Asia: Thailand 2018

Wanderlust  (won'der~lust')

n.  A strong or irresistible desire to travel and rove about.

On January 12, 2018 Melanie and moi flew, via Portugal, England and Bahrain, to Bangkok Thailand.  This would be the start of a Southeast Asia holiday that would last 3 months and take us to three countries (Thailand, Laos & Cambodia).  During this time we would also be joined for the Cambodian portion of the trip by our friends Steve & Linda Campbell.  The following is an account of that trip.....enjoy!

Thailand 

The Kingdom of Thailand lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a natural gateway to Indochina, Myanmar, and Southern China.  Its shape and geography divide into four natural regions:  the mountains and forest of the North; the vast rice fields of the central plains; the semi-arid farm lands of the northeast plateau; and the tropical islands and long coastline of the south peninsula.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Rama X (the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty), the present king.  The King is revered in Thailand and is recognized as Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, and Upholder of the Buddhist religion. 

Thailand embraces a rich diversity of cultures and traditions.  With a proud history, tropical climate and renowned hospitality, the Kingdom is a never-ending source of fascination for visitors.

Our trip begins in......

Chiang Mai

Despite being more than 700 years old and filled with more than 300 Buddhist temples, Chiang Mai means "new city" - and is Thailand's second largest city.  It still manages to preserve a little of the atmosphere of an overgrown village.  The Old Quarter, set within a two-kilometre square moat, has retained many of its traditional wooden houses, inviting guesthouses plus good markets and plenty of sights make it hugely appealing place to many travellers.

We head out for a night time walk around the town......

The 'Old Quarter' moat and remnants of the old fort walls that once surrounded the town.

We head for the Chiang Mai night market, a bustling market that is a legacy of the original Yunnanese trading caravans that stopped here along the ancient route between China and Myanmar.

One of the things at the market that you can do is to have your feet submerged in a fish filled tank whereby the said fish nibble on the dead skin of your feet.....something akin to a foot pedicure.  But first things first and that means a foot cleaning so the foot stink don't kill the said fish......

....it's like a mini-attack of Jaws.  Killer man-eating fish.....

....after 15 minutes my feet had been chewed down to a stump.  I don't think my sandals will fit me anymore!!

The selfie miesters at the local night market food court!

The night was topped off with some good old cover music at the Colour Bar!!

The next day we awoke to melting heat, so a relaxing swim in the hotel pool was in order....

Melanie 3 floors up and we were the only ones here.

WTF #4.  It's the pigeon shit cleaner. 

After a refreshing swim and our reflection on the hard work of the Health & Safety Committees in Thailand, we head out to explore this ancient town.....

Oh look, it's the Broom Salesman.....the amazing thing is he has a lot of customers.  Apparently he drives a BMW.

Narrow streets are the norm in Chiang Mai.....scooters are also the norm.

The infamous Thailand tuk-tuk taxi stand.

DAMN.  Guess I can't go any further.

"Yes, I'll have the Gaul of Goat please."

The Yupparaj Wittayalai School crossing...say that real fast three times!

WTF #15.....no seriously, WTF???

The next night we head into the old quarter to check out the.....

Sunday Walking Street Market

The Sunday Walking Street Market is an animated and boisterous market that operates from 4PM to midnight.  It's where the locals come to shop.

The market just getting set up.  At this time we were unaware how crazy it would eventually get.

Melanie satisfying that female compelling need to shop....this time it is cut-off jeans for $2.50 Cdn.

The Blind Boys of Thailand.....someone should have told them that they were sitting right in the middle of the road!

Thousands of people EVERYWHERE  including at the food stalls.

Decided the next day to go Temple watching.  Chiang Mai is not exactly short of a temple or two. There are over 300 temples or ‘wats’ scattered throughout the city and surrounding countryside - no other province in the whole of Thailand is home to more.  We didn't have to stroll far to see some of the best......

Many of the Wat trappings include such odd items as life-size carvings of dragons and elephants....not that I know what a life size dragon looks like but....

Some of these Wat items are ancient like this Buddha head that dates back to the 14th century (I think he's had a nose job).

