Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

Welcome to my travel log for my upcoming 17-day trip to Thailand. I will use this space to share my adventures in both words and photos.

I have never been to SE Asia. I will be spending most or all of my trip in Thailand visiting my cousin Mike. I’ll have an opportunity to see many areas of the country including Bangkok, Chang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Koh Samui.

I’m travelling on Cathay Pacific (thanks Marc for the bday present) out of NYC-Kennedy through Hong Kong. I’ll fly Air Asia to Chang Mai in the north (I took advantage of their free airfare giveaway to encourage tourism after the civil unrest a couple months ago). Travel plans to Koh Samui and any other side trips will be made when I’m there.

I’ll be experiencing a lot over the 17 days: tourism and photography, jungle adventures including a tree canopy zip line tour, beach and scuba, boating on my cousin’s yacht, elephant rides, thai cuisine, and even one of my life-list items — holding a monkey .

I had to be immunized against Hepatitis-A. If I decide to make a side trip to the Temple Complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia I may have to deal with a malaria risk. We’ll see about that one — not sure how many temples I want to tour while I’m there and there are plenty of them in Thailand.

Check back here during the first half of February. I’ll be reporting in with stories and photos when possible. I’ve already made some connections with photographers living in Thailand and hope to join them to get some great shots.

A lot to do work-wise before I leave, but I’m starting to slowly make lists for packing.

Here’s a link to the Zip Line Tour I’m going to take in the jungle in Chang Mai.

http://www.treetopasia.com/

If I didn’t have so much work to do all I’d be thinking about is this trip. I’ve started packing, but very slowly.

The first 3 days of my trip, according to the long range forecast, wil be 93F and sunny with zero chance of rain. Nighttime lows around 70F. that doesn’t suck!

I still have to figure out the power situation — do I need convertors, transformers, ??? Not sure. I had my Blackberry turned on for a one-month International plan. While I’ll have phone access for an emergency, it’s $2/minute. But email and web on the phone is unlimited and texts are very inexpensive, so I’ll be able to communicate that way.

My brother told me that Ray Johns, the US Airforce General who flies my cousin’s entry every year in the Top Gun R/C Airplane Competition, will be in Bangkok for the last few days of my visit. I’m psyched, it will be good to see Ray again.

I’ll try to post once more as I’m leaving, then as possible from Thailand. Hope to hear from you in the comments! Andy

Well at least the start of my trip is going to be weather-perfect!

This will be my last pre-trip entry. This afternoon I leave for NYC, and after spending a night having dinner with my Aunt and stopping in to see my nieces and nephew, I leave Tuesday morning for Thailand! Wow!!

It mostly hasn’t sunk in yet — I’ve been on an incredible deadline and just finished my work at 2AM (how was the Super Bowl? I missed it). I have one more small piece of work to do now, then I’ll have a few hours to pack.

Kevin Pickhardt lent me his noise cancelling headphones for the plane trip. I’ve never used them but he swears by them on his trips to New Zealand.

For those who are inclined to visit this blog while I’m away, I’ll do my best to post messages and especially photos when I have access. I’ll have email access some of the time too, and text messaging when I’m in range of a signal.

So that’s it! I hope everyone I know has a wonderful few weeks. See you all soon. Andy

Wow, what a trip. I don’t want to bore people with stories about flying, but i’m going to put some of it here anyway so I’ll have a reminder. By the way, I’m 12 hours ahead of EST. It’s midnight here, so it’s about noon there earlier the same day.

I had dinner in NYC last night with my Aunt Aliza to start the celebration of her birthday which is next week. After, I found myself seeking out another major bug in the software that needed to launch before I left. At about 11:30PM I had a breakthrough, and finally buttoned things up by 2AM.

6AM got up and soon left for the airport. My flight was at 9:15. Cathay Pacific shares a Security checkpoint with a number of other international carriers including British Airways, and the lines were enormous. When I got to the Cathay Pacific counter to check in, a worker asked if I was alone, and then took me around a corner to the First Class checkin (even though I was economy). That meant no line to check in, and no line for security! A nice way to start the trip. When I got to the gate there were hundreds of poeple standing in a line to board. Ugh. But I asked the gate attendant if I had to stand in line, and he said no, those were all Chinese Citizens and I could just walk on. Wow!

Our flight was about to leave on time, but had to go back to the terminal before takeoff for a mechanical problem. After repair and deicing, we took off 2 hours late, which didn’t bode well for my 1-1/2 hour layover in Hong Kong. I wondered what I’d do if I missed my connection, since I wasn’t sure if my cell would work in Hong Kong, and I didn’t have my cousin’s contact info anyway! I decided “so what” and just enjoyed the ride, knowing I’d deal with whatever happened. The Boeing 777 was jam packed, with 385 people. 9 Seats across with 2 aisles. I have to say that this is hands down the best service I’ve ever experienced on any flight. Every detail was taken care of. They had slippers and a toothbrush waiting on our seat, the meals were awesome, the wine was free and the entertainment system contained 100 movies (I watched X-Files 2 and also some CIA movie with Leo DiCaprio) and tons of video games (hours of BeJeweled). I slept about 6 hours on the plane as well. I definitely had a language problem. The plane was full of Hong Kong natives returning after the New Year, and none of the people around me spoke English. Whenever I said anything, they just laughed in that way that people do when they can’t understand you. At least I felt as if I was very funny for 16 hours!

