Thailand

To address everyones worries (a little late, I know): yes I am still in Thailand, no I wasn't in Bangkok when the coup occurred (I left the day before) or in Hat Yai when the bombs went off. To show you how far I am from the unrest in the deep south, here's a map of all the places I've visited in Thailand, with Hat Yai marked:

From what I've been hearing from people in Oz, and from what I've been reading in SMH online, it sounds like the Australian media have been overreacting a little to the amount of danger presented by the coup. This is probably in part because of the Aussie government's panicky recommendation that tourist get out of Thailand. As far as I'm aware, the Australian goverment was the only one that recommending that people leave Thailand, every other country is recommending people be alert to the situation and avoid public demonstrations. I think the Aussie govt copped a lot of flak after the Bali bombings for not warning travellers to get out of Indonesia when they knew in advance there was a high risk of terrorist attack there, and so now they covering theire arses by overreacting every time any kind of perceived danger presents itself.

From where I was when the coup occurred (in Kanchanaburi, a couple of hours west of Bangkok) there was absolutely no sign of any military presence or anything at all out of the ordinary. I had no idea that a coup had occurred until I saw it on smh.com that afternoon. I decided to wait it out and see what happened. From what I hear from people who had been in Thailand in previous coups (the last coup was 15 years ago), the military presence and upheaval that marks the start of a coup usually dies down within a couple of weeks. CNN were showing pictures of Thai women on the streets in their pyjamas taking photos of the tanks rolling by, and there were plenty of shots of kids giving food and flowers to the soldiers - it can't be too dangerous! When I'm back in Bangkok, I plan to just avoid any protests (if there are any) and give any military a wide berth (not that I saw any tanks or army since when I was there a week ago).

OK, enough of that. Back to my trip!

I was unsure about going to Kanchanaburi (the site of the famed "Bridge on the River Kwai") because the idea of something which is essentially a war memorial and a site of some horrible atrocities of WWII being a tourist attraction turns me off a little. The Kwai Bridge lies on the Burma-Thai railway, built by the Japanese between 1942 and 1943 to secure a supply line between Rangoon and Bangkok. Approximately 200,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 prisoners of war were enlisted for the project. Under the horrible working conditions, 16,000 POWs and 100,000 labourers died during the 18 months of its construction.

On my first day in Kanchanaburi, I went to the bridge and was horrified by the hundreds of tourists striking poses on the bridge, grinning for the camera - "say cheese, and think of the 120,000 people who died in the construction of the railway. I'm thinking that the vast majority of people there didn't put any thought to the significance of where they were. What's next? Going and copping cheesy grins at the war cemetary? Do people do that when they go somewhere like Auchwitz? I can only justify going to a site like that if it's a chance to learn something, but two museums recommended in my guidebook didn't improve my mood - they had a smattering of photoes and relics but no actual information - they certainly didn't provide the educational experience that I was after as an antidote to the bizarre touristiness of the bridge. But on the second day Kanchanaburi redeemed itself: I found the Thai-Burma Railway Museum, right next to the war cemetary. The museum is easily one of the best museum I've found in south-east Asia, if not anywhere, extremely well-researched and well-suported by primary-documents (archive film, photos, diaries, oficial war records, personal correspondance). Definitely go there if you find yourself in Kanchanaburi. I should say though, that I might have been a little biased by the fact that they had vegemite toast on the menu at the museum (I had been craving vegemite all through Laos and I thought that I was going to have to wait until I got back to Oz to satisfy my craving).

After Kanchanaburi I headed back through Bangkok and then set out on an arduous journey to Siam Reap, Cambodia. The roads here are absolutely atrocious, especially the one from the Thai border at Piopet to Siam Reap. It's a dirt road that carries all the trucks from the border which means that right now, in the wet season, it is more potholes than flat road. After being bounced up and down for six hours straight I was very bruised by the time I got to Siam Reap!

Forgive me - looooong post ahead.

Here's a pic of me in my new Clark Kent glasses that I picked up in Bangkok:

See, I'm always grumpy when I'm having my photo taken, even when I'm taking it myself! For those of you who didn't hear about my glasses debacle I'll explain. I very skilfully managed to break my glasses the night before I went to Thailand - I stood on them in the middle of the night and broke one of the arms off. So for my first couple of days in Thailand everything was slightly blurrier than expected. I did manage to read on the plane though by wearing the glasses a little askew and tilting my head to one side so they didn't slip off my nose (I attempted to do the same thing while walking around Bangkok but kept tripping over). Fortunately, Thai optometrists are far more efficient than those in Oz and it only took 24 hours to get a new pair.

