Stage 6 - 14th February 2014

Again, not much action yesterday, 13th February because we had an overnight flight to Dubai departing 12:35 am, so we thought it best to just relax on the beach, do a bit of shopping - Dianne bought a few dresses and I a pair of shorts - and reading books; we also managed to avoid alcohol all day thinking it won't help us cope with an overnight flight. We returned to the apartment late afternoon to finish packing have a shower and get changed; the taxi to the airport turned up at 7:30 pm and we arrived at the airport about 8:30 - far too early for a 12:35 am flight but we had economy tickets and wanted to upgrade, just for this leg of the journey and the only way of doing that was at check-in. So, when check-in opened we were the first in the queue and managed to upgrade to the only two seats left in business class! Great news because I was able to sleep/doze for about 6 hours.

So, we arrived at Dubai airport after a 7 hour flight meaning we landed at 04:30 am local time. We were met by the hotel car and soon after checking in, at the Dusit Thani hotel, we were in bed for a couple of hours to catch up some sleep. We woke in time for breakfast and, after an hour or two decided to go for a walk so set off for the Dubai Mall - picked up a few things, including a new camera bag, a bit late really, I could have done with it in Thailand!

As it was Valentine's day we decided to book a meal in one of my favourite restaurants, the PAX where they offered a set menu for the evening with a welcome glass of bubbly. The 5-course menu was impressive and included Waghu beef and lobster - so we had to have two bottles of wine, red and white! The red, a St Emilion, was also impressive. (We had already drunk a glass of white wine in the executive lounge before going to the restaurant so, that and the bubbly and the two bottles of wine meant we had far too much to drink; our rationale was we needed to sleep well!)

Last photo on Kamala Beach, Phuket

Last look back at Kamala beach

Last shuttle bus to our hotel

The impressive St Valentine's Day menu

At the PAX restaurant with the bubbly.

Stage 5 -12th February 2014

Yesterday, the 11th February, was a beach day! Not much to note apart from the great weather! We had lunch at a beach cafe so didn't much fancy dinner in the evening so just took some snacks back to the apartment.

Today, Wednesday, we went on an excursion, a boat tour of the iconic islands along the east shore of Phuket island. We had an early start so alarm set for 6:00 am. The taxi was due at 7:30, before the hotel cafe is open for breakfast but we had bought some stuff yesterday so had breakfast in our apartment (it has a well appointed kitchen) then set of on the bus to the east coast collecting two other parties en route - one a Canadian couple from Toronto who we spoke with throughout the day. The journey was about an hour but did give us time to see more of the island, which was a benefit.

We arrived at the tour centre about 8:30 and sat around waiting for others to arrive - they had 3 large speed boats to fill - and for safety briefings, etc. and eventually climbed aboard to set of at 9:15. I was a little concerned about seasickness but they had offered pills, which I took, so didn't have a problem - the sea wasn't too choppy anyway. It took the boat about 40 minutes to get us to the first of a group of islands known as Phi Phi. We stopped first at Maya Bay on Kho Phi Phi Lee island where we were astonished to see the number of boats tied up on the beach, probably more than 50, many of which had 40 or more passengers so there could have been 2000 people on the beach! It was a good job the tide was out otherwise there would have been nowhere to sit or stand! We stayed there for about 40 minutes though there really was not much to see, in fact the most interesting thing was the sign warning that the beach was at risk if there's a Tsunami! Suggesting we climb to higher ground in the event of an earthquake!

From there we sailed around the island to view other coves and some caves the most interesting was the Viking Caves: For the most part Phi Phi Island is harsh limestone rockfaces. On the way from Maya Bay is a large cave eroded by waves which opens out to the waters. A shaky-looking bamboo scaffold covers most of it from view. In this cave is a colony of birds called swiftlets whose nests are valued as a Chinese delicacy. They’re believed to have properties such as improving the voice, increasing the libido (of course), relieving asthma, and general immune benefits.

Nest harvesting begins in February, and the first two nest builds are taken before the birds are allowed to keep one to breed. Getting the nests involve climbing up a bamboo ladder to the ceiling of the cave, which is more than a hundred metres high. The cave is covered with bamboo scaffolds and small alters..

