TravelStream™ news feed for member donna321 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/donna321 en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:06:29 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/donna321/1/1233295680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/donna321/1/1233295680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/donna321/1/1233295680/tpod.html Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:06:29 -0400 Wanderlust and Sunshine

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Ban Khao Lak, Phangnga, Thailand

After exploring the temples of Siem Reap, we were looking forward to the next bit of our trip - heading back into Thailand and taking it easy on the beautiful beach of Khao Lak. Khao Lak is on the west coast of Thailand - about an hour and a half north of Phuket (though for some reason the map here doesn't accurately depict its location). It was the area hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, but it has since bounced back with a large contingent of primarily European visitors - mostly interested in diving and visiting the nearby national parks.

We had a great time in Khao Lak - the beach at our hotel was beautiful - hardly anyone on it, but the local fishermen. We spent much of our time walking on the beach, watching hermit and ghost crabs (yes, it's actually very entertaining!), soaking up the sun, and just plain relaxing. (I was also happy to be doing all of this in a lovely villa on the beach, especially knowing that my accomodations were not going to be as "comfortable" during the next part of my trip - about which I didn't know much, other than I was going to be living in someone's house in a tiny Thai village, on a remote island . . .) The highlight of our time in Khao Lak, other than watching the picturesque sunsets, was a trip to Koh Surin. Not many people visit these islands, as they're not easily accessible, and can only be reached by speedboat from Kuraburi (about an hour north of Khao Lak) or on an overnight dive boat from Khao Lak. We chose to go there, as opposed to the closer Similian Islands, because of that fact, and since the Surins have some of the best shallow water coral around for snorkeling. And they didn't disappoint - although I didn't see a sea turtle (this has been my underwater quest for many years), we did see a couple of really cool octopuses, vivid and varied coral, and colorful fish. I did get stung by coral that I accidentally touched with my shin (it was REALLY shallow water), which actually just stopped hurting a couple of days ago . . .

The only downside to our time in Khao Lak was the perfect storm of financial/logistical mishaps that occurred for me - my ATM card wouldn't work (apparently, my bank banned ATM withdrawals in the ENTIRE country of Thailand), my cell phone was disconnected, my credit cards got turned off, and I lost my credit card pin #s . . . Thankfully, it all worked out, since I luckily realized all these things while still with Jason, and was able to use his phone to straighten some stuff out . . . whew! But our time in Khao Lak sadly drew to an end, which meant that Jason was heading back to NYC. My ride to Kuraburi picked me up on January 20th - from there I would catch a longtail boat to Koh Pra Tong, where I would volunteer with an Italian nonprofit organization to help protect sea turtles.

My time on Koh Pra Tong (about 10 days) was an experience that I will never forget - wonderful and memorable for so many reasons - not least of which is for the people that I met while on the island . . . Koh Pra Tong is an incredibly beautiful place only about 5 km from the mainland - however, it takes about an hour to get there by longtail boat, traveling through turquoise water, passing many fishing boats along the way . . . There's not much on the island, but for three small villages, an ecolodge, and two tiny bars with bungalows. Koh Pra Tong means "Golden Buddha Island". . .

My stay began with a lovely "welcome" performance of "New York, New York", sung with heavy Italian/Portuguese accents by four of the other volunteers/staff, as my boat pulled up to our "pier". I immediately felt at home on the island, as I was shown my room in the house where I would be living (owned by a woman named Fon), and the location where we would be eating our meals when not on a turtle "shift" - a lovely, shady area at a woman named Lamyung's house. Lamyung cooked all of our meals, which were inredibly delicious . . . We were located in a village called Lion's Village (also known as Pak Chok), so named since it had been re-built with support from Lion's Club International, after it had been destroyed by the tsunami. The village of about 100 people has about six "streets", a lovely school, and two cell phone towers (go figure). The organziation I was working with had been originally located at the Golden Buddha Beach Resort (the ecolodge on the other side of the island), but had relocated within the village, itself, after the tsunami completely wiped out the ecolodge and everything the organization had. Being in the village provides a great opportunity for interaction with the community - where the organization also teaches English and environmental education.

