SEA06: Kanchanaburi

"Why going to Kanchanaburi?" some people might ask. It has never been a capital of Siam, Thailand or any of the other great kingdoms in the region. It is more of a border town, with the usual share of temples and a peaceful riverside atmosphere. Does that give you a clue already? No? Well, think of a bridge... the first bridge that comes to your mind... Not yet? well, I'm sure that if I whistle you one last clue, you'll immediately know what I mean.

 

:-) 

 

Apart of *that* bridge, there are a range of other atractions in Kanchanaburi. There is an excellent museum on the construction of *that* bridge, and other exhibitions on related subjects. You can go to a monastery, where the monks have created a wild life reserve, a very special zoo.




Alien tried as well (unfortunatelly, unsuccessfully) to locate a misterious monastery on the outskirts of town, and the Dragon Cave, while Nuvolgris was taking some intensive course in Thai cooking, given by the very friendly Micki from Apple GuestHouse.

 

Many more activities can be arranged from Kanchanaburi, but unfortunately we had to leave them for next journey into the region, as that was our last stop before going back to Bangkok.

SEA06: After Ko Chang, or The Marathon

There are lots of things to explain after the last blog entry, and that is partly because we have not stayed much iddle since we left our resort on the beaches of paradise.

Let's start from the beginning: From the resort we took the usual truck-converted in bus to the ferry harbour (fortunatelly, this time we were sitting inside, and not perched outside, like when we arrived to the island). From there we took the ferry, obviously, and the coach to Bangkok (having to suffer two more horribly bad films). Once in Bangkok, the SkyTrain and a local bus - small, painted bright green, wooden floor, the driver of which didn't bother to stop completely or get closer to the pavement when we arrived to the Northern Bus Station in the middle of the traffic jam, so everyone had to, literally, jump off.

From there we took a night bus to Sukhothai, to where we arrived at about 5am. Sukhothai also known as Rising of Happiness, and it was the first capital of Siam in the 13th century, lasting for some 200 years (the Golden Age of Siam), and where the Thai script was developed. During which period the country expanded to cover approximately the actual territory of Thailand.

Without much sleep (but who needs to sleep much during holidays? ;-)) we start visiting the Historical Park, covering some 70sq Km. Obviously we didn't visit *everything*, but we had a fair sampling of the best sights (as it will be shown when we upload some pictures). Fortunately we could rent some bikes to do all the moving around.









Sukhothai lost its position as capital of Siam when the realm weas absorved by Ayutthaya, in a periode of the Siamese history in which the realm expanded well into present day Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). This glorious period lasted for some 400 years, till the invasion by the Burmese.

So, again we hit the road to Phitsanulok, where we visit an excellent Ethnologic Museum (Sergeant Major Thawee Folk Museum) and a Buddha casting foundry. After that cultural break, we hit the rails this time to Ayutthaya, to arrive in the evening, settle for the night and to go to have dinner at a restaurant in a classic teak house in front of the Historical Park, with the view of the temples.

Today we have visited the main temples in the Historical Park in Ayutthaya, and tomorrow we leave again for Kanchanaburi....

SEA06: More on Ko Chang

SEA06: Ko Chang

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SEA06: Decisions after a long train trip

In my last entry to the blog, we were about to leave Chiang Mai, with the intention to go to Angkor afterwards. 

 

One of our main concerns for a trip like this one was about the security of our belongings during the night, as second class compartments comprise all the carriage. Fortunatelly, security is also a main concern of the Thai railway company, as we saw. On board of the train there were several 'Railway Police' Officers, who advised  everyone about keeping valuables under control at all times and surveilled the tran at night. During the night hours, some staff of the train were also vigilant at all times, and the doors between carriages locked (as in "chain & padlock on the door") during the hours when most people where sleeping, to avoid people roaming to other carriages than their own.

 

During the afternoon hours we could enjoy the changing landscape from the train. Afterwards we had dinner, and around midnight we tried to get to sleep. Our bunk beds were set by the railway staff and we 'retired' ourselves to sleep. Or to try to sleep, it would be more accurate. The movement of the train, the noise and the light made almost impossible to catch any sleep.    

