Friday, March 26, 2010
tokyo: round 3
Here are the last set of pictures from Tokyo. Adam, Russ and Pierre rejoined me there after their trip to Kyoto and mine to Hiroshima. Without the jetlag that had slowed us down a bit the first couple days, we were able to enjoy Tokyo and it's nightlife a bit more. Highlights included raw horse meat, losing $10 in under 40 seconds at Pachinko, Okonomiyaki (savory pancakes) in Harajuku, a random blues bar where adam played a tune with the bartender, a trip to Shibuya and plenty more food, sake and beer. We really only had a day and a half here before heading North to Hokkaido, but seems like we accomplished what we wanted to.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
hiroshima & miyajima
The trip to Hiroshima was a bit longer than I anticipated – roughly 5 hours of train travel with an hour layover in Osaka. Fortunately the Shinkansen is relatively comfortable and gave me an opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I arrived into town late in the afternoon and after checking into the hostel and cleaning up a bit I went walking around town. Fully reconstructed after WWII, it’s a modern town like any other in Japan. As a result, it doesn’t have a lot of character, but it’s tragic history is certainly thought provoking. After walking around town, snapping some night time pictures of the A-Bomb dome I made my way to an Okonomiyaki restaurant to taste the local specialty. In Hiroshima, the okonomiyaki is made with a variety of ingredients which are cooked independently and then covered with the cooked pancake on either side. It’s essentially one massive savory pancake. Mine had cabbage, udon, squid, shrimp, and a variety of sauces. Very tasty, but way too much food.
The next morning I woke up early and caught a train just south of Hiroshima to Miyajima, where the famous floating tori is located. The orange tori is located on the water just outside the main shrine on the island. With the tide changing the water level as much as two meters daily, the scenery can change dramatically depending on what time you get there. In fact, at low tide, you can walk out to, and under, the gate. I got there just before high tide and snapped a few pictures of the shrine and tori before walking around town. Along the way I enjoyed some of the local specialties, including grilled local oysters (good, but not great), steamed buns filled with eel (not bad), and a small chocolate filled cake like thing (quite tasty).
Since I only had one full day in the area, I made my way back to Hiroshima for the afternoon and toured the Peace Memorial Park, which includes the A-Bomb Dome and the Atomic Bomb museum. It’s all rather depressing and much like the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and the Burma Railroad Museum in Katchanaburi, it leaves you with a very uneasy feeling. Well worth visiting though. Though it was almost nightfall, I quickly made my way to the other end of town to visit one of the nicer parks in town. I only had 45 minutes there, but the serene setting was well worth the trip. Nothing quite like a Japanese garden. And so that was it for Hiroshima and Miyajima. One very full day, and some very achy feet, but some great memories. Now back to Tokyo for a couple days before heading north to Hokkaido for some skiing.
The next morning I woke up early and caught a train just south of Hiroshima to Miyajima, where the famous floating tori is located. The orange tori is located on the water just outside the main shrine on the island. With the tide changing the water level as much as two meters daily, the scenery can change dramatically depending on what time you get there. In fact, at low tide, you can walk out to, and under, the gate. I got there just before high tide and snapped a few pictures of the shrine and tori before walking around town. Along the way I enjoyed some of the local specialties, including grilled local oysters (good, but not great), steamed buns filled with eel (not bad), and a small chocolate filled cake like thing (quite tasty).
Since I only had one full day in the area, I made my way back to Hiroshima for the afternoon and toured the Peace Memorial Park, which includes the A-Bomb Dome and the Atomic Bomb museum. It’s all rather depressing and much like the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and the Burma Railroad Museum in Katchanaburi, it leaves you with a very uneasy feeling. Well worth visiting though. Though it was almost nightfall, I quickly made my way to the other end of town to visit one of the nicer parks in town. I only had 45 minutes there, but the serene setting was well worth the trip. Nothing quite like a Japanese garden. And so that was it for Hiroshima and Miyajima. One very full day, and some very achy feet, but some great memories. Now back to Tokyo for a couple days before heading north to Hokkaido for some skiing.
tokyo: jetlag
Russ, Adam, and Pierre arrived about when I expected them to on Tuesday evening, claiming they'd found the hotel without any problems. I was rather impressed since my first time in Japan it took me an hour just to figure out how to get out of the airport. However, they were rather exhausted and jetlagged, having not slept one bit on the flight from Chicago. Nevertheless I lead them out to nearby Shinjuku for some dinner and drinks. After walking around a bit, we ducked into a small yakitori spot and were directed to the upstairs room which seated 10 people at most - about the same as downstairs. This place was not big. Fortunately they did have an English menu and so I ordered a variety of skewers to snack on with a couple beers. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, but they were also completely out of it - claiming that the building was rocking back and forth... Not good. After dinner we slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping for one more beer along the way. Though no one was particularly hungry, we were informed that generally you have to order food with drinks towards the north east, and so we got some fried tofu to keep the wait staff happy.
Wednesday started relatively early. Everyone but me was up and ready to go at 7am. After I reluctantly rolled out of bed, we headed towards Asakusa – a district with one of the nicer temples in Tokyo. Unfortunately, it was currently being renovated, but the brisk breeze and sun made it an enjoyable stroll through the temple grounds. Seeing as we hadn't really eaten much of a breakfast, we then went to a noodle shop for some soba for an early lunch. This was a typical fast food spot, where you order your meal from a vending machine that spits out a ticket with your order. You then take the ticket to the counter where they prepare your order and then call it out for you to pick up when it's ready. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense till you do it, and then you realize that, like all things in Japan, it's relatively efficient.
We then made our way onto the river boat cruise which leaves from the nearby docks and made our way south along the river towards the Hama-rikyu Gardens, which are near Ginza. After a brief stroll through the park we hopped back onto the train and went to straight to Akihabara – Tokyo's noisy electronics district. There we went from store to store exploring the weirder sides of japanese culture. Arcades, comic book stores, hobby stores, huge electronics stores and more, this is certainly one of the more entertaining areas of Tokyo to walk through. Somewhat tired from all the walking, we slowly made our way back to the Hotel, stopping for a beer and a bowl of noodles along the way.
That night we went back to Shinjuku, in the hopes that perhaps this time, everyone would be a little more awake. We started off in another yakitori type place which was rather inviting and had a nice soundtrack of blues to accompany the food and beer. Highlights included pork cheek skewers and a beverage that goes by Hoppy. Apparently (as we found out later) this is a drink for people who can’t afford beer. You get a class of Sochu and then top it off with a extremely lightly flavored beer-like beverage. It wasn’t bad, but also not that great. We continued on into Shinjuku, and popped into an Izikaya next, for a few more beers and a bit more food. This time all ordering occurred on a touchscreen at the table. Luckily, though everything on the screen was in Japanese, it also included a number of pictures, and we were given a paper menu with translations. With all this in hand we were able to order everything we wanted, though not without almost asking for the check before the meal had started. Here we got rice w/ ketchup topped with an omelet and more ketchup, sashimi, potato croquettes, beer & sake. We stayed quite a while before retreating to the hotel in anticipation of the early morning wake up call to get to Tsukiji fish market.
The next morning we woke up relatively early, checked out of the hotel and made our way to Tsukiji fish market. This is one of the most remarkable places in Tokyo, with constant commotion from 5AM to 11AM. We arrived at 7:30ish and took a stroll through the market, dodging the constant stream of carts moving to and fro, taking in all the weird sea creatures, and working up an appetite. By 8:30 we were ready for breakfast sushi and so we made our way to one of the many sushi shops around the market. Adam and Pierre got the sashimi plate, while I got the 10pc tasting. Both were very good, but Pierre and I were both scolded by the owner. Pierre had apparently poured too much soy sauce in his saucer while I was dipping the rice into the soy sauce instead of the fish... oops. Meanwhile Russ who doesn’t eat fish was promptly asked not to sit at the counter since he wasn’t ordering. The sushi was pretty good, but the owner could have been a tad bit nicer. That’s it for Tokyo for now. Next up Hiroshima for me while the others go to Kyoto for a couple days.
Wednesday started relatively early. Everyone but me was up and ready to go at 7am. After I reluctantly rolled out of bed, we headed towards Asakusa – a district with one of the nicer temples in Tokyo. Unfortunately, it was currently being renovated, but the brisk breeze and sun made it an enjoyable stroll through the temple grounds. Seeing as we hadn't really eaten much of a breakfast, we then went to a noodle shop for some soba for an early lunch. This was a typical fast food spot, where you order your meal from a vending machine that spits out a ticket with your order. You then take the ticket to the counter where they prepare your order and then call it out for you to pick up when it's ready. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense till you do it, and then you realize that, like all things in Japan, it's relatively efficient.
We then made our way onto the river boat cruise which leaves from the nearby docks and made our way south along the river towards the Hama-rikyu Gardens, which are near Ginza. After a brief stroll through the park we hopped back onto the train and went to straight to Akihabara – Tokyo's noisy electronics district. There we went from store to store exploring the weirder sides of japanese culture. Arcades, comic book stores, hobby stores, huge electronics stores and more, this is certainly one of the more entertaining areas of Tokyo to walk through. Somewhat tired from all the walking, we slowly made our way back to the Hotel, stopping for a beer and a bowl of noodles along the way.
That night we went back to Shinjuku, in the hopes that perhaps this time, everyone would be a little more awake. We started off in another yakitori type place which was rather inviting and had a nice soundtrack of blues to accompany the food and beer. Highlights included pork cheek skewers and a beverage that goes by Hoppy. Apparently (as we found out later) this is a drink for people who can’t afford beer. You get a class of Sochu and then top it off with a extremely lightly flavored beer-like beverage. It wasn’t bad, but also not that great. We continued on into Shinjuku, and popped into an Izikaya next, for a few more beers and a bit more food. This time all ordering occurred on a touchscreen at the table. Luckily, though everything on the screen was in Japanese, it also included a number of pictures, and we were given a paper menu with translations. With all this in hand we were able to order everything we wanted, though not without almost asking for the check before the meal had started. Here we got rice w/ ketchup topped with an omelet and more ketchup, sashimi, potato croquettes, beer & sake. We stayed quite a while before retreating to the hotel in anticipation of the early morning wake up call to get to Tsukiji fish market.
The next morning we woke up relatively early, checked out of the hotel and made our way to Tsukiji fish market. This is one of the most remarkable places in Tokyo, with constant commotion from 5AM to 11AM. We arrived at 7:30ish and took a stroll through the market, dodging the constant stream of carts moving to and fro, taking in all the weird sea creatures, and working up an appetite. By 8:30 we were ready for breakfast sushi and so we made our way to one of the many sushi shops around the market. Adam and Pierre got the sashimi plate, while I got the 10pc tasting. Both were very good, but Pierre and I were both scolded by the owner. Pierre had apparently poured too much soy sauce in his saucer while I was dipping the rice into the soy sauce instead of the fish... oops. Meanwhile Russ who doesn’t eat fish was promptly asked not to sit at the counter since he wasn’t ordering. The sushi was pretty good, but the owner could have been a tad bit nicer. That’s it for Tokyo for now. Next up Hiroshima for me while the others go to Kyoto for a couple days.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
tokyo: noodles
Well I've been in Tokyo just over 24 hours and already I've already had a great time. I arrived at the hostel right around lunchtime yesterday and before even dropping off my bags, I was asking the receptionist to point me towards the best ramen in the area. This small spot didn't dissapoint - even though there was not a word of english on the menu. I picked what ended up being ramen with thingly sliced fatty pork. What a great way to start the trip. I left full and with a huge grin on my face.
Since Adam, Russ and Pierre weren't in yet, I decided to walk through Rappongi, Hiro-O, and Ebisu, with the ultimate goal of finding the Onitsuka Tiger store which was just west of Ebisu. These are quite affluent neighborhoods and somewhat quiet during the day, so I didn't think we'd be going back with the rest of the crew. Turns out the walk lasted 3-4 solid hours as I repeatedly got lost. I purposely left any maps and addresses back at the hostel, so I was just using the subway station maps and my memory to navigate. Unfortunately each of the maps around town is oriented with the north arrow pointing in completely different directions each time, so that can be rather confusing. I eventually found the Onitsuka store and was rather dissapointed with the rather measly selection of shoes and the exhorbitant prices. oh well, t'was a good little walk anyway.
For dinner I met Neha who was also traveling through Japan, and along with a few of her friends we ate at an Izikaya restaurant in Shinjuku. We ordered way too much food - and yet managed to eat it all. See the pictures of most, but not all of the dishes below. The fried chicken cartilage and chicken skin yakitori were my favorites.
Today I moved to a hotel in Shinjuku where we'll stay for a couple days. For lunch I walked around Shinjuku thinking perhaps I was craving sushi. I've noticed that some of the best food in Tokyo is usually hidden in small alleys or on the 9th floor of buildings. Since going up and down building elevators didn't seem practical I focused on the small alleys. I ended up finding an soba/udon/tempura spot that seemed rather popular. I sat down, pointed at the businessman next to me's bowl of udon with tempura and was promptly served - mine with the addition of a soft boiled egg. I wolfed down the bowl like everyone else around me and once again left very satisfied. 3 for 3 with meals so far. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Shinjuku and the adjoining park snapping pictures of the few trees that were in bloom.
Since Adam, Russ and Pierre weren't in yet, I decided to walk through Rappongi, Hiro-O, and Ebisu, with the ultimate goal of finding the Onitsuka Tiger store which was just west of Ebisu. These are quite affluent neighborhoods and somewhat quiet during the day, so I didn't think we'd be going back with the rest of the crew. Turns out the walk lasted 3-4 solid hours as I repeatedly got lost. I purposely left any maps and addresses back at the hostel, so I was just using the subway station maps and my memory to navigate. Unfortunately each of the maps around town is oriented with the north arrow pointing in completely different directions each time, so that can be rather confusing. I eventually found the Onitsuka store and was rather dissapointed with the rather measly selection of shoes and the exhorbitant prices. oh well, t'was a good little walk anyway.
For dinner I met Neha who was also traveling through Japan, and along with a few of her friends we ate at an Izikaya restaurant in Shinjuku. We ordered way too much food - and yet managed to eat it all. See the pictures of most, but not all of the dishes below. The fried chicken cartilage and chicken skin yakitori were my favorites.
Today I moved to a hotel in Shinjuku where we'll stay for a couple days. For lunch I walked around Shinjuku thinking perhaps I was craving sushi. I've noticed that some of the best food in Tokyo is usually hidden in small alleys or on the 9th floor of buildings. Since going up and down building elevators didn't seem practical I focused on the small alleys. I ended up finding an soba/udon/tempura spot that seemed rather popular. I sat down, pointed at the businessman next to me's bowl of udon with tempura and was promptly served - mine with the addition of a soft boiled egg. I wolfed down the bowl like everyone else around me and once again left very satisfied. 3 for 3 with meals so far. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Shinjuku and the adjoining park snapping pictures of the few trees that were in bloom.
Monday, March 15, 2010
phnom penh
This weekend I went back to Phnom Penh briefly to revisit the city. I had passed through in 2006 and hadn't been particularly impressed. In fact, I'd say I left the city with a pretty negative view of it. Dusty, hot, dirty, full of dirty old men with questionable intentions - it really hadn't seemed like a place to visit. I flew in from Bangkok Friday afternoon and Amity joined me from Siem Reap later that day.
This time I opted to get a slightly nicer hotel so that we would have a pleasant place to retreat if things hadn't changed a whole lot. Fortunately, despite the sweltering heat, things felt quite different this time around. There were more people out and about, it felt a bit cleaner and more orderly, and we stayed away from most of the expat bars where I'd previously come across the aforementioned seedy characters.
