Category: Thailand

We were up early.  The birds sit on our spreaders at night and pooped all over the deck so after breakfast we swabbed the boat clean of bird poop 💩.  Then we got ready to leave. We decided to try Captain Hooks again.  It was a short motor back up to Captain Hook’s Resort.  Once anchored, Rick decided it was time to do some laundry.  Here’s a picture of Rick’s new venture, creatively called Rick’s Laundry Service.  

One of the sights at Captain Hook’s is a river that you can go up in the dingy.  At night it is supposed to be full of fireflies but they recommend going up during the day before trying it at night.  So we took the dinghy along the shore and sandbar and then up the river.  The river had a couple of restaurants and a small resort. 

Then we decided to continue along the shoreline to the next resort, a little further south on Koh Kut. 

We tied up the dingy and climbed the ladder onto the dock.  We walked along and saw a coffee shop.  Rick needed more ground coffee so we went in to see if we could buy some.  The woman in the shop didn’t speak any English so it was difficult.  Rick was trying to mime what he wanted and that didn’t work.  Then the lady was trying to use google translate. That wasn’t working either.  Then an English speaking woman arrived.  She was able to translate and we ultimately got our coffee.  We all had a good laugh about the process. 

In the store there was a brochure for a souvenir shop so we asked for directions and decided to walk there. It was about a 15 minute walk in the hot sun.  Unfortunately there wasn’t any thing that we wanted to buy there so we walked back.  We were going to try to eat lunch at the resort but couldn’t find the dining room so we came back to the boat for lunch.  We had our usual cold cuts for lunch.

After lunch we digested for a little while and then went snorkeling at a little reef about 500 ft away.  We had seen dive and snorkel boats tied up there previously.  They must feed the fish because they swarmed us as soon as we got in.  We saw zebra fish, parrot fish, and others we don’t know the names of.  Rick saw a giant abalone.  It was fun to be in the water.  After about an hour we came back to the boat and took showers.  

That evening we went to Captain Hook’s Resort for dinner.  We didn’t go up the river to see the fireflies because it was low tide. 

When we got back to the boat it was really rolling.  The wind had the boat pointing perpendicular to the swell, so the boat was rocking back and forth.  There was nothing we could do about it.  Our contract says we can’t move the boat after dark so we had to live with it.  It was a long night with limited sleep.  The other boat anchored in the same bay left because it was so bad.  At one point we heard a slamming noise and thought we had hit another boat or a reef.  Fortunately it was just a cabinet door in the head.  The whole boat was creaking.  Rick vowed that we weren’t going to put ourselves through a night like that ever again.

We slept until sunrise and were awaken by a recording of chanting monks from the monastery on the hill.  The fishing boats were not back yet.  They came back around 7 so they were out for about 14 hours.  We haven’t figured out the whole fishing process.  The fishing boats we saw yesterday were very small and basic, certainly no refrigeration, so we are not sure if a middle man meets the boats off shore or what.  The village seems too small and remote for them to bring the fish back to town for distribution.  We waited for the morning weather report and based on it decided to go to Ao Check Ki or Captain Hook’s Bay on Koh Kut.  We motor sailed there, pulled in and got anchored.  Here are pictures of the bay.

Rick went for a swim and then we dinghed into the resort for lunch.  We had a nice lunch at Captain Hook’s Resort. 

After lunch we were going to explore the resort when Rick noticed our boat was rocking a lot as a result of the swells.  We decided it would be too rocky to sleep so we needed to move.  We motored a little way down the coast back to Bang Bao which is a very protected harbor and not vulnerable to the swells.  

We anchored near another boat from the same charter company.  The charter was captained by the charter company’s director who had helped us through our motor issue.  We dinghed over to say hi and he invited us onboard.  His guests were the owners of a catamaran charter company in the Seychelles.  The boat was a 2019 45ft Bavaria, a beautiful boat.  He and Rick swapped sailing stories.  He grew up near the Whitsunday Islands in northeastern Australia.  He told us about watching humpback whales giving birth there in September. Sign us up!  His guests woke up and told us a little about the Seychelles-another place to add to the sailing list.