At the time we arrived to Bangkok, it was too late to cach a convenient connexion to the border with Cambodia, and in any case we had learned about various problems and possible scams that could occur on that road to Angkor. On the other hand we realised that a site like Angkor deserves more than just a couple of hurried days to explore it. Finaly we decided that after all the travelling had done in the first days we decided than we deserved a small break and that the best thing was to head to the beach!! :-) 

 

So we took the metro, then the skytrain, a coach, then a ferry, and finally a hike hanging from the back of a truck an here we are, in Kai Bae Beach (Lonely Beach) in Ko Chang, one of the islands of the paradise... but that will be the story of another entry of this blog...  

SEA06: Leaving Chiang Mai

After four hectic days in the northern capital of the kingdom of a milion rice fields, we hit the road again. Well, to be precise, this time we'll hit the rails, as we are taking the "afternoon-night train" train to bangkok, to try to make a connection to Angkor in Cambodia.

During the last four days we  have enjoyed a completely diferent city to Bangkok. Chiang Mai has a quiet and relaxed Old Quarters, the city "intra-muros" where is possible to stroll without as much risk of being run over by various means of transport as in Bangkok. Multiple buddist temples add to the tranquility and relaxing athmosphere of the city, while many markets, night markets, bazaars, food stands and ultra modern comercial malls make for the ancient trade tradition of this city.






We have not only been in the city, we have also enjoyed one of the most beautiful mountail natural parks in the country, with the highest mountain (Doi Ithanon 2590m), and multiple waterfalls, etc.

OK, time to rush to the station!!

SEA06: Visiting Chiang Mai

SEA06: Breakfast at "The Wall" in Chiang Mai

Or how to endure a long day of exploration...

SEA06: Third day in Bangkok

SEA06: Second Day in Bangkok

SEA06: Note about the pictures in the blog

In some cybercafes it is not possible to upload the pictures of the trip, so you might find that the blog is updated sometimes in two "stages". First the text, and later all the pictures are added to some of the entries, or any other way.... Please be patient, and keep revisiting the blog often for new updates!!

 

;-)

 

Have fun!! (we are sure having lots!!) :-D

SEA06: First Day in Bangkok

Our hotel *is* really ritzy, not exactly what we expected from this trip, but is has been a perfect place to *land* in Bangkpok, and to recover a bit from the trip. Swimming pool in the top floor, huge fridge packed with beer in the room, sleepers, air/con. But, as said, a bit steep.




Anyway, after a short rest and a shower, off we go to explore this exciting city. With the help of the map we got from the airport, we manage to find our way to the station of one of the high-tech public transport systems of the city. This is a metro in the style of the one in Singapore. Fully automated, air-conditioned, ultra clean (forbidden to eat or drink in the premises, you are even supplied with plastic bags for your dripping umbrellas when it rains). Instead of tickets, you use a small plastic token you get from the ticket machine. That black plastic chip is electronically read at the entry of the metro, and swallowed again at the end, so it can be reused and no waste paper in the form of tickets is produced.



Once we get to the main train station, the situation changes. We enter into the chaotic, hot and humid, and agressive environtment of Bangkok's traffic. Cars, buses, millions of motorcycles, and Tuk-tuks all fight for road space, and the main strategy is to over-run any other moving vehicle, and dodge any obstacle in your way. As you can imagine, that makes is rather unfriendly for unsuspecting and somewhat jet-lagged tourists. May be we should include an entry some time on road ettiquette...

In any case, first thing as we get closer to the main train station to ask for some information, we are approached by this woman, who identifies herself as a registered tourism information agent, and who literally drags us to a tourist information office (more like a private-ish travel agency) *beside* (not into) the train station. Once there, we are seated, ofered a (sealed) glass of ice-cold mineral water, and given information and a quote for an organised version of our trip at a *very* interesting price (about 320E for 3weeks).

We thank them, and say that we have to think about it, take the tourism agent's card, and run politely away. It was an interesting proposition, and an excellent price, but not the kind of trip we had planned, we prefer to organise it ourselves, and have the freedom to change at our own will. A few more of these offers will arrive in coming days, but now we know what they are, and how to ignore them.

With just a couple of life-threatening experiences at the times of crossing the streets, we start towards the heart of Chinatown. We pass by the Chinatown Arch, visit the premises of the Temple of the Golden Buddha, and walk even deeper into the real Chinatown. Temperature and humidity are suffocating, and the traffic and the polution do not make it any better.







