We Found Nemo!
[Preface: This was originally sent out as an email on 28 May 2004 from Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. I (Dave) have made some minor stylistic edits to the original. Click on the pictures to enlarge.]
The last two weeks have been quite busy (which is why we have postponed our 'weekly' update).
Since we arrived in Chiang Mai, we have travelled at a dizzying pace. To begin with, we did a two-day mountain trek in northern Thailand (which included riding elephants, climbing Thailand's highest peak, and bamboo rafting), staying the night in a Karon hilltribe village (with the villagers of course). This was a fantastic opportunity to experience some of the pristine rainforests throughout northern Thailand, and we were afforded great views of surrounding peaks from high vantage points. 
Staying with the villagers also gave us a unique cultural experience. After trekking to the village all day, we were cooked a meal by our guides (some were members of the tribe we stayed with), and then our evening entertainment was a choir made up of village children singing traditional tribal (kids') songs. We were also coaxed into singing a Canadian song with two other Quebecois who were part of our trek team. To accomodate their lack of english (and to demonstrate the multilinguicality of Canada) we sang 'Frere Jacques'. When we were finished, the tribal children sang a song in their language to the same tune! Once the childrens choir left, one of our tribal guides serenaded us with his guitar, performing (of all things) 'Wonderful Tonight' by Eric Clapton and 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by the Beatles! Given that english was his third language, it was understandable that a few words were wrong and those that were right seemed to run into each other due to lack of diction. Nevertheless, we were quite surprised to hear these songs performed by a thai hilltribe villager! I suppose this experience just reinforced for me the ubiquity of western culture.
As an aside: during the trek, we met two Aussie couples who happened to have a very similar travelling itinerary to our own. As a result, we have travelled for most of the past week with our new friends, giving us some much needed english-speaking company. It has certainly been great being able to share our experiences with friends.
After our mountain-top experience, we decided to immerse ourselves in a very important aspect of authentic thai culture: food. To do so, we took a one-day thai cooking course,
which included a visit to the local food market and dish preparation of 6 different dishes. Not only did we make the dishes; we put our work to the test, eating every single one of them in a 6- hour span. While the food tasted excellent, it became gradually more difficult to finish our dishes. The school's ad line was 'our food is guaranteed to make you look pregnant'; we sure came close!
After our time in Chiang-Mai, we headed south for the last (and the most-anticipated by Barb) leg of our trip: Thailand's beautiful islands and beaches. We began in Phuket (pronounced 'poo-KET'), but were quite disappointed. The beaches were very tourist-oriented; the streets were laden with neon lights, bars, and over-zealous bar-girls (you catch my drift?). We were able to find a resort that provided some semblance of refuge, but after two days, we decided to move on to Ko Phi Phi ('ko-pee-pee') (which is where we are currently). But not before we both did our first bungee-jump (50 metres; it was fantastic)!
Ko Phi Phi is the exact opposite of Phuket. Although there is much tourist marketing for the island (its status is also heightened by the fact that the movie The Beach was filmed on one of the islands), the island has a much more laid back feel.
For starters, it is devoid of motorised vehicles; the only modes of transportation around the island are feet or boat. The 'tourist' village is quite small (one small strip of restaurants, clothes stalls, and dive shops); kinda like Jordan with a beach. The small size of the island also means that there are fewer tourists than Phuket. All this has translated into feeling more relaxed. But this doesn't mean we have laid around on the beach all day.
Our first day, we went for a short snorkling trip in one of the islands bays. From the surface, it appeared we might be disappointed, but once underwater, we were amazed by the quantity of marine life we encountered. We became so enthralled with the underwater experience that we decided (spur-of-the-moment) to take a course and get our PADI SCUBA diver's certification! This meant a half-day of class (SCUBA and related theory), half-day of confined water training (practical skill learning), and two open water dives. The open water dives were clearly the highlight of the course. We were able to do two 50 minute dives around islands that were teeming with fish and coral. It was here that we encountered Nemo (and a few of his friends as well); it was like watching the movie all over again. It really is a whole new world underwater (to concur with the little mermaid), one that is ostensibly much more colourful and intricate than the one we experience above water. As we reflect on the experience, we are both quite shocked, as neither of us had any aspirations to dive, never mind do a course to get certified! Nevertheless, the experience has hooked us, and we will probably look for many more dive experiences in the future (possibly as soon as next week).
Tomorrow we head over to the Gulf of Thailand, and another set of islands. At this point, we only have 10 more days here in SEA. We look forward to coming home, yet we are somewhat sad to be coming so close to the end.
ps. We apologize for the synopsis-like feel of this email (compared to the others), but we felt constrained by the fact that it was hard to pack two weeks of activity in a short(-ish) email and that we are finding it increasingly difficult to find time to sit in front of the computer given the pace of the last few days. Also, email access was much cheaper in Cambodia and the email cafes in Thailand are not air-con! Cheers.
