of 10 other tourists and under the careful direction of Huey, our talented and patient instructor.  We each prepared five dishes: a main dish, an appetizer, a curry, a soup and a dessert.

Of course, we ate everything we cooked.  The class was very hands on, and was a great way to learn about Thai seasonings, cooking techniques and other unique ingredients that we had never seen before.  My favourite dish was a chicken panang curry, which quite frankly, was the best panang curry I have ever eaten.  The other dishes were made with varied success, some better than others.

Chris and I look forward to practising our new culinary skills on our friends and family when we return to Canada in the springtime.  But for now, we’ve got more exploring to do.  Today marks the end of our sojourn in Chiang Mai; we’re heading south tonight by overnight bus to Bangkok where we’ll catch a flight, bus and ferry to Koh Lanta, an island off the west coast of Thailand.  We plan to island hop over the next few weeks, making our way back to Bangkok by the end of the month.

With our return date to Canada looming in the not so distant future, we’re planning to get a few more countries in under our belt.  Coming up, we plan to visit Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos and if we can squeeze it in, Myanmar (Burma).  I may even get to India if I’m lucky.  So don’t give up on us now, we’ve got more adventures ahead to share with you.

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I don’t know where we went wrong, but we have been banned for life from using Adsense ads!  As you know, last month we initiated an experiment with advertising on this site to see if it was possible to earn income from a travel blog.  We incorporated Adsense ads as well as Affiliate ads into our site.

The application and approval process used by Adsense is particularly rigorous.  I guess they need to make sure the sites that host the ads of their paying advertisers will comply with their equally stringent rules and policies.  After getting approved, it then took some effort to incorporate the ads into our site, although, admittedly, this was quite easily achieved through the use of a very user-friendly plug-in for WordPress.

We spent the month of December monitoring our Adsense account, watching our earnings grow almost daily.  Daily earnings ranged between a few cents at the low end and a little over a dollar on a good day.  We had no idea how this compared to the average site, although these numbers were much higher than we expected.  By the end of the month, we had earned a whopping $28.82. This got us thinking about the possibilities of setting up multiple sites on niche subjects that we could write about.  It seemed a simple matter of economies of scale, the more sites we hosted, the higher our earnings.  Could we be onto something here?  Or was this too good to be true?  You know what they say…….

Concurrent with our Adsense ads, we set up a few affiliate ads for companies that we have personally done business with and would recommend them to our friends, namely: iPage our website hosting provider, World Nomads our travel insurance provider, and CheapoAir where we get the best prices on airfare.  The pricing model for affiliate ads is quite different from Adsense where you get paid based on users clicking on your ads.  With affiliate ads, you get paid a percentage or flat fee when someone makes a purchase through the link on your site.  Our one month of affiliate ads yielded a big fat zero in earnings.

As we prepared to settle down in Chiang Mai for a while, our creative juices were flowing  as visions of dollar signs danced in our heads.  We spent time researching ideas and playing with the technology.  Our enthusiasm ebbed and flowed as we got excited with each new idea, only to be crushed when we poked holes into it or realized it had already been done before.  While we were doing all of this work – and it really did feel like work, at least from what we remember work feels like – I met Monique, the lady with the non-profit Association who I mentioned in an earlier post, for whom I offered to create a website.  My efforts at finding a money-making venture were put on hold, as this altruistic project consumed far more time than I had planned.

Suddenly, out of the blue, we received an email from Google Adsense, telling us that our ad account was permanently disabled because we were in violation of their policies.  No explanation.  All appeals for an explanation, for more information, for some direction on how to correct our mysterious violations, were flatly refused now that  we were allegedly guilty of invalid click activity.  Not to mention any names, but we strongly suspect some of our readers may have been a little over-zealous in helping our coffee fund.  Obviously, Big Brother is watching!

To add insult to injury, we can’t even get paid our measly $28.82 because they locked us out of our account before we received our PIN number which we needed for security reasons.  They really aren’t kidding when they say we are banned from their program.  In reality, our Adsense earnings for the month was another big fat zero.  Good thing we didn’t quit our day jobs…..wait a minute, we did quit our day jobs….guess that’s why we’re heading home in April.  

Thanks guys.

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Chiang Mai is home to over 300 Buddhist temples designed in a mixture of architectural styles that reflect the varied heritage of Northern Thailand.  Each temple is extravagently decorated with intricate woodcarvings, serpent staircases, gold trim, glass and mirror mosaic, elephants, gilded umbrellas, and buddhas in all shapes, sizes and materials.  Unlike the temples in Bangkok which are rarely more than 200 years old, many of the temples in Chiang Mai date back to the founding of the city itself, over 700 years ago.  

Outside the city, temples flank the hillsides like shiny beacons of light, including one of the most important temples in the area, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.  Located about 20 km west of the city, this pilgrimage temple is also a popular tourist attraction.  According to legend, a Buddha relic magically replicated itself just before it was about to be enshrined in the big chedi at Wat Suan Dok. The “cloned” relic was placed on the back of a sacred white elephant, which was allowed to roam whereever it wanted. The elephant eventually climbed to the top of Suthep Mountain, trumpeted three times, turned around three times, knelt down and died. This was taken as a sign that this was the spot where the relic wanted to be, so King Ku Na built the original of the chedi on Doi Suthep at the end of 14^th century.  

We visited this temple with a couple, Andy and Sue from the UK, who we met at our guest house. They invited us to join them on a day trip up the mountain and we were happy to tag along.  Leading the way on their motorbike, we putt putted behind them on our rented scooter, up the winding road to the top of the mountain where the temple was located.  Once we got the hang of it, navigating the turns turned into a lot of fun and I felt the carefree, exhilaration that motorcycle enthusiasts rave about.  

The temple sat at the top of almost 400 steps which were flanked by two green dragons that extend along the full length of the staircase.  It is said that every Thai must visit this temple at least once in their lifetime which may explain why there were so many locals and monks praying and making offerings.  The temple was beautiful, but I was a little put off by the crowds of tourists which gave the site a Disney-like appearance. 

On the way to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep,  our new friends
Sue and Andy pose with a view of Chiang Mai in the background.

The White Temple was our first stop on our way to Chiang Rai during a day trip in a rented car accompanied by Monique, our friend from our guest house, and Momo, a young man from Taiwan who we met a couple of days earlier in our Thai cooking class.  This temple was perhaps the most unusual temple we have seen thus far.  Parts of it were downright weird, like the sculpted heads hanging from the tree branches. It was beyond me what these represented.

It is a contemporary, unconventional Buddhist temple that is still a work in progress. The architect who began this project in 1996 asserts he doesn’t expect it to be completed until 90 years after his death.  True to its name, all the buildings in the temple complex are white, sparkling with mirrored mosaic tiles that are embedded in intricate patterns covering every square inch of surface.  In contrast, the building housing the toilets was made of gold.  I’m not sure if there was any significance to that.

There were plenty of other temples on the way to Chiang Rai, but it was impossible to stop for each one of them.  Our final destination on that trip was the Golden Triangle, where three countries – Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos – intersect at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak Rivers.  Today this destination is popular amongst tourists, especially those needing to exit the country to renew their Thai visa (known as a “visa run”), but in the past, this area was the centre of one of the largest illicit opium growing regions in the world.

Monique at the entrance to a temple on the way to the Golden Triangle.

Posing with Momo, our young Taiwanese friend who we met
at the cooking class we attended. 

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