Back from Bangkok

We've been back home now in Girona for about a week getting used to being back, the cold, and that it's Christmastime. I was secretly hoping with all of the mess over there that we could have like another week in Thailand. They sure got the airport organized quickly!
Thailand was an amazing experience. One that I'm sure I will never forget and feel so lucky to have gotten to go. In our last few days we went to the town of Ayuttaya, which had some more amazing temples, and Bangkok. Enjoying more and more every meal and moment because we could feel the trip coming to an end. I think we both could have easily kept traveling...
Love to everyone and have a very Happy Holiday!

Chiang Mai - Chiang Dao

Chiang Mai has been the biggest disappointment of our trip. It is supposedly a ´must do´ in Thailand and the problem is that everyone ¨does¨ it. We found it very touristic with some large markets with lots of tourists and touristy things to buy. So we took it as a couple rest days and walked around the markets and actually found some markets without tourists in them. Also it was good to check the internet and find out what was going on in Bangkok.
Then we rented a motorbike (about 5 dollars per day) and came up to Chiang Dao, 75 or so kilometres north of Chiang Mai and are happy to find a peaceful town with hardly any tourists. We´ve been eating well and enjoying the sights around town. Here they have a noticeably different dialect or language and are more serious and have different physical traits.
We went on an incredible motorbike ride through the Chiang Dao Wildlife Refuge. In the park there are little villages where hill tribes live in huts with gorgeous landscapes. It had to have been the most incredible day yet!
I was lucky to be on the back of the bike of an experienced cyclist and motorbike rider. That road could not have been done by just anyone with steep 30% grade ups and downs and extremely windy roads! It was absolutely beautiful and an amazing life experience.
At the last town we stopped in, it looked like they were having the school field day and there were like a hundred kids playing tug-a-war in a soccer field. We stopped for a coffee to watch the goings on.
The maps we had showed two ways to go back, both of them ended up dirt roads – one that ended in a stream and the other was way too crazy for a scooter and two people.

Per començar unes imatges del nostre Petit Gran Hotel de 5 estrelles. A Khon Kaen.

Pensant que puc escriure al blog, o en Bikicat. No me siento las piernas...!

Anem a fer un Tai cofi. Despres de bastants dies al final l'hem descobert. Es un gran luxe al mati, amb unes 10000 calories. Cafe super carregat i endolcit amb llet condensada i sucre. Gel per diluir i bossa per emportar que sino es dificil.

Paraigües tipics per sobre de les parades i a l'alçada del cap/ulls

Bonic i picant o al reves

After a couple of hours bus trip, our driver signaled us to get off the bus, that we had arrived at Nam Nao National Park. We had been climbing through the mountains slowly on the bus and so during our hiking we actually didn't have to climb much. As we walked 2 kilometers to the visitors center, we felt the cool air creep in our clothes. This is Thailand right? We thought over our plans to camp in the park because we were very unprepared and decided to just do a day hike instead. As we were the only "farang"(or foreigner) there, we got a giggly greeting from a school group as we approached.

Entrada al parc, despres de que ens deixessin tirats al mig de la carretera

The forest was beautiful and not very quiet! There were lots of loud! birds but oh where is Robert and Sally when you need them! We had a hard time locating them up in the tall trees and only got a lucky view of a silver pheasant fairly up close. We walked through bamboo forest along the mountain stream and then evergreen/deciduous forest as we climbed and also savannah in the flat areas. There were impressive termite mounds and a nice view of the surrounding mountains at the top.

The best part is when we walked back out of the park to catch the bus to go on to the following town. We realized we had just missed a bus from the people at the information booth at the entrance, and so we sat on the side of the road reading, patiently waiting for the next bus to come in about an hour. After about 5 min., a SUV stopped right in front of us with a nice looking older man inside. We told him the name of the next town and he motioned us to get in...so of course we hopped on the opportunity. He spoke absolutely no English and of course our Thai vocabulary only consists of, "Hello.......,hmmmmm, and Thank you" so as you can imagine the ride was quiet. But he was a crazy driver!!!! At one point he passed 7 cars (en linia doble continua!!). We communicated through his son, I think, whom he kept calling on his cell phone to figure out where we were going and staying etc. We realized we were going to the same town about 2 1/2 hours away by his driving, probably double that in the bus! He took us all the way there and right to the door of our hotel! He was the figure of Thai hospitality and even stopped and bought us a big bag of tamarind fruit to munch on in the car! He seemed to get a kick out of picking up two farang on the side of the road.

The London Hotel in Phitsanulok was our destination, our cheapest hotel yet! (no pictures possible) Only 150 Baht, or about 4 dollars. We had a simple room with shared bathroom but right in the center of town near the river, it was a very old authentic wooden hotel. We set out to the night market and had an excellent dinner of Tofu with chili sauce, tom yum soup, and stir-fried rice.

On Saturday we rented a motorbike and visited Sukhothai Historical Park which is a World Heritage site and was the original captital of the first Thai kingdom. There were many ruins to stop and admire and the ride there and back was beautiful with views of rice paddy fields.

