FALL OFF THE EDGE OF A FLAT EARTH

Still alive and kicking

2010-01-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

We met my buddies cousins on the port and they welcomed us into their homes. Fantastic people. Warm and friendly. We sat and ate and then we went to church. Romblon was in full party mode because of the Fiesta Senor Santo Nino. Or the feast of the baby Jesus. The Island was discovered by the Spanish. The particular fleet that landed here had as their patron, the baby Jesus. So they imported this to Romblon. Been here ever since. It's celebrated the weekend after new year and goes on for a week. And for a small quaint little island, these Romblomanon can party really hard.

There she is. Romblon.

Janay. Rommel's bro Rogel's youngest son.

Buddy Rommel. Bunk beds on 2 decks. Probably about 300~500 pax capacity. Lucky we had the bunks near the side. Surprisingly comfy.

The ferry didn't look too convincing. This clunker must be at least 30 years old. Also the fact that they sink everytime. Ferry's sink almost on an annual basis. '08, '09. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/26/world/main6025594.shtml Then there was also the Princess of the stars that sank with over a thousand deaths. http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080623-144277/I-could-hear-children-wailing-as-boat-sank All happened within the Sibuyan sea.

The Phillipines!

Went offroad riding in Romblon Island, Romblon (google earth it!) Its a small island. Maybe about 150 clicks in circumference. Getting to Romblon was the kicker. Cebu pacific flight into Clark, Manila then jeepney all the way to Batangas. But wait, I stayed with friends in San Juan DEl Monte, Manila. Took a bus to Batangas the next day. From Batangas, a very restful 14 hour ferry trip to the jewel that is Romblon.

been awhile

2009-04-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

Its has been quite a while since the last post. Bout 2 years in between. Lots have happened. Since the africa twin, I've gone thru a kawasaki '03 Z1000, '07 repsol CBR1000RR, 2001 Yamaha TDM 850, and now the Honda '01 X11 (or the naked blackbird) And now eyeing either an MT-01 or the naked CB1000R. All nakeds. The Z1000 did it for me.
I've changed 2 jobs. The present sees me stationed in South Korea. And I also got ROM on 25 March 2008 (coincidentally, 25 March 2007 was the last time I posted here).

Luang Prabang

2007-03-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Luang Prabang was the best part of this trip to Laos. Very old city. Kept secret for much too long because of the revolutionary war. Fantastic classy place, cosy as well.

Brunch. Oklam (somekind of stew with traditional ingredients. It had a type of root that was pungent and kick in the arse like garlic & ginger), lao beer, lao coffee, mekong river on the side.... fan-bloody-tastic.

Monument to the great Sisavangvong. A great king in the ancient times.
Previously the "government"tried to erase all symbols and evidence of the royal monarchs of days past, but due to overwhelming tourist interest and subsequent revenue, "they " decided to hype things up a bit A little "too little too late"? or a "better late then never"?
Whatever it is, he looks solid.

The Ho Kam museum. Plenty of relics from the past kingdoms, weapons of recent wars, presents from other countries and of course, buddhist relics.

The mighty Mekong

Can never get enough of it. THE MIGHTY MEKONG. The legendary trade route, source of life more like.

School. Worn out & in shambles.

The temples are pristine.

In fact, there are more monks in the temles than children in school. A long chat with the group of understudy's in the pic here revealed that they study up 16 subjects. They are always eager to chat with tourists to improve on their english.

Banyan trees at Wat Aham.

Luang Prabang's main street. There is a seasonal night market. There so much splendid items to be had. trinkets, pottery, weaves, cutlery, jewellery, parts for weapons (found parts, and mostly in advanced state of disintegration... like bullets, magazines, helmets, aircraft wing guns...etc)

Wat Phousi. The most prominent landmark in LP. Bannister of stone snakes, & a shrine to lord Buddha in a cave. Nice.

Wat Phousi at night. Just a lit temp[le floating in the sky.

Luang Namtha thru Oudomxai to Luang Prabang.

2007-03-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Woke up to a surprising chill morning. Surprising for me only. This are pics of the @ in the courtyard if the motel. Its called the Motel Lousymatress&nohotwater.

Belly full.

Luang Namtha main street. Plenty of not much going on. This town is more famous for its natural whatchacallit..uh wonders? anyway this place had a certain vibe... come to think of it..the whole of Lao had a certain vibe. I liked it. I heard that if you misbehave, they shoot you. My kind of place.

