Just Mildly Melting (Posted on 2/23/16)

We are now on a bus deep in the south of Thailand heading toward the town of Hat Yai, about an hour away from the Malaysian border. We will spend out last night in Thailand there and then spend about a week in Malaysia before our flight leaves from Kuala Lumpur.  When I left off, we had just returned to Thailand and I was hoping for some cooler weather which I got; a few days in the high 80s (F) and relatively low humidity.  It made our two days in Bangkok especially nice.  We were able to walk around town and check out the lunar new year festivities in Chinatown without sweating it out too much.

Chinese Temple in Trat

Chinatown in Bangkok

From Bangkok we took the train to Hua Hin where it started to heat up again.  We didn't care too much for Hua Hin - a very touristy beach town seemingly catering to European tourists (and retirees) and those living in Bangkok.  And of course it was pricey for our standards.  So, after one day (two nights) there we took the train further south to Chumphon, which we liked better.  Chumphon sees fewer tourists - mostly those on route to the islands - so that was nice.  Our hotel was great, the nearby night market had great (and cheap) southern Thai food, and beaches were a motorcycle ride away.  Unfortunately, since there aren't many tourists, there weren't many places to rent a motorbike (at a price Matthias was willing to pay).  We were pleased when we finally found one, but decided to rent it only for one day so we wouldn't have to worry about the bike overnight (being stolen).  Unfortunately when we went back the next day, the office was closed so we couldn't rent it again. And Matthias was unwilling to pay the 300 Baht charged by the other rental place, as opposed to the 200 Baht we paid for ours the day before. (Anyone who wants to see exactly how cheap this guy is can look up the exchange rate and have a laugh.)  When the office was closed again the next day, he agreed to pay 250 Baht for a manual shift motorbike (we usually rent automatic).  Although the bike was pretty crappy, I at least got to try my hand at manual shifting while we were beachside.  Anyway, the beaches were quiet and extremely scenic but there was a lot of garbage around - washed up on the beach and in the water.  Sad.

The beach in Hua Hin - crowded and not too scenic, but at least they can afford to clean up (after the horses) here.

Fresh seafood at the night market in Hua Hin

Beach near Chumphon - quieter!

Matthias on the beach near Chumphon - also garbage on the beach

After four nights in Chumpon we caught an early morning train further south to Surat Thani.  There was nothing too special there for us but it made a good one-night stop on our way to Krabi, where we spent the past four days.  We had been to Krabi before and had fond memories.  Once we found a nice hotel (after one night in a crappy one), we grabbed a motorbike (yes, 200 Baht) and headed for the beach at Ao Nang.  Unfortunately, it wasn't as nice as we remembered - still beautiful, but more crowded (perhaps because a good deal of the beach was 'under construction' and off-limits).  The next day we set off into the countryside and happened upon another beach that was much better.  So, we went there again the next day.  We also enjoyed eating at the night market along the river.  It was a nice stop in Krabi.

Riding the train

Matthias on the train

Beach near Krabi

Last papaya salad at the beach near Krabi

River in Krabi

So now that I've got another two hours or so on the bus from Krabi to Hat Yai, I have time for some random musings.

I may have mentioned this already but just about all of our hotels have cable tv with at least one English language news channel  So, we've been able to watch news from various sources including France24, Deutsche Welle (Germany), Channel News Asia (Singapore), NHK (Japan) and AlJazeera (worldwide or USA, I think).  The formats are all pretty similar - 15 minutes or half hour news followed by 30 or 45 minutes of a news magazine, talk/debate show or documentary.  I love watching these channels and getting news from all different perspectives.  And fortunately they only spend about five minutes each hour (and not even every day) talking about the US presidential primaries.  One day I was watching a channel I didn't recognize the call letters for (I thought it might Italian or Spanish) and was a bit surprised about the coverage: the story about the the shooting in Oregon of one of the national park (or reserve) occupiers focused on how the victim was reportedly unarmed; the next story focused on Britain's illegal sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia; and the next covered the refugee crisis in Europe in a really unflattering way.  After 15 minutes I decided to look up the call letters on the Internet and it turned out to be Russian television (RT).  I got a kick out of it, but Matthias didn't want to watch it anymore.  

Selfie of sorts in one of our favorite hotels (in Chumphon).  Not pictured - the TV

Exit gate:  I do love the European news channels, but have to complain about the term used all too often to describe countries threatening to leave the European Union.  Those who share my pet peeve of adding "gate" to every controversy (Olivia, thinking of you) might understand how the new "exit" contraction is getting on my nerves.  First, we had the threat of a Grexit (Greek), followed by the current debate over a Brexit (British).   I can only hope for a similar Spanish controversy (a Sex-it?) but they'd probably ruin my fun by calling it a Spexit, so as not to be confused with a Swexit (Swedish) or Slexit (would that be Slovenian or Slovakian)?  Keep it together, Europe!!

No, I'm not watching TV all day.  On the beach and on buses and trains I'm digging into my KINDLE!  I know I held out for a long time, but (yes, Andrew and others) I've finally become a Kindle convert.  I even joined Kindle unlimited for ten bucks a month which lets me download all the Lonely Planet travel books I need  - Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Tokyo. Sure beats lugging along five travel books, although a bit trickier to navigate (just getting the hang of it and we're almost done) and I've never had a paperback book malfunction (happened only once, though).  Library books, too!  Perfect for a cheapo like me!

Read a few chapters of a Bill Bryson Book under that tree

Finally, I keep forgetting to write about all the swift (bird) action here   All across the south of Cambodia and parts of Thailand, too, they have converted vacant spaces in the upper floors of certain buildings into "swift nesting sites".  They've found this to be lucrative because the nests are a Chinese delicacy (I haven't tried them though I did see a sign for it in Bangkok - probably too expensive. ha ha)   Anyway, it gets very noisy around sunset as they head toward their nesting sites.  And it reminds me of the joy(s) of watching the swift spectacle at the Chapman chimney in Portland.  Fun times!

The swift bird nesting site

 

Time to end it here.  Getting pressure from my favorite Aunt to post an update and I can't let her down!  Next (and last) up - Malaysia.  Here's a preview:  It's still freaking hot.