Back in Thailand to Cambodia

Culture shock! Back in Thailand, which seemed so exotic and inscrutable when we first arrived, now feels like luxurious civilization. For two weeks we explored northern Thailand by car, so nice to have our own wheels and the freedom that affords! The area around Chiang Mai has a number of national parks situated around cool(ish) mountains and home to so great flora and fauna.

Bird watching was very good, although challenging because of the dirth of information on where to go, how to get there or where to stay.





Hiking and birding are foreign concepts to the Thai, so there are often large parks with seemingly no access, and few trails. Park accommodations are spartan and poorly maintained. Our most memorable stay was at Doi Inthanon where we rented a bungalow in the woods. The bed had the hardest mattress I have ever encountered, comparable to cork, compressible only with a hammer. The bathroom had a leaky pipe and the floor was partly flooded in perpetuity. It also had an instant hot water heater attached to the wall which fell off in the middle of Ron's evening shower.
The gas hose did not reach the floor, so it disconnected and natural gas came blowing out. Instead of running out wet and naked into the night as I would have done, Ron went into Garber Plumbing mode, held the gas off with one thumb while reattaching the hoses with his swiss army knife and reaffixing it to the wall. Since it had been held in with two screws barely anchored into concrete, I felt skeptical about it's integrity, but Ron assured me it would hold, which it did during my shower. In the morning we found that it had become detached again at the top and was hovering at a 45 degree angle from the wall. Thank Buddha it didn't fall off on me during my nightly foray to the toilet in the dark. Needless to say we found other accommodations for the next night!






One of the best, and unique, things you can do in thailand is get a massage.
The masseuse is on the mat with you and there is a lot of yoga style body interaction as she holds your various body parts up, often in a stretched position, while massaging with hand, elbow or foot. Hard, verging on painful, just the way I like it. Everyone gets massages here, at $6 an hour why not? One is given special loose fitting shirt and pants to wear, all massages are done in one room, bodies lined up in various contortions. In one area of Chaing Mai, in the evenings, chairs and couches are lined on the sidewalks and both locals and tourists, young and old, are getting massages focused on various parts of the anatomy.












The food in Thailand has been amazing. Everything is fresh and delicious, although often too hot for our delicate palate. Pahd Thai noodles is a reliable stand-by, but causes eye rolling by the chefs of better restaurants. There appears to be half a dozen gingers used used to flavor dishes in addition to the usual lemon grass, kafir lime, peppers and coriander. Fish is abundant and fresh, but requires careful bone avoidance. Street food is everywhere, especially grilled chicken or surprisingly-hot dogs on skewers. Our favorite is the roti stand selling crepes with optional fillings of banana, mango, or other fresh fruits. Some American fast food is creeping in, there'd are 7-11's everywhere, Kentucky fried chicken and Winchells doughnuts. One item lacking on most menus are green salads, lettuce is not a staple here. Once we stole guiltily into a Sizzler(!) And ravaged the salad bar.




















Next on the list was a foray into southern Thailand, starting with a visit to Nong Nooch, a botanic garden south of Bangkok recommended to us by our friend Jeff. This huge garden is a paradise for palm and cycad fanatics (Ron). We were most fortunate to get a behind the scenes look at the collection by the plant director. Since the average Thai (like the average American) has no appreciation for the botanic wonders of the world, the garden is also home to some Disneyesque displays, elephant shows (elephant art, soccer and darts) and Thai "culture" shows.












We decided to hang out, catch up on our email and reading for a couple of days in the little town of Khao Lak on the Andaman Sea. Hanging out on the balmy tropical beaches of Southern Thailand was a welcome break from the life on the road which had characterized the first six weeks of our adventure.











From there we arranged a three day tour with a bird specialist guide, and a couple of birders from South Africa, of a park in this area. Khao Sok, the largest park in Thailand, is centered on a huge lake in the jungle so it is explored mostly by kayak and you stay in a floating "hotel", really no more than a series of bamboo huts and a place to eat.











We did see a few nice birds but were more excited by the great scenery reminiscent of Jurasic park, with huge limestone cliffs jutting out of the dense jungle, and frequent viewings of monkeys in their natural habitat; dusky langurs, pig and long tailed macaques, and white handed gibbons.













Once again missed the tigers and elephants but did get a glimpse of gaurs, large hornbills, colorful tree squirrels and wild pig. The insects, such as the butterflies and big red ants which folded leaves high in the trees to make large living nests, as well as the reptiles, including the huge Tokay gecko (18 inches),






flying lizards and a large water monitor, were amazing. On a jungle hike we walked almost a kilometer through a limestone cave, with beautiful stalactites (mites), bats and a river which we sometimes walked in and once had to swim down in a narrow channel, to get to the other side of the mountain.


















This ends our tour of Thailand, from here we cross east to Cambodia and the temples of Angkor Wat.


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