This particular Wat had a beautiful fish pond with a lantern and umbrella bamboo bridge spanning the length of the said pond.....

......plus it also had these enormous lilly pads (the leaves were about 3 feet diameter) in the pond.  They are so large we saw a dog walk across the pond on the leaves.....not a true story!

The ever present dragon that guards many of the Wat's.

The Wat Chiang Man is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai and goes back all the way to the founding of the city in 1296.  All I can say to that is...WOW.

All Wat's house an image or two of Buddha and usually there is a scattered devotee praying in front of these housed Buddha's.  This particular Temple houses the oldest Buddha image in Chiang Mai dating back to 1465, the devotee only dates back to 1994.

"Out of the smoke of the dawn of man
Out of the ocean across the sand
Reaching forth with an ancient hand
Dragon Lady"

Blue Oyster Cult  Dragon Lady

The Wat Chedi Luang was erected at the epicentre of the city, to mark the centre of the universe, which in the past (apparently) was the Lanna Kingdom.....my advise is to mention nothing of this to Donald Trump.

Inside the main temple of the Wat Chedi Laung which was founded in 1391 (over a hundred years before Newfoundland was discovered).

Mr. Monk going about doing his monk work.

A Reclining Buddha.......in the event you hadn't figured that out.

And now for something completely different, a large Laughing Buddha or Fat Buddha (your pick).

The prominent feature at this Wat is the massive and very impressive chedi (pagoda) dominating the area. The chedi was ordered by King Saen Muang Ma in 1391 to enshrine the ashes of his father.

Having had our fill of Buddha for a while we decided to do something different and spent a day taking Thai cooking lessons....

First stop is to the local market to get an education in various ingredients used in Thai cooking.....

......such as the making of coconut milk, a major ingredient in Thai cookery.

Next we don silly farmer hats and head out onto the farm to see and sample the ingredients that we will use in our food prep.  

Our funny instructor AE....that's her name AE (pronouce AE something akin to the Fonz saying Aaaaaaaa). 

Look at Mel go!!!  Julia Child would be proud!

Wok wit Mel.

"OK class pay attention and I'll show you how to really wok."

The finished product.  Red and green curry dishes.......

.....and now the real fun begins as we get to eat our creations!  YUMMMMMY

Twelve years ago, I was in Chiang Mai with my brother Wayne (see that blog), and we had taken a three day trek into the mountains of Northern Thailand.  I loved it so much that Melanie & I decided to sign up and do the same excursion.  As part of that trip we were taken to a....

Karen Tribe Village

The Karen tribe, which is unofficially called the Long Neck tribe, came to Thailand from Burma, when escaping war and violence in their country. They are world famous for their women, who wear golden rings around their necks. From the time when they are 5 to their 21st birthday, each year one ring is added to their collection. At the end their necks get so long that these women are often called “dragon ladies”, or just “long necks”. According to Karen people, the longer the neck the more beautiful the woman who wears them is.

By the time these young girls are 21, the brass rings around their neck will weigh over 5kg.

Melanie claims her inspiration for travel came from seeing a National Geographic magazine in the late 70's featuring an article on the Karen Tribe women of Burma.  I am so glad that she saw that issue!

The necks are stretched so much that when the rings are removed there isn't enough muscle mass to hold the head up....something similar to me after 14 beer. 

We leave the Long-necks behind and continue to the start-up point of the trek where we hook up with the other people partaking in the same excursion....

Dat dere hill, at 1200 metres, is our destination....

...the slog uphill is along a dirt road under blistering hot sun......I mean BLISTERING hot sun.

Home for the night, a tiny Lahu tribal village, sitting atop the mountain.

Our accommodations for tonight will consist of a homestay at the luxurious 5-star resort aptly named the 'Bamboo Lodge'.....

....this resort has a 3 star-Michelin kitchen designation.....

....the abolition facilities, while somewhat separate from the resort, comes complete with an Asian squat toilet and a bucket of water for cleansing ones nether-regions (nothing but the best at this resort).....

....sleeping quarters are found in the shared long-house with extra comfy beds complete with a turn-down service and a chocolate mint at night....

