Cool Mountain Breezes
Sorry again about the delays in posts. I must be getting lazy. The past few weeks have been a blast. I decided to get out of Bangkok and see some more of the country, postponing my teaching plans some more.
As I mentioned earlier, I spent the last 8 days in Kantchanaburi province, a mountainous region northwest of Bangkok on the Burmese border. I was invited up to the area by Youn, the long time manager at the Shanti Lodge. We were planning on joining the owner of the Shanti Lodge, Kim, who was treating some of her workers to a vacation for a few days. Youn and I headed up to Kantchanaburi with another Shanti guest, Ken, a well known nature photographer from California. Ken and I were both sick and were looking forward to some clean air to kick our respective colds. Our destination was Mr. Hey’s farm where he has some bunglows set up. Mr Hey and his wife, Wonpen, are the parents of Nat, the cook at the Shanti lodge. Nat’s cooking at the Shanti has been some of the best Thai food I have had, though I soon found out where she got her skills from. Her mother, Wonpen is an amazing cook who dishes out delicious treat after treat of nice, healthy food. The bungalows we stayed at had no electricity or running water (water for bathing was collected into cisterns from the rain), and we fell asleep each night to a concert of various bugs.
We were joined the next day by Kim and her two hyper kids, Tai and Tia, 5 Thai construction workers (who had been working to expand the Shanti Lodge), and Pete a friend of Kim’s that happens to be the skipper of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior. Pete had a seeming endless supply of crazy stories from his job of being a quasi eco-terrorist. Over the next few days, this motley crew and I toured the province, taking in most of the major sights. One of the highlights was visiting a monestary where the monks take care of tigers. They have domesticated them pretty well, and for a small fee you can get your picture taken sitting next to (and petting) unchained tigers. We also spent a night on a large resevoir in a houseboat. By the end of the week, my cold was gone and I must have put on 10 lbs. of weight from eating so much good food.
I am now down on the island of Koh Phi Phi, the location where The Beach (with Leonardo DeCaprio) was filmed. The scenery is spectacular and I promise to post some pictures soon. Sorry this entry is short, but the internet on the island is too expensive.
Neil
Tags: Thailand
Neil
October 29th, 2004 at 9:53 pm
Greetings from Alaska,
I have read all of your postings and am intreged by your travels. I am begining my trip to Australia and New Zealand in December. However, I now think I will first venture into Thailand and perhapes India… I am 25 years old love to dive and climb (and yes we do dive in Alaska we just have to wear a drysuit). I have been a many places around Europe Eastern and Western and believe in packing only the bare essentials seeing as I typically buy so many souviners along the way. What would you recomend I pack and what might you recomend to someone that never has stepped foot in Asia…
I would appreciate any comments,
The Alaskan
November 1st, 2004 at 2:53 am
Hey,
i’ve really enjoyed reading your postings as i’m heading to veitnam soon. I was just wondering, what kind of camera you are using – the photos look fantastic???
November 1st, 2004 at 10:41 am
dude, how is your sub-200kph vacation going. sometimes you must wish you could head out of a toll station and hit resume, and feel a supercharged v8 push u into your seat… guess mopeds are cool too though. later g
November 3rd, 2004 at 12:05 am
Michael,
I am using a Cannon Powershot A80. I have no complaints, though I wish I had brought the manual! There are a bunch of features that I have yet to figure out how to use properly.
November 3rd, 2004 at 5:17 pm
Neil,
Continue to rock out in the jungle. I bought the new edition of BFC shirts last weekend up at Bates. They are sweet. A debaucherous night was shared by Critch Grom Chet Heff and myself, however the distinct element of ghost recon was missing. Come back soon and the prophecy will be fulfilled.
November 3rd, 2004 at 8:57 pm
beat the drum slowly and make the heart work. still have the running shoes?
November 3rd, 2004 at 10:53 pm
yo man, that bike looks tits… when i get to that sauna of a country, i’m definately renting one of those. anyway, bush won so you should be able to get some of the jobs that are being outsourced pretty soon. maybe next time i call aflac, your ass will pick up.