03.31 "Get It On"(The Power Station)

Asia

Thailand

Chiang Mai

We started the day planning (occasionally happens) our upcoming visit to Cambodia, then we jumped into the hot streets of Chiang Mai!

After being unable to get to Umong Wat or the Art Museum for a reasonable price by Tuk Tuk (they wouldn't ride for less than a certain amount of money… including taking you "for a shopping tour") we decided to walk (we don't fear you, heat stroke!).

Inside the walled city we entered our first temple of the day: Wat Jetlin

Get it on, bang a gong!

Wat Jetlin has this small pond where we lingered for some minutes, watching birds, fish, turtles, patterns on the water and their reflections on the ceiling of the gazebo over our heads, listening to ethereal music… Peace. 

As we left this corner of Paradise, the expression "Same Same"(common in Thailand)  was observed by Basia and described below:

City: temperature/feels like

Chiang Mai: 99F/96F

Bangkok: 96F/99F

:)

Today the temperature reached at least 100F, but it was luckily very dry which makes it more bearable than humid heat (as we suffered in Bangkok).  

As a downside, this weather favors the appearance of fires; we observed one just a block away from Wat Jelin:

(At the right of the smoke column you can see one of the other couple hundred temples found in this lovely city)

(Buddha covered in gold leaves who also needs money… and a safe to protect it)

(Part of the wall of the old city)

bling bling!

Check out the temple's roof; how eco-friendly

03.30 "Song #2"(Blur)

Asia

Thailand

Bangkok->Chiang Mai

Farewell to Martusia at Bangkok airport; we're Two again!

Chiang Mai: 

Insect Museum http://www.thailandinsect.com

More about this unique museum: http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20130131-chiang-mais-quirky-insect-wonderland

Wat Chedi Luang

(Oski) Seeing a safe were you deposit donations by a Buddha image… I'll never be able to accept mixing Spirituality with Money. Big Spiritual turn off for me!

The holy squat, manual flush and byot (bring your own tissue) toilet

Street Walking Market on Sundays:

Phan-Ohn & many other Temples

Several big temples have weekend markets that run late into the night on their property

"Thank you for this food, drink, music and tourist trinkets."

Massages in temple halls. Divine relaxation!

03.29 "Toxicity"(System Of A Down)

Asia

Thailand

Phi Phi Don->Phuket->Bangkok

Woke up, and still Melancholia hasn't released her grip on me. Among other things, I can't avoid thinking about the title song: I feel my beloved island is being too exploited and I fear this paradise will be smothered in the next couple of decades. As always when I predict suffering, I hope to be wrong. 

But on humor lies the best way to cope with pain! Thai signs and printed tshirt in English are incredibly funny, and this one sparked a grin on my face: 

My last image from P.P.D (Perfect Paradise Decaying)

"Toxicity" also applies to another fact: Traveling with Traveler's Diarrhea is not fun. Traveling with fellow travelers with diarrhea is not fun either… but at least, so far, I haven't been struck by the weakening disease. Martusia is recovering and all indicates that Basia just got it… and we have to travel on a ferry 2 hours to Phuket, taxi to the airport (another hour), plane to Bangkok (1.5 hours), taxi (another hour) and (finally!) arrive to the hostel. 

This is how the girls felt:

:P

But we actually were in high spirits… and hungry… so we took a walk to a mall where Basia found great and inexpensive food. Here are some funny things we found:

1) I learned to say "Leonardo DiCaprio" in Thai (see detail of the handprint below)

2) pointless slogans (myriads like this one):

3) creepier-than-American Ronald Mc Donald

(As Martusia said: "I will eat your children… after fattening them up")

4) Fashion statements:

(Any similarity with wearing a large condom on your head is pure coincidence)

5) Happiness everywhere!

(We men just don't admit it, but we know a happy moment is just around that corner!)

Thais are particularly obsessed by happiness: "feeling happy" seems to be a very important variable to be achieved by individuals and the society. And that is something I admire from them: I prefer that brainwash to the "feeling safe" one!

6) check below: bars were closed just prior to the elections… but tourism must not be disrupted! ):)

Thailand is still socially unstable: the government is facing pressure from part of the population that included protests that almost shut down Bangkok. 

03.28 "Porcelain"(Moby)

Asia

Thailand

Phi Phi Don

After 5 lovely hours of rest (which included a funny dream involving my favorite rock stars: Electric Six), it's breakfast time! No lunch, just liquids afterward and a plan to walk to Ao Lo Moo Dee to do snorkeling! "Porcelain" from the soundtrack of "The Beach" soothing my mind… Map analyzed, trails identified, times estimated; even tides taken into account! Yes!

…

Sometimes, my plans don't work as expected, and turn into something waaaay better!!!

…

Sometimes, my plans just don't work. 

Bottom line: we just got to Long Beach, I got a deep cut on my left thumb due to broken coral, walked up and down like a madman, it was hot, couldn't snorkel, I was showing Basia a butterfly and I didn't notice I poked with my finger a spider net just above a black and yellow spider the size of the palm of my hand… everything!

But cheer up, dear reader! On the other hand, there are always good things we can focus on: the vistas from the beach were stunning, a lovely breeze surprised us twice, we saw some beautiful art and a chase between 4 butterflies, and I saw boobies! (a topless is always a plus)

This is the last night in Phi Phi: dance must be performed to please Poseidon! Later, even when the dancing was still boiling, Melancholia got a grip on me… and I went to sleep. 