....the resort does offer many activities that the guest can partake in, such as the Thai cooking classes.......

.....of course the dining facilities are world-class!

A stroll around the village.....

Apparently they're picking the flowers from this tree but for what?  I can't say.....

......and of course the tree pickers are the perfect opportunity for the village devil and his trusty slingshot!  There's one in every village!

Cutie!

The next day we are up and at'em bright an early...

Coffee time.  Notice the snow in the valley far far below?!?! OK, I'm joking it's not snow, just morning mist....like dah.

The start of today's trek.  It's all downhill today and good thing cause (same as yesterday) it's still BLISTERING hot.

You know how sometimes you think you'll never be back to a place and then BAM 12 years later you are in the same place?  No, never happen to you?  Well 12 years ago, my brother Wayne and I, were at this very same waterfalls deep in the Thailand jungle and BAM here I am again....go figured.

When Wayne and I trekked this trail 12 years ago, we stayed in this very hut.  It's still standing, a testament to the strength and endurance of bamboo as a building material.

Deja vu happening as I walk this jungle trail.

At times it felt like an obstacle course....

....actually it is an obstacle course!

"Wait up everybody, Melanie has a question."

"Where did everyone go?"

Our last lunch with our travel companions.  The cheap scape's only purchased a 2 day trek whereas we were the only ones to go with the luxury 3 day excursion.

As part of our tour we had the opportunity to feed and bathe the big guys (girls)....

Mel giving Noa, the 32 year old beauty, a bath!

Later that night, our guide Chet, took us into the nearby village to a "party".  It was supposed to be a mere 20 minute walk but it turned out to be a full 1 1/2 hour trek dodging stray Thai dogs all the way.  The party was in dedication to the opening of new temple at the local village Wat. 

The new temple for which this "Party" was dedicated to. 

Some cultural events to appease the monks before we descend down the slippery slope to the 'real' party.....

Aaaah the 'real' party....Thai style.  No tourist here, in fact we WERE the only foreigners in the crowd of thousands.

Lots of vendors selling whatever your heart desired, such as the insect lady with her spread of gourmet delight....fried silk worms anyone?

The stage was set for a 'time'. 

Similar to the Royal Regatta OR as they say in Thailand:  Same same only different.

Chet (our guide) and I hanging out and drinking the cheapy cheapy beers whilst watching the dancers.  No tourist prices here, $2 Canadian for a large brew!

The next day were had only one thing on the agenda (besides getting out of bed....of course) and that was to whitewater raft down the river....

One would be hard pressed to call this a raging river but the scenery was spectacular, and we weren't walking in the BLISTERING heat.

Just chillin' and a hangin'.

We weren't alone, here come the Others.

There was some whitewater but mainly a lot of BIG rocks and riverside villages.

"Look, a moose...."

.....did I mention this was Asian elephant country?  Yes, on the river bank was an elephant, similar to seeing a crocodile on a riverbank in Africa or a moose in Newfoundland.

The final portion of our 3 day excursion was to take a bamboo raft down a portion of the same river....

The bamboo raft portion of the trip left us a little perplexed?  Why not simply stay in our whitewater rubber dingy since we loaded it onto the bamboo raft and took it with us anyway??

Two more moose....I mean elephants in the distance.

After our jungle trek we journey northward by taking a mini-van taxi to the village-turn-town of.....

Pai

Pronounced pie, as in Apple pie, this little town has a party feel to it with a vibrant live music scene and hordes of young people wearing dreadlocks and clothes that they would never consider wearing at home.  Guesthouses appear to outnumber private residences in the ‘downtown’ area, a trekking agency or restaurant is never more than a few steps away.  Despite all this, the town’s popularity has yet to negatively impact its nearly picture-perfect setting in a mountain valley. There’s a host of natural, lazy activities to keep visitors entertained along with the nightly walking street.

We arrived in Pai for three days and ended up staying for six, such was the place, however  because of a music festival that was happening on the weekend when we arrived we were forced to take a place out in the boonies, however this allowed us to visit the Wat Phra That Mae Yen.....