On the throttle and headed to Luang Prabang.

Sign ahead says Boten left, Vientienne right. Boten is 18 clicks from the junction at this bridge, the border town to China. haissshhhh.. so close yet so far... next time though.

View from the bridge

The villages along the way. Can see adults and children beside the road, carrying forage stuff from the jungle, ferrying buckets of water, working. Everyone worked. Except the men. All they do is play that game with the big metal balls. Like an extreme version of lawn bowl. And some of the mothers and fathers looked like they were still adolescents them selves..

Somewhere in one of these villages, I stopped to take a pic of the small little children (they are very tiny, like 8 inches tall only) beside the road, doing their thing...they took one look at the big full black from top to bottom monster like machine with all these things stuck to it plus this black suited furry man waving at them to come closer, they promptly ran off in tears.. poor things.

I stopped here to take a call from mother earth. When i came back i saw this vehicle parked behind my bike. Check it out, a mini harvester turned into a hilux. Can drift arh?

Was having lunch here in Oudomxai, when two old beemers pulled up. An older australian gent and his wife. He said he saw the @ and decided to stop to say hello. They had been travelling in the opposite direction as me. He & his wife had been on the road for 6 MONTHS! Started in Australia, island hopped in Indonesia, Rode around in Malaysia, couldnt get into Singapore wiith their Aussie reg bikes (??!) rode thru souththai into cambodia and vietnam and would be soon heading into NEPAL! I fumbled and burbled like a fool. They looked to be in their forties, real uncle and auntie type. Respect mannnn. I still remember he said he rode a 23 year old beemer. And when they fall, they have to help each other up, If they both fall they have to unload their luggage before attempting. I was amazed at them and realised how much of a chicken shit i was in comparison. wish them luck.

Taking a breather here, about 2 hours away from Oudomxai, in the middle of nowhere, not a soul along the way, when I heard this voice say "hello" turned around and theres this caucasian fellow on a frickin bicycle!. I remember his name. Sebastian from France. Had been riding from bangkok. Wished him well. Afterwards noticed quite a few bicyclists... solo, group, young, old. I remember also seeing this other chap....walking for heaven sake! holy buffalo balls!...now that, is an adventure.

Criss crossed these rivers, tributaries of Nam Mekong, Nam Ou & Nam Xuang.

The Mekong just before Vientienne

Crossing into Laos.

2007-03-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Always seemed to wake later than usual, cos of the chilly weather which makes you want to stay in bed. Which makes you lose precious hours of daylight time for riding and enjoying scenery. Road heading to Chiang Khong.

The immigration checkpoint at Chiang Khong was easy. Also didnt have to pay a cent.

The barge for vehicles. Pedestrians take half inflated inner tubes and float across. No, actually they go on little boats. I had to pay 500B for the bike. However i noticed that the lorry driver didnt pay anything. Maybe he had a season pass. Maybe I should get a $ sign tattooed on my head.

Chiang Khong immigration checkpoint in the background.

Barges are driven by boats attached by a pivot. The boats swing the barge around like tugs manouvering larger vessels. Very ingenious. Simple and efficient.

Heading upstream to the vehicular checkpoint. Immigration from this point on becomes very interesting. Took me an hour to clear, even though I was the only person there.

On the road from Huay Xai heading northeast towards Luang Namtha. Gravel was good and solid....

The roads were still under construction the time this pic was taken. This red earth was like powder. Couldnt power on through these parts. Didnt matter anyway. Look at those hills..

Dirt roads hugging mountainsides. These parts, the 250 plus kms from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha was most memorable stretch of the journey.

Had to wait more than an hour for them to complete. Road building before your very eyes.

Bike taking a 5 minute break...ahem.

Me taking a 5 minute break. Trying to stand the bike up was like powerlifting a cow.

Took a break in Vieng Phukha. The neighbourhood inspectors checking me out.

Apparently they love snooker here.

Nightfalling. Still in the middle of nowhere, with a spoilt compass (melted stuck from the heat), no phone reception and no more water. Then only did I get that happy feeling that "yes, this might be an adventure after all, I dont know where I am, nobody else does, I dont know where im going, I cant call anyone, anywhere, if I fell into a ravine and died nobody would ever know, I might as well be abducted by aliens" ...........bliss...i tell you...pure bliss.....

Neutral & engine light. Nothing else.

With the flash on. Ok, so theres the bike, now,...wheres everything else?

