Chiang Mai, Thailand

Wednesday, April 30, 08
Waiting for the rain to stop, it doesn't, I hurry to my lodging where I pick up my backpacks, find a tuk tuk and arrive at the train station - 6:59 PM.
7:42 - Train pulls from the station. I am berthed with a family of 5 from Holland - 3 boys ages 17, 15 and 11). The berths are seats turned into sleeping compartments. I have a top berth, somewhat narrower than the bottom. Security is tight. Each coach has a monitor and helper. Lurch, jerk, bump, bump, toot, lurch, lurch, on we go. At first, I'm not sure I'll sleep. But, the rhythm is magical and soon it's 5:45 AM - wake up call. Beds are returned to seating compartments and breakfast is served. I sit with 2 Canadian young men from Halifax and Newfoundland, here for a 1 month Thailand extravaganza. This is their 3rd day and they are still jet lagged. Arriving in Chiang Mai railway station, I take a tuk tuk to a guest house which the Lonely Planet book series has indicated is a good one. Rain has greeted me upon arrival at the train station and continues to follow me as I drop my bags under a covered eating area. Waiting for the desk to open, I notice 11 others flopped about. Now, 5 more have arrived. Time to leave! A German couple and I intersect and walk together for 10 blocks. They continue on to SK House while I back track finding Montra House - D3 for 200 B/night. A shower, cup of coffee and then, across the street is the Dutch family I rode with overnight. I cross, we chat and I leave for some food. Visiting two pharmacies I get the drugs I'm taking, Cardura and Synthroid and am informed that Doxycycline, malaria prophylaxis, is all Thailand offers. I was looking for Malerone. Everyone has heard about the cheap drugs overseas? Here's where such talk begins. In addition, no scripts are needed. I buy a good supply. The problems I've been having with my Synthroid replacement since Ukarumpa, the drug had to be kept cold, is no more. No need for ice packs and looking for frigs. Still needing to take the Doxycycline for malaria prevention, I will switch taking it to the evening on a full stomach.
When caught in a downpour, mercy is shown to all - motorbikes stop as riders hurry for cover and pedestrians, me included, duck under overhangs or wait it out in shops. It's short-lived. Most are over in 15 minutes or less, until the next one.
Walking the city moat and walls, I buy some tangerines and head home, happening again on the Dutch family who has booked their tour for tomorrow and the next.
No tours for me. Rather, I will take a taxi, or tuk tuk to what I want to see.

Ayutthaya, Thailand

Tuesday, April 29, 08
Last evening, for dinner, I took a seat in a curbside cafe. A large screen TV is blaring British soccer. On the screen are 5 geckos chasing each other around. Plop, onto my table, from somewhere above, their small cousin falls across my menu and scampers off.
Awaking, this morning, I have made up my mind. Instead of staying here for another night, I will take the night train to Chiang Mai. A tuk tuk ride and I'm at the train station. I ask for directions and buy an overnight ticket. Departure is 7:21 PM. Arrival is 7:15 AM - Car 4, Seat 33.
Most often, I have no breakfast. But today, I am sitting at Tony's Place and am enjoying a continental breakfast. It's a large guest house and outdoor restaurant which caters to Westerners - inflated prices. Breakfast is coffee, banana, pineapple, melon, and 2 slices of toast with jam for 80 B ($2.50). I know, I know, it isn't much money. But, for Thailand, it's inflated.
Packed, bags left in the lobby where I'm staying, Baan Lotus, I walk to the one section of ruins I have saved for today- Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Walking to the complex, built in the 1300s, I marvel at the craftsmanship which allows it to stand, as much as it does, after being sacked and burned by the Burmese in 1767. The Ayutthaya Island was home to 400 temples, plus royal residences. The island city is surrounded by three rivers and connecting canals. Wat Si Sanphet was used for important royal ceremonies and once housed a towering 16 meter high standing Buddha covered with 550 lb. of gold, which was melted down and taken by the Burmese conquerors.
Sitting on a raised floor of brick, shaded by a bodhi tree, roots disappearing into the floor, I'm trying to cool off. The three bell-shaped chedi (stupas), in my view, epitomise the quintessential Ayutthaya architectural style. I've been here a good while people watching and listening to the birds. A breeze picks up as clouds hover overhead - heavenly.
I choose a tuk tuk to return me during the afternoon heat. I argue the driver to 40 B from 100. He drops me off half way. I should have paid him half, but don't. When ordering a drink, I get what they have rather than for what I ask. This is all part of the system.
Calling John, the Brit I travelled with in Malaysia, we agree to meet over the weekend in Bangkok and plan our Cambodia time.
Potpourri:
-I hear a sharp and continual whistle blowing and look to see a parking attendant halting traffic for his patron who is backing into traffic. Give a man a whistle...
-My malaria prophylaxis, Doxycycline, is causing a burning stomach, even with eating. Drugs are so cheap, I may switch to a different choice in Chiang Mai.
-Also in Chiang Mai, laundry service will be a must.
-Since landing in Thailand I have a new name - Larry The Illiterate. In Malaysia, PNG, Indonesia, Australia, the alphabet was Roman. Always, I was able to read the sign: Street, city... Not so here! I am uncomfortably illiterate.
-Unlike in the States, there are no rules about walking among the ruins. I am allowed anywhere and everywhere. Also, noticeably, no graffiti.
-Thailand is remarkable in that it has never been colonized. And yet, the infrastructure is solid and maintained. No colonizing nation left it to them. They have built it themselves.
Ayutthaya pics: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/musungi/AyutthayaThailand

Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya, Thailand

Monday, April 28, 08
I am sitting on a bus which is going nowhere - not yet. Arriving at the bus station, terminal would be too grand a word for this place, however it is functional, I ask for the bus to Ayutthaya - Platform 4. There it is. I hurry, signal and get a seat as it is moving out of the station. Four blocks later we pull over to the curb, next to a 7/11, these stores are everywhere in Thailand, and the driver gets out. Payment is on the bus. No ticket required or given. A transfer will happen in Suphanburi. That is, if I'm on the right bus. Otherwise, I'll figure it out then! Oh, the driver crawls into the bus, from his special door, and with a 20 minute wait behind us, we leave. An oscillating fan on the ceiling keeps us cooler. It appears I'm on the right bus. The bus monitor took my money.
Suphan Buri, as here it's spelled, 10:20, change buses. After a toilet break, off to bus 703, platform 11, and wait 5 minutes for the driver. I should be in Ayutthaya and have found lodging by 1:00. SE Asian bus drivers are as good as a Disneyland E ride (for those of you who remember such things).
Ayuthaya was the Siamese capital from 1350-1767. Here stand the ruins of the center of an empire. I spend the afternoon walking two extensive ruins: Wat Ratburana and the heart of the old sacred city, Wat Phra Mahathat. Wat Mahathat was a Royal monastery and has been the seat of the Sangaraja, the head of the Buddhist monks of the Kamavasi sect since the building of the temples, 1374 AD. There, wrapped in the roots of a bodhi tree, is the head of a sandstone Buddha. The intertwining of a sacred image with nature is extremely auspicious in Thai Buddhism.
Comment: For all the talk I've heard of Thai women, I haven't been solicited Only along Chulia Street in Georgetown, Malaysia was I encouraged. I'm feeling a bit slighted.
It's presently raining. The cooler night is welcomed.

