:: The Thailand Experience ::

:: the luxury farewell! ::

2007-09-26T21:30:00.000+02:00

:: the beach, by night... ::

2007-09-26T21:28:00.001+02:00

:: lazy sunday ::

2007-09-26T21:26:00.000+02:00

:: paradise ::

2007-09-21T18:08:00.001+02:00

This is us balancing... in paradise!
Every time I close my eyes I'll remember this amazing idealic moment!
Couldn't have been more perfect!

:: Milo ::

2007-09-20T19:31:00.000+02:00

ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you my newest friend Milo (Milow),
We have a very special relationship! We had a great time swiming together (like at the foto under); playing together, going everywhere together! - Everibody thought he was mine, almost met too!
Milo, I will miss you!

:: a mermaid called maarten :::

2007-09-17T19:34:00.001+02:00

ready to dive 11m under water...

:: fotos ::

2007-09-15T13:50:00.000+02:00

:: Ko Tao ::

2007-09-15T13:46:00.001+02:00

:: Ko Tao ::

2007-09-15T13:43:00.001+02:00

We stayed in this resort, and this was the view from the restaurant! :-)

:: floating room ::

2007-09-15T13:42:00.001+02:00

This was the view from de varanda from our floating room, just on the top of the river Kwai!

:: fotos ::

2007-09-15T13:35:00.000+02:00

:: cambodja ::

2007-09-14T00:05:00.000+02:00

us in the Jungle Temple (in Angkor), where the movie Tomb Raider with Lara Croft was filmed!

:: chiang mai ::

2007-09-14T00:02:00.001+02:00

very beautiful girl, I could`t resist taking her a foto

:: elephant ::

2007-09-12T22:33:00.001+02:00

:: chiang mai ::

2007-09-12T22:29:00.000+02:00

:: the lying Buda ::

2007-09-12T22:26:00.000+02:00

Some pix

2007-09-10T19:37:00.001+02:00

Muay Thai fighter of 12 years old...

:: kopanghan ::

2007-09-05T14:59:00.000+02:00

we are in paradise! - I AM SOOOOO HAPPY!

White sandy beaches with palmtrees and an amazing warm transparent turquoize blue water... just like in the postcards, but even beter!

Our bugaloo is just at the beach in front of the see between the palmtrees (luckelly no coconut will fall on us).

it's really summer feeling: reggae music outside, 30 degrees, smel of the very very tasty thai food, the sky full of stars, and of course the pain-in-the-ass mosquitos around us. :-)

The island experience

2007-09-05T14:51:00.000+02:00

Well well...

Counting down started...tomorrow the last day on the island, the day after the trip to Bangkok where we will take the plain to London-Brussels.

The islands here are nice, but unfortunatly also other tourists (and tourist guides) discovered that. But it is not too bad...we found a few nice 'bounty' image beaches to spend our last days.
But just too much people to run around naked (not that I would mind, but you never know with Thai police).
On this island we didn't meet any tigers, sharks, monkeys or huge salamanders.

On Ko Taoh, the island were we stayed before we did see 2 huge salamanders (30cm) ...in our BUNGALOW!!! For two days we were hearing strange noices and i found some shitties on the floor. Then the last morning Fatinha went to the bathroom and gave a yell.
Probably the both salamders (or big Gecko's) were more scared then her and hided under the mirror. We took a photo of the beautifull (ahum) green with red dotted animals...later you will see.

Well, you see, adventures are part of our travel.

On Ko Taoh I did scuba diving, an unique experience. I went 11m deep, I don't think that in Belgium or somewhere else in Europe you can go that deep the first dive, but I did anyway. My ears and longs are still working!

Here it is 20h (15h in Belgium and 14h in Portugal), so time to eat, Probably we'll have diner in Reggae village...

Sawa di kap (or something like that).
Maarten

Ko Tao

2007-08-31T10:45:00.000+02:00

Hey Folks,

Yesterday morning (really morning, it was 5am) we arrived at Ko (=island) Tao.
We are staying in The Coral View Resort (http://www.coralview.net/), sounds big but is not. Although the website is ugly, the location is not. The bay of our resort is difficult to get to, only 4x4 or with watertaxi, so it doesn't have too much people (which is good).
But still too many persons to run around naked.