We made up time in the air and I made my connection by 10 minutes (my luggage made it too!). The trip from Hong Kong to Bangkok was about 2 hours, and I watched Family Guy and slept. I have to say that the Bose Noice Cancelling Headphones that Kevin lent me are a miracle. The engine noise disappears! It didn’t work too well on crying babies though. I think I’ll wear them to Thirsty’s some night, there’s a lot of background clutter there I’d love to cancel out

My cousin Mike met me when I was standing in the Customs line, and took me with his driver and security detail to a different line that nobody was in. Nice. We drove for about 30 minutes to his apartment where I had 30 minutes to clean up — we were going out to dinner with a bunch of his friends. I met two of his dogs at his apartment: Lucky — a 4 year old (can’t remember the breed — but a very well trained guard dog) and Elvis, a 7-week old Malanois — so cute! He’s in a toothy stage! I got dressed in the only pair of slacks I brought with me and met Mike and Lek in the kitchen. Elvis promptly grabbed my pant leg, and yanked, tearing a pretty nice hole in the pants! I used a piece of tape from the inside to hold them together and we headed out to the Chinese Restaurant at Bangkok’s most famous hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. Mike and Lek’s friends are terrific company, and we had an 8 (yes 8 ) course chinese meal that had everything: fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, tofu, etc. It was awesome. Of course the ladies asked if I was available, and when I said yes they immediately called one of the women’s cousins, Holly, who is apparently very attractive. We’re all getting together tomorrow night to celebrate one of the group’s birthday. Woohoo!

We got back a while ago, and after handling another bit of programming work i’m writing this message and heading to bed. Nothing important to do in the morning so I can sleep in and let my body restore itself. Mike has his own workout setup upstairs so I’ll check that out. He told me that Friday he’s arranged a private tour of the Royal Palace in the morning, then in the afternoon we’ll go to his river house.

I LOVE the comments everyone, it’s a taste of home. Hope you enjoy my posts.

Andy

Downstairs from Mike and Lek’s apartment he has a workshop where he engages in one of his hobbies — custom model r/c airplane construction. Mike doesn’t put together kits. He designs and builds exact replicas of historic aircraft, and flies them every year at the Top Gun competition in Florida. Last year my brother and I went to the competition where Mike’s A-10 Warthog won the design competition and came in 2nd in the flight competition. This year he’s building an F-111. As you can see in the photo below this aircraft has sweeping wings, which are able to change their orientation depending on flight speed. The sophistication of the aircraft design, from the all-composite construction (no wood at all on this model) to the fully-articulated retractable landing gear is amazing. The plane is still at an early stage of fitness, and while it’s airworthy it will ultimately look exactly like the original plane. I’m hoping that my brother and I will go to Florida in May to watch the competition.

We spent several hours in the workshop while Mike and his master aircraft engineer Sho calibrated the wing movement. The shop is a playground, with laser cutting machine, fiberglass construction areas, etc. The jet engines are fabricated at another of his plants.

This morning was an easy one, recovering from a bit of jet lag. Lek’s masseuse showed up but Lek hadn’t done her run yet, so she had the masseuse work out my kinks for an hour. Then I worked out, had some mango, and did a bit of work. Life doesn’t suck!

Having a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow is the Royal Palace tour, then off to the river house for the weekend.

By the way, I have not gotten my phone to work yet. So if anyone needs to reach me, text and phone will not work. Use my email instead.

F-111 sweepwing in open and closed positions

At one point on my tour we arrived at a large gate where many tourists were peering through. To my happy surprise my guides opened the gate and took me through, and we were on the private grounds of The Grand Palace. There is a serenity here, apart from the many thousands of tourists and visitors, and I felt as though I was suddenly transported to a truly royal seat of power. While the King does not live here any longer, the Royal Guest House is regularly used for State visitors. Across the huge park square I could see Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

The highlight of the tour was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Although photos are not allowed inside, I was able to take a long-zoom photo of the Emerald Buddha from just outside the main entrance. You can see it below. After leaving the Temple, I joined in the Buddhist tradition of dipping a white lotus in holy water and dripping it on my head, which will undoubtedly bring me good fortune and make my wishes come true.

My next post will be later this weekend about the river house. It’s simply one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever stayed.

The Emerald Buddha (really made out of jade)

Some of the 112 Garudas protecting the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

In front of the Royal Guest House

True to our family form, my cousin is a dog lover. However he has gone a different direction than sweet, cuddly golden retrievers. Several years ago Ray Johns, the USAF General, gave Mike a Malinois. The breed had been taking over guard duties around the world from German Shephards and Rottweilers. Mike fell in love with the dog, and decided that he wanted to breed them in Thailand. So Mike built a kennel, Siam Crown, on his river property, hired one of the best trainers in the world, Bert Kikkert, and started breeding. 6 litters later his kennel is home to world champions and prize winning Malinois. More recently he added a second breed, Dutch Shephard (Dutchy). There are only about 900 in the world, and there were none in Asia.

The other day when I showed up at Mike’s apartment, there were two dogs there: Lucky, a 4 year old Dutchy, and Elvis, a Malinois puppy. The pup was cute, and Lucky was like a huge lapdog. Of course after Mike told me exactly what the breed does, I wondered whether he was licking me or tasting me. But in reality I not only had no fear of this dog, I immediately fell in love with him.

Then this afternoon Bert led Lucky and 3 Malinois through training exercises on the grounds. Holy crap! These dogs are incredibly well trained, and more impressively they are good at what they’re trained to do — guard. They guard people and packages. They escort bad guys. They retrieve tossed-away drugs, bullets, whatever. They perform swimming rescues. The training is the type of protection training that I always imagined it would be — a guy wearing a huge protective suit and a scary dog with its teeth wrapped around the guy’s arm or leg. Below are a few photos. Mike said he’d love to send a puppy home for me. I’m not so sure.

Additional note: I just spent Saturday again with the dogs. 4 pups were sold today (it’s a full-fledged breeding kennel). I’m not sure that the people who bought the dogs are completely aware of what they are getting. I have a great deal of respect for these dogs and the training and I am comfortable around the dogs that have been identified as “house friendly.”

Lucky the loveable lap dog.

