The Golden Triangle

Bridge:  After an uneventful night and a late wake up, we headed for the Golden Triangle.  The distance was only about 60km but for some reason it took us hours.  Our first stop was the famous “Hall of Opium” which was an impressive building but too expensive to get in so we opted for the smaller Opium Museum instead.  The views of the Golden Triangle were impressive from up here.  You don’t often get the chance to lay your eyes on 3 countries all in the same view all at once.  Thailand meets Burma and Laos in one corner of the Mekong River.

After lunch we decided to ride a few kilometres further to Chiang Saen Lake.  We passed dozens of dams and after hours of driving around in circles, we found the right one.  The boys immediately wanted to jump in for a swim, so we spotted a jetty and headed for it.  The jetty was part of a water-bird conservation area but they let us swim anyway.

We check into a motel-looking place across from the lake but found that their cook had gone on leave.  We had spotted a more expensive boutique place next door and went over to see if we could use their restaurant.  We were greeted by a very cheery Thai lady who spoke excellent English.  Their place was lovely.  7 boutique en-suite chalets, a spa, sauna, gym swimming pool and lovely open-aired restaurant-come-entertainment area.  We kindly explained that we could not afford their accommodation and she was happy enough to let us stay for dinner.  We placed our orders with her elderly mother in the kitchen and then spent the next hour swimming in their fancy pool and knocking back the beers – well the boys did anyway.

After dinner (hands down the BEST homemade cabonara I’ve ever tasted!!) we were joined by Jim (the Thai lady) and her English husband, Ian.  They’d been married over 25yreas but still only looked in their early 40’s.  Ian is an engineer/surveyor for some big oil and gas company.  He was currently based in Angola scoping out potential oil sites to place gas lines or oil rigs.  He had worked all over the world.  He had even worked for the company who eventually built the oil rig off the coast of Bazaruto, and during his time in Mozambique, he’d also spent a few days relaxing and exploring Paradise Island (Santa Carolina) – SMALL WORLD isn’t it!!

Long-Necked Women

Bridget:  Last night we found a little travel agent outside our guesthouse.  It was around 9:30pm when we discovered it and seeing that the lights were on and there were people inside the little hut, we decided to see what they had on offer in terms of activities in the surrounding area.  We were in for a little surprise:  Mr Puk Thip, the Tour Operator himself, along with about 10 of his mates were gathered around his desk gambling (which is banned in Thailand and considered a great crime!) and quite obviously enjoying one too many Chang Beers!  Business had obviously been slow for quite a few weeks but Mr Puk Thip was quick to sober up and offer to take us on a tour to the Long-Neck Village for just 2 litres of fuel for his scooter!

We met up with Mr Puk at 8am sharp and headed out to the Long-Neck village.  What and INCREDIBLE experience!

The tribe originally came from Burma but fled across the border during the war.  Their village consisted of a few bamboo thatched huts where they slept and ate and the rest was a little tourist alley of huts where the long-neck ladies sat and wove pure silk and cotton scarves, table cloths and other items of linen.

All the ladies were extremely friendly and welcoming despite having to pose for tourists cameras every few minutes of every day.

We arrived around 9am and were the first 4 tourists of the day, but by the time we left at around 10:30am, there were already 2 buses and 4 jeeps full of French and German tourists arriving.

We learnt that girls start wearing their first brass neck rings at the age of 5 and further rings are added every year after that until they are 21.

The lady explained that the reason for wearing the heavy brass rings around their necks and on their calves was because in the jungles in Burma, where their settlements used to be, tigers were their main predator and if they were ever attacked, the brass rings would help protect the tiger from suffocating them at the throat or biting into their main arteries in their legs.

The rings, over time crush the collar bones and shoulders downwards with their weight and therefore make their necks seem longer.  If younger women who are heavily pregnant are seen to have strong neck muscles, they are allowed to remove the rings until after they have given birth.  Elder women will never be able to remove their rings as the muscles in their necks would have weakened over the years and would simply snap and break if they removed them.

From there we drove along some lovely deserted roads along the mountain ridge that separated Burma and Thailand.  We found a viewpoint high up in the clouds where an army base was kept.  Trenches and cement bomb shelters lined the ridge, but we were allowed up to view Burma just across the fence and down into the valley.  We took lovely photos from up there.

In the late afternoon the road wound down the mountain to Thailands most northern city, Mae Sai.  We stayed in lovely little bungalows right on the Mekong River called Mae Sai Guesthouse.  Unfortunately on the other side of the river was Burma and its shanty border town where people are clearly very uneducated and seem to think the only way of disposing of garbage and sewerage is to dump it into the river.

Hit the Road!

Quint:  The next morning after breakfast, we dropped our rucksacks (and passports!!) off at the bike shop and roared out of town.

A black Kawasaki 650, a Honda 450 and our lovely purple Honda Phantom cruiser 200, yes you said it, we redefined the term “cool”!