Streets are narrow, and organised by trade. We pass some areas devoted to mechanical repairs of all sort of machinery, traditional medicine, jewels, sacks, metal in different forms and shapes, food stands, some more markets that remind me of the zouks in Morocco (but selling mostly Chinese and Thai products), a few more Buddhist Temples, in one of which we saw the monk-students going to the Temple. It's just another world to what we knew from Europe.






Finally we decide we are tired, and we have already done a good job for the first day in Thailand, and we head back to the hotel. Swimming pool, shower, and dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. I thought I was doing a good job getting used to spicy food... mistake... I never thought that a *salad* could be that corrosive when put in contact with my tongue!!. Fortunately steamed rice and yellow curry were (almost) non-spicy (or may be I had already lost all sensibility in my tongue).





Time to plan the activities for tomorrow and rest a few hours.

SEA06: First day: getting there

To follow the good traditions, the journey started by going to bed late doing the last arrangements in for the trip, and having to get up painfully early to get to the CDG airport.

Usual queue for the check in, but with a very colorful and cosmopolitan melange of people. Tourists, families going back home for their holidays, and businessmen. Just in front of us, there was a French girl, that looked exactly like Marie Charion, from the concert we went in Paris last Friday!! (No, unfortunately it wasn't her... :-/ ).



Take off on time, and off we go, crossing Europe, then flying across Turkey, the Bosporus, Iraq, with its traditional fireworks in the 'banlieue' of Baghdad, and the view of the Tigris river; Kuwait, the Persian Gulf, and finally we landed in Bahrain for our transit.

In Bahrain, we could see important differences in commertial and cultural practices with respect toEurope. Some two hours later, we took our second flight of the day, and after watching Ice Age II on board and sleeping a few hours, we arrived to Bangkok and got a taxi to a beautiful and rather ritzy hotel in the center of the city.

SEA06: The journey starts...

...right now!!

SEA06: 24h, or the nightmare solved, sort of...

After a few calls, finally I've found an insurance that would give me repatriation and hospitalisation cover for he trip, (but not luggage theft or loss) even buying it the day before leaving. Not the cheapest one, but convenient, as I could even contract it over the net (only after someone from that company guided me through all the labyrinth of their web site to the 'buy online' section, which was not that obvious to find.

Now we've bought the last items we needed, and we can just go to central Paris to spend our last hours in Europe!!

SEA06: Only 48h, or the insurance nightmare

Everything is (almost) ready. My luggage mostly fits in my roller/backpack, after a bit of persuasion. Only some easy but vital details need to be sorted out. And one of those is the insurance. No sweat, I can get that one online, from one of the partners of Lonely Planet, WorldNomads, who specialises in adventurous travel. Mhhh.... I'm not living in the UK anymore (neither in Australia or New Zealand, obviously), and I'm not planning to travel to Australia during this trip, therefore it seems that the insurance I wanted to take would not cover me. Cold sweat. In a world where travel insurance is usually sold included in your travel package, and in a country where the length of bureaucratic procedures is measured in geological time-scales, realising that you do not have travel insurance barely two days before departure is a sure way to get stressed.

 

The people at WorldNomads swiftly and kindly tell me that they might (or might not) start offering the insurance I need from the 1st of August (or around, that date). That would be one week into my journey already. On the other hand, most French insurers either offer me yearly insurances, or tell me that I cannot pretend to get an insurance less than a couple of weeks/months before departure or that I could get one at three times the price of the normal premium, but only granting me half the cover. On top of that, no way to get the insurance done over the internet. Got to do it on the phone or find an insurance dealer.

 

Mhhhh....

 

(TO BE CONTINUED)

 

 

SEA06: Less than a week

Finally we are getting there... a bit of stress, but...

All vaccinations are taken, all types of mosquito repellants bought, together with all the rest of pharmacy stuff, from a very basic first aid kit; passing by water purification tablets (silver ones, not clorine, for water that tastes like water, instead of tasting like a public swimming pool); sun protection, shampoo, shaving stuff, toothpaste and other toiletries; toilet paper, as most public toilets over there might not supply it; the complete lot. Actually, given the climate and the recommendation on our travel guides about waiting to get there to buy everything else, our suitcases will be mostly empty, filled only with pharmacy stuff and electronics (i.e. mobile phone, MP3-player, digital camera and the chargers for all of them).

Boots, long sleeve shirts, long/short technical trousers, towel (as good Hitchhiker), swiss knife, camera, music, some reading, sunglasses, an old harmonica I never quite managed to play, a touareg-style headscarf instead of a hat, sandals, sewing kit, day backpack, passport, credit cards, plane reservations...