Ko Tao is visited by many tourists because of the great underwaterworld. Perfect place for snorkeling and scubadiving. Tomorrow Fatinha and I will probably dive...but today and yesterday we went snorkeling and...
I saw a SHARK !!!! 1m from me. I was swimming between the colored fishes and suddenly there he was, a shark of at leat 1m swimming very relaxed next to me. Lucky that before they told us that there were sharks, but that they are not dangerous. Although I knew he was not going to eat me my heart went faster after seeing this mini Jaws.
I tried to follow, but swimming on my fastest I couldn't follow him at all (and he was very relaxed). So one advice if you ever meet a big white shark, don't try to swim away from him. He's faster anyway!

Thai humor is strange:"Which country doesn't have a president and has only a horse and a cowboy? Marlboro country..." Hahahaha...

A thing I learned to appreciate in Thailand is the waterspray. Next to the toilet there is always hanging a mini-shower, guess for what it is?
A hint: there is no toiletpaper...

Cheers.
Maarten

ps: the weather is very good, even Fatinha got burned!

::: tiger temple:::

2007-08-28T18:20:00.001+02:00

2007-08-28T18:11:00.001+02:00

:: tiger temple ::

2007-08-28T18:04:00.001+02:00

Thanx for the comments

2007-08-28T17:06:00.000+02:00

Hey everybody... thanks for the comments.

Tomorrow we'll move southwards.
The only 'luxury' problem we have is that time is too short to visit all the places we want.
Traveling between the destinations occupies lots of time...
On the agenda:
- Natural parc Kao sok: fantastic and large national parc with guesthouses in trees, wildlife,...
- Island Ko Pha Ngan: amazing abandoned white sand beaches
- Island Ko Tao: fantastic place for snorkeling and diving
(Ko=Island)

I think we'll skip Kao Sok and spent the last 10 days on the Islands...running around in our naked buds drinking coconut milk.
We also scheduld the last day in Bangkok, to be sure not to miss the flight and to.........???? SHOP... Fatinha will do the shopping, I will do the carry ;-)

Fatinha will try to upload some pix... Today we visited the tigers. it's not working. tomorrow she'll try again.
Ciao.

ps: i'm a traveler, no tourist ;-)

:: more fotos ::

2007-08-26T18:40:00.000+02:00

Kana watte ? Kanjanaburi!!!

2007-08-26T18:30:00.000+02:00

We are here in a local internet shop somewhere in Kanjanaburi...
Outside are more or less 100 locals watching a football game of Manchester United. Wow... they are loud and enthusiastic fans.
Everywhere we go they ask us where we come from. When Fatinha answers she's from Portugal they answer:" Aaaaaa, Portugeee... Jonajo!" Continued by a big smile...everybody knows Christiano Ronaldo, a star player from Manchester.
Belgium they know from the tourists, Portugal from football...

If you don't know Kanjanaburi, don't worry... but you might need it for a quiz one day. It is the city/village where is the bridge over the river Kwai... Aaaaah, remeber the movie?

But we're not here to visit the war monuments, but because Fatinha would like to meet some tigers... Tonight we'll sleep on a guesthouse floting on top of the river...Romantic hey?

We (us and Leonor, with who we are still traveling together) just finished a delicious meal, with dessert and some beers... We had to pay around 440 Baht, let's say 10 euro. Not bad hey ;-)

Live is not always fair, I know... see you later.
Maarten

:: sawadikha :::

2007-08-26T18:11:00.000+02:00

Sawadikha means Hello in Thai.
Here are some fotos from the travel:

Cambodia

2007-08-26T17:21:00.000+02:00

OK, we're already out of Cambodia, but some things I still want to mention.
On the list about corruption of countries, Cambodia seems to be nr 153 (out of 161)...not really a good example.
An example of what our guide told me (don't know if it's correct):
1) The temples of Angkor are being maintained by a Vietnamese company. (Vietnam supported the leader of Cambodia to get it's position). That company pays for this around 3 000 000 USD a year, they receive between 20 000 000 and 25 000 000 USD a year on income.

2) Elections exist, but you are guided to vote for the correct leader, otherwise it might be difficult to receive the correct papers for example for the wedding of your daughter.

3) The tropical rain forest is getting cutted illegal, but it happens with "permission" of the local leaders.
...

