Chiang Mai revisited

Upon leaving Cambodia, Manchester Mike flew back to Chiang Mai while David and I headed south. It's nice to see him again. Here is the current crop of old farts hanging out at pervs corner. From left to right, Doablah (US), Pete (UK), Alex (NL), Mike, (UK), Gene (CN) and Trevor (UK).
Here is Tom (UK) and Darcy (Latvia) hiding from the camera. A better shot of Darcy.
OKAY! You're up to date. More later.
Doahlah

Khao Lak last

On an early morning beach walk I stubbed my toe on a rock about the size of a tennis ball. Holy crikey, ouch! I think it's 'broke'.
On our last day, I motor biked up the coast to see the Tsunami Victims cemetary. I didn't know until I got there that it is all graves of unidentified people. There are hundreds of numbered graves. Across the street is a large building. In it, medical personnel used DNA, dental records and photos to try to find out who they were.
People here don't like to talk about it. The owner of our resort lost his mother and a sister.
Another awful night bus got us back to Hua Hin. There are two bus rides from Hua Hin directly to Chiang Mai. It takes twelve hours. They leave 8 A.M. or 5 P.M. We took the day bus!
Doablah

Khao Lak 5

Local fauna.

Khao Lak 4

There is a bunch of beach side restdurnts. All had happy hours. The cook is making me a tasty margaurita (sp). Our server is looking at the mobile phone photo sehe took of the same drink.

Khao Lak 3

Some local flora.

Khao Lak 2

We stayed in town two nights before moving to a small family owned bungalo resort on the sea. Khao Lak is spread out so we rented motorbikes to get around. One day we drove out to see a local waterfall. There was a hike but nothing like the Bokor climb.
These are rubber tree forests.

Khao Lak

Halloh. Picasa has a new version, 3.6, and I'm not smart enough to make it work. The kind lady at the internet shop helped me. I watched the Superbowl with David in Phenom Phen. The Pickeled Parrot bar is open 24 hours. That was handy, as the game was Monday morning at 6:30. I flew to BKK the next morning. A strange thing happened at the Phenom Phen airport. I had triple bagged my little stash of pot in my check in luggage. I cleared the metal detector but was singled out and sent back downstairs to the inner sanctum. The checked bag X ray revealed something of interest. Not the pot, but a tiny tube that was in my beard trimming tools bag. The lady was curious. I showed her that the tube was oil to lubricate the cutting blades of the trimmer. She was satisfied.
The connection was brilliant! My airplane landed on time. There was no line at immigration. The AE 4 shuttle to the main train station was waiting for me. The next train was in one hour. That afternoon I was in Hua Hin for a little 'leelax' time while waiting for David to catch up. In two days we were on awful night bus to Khao Lak, a small seaside town and gateway to great diving sites.
The 2004 Tsunami battered Khao Lak. The area suffered the most death and destruction of all the Thai coastline. There were bodies everywhere. This 80 foot police boat was anchored one KM offshore. It was pushed two KM inland. It's still there. I remember reading that 5,000 Swedes were killed.
Remember kids, you can click on these photos to enlarge them.

More oddz an enz

It's very easy for foreigners to buy property and start businesses in Cambodia. I guess that's a good thing. It puts local people to work. I've grumbled to Mike and David about how clueless some of the locals in the service industry are. They try very hard but don't seem to get it. The Khmer Rouge killed 14 percent of the brightest people in Cambodia. Teachers, administrators, government workers, monks, farmers, factory workers were targeted. People wearing glasses were singled out. David has a theory. Maybe the gene pool has been affected.
There are dozens of NGO's trying to help Cambodia. Only 20 % of donated money goes to help. The rest is overhead. When a new guy comes to head an outfit, the first thing has to do is buy a big SUV, move into a big house, etc.
Families have to pay to send their children to school. Many are too poor so the children don't get to learn. The schools are so crowded kids go to school half day. They switch every month. Morning one month, afternoon the next. That would seem impracticle. Theres a reason. Afternoons are better for the chidren selling trinkets at the temples. They trade off so everyone gets a chance at the good selling time.
It was fun seeing Adam again. He carted us around for two days. Our last evening he joined us for drinks and pool at Mikeys bar. Mikeys is owned by an American named Doug. The bar is named after his son. He sold a successful Mikeys in Phenom Penh. The new owner fired all the staff, changed the name, and told Doug he didn't want his drunken friends coming in. In two years he was out of business.
There are no photos of Adam because I forgot to take any! Solly! I guess I'll have to go back!
Bye for now, Doablah

More Oddz an Enz

Many countries have volunteered money and skilled people to repair and rehab these sites.

Oddz an Enz

Many of these temples were built honouring Hindu gods and godesses. Buddhism died come into fashion until later. Even after they were altered to honour Buddah, much of the Hindu stuff was left as it had been carved.