Lucky at work

Malinois tearing an arm off

Airborne

We spent my first weekend in Thailand at Mike and Lek’s river house. It’s about 40 miles NW of Bangkok and lies on Thailand’s third largest river, Nakhon Chaisri.

The buildings sit on 20 acres. The main house is a work of art both inside and out. The attention to detail is just as I would have expected. The main floor is a greatroom which serves as the living area and dining room, with two-story ceilings everywhere except one corner, where the guest bedroom is situated half a story up. There is a kitchen tucked away around a corner where the cooking staff prepared meal after meal of the best thai food I’ve had.

My bedroom overlooks the outdoor pool. Most of the floors are 150-year-old very wide teak planks from China, with various tiles covering the rest. The entire house is windows, and you’re either looking out over the river or at the pool and yard.

The yard is beautifully landscaped, and currently serves as the main training area for the dogs. There is an air conditioned kennel about 200 yards from the house. Just beyond that is Mike’s aviary where there are about 17 rare and exotic birds, all in pairs and all talking. The aviary surrounds the gymnasium, where Mike also keeps his ham radio equipment and bikes. Just past the gymnasium is Mike’s observatory, an elevated dome above a warm room. The dome houses a 20″ RC scope. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to use the scope, as the sky is muddy from humidity this time of year. There is also a TMB 180mm refractor on a portable pier. Maybe next time!

Lek’s father lives in the original house on the property, across the service road. And her brother has a home which is currently being renovated. If you drive around the gym, you will wrap around to the backside of the kennels where two large fields are being prepared to take over the training. Alongside the fields, heading toward the river, is a long straight concrete driveway that doubles as an air strip for Mike’s r/c planes.

At the end of the runway there is construction going on, expected to be completed in 3 months. One building will be a 3-bedroom guest home, complete with common family room. Each bedroom has a large picture window overlooking the river. Next to this building is the new community center, where large parties will be held. It has its own kitchen and will have a wrap around deck. It’s L-shaped, and the L will be Lek’s spa, with massage, steam and other amenities. The new construction is separated from the main house by a narrow channel canal, but a small bridge will be in place soon so it won’t be necessary to drive all the way around the kennel to get to the new buildings.

Mike and Lek’s hospitality is no different here than in Bangkok — superb. They don’t dote on me, and allow me my own schedule.

Every meal is a wide range of thai dishes. The thai food here is nothing like at home — it’s very fresh and very spicy. There are always pork, shrimp, chicken and beef dishes, with soups and other side dishes. Last night I had squid, prawn (a little strange served with eyes still on board), beef, pork, soup — I’m not going hungry here! It’s good there’s a gym or I’d have trouble fitting in my jeans.

The main house with guest house to the right

The waterfront side of the house from the boat. The structure to the right is a patio/pavilion

The first two things you notice about the Chaisri River are 1) it is filled with floating water hyacinth, and 2) the direction of the current changes through the day coinciding with the tides. The river cuts through the the area of Thailand that was historically the center of Buddhism. As we traveled by motorboat, we saw many of the 100+ Temples lining both sides of the river, as well as many boats filled with Thai tourists there to connect with their Buddhist roots. Motor boats must slow to no wake as they pass temples, so our two hour trip was a constant shift from high to low speeds. Each morning I noticed boatloads of monks dressed in orange robes boating along the river seeking food donations from those who live along the shore.

There were areas where navigating through the thick patches of water hyacinth required puzzle-solving capability. Most of the homes along the river are not just modest, but often in terrible disrepair. These homes are passed down through generations of poor Thai families, who hold on to the properties rather than sell to wealthier locals and foreigners seeking prime waterfront property. Many of these families sustain themselves by cutting various fruits and vegetables, and transporting them to the numerous restaurants along the river where they sell their goods to the dining patrons right over the rail as they eat.

We boated about 45 minutes and reached one of the largest water markets in Thailand. The market is an expansive combination of docks and boats, some covered some not, filled with many hundreds of small booths selling every fruit, vegetable and food known to man. Clothing, fabrics and even electronics and games were also for sale. We purchased some interesting fruits and cakes for the ride back. On the way back we pulled up to a coconut-ice cream stand which was in reality two boats anchored in the river.

The two hour boat ride was fascinating, and a nice glimpse into traditional life along a Thai river. I couldn’t help but think that this is the type of place that Rambo spent his later years.

One of the the 100+ Buddhist Temples lining the river

Water hyacinth is thick in the river at points

Lek and Lucky

Modest and decaying homes line the river

Locals harvest fruits and vegetables to sell along the river

The water market goes on for many blocks, selling everything imaginable

The locals sell their harvest over the railings of restaurant-boats

On the way back from the river, we stopped directly at Lek’s niece’s birthday party at the 4th floor rec center of their building. After a long and terrific weekend, there was a risk being in the middle of 20 screaming 11 year olds. Here’s my suggestion if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

1) Mike and Lek gave the girl a malinois puppy from one of the recent litters. I rode home from the river with the pup on my lap and carried it into the party for Lek’s niece. Instant hero to 20 kids.

2) I mentioned to Mike that red wine has given me headaches lately — sulfites. He quickly had a glass of Australian cabernet in my hand — low tannin and low sulfites. No headache.

3) While we were drinking the cabernet, a women showed up behind Mike (at Lek’s direction) and began a shoulder and back massage. Not too long after, a second woman showed up behind me. The next hour was all about red wine and relaxation.

That’s how to survive an 11 year old’s birthday party!

I beat my alarm and woke up at 4:15, already packed for my early morning flight to Chang Mai, almost as far north as you can get in Thailand (near the Burmese and Laotion borders). A short flight later I found myself looking for my ride to the hotel. I’ve made a bad habit this trip of having too little information when I need it, and in this case I had no idea what hotel I was staying at, or who was picking me up.

Over the last few days, I’ve heard Lek on the phone speaking Thai, and every once in a while I heard my name. I’d ask her what it was about and all she’d say was the she was calling some people she knew in Chang Mai.

