Ron and Pat's Thai tour is finally underway! They rolled into Phuket last weekend, and we all spent a couple of days in Kata lounging under our beach umbrellas, enjoying the very nice pool at their hotel, and drinking decorative fruity drinks. The guys were burning up the backgammon board, and only getting slightly sunburned in the process.

Rolling directly from there into little Kuraburi must have been a little bit of a shock, but everyone seems to be adapting well. We got to hang out with the NATR crew before they took off for a fun/work retreat, and it was good for Ron and Pat to meet all the crazy kids Trevor's been working with. We were also happy to treat them to some real Thai food - considerably cheaper than Phuket options, and a lot yummier.

On Wednesday we went with Andaman Discoveries into the village of Ban Talae Nok. Trevor has been out there a lot as the program has been developing, and it was really great for him to watch the community members warming up and getting more involved with visitors, as well as seeing us have such a great time. We drove along the beach and were given a run-down on the tsunami damage, and the rebuilding process. Back at the new community center, we got to meet some members of the soap-making committee, and make our own soap strings. It was neat to see how the ladies have been able to come together and make some supplemental income for the village. Our tour guide, Tui, did a great job of translating back and forth so that we could ask questions and joke around with them.

The villagers who participate in the homestay program rotate, so each home has a chance to play host and the money is more evenly distributed. A woman named Maria cooked us a tasty fish/veggie/rice lunch at her house, and then she and a couple of the ladies helped fit Pat and Tui and I out in headscarves. It was a hot day, and the extra headcovering made it that much hotter! I suppose the ladies must get used to it, though. After lunch we learned how to make roti - a kind of traditional fried bread/pancake. We weren't super-smooth like our instructor, but it was fun. We finished the day off with a row in the mangroves before saying goodbye and driving off into the sunset.

Thursday we went out "fishing" with Bau, a fisherman friend of ours. We only did a little bit of fishing (he said the water wasn't very good for fishing - in terms of tide changes or clarity) but we did get in some primo beach and snorkeling time on a lovely little island. A quick tropical shower on the way in left us completely drenched, and Bau's mom considerately offered us some hot coffee and biscuits to help warm up.

Friday we followed up some fantastic Dim Sum breakfast with a bit more beach time closer to Kuraburi. Very lazy, with books and backgammon. Back in Kuraburi Pat and I both had lovely Thai massages (!) followed by Som Tam dinner with Jeab. Today we did a fairly rough hike up to some gorgeous rock pools on the river. Ron and Pat were troopers on the hike in... Ron came out as the grand champion with 9 leaches! Yay Ron! We were all in agreement that the destination more than made up for any hardships along the way, and we spent a pleasant couple of hours swimming, resting, and sliding around on the rocks before hiking back out.

Tomorrow morning we're off to the Surin Islands for some more great snorkeling, and then we'll be at Koh Phra Tong for yet more beach time. So far team Kostanich has been up for the Thailand challenge, but can they handle another week of sand and sun? I'm guessing yes.

Labels: hiking, Kuraburi, Phuket, sustainable tourism, Thailand

The longer we are in The East, the more we appreciate (and miss) the easy access to wilderness found at home. The island of Koh Tarutao just gave us a strong dose of this love to roam around privately amongst wild flora and fauna (pictures).

Tarutao is the largest of the 51 islands constituting the Tarutao National Marine Park in the Andaman Sea abutting the sea border with Malaysia. Em and I spent a few days on Koh Lipe last month which is the only island not run by the national park system as the government donated it to the sea gypsies who have lived there for centuries.

These sea gypsies have allowed private bungalows to continue to pop up along the beachfront. While Koh Lipe still possesses a very nice vibe and does have excellent coral right off its beaches, there is hardly any native environment above sea level around and little room to wander. Koh Tarutao, on the other hand, is massive and only a fraction of it has been touched by man. The park system has three areas offering bungalow accommodations, dining, and camping. There are many other spots to throw a tent but the access to fresh water, good cooking, and most importantly, being camped at one of the prettiest beaches I've ever visited, kept us in Ao Molae from day 3 until we returned to the mainland on day 12.

We spent our first two nights at Ao Phante Malaka, the park headquarters and pier. If we didn't know Ao Molae existed, we would have had a wonderful time staying in Phante Malaka for our entire visit. Our first morning, we chose to hike to the lookout just behind the camp for sunrise. We noticed a few macaques (commons monkey species in these parts) on the way up, thinking it was cool. Minutes later as we watched the red sun rise from the east, we had one macaque pretty much force us to move. His anger began by snorting at us and scratching the ground like he was a bull about to charge. Then he grimaced at us and violently shook the tree he was holding. OK, time to move on. In the gazebo at the top, we had more problems. We took out a snack, soon realizing that this was a mistake. Once they saw we had food, they became a little more aggressive. As I mock charged one of them, he mock charged back towards Em. OK, time to leave.

I went for a run right after this and had some more hissing from the macaques. We figured we would report their unpredictable and somewhat frightening behavior to the park staff as we expected they would send some rangers up to the gazebo to knock the monkeys around a bit and remind them who's boss. Oh no. Instead, they reinforced our concerns, "Yes, they are dangerous....and if they bite you it is worse than a dog biting you." Lovely. We were also told that it was best just to give them any food we had so they would stop threatening.

