Phra Nang

On Monday we traveled by boat from Ko Phi Phi to Phra Nang, which is a peninsula with a group of bays including East and West Railay and Tonsai. Although it is on the mainland, the area is only accessible by boat, and the bays are flanked by towering limestone cliffs:





Yesterday we took a short walk to Phra Nang Beach, the most spectacular of the many beaches here:



At the end of the beach is Phra Nang Cave, which has in it a collection of carved, wooden phalli, offered by local fishermen to a goddess to ensure a healthy catch:



As you might expect, the area is also something of a mecca for rock climbers, so Don managed to get out for a couple of half-days with one of the local guide services:



The view from the cliffs was fantastic:



On the second day, after proving his worth, the guide even let him lead a few routes:







Afterwards, we watched yet another fabulous sunset from West Railay Beach:





The only thing lacking here is the food. We're putting this creation in the "What the hell were they thinking?" file:

A visit to the hospital

Yesterday morning we took an early walk from our bungalow on Hat Yao into the main village here on Ko Phi Phi. Crossing some slippery rocks, my foot skidded off one and my leg slid along some sharp shells adhered to another rock. It wasn't painful but Kate soon noticed a stream of blood and we noticed that the gash was actually gaping a bit. So we went to the hospital and got it cleaned up, since there's no other clinic on the island. I felt like less of a baby when the did say I could have it stiched if I wanted, but that then I wouldn't be able to swim. However I felt like more of a weenie looking at the guy next to me getting his scalp stiched back together. In the end they just cleaned it up, taped it shut, and sent me off with some antibiotics and materials to keep it clean.

If I had to get one hospital visit in SE Asia out of the way, this was a pretty painless way to do it.

Beautiful Koh Phi Phi

After the night boat from Koh Tao, we had a distressing time getting over to Koh Phi Phi even though we bought a through ticket. However we did arrive - only 6 hours late! The island is beautiful and we elected to stay at a less popular beach a short boat ride (or 45 min walk) away from the main town. Hat Yao (Long Beach - as it's called) is beautiful and we have enjoyed our bungalow just 20 meters from the beach.



The island in the background is Phi Phi Ley - the island in the movie "The Beach".

Yesterday we went into town to enjoy the sunset from the highest point on the island.



The climb was well worth it because in addition to the beautiful sunset it gave us a view of the two beaches just meters apart that connect the two mountainous sides of the island. Unfortunately these two beaches were the site of 2000 deaths during the tsunami in 2004. A 5 meter wave came from the left and a 3 meter wave came from the right, tragically meeting in the middle and destroying most of the town.



In the evening we decided to test out the party scene on the island, and visited a few bars. At one beachfront place we watched a fire show - all the rage on the island. It was oretty cool:



We also met some drunken Irishmen who thought it was hilarious that we were on our honeymoon, and proceeded to chant 'hon - e - moon' all the while thrusting their hips suggestively. Humourous hon-e-moon indeed.

Today July 22, we hiked just 10 minutes from our beach to find a deserted beach, with the most crystal clear water either of us had ever seen. We spent the whole day here and only had to share the entire beach with a few people the whole day.



The 'keeper' of the beach has interesting feelings as to the type of tour groups he allows to visit though as evidenced by this shocking sign:

Exploring Koh Tao

As beautiful as our beach was, we wanted to explore the entire island. One afternoon we rented a motorbike and discovered Freedom beach - very small and isolated. The trees provided natural shade for Don's pale skin!



The next day we ventured further afield, and discovered Hin Wong Bay. A beautiful bay (no beach though) with crystal clear water. It looked strikingly like Maple Bay, British Columbia where Don's Dad & Stepmom live, only WARM!



As we walked out to the end of the rickety peir we noticed a natural fish nursery. The shallows around the boulders were home to thousands of guppies. We can't seem to upload the video but will when we get a chance.

That evening we left Koh Tao (sadly) on a night ferry, that had basically a huge bed on the middle deck with assigned places. Thankfully it wasn't full so we could spread out more than the small slots dictated.

Is this thing on?

We've noticed we have about 3 loyal followers who post comments (you know who you are - thanks!) and a couple people who have emailed that they've been following our exploits, but we wonder how many other people are listening. Our email boxes are mostly empty these days, so we haven't been visiting the internet cafes frequently - hence fewer posts! Let us know if you are out there - kateanddon@hotmail.com - or post a comment here!

