Yesterday I spent the day trying to avoid people who were trying to sell me stuff. Today I figured the best way to do that was to get out of town on a motorbike.
US$3 and a borrowed helmet later, I was on the road out of Sapa on a brand new Honda 110 scooter, to a place called Silver Waterfall, further up the mountain.
This is beautiful country! Green, lush, rice fields, rural families driving oxen, as I wind my way up the mountain.
Both Lee and Lisa will love hearing that I rode past a snake crossing the road at one point - I didn't realise what it was until I was pretty much next to it - passing within about 2 metres of my foot. I have no idea what sort it was, but it's head was the wrong shape for a python. Sorry I wasn't able to get a photo for you...
I could see the waterfall before I got there, falling down a sheer mountainside next to the road. The scenery was beautiful. The roadside hawkers and sellers were everywhere, and I even had to pay 10,000 dong to park my bike on the side of the road. Presumably, this was protection money, as everyone was trying to flag me into their spot. Not sure what would have happened to my bike if I didn't pay the 50 cents...
After walking halfway up the waterfall on a set of concrete stairs with a handrail that was falling apart in places, I went further up the road to see Tram Ton Pass, or "The Gateway to Heaven". Described as breath-taking in the guide book, I didn't want to miss it. Instead I almost ride straight into it.
As I headed on from the falls, it had started to rain - just drizzle really - but as I got to the top of the pass, there was so much fog and cloud that I could only see about 10-12 metres in front of me. When you're scuba diving, that's annoying. When you're riding a motor scooter on a wet and windy mountain road in North Vietnam, it's just plain scary!
Knowing the regard truck drivers took for sticking to the right side of the road, I decided no view - if there was a view in this fog - was worth the risk, so I turned around and went back.
Instead, I rode to the other side of Sapa and saw more rice fields, planting, and glorious views down the valley.
If you can put up with being hassled to buy things every 5 metres, Sapa is a beautiful place.
D.
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Seeing the sea life
Last weekend I learnt how to scuba dive. In Pattaya.
For those who have never been, Pattaya is not a beach resort. There are beaches, and lovely islands here, but it is not Phuket, or Phi Phi. Leonardo di Caprio was never there with his shirt off, running from Asian drug lords or wrestling sharks.
There is some reef around the islands near Pattaya, but when you've grown up with the Great Barrier Reef in your backyard, it's hard to call it reef at all.
In fact, before I left on the first morning, I was chatting to one of the hotel staff about learning to dive. He asked me where I was from, and when I told him Australia, he was dumbfounded that I had come to Pattaya to scuba dive. It would have been like him turning up to the food court at the Logan Hyperdome to learn how to cook Thai food.
But even so, the experience of scuba was spectacular. As someone who has only ever snorkelled before, being free to breathe underwater and explore so much more was exhilarating.
The visibility and range of sea life on the second day was worse than the first - you could only see about 4 metres in front of you. The reef was damaged and half-eaten by urchins, where it hadn't been used for target practice by the Thai and US navies.
Even so, there was a story to be read at the sea floor about what had caused the destruction, the refuse it left behind, and the resilience of the sea creatures who survived regardless. Broken bottles and pieces of rubbish, now home to barnacles and small critters. The skeletons of coral. Unexploded shells, half-buried in sand. A discarded shirt (which I resisted the urge to pick up and bring home) nibbled at by fish. And overhead, the sound of a dozen speedboats and dive boats coming and going at once.
Like the people living in this beautiful land, the sea creatures of Thailand are survivors.
D.
For those who have never been, Pattaya is not a beach resort. There are beaches, and lovely islands here, but it is not Phuket, or Phi Phi. Leonardo di Caprio was never there with his shirt off, running from Asian drug lords or wrestling sharks.
There is some reef around the islands near Pattaya, but when you've grown up with the Great Barrier Reef in your backyard, it's hard to call it reef at all.
