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Chiang Mai
I crossed the border into Thailand and the city of Chiang Rai where I stayed for a couple of days before moving on to Chiang Mai. I had just arrived when I got an e-mail from Shane (whom I had met in China and again in Cambodia) saying that he was in Chiang Mai but was leaving that night so I went straight to the area he was staying and went to a nice Restaurant with his pals for the evening. He left before the night was out of course but we carried on in style, so after literally just arriving I was fortunate to have already met a group of people who were going to be hanging around Chiang Mai for a a few days more.
My plan was to stay in Chiang Mai for a while as there were lots of options (almost too many) regarding things to do and so one of my first priorities was to find myself a place I could call my local. The second bar I tried was called the Saxaphone and almost immediately I felt like I'd made a big mistake. As soon as I sat down I was
accosted by a very camp male love struck Romeo who seemed to think that I was the answer to his dreams. I was making excuses to try and get away and shuffled next to the good looking girl who was ordering drinks at the bar ...... in a man's voice. I was trapped between Romeo and a Ladyboy! Of course, the barmaids behind the counter found all of this hilarious and just as I thought the night couldn't get any stranger an elephant walked into the bar! It was a baby elephant about my own height and he was doing a head-banging type dance in return for food that it's owner sold to customers willing to pay for it. I of course leapt off my seat and did exactly that. I have no idea whether the practice of walking elephants from bar to bar and getting them to dance in exchange for food is cruel or not but it got me out of my predicament and I found a spot next to one of the barmaids who was by now on my side of the bar having a beer. Mission accomplished - I'd found my local.
May 8th is
a glorious day in anyones calendar as it's the date of my birth. It is also the date of the Buddha's enlightentment and to celebrate both of these momentous occassions the whole of Chiang Mai was closed down as a mark of respect. The night before there was a 17km evening pilgrimage/walk to Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple on the far side of town which I attended and stayed in the temple overnight, making my way back (by Songthaew) the following morning. It was a very interesting cultural experience although the downpour that we received an hour before we reached the top literally put a dampner on things. We were all woken up by monks at 4.30am on the morning of the 8th for the beginning of the religious proceedings which lasted a couple of hours. Chiang Mai being closed there wasn't a lot in town to do but the barstaff in the Saxaphone had invited me to a seafood barbeque that evening followed by a drive to a small resort type complex where there was live music and beer. It was all a bit like Good Friday at home - nothing at all open but yet one of the
biggest piss-ups of the year. A great way to celebrate my 21st!!
I did something a bit mad next and attended a 3 day meditation course in Doi Suthep, the same temple that I'd been to on the night of the 7th. A few people had said that they had attended (some for as long as 21 days) and enjoyed the experience and while I didn't think it would be my cup of tea it was going to be a case of nothing ventured nothing gained and the course itself was for free (donation only required). It was mad. We all had to wear white clothing and were allowed only 2 meals per day - the last one being at 11am after having arisen at 5am. There was suppossed to be no reading of books, no talking or listening to music etc. I went through the motions as best I could but it wasn't for me and was very happy that I'd brought a large book to read on Genghis Khan despite the ban. So there was my life changing experience, I went in an easy going, nature loving Irishman and came out a tyrant!
Pia
I managed
to get temporarily away from Chiang Mai and headed northwards to the new age feel town of Pia. It was here, while driving a scooter around the countryside for the day, that I finally decided to take an elephant ride as the animals at least looked as though they were being looked after. So there I was, holding onto a rope that was tied around the animals neck and sitting behind behind the Mahout on the back of Bana the elephant when the Mahout coughed a command, the elephant lifted it's front leg and the Mahout got off. I than had to let go of the rope and move up to right behind the elephants ears with nothing for support but the animal's head. It was quiet scary sitting on top as the elephant walked and every so often made a dart for a banana plant in the search of food but that was nothing until we went into the water. The mahout told me to hold onto the tops of the elephants ears and the elephant would sit but poor old Bana didn't approve of me holding his ears and shook his head violently throwing me into the water
Chiang Mai
The "saner" customers and staff of the Saxaphone barto the laughs and cries of "Oh my Buddha" from the Mahout. After the third time that I'd been thrown off I'd had enough but it was still good fun and I took my aching limbs back to town.
