Gallery update
Gallery has been updated. New pictures are from our bike trip in the north of Thailand, the Angkor Wat and the floating village. As usual you need to log in to see pictures of Paula and or me.
Hope you enjoy them!
Cambodian border experience
Yesterday we crossed the Cambodian border, after falling victim to several scams in one ticket. We bought a fairly expansive ticket from Chiang Mai to Siam Reap(the city next to the Angkor Wat). We were promised to buses in Thailand and good buses in Cambodia. We didn't get the bus we were promised from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. A pickup truck brought us to a gas station where a bus, which looked like it was at least 20 years old, was waiting for us. Somehow it managed to reach Bangkok in time for our connection bus.
The bus from Bangkok to the border was even worse. We got picked up from a highway junction. The bus rattled and was pretty cramped. At the border they tried to scam us into paying twice the visa price. We also had to wait for about two hours at a restaurant while some guy went with most peoples passport, and their money to arrange said visas. We said we arrange it ourself at the border. When we got to the actual border we were lead, by one of the tour group people to the clerk where we could buy the visa. It said very clearly above him "tourist visa 20$, normal visa 25$". We knew from the lonely planet that tourist was 20 and business was 25. The guy from the tour company, and the clerk changed a few quick sentences, and it seemed then that it was 25$, because "a tourist visa is just for one day" Feeling we did the best we could we payed the extra 5$ each. One thing I'm sure of. I'm going to file an official complain with the tourist police as soon as we get back to Thailand. Its not that much money, viewed in the total budget of the trip, but it can really ruin your day, and there is no real reason for it. After waiting in line for 3/4 of an hour we were finally in Cambodia. Then we were made to wait with the whole group for a bus that would take us to Siem Reap.
We have heard about buses taking people to guest houses so the drivers can get commission, and after a short talk with the tour operator that accompanied us it became clear that we were gonna be on just such a bus. "I have no control over where he stops, I'm in the Thailand side" He the proceeded to cross the border with no passport and no problem. The scene on the Cambodian side is really something. It feels like the wild west, like no man's land. Lots of shady types walking around. You can almost smell the criminality in the air. I wanted to get out of there as fast as we could. Finally a bus came. It looked like it would break down any minute. Paula noticed all the "problematic people", that is those who tried to arrange the visa for themselves, were singled out to get on the bus, so she decided no matter what we are not getting on that bus. I reasoned that there are 25 people on the bus, there were only 7 problematic people in total. Paula insisted, and I, being the loving guy that I am, stood by her and refused to get on the bus. After argueing with a few people we were left to be, and the bus left. Another half hour passed and nothing happend. I decided it was time for me to take some action, so locating the nicest looking guy I walked over, with a big phony smile and asked very politly when the hell are we getting the fuck out of here. My exact words might have been somewhat nicer, but I think this better describe my feelings at the moment. "The other bus is broken so we need to see what happens, there might not be another bus today, but we will take care of you." I gave the guy 10 minutes to find out when, if at all, this mistery, maybe broken, bus is coming. Of course he didn't get back to me so after a quarter of an hour I walked to him, smiling a bit less, but still being nice, and asked again about transportation.
"Bus not coming, so I have arranged a Taxi for you" I heard a few minutes ago how some tried to stuff 8 backpackers in one regular 4 door car taxi. "How big is the taxi, and how many people will go in it?" I asked. "Regular car, with 4 people". I was getting a bit optimistic. a few minutes later a Toyota Camry pulled next to us and we were shown to it together with an American couple. After being told about 10 times the taxi has already been payed for we left for Siem Reap. There were still about 10 people waiting for transportation when we left. About 2 km from the border we passed the bus that Paula didn't want to take. It looked like it was broken. The passengers were outside, the driver was looking into the engine. I was so glad Paula decided we shouldn't take that bus. I have no idea if these people made it to Siem Reap that evening. At around 9 pm we got to Siem Reap, after 26 hours of traveling. It took us a few tries but we found a nice guest house to stay in and so here we are.
