I went to Bangkok today. I spent only 2.5 hours actually in Bangkok, less than 15 minutes at the NRCT. What made the 6 hours of commute there and back worth it was being able to have chicken and rice for lunch and fried bananas for dessert. The bus on the way back was stuffy with barely functioning air conditioning and they played a God awful Jackie Chan movie at the highest volume imaginable.
But all of that discomfort was forgotten when, on our way back to the park in the truck it started to sprinkle. With the rain moved in a nice front of cool breezy air. Everything smells damp and earthy. Once inside the park I learned what elephants smell like. Julie slowed the truck down and said you can smell it best when it rains. It is a very distinct smell that I can't begin to describe. We peered into the forest while driving slowly, but unfortunately still did not spot an elephant. It was a bit early for them to be out and about, they become active around dusk. I did see three captive elephants on the way from Pak Chong to the park. Right on the side of the road, we passed by very close. They had chains around their necks and I felt bad for them.
When we got back to the search and rescue center I was so excited to finally have some relief from the stifling heat we've been enduring all week I threw on my running shoes and went for a run down the road. Just 2.5-3 miles, depending on how slow I've gotten in the last month. Coming back along the road I smelled the elephant smell, and that smell is less exciting and more terrifying when you are by yourself and not in a vehicle just before dusk...I kept my eyes peeled, but saw no elephants. Now I'm on the porch, almost surely getting eaten alive, but dying to enjoy this weather. What is hilarious is my phone still says it is 89 degrees out. Not sure I believe that, but maybe 80. Hot is all about perspective. After a week of highs of 100, anything below 90 is a relief.
I'm sure I'll be regretting this in a few months, when the rainy season is in full swing, but tonight I am so, so thankful for rain.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
luckless.
Well, we didn't get to do the playback. We ran into several problems. When we had hung the loudspeaker, and placed the microphone, we finally found the R group as far as they could possibly be from the loudspeaker. We needed them to be within 150 meters from the speaker to make sure they could hear it, and they were over 350. We also ran into a girl doing research on parental care, who must be new and no one had told us about. She was Asian, but not Thai, so she spoke in half broken Thai, half even more broken English to Julie about how she was following R today and for the next 3 days, and then would move onto M. She is going to be here for 55 days apparently, which means we are going to have to coordinate our experiments so that we don't run into her. It is best not to have too many people and too much noise.
Then, as we were waiting for the gibbons to decide to either move further or closer to the loudspeaker, six white tourists and two guides showed up with their huge cameras looking ridiculous in their shorts and their leech socks. Tourists are allowed to go off the main tourist trails if they have a guide-unfortunately for us. Julie and I wished there were more leeches today so they wouldn't be tempted to stay long. Of course when one guide finds the gibbons, he calls the other guides to help them out. So just when we thought we were rid of the tourists, and the gibbons started moving closer to the speaker, another group of five or six showed up. By the time they were gone, the gibbons were not in a good position at all, and in fact we thought they had crossed the river. They hadn't, we found out when we tested to loud speaker to make sure we could hear it at over 100 meters, they rushed towards it so we turned it off immediately. So, the day wasn't a complete bust; at least now we know that the gibbons can hear the speaker, and that they react to the leopard alarm call. I feel a little guilty, because from the time we ran into the first tourists I was crossing my fingers we wouldn't be able to do the experiment today...I just didn't feel ready to follow the female, not lose her, hold the video camera and record her (seems impossible) and record data at the same time. I'm intimidated. Hopefully I catch on quickly.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Incredibly boring actually. Maybe because it was too hot to even take a nap, and I wasn't tired anyway because I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night. So the hours just dragged on. It makes me feel lonelier. I wish Julie and I knew each other better, or that she had less work to do so we could get to know each other better. I can't help her really because she is just transcribing her field notes of all the days calls we heard onto check sheets, so its pretty much a one person job. So I just sit, and read, and wish I had one of my friends or my mom here with to pass the hours talking with. I'm plowing through books, even faster than before. Its because my mom let me use her Audible account to get books on tape so I didn't have to buy anymore heavy paper books. But the problem is this way I can listen when I'm doing anything mindless, like while I cook lunch or lie in bed too hot to function. So I'm already two thirds of the way through The Help and I've only been listening to it four days.