Long time no post, I know (bad Kate!). After Phitsanulok I spent a few days in Sukhothai - more amazing temple ruins surrounded by lush greenery and lilly-filled canals. Then I headed up to Chiang Mai to hang out with my friend Anna who's working at an NGO there as part of the "Australian Youth Ambassador for Development" program. Chiang Mai has a great selection of restaurants and bars, and with Anna's inside knowledge (and that of her fellow AYADs Alissa and Lindsay) we have managed to sample quite a few of them.

Anna, Alissa & Lindsay at a bar on Soi Reggae

Anna's housemate Alissa is working for an NGO that's involved in reforestation projects around Chiang Mai. I was lucky enough (gullible enough?) to get to go and do a day of tree planting with them at Doi Suthep National Park. They are working with Hmong hill tribe villagers there to replant cleared areas of the park, and to research the best methods to use in similiar reforestation projects. It was hard work (the plot that we were planting was on a 45 degree slope - kinda difficult to negotiate when you're carrying a big basket of seedlings), and it had been raining so by the end of the day we were absolutely plastered with mud, but it was lots of fun, and I was rewarded with that warm fuzzy feeling you get when giving something back to the community - an opportunity you don't often get while travelling.

Like pretty much everyone who comes here, I did a Thai cooking course for one day (Chiang Mai seems to be the cooking course capital of Thailand). The school was on an organic farm outside of town. We got to walk around and look at the vegies and smell the herbs that we were going to be using before getting down to the cooking. We made green curry from scratch, tofu stir-fried with chili & basil, tom yum soup, spring rolls, and banana in coconut milk. Making the curry paste is suprisingly hard work - you have to pound the herbs and chillis with a mortar and pestle for about ten minutes to get it pastey enough (tough work on my arms which were already sore from tree planting the day before). The best bit: after a morning of cooking, I got to eat it all. And it was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. I'll definitely have to have a little dinner party when I get back to Sydney to show off my skills.

I spent a day checking out the temples in town, the best of which would have to be Wat U Mong, which is on a hillside surrounded by forrest. The hill in the centre of the grounds has tunnels dug through it, lit by dim lamps, with shrines in carved out niches on the walls sending out clouds of hazy incense smoke. It was so peaceful and calm there - hardly any people around except for a few monks tending to the gardens.

On top of the hill there was this fantastically grisly sculpture of the fasting Buddha - all skin and bones and veins and sunken cheeks - a little different from the expected image of the fat, happy Buddha.

There there was also what seemed to be a burial ground for dead Buddha statues: a collection of unwanted headless bodies and (disembodied?) Buddha heads and sitting under a tree, gathering moss.

After Chiang Mai I did a loop around to the west, spending a couple of days each in Mae Sariang, Mai Hong Son, and Pai before heading back to Chiang Mai. Mae Sariang and Mae Hong Son are pretty little towns that don't get that many tourists, and don't have that much going for them in themselves except they make good bases for motorbike trips to the waterfalls and hilltribe villages in the area, which I did. Unlike seemingly everybody else here, though, I got a driver for the bike I rented, rather than hopping on (with no experience driving motorbikes) and giving it a go. I have absolutely no faith in my driving abilities and I have met far too many people with hideous grazes on their ankles and elbows from coming off their bikes, usually within the first 15 minutes of getting on. Am I being sensible or am I just a chicken?

After the relatively tourist-free Mae Sariang, I though I was going to hate Pai. It is a really cute little town, but it is also a bit of a tourist Mecca in Thailand, and in the centre of town Backpackers seem to out number the locals. But once I got there and hung out for a couple of days I didn't want to leave - I can see why people plan to spend two days and then get stuck there for two weeks. There's a real backpacker community feeling there. I met a fellow traveller, Lilly, on the bus from Mae Hong Son and went and stayed at the same guesthouse as her (rows of bamboo bungalows on the river), and by the end of the night I had made friends with half the people staying there. It seemed like every second person staying there was a musician (and some of them were actually good) and any bar you went to someone would pull out a guitar and a spontaneous jam session would begin. I spent half the first night hanging out around a bonfire someone had constructed on a guesthouse lawn, listening to people singing and playing guitar and harmonica. To everyone's delight, I did not join in. I didn't really do anything while I was in Pai (late nights drinking Beer Chang and long sleep ins were more the order of the day), but it was great to just relax and not have the pressure on to go out and see the sights. And I've met heaps of great people who I'm sure I will run into again and again while travelling.

My Thai visa expires tomorrow, so the race is on to get to the Laos border before it closes at 6 pm. Wish me luck!

If you want to check out some more of my photos, go to http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/users/dangermaus/. But there are no photos of me there - one good thing about travelling by myself is that I don't have to be in photoes :-) - so the pics probably wont be too interesting to anyone except me!