Reached Luang Namtha and checked into a run down hotel with a courtyard so could keep an eye on the @. Always based my preference on two things, secure place for @ and cheap rates. Ok so im lying. I like hot showers, queen sized beds, and killer views. But then that would be cheating. Anyway after washing up, i headed into town looking for a meal and had my first encounter with Lao beer, coffee and cigarettes. First rate for all three. Highly recommended. The beer is refreshing, like heineken only cheaper and not as pretentious. And the coffee, is impressive. Rich and buttery, have it at every meal, always neat, no milk or sugar. The ciggies were smooth, not as as stale as S'porean cigs but not as good as M'sian ciggies, but still good cos they were so cheap. A big brew cost USD 0.70~1.0, pack of 20's USD 0.3~0.45 and kopi 0.05~0.3 (depending upon how farang infested the area was) And surprisingly it was quite infested. But mostly hippie or eco-adventure-tourist crowd. They are ok compared to the country-tight-arse-club type.

Jalan jalan in Chiang Rai

2007-03-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

later in the evening , paid a visit to "the monument of The Great King Mengrai"

He's known as the one who established Chiang Mai.

The old Clock tower. The new one was under construction at the time of this pic. The new is supposed to be massive. Its always about size.

The farang infested market square. Plenty of shops, stalls for eating and pubs. Too crowded. I recommend the old night market, where the locals hawk local stuff for the home crowd.

The #1 bike in the world.

Later in the evening got jolly at the teepee bar. On the left is Tuu, the proprietor, in the middle is Mike, a professional french hippie, and on the right is, ahem. Mike said "youre young, you should quit your job, grow your hair, travel the world..." I asked him what to do for money, he said " ah...this.. that.. whatever..." definitely stress free. Great music here..they also have drums and guitars for jamming... had a great time here.

Annika from Denmark on the left. Dunno who the other guy is.

Chiang Saen, Mae Sai.

2007-03-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Went round to Chiang Saen. Straight road. Passed some ruins along the way. Then the road ends at this signboard.

Behind it, the Mighty Mekong.

The golden Buddha

Golden triangle map

Thailand on the left, Laos on the right. Funny guy in the middle.

Mekong River ferries

Fierce outboard motors.

On the way tOO Mae Sai, stOpped at the Hall Of Opium. Very impressive. LOads of infO abOut Opium (O) and marijuana. FrOm the beginning in the times Of the macedOnians up til the present. InfO abOut the farm recultivation prOjects and reeducation prOgrams fOr the people whOse lives depended upOn the prOduction of O. Same as in LaOs, where they had tO destrOy (?) O farms and grOw viable crOps instead. Middle east, EurOpe, Asia, the expanse of O was (is?) great. Apparently, tOday, Afghanistan is the tOp prOducer of illegal Opium. The Only legal producer Of Opium today, is Australia. Plenty of stuff can be made from O, mOrphine is from O, but herOin and cOcaine is also made from the stuff tOO. NO pics allOwed inside the museum, but i highly recOmmend it.

Mae Sai border.

BURMA! too bad no time. So close, yet so far.

Thailand on the left..

pedestrian bridge in the mddle...

Myanmar on the right.

Below and around the bridge is a pedestrian mall. Plenty of Burmese jade.

Thai immigration centre right.

The night market just setting up.

After leaving Mae Sai, wanted to head to Doi Mae Salong..

But was getting late so U turn at Doi Tung

Mae Fah Luang

Chiang Rai, cabbages and Wat Rongkhun

2007-03-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Sunsetting as i reached Chiang Rai. Marvel at that.

Checked into this old refurbished mansion with individual bungalow rooms. dirt cheap. shiny and clean. Owners are a nice couple with ten daschunds. All bark but no bite.

Next day visited the hilltribe museum. Learnt a bit about opium. The documentary was a bit boring. But this is a good introduction into the magnitude this stuff. Whole tribes and cultures (maybe even some civilisations) owe their existence to it. Its been around as long as the greeks.

Downstairs from the museum had coffee at this shop. Its the profit raising wing of a local program family planning unit. It seems that before they started this, average childbirth was 6. After 20 plus years of implementation. it is now 2. Do the math..that still leaves a gazilion mouths to feed. They want to make condoms as easy to get as cabbages..hence the name.

Visited Wat Rong Khun. South of C.Rai. Was recommended this place by a local. Nice. Done by an artist famous for his religious paintings.