The local name of the cave is Tham Phaya Nak, named by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1972 after the Naga, a great serpent of Buddhist legend. The English name for it is Viking Cave, after a series of paintings on the walls inside depicting four tall ships. Little is known about the paintings or who did them, but reportedly they’re over a thousand years old. The ships appear to be European and Chinese, and while they don’t resemble a viking ship in the slightest the name has stuck.

We then headed for Monkey Beach, which, as the name implies, features wild macaque monkeys, though tame enough to be hand fed by the tourists! Then for lunch. This was a crap buffet at Tonsai Bay on Kho Phi Phi, the only inhabited island on the archipelago with lots of facilities including hotels and cafes. We lunched with the Canadians; the beer was welcome. We stayed there for an hour or so then set off for the last island, Khai Island, which is not part of the Phi Phi archipelago but on the way we stopped off at a coral reef to do some snorkeling - which was a great experience spoiled a little by the number of people in the water at the same time!

We stayed, relaxing, at Khai Island for an 90 minutes before setting off back to Phuket, which was now only a 15 minute sail. Then onto the mini bus and back to the hotel for about 6:30.

We dined at the Oiy restaurant again but the food was a let down, then we had a final drink at a roadside bar am met a Dutchman who claimed he'd been living here, in 'paradise' for 10 years.

Our speedboat

Maya Bay

The warning on Maya Beach

Loh Saman Bay

Entrance to Pileh Lagoon

The Viking Caves

Monkey beach resident

Tonai Bay for lunch

Dianne returning to the boat after snorkelling

On Khai Island wearing my hat!

High density sunbeds on the tiny Khai Island

Stage 5 - 10th February 2014

Although we wake up early we decide to take our time, catch up with the news, have a late breakfast, do some emails, etc. and catch the 12:30 shuttle bus to the beach; we also take a look at the excursions and book a day trip on a boat doing the islands tour, the only one we had hoped to take.

The shuttle bus dropped us off in village car park near Kamala beach but before the beach we decided to take a stroll through the town to take a look at what was there - just the usual, beachwear shops, a chemist, several restaurants, a few bars, some massage parlours and a supermarket. At the end of the road we found the beach. It's a rather large bay, maybe a little smaller than Swanage with a deep beach and an emerald green sea where a few longtail boats are bobbling in the small waves.

We settled down on some sunbeds shaded by an umbrella and paid the guy equivalent of £4 for the day and stayed there until nearly 6:00 pm when we packed up and headed for one of the shore bars to have a beer while watching the sun go down - I also took some photographs.

Through the day we did very little, just read ebooks and took the occasional dip in the very warm sea, probably the warmest I've swam in.

We stayed in town for an early dinner at the Oiy restaurant, the busiest and therefore probably the best in town! We were not disappointed, good food, good wine (SA Pinotage) and excellent service - if we dine in town again we will revisit. The only problem: we had two bottles of wine! Before catching the shuttle back to the hotel we picked up some provisions for the apartment: milk, coffee, washing powder (we have a washing machine in our apartment!), and some wine!

Just arrived at Kamala Beach

Dianne after a dip in the warm sea

Having a drink in a bar watching the sun going down - the lady is a stranger!

Tide coming in as two more strangers cross the beach.

Stage 5 - 9th February 2014

Had a restless nights sleep after Dianne's phone started vibrating at 01:30 with a text message. Tried to get back to sleep but failed. Finally got up at 05:00 to be picked up by a taxi at 06:00 - well eventually after some strange dialogue with a guy on reception who speaks no English! Don't know what happens if there's an emergency! The conversation goes something like this:
Hello, I have a taxi booked for 6 am, could you send the buggy for the luggage please?
Hello?
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes.
I have a taxi booked at 6:00 am, could you send a buggy for the luggage?
A taxi?
Yes, I have a taxi booked.
You want taxi?
No, taxi booked, I just need help with the luggage.
Hello?
Why do you keep saying 'hello'?

What comes to mind is Fawlty Towers, I'm just waiting the 'K?'

Then silence. So I put the phone down and head for reception where there are 3 guys on duty, none of whom speak English but, thankfully the taxi driver has turned up so I take him round to the villa and pack up the luggage.

The flight to Phuket is uneventful with some great views over the countryside, especially as we approach the airport when we fly over some of the iconic islands; looking forward to seeing them from a boat.