(An Aussie journalist on the island at the time of the tsunami wrote a book recounting the horrific event - including a vivid description of the experience of the folks involved in the organization. They very sadly lost two staff members.)

I was happy to learn that there were a number of other volunteers on the island with me, since I'd had no idea if it would just be me - Daniella, Anna (my roommate while on the island) and Lucia (a kung fu expert, who gave us a lesson) from Switzerland; and, Julia, Sophie, John and Leslie from England. The staff included Karina from Portugal, Mik from England, and Por from Thailand, in addition to Monica and Claudio - the Italian scientists who head up the organization. Leslie and John had volunteered with the organization on a number of previous occasions - they're teachers in a school for the deaf, and so help out with preparing lessons for the schoolchildren in the village. (They also gave us many signing lessons - I'm proud to say that I can now ask you what your hobbies are and call you a bastard in British sign language.)

Our days pretty much looked like a mix of the following:

5:30 am: take the longtail boat to one of the Golden Buddha Beaches (we called them GBB 1, 2 and 3) to look for turtle tracks (indicating a nest had been dug the night before). Walking GBB 2/3 involved a walk of only 5 km, while walking GBB 1 involved walking a total of 10 km in soft sand. I realized on my first day on the island, that I'd be getting a lot more exercise than I'd had in a long time . . .

7:30 am: Breakfast, if not on early morning turtle track duty.

8:00 am: if not on the early shift looking for turtle tracks, ride bikes through the savannah and sand, leave them at the Sea View bar, and then walk the rest of the way to do "Observation from the Rock" - here we looked for turtles in the sea from Hornbill Hill, and registered their behavior if we saw any (I was the lucky one, seeing two). (We also did this in the afternoon as well, taking the boat out to the Rock and then picking up the bikes to ride them home.)

9:30 am: come back by boat from the beach if on the early turtle track shift, or get dropped off at Koh Ra to look for turtle tracks every 3rd day.

12:30 pm: Lunch

2:00 pm: get picked up from GBB if did the early morning "Obs from the Rock"

3:00 - 7:00 pm: Help out with some stuff around our "headquarters" - Ban Tao (Turtle House) and Mangrove House; ecology talks; or just relax. (On one day we went into the mangroves with some visiting scientists.)

7:00 pm: Dinner

Unfortunately, we didn't find any nests while I was on the island. I had joked with Jason before I left for Koh Pra Tong that I'm turtle repellent, since I have yet to see one while snorkeling - though Jason has already seen two, while on the same trips with me - but it seemed that the reason for the lack of sea turtles wasn't me, but was the abnormally cold water temperature. The water was starting to warm up, however, as the days went by (we took water/air temp and tide levels every day before doing the Obs from the Rock), so hopefully they've found evidence of nests since I left. If they do find a nest, they mark the location, and then usually move the eggs to a safer spot. However, the number of nests on the Andaman coast has declined precipitously - they only found 8 nests on Koh Pra Tong last year. (The colder water temperature, though bad for turtles, apparently brought with it a slew of gigantic jellyfish - as I traveled to and from the island to Kuraburi, you could see these huge, white jellyfish in the water, and many fishing boats going after them. The fishermen sell the jellyfish for 1.5 baht per kilo to Taiwan/Japan - that's 4 CENTS!!!) And though I didn't see many live turtles, I did have the incredibly sad task of having to go with one of the staff to take measurements, etc. of a giant leatherback turtle that had washed up on one of the beaches - it had gotten caught in fishing rope. I had to document almost every inch of the turtle on film - making sure to get a good record of its injuries. We also needed to cut its head off, so that we could later use the turtle skull for educational purposes - I will never forget the smell or how heavy the head, itself, was, as we carried it in a bucket . . . I had forgotten how absolutely tremendous these creatures are - I'd had the awe-inspiring experience of watching them lay eggs in Costa Rica many years before . . . needless to say, it was an emotional experience that I hope to soon replace with a positive encounter. . .