Tonight we will be taking an overnight bus ride to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. On to some new adventures.

Uns dies mes per l'est

Mekong River

Since the last time, we have spent a few days in the peaceful town of Nong Khai right along the Mekong River. It was probably where we have enjoyed the food the most so far! One day we rented a motorbike (just a bit more than 4 euros) and explored tiny villages following the river. It was liberating to have our own wheels and stopping to take breaks and enjoy the scenery as we went. In this area we saw lots of rice and tobacco fields, banana palms, and each town's farmer's market. This is the day we discovered the real coffee of Thailand - can you believe it took me so long! We had been having instant coffee, Nescafe, and it just didn't seem right as I know they grow coffee in Thailand. There are stalls with a special coffee maker - now we know what to look for. That day we ended up doing 260km.

Despres ens diuen turistes. Farangs

quina pinta.

un curry vermell per dinar. mmmmmm. picaaaaa

We also went to a really crazy sculpture garden with lots of buddhist symbology that I only wish I knew something about. It was really peaceful though and incredibly surreal.

Sala Kaewu Ku park

Now we are in Khon Kaen which is a truly authentic place to come. Many people stop and stare at us as we walk by and usually if you smile at them they crack a big smile. I think they are just surprised to see us. There are hardly any other tourists and the whole town seems like a huge marketplace. I've never seen so many markets. We only saw a couple places that sold bugs though, Jaume was quite disappointed. The ones we did see were giant cicadas. We are staying in a place that is 200 Baht, or about 6 dollars a night. We've been contemplating the holes in the ceiling and floors ... but the room and the bathroom are really big and well, that bungalow at the beach had its fair share of holes in the walls. Makes for good ventilation.

Un dels mercats a Khon Kaen

Tomorrow morning we plan to be off to Nam Nao National Park to get some good hiking in and hopefully wildlife viewing. We wish everyone in the US a Happy Thanksgiving! We had Pad Thai and Pineapple Juice for our Thanksgiving meal:) I'm very thankful!

Com que la debbie escriu mes que jo, podeu practicar mes l'angles...disfruteu les fotos!

PS. Dels alderulls i caos que veieu per la tele, no n'hem vist res, no es nota cap tensio i per on estem esta tot molt tranquil.

Ko Wai, Nang Rong i Surin

Hola a tots! We are finally in contact at an internet cafe here in Surin. Over the past few days we have traveled to a paradise island called Koh Wai in the Gulf of Thailand. We slept in a bungalow next to the beach and went swimming and snorkeling and walking in the jungle. Jaume got to climb his first coconut palm, break open the coconut, and drink coconut juice right there next to the tree. There was nothing on the island but a few bungalows and a few restaurants so we had nothing to do except disconnect from the world.

Vista de l'illa de Ko Wai. Just davant del nostre Bungalow

"Columpios" a la platja...

Sunset point. After a 10 min. walk to the other side of the island.

Embarcadero. Punt d'arribada i de partida

Estudiant la biblia. Lonely Planet

El nostre petit bungalow

i tela...mosquitera

Then, after 5 changes of forms of transportation (frm 11 in the morning to 1.30 at night), we arrived in Nang Rong and met a wonderful Catalan/Italian couple whom we went with on motorbikes visiting some pretty amazing Kmer temples - they say they are similar style to Angkor Wat.

Arrenca moto!

This morning we came to Surin - which is the farthest East we will reach on our trip. We got to see the tail end of an elephant festival and wander through markets full of amazing things. This part of Thailand supposedly gets a large part of its protein from eating bugs! Of course we had to try some...well I tried one.

glups. mes info down below

Festival dels elefants a Surin
night market - Surin

Tonight we have an overnight bus trip in store and will arrive tomorrow morning in Nong Kai. Right on the Mekong River and across the river from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Hopefully we will have more internet access very soon and can post some more pictures. All is well and no weird stomach ailments yet! We are loving the people here and working our smile muscles all day long.

Tailandia

Ja estem en marxa.
De fet ja estem a Bangkok. Hem arribat avui.
Des d'aqui farem o intentrem fer el seguiment del viatge. depenent de quan/t ens poguem connectar.

La primera impressió em porta molts records. De quan amb en bernat i jo vam trepitjar Kuala Lumpur. La primera vegada a Asia. El tema promet...

Us deixem amb la foto de la sortida: Bcn Sants

i el primer apat al costat de l'hotel. Phad Tai, fried shrimp in red curry and coconut milk i Tom Kum Kai soup. per uns 210bat, menys 5 euros. Hem flipat amb lo bo que estava!

Arriving in Bangkok we didn´t know what to expect, especially since it´s my first time in Asia. There is such a striking contrast between modern and old all right next to each other, in architecture and the way people live. People are very smiley just like they say and I feel so refreshed that I can smile and people smile back! It´s an amazing feeling. We have so much to experience! As you can see above, Jaume´s neat tiny little computer, us at the train station in Barcelona, and then our first meal in Thailand that was mmmm so very delicious.