On the Move

Leaving cold (!) Chiang Mai to hot, hot Khon Kaen via Phitsanoluk

I left Chiang Mai behind on Feb 7 and traveled by train southward to Phitsanoluk where I had spent some time last year. It's a slow ride mostly because of the poor condition of the rail bed.  There is some maintenance being done but it is a far cry from the upgrade to electric of the entire system  underway in Malaysia.

Phitsanoluk Train Station where one is
greeted by their three wheeled songthaew
type transportation.
The difference here is that fares are fixed and posted
 so there is no inflated quote with subsequent haggling
as in other Thai cities.

I think I mentioned this last year so I may be repeating. Phitsanoluk seems to be an active community as I have seen relatively more runners in this city than any I have ever been in. The river pathway is always crowded in the evenings. There are many gyms like that below, usually located on a strip of land between a highway and the rail line. Annual membership fees are very reasonable at free!


From Phitsanoluk I took a six hour bus ride across the mountains to Khon Kaen in the north east of Thailand on the main highway going northward to Vientiane, Laos. This region is known as Isan and is on the Khorat plateau. Khmer (current day Cambodians) and Dvaravati(current day Laotians) are dominant cultural influences and Laotian and Cambodian dialects written with a Thai alphabet are the main languages. This region has significant archaeological finds including dinosaur fossils. Some say that here was the beginning of one of the first human civilizations. "...all of these aspects hold some level of fertility to give birth for creature including the race of human being who established one of the most important civilized culture in Isan region called Khon Kaen..." - verbatim from National Museum Brochure, English version. In recent years the Thai Government has had a 'cultural cleansing' program known as Thaification to 'make these people feel more like a part of Thailand'. In other words the Government (King?) wants these people to be loyal citizens of Thailand and not to have allegiances with their ancestral homelands. Khon Kaen is a sizable town of 114,000 and is the gateway city to Isan.

 With a tropical savannah climate the average high for February is 36.4 and for my first couple of days here it has been closer to 40.

 A dominant feature of the city is Kaen Nakorn Lake which is circumscribed with biking and jogging trails.   It's about 5km around the lake

Nine story stupa  Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon
at Wat Nong  Waeng, Kohn Kaen

.

Where am I ?

I have been spending the last few days in the towns of Phrae, Nan and Lampang which are the capitals of the respective provinces of the same name. Both Phrae and Nan have populations under 20,000. Lampang is about 230,000.These towns are off most tourist's maps especially non Thai tourists and especially Phrae. Nan has a bit more tourism due to availability of white water rafting (but not this season; as the water is too low) and the attraction of the Phumin Wat (which see below) Generally throughout Thailand tourism is down a bit as there are fewer Europeans traveling as opposed to previous years. Partly that decrease has been offset by Russians and Chinese. The Chinese are coming as a result of a Chinese movie “Lost in Thailand” and the Russians have apparently 'taken over' the popular beach/club/moon party Phuket.

There's a lot of bricks in the wall - end view

Remainder of old city wall - Nan, Thailand

Home of the Phumin temple, imfamous for its murals that depict Buddha in another incarnation as well as scenes of village life during that lifetime

Buddha's Lover

Buddha in one of his incarnations

Buddha Today inside Wat

Together

Interesting Old Wooden Building Phrae

Interesting Old Wooden Building Detail Phrae

Typical stilted wooden Thai house in a Ban (Village) near Phrae
Cattle and livestock kept underneath living quarters.
Now mostly used for parking vehicles and for patios.
Black container outside is garbage bin.