Inside they havent finished the murals. Pics not allowed, but still had a peek. Star wars, oil, space odyssey, osama and gang, intertwined with buddhist images. Go check it out. They had paintings of the pod racers. Seriously.

The main entry. Crowded with locals. Surprisingly farang free. Probably cos everything about this place is only published in thai. Lets leave things be.

Hands from hell? asking for alms?

Pic of dragon image.

Detail of dragon eye. They use white plaster with bits of mirror. Fantastic.

As I was stumbling around I noticed people were making a fuss and taking pics of and woth this chap. Turns out he's the artist who designed this place. So, like a zombie, I also snapped a pic of him. He was gracious enough to pose without giving me a suplex.

Magnificent.

Heading to Chiang Rai

2007-03-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Wake up in the morning and always remember that line from a Bob Marley song"..we hungry but them belly full..." ..so... Pic is a bowl of dwtf and a cup of coffee. Coffee here comes with a cup of tea and a cup of, yup, iced water.

Left MHS for Chiang Rai via Soppong ~ Pai. crystaline sky and fresh air. Made my head spin. Maybe also cos so many corners...heh.

Wanted to stop at Soppong to see the tombs in the mountain side, but before I knew it, had already reached the vantage point at Kiu Lom. Missed the turnoff somewhere....next time then. The stalls on the right were empty...dunno la..

Anyway had coffee at the view point shop. Just look at that fantastic view....

View on the left...

view on the right. Hills and mountains as far as the eye can see.. whoaaa... can get a bloody divine whatchacallit here looking at this.

dunno whats up with this pic..supposed to show the height of this area..think 1380m above sea.

Downhill after that. Great. Unladen the @ can powerslide subconciously, butI noticed that once loaded with luggage, the front end slides out during corners, (?) but it doesnt dump the bike. (??) Maybe cos of the amount of weight on the rear. Also helps keep the rear planted. And the bags too act like counterweights.(???)..more like parachutes..

Before I knew it, had already rached Pai. And as I was having my usual plate of dwtf as this place... an elderly caucasian man rode up and parked his rented cup next to the @. Couldnt speak english or thai. So sign language here, sign language there, turned he used to own an @. Said he rode it all the way From his home in France to Morrocco and back without blinking. Thats the proper way to do justice to your machine....all say Aye.

On the road, rounding a corner, had to jam brake when saw this...

Small little town in the middle... bet you they dont worry about tech gizmos and whatever colour tooth and all that....except maybe only cable reception during world cup and olympics.

Mae Aw and the communist tea

2007-03-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

Visited Mae Aw the following day. Belly full first with a plate of rice with dwtf and a bowl of dwtf and a plate of assorted veggies...and, as usual, iced water. Marvellous.

On the way up to Mae Aw had to top up cos underestimated the distance and the reserve what the blah blha blah and all that.

Hand cranked 95.

The lake at Mae Aw. Looking south.

Looking north. The tea shop is the small room at extreme left on the lake.

View from the tea house. Old Chinese KMT village.

The tea lady. Chinese signs and language spoken here. what is it? Mandarin?

So they serve it in cups with inverted shooters. Im staring at it wondering what the vibe here was...the tea lady cannot tahan so she came over and taught me how to do it...in fact she did all for me.

supposed to take the shooter cup out, then the tea flows into the cup. Then must smell the shooter and savour the aroma. Then only can drink up. After taking a sip, the shooter is supposed to be rolled up & down the sides of your temple like a thermal message kind of thing, or you can roll it in your palms...I had three rounds. All the while the lady was ever attentive. So when time came to leave, asked her how much I owed her, to my surprise it was free.

Tea sets and more tea sets and the odd chapalang.

On the way down Mae Aw, stopped by Pha Sua falls.

Nice. Didnt stay long. Bunch of caucasians swigging bottles of beer and washing themselves upstream. Enough said.

sunsetting behind me.

Later in the evening went to the market to eat and heard some boogy going on down big boom boom noise. Went to investigate...

Saw the ladies and aunties of MHS doing aerobics and same as what we have in singapore. House Of Pain some more...."I came to get down, so get off your seat & jump around....jump around.." steadeeeee...

Went to eat banana roti. This guy is an indian burmese. Here selling roti prata in thailand. fuhh...