Over the weekend, we hit most of the main sites in town - visiting the royal palace, the national museum, Wat Phnom, and the genocide museum, which, other than the genocide museum, I had skipped last time (unclear why I did that). The palace was very stately, and with far fewer tourists than its counterpart in Bangkok, far more enjoyable to walk around. The museum too, was very well put together and had a ton of very well preserved and presented Khmer artifacts. The building itself was also a beautiful dark red and had a great little courtyard inside - very nice. The genocide museum remains about as bleak of a museum as you'll ever go to, and left both Amity and I with the same uneasy feeling when we stepped back out the main door. Nevertheless, we topped off both days with some very tasty food - something else that I somehow didn't run across last time - and a fair number of tasty cocktails at the Foreign Correspondents Club and other bars along the riverfront. And so overall we both really enjoyed visiting the city and I'll certainly have a very different opinion of it going forward. Perhaps not somewhere I'd recommend spending an entire week... but for a couple days, it's a great place to swing through.
Now South East Asia is behind me and I'm in Japan for the last stop of the trip. Adam, Russ and Pierre will join me tomorrow for the beginning of what will likely be two pretty ridiculous weeks of fun. Tokyo, Hiroshima and three days of skiing in Hokkaido! Going out with a bang :)
This time I opted to get a slightly nicer hotel so that we would have a pleasant place to retreat if things hadn't changed a whole lot. Fortunately, despite the sweltering heat, things felt quite different this time around. There were more people out and about, it felt a bit cleaner and more orderly, and we stayed away from most of the expat bars where I'd previously come across the aforementioned seedy characters.
Over the weekend, we hit most of the main sites in town - visiting the royal palace, the national museum, Wat Phnom, and the genocide museum, which, other than the genocide museum, I had skipped last time (unclear why I did that). The palace was very stately, and with far fewer tourists than its counterpart in Bangkok, far more enjoyable to walk around. The museum too, was very well put together and had a ton of very well preserved and presented Khmer artifacts. The building itself was also a beautiful dark red and had a great little courtyard inside - very nice. The genocide museum remains about as bleak of a museum as you'll ever go to, and left both Amity and I with the same uneasy feeling when we stepped back out the main door. Nevertheless, we topped off both days with some very tasty food - something else that I somehow didn't run across last time - and a fair number of tasty cocktails at the Foreign Correspondents Club and other bars along the riverfront. And so overall we both really enjoyed visiting the city and I'll certainly have a very different opinion of it going forward. Perhaps not somewhere I'd recommend spending an entire week... but for a couple days, it's a great place to swing through.
Now South East Asia is behind me and I'm in Japan for the last stop of the trip. Adam, Russ and Pierre will join me tomorrow for the beginning of what will likely be two pretty ridiculous weeks of fun. Tokyo, Hiroshima and three days of skiing in Hokkaido! Going out with a bang :)
Friday, March 12, 2010
taiwan
wow, it's been well over a week since my last post. after my four day scooter adventure in northern Thailand I took it easy for a day in Chiang Rai before making my way to Taipei on Friday. There I met up with Amity, Darren, Chris, Ed and Melinda from the HK and Singapore exchange programs for another weekend of eating. Friday was an early night, with everyone tired from traveling, though I did manage to sneak in a very good scallion pancake with a fried egg while walking around that evening. Saturday we made our way to the National Museum, which is full of Chinese artifacts from the mainland, many of which were brought over to Taiwan when the Kuomingtang fled to Taiwan after WWII. Afterward we made our way north to Beitou, which is full of natural hot springs. We stayed there till all our toes and fingers were completely wrinkled and our suits had a pleasant sulfur smell to them :) After retreating to the hotel for a quick nap we went to check out the Shilin night market followed by a somewhat late night at a seemingly popular nightclub. The market was bursting at the seams with great food and was certainly different than the Thai markets I am accustomed to. Much more food and much less crap to buy - not a bad thing at all...
Sunday we made our way east to Jiufen - a former gold mining town located about an hour east of the capital. Though it was wet and cold all day, we once again manage to eat a ton of food walking down the main street of the village. mushrooms, ice cream burritos, sea snails... the list goes on. We eventually were done in by the rain and we decided to retreat to Taipei for a nice dumpling dinner at one of the more famous spots in town - Din Tai Fung. It pretty much lived up to the hype with some delicious pork and crab soup dumplings. Making me hungry just thinking about it again! The night ended with an epic night of bowling in a random, and decidedly unpopular bowling alley. The lack of customers certainly didn't stop us from staying until they kicked us out at midnight.
Monday morning was spent visiting some of the main sites in and around Taipei. Once again it was rather cold and rainy, but we weren't to be stopped :) Most everyone headed out their own ways that evening, while I stayed back with Ed for a few more days. Once everyone headed to the airport, we caught a high-speed rail train to Sun-Moon Lake. It's the largest lake in Taiwan and is supposed to be known for its picturesque setting, with mountains surrounding the lake. We didn't do much that evening besides locate a place to stay and grab some food, but our plan the next day was to rent scooters and make our way around the lake.
Alas, it was raining once again, and so we scrapped that plan. Instead we took the bus to the other side of the lake to visit the main temple there and get a look at the scenery (through much fog). It cleared up a bit once we made it back to the town we were staying in, so we snapped a few pictures, but overall the weather was rather miserable. So we made our way back to Taipei. That evening, Ed had planned to have dinner with some distant relatives and invited me along. And so there I found myself at a table with half a dozen of Ed's relatives. It was a fantastic meal, with chicken, steak, shrimp, ribs, and much much more. I didn't snap any pictures because of the setting, but it was certainly a great experience.
So that's it. Overall, Taiwan was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. It's chalk full of great street food, the people are very friendly and it's super easy to navigate. Certainly a world apart from mainland China. In fact it almost feels like Japan at times. Definitely recommended. Now I'm in Phnom Penh for the weekend and will be heading to Japan on Sunday for the last leg of the trip.
