Northern Thailand: Pai and Chiang Mai

It's been a week since I last posted and I thought I'd give you a heads up on what has happened in my life recently. It's kind of funny to spend your birthday abroad, with no friends or family around. I've been in Pai for a few days and got to know some nice people to hang out with. Last night was wild so I woke up this morning a year older and properly hungover.

Pai is a very small town up North. I came here completely haphazardly. My plan was to head from Chang Mai to Chang Rai, but I didn't want to wait three hours in the roasting sun for my transportation so I jumped into the first bus I saw and ended up here.Lonely Planet has very little to say about this town other than:

"Oh Hippie Pai, how charming art thou! Pai sprouted up in a cool, moist corner of a mountain-fortressed valley along a rambling river. Farang stumbled through here en route to somewhere else and realised Pai was a mountain paradise of easy living. A steady scene has since settled in with the town's more permanent population of Shan, Thai and Muslim Chinese"

Pai has a great vibe. Upon arrival you immediately feel at home. People are friendly, open and interesting. A lot of them just spend the day sipping watermelon shakes while gazing across the Mae Nam Pai river. Others pop out their Laos guide and plan the next leg of their trip or share tips on good crash pads in Luang Prabang or Vientane.The town itself is a magnet for hippies and those dreadlocks from Khao San Road seem to find proper refuge out here. People in general are just very relaxed and enjoy the benefits of a slower life.

The weather is forgiving, days are warm and sunny, but after sunset it gets pretty cold. Thais start wearing balaclavas to bed, so you might as well mimic their behaviour. My wooden bungalow doesn't provide air conditioning, which would be superfluous anyway. In just one hour, temperature drops from 35 to 14 degrees Celsius. Quite a treat when you are not prepared.

I rented a motorbike with two Canadian girls I travelled with and we explored the area which offers some extraordinary scenery ranging from forest, mountains and canyons. Further up north, you can take a trek and mingle with some interesting hill tribe, the most famous being the Long Neck tribe.In my opinion, the hill tribe treks are such a tourist attraction that it really has no meaning other than that satisfying Kodak moment. I might as well skip it and stay by the swimming pool writing this diary.

Chiang Mai

Before I got here I stayed in Chiang Mai for four days. In general, people are fond of the second biggest city in Thailand. I can only express disappointment about it. It is indeed nice to take a walk down the winding sois of the old city inside the quadrangle of canals and century-old brick walls, to see how the locals live. The more you lose your way, the more liable you are to find the real Chiang Mai. Everyone who lives here, both Thai and foreigner, moans about the traffic being so bad, but they get no sympathy from anyone who's been to Bangkok recently. Ten minutes on a motorbike or twenty by car and you're hitting countryside. Chiang Mai combines the advantage of a good-sized city with plenty of jungle nearby.

When I left Kanchanaburi, I had to head back to Bangkok. Night trains to Chang Mai where hopelessly full for the next days so I splurged on a plane ticket and got there in about one hour. The rule of sum in transportation is that the faster the means, the more expensive it gets. This results in more scum roaming around airports than bus stations.I always adopt a healthy paranoia when I'm on the move, especially when I'm freighting all my belongings. I'm suspicious and usually spare no expense on reaching my destination quickly, in order to secure my stuff.

I walked out of the airport and blew past the usual mob of "rent-a-thug" Tuk Tuk drivers trying to lure you into their cab. Seeing no metered taxis around I felt exposed and thought my best option would be to jump on a public bus. I started checking the map to see where we where driving through and a friendly Englishman offered his help.James gave me loads of useful information on Thailand in general and Chiang Mai in particular. He was the one who told me about Pai, which I'm still grateful for. Having spent the last five years in Thailand, he was fluent in Thai. He also knew a lot about the culture. As I said, I'm suspicious whilst on the move and lied about the place I was staying, the amount of time I had left for travelling. I basically told him I was broke and waiting for friends to come over to lend me some money. This turned out to be a blessing. He invited me for lunch in one of those authentic Northern Thai joints. He introduced me to his Thai friend John, sitting opposite of him. John was supposedly a covert op police agent. He showed me his badge to hammer the point home. Two huge red flags were being waved in my mind. I had reached a point of no return by accepting the invitation though.

One thing about surviving in Asia is understanding the concept of Face. James Clavell has written at length on this topics in his brilliant novels. In a nutshell, you should always preserve the face of the person you are dealing with, never raise your voice to express discontent, or get hot under the collar when you don't feel at ease. On this basis, there was little I could do when I wa invited. Turning it down would result in a humiliation for all of us, with all the nasty consequences related to that. Lunch was delicious. James told me about the exquisite dishes that where served and about his photography work in the devastated Aceh province in Indonesia.

