KARON BEACH, THAILAND 2013

Karon Beach, Thailand 2013

I finally got Julie over to take in the beauty of magical Thailand!  She had a wonderful experience.  We started off by flying from Seattle, Washington to Bangkok, via Taipei.  We stayed in Bangkok for the first 3 nights, helping our internal clocks change and to rest up for the island life of Phuket.  One of our first stops while walking the backstreets of Bangkok, was the John Thompson House/Museum.  You can read about the history of this location, as I am pressed for time.  What a relaxing place to chill next to the koi pond and have a couple cold ones. 

We then flew down to Phuket, staying up on the hillside of Karon Beach.  I have a favorite place I like to stay at called the Pacific Club.  You'd never find it on a map, so the privacy is wonderful and the views of the beach are outstanding.  We did lots of snorkling out near Koh Kai, Coral Island and ofcourse Phi Phi Islands.  The fish are always nice visit with :-)

Of all the MANY elephants you come across while scouring Thailand, it is always fun to take one for a ride up on the surrounding hillsides. Such gentle giants they are......Its fun to feed them afterwards and spend some time with them.  They LOVE sugar cane and bananas and will eat endlessly if you have the time to keep feeding them.  

This picture was on a day we spend out at Phi Phi Islands at "The Beach".  We took our motorbike up the hillside above Karon Beach, where you can see the MASSIVE big Buddha.  Up there, you visit the monastery and observe the monks living on the grounds and doing their chants.  It's really a beautiful site to behold. 

I even got Julie to take a parachute ride behind a speed boat.  She was the lsat ride of the day, as dusk was approaching.  She sure had a wonderful sight as the sun was dropping.  Fun times :-)

Well, this was a VERY brief update.  We have about 90 more days, and we will be flying back to Thailand again for the 2014 trip.   Looks like heading to the area of Krabi this time.  Todays update was mainly for me to get my feet wet in doing updates and being able to tweak my blog.  It's been a LONG time as I have been busy with lots of changes in my personal life.  In fact, it looks as thought I might be taking another overseas work assignment to the middle east, hence LOTS more traveling to see the rest of this great planet.  I will try and keep this blog up and current with all the new happenings.

Get out there and travel!

Jeff.

Chiang Mai, Thailand / September 2011

Finally!  Caught a tiger by the tail

So I decided it was high time to travel up to the North end of Thailand.  I have never travelled up there, though have read a lot of others experiences, and have always had it on my "bucket list".  I finally made the trip in September of 2011 and spent 2 weeks in and around Chiang Mai, Thailand.  As you can see by the above picture, they tend to "bend the rules" in Thailand, if you just ask.  As I was signing my waiver of responsibility, I asked one of the animal keepers "You have fed them today, haven't you?", adding a nervous laugh - though totally serious.  He just smiled and shook his head affirmative.  To this day, I truly don't think he had a clue what I was asking......At any rate, it was a very cool experience!  I spent about 1/2 hour with this tiger, amongst a total of four.  The other three didn't really get to close to me, but me and this fella kind of bonded.  I felt so, at least :-)  Here was the ONLY instruction I was given before they sent me through the cage door:  "No approach tiger from front.  Come from back or side, no front.  If come at front, maybe not good.  Fight.  You know?"  I just put my sunglasses on and went for it thinking, "Well?  Here goes......this might be how it all ends."

One of the very first things I do upon landing in Thailand, is get myself a motorcycle.  This gives me the freedom to travel in all different directions, when I want and for how long I want to be gone.  Sometimes, I just just ended up staying the night at a countryside room/bungalow knowing that I have travelled too far today and won't have time to make it back "home".  This was one of those days.....This little one is a member of the Karen tribe.  These people are from Burma and live up in the highlands (jungles) of North Thailand.  The fabrics, crafts, goods that you can purchase are ALL handmade by these good people.  I had a chance to spend some time talking with some of these women.  I can tell you that in all of my traveling experiences around this globe, I have never come across more Sweet, Innocent and Charming human beings than the ones I met today. .  


The following pictures are other members who live in this commune and the crafts that they made there.

The Brass rings are solid. This neckpiece weights 10 lbs. Very Solid!

Various chokers, necklaces and bangles.

Silver Belt

These jewelry items are made of silver.  They are exquisite.  If you are a lover of silver as I am, you could spend all day looking over these items.  They are fairly cheap too.  I didn't drive a bargain with these people as they the prices they were asking were WAY more than fair.  It's the only way they make any money....

A bed runner. 4 days to make one of these. Cost? 5 dollars.

And here is a shot of their village and the local church they have on the hill.  It's a very peaceful existence.  I did not feel sorry for these people when it's time to leave, I just came to understand them.  They are happy through simplicity.

