The Fryhole

As Remi mentioned, he and I were incredibly lazy in Bangkok. It was great!

Mom and Dad however… well, they basically hit all of the big sites, including:

The Grand Palace - with both demon and monkey guardians

Wat Arun - the Temple of Dawn

Wat Pho - the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (and its temple mascot - a kitty eating rice)

Dusit Palace

Vimanmek Mansion

Red Teak House

There are more pictures of all of these places in the gallery.

They also went to the Bangkok National Museum, where they learned that Ganesha is the god of knowledge. And in order to ensure that knowledge survives, he seeks out and destroys ignorance - hence the skulls on the bottom of his throne.

What a great god!

While Mom and Dad were sight-seeing, Remi and I shopped, relaxed, watched James Bond movies (which were on all the time), and basically just hung out.

Mom and I worked fittings into our schedule, as we both got a bunch of clothes made at King’s International Tailors on Kaosarn Road - from Papa Jim.

Mom and I also inspected various food vendors, although I only bought mango and sticky rice (mmmm!), not the other… delicacies.

Mom did manage to get friendly with Ronald though. She really likes fast food iconic statues.

Bright and early Sunday morning, we all got up, grabbed our luggage (with the addition of a couple of bags and boxes from all the stuff we had purchased), and caught our flights back to Canada. That was the end of our latest family adventure.

We left the comfort of our Phuket resort on November 25, and headed to Chiang Mai (sadly, via that retarded Bangkok airport again). We basically spent the next 4 days on the opposite end of the spectrum - having gone from 5-star to… well, a place that probably doesn’t even register on the star rating system. I had organized a 3-day trek in the mountains of Northern Thailand - through Doi Suthep - Doi Pui National Park. During the trek, we slept in huts in a Karon (a hill-tribe) village. For the nights before and after the trek, we stayed at a guesthouse called Eagle House 2. Apparently Eagle House 1 isn’t too bad, but Eagle House 2 is… well, loud to say the least. It’s right next to at least 3 nightclubs. So it was a little different from the resort. Fortunately, we were only there for a minimal amount of time, and the trek was great! So… on to the trek…

We left early Sunday morning. There were 4 Canadians (i.e. Mom, Dad, Remi, and I), an Irish couple (Aine and Richard), a Scottish couple (Swampy and Janey), 2 English couples (Ben and Kate, and Dan and Sarah), and our 2 guides, Date (pronounced like a cross between Dat and Det) and Sor. We loaded all our stuff and ourselves into a pick-up truck, and were off!

Our first stop was a market for supplies, and then we got to ride elephants.

The elephant that Remi and I rode was extremely large (even compared to the othe elephants), and hence - very, very hungry. We bought a couple of bags of sugar cane and bananas for him, as well as a package of Mentos, but he also made our ride more interesting by continually wandering off the path into bamboo groves, and proceeding to systematically rip them down and eat them. It’s a good thing that bamboo grows very fast, as this elephant alone could eat a bamboo forest, I’m sure.

After the elephant ride we all clambered back into the truck and drove for a few hours to the start of the trek. The drive wasn’t so great, as the road was terrible - there were many potholes, bumps, and curves - so we were all very relieved to start the trek. Our trek took us up and down the Thai mountains, across various rivers (some with bridges, some without; we later learned that we were simply criss-crossing the same river over and over again), and through rice fields - much to Dad’s delight.

Of course, 3 hours later we were a little tired, but by then we had reached the Karon village where we spent the night.

The Karon people were very nice, and brought us various merchandise to purchase (including beer!).

They also invited us into their homes for tea, and answered our many questions very patiently (courtesy of Date’s translation services). Of course, there was only one gentleman in the house that we visited, as the rest of his family was up at the house with the satellite TV, watching soccer.

The next morning we all huddled by the fire, as it really gets cold in the mountains at night. Dad and Dan built a rack to help dry the shoes that had been soaked in the various river crossings. Remi and I also attached various wet socks and sarongs to our backpacks, to let them dry while we were hiking.

After breakfast, we visited the local elementary school, and gave the kids candy. Apparently, the villagers like tourists to do that as it provides positive reinforcement for going to school.

Then, we were on our way!

We stopped for lunch at a little hut near a stream, where we ate fried noodles out of banana leaves, using young bamboo sticks as chopsticks. The ultimate enviro-friendly lunch!