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Sunday, April 27, 08
Taking an early stroll to the Kwae Bridge, before the torrent of tourists arrives, I walk the bridge, stopping on the turnout as the train lumbers past. Returning to the East side, I buy breakfast, some papaya and an iced coffee. This is the warmest day I've had in Thailand.
I return to the guest house for a cool down and catch a taxi to Wat Tham Khao Poon, a limestone cave temple several km from town. I pay him 200 Baht ($6), probably overpaid, to take, wait 1 hour, and return me.
This is a quiet cave temple filled with shrines of the Buddha, Hindu deities, and Thai kings. The cave complex was used by the Japanese, during WWII, to store weapons and equipment, and some smaller chambers are said to have been used to imprison and torture POWs. Bats fly around as I duck and twist through the narrow walkways which connect chambers. I really hope the electricity stays on. Back outside, I sit and write and am driven off by mosquitoes. Retreating to the sunshine, I walk among the complexes housing young Buddhist monks. On to view the river from a vista, we return back to Kanchanaburi through Chung Kai, where I pay my respects at another war cemetery. POW camps dotted the entire railway as 2 "crews" worked from both Burma and Siam. The railway, 415 km, through rugged terrain, was intended to secure a reliable supply route for the Japanese conquest of India. With the Japanese naval defeat at Coral Sea their transports and supply ships were open to continual attack through the Melaka Straits. This made the railway even more important to their design. Pushed beyond their limit, the POWs completed the 1 m-gauge railway in only 16 months. But, the cost was 16,000 Westerner POWs, mostly from Britain and Holland, and 90,000-100,000 conscripted labourers from the Japanese conquests in SE Asia who died in the area. The bridge over the River Kwae was bombed repeated by allied aircraft - mostly ineffectively.
Sitting at a small, curb-side restaurant, I decide I need more food than I've been eating and order a shrimp noodle dish - very tasty. Also, it's time I learn how to use chopsticks, especially since that's what came as utensils. Drink is pineapple juice.
I thought Indonesian and Malaysian food prices were cheap. These prices are even cheaper.
Kanchanaburi pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/musungi/KanchanaburiThailand

Mark and Ian Thomas

Soon after arriving in Kanchanaburi, and locating my lodging, while sitting at an outside counter, drinking my two glasses of iced coffee (check timeline of event with previous post), I notice a happening two tables away. Identified later as Mark and Ian, brothers from UK living in Thailand, Ian is holding Mark's shoulders as Mark's head slumps lower and lower onto the table. Is he chocking, since they are eating? No! Paying quickly, I walk over to offer assistance. Ian is unable to make logical decisions, while the restaurant staff isn't grasping the gravity of what is happening, and takes a lengthy time bringing a wet towel. Bringing Mark's head up, I see that his eyes are fixed. I remember a rapid conversation with myself to keep my head and think. Telling Ian we need medical assistance, hospital, I slap Mark's face, he begins blinking. I must here admit I have no medical training. Ian and Mark live along the coast and have been here for a few days R+R. They have a car. Three of us place Mark in the back seat. Ian drives. A young restaurant worker climbs in beside him to direct us to the hospital, as I sit in the back seat with Mark's head in my lap running the wet towel over his face, head and neck. Hurry, I tell Ian. How far, I ask the young Thai man. Hurry, as Mark twice goes into convulsions. Talking softly to Mark, hoping to keep him conscious, we race on. Why is it that time passes so slowly when you desperately want it to speed along. Hospital, turn left. Here we are! Staff arrives with a wheelchair as Mark regains some of his faculties. With directions of where to find the medication Mark is taking, HP medication, Ian retrieves the pills and the nurse on staff is grateful. Mark is talking to the nurse. Ian offers to take the Thai and me back to the coffee shop. As we part, he shakes my hand and says thank you. That is part of being human, I respond. We part. Homeward bound, to wash my face, I notice the laughter from a cafe and am struck with the fact that life goes on. Something dramatic just happened and virtually no one is aware of it. So it is, we step into the darkness with strangers and create a bond which is life changing. Two days ago, an angel helped me locate lodging in Bangkok. Today, an angel stepped alongside Mark and Ian Thomas.

