Waterfalls and Batcaves

The day after the Tiger Temple we decided to head to a national park where a waterfall was located.  We all jumped in Marc and Maria’s rental and after a 30 minute drive we arrived at the park.  It reminded us of the west coast with the lush green vegetation and tall old trees.  Sydney was a trooper and hiked the trail for about 20 minutes.  We then discovered we were taking the long way around.  Tara, Sydney and I backtracked to our point of origin.  As we would learn this was a good choice as the trail turned more technical and carrying Sydney over the trail for another 3 k’s would have led to somebody’s meltdown.

After hiking another 10 minutes (Syd speed) we found the waterfall – we were not disappointed.  The waterfall consisted of 7 tiers and had numerous fresh water pools at different bases.  We each had a swim and were reminded freshwater lounging is much nicer than it’s saltwater sister.

After enjoying a picnic by the waterfall we headed out to a nearby bat cave site.  Due to a sudden urge of nature I wandered into undiscovered territory of the jungle with some recycled paper clutched in my hand.    The rest of the crew, Syd included, headed into the cave as dusk was settling in.  Jo and MaryAnn took some great photos and we are waiting for them to return home where  they will e-mail them.  A short but interesting visit was had by all.

Tiger Temple

Monkey Business

Not only is company good for the soul but it also gets our butts back in travel mode.  We are pumped to get out and see a few things with the gang and having Ya help us with Sean has made this process a bit easier.  Today we all took off to explore caves and climb stairs. 

On our itinerary was the Wat Tham Seua, or Tiger Cave Monastery.  It is one of south Thailand’s most famous and interesting forest temples, as the monks live, meditate and worship within a maze of natural caves in an overgrown jungle valley. Many Thai women live out there old age there as nuns.   It is called Tiger Cave because hundreds of years ago a monk decided to meditate in a cave and stumbled across a tiger. . . the rest is history and, apparently so was he.  

Rich and everyone, sans Sydney and I, decided to climb up the 1237 steps up a limestone tower to see the statue of the Buddha and the ‘footprint of the Buddha’ embedded in the rock, and to enjoy one of the best viewpoints of the area.  On a good day you can see many islands and the Mekong River Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

Sydney and I hung out with the many monkeys that sit at the base of the temple.  Once everyone returned we continued to watch the free monkey show.  These guys have no issue taking anything from anybody.  They simply approach in a fast manner and if you don't launch anything towards them, they climb on top of you. This reminded Rich of Return of the Apes (monkeys are close enough) as these lil buggers rule the roust and have been known to bite.  Jo, who had just bought a coconut shake, threw her shake well before the monkey was within 5 feet of her.  Foolish she is not.  We decided to leave shortly after this after another larger monkey came and stole the shake from the little monkey.  We were not waiting for any bigger monkeys who were not seen at this point to appear.  We all decided we prefer seeing nature in it's more natural setting - the zoo.

The Canadians are Coming!

January 12

We are so excited to have Marc and Maria here along with her two sisters—Jo and Maryann.  We were not too sure what time they were going to pull in as we knew they were driving in from Bangkok.  We took off for our daily ride and when we got back Ya told us that they had already come by. We couldn’t contain our excitement for the company of good friends, so we took off down towards the beach hoping to find them.  The happiness of driving down a road towards a beach that you love, with a person that you love, going to search out people that you love is wonderful!  Rich and I both are missing our friends and while we have been lucky in making friends on the road there is something about connecting with those from ‘home’ that is special.  We haven’t been homesick but I think that not far beneath the surface we have been craving some company. 

We all chilled out, had good food, a bit of vodka with some Bali vanilla and called it a day.

Note: It would be a mistake to not make some sort of comment about the different foods that we have on a daily basis. Rich and I have a love affair with trying new foods and one of our favorites is the local icecream served from a tuktuk.  It starts off with placing a bit of sweet sticky rice in the bottom of a cup, followed by some corn and then a scoop of coconut ice cream topped with some sweet opaque jelly drops and peanuts, a slice of green sweet bread is an option, if you like. It is heaven (who would have thought) and this treat is about 30 cents.

On our ride today we took off towards Klong Muang (the quiet, deserted beach) and continued past some of the most posh five start resorts in Krabi and perhaps Thailand.  We were keeping our eyes  open for Oprah or Bill Gates.  .  . 

We made a pit stop, literally, at a mining quarry which, funny enough, gave us the most spectacular 180 degree view of the ocean an the limestone mountains that jet out of the ocean.  There is a massive dock here that Rich’s dad actually told us about because he saw it on google map. A great trip with fantastic flavor.

Heading on the Highway….