Then we went ashore for a drink and to watch the sunset.  We sat in low chairs in the sand, had a drink and some appetizers and watched the sun go down.  It was gorgeous!  

Then we came back to the boat and relaxed until bed.

Another rough day in the Thai islands

We were up early, 5:30.  At around 8, we dinghed back to the resort thinking we might get some breakfast but they just had a big buffet and I wasn’t into that.  So we came back to the boat and I had a bowl of cereal.  We waited to get the weather report from Phil before figuring out where we wanted to spend the night.  We decided to head towards the northeastern side of Koh Kut to a bay called Ao Salat. The seas were a little rocky which always puts me to sleep.  So Rick had a nice sail and I had a nice nap.  We sailed up the side of the island and turned right along the top of the island.  We pulled into Ao Salat and were the only sailboat there.  There were a lot of fishing boats, an interesting little village along the dock and a golden Buddha on the hill.  

After anchoring we went ashore.  Our cruising guide said just tie up along the pier near a ladder.  There were so many fishing boats we had trouble finding an open spot.  Here’s where we ended up. 

We walked along the pier and looked around.  The OAT portion of our trip showed us the life of a Thai farmer.  This was a lesson on the life of a Thai fisherman.  The houses were very basic and opened right up onto the pier.  There was a second row of houses behind the first.   No such thing as locking your dock, they didn’t even have a door.  Most people had very little furniture.  Everyone seemed to have a TV. 

We walked up to the Buddha and climbed the bell tower for some amazing views. 

There were monks at the monastery and a young boy, Doa, who introduced himself to us, but that was about all he could do in English. 

We also met a nice German couple who was staying in Bang Bao.  They gave us a map and told us about some other things to do on Koh Kut.  We looked at some restaurants but decided it would be better to eat on the boat.  As we were returning to our boat around 5:00 many of the fishing boats were going out. 

They all seem to have banks of bright lights which we though they used while they were processing the fish.   Later we learned that the lights were used to attract the squid they were out for.

That evening Rick made red curry with pork and we ate on the boat. Here’s a picture of the Buddha at night.

The water was very calm and we had a nice breeze so we slept great.  

This morning we decided to go shore while it was still cool.  We walked along a road that paralleled the beach.  Not much to see, another resort and a couple of nice rental properties.  Then we cut down to the beach and walked through the three resorts.  A nice little walk. 

We also dinghed overto Koh Kham and beached our dinghy.  We were going to wander around the island but they wanted 200 baht per person. It was getting hot so we headed back to the boat. 

We returned to the boat and relaxed for a while before pulling up the anchor.  The anchor came up on to the gypsy (the name of the place where the anchor rests) upside down so we fought with that for a while, but eventually got it straightened out.  

Then we were off.  Our tentative plan was to start off by exploring the southern most island in the chain, Koh Kut.  Based on the weather report that we received from Phil there were three potential harbors that would be good anchorages for that night.  We selected Ao Bang Bao, a very well protected harbor on the southwestern side of Koh Kut, about a 2 1/2 hour trip.  We motor sailed  most of the way. With just an hour left to go, the low oil pressure alarm started going off intermittently.  We tried slowing down but still the alarm was going off.  Eventually Rick looked under the motor housing and he said there was oil everywhere.  We turned off the motor, put up the sails, and called Phil.  We were nervous about trying to sail into Bang Bao because the cruising guide said that the harbor entrance as narrow.  We sailed by it and it didn’t look too bad.  Phil said it was ok to turn on the motor if needed when anchoring.  So we went for it and it worked out just fine. 

Phil had sent one of his mechanics via speedboat. About an hour after we had anchored the mechanic arrived.  The engine has two dip sticks and one of them had come lose.  He spent about an hour fixing the engine and cleaning the bilge, which was full of oil.  When he was finished we were as good as new.  We had spent the last several hours thinking that the engine was toast and coming up with scenarios about what we would do, but we were back in business.  That evening we went ashore and had a nice dinner at The Beach Nature Resort.  We came back to the boat and I had to work hard to stay up until 8:30. 

