Monday, March 12, 2007
Vientiane
The 10:30 am bus from Korat to Nongkai was full. So we walked over to find the other bus company that had a bus at 11:30am. (They start in Bangkok and you can't reserve in Korat unless you buy a seat from Bangkok. These are the VIP fast, well airconditioned busses.) Anyway, where we asked, the pushed us on a bus that was leaving right then (9:30am). In Udontani, they pulled us off and got us another ticket (no extra cost) and we waited 45 minutes for the bus to Nongkai. We met an American from LA who lives in Nongkai and has the Black Canyon Coffee franchise in North eastern Thailand. He told us where to get off the bus to get to the bridge where you leave Thailand and enter Laos and suggested the Inter Hotel. Things went pretty smoothly and the hotel room is great - it is a very nicely refurbished old building across the street from the Mekong River. Not sure if I'll be able to get pictures us while I'm in Laos. This computer isn't cooperating at all. I have a great, if short, video of a Great Hornbill, but that will have to wait a bit.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Travel Plans
It's Friday. I have class tomorrow. My foot is in much better shape than yesterday. We took a tuk-tuk to the Hospital for Joan's last rabies shot. Then walked the couple hundred meters to the Mall to check on email and to post. Email was fine, but couldn't post. The student who had us listen to the classical Thai music last week, invited us to visit a private Chinese-Thai school. He's president of the foundation that funds it along with the Thai government. I'm in his office now, above one of his gold shops, posting. Unfortunately, I didn't bring the cord to download the pictures from my camera or I could offer you some pics of the school.
Before we went to Khao Yai, we bought AirAsia tickets from Chiegmai to Bangkok for March 22. Low cost airlines have made it to Thailand like they have to India. The fare, one way, was B599 on line, but I couldn’t book from the internet store I was in. So we went to the AirAsia outlet where it turned out to be B1500 each (fees and taxes, plus a small commission.) So it’s about $45 one way for an hour flight. We have reservations at the Royal River Hotel in Bangkok for the Peace Corps reunion March 22, 23, and 24. My class is over on Sunday, March 11, and our visas expire on March 14. So we plan to leave Korat Monday, March 12, and go into Laos that day or the next. Then we’ll move on up to Luang Prabang, the old capital in the north, and slowly move our way back into Thailand through Chieng Rai and to Chieng Mai. It looks like bus from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, and then a two day boat ride up the Mekong River (I think) to where we cross into Thailand at Huay Xai.
Before we went to Khao Yai, we bought AirAsia tickets from Chiegmai to Bangkok for March 22. Low cost airlines have made it to Thailand like they have to India. The fare, one way, was B599 on line, but I couldn’t book from the internet store I was in. So we went to the AirAsia outlet where it turned out to be B1500 each (fees and taxes, plus a small commission.) So it’s about $45 one way for an hour flight. We have reservations at the Royal River Hotel in Bangkok for the Peace Corps reunion March 22, 23, and 24. My class is over on Sunday, March 11, and our visas expire on March 14. So we plan to leave Korat Monday, March 12, and go into Laos that day or the next. Then we’ll move on up to Luang Prabang, the old capital in the north, and slowly move our way back into Thailand through Chieng Rai and to Chieng Mai. It looks like bus from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, and then a two day boat ride up the Mekong River (I think) to where we cross into Thailand at Huay Xai.
Khao Yai Day 2
I was up again at 6am with the audio recorder and binoculars. There were also groups of the school kids with binoculars and bird books. I found a little path into the jungle and put the recorder down and pressed the button. Just like the camera gets me to look at things differently than I would without it, the recorder had me focusing on the sounds. It was like a piece of music. All these different critters contributing in different ways. (We checked the tapes today in Korat and they are great. Too bad we didn’t learn how to post pod-casts before we left. If we don’t figure it out here, we’ll post some jungle sounds when we get back.)