After about 20 minutes and several phone calls I finally met up with my ride, and saw the the van was property of the Dusit D2 hotel. So while we drove, I looked it up in my travel guide. It was going to be a very nice hotel stay. It seems that Lek’s old friend owns the hotel. Lek arranged for me to have a room. It’s spectacular.

Unfortunately I only had 45 minutes to enjoy it before meeting my guide, Marut, in the lobby (another piece of Lek’s planning — Marut was an old family friend of Lek’s). The plan was for Marut to spend a couple days with me and show me around Chang Mai. But he told me he couldn’t spend today with me due to work responsibilities, and said instead that he was leaving me with the driver, Mr. T. Normally I would instantly think that such a name was a takeoff on the real star, but in this case it seemed in the realm of possibility that the real Mr. T. was a van driver in Chang Mai. To my momentary dismay I discovered that I was spending my day with Mr. Tee, a gentleman who spoke zero English. 5 minutes with him and we were on the same page. I did have to come up with some interesting hand gestures for items such as “I need to go to the bathroom” but ultimately we got past the language barrier.

Marut had planned out my day, so off I went with Mr. Tee to the Maetaman Elephant Camp, about one hour outside Chang Mai. The plan was to take an elephant ride, then an oxen ride, have lunch, watch a show (elephant tricks) and end with a bamboo raft tour down the river. With the exception of the oxen ride, the day was an absolute blast. Elephants are somehow the ugliest and the cutest of animals both at the same time! These are huge animals, but they have no problem negotiating narrow turns with rocks and ruts peppering steep inclines and declines. At one point my elephant driver pulled over, put me on the neck of the beast, and took photos of me. I’m not quite sure how I felt about the elephant show — an elephant kicking a soccer ball just doesn’t seem natural.

Now I’m not an expert on elephants, but I do know that my elephant was the best elephant that ever was. His name was Be Po, but if you went by the comments of everyone we passed along the route, you’d call him Ferrari. He was incredibly fast. At points we were overtaking a dozen other elephants in incredibly narrow paths within minutes.

The raft ride, with two Thai drivers fore and aft, had a hint of Heart of Darkness. The river cuts right through the jungle. There is animal life everywhere creating “expected” sounds.

After the elephant camp we headed back, but stopped at an umbrella factory. The talent of the ladies and men creating umbrellas, scarves, etc. was impressive. I handed one woman my wallet and she painted a dragon on it within 2 minutes. I gave her 3 dollars for the effort and she was really very happy. I hope the design lasts until I get home.

When we returned to the hotel there was time for a quick workout and shower, then I was off to the Chang Mai Cultural Center for dinner and a display of traditional Thai/Chang Mai dance. To my pleasant surprise Marut showed up, and I enjoyed his company for several hours. He’s a very interesting guy. He looks 33, but in fact is half a year older than me. He is married with 3 girls. When I asked if he would still try for a boy, he replied “every night.” He is the Administrator for a technical school for over 500 people. I didn’t take my camera to the dancing, I just wanted to relax and enjoy it.

This very long day has left me exhausted and ready for bed. I have an early morning — Mr. Tee is taking me to the tallest mountain in Thailand for a climb, and afterwards I will meet up with Marut.

Some of the people my speedy elephant passed!!!

Taming the beast!

Lie down. Play dead.

Ronoldo!

Mr. Tee

The horror! The horror!

The art of umbrella making

OK, so I didn’t climb a mountain today, we drove up. But I did do a fair amount of hiking while I was up there.

We got an early start today for the 90 minute drive to Doi Inthanon National Park. Mr. Tee brought along his nephew Tom, as it turned out for two reasons: first, he could speak a little bit of English (that made my day much easier) and second, he is young and was able to hike to all the scenic spots with me.

The drive is highway until you reach the town of Chom Thong and make the turn toward the park. The only thing notable about this small town is its large Wat (temple). Unless this town is Disneyland and they do it every day, we chanced upon a very large parade which seemed to include just about everyone in town. We watched for about 10 minutes, then continued toward the park.

The park is named for Mount Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. The park itself is huge, and it took us about 45 minutes from Chom Thong to make our way to and up the mountain. Hill tribes work on Government projects growing strawberries and flowers, and the land is peppered with white shades to protect the crops. We drove directly to the top of the mountain, saving some other scenic stops for the way out.

There’s not too much to the top of the mountain, and in fact the view from up there is blocked. There is a government radar installation, a gift shop, and a “highest point” marker, along with a structure paying tribute to King Inthanon for whom the mountain is named. After walking around, I came across something that will interest my astronomy friends — there is a small domed observatory containing a 14″ scope, which is the highest telescope in Thailand.

After leaving the summit, we stopped to see the twin Chedis, specially constructed towers paying tribute to the King and Queen. These structures are modern, and amazing in scope. They are religious sites so no photographs can be taken inside. The view from here is amazing, and even though it was somewhat cloudy and humid, we could still see the higher peaks in  neighboring Burma.

From the Chedis, we went to the magnificent Sirithan Falls, did some more hiking and took more photos.

On the way out of the park we bought some of the homegrown strawberries, not as sweet as what I’m used to but a good snack. Mr. Tee and Tom took me back to Chang Mai, where we had a quick lunch, then I met Marut who had arranged for me to have a 2 hour massage. It was of course amazing, and a great way to end the afternoon. I’m meeting Marut for dinner, then we’re hitting the town. Tomorrow I leave for the Flight of the Gibbon zip line tour early, and tomorrow night I head back to Bangkok.

Parade in Chom Thong

I made some friends on Doi Inthanon

Oficially on top of Thailand

The highest telescope in Thailand

Chedi commemorating the Queen

Like all religious structures in Thailand, even the outsides are ornately detailed

The mountains of Burma

The obligatory waterfall shot -- Sirithan Falls

I’ve been looking forward to this day for months! I wasn’t let down at all.