What a day!  We always say something will happen and we had our first something today. 

As usual when we’re on a sailboat we wake up pretty early.  We went into the marina for a shower and to check with Phil on a couple of open issues.  Then we were off.  We were headed to Koh Mak.  The winds were not cooperating so we motored the whole way, about 2 1/2 hours.  We anchored in a lovely little bay called North Koh Mak.  Just us, two other sailboats and one very small catamaran.  We cruised around our dinghy, checking out the beach.  There were three resorts and a deserted resort on Koh Kham, a small island just across the bay.  

That evening we just had a light dinner on the boat.  First day is always a little difficult since we don’t know the boat and we don’t know the area.  It’s good to have day one behind us!

We were up very early to get to the airport in time for our 8:30 flight.  Lin, George, and Margie came with us.  We got checked in and found the lounge where we relaxed and ate breakfast with Lin. Too soon we had to say good bye to her.  She told us that in Buddhism you can add salt by doing bad things that give you bad karma or you can  you can add water by doing good things that give you good karma.  The goal is lots of water and little or no salt.  Lin is a wonderful person with lots of water and very little salt.  I’m going to miss her.

Our flight to Trat, in southeastern Thailand, was uneventful.  Our taxi was waiting for us and took us via ferry to Koh Chang.

Once on the island the ferry took us to the supermarket.  This supermarket was recommended by our charter company because it had good variety, but it sold most everything in bulk.  I had to buy 5 lbs of sugar in order to have a lunch title sugar for my cereal.  Oh well, we will give the extra away. 

Then our driver took us to the marina where we loaded our stuff onto the boat.  Our boat is a 2008 37.5 ft Catalina named Vague a L’ame. After stowing the groceries we met with Phil, the operations manager of the charter company.  He gave us a chart briefing, telling us where we could and couldn’t go, and a little tidbit about each harbor.  Then he came and reviewed the boat with us.  

At that point we could have left but decided to spend the night at the marina. We just wanted a little time to get situated.  They moved us onto a mooring ball so we would be out of the way of boats coming in the next morning and so that we would be a little cooler.  Here’s our view of the base from the mooring and other boats waiting to be chartered. 

We went to bed early, it had been a long day.

We had a leisurely morning. I think most people slept in.  At 9 some of our group left the hotel and went into Chiangrai.  Other relaxed by the pool. 

The first stop of our tour was a statue of the founder of Chiangrai.  There were people there leaving offerings to him because it is believed that he can their grant wishes. 

Next we drove by a clock tower designed by the artist who built the White Temple.  The style was pretty similar. 

We also went to a temple that had a copy of the Emerald Buddha (the original is in Bangkok at the palace).

We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage.  It was the final time we were going to see our driver, Mr. Dang, who had been with us the whole time.  Although OAT provides him with a tip we decided we wanted to do a little extra for him because he did a great job of taking care of us.  Here is a picture of Dan giving him the envelope. 

Mr. Dang dropped us at the Chiangrai airport where we got a flight to Bangkok.  We returned to our original Bangkok hotel.  That evening we had a farewell dinner.  Everyone said how much they had enjoyed the trip and how much we appreciated Lin, her knowledge, her humor, and her flexibility.  It really was a great trip.  

After breakfast we departed the hotel for Doi Tung Royal Villa.  Chiangrai is in the golden triangle which historically covered Northern Thailand, Burma, and Laos.  Local hill tribes in this area grew poppies for opium.  The mother of the last king decided to establish a residence in this area to try to bring attention to the region and provide the locals with other ways to support themselves.  Through her and others’ efforts, opium production in Northern Thailand has halted and many other crops have been introduced.  Sounds like she was an amazing woman.  We toured her home (we couldn’t take pictures in the house), her garden and a small museum, aptly called the Hall of Inspiration.  

We went to lunch in a remote local village of 2,000 people.  To get there we took tractor/pick up trucks.

On the way we saw people picking tea.  Lin got out to buy some, but we didn’t drink any because she wasn’t sure if it was safe.