Small village of the Karen tribe.  Northern Thailand

Home made bow/arrow.

I shot bow with this lady above.  She was eager to show me what a nice piece it was, and that she makes them herself.  She had a target set up about 25 ft away.  The target was a few mangos attached to a hunk of plywood.  She handed me the bow with a smile.  This is a cross bow, with trigger.  I nailed the mango on the first shot which surprised the both of us!  This thing shot hard and straight.  Very accurate piece.  I was really impressed.

I got a little deeper into the northern territory and found a place called Doi Suthep.  It's just a wonderful motorcycle ride uphill, to the mountain tops.  The whole road is nice tight "S" turns.  It's the ultimate motorcycle road trip.  Loved it so much that I did it three days in a row!  Up on top of Doi Suthep is a very famous Wat (temple).  Along the way, I managed to find some pretty cool waterfalls to hike back into.

Waterfall, a secret hike in North Thailand. Can't tell you where it is :-)

Wat Doi Suthep.  Yes, it's all real gold.

Buddhist prayer bells

Up and around the temple, there are these "prayer bells".  Most every Buddhist temple will have these.

There is so many pictures that I want to add here which I have in my albums, but I just cannot add them all.  I do have to include a couple of the Panda Bears that I visited though.......If you have never seen a Panda bear up close, let me assure you that they are as every bit of humorous as you have seen on the television.  Once you spend some time near them, you start to understand how precious they are, and I am thankful that the Chinese have taken such a lead role in the protection of these endangered animals.  What personality these bears have!!  

Okay, I will end this post now.  I had a wonderful time in the North of Thailand.  There are so many more pictures that I want to add, but I'm running out of time.  Ofcourse, I might add some more later as time allows, but wanted to get this updated as soon as I can.  I am back in Qatar now working, and planning my next trip.  There might be a surprise on my next posting, but I can't say anything about it yet.  I won't even disclose where I'm flying off to next.  It might ruin the surprise.

Hey!  Who's that guy?

Just leaving my mark

G'bye Dubai - September 2011

Welcome to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates!  Money in fact, DOES grow on trees here, or rather should I say, it is the color BLACK and gets pumped from the ground. 

There is so much to see here in Dubai, that four days is the very MINIMUM you will need to see what interests you.  The above picture, is the Tallest tower/structure in the world.  It is named the "Burj Khalifa".  If you are a Discovery show junkie as I am, you will have caught episodes in the past of this monstrosity being built.  As pictures go, it just does it no justice.  To be there in person, and staring up into the sky at this thing, will truly make you search for words.  "How??? did....." etc...it's truly amazing.

The picture below, is where the "Gold Souk" is located.  Gold of all shapes and sizes and here for your bartering pleasure, amongst persian rugs, OUD scents, lamps, all Arabian interests.

The day that I was there, the temperature was a comfy 115F.  It does sound hot to us "westerners", but it's not as bad as it seems.  I guess maybe its because I am somewhat getting acclimated to the climate after 6 months now

I stayed at the hotel called The Arabian Courtyard Spa and Suites.  They were kind enough to give me a room with a view!  This is it, the view from my room :-)  You can click on  any of these pictures to enlarge them.  This place is called "The Al Fahaidi Fort".  It is considered to be the oldest standing structure in the UAE.  You can see the original walls and towers.  They have turned it into a musuem.  As I ran my fingers over the morter joints between the rocks, my mind ran imaginations as to what life was like the day that particular brick was lain?.  Who put it into place?  This is OLD stuff.  The era of this fort and all the following pictures, are from the 3rd Millenium B.C.  I really enjoyed going underneath and viewing the different excavated artifacts.  

Upon closer inspection, you can see sea shells mixed into the clay/rock, used as structure for the walls.

All, from 3rd Millenium BC - excavated from current site.

The pottery, arrowheads and jewelry were fascinating to view.  There were all indiviually tagged, recorded and marked.  One can only imagine the hands that made these items all those thousands of years ago.

Okay, so I have many more pictures of the museum.  This is but a taste.  Now, onto the different Malls.  There are some popular Malls in Dubai.  For those of you shop-o-holics, they have anything and everything you desire. However, this is also the place (if you have been watching Discovery over the past while) where they have the worlds FIRST indoor Snow Ski mountain.  Yeah, no kidding and it's at the mall.  I skied it :-)  I only took pix from the outside looking in-as I had to check my camera in while I was hitting the bumps.  Also, the largest aquarium INSIDE the mall that I have ever seen.  In these pictures you will notice to big school of tuna fish - oh yeah, also a BRAND new cooper, SUNK into the bottom of the acquarim for the fish to swim around.  Only in Dubai!