When I got back, Joan was sitting on the bed, dressed, but wrapped in the comforter. We quickly got our stuff together and walked to have breakfast, stopping to look at the birds in the field. Red-vented Lapwings we’d seen at Bharatpur, swallows.
Our guide turned out to be a 64 year old retired park driver. He’d been at the park since it was brand new – the first Thai National Park, opened in 1962. He said there’d been lots of changes. In the old days no one came. They didn’t know about it. There were no roads. And they were afraid of the tigers. Now there are only 6 or 7 tigers left. We had an 8 km walk, which turned out to be more rigorous than most 5mile walks. Ups and downs.
Vine-like branches an inch or two in diameter looped around overhead, across the trail, and underfoot. A certain kind of palm has a long extension of the leaves that hangs out over the trail and is covered with little thorns looking for a shirt or hat to grab onto. But it is the dry season so the trail wasn’t muddy or slippery. There was also ample evidence that elephants had been on the trail recently. I’m not sure how they manage – it really is just a one person path. There was a concert of birds and insects all the time. At one point we listened to the gibbons howling and chattering away in the distance. We stopped to try to see the birds we could hear, but rarely succeeded because they were high up in the trees. At one ;point hundreds of butterflies lifted up from their resting places as we came by. We saw a couple of Greater Horn Bills. Our guide was delightful and I’m glad we had him. Speaking Thai really comes in handy, though people are so warm and hospitable it doesn’t really matter. And Joan’s Thai is really coming along well. Toward the end of the hike, we stopped at a small waterfall – a lovely little spot, with rocky outcroppings and there was a blue whistling thrush on the other side. Pak said in Thai it was a “Nok Ian Tham.” Nok is bird, Ian is the name of this kind of bird, and Tham is cave, where they like to hang out. Then up a little further to the bigger waterfall that was the destination. I’d had a slight tightness in the back of my right heal when we walked over for breakfast. It never really hurt, though I was aware of it on the hike. But eventually, when we got dropped off where the food is, I realized I couldn’t walk without pain. In the little shop where’d I’d gotten the candles, they had small bags of ice cubes. When the girl heard why I needed the ice, she just took out a handful of ice cubes and gave them to me in a plastic bag. So I sat down with my leg on another chair, icing my heal. The lady at the info center offered to drive us back to the room since I couldn’t walk. It was another early evening.
Today [Thursday, March 8), my foot was slightly better – I could limp around in my sandals – but I wasn’t in any shape to do any more walking than necessary. Joan walked to the visitor center while I stayed on the porch and enjoyed the jungle symphony in the cool morning air. The visitor center lady drove up to get me at 9am and we spent the morning on the bird watching deck at the visitors’ center. The birds are really hard to spot, but sitting there for several hours I began to see them. Familiar ones – a drongo, not sure which kind. The black crested bulbul. And a few others I couldn’t quite identify. Being forced to just sit had its advantages. The driver picked us up at 11:15am and drove us all the way to the bus stop in Pak Chong, where the bus to Korat was leaving immediately. As we drove back down to lower elevations and then out of the park, I was really glad we stayed inside the park. Aside from the fact we didn’t have any traveling to do, the weather was so much cooler up in the park. And before long we were back at the Sima Thani where the front desk staff know us already. And soon I was on the bed with my foot on ice again and we watched the Woody Allen Aphrodite movie on Star TV. I wasn’t impressed. Watching birds on the deck at Khao Yai was much better.
