Diary - South Africa to Thailand

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  Phuket, Thailand
Wednesday, December 6, 2006

OK I'm going to attempt to do over a month's worth of diary. I think the best way to do it is to give a brief outline of each day with the highlights (and possibly lowlights) of the day. Don't feel obliged to read it all at once!

Tuesday 31 October
-left Centurion (sad to say bye to Nicolette and her family) -to Johannesberg -met friend we got to know in Mpumalanga, Privilege & his wife Ltoya & baby daughter Nubia -to recording studio for Ltoya's work -to their friend Adrian's house where we hung out & cooked a great dinner -to Priv & Ltoya's flat for the night
Highlights: For me, getting to know Ltoya. Also Adrian's bathroom & bedroom, one wall of which is the bare rock on which the house is built - very cool!

Wednesday 1 November
-left Germiston -v long drive to just west of Durban (Margate) -found Beach Lodge hotel (biggest roaches I ever saw) -dinner in the town
Lowlights: I already mentioned the roaches. The hotel was pretty grim but needed to find a place quick after the long drive.

Thursday 2 November
-Mugg & Bean on beach for breakfast -found Bill's Best Rock Inn -supermarket -had a braai (wings & lamb chops) -met golfing boys
Highlights: Delighted to find such a lovely backpackers with own pool & stunning setting & great staff

Friday 3 November
-Cooked breakfast from Rock Inn -Oribi Gorge (where I did the Lehr's Falls gorge swing) -explored beaches west of Margate -braai organised by Leanne, manager of Rock Inn, also attended by Bill, the owner
Highlights: The jump, of course! Also the very sociable evening with the staff & the golfing boys

Saturday 4 November
-Cooked breakfast again -checked out of Rock Inn :( -to Cintsa where we heard there was a good backpackers -late afternoon walk on beach -typical Xhosa meal at backpackers (the X is pronounced by clicking the tongue)
Highlights: Great meal, tried lots of new things.

01 Penguins!

Beef was v good as well as the aubergine dish & the mashed potatoes.

Sunday 5 November
-Free buffet breakfast at backpackers -drove to Addo Elephant park -set up tent -explored Addo until gates of enclosure closed -kudu steak for dinner!
Highlights: The kudu steak was delicious! Also lots of other wildlife

Monday 6 November
-rained during night! -explored Addo (the elephant experience) -made way to Jeffrey's Bay -found Cristal Cove backpackers (en suite room with sea view!) -take away pizza -drinks in the bar at the backpackers
Highlights: The elephant experience. We were driving slowly along a narrow, one-way part of the road when we noticed a big bull elephant making his way up the road towards us. There was not enough room for him to pass. We did what we had been advised to do in such situations and backed up whilst hoping that he would get off the road so that we could pass. He didn't. We backed up some more and he just kept on coming. Eventually we came to a part of the road which widened up just a little so we stopped as close as we could to the edge & just hoped that he wouldn't decide to go for us. As he got closer we noticed that he was marking his territory, so to speak, & that he had musk dripping down his cheeks - the signs of a young territorial bull, more likely than most to go for cars! We held our breath as he passed the car, clearly eyeing us as he did so, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he passed without incident. Later we met a car-full of people who told us with amusement that they had been watching the whole episode from the road.

02 Camps Bay

Har har. :s

Tuesday 7 November
-drove on the R102 (instead of the highway) to Plettenberg Bay -found Kaerboom Lagoon camp site as recommended by Herman -pitched tent -walk on the lagoon -Lookout Beach (the Lookout restaurant -sat on terrace & met some v cool people and ended up chatting with them until after dark -dinner at the Lookout
Highlights: The beach and lagoon are stunning, also meeting great people :)

Wednesday 8 November
-breakfast at the Lookout (saw dolphins!) -walked on Robberg Beach -picnic -back to the Lookout (peri peri chicken livers - yum) back to campsite for braai
Highlights: Seeing dolphins :)

Thursday 9 November
-rained during night -drove to Knysna (pronounced Nize-na) -breakfast on waterfront -found Highfields backpackers (listed building) -boat trip to "The Heads" (the rocky outcrops at the mouth of the Knysna lagoon) -explored the town by foot -recommendation of restaurant called the Anchorage for dinner.
Highlights: The Anchorage restaurant which was excellent. New discovery: Wilderer's Fynbos Grappa which we later discovered was a limited edition drink produced by Wilderer's. It contains Fynbos which is a plant which grows abundantly in South Africa and the drink had a wonderful warming medicinal flavour, especially when served as it was in a warmed glass.
Lowlights: Knysna is billed as one of the main highlights of the Garden Route. What a disappointment, especially the waterfront which is over-developed and impersonal.