It was a very hot day to climb the 353 steps to the top of the Wat.

I'm sure there is something sacrilegious about this Melanie.

Given that this is a temple, women must be appropriately dressed and that means no exposed parts, so Melanie has to cover up her bits!

The final steps up to the massive 'White Buddha' sitting high on the hill over looking Pai.

"This better be worth it!"

Now this is one big mudder of a Buddha!

The view of Pai from the Temple.

Every night we headed into the town to stroll the nightly 'walking street' and listen to some of the awesome music playing in the bars in Pai....

A freshly harvested rice field along the 2km road into town.

A river runs through it.

WTF #16.  Long way from home aren't you Mr. Moai?

The 'Tea Man', who probably qualifies for his own WTF designation, dishing out bamboo mugs of various teas from the giant vats.  What's with the horns there big guy?

Hippies came here in the 70's and never left, probably because their Volkswagen Van was being used as the store.....flip flops anyone?

Street food in Pai but we never ever saw any pie anywhere.....

....we did however see squid and octopus on a stick....

.....and spiral fried potatoes (also on a stick).

Street lanterns adorn the night.

It's not Howlin' Wolf but rather Howlin' Dawg.

Okay be honest with me.......when was the last time you saw blacklights and blacklight posters?

Having a time! hic

So if you go to Pai, than sooner or later you'll end up renting a scooter to get around, as most of the sites and sounds are outside of the town.  So we rented ourselves a pink 125CC scooter and got our motor running and headed out on the the highway looking for adventure in whatever came our way.

First stop the....

Pai Memorial bridge

According to legend, the Japanese army wanted to have a route for which to attack Burma, which was a colony of the United Kingdom, at that time. To establish the route, a bridge was built over the Pai River in 1941 using elephants to drag trees from the jungle and forcing villagers and POW's to construct the bridge.

OK, I'm not going to lie to you.  It looks like a bridge....nothing more.....

.....the exciting part came when the local water buffalo came down to the river for a dip....

....from up on the bridge watching these brutes take a bath is actually pretty fasinating to see.

Next stop was the infamous.....

Pai Canyon

This unique geographical area has been formed by continuous erosion over decades until reaching the current condition. The natural carved paths are extremely narrow and run along razor sharp ridges with sheer unprotected 30 meter drops on either side.  The loose fine sand makes these paths extremely slippery, adding to the fear factor!  Woohoo!!

A good introduction to the canyon, a walk across a very narrow ledge with a 30 metre (100 feet) drop on each side.

This place turned out to be quite the adventure with nerve-racking traverses across some pretty hairy-scary ridges.

Even the wider ridges required certain amount of care as the extremely fine loose sand made for VERY slippery conditions.

If you met someone along the way coming in the opposite direction, than either you or them, had to turn around and go to a wider ridge as there was no passing each other here!!

"My foot is stuck.....no seriously, my foot is stuck."

I can see you taking a picture of me!!!

The path is like a double lane highway here....albeit without the guardrails....don't go to close to the edge, it's a 100 foot drop straight down.

End of the road for us.  The trail just gets too snaky from here onwards.  Mind you, I wanted to but Melanie chickened out.....women, huh, what can I say!  :)

After the canyon we hop on our souped up scooter and head home but not before coming across this speed bump...

Potential road kill ahead!

WTF #87.  Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?

We decided to give up the our hot-rod scooter and get down by going down......underground that is to the.....

Tham Lod cave

In its entirety, Tham Lod is more than 1.5 kilometres long, with the spectacular main chamber running to a height of 50 metres, from floor to ceiling. 

The Lang river flows through more than a third of the cave’s length, giving you an opportunity to float through on bamboo rafts. Floating along in the darkness, listening to the bats and smelling the bat guano, makes for a special experience! 

The entrance to the cave with the Lang River and its carp filled waters.

Question:  What's the difference between a stalagmite and stalactite?  This is a stalagmite, an upward-growing mound of mineral deposits that have precipitated from water dripping onto the floor of a cave......

....and this is a stalactite, an icicle-shaped formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave, and is produced by precipitation of minerals from water dripping through the cave ceiling.....