In fact, before I left on the first morning, I was chatting to one of the hotel staff about learning to dive. He asked me where I was from, and when I told him Australia, he was dumbfounded that I had come to Pattaya to scuba dive. It would have been like him turning up to the food court at the Logan Hyperdome to learn how to cook Thai food.
But even so, the experience of scuba was spectacular. As someone who has only ever snorkelled before, being free to breathe underwater and explore so much more was exhilarating.
The visibility and range of sea life on the second day was worse than the first - you could only see about 4 metres in front of you. The reef was damaged and half-eaten by urchins, where it hadn't been used for target practice by the Thai and US navies.
Even so, there was a story to be read at the sea floor about what had caused the destruction, the refuse it left behind, and the resilience of the sea creatures who survived regardless. Broken bottles and pieces of rubbish, now home to barnacles and small critters. The skeletons of coral. Unexploded shells, half-buried in sand. A discarded shirt (which I resisted the urge to pick up and bring home) nibbled at by fish. And overhead, the sound of a dozen speedboats and dive boats coming and going at once.
Like the people living in this beautiful land, the sea creatures of Thailand are survivors.
D.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Bangkok wildlife
Please note that this post is not about Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza or Patpong Road. I didn't want anyone jumping in with false expectations.
Growing up in Australia, you forget how surprising it is to see native animals and wildlife in the city. When you're so used to watching the kangaroos hop down George Street (Brisbane or Sydney) and tossing the koalas a eucalyptus lolly on the way to work, you forget that there's something special about seeing the country's fauna where you expect only people.
I've been surprised, and sometimes gob-smacked, at the variety of animals I've seen in Bangkok.
It was hard to tell whether this guy was friendly or not, with teeth poking out like Agrajag
(go read Hitchhiker's Guide)
The most noticeable are the soi dogs, or what Aussies would call strays. There are a lot more of them per square metre than you would see in Australia. And some are well looked after, even though they're homeless. They sleep out the front of disused buildings with their own food dishes and water bowls that people fill up for them.
There are also plenty of stray cats around, but as with cats anywhere, it's hard to tell which ones are actually strays and which ones are just out for a wander and would happily come home with you for a free feed and a bit of lap time.
I've also encountered the soi bats as I walk home some nights - they swoop down in a pale, translucent blur over your head, like an ugly magpie in nesting season. Or maybe their radar just aren't used to farang shapes yet.
I encountered one Bangkok local long before I ever saw it. I heard a noise that I assumed was the noise the traffic lights make before it's safe for pedestrians to cross, only it seemed to be coming from odd places (trees, bushes, drains). I have discovered that it's a frog call, and not a traffic aid for the visually impaired (I actually have no idea how a blind person would cross the road safely in Bangkok - my guess is by taxi).
There are squirrels a-plenty in Bangkok - you see them in much the same places as you'd spot possums in Australia - walking down the powerlines to get to another tree, or jumping on roofs. I'm not sure if they also live in your roof and wake you up at 2am when they come home and find another bloke with their girlfriend.
One animal that I didn't expect to find here was a sugar glider, but apparently they are also native to New Guinea and Indonesia. I spotted one in it's native habitat here in Krung Thep - sitting in the hand of a street vendor near Khao San Road. Here's my friend Holly modelling the beasty for us:
Holly was so impressed that she did a web search and found a site claiming the sugar glider as the number one pet to have in an apartment. It seems the glider likes nothing better than hanging out with people. In their apartments. The people's that is, not the sugar glider's.
Alphonse, who lives at the end of my Soi
Another animal I didn't expect to find strutting around the end of my street was a rooster - I have at least two. This one - let's call him Alphonse, or Fonzie for short - has his own little wicker basket that he sits in sometimes, but most of the time he's just scratching around the footpath as I walk by on my way home. I've tried saying hello, but so far we haven't really connected. Some nights I walk past, Fonzie isn't there, and the people who hang around on the street near Fonzie are enjoying a hearty meal with the local moto-taxi drivers, and I get worried for the Fonze's well-being. But the next day he's back, cock of the walk again.