Bangkok --> Ko Tao

We traveled from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok on July 12. It was a mostly dull and not unpleasant journey, despite the heinous reputation of the road from Siem Reap to the Thai border ("boulevard of broken backsides"). However we did get one flat tire enroute:



We spent a couple of days seeing some of the the sights we had missed on our first stop in Bangkok, including one culturally sensitive hamburger clown:



On the night of the 14th, we took an overnight bus and an early ferry to reach the island of Ko Tao, one of Thailand's premier dive centers. The east side of the Malay Peninsula is sheltered from the southwest monsoon, making for relatively good weather this time of year. We've spent the last two days diving on the reefs near the island





sitting on the beach,



eating the day's fresh catch,



and watching sunsets from waterfront restaurants.







The diving visibility isn't perfect, but the water is WARM and the coral is beautiful. We will try to post some pics if we take our camera diving or snorkeling at some point.

The Children of Cambodia

We had heard horror stories about the mobs of children around the temples trying to sell everything from cold water to scarves. Mostly we heard from everyone about how annoying they were. We found them incredibly amusing and not that annoying. We devised some strategies in dealing with them.

1) Ignore them or politely say a firm "No, thank you". This was no fun though.
2) Run away. Don discovered this technique which was fun for him as well as great fun for the children, who gave chase giggling. Even several hours later the children remembered him as "the Mister who ran away" and flocked around us to talk.



3) The children try to strike up conversations. One technique is to ask your name. After telling them our real names a couple of times, Don told one girl that his name was Steve Jobs. She proceeded to follow us yelling "Mr. Steve Jobs, Mr. Steve Jobs" much to our amusement:





4) Another conversation technique was to ask where we were from. The conversation typically went like this:

Kid - "Where you from, Mister (or Lady)?"
Kate/Don - "America" or sometimes "Canada"
Kid - "Canada. Capital Ottawa", if the kid was particularly ambitious we got "Canada. Capital Ottawa. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax..." and went on to list all the provinces and ended with "C-A-N-A-D-A". We even once got "Canada. Capital Ottawa. Population 33 million"

With this sequence repeated endlessly we decided to throw them a curveball.

Kid - "Where you from, Mister (or Lady)?"
Kate/Don - "Yugloslavia"
Kid - "You lie!"

These kids are good, so we decided to use a country that still existed:

Kid - "Where you from, Mister (or Lady)?"
Kate/Don - "Luxembourg"
Kid - "Parlez-vous Francias?"

Wow.

One kid trying to sell us 10 postcards, counted the 10 cards in 4 languages.

Our last morning, we were at a temple shortly after sunrise. Three boys approached us on top of a temple and proceeded to hand Kate a small flower and then put a palm leaf ring on her finger:





Then asked for money to help them attend school:



It can be disconcerting to be approached by so many children begging or selling things but the small amount of money we gave them is small to us but means much to their lives. We heard that 1/2 of the population of Cambodia is under 20, as a result of the Khmer Rouge and the massacre of a generation in the late 70s.

Temples of Angkor

We've spent the past three days exploring the Temples of Angkor outside Siem Reap, Cambodia. Often collectively referred to abroad as "Angkor Wat," Angkor Wat per se is but one of scores of religious sites in the immediate vicinity. Most date from the 9th - 13th centuries, and are in varying condition.

If anything, Angkor Wat's reputation is less than it deserves. It eats Chichen Itza for breakfast, and its glaring omission from the "New Seven Wonders" clearly illumintes the idiocy of this recent hoopla.

We visited Angkor Wat three times, including once for sunrise:



The entire city is a symbolic representation of the Hindu universe, centered around the five peaks of Mount Meru. The outer wall of the central temple is decorated with 600 meters (2000 feet) of bas reliefs, 2 meters (6 feet) high, that illustrate important Hindu beliefs. The 90-meter illustration of the 30-odd Hindu hells is particularly vivid:



Other sites have even more intricate reliefs, like this pediment from Banteay Srei, 30 km NE of Angkor Wat:



We visited about 2 dozen different sites over three days, in the comfort of this trailer, towed behind a Honda motorbike, by our driver Nan:





Some sites included harrowing climbs to the top:



Many of the temples had "Halls of Dancers" with dancers carved into the walls. We had fun trying to imitate the dancing positions:





The last site we visited had some very unusual carvings, including one that looks strikingly similar to a stegosaurus (how did they know what a stegosaurus looked like 1000 years ago??):



And this fellow, carved in intricate detail:



We saw many amazing sites, too many to share photos but here are a few:







We fueled ourselves with delicious food and drink, like fish amok:



It is the Khmer national dish, consisting of fish, coconut milk, and spices cooked in banana leaf.

We enjoyed freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, perfect for that mid-morning energy kick after a sunrise start:



And when we were done, the good folks here were kind enough to provide us with clear illustrations of how to do our business: