TRAVELS IN  THAILAND February 1993


I flew out of Boise, Idaho and had a uneventful flight via Salt Lake City to Los Angles, California.

I have just learned the flight from  Los Angeles to Bangkok, Thailand takes 20 ½ hours with a plane change in Seoul. On the flight to Seoul (13 ½ hrs.) I was seated next to a lady who spoke no English. The plane is full of Orientals or Indians. After thirty-two hours from Boise I am now in the Hotel in Bangkok,  I arrived at 2.39 a.m.. The streets are teeming with autos, taxis, motor scooters and concrete trucks. It is really a busy city during the night.  I slept really good.

Next morning,  I  had a marvelous continental breakfast with lots of fruit. I went over to the Manhattan hotel where I meet the group who I will travel with in Thailand.. I had my first ride in a Tuk Tuk, an enclosed three wheel vehicle that goes like mad and you are unable to see out. I. went for a tour of the Grand Palace. Unfortunately my camera is not working.. It is so hot and I now have blisters on my heels. I wore my new soft shoes without socks and now my feet are a mess . Will have to bandage them.  I should have known better and wore the socks.

There are six and half million people in Bangkok and I think they all smoke. Our group for the Thailand adventure met at five p.m. What an assortment of people from all over the world, England, Holland, South Africa and the USA. This should be interesting. We walked to a Thai restaurant for dinner and the streets are really crowded. 

 I  repacked for the morning. I  left my duffle bag with all my gear for trekking in Nepal, checked at the airport. My travel agent told me this is the one country that you can be absolutely sure your bag will be safe. My roommate, Sara Kennedy is the youngest of the group she is nineteen.  We have quite a number of people who are sixty and older. We meet our guide for the next few weeks, his name is ZAK. A young but conscientious young man.

Next morning we are loaded into a bus and went to the Canal for a Longboat ride.  We stopped at many places and went ashore several times.  We saw snake and alligator farms and many Buddha's. We were surrounding by other boats all trying to sell us vegetables or fabrics or trinkets. It was a fascinating experience.

Next we drove for two and half hours to Ayurethia, here we had lunch and saw old ruins of temples. We also saw how the people lived along the canals in their canal boats. There are lots of canals you need a street map for the canal system here.

We are now tied up to the beach on the Noi  river on a Rice Barge. This will be our home for the next few days and nights. We ventured off the Barge and visited a large Buddha and many temples.

The weather is really hot. My ankles are swollen and I have miserable sores from the blisters on my heels due to the first day at the Grand Palace. I have to take off my shoes constantly even on the barge.  They put mats all over the floor and we all lay down side by side with a huge mosquito netting over us. This was an unexpected sleeping arrangement.

It is now Tuesday, March 2nd and the Barge stopped for the night by a Locks. We got up very early at five fifteen a.m. The night was uncomfortable for the majority. We did not sleep, it was too hot and humid. This is suppose to be the cool time for Thailand however it is not cool for us. 

Observation - I would think twice about coming  to Thailand again, it is very expensive and lots of tipping in areas that you do not expect it.. 

We went into the village of Bangrajan and saw their markets. Next we hiked up to some 600 year old Kilns that have just been discovered.  By ten-thirty a.m. we are back on the Barge and are going down the river to the next village where we will have lunch. 

The cook on the boat - a lady named “It” and another young couple are preparing all the meals. They are genuine Thai  cooks and the food is excellent.  We stopped several times today to sight-see and then about five-thirty we joined the main river. Here we stopped and had a swim. The water was much  cleaner here….it felt great.

Our next stop was a school (children) and lots and lots of monkeys who wanted to be fed. The children were grades four, five and six.  They have English classes four times a week. They were loads of fun and wanted to practice their English skills. We enjoyed them as much as they enjoyed us.

All the way along the river we saw numerous  Buddha's and temples. The river goes through jungle vegetation,. We had a carefree evening with a few drinks and singing and got to know one another. We tied up at the shore for the night.

The majority had a terrible night, could not sleep, it was too hot and muggy. My backside is sore from sitting on the floor. The river was noisy with Long Boats and than at 4 a.m. the music from the village came on over a loud speaker until 6 a.m. Dogs were barking, Roosters crowing. After breakfast we continued on the river for two more hours and then changed to a Bus.