Here is the ski slope, looking in from the mall.  This is what you would walk by, as your eating your hot dog and heading to the next shop.  Indoor ski mountain, COMPLETE with live trees.

And the famous COOPER at the bottom of the aquarium?  

I will put up the last picture of the "Fountain" they have at the M.O.E.  Mall of Emirates.  It is a fastastic display of art.  All these steel male statues of divers attached to a wall of cascading water.  There are HUNDREDS of them.  The display is huge, and my camera only captured a few of them.  If you ever get a "layover" in Dubai, the malls are highly worth your visit.  Okay then, I'm closing now with the following pix.  In two days, I'm off to Chiang Mai, Thailand and then who knows........I'll be in touch.   

 LIVE FOR TODAY!!!  YOU MAY NOT HAVE A TOMMORROW!

Boracay, Philippines Part #2

Today is August 12, 2011 and my day off.  I am going to update my blog as I have managed to squeeze yet another trip in back to Boracay.  2 wks just wasn't enough, so I ventured back again.  This time however, I flew my daughter Morgan in from the USA and she was my travel companion throughout.  We really had a wonderful time together....  I'm going to skip right over Manila as we only stayed one night the The first couple of days in Boracay were filled with sunshine and hot weather.  On day #2, we rented a sailboat/catamaran with hired driver ofcourse, and spent the next 4 hours cruising the crystal waters.  We went completely around the whole island.  The locals know where the best snorkling spots are, so we took three stops for swimming with the fish.  This time, I knew better and brought a couple loaves of bread along.  The boat driver and his help mate, threw pieces of bread in around us in the water.  This ofcourse, swarmed the fish all around you.  Morgans' favorite was to hold bread in her hand and the fish would come and eat right from her.  The waters were crystal clear and the fish........wonderful colors!  All topical fish, blues, yellows, clown fish, it is just like swimming in a fish tank.  It's become my favorite past time.  This swimming is very similar to the coasts of Phuket Thailand.  It's just an experience you will never forget.

The above picture was taken a couple days later.  We rented "dune buggies", and yes Morgan had her very own.  I was a little apprehensive because to get to the trail head, our guide had to take us on the main road through town for about 1/2 mile.  She is 11 yrs old!  And driving her own "car" on the streets of Boracay.  She did just fine though, and I knew she would be.  She has no problem handling my 400cc quad back home.  So, we ended up on the highest point of Boracay.  It rained on us pretty hard as the picture shows....we still had a blast.

And then, that evening, absolute disaster struck!  You would think that we just got news from NASA that a comet was found hurdling towards our planet, and to expect impact in 2 hours.  Well, it wasn't quite that, but back at the resort Morgan found out that her "hair straightening iron" (whatever that is) was broke!  Oh my God!  What are we going to do??  Dad!!!  Oh Dad!!  What am I going to do???  As she flopped herself onto the bed.

Guess where we ended up?  Yep.  A hair salon downtown where she spent the next 3 hours getting some sort of "pre treatment", and then finally they "straightened" out her hair.  She found the lady boys funny :-)  Gay as a 3 dollar bill.  Very very friendly folks though.  Morgan made friends very fast with them.  She had a fun outing there......


Not sure which day this was, but gong through the main section of town, there was this sushi place.  She said "Oh Dad, I want sushi. Can we?"  Now, I'm not a big fan of sushi.  I never knew she was either.  Maybe she's been watching too many movies/tv where it seem to be the chic thing to do.  As far as I'm concerned, sushi is for Bears.  They eat their fish raw.  Man discovered Fire for a reason.  So we "ate".  Barely.  We ended taking most of it back to her friends at the salon.  :-)  they were very please for the treat.

One of our fav places to eat was called the "Hobbit House".  I'm sure you can google and find it, as it's a pretty famous place.  Yes, the theme is based J.R.Tolkein books, and ALL of the workers are midgets.  I'm not talking just short people, I'm talking the shortest of the short!  So short that they had to reach UP to serve you at your table.  I tried to help them, but they shooed me away.

I don't need to add to much more to this update, as my last update was much the same, as it was the exact same place.  I had a wonderful time swimming, playing, talking with my daughter.  Shes' my buddy.  I am considering my next trip for September to be China.  We'll see where the wind blows me too.....

Qatar is going fine.  It seems like I've been gone over a year already!  I packed it with such activity I hardly can believe I've only been gone from the States for 5 months.  Seems so much longer.  The hottest temps of the year are in July and August.  Right now we are in the thick of it.  On average during the day it can get to 50-54C (up to 130F)  Humidity is very high here too at times.......