January 11

Rich and I have made our date nights into date-afternoons.  For the past week we have discovered the magic of the scooter and how it manages to lull Sydney to sleep.  Every afternoon at about 2:30 we sandwich Sydney between us and head out for a drive.  We take bets on how long it will take for Sydney to fall asleep and then we start on the ‘nap road’.  Seriously, within 5 minutest she is leaning back in my arms and totally out.  We pull back into our community and Rich picks her up and we place her into her bed. It works like a charm.  Rich and I  do a dance as we skip down the stairs and tell Ya that we will be back in about 2 hours.   The kids are sleeping and we head out!  Heaven!

We have explored some great little places doing this.  The beach area is interesting; it starts in Ao Nang which is full of long tail taxi boats and many many tourists (mostly from the Scandinavian countries). As you scooter along the dynamics change, the beach becomes very local and we love this.  The Thai locals here know how to do it up right.  They love to picnic and by this we mean laying out mats, pillows, music, hammocks and then they bring out the bbq’s and load em up with fish (not so sweet smelling but …).  It is not uncommon to see 10 or more family members sitting together and enjoying their beach time.  We love this beach.  As you continue on for another 10 to 15 minutes we enter the last frontier part of  Ao Nang beach.  This area is called Long Beach and it is largely deserted. It can be described as calm and beautiful.  It won’t be this way for long as the roads are newly paved and the trucks are rolling in.  Here you can find huts still on the beach for about 500 baht a night (about 20 bucks). 

Rich and I love driving around and taking this time to hang out and explore.  We are both so dog-tired by the time the kids go to bed that we don’t ever see much night life.  

Our local beach today was packed full of people.  Children were in their school uniforms picking out trash from the ditches and families were strewn along the beach.  The roads were full of cars and trucks loaded up with people.  It reminded us of Sylvan Lake on steroids.  We found out that today was Student’s day.  In Thailand they celebrate Father’s Day, Mother’s Day but also Children’s Day and Student’s Day.  I thought this was great; as I have wondered why there is not a Children’s Day in Canada.  The extra day off would be nice...   

Fans, fun and the parking police

January 2

Today we took our first long tail boat to West Railey Beach.  It was nice to get out and see a thing or two.  Nice ride, great beach and overpriced food and Richy Rich bought his me a dress and some shorts (ahhh, finally getting out of some old word clothes).  We are so excited that Marc and Maria are coming over to Thailand. 

January 8

Rich’s brush with the law - sooo, apparently parking cops exist on this side of the planet as well.  My scooter had a nice gift of a brand new lock on it.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't have the key...but the nice policeman did.  He lend me key for 'special deal'. Originally the price was 400 baht but the ol Dutchman got the local price of 200 after some negotiation which nearly ended me up in a lovely Thai prison - bribe - me...huh???

Once I returned to our house I decided I needed a massage - a friend of Pear's provided me with a much needed knead for one hour.  Price - $6.60 Cdn.  I should add Tara fed me grapes while I was being massaged...I asked her if she could find a couple other ladies to assist while she was at it.  Glad I'm with a lady who has a sense of humour.

January 9

We went to the Buddhist temple today with Pear.  Sean and a monk hung out for 10-15 minutes.  Hopefully the monk isn't like some Catholic priests at home as Sean went outta sight for about 2 minutes...sorry if I offended any RC's but c'mon...I am a concerned father  :)

After the temple we went shopping at Tesco – After initially getting Syd into the play park our scheme was foiled by the poor las who cleaned up after her last time.  As she was playing and screaming with glee the lady came over and quickly pulled the Syd the kid outta her nirvana.  We thought about trying to explain it was 'just an accident last time' and 'it wouldn't happen again' but this lady looked tougher than most Cecilites at home do.  So...with Syd screaming away she was officially banned for life from the poop park.  

After the shopping trip we returned home only to realize the cleaning lady had locked us out.  After getting inside it only got worse as we realized the keys are missing.  Maybe Sean swallowed them???

Our day ended with Pear taking us to a Thai style bbq fondue.  A bought a bottle of the local whiskey and shared with the waiter - we had fantastic service for most of the night until I fed the poor lil guy one to many - not sure if he is still employed...

We drove home singing along with everyone in the truck to some good top 40.  I thought I could sing a note - I'm told otherwise.

January 9

Just an off day.  Let me first say that I tried.  When Sydney walked into our room at 6:15 am I signed for her to ‘shhhh’ as she came to the side of the bed and gave me a big hug.  This, as it would turn out, was the best part of the day.

We walked downstairs and I played some soccer with her outside before we came in and I turned on the tube.  Tara brought down Sean and I put him in his saucer-race-car as I got on the laptop.

Here is where things started going downhill.  Sean, to his credit, is stronger and faster than previously thought.  He has some low power torque I didn’t recognize before – before that is he successfully ran into the freestanding fan, knocking same over causing it to shatter as it collided with the tile floor.  Upon hearing the crash Tara came running into the room thinking the brood was worse for the wear.  Not so – only one broken fan and a little Diablo who appeared to also be shocked by his ability to play smash it crash it derby.

