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Prepare to Log the Planet....
Travel Log
Travel Log
(We have finished our travels in Thailand. Please turn to the India Page for more logs.)
Bangkok, Thailand 17 January, 2002
We are now concluding out Southeast Asia tour. Our next entry will be on the India page. The last three days in Bangkok were spent resting and settling the computer problems (bought a new one in the end).
Southeast Asia was a great start to this trek, and now we're preparing for India.
Chiang Mai, Thailand 14 January, 2002
We were told that there isn't much to look for in Chiang Mai for more than a two or three days, but we prooved them wrong. We spend a week there and never completed all this things we had planned. The city itself offers a great deal for children, and the surrounding area is endless. We found a nice guest house just outside the old city moat. Like in other places inThailand, Chiang Mai is very tourist oriented, which really didn't bother us after Vietnam.
We started right off with a hike, elephant trek and bamboo rafting. These trips outside of Chiang Mai are great for the children - not too difficult, but enough to get them to sleep early. This completed our 8 vehicles in three days travels (Taxi, plane, tuk tuk, train, elephant, raft, truck, jeep), and we were looking forward to finding another mode of transportation.
Visiting temples was another hobby in Chiang Mai. We seemed to get to a new one every day. But the highlight of the week, following the elephant trek, was the fourth day when we split up and took some classes. Uriah, Maayan and Danna went to a Thai message class, while Shachar and Bryan went to a Thai cooking class (The picture below is from that class - Shachar is pointing out the different kinds of hot peppers in the local market). We all returned feeling like we now have something to bring back home.
For Uriah, climbing this 15 meter climbing wall three times - and reaching the top all three - was a great feat. Ian, prepare the ropes.
All in all, Chiang Mai was a bit of a vacation for us. We were able to relax and keep busy. The only mismake we made was to go to the zoo on "Children's Day." It turned out that is was traditional for almost all of the children in Chaing Mai to go to the zoo on "Children's Day". Probably the most crowded piece of land in the country at that moment. It was a zoo.
Koh Chang Island, Thailand Sunday, December 23, 2001
We really didn’t need a break in paradise so quickly, but we got one. Koh Chang Island, about a five hour drive and one hour boat ride east of Bangkok, is beautiful. It’s a small island, about 20 km around, with beach from bungalows and jungles in the middle. There seems to be quite a bit to do here, and most of the tourists are Thai, although there are a good deal of westerers as well. In any case, it’s much less crowded than other island resorts in Thailand, like Phuket. Most of the time it’s rather empty.
We rented a small bungalow room for the five of us, and have been relaxing, trying to manage finding food that we’ll all eat, and walking around the island. Today we took a short trip to a local waterfall, and the kids swam with a group of Thai high school students – who like all Thais, were crazy about the girls. Now whenever Shachar sees an Oriental person approaching her, she folds her arms, turns her back towards them and hopes they won’t touch her. I guess it’s like walking in front of your cheek-pinching aunts over and over and over again.
The kids each got a Thai massage here – Maayan and Uriah ended up getting two. They were melting on the grass in ecstasy. They’re all reading more then ever before in teir lives, and starting to get into the island life. Tomorrow we move on. Two days of travel await us – one from Koh Chang back to Bangkok and then the next day to Hanoi.
Bangkok. Tuesday December 18-22, 2001
We arrived in Bangkok exhausted and excited. The flight, via Tashkent on Uzbekistan Airlines, was suprisingly pleasant. Upon arrivning, we found the hotel was of a much higher standard than what we had expected, but we knew it would be the last “nice” hotel we’d see for a long, long time. We spent the first day checking the area, and sleeping. During our first walk around the block, the kids were taken back by the smells of the road (Shachar had her nose blocked the whole time). They’re misplaced and need some time to get acclimated. The fried cockroaches caught them off guard.
Our decision to upgrade in Bangkok, before we take to the backpacker’s trail, was a good one. We need to take this slowly. However, the highlight for the girls was making a new friend – a four year old girl from Singapore named Sirling. They met at the pool and spent the rest of the evening together. Maayan wanted to invite her to join us for the day, but they couldn’t be reached.
Bangkok is exceedingly friendly. Shachar, at one point said, “She’s nice, she smiled at me.” Only then did she begin to realize that all of Thailand is like that. They’re crazy about her. They don’t stop touching her. She got pretty sick of it fairly fast. Day two was the Grand Palace tour and a boat ride up the Chao Phraya River. How the river impressed them more than the Grand Palace, I’ll never know, but it did. I suppose I can take some joy in knowing that gold isn’t what gets them excited.
We’re still learning how to travel together, how to see the world as it is, and not how it should be, and to just get along… all the time.
Day three was a bit more to our liking. We took a taxi to Khao San street (one driver tried to tell us that it was closed – a common trick to get us to go where they get commitions. “The whole street is closed.” We just got right out of the taxi and took the next one.), and then to the flower market, and a river bus to Wat Po. Wat Po got the kids attention. Maayan counted the Bhuda’s (she reached 972), and Shachar went with Danna to learn how to meditate. Shachar kept wanting to see “Bhuda Maccabbi.” While walking to Chinatown, Uriah ran into a Thai Tuk Tuk driver who kept throwing out Hebrew soccer chants.
18 December 2001
We have arrived in Bangkok and are doing great. I'll have a more serious update in the near future, but for now, just know that all is well and Shachar and the Thai people are carrying on a facinating love affair.
Please take a look at our current location and itnerary to see when we're planning on arriving.
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Logs so far:
Canada
U.S.
India
To Arambol
To Mysore
To Cochin
To Varkala
To Kakkamoolah
To Madurai
To Kodaikannal
To Thanjavur
To Auroville
To Mamallapuram
To Vietnam
To Thailand
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