4x4 = 2

Taking a firm grip on our basket fronted 2 wheelers we set off again in the morning to town, reassured that the packs of dogs on the road didn't bite.. The aim was to rent either a car or mopeds to get around and see some distant 'attractions.' After a small lunch we bumped into the hotel owner who took us to his friends who would let out a Suzuki jeep to us for much cheaper than the rental we'd just checked out - apart from one missing doorhandle this seemed like a snip. Leaving our hotel owned bikes at the shop - for further rental - we took off in the jeep, at a slow pace to start although in fairness this thing was hard work and power steering was our job as driver, not a standard feature. We set off for the Padeung Karen (Kayan) village of Ban Huai Seau Tao about 20km out of town, to our fortune the roads were straight forward so fears of getting lost soon got lost in the contours of fields, trees and shallow river crossings. The Kayan are a refugee tribe having left Burma to settle here around 10 years ago, they practice elongation of the neck through the use of bronze hoops increased over time or alternately the extending of the ear - flesh tunnels comes close in our understanding although the size and weights used here wouldn't suit all tastes..
The tribe in part follow their ancient religion dating back to before the days when they segregated from tribes in Mongolia to live in Burma, though Christianity has become popular due to the belief that Catholic white men were the younger brother (themselves being the eldest brother of all the tribes) bringing them the words of their own religious book; a rustic church sits atop a steep hill overlooking the village - we're unsure as to the religious importance of the neck or ear distortions but i doubt that this shift will affect the practice as it seems culturally important as well as providing a level of tourist intrigue [article from local paper in Hilltribe Museum, Chiang Rai filled in more. Link below.]
Selling crafts including fine hand made silk and cotton scarves, tops and bags, small figurines of animals and the villagers, plus postcards. As we arrived later in the day soon before we left this all seemed to take a step back as priorities changed and the village returned to normal; children, dogs and chickens running erratically about and food being prepared for dinner.

After enjoying that night probably the best seafood i've ever had the next day we set off early on a longer trip - 140km or so to Mae Surin for the Mexican Sunflower hill only in bloom around this time of year and also the National Park hosting Surin Waterfall. This was a simple path again but much more exhaustive in its distance. What a beautiful drive, roads should be like this everywhere to hell with convenience this was fun. Many tourists had come from the world over and more than usual from Bangkok holidaying to avoid the floods still affecting vast areas. The sunflowers cover patches of hillside but one in particular is coated, more for beauty than any real purpose - but it is a beautiful sight with forest and farmland eroded hills as far as the eye can see. We then carried on through the valley to the Mae Surin park, managing to bargain our entrance to one ticket for the car rather than 200 baht each. Although we couldn't get right down to the falls there were two viewing platforms cut out of the hillside opposite. It was around 180m in height and coming from what seemed a small stream made a wonder in freefall..
After having to call up and rent the car til the evening to prevent a panicked bit of speeding back to town we headed back and had another enormous fish meal for only a few pounds we settled down to our last night knowing we'd sorely miss the area in heading back to the city. Next morning we set off in a 10 seater jet - the pilot had a rear view mirror it was that small - with incredible views with the fresh morning air it made you wonder over the vastness how ever people claimed to be king and conqueror?! Touching down we had two days to shop and rest up before a week volunteering with elephants to the north.

Karen interview:
Www.Asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/7588 1160621207886634
This was a shock to read but i feel that the village we visited was better tended and accomodating..

The long and winding road..

Setting off to the North from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son we were up and on our way by 7.30 with 5 roughly hours of steep winding road ahead.. Hearing the roads were bad we were ready for bumpy dusty tracks and sheer cliff faces, got to say I did feel uneasy about the idea.. In fact, other than occasional military check-points along the way the scariest thing was probably the bugs in one of the roadside toilets and on average the roads were better than our own potholed pavings people are up in arms about after a heavy winter. It was a brilliant ride, bit on the speedy side but we were getting a discount as our driver had an afternoon pick up from Pai, a main town we passed by on the way. Slowly winding and creeping upward - an automatic car can be a bit of a bain on this terrain - passing the cloud level and ear pressure needing to be equalized the heat picked up as ever going into the afternoon but a much cooler wind replaced the cities warmer climes.
We arrived around 2 in the end and found ourselves in a true paradise... Red/purple dragonflies?! Gims Resort has been running for three years and was set up by the land owner Koh Ho (sp?) originally from Bangkok. When i say land owner, when a guy has rice fields being harvested outside your window i think you get the picture. You could smell it, so fresh.. With free bicycles available the 10minute ride to town was great fun and gave a great feeling of liberty after the madness of the streets in Phuket and Chiang Mai; since it was a small town - made up of two villages and overlooked by a mountain top Wat - there was less pressure to feel obligated by rights of way and traffic lights had a slight roulette feel to them!!
We only had two days to make the most of this place so plans started to form that night over the first full meal i had managed in 3 days - this stomach was back in business.