Friday 10 November
-made breakfast at the backpackers (Maltabella & pineapple) -explored lots of the coves en route to Mossel Bay (Buffalo Bay, Victoria Bay, Herold's Bay) -found Mossel Bay Backpackers -explored local museum (including the postal tree) -pizza at restaurant on beach
Highlights: We weren't expecting the museum to be so interesting & could've spent more time there.

03 Hire Car

Also the variety in the different beaches we visited, each of which was charming in its own way.

Saturday 11 November
-Cango caves (stallectite/stallecmite caves) -Rust En Vrede waterfall (saw Cape Cobra on way back) -Oudtshoorn, famous for its ostrich farms -Steers (chain steak house) for ostrich steak -wrong turn on way home :s -local bar called Trawler's
Highlights: The caves & falls were wicked & seeing the cobra. I would say that the ostrich steak rivals a good fillet steak too.
Lowlights: It took us over 50km before we realised we had taken a wrong turn on the way home, so added at least an hour to our journey & got home after dark - doh! Oh, and maybe it's called Trawler's cos they trawl the bottom of the barrel to find the rarest Afrikaans locals, all of whom were pissed up & shouting at the telly cos SA were playing in the rugby - and losing badly!

Sunday 12 November
-wanted to stay another night at Mossel Bay but had breakfast by the beach & it was way to windy -to Hermanus via Swellendam, an interesting old town where we had a lovely lunch & tried to find youngberries to try but the place was closed cos it was a Sunday :( -arrived in Hermanus -found Zoete Invaal four star backpackers (v posh with jacuzi etc & more like a guest house) -to the sea front where we saw whales :) although too windy to enjoy sitting out -to nearest bar for a drink where we met a Scottish couple, Jayne & Kevin, who recently moved to Cape Town & told us to get in touch when we got to Cape Town -to Hermanus backpackers for drinks (they had turned us down for a room as they were fully booked but told us to join them for drinks) -back to the Zoete Invaal for a session in the jacuzi :)
Highlights: Seeing whales for the first time.

04 Thai Kick Boxing Match

Also discovering Swellendam which was a complete off-the-cuff stop-off. Also finding ourselves in the poshest "backpackers" we've stayed in -very comfortable!

Monday 13 November
This was one of those blessed days where everything falls beautifully into place. -lovely cooked breakfast from the guest house -to lookout point on hills above Hermanus where we met a South African lady & her Texan guest who gave us a couple of recommendations for the day. -to Beintang's Cave, a restaurant right on the sea front. We got so engrossed in watching the whales that we almost forgot to drink our iced coffees! -to Stony Point in Betty's Bay where there is a permanent penguin colony - whales & penguins all in the same day! -to Kleinmond for (v good value) lunch - malay lamb curry for AD & hake & chips for me -Harold Porter botanical gardens -checked into Hermanus backpackers -sunset whale-watching (+ "dassies" aka rock hyrax
Highlights: All of it. Especially seeing whales & penguins in their natural environments. Also getting so close to the tame dassies that I managed to touch one!

Tuesday 14 November
-I woke v early (dawn) so made my way to the beach for some sunrise whale-watching (saw two breaching, ie throwing themselves vertically right out of the water) -look around the shops -lunch at Beintang's Cave (v classy) -drive to Cape Town -to Hout Bay where we stayed in a friend's self-contained flat which is joined to his house -dinner at Mariner's Wharf
Highlights: You can't beat whale-watching, especially at sunrise and sunset.

05 At the Grand Palace

The drive between Hermanus & Cape Town was absolutely spectacular. Also meeting the family of the friend who lent us his appartment :)

Wednesday 15 November
-A day of sorting out things which had not been sorted in such a long time on the road, including laundry, extending our car hire, using the Net, etc etc. We did go to the local fish market where we bought a lovely fresh silver fish, but we managed to completely mess up the cooking of it, not being used to the kitchen we were cooking in - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Thursday 16 November
-great weather so we went up Table Mountain by cable car (along with just about every other tourist in Cape Town that day, or so it seemed...) -spent 3 hours exploring up there -to the famous Victoria & Albert Waterfront which is all restaurants & souvenir shops -out with Courtney, the daughter of the family we were staying with, to an area called Obs near the university & not frequented by tourists
Highlights: Table Mountain was great with amazing 360 degree views of Cape Town. Also partying with Courtney & her mates who made us feel very welcome.

Friday 17 November
-finally managed to sort out car hire extension -put photos on disc at photo shop but created an error on my memory card, which was finally returned to me the following Monday, but at least in working order -met a friendly American in the photo shop & spent some time with him, giving him tips for his forthcoming tour -bought steaks & cooked at home
Lowlights: It shouldn't have taken all that effort to extend our car hire.

06 Tuk-Tuk

And when there was a problem with the memory card I felt like I should've stayed in bed that day!

Saturday 18 November
-went to Tulbagh on the wine route, a historical town in which all the buildings on the main road are listed buildings & were lovingly renovated after an earthquake there in 1969 -lunch at a recommended restaurant called the Paddagang where they also produce their own wines & have wine-tastings - we of course had to try one or two :P -cooked dinner for the family we were staying with & shared some of the wine we had bought earlier
Highlights: Delicious lunch at the Paddagang which we were treated to by my mum & dad :)

Sunday 19 November
-drove Chapman's Peak drive - one of the most famous stretches of road in the world because of the very spectacular scenery -explored south of Chapman's Peak -went to the beach for a couple of hours & swam in the (icy) Atlantic -cooked at home
Highlights: Chapman's Peak was unbelievably beautiful, although shorter than I expected. Also swimming in the big breakers - AD was in his element!

Monday 20 November
-retrieved memory card -drove to Simon's Town on False Bay where we met up with the cousin of an old friend of my parents & his wife, Bill & Eugenie -Boulder Beach to see the penguin colony -treated to lunch at a restaurant in the hills -parted company with Bill & Eugenie -Cape Point National Park -Kalk Bay to the Live Bait, a restaurant right on the sea front with the waves sometimes lapping at the windows!
Highlights: A wonderful lunch - thanks to Bill & Eugenie for that :) Loved Cape Point National Park - we explored it for quite a while & saw bonteboks & blesboks amongst other wildlife.

07 Party at Mr Bonk's

The Live Bait was wonderful - both setting & the food!

Tuesday 21 November
Our last day in SA :( -spent time on the Net -packed -went to World of Birds in Hout Bay -Dinner in Camps Bay with Courtney and Jayne & Kevin, the Scottish couple we met the week before.
Highlights: Sunset walk on the beach before dinner :)
Lowlights: After seeing so many birds in the wild we felt really sorry for the birds in World of Birds - they looked pretty miserable in their less-than-ideal enclosures & we only saw a fraction of the place before we decided to leave.

Wednesday 22 November - Thursday 23 November
We were truly sorry to leave South Africa. We had such a wonderful time there as I hope you can tell from the diaries. Not only that, but we also had ahead of us the most arduous trip in all the six months. I won't bore you with the details, but we flew from Cape Town to Singapore (nearly 11 hours) then to Phuket with a final connection to Bangkok. With the last of the flights delayed, we were travelling for around 30 hours *whew*. When we finally arrived in Bangkok it was so good to see a familiar face - our friend Dave from Oxford who has been living in Bangkok for the last year and who had booked us a room in the hotel he's been living in.

Friday 24 November
-with Dave to a shopping centre close to the hotel, the Avana, to sort out things like sim cards & a few supplies -restful afternoon -in the evening to Lumpini for an evening of Thai kick-boxing! -to the close-by night market -had a go on the Roue de Paris ferris wheel for a night-time view of Bangkok!
Highlights: The atmosphere at the kick-boxing was wicked! Along with all the ceremony went the noise & betting & the correographed bouts.

Saturday 25 November
-to the Grand Palace -to Wat Po to see the reclining Buddha -to Mr Bonk's bar, a regular of Dave's and some of the other English teachers.

08 Esther Singing Issan

Dave goes home in a few days and he organised a bit of a do at Mr Bonk's. There were lots of people, including quite a few of Dave's English pupils, so there were lots of Thai people which was great. Dave told Mr Bonk to cook for 20 people, and the food came out dish by dish for what seemed like hours until no one could eat any more! This was wonderful for us because not only did we get to taste some dishes we would never have ordered, but there were also lots of Thai people to explain to us what on earth we were eating - to this day we still find ourselves eating stuff and asking ourselves, "What is it?" and replying "I don't know, but I like it!"
Highlights: The architecture at the Grand Palace was truly breath-taking, some of the most impressive and most enjoyable I have ever seen. Also the party at Mr Bonk's - Dave singing in Thai, me singing with the guitar, and joining in with the Issan music - a traditional Thai folk music from a region in the north of Thailand :)

Sunday 26 November
-to Chatuchak weekend market. According to the guide book there are over 15,000 stalls, and I can believe it! The market is divided into sections with broad categories of goods like plants, clothes, food, books, artefacts & household goods, but in reality it's pretty much all mixed in together. You get a map of the market, which helps. There is also a section called the "Dream Section" where there is Thai massage, ceremonial artefacts and fortune tellers as well as two teenage girls doing Thai boxing! I've never seen AD be so happy to be in a shopping environment for such an extended amount of time, and we were exhausted by the time we left!
Highlights: Picking up a couple of clothing items we needed for next-to-nothing, plus the food!

Monday 27 November
I have to tell this day properly.

09 Chatuchak Weekend Market

We got a taxi from the hotel and we were on our way to a place called the "Ancient City" (Muang Boran) when the taxi's meter conked out. Then went the air con & finally the whole taxi ground to a halt. We were on the side of a big highway next to a building site, but the driver asked us to "go over there for half an hour and I fix the taxi and pick you up(!)" A young man selling garlands and incense sticks appeared and led us over the building site and we found ourselves in front of the elephant museum. This was built by a rich Thai man to house his collection of antiques and artefacts and is housed inside an absolutely enormous elephant with three heads in accordance with a Thai legend. We looked around the ground floor of the museum, very much feeling like some force had guided us to this place. We went up to the next floor and found a small winding staircase which led up and up and up... We got to the top of the staircase and realised that we were inside the body of the giant elephant! Up there was a big shrine, beautifully lit to give a sense of serenity :)
When we left the museum there was our taxi driver whose taxi was now back in working order, and he duly drove us the rest of the way to the Ancient City! The Ancient City was a wonderful way to see many different styles of Thai architecture from all over the country. There are over 100 replicas, mostly scaled down, of different temples and monuments from the various regions of Thailand. We hired a golf buggy and spent around three hours exploring the 15kmsq site.

10 The Ancient City

Next to each replica was an explanation of the function and history of the structure as well as a geographical explanation of where the original is to be found. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and felt that we had learned a lot in a short space of time.

Tuesday 28 November
One of the worst experiences of the trip so far! -woke at 6am to go to the floating market, billed in the guide book as one of the places where it's possible to get a taste of what trading in Bangkok used to be like before they tarmac-ed over most of the canals. -payed an extortionate amount to get driven to the market, around 90km away, by a driver who didn't seem to have a clue where he was going. -finally arrived and were asked for 2000 baht to take a boat trip round the market. "We'll walk," we insisted, and were glad we had done so because the river was a jam of row boats & motorised boats full of tourists with the occasional boat with merchandise, all at extortionate prices! We had a quick drink there & went home, chalking it up to experience!
-pm shopping for stuff we needed in an area of Bangkok called Siam
-our last night in Bangkok & we decided we simply had to have a look round the red light district -expensive drink in a street bar where I was massaged by a Thai woman who attempted to start conversations with me but was for the most part completely incomprehensible! -went to a ping pong show - don't ask! Felt similarly sorry for the girls in that whole area as we did for the caged birds in Hout Bay.

