Zip Lining

Yes, yes, I know I am behind! It has been a long few days but we have finally arrived in Koh Samui. I write this now with a beautiful view, want to see what I see?

We went ziplining with a company called Eagle Track. It is a new company and if you go to Thailand, most of the signs and advertisements are for a company called Flight of the Gibbon. We didn’t do it, but I can tell you that Eagle Track was fantastic, cheaper, and I’m sure just as safe. It was the first time attending a trek/tour that I felt the safety was up to par with that in North America. Real helmets! With varying sizes! What a luxury. They even gave you a brand new Survivor style buff to wear over your head so that you didn’t have to wear the helmet bare on it. A+ for that!

We went with four other people around our age who were also staying at our hostel. These were the real entertainment for today. They were the most annoying group of dweebs I’ve ever met. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a total loser, but I don’t shove it in your face or loudly exclaim it.

I have to tell you, ziplining was fun but it was no White Water Rafting. I feel like nothing in life can live up to that that now! We are constantly comparing our adventures to it and I’m sad we won’t be doing it again with the same people. That being said, we have found a place in Phuket that does rafting so we are counting the days.

It was just the group of four and us for the day with three ziplining guides. They were very knowledgeable without being total squares. One thing I have learned in Thailand is that no one takes anything seriously. If you tell someone you got hurt, or show them your injury, they usually laugh. We did at least 3 free falls, the highest being 40 metres and some very cool bridges. It felt like being in a video game at some points, hopping from point to point.

They also served us lunch which was amazing and such a large buffet. There was green curry (very good, seriously) with rice, vegetables, some weird noodles I didn’t eat and a bunch of other goodies. All seated just a few steps away from a huge waterfall. It was a great tour, I wish we had done it before we went rafting so we could have fairly judged it.

I will try and keep on top of blogging better – when I go days before blogging I tend to forget all the fun details so I will leave you with a few photos from the day:

S.

White Water Rafting

So, we almost died yesterday and it was pretty awesome. A few days ago we went rafting as part of our elephant adventure and it was so much fun that we decided to have another go at it. For $30 Canadian we got a 10km all day rafting trip which was a level 4+ and it was AMAZING.

After a very long drive up the mountain, getting a little disenchanted with all the delays and then a terrible lunch, we settled in for our safety talk. Man, I am so glad we learned what we learned during this because it was about to become very useful. They taught as commands like, get left and right, get down, rowing, how to get out from under a capsized raft, and told us about the rescue team that would be at all the bad spots on the river.

Now, this all sounds like it would be standard to learn before you partake in a very dangerous sport but this was not the case on our first rafting adventure. We were not given any instruction on that at all, not even when we were suspended on a rock.

When we were eating our lunch, we were seated across from a middle aged couple from Spain. At one point, the man suddenly jumped up and ran over to the stairs in the bungalow at mach speed. I realized after a minute that a child had fallen and gotten stuck between the stairs. So, before I even realized what was wrong, this guy had sprung into action and saved a child. It was then that B and I decided we were DEFINITELY rafting with that guy. It turns out that he is a police officer in Spain. A damn good choice but I was concerned at first since he spent the majority of the time taking scenic photos with his waterproof camera and barely listening to instructions. I guess his police officer instincts only come out in times of great panic.

We also chose our “Skipper” or guide, his name is Crazy and for good reason. He was a strange guy and legitimately a little off his rocker. He is 22 years old and the number one kayaker in Thailand – we even saw the medals to prove it.

He was insane but he knew that river like the back of his hand. He guided us so specifically through tiny spots between rocks and turns. He truly has a talent. The river had some very rough spots though and at one turn, the boat in front of us lost a passenger. An Australian girl went overboard and we saw it all happen... she was getting whipped through the rapids when Crazy ordered us to ROW and we were on the chase. We got to her and Crazy leaned over, grabbing her life jacket while still ordering us when to row as he dragged this girl through the water and around the rocks. Eventually he got us parked on a rock and we got her into the boat. She was shaken but all in one piece and she made it onto her boat to finish off the day.

