Thailand

Thailand-a million and one temples, capitals and night markets 

I arrived from Australia (via Malaysia) to Chiang Mai, Thailand, the largest city in the northern part of the country. Translated, Chiang Mai means "new city" when it became the new capital of a kingdom in the 1300's. Nowadays, the old city is still walled within a perfect square, each side measuring about one kilometer (.6miles) which are surrounded by a moat. Inside the old city the streets are tiny, curvy and would make a rat go insane. But wandering around you find so many gems like this temple above. 

On my second or third day in Chiang Mai, I rented a motorbike and traveled to a different temple up Doi Suthep mountain, overlooking the city and I had to laugh at this scene. EVERYWHERE there are signs saying NOT to touch/ring the bells-in Thai and English. And yet so many people were doing just that. Ringing or even rubbing  the bells to create an eerie sound is supposed to bring luck. 

Afterwards, I stopped into a jade museum/shop and although the saleslady did her best and had an answer to any of my excuses of why I couldn't buy anything right then and there she was kind enough to take me in the back to the workshop and I was blown away by the artists there. On the left you can see a rather large stone with the sketching of the final intended piece. And as you can also see-jade comes in many colors, greens, purples, oranges and variations of white. On the right is an artist hard at work with a buffer.

After some very curvy and steep roads, I arrived at the top of the mountain to a small Hmong village. I walked around for a bit and got to see the children being dismissed from school and then playing some ball games. I also witnessed some local women working together on a huge loom. It was amazing to watch them. 

Chiang Mai (and a lot of Thailand) is known for their night markets, some of which take over whole streets and others which are designated areas with tents and lights (as seen above). In Chiang Mai alone, there was at least one or two different ones a night where (mostly tourists but also a lot of locals) go for some delicious food and all sorts of souvenirs. 

  

I don't think in my entire month in Thailand I ate in a traditional restaurant more than a few times. Most of my food came from all of the street vendors and night markets that filled the sidewalks and roads. Upper left: my first papaya salad in Thailand. It was here that I learned the word for spicy (pey/pay) after I unsuccessfully tried to convince the lady to serve the dish extra spicy. Probably having dealt with stupid foreigners before she refused. But when I ate it and told her it wasn't spicy enough she and her friends proceeded to teach me how to order from then on. 

Upper right: little fried quail eggs served in banana leaves. They looked like they were made for a doll house's kitchen. 

Bottom left: omelettes served in banana leaves. I just love the unique ways things are cooked and served in different places.

Bottom right: grilled squid-yum yum yum

           
After a week in Chiang Mai I headed northeast to Chiang Rai (another former capital-Thailand has had many over the centuries). There I Couchsurfed and met Trish-a Singaporean native who accompanied me on a few epic motorbike trips. Our first was to the border of Burma/Myanmar as indicated by the arrow. The whole border had wire fencing along it and we stopped several times at military check points. 

On the right is us with our bike at the mechanic because having traveled up and down several mountains throughout the day on an automatic bike the brakes had worn out and twice we nearly died. It was a bit scary but we were lucky and managed to veer off both times and roll to a stop. Then between an English ex-pat out for a Sunday ride, a crazy French bicyclist and a kind Thai couple with a truck, we managed to get out bike down the mountain and to the mechanic. 

The next day we exchanged out automatic bike for a semi automatic (with gears) and visited the White Temple or Wat Rong Khun. This temple is unique in Thailand because it is privately owned by a local artist who has invested millions of his own dollars into renovating the temple and predicts that the 20 years he's been working on it is only the beginning as it will need another 60-70 years more to be finished. (he is expecting eternal salvation for his efforts). 

As you can see behind my new boyfriend and myself, the entire temple (and all of the future buildings around it) is entirely white and most of it is covered in shards of glass so that it reflects the sun. The only building not white is the bathroom-which is entirely in gold. It's ranked as one of the nicest bathrooms in the world. 

Inside the main temple, instead of finding the normal images of Buddha and his life's adventures, you find instead paintings like these. I hope you can see the little cartoons-Neo, Darth Vadar, Hello Kitty, Michael Jackson, Freddy Krugger, Superman, Harry Potter, Kung Fu Panda, Sailor Moon, Angry Bird and a Transformer. Although it looks all fun and entertaining, the meaning behind it is that humans are evil......

Probably the best part of the whole visit to the White Temple was discovering the workshop, which was an enormous warehouse out the back of the property. There we were able to see all of the hired artists who painstakingly make all of the details for the temples possible. Each of these pieces was sketched, cut out, covered in a plaster, painted and then inlaid with pieces of glass. I would have loved to stayed all day and watched. 