Even though the Phantom didn’t do zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye, we had a lovely crafted machine, chromed to the nines with gears as long as a ballerinas legs and an engine that purred like a tiger!  And – I’m not finished – to top it all off, I even had the babe on the back!  I’ll say it again, just to remind you – super cool.

The first day was a lot for us.  I suppose we were on such a high we just kept driving!  When we finally checked our map and saw we had in one day almost done a 3^rd of our 7 day plan!

We stayed in a town called Tha Ton (otherwise known as ‘The Swiss Alpes of South East Asia), a lovely small town set in a valley on a meandering river by the name of “Kok”.  We finally booked into a nice deserted hotel on the river, and that afternoon found a boar driver to take us up the river to the Burmese border.  Unfortunately we weren’t shot at by soldiers on the Burma side, but we did get to swim in the river and float all the way back down to our hotel.

We had teamed up with another Aussie guy who Blake had met in Chiang Mai.  An interesting fellow to say the least.  He went by the name of Mark Green and his favourite thing to do was to twist his French ‘mo’ into curly points and write weird thoughts in this diary.  Apart from that he was good humour to have on the trip.

Planning Bikes

We spent the morning looking at bikes and getting advice on what would be better - dirt bikes or road bikes?  Blake was adamant on getting a dirt bike, but after a long chat with Tony - from "Tony's Big Bikes" - he changed his mind and decided on a road bike as we wouldn't be going off road unless we took a guide with us.  Quint and I both immediately fell in love with a 200cc Honda Phantom - not only because it was a beautiful looking bike, but because it could easily fit two of us on it.  Blake decided on a 450cc yellow Honda road bike.  Tony gave us each discounts as we were taking the bikes for 5 days and business had been relatively slow.

We spent the afternoon riding the Doi Suthep "Loop" - getting used to the bikes and seeing a few of the Chiang Mai sites and countryside.

In the evening we decided to stroll through the Night Bazaar.  We had some cheap dinner and then the boys decided that we needed to go watch some Muay-Thai boxing.  We found a guy selling tickets on  a street corner - haggled down the price and told him we wanted VIP seats.  We exchanged money for tickets in a dark alley-way before he took us to the venue.  He made a quick phone call and all I picked up from his short conversation was "VIP".  As we approached the entrance, a tall and very attractive Thai lady met us and said, "Please follow me this way boys" - in a very deep manly voice!  Well, that was it.....I broke down in hysterical laughter whilst Quint and Blake each grabbed one of my arms while we proceeded inside.

Quint:  With breasts like any other normal "busty" lady and thighs that could probably crack walnuts, we followed the "lady" through to the ring.  And much to our surprise, VIP it was!  After ordering our drinks from our tame "lady boy", we settled inn to watch some serious ass kicking Thai Kick boxing!

It started with youngsters in the ring kicking the crap out of eachother and the competitors gradually got older and more violent as the night wore on.  By the last round of the night we were definitely ready to head out of there as the blood and knock-outs became a bit too much to stomach.

 

To Chiang Mai!

Last night after dinner we went across the street to check emails etc before going to bed.  We got a message from Blake to say that he'd decided not to wait in Pattaya for his new bank card to arrive from the UK (which was stolen on the beach) as there was a postal strike and that he had taken the overnight bus to Chiang Mai.

After breakfast we went and booked tickets for the 1st train to Chiang Mai at 10:30am.  Because it was a day train we couldn't book 2nd class sleeper tickets and had to settle for seats only.

The train was exhausting and we were delayed by 2 hours so eventually we arrived in Chiang Mai at 9:45pm.  Quint and I both finished a book each on the train.

Blake was waiting for us at Daret's Guesthouse and had already booked us a triple room for BHT80 each - by far the cheapest on the trip so far.  We had a quick dinner and caught up over a few drinks.  Blake really got Quint and I excited about this motorbike trip he'd been planning around the Golden Triangle.  Blake had spent the day walking around Chaing Mai visiting all the bike rental shops.

Bus to Lop Buri

Bridge:  For some reason, Kanchanaburi seems to have terrible transport links to other towns and cities.  Althought the train to Bangkok is only 1.5hours, we didn't want to back-track then have to take another train north again.  So we decided to go the local route.

We tood a local bus - similar to the Zim ZUPCO buses - to a town called Suphanburi - just 100km away.  At BHT45 per person we thought it was well worth it only until we discovered it took 3 hours and had no doors (i.e. they didn't close) and that the driver insisted on stopping every few 100meters to pick up passengers.

Suphanburi, we soon realised "no speak Engleesh" so after a fari bit of hand gesturing and negotiating bus prices by entering the digits onto a calculator, we found a bus that departed for Lopburi at 14;30pm.  Another 1.5hours to kill we went to check out the station 'restaurant' and each settled for a plate of extremely unappetizing Pad Thai.  To give you a breakdown of the experience, just imagine this:  eating a box of office elastic bands sprinkled with a handful of crushed nuts and 2 handfuls of sugar.