We booked a limo from the airport - we've done this each time because it only costs a few pounds more than a standard taxi but there is so much more space for us and the luggage.

The hotel - Treetops Resort - is on the west coast of Phuket Island on a bay called Kamala but it's a mile or so from the beach; thankfully they have a shuttle bus setting off every hour to take people into the town.

We are allocated an apartment - lounge, dining area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, very spacious but on the ground floor. The trouble is all the walls a glass so there's no privacy! So we ask to change and we are offered a second floor room, much better and totally private. Then we discover there's no hot water - again - then the safe doesn't function! So we decide to catch the shuttle into town to find a restaurant, which we do. There are several that look OK but we select one offering fresh fish and both choose the red mullet, which is delicious, with a bottle of French white wine, which isn't but is expensive. The bill was £56, the wine £26!

Back in the room which now has hot water and a functioning safe!

View from our room

Looking from our balcony to other parts of the hotel

Stage 4 - 7th February 2014

Sorry, nothing to blog on the 6th & 7th February about the travels, just had to do some work for some clients in the Middle East so we stayed around the hotel all day, Dianne spent some time at the pool and I had some time off to do some reading - finished my book: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, which is a well written narrative about the life of a slave in the USA in the 19th century; you get the feeling he holds back on much of the cruelty but it is rather harrowing.

Today - Friday - we booked a tour of the Chiangmai temples, or Wats as they are called. There are 200 Buddhist Wats in Chiangmai but we only had time for a few, three we stopped at for some time to browse, wonder and take some photographs - nearly 200 in all.

The first Wat we visited is the most famous. It's situated high in the hills north of Chiangmai but, thankfully, there is a now a road to take you there; we went by taxi and cable car! The following is taken from Wikipedia; if you just want to see the photos skip the narrative!

1. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

According to legend, a monk named Sumanathera from Sukhothai had a dream; in this vision he was told to go to Pang Cha and look for a relic. Sumanathera ventured to Pang Cha and is said to have found a bone, which many claim was Buddha's shoulder bone. The relic displayed magical powers; it glowed, it was able to vanish, it could move itself and replicate itself. Sumanathera took the relic to King Dharmmaraja who ruled the Sukhothai.

The eager Dharmmaraja made offerings and hosted a ceremony when Sumanathera arrived. However, the relic displayed no abnormal characteristics, and the king, doubtful of the relic's authenticity, told Sumanathera to keep it.

However, King Nu Naone of the Lanna Kingdom heard of the relic and offered the monk to take it to him instead. In 1368 with Dharmmaraja's permission, Sumanathera took the relic to what is now Lamphun, in northern Thailand. The relic apparently split in two, one piece was the same size, the other was smaller than the original. The smaller piece of the relic was enshrined at a temple in Suandok. The other piece was placed by the King on the back of a white elephant which was released in the jungle. The elephant is said to have climbed up Doi Suthep, at the time called Doi Aoy Chang (Sugar Elephant Mountain), trumpeted three times before dying at the site. It was interpreted as a sign and King Nu Naone ordered the construction of a temple at the site.

2. Wat Chet Yot

King Tilokarat commissioned the construction of the temple in 1455 CE after he had sent monks to Bagan in Burma to study the design of the Mahabodhi temple there, itself a copy of the Mahabodhi Temple of Bodh Gaya in northern India, the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment.

According to the Jinakālamālī chronicle, in 1455 CE the king planted a bodhi tree on the spot and in 1476 CE "had established a large sanctuary in this monastery", probably for the celebration ceremony commemorating 2000 years of Buddhism. The following year the 8th Buddhist World Council was held at Wat Chet Yot to renew the Tripitaka (the Pali Canon).

The design of the central sanctuary, the Maha Pho wihan (also called Maha Chedi, Thai), does indeed somewhat resemble the Mahabodhi temple, clearly having Indian influences. Crowning the flat roof of the rectangular windowless building are seven spires (In Thai: chet yot) which gives the temple its name: a pyramid-like spire with a square base set back from the centre surrounded by four smaller similar spires, and, set atop the two smaller annexes of the main building, two bell-shaped chedis.

The interior of the building contains a barrel vaulted corridor which leads to a Buddha statue at its end. Right and left of the Buddha statue narrow stairs lead up to the roof. In days past a bodhi tree grew on top of the roof but which was removed in 1910 CE to prevent the structure from collapse.