Our last day at this spot, we noticed macaques getting into the restaurant's trash and very little effort from staff trying to stop them (a sign on the front deck of the same restaurant threatened a 500 baht fine for feeding the wildlife). Given the food-human connection around park HQ, the monkey behavior made sense. Whenever we saw macaques away from this spot, they were logically more fearful of our larger size, less convinced of gaining a meal from us, and never really a problem.

Before leaving Ao Phante Malaka, we took a long tailed boat up the mangrove-lined estuary to the entrance of Crocodile Cave. Yes, there used to be crocodiles in these waters and our guide was not totally convinced they were all gone. On the way to the cave, we saw a couple large water monitor lizards before the boat grounded. This tour must be done at low tide to safely get in and out of the cave and it must have been really low this day. So, the driver, us and the other couple Tony and Katrina got out in the water to help push the boat. Fortunately, Tony was a large Dane whose strength probably saved us from waiting for the tide to rise. We went up the cave initially on a small wooden raft until we got to dry land and then were led around on a longer-than-expected walk amongst huge stalactites, stalagmites, and other impressive formations.

We had a great visit with Tony and Katrina, and they added to our desire to check out Ao Molae as they bragged about the beach where they were staying. In no hurry to leave as we were enjoying the shade the pine trees provided while still basking on the sand, we still decided to pack it up and head south to Ao Molae.

There we slowly but surely sunk into some serious beach time without ever really getting bored. We had snorkeling on either end of the bay, great bird watching with hills rising steeply behind camp, were centrally located for great walks or morning jogs to a waterfall hike, other beaches, a cross island journey, or back to park HQ via beach or road. These road walks turned out to be quite enjoyable. Because the path was cleared wide enough for a vehicle, it allowed space to view birds unlike the limited visibility while hiking in the dense jungle. It also served as a great wildlife corridor as we learned that humans are the minority of species utilizing this path of least resistance. There is a park maintenance pickup and shuttle bus that probably combined for ten daily trips on the main road, less on the smaller fork our camp was on. So, when walking on these "roads," we would see one vehicle every couple hours.

One day we made the 12 km journey to the east side of the island where the prison was located. Tarutao has a crazy history (including the filming of Survivor for all you reality TV buffs) going from sea gypsies to prisoners of war to pirates and to its current state of conserved recreation. For more facts on this lovely isle and marine park, visit here. And a map of the island - helpfully annotated with all the key Survivor locations - can be found here.

During this 12 km journey, in addition to tons of birds, we saw scorpion, snake, macaque, dusky langur, monitor lizard, geckos, and the most unique fauna of the trip, the palm civet. This four legged, skunk-marten like creature came bobbling towards us like he was drunk and blind. I kept looking at him waiting for him to notice us and wondering how he had lived so long in this wild world. Upon Internet research when returning home, we first identified it, and then learned that it is a nocturnal animal and explains his confused behavior when we saw him.

I can not leave out the bird life. It has taken some time, but I really started to appreciate the hobby of bird watching on this trip. I think it was because we sat in some neat spots where we were surrounded by noises of the jungle. Plus I have been outdoors with Em long enough where there is some residual knowledge/pleasure coming my way. Our first day on the island, we saw the oriental hornbill and continued to see many of these tropical beauties, one morning counting nine in one tree. White-bellied sea eagles and Brahminy kites are also found in abundance, and we often watched from the beach as they circled and dove over the water. Multitudes of tiny, jewel-like sunbirds were showing off their iridescent colors along the roadsides, while Asian fairy bluebirds and racket-tailed drongos swooped about more furtively in the understory.

So, where is the beach time you may ask. Oh, it is there, sometimes all day, but always some every day. The water was usually calmest and hence most clear in the mornings so this was the prime snorkeling time. Though not nearly as good as around the further-out islands, we really enjoyed the occasional snorkel, conditions permitting. We also got in some nice morning and evening strolls, just seeing what the ocean tossed up on shore that day, and what the crabs were doing about it. But most of our beach time was spent laying on the sand in the shade of a large casuarina tree. We would venture into the sun for quick swims or a few tosses of the Frisbee or longer sessions if it was cloudy or within a couple hours of sun rise or sun set. Mainly we read books or played cards while our eyes were able to stay open. Tough work. There is a stereotype of islanders that they are lazy and don't think or care about too much. After 11 days, we easily see how this stereotype can be true and at some level, admirable.

Even though we packed our home stove, we usually ate one or two meals in the restaurant and got to know the staff. The "laying around in the hammock, have to get up to cook every once in a while, yes I am lazy and no I do not care about much" staff. Good folks.

We are now preparing for a little quicker pace of travel as my parents arrive this weekend for a couple weeks of beach and culture fun. Look out, Thailand!

Labels: birds, hiking, Koh Tarutao, snorkeling, Thailand

My Aunt Nancy passed away yesterday, Saturday March 3rd. She loved her church and her music, and was on her way out the door to practice before playing in a wedding. She couldn't catch her breath, and Uncle Ches had her sit down in the car, where she quietly passed away.

At Jenny's wedding (she played for that, too) she stashed the last bottle of good red wine to make sure the two of us could have a glass later. We decided that family should get to drink the best. That was almost two years ago, and unfortunately we haven't been able to get together since. I'm very glad she had the foresight to hide the merlot, and very glad I got to share it with my Auntie.

We'll miss you, Aunt Nanc.