8 March 2007 - Khao Yai 1
Back in Korat after two nights a Khao Yai National Park, my leg up on a chair, the heal on ice, hoping to walk normally again soon. [I wrote this last night. Today the foot isn't 100%, but it's much, much better.) But it was worth it. Getting info on the park was sketchy. The official tourist office in Korat gave us the name of a small ‘resort’ outside the park for B600 (@$17) air conditioned with breakfast. Tours can be arranged. We took the bus from Korat to Pak Chong (normally an hour on the ‘tour’ bus, but someone signed us up for a cheaper bus before we realized it. The air conditioning was weak – and it is in the high 90s in Korat – and this was clearly and older bus. And we stopped anywhere there might be a potential passenger. But 90 minutes later we were told it was time to get off the bus. On a commercial street in Pak Chong with our suitcase and backpack. But people were right there to help us out. A Song Thaew (truck with two benches in the back) with Khao Yai in English on the front was there right away and we climbed in. There was another farang couple in there already. Was this father and daughter? Was he younger than he looked and she older? It sounded like they were speaking German. I finally asked if they’d been to Khao Yai before and she said ‘no.’ The ‘resort’ was supposed to be a mile 19.5, but there were no mile markers. Well, there were, but they were just white, no numbers.
I asked Joan if we should just go on to the park and see about places in there. We knew they had them, but not much about them. We could always go back to the resort. She agreed. So eventually the German father and daughter – they’d lived in Krabi in the south and she spoke Thai – and Joan and I got out at the park entrance and the Song Thaew turned around and went back. B400 each for foreigners entry fee. If you stay outside the park, you pay each day. If you stay in the park, good for a week or two. OK, now, how do we get into the park? Taxi is B400 (@$13). We didn’t see any taxis. Or, she said, you can hitchhike. We four looked at each other. There didn’t seem to be much traffic either. Joan and I started walking. It was 14 km’s and we could use a little walk and someone would surely pick us up. Within five minutes two cars had passed us. One had stopped to pick up the Germans and another stopped to pick us up. Our driver turned out to be a test driver, driving an Opel, which he would be driving for about 5000km around Thailand.
We climbed about 1000 meters and he dropped us off at the visitors' center. Nothing was completely clear. We could have a room with a bathroom, no fan, no air, for B800. It was four kilometers away. No food there, come back here to eat or get take out – Thai version, which would be to put some fried rice or whatever we ordered in a plastic bag. We can get a guide for Wednesday for a hike and then drive to a view point and then if there is still time to an animal viewing stand. And he would take us back to Pak Chong on Thursday. B1500 each. That was the same price the travel agent in Korat had quoted so I said fine. The driver would take us to the room in a couple of hours. Meanwhile we could take a short walk on the nature trail. So we wandered around and ran into the Germans who said they were staying about 800 meters away and there were plenty of empty rooms there. So we went back and checked. Then to the building next door that was the accommodation place and first they said there wasn’t any place. Then they said the place we were staying was being renovated and we couldn’t stay there. Then said we should go check the place before paying for it. Where else can we stay if we don’t like it? No where. So why not just take it? (There were also tents available.) Apparently enough people change their minds so we went up to look at it, with our luggage, and said it was fine. And got a ride back to pay. It was a row of about 20 rooms, just room for two beds and a small table, and a bathroom. Very clean and neat. The bathroom nicely tiled, flush toilet. All well screened and windows on both sides for good cross ventilation. We could walk back after we ate. What about the monkeys on the side of the road? Oh, it’s ok if you aren’t carrying anything. (And Joan already has had two rabies shots, so no problem.) The pavilion with the food was nice, though the food was very basic Thai curries that are sitting out for a while or noodles. But aside for the room which was pricey by Thai standards for what we got, the prices in the park were more than reasonable. Two fried rice plates came to B50 – less than $2, and less than in most places in Korat. I saw candles in the little store where I bought water – also cheap – and bought them. Joan guessed the two candles and box of matches was B35 ($1). They were B6 altogether. As we walked back to the room, we found Joan a walking stick (and potential monkey protection stick) on the side of the road. But all we saw were neat birds, a couple deer, and a few other tourists walking or biking. There was also a large building for groups and a school group nearby.