After a few more hours of trekking (and crossing rivers on rickety bamboo bridges), we arrived at our camping site for the evening.

We spent the evening relaxing, swimming in the river, and Ben entertained us around the camp fire. He plays guitar quite well, and is part of a band back in the UK: The Day Brakes.

The next morning, we awoke to find Date making sticky rice in a bamboo stick for us.

To make bamboo sticky rice: fill the bamboo with rice and water and let soak overnight (stuff leaves in the top end so there’s no bugs) then cook over the fire in the morning until done.

It was good!

After breakfast (including the sticky rice, but also some French toast - or as the Brits & Irish called it, “eggy bread”), it was time for the rafting portion of our trek. There were 3 rafts, built right on the river next to our campsite.

There were 4 or 5 of us standing on each raft, along with our backpacks on a tripod at the front. Each raft had at least one guide, who took the front position. Then, we set off down the river.

Some areas were more exciting than others…

But all of it was fun!

After disembarking, we hiked for another little bit, until we met up with the truck again. We drove for about an hour to a restaurant for lunch, where we met this little guy.

Then we drove another hour or so to the Great Holy Relics Pagoda of Nabhamethanidol-Nabhapolbhumisiri, built to commemorate the birthdays of the King and Queen (Stupas).

Then, another little bit of driving to the Mae Sa Waterfall.

And finally, we drove back to Eagle House 2. That was the end of our Thai trekking experience.

Mom, Remi, and I took a Thai cooking class at our resort. We went to a local market just off of Phuket (over the causeway), and learned that there are many, many different kinds fruits, vegetables, and herbs, far more than we have at typical Canadian grocery stores. (Fortunately, the Chinese superstore is more varied.)

We also got a demonstration of how fresh coconut milk is made.

Then, we went back to the resort for breakfast, followed by our cooking class. We learned to make gaeng keaw wan (green curry with chicken), som tum (spicy green papaya salad), and pad thai with shrimp.

Our instructor was the head chef of the resort’s Thai restaurant, and was very good at explaining how to balance flavours. Of course, she had a sweet tooth, so she was forever adding more palm sugar.

We learned a lot - most importantly, that Remi can make much more than spaghetti!

It was a delicious day in a beautiful kitchen!

On Thursday, we went on the John Gray Sea Canoe Tour of Phang Nga Bay. We kayaked through (or rather, a guide gave us a tour of) various limestone islands and caves in the Bay. We also went through the caves into lagoons in the centre of the islands, complete with mangrove trees.

There are reputedly monkeys on the islands too, although we didn’t see any. There were lots of eagles though, that the boat crew enticed with bits of chicken.

We kayaked around Hong Island for a while, looking at the caves, the little crabs on the rocks, and the lungfish (a.k.a. Muddy Mudskipper). And we relaxed in the sun.

Remi and I also managed to scare the crap out of Mom, by boarding her’s and Dad’s kayak in an attempt to steal their treasure. Yarrr! Unfornately, we didn’t get a picture of that.

Once the sun set, we went out into the caves again, and played with the bioluminescent algae. It makes the water sparkle when you move your hand through it, as the algae reacts to pressure changes. No photo of that either, as it probably wouldn’t have turned out anyway.

On our last day in Cambodia, Joey took us to Tonle Sap, the river/lake that connects to the Mekong Delta. There’s a floating village about 5 miles out from shore.

In the dry season, much of the Tonle Sap in this area dries up, and they build a road out to the village. Mom claims it is just like the ice road across the MacKenzie River. Or at least the Cambodian counterpart.

The floating village also had some tourist shops (of course), and a crocodile farm.

This was our last excursion in Cambodia. Joey took us to the airport, we said goodbye, and braved the two flights (via Bangkok ) to Phuket.

Our first two full days in Siem Reap were spent wandering the ruins of Angkor, for as long as we could stand the heat. Which was about 6 hours or so. After that we needed to go back to the hotel and swim, as going from 15 to 33 degrees in a day is a real shock to the system.

There are more pictures in the gallery, so I’ll just post the highlights here.

Our first stop was the ancient city of Angkor Thom. We arrived through the south gate, which has a “naga” (7-headed serpent) bridge leading up to it, with gods lining one side and demons lining the other, both carrying a serpent.