It was very pleasant to visit the temples, but for me was more important to know the country and it's history a little bit more.
The recent history of C. is one of wars, corruption and tyranny. Under the regime of Pol Pot ('75-'79) between 1 500 000 and 3 000 000 inhabitants were killed, 25 percent of the total population!!! Don't forget the damage that USA did with bombings, the land mines, ...
It is obvious that the inhabitants are not over it yet.
They are very hard about Vietnam, Thailand and France (big middle finger). Thailand and Vietnam are seen as invaders and France gave Cambodian territory away to Vietnam.

Everywhere a foreigner arrives there are children trying to earn money:"Hey mister, if I know the capital of your country, you by a postcard?" or "You by when you come back...".
Their English was better then the adults and for sure they know all the capitals from countries where tourists come from.
If I ask around if they go to school I was told it was holiday or that they go half a day... Is that so? I don't know, I hope so. Is it good to buy something or do I encourage children labor? What I do know is that I can't solve their problems.

Maarten

Cambodja and the temples of Angkor...

2007-08-23T14:13:00.000+02:00

Hoi,

We arrived yesterday night in Siem Reap, the city in Cambodia closest to the temples of Angkor. The ride was hard. The 150km from Bangkok to the border was no problem, but the ride from the border to Siem Reap, also 150km, took us 6 hours. The road was in a very bad condition: bumpy, dusty, no lights,...
The said story is that the road is not decent, not because there is no money, but because Bangkok Airlines is paying the government of Cambodia not to fix the road!!!

Today Fatinha and I visited together with Leonor, an Israelic traveler, the temples of Angkor.
Wauw...really amazing. The territory is gigantic and for sure you need 4 to 5 days to see everything. Fatinha and I will keep it on 2 days. We like temples, architecture and cultural heritage, but we like even more abandoned islands and snorkeling.
But I have to say, doing the hard trip was worth it.

For me the jungle temple (first picture) left me the biggest impression...

Cambodia is a very poor country and what is remarkable that is when you enter Siem Reap (2nd largest city) you see one 5star hotel after the other (rooms between $250 and $2000 a night). It is a country full of contrasts, and the said thing about all this 5 star hotels is that the inhabitants also behave like that. First the dollar, then your friend. This impression I had much less in Thailand, but of course I hardly know both countries....
Oh, the cash withdrawal machines don't give you Real (Cambodian current) but dollars!?!

Tomorrow a last day of visiting the temples, the day after again to Bangkok. Probably we'll change our first plans and we will go to see a Tiger temple (quote from a Thai guide: "be careful for the tigers, they're dangerous, Thai girls as well") and The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Adios...

:: Padaungwoman ::

2007-08-20T15:38:00.000+02:00

Today (while Maarten was coming back from the dangerous hicking at the mountains) I went to see the Padaungwoman tribe 'long neck women' - it was amazing to see them in real... and talk with them. I felt like I was inside of a National Geographic program.
Strange feeling...

Something important: WE DONT HAVE DIARREA... yet. yehaaa...

more stories later...
fatinha

Chiang Mai

2007-08-20T14:50:00.000+02:00

Hai there folks...

We're still in Chiang Mai.
Fatinha and I went into a little shop with beautiful jewels and so on. I told I was going to drink a coffee and go online. Here words were:"Don't leave me here alone!" with a look in her eyes like: "I won't be able to resist".
And yep, 20 min later she came here and showed a ring and a bracelet she just bought, haha, but the prices are very low, so better here then in Antwerp, no?
Yesterday and today I did a trekking in the mountains north of Chiang Mai.
First a ride on elephants (ok, typical touristic, but it was fun), then a walk into the mountains for 4 hours.
I have to say nature here is fantastic, I didn't see any special wild animals yet (nice butterflies though), but the rain forest smells fantastic and has amazing colors.
A yeah, probably you heard already that when it rains in a tropical country it is lots of water falling from the sky. Well, I discovered that it's really true! When it started to rain I took my rain jacket out of the backpack and by the time I was wearing it I was completely wet (underpants as well). To get an idea: go and stand with your cloths/shoes... under a shower. It's the same sensation.

