Impressions

Okay so Rachel said most of it…
But having never been here I did not know what to expect… Although necessities are cheaper in general, we must take the exchange rate into consideration. 1 CAD$ was equal to 40 Philippino pesos, and here it is about 30 baht. However, we bought things for 10 PHP, because merchants liked round numbers. Here, they do the same thing, so 10 baht is actually more than the Philippines for things like nik naks and so on…
My first impression was the difference with the cars. We took a taxi from the airport to the tourist area to get a room, and it was expensive because of the tolls. But all the taxis are new Corollas… in fact all the cars on the road are new, and the roads are more than well maintained… for the city. Driving yourself would be a nightmare at first – there are so many vehicles everywhere, and many of them are motorbikes that zig and zag and generally do not follow the road rules because they can get away with it. And know how to…
Whereas for the previous 45 days we were using tricycles (motorbikes with an attachment for people), we now have tuk-tuk, which is similar, but the layout different. We sit in a bench behind the driver, rather than to the side…
As Rachel mentioned, there are many more tourists here, and there seem to have been for much longer than in the Philippines. Needless to say, getting a fair deal can be an exercise in futility. We have just been looking around for future purchases - not wanting to buy and have to carry around the stuff for another 5 weeks – and I am getting used to the way they ask and what to expect. Though it seems like they ask for a fair price at first, you know you can do better. And I am certain the good shoppers can really bargain down. No one likes to get ripped off… I have not tried but I will not be shy I think – there are a lot of vendors after all…
The heat is similar to the Philippines, very muggy in Bangkok. Up here in Chiang Mai, the air is a little drier I find. And Thailand is cleaner in a sense. I assume many of the buildings are as old, but in Bangkok, the exteriors are not as black as in the Philippines.
Lastly, as Rachel mentioned, the language. Man I took it for granted at the amount of English in the Philippines, because here there is very little. The street vendors know a little, enough to get by on in order to make a killing (I mean living!) but every meal seems to have some problems. And we are never sure if they really understand or if they are smiling and nodding to be polite. The highway signs have no English, though the local street signs are written in English form under a larger Thai dialect.
We are here in Chiang Mai for another two days so we can catch the famous Sunday Market and other markets… need to visit some wats (temples) and maybe a museum. Then we are off to the South central part of Thailand where the beaches will be pretty and the water relaxing… this is what the vacation is supposed to be all about!
So enjoy your hockey and melting snow, we will take the white sand and clear blue waters anyday!

They call it 'The Land of Smiles'

Boracay Fun! Parrot fish at the fish market!

Yes it's true what they say...Thailand is getting more and more touristic by the day and 'farang' (western tourists) are encroaching the country left and right. But it's still nice to be back in a place where things are familiar. We had taken for granted how widespread English is spoken and written everywhere in the Philippines. It's noticeably less in Thailand. And we had to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road again...just like in NZ. We got a motorbike for a few days in Chiang Mai though Jay sits behind me cause it's safer that way...hi hi. I think we'll enjoy the rest of time we have in the north here cause it's definitely more laid back than Bangkok (although it's super catered to tourists...at every other corner there's a 'tourist office' selling tours to orchid farms, snake farms, wat (temples), cooking courses...).

They just love King in Thailsnd and glorify him

with posters, emblems, and anthems...

It's nice to have some good food with real veggie options...spicy though...ooof. Jay's lovin the pad Thai and fresh mango shakes. Oh and there's a street vendor that makes these fabulous banana and chocolate crepes right near our guesthouse...for 15 bhat (50 cents)! Things are cheaper in Chiang Mai...although they're cheaper in Thailand period. Our room is 200B, our motorbike is 100B/day....affordable henh?
well...i've been sitting here for too long trying to upload our latest photos but the blog is not cooperating with me...so we'll have to keep the snapshots, jems, mems, factoids...whatever you might call them...for later. Thanks for all the comments. Happy belated Earth Day to everyone...it was pretty well advertised all over the Phillipines and Thailand...it's a good sign ; )

Laid back Buddha at Wat Pho It's a little hard asking for directions

with landmark names lie this!