After another 3 hour long bus journey through rural farm lands we arrived in Lop Buri at 5:30pm.  250kms in over 7 hours!  (for the cheap price of BHT105 per person).  We spent the night at Noon Guesthouse.

Kanchanburi Day 2 - "Death Railway"

Quint:  We had organised a full days tour to see some waterfalls, hot springs and mainly to see parts of the original railway deep that runs deep into the valley.

Again we hadn’t slept well.  As nice as the rooms are, the walls between each room are made of 2 layers of timber.  As a result any tom-foolery can be easily heard 3 rooms either side.  Anyway eventually a lout bit of coughing and throat clearing on our side made them realise the mic was practically on, and the night quietened down.

The minibus left at 8pm sharp.  As if lack of sleep was not enough we were presented with a back seat of 3 overweight, adolescent, foul-mouthed New Zealand girls.  The joy of packaged trips, once you’re in, you’re in for good – like one big happy family!

Apart from that the tour was great,  we visit the most famous part of the original railway line known as “Hells Fire Pass”.  About 400m long and 25m deep, dug straight out of the side of a mountain using picks and chisels.  Once down there we could appreciate the conditions the POW’S must have worked in – it was a nightmare.  The lack of food and water forced some to resort to eating plant shoots and even worse.  Malaria was rife and so was the dysentery and cholera.  On good days, workers were rationed to a spoonful of sticky rice per day and when other foods such as meat eventually arrived in the camps, they were so rotten and riddled with maggots that the POW’S had no choice but to eat what ever they could get their hands on.

That afternoon we took a train ride on a part of the track that is still in use today.  Quite scary in parts, travelling over old rickety wooden bridges clinging to the side of steep cliffs.  We ended up at the Bridge over the River Kwai – a famous sight and title of a best selling book and well known movie.

Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and Tiger Temple

From Khao San we took a 2 ½ hr minibus ride to Kanchanaburi.  We checked into Pong Penh Guesthouse at 12:00pm.  The pool was fantastic and so were the rooms overlooking the River Kwai.  We opted for a BHT300 room with a fan only but were surprised to find we have a huge room en suite with a great view over the River Kwai.  We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming and were happy to find and LCD Plasma TV in the restaurant showing a movie at 6pm.

In the morning after a bit of a restless night due to a noisy fan an a nocturnal couple next door, we headed into town.

We found ourselves a nice beaming red scooter and headed off for the main Thai-Burma Railway museum and cemetery.  Both were absolutely breathtaking, quite a mind blower to see the atrocities that happened here.  About 60 000 Prisoner’s Of War (POW’S) and another 100 000 Asians died over a period of 20 months trying to construct a railway line for the Japanese.  The cemetaries were immaculate with lovely mown lawns and a different plant species between every grave stone.

Quint:  That afternoon we left by bus at 2pm for the Tiger sanctuary about 45kms from Kanchanaburi.  Run by a monastery and more well known as “Tiger Temple” we were excited to say the least.

Much to our dismay when we arrived at about 3pm we found out it closed at 4.30pm and had been open since midday!  We had missed half the day!  Why our tour bus hadn’t left earlier is anyones guess!  This, coupled with the possibility of heavy rain coming down at any minute, resulted in Bridge threatening to declare war on all mankind – monks included.

The mood and thankfully the rain evaporated as soon as we saw the tigers in “Tiger Canyon” (sponsored by Steve Irwin)  they were absolutely enormous, with huge deep yellow eyes that seemed to just engulf you whole!  Initially they were chained to the ground and we were able to go and pose next to them for photos.  I was mainly giving it the half hearted nervous smile, more on my mine was, “where the hell is the closest tree!”  Bridge on the other hand was like a small child in a teddy store, wanting to cuddle each one no matter how many hundreds of pounds it weighed!  A lady who was part of the volunteer team approached me and asked me if we would be interested in making an extra “small donation” which would entitle us to stay after the sanctuary closed and witness the tigers up close and personal roaming free for a good photo opportunity.  We gladly paid the extra US$10 each for the once-in-a-life-time opportunity.

After all the crowds left, they let the tigers roam free.  There were just 15 people remaining, including ourselves.  We were given a quick safety pep talk about not crouching down, not looking the tigers in the eye, not turning our back on the tigers, and not making any sudden movements as they didn’t carry weapons for safety so if a tiger were to turn bad, we were in serious trouble.  Two of the volunteers carried 4 small makeshift fences down and surrounded the group.  The fences were waist high and weighed about 4 kilos each – not much of a barrier if you ask me!

The tigers fought and played and swam in the canyon rock pools and waterfalls, it was just incredible – and it was all happening just a few feet from us!  We snapped away for about 40 minutes or so before the volunteers lead the tigers back to their enclosures for their dinner.

All in all a very special and humbling day to be in a place of such beauty but surrounded by memories of a devastating past.  The ride back to Kanchanaburi that evening was very silent, everyone just absorbing all the days information and appreciating our surroundings.