I also had the great experience of seeing a colleague of mine from work (Pattie) on the island. Though there are multitudes of islands around Thailand that people typically go to for vacation, Koh Pra Tong is definitely not one of them. What an incredible coincidence that Pattie and I ended up on this remote island at the same time - though for just one day (she was staying with a friend of hers, after traveling elsewhere in SE Asia). Though we had tried to coordinate meeting each other in a more "civilized" way (over a meal, maybe?), we ended up only seeing each other for 5 minutes, as we both waded through the water near GBB 1 - Pattie getting off our fishing boat and me getting on, after it had luckily rescued her from Koh Ra after she and her friend had been stranded there after snorkeling by a less-than-responsible boat driver. Though it was only for such a short time, it was still great to see her, nonetheless.

As I mentioned earlier, I loved my time on the island - a big contrast to my life in NYC - all of which I embraced and really enjoyed (some things of course, moreso than others :)) - electricity only for four hours a night from a generator; having to use a headlamp and trip my way outside and downstairs to the bathroom in pitch darkness if nature called in the middle of the night, trying not to miss the "squat" toilet; cold showers (actually not bad!); many mosquitoes; sharing the bathroom with a frog; lots of wading to and from the boat - either in beautiful water by GBB or in knee-deep mud in the early morning darkness if low tide; mastering the special talent of jumping across 2 - 4 longtail fishing boats tied together at the "pier" (some still with jellyfish parts) without falling in or out; cicadas that started "chirping" at 6:35 pm every night, in perfect unison; coca cola for 20 cents a can; and the most beautiful beaches you could ever imagine - with not a soul on them . . .

I ended my stay on the island as I'd begun - with a farewell song sung to me to the tune of "New York, New York" - but this time personalized and reflecting some of my experiences on the island. . . I miss Koh Pra Tong and all the wonderful people I met there already . . .
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Damascus, Syria

Visiting Qala'at al-Husn (Krak des Chevaliers) - probably the most magnificent and well-preserved Crusader castle in the world, and spending the last days of my journey in Damascus . . .
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Aleppo, Syria

Even more interesting than Damascus - a souq where you step back in time, more winding streets and even more friendly people - don't stick to a strict schedule, since everyone wants you to join them for tea. My favorite place in Syria . . .
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Bosra, Syria

The Amphitheater at Bosra . . .
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Damascus, Syria

Damascus - maybe the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, filled with magical winding alleys, minarets, souqs, and tons of religious and other history, alongside the modern and cosmopolitan, and the most hospitable, welcoming people . . .
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Aleppo, Syria

St. Simeon (born around A.D. 390) lived almost 40 years on top of a pillar to escape pilgrims seeking his blessing.
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Apamea, Syria

Apamea (city of the Seleucid and Roman Empires) and Serjilla, one of the "Dead Cities" (Byzantine-era towns that were mysteriously abandoned) . . .
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

After a wonderful time in southern Ethiopia, we made our way back to Addis - a full day's drive from Arba Minch. On the way, we stopped in a Silt'e tukol, where the woman of the "house" made us feel very welcome and prepared us coffee, as is customary. The tribe is a Muslim tribe and was probably the friendliest we'd encountered - no asking for money, pens, or even Highland bottles . .

When we finally arrived in Addis in the evening, we drove through the Merkato - a nearly impossible task, given the narrow streets, ultracrowded with people buying and selling everything you could imagine. The experience made us realize that it was actually a good thing that we couldn't make it to the Merkato at the beginning of our trip: (a) we would've been walking around with a bunch of money and a decent chance of being pickpocketed; (b) we probably would've gotten lost, considering it's the biggest market in Africa, and then missed our flight to Bahir Dar (after all, it was only our second day in Ethiopia and smack in the middle of our period of incessant "foiling"); and (c) we would've been there on a Saturday, the busiest day for the Merkato, which in hindsight would've likely been a little too much for the senses.