I like to go out and sit on the porch when I read or relax, because there's a nice breeze and its cooler than being inside. But there are just hard wooden benches. I really wish there were hammocks! My favorite time of the day (besides when something interesting happens in the forest) is sitting on the porch at dusk, just as its starting to get dark and cooler. Its so peaceful. Its the best time to read out there, or talk with Julie after its too dark to read.
Tomorrow, unfortunately I will be returning to Bangkok to go to the National Research Council of Thailand. Apparently now, a month after I've arrive, I have to go there and show them I'm here? It seems weird to me. Oh well, its just for the day, but that is going to be a lot of busing for one day; three hours each way. Hopefully I'll at least be able to grab something yummy for lunch.
Then, as we were waiting for the gibbons to decide to either move further or closer to the loudspeaker, six white tourists and two guides showed up with their huge cameras looking ridiculous in their shorts and their leech socks. Tourists are allowed to go off the main tourist trails if they have a guide-unfortunately for us. Julie and I wished there were more leeches today so they wouldn't be tempted to stay long. Of course when one guide finds the gibbons, he calls the other guides to help them out. So just when we thought we were rid of the tourists, and the gibbons started moving closer to the speaker, another group of five or six showed up. By the time they were gone, the gibbons were not in a good position at all, and in fact we thought they had crossed the river. They hadn't, we found out when we tested to loud speaker to make sure we could hear it at over 100 meters, they rushed towards it so we turned it off immediately. So, the day wasn't a complete bust; at least now we know that the gibbons can hear the speaker, and that they react to the leopard alarm call. I feel a little guilty, because from the time we ran into the first tourists I was crossing my fingers we wouldn't be able to do the experiment today...I just didn't feel ready to follow the female, not lose her, hold the video camera and record her (seems impossible) and record data at the same time. I'm intimidated. Hopefully I catch on quickly.
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Incredibly boring actually. Maybe because it was too hot to even take a nap, and I wasn't tired anyway because I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night. So the hours just dragged on. It makes me feel lonelier. I wish Julie and I knew each other better, or that she had less work to do so we could get to know each other better. I can't help her really because she is just transcribing her field notes of all the days calls we heard onto check sheets, so its pretty much a one person job. So I just sit, and read, and wish I had one of my friends or my mom here with to pass the hours talking with. I'm plowing through books, even faster than before. Its because my mom let me use her Audible account to get books on tape so I didn't have to buy anymore heavy paper books. But the problem is this way I can listen when I'm doing anything mindless, like while I cook lunch or lie in bed too hot to function. So I'm already two thirds of the way through The Help and I've only been listening to it four days.
I like to go out and sit on the porch when I read or relax, because there's a nice breeze and its cooler than being inside. But there are just hard wooden benches. I really wish there were hammocks! My favorite time of the day (besides when something interesting happens in the forest) is sitting on the porch at dusk, just as its starting to get dark and cooler. Its so peaceful. Its the best time to read out there, or talk with Julie after its too dark to read.
Tomorrow, unfortunately I will be returning to Bangkok to go to the National Research Council of Thailand. Apparently now, a month after I've arrive, I have to go there and show them I'm here? It seems weird to me. Oh well, its just for the day, but that is going to be a lot of busing for one day; three hours each way. Hopefully I'll at least be able to grab something yummy for lunch.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
defeated.
Today has not been a good day. I woke up sort of late, got ready in a hurry, then realized that Julie had had the same problem; she was still in bed. So I waited patiently and she woke up at about 6:20 (we usually try to leave by 6:00). She apologized and told me next time to just wake her-good to know. She said since we were getting a late start we would "just set ropes for the playbacks today, it should be an easy day." Well, she jinxed us.
We set off for the R territory just after 7:00, found ourselves a perfect tree to set a rope in for hoisting up the loudspeaker so that it will be at the gibbons level. The tree was big, with a few big branches coming off of it, we were going to attempt to set the rope over the second branch from the bottom, probably about 15 or so meters up. Another big tree had recently fallen, creating a but of a clearing, which should have been perfect; giving us plenty of space to throw. So, we started by attaching the rope to a tennis ball and using centripetal force to hurl it up over the branch, but our aim wasn't great and when our aim was spot on we were just shy of the right height. While I showed off every single reason I have never played a sport that involves throwing anything, Julie worked on the crossbow she had bought to try to help us. Crossbows are banned in the park, for obvious reasons, but we were hoping to attach the rope to the arrow somehow and sent the arrow shooting through a foam ball (so the tip would be blunt and not dangerous). The crossbow turned out to be an absolute piece of s***. It was pretty much broken from the get go and the arrows didn't exactly work. so after abandoning that plan, we tried, Julie getting SO close on several attempts, to set the rope using just the ball-throwing method. I think the reason we spent four hours trying without giving up sooner was because every time we'd get frustrated, Julie would make a really great throw and it would almost go over the right branch and then it would just fall short.