Flight of the Gibbon Tours picked me up at the hotel at 8:15am after I had just finished breakfast trying to get rid of a red wine hangover. We made two more stops, first picking up Annika and her daughter Petra, Swedish but living in Thailand for 3 years while Annika’s husband works for the Swedish Embassy, and next Stacy and Paul from Manchester, England who are on vacation. 50 minutes later after a very bumpy ride (not good for the hangover) we arrived at the facility in the middle of the jungle. Driving through the jungle is quite an experience, narrow and very curvy roads, huts all over the place, and animals crossing the road wherever they want.

Flight of the Gibbon is a very safe operation. The harnesses we used were checked and double checked, helmets were fitted, and we were on our way. There are 18 platforms at varying levels built into the trees, and lines strung between. There were a couple of bridges, and 3 straight down drops to platforms underneath. Safety on the platforms was always the first thought, and there was never a moment that both my main clip and backup clip weren’t connected to something. The highest platform was 120 meters from the jungle floor, and the longest zip line was 100 meters long.

We had 2 guides: Serious Sam and North. One would zip to the next platform to catch us, and the other would stay and send us off. They were also happy to take photos of us mid flight. These are very funny guys, they kept us laughing while never sacrificing safety.

A few of the zips required us to use a bamboo v-shaped brake to slow our approach to the next platform. We were encouraged to fly free form, arms spread. They had me take the final descent straight down head first — that was a trip.

We heard gibbons and a lot of birds, but didn’t see any. The jungle is an incredible environment, and photos cannot do justice to the depth. Under the tree canopy the temperature was very comfortable. It was definitely a good idea to wear jeans and to spray my arms to keep the mosquitos away.

After the zip lines, we had lunch and then were taken for a short hike up a waterfall. Good exercise and very beautiful there.

At the last minute I decided not to take my regular camera, instead taking my digital elph. That turned out to be a good idea, I don’t know that I would have been able to manage with the larger one. The tradeoff is photo quality, but that’s ok.

I’m back at the hotel, and although I had to check out earlier I’m hanging out in the lobby for a few hours until I leave for the airport. Back to Bangkok tonight, then on to the next adventure tomorrow!!

VIDEO — Zip lining at 120 meters!

Racing North -- I have good position

11 year old Petra, a real cutie

Stacy and Paul

I found this photo of Sam on my camera. This is a Seinfeld moment -- it's what happened to George Costanza at the photo store.

This gives you some idea of height, but doesn't do it justice

Front: Sam, Petra, North. Back: Stacy, Paul, Annika, Me

As I’ve alluded to in some of my posts, I’ve run into some barriers due to my inability to speak or understand Thai. I wrongly made an assumption before I came here, one that probably many less-traveled Americans would make: that more people than not speak English as a second language no matter where they are in the world. Well while that might be the case in some Western locations, it’s certainly not true here.

The people who work in tourist locations do speak some serviceable English, such as hotel workers and the guides at Flight of the Gibbon. But that’s where it ends. It’s very likely (or so I’ve experienced) that your personal guide, your driver, anyone selling at a market — you name it, they won’t speak English. While I fortunately don’t suffer from the expectation that if I repeat my English words louder and more slowly it will instantly become clear to someone who can’t understand me, I still struggle to get my message across in other ways. I’ve become pretty good at hand gestures to represent my needs. What I have noticed is that a huge smile and a laugh goes a very long way toward reaching whoever I’m talking with.

The Thais who do speak English obviously do so with quite an accent, and sometimes it can be difficult to understand the words. The easiest way is to remember the context of the discussion, so if I’m stuggling to understand a comment from a Thai in the weapon museum at the Palace, I should probably think of words associated with weaponry and compare them to what I’m hearing. That process has worked pretty well. A funny note — it seems like Thais have an easier time understanding my English than that of some others — I saw a conversation between a Thai waiter and a Scott with a very thick accent and that went absolutely nowhere!

There have been times, especially with Mr. Tee, when I had no idea what he was saying no matter what we tried. Those situations invariably ended with a good laugh, a shrug of the shoulders, and we just moved on.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to learn one Thai word, as it has become my mantra on this trip. Kráp is the Thai word for Yes. I made a decision before I came to Thailand that whatever I came across, whether an activity, a food, or anything, I would always say “yes.” And I have. I’ve eaten everything offered to me, I’ve gone everywhere that has been suggested to me, I’ve had conversations with anyone who has wanted to connect with me, I’ve tried to help anyone who has asked. It’s been a very happy week saying “yes” so much, and I hope it’s a lesson I bring home with me.

This one word, Kráp, has broken through more barriers (language and others) than anything else I could learn to say.

Bert came to town on Friday from the River in advance of our boat trip today. A group went out to La Villa for dinner (Italian), including Dong, Maew, Captain, Holly and Fah. After dinner a bunch of us went out to a couple of clubs. The first was The Monkey Bar at Fallabela. Inside the Monkey bar was western style music while outside in the larger club hundreds of teenagers were listening to live Thai music. After a bottle of champagne, we left for another club, The Met (at the Metropolitan Hotel). The girls and Captain used to come here when it was trendy, but apparently it’s gotten less so. We had some more champagne, and Lek left to head home. The rest of us started dancing and didn’t stop until they closed down at 2AM. I can’t think of a more fun and beautiful group of women to have welcomed Valentines Day with. It was too late to be let in to Mike’s apartment, so I stayed in an extra room in the apartment Bert is using.

It’s Saturday and I’m headed to the gym before our trip to Pattaya. I’ll be offline while there.

Night Out - Dong, Bert, me, Holly, Maew

We just got back from 2 days in Pattaya on Mike’s boat, the Jantana. Pattaya is a waterfront city about a 2 hour drive SE of Bangkok. It’s a very seedy place, a stronghold of the Russian mafia and a good place to look if you need some penicillin. It can be a very dangerous place to be if you’re not careful. We didn’t have to worry about that.