Sunday we made our way east to Jiufen - a former gold mining town located about an hour east of the capital. Though it was wet and cold all day, we once again manage to eat a ton of food walking down the main street of the village. mushrooms, ice cream burritos, sea snails... the list goes on. We eventually were done in by the rain and we decided to retreat to Taipei for a nice dumpling dinner at one of the more famous spots in town - Din Tai Fung. It pretty much lived up to the hype with some delicious pork and crab soup dumplings. Making me hungry just thinking about it again! The night ended with an epic night of bowling in a random, and decidedly unpopular bowling alley. The lack of customers certainly didn't stop us from staying until they kicked us out at midnight.
Monday morning was spent visiting some of the main sites in and around Taipei. Once again it was rather cold and rainy, but we weren't to be stopped :) Most everyone headed out their own ways that evening, while I stayed back with Ed for a few more days. Once everyone headed to the airport, we caught a high-speed rail train to Sun-Moon Lake. It's the largest lake in Taiwan and is supposed to be known for its picturesque setting, with mountains surrounding the lake. We didn't do much that evening besides locate a place to stay and grab some food, but our plan the next day was to rent scooters and make our way around the lake.
Alas, it was raining once again, and so we scrapped that plan. Instead we took the bus to the other side of the lake to visit the main temple there and get a look at the scenery (through much fog). It cleared up a bit once we made it back to the town we were staying in, so we snapped a few pictures, but overall the weather was rather miserable. So we made our way back to Taipei. That evening, Ed had planned to have dinner with some distant relatives and invited me along. And so there I found myself at a table with half a dozen of Ed's relatives. It was a fantastic meal, with chicken, steak, shrimp, ribs, and much much more. I didn't snap any pictures because of the setting, but it was certainly a great experience.
So that's it. Overall, Taiwan was much more enjoyable than I anticipated. It's chalk full of great street food, the people are very friendly and it's super easy to navigate. Certainly a world apart from mainland China. In fact it almost feels like Japan at times. Definitely recommended. Now I'm in Phnom Penh for the weekend and will be heading to Japan on Sunday for the last leg of the trip.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
motorcycle (...err scooter) diaries: part 2
Day 3
I left the cool air of Mae Salong behind early on day three to make my way towards the town of Fang and Doi Ang Khan. There's nothing particularly interesting about Fang, but Doi Ang Khan is a peak with an agricultural center, which offers the local communities demonstrations on how to farm things other than opium. Opium really isn't produced in Thailand any more, but 20 years ago, this was at the forefront of the battle against the drug.
The road up to Doi Ang Khan was somewhat of an adventure. First I tried going up some small backroads - only to find that they'd been blocked off by the army because of its proximity to Burma. So after accidentally running into a military base I back tracked 20 miles to the main road and went up to the top the standard way. On the way back to the main road, I had a run-in with a snake. Now normally I wouldn't really flinch at the sight of a small snake, but this thing was roughly 12 feet long, basically the width of the road. I didnt have time to stop so I simply rolled right over it and kept going. Definitely gave me a good scare though.
Doi Ang Khan was pretty nice, though since it is the winter, there wasn't much in the way of fruits and veggies, mostly just flowers (hence the pictures below). The way back down wasn't so adventurous, and I spent a quiet night in Fang walking the weekly night market.
Day 4
I decided to head back to Chiang Rai today in order to leave me some time to get a few things done. So I picked out a few points of interest on the way home, not really knowing how nice any of them would be. First up was a waterfall. Turns out this "waterfall" was more like a little stream. I guess it's the dry season - oh well. Next up was Chiang Rai Winery. A little better than the waterfall but not much. There's weren't any vineyards to be seen as this "winery" only produces fruit wines. DOH! I had a small taste of their mangosteen wine and some herbal wine, neither of which I would recommend to anyone. Yuck. I didn't feel bad not buying anything since they didn't even want to give me a tour of their facilities.
Third on the list was a random bakery that was listed in my map. First success of the day. I don't normally care for sweet things much, but I could get used to eating mango pie. Delicious. Final stop on the way back was Wat Rong Khun, a modern temple that's certainly unique in Thailand. It was built in 1997 and unlike all the other temples, it's entirely white and has very non-tradition imagery like the sculpture of reaching arms when you enter the temple.
So... that's it. 4 days, 1 snake, 1 military base, about 300 miles, and a whole lot of interesting things along the way. Next up: Taipei for a long weekend!
I left the cool air of Mae Salong behind early on day three to make my way towards the town of Fang and Doi Ang Khan. There's nothing particularly interesting about Fang, but Doi Ang Khan is a peak with an agricultural center, which offers the local communities demonstrations on how to farm things other than opium. Opium really isn't produced in Thailand any more, but 20 years ago, this was at the forefront of the battle against the drug.
The road up to Doi Ang Khan was somewhat of an adventure. First I tried going up some small backroads - only to find that they'd been blocked off by the army because of its proximity to Burma. So after accidentally running into a military base I back tracked 20 miles to the main road and went up to the top the standard way. On the way back to the main road, I had a run-in with a snake. Now normally I wouldn't really flinch at the sight of a small snake, but this thing was roughly 12 feet long, basically the width of the road. I didnt have time to stop so I simply rolled right over it and kept going. Definitely gave me a good scare though.
Doi Ang Khan was pretty nice, though since it is the winter, there wasn't much in the way of fruits and veggies, mostly just flowers (hence the pictures below). The way back down wasn't so adventurous, and I spent a quiet night in Fang walking the weekly night market.