03.27 "Clint Eastwood"(Gorillaz)

Asia

Thailand

Phi Phi Don

… needless to say, I wasn't happy as I woke up to realize I missed a dancing night in Phi Phi! (Can't let that happen again):)

Luckily no snorkeling/scuba activities were planned for today: Martusia feels sick (combination of too much sun yesterday + something wrong at dinner), Basia feels like chilling and I tried to chill too (temperature outside is pretty high; definitely upper 30's Celsius) but I couldn't! (surprise!!!) so I went for a walk staying as much as possible under a shade. That way I arrived to the "dancing shore" and chilled for a while by the beach (pix) listening to great music at Stoned Bar (Gorillaz, Chemical Brothers, etc)

After spending hours not-fully enjoyed (still can't my skin to be caressed by the Sun), now it's time to dance! 11pm and this still doesn't kick in (but will soon) and the most notorious has been seeing high tide at the same time I saw low tide 2 days ago… SkyMap tells me the sun and the moon are both almost at the nadir, which makes sense (I am still fascinated by this topic ;)

(NOTE FROM THE FUTURE) Later that night and the next night I observed the tides change without noticing a radical change in the relative positions if the sun and the moon around the nadir… more research is needed!

03.26 "Don't Worry, Be Happy"(Bobbie Mc Ferrin)

Asia

Thailand

Phi Phi Don<->Phi Phi Le

After a slow start, we gained momentum and went to look for a boat to visit Maya beach. After not even paying attention to 2 offers, for some reason I pad attention to one local guide. We discussed the price (I saw a better offer than his) and finally agreed to leave with him (Harum; his boat is "Aslan"). We were all glad we chose him: his was the only boat playing music (mostly Bob Marley; and other chilling songs like the one chosen for this chapter) and he took us to Phi Phi Le (uninhabited island south of Phi Phi Don) to 3 great snorkeling spots and Maya beach (famous for Leo DiCaprio's "The Beach"… sadly looking worse than 4 years ago: more expensive fee to land, more development and less cleaning) 

Of course, so much snorkeling meant exposure of our backs to the sun… a lot ):)

But all was worth, plus we witnessed a glorious sunset. May Jah Be Blessed!

After arriving and getting showered, we went to check if we could get a speedboat to Hin Daeng / Hin Muang for tomorrow… only to find out there are no more trips from Phi Phi (and we have no time to go to Lanta). And the diving spots were mostly the same we just snorkeled! So… we went for dinner! After getting enough watermelon juices (Martusia read they help recover from sunburn… something we all need… mostly white me!) and water, we went to sleep with different plans: the Becker's was to recover till the morning, mine was to take a nap and go dancing again to the beach… when the alarm rang at 1130pm, I barely could move to stop it… I have a foggy memory of doing it and thinking "La put…" and falling asleep again…

03.25 "Hot Trip to Heaven"(Love & Rockets)

Asia

Thailand

Khao Lak->Krabi->Phi Phi Don

The day started early: wake up 6 am, pack up, breakfast, picked up by a van ca. 8 am with other victims, smooth ride to somewhere near Krabi… we arrive somewhere ca. 10 am and are told we have to wait until 1 pm… somewhere is surrounded by what can be fairly described as… nothingness. The vastness of boredom can be represented by this picture… oh, I have no room on my phone to take a picture… it was very boring anyway… I better melt away in the heat and, once I re-solidify, I'll continue… 

(Above is the name of the company to avoid at all costs; left below, yours truly)

… in an overcrowded van, riding to the pier…

…all times and distances promised fail miserably when confronted with reality. It is a Hot Trip…

…To Heaven! Finally at Phi Phi Don, in the same villa I stayed with dear fiends 4 years ago. After walking a long pier, the ride on the ferry was smooth but long… luckily we could turn on the A/C at the Villa, and laugh a bit at this sign:

= "If tsunami comes, run. Enjoy your vacation!"

03.24 "Save A Prayer"(Duran Duran)

Asia

Thailand

Khao Lak

… Barcelona versus Real Madrid at 3 am!

I talked the day before with the owner of a bar who had a big screen and soccer on it ;) I asked in the usual way I use in SE Asia to try to avoid confusions:

A) will you have Barcelona-Real Madrid tonight?

B) it is at 3am; are you closed then?

C) will you be open at 3am for the game?

If answers are Yes-No-Yes, he likely understood my poor English… and he gave the right answers! (whenever I don't get the right combination, I leave or ask someone else). He added: "be here before", I agreed and left. 

I woke up 2:20am, walked 20 mins thru a dark ghost town to find… the bar closed.

Undisturbed, I walked a bit more to a 7Eleven, bought soda and chips, and walked back to the bar. Since it it like a beach bar, I could walk in without trespassing any gate, turned on a fan and hooked up to his WiFi and starting watching the game on my iPhone (no remote control of projector at sight) I considered briefly to pee in there as a protest… but decided to be civilized, so I kept watching the game. 

After the goal of Iniesta I heard someone went to the restroom on the back and was making noises afterwards… I was making noises too, since chips complain when chewed on, but the Unidentified Person wasn't showing up… and I started having the strong feeling I better left the premises…

So I walked back shrouded in darkness and got WiFi again at my hostel, where I found to my dismay Barça was losing 2-1! But The Best prevailed and the victory as visitor of Barcelona 3-4 was one of the best Clasico de La Liga I've seen so far. 

After spending more time online, it was time to nap an hour until 7am

At 8 am we went on a scuba trip to Koh Bon + Koh Thai 

www.bigbluedivingkhaolak.com

It was definitely a Mystical experience, mainly because of a few close encounters with large (about 7 mt wingspan) Manta Rays. Majestic and quite intelligent creatures

Finally be squeezed an elephant ride too! (nothing like what I saw as a teen in Duran Duran's video, but fits nicely with the Religious experience with Mantas ;)

(NOTE: come back to this day; we are waiting for pictures from Martusia that will fill the last 2 experiences)