So, 5 hours later, both with very blistered index fingers, we decided to pack it in and try again after lunch and a midday rest (because by noon it starts to get hot as Hades and because of the open area we were in we were now exposed to the hot sun). When we got back I cooked myself an enormous lunch of rice, snap peas and little chicken sausages in the rice cooker, then cut up my pineapple which has ripened nicely. Unfortunately it isn't one of the baby ones, so it still burned my tongue a bit. I was absolutely dreading going back to try again, and I think Julie could see the exhaustion on my face, I had gotten all dressed up to go and she said I could stay here and rest. Though I'm relieved, I feel a bit bad that she has to go back out and try again. I'm thinking maybe she prefers to go alone and to get frustrated and curse at the tree in private, because I know I'd appreciate that if I was her.
Well, just as I was typing up that last sentence I heard Julie's voice. Apparently one of the park officials wanted to come with her to help. She said she tried a few times and got very close, and then he tried several times, getting close, but still not reaching the branch. So he replaced the tennis ball with a stone and was able to hurl it up there finally. Apparently more weight was all we needed.
Now that the rope is set I am sitting her in nervous anticipation for tomorrow's playback experiment. It will be our "trial run." It will also be my first time taking data that we are actually going to use (assuming all goes well) all by myself. I've also been charged with video recording the experiment, because someone told Julie she should record it...not sure who, but I'm not their biggest fan right now. So, instead of taking notes in a notebook, since my hands will be full I will just be dictating my scans. I am responsible for following the female (easier to recognize because of the baby hanging off of her at almost all times). I will record her behavior every five minutes (eating, resting, socializing, vocalizing etc.) as well as recording inter-individual distance, canopy height, and position. I also have to record Ad Libitum (as I see it happening) gazes (looking toward speaker, ground, other group members etc) and location (by taking GPS points each time they move. So...this is going to be a challenge to say the least. Wish me luck!
I only took one photo today; of a skink who visited us just as we were throwing in the towel this morning. I'm too lazy to plug in my camera to transfer only one photo, so I'll post it another day.
We set off for the R territory just after 7:00, found ourselves a perfect tree to set a rope in for hoisting up the loudspeaker so that it will be at the gibbons level. The tree was big, with a few big branches coming off of it, we were going to attempt to set the rope over the second branch from the bottom, probably about 15 or so meters up. Another big tree had recently fallen, creating a but of a clearing, which should have been perfect; giving us plenty of space to throw. So, we started by attaching the rope to a tennis ball and using centripetal force to hurl it up over the branch, but our aim wasn't great and when our aim was spot on we were just shy of the right height. While I showed off every single reason I have never played a sport that involves throwing anything, Julie worked on the crossbow she had bought to try to help us. Crossbows are banned in the park, for obvious reasons, but we were hoping to attach the rope to the arrow somehow and sent the arrow shooting through a foam ball (so the tip would be blunt and not dangerous). The crossbow turned out to be an absolute piece of s***. It was pretty much broken from the get go and the arrows didn't exactly work. so after abandoning that plan, we tried, Julie getting SO close on several attempts, to set the rope using just the ball-throwing method. I think the reason we spent four hours trying without giving up sooner was because every time we'd get frustrated, Julie would make a really great throw and it would almost go over the right branch and then it would just fall short.
So, 5 hours later, both with very blistered index fingers, we decided to pack it in and try again after lunch and a midday rest (because by noon it starts to get hot as Hades and because of the open area we were in we were now exposed to the hot sun). When we got back I cooked myself an enormous lunch of rice, snap peas and little chicken sausages in the rice cooker, then cut up my pineapple which has ripened nicely. Unfortunately it isn't one of the baby ones, so it still burned my tongue a bit. I was absolutely dreading going back to try again, and I think Julie could see the exhaustion on my face, I had gotten all dressed up to go and she said I could stay here and rest. Though I'm relieved, I feel a bit bad that she has to go back out and try again. I'm thinking maybe she prefers to go alone and to get frustrated and curse at the tree in private, because I know I'd appreciate that if I was her.