We were touting ourselves as the rescue team until our boat hit “flipping corner.” You can imagine what that means – this is a common place for boats to flip overboard and ours was no exception. We had hit a big rock the turn before which left the boat with a lot of water in it, making it impossible to control. As we hit the corner we just flipped entirely over. Both B and I were under the boat but we remembered our instruction and paddled out from under it.

I remember thinking, “Why the fuck is my life jacket not working?” but the undertow from the rocks was just pulling me under again and again. I was gulping water and trying to get myself going feet first down the river so I didn’t hit my head when B grabbed me, “Grab the rope, grab the rope!” The police officer had somehow got a hold of the rescue rope that they threw our way and he then grabbed B who grabbed me. The other two people in our boat had come to a stop higher up the river and when I looked up, Crazy was extending a paddle to help us up to the rocks.

I don’t know what would have happened if that police officer wasn’t there. I was struggling to breathe and even see above the water so there was no way I would have been able to find a rope! Climbing a ton of rocks and getting seriously scraped up, we finally made it back to our boat and finished the day off! I think everyone was a little rattled but we were all fine except a few scrapes and bruises (Ok, a lot of scrapes and bruises – my ankle was BLUE) so we were able to laugh it off – in fact, I want to go again NOW!

S.

Hospital, Tigers, and Sunday Market!

It was an eventful few days. As I mentioned in the previous post, B had a little mishap while dismounting an elephant and after attempting to sleep it off, she figured a hospital visit was our best bet. At least if it isn’t broken, she can take it a little harder on it. If it is, well... I guess we would have to reconsider ziplining and other super fun times activities. Luckily that wasn’t the case and we are back in action.

Our review of the Thai hospital system? It is pretty great! Some questionable things like filling needles while not wearing gloves and the very flimsy “x-ray proof” door had us a little concerned but the wait times were not bad and they were very helpful. The longest process was dealing with our travel insurance company. Everything ended up being covered but we didn’t want to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed later, we wanted to pay zero dollars. It was surprisingly difficult to even get the hospital to get a call through to Canada. Apparently, foreign area codes are quite confusing to them. Eventually though, B got xrays, treatment, medication, an ankle brace and aluminum crutches. Total cost for her was 1 dollar for the overseas call. The insurance was stuck with the rest, but it was a shockingly low number: $146 Canadian. You couldn’t even get one x-ray for that in Canada.

The final diagnosis was a 2^nd degree ligament tear. She was ordered not to walk on it for 6 weeks. We took the crutches for one walk and she hasn’t touched them since. The pavement and sidewalks are so uneven here that it is impossible so she’s goin’ bareback. The owner of our hostel, her name is Nine, is incredibly nice and helpful. She gave B some mystery Thai balm to use. Not sure what is in it but we’re giving it a go!

The next day we went to the Tiger Kingdom where you can pet tigers of varying ages. It is expensive by Thai standards at $42 CAD and for only about 30-60 minutes but it was still very cool. Interacting with the baby tigers that just wanted to play was great. We got to meet tigers of 2 months, 3 months, 4 months and full grown at 2 years. After 2 years of age, the tigers are put into the breeding population and no longer visited by tourists as their instincts are far more powerful after that age.

It wasn’t too scary – I found it a lot scarier on top of the elephants. We were given strict instruction not to touch their heads, which was harder than you’d think. They look so cute and snugly.

Last but not least, we went to the Sunday Market. It is a fantastic market they hold every Sunday which stretches 2km on the streets of Chiang Mai (more specifically, on Walking Street.) There was everything you could imagine and at fantastic prices. This is where I got most of my gifts for family and friends. Fresh food, crafts, books, art, you name it. I wish we were here for one more Sunday!

S

Orchids, Elephants, and Rafting. Oh my!

I guess the secret is out! Yesterday was a very action packed day that started at 8am when we were picked up at our hostel by our guide for the day, MooMoo Jr. We did a quick trip to some other hostels to pick up a few other travelers and we were on our way to the Chiang Mai jungles. It was quite a multicultural group with one guy from the Netherlands, two girls from America, one girl from Germany and another from England as well as ourselves. All sitting in the back of a covered pickup truck, we took turns singing our national anthems for each other.