The bridge leads to a gate with 3 towers carved with 4 faces (on the cardinal points). At the base are 3-headed elephants plucking lotus flowers with their trunks, forming the supporting pillars.

Inside the city of Angkor Thom are:

The Bayon, with its famous face towers

The Baphuon, a 5-tiered pyramid that is being restored

The Phimeanakas or Royal Palace

The Elephant Terrace

And, of course… monkeys!

After Angkor Thom, we went to Ta Prohm, a temple that was chosen to be left in its ‘natural state’ as an example of how most of Angkor looked on its discovery in the 19th century.

After lunch, we went to Angkor Wat, the most famous of the Angkor temples. It actually has 5 towers (one in the centre and 4 on each corner), although most pictures only show the 3 you can see when you are directly facing the temple. Here, you can see 4 of the towers.

By that point (about 15:30 on a very hot and sunny day), we were done. So, Joey took us back to the hotel, and we swam and relaxed until about 18:30, when he picked us up to go to a restaurant he recommended - the Angkor Mondial Restaurant. It had a buffet of various Cambodian and other SE Asian cuisine, followed by Apsara dancers.

The evening would have been wonderful, had it not been for the large tour group of obnoxious French people (is that an oxymoron?) that arrived extremely late, and then had to mill about while deciding where to sit, get up many times to get food, and stand to take pictures, even though their table was front and centre. Jerks.

The next day we got up early to travel to Banteay Srei, a beautiful out-lying temple. On the way we stopped at Pre Rup.

Banteay Srei is a beautiful little temple made of pink sandstone. It has very detailed carvings over its walls, doorways, and towers, which are still mostly intact.

Sadly, the same group of French jerks showed up with their cloud of smoke (many of them were smoking despite all of the “No Smoking” signs), so we left.

On the drive back to the main temple area, Joey stopped at a friend’s market and showed us how palm sugar is made.

Then, we toured:

East Mebon, with its elephant statues

Ta Som, that has a large strangler fig tree over the east entrance

Neak Pean, with 4 ponds surrounding a central pond and Sanctuary Tower

And finally, Preah Khan, with Dad helping to guard the north entrance

Then, it was time for lunch!

By this point, we were pretty much templed out, so we decided to give Joey the rest of the day off, and just relax in our hotel for the afternoon.

In the evening, we wandered around Siem Reap for a while, and saw a flock of bats (is that what you call a group of bats?) over one of the central gardens. They were everywhere - it was kind of creepy, for no good reason. Stupid Hollywood-esque social conditioning.

Our journey from Fukuoka to Siem Reap (the town near the Angkor ruins in Cambodia) was a bit long, as there were 3 flights involved, and one of them involved a transfer in Bangkok. We may have mentioned this elsewhere, but the “new and improved” Bangkok airport isn’t so much improved. For one thing, they have some rather confusing signage. For example, when you see a sign that says “International Transfers” and arrows pointing both left and right… well, it just leads to confusion. And since it’s a new airport, the staff are also unfamiliar with things, and give conflicting directions.

After much wandering around, we eventually found the correct check-in point - only to learn that our luggage had not been checked through. So, I got to go through Customs and Immigration, find all of our backpacks (which I found in the nick of time, as they were about to be carted to the “Unclaimed Luggage” section), check them all in (while explaining to the check-in staff that there were 3 other people already inside and all 4 bags weren’t mine), pay the departure tax, go through Immigration again, and find the gate.

I don’t really like the Bangkok airport.

While I was doing this, Mom, Dad, and Remi were trying to find the departure gate. Of course, as I mentioned, the signage in Bangkok airport leaves much to be desired. Somehow they managed to wander into the Domestic Terminal, as it wasn’t very clearly marked and the security people didn’t really care if they were wandering out of the secured section. They definitely did mind when Mom, Dad, and Remi wanted back in to the secured section though. :O Fortunately, one of the staff understood the problem and escorted them to the correct area.

So, when we arrived in Siem Reap, we were rather tired, and the incredible heat and humidity that greeted us didn’t help matters much. All of us were in need of a shower and some sleep.

Fortunately for us, there was a licensed taxi stand just outside the Siem Reap airport, and we meet Joey.

He asked us where we would like to go, realized that we had absolutely no idea, but Mom required air conditioning, and so took us to a nice new hotel, complete with a swimming pool that we took advantage of as soon as we were checked in.