Day 4
I decided to head back to Chiang Rai today in order to leave me some time to get a few things done. So I picked out a few points of interest on the way home, not really knowing how nice any of them would be. First up was a waterfall. Turns out this "waterfall" was more like a little stream. I guess it's the dry season - oh well. Next up was Chiang Rai Winery. A little better than the waterfall but not much. There's weren't any vineyards to be seen as this "winery" only produces fruit wines. DOH! I had a small taste of their mangosteen wine and some herbal wine, neither of which I would recommend to anyone. Yuck. I didn't feel bad not buying anything since they didn't even want to give me a tour of their facilities.
Third on the list was a random bakery that was listed in my map. First success of the day. I don't normally care for sweet things much, but I could get used to eating mango pie. Delicious. Final stop on the way back was Wat Rong Khun, a modern temple that's certainly unique in Thailand. It was built in 1997 and unlike all the other temples, it's entirely white and has very non-tradition imagery like the sculpture of reaching arms when you enter the temple.
So... that's it. 4 days, 1 snake, 1 military base, about 300 miles, and a whole lot of interesting things along the way. Next up: Taipei for a long weekend!
Monday, March 1, 2010
motorcycle (...err scooter) diaries: part 1
Part of my thinking when I decided to make it back to Thailand so quickly was to get the traveling out of the way, and then have more time to do something interesting once back in Thailand. And so in Chiang Rai I made the decision to rent a scooter for a few days and check out the northernmost part of the country. So I bought a detailed road map of the area (this is a popular place for motorcycle trips, so there isn't a shortage of good maps) and started planning out the trip. I also bought a flight back to Bangkok for Friday night for a mere $60, and so that left me with 5 full days to travel.
Day 1:
I woke up early Sunday morning and found a rental shop that seemed halfway reputable. After copying my passport and leaving a deposit I was quickly on my way with a manual 110cc scooter - a real monster (which I was assured could actually make it up some of the steeper roads in the area). I headed north from Chiang Rai to Chiang Sean. A sleepy border town (with Laos) which had a good midday market - a perfect pit stop for lunch. After a hearty bowl of soup accompanied by plenty of smiles (nice to be back in Thailand), I continued just north to the Golden Triangle. It's where the borders of Laos, Thailand and Burma meet. As it turns out it's about as interesting as any other point along any your average international border - which is to say not very interesting at all. It's actually a giant tourist trap and I was glad I had my own wheels and I could get out quickly. However, just north of there is the Hall of Opium, which is a great exhibit, built by the Thai royal family, which details the history of the opium trade in and around the area.
After the museum visit, I continued onward towards Mae Sai, the border town with two bridges into Burma. The road there was a little better than the first section (which was mostly flat, boring, and under construction). As I followed the Mekong River, I passed through a number of small villages and essentially had the road to myself. I think I almost hit 55mph! When I arrived in Mae Sai, I was greeted by quite a bit of commotion. Turns out this is quite the lively little border town, and so I quickly found a hotel room, parked the scooter and walked around the market area. There wasn't much here I hadn't seen elsewhere in Thailand, so I made my way towards the main bridge into Burma. The border crossing was relatively simple. The Thais stamp your passport and wish you well and then the Burmese, err Myanmar army, takes your passport, gives you a temporary pass with your name on it, and lets you enter the country. You simply give them US$10 and they hold your passport until you leave the country. You aren't permitted to go too much further than the border town (Talichek) without a more formal permit/visa. I'd heard there wasn't really much of anything in Talichek, and that turned out to be pretty much true - not that I looked very hard. I simply went in, walked around the market (which had the same crap as in Thailand, plus some counterfeit cigarettes), found a coffee shop and had a Burmese beer. Overall I'd say it was a successful trip. I only stayed a couple hours, but I got a $10 stamp in my passport, and tried a new beer - what more could you want. Back into Thailand for the evening.
Day 2:
Today promised to have some better roads to scooter along. In fact I made my way up into the mountains and drove in and out of valleys and along ridges all day long. Despite all the smoke from slash&burn agriculture, it really was a beautiful road to travel along. I mostly stayed on very minor roads, most of which were signed in Thai, and so I got lost a few times, but eventually found my way out thanks to the map I got in Chiang Rai. First up was Doi Tung, a peak along the Burmese border with a nice temple, and when it's not so hazy, presumably a good view too. The road I took to get there followed the Burmese border, which apparently means I had to cross three military check points along the way. Each time, the Thai officials smiled at me and waved me along without flinching.
Next stop was Thoed Thai. I think this spot has some historical significance for the Chinese, but I was hungry and so the only significance it had for me was delicious pork fried rice I ate. It really was some of the best I've had in Thailand, though since the town is half Chinese, this isn't much of a surprise. After lunch I proceeded on to my final destination - Mae Salong. This is another Chinese-ish town. It was settled by remnants of the Kuomintang army who moved from Burma to Thailand after the Communist Party consolidated its hold on China. (history lesson thanks to wikitravel). It's a lovely little town up on a ridge lined with tea shops and surrounded by tea plantations. There I found a great little bungalow with internet, Cable TV, hot shower (this isn't always a given), and reasonably comfy beds for just $6. Not bad.
So that's it for now. Two days - roughly 120 twisty miles and everything's still going well. Not sure where I'm headed the next three days, but I will probably stay up in the mountains as I'm really enjoying the cooler air (minus the smokey haze). Stay tuned.