Our first stop was an orchid farm. It was beautiful! My interest in flowers isn’t particularly high but this was a sight to behold. There were so many colors and patterns and they are grown in a hanging position, not in the ground. There was also a room called a butterfly farm but I only saw two butterflies... I saw 5 times that on our 30 minute walk in the jungle later that day.

Next stop, elephant camp! We were with the elephants for half of the day. First learning the Thai commands to tell your elephant to stop, go forward, backward, left and right. I promptly forgot this as I was holding on for dear life though and let the mahout (elephant trainer) do the work for me.

First we fed the elephants. They eat an alarming amount of food every day, about 550 lbs. We fed them bananas but during our ride their only concern was eating. They were constantly grabbing branches and leaves to snack on. Oh, and an elephants tongue is very large and very slimy.

In order to get on the elephant, you order it to kneel – when it does so, you step onto it’s bended leg, grab it’s ear and hoist yourself upwards. Now, either I don’t have the upper body strength or I’m just challenged, but this was more like a 3 person job to get my ass up there. Once up there, you have to use your legs to clamp behind their ears as it is VERY unsteady. It was seriously terrifying. I had to do controlled breathing to keep calm. You could get seriously hurt on one of these things... as we found out when B jumped off of one.

Now that we’ve learned the proper way to mount an elephant, let’s learn the proper way to dismount an elephant. First step, don’t jump off. The easiest way to get off an elephant is by swinging your legs over the top of its head. The elephant will then lower its face to the ground so that you can slide off. B didn’t quite understand the directions so she didn’t wait for it to lower its head far enough. She jumped and heard a crackling noise, immediately knowing that something pretty serious was wrong. She’s a trooper though and didn’t let it ruin her time with the elephants. We rode them to the stream where we dismounted (properly) and bathed them.

The other people took a longer trek into the jungle but we decided to split the day half with the elephants and the other half white water rafting. First, MooMoo Jr’s brother took us for a 15 minute hike through the jungle (B used a giant piece of bamboo as a walking stick,) to see a beautiful waterfall. People were sliding down it but after B almost breaking her foot we were feeling pretty cautious. We then went to visit a hilltribe... I thought it would be the Karen Long Neck tribe (they have the rings around their necks) but unfortunately it wasn’t. This part was pretty disappointing since really, we were just dropped there to buy their crafts and I didn’t need any kazoos.

Off to rafting! We were given helmets and life jackets – my helmet was two sizes too small and my life jacket was two sizes too big. I tried to trade to a different helmet but the others were cracked basically in half so I stuck with my yarmulke sized helmet. We were one person short to fill our 4 person raft so someone from another group had to join us. I felt so bad for this French guy. Not only was he separated from his group, but we were essentially useless to him. When we brought the raft into the water, he dragged it 90% of the way entirely by himself since we didn’t want to walk bare foot on the rocks.

When we got going, our guide was completely silent. He sat on the back giving zero instruction. B had to talk control of the situation, having had some experience in kayaks and what not. She was shouting, “ROW! DIG! LEFT! RIGHT! TOGETHER!” and we were doing pretty good. At one point we were completely beached on a giant rock. I turned around to look to our guide for, y’know, guidance, when I saw him sitting and staring into the distance looking entirely unphased. It was then that I knew we were in this alone.

We were cruising down the river now, gaining speed when disaster struck. I remember hitting a rock hard on my side and sliding down into the raft between the two seats. I was lucky to land there. I looked up while I slid down and saw B in literal mid-air. It was complete chaos but Frenchy leapt into action... he dropped his oar and with on hand grabbed B’s arm and shorts and pulled her back into the boat. It was SERIOUSLY lucky that he has cat-like reflexes because mine are akin to a manatee.

After that, the guide got pretty lively. He was not pleased that we lost his oar so we went full speed ahead to try and get it. We paddled and paddled and paddled straight into a very tight squeeze between three rocks. Stuck. Majorly stuck. Our guide had to get out and yank on the ropes several times while we all piled into one side of the boat to adjust the weight. It was absurd. Especially since every other group was having the most leisurely time! We had so many rafts pass us and I’m sure it took about half an hour longer for us than the other group with us.