Before the sun went down, I walked around and found a little stream behind the rooms, surrounded by thick jungle, frogs beginning to croak. Also saw a monkey on the shore a ways down. We brought Joan’s audio recorder to Thailand but hadn’t used it. She showed me how to use it and I took it back down to the stream and caught five minutes of evening sounds..
Taping evening sounds (hope it looks better on your computer than it does on this one)
As it was getting dark, we lit a candle and listened to frogs and insects and some birds. I took a shower – no hot water, but it felt good after a hot sticky day. And now the temperature had dropped (we were about 3000 feet up) and with a breeze coming into the room, it was delightful. The sign at the visitor center said the temperatures ranged from 29C high to 20C low. So that would have it dipping into the 60s, a delightful change, similar to Umphang early morning. Lights were out about 7:30pm.
I asked Joan if we should just go on to the park and see about places in there. We knew they had them, but not much about them. We could always go back to the resort. She agreed. So eventually the German father and daughter – they’d lived in Krabi in the south and she spoke Thai – and Joan and I got out at the park entrance and the Song Thaew turned around and went back. B400 each for foreigners entry fee. If you stay outside the park, you pay each day. If you stay in the park, good for a week or two. OK, now, how do we get into the park? Taxi is B400 (@$13). We didn’t see any taxis. Or, she said, you can hitchhike. We four looked at each other. There didn’t seem to be much traffic either. Joan and I started walking. It was 14 km’s and we could use a little walk and someone would surely pick us up. Within five minutes two cars had passed us. One had stopped to pick up the Germans and another stopped to pick us up. Our driver turned out to be a test driver, driving an Opel, which he would be driving for about 5000km around Thailand.
We climbed about 1000 meters and he dropped us off at the visitors' center. Nothing was completely clear. We could have a room with a bathroom, no fan, no air, for B800. It was four kilometers away. No food there, come back here to eat or get take out – Thai version, which would be to put some fried rice or whatever we ordered in a plastic bag. We can get a guide for Wednesday for a hike and then drive to a view point and then if there is still time to an animal viewing stand. And he would take us back to Pak Chong on Thursday. B1500 each. That was the same price the travel agent in Korat had quoted so I said fine. The driver would take us to the room in a couple of hours. Meanwhile we could take a short walk on the nature trail. So we wandered around and ran into the Germans who said they were staying about 800 meters away and there were plenty of empty rooms there. So we went back and checked. Then to the building next door that was the accommodation place and first they said there wasn’t any place. Then they said the place we were staying was being renovated and we couldn’t stay there. Then said we should go check the place before paying for it. Where else can we stay if we don’t like it? No where. So why not just take it? (There were also tents available.) Apparently enough people change their minds so we went up to look at it, with our luggage, and said it was fine. And got a ride back to pay. It was a row of about 20 rooms, just room for two beds and a small table, and a bathroom. Very clean and neat. The bathroom nicely tiled, flush toilet. All well screened and windows on both sides for good cross ventilation. We could walk back after we ate. What about the monkeys on the side of the road? Oh, it’s ok if you aren’t carrying anything. (And Joan already has had two rabies shots, so no problem.) The pavilion with the food was nice, though the food was very basic Thai curries that are sitting out for a while or noodles. But aside for the room which was pricey by Thai standards for what we got, the prices in the park were more than reasonable. Two fried rice plates came to B50 – less than $2, and less than in most places in Korat. I saw candles in the little store where I bought water – also cheap – and bought them. Joan guessed the two candles and box of matches was B35 ($1). They were B6 altogether. As we walked back to the room, we found Joan a walking stick (and potential monkey protection stick) on the side of the road. But all we saw were neat birds, a couple deer, and a few other tourists walking or biking. There was also a large building for groups and a school group nearby.
Before the sun went down, I walked around and found a little stream behind the rooms, surrounded by thick jungle, frogs beginning to croak. Also saw a monkey on the shore a ways down. We brought Joan’s audio recorder to Thailand but hadn’t used it. She showed me how to use it and I took it back down to the stream and caught five minutes of evening sounds..