I consider myself an experience traveler. I have crossed border cross land before, and I have never had it as bad as the Cambodian border. I really was on the verge of just saying "Fuck it, lets go back to Thailand and do Malaysia instead."It felt like you were being smuggled into Cambodia by the Mafia. The worst part is, that the Cambodian government is keeping it like that thanks to a certain airway company bribing a certain official to keep this statues quo as long as possible. You can guess why I'm sure. Siem Reap luckily has done a bit to repair the damage done by the border crossing. The people are nice and polite, though the tuktuk drivers jump you whenever you so any sign of an intention to move from one place to another.
Tomorrow we are gonna start exploring the Angkor Wat. We really are looking forward to it.
Chiang Mai and the north
The north of Thailand, so much to do so little time. Like I wrote earlier we had to narrow it down. We knew we had about a week so we devised a plan to fill the days as best we could.
The first day was dedicated into what, in my opinion, is one the best things in Thailand . Thai food. The Thai kitchen is incredibly rich in taste and has a fresh feeling to it. we both are great fan of Thai food so we decided its time we knew how to make some ourself. The first lesson was the material so we went to the local market for a fast lesson on the different sort of rice, noodle, vegetables and meat that goes into Thai dishes. After some shopping we got a ride to the school. The class was smallish (about 8 of us) so there was enough time for individual attention. Our teacher was really funny, mostly because of the way he laughed at his own jokes. at least once every 5 minutes he would tell a joke, which non of us understood, but he had to laugh so hard at his own jokes it was really funny. Cooking was fun to. we learned how to make home made Curry, and how to cook several dishes (Yes Aharle we learned to make Massman). We even cooked adventure style. That is set fire to the food in the wak. At the end of the day we had the pleasure of eating what we cooked. To our surprise it actually tasted remotely like real Thai food, which for a first time, made us both quite happy. It also filled us up very well. With a full stomach we rolled into our guest house to book a 3 day trek. They were a few people short so they said they will let us know in the morning if we are leaving or not. Hoping for the best but expecting the worse we made a backup plan of going downhill mountain biking instead. The trek didn't go through the next morning, "But tomorrow we go for sure" we were promised. So we went mountain biking.
And boy was that fun. We both have mountain biked before, but never really did hard core downhill. Somehow we got ourselves into an advance level path, which is parallel to black slopes in winter sports. We got body armor, helmets, knee and elbow protection. At this point Paula was starting to get stressed. Then our guide started talking about all the bad things that could happen. It didn't really help that, being an American he probably over exaggerated a lot of things. Paula was starting to get real doubts about our ability to finish this route in one piece. We got on the bike, and then things really got worse.
The first part of the route must have been the most evil piece of terrain I have ever tried to negotiate with a bike. Hell, it looked so evil I would have thought twice before attempting it on foot. Roots, logs, rocks, in all shapes and sized. And this on a 30 to 40 degree angel. Luckily for me I had quite a good bike (some sort of downhill mongoose bike that were real heavy duty) so I successfully negotiated the terrain. Paula had the misfortune of having a crappy bike, with a front brake that could be either off, or full on. Combine that with the fright she got from our guide, and you see her situation. Just as we were considering maybe we did take a bite to big for us to chew, the route became much friendlier. That hellish descent, the first part of the route, is ,as it turned out, the worst part. We got on a few dirt roads, then some more hard core descents, but nothing as long as that first part. By the end of the day I was feeling quite confident on the bike. And my arm muscles hurt like hell.
All those downhill mountain bikers in movies, they all have thick muscular arms. I always figured it was part of having a sporty life, or going to the gym. I had no idea how hard your arms are actually working when doing serious downhill mountain biking. I figured it would be like snowboarding. Just try not to fall while gravity does the rest. By the end of the day my shoulders were done, but man was it fun! Paula also had a blast. Despite the rotten start. I cant wait to try it again. Maybe throw in a few ramps for jumps next time.
When we got back to the guest house we heard there were still not enough people to go to the trek tomorrow. "But the day after tomorrow we go for sure". Having heard that before we decided to take matters into our own hands. We sat down with the lonely planet and chose what we really wanted to see in the north of Thailand. We made a 4 day plan, and the next morning we got up, checked out and rented a motorbike for four days.
