Tag: Thailand

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Ringing in 2018 with Gratitude

It’s that time of year again. New Years resolution time. A time to set goals for self improvement for the coming year. Instead of setting goals, this year I am instead choosing to reflect on the past year and all that I have to be grateful for.

We left Asia on New Year’s Eve. We left Taipei at midnight and watched the fireworks as the plane taxied down the runaway. We arrived home in Calgary at 11:45 pm. Perfect timing to watch glimpses of the fireworks in downtown Calgary from our kitchen window.

Ending the year in Asia and starting a new year in Canada gave me much to be thankful for.

  • Tap water that is safe to drink. Not a single country we visited in SE Asia had water safe for consumption. The water bottles we were forced to buy and toss and not recycle broke my heart. Especially after seeing so much plastic debris in the otherwise beautiful ocean off Thailand’s coast.
  • A home with heat. Many of the homes in the rural villages in Vietnam and Cambodia lack heat. The residents also lack warm clothes. We were told that in Cambodia rural deaths begin at sub 12 degree centigrade temperatures. Even in our down jackets we had many cold nights in home-stays in Vietnam.
  • A home with running water. In addition to lack of heat, many of the villages we passed had a central well where people would bathe and collect water. Many villagers simply bathed in the cool rivers.
  • A home with electricity. In rural Cambodia, we drove through villages where power lines were just being installed.
  • Access to basic healthcare and vaccines. We drove through villages in Laos where children had recently been infected with Polio. The Polio vaccine has been available since the 1950’s.
  • A comfortable bed. Many of the villagers we met slept on thin mattresses on the floor, in hammocks or on cots.
  • The ability to go for a walk without fear. There are still thousands of unexploded ordinances and landmines in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. These continue to kill and severely injure dozens of people a year.
  • Access to dental care. When your daily life is about survival, dental health is not a priority. Children and adults throughout SE Asia have rotting teeth or few teeth, their mouths blackened by rot.
  • Access to education. Every day we witnessed children working the agriculture fields, tending to younger children or doing absolutely nothing at all. Without school to attend, toys to play with or sporting equipment to amuse the children, their days seemed empty and totally joyless.
  • Freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press.
  • Equality. Freedom from cultural norms that force primarily women to work long and incredibly hard days to maintain societal expectations of monetary gifts. Vietnam has a complex social structure that requires families to attend all village events, weddings, funerals, etc and to pay a required sum of money as a “gift”.

I am thankful to have been born in a country of wealth and freedom. I am incredibly lucky to have a loving and kind family. I am lucky to have the basic necessities of life and my health.

I begin 2018 grateful for the experiences of 2017. Grateful for the incredibly kind and generous people we had the pleasure of meeting on our travels.

I wish everyone a year that is filled with gratitude, health and happiness!

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Day 52 – 55 A Merry Krabi Kristmas

December 24, 2017. Railay Beach, Thailand.

Christmas on Railay Beach. There were definitely a few surprises. More stomach illness, the persistent smell of raw sewage and a reminder why we are not fans of beach vacations. That being said, there are always good times.

One of which was the hotel Christmas party. A pretty decent shindig, especially when you consider Krabi is a mostly Muslim community. It was totally cool to see Muslims wearing reindeer antlers and wishing people a Merry Christmas. The highlight of the party – the “entertainment”. The house bands. The first house band was two teenage girls doing Kareoke. My favourite song was their kareoke cover of The Cranberries, Zombie. Umm, yes. Zombie. I was the only person loving it, and in return got the “devil horns” from the sixteen year old singer. Next up, the far less talented Kareoke singers. I pretty much have nothing to say about them besides “party killers”. Then there were the “sexy dancers” ad they were introduced. A sad insight into how the rest of the world must view Western lifestyle. To think we needed to see two scantily clad women imitating Miley Cyrus’ vulgar dance moves at a Christmas party was uncomfortable, creepy and more than a little bit sad.

Another classic. The draw prizes. The hotel was giving away spa and restaurant coupons. The DJ would turn the music down low while the draw was made and would then crank the volume after the winner was announced. A great way to add to the festive mood, no doubt. A quiet beat in the background as the MC proudly yelled out a room number. The crowd scanning to see who the lucky winner is. A young woman jumps up with a wave of her arms just as the lyrics “Motherf$cking Big fat bass” were blared through the entire grounds of the hotel and surrounding streets. Sweet.

All in all a great party with plenty of good food, beautiful decorations and incredible Christmas spirit.

Santa!

December 25, 2017. Day 55:

Christmas morning in Railay. That could only mean one thing. Rock climbing for Shawn and SUP’ing for me. We headed off in our separate directions to enjoy our last day on the beach.

For those of you who don’t know me, I love sharks. They have had a very personal meaning for me from the time I was a child. They are also my one phobia. Terrified of sharks for as long as I can remember, my deep dark fear has ruined many ocean and even lake excursions. I have a small shark tattooed on my left ankle. There to remind me both to conquer my fears and pursue my dreams with passion, and to remind me of the beauty and wonder of the world. Yes, I love sharks. But I have never actually seen one in the wild. It’s been both a dream and paralyzingly fear to see one up close.