I've also heard that, just like Australia, there are snakes to be found in backyards and bushes, though only the spitting cobra - nothing really dangerous like the taipan, yellow belly black, or king brown.
Bath time at elephant world
Thailand is of course well-known for monkeys and elephants, and while I have seen these in the "wild" during my time here in Thailand, I have yet to see either monkeys or elephants wandering the streets of Bangkok sniffing around for stray peanuts. Although, I have read that there is a famous elephant who often frequents Soi Cowboy.
Ha! Tricked you! I did talk about Soi Cowboy after all.
D.
Growing up in Australia, you forget how surprising it is to see native animals and wildlife in the city. When you're so used to watching the kangaroos hop down George Street (Brisbane or Sydney) and tossing the koalas a eucalyptus lolly on the way to work, you forget that there's something special about seeing the country's fauna where you expect only people.
I've been surprised, and sometimes gob-smacked, at the variety of animals I've seen in Bangkok.
It was hard to tell whether this guy was friendly or not, with teeth poking out like Agrajag
(go read Hitchhiker's Guide)
The most noticeable are the soi dogs, or what Aussies would call strays. There are a lot more of them per square metre than you would see in Australia. And some are well looked after, even though they're homeless. They sleep out the front of disused buildings with their own food dishes and water bowls that people fill up for them.
There are also plenty of stray cats around, but as with cats anywhere, it's hard to tell which ones are actually strays and which ones are just out for a wander and would happily come home with you for a free feed and a bit of lap time.
I've also encountered the soi bats as I walk home some nights - they swoop down in a pale, translucent blur over your head, like an ugly magpie in nesting season. Or maybe their radar just aren't used to farang shapes yet.
I encountered one Bangkok local long before I ever saw it. I heard a noise that I assumed was the noise the traffic lights make before it's safe for pedestrians to cross, only it seemed to be coming from odd places (trees, bushes, drains). I have discovered that it's a frog call, and not a traffic aid for the visually impaired (I actually have no idea how a blind person would cross the road safely in Bangkok - my guess is by taxi).
There are squirrels a-plenty in Bangkok - you see them in much the same places as you'd spot possums in Australia - walking down the powerlines to get to another tree, or jumping on roofs. I'm not sure if they also live in your roof and wake you up at 2am when they come home and find another bloke with their girlfriend.
One animal that I didn't expect to find here was a sugar glider, but apparently they are also native to New Guinea and Indonesia. I spotted one in it's native habitat here in Krung Thep - sitting in the hand of a street vendor near Khao San Road. Here's my friend Holly modelling the beasty for us:
Holly was so impressed that she did a web search and found a site claiming the sugar glider as the number one pet to have in an apartment. It seems the glider likes nothing better than hanging out with people. In their apartments. The people's that is, not the sugar glider's.
Alphonse, who lives at the end of my Soi
Another animal I didn't expect to find strutting around the end of my street was a rooster - I have at least two. This one - let's call him Alphonse, or Fonzie for short - has his own little wicker basket that he sits in sometimes, but most of the time he's just scratching around the footpath as I walk by on my way home. I've tried saying hello, but so far we haven't really connected. Some nights I walk past, Fonzie isn't there, and the people who hang around on the street near Fonzie are enjoying a hearty meal with the local moto-taxi drivers, and I get worried for the Fonze's well-being. But the next day he's back, cock of the walk again.
I've also heard that, just like Australia, there are snakes to be found in backyards and bushes, though only the spitting cobra - nothing really dangerous like the taipan, yellow belly black, or king brown.
Bath time at elephant world
Thailand is of course well-known for monkeys and elephants, and while I have seen these in the "wild" during my time here in Thailand, I have yet to see either monkeys or elephants wandering the streets of Bangkok sniffing around for stray peanuts. Although, I have read that there is a famous elephant who often frequents Soi Cowboy.
Ha! Tricked you! I did talk about Soi Cowboy after all.
D.
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