At first I was considering renting a dirt bike, to enable us to go off road. But with a passenger, and a fairly large bag it would have been nothing short of madness. So we got ourselves a chopper. At least as far as choppers go in Thailand. You see, here its all small engines so our 400cc Honda Steed was a real heavy motorcycle. I have to admit the bike impressed me in a very positive way. With lots of torque at low revs, it had no problem negotiating the steep climbs we faced.
We first headed to the northward to Chiang Dao, to visit holly caves. The caves are host to a Buddha temple, and are nice to see as a natural phenomena. From Chiang Dao we headed east towards Pai, where we planned on spending the night. The road is only 200km but it took us over 4 hours to complete, an it had nothing to do with the road quality. This road, and the road we will be taking for the next 3 days were really bike heaven. Lots of curves, lots of hairpins, it was a lot of fun to ride. Paula was also having a blast. A chopper doesn't only give the passenger more comfort, it also sets him quite high, which meant she could see more then the back of my helmet.
The next day, we drove from Pai to Mae Hong Son. On the way we stopped at the Coffin caves. Inside this rather large cave complex coffins have been found which have been dated back to 1200-2200 years ago. It is still unclear who made them, but the small number of them suggests it was reserved for very specific individuals. The coffins are very long logs (5-9m in length) cut in the middle lengthwise, then hollowed out (basically resembling a long, round canoe) and suspended on logs. The whole experience of caving and ancient relics is quite exciting I have to admit. To get around in the cave one must use a boat. This adds even more to the sense of adventure and exploration when visiting the cave. Unfortunately, all this also means a lot of people come to visit. For the first time in our trip we were surrounded by tourists, most of whom, to my surprise were Israelis. That did damage the experience a bit, but it was still amazing. At sunset we arrived at Mae Hong Son.
Our third day was spent in the area of Mae Hong Son. We started by going with a boat to a Karen long neck tribe village. The experience was not quite what I had expected. for some reason I was expecting a quite, almost intimate meeting with the tribe. What I got was a street market which happened to be run by women, some of them are long neck. Don't get me wrong, it is very interesting to see these people, and to hear about their customs. There was however not a lot of reality in it. As soon as they spot a camera they switch to posing mode. So catching them natural is quite the challenge. Seeing then acting naturally is also not easy, but we finally manged, thanks to Paula, and her passion for kids. After taking a snap of a kid she showed him the picture she made. She then proceeded to try and teach him how to make a picture with the camera. Within 10 seconds she was surrounded by kids, all trying to make pictures and view them, at the same time. It was wonderful to see. The tribe's people around also were amused. It helped dismiss a bit of the stiffnes you felt by them when you were approching. After that, Paula managed to get some better shots of the tribes people.
We got back to town hopped on the bike and went to visit the summer palace. While actually locating the palace grounds we failed to actually find the palace in it. We pretyt much covered all the roads inside but there was no palace to be found. There was however a nice collection of animals that would not shame any medium scale zoo. Included in that collection is a miniature leopard. Sizing at about 1.2m long, it looks more like a house cat on steroids with a cool fur. Until he opens his mouth. Damn there are some sharp teeth inside. Resisting the urge to try and reach inside to pet them, we got back on the bike and continued to a village on the Lao border. The village, is known for its tea plantations (recently before that it was for the opium). Drank a cup of tea and started heading back to Mae Hong Son. We nearly froze.
You think of Thailand you think of warm, and sun. Well we found out the north can be quite cold. The night at Pai the temperatures dropped to 10 degrees. But at least we weren't riding. Now the temperature was going in that direction, while we were on the bike. It took me 10 minutes in a hot shower to feel all warm again.
On the last day we woke up quite early as we needed to cover all the distance back to Chiang Mai in one day. Expecting the cold we wore all our cloths. We looked like stuffed teddy bears, but at least we weren't cold. On the way to Chiang Mai, we stopped at the top of the highest mountain in Thailand, measured at 2565m. Getting to the top is a matter of following the road there. We arrived in Chiang Mai in time for diner.