Well, just as I was typing up that last sentence I heard Julie's voice. Apparently one of the park officials wanted to come with her to help. She said she tried a few times and got very close, and then he tried several times, getting close, but still not reaching the branch. So he replaced the tennis ball with a stone and was able to hurl it up there finally. Apparently more weight was all we needed.
Now that the rope is set I am sitting her in nervous anticipation for tomorrow's playback experiment. It will be our "trial run." It will also be my first time taking data that we are actually going to use (assuming all goes well) all by myself. I've also been charged with video recording the experiment, because someone told Julie she should record it...not sure who, but I'm not their biggest fan right now. So, instead of taking notes in a notebook, since my hands will be full I will just be dictating my scans. I am responsible for following the female (easier to recognize because of the baby hanging off of her at almost all times). I will record her behavior every five minutes (eating, resting, socializing, vocalizing etc.) as well as recording inter-individual distance, canopy height, and position. I also have to record Ad Libitum (as I see it happening) gazes (looking toward speaker, ground, other group members etc) and location (by taking GPS points each time they move. So...this is going to be a challenge to say the least. Wish me luck!
I only took one photo today; of a skink who visited us just as we were throwing in the towel this morning. I'm too lazy to plug in my camera to transfer only one photo, so I'll post it another day.
Monday, May 13, 2013
ants ants ants
It took about 30 hours for the teeny tiny ants to discover my opened box of frosted flakes. I thought sealing up the bag with a hair tie would be an effective measure against their invasion, but I was wrong. I got back from the field and found they had fit their tiny bodies into the big Styrofoam box I keep my food in, and were busy invading the cereal. So I put off my hunger and went to work on getting rid of them because there is no way I'm throwing the cereal out, food is too precious here. I poured a bowlful of cereal out and noticed that this disturbance caused the ants to climb up the sides of the bowl and out of the cereal, where I could easily kill them without contaminating the flakes (although the protein might be good for me). So I repeated this until the whole bag was rid of ants and I poured it all into a secure Ziploc bag. These ants are the worst because they can get into anything, they are the smallest I've ever seen; about a millimeter long I'd guess. Anyway, after the ant problem was solved I could go ahead with making my lunch: my signature scrambled egg sandwich, some carrot sticks and a tiny apple.
Speaking of creepy crawly creatures, I discovered a leech latched onto my stomach today while we were in the field. It must have made its way between the buttons of my shirt. That was pretty gross, but I don't think it was there long. I am constantly giving myself a once over for bugs while I'm in the forest. We followed the W group today and boy were they a pain in the behind. There had two separate intergroup encounters with the NOS group, which was really annoying because they were moving around sort of quickly and forced us to chase after them through some difficult vegetation. At one point Julie and I had to squeeze ourselves through a tangle of fallen branches with about two feet of vertical space and even less horizontally. They also decided it would be fun to spend most of their morning in a HUGE fruit tree dropping tiny, hard fruits on our heads while they ate. This tree was very close to the paved tourist trail, which meant fortunately there were little benches we could like down on and look up, so as not to crane our necks as much. However, this also meant (because it is Monday, still close to the weekend) that there were lots of tourists nearby, so we couldn't do the experiment unless they moved to a different part of their territory. Those fruits must have been delicious, because they stayed in that giant tree.
I am confused about why people bother walking through the tourist trail if they aren't actually interested in wildlife. Two out of four groups that passed up walked right on by whole we were standing there clearly looking at the gibbons who were in plain sight. That's an incredible opportunity and they just walked past! Another group; a mom a young daughter and grandparents walked by very quickly, just barely looked up to see the gibbons right above them, and the mom made noises as if she was scared and they hurried along. Only one man, by himself actually stopped to watch the gibbons, he was quiet and respectful.