It wasn’t over yet though. We parked our boat at a bamboo raft... we all sat on this and it immediately started sinking to about mid stomach level. Seems like a rather pointless mode of transportation if you’re trying to keep anything dry. They are steered by large bamboo stick similar to a boat in Venice. Frenchy handed me the stick at first but seriously, we all know how that would end so I passed it off.

What a day, what a day.

We got back to our hostel and almost immediately passed out. At this point B was pretty certain that her ankle was broken or fractured but we figured with some ice and a good night’s sleep we could better assess it in the morning. I think we fell asleep at about 8:30pm. Oh, and all this cost us 50$ each. I love this place!

S.

Bus to Chiang Mai

Last night was one of those nights that you wish you could erase from your memory. We boarded what we were told was a VIP FIRST CLASS bus but was actually just a glorified double decker transit bus with some dress up.

Let me tell you, the road to Chiang Mai is paved with hatred and fury. 10 hours of horror! What a terrible sleep – it felt like we were fighting our way through the elements when I woke up at some undetermined time to thunder and lightning. The suspension of that bad boy left me with aches and pains today. My body is starting to punish me for punishing it with a lack of sleep and I am feeling worse for wear. In addition to that, this sleeper bus started with a movie, dubbed in thai, at high volume and all the lights on.

Before the bus even started moving though, B had to use the bathroom. She came back to our seat in complete shock. It was the worst bathroom she has ever been in. She described it as entirely stainless steel but rusted and dripping wet. The toilet was a metal bowl no larger than the palms of her hands with a bucket of water beside it which also held a ladle. It wasn’t until later that we figured out the use for such tools.

The fine folks on the bus were kind enough to provide us with a delicious and nutritious meal though:

Yup, the mystery drink and custard filled bun stayed in that package. We were on a very strict liquid limit for the next ten hours so sampling that was not on the agenda.

Now... the real thing I’ve been waiting to tell you, dying to tell you, is that when we stopped at 1am in the morning at a rest station we simply HAD to use the bathroom. There was no avoiding it. People, I peed into this last night:

I’m serious. The scoop is for putting water into the “toilet” after you go in it. Somehow it washes it away. Needless to say, THIS is the worst bathroom I’ve ever been in. Welcome to Thailand!

It wasn’t all bad though, I did see these adorable little kitties. I’m not allowed to touch any stray animals because I’ll probably get some sort of parasite and spend the next 25 days in a hospital but it is damn tempting.

Today has been a chill day exploring Chiang Mai by foot. We went for a Thai massage (one hour for 7$) and had some delicious lunch. I have settled on fried rice and chicken for now and it cost me $1.60 for a plate of it today! The massage was quite painful to be honest. They do a lot of contorting and a lot of sitting on you. I did feel good afterwards and I kept telling myself, “She is a trained professional” but really, this is Thailand after all. The prices are so ridiculous here that I fear I will be the most frugal person in the world when I get back.

We are off to the night market tonight and something very exciting but secret for tomorrow!

S.

Bangkok!

Yesterday was such a whirlwind that we’ve spent today in a lazy stupor watching movies in our hostel and staying out of the rain. We headed to Hua Lamphong train station in search of some breakfast. Luckily we found a fruit stand where we got a bag of pineapple and a bag of watermelon for a whopping 25 baht – that is just under a dollar! We topped that off with an apple filled pastry and we were good to go.

In order to truly get the feel of any city, I suggest you try out public transit. This was one of our most memorable moments of our trip to Mexico and Bangkok proved no different. I’ve now decided that we can’t go to a country and not try their bus system. This system was slightly more organized that the bus stops in Mexico but they generally expect you to get on whilst it is still in motion – something that I was not privy to. If you ever find yourself in a Thai bus, don’t give the money to the driver, he does not speak English and he does not want to talk to you. Another person will come to collect your fare. Hopping on a bus is the epitome of throwing caution to the wind. You need to rely on locals to get you where you need to go. Luckily after obliterating several language barriers, “go this way, then this way” with various hand motions, we unexpectedly arrived at a boat. Why not? Let’s hop on.

Our final destination was the Siriraj Medical Museum. If you’ve watched season two ofAn Idiot Abroad, you will remember this from the Thailand episode. This is a quite gruesome museum lacking the quality of body preservation that we have come to expect in North America. There was a lot of formaldehyde in that room. We saw about 50 conjoined twins with various connecting points. Babies in jars . Seriously. Unfortunately no photos were allowed but we did snag one of this lovely man... woman? split in half.