On our way...

Okay so it is nearly 3 pm on April 20th, and we are getting ready to leave this beautiful country, and head for Thailand for the next 27 days...
We have spent most of the past 3 weeks travelling in the areas more known for beaches and sun, and have been more satisfied in the recent days with our 3-day stay in Borocay. El Nido was fantastic as well... as our pictures showed. Borocay pics will be on shortly...
Rachel has been to Thailand 3 times, but this will be my first visit, so I am slightly unsure what to expect after having been here for 42 days... I expect it to be hot like hell though. And just as busy, if not worse, in the city centers. We have a few (4) destinations in mind for our 4 weeks here, and they are all tourist destinations, and so hopefully we will meet some others to travel and exchange stories with. So far we have not come across too many that we have spent and serious amount of time with... but we are headed to more beaches so we can't complain. We just need to come up with a few more card games...
I just read the Habs lost again in Boston, and need to win game 7 to move on... well the bars must be happy about this! I hope you guys are all having a great time back home with this, I would say it is the only thing I envy being away over on the other side of the world...
Ciao for now, we'll check back in soon!

More Palawan...

Here are a few more photos for your enjoyment...

The first one is in Coron, at bistro Coron, where we had a great vegetarian pizza. Yum. We were there for seven long days, so we had a few meals here.... pricing was decent and the breakfast omelets we really good... as well as their French bread... the pancake was a little heavy but came with Philippine honey, which Rachel enjoyed, but I preferred the maple syrup (not real!) that came with the pancakes or french toast at the Sea Dive...



Island hopping in El Nido...




I forgot to edit the following one...

El Nido

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then please enjoy this 5, 000 word essay on the beauty of El Nido....




Can you spot the star fish below...?

Here in Palawan, we're away from Manila's madness and a bit closer to serenity… On our last day in the big city, the owner of the guesthouse we stayed at invited us to some undisclosed ‘activity’ at a local bar. It turned out there was a reporter from National Geographic doing a documentary on a Filipino delicacy” Baluit. Now I had seen these nasty eggs all over Asia before but I never dared to try them. They are boiled eggs that have been incubated for 18-20 days – which means there’s a chick in the shell. Once the camera was rolling, I cafefully opened my egg and disecited the critter with my hands, I inspected the feathers, the claws, the beak…I opened it up and gawked at the organs…its little heart and all. And then…I ate it! Well, at least a bite of it. Jay didn’t even want to try until I kind of pressured him. Surprisingly, it tastes like boiled it…with a little “je ne sait quoi”… Anyway…keep a look out in the nest few months for, “Jay and Rachel” –the next National Geographic stars airing on TV.

On the following day we took a long ferry to the island of Coron, in Palawan. That’s me on my bunk bed in the boat. That boat was jammed packed with passengers, luggage, dogs, roosters…you name it. It was nice to finally get off and get settled in our new guesthouse: the SeaDive Resort. We went on a snorkeling boat trip with 2 other couples yesterday. Not the best snorkeling I’ve ever done but still a nice venture. We snorkeled around ship wrecks from WW2. In fact, that’s Coron’s big attraction and there are remains and mementos all over the resort. In the last picture of Jay and I, we’re sitting in the bar with the propeller of a war plane behind us.

That night we had dinner with one of the couples from the boat trip – they were on their honeymoon. I had the best meal I’ve had in a long time – fresh crab (almost as big as king crab - in the shell) in a coconut ginger sauce. The seafood here is real good…and supposedly ‘safe.’ Though I will surely be careful about eating seafood in the Philippines since a lot of their fishing is done with dynamite, cyanide or chloride poisoning. Not only does this completely ruin the coral ecosystems but it’s got to be unhealthy for us to eat.

Anyhow…I should go and meet Jay for dinner soon. Our days on this island have consisted of lounging around in hammocks, sipping San Miguel Light, playing pool at the local bar…you know…the usual. Hope we don’t get to used to this living…we’re just so good at it. I swear our stress level’s got to be down to minus 5.