Although I complain about the W group, they are very nicely habituated and I am grateful to them for giving me such good photo ops. Especially Sari, the female, she is the only female who has sat still long enough, and low enough to the ground, for me to get good pictures of her and her infant. So here you are, probably the only reason you are reading this blog, some pictures:
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Speaking of creepy crawly creatures, I discovered a leech latched onto my stomach today while we were in the field. It must have made its way between the buttons of my shirt. That was pretty gross, but I don't think it was there long. I am constantly giving myself a once over for bugs while I'm in the forest. We followed the W group today and boy were they a pain in the behind. There had two separate intergroup encounters with the NOS group, which was really annoying because they were moving around sort of quickly and forced us to chase after them through some difficult vegetation. At one point Julie and I had to squeeze ourselves through a tangle of fallen branches with about two feet of vertical space and even less horizontally. They also decided it would be fun to spend most of their morning in a HUGE fruit tree dropping tiny, hard fruits on our heads while they ate. This tree was very close to the paved tourist trail, which meant fortunately there were little benches we could like down on and look up, so as not to crane our necks as much. However, this also meant (because it is Monday, still close to the weekend) that there were lots of tourists nearby, so we couldn't do the experiment unless they moved to a different part of their territory. Those fruits must have been delicious, because they stayed in that giant tree.
I am confused about why people bother walking through the tourist trail if they aren't actually interested in wildlife. Two out of four groups that passed up walked right on by whole we were standing there clearly looking at the gibbons who were in plain sight. That's an incredible opportunity and they just walked past! Another group; a mom a young daughter and grandparents walked by very quickly, just barely looked up to see the gibbons right above them, and the mom made noises as if she was scared and they hurried along. Only one man, by himself actually stopped to watch the gibbons, he was quiet and respectful.
Although I complain about the W group, they are very nicely habituated and I am grateful to them for giving me such good photo ops. Especially Sari, the female, she is the only female who has sat still long enough, and low enough to the ground, for me to get good pictures of her and her infant. So here you are, probably the only reason you are reading this blog, some pictures:
A giant roley poley! (about an inch in diameter)
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Sari and infant with Wotan (dad) to the right
Sari and infant
William, Sari and infant
William (Wotan's subadult son)
William
William and Wotan (darker on left)
Sunday, May 12, 2013
the day of rest
Sunday is known as the day of rest and today the gibbons took that to heart. We were looking for the N group, and of course they didn't sing. Amazingly barely any of the other groups sang either; lazy gibbons! We heard a few sporadic half-hearted duets during the morning, but not much. When we finally did find N they were lazily eating. After seeing the python and making some hoo hoos and trying to scare it, they moved off about 50 meters and proceeded to groom each other while the infant and juvenile played for the next 50 minutes. It got pretty boring after a while. After that though they returned to where the python had been and gave a few more little calls and scanned trying to figure out where it had gone. While we were recording this last bit two tourists and their guide came upon us. It was annoying because Julie pointed to her microphone and motioned for them to be quiet, and the tourists complied, but the guide crunched along in the leaves pointing (just trying to do his job, but very noisily).
We saw a jackfruit tree today, which was cool because the fruits are huge! I also found a peculiar fungi, which I initially thought might be some kind of carnivorous plant because of the poop smell and the hole in the middle. After some research it turns out to be Aseroe rubra or starfish fungi. It was interesting, but smelly.
I was starting to get a headache and get very sleepy by the end of the morning. I think it was because I didn't get hungry for dinner last night, and didn't really have lunch, so my body was probably pissed. I also went to bed sort of late. So tonight it will be an early night. At about 6:45 some rangers drove by and said there were some elephants up the road, so we got in the truck and drove up there to see, but sadly they had already disappeared, so I'll have to keep waiting for my first elephant sighting. Getting closer though! Lastly, I finally got a picture of my noisy gecko friend, he is in my room tonight! Hopefully that means he'll eat all the bugs. I think I should give him a name, but I'm not sure what...
huge jackfruit
stinky (pretty) fungus!
my gecko friend...what shall I name him?
Saturday, May 11, 2013
home.
After a long, poorly air conditioned bus ride I arrived in Pak Chong. Julie and I went to the market where I bought fresh eggs, 2 pineapples (one of which turned out to me rotten), some apples, some carrots and some snap peas. Then we headed to Tesco Lotus to finish up the rest of our shopping. Then we set off for Khao Yai. On the drive from Pak Chong to the park entrance I saw two elephants, but they were captive, so I say this doesn't count.
When we got into the park I found myself completely content. I smiled as we chugged up the mountains making our way to the center of the park. The views are spectacular. I don't think I appreciated it as much the first time I saw it as now coming back into it. Of course we had to honk some macaques out of the road. When we finally got to the search and rescue center I was glad to be home. Its interesting that I feel home here. I was feeling lonely on my last night here, missing my friends and family. After two weeks of feeling a bit like a drifter and a freeloader staying at Chollada's house and in hotels, I am happy to be back somewhere where I have a "room" and a routine. Of course the wall that was promised to me before leaving wasn't built, but Julie bought me a nice black piece of fabric to act as my wall, which is better than the sheer blue mosquito netting we were using before. So this is home, for the next three months.
I am also in a great mood because I was able to Skype with my parents for almost two hours! They are the absolute best. Happy early Mother's Day to the best mommy in the world! :)
So that's it for today, back to the routine of waking up before dawn, and chasing gibbons all morning. Sounds pretty good to me. Tomorrow we'll try the python with the N group again. I am excited to see the gibbons, even if it is the group who peed on me last time we met...
When we got into the park I found myself completely content. I smiled as we chugged up the mountains making our way to the center of the park. The views are spectacular. I don't think I appreciated it as much the first time I saw it as now coming back into it. Of course we had to honk some macaques out of the road. When we finally got to the search and rescue center I was glad to be home. Its interesting that I feel home here. I was feeling lonely on my last night here, missing my friends and family. After two weeks of feeling a bit like a drifter and a freeloader staying at Chollada's house and in hotels, I am happy to be back somewhere where I have a "room" and a routine. Of course the wall that was promised to me before leaving wasn't built, but Julie bought me a nice black piece of fabric to act as my wall, which is better than the sheer blue mosquito netting we were using before. So this is home, for the next three months.
I am also in a great mood because I was able to Skype with my parents for almost two hours! They are the absolute best. Happy early Mother's Day to the best mommy in the world! :)
So that's it for today, back to the routine of waking up before dawn, and chasing gibbons all morning. Sounds pretty good to me. Tomorrow we'll try the python with the N group again. I am excited to see the gibbons, even if it is the group who peed on me last time we met...
Friday, May 10, 2013
"vacation" continued
May 1-May 10
Hua Hin
I took the Mini Bus to Hua Hin on Wednesday and arrived at about 3pm. After some initial misunderstanding, which Chollada cleared up over the phone, I got settled into my room and headed to find the ocean. I got there, but it wasn't the prettiest area because I was just aimlessly walking in the direction I knew the ocean was, and not towards a particular beach. I checked it out for a while and headed back to the hotel. I got an iced coffee-without milk by accident because I thought he said "With meal?" not "With milk? Oops, I bought some milk at 7-11 because it was weird without it. When it got dark I headed to the night market for dinner. I had Chicken with cashew nuts and a large Chang beer. Then I had a rotee with Nutella for dessert. This is sort of like a crepe, but it is made out of a dough stretched thin rather than a batter. I went to a bar at the market and had a few drinks. I struck up conversation with an older couple: a retired Australian surgeon and his 44 year old Thai lady friend (although she called him her husband). They seemed friendly enough and we went with a young English couple to a "discotheque" which was actually a weird Western themed bar with a live band that was not the great. The drinks were overpriced and the music too loud, and the old couple got ever creepier as they got more drunk, so the English couple and I departed because we were beginning to think this weird couple were swingers. So that was an experience, hopefully not to be repeated.
The next day I slept in, had a chocolate croissant and some bread from the bakery across the street for breakfast, and headed to the beach. I read a lot and applied liberal sunscreen because I know how pale I am. I swam in the ocean; bathwater. I ended up getting absolutely fried despite my precautions. My upper back was the worst due to issues reaching that area with sunscreen by myself. I had pizza for dinner-yum! I went to bed early exhausted from all the sun.
Friday morning I woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and hung out poolside for awhile. At about noon I went and got lunch and then headed to the beach. I stayed mostly in the shade, besides about 15-20 minutes of swimming. Still I got more burned, even though today I was even more careful about the sunscreen application. I can't win. I went to the night market for dinner again and I met a friend! A girl named Luka from Belgium. She is also on "vacation" from her internship at a hotel in Pattaya. So after dinner we went to a bar and people watched and talked.