On Christmas day, alone and out of sight of the shore, a huge boulder island between me and the sight of the beach, my dream came true. While paddling around the Karst mountain, looking for angel fish in the perfectly clear and undisturbed waters I saw a huge fish. Then two more. Then I saw the jet black dorsal fins, long snouts and razor like tails. I knew immediately these were three blacktip reef sharks. I watched in fascination, without fear. Three beautiful and graceful creatures hunting. Smooth, arcing movements directly below me. So close, I could see one looking at me with curiosity. After 20 or so seconds I drifted too close and they darted away, just a blur of gray / black. I was breathless. Did that just happen? I got to my knees, suddenly aware of the chop that could easily throw me off balance and knock me into the water in my state of distraction. I paddled around the island and went back to the spot where I saw them in hope of seeing them again. After 20 minutes of searching I gave up. The area had grown busy with long tail boats racing by and I knew I wouldn’t see them again. Satisfied with a perfect Christmas morning, I headed back to shore to share my exhilarating experience with Shawn.

The rest of the day was spent lounging by the pool and planning the final leg of our trip to Bangkok. We were also anxiously awaiting nighttime and the Muay Thai fights held at The Last Bar.

I’ve had many loves in my life. Muay Thai is one of them. It was a short but passionate affair before life and age forced us to part ways. To this day the brutal martial art that utilizes fists, kicks, elbows and knees holds me spellbound. The grace and elegance of the Wai Khru Ram Muay, followed by the shattering speed and precision of the blows of the fight. The calm respect and the cold brutality. To see a Muay Thai fight in Thailand has been a dream since watching my first Muay Thai fight in Calgary over a decade ago. Two bucket list items in one day? This would make for a very special Christmas indeed.

We arrived early and got ringside seats. When the competition began we could feel the sweat flying through the air following a swift kick or a landed punch. Wow. I expected this to be an exhibition match to introduce Western tourists to the sport. It was not. It was a bloody match with multiple knockdowns by both fighters. A spinning back elbow that was too slow, resulting in the fighter spinning right into a powerful right hook. The hardest teep I have ever seen in person. And finally the knockout punch that would layout the receiving fighter for several minutes. Seeing this match heightened my respect for the sport. But there was also a sad regret for these two young men who were beating each other bloody for a few tourist dollars.

It was truly an incredible Christmas Day and one that will never be forgotten.

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Day 49 – 51: Railay Beach, Thailand

Day 1 Railay Beach

Can my first thought of Thailand be about Cambodia?

I immediately regretted coming to Thailand. Five minutes after leaving the airport I missed our “home” in Cambodia. The people here were not friendly. Krabi itself is ugly. Big, soulless, stinky and ugly. It has none of Hanoi’s character or Siem Reaps vibe. I missed the friendly Cambodians who spoke great English, and were well trained in tourism. Everyone from the hotel staff, tour guides, tuk-tuk drivers and vendors made an attempt to speak English and always showed a friendly respect by bowing with their “hello’s”.

It’s partially our fault. By the time we booked our trip to Thailand, only a few days ago, it was slim pickings. We got the last hotel in our price range on Railay Beach. We knew we were getting a hotel not known for its service, but the discomfort started long before arriving at the hotel. It started with the airline staff, airport staff and taxi driver. We were met with cool stares and our questions were answered with dismissive waves of the hand.

Day 2 – 3 Railay Beach and Diving

Our first full day in Thailand. We woke up to beautiful blue skies and a perfect onshore breeze. Today we decided to explore the area to find things to do in the coming days. The tiny town had no shortage of climbing tours, one SUP tour / rental company and one dive company. I had been excited to try the SUP’ing but after seeing the ridiculous rates and choppy waters I wasn’t convinced the value was there. The scuba diving seemed like the better value and I knew this would make an excellent Christmas present from my parents who love to support our epic adventures by treating us to memories. One of my favourite gifts from my parents was a sailing trip with all our friends in Bonaire. I have the most memorable sunsets and smiling pictures of my parents in my memory photo album from this trip.

The problem with scuba diving is that it had been over a decade since we last dove. I had no clue what we learned. Luckily with the help of YouTube we “refreshed” our skills enough that we decided to book a tour to the Ko Phi Phi islands.

It turned out to be a great day of diving. We dove Koh Yawasam first. A small island about an hour boat ride from Railay. Here we floated inches above the coral and saw a scorpion fish (extremely deadly), giant puffer fish, lion fish, yellow box fish, harlequin sweetlips and admired beautiful coral in the shape of large vases, bowls and sticks.

Our second dive took us to an even smaller island, more of a giant boulder standing proudly in the middle of the ocean. Koh Yawabon. Here we swam along a coral wall, the base of the boulder above. This was also fun and we saw several nudibranch (super cool little things) and two huge lobsters. Their long, spikey legs slowly peeking out of a crevice in the rock wall made them look like crazy spiders from a cheesy, b-rated horror movie.

After diving we set out to explore the local caves. The first was Phra Nang Cave (Princess Goddess). The small cave at the south end of Phra Nang Beach is filled with hundreds of wooden “Linga” (phallic shaped statues). Locals leave the offerings to the princess god in hopes of safe travel by sea and in hopes of fertility.

Next was a hidden cave our dive master told us about. It was reached by bouldering a steep stone path through the jungle. From here we found a large cave and the hidden bamboo ladder that would take us deeper into the cave. The sun was setting, the bats were stirring and the challenging climb through hidden passages in the dark was too much adventure for us. We decided to watch the brilliant sunset from the near empty beach below and save the caving for another time when we had better shoes and headlights.