Joey owns his own car, knows Siem Reap very well (having lived there his whole life) and speaks good English, so we hired him to be our driver for the next 3 days. If any of you are going to Cambodia - look him up. His actual name is Mr. Hout Choy, but he goes by “Joey” for tourists who would just mangle his name anyway. His phone number is 855-1241-9944 and his email is houtchoy@yahoo.com. We highly recommend him.

On other thing of note - Remi and I had a gecko in our hotel room. Hee hee!

Our last couple of days in Japan were spent wandering around, shopping, eating, playing arcade games, and watching sumo!

For those that don’t know, sumo is the greatest spectator sport ever! It’s got something for everyone - tradition, ceremony, history, and two fat bastards hurtling themselves at one another. Plus, if you only like some of those aspects, you can tune out the ones you don’t like. So, for example, you can sit and drink beer with your friends, and ignore all the symbolic stuff, and just watch the action.

Although, to be honest, the stamping and preening beforehand is pretty fun too - you get to watch the rikishi [wrestlers] attempt to freak each other out.

It was a good note to leave Japan on - two days of a sumo tournament, including lots of good food. And, of course, video games for Remi and Andrew.

We took the Shinkansen from Himeji to Hiroshima, found a hotel, stashed our bags, and took the tram to Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. The first thing you see as you step off the tram is the Atomic Bomb Dome, which is the remains of a building that was about 600 m directly below the bomb on August 6, 1945.

It’s a very chilling reminder of the level of destruction that people are capable of, and set the tone for the rest of the day. We went to the museum, which had been remodelled and expanded since I had been there in 1993. So there was even more charred and melted artifacts on display, and more education about atomic weapons.

The mayor of Hiroshima (and all the people too, I’m guessing) is a strong opponent of nuclear weapons, and there are copies of all the letters that have been written though the years to various governments, protesting nuclear tests. Sadly, a new one had been added only days before to Kim Jong Ill.

The park also has a monument to peace and a perpetual flame that will only be extinguished once all atomic weapons are dismantled. Obviously, it’s still burning.

We really didn’t take that many pictures, as seeing it once is horrifying enough. As you can imagine, it was a rather subdued evening.

Because we apparently didn’t get enough castles, temples or shrines over the previous two days in Kyoto - we headed off to Nara.

Nara is famous for a couple of things, including the deer.

They’re little (about waist high), they’re everywhere, and they want food. There’s many, many street vendors selling deer biscuits, and kids on their school trips spend most of their excursion time leading the deer around with the biscuits. The deer also make this very strange… noise. I don’t really know how to describe it (grunting? wailing?), but Yukari (former student that we visited in Nagoya) does a very good impression of it.

Nara is also famous for Tōdai-ji, a large temple which houses an equally large Buddha.

Nara is much like Kyoto, in that there are shrines and temples everywhere, but it also has some very nice gardens that Mom insisted we go to. To be honest, they were really beautiful - even though we were right in the middle of the city, the gardens were landscaped so that you couldn’t see the surrounding buildings, but instead only saw the mountains circling Nara.

Unfortunately for Dad, Mom has decided she really likes the Japanese ponds, especially the stone bridges.

But I think it’s mostly the attention to detail that appeals to Mom - like how they cover up the water pipes and filters.

Of course, following the gardens, there were still more temples to see, including Sangatsu-do and Nigatsu-do. Since Nara is surrounded by mountains, there were lots of stairs to be had (notice Remi and Andrew trudging up them - I’m not entirely sure what Dad is doing).

And, since it is a shrine - you have to wash your hands. But only if you’re not Pac-Man.

We were quite tired on our way back to Kyoto for the night (Nara is quite close, so we just did a day-trip), so I failed to notice this sign.

Fortunately, Remi and Andrew did notice it, so Dad was the only one who got on the pink women-only car. Oops!

For dinner, we went to our favourite style of restaurant - the Japanese pub! This particular izakaya served even more types of meat-on-a-stick than usual, so of course Remi had to order the sparrow. Yep, there are two sparrows on that stick.

Of course, I managed to get the skull. Ugh - I don’t reccommend sparrow skull.

However, I do reccommend lots and lots of chu hai to wash it down!

And, you can’t go wrong with individually wrapped sausages.

Hot dogs from a vending machine (in the train station) aren’t that horrible either.