The destination was a mountain village where we (we= me, Irish and Canadian dudes, a Belgian couple and German girls) spend the night in some local bamboo (!!!) huts.
Was nice: peaceful and very friendly locals with limited touristic behavior. Some of the group tried the Opium pipe! I didn't, opium is a step too far, but the result of the drug was rather relax, people who smoke a joint or drink a few beers look more waisted/stoned.

Today we walked down and did some rafting (Lesse by kayak is booooring!).
We got stuck on a big rock. I wanted to be the hero (again?) to put the raft good. I went into the water to push better but the water was too strong. I got stuck with my foot in a rope and the water kept me down! After a (too) long time I was able to loosen the rope and breath again... Lesson for today: stop trying to be the hero!

While I was away Fatinha had lots of fun (shopping in freedom!!!!) and did a visit to the long neck women. But that's for her to tell.

Tomorrow we'll return to Bangkok and we'll continue our travel to the neighbor country Cambodja, not to smoke opium, but to visit Angkor Temples.

I'm sorry, no pix because it's not easy to put them from our camera on the local PC's. Fatinha will show them in Belgium with GREAT pleasure over and over again!
She's sitting next to me and says:"WE are going to show them with great pleasure!". Hehe, she's correct, the first time I will show them with great pleasure.

I didn't try Thai massage yet... :-(
More stories later, time for Fatinha and for dinner.

Salutos,
Maarten

:: amazinhg ::

2007-08-18T13:19:00.000+02:00

WE ARE JUST HAVING AN AMAZING TIME TOGETHER!!! :-)
Now we are in Chiang Mai, the perfect place to do markets; go to the jungle with the elephant; hicking and... thai massage. yumi!

xxx fatinha xxx

The Arrival

2007-08-16T16:49:00.000+02:00

We arrived, and I have to say, the first impression is a good impression. Even a very good impression. Thai people are enormous friendly and Fatinha and I had a first (from the many) romantic diner at the river. Mmmm chicken with pineaple and cashewnuts... fantastic.

When we went out of the airport Fatinha and I both thought we were standing next to a machine which was putting all its heat to us...but there was no machine, it is the Thai climate. A killing combination of heat with high humidity level!!!
But now we are a few hours further and we are getting used to it.

Tonight we sleep in the guesthouse Shanti Lodge http://shantilodge.com/bangkok/index.html.
Tomorrow we'll travel by night North in direction of Chiang Mai.
We decided not to stay longer in Bangkok because we'll pass here lots of times.

See you later alligator.

All men dream

2007-08-15T01:23:00.000+02:00

All men dream
but not equally
those who dream by night
in the dusty recesses of their minds
wake in the day
to find that
it was vanity:
but the dreamers of the day
are dangerous men,
for they may act their dreams
with open eyes, to make them possible.

(Thomas Edward Lawrence)

The trip

2007-08-13T00:33:00.000+02:00

We're counting down...3 days to go.

We're not making a tight schedule for our trip, because we're open for the unexpected adventure...but of course some planning is necessary

Here are some places where we would like to pass by:
. Arrival in Bangkok, capital of Thailand: we're not going to stay here too long , but we'll check out the necessary touristical things.

. From Bangkok we will travel to Chiang Mai by night-train (to save some money, hehe), where we will meet a friend from Samantha, an artist... Chiang Mai is a city in the north surrounded by tropical forests.

. From there we return to Bangkok where we travel to Cambodja, the neighbour country. We will visit the temples of Angkor, a place not to miss...

. Then to Thailand again where we will relax, dive, drink cocktails and enjoy beauty of nature on islands Ko Phayam, Ko Pha Ngan and the national park of Khao Sok.

Well, you will know where to find us.

See you later or should I say "Lao jer gun"?

prevision: Thailand

2007-08-12T14:31:00.001+02:00

this foto was taken in Portugal - foreseeing Thailand as destiny in a near future...

Wezenbijnaweg - estamosquasedepartida

2007-08-09T12:39:00.000+02:00

In a few days Fatinha and I will be travelling in Thailand.
Mmmmhhh, it's time for some new adventures, some Thai massages, Robinson Islands, Thai food (Maarten don't share food) and so on...

I hope we'll find places like this....

We'll update this blog from time to time for you (yes, especially for you).
Ah yeah, I will write most of the posts in English because we have international family and friends (wauw!).

Cheers
Maarten