I should add this picture too.  This is pretty much how you get around the island.  They are called "trikes".  They operate all hours of the day and night.  Very cheap to get around.  If you find the right guy, you can get them to start racing with another trike.  It can get very exciting :-)  As you can see, the rain was here again.  We still had a blast.
Okay, signing off for now...............I'll update from my next destination.  Just need to throw my dart at the wall map and see where it hits  :-)

Dont forget, you can click on the pictures and they will enlarge for you if you wish......

Boracay Philippines in June

Late May 2011, I decided to take a trip to the Philippines to see what that is all about.  If you have kept up with me, I have covered much else of SE Asia, but not here yet.  Tickets bought, I flew with Emirates Airlines to Dubai, then onto Manila.  Total of about 9 hours flight time.

After arriving in Manila, I took a cab to next city over called Makati.  I stayed there for two nights, or should I say I wasted two nights there.  Here is a tip for you:  Manila and Makit (the cities) and sketchy places and I found to be a dark atmosphere.  I won't ever go back there for much, as my interest lies out in the islands.  Anyways, enjoyed a little bit of a typhoon upon landing and my first evening there which was exciting.  Not much else to say, lots of poverty there and the traffic is suicidal.  Really, it's much worse than Bangkok or Ho chi Minh city.  Manila is a death trap.    

I flew out of Manila and on my way to Boracay.  This was an adventure in itself.  Boarded a Bombardier 300 plane in Manila and took the flight to Caticlan.  Upon landing, it was raining pretty hard.  I was travelling a more heavy than I like to, having my camera gear bag, my laptop bag, and my full size backpack.  Normally a non-issue, but it was pouring outside!  I ran across the tarmac, having no idea what else I need to do to reach Boracay.  I met a person on the side of the airport and she asked me "Where you go?"  I replied "Boracay".  She instructed me to go catch "trike" and it will take me to port.  Port?  Okay.....I paid my fare of 100 pesos and climbed into a rickety motorcycle/side cart (covered) and we drove along dirt, bumpy roads all the while listening to the roosters and birds singing, or laughing at me :-)   After about 15 min ride, ended up at the Port.  I grabbed my gear and headed to the ticket line.  I suppose that was the only logical place to go, which it was.  I tell the lady "I'm heading to Boracay".  I didn't have to pay, I guess my original 100 pesos covers cost of the boat ride as well.  The boat was ready, so headed down the beachfront to board.  Ah ha!  Then next problem.  The ramp was down, which was good as we have to walk up it.  Problem was, it was sitting in about 2 feet of water.  I looked at that, with my jeans and tennis shoes on.  Well?  here we go.  I just slugged through and got soaked up to my knees.  The pic above is the boat I boarded onto.  Boat ride was about 20 min long, all the while raining and pretty stormy.  As we landed in Boracay, I thought....."Okay, just get me to my room!".  Not so lucky.  I had to grab another "Trike".  He took me the next 15 min to the beachfront area where my first resort was located.  Okay.  I have arrived!

What a treat and adventure awaited me.  After getting settled in, I decided to go to station #2, where there is know to be some epic beach parties.  Just had to see what that was all about.  Yes, it's true.  I ended up enjoying a 2 man Regge band playing on the beach.  Met a number people from all over the world.  It was a grand time  :-)

Just a random shot of me on Boracay

Here is some pictures of the water and beach scenes.  The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, so make sure you click them to enlarge.  There isn't much I can add verbally to these.  Just enjoy them  :-)

This turned out to be my favorite swimming hole, like in the whole world!  Pizza on the beach at the Nigi Nigi restaurant.  Dropped some dough with this establishment over 10 days :-)

And the sunsets of Boracay?  I challenge any place on earth to match the majesty and jaw dropping beauty of these.  They are something I wish everybody could witness in their lifetime.  I'm glad I could bring some here to share with you all.  Here we go! There were NO filters used on these, and no photo tweaking.  Straight up shooting with a Nikon D40.  God can paint folks!!!  I've seen it!!

Changed colors by the min.....

I waded out into the water for about 20 min to my waist and just stood by for these amazing shots.  The pictures turned out nice, but to be there and witness it, is just a whole other level of peace.  I have never in my life (and i've seen hundreds of nice sunsets) witnessed such brilliant fire in the sky.  It left me speechless for a bit.  

I have many more of these sunset photos which if you are interested in viewing, check my facebook page.  I have a couple albums of photos of Boracay.  I need to download a few more pics from my cam.  I will download those as time allows.  Rest assured, I will be returning to Boracay.  Just as soon as I can  :-)

Catch you all on my next adventure!!  Take care