We spent the next day at the Hilton (the "beacon") - treating ourselves finally to guaranteed hot water and uninterrupted electricity. While Lydia basked in the glory of the Hilton's pool, I tried to find a decent internet connection - and lucked out after getting some good info from our friend Derege, whom we'd met up in Lalibela. We then went with Derege to dinner that night at the famous and delicious Castelli's restaurant - an institution since the Italian occupation, and very authentic (I actually had to bust out my paltry Italian to try to explain to the rather large, gruff proprietor how to use my camera upon asking him to take a picture of me, Lydia and Derege after our meal). The food at Castelli's had apparently also been previously enjoyed by Brad Pitt, whose rave review of the restaurant was posted up front - I guess he ate there during an adoption visit. . .

After our meal, Derege showed us a couple of the buildings he'd worked on (he's a well-respected architect) and then took us to the Sheraton - an oasis of luxury beyond anything you could ever imagine in Addis - owned by a sheikh. We went to the bar there, which featured a really fun band from the U.S., and wondered, "Who are these people - some of which are paying upwards of $500 a night for a room in Addis?" Since Derege seemed to know everyone in the bar (including the sheikh's "right-hand man" and brother-in-law), we had a few too many drinks piling up, as they all generously bought us a round. This was like another world - definitely worlds away from our entire trip thus far in Ethiopia . . . Lydia headed for the airport just a few hours later, as she exited Ethiopia just as she'd entered - in the wee hours of the morning. On my own for the next day in Addis, I spent the day doing a mix of relaxing, trying to use the internet (unsuccessfully), and attempting to purchase and pack (more difficult than you'd think) some Ethiopian art. Hence, I learned Ethiopia Lesson #6: There is No Bubble Wrap in Ethiopia.

I was sad to leave Ethiopia - probably moreso than any of the other countries I'd visited - and already started to plan my next trip there in my head. ("Would it be crazy for me to come back next year?") I would miss the sharp contrasts between the modern and the old; the ubiquitous donkeys; the strikingly beautiful people - both inside and out; amazing spaghetti bolognese, bula fir fir and macchiatos (and I HATE coffee!); countless antiquities and arresting landscapes; the tukols; and, even the rough spots, which provided much hilarity throughout our trip.
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Swellendam, Western Cape, South Africa

After ditching our plans to head to Knysna for the night since we learned we could never realistically make it there in a day (thankfully Irene had asked someone for directions), we headed for Swellendam, one of the first European settlements in South Africa. From there we would be able to easily visit the De Hoop Nature Reserve, a place heralded in our guide books as one of the most peaceful places on Earth.

The drive to Swellendam was faster than we'd expected, arriving after only a few hours of mountain swtichbacks and two-lane "highway". One of the things I actually loved about driving in South Africa was how incredibly polite everyone was - people would drive onto the shoulder so that you could pass them more easily. This seemed to be completely in keeping with how friendly everyone is - they would go above and beyond anything I'd previously experienced to help. (For example, after asking someone for help in locating an ATM in Cape Town, having tried a nearby ATM that seemed to be broken, the woman offered to leave her office and come with us to see if she could be of assistance.) After checking into our incredibly cute cottage room, we left for De Hoop - an almost 90,000-acre coastal reserve apparently mysteriously seldom visited, given its incredible beauty.

We ended up on the "long road" to the Reserve, following the directions of the person who owned our guest house, since there were no signs to direct you otherwise. But after a while on a road clearly meant for 4X4s and not our little sedan, we made it to the Reserve (we learned from someone we met later that we were very lucky to not have gotten a flat tire). We were immediately stunned by how peaceful (yes, the guide books are right) and incredibly stunning the Reserve is, and I realized that I would love to come back one day and spend a week there - particularly during the South African winter, when scores of right whales can be spotted right off the coast. De Hoop is easily one of the most strikingly beautiful places I've been - untouched, immense sand dunes (called "Koppie Alleen", or "Head Alone") that contrast with a crisp blue sky, fynbos and rocky coast pounded by turquoise water, many species of antelope, birds and other animals, and rarely another human in sight. Irene and I spent some time on the dunes and then hiked a bit along the coast, making our way to a tiny cove. We then left with enough time before the sunset to make sure we were off the dusty backroads and back in Swellendam before dark.