The exterior façades of the building feature 70, partially strongly weathered, stucco reliefs of Thewada (Devas), divine beings, the faces of whom have allegedly been modelled after relatives of King Tilokarat.

3. Wat Phra Singh

Construction on Wat Phra Singh began in 1345 when King Phayu, the fifth king of the Mangrai dynasty, had a chedi built to house the ashes of his father King Kham Fu. A wihan and several other buildings were added a few years later and the resulting complex was named Wat Lichiang Phra. When, in 1367, the statue of Phra Buddha Singh was brought to the temple, the temple complex received its present name. During restoration works in 1925, three funerary urns were discovered inside a small chedi. It was assumed that these contained royal ashes. The urns have since been lost. From 1578 to 1774 the Burmese ruled Lanna and in this period the temple was abandoned and came under serious disrepair. It was only when King Kawila assumed the throne as King of Chiang Mai in 1782, that the temple was restored. King Kawila had the ubosot built and the chedi enlarged. Later successors restored the Wihan Lai Kham and the elegant Ho Trai(temple library).

The whole temple complex underwent extensive renovations under the famous monk Khru Ba Srivichai during the 1920s. Many of the buildings were again restored in 2002.

The temple houses an important Buddha statue: the Phra Buddha Sihing which gives the temple its name. The origins of this statue are unknown but, according to legend, it was based on thelion of Shakya, a statue since lost which used to be housed in the Mahabodhi Temple of Bodh Gaya (India). The Phra Buddha Sihing statue is supposed to have been brought, via Ceylon(present day Sri Lanka), to Ligor (present day Nakhon Si Thammarat and from there, via Ayutthaya, to Chiang Mai. There are two more Buddha statues in Thailand which are claimed to be thePhra Buddha Sihing: one is housed in Wat Phra Mahathat in the city of Nakhon Si Thammarat and another in the Bangkok National Museum.

It is alleged that the head of the statue had been stolen in 1922. The possibility remains that the present statue (or maybe only the head) is a copy.

Every year, during the Songkran festival, the statue is taken from wihan Lai Kham and carried through the streets of Chiang Mai in a religious procession during which the spectators honour the statue by sprinkling water over it.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and the white elephant of the legend

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep - where the holy bone is kept

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep - just some of the scores of images of the Buddha

Dianne in the gardens of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

A crystal Buddha at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Another image of Buddha at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep - mostly covered with goldleaf

One of the many images of a dragon on the steps to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

What Chet Yot - the seven spired Wat. A very old temple but not too much to photograph

Wat Phra Singh showing some of the many lifelike images of monks

Me trying to befriend a Dragon at Wat Phra Singh

A monks working on the flower arrangements in Wat Phra Singh with some novices

The sun setting behind one of the buildings at Wat Phra Singh

Stage 4 - 4th February 2014

Today we decided to make the obligatory contribution to the local economy: we booked an excursion! This was a day trip, with an early start and an early evening finish so we were up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:30 and a car to take us to Chiang Mai for an 8:00 am start. There was a bit of hassle from then on which involved a wait, another car, pick up someone else at a hotel, drive to another office, the a further wait....then off we set, well, that is until the driver had to stop for petrol after only 10 minutes! So, off we set, eventually.  The trip was to the Northern mountains so it took us about an hour to get there; we were in a mini-bus with 8 others - a French couple, two Swiss ladies and two couples from Belfast - which took about an hour to arrive at the first stop: the elephants. The 'trek' was in three stages, first on the back of elephants through a jungle trail, the second a walk up the mountain side and the final leg was a bamboo raft sail down the mountain river to meet the minibus.

So, the elephants: this was typical of the elephant rides you see everywhere. It was a rather large camp/village of local people and, I guess, 20 families will be depending on the dozen or so elephants for their economic survival - Mahouts, the vendors selling trinkets, food and drink, the photographers, etc. We had to wait for our ride so we took some photos of the 'unemployed' elephants, including on only a few months old.

The ride was OK but there was a distinct lack of any wildlife in the forest, not even the sound of a bird, which I found strange, but I assume it was too hot for wild creatures to be out, either that or there are too many tourists 'infesting' the area. I think we were on the elephant for about an hour or so during which time he, the elephant, insisted we fed him copious amounts of sugar cane!