Best snack in Thailand: green mango that you dip in chilli and sugar. Yum!

On Saturday I took the train between Ayutthaya and Phitsanulok in northern Thailand. I caught the third class (slow!) train; it was so much fun. The scenery whipping past the windows was what you'd expect in this tropical country - banana trees and lush greenery and long waterways filled with giant lillies, interspersed with stilt houses. Occasionally, huge golden buddhas would emerge from between the trees and houses as the train slipped past.

The carriage was packed but it was mercifully cool with all the windows open. All through the trip, vendors walked up and down the carriages carrying baskets and trays of peanuts, noodle dishes, huge hunks of fried chicken, steamed buns and dumplings, and eskys of beer and softdrink. They would call out their wares as they came through the carriage and with the tonal quality of the Thai language it soundeed like they were singing. I was so impressed - not once did I see anyone drop a single morsel of food. I think that is the test of a true waiter - being able to make your way through a crowded lurching train balancing a tray of soup bowls, constantly scanning the passengers for customers and not stumbling once. I know I couldn't do it.

I am constantly amazed by the friendliness and hospitallity of the Thai people. On the train, I met a Thai university student (Jenni) nwho invited me to stay in her dorm at Saresuan University. For two nights, I slept in her bed while her and her friend Christina slept on the floor. They showd me around the temples in Phitsanulok on their Honda Dream motorbike, took me shopping and fed me fantastic Thai food (mmmm... Papaya salad). I must admitt that for much of the time I was wondering whether at some stage they were going to steal all my money and leave me stranded, but they turned out to just be two lovely 21 year old college students who where worried about a woman travelling alone and wanted to look after me, and get a chance to practice their English on a 'farang' (foreigner).

Jenni and Christina at Wat Phra Si - they weren't quite that blurry in person

And in Ayutthaya I was befriended by a Thai guy who took me out to the markets for dinner and shopping, taught me thai (although my pronunciation is absolutely abysmal) and took me to see his band play in Bangkok (apparently he is a 'very famous rock star in Thailand' who was hiding out in Ayuthaya from his adoring fans. Anyone heard of a Thai band called K9? They were pretty good).

I could go on and on with stories of how lovely the people here are, but this entry is far too long already so I'll stop here.

squirrel count*: 2

I didn't last long in the heat and pollution and massive overcrowding of Bangkok. I was staying in the super-touristy (but very cheap) area around Khao San Rd and it was just so hectic - backpackers everywhere and all that comes with them (touts trying to drag you off to a hotel or on a tour so they can get their commission, hawkers and tuk-tuk drivers shouting at you from every corner). It drove me a little nuts. But Bangkok was great when I got away from the tourist hordes. I went to this great temple at Wat Pho where there is a massive (35 metre long) gilded reclining Buddha, which was just gorgeous.

Chinatown was awesome too - alleyway after alleyway crammed with shops and hawkers and shoppers and motorbikes. Crazy, but fun. I haggled for a while with a woman at a store over a purse I wanted to buy, until I finally realised that I was actually haggling for ten purses (mental note for the future - in Chinatown in Bangkok, they only sell wholesale). The price was still really cheap though - the cost for ten was less than what I'd pay for one purse in Oz. Also good (and gory) was the Forensic Museum at Siriraj Hospital. It's filled with all sorts of body parts in formaldehyde: jar after jar of body parts with stab wounds, hearts with bullet holes, limbs with tattoos on them. I love all that gross stuff. And I loved riding up and down the Chao Phraya River on the ferries to cool off after a morning of sight seeing.

But after 3 days of it, I needed to get out of Bangkok. I headed one hour north to Ayuthaya, the old Thai capital. It was wonderfully relaxing after Bangkok. The town is really beautiful - commercial and residential areas interspresed with national parks and canals, and dotted with the brick ruins of Wats (temples) that were built four to seven hundred years ago - when the population of Ayuthaya was over a million people (population now: 80 thousand). The feeling of history when wandering around the ruins was just amazing. But mainly in Ayuthaya I just hung out in the cool of the garden of the guesthouse where I was staying, drinking far too much Beer Chang with a crew of locals and other solo travellers from Ireland, NZ, England, France and Germany. Lots of fun. I stayed there 3 days before getting up early (with a slight hangover) to hop on a train to Phitsanulok.

• the "squirrel count" started when I was travelling through Europe with my sister Jen in 2001. We were so excited when we spotted one in our the garden of our hostel on our second day in London. We soon got tired of keeping track of squirrel sightgings, though - the things are bloody everywhere in London! When I saw a couple of squirrels at a park in Bangkok (OK, maybe they were squirrel look-alikes) I thought I should restart the counter.