.....and this is Melanie, neither a stalactite nor a stalagmite but rather a novice spelunker!!

OK your turn.....stalactite or stalagmite?  

People have been here before - a prehistoric painting found at a high level of the cave system.  This painting, of a couple deer, was made about 3,000 years ago.

Some of these stalactites were massive, such as this one that was nearly 50 metres tall, probably took a million years to form - one drop at a time.

Our guide was quick to point out shapes in the stalactites and stalagmites - such as the resemblance to a Buddha here.  I personally think she shouldn't smoke so much opium!

After about a hour of spelunking we hit the Lang River in our bamboo rafts and floated hazily lazily dazily down river - in a cave - on a raft.  Sooooo cooooool.

The Lang River is over-run with large carp and they were looking for food.  Warning:  DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND IN THE WATER.

Our raft eventually comes to the other end of the cave where the Lang River spills out into sunshine.

We disembark and start the climb up the rickety bat guano-encrusted stairs to the upper chambers of the cave.

The size of this cave isn't realized until you see the people standing near the opening....it is HUGE.

Melanie and our guide.

Big WOW factor going on here.

This cave held other secrets besides the WOW factor........

.....it's also a burial ground.  These canoe-shaped pieces of wood are coffins that date back 2,400 years.  They were skinnier back then.

And now it's back to the bamboo rafts for our journey back up river thru the caves to where we started off.

Three to a raft with two oarsmen pushing against the current.

All and all one of the best caves we've ever been in.

We continue our journey via mini-van another 100 km further north to the quiet little town of.....

Chiang Dao

We were asked by an American, whom our taxi driver double-dippingly picked up in Chaing Mai and whom had apparently "lived" in Chaing Mai for 2 years, as to why we would go to Chiang Dao and what was there?  He obviously didn't do to much exploring in those 2 years, but our answer was to see a temple.  His response was, "wasn't there more than enough temples to see in Chaing Mai?"  Fair enough to his astute observations, but the truth is the temple in Chaing Dao was different.....it was underground in a 12km cave complex (as if we hadn't seen enough caves at this point in time!).

Just before entering the cave complex......how very Asian!

Guess who got a new selfie stick!?!?!?!? 

The cave town counsel......

....and Andy the mayor.

It's yoga time! OK everyone lets do the upside down inside out backward forward pose.

Fawking tight squeeze....shouldn't have had that last beer.

My Lotus Flower!

And down we go into the dark depths of Modor.

The monks added coloured lighting to up the effect anti. Crafty!

"Watch out Mel, the stalactite is about to bite your head off." 

OK, so this is still a functioning temple which comes complete with Buddhist monks.  Who knew?

Meet Mr. Big Stalactite and his little brother, Mr. Little Stalactite.

OK, have you figured out who has a new selfie stick yet????

Look up.....look way up!

Back outside.  

Melanie's new friend, some watery tart that she met.

I call this piece "Buddha and the Banana Leaf".  Thank you Cat Stevens for the inspiration!

This Temple complex has been around for a while as is evident by these....these....these?  Does anyone know what these things are called?

Taking a walk around the complex brings us to this old disused entrance to the cave complex.

With our spelunking days behind us, we head, via chicken bus, even further north to the village of......

Tha Ton

Smack-dab in the middle of the old opium region known as the Golden Triangle (shared with Burma, Laos and Thailand) is the tiny village of Tha Ton.  We didn't come for the opium.....just saying.  Our real purpose for going so far north was to take the river boat to Chiang Rai, our next destination.  

We wander around town and eventually make our way up to the.......

Wat Tha Ton

Considered one of the best Wat's in Thailand, this intriguing monastery complex sprawls over nine (9) levels of the mountain and each comes with its own collection of supersize statues.

Tha Ton.  Not much of a town.  This is the view from our hotel.

Wat Tha Ton with the administrative buildings in the foreground.

It's a 45 minute steady climb to the top of the Wat but the view is awesome.  That's Myanmar (or Burma...you pick) just over there in dem dere hills.

Level # 3...I think there was once water running over these stones but they have long since turn it off, or the hose broke.