His friend John didn't utter a word. His behaviour was authoritative and nervous. He was onto something. A dozen people started to take position in the restaurant, with him giving directions. I felt he was springing a trap... on me. I don't believe in free lunches.

My mind was made up. I had to leave this without creating any commotion, but he wouldn't let me. He had the word lowlife written all over him. Fortunately he wasn't as crafty at being a mobster like Don Corleone, and the way it all played out I was the one walking away with some great tips and a very nice free lunch. The whole thing gave me an adrenaline rush because I knew it could have landed me at the sharp end of a knife.


Anyway, I'm all relaxed up here, having a wonderfully time. A CD full of pictures is on a plane back to Brussels as I write this. My brother will post a careful selection online soon.
I hope you are all well.

Best regards,

Rem.

Kanchanaburi

Pretty much the last town before the Burmese border, Kanchanaburi boasts untouched jungle packed with wildlife and it hosts the world famous Kwai River bridge.

Mountain biking, hilltribe treks, cookery courses, elephant camps, war casualty-memorializing or just standing around there scratching your balls, this place offers something for even the most discerning journey man or woman, from the Harvard scholar to the lowbrow cretin.

A typical daytrip includes a visit to the Kwai River Bridge, which, even though heroically screened in the famous movie named after it, is actually nothing but a boring piece of architecture with a muddy river running under it. You can add grandeur to it by using both your imagination and some historical facts. I did neither and therefore it quickly became a "been there, done it, check !" deal.

A few kilometers outside the city, operators organize elephant rides, unexciting bamboo raft rides or refreshing dips under the very nice Erawan waterfall. Best is to hire a motorbike for a day, pick up some leaflets in tourist information center and make up your own plan.

My first act of bravery was paying a visit to the Tiger Temple about 50 kilometers west of Kanchanaburi, where tigers roam free and and accept you to cuddle them under the watchfull eye of the temple's abbot, who keeps them calm. The fearsome creatures were born in captivity, rescued by the monks as puppies.Though they appear docile and friendly it's not avised to accidently step on their tails or wear red. A sign at the entrance informs you that the authorities bear no responsability in case of injury or death.

Nightlife here is quite laid back. There are some floating discos and some random karaoke bars on the river, but there is an 11 PM curfew imposed by the locals who wanna get some sleep. Other nightime spots to shoot some pool or to watch Hollywood movies are scattered around the town's main road. If you like to hang out and down lager with a bunch of shaddy blokes till the early hours, there's loads of options. Some of these guys will whisper "smoke, smoke" to you, which is a proper invitation to an extended sightseeing tour into Thailand's justice department.

I chose to stay at the guesthouse with a good bunch of nice people, all from very different walks of life. Randomly assemble a Japanese girl, an Australian couple, a mad Nowegian and a cool dude from Finland in front of their rooms next to the river, and it will surely prove to be a very entertaining evening. Add to the excitement a robbery attempt on an Israelli guest which ended up with a dumb Thai thug jailed. I pitty the guy, he couldn't have known that the dude lying in the room he broke into just happened to finish his three year military service in Israel, but he should have know better than to come in and out of the room three times while Monsieur was still asleep. Very poor judgement on his behalf. Anyway, the police showed up very quickly and took control over the commotion manu militari. Thaught me that you really do not want to mess with the cops in this country.

What fascinates me about Thailand are the people. I've rarely seen so many smiling and helpfull people in a country so large. They are genuinely interested in learning about your home country and are overwhelmed when they can teach you a few words of their native tongue. Truely a great place.

I'm heading to Chang Mai in a couple of days, where I'll link up with Vanessa and Veronique again, who are coming back in from Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

I'll be back on this blog again one of these days. In the meantime, take care.

Regards,

Rem

Bangkok and Koh Samet

My Round-The-World trip has started. I'm currently back in Bangkok to arrange my visas for Laos and Vietnam. I will actually visit Thailand three times in the course of my travels, since Bangkok is such a natural hub for exploring other parts of South East Asia. I will use it as my base to visit Australia, right after Nepal in May. I'll head down South to Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi then to give them some much needed tourist money.

Bangkok is a good place to buy cheap stuff, anything from fake designer goods to dodgy CDs. I bought a digital camera here at half the price from Europe.Upon Arrival in Thailand, I only spent little time in Bangkok, and didn't really bother exploring it as I was struggling with the jet lag. I opted to head straight away to the island of Koh Samet. It isn't the most beautiful island in Thailand but Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan are now so flooded with rerouted travellers that it's hard to find accomodation there.