We stopped at a Market Village, did a little shopping and then on to Nahhonsawan. We are now in a air conditioned hotel with chairs. Whoopee. We had our lunch in a department type store and it was super. You could buy a little of this and a little of  that. Some of us slept all afternoon. The others went off to explore and then all joined up for dinner.

It is now Thursday March 4th and we are up early today. We had Breakfast in the Hotel. It is the start of a long Bus drive to Chaing Rai. The scenery and housing is changing now. We see many mountains, forest, and teak farms. It takes sixty years for a Teak tree to harvest. Houses are more modern and there is lots of Stucco or plaster. Not so many temples and personal shrines now. And it is not so crowded. Lots of farms and rice fields. It is a long hot Bus ride, this bus does not have air conditioning. The fan belt broke on the bus so we are late getting into the Hotel.

We walked to dinner at an open air restaurant, best Thai food yet. Melda the Norwegian lady entertained us. Peter is in his glory - all ladies and him except for the married couples. Chaing Rai is a vacation town with lots of bright lights and lots of shops. The hotel is very luxurious but has thin walls, it also has phones in the bathrooms. We had a fun evening and then took a bike Rickshaw back to the hotel

We were up at six a.m. and the majority slept well. I took a bath then went for early morning walk around the town. My feet are getting a little better now. I finally have been able to get my shoes on. Hope they will be ready for trekking and my boots will feel okay by tomorrow.

We are back on the Bus now and are visiting the area of the Golden Triangle. We visited the handicraft section , pottery, weaving and old Pagoda. We are at the Maikong River with Laos on opposite side. Drove to Uausai had lunch and went to a jade factory. We saw again the Maikong river which separates Burma, Laos and Thailand.

All of this is  turning into a great tourist area with new roads and new hotels all going up rapidly. Evidentially the government is putting money into the country for Tourism. It was really hot again to day. Hope the weather is cooler for our trek My hair is growing will need to get it cut in Nepal. We had too much shopping today. The bus took us back to the hotel about 6 p.m. We are now separating our belongings for tomorrow. We get to sleep in tomorrow and get our packs ready for the start of the trek. To-night we all went to dinner at a German Cafe.  Had meat and potatoes.

We were up early and  left the hotel and went by bus to Mactam. From here we  walked along a dusty road to the Hill tribes of Akka. It was two p.m. when we started and the heat was terrible. We are carrying our own packs for this part of the trip. Melda the Norwegian lady blacked out from the heat . So we bummed a ride on a truck that came by.

 We arrived at this incredible Thailand Hill Tribe town of Akka The first surprise was at the entrance of the town there were three crosses. They are not Buddhist here but Christian. In fact they are Roman Catholic. Everyone in the village came to watch us arrive. Lots of kids and adults. We are staying in a bamboo hut on stilts. Again we are all laying side by side. The villagers are all congregating next door. I think they are having a party due to our arrival. All the children are here by us and singing for us. The pigs, roosters, dogs and cats and whatever else are all under our building. The women are all dressed up with beads and finery.. It is now a tremendous experience.

It is now Sunday March 7th and what a terrible night, no one slept. It got really cold. I had sent my sleeping bag to Chaing Mai. I thought it would be too hot and I bought a blanket to use, as many of us did. Exactly the opposite, it got real cold during the night. The people and their music kept on until midnight. The kids cried and the rooster crowed most of the night. People were getting up and down either to pea or put on all their clothes.

We are up at six a.m. dressed and packed up.  No one washed. I have decided I should have a porter. I had the opportunity to signup for one before we started this trek. I did not imagine we would have this much heat during the day. We hiked up a straight steep trail over the mountain to the next village called Laku. It took about four hours in the intense heat. This village is on the hillside and is spread out. We have three more nights in the hill tribes and in bamboo huts.

We arrived at Laku and the first thing we did was head to a creek down a bank and and wash up.  . Cynthia age 72years slipped going down the bank and they think she has a broken hip. 