Our second monster-sized White Buddha in Thailand also sharing the podium with the selfie miesters!

Level #8.  One very large stupa, with some very large..........

.........dragons.  Massive dragons!  Do you feel like Daenerys Targaryen, Melanie?  "NOT without my dragons."

We'll take this one, he's got the money bag!

You can actually go into the Stupa which, surprisingly, also has dragons!

They are everywhere!  Funny they picked the dragon to be their symbol, I guess it is better than a platypus.

As I stated, the real reason for coming so far north was to take the fast boat down the Mae Nam Kok river to Chiang Rai.  We could've taken a bus, but what fun would that have been!

The long-tail speed boats ply this river ferrying goods and passengers up & down the Mae Nam Kok.

Every Long-Tail speed boat has the jeezily big car motor attached to the rear allowing you to move along at warp-speed.  The name "long-tail" comes from the propeller shaft that extends from the car motor out into the water by about 6 feet.

Love the new hair do B!

Although we were sailing along at breakneck speed, the sites were still pretty awesome.

I think it's the village Bingo Hall.  

Local fisherman.

A typical country estate in Thailand (actually two houses).

More of the local fisherman.  No need for fancy boats and fish finders here!

Buddha is never far away.

After getting splashed a few times and with an unusual cold snap passing through, the trip was a tad chilly.  I know, I know, you thought it was Omar the Terrorist sitting next to me.

After a drench-filled boat trip of 4 hours, we arrived in......

Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai conjures up evocative and exotic images of opium warlords leading mule trains through the dense jungles of the Golden Triangle, but this picturesque riverbank town has more to offer than the opium trade. With a population of 200,000 it is the epic centre of the provincial north.

Chiang Rai with its colourful streets. 

We went looking for a place to eat and settled on the tabletop personal BBQ.  Hmmmm yummy!

The Chaing Rai clock tower was designed by the same artist that built the famous Chaing Rai White Temple (you'll know what I mean in a bit)!!

We went to the night market in Chiang Rai where there was hundreds of stalls selling an unimaginable amount of foods, including Nemo and his friends.

Too bad we already ate.

WTF # 27.  I have to ask.....if you got up at 3:00 AM to use the shitter and when you turned on the light you saw one of these
2-inch brutes scurrying along at mach-speed, would you have an uncontrollable urge to pick it up and throw it on the BBQ?

WTF #33.  'Cat-n-Cup', a cafe which is overrun by rescued cats......and I thought they ate them here?!?!?

We were in Chiang Rai as it is on the route to Chiang Khong which is where we catch a boat to the country of Laos, however while we were there we HAD to go see the city's most famous attraction, the.....

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)

With its modern Buddhist design and intricately carved facade, the White Temple is unlike any other religious structure in Thailand — even the “templed out” will be overwhelmed by its unique beauty.  Constructed by Chalermchai Kositpipat, who also built the Chiang Rai Clock Tower, this Wat will not be completed until 2070 but what is completed now is high on the WOW factor.

The entrance to the 'White Temple', one of the few structures that isn't pure white.

The main hall’s exterior is all white to symbolize the purity of Buddha, and embedded with glistening, mirrored fragments to reflect his wisdom.

In a way; the White Temple is similar to India's Taj Mahal....same same only different.  

The main temple is guarded not by dragons, as is the norm, rather it's this guy.  Whomever he may be.

To enter the Temple, visitors must cross a bridge over a 'sea of suffering'......

....the 'sea of suffering' — untamed desire and greed personified by thousands of ghostly hands reaching out in eerie desperation.

Thousands of ghostly hands reaching upout of the depths of hell.

The artist's profound religious and philosophical meaning behind his work is: one must overcome hell (the cycle of death and rebirth) to reach heaven and nirvana.

Welcome to my nightmare!......

.....or welcome to his nightmare!!

WTF #77.  The artist like to mix pop culture within his work, showing a kind of good versus evil.....hey isn't that Hellboy hanging over there!?!?

Definitely not what we have seen at other Buddhist Temples.

The beauty of this place leaves you mesmerized and gobstruck.