Chiang MaiTranslated meaning 'many elephants' though there aren't any
to be seen inside the Old City walls.. It's an up and coming place
where old meets new, inside the city walls - surrounded by a fish
filled moat and with partially rebuilt city gates - there are numerous
Buddhist Wat temples of varying design and age, the oldest being the
700 year old Wat Chao Phraya once home to the Emerald Buddha now to be
found at the Grand Palace in Bangkok (check out its apparent tale,
pretty incredible..!!)As former Thai PM was from the area it
apparently is the focus of a certain amount of regeneration, tourism
is certainly a booming trade and high rise hotels can be found nearer
the Chao Phraya river outside the central city..Around the town you
have tour operators for visiting the many elephant parks,
tree-adventure trails, waterfalls, tiger parks and local long-neck
Karen villages. We arrived last friday with a bump, quicky followed by
a bout of food poisoning from a mystery meat club sandwich for myself,
by wednesday we set off West to the province of Mae Hong Son - only a
5 hour drive away . . .

Loy Krathong

While in Phuket it was full moon, the chance in Thailand to celebrate on the island of Kho Phangan with pretty much the biggest rave imaginable - but we were two boats a train ride and far too much money and hassle away from there.. Fortunately this full moon was the national celebration of Loy Krathong.. Loy being water and Krathong being the banana tree 'boat' you either buy or in our case make and cast off into the water. It's a celebration of light and water, with tourists and locals alike celebrating with sky lanterns, fireworks, krathongs and more or less the usual party atmosphere you could expect worldwide.. It was like star gazing - seeing so many lanterns going up was... Well i couldn't help but thinking of Tie Fighters from Star Wars..

We moved up to Chiang Mai the next day - and it was carrying on there still, with even more Tie Fighters!!! With some beautiful silky statuettes illuminating the night time streets and more fireworks it made this usually docile city explode with more than one bang.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN KRATHONG
- Get a floating circular base
- Using same size strips fold as if making a paper aeroplane, staple and trim into diamond like triangles; attach flat to base evenly
- Repeat but instead of trimming fold bottom edges in to force pointed end up.. Attach to base between last pieces
- Continue process until adequately elaborate
- Decorate with candles, josticks and flowers
- Sell to tourists for roughly £1.50-10 or
- Put money, hair and nail clipping aboard, light, pray and float away!!!!!!

Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai

Looking at the peaches:

Scuba-doobie-do!!

Today's been about one thing. Fish. Managed to book up a dive today, had to be ready for 7 so as to guarantee our space on the boat to head out to Racha-Yai island to the south of Phuket where we had two 50 minute dives. Wow.
I had to start from scratch but luckily we found an incredibly good rate and an American instructor Joe who you trusted - with your life, being no joke. It took around an hour and a half to get there but by the time you arrived and strapped all the gear on it was so hot that diving in to the water held none of the reserve that usually comes with jumping in. Once dunked and a few basics reviewed we headed down, reaching around 12m at times. It wasn't the most spectacular of areas but i'd be lying if i said it wasn't beautiful.
Various small corals were dotted around on the bed and rocks hiding fish and crustaceans such as... sea urchins/cucumbers, puffer/box/angel/pretty fish, flounder, moray eels, boxer shrimp AND an octopus right before we finished. That was amazing and being able to see these animals in a natural environment was a privilege - one that some boat owners didn't come close to understanding; at one point a loaded fishing line from a private boat was well worth cutting/un-hooking, however a tug tricked them and likely spared an exquisite large fish that was showing some interest..
Some good food and a beer on board afterward topped it off, though the sway of the boat returning didn't suit all.
Sooner or later we'll get some pictures up as words have no chance of doing the amount of colour and shapes justice.

Bangtao, Patong, Karon, full on!

Sawadee!! Time to explain what's happening here.. Started off in Bangtao and to be fair it's going to be hard to beat there. Genuinely beautiful little village although the prices did reflect on the lack of competition.. Or the vast number of "drink too much whiskey" Russian tourists. We were staying at a dainty little 'bangalaw' chalet just a minute away from the beach. Two days there and an early morning at the beach with fresh coconut before heading to the city of Patong, a much vaster complex of towers, markets, discos and massage shops.
The heat is unforgiving, so afternoons can be almost ruled out on hotter days unless you get to the breezy beach - which we didn't and our hotel was a good ten minute walk from town, with a fair sized grove inbetween it and the sea guaranteeing no cooling wind. I took a stroll up a steep hill one day to get a good view and my bearings - one local laughing at me saying "just homes and forest!" Well, i liked the homes and the view was something to behold..
Some good food was on offer but you had to shop around, being an overly tourist orientated area you aren't saving even a penny some places. Despite the many hundred offers we haven't got a suit, dvd, bags, watches or ladyboys - but we did have a massage.. Oh my days, I have never been contorted and cracked so much and felt so good after.. Definitely worth the £6/hour we paid including a tip.
Overall Patong is an interesting place and it's easy to get the flavour of the region but i didn't think another day there would do us any favours as it's not somewhere you would find much peace..

We've just moved to a new hotel down the coast in Karon, a much smaller town and hopefully somewhere we can feel less crowded.

Sense & Ostensibility

Here we are, Phuket!! After a few more days spent deciding what to do, woke up to find Qantas 'locked out' so the whole plan was resting on hope alone - and some angry diplomats no less.

Fortunately all fell into place as these things do, we somehow managed to pack and clean in time and get to the airport.. To cut a long story short as i'm now very tired, two flights later we're in Bangtao on the west of the island and very glad to be so..