Upon arrival in Pattaya we had a quick lunch outdoors at the Hard Rock on the beach, then drove another 15 minutes to the Marina. The boat is docked at the furthest point from the marina entrance. It is an 88 foot Sun Seeker Manhattan 84 (Sunseeker made 10 84’s, two of which were 88 feet). It’s difficult to describe what an 88 foot boat is like but I’ll try. The boat is maintained by a full time crew of 4 (Captain, 2 mates, cook). There are outdoor seating/eating areas on both the main and upper decks, there is a jacuzzi upstairs, there are several cushioned sun decks. A rigid inflatable can be lowered by built-in crane for use in reaching land from where you are anchored. One jet ski sits on the back of the boat (the entire back portion of the boat hydraulically lowers to launch the ski), a second is towed along. The inside has a master bedroom, 3 guest rooms and 2 crew quarters on the lower floor. The main cabin is divided into two areas: a living room complete w/ satellite tv and a sitting/dining area. There is a secondary bridge here too. But the captain pilots the boat from the primary bridge on the upper deck, next to yet another large sitting/dining area.

We remained docked Saturday and used the jet skis to check out the area. The jet skis are SeaDoo supercharged 255 horsepower monsters. One has a stabilization system built in, but the other one is the fun one. On Saturday I took it easy, as the machines can be dangerous at the speeds they’re capable of. I’ve never jet skied in salt water before, it was a blast.

We were joined by Rom and Prow, Lek’s relatives who live in the same building in Bangkok. It was Prow’s bday party I attended on Friday the 13th, she is a sweet girl and Rom is a very nice person. After dinner on the boat we hung out and fell asleep pretty early. I woke up at 5:30am, and found Mike already awake. The two of us caught a very bright International Space Station pass directly overhead at 5:40am, then waited until Lek and Bert woke up. We had breakfast while waiting for Bert’s family to arrive from Holland. They got to the boat at 10am and we immediately left the marina. We were headed for an island owned by the Thai army, which Mike often uses as a private beach. It was a 35 minute 20-mile boat ride. We anchored in a cove several hundred yards from the beach, and began 6 hours of water play. I was getting the jet ski up to 66 mph on some very quiet water (I’m pretty sore now from getting thrown around). Bert’s family spent a lot of time on the jet skis and in the water. A tent was set up for us on the beach, and the crew drove us back and forth in the inflatable (although I swam it a few times too). I spent about an hour snorkeling around an absolutely gorgeous reef filled with tons of live corals, anemones, various angel fish (and others) and a zillion sea urchins. I would have done this longer but I was worried about my back burning. We did a lot of swimming in the warm blue-green waters. Lucky the dog learned how to jet ski and had a blast playing fetch from the beach into the water. Lunch on the boat was mostly various seafoods including crab, lobster, fish and more.

At 4:30 we packed up and headed back to Bangkok, had dinner, and now I’m looking forward to a long sleep!! Tomorrow I don’t have much planned. I have some work to finish and then I’ll probably look around Bangkok with Bert’s family in the afternoon.

Jetskiing at the marina

Approaching the beach

Lowering the inflatable

The Flying Kikkerts

Bert and his daughter Michela

88' Sun Seeker Manhatan 84

Mike and Lucky

Lunch

With Bert on the beach

Today was a walking and shopping day. I got up and after working out, I walked about a mile around Mike’s apartment. The pollution is terrible, the streets are filthy. It’s a very dirty city, without much sense to the layout. A block away from the apartment we came across a guy using a harpoon/gun fishing rod trying to catch something from a road-runoff stream. After the walk we drove to Panthip where there is one of the largest malls I’ve ever seen. Something like 6 stories, mostly electronics, illegal software and DVDs, etc. Nini, one of Lek’s staff, was our chaperone. She is a very pretty 23 year old Filipino, and she calls me Sir Andy. I kind of like that, and I’ve contemplated various quests this week. We spent a while there, and Bert bought both of his children Nintendo DS loaded with 200+ games, for a fraction of the price I would see at home. We met up with Lek for lunch, then went clothes shopping for the women. At one store while the kids were trying on shoes, I took Nini over to the massage chairs. She had never been in anything like that before, and it was fun seeing her reaction to both the chair and the foot massager.

After many hours walking we came back, and I’m having a Chocolatini while writing this entry. Not sure what we’re doing for dinner. I’m off for a day trip tomorrow.

A local uses a harpoon fishing rod a block from Mike's apt.

One of the views from the apartment

The apt. takes up the 20-21st floors, it's the top bulge on the right

Broom and duster cart

Panthip shopping mall. Amazing!!!!

Nini!!!

Today was a day trip with the Flying Kikkerts to the last capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is an interesting conradiction — the history that is represented by magnificent temple and palace ruins is almost completely encased within the lowest standard of living I have experienced. The word slum came to mind. We started the day with an elephant tour, and while I had experienced this already in Chang Mai, the Kikkerts had not. This one was different, and the tour took us on the city streets and through the rundown neighborhoods on the way to trample through the ruins. There were cockfights on the elephant tour company’s property, as well as various tigers which are bred for food export to China.

After the elephants we took a small flat boat around the city/island through the river and canals. I took some photos on this trip, but the story they tell is of the decay and lack of any wealth. Fishermen are looking for prawn, families are bathing in the river water, people are sleeping on mattresses under any overhang they can find. Garbage and even dead dogs litter the river. After I returned to Bangkok and described this to Mike, he told me that so many areas of the world are worse off than this, I just haven’t traveled to them yet.

We had a short lunch then walked around the ruins of The Grand Palace, built almost 600 years ago. The ruins were magnificent.