Mae Hong Son
I next went to the town of Mae Hong Son in the hope of doing some trekking but being off season and with the stifling heat it wasn't really practical so it was a motorbike job once again as I went to the minority village of the long necked Karen people who fled to Thailand from Burma to escape repression. Girls start wearing brass rings on their necks from the time they are 6 years old, adding one or two each year until they are 16. The rings cause the collarbones and ribs to collapse thus the long neck and removal of the rings would cause the collapse of the neck and suffocation. Unfortunately, the village itself wasn't very authentic as all the women seemed to be selling trinkets of some sort or order but I couldn't blame them for doing so as they have no real rights in Thailand and it is the only way that
Chiang Mai
The dancing elephant leaving the bar they seem to be able to make a living.
I don't know how I attract them but I had a strange case of deja vu as a local ladyboy made his presence known in the local boozer and once again I was rescued by the bar staff who have become firm friends. They already had pretty good English so in exchange for Thai language lessons I taught them some Irish and changed their names to Cathal, Deirdre and Seamus which they were delighted with. The names have absolutely no bearing on their real Thai names but the Thai name of Siam that they gave me doesn't seem to make much sense either. From there I went back to Chiang Mai for a couple of more days and than boarded a bus for Bangkok.
Bangkok
The laid back atmosphere of Chaing Mai and the north gave way to the more vibrant but impersonal capital. It was all here - the sleaze, cheap Rolex watches; con artists and the like. I only spent about 4 days here visiting amongst other places the Bangkok palace and nearby Kanchanaburi which is famous for the location of the death railway and the Bridge
over the river Kwai. It was time to hit the beach ...
Ko Phangan
It had to happen. I'd been travelling a little over 11 months and had been fortunate not to have had anything stolen. My rucksack was rifled on the bus from Bangkok to Surat Thani (the jumping off point for the island of Ko Phangan) and the thieves got away with my "reserve" cash of 5,000 Baht (about 100 Euros) as well as one of my credit cards that I was using as back-up. It wasn't the end of the world though as I had all my other valuables on me and if someone told me before this trip that I would have a credit card and 100 Euros stolen during my time away it wouldn't have deterred me one iota.
The beaches of Ko Phangan more than made up for the loss and I found myself a quiet one away from the tourist throng and full moon parties and did pretty much nothing except swimming, reading and chilling for the almost 2 weeks I was there. It was great.
Ko Tao
It would have been a crime to come to Thailand and not
do some diving so I next caught a ferry to the nearby island of Ko Tao. I only meant to do one or two dives on a couple of alternate days but I ended up doing 7 in total over a 3 day period. I saw my first wreck, did a night dive and did a deep dive to 30m all of which were brilliant and the sea life was amazing, especially when I ended up in the middle of a large school of fusilier's, although I was slightly disappointed not to have seen any large Stingrays, turtles or one of the Whale Sharks (they're herbivores!) that were in the area. Those dives were all classified as adventure dives so by doing 2 more (navigation and buoyancy) I've now strangely qualified as an Advanced Open Water Diver. Who says accountants are boring!!! The diving was so good and very cheap (about 14 Euros for a fun dive and 30 for an adventure) that I didn't see any part of the island except for my accomodation and I was sorry not to have planned a visit to Ko Tao sooner.
Malaysia
Georgetown, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka
I was flying
home from Singapore so I next caught a ferry to the town of Chumphon on the Thai mainland and from there caught an overnight train to Butterworth in Northern Malaysia. There wasn't much there so I jumped on the ferry for the 20 minute ride to the town of Georgetown on the island of Penang, where I spent the night. The following day I went back to Butterworth and caught another overnight train to Kuala Lumpur and it was while I was on the train I met a Singaporean who wanted to go and see the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and sure enough when we arrived at 5.30am in the morning we shared a taxi to the two Petronas Towers which weren't as big as I'd imagined but were an impressive sight nonetheless. However, my personal highlight was when we went to get something to eat and I had the huge benefit of a "local" in my company who pointed out all that was good to eat. It was a culinary feast. We than went our seperate ways as he went to Singapore and I caught the bus to the town of Melaka which was an interesting fusion of
Portugese, Dutch and British colonial architecture as well as large populations of Chinese, Indians and native Malaysians. The following afternoon I caught the bus to Singapore airport. It was time to go home.
The End.
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