Typical stilted mahogany wooden Thai house # 2

Cocks of Thailand used for fighting.
 Important symbol as ancient Thai King defeated a Burmese King
in a cockfight.  One official fight site allowed per town

Single bloom along highway

Community Life part of wall mural in Phumin Wat, Nan

There are several National Parks in Northern
Thailand but, for an aging, whitey who doesn't speak Thai travels alone and doesn't know how to drive a motorcycle; getting to them is somewhat problematical. In Phrae I thought I had it all arranged. I went to the queue of Blue Songteous with map and official TAT (Tourist Authority of Thailand) brochure in hand; both of which showed the park in Thai writing. It took several attempts of 'talking' with different people before concluding which songteou went in that direction, at what time and for how much. So I took note of the tag number and said I would return the next day. Which I did. I found the target vehicle and the driver shook his head indicating no when I showed him the same info as the day before. He pointed toward another songteau so I approached it and there were several people whom I considered were drivers and so repeated my song and dance with them. They shook their heads 'no', and pointed me back to the guy I originally talked to. So I went back to my room. I didn't want to hop onto a songteau and not know where I was going and no idea, if I did get to the park, how I would return.

These modes of transport usually don't have fixed schedules and the drivers usually waits until they have an acceptable number of passengers before leaving their station. In Chiang Mai that is no problem. But in smaller towns where English is seldom heard it's a different matter. There may be days when there is no sonteau that passes by the park. In fact today I walked several kms in that direction and I think not a one passed by in either direction.

In Phrae one hardly sees another tourist. In Nan there are quite a number of Thai tourists. TAT's brochures for the different Provinces usually focus on Wats and Provincial Parks. Generally speaking I would say only those people seriously interested in studying the historical and architectural nuances or seeking out so called relics of the Bhudda as well as those on 'homage' would be attracted to these smaller places. For me, after I have seen a dozen or so Wats I have no need to see more.

It is surprisingly hard to find vegetarian food in these parts – especially as most eating places have no menu or menus in Thai only and no staff that speaks English. On my last vist to Phrae there was an excellant Vegetarian restaurant with an eco-enviro consciousness about it. It is no longer here. At one of the eateries a partially English literate pointed me 'just past the 7-11, turn left and then right. I did find the place but it was closed. In Nan there was a Vegetarian restaurant close to the guest house. For a few days it was closed as the apparent manager/owner who spoke English told me her mother was in the hospital and she had to take care of that. She reopened the day before I left.

Decorations on bow of long boat

Long Boat on Display

Songteau queue Phrae, Thailand
Transport to National Park?

Long Boat in River

 

Randomness in Photos

Here is Teemu and Ulla-Maija cooking up Xmas dinner at Lazy Boys Lodge in Ferringhi.  At Teemu's  blog site http://www.teemusyrjala.com/  you can see yours truly and Teemu's tribute to me.  If it comes up in Finnish click on "translate" and you will get the English version

Proof I was there in Georgetown

Near Ferry Terminal - Butterworth

Little India Taking it Easy - Georgetown

Small Container Port - Butterworth opposite Georgetown 

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Venue for the Penang Marathon includes crossing the Penang Bridge connecting Butterworth on the mainland to Georgetown on Penang Island.  A second bridge up island is under construction.

Getting onto the Penang Bridge from Butterworth

East section Penang Bridge

West section Penang Bridge

At Fort Cornwallis

Georgetown Clock Tower

Municipal Buildings - Georgetown

From the plaque:

"The Esplanade was in bygone days, a rather romantic place. On the fifteenth night of Chinese New Year, called Chap Goh Meh, when the moon was full, the Straits Chinese would gather atthe Esplanade.  The highlight of the occasion was a procession of Nyonya maidens who were cloistered in their homes at other times.This was therefore the only opportunity for young men to view the girls, and then to make enquiries that might lead to marriage.  The girls would alight from their carriages or cars to throw oranges into the sea, wishing for a good match."

Coach for ladies only

Penang Holidays - Where I spent Xmas

I have been in Batu Ferringhi up the coast from Georgetown. Batu Ferringhi is a beach town and I am Lazy Boy Lodge (owned by absentee Swedes). Nearby is a National Park (Taman Negara) with a trail system that includes a trail to Monkey Beach and onward to a lighthouse. I have trouble with my photo uploader so had to use a roundabout way of first creating a Picasa WebAlbum and the linking to Blogger.