We returned to Bangkok, and I’m in the kitchen with a bunch of the guys while Lek hosts a dinner party for 17 friends.

A young tiger at the elephant complex

One of the nicer homes along the river

Every boat is customized. If it can float, it's on the river

Huge monitor lizards live in the river

A local child beats the heat in the river

Prawning in the river

Standing in the ruins of the Grand Palace

Ruins of the Grand Palace

Last night Lek let the guys crash her monthly party night with the girls. There must have been more than a dozen of her friends over. They had a feast on the terrace under a clear sky and comfortable breeze. There was a karaoke machine set up complete with DJ, and once the ladies got started they didn’t stop. There were plenty of guest appearances by some of the men too, as well as a special one night only performance by Michella and Bert of the Singing Flying Kikkerts. Once again Lek proved to be the fun and charming host, and her friends are absolutely wonderful! I will miss them when I leave but I can keep in touch with Facebook.

Lek gets the party started

Michella of the Singing Flying Kikkerts

Sweet Princess Holly

Claire (c) and Dong (r)

Fah

There was time for salsa and cha cha

Lek closed the show with style!

Yesterday was a restful day. I chose not to join the Flying Kikkerts on their second day of tourist activities and allowed myself to sleep in!! It’s a good thing — When their van reached the floating market they were stopped for having a tour guide in an unauthorized vehicle and they were all arrested and the car impounded. Mike was able to make a phone call and have them released.

Mike and I had lunch and then drove to the Emporium to do some shopping. When we got home, we decided to have a casual dinner at home, and we invited Lek’s friend Holly to join us. After dinner, I mentioned that I had wanted to see the view of the city from Vertigo, a bar at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel (my friend Mark Frisk had sent me an article about this before my trip) so off I went with Holly, thankfully transported by her driver! The hotel was a block away from the Met where we had been dancing on Friday. 59 elevator floors + 2 climbed flights later, we were at a beautiful open air bar on the roof of the hotel enjoying the view. I hadn’t brought my camera, so I asked the group at the next table if they would take our photo and email it to me. I hope they don’t forget to send it.

We were talking about how my trip was ending in a little over a day and how I wasn’t ready for that, and Holly suggested that if I was enjoying myself I change my flight. Those of you who know me well know that I often don’t consider such major changes in plans, especially when so many others will be affected (I’d be imposing on my cousin for several more days, my brother has been taking care of my dogs, etc.). But the simple fact was that the second she made the suggestion I knew that it was what I was going to do. I got up very early knowing that Mike would be up, and after clearing the extended stay with him I changed my flight home until Monday.

So right now I’m back at the river house until Saturday, getting to know an incredible 8 week old Malinois puppy named Elan (hmmmm), and then Sunday I will enjoy my last day in Bangkok before leaving on Monday.

So far my final weekend has been spent back at the river. I’m glad I got to come back here, it’s a special and beautiful place. Part home, part resort, part dog kennel. From hour to hour the role of the property changes and it becomes interesting in different ways.

This afternoon Mike and I balanced his magnificent TMB180 refractor on the Takahashi mount, and had hoped to use the telescope tonight. But late in the afternoon some clouds rolled in. While later in the evening the zenith became clear, we had no view of Polaris (very low in the sky at this latitude) to align the scope. So this is something for the next trip.

Bert and his family are leaving this weekend, so Lek and Mike threw Bert a going away party, which included the entire staff as guests. We ate outdoors on the patio (I can’t really find another word for it, but patio doesn’t do it justice). It was cute at the end of the night, I had mentioned that I liked being called “Sir Andy” by Nini, one of Lek’s staff from the Phillipines, and Bert’s daughter didn’t understand why I liked it. So I told her the story of King Arthur and his Knights, a story she had never heard in Holland.

Today I spent a lot of time with Elan, daughter of Donna and Cartouche. I’d been considering Mike’s offer from 2 weeks ago to take home one of his Malinois puppies, and now after spending so much time watching the dogs and understanding the breed I have decided to bring Elan back. Actually Mike is sending it soon. I think Arleigh and Monty will like her. At least I hope so!!

So tomorrow (Saturday) back to Bangkok for the rest of the weekend, and this time no more trip extensions, I head home Monday. Still two days of adventure left and I’m looking forward to every minute!

Meet Elan! She's going to live with me

A portion of the outdoor party area

A toast to Bert!

The Siam Crown team and Samphran staff

Late night last night, trying to send out several important emails. The Internet connection here at the River is almost nonexistent, and it took about 90 minutes to do 5 minutes of work. Ughhh.

My last dog training session this morning, and I got a chance to see my pup’s mother, Donna, at work. We’re packed up and ready to head back to Bangkok.

Donna, mother of Elan

We got back to Bangkok this afternoon and I spent time in Mike’s shop while they were working on the plane. We came up and had a nice quiet dinner with Lek — more great and interesting food! Lek’s mother showed up in time for dessert. Lek brought in a gift that was left here for me this weekend from Claire and Jeep Chatikavanij. I spent several evenings with them during my stay, they are close friends of Lek and Mike, and they are wonderfully nice and interesting people. Earlier in my stay I had told them of my upcoming adventure in Chang Mai, and in fact they were also going to be in Chang Mai just before me. The gift is a beautiful painting from Claire’s gallery by a Chang Mai artist, and it depicts the spirit of Chang Mai wonderfully. Those who visit my home will be able to see this work of art. I’m humbled by their generosity.

I made plans for my personal tour guide Princess Holly to take me with her to a talk by a famous Buddhist monk/author originally from England, ordained in Thailand and now living in Australia. I hope it’s not in Thai, but if it is, I’ll manage. Holly has read some of his books and apparently he is quite famous in this part of the world. After that, not sure what we’ll do, we’ll play it by ear.