Longnecks and big ears.. Padaung & Kayan Village

2007-03-18T03:41:00.000-07:00

The road leading to the Padaung/ Kayan Village. Nice solid dirt road. Even had a small river crossing. Nice

Dont try this with your fireblade.

Army guards. Refugee camp of Kayan. No entry.

View from the coffee shop.

Entrance to the Padung village. Entry is 400B.

Noticed a small chapel up the hill. The lady told me they practice catholicism, budhism and their animism belief. Asked how they do all that, she said some this ..some time that..

St Josephs

View from the chapel.

The Kayan ladies. The big ears. Actually they have large circular earings in their lobes. Some are like 3" in diameter.

The men folk of the Kayan. Hanging around....uh...socialising?

Padaung lady weaving

This old lady is my mother outlaw....speaks fluent english and can say hello in nearly a dozen languages. Funny lady, wicked sense of humour. "so you came by motorcyle? not me, I walked from my house hee hee hee" oh reallllyyyy?

This is her daughter. I forgot their names.. Im bad with names..

Children in school.

I visited the famous longnecks. The are called Padaung. They share the same village of Ban Nai Soi with the Karen/Kayan, also known as the big ears. Displaced from their original villages in Myanmar. They have claimed refugee status in Thailand. They have no I.C's, or passports. They have some crops and some farm animals, i think they get handouts from the state (they charge 400B per entry into their village..ex!) and from whatever income they can get hawking their handicrafts. Hate when something like this has to happen. People having to put themselves on display, having to sell their culture. Felt guilty to be part of the whole thing. Walking in their village made me feel like a bastard. They live in almost a zoo...only without cages. ...theyve been handed the short end of a very big deal, and what choice do they have in this? Wake up, put on costume, sell their wares, go to bed, repeat. Its either this or run in the jungles with spears and arrows crying freedom. I dunno...but I'm all for the underling. They have my sincerest regards. Hope their fire keeps on burning.

View inside the chapel.

St Josephs. Beside it was a tomb of a missionary.

Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu, Chamber of commerce.

2007-03-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

Next day went up to Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu. Up the hill in MHS. Short road up. Fantastic views of the valley cradling MHS.

Just look at that...fwoooarrggh..

9am in the morning and MHS still shrouded in mist. A small town ringed by mountains.

View from the lions vantage.

From the top of the stairway.

The lake from the previous night in the centre.

From the bottom of the stairway.

Monday so must wear yellow... (also may get cheaper fare...if not for the fact that I cant speak thai to save my life....no problems really cos im fluent in sign language)

Came down from Doi Kong Mu and went to this place;

The Mae Hong Son Chamber of commerce.

Met a chap from california here Gawking at the @. Said he used to ride a GS beemer but got sick of it. "too fussy mannnn...." Indeed. Hippie fellow. Smelly but friendly, a relief actually from travelling alone sometimes. Now, first off; solitude IS remarkably potent for soul searching, breaking wind and picking your nose, but i just found out that some meaningless chat now & again can be quite comforting. Normally I hate hollow talk in general, but a bit of it now and then is good. Its like getting drunk. You have to do it once in a blue moon.

This is the place to get your certificate.

it says

" so and so blah blah blah made it to MHS thru the 1864 curves hence the Wat phra That Doi Kong Mu will protect you and your kin"

groovy baby... forgot...was it 20B? anyway I got both..english one for passengers and thai one for drivers, since i rode myself here.. double blessing eh?

Heading to Mae Hong Son

2007-03-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

woke up next day And had breakfast in the market. Then headed to Mae Hong Son via route 108 thru Hot~Mae sarieng~Mae Lai Noi. Beutiful scenery along the way. I had noticed this somewhere during the ride thru Lamphun that there were bush fires applenty. Upon further probing found out that the harvest season was already over and that they were in the midst of their autumn season hence the colours of the foliage were somewhat in the ochre pastel kind of tone. Some of the fires were controlled...to condition the soil.. some were wild fires...and some were arson.

fantastic roads. Look at that sky.

Some village along the way to Mae Sarieng.

dunno what wat. Turn right here.

By lunch time I had reached Khun Yuam. And the smell from this roadside barbeque stall made me stop for a bite. They have chicken, pork, guts, and some other unrecognisable unmentionables and sticky rice. Their sausages were fantastic. Some had rice in them, some had dwtf, meat, spices..etc..etc. They all go well with beer.

Lunch: A plate of barbecued dwtf and sticky rice. Delicious.

The condensation from the cold started affecting my digicam at this point. Poor thing is already 3 years old.