Day 1:
I woke up early Sunday morning and found a rental shop that seemed halfway reputable. After copying my passport and leaving a deposit I was quickly on my way with a manual 110cc scooter - a real monster (which I was assured could actually make it up some of the steeper roads in the area). I headed north from Chiang Rai to Chiang Sean. A sleepy border town (with Laos) which had a good midday market - a perfect pit stop for lunch. After a hearty bowl of soup accompanied by plenty of smiles (nice to be back in Thailand), I continued just north to the Golden Triangle. It's where the borders of Laos, Thailand and Burma meet. As it turns out it's about as interesting as any other point along any your average international border - which is to say not very interesting at all. It's actually a giant tourist trap and I was glad I had my own wheels and I could get out quickly. However, just north of there is the Hall of Opium, which is a great exhibit, built by the Thai royal family, which details the history of the opium trade in and around the area.
After the museum visit, I continued onward towards Mae Sai, the border town with two bridges into Burma. The road there was a little better than the first section (which was mostly flat, boring, and under construction). As I followed the Mekong River, I passed through a number of small villages and essentially had the road to myself. I think I almost hit 55mph! When I arrived in Mae Sai, I was greeted by quite a bit of commotion. Turns out this is quite the lively little border town, and so I quickly found a hotel room, parked the scooter and walked around the market area. There wasn't much here I hadn't seen elsewhere in Thailand, so I made my way towards the main bridge into Burma. The border crossing was relatively simple. The Thais stamp your passport and wish you well and then the Burmese, err Myanmar army, takes your passport, gives you a temporary pass with your name on it, and lets you enter the country. You simply give them US$10 and they hold your passport until you leave the country. You aren't permitted to go too much further than the border town (Talichek) without a more formal permit/visa. I'd heard there wasn't really much of anything in Talichek, and that turned out to be pretty much true - not that I looked very hard. I simply went in, walked around the market (which had the same crap as in Thailand, plus some counterfeit cigarettes), found a coffee shop and had a Burmese beer. Overall I'd say it was a successful trip. I only stayed a couple hours, but I got a $10 stamp in my passport, and tried a new beer - what more could you want. Back into Thailand for the evening.
Day 2:
Today promised to have some better roads to scooter along. In fact I made my way up into the mountains and drove in and out of valleys and along ridges all day long. Despite all the smoke from slash&burn agriculture, it really was a beautiful road to travel along. I mostly stayed on very minor roads, most of which were signed in Thai, and so I got lost a few times, but eventually found my way out thanks to the map I got in Chiang Rai. First up was Doi Tung, a peak along the Burmese border with a nice temple, and when it's not so hazy, presumably a good view too. The road I took to get there followed the Burmese border, which apparently means I had to cross three military check points along the way. Each time, the Thai officials smiled at me and waved me along without flinching.
Next stop was Thoed Thai. I think this spot has some historical significance for the Chinese, but I was hungry and so the only significance it had for me was delicious pork fried rice I ate. It really was some of the best I've had in Thailand, though since the town is half Chinese, this isn't much of a surprise. After lunch I proceeded on to my final destination - Mae Salong. This is another Chinese-ish town. It was settled by remnants of the Kuomintang army who moved from Burma to Thailand after the Communist Party consolidated its hold on China. (history lesson thanks to wikitravel). It's a lovely little town up on a ridge lined with tea shops and surrounded by tea plantations. There I found a great little bungalow with internet, Cable TV, hot shower (this isn't always a given), and reasonably comfy beds for just $6. Not bad.
So that's it for now. Two days - roughly 120 twisty miles and everything's still going well. Not sure where I'm headed the next three days, but I will probably stay up in the mountains as I'm really enjoying the cooler air (minus the smokey haze). Stay tuned.
back to thailand
After my stay in muang ngoi neua, I started on my way back to Thailand. I wasn't sure where I'd end up that night, mainly because I got conflicting information on how long the different legs of the journey took. As it turns out I made it back to Chiang Rai in two days. Here's how:
Day 1:
Leave Muang Ngoi Neua on a crowded long tail boat. This time the engine isn't as loud and next to me are the people I met in the village. Going down river takes only 45 minutes (instead of over an hour upriver) and so despite leaving 30 minutes late I arrive at 10:15 or so in Nong Khiaw. Off to a good start. Cost: 20,000 kip ($2.35)
Next I head back to the bridge/bus station and buy a ticket on the 11am mini-van to Udomxai. I end up sitting next to two American girls, one of whom speaks Thai... (thai and lao are very similar) - so this would be helpful. Three and half hours later, four if you include the usual late departure, I arrive in Udomxai. Road was a bit bumpy but nothing compared to what was coming... Cost 40,000 kip ($4.70)
The mini-van driver offers to take those of us in the van who want to go onward all the way to Luang Nam Tha. He wants 65,000 kip, but we soon realize the local bus only cost 35,000 and leaves at 3PM (giving us an hour to stretch our legs). Local bus it is. After buying my ticket, I promptly lose it, get yelled at by the bus driver, but am allowed to continue. The road is just awful. Under construction, dirt road, dust, potholes, more dust, awful. Thank god for Dramamine. We arrive at nightfall in Luang Nam Tha and get on a shared ride pickup for 10,000 kip into town. For some reason bus stations in Thailand are always 8000 miles away from town centers. Anywho, we (the two american girls and I) find a hotel right where we get dropped off, clean the dust off everything and go grab some dinner. Hotel: 60,000kip, Dinner 45,000kip. Total cost 150,000 kip ($17.65)
Day 2:
I had planned on staying in Luang Nam Tha for a couple days, but the crappy roads, dust and long travel day made me reconsider. Instead I jumped on the earliest bus the next morning to Huay Xai at the Thai border. This road is a bit better for a while but quickly deteriorates as we wind through the mountains. It's also packed full, and at one point the kid sitting in the aisle next to me (and on a bag of rice) turns a shade of green that is never a good sign. I opened the window for him praying that he wouldn't lose his breakfast all over me and apparently the fresh air helped. Five minutes later a few people got out and he moved up to the seat in front of me - where he finally threw up. I had been spared. Three and half hours later (1pm) we arrive at the border. From there we catch another shared ride pickup to the border crossing across the Mekong. I swear I've crossed that river two dozen times now. Total Cost 55,000 kip ($6.50)
After going through the formalities and spending our last kip on some Chips Ahoy and a Coke (that was officially lunch i think), we hop on a long boat to cross the Mekong, arrive on a sandy beach, and go through Thai immigration. Welcome Home. Cost 10,000 kip ($1.20).