12 Floating Market

-went to an area called Nana instead for some food & drinks

Wednesday 29 November
-journey from Bangkok to Koh Samet by taxi then bus then speed boat
Highlights: Meeting a couple (French & Dutch) on the bus who asked if we wanted to share the cost of the speed boat over to the island instead of taking the ferry, saving us a lot of time & money, and we ended up spending time with them in the evenings :)
Lowlights: Arriving at the island just at sun-down which, we later discovered, is mosquito time! I was just relieved to find out later that they are at their worst at dusk and dawn & realised that it wouldn't be that bad allll the time - got bitten 6 times in the time it took to register at the bungalow park we were staying in :(

Thursday 30 November
Miriam's birthday, and I felt a little low all day. To mark it I did two things: I had a henna tattoo close to my heart of the Thai word for "little sister" which sounds like "Nongsow". Also in the evening AD and I let off a floating lantern which the Thai believe brings good luck, in her name. The rest of the day we chilled on the beach.

Friday 1 December
-hired out a motor bike to explore the island. No one bothered to tell us quite how dreadful the "roads" are on the island. We ended up getting to a certain point and saying, enough! So we found a lovely quiet beach, had some food there, explored a bit & then made our way back to where we were staying. -had a wicked night out that night with the couple we had met on the bus along with several other friends of theirs who had joined them for the weekend.

13 Mmmm... Fried Crickets!

We went to four different venues - a bar close by first, then another in the north of the beach, then to a live music venue called "Ploy" to see a band play whose drummer they know, and finally to the Silver Sand club complete with dance floor & lots of Thai boys wearing white vests!

Saturday 2 December
-took a great boat tour round the island. First we headed out a little way to see and all went fishing off the side of the boat - we later ate the fish we had caught cooked on the barbeque (when I say "we", AD caught three, I caught precisely none! Then snorkelling off the boat where we saw coral and urchins and sea-cucumbers and many fish :) Then lunch on the boat, then more snorkelling and then a circuit of the island which was nice cos we got to see all the different beaches. Finally a visit to the fish, shark & turtle farm in the north of the island before being dropped off several feet from the shore and walking, bags over heads, through the waves!

Sunday 3 December
-hired a kayak and paddled our way south of where we were staying a few beaches -stopped off for some food, sun bathing and snorkelling before heading back home.

Monday 4 December
-journey from Koh Samet to Bangkok and back to the hotel we had stayed in previously

Tuesday 5 December
-flew from Bangkok down to Phuket and found the Phuket International Youth Hostel, which is cheap and clean, if not particularly well located.

Wednesday 6 December
-taxi to Phuket Town where we got thoroughly bamboozled by a taxi driver who took us to a particular (expensive) restaurant on the bay and then to a particular shop - we reckon he is in their employ & that it is a standard con to pick up unsuspecting tourists and take them to these venues - oh well, at least the food was good, if a little pricey, and we picked up a couple of postcards at the shop so didn't end up toooo much out of pocket!

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, finally brings me up to date! Hope I haven't bored you...

14 Avana Hotel

Hope you didn't read it all at once!!!

The only hiccup that I haven't mentioned is that AD and I have both had dodgy tummies for the last few days - reckon we ate something slightly wrong on Koh Samet although we can't work out what it is. AD has been worse than me, but we're both on the mend now.

We're trying to suss out where to do our diving certificate and we have had a very good recommendation for a dive school close to here. So now we are thinking that we'll stay here for as long as it takes to get properly well, do the certificate and then explore Krabi and Ko Phi Phi later on. We still have two weeks in Thailand :)

As always, thanks to everyone who has been in touch and to everyone who has sponsored us. Don't forget you can access our sponsorship page on the ORBIS website by following the links on the home page of www.miriam-hyman.com

xesther and AD
PS - Photos now posted! (17 December 2006)

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15 Breakfast at the Avana	16 Jep's Bungalows	17 Mim's Good Luck Lantern (Kre Tong)	18 Henna Tattoo for Mim
19 Sea Kayak	20 Fish Sarong

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