The last two weeks have been quite busy (which is why we have postponed our 'weekly' update).
Since we arrived in Chiang Mai, we have travelled at a dizzying pace. To begin with, we did a two-day mountain trek in northern Thailand (which included riding elephants, climbing Thailand's highest peak, and bamboo rafting), staying the night in a Karon hilltribe village (with the villagers of course). This was a fantastic opportunity to experience some of the pristine rainforests throughout northern Thailand, and we were afforded great views of surrounding peaks from high vantage points. 
Staying with the villagers also gave us a unique cultural experience. After trekking to the village all day, we were cooked a meal by our guides (some were members of the tribe we stayed with), and then our evening entertainment was a choir made up of village children singing traditional tribal (kids') songs. We were also coaxed into singing a Canadian song with two other Quebecois who were part of our trek team. To accomodate their lack of english (and to demonstrate the multilinguicality of Canada) we sang 'Frere Jacques'. When we were finished, the tribal children sang a song in their language to the same tune! Once the childrens choir left, one of our tribal guides serenaded us with his guitar, performing (of all things) 'Wonderful Tonight' by Eric Clapton and 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by the Beatles! Given that english was his third language, it was understandable that a few words were wrong and those that were right seemed to run into each other due to lack of diction. Nevertheless, we were quite surprised to hear these songs performed by a thai hilltribe villager! I suppose this experience just reinforced for me the ubiquity of western culture. 
As an aside: during the trek, we met two Aussie couples who happened to have a very similar travelling itinerary to our own. As a result, we have travelled for most of the past week with our new friends, giving us some much needed english-speaking company. It has certainly been great being able to share our experiences with friends. After our mountain-top experience, we decided to immerse ourselves in a very important aspect of authentic thai culture: food. To do so, we took a one-day thai cooking course,
which included a visit to the local food market and dish preparation of 6 different dishes. Not only did we make the dishes; we put our work to the test, eating every single one of them in a 6- hour span. While the food tasted excellent, it became gradually more difficult to finish our dishes. The school's ad line was 'our food is guaranteed to make you look pregnant'; we sure came close!
After our time in Chiang-Mai, we headed south for the last (and the most-anticipated by Barb) leg of our trip: Thailand's beautiful islands and beaches. We began in Phuket (pronounced 'poo-KET'), but were quite disappointed. The beaches were very tourist-oriented; the streets were laden with neon lights, bars, and over-zealous bar-girls (you catch my drift?). We were able to find a resort that provided some semblance of refuge, but after two days, we decided to move on to Ko Phi Phi ('ko-pee-pee') (which is where we are currently). But not before we both did our first bungee-jump (50 metres; it was fantastic)!
Ko Phi Phi is the exact opposite of Phuket. Although there is much tourist marketing for the island (its status is also heightened by the fact that the movie The Beach was filmed on one of the islands), the island has a much more laid back feel.
For starters, it is devoid of motorised vehicles; the only modes of transportation around the island are feet or boat. The 'tourist' village is quite small (one small strip of restaurants, clothes stalls, and dive shops); kinda like Jordan with a beach. The small size of the island also means that there are fewer tourists than Phuket. All this has translated into feeling more relaxed. But this doesn't mean we have laid around on the beach all day. Our first day, we went for a short snorkling trip in one of the islands bays. From the surface, it appeared we might be disappointed, but once underwater, we were amazed by the quantity of marine life we encountered. We became so enthralled with the underwater experience that we decided (spur-of-the-moment) to take a course and get our PADI SCUBA diver's certification! This meant a half-day of class (SCUBA and related theory), half-day of confined water training (practical skill learning), and two open water dives. The open water dives were clearly the highlight of the course. We were able to do two 50 minute dives around islands that were teeming with fish and coral. It was here that we encountered Nemo (and a few of his friends as well); it was like watching the movie all over again. It really is a whole new world underwater (to concur with the little mermaid), one that is ostensibly much more colourful and intricate than the one we experience above water. As we reflect on the experience, we are both quite shocked, as neither of us had any aspirations to dive, never mind do a course to get certified! Nevertheless, the experience has hooked us, and we will probably look for many more dive experiences in the future (possibly as soon as next week).
Tomorrow we head over to the Gulf of Thailand, and another set of islands. At this point, we only have 10 more days here in SEA. We look forward to coming home, yet we are somewhat sad to be coming so close to the end.
ps. We apologize for the synopsis-like feel of this email (compared to the others), but we felt constrained by the fact that it was hard to pack two weeks of activity in a short(-ish) email and that we are finding it increasingly difficult to find time to sit in front of the computer given the pace of the last few days. Also, email access was much cheaper in Cambodia and the email cafes in Thailand are not air-con! Cheers.
posted by David Wiens at 10:40 a.m.
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