Taping evening sounds (hope it looks better on your computer than it does on this one)
As it was getting dark, we lit a candle and listened to frogs and insects and some birds. I took a shower – no hot water, but it felt good after a hot sticky day. And now the temperature had dropped (we were about 3000 feet up) and with a breeze coming into the room, it was delightful. The sign at the visitor center said the temperatures ranged from 29C high to 20C low. So that would have it dipping into the 60s, a delightful change, similar to Umphang early morning. Lights were out about 7:30pm.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Catching up
We visited Idiris' wife and three daughters on the way back from
Umphang. It was good to visit them, but we missed Idiris not being there with us. All these people I know because once upon a time I was a Peace Corps volunteer. Only in spirit. The girls are all now adults - two studied/study in the US and one in France. Then a wedding in KKP. Friday we went to the old school, visited Mook's parents, and Gersin's mother. Gersin was working in
Guangzhou when we were in HK and who vistied now and then and who we
visited in Guangzhou. He died of an aneurism in September. His mother is 95 and is still wokring in the market.
Then we got ready to drive back to Korat. Mook and Raksana took us.
But just as we were getting things into the car, their dog got loose
from the chain and bit Joan in the leg. We went to the clinic where
they cleaned it, gave her antibiotics, and gave her a rabies shot.
She will have two more. One Monday, then next Friday. They don't do
it in the stomach any more. The dog did have rabies shots last
August, but the doctor said it was better to be sure. They will also
watch the dog to see it doesn't get sick. Joan felt good yesterday morning - there was no pain and things are getting better. There were a couple of puncture
wounds. Joan and Mook and Raksana went to visit old Khmer ruins nearby yesterday while I was in class. Today one of the students picked us up at 7:15am to hear Thai classical music at his gold shop in downtown Korat. Maybe I'll find some time to download the pictures and video and post them. Despite the early hour, it was a very nice way to start the day. A group of men mostly over 50 I would guess, who get to make music together a couple times a week. I'm early for class today, so can post this quickly.
Umphang. It was good to visit them, but we missed Idiris not being there with us. All these people I know because once upon a time I was a Peace Corps volunteer. Only in spirit. The girls are all now adults - two studied/study in the US and one in France. Then a wedding in KKP. Friday we went to the old school, visited Mook's parents, and Gersin's mother. Gersin was working in
Guangzhou when we were in HK and who vistied now and then and who we
visited in Guangzhou. He died of an aneurism in September. His mother is 95 and is still wokring in the market.
Then we got ready to drive back to Korat. Mook and Raksana took us.
But just as we were getting things into the car, their dog got loose
from the chain and bit Joan in the leg. We went to the clinic where
they cleaned it, gave her antibiotics, and gave her a rabies shot.
She will have two more. One Monday, then next Friday. They don't do
it in the stomach any more. The dog did have rabies shots last
August, but the doctor said it was better to be sure. They will also
watch the dog to see it doesn't get sick. Joan felt good yesterday morning - there was no pain and things are getting better. There were a couple of puncture
wounds. Joan and Mook and Raksana went to visit old Khmer ruins nearby yesterday while I was in class. Today one of the students picked us up at 7:15am to hear Thai classical music at his gold shop in downtown Korat. Maybe I'll find some time to download the pictures and video and post them. Despite the early hour, it was a very nice way to start the day. A group of men mostly over 50 I would guess, who get to make music together a couple times a week. I'm early for class today, so can post this quickly.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Back to Kamphaengphet
We got up in a very pleasantly cool Umphang. Had breakfast, then signed the school guest book. Mark and Noy (see earlier post for picture) joined us in the van to Maesot. Mook was extremely busy so he couldn't pick us up, but he arranged for someone else to get us in Maesot. We stopped in Tak to visit Idiris' wife and three daughters. It is hard to start talking to someone when someone has recently died, but we quickly were talking. His oldest daughter recently got back from several months in New York. The second daughter studied in France (like her father), and the third daughter is studying in Miami. We first met them when they were little girls and they got along great with our daughter. It was a sad occasion today, but it was good to see them all again. Then back in the car the rest of the way to Kamphaengphet where we met Mook at his office, washed up quickly, put on some cleaner clothes and went to the wedding of the son of a teacher in the school I used to teach at in the Peace Corps. Now we are pretty tired and ready to sleep. Tomorrow Mook and Aew are driving us back to Korat and will stay a night to have a mini-vacation.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Umphang Entertainment
After dinner last night some of the students sang and danced. I tried out using the audio memo on a picture and I'm not sure it works as a video at Youtube. But the music was incredible.