Sooooo – Tara was upset, perhaps more frightened, and started asking me what happened etc.  It is important to note that both of us are tired as we have not sleep trained Sean yet.  Keeping this in mind my response was not to her liking.  The rest of the day was like the movie war of the roses.  What else can I say...the odd scrap in paradise never hurt anyone...

January 10

Our journey really has become more of an adventure watching our kids change daily before our eyes.  Sydney and I played a game last night and while it seems quite basic after playing it I realized that in fact, Syd the Kid was able to articulate to me what she likes…that was the game.  After listening to Sydney cry and whine I asked her “Sydney, tell me something that you like…”  I took a turn and she took a turn. 

Sydney….

“I like:

pink

pineapple

Sean

Playing ball

Playing soccer

Her scooter

My milk “

From a mommy factor—this is pretty cool (as boring as it may seem).

 

When we moved into this home we bought Sean a seat on wheels, for lack of a better description.  You just put him in the seat which has a circular base on wheels.  At first he just sort of sat there but now this guy is practicing for the Indy 500.  He lets his back bone slide and he kicks his feet, his arms throw about and his head goes back and with in two seconds he has cleared the room and managed to leave a track of destruction. He has not started to crawl yet and I think he must wonder why bother this is so much faster.   So far he has managed to break a fan, create a few dents in the cabinets and pull a few cords out of the wall.  These toys have been banned in Canada and I can see why.   He has six teeth now and he loves to clap his hands together. 

On the travel front, we get about by all loading up onto our scooter.  Rich drives, Sydney sits between us follow by me and then Sean in the baby back pack.  We look like real yahoo’s and you should see the looks we get from tourists and locals alike.  The other day though Rich and I ‘high-fived’ each other when we saw a mother with four kids on her scooter.  We are not alone in putting our childrens safety in the backseat  :)

Happy New Year

January 1
Pear took me to a temple to release some fish into a pond. This pond was huge and the fish were swimming in this pond were also HUGE. I thought to myself, Pear you are doing your little dinky fish no favors by releasing them into this pond…these little guys are going to have to swim for their lives! But, for Pear this is part of the Buddhist teaching of making Merit. She bought this fish from a food market and then lets them go. . . hmmm it is interesting…
We fed the fish some food and I saw four puppies and thought, hell I am going to give this fish food, which happens to smell like dog food, to the puppies. Pear wasn’t too sure why I was doing this but I thought I would rather make merit with puppies…the puppies and the fishies all had a feast. After there was a lot of lounging around and Sean and I were both getting a little worse for wear.  Home by 6 pm, to a cranky and hungry Sydney.

January 2

Today we took our first long tail boat to West Railey Beach. It was nice to get out and see a thing or two. Nice ride, great beach and overpriced food and Richy Rich bought me a dress and some shorts (ahhh, finally getting out of some old word clothes). We are so excited that Marc and Maria are coming over to Thailand.

Butter Fingers and Mangos--Heave Ho

December 27

Sean is back in our room, so much for sleep training.  Rich has a complete love affair with this boy.  Sean will usually end up in our bed by 5:00 am and this kid can move.  

Good day of visiting a park that is located in a school donated by BP Oil in 2006.

December 30

Went to the night market in Krabi town with Elizabeth, Son, Noah and Sydney.  Sean stayed with Ya.  We ate like kings and paid like paupers.  The best thing was the yummy mango and sticky rice.  I have been telling Rich about this and it was nice to finally have some.  It wasn’t the huge serving that Karina and I had years ago but it was a hint of heaven. 

December 31

Our first speed boat trip to four islands.  The four of us loaded up on a speed boat with 12 others and took off for the day.  We went to Phi Phi, Monkey beach (didn’t see any monkey’s) and some other beach that was in the movie, The Beach and ended up at Bamboo Island.  I did this trip years ago with Karina but it was interesting the second time.   Phi Phi was affected by the Tsunami as was the Beach Island and overall it still seems the same.  Rich and I have decided that we are going to camp one night with the kids on Bamboo Island—this I am very excited about.  We stopped the boat at one point and snorkled.  Poor Ya was so sea sick so she jumped in to calm her stomach.  A guy from Hungary gave Sydney a few pieces of bread to throw to the fish.  She was THRILLED and yelled, “oh mom…look at all the Nemo’s”  the fish were everywhere and Sydney was delighted to throw any bit of food that she could find overboard.  She managed to take her butter fingers back to the guys bread bag and sneak a few other pieces.  Hey, who is this kid..the pirate of bread on the open waters…stealing from the Rich and giving to the fishies.

We got back by 4:00 and discovered that Sydney’s sandals were long gone.  She is back to wearing her knock off Crocs until we find her some good shoes.

That night we had a great homemade Thai dinner with Elizabeth and her family and then Pear came over. Ya is the most amazing cook and Rich and I are going to make a list of the highlights of 2008.