After that it was off to SWENSENS! Ok, so this isn’t even remotely Thai, it is an American chain but how can we say no to delicious ice cream sundaes? Good to see that the dead babies didn’t kill our appetites.

See that rose? This is a classy establishment.

We took the boat back to... wherever we took the boat from, and grabbed a taxi to Siam Mall where Siam Ocean World is. It is Southeast Asia’s largest aquarium and it was VERY impressive. It is an expensive tourist attraction by Bangkok standards at $36 but well worth the money. This was far bigger than the Vancouver Aquarium and had far more to see, including several activities like the “Happy Fish Happy Feet” foot bath – get your dead foot skin eaten off by little fish! It mostly tickled but that didn’t stop B from squealing like a stuck pig. She was sitting by a 4 year old girl who was far more composed.

We spent several hours there then went to the food court for dinner. It was absolutely massive! There were at least 3 shops dedicated solely to breads. And I was worried about the lack of cake... my worries are gone! Cupcake shops galore! We bypassed the sweets and ate at a thai place. I got grilled chicken and rice – Hey, I’m taking it slow here. B got fried vegetables and rice which was “the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten.” She couldn’t feel her mouth (hence the lack of cupcake desserts.)

We decided to take yet another form of transportation home – time for the Skytrain! The station was busier than Stadium station after a hockey game. I’m not sure if there was enough oxygen to keep all of us alive in there. We had to transfer to the underground Subway MRT. Are you counting? We took a city bus, boat, taxi, skytrain and subway all in one day. The Bangkok Skytrain/Subway system is VERY advanced compared to ours. It is amazing how parts of this city seem straight out of the third world and others are shockingly futuristic. The juxtaposition is strange to see.

We need these! Everyone forms perfect lines on either side while leaving a space for people to exit the trains first.

We were exhausted by the time we got home. The heat here takes a lot out of you and it is difficult to stay hydrated. Water is insanely cheap here – I’m currently drinking from a 1.5L bottle that I got for 50 cents!

We are headed to Chiang Mai tonight via bus. We tried to book a train ticket but they have to be booked many days in advance in order to get a sleeper car. We get in tomorrow morning (Jan 26^th) and are staying there for a week. This is where the real adventure happens... we have some incredible things planned for this week.

Dinner time!

S.

Airline Food, Round 1

The airline food was... not as bad as I expected. There is a handy site where users can post pictures and reviews of airline meals called www.airlinemeals.net and although it was useful, it was also scary. Some of the meals featured on this site were swordfish and eel. Needless to say, we bought a sandwich, bagel and muffin from Tim's before boarding the plane for 20 hours of travel.

Without further ado, here are the meals!

B's Vegetarian dinner consisted of many salads including a fruit salad, a garden salad, a spring salad and a traditional ice berg and carrot salad. It also came with rice and some sort vegetable chutney (whatever that is) and green beans. B's rating out of 5 is 3.5.

Here is my sundried tomato chicken and roasted potatoes - the potatoes were delicious but the chicken was awfully greeaaazy. The bun was good. As for the green noodles and the offwhite goop with prawn, I couldn't tell ya. Also, Japan Airlines own official drink, Sky Time, is gross.

And here is the most delicious vanilla ice cream I've ever had. It was only this de

licious because B didn't get one, being a "vegetarian" and all.

She settled for cookies that Lil Wayne would be proud to consume:

B's lunch was a cucumber and tomato sandwich which she happily gave to her neighbor who seemed to be really enjoying his.

My lunch was this: I would tell you what it was if I knew. I took it out of the wrapper solely to take this photo which I had to do whilst holding my breath. We then ate our bagels.

This is how the Japanese do goldfish crackers. They aren't satisfied with one fish, they give you the whole aquarium.

As for the second leg of the flight, we slept the entire time. At one point the lady did show me the meals but I was too out of it to really register what they were. I was so out of it that I even turned down a mini haagen daz. You know it's serious when that happens.

Oh, and this is what I ate at the Tokyo airport:

Yum yum yum!

S.