Just checked. It didn't work. I'll have to figure this out. I did have a short video I can put up.
Just checked. It didn't work. I'll have to figure this out. I did have a short video I can put up.
Umphang Day 2
Somprasong took us rafting, then to the highest waterfall in Thailand Thee Loh Su. Here are some pictures.
Happy Birthday Mom
[I tried posting this last night and something was wrong. Then the electricity went out. After it came back on the internet didn't work anymore. But I saved it all in word and it seems to work. And my mom did email that the card and email arrived on time. But the time zones are just too far apart. She wasn't home when I called, then we went rafting and had no satellite connection.]
Today's my Mom's birthday. She's 85 years old today and I'm thousands of miles away in Thailand. But she still is working in the same doctor's office (well, the original doctor is long departed, but his partner is still practicing) she's been working in since 1948! We visited before we left for Thailand and we'll stop by again on our way home. Happy Birthday Mom. Here are some pictures of our ride to Umphang.
Mook, who drove us to Maesod, gets a cold latte drink at a stand at the gas station.
Somprasong's wife trying on a Meo skirt in a shop on the way.
Some international volunteers. A Dutch woman, Somprasong, a man from London, and a Canadian we met while stopping for lunch.
Refugee camp, UN I believe. I was told there are 25,000 people here, refugess from Burma
This is the house of the Karen twins in the Umphang Dinner Post.
Somprasong's pickup on the road to Umphang.
Today's my Mom's birthday. She's 85 years old today and I'm thousands of miles away in Thailand. But she still is working in the same doctor's office (well, the original doctor is long departed, but his partner is still practicing) she's been working in since 1948! We visited before we left for Thailand and we'll stop by again on our way home. Happy Birthday Mom. Here are some pictures of our ride to Umphang.
Mook, who drove us to Maesod, gets a cold latte drink at a stand at the gas station.
Somprasong's wife trying on a Meo skirt in a shop on the way.
Some international volunteers. A Dutch woman, Somprasong, a man from London, and a Canadian we met while stopping for lunch.
Refugee camp, UN I believe. I was told there are 25,000 people here, refugess from Burma
This is the house of the Karen twins in the Umphang Dinner Post.
Somprasong's pickup on the road to Umphang.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Umphang Dinner
We came over to the dining hall as the sun was setting. All the students were there waiting for us.
We met Mark, an Irishman and his partner Noy. He was on vacation in Thailand when he fell into a teaching job in the south of Thailand. He is on vacation now visiting the student he is sponsoring here in Umphang.
Joan and I were also called on to come up and talk to the students. Because Joan had said there were Hmong students in Alaska, he asked the Hmong students to stay and meet us afterward.
This is a brother and sister. Next are twin Karen students (on the right) with their sister.
We met Mark, an Irishman and his partner Noy. He was on vacation in Thailand when he fell into a teaching job in the south of Thailand. He is on vacation now visiting the student he is sponsoring here in Umphang.
Joan and I were also called on to come up and talk to the students. Because Joan had said there were Hmong students in Alaska, he asked the Hmong students to stay and meet us afterward.
This is a brother and sister. Next are twin Karen students (on the right) with their sister. 
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