Saturday Luka came over to hang out at the pool because she, like I, was sick of the warmness of the ocean and the pools are slightly cooler. Chollada and her friend finally arrived at about 6pm after a battle with Traffic. Everyone was headed out of the city for the long weekend. It was obvious because during the week Hua Hin had been empty, but around Saturday afternoon it slowly started to fill up and by the time they arrived parking was impossible! Here people leave their cars in neutral when they park sometimes so that their car can be pushed out the the way when it is blocking someone else's. We went to a seafood restaurant outside the city for dinner, it was very good. I am becoming a big fan of squid, but am getting turned off to crab, it usually has bits of exoskeleton mixed in which makes it annoying to eat.
Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to King Rama VI's palace by the ocean. It was a pretty place. Afterward we went to one of the main tourist spots for Thai people-not foreigners, so I was the only white person there. It is like a permanent carnival. It was kind of cute. We had salmon fried rice filled egg balls for lunch and I had a Hong Kong waffle for dessert. For dinner we went to the Cicada market, which is a night market only open on the weekend. It was much nicer than the downtown night market. We had dinner there and then walked around and looked at all the market vendors. My favorite part was looking at the paintings-made me want to paint something. At one stand, I picked up what I thought was a keychain, it turned out to be a giant beetle climbing on a keychain, it was pretty funny when I realized it was alive. We went to a bar afterward. The bar was cool, nice decor, a good live band, yummy European beer, but it was pretty boring. Chollada's friend was on her phone the whole time and it was a bit too loud to talk much with Chollada.
Monday after breakfast we left Hua Hin, Chollada and Ben never having stepped foot on the beach. Western and Thai images of an ideal beach getaway vacation are very different, mostly because Thai people hate getting a tan. We stopped at the Damnoen Sauak floating market on the way home. It was winding down because it was after noon, but it was still pretty cool. When we got back to Bangkok we met Chollada's family for Pizza Hut. Thai pizza hut sizes are very different-I could easily consume an entire medium pizza.
Tuesday and Wednesday were lazy days, which I needed. I spent Thursday in the city again. This time I went to the Dusit Zoo! It was so great! I got there early and it was feeding time for the monkeys. I seriously fell in love with Douc Langurs. They are extremely endangered and absolutely beautiful. The zoo has a seemingly very successful breeding program; there were babies everywhere! The rest of the zoo was great also. I got to hear three different species of gibbon call; all very different. I also saw the seal show, which was cute. After the zoo I went to the huge teak Vimanmek mansion. It was pretty much what you expect from an old mansion turned museum. I met Chollada for dinner and afterwards we went to the Purr Cat Cafe; a cafe with cats roaming around everywhere. Sort of weird. The cats aren't incredibly friendly, as most cats would be if forced to live in a place where strangers showed up every day and took pictures of them. It made me miss Tori and Oreo.
Whew, that was a lot. Now I am back at the IMM fusion hotel where this "vacation" began. Heading back to Khao Yai tomorrow and I could not be happier. Time for dinner, hopefully pizza at Limoncello's Pizzeria on Sukhumvit Soi 11. Let's see if I can find it.
Hua Hin
I took the Mini Bus to Hua Hin on Wednesday and arrived at about 3pm. After some initial misunderstanding, which Chollada cleared up over the phone, I got settled into my room and headed to find the ocean. I got there, but it wasn't the prettiest area because I was just aimlessly walking in the direction I knew the ocean was, and not towards a particular beach. I checked it out for a while and headed back to the hotel. I got an iced coffee-without milk by accident because I thought he said "With meal?" not "With milk? Oops, I bought some milk at 7-11 because it was weird without it. When it got dark I headed to the night market for dinner. I had Chicken with cashew nuts and a large Chang beer. Then I had a rotee with Nutella for dessert. This is sort of like a crepe, but it is made out of a dough stretched thin rather than a batter. I went to a bar at the market and had a few drinks. I struck up conversation with an older couple: a retired Australian surgeon and his 44 year old Thai lady friend (although she called him her husband). They seemed friendly enough and we went with a young English couple to a "discotheque" which was actually a weird Western themed bar with a live band that was not the great. The drinks were overpriced and the music too loud, and the old couple got ever creepier as they got more drunk, so the English couple and I departed because we were beginning to think this weird couple were swingers. So that was an experience, hopefully not to be repeated.
first view of the ocean
Nutella rotee and Mojito!
making rotee
The next day I slept in, had a chocolate croissant and some bread from the bakery across the street for breakfast, and headed to the beach. I read a lot and applied liberal sunscreen because I know how pale I am. I swam in the ocean; bathwater. I ended up getting absolutely fried despite my precautions. My upper back was the worst due to issues reaching that area with sunscreen by myself. I had pizza for dinner-yum! I went to bed early exhausted from all the sun.