So after dinner I decided to do some packing in case I’m out most of the day tomorrow. Just as I started, the lights went out, not just in our building but in our entire section of the grid. Turns out there was a fire not too far away, and the power was turned off to prevent a short circuit with all the water required. Power is back on now after about an hour.

Mike and Lek leave for Bahrain in the morning so I’ll get up early to say goodbye. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to thank them for their hospitality and generosity the last few weeks.

Once Mike and Lek left for Bahrain, I tried to figure out what “Buddhist-Casual” clothing was and prepared for my day of meditation. At 9AM Holly picked me up and we drove to a Buddhist Spiritual Center near the Emporium where we were going to meditate with Ajahn Brahm, a famous teacher of meditation originally from England, now living in Australia. We got there early and met up with Holly’s friend, Na. Na spoke terrific english, and when i asked why he told me that he was raised in California, and had gone to undergrad school at the U of R! That was quite a surprise. Ajahn Brahm is impressive. although his style of speaking is at times so calm that it can be difficult to keep attention. After an hour and a half lecture, he led the group in a 30 minute meditation session before breaking for lunch. We weren’t keen on the box lunch so we ate Vietnamese food at the food court at the Emporium while deciding whether to go back for the second half of the program. We ultimately decided not to, but when holly and I got back to the car we found ourselves blocked in by 4 vehicles. Fortunately the practice is to leave the cars in neutral so for 10 minutes we moved the cars back and forth until Holly was clear (there was a very nice guy in the garage who helped us out).

The afternoon was spent back at the apartment, where Holly and I relaxed and listened to music. At lunch Na had recommended Arun Residence, a beautiful restaurant on the River near the Royal Palace and Wat Pho, for dinner and had made reservations for Holly and I to have a ringside view of the sun setting over Wat Arun. My attempt to plug the address into her GPS, which is completely in Thai, didn’t go so well, but ultimately her brother (over the phone) got us close. We were able to zero in on the restaurant based on a sketch I made from a map on their website. The view didn’t disappoint. After dinner, we went by Tuk Tuk (a small motorized open-air taxi) to an area not far away known for it’s nightlife — clubs, bars, outdoor bands, it’s a lively place. We ended up at a jazz club where we met up with Y who works in the attached art gallery. From there we collected Holly’s car and drove to the home of another friend, Monika, who was being visited by B. Monika opened up a delicious bottle of Dom Perignon, and after that was gone we headed out to Bed, a nightclub with great dance music and beds instead of tables. After a while we were exhausted and called it a night.

Lek’s driver took me to the airport at 9AM for my flight home. I can’t believe I’ve been here for just about 3 weeks. It feels like I’ve taken several trips in that time period. I was hoping for certain things on this trip and they were all realized and then some! I had wanted to travel to places I had never been and begin to see the world differently. I wanted to get to know my cousin Mike better, since I had only seen him a handful of times in the last 20 years. I was hoping to meet interesting people and make new connections in my life. I wanted to photograph beautiful sites that I had never seen before. I wanted to remind myself that there are such incredible opportunities and possibilities out there that I didn’t need to limit myself to the life I had been living. All of these have been accomplished. Then there were the unexpected things — getting closer to Mike’s wife Lek than I thought I would, creating some real friendships with exciting and interesting people (not the least of which is Bert Kikkert but including Mike and Lek’s great group of friends as well as Holly’s friends), deciding to bring home a puppy from Mike’s kennel, having some wonderful and educational conversations with Mike who has memories of my family’s past that I don’t, and extending my trip to spend time with a wonderful and special person. Mike is a terrific person, with varied interests (many of which overlap mine, such as astronomy, photography and dogs) and a desire to share them with others. While he lives a lifestyle that i will likely never reach myself, he is most happy when allowing friends to share that lifestyle with him. Lek is quite something. She’s interesting, dynamic, and her classy group of lifelong friends are a testament to the type of person she is. The two of them are such gracious hosts and they made this trip into something I could never have imagined. And I have to say something about the dogs. I absolutely fell in love with Lucky the Dutch Shephard. He is a special animal. And the joy of having puppies around wherever we spent our time was a happy unexpected bonus. I’m glad I blogged this trip as events unfolded, I’m afraid that after having experienced so much that there is no way I could have remembered the details and nuances without writing them down. What is most exciting for me is to see what happens next. The only thing I’m sure of is that from here on out nothing will be quite the same. To those of you who have taken time to read my posts and even comment back, I thank you for maintaining my connection to home while I was away.

With Holly along the river overlooking Wat Arun

Traveling by Tuk Tuk

This is Y

At Nightclub Bed

B and Monika at Bed

One week ago I was on a plane home with weeks of memories swimming through my head and unknown times ahead of me. After having settled back into life here in Rochester, here are my thoughts.

First, the memories of Thailand aren’t disappearing. In fact if anything they’re stronger now than when I left. It’s clear to me that the place and the people affected me.

Then there are the connections that remain in place. Not a day has gone by without multiple contacts with my new friends. Thank god for Facebook! But electronic connections aren’t going to be enough, that’s become clear to me. I know that I’ll be seeing Mike and Lek in Florida in May for the Top Gun Championships and I can’t wait. But there are others, not the least of which is a beautiful Princess, who I need to see again sooner than later. There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll make this happen.

I’ve noticed a peace inside me this week that wasn’t there before i left. I’ve spent the last couple of years letting difficult events in my life weigh me down and become so large that I couldn’t see past them. These things seem small now, and what’s on the other side is so bright and beautiful that I won’t let it be blocked out again.

Maybe most important of all, I’ve gotten my sense of humor back! Perhaps the quality I’ve liked most in myself has been my humor. I’ve been fortunate to have friends who have filled my life with humor. But the weight of events had hidden my smile and replaced it with other things. I see myself in photos this past month and all I see is a smile. And all I feel is peace.

Today I’m living in two places on opposite sides of the world, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If nothing else, it’s caused Life to fill all 24 hours of my day!