The girls are considering making the trek to Chiang Mai - another 5 hours, but I'm only headed to Chiang Rai, a paltry 2 hours away. After a 30 baht tuk tuk ride, I hop on the local bus headed to my final destination. After all this travel, I hardly flinch when I see a school bus that appears to be 40 years old. 2 hours in that thing - no problem. Total cost 95 baht ($3)
After all that, I finally arrive in Chiang Rai (which actually has a bus station near the center of town) and after walking around a bit, find a nice hotel room with everything but wifi. It's only 6PM, but feels like much later. I go grab some Pad Thai(!!!), a passion fruit smoothie, check my email at an internet cafe, and call it a night.
So there you go... 2 days, 15 hours of travel on wonderfully smooth roads and comfortable boats, and about $35 dollars later, I was back in Thailand. Till next time Laos. (sorry for the lack of pics through all this - it's best you use your imagination anyway)
Day 1:
Leave Muang Ngoi Neua on a crowded long tail boat. This time the engine isn't as loud and next to me are the people I met in the village. Going down river takes only 45 minutes (instead of over an hour upriver) and so despite leaving 30 minutes late I arrive at 10:15 or so in Nong Khiaw. Off to a good start. Cost: 20,000 kip ($2.35)
Next I head back to the bridge/bus station and buy a ticket on the 11am mini-van to Udomxai. I end up sitting next to two American girls, one of whom speaks Thai... (thai and lao are very similar) - so this would be helpful. Three and half hours later, four if you include the usual late departure, I arrive in Udomxai. Road was a bit bumpy but nothing compared to what was coming... Cost 40,000 kip ($4.70)
The mini-van driver offers to take those of us in the van who want to go onward all the way to Luang Nam Tha. He wants 65,000 kip, but we soon realize the local bus only cost 35,000 and leaves at 3PM (giving us an hour to stretch our legs). Local bus it is. After buying my ticket, I promptly lose it, get yelled at by the bus driver, but am allowed to continue. The road is just awful. Under construction, dirt road, dust, potholes, more dust, awful. Thank god for Dramamine. We arrive at nightfall in Luang Nam Tha and get on a shared ride pickup for 10,000 kip into town. For some reason bus stations in Thailand are always 8000 miles away from town centers. Anywho, we (the two american girls and I) find a hotel right where we get dropped off, clean the dust off everything and go grab some dinner. Hotel: 60,000kip, Dinner 45,000kip. Total cost 150,000 kip ($17.65)
Day 2:
I had planned on staying in Luang Nam Tha for a couple days, but the crappy roads, dust and long travel day made me reconsider. Instead I jumped on the earliest bus the next morning to Huay Xai at the Thai border. This road is a bit better for a while but quickly deteriorates as we wind through the mountains. It's also packed full, and at one point the kid sitting in the aisle next to me (and on a bag of rice) turns a shade of green that is never a good sign. I opened the window for him praying that he wouldn't lose his breakfast all over me and apparently the fresh air helped. Five minutes later a few people got out and he moved up to the seat in front of me - where he finally threw up. I had been spared. Three and half hours later (1pm) we arrive at the border. From there we catch another shared ride pickup to the border crossing across the Mekong. I swear I've crossed that river two dozen times now. Total Cost 55,000 kip ($6.50)
After going through the formalities and spending our last kip on some Chips Ahoy and a Coke (that was officially lunch i think), we hop on a long boat to cross the Mekong, arrive on a sandy beach, and go through Thai immigration. Welcome Home. Cost 10,000 kip ($1.20).
The girls are considering making the trek to Chiang Mai - another 5 hours, but I'm only headed to Chiang Rai, a paltry 2 hours away. After a 30 baht tuk tuk ride, I hop on the local bus headed to my final destination. After all this travel, I hardly flinch when I see a school bus that appears to be 40 years old. 2 hours in that thing - no problem. Total cost 95 baht ($3)
After all that, I finally arrive in Chiang Rai (which actually has a bus station near the center of town) and after walking around a bit, find a nice hotel room with everything but wifi. It's only 6PM, but feels like much later. I go grab some Pad Thai(!!!), a passion fruit smoothie, check my email at an internet cafe, and call it a night.
So there you go... 2 days, 15 hours of travel on wonderfully smooth roads and comfortable boats, and about $35 dollars later, I was back in Thailand. Till next time Laos. (sorry for the lack of pics through all this - it's best you use your imagination anyway)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