That night we had an incredible dinner at our guest house and shared with the cook and waitress a bottle of wine Irene had bought in Franschhoek. The next day we decided to walk around the town a bit, visiting a few shops on the main road. There we met Ester, a really sweet young woman who had just opened up a shop selling crafts from around the country. We talked to Ester and her boyfriend for a while and promised we'd visit if we're ever back in the area (Ester promised her boyfriend would take us fly fishing) - something not at all hard to imagine . . .
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Ngala Private Game Reserve, Kruger National Park, South Africa

After a wonderful time in the Western Cape, we started Phase 2 of our South Africa trip - going on safari in Ngala Private Game Reserve - an almost 35,000-acre reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park. The fences that separated Ngala from Kruger (and Tibavati - another private game reserve on the other side of Ngala) were recently taken down, thus providing an extensive amount of land for animals to pass through unobstructed. Our safari adventure started as you'd think it should - riding on a small bush plane, with the vast African landscape unfolding beneath us . . . We arrived at Ngala and were immediately taken with the staff - an incredible family of people that looked after us like I'd never experienced - everyone knew our names instantly (and seemed to remember every detail about what we liked to eat and drink). And the food, my god, the food!! I realized that any small amount of weight I may have lost on the previous legs of my trip would soon be regained and then some - it was so incredibly delicious (and ever present)!!

Each day at Ngala we got a wakeup "knock" at 5 am - we needed to be ready for our morning drive at 5:30 with Barney, our guide, and Joe, our tracker. As it was still rainy season in the region, the brush was very green and pretty thick - very different from the open savannah of Tanzania I'd experienced on my last safari. Having to track animals in the brush made finding them all the more exciting, especially as we often drove "off road" and constantly had to dodge trees, bushes and giant spiderwebs - it was also incredibly interesting to learn how the tracking is done. After our morning safari, we'd have breakfast and then have free time before and after lunch until we went for our evening game drive at 4:30 - each drive lasted about 4+ hours. We didn't realize how tiring riding around in the back of a jeep could be and often were pretty exhausted after each drive. On the evening drive, we'd also stop for a "sundowner", during which we'd have drinks and biltong (dried meat usually made from beef, kudu or other game). After that, we'd of course have an amazing dinner, which was located in a different place each night.

We also went on a bushwalk one day - and got to see things on a smaller scale, which you miss when you're on a drive looking for big game. On the walk we learned about the traditional uses of various plants (toilet paper, toothbrush, soap (it really works well), etc.) and got to see lots of interesting insects. In addition to having a grasshopper up my pants at one point (there were tons of them around), we also witnessed a very industrious male dung beetle trying to impress a female by rolling his large dung ball around, with her hanging on.

We were very lucky on the safari and saw tons of animals - and much of the big 5 almost immediately (named for how dangerous they were to hunt - cape buffalo being the most dangerous - lions, black rhinos, elephants, and leopards) - many of the animals were only a few yards away. Irene and I also decided to sleep out in the bush one night so that we could do a walking safari the next morning and track game on foot. We arrived at our makeshift camp one night after a game drive and after settling into our tent, realized that the food wouldn't be a few hot dogs around a fire as we'd expected. We of course had great food cooked for us and sparkling water (they knew we loved to drink it). We went to sleep that night with lions roaring in the distance but unfortunately, couldn't do the walk the next morning, as it had rained heavily all night.

We also had the opportunity to go to one of the nearby villages outside the reserve, visiting a couple of schools and a health clinic. The company that runs Ngala does amazing work in each community in which its camps are located - working with the local people to determine what its needs are and then helping out with funds, etc. These partnerships have greatly reduced poaching in the area.

I left Ngala as I arrived, on a bush plane, though this one was much smaller than the first one - just a 4-seater (only me and Billy, the pilot, on board). Though I was initially a little worried because of the weather, the flight was incredible - we never got more than 300 feet off the ground, since we had to stay below the clouds, and I was able to see eagles flying next to and below us. We learned en route that we couldn't fly directly to Nelspruit because of the weather, so we made a pit stop at the pilots' camp and waited for the weather to clear. It finally did, and I made my way from there to Johannesburg and then on to my next stop in Africa . . .
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