Friday morning I woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and hung out poolside for awhile. At about noon I went and got lunch and then headed to the beach. I stayed mostly in the shade, besides about 15-20 minutes of swimming. Still I got more burned, even though today I was even more careful about the sunscreen application. I can't win. I went to the night market for dinner again and I met a friend! A girl named Luka from Belgium. She is also on "vacation" from her internship at a hotel in Pattaya. So after dinner we went to a bar and people watched and talked.
Saturday Luka came over to hang out at the pool because she, like I, was sick of the warmness of the ocean and the pools are slightly cooler. Chollada and her friend finally arrived at about 6pm after a battle with Traffic. Everyone was headed out of the city for the long weekend. It was obvious because during the week Hua Hin had been empty, but around Saturday afternoon it slowly started to fill up and by the time they arrived parking was impossible! Here people leave their cars in neutral when they park sometimes so that their car can be pushed out the the way when it is blocking someone else's. We went to a seafood restaurant outside the city for dinner, it was very good. I am becoming a big fan of squid, but am getting turned off to crab, it usually has bits of exoskeleton mixed in which makes it annoying to eat.
Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to King Rama VI's palace by the ocean. It was a pretty place. Afterward we went to one of the main tourist spots for Thai people-not foreigners, so I was the only white person there. It is like a permanent carnival. It was kind of cute. We had salmon fried rice filled egg balls for lunch and I had a Hong Kong waffle for dessert. For dinner we went to the Cicada market, which is a night market only open on the weekend. It was much nicer than the downtown night market. We had dinner there and then walked around and looked at all the market vendors. My favorite part was looking at the paintings-made me want to paint something. At one stand, I picked up what I thought was a keychain, it turned out to be a giant beetle climbing on a keychain, it was pretty funny when I realized it was alive. We went to a bar afterward. The bar was cool, nice decor, a good live band, yummy European beer, but it was pretty boring. Chollada's friend was on her phone the whole time and it was a bit too loud to talk much with Chollada.
seaside palace
egg fried rice balls
Hong Kong waffle
Monday after breakfast we left Hua Hin, Chollada and Ben never having stepped foot on the beach. Western and Thai images of an ideal beach getaway vacation are very different, mostly because Thai people hate getting a tan. We stopped at the Damnoen Sauak floating market on the way home. It was winding down because it was after noon, but it was still pretty cool. When we got back to Bangkok we met Chollada's family for Pizza Hut. Thai pizza hut sizes are very different-I could easily consume an entire medium pizza.
Tuesday and Wednesday were lazy days, which I needed. I spent Thursday in the city again. This time I went to the Dusit Zoo! It was so great! I got there early and it was feeding time for the monkeys. I seriously fell in love with Douc Langurs. They are extremely endangered and absolutely beautiful. The zoo has a seemingly very successful breeding program; there were babies everywhere! The rest of the zoo was great also. I got to hear three different species of gibbon call; all very different. I also saw the seal show, which was cute. After the zoo I went to the huge teak Vimanmek mansion. It was pretty much what you expect from an old mansion turned museum. I met Chollada for dinner and afterwards we went to the Purr Cat Cafe; a cafe with cats roaming around everywhere. Sort of weird. The cats aren't incredibly friendly, as most cats would be if forced to live in a place where strangers showed up every day and took pictures of them. It made me miss Tori and Oreo.
Red-shanked Douc Langur
babiest monkey!!
white tigers
Sun Bear!
pond at the zoo and fancy building
seal show!
Bin Laden the giraffe-seriously, not sure its a sick joke or what, he was born October 2001
Vimanmek mansion
pretty building
Whew, that was a lot. Now I am back at the IMM fusion hotel where this "vacation" began. Heading back to Khao Yai tomorrow and I could not be happier. Time for dinner, hopefully pizza at Limoncello's Pizzeria on Sukhumvit Soi 11. Let's see if I can find it.
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