  

Trish and my next adventure took us on a day's journey from Chiang Rai to Phu Chi Fah. It is a pretty popular destination for Thai people to see the "sea of mist" as the sun rises over the mountains and the fog starts to dissipate. We weren't there at the best time of year since it's pretty hazy most days, all day, but it was still a pretty cool experience to wake up at 4, hike up the mountain in the dark and be the first ones up there. My friend got a great cheeky shot of these monks up there as well. 

People often ask me why I run and why I get up so early to run. Above you can see two reasons. I had to cut through a few rice paddies to get the sunrise picture but it was worth it.

 I LOVE the idea that I get to see things/places/animals that most others don't get to experience. Running while I travel gets me further and into more remote locations than I would normally walk and where no guidebook would send me. 

Back in Chiang Mai, I stayed with another couchsurfing host (Tong) and one of our first stops was his friend's coffee shop which may seem uneventful but turned out to be the first step in the right direction. While there I admired all of the wood work displayed (can you see all of the hundreds of bits of wood, pieced together for the bar?) and Tong told me that he actually knew the artist and that they are good friends. So off we went to find this genius and what I saw was beyond spectacular. 

Thamarat Phokai's workshop was in a tiny, tiny little village down a one lane road, through some mountains. The setting was beautiful-overlooking a small stream and surrounded by tall green trees. This studio (above) and his house (below) are both opened air and very simple. He and his partner were so welcoming, after a few beers they invited us to stay and proceeded to cook an amazing meal. Google him-and be prepared to be blown away!

The next day Tong took me to the "Sticky Waterfalls" or Bua Thong/Tong- named because you can climb up and down the waterfall without fear of slipping. The rocks have been covered in mineral deposits that make them almost like pumice stones and no algae grows on them so it's perfectly safe to climb as you wish. It was also tons of fun to just sit in the waterfall and let the water rush past.  

Another amazing contact I made through Couchsurfing brought me northwest of Chiang Mai to Fang-a city little known by foreign tourists but a highlight for Thai as it has some hot springs inside of a national park. I met Tra-seen above-who invited me to stay with him for a few days and got a chance to see the park, experience the hot springs (even though it was pretty much too hot to really enjoy them for more than 10 minutes at a go) and relax in his coffee shop/art gallery. Tra was working for the government when he decided that he wanted to change directions and bought this coffee shop. He has become a bit of an artist himself in both the sense that all of his drinks served are beautifully prepared and presented and also because the coffee shop is full of the works of many Thai artists-including all of the furniture, sculptures, plates, cups and clothing. 

When I mentioned to Tra that I had seen some monks walking the streets collecting alms during my morning run he told me that they lived at the local temple and that he goes there often to help prepare their meals. So he asked if I'd like to go and help as well. I jumped at the chance, got dressed in my most modest attire (have to be respectful of the monks) and went to help turn all of the little bits of donated food they receive from local villagers while out on their morning walks into a delicious meal (the only one they eat all day). We got to eat as well and it definitely ranks as one of my most memorable meals ever. 

These PSAs were on a sign outside a temple in Sukhothai (another former capital) and they made me laugh, so I thought I'd share. I hope you are able to read all of these.  Enjoy. 

Both Sukhothai and Ayutthaya (ANOTHER former capital) boast some of the best ruins in the country. On the left is the head of a Buddha that became ensnared in a tree and is now one of the top things to see in the city. On the right is just a small example of the gorgeous ruins that dot the entire city. 

This pagoda was constructed by a king in honor of his eldest son....who the king had put to death by public whipping. The son had gotten a little too familiar with one of the king's concubines and apparently not all fathers are forgiving. But the pagoda totally makes up for it, right?

Wat Yah Chaimongkhon was constructed by a king as a way to celebrate his victory in defeating an attacking Burmese army. However, several generals did not respond in time to his orders and therefore he didn't inflict as many losses as he could have. His first reaction was to have them all killed, but a monk managed to convince him to build this instead. Those generals lucked out. 

Yup!

I know we Americans get a lot of flak for being lazy, but this may take the cake. While on a weekend trip with another Couchsurfing family (Ketsara and her son Big Louie sitting next to me along with the son's nanny), we were picked up by a local restaurant in this motorbike and sidecar and driven to dinner. Later when we finished we were driven back. It still makes me laugh thinking about it now.

On the way back from the weekend trip, we stopped in the National Science Center for Education and Observatory which was all well and good but being all in Thai I was a bit bored.....UNTIL... I saw this ride and jumped right in line. LOVED it. 

So as you might have realized by now-I did not go to any beaches in Thailand-a sin according to most. (I did take a boat trip but there weren't any beaches to speak of.) I also haven't posted any pictures of Bangkok, which I did spend a few days in but don't have as many wild stories from. 

My time in Thailand was spent with a lot of local Thai people who I met through Couchsurfing and who showed me places that I would never have heard about without their help. I was also invited into so many homes and treated so kindly, I will never forget everyone's generosity and hospitality. 

Thank you very much to all of my hosts. 

Tasmania-Land of the Devils

Tasmania-Land of the Devils

For a while there it seemed that I was not destined to go to Tasmania. Arriving at the docks one beautiful summer night in January (summer in Australia), a sudden wind storm-blowing at 100km/h or 60mph-caused both the ferry to rip free of its moorings and also for the car ramp to snap in half (see above). It was a bit exciting to be there and see it first hand but it set me back more than a week in my travels. 

Not deterred I finally got my car on the ferry about 10 days later and took the 12+hour journey from Melbourne to Devonport. No-I did not get a new car-just snuck a quick shot while getting into my old wreck. 

And so began the best month ever! Tasmania was one beautiful sight, sound and taste after another. We (my travel companions you can see below) stopped many times along the road for cider, beer, wine, cheese, chocolate, berry and ice cream tastings-just to name a few. 

The original goal upon arriving in Tasmania was to spend a few weeks picking fruit-a common job on the island. But luck wasn't with us and most of the fruits were just out of season. I spent only one day picking blueberries -a total of about 26kilos or 57lbs of blueberries for this local farmer. And I probably ate nearly as much. The pay wasn't great but turns out he's also an amateur brewer and threw in a bottle of his latest brew to sample. 

Once we realized that there was no work to be had, we decided to stop wasting time and got on the road. We stopped at Bay of Fires on the east coast-named because a sea captain noticed many fires burning there upon arrival. But the name works double time because the lichen that grows on the rocks is bright orange and it almost looks inflamed. 

Next we hit up Wineglass Bay. The picture on the left is from my early morning run and the one on the right is after the hike up to the lookout. Again, the name has two possible birth places. The curve of the beach is like a wine glass, but also the area was used for whaling way back, and the water would have been stained a nice red! And I personally thought that the way to the two bays meet (picture on the right) looks like the stem of a wineglass......so who's right? 

MY FIRST JOEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After nearly a year in Oz I finally saw a baby Joey in his mother's pouch. Unfortunately it was because the animals in the park have gotten so used to visitors that they come begging. But it was so cute!

I adore fun, matter of fact names like this one. "Wow, this cave is remarkable." "Thank you for solving the problem of naming it."
 Remarkable Cave's name derives from the fact that when the water recedes, you can walk from this point though these tunnels out into the ocean. And when you look though the tunnel from this exact point you can see that the outline of the hole in the background is a map of Tasmania!

This old barn caught my eye one rainy day. I stopped to try and capture the beautiful colors of the barn and the pastures around it. During my photoshoot I noticed this barbed wire fence that was covered in fleece from all of the sheep that have gotten caught in it over the years. It's little details like this that make being on the road extra special-not just the big touristy spots. 

However, that doesn't mean those big touristy spots should be ignored.

On that same rainy day we checked out a few other points of interest, that because of the stormy weather, were that much more spectacular. The Blow Hole-where water comes rushing in from the coast and bursts out of the opening and the Devil's Kitchen which was a swirling rush of humongous waves, crashing into the sheer cliffs. One of my travels buddies (who's English was minimal at the time) looked out of the cliffs, then at me and said, "This is definitely the best day ever." I agree.

Two of the best hot chocolates of my life, although the one on the right was leagues ahead. Both were a chili chocolate made in house. 

When you travel with a world renowned chef and a French girl you become more aware of the simple things in life-like the herb garden at a botanical garden in Hobart. They kept leaning over to rub the leaves and then smell them and talk about all of the wonderful dishes they could make with these herbs. So I had to pretend I knew what I was doing too. 

The Tasmania Tiger, inaccurately named for its stripes even though it's a marsupial and closely related to the Devil. For many reasons it went extinct in the 1930's, but it has taken on the lore similar to the Lock Ness monster and Big Food, such that people are constantly on the lookout for evidence of its continued existence. 

Mt. Field National Park-one of my favorite hikes in all of Australia and one that wasn't even on our radar till it was recommended by our Couchsurfing host. Sitting among the peaks of the mountain range were all of these little finger lakes, each one blue and crystal clear. 