We then set off for our walk up the mountain where the trail was much narrower taking us along paths beside irrigation canals that took water down to flood the paddy fields - a bit like the levada walks in Madeira. At this time of the day, midday, it was hot so the climb was a little taxing but we stopped off at a remote village in the mountains where a small tribe of the long-necked women live in exile from Burma. We paid to enter the village where we could take photographs and buy some of their craftwork. Making the necks of the women longer has been practice by the tribe since the 11th century and still continues with girls wearing the extending rings from the age of 5 to 15. In fact the neck is not extended but the rib cage is collapsed but the rings giving the impression that neck is longer. We took some photos and bought a few things - it all helps the economy!

We then continued up the path to, which became much steeper for a while before we came across a rather impressive waterfall. Some brave folk, including Dianne, took to the water but it was freezing so I declined!

The last stage of the trek was the return to the bottom of the mountain. This was achieve on a bamboo raft. We walked again to the bamboo 'port' where we left all our valuables, including cameras, with our tour guide and then climbed on the raft, 4 to a raft, and then the boatman punted us down stream. Mostly gentle water but lots of rapids too, though not what you would call 'white water' rapids. Nevertheless it was not that comfortable, and very wet.

At the end of the trip we arrived at another village, no doubt the home of the boatmen, where we could get drinks and food, clean up and attempt to get dry before setting off to Chiang Mai and, eventually, our hotel.

We dined al fresco in the hotel on pasta and a cold bottle of Pinot Grigio.

The hills to the north of Chiang Mai

One of a dozen or so elephants at the village

The elephant track

Our greedy elephant

The track up the mountain alongside the irrigation channel

One of the long-necked women

...with one of the children

The icy pool below the waterfall

The end of the rafting

A villager in the mountains weaving scarves

Mother and child in the village at the end of the raft ride

Stage 4 - 3rd February 2014

We booked a visit to the Chiang Mai Tiger kingdom with, I have to acknowledge, some reservations. We had heard something about the access to the animals and wondered if they would be drugged to keep them docile.  Anyway, we decided to go to see for ourselves and set off about 12 noon for a 10 minute journey to the Park where we chose to have the Full Monty, i.e. visiting all the compounds which featured Tigers from new-born through small, to medium to large, in all 5 divisions of size. The FM included DVDs of photos for two of the compounds.

The place was rather busy, lots of Chinese people enjoying Chinese NY holidays - good to see the Chinese abroad - so there was some waiting for your 'turn' but it was handled extremely well - we had a Q number and it appeared on a screen for each enclosure so you had a rough idea how long you would need to wait for your turn. The big cats and the very small cats were the most popular so we started with the medium and the large....and with a very apprehensive Dianne....see the photo of her first encounter!

I have to say we were both a little concerned for the animals and didn't like some of the things people were doing but we both felt the claim that the animals are not drugged to be justified. We saw nothing to suggest the cats were not well cared for, they appeared to be well fed and only wanted to sleep while the sun shone. The oldest cats were only 30 months old, older cats were deemed too dangerous, and each cat was hand-reared by a dedicated trainer from birth therefore developing a strong bond and lots of trust. Dianne was most enamoured with the youngsters; I was most enamoured with the big cats - their size is so impressive.

We had planned to be picked up at 2:30 by the hotel driver but we were delayed and, instead, stayed at the Park for lunch and planned to catch a taxi back, which proved a little difficult! We eventually persuaded a taxi driver to take us to the hotel in between other jobs he had, which was a bit of a relief - we were about 5 miles away but would never have found our way back on foot!

With the two CDs of photos taken by the Park photographers and my photos we have nearly 300 from one day! The photography was a bit of a challenge. As you will see there was lots of different shades of light coming through the canopy of trees, very strong sunlight with contrasting with the shadows and colours of the Tigers, etc. This meant fussing around with the camera settings - flash was not allowed so I ended up shifting the ISO settings up and down continually, then over-exposing when shooting the Tigers in the shade! But I think the results will be worth it. Three hundred photos will take me hours to edit so I'll save it for another day, I've just done a few for you to look at.

I have to say I would never have thought it possible to stand next to a Tiger and feel totally safe...can't think of many better experiences with wildlife.