Luckily in this party we have five Doctors.
Walter and Cynthia from South Africa , he is a General Practitioner
Puk from South Africa is also a Doctor and lives and practices in the Back country.
Pat from South. Africa is a Doctor also. All of this group are sixty years of age and older. 

Anna from Norway is a General Practitioner
Peter an American/Austrian from New York is a surgeon
Sara Kennedy, my roommate is 19 yr. old and is from Virginia
Ann, English lady in her sixties
Helen, English lady runs a hotel
Melda, Norwegian Nurse
Shirley, English lady
Judith - English but did not come on the trek.
Marge - from USA

Zak, our tour guide had to walk back very quickly for five hours and find someone with a pickup truck. He came back at seven-thirty p.m. They loaded Cynthia onto a mattress in the back of the pickup along with Walter, Pete and Zak.  I had some Percondans which have codeine and they gave her those plus a lot of booze. They  had to drive about five hours on a very rough road to Chaing Mai and the hospital…
Here is not the place to get hurt. We all went to bed about ten p.m. We are feeling very sorry for her.
All our Porters and cooks are smoking dope (Marijuana).

We all slept the night a little better, not well but it was only half as noisy and not so cold. Zak is still not back. So the porters made breakfast and we hiked in a nice bamboo forest to the village of Karin. .I used the porter that Cynthia had. So do not have a big pack on my back. We had a lazy afternoon, washed and bathed in the river. Each village is a different tribe and they all look different in their dress. In the village yesterday, the girls wore beautiful skirts. We are all sitting in the river, keeping cool and talking or writing or just resting. It is very muggy today.

 Last night, the young good looking school teacher came over to talk. We all went up to bed and left him with Sara. He made a pass at her, she was very indignant. We are all getting a little tired of the hill tribes and the sleeping arrangements. There is a lack of trekking and we need something to do. I am sure all of us snore from time to time, so you are constantly being awakened by that, and the people getting up to pea.

We definitely  miss Peter, Walter and Cynthia. They were very nice people.

We trekked through a great jungle (bamboo forest) today and arrived in the village of Karon 2. It is a very progressive village and even had a small store of sorts. We sunbathed for the rest of the day. Zak arrived back today. 

Another group has moved in the village.. They are French. We are having a party with the Porters to night after dinner. One of the Porters did a magic show and put fire in his mouth. Lots of singing and they drank terrible tasting whiskey . But we did have fun. Bed at ten-thirty p.m.

To-day is Wednesday March tenth and our final day of trekking which was  mostly on a dirt road. Everyone is very anxious to be in a hotel again.  The night was terrible Pat snored all night long. Everyone is getting irritated and really cheap. Some did not want to tip the Porters etc.

We arrived at the hotel and I had a great bath and clean clothes. The group is starting to split up and is loosing the camaraderie. Everyone is going their own way. Some went to the night market. I had a the need to find a Catholic Church in order to gain some normalcy .

I went to a 7.30 p.m. Service on the other side of Chaing Mai after I had visited Cynthia in the hospital. I ended up not having a service there but a little man on a motor bike took me on the back of his motorbike to a Convent where they were having mass. It turned out to be a funeral Mass for a Sister in that Convent. There were lots of people and afterwards there were refreshments. Then it was late, about 9.30 p.m. I talked with a Priest who was originally from Seattle and has now lived in Thailand for 35 years. He was a Redemptorus. He arranged a ride home for me. ( See my article on finding Catholic Churches in a Buddhist Country)

I think that I am getting a cold and a sore throat, sure hope not. I woke up with a bad cough and cold - I just feel rotten.. Went to visit a temple and Palace high on a hill. This was the best one yet. Then we went to a silver factory and a silk factory even an umbrella factory. We are seeing to many factories. Just want to get my feet better and get rid of the cold and be out of this humid weather. I went with the group to see the Thai dancing. It was really lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it 

Had a terrible night, the cold is in the sinus and head and I am coughing. Went to breakfast and decided to lay low today.. Will pack my stuff  later and just rest today.  I  saw everyone off for the train and  then went back to bed. I am catching the airplane  to  Nepal..  

Today is my last night in Thailand. It was a great experience and I am glad that I got to see Bangkok and the northern part of Thailand. My favorite part was up north in the Chaing Mai and Chaing Rai area.