At the Park Entrance

On the Trail to Monkey Beach

Finding My Roots

Sometimes the trail is not so smooth

Only 1 km to go

Here is Monkey Beach

Seen at Monkey Beach - Not Edible

Another 1.2 km from Monkey Beach up 300 concrete steps 
Remember  - "Open Your Shoes"

Lighthouse at End of Trail

Back in KL

I took the bus from Tana Rata to Ipoh and then took the electric train from there to Kuala Lumpur.  I de-trained at Kuala Lumpur station which is the stop before KL Sentral at the old train station.  The KL stop is close to the Matahari Lodge where I am staying; which, in turn is close to my dentist, Central Market and Chinatown.

I had been under the weather for three days with some kind of bug with flu like symptoms.  I thought maybe I had been a recipient of a spillover virus or bacterium. Or perhaps it was a psychosomatic reaction to the book Spillover by  David Quammen which discusses many infections from the past such as SARS, AIDS virus, Q Fever and so on.  In particular the story of each event details the search for primary hosts and the path that the pathogen took on its way to humans.

Good Run Y'all - soaked from the heat and humidity

Check out those new LunarGlide4's Post Race

David on the left and Azri on the right
I have his medal and official shirt
(on a timer on the trunk of the car)

I was chatting with Azri in the Matahari Lodge when the subject turned to running. Azri 42 years old, had started running a couple of years ago when his doctor told him he could change his life style or go on meds for the rest of his life. He took up running quite seriously and was quite impressed that I, at my age was running marathons and halfs  and at my times. I became his inspiration as I became the oldest runner of his acquaintance.  He told me of an upcoming 12 km run and invited me to join him. It was too late to register, but he was confident I could run wihtout being registered. So he picked me up at 6:00AM Sunday and off we went to the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club where, at the Equestrian park where the race was to begin.

By the time we arrived parking along the thoroughfares already extended far from the entrance and along both sides of the collector lane. Azri decided to go past the entrance and circle back on the other side of the boulevard. In the meantime a bus was trying to come onto the collector lane but couldn't make the turn because runner's vehicles were parked on both sides and one car was blocking the bus path. We were behind the bus. So a group of guys lifted the offending car out of the way and we finally got moving again.

We walked back to the start point and it was evident from the throngs of runners I could remain anonymous. Azri had given me his T shirt so I would 'blend in' and he wore his timing bib on another shirt. Since there were several thousands no one was going to spot me and pull me from the run. I called the run the HHH Run. - Hot, Humid and Hilly. About three km from the end at the last water stop I could feel my brain boiling from increased core temp. I had already taken my shirt off (the only one on the course to do so, I am sure) and took a couple of cups of water and poured over my head. Fortuneately the last three km were on a down slope so I cruised into the finish at 1:08. Azri had come in at 1:07. I was happy at my time especially with the environmental conditions and since I have not been doing much running as I was not intending on another event this year after Moncton.

Afterwards Azri picked up his package and medal – I had to pass on that as I was not a registrant. You can see in the photo my borrowed official shirt and the finisher`s medal. I told Azri that when I did a run with my daughter that we had a ritual of going to Starbucks afterwards. So that`s what we did. We went to one in the office complex where Azri used to have his office. He owns two companies – One manufactures children`s playground equipment and the other manufactures aquaculture tanks.

On the return we passed by the King`s Palace, State Mosque and Sharia Court but no tourist pics! So you have to imagine or go to the web.  And then returned to the Lodge. Azri and his wife who, co-manages Matahari Lodge, are both Muslims – I think quite liberal ones.

Now Monday morning I am on the Express Sinaran Utara in first class (Train) headed to Butterworth from where I will cross to Georgetown (UESCO Heritage) on Penang Island. Maybe I will get a place there to hunker down over the Xmas – New Year period.