Some shots of the way to MHS. Truth be told, the scenery was good, even though it was autumn. And the corners...sheeeez! wish I'd brought the blade! Everything in the book. Plus pot holes. Along the way some turns just leave you breathless. You round a corner and down below is the valley floor with a mountain staring back at you. Had to jam brake it was so pretty.

Digicam acting funny.

Signboard says welcome to Mae Hong Son. After taking this pic, i tucked the cam into the tankbag, put the bike in gear, slowly moved off and nearly rammed into a caucasian hippie on a cup kia gawking at the @ ...haissshhhh... No chance to even say hello to a local and already I have a near death encounter with a white man. Funny..

After checking in, went round to the local night market. It opens up around the Nong Jong Kham Lake during the "good season" which is 5 months a year. Thats when the hilltribes come down and hawk their handicrafts. Other seasons are the rainy and harvest, theyre busy then.

Thats the shrine in the centre of the lake. Dedicated to HRH The King.

Part of the food section of the market with Wat Jong Kham in the backgroud.

Wat Jong Kham. Some parts of this shrine have signboards saying "Women are FORBIDDEN to enter" forbidden mind you... fierce.

Back in Chiang Mai

2007-03-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Went back to town early. Parked the @ then walked to the Chedi opposite the guest house. There met paku Suphanakit. He's the one on the extreme left. He said he joined initially planning to stay for 3 months. (the minimum)...but he's been here eleven years. Nice friendly fellow with big intentions. "there are only humans and animals...everyone is the same... I hope for peace & tranquility..blah blah blah...want to do away with hatred, greed..etc..etc..." terror man this guy..

My first of many encounters with som tam. Young grated papaya mixed with chillies & things & more chillies and lime and sour nasty things. Love it.

The monument of the 3 kings. I think this has to do with the battle for Ayutthaya against the burmese army way back in the 16th century. Naresuan and gang.

The chedi at 3 kings.

Outside the old city walls. Infested with farangs.

The tuk tuks here are something. Sound like thunder and move like lightning. Dangerous bloody things. Couldnt get enough of them.

Muay thai fighter doing his thing..Left before the fight started cos too many farangs.

Doi Inthanon, His & Her Highness' Royal Temples

2007-03-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

The next day I visited Doi Inthanon, The hightest point in Thailand. 2565 m above sea level. Oddly enough it wasnt that cold. Maybe because of the relative temperature to ground level. And the air...the air...my god... just pure and rich with life. Take a deep breath and just feel all your senses come bursting to life. Can hyperventilate just by breathing normally.

Times like these, you can actually feel the heavens & their occupants at your fingertips. Or maybe all that clean air just making you woozy. Whatever.

Look at that sky. Deepest clearest blue ever. If that isnt a humbling experience, then wait till you get to Laos.

The mercury reads 14 deg. C. T shirt temp, maybe even sweater, definitely no jackets required.

Look at that landscape. sheeeez...

Small little detour in Doi Ithanon. A water catchment area. An small ecological system tour.

Look at the rate of extinction. Deforestation for economic purposes. Timber...tourism...and what not. The negative impact of tourism on the ecosystem of many environs is significant. Hence "ecotourism" Where you are supposed to visit with minimal adverse impact on the environment. Youre supposed to think green. Heh. Me on the @ chugging petrol ang spewing all sorts of gases...ahem..dont qualify. Maybe if i walked barefoot with a loincloth then maybe.Dont come expecting The Ritz Carlton and marble walkways. In fact, the fact that you are even there is already bad enough. So stay home all you pampered wankers.

at then suddenly theres this shrine....with a turbine engine at its base..

Closer view of the turbine.. or is it turboprop...whats this about....dont know....

The Royal Chedis. These are the royal temples of the King & Queen.

This is His Majesty's...

This is Her Majesty's

View from the Royal temples.

Doi Suthep, Bhuping Place, Hmong village

2007-03-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

The next day, woke up hungry, rode the @ (africa twin, XRV 750) out looking for food. I noticed the huge number of caucasians in Thai. Anyway the number of farang-ised establishments was ridiculous, so I'd decided to go look for a place where the locals surely outnumbered farangs...Then I found it; The market. Ate d.w.t.f.(dunnoWhatTheFrick) at this stall. The aunty saw me walking around blur, so she called me to sit & eat. She served me a plate of dwtf that was swimming in chillly (chilli padi some more, they eat them like rice) she also gave me a glass of iced water. ? Every where i went they served breakfast with cold water. Anyway w.i.r. (when in rome...)