Besides the White Temple there are other out buildings scattered throughout.... 

....plus intricate carvings and statues. 

The path under the Canopy of Prayer Plates.  Millions of silver maple leaf-size/shape plates adorn the top of this walkway - for a fee visitors can purchase one and have it hung here as well.

I particularly like the way I balanced the carving on my head!

A moment of peaceful bliss in a corner of tourist madness.

A whiter shade of pale.

WTF #15.  Like seriously WTF Melanie....you'll take up with the first shiny guy that comes along.

Interesting fruit!  Anyone know what kind this is?

"Are you talking to me?"  "No, are YOU talking to me?"

"Hey Mel, I like your wings....growl."

Among it all, this is still a working Buddhist Temple.

*****

We leave Thailand and head for Laos & Cambodia for a couple of months before returning to Thailand.  Our story picks up here........

*****

Melanie's Cambodian VISA was about to expire so we left Sihanoukville in Cambodia (see blog posting in this 2018 series.) and headed for the Thailand island of 

Ko Chang 

With steep, jungle-covered peaks, picturesque Ko Chang Island retains its remote and rugged spirit – despite the transformation of parts of it into a package-tour destination. Sweeping bays are sprinkled along the west coast and most have superfine sand and 30C water temperatures.

We arrived just as the Thailand New Year celebrations were about to begin.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Thailand uses the Solar calendar (as opposed to the Gregorian calendar) and the year is 2561.  As part of the celebrations the locals & tourist line the streets and throw water at all that comes near.  If you get even closer, you'll be smeared with  talcum powder.....go figure!

There's no escaping the deluge and if you can't beat them, well you might as well join them.....

....like this guy, we purchased a couple of water guns and shot everyone that came within range!! Armed and dangerous!

Right next door to our hotel was a massive Asian BBQ restaurant, so one night we went for the jeezily big feed!!

After much confusion as to what we were supposed to do, we end up with a personal BBQ and a personal steamer.  Some good!!!

Ko Chang is part of the Mu Koh Chang National Park, and it is the largest and most popular of the islands in eastern Thailand however it is, at present, far less touristy and far less well-known than some of Thailand's other islands.  The west coast is considered just one big beach with no one on it.....

We were staying only 200 metres from Klong Prao Beach, however we only went there once to have a look.  Big beach.

Snorkeling is one of the most popular activities for visitors to Ko Chang.  The best snorkeling sites rival those you’ll find in the south of Thailand and we decided to make a day of it and go on a snorkeling trip.  Nowadays, Bang Bao village has established itself as the island’s main point of departure for the myriad of competing trips exploring the archipelago, both above and below water.

Bang Bao used to be a classic Thai fishing village with life centred around a narrow 350 metre long pier of traditional wooden stilt houses and boats moored up ready for sea.

Side jetties off the main pier with the many stilt shop-houses, guesthouses and private residences.

Colourful boats take snorkelers to the many outlying islands. 

It was a full day trip with three separate snorkels, a feed of delicious Thai curry and amazing scenery.

The tiny islet of Ko Lon was our first stop.

The water was crystal clear with an abundance of colourful coral.

The water was so clear and warm at Ko Lon that it didn't even seem like you were in the water.  True story!

Koh Rang – a large uninhabited (except for a few National Park rangers) island south of Koh Chang was where we stopped for lunch.

The Ko Rang floating pier leading out to our boat.

Another island, another snorkel.

As with the last island, this one was under crystal clear super warm islands.

Our last island is Ko Wai which is much larger than the other islands that we visited.

This is the site of our last snorkel.

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Some of the underwater sights from our last snorkel.  The water wasn't so clear here but there was still a lot to see!

The following is a video if you can see it then your

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Some more sights!

On our way back to Ko Chang island we stop to see some monkeys on the shoreline.

The colourful snorkeling and dive boats at Bang Bao pier.

The sun setting on this not-so-lucky snorkeling boat.

Yes this is a persons house.  No Jehovah Witness knocking on his door!

Well folks that is it for now.  We head back to Newfoundland before heading to Nova Scotia for the summer.

Cheers......