Thailand with Glen and Cathy

We left for Bangkok on the first day of my October break and arrived mid afternoon. The traffic was heavy, similar to Jakarta and the taxi driver joked that Jakarta is famous for the worst traffic jam ever at 47 kilometers long and that Bangkok came second. "That's not good enough," he said, "Bangkok must be first!" Actually, Bangkok is much better than Jakarta as they have about the same population but two rapid transit systems and a third being built, whereas Jakarta has nothing.
We arrived at our hotel which was right on the river. There was constant traffic going up and down the river, tugs with freighters, longtail boats with passengers commuting from one area to another and bigger tour boats. The river was high because of all the flooding in the North and there was lots of debris in the water.
We got settled in the hotel then went for a walk on a path along the river. We decided to take a longtail boat ride to see some of the city without all the traffic. It was very hot and along the way a very smiley women floated up in her boat trying to sell us trinkets. We didn't bite on those but couldn't resist the cold beer that she pulled out of a cooler! We later found out that we had paid about twice as much as we should have - no wonder she was so smiley!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we left early by bus for Ayutia, the ancient capital of Thailand. We stopped first at the summer palace of the King. It was a large acreage, beautifully landscaped and with buildings reflecting the King's interest in Asian and European architecture.

 

 

After the summer palace we went to several temples, before boarding a large boat for the two hour cruise back to Bangkok with a delicious buffet lunch as part of the package. After the hot morning tour, it was nice to relax in the air conditioning of the boat and watch the sights along the river.

 

We left Bangkok early the next morning and flew to Phuket, where a driver met us and took us North for 2 1/2 hours to where the longtail boat picked us up for the 1/2 hour ride to our ecostay on Koh Ra. It is an isolated, mountainous island in the Andamen Sea. We were given two very basic cabins on the beach with only a bed and a mosquito net in the front room and a cement floored bathroom with a toilet that had to be flushed by scooping water out of a barrel. We were the only guests, so had the beach to ourselves. It was very quiet but we amused ourselves with beachcombing, sea kayaking, walks through the jungle, bird watching and reading. We had hoped for good snorkeling but apparently we were about a week too early and the water was still murky from the rainy season. I did manage to get stung by a large, pink jellyfish! Because of the poor snorkeling, we decided to leave two days early. Lory helped us book accommodation in Phuket for our last two nights and a snorkeling tour to Phi Phi Island.

The longtail boat to Koh Ra

 

Liana vine

The Sensitive plant - it closes up when you touch it.

"Our" beach at Koh Ra

More of our beach.

The view from our cabins.

Crab patterns in the sand.

The jellyfish that stung me.

Kayaking through the mangrove swamp.

Snorkeling at Phi Phi Island.

The area where The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio was filmed.

 

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It was a great holiday and so special to share it with Glen and Cathy. Thanks for the photos, Glen, especially the underwater ones.

 

 

A Weekend in Anyer

Last weekend 12 teachers and one teacher's small son went to a beach area called Anyer three hours outside of Jakarta. It is on the Northwest tip of Java, very close to the island of Sumatra. We had rented a "cottage" that sleeps 16 and comes with two houseboys who will barbeque local fish and clean up the kitchen after meals. There were lots of bedrooms, all ensuite and the common rooms were huge. The cottage is right on the beach and looks out to Krakatoa. It was so nice to be out of crazy Jakarta and in a quiet spot with a beautiful beach and warm, clear water for swimming.
 On Sunday morning some of us got up early to go to where we had arranged for a speed boat to take us to Krakatoa. We were soon on the boat travelling across Sunda Straight. The water was calm at first but soon the water got rough and there were about 6-8 foot swells. We all put on life jackets and hoped the captain knew what he was doing. It was neat to see what is left of Krakatoa rising out of the water ahead of us. To the right of Krakatoa, we could see Anak (child of) Krakatoa, the volcano that was formed after the huge eruption of 1873. When that happened 2/3 of what was Krakatoa Island was destroyed. The sound was apparently louder than any previously or since, even louder than the nuclear bombs of WW2. It was followed by a tsunami that destroyed many villages on Java and then a wave of  poisonous gas that killed many who had survived the tsunami. We were told that the weather changed world wide for more than a year after the eruption. Anak Krakatoa is where we went ashore. There were a few other people there, some who had spent the night. They greeted us with the news that a boat with 12 people on it had gone missing and coast guard and police were out looking for it. That made the nervous boaters among us even more nervous. We were able to walk up to the first level, part way up the volcano. There is a crater there with great views out to the ocean and islands. We were able to swim in the beautiful water and the crew supplied a lunch, (nasi goring of course)  while waiting to see if we would be able to make the trip back. After a couple of hours the decision was made that we should go. Unfortunately, once we were out on the open water, it was even rougher than the first crossing. One of the waves actually crashed over the top of the boat and where I was sitting at the back, the spray was constant and I was soaked from head to foot, my eyes burning from the salt. It took about 2 1/2 hours but we finally got back safe and sound. We heard later that the missing boat had been found and everyone was safe. We got back to Jakarta to hear that while we were at Krakatoa, a volcano was erupting on Sumatra, just a short boat ride away. Maybe that explains the rough seas!

 

The cottage from the beach side.

 

 

 

 

The living room.

 

Kara chatting up a fisherman.

 

The beach outside the door.

 

Sheridan, Kristin and Erica.

 

A Javanese princess bed!

 

Tara and Erica walking to the boat.

 

 

Kara, Liz, me, Tara on one side of the boat...

Michael, Erica, Kathy and Annie on the other.

 

A fishing hut. There was a big net under the

platform that could be raised and lowered.

 

This was a very colourful  fishing boat.

Approaching what is left of Krakatoa.

 

Krakatoa from Anak Krakatoa.

Anak Krakatoa.

 

A Day in Bandung

On Saturday, Sept. 7, Kathy and I caught an early train to Bandung for the purpose of seeing an Angklung performance. Angklung are a traditional Indonesian instrument made of bamboo. A group of people in Bandung are trying to keep the art and culture of Angklung alive. It is a three hour train ride to Bandung from Jakarta. The performance didn't start until 3:30 which gave us plenty of time to find out where the performance was held, go for a walk, have lunch and even fit in a visit to a salon for a cream hair bath (Kathy) and a manicure (me). The performance was very entertaining and educational; at one point the conductor had the whole audience, each with a small, one note angklung, playing Beatles' tunes and the Bohemian Rhapsody!

Street scene.

Tropical fish for sale on the street.

Anklungs lined up for the performance.

Two of the performers.

I'm hoping the video clip below will work!

Kathy, with her one note anklung. Hers was la.

Mine was ti.

An Early Morning Walk in Jakarta

This morning a few of us met early in the morning in front of our apartments to go for a walk on the normally very busy Jalan Sudirman. (Think Granville St. but in a city of 8 million.) On Sunday mornings, the city closes the street to traffic and everyone comes out to walk, jog, bike or roller blade. There are street vendors, aerobics classes, animal lovers and unicyclists.

We left the main street to head into a nice residential area called Mentang to look for a breakfast stop.

Memories of Maggie.

After breakfast, we continued on a little further and came upon the school that Barak Obama went to as a young boy living in Jakarta. There is a statue and a plaque to commemorate it.

Kathy, Sebastian, Sheridan, Christie.