After having something in my stomach then only could my brain function. Then only did I notice the old city. First went to Doi Suthep.

Doi Suthep

The white elephant stands guard over a holy relic.

They were filming a local serial.

View of Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep.

Visited Bhuping Palace, His Majesty's summer home.

Flowers galore.

Didnt know they had a dress code. I wore shorts. So had to rent 10B pants. Made me look funny. And no, wearing the coronation shirt didnt help me get in cheaper. The dumb stare I gave when they spoke Thai gave me away.

Went along to the Hmong village. Also on the same route as the places above. They live in idyllic surroundings.

Just before reaching the Hmong village, bumped into these 3 monks taking a breather. First of many encounters with monks on the road. They just look magnificent. Quiet, serene...and dare I say it..almost menacing. Dont know why, but some of them give me the impression of an amalgamation of Darth Maul, Mahatma Gandhi, Samuel L Jackson & Santa Claus. Figure that one out.

Lady and her brother making traditional yunnanese slippers.

Towards Chiang Mai from Nakhon Pathom

2007-03-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Rode to Chiang Mai straight from Nakhon Pathom. Didnt explore places along the way. Will do that next time. This time the trip was for north Thailand. Went via Kamphang Phet

~Tak~Lamphun~Chiang Mai. Boring straight highway most of the journey except for Lamphun. What was it? like 600 clicks? Anyway reached C. Mai around 1900hrs. Along the way passed by that strange place with all the wooden things.

Checked into a guest house in the old city. Cost 400b p/n. After checking in was too tired to go gallavanting so decided to walk around nearby. Saw this little pub with a couple of triumphs parked outside. Upon closer inspection the green tonado turned out to have a yamaha engine. The owner said it was a 350 engine with K&N filters transplanted into a triumph 600 body. The springers look good. Always do. The other was a pure kawa W650. Only thing was it had a triumph emblem on the tank.

Cha'a & Pod. He owns the green Triumph/Yammie. She owns the pub. Nice crowd. Regulars are the classic biker locals and the students From C. Mai Uni. Met Roni from indonesia doing his Phd. thesis on "sustainable agricultural economic developement" god knows whatever that means..

Cha' a sitting pillion. Still dont know what sign shes holding up.

Forgot this guys name. The guy in charge at the guest house. He said he was planning to climb Mt. Kinabalu. I've never been there..but here I am in Chiang Mai...heh..

Leaving for Hat Yai

2007-03-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

This time though took the boring route to Thailand. Up the NS highway. shheesh. Anyway, once there left Betong for Hat yai via Yaha...didnt see crazed militants or get shot at. Lucky the scenery was good.

passed some nice places along the way. Bang Lang reservoir.

First of inumerable encounters with elephants. Up north they use them as common as cup kias..

Took about 3 hours to cover the 240 plus clicks to the Hat yai train station.

Didnt go exploring tho, cos i had already been there previously during Oct' of '06 on my X9 with the scooter community. Thats another story.. Back to the train station. Arrived at 1600 Thai time and paid 800B for 2nd class sleeper & 1600B for the bike. Scam. Anyway the train arrived 10 minutes before departure... (1810hrs) and the way they loaded the bike was pure brawn. Had to tip them. Gave 150B.

Sunrise
Took 14hrs to reach Nakhon Pathom. Got off one end of the platfrom, and they unloaded the bike at the other end.

..and in the beginning..

2007-03-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Went to Thailand & Laos recently. Took me about 3 weeks. From 09/02/07 ~ 04/03/07. Rode up ns highway into Thailand. Went thru Betong. Went there previously during 07 new year. Boiled eggs at the hot springs again. This is a pic from the previous trip during '07 new year.

Didnt stay long, cos already had visited all the other sites. Like the Blue Mosque, The piyamit tunnel, The Giant dildo...err mailbox, these are from the previous trip.

At the beginning of this trip, some of the locals..they even let me pose with their babies and what not...hehe..

Look at how cute this baby is. He even has one eyebrow curled up like "hey mama! lets get jiggy!" This is my favourite pic of them all.

The last time i went was via trunk road to Mersing. Then all the way up thru the Grik highway. Fantastic route that. Heres a pic of the Grik sign on the outskirts of town. Dunno who the funny loking guy is.