Traveling on a bike has proven to be lots of fun. Although non of the paths we took are unique, doing them on a bike is quite rare. We got a lot of friendly waves and smiles from locals, and a lot of attention from kids on the way. Being on a bike puts you out there with the people, not closed inside a box. If it gets cold, you feel it. If it rains, you get wet. Then again, people notice you more, and you get a lot more contact with the people and the surrounding.
The tale of crossing the Cambodian border will be told in the next post.
Oh and once again, gallery has been updated.
A trip through the capitals
Diving has not been to me all that I had expected it to be. I was actually waiting for my mind to be blown away, all my old hobbies forgotten and a new obsession to be introduced. Instead what I found was a charming, relaxing experience that offers very little in the adrenaline department, but a lot on the animal viewing department. I did not expect me to get all excited about seeing a shark. Its just a really large fish after all. Yet, when I did see a shark, from quite close by actually, I was excited. Not in fear mind you, but in awe. The movements so strong and sure, a creature in total dominance of itself and its surrounding. It really was all that and more. Diving has not proven to be my new adrenaline shot, but in a sense it is something better. Something that I can't quite get in any other sport.
After finishing the course we started our trip north, with our final stop Chiang Mai. On the way we passed through all the capitals of Thailand, old and new.
From Koh tao we travelled to Bangkok. It was not our intention to stay there, just to spend the night as a stop on our way north. In the morning we were confronted, for the first time in Thailand, by tourist hassles. We wanted a taxi or a tuktuk to the bus station. No taxi would take us with the meter. they all wanted a flat price of 300 Bath (around 6 euro). Having travelled before we knew that means the price is way to high, so after walking a bit further from the tourist area, we found a taxi that would take us with a meter. It was 91 Bath to the bus station. Two hours later we were in Ayutthaya, the old capital, and the seat of power for the Siam kings.
Ayutthaya is not a pretty place, but it has around 400 temple ruins spread amongst its modern houses. Some of these are nothing more then a low square wall about 3 meter long and 3 meter wide. Others are tall Stupas and Prangs. To manage to see most of it, we rented a scooter. I have had a motorcycle before so I knew how to drive with gear. These scooters have a gear box that feels like it was made to be used with slippers. Instead of the usual small lever, there is a pedal for shifting up, and one for shifting down, making it easy to shift with sandals. Luckily because man it was hot! I have not had shows on since we left china. The temples of Ayutthaya have been quite impressive and by the day's end we managed to see pretty much all that we wanted. so we headed north to Lopburi.
Lopburi is a small town. It has nothing really going for it, except once a year. They have a lot of monkeys there. Once a year top chefs from Bangkok cook a king's meal for the monkeys, who ravage the tables set for them. That's what we came to see, and it was worth passing by for. Those of you who remember our trip in Kenya know we had a run with monkeys in the past, so we were more careful these time. They are wild animals, and they really have big teeth. Seeing a monkey trying to open a can of Coke is actually quite amusing. And seeing them running around with pasta in their mouth is hilarious. We left the same day.
Arriving finally in Sukothai, the even older capital of Thailand. It also has a lot of ruined temple and an impressive old city. Again we rented a scooter and went touring. The Ayutthaya temples were destroyed by the Burmese army in the 18th century, the Buddhas there beheaded. It was nice to finally see Buddha images with the head on. We also saw the biggest Buddha as of yet. 16m tall and 9m wide sitting Buddha. The sculpture is in a room just barely bug enough to hold it, making it look even bigger. It is quite impressive. In Sukothai we also learned about the different posture of the Buddha images, and what they all means. I was again confronted by just how little I know about eastern religion and believes. It is a shame, as Buddhism and Hinduism are both very large religions. I definitely should take some time to learn more about them.
Finally, having seen all the old capitals, we took the bus to Chiang Mai and here we are now. Chiang Mai has a lot to offer. So much in fact that we are taking a whole day just to decide what we want to do here. We want to take a cooking course, we want to ride mountain bikes, we want to trek, we want to raft, we want to see the hill tribes, we want ..., the list just goes on and on. Our time unfortunately, does not. So we will have to cut a few things out of the plan, trim some days of several activities, and find a way in between. In about one week we need to be heading into Cambodia.