Vanessa


Vanessa and Veronique, Brussels Belgium (Bangkok, Koh Samet, Chang Mai)

I had a very relaxed week spent on two different beaches of the island. I first met with a very nice couple from Yorkshire, Heidi and Lee, then spent the remainder of the week with Vanessa and Veronique from Brussels. This week of pure laziness was great to put me on the appropriate rythm.

Some would describe Bangkok as a frenetic place, difficult to handle, but the more I wander around town, the more I enjoy it here. Bangkok doesn't get anywhere close to offering a breath of fresh air, and is indeed chaotic at first glance. However, it is orderly, purposeful and predictable. Some of the buildings and monuments here are incredible. The myriads of Buddist icons are a feest for the eyes.

We happened to spend New Year's eve in a temple after our Tuk Tuk driver dropped us a mile away from our destination. We walked past this peacefull temple, took off our shoes and just let ourselves flow with the Buddhist hums.

Bangkok is known as the Venice of the orient, on account of the vast canal network that still serves as a principal means of transport for many residents. Most travellers head for the Khaosan Road. This place is such a traveller's ghetto, it's almost a parody - I'd avoid it if at all possible. Yes the hotels are cheap, but they're not good value. They're shabby and faceless and feel like you've been sentenced to prison. I'd recommend something near the river, which is important, since the river buses are the fastest easiest way to get around town.

Chinatown

Bangkok has a significant Chinese community, and here as in many other large cities, there is a Chinatown, not that I'd have realised it, since Chinese and Thais are still indistinguishable for me. The heart of Chinatown is the Sampeng Lane and the surrounding maze of close-packed alleyways. This is not the place to be if you're in a rush. The crowds of local shoppers are thick, and noisy, and you just get carried along with them. I was the only farang (foreigner) there. The merchandise on offer is very typical of modern asia: chunky flip-flops, T shirts, cosmetic products. It isn't really my scene, but a good foretaste of what it will be like in China.

In most countries I travel to, I always try and learn some of the basics of the language, but I found Thai pretty impossible to master, even the basics. All I can manage after the first week is thank you (Khap kum khrap). I find this irritating. I'd love to be able to tell those pesky tuk tuk drivers "what part of no do you not understand?".

Anyway, some of the locals I've met taught me some of basics, but anytime I use them I get uncomprehensible answers from the locals. I'm not giving up just yet.

Getting Around Bangkok

Bangkok's roads get hopelessly jammed during rush hours, when the best option is to take to the river. The Chao Phraya Express is a river bus that can get you to within walking distance of most of the important landmarks in the city, and it's far cheaper than using taxis. Taxis, however are clean and efficient - if you make sure you get an official one. All official taxis are obliged to use the meter - make sure they use it. I

avoid the tuk tuks, those three wheeled motorcycles that shoot around town at high speed. They're dangerous, and they usually try to rip you off. If you do use one make sure they take you where you want to go, and not to their uncle's designer clothes emporium.

Temples

There are thousands of buddhist temples in Bangkok, otherwise known as Wats. They are generally beautifully painted. Some of the most magnificent Wats in Thailand can be found right in the centre of Bangkok. On first impressions, it's a bit like a religious Disneyland, brightly coloured spires, lots of tourists. Wat Pho has the largest reclining Buddha statue in the world, 15m high and 46m long.

Traditional Thai massage

For a few Euros, you get a damned good massage in just about every part of the country. Thai Massages, painful at times, are quite relaxing afterwards. They crack all your fingers and toes and have a good go at breaking your back, push their fingers in your ear, stand on you, wrench your neck, elbow you in the back and tickle your legs. They call it traditional Thai massage, to distinguish it from modern Thai massage, where you pay a lot more money for girls to do a more localised massage - on your genitals.

Khaosan Road

The Khaosan road is a sad parody of what a traveller hang-out would be like, It's often called "the Human zoo" by Thai locals. The streets are lined with pirate tape stalls, tattoo parlours, loud bars, body piercing studios, and students in their gap year getting pierced, tattooed and dreadlocks.

I'm not sure I'd want to risk body piercing in Bangkok, AIDS capital of the continent. Most of the bars screen pirate versions of current Hollywood blockbusters. You can take your pick from blackboards chalked up outside. Consequently, most bars are full of Redneck Westerners sucking back cold Heineken. Thai hookers move in discretely later on in the evening. You can tell them by the fact that they're usually with some completely geeky western guy. We watched two such such sad pricks from Sweden on Koh Samet and it made us sick to watch the girls fawning over them as they cracked bad jokes.

I should get my visas in a couple of days and will head Northward to the cities of Chiang Mai and Chang Rai, taking a few long stops along the way. In the meantime I have a lot to enjoy in Bangkok.
I'll post back here soon, and will start posting pictures somewhere on the web when I get a chance.

Cheers

Rem