So, we are more or less ready to go.

SEA06 Two weeks and counting down

So, here we are, less than two weeks from the time to take the plane to Bangkok and start the expedition. Of course, there are still so many things to prepare, guides and books to read about the region, entries into this blog to write... and so little time!! I should also find time to pack of course, get my last vaccinations, insurance, hotel for the first days, list of addresses to send postcards to...

Well, let's not panic and start from the beginning. How will we get there? By plane of course. To choose the tickets we checked on various large internet travel agencies (travelocity, expedia, ...), and then checked about the quality of the various budget air companies on internet forums like airlinequality
. To choose the route first we saw that the cheapest destination was Bangkok (obviously, as it is the most tourist-friendly, or may be just the other way around), and the best origin airport was Charles de Gaulle in Paris (some other airports had also interesting connections). To get to Paris we are using other low-budget companies, not the connexions suggested by the large national companies (I actually live in Paris, on the RER (suburban metro) line to the airport, so that my place has become a convenient stop-over).

Much useful information and advice has come from guides like Lonely Planet and others, and from sites on the internet but most specially from the experiences of friends that have done some journey like this one (or much more adventurous) before. Thanks everyone!!

SEA06: Musee Guimet in Paris

The Musee Guimet is the Asian Art Museum of Paris. It was born from the interest in Egyptian and Asian art of an entrepreneur from Lyon. Among other collections it contains an astonishing selection of Khmer art, dating to the times when Indochina was under the influence of France.

SEA06: Why South-East Asia?

I guess that one of the first questions to sort out,  once one decides to do a long 'expeditionary' journey to some exotic place on the other side of the world, is *where to go*. Obviously, the answer will be different for each person, and will range from a sad and boring "Why bother, you can see it on TV", to many different potential destinations like New Caledonia, Tierra de Fuego, Nepal, South Africa, Japan, Yucatan, the Maghreb...

 

In my case is South East Asia. I'm not ruling out trying to visit all the abovementioned destinations as well, actually some of them come very shortly after SEA  in my Top Ten Destinations, but one has to start somewhere, and after already having done a few InterRails in Europe, one needs something a bit more 'adventurous'.

 

Why South-East Asia? Well, I guess I have adquired that image of exotism and adventure that is closely related to a landscape of green jungles and lost temples peering above the foillage. Early influences for that surely include TV series like those relating the adventures of "Sandokan" in Siam (Thailand), together with the films of the adventures of Dr. Quatermass in the jungles of Africa of the weekends of my childhood. Later came Tintin comic-books, Indiana Jones' films, and more recently Joseph Conrad novels.

 

Having very adventurous friends and family also helps a lot to develop this thirst for this sort of journeys. Finally, in less than a couple of months, I'll be taking a flight to Bangkok, to start my own exploration of Thailand and Cambodia.

 

:-)

 

 

Weekend in Normandy (I)

After a week of nice, warm and sunny weather, everyboody who could escape from the city and go to the seaside was doing that, and we could not be any less. The closest coast to Paris is Normandie, so, there we went!!

Starting from banlieue, we headed (roughly) West till we hit the Seine, and then followed it to Les Andelys, where we had a picnic lunch and our first fit of compulsive picture-snapping towards the scenery above the Seine, with a short walk to the ruins of Chateau Gaillard, the 12th Century stronghold of Richard the Lion-Heart. Unfortunately, as soon as Normandy was conquered by the French, Henri IV had it destroyed.

Anyway, after having replenished our lungs of fresh air, and our stomachs of boulangerie sanwiches, we proceed to the Normand coast, and into the Calvados region. Honfleur lies at the edge between the rocky Cote d'Albatre and the sandy beaches of the 'Basse Normandie'. It's an little old town with (two) charming old harbors, and a wooden church (Ste. Catherine) dating from the 15th Century, constructed in the same style as the one the Vikings that settled here buit in the first place.

Close to Honfleur we could visit a distillery of Calvados (apple brandy), and after a quick tour along the coast, we headed North to Etretat, to visit the scenic cliffs. Once there the athmosphere reminded me of that old PC game, Lemmings. Long lines of tourists were decorating the edges of the cliffs and the seaside, for as long in the distance as one could see.


(to be continued)