Ill let you know how it all turned out 
Last, but not least, the gallery page has been updated. in the trip album ther eis an album called new. We will upload the new pictures here, moving them out each time before loading new pictures. This should make it easier to see which pictures are the newest.
Love
Kfir
Monkey festival
Reuters has a film on internet with the monkey festival, check it out
It really is like that
Bye Bye Hong Kong, Hello Ko Tao
It is not often that I feel as though my words are not enough, yet this is exactly how I feel when I try to tell someone about Hong Kong. To describe Hong Kong in words would be like trying to explain to a blind man why the color red is much more vivid then gray. It is simply impossible. You can try, but one has to see, one has to feel for one self before it is understood.
This all may sound a bit over dramatic but it is genuinely how I feel about Hong Kong. The place, for me, has a certain magic, that cant really be described. Cities have vibes, and Hong Kong's vibe is nothing short of magic. Watching Hong Kong from Victoria Peak at night is not only breathtaking but also romantic. For me it also feels me with pride. Look at this wonderful towers, this show of beauty. Its all made by men. We made it, not nature. And that is something very few places manage to do.
The city feels like it was designed to live in. It has air-walks, and parks, and trees all intertwined with huge skyscrapers. There are butterflies and serious men in suites, rich and poor, eastern and western, its just all there. There is charm to be found almost in every corner we have seen.
As wonderful as the time we had in Hong Kong was, it was time to move along. After 5 wonderful days in Hong Kong, we boarded the plane and flew to Bangkok. Our original plan was to go to the north of Thailand, followed by Cambodia, and then finish in the south of Thailand. We both were a bit tired after 3 weeks in China so we though a small stop at a beach for a few days will be good. On the plane we decided to change a few days at the beach to the diving course we were planning on doing anyway. We chose Ko Tao as our destination. So here we are now on a tropical isle, about to take our first shallow water dive today.
Hong Kong!
Hong Kong, finally, after years of thinking of you, I'm here, to walk your fantastic streets, amongst your people, to see you with my own eyes.
I felt like a small boy, off to his first amusement park. It is weird for me to feel this way as I rarely get so excited about cities. Hong Kong for me was always a name that was almost magical. That British-Chinese city in the far east. The melting point of civilizations. And I was not disappointed.
We landed here at night. Taking the Airport express we emerged from a tunnel to view the towers of light set against the dark sky. It was like I was riding on a Metro in the middle of a Manga film.
I still get excited as soon as I leave the hotel room, which is on the 19 floor.
I am going back into those streets now. Ill write more about the magic I have found here after we leave.
Gallery update
Gallery has been updated
Remember you need to be logged to view pictures featuring Paula and/or me.
The Terra cota army
The reason we actually came to Xi'an was to view the terra cota army. Yesterday we finally did it. The sight of it has left us amazed.
The terra cota army was made for the burial of emperor Qin. Qin was the first to rule over the whole of china. There were 5 kingdoms in china then. He has conquered them all, creating the basis for what is modern day China. It is assumed he believed he would continue to rule even after his death and that this army was built for him to have soldiers to command after his death. The site is made out of 3 pits.
Pit 1 is the biggest and most impressive, hosting waht is assumed to be a total of about 6000 warriors. Pit 2 was unfortunetl closed when we were visiting. Pit 3 contains 72 warriors, most of them high ranking officers, so it is assumed it was the command post.
Pit 1 really is mind bogging. It is huge, and there are just so many warriors there it is amazing, and it is not yet fully discovered yet. We were really taken by it. I find it hard to express in words the awe that we felt gazing upon them. Considering this is all more then 2000 years old makes it even more amazing. The details are amazing. No two warriors have the same face! The Chinese call it the 8th world wonder and I find it hard to dispute. The amount of work, and riches that went into making them is hard to imagine.
The burial place of the emperor himself is expected to be amazing as well, but it is still in the first phases of excavation so there isnt anything to see there yet.
The terra cota army alone is worth a visit to Xi'an, and maybe even a detour into china if your in the neighborhood. It is huge, it is impressive, and it is a sight that will remain with you long after the trip becomes a far memory.