When we arrived there were ladies there selling various goods.  One of them had a baby.  We had received stuffed tigers at the tiger reserve which we intended to give away so we gave one to the baby.

The restaurant was a beautiful, remote retreat. 

After lunch we went to the area where Thailand, Laos, and Burma’s borders meet along the Mekong River.  The Chinese had leased the land along the river and were building casinos.  There were a couple of large Buddhas there.  We looked in a few shops but didn’t find anything we wanted to bring back.  

That evening we had dinner at the hotel.  A number of people from our group, including Rick and Lin, sang karaoke that evening.  Again, it was a lot of fun.  

This morning we packed up our suitcases because we are going to Chiangrai.  Before we left Chiangmai we went to a Buddhist university at Wat Suan Dow where we received a lecture from a Buddhist monk who taught there.  He told us about what new monks learn and a little about Buddhism.  He showed us how to put on a monk’s warp.  It was a very interesting and inspirational discussion.  

Then we went to Lin’s house for an early lunch.  She has a beautiful, large home — not quite what I was expecting.  We met her in laws who live with her and her husband.  Unfortunately her son was not home.  Their house was decorated for Chinese New Year because her in laws are from China.  We had a delicious lunch. 

We were back on the road and on our way to Chiangrai.  En route we stopped at Wat Rong Kuhn, commonly referred to as the “White Temple.”  This temple was constructed in 1997 by local artist Chalermchai Kositpipa.   We accessed the temple by crossing over a bridge that was built over a pit of reaching arms, meant to symbolize souls reaching up from hell. Inside there are murals with pop culture icons, like Pikachu, telling us that we are encouraging violence to our youngsters.  At the same site was a museum of his art.  He used a variety of mediums to create very interesting Buddhist/Hindu art.

Back on the bus we went to our Chiangrai hotel, which was right next to rice paddies, and had lovely manicured grounds.  

That night we had dinner at the hotel.  They had entertainment, a couple sing oldies.  We were enjoying dinner and the next thing I knew Lin was singing with them.  She was so fun, dancing around.  There was an Australian group and we all were dancing and laughing.  Lin is a real pip as Ann would say. 

Today was our free day in Chiangmai.  Most of our group wanted to go to the tiger sanctuary.  Lin arranged to have our bus take us there.  They have about 45 tigers of a variety of breeds and ages.  We walked around and checked them all out. Ann, Rick and I had purchased tickets to go into the cages with the baby, 6 week old, tigers.  We had to wear a smock over our clothes and slippers. We spent about 15 minutes with the babies.  They were very cute and playful.  We all loved it. 

Sometime later someone told us that they may have drugged the tigers.  They didn’t seem drugged but I’m certainly no expert.  All I can say is I hope they don’t drug them.

Then we took the bus back to the hotel.  A smaller group of us went to a pizza restaurant just down the block from our hotel.  It was very good and another nice break from Thai food.  

Then we ventured into the city.  We stopped at a couple of temples and spoke with one of the nuns we met.  Then we headed off to the market.  Some of our group bought some items but we just looked around.  We were trying to find a tablecloth like the one we had seen at the home hosted dinner, but no luck.  It was really hot so we went back to the hotel.  After it cooled down a little, I walked into the old city which is only about 1 square mile.  It was surrounded by a moat and wall with beautiful flowers near the entrance.  Honestly it didn’t look much different from the rest of the city, but at least can say I explored it.    

 

According to TripAdvisor the 10th best restaurant in the world, called David’s Kitchen, is in Chiangmai.  We had made reservations about a month earlier.  Lin had arranged a taxi to take us there.  We didn’t quite make it on time because there were 4 colleges all getting out at the same time.  The traffic was terrible.  We were immediately greeted by David himself.  It was a really lovely restaurant with very, very attentive staff.  Rick and Ann shared two appetizers, gnocchi stuffed with lamb shank and grapefruit wrapped in cucumbers with fried fish on top.  For dinner Ann had salmon, Rick had snow fish and I had boeuf bourgeois.  It was excellent!

They called us a taxi and we headed back to the hotel.