Having created my Couchsurfing account years ago, I did not get into it until Tasmania, thanks to one of  my travel companions. Our second experience put me in contact with this motley crew- two Belgiums, a French girl, an Argentinian and a local Aussie (our gracious host).  Since then I've surfed my way through the rest of Oz, and onto Thailand and Taiwan. It an amazing way to meet both locals who give you great insight and other travelers who share your love of traveling.
Plus we lucked out because it was Mardi Gras or Pancake Day in France-so we had some delicious savory and sweet crepes made for us. Thanks ladies. 

I did manage to throw some more sophisticated culture into my trip (unless we can agree that wineries are sophisticated). In Hobart we stopped in at the MONA-Museum of Old and New Art. On the right, a cement mixer made from laser-cut steel which looks like it would be a better decoration for some 19th century balcony. And on the right-a bit-fall machine uses an algorithm to gather words from the Internet and then spells them out in precise internals of water droplets. It was mesmerizing. 

Leaving Hobart for a few days my friend and I set out to dig up as many oysters as we could from a little known spot called Cockle Creek on the southern coast of Tasmania. Although the oysters ended up being a disappointment we were able to eat THREE huge seafood meals that we collected ourselves. Running our fingers through the riverbeds of the creek gave us more than enough cockles (~small clams) and mussels plus our campground neighbor donated a large crab and some abalone that he had dove for that day (probably about $100 worth!).  

This little guy is called a pademelon-the smallest in the kangaroo and wallaby family. They are much more friendly and curious than their cousins and were hopping all around the campground without a care for the humans. Or maybe they did care ;)

After our delicious, fresh-caught and free seafood dinner, we camped out and woke up to hike to the southern-most part of Tasmania-making it the southern most part of all of Australia (so: northern-most, eastern-most and southern-most points of the country-check, check and check).  The Southern Ocean-known for being extremely dangerous to sailors, was very ominously marked with whale bones. 

One of our goals while out hiking was to always find a unique and beautiful site to have a picnic. We tried out this log one day in the Lake St. Clair National Park and while beautiful, it was a bit difficult to keep all of our things safely on the log. 

 

Arriving at Cradle Mountain National Park I slammed on the brakes to catch a shot of this wombat on the left. We were so excited and proud of ourselves that we had caught a glimpse of the adorable, fluffball. However, the next day we saw about 20 wombats (including a few babies). We definitely felt a bit silly for our initial reaction-but still just as excited to watch these pigs crossed with bears.

Looking at this picture now I can see how people might think it's photoshopped-that this background is fake. But I assure you that it's not. This was the start of a short walk around Dove Lake, seen in the background. At the end of the walk I decided that after 4 days of camping out without running water I needed a shower! So I forced myself to take a dip in the frigid water. My goal was to bob under for 10 seconds but within the first second my body was so shocked by the cold that I gasped, sucked in water and surfaced-coughing water out of my lungs.  But at least I was "clean" again.

You can see the peak of Cradle Mountain above my head in the photo above. The next day we set out on a 20km/11mile hike that took us to the peak. Below left was the last hour or so of the hike. Giant boulders are piled on top of one another and we had to jump from one to the other. It was tiring and challenging but it made for a nice break from some of the straighter trails we'd hiked. As you can see from the photo on the right-I was super pumped to have finally arrived at the top.  

I'm constantly reading signs and posts and I love when I find something that makes me smile or laugh. Can you tell why I took this picture? 

Tasmania was dotted with small, older towns that had some beautiful well-preserved buildings and houses from the last century or so. In Stanley we walked the main drag admiring the houses and the gardens. Everyone I saw stopped what they were doing to say hello and tell me a bit about what they were doing in their gardens. And no one I met had two heads (mainlanders joke that Tassies are inbred-much like our southerners). 

Thanks again to my sister, I knew to be on the lookout for platypuses and after nearly an hour of searching we found one swimming about in a beautiful, peaceful river. Later that night we took a tour with a local group who show you the nesting spot of the Fairy Penguins which are the smallest of all penguins. 

Welcome to Penguin, Tasmania where EVERYTHING is penguin related. 

And the whole reason one goes to Tasmania-the DEVILS!!!!!!!!!!! These guys are extremely shy and were one of the few animals that are nearly impossible to see in the wild so we headed to a nature conservatory where we got to witness these little buggers really tear into a kangaroo leg. At one point while one of the caretakers held the leg over a fence, a few of them were hanging onto the meat, feet dangling in the air.
Quick fun facts: Devils have one of the most powerful bite force quotients for their size; females have a rear-facing pouch; and mothers give birth to about 50 pea size babies, but only the first few who make it to the pouch will survive and grow. 

and so ended the best month ever. I'll be back Tasmania.