Bangkok to Kanchanaburi

Saturday, April 26, 08
7:43 - at platform 13, South Terminal, bus 81, waiting for 7:50,when we will leave for Kanchanaburi. Bus again! Lord, I remember the last time I was on a bus...
Out the window, a little boy has turned his back to his mom, pulled up his shirt and his Mum is giving him a good scratch. He pulls his shirt up higher. He returns satisfied to his seat.
I am wearing a new pair of shorts which I purchased last evening. I have been down to one pair of pants since my motorbike accident 3 weeks ago. This pair is cotton, below the knee, which is very popular around here. In Thailand, I really need to learn how to bargain. I do ok with taxis, but clothing is different. Also, I purchased a new umbrella and a used Lonely Planet guide book for Thailand from a street vendor.
My clothes are smelling clean, or cleaner than they were, anyway.
A woman take the seat next to me, I'm in the very front, right side behind the driver, and offers me a candy. It turns out to have the flavor of a very strong cough drop.
Off and on the bus seems to be at given points. Yet, flagging down the bus, or getting off where you want, is acceptable. This seems to be true for all of SE Asia.
10:50 - We have entered Kanchanaburi bus station where I have left the station on a saamlaw, a pedal tri-cycle driven up up front with a bench seat behind. Destination is Sam's House (Guesthouse). What a gorgeous spot - bungalows on Mae Nam Khwae Yai, or River Kwai, as Westerners will remember it from history and the movies. Bungalow 7 is costing me $20/night. I'm treating myself. What do I get for $20? - AC, top sheet and blanket, TP, private bathroom with a tub. A tub, haven't seen one of those in a guesthouse since I started, 2 towels, no soap. Great fun! I pay for 2 nights and may stay a third.
Here's something I've seen all through SE Asia - buy a coffee or tea to go and it's handed to you in a plastic bag with a straw.
Kanchanaburi feels more like what I'm used to - what I'm comfortable with. Being a history buff, this suits my fancy. My imagination runs wild in such a historic spot. With only three bananas for breakfast, I sit at a street cafe and down 2 glasses of iced coffee. If I weren't awake before, I certainly am now.
I walk to the War Cemetery, which occupies a space adjacent to where the Japanese POW camp was located. Why does a war cemetery evoke such strong feelings? A name carved in marble - immortalized. I know nothing of this man except what is written - name, rank, death, age. Yet, he now is a part of my memory, my living.
From there, I spend time walking through the Museum dedicated to the Death Railway which connected Burma and Siam. There is only so much suffering that one can take. I leave early.

Bangkok

Friday, April 25, 08
I've seen far more Westerners than Thais. And not backpackers. Not the caliber of tourist I'm accustomed to. I don't know how to describe the difference. Except, there seem to be a lot of visitors who are not here to learn but to take. My lodging has more the feeling of a frat house. But, I am judging all of Bangkok by Khao San Rd area. I must admit, this is the first place which I instinctively didn't like upon arrival. There have been other places which are confusing for a while, but this is my first such experience. Yet, it isn't the Thai people. It's the Westerners.
Today, I have first concentrated on getting my India visa. This is going to change my plans. India requires 7 working days to obtain a visa. That will take me to May 5. I had planned on being in Ankor Wat before the 5th. Yet, "We don't get what we want, but what we need." Originally, planning on an early disappearance from Thailand, I will spend time here which I had planned on spending in Laos and Cambodia. Rethinking my stay, I have decided to leave tomorrow for Kanchanaburi, to the West. If I have some time, I may even take a night train, sleeper, to Chiang Mai. Laos will need to wait for another time.
This morning, walking around, I duck under a bus canopy against the rain, and am approached by a young man. He works for the Ministry of Tourism and offers to get me a Tuk Tuk (motorized tri-wheel, bench seat behind a driver). The driver agrees to take me around till 1:00, 4 hours, for 40 baht ($1.40). Here is part of the system; the drivers get coupons if they take tourists to designated spots. I'm taken to two jewelry stores, two clothing shops, two travel agents, to the Standing Buddha and Sitting Buddha, and last to the Grand Palace. I've lied so many times to get out of those shops, I certainly will need forgiveness from some Deity. The afternoon is spent at the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha. I've never seen so much gold. These two last spots have made the day and its the Thai people who have redeemed Bangkok for me. Back on Khao San Rd, I have some lunch from a woman cooking in a small stall and two orange juices.
This evening, I will need to purchase a new umbrella. During this morning's rain, I opened mine, purchased in Sentani, Papua, and found it was broken in many places. This will be my third umbrella.
A conversation on wall plugs: Thailand has the same hookups as the States. In Malaysia, with their large three pronged power points, I found a system of holding down the top point with something wooden, rather, anything not metal, which releases the bottom two points to receive my two point circular plug I used in Indonesia and other places. If that is confusing, try to figure it out in the first place without getting electrocuted.
Health: This morning was my 3rd day on malaria prophylaxis - getting ready for Cambodia and India.
Comment: I haven't found Thailand to be as hot as Malaysia. Not yet!
Oh, got my clothes machine washed. That's the first good washing in 3 weeks.
Langkawi and Bangkok pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/musungi/Bangkok