Just re-read last posting and realised I didn't explain "Ticks": two aspects, Ticks as in yes this province really is something special; and as in the insect, I managed to collect a few on the trek - nasty little bloodsuckers which need salt and/or good fingernails to unhook them.
Anyway, Ayutthaya - the capital city that took over from Sukhothai, and lasted for 400+ years before being sacked and burned by the Burmese, who then withdrew after 3 years taking all the treasures and having melted all the gold from the statues. Bangkok then became capital and slowly formed Thailand, with more wars and European colonialism along the way.
And so back to nature withh a trek into Khao Yai National Park eastwards from Ayutthaya into what is North-East Thailand, known as Isan as it is mainly populated by a mix of Lao and Chinese ethnic groups and has a distinct cuisine and culture. I have now eaten fried preying mantis, bamboo worms, silkworms and crickets but drew the line at one menu item: fried appendix! (didn't say from what and I wasn't going to ask).
Went looking for wild elephants, bears, tigers (very rare) and found bats, bugs and birds. But what birds, giant hornbills - really prehistoric with 1.5 metre wingspans. They actually sound like helicopters as the wind goes through their wings.
The bats were incredible too, 2 million of them from a single cave at dusk. I took some video, but the Google web albums tool only deals with standard photos, so I'll try to put them in Facebook (maybe!!). A python at night was an interesting thing to trip over too.
Now travelled up through the North East to Nong Khai on the banks of the MaeKhong river and the border with Laos, but that's for the next post.
Photolink is: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2008_Chapter_6
Cheers!
Mike
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Chapter 5: Tak Ticks and Kingdoms
Survived the last mountain trek for a while, not sure it lives up to the "Most Beautiful in Thailand" boast but 2,000 Thai tourists went to one campsite there over their New Year holiday, so who am I to argue?
More contact with the Karen refugees on the way down to Um Phang in the open pickup truck / bus and more camps, tucked away in these beautiful mountain valleys - apparently the Karen prefer it there as they are mountain tribes anyway.
The highest waterfall in Thailand was stunning, and bloody cold to swim in, but the trek went well, so it was back to Um Phang and over a final range of mountains into the central plains, the farming centre: rice, sugar cane, tobacco and veg for hundreds of miles, all the way to the coast south of Bangkok. Most of the rivers from the mountain ranges which make up North and East Thailand all flow into these plains. Its hot and dry.
But this is where the history is: kingdoms, cities rising and falling to invading Burmese and Khmer kings, and finally Siam (then Thailand being created in 18th century, I think). Here because of the trade routes (caravans from India, Burma to China), freshwater, agricultural richness and access to the sea, via the huge rivers, south of where Bangkok now stands.
Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai from the 13th century. Sukhothai was first capital of Siam. You have to bring your imagination with you as the buildings now look sad and crumbling. But when they were built they were covered in limestone stucco / plaster and ornately carved. The sacking of the cities, looting and erosion have done the rest - now World Heritage sites. Also only the temples and palaces remain, all other buildings plus all roofs would have been made of teak and so have disappeared.
Other thoughts:
More contact with the Karen refugees on the way down to Um Phang in the open pickup truck / bus and more camps, tucked away in these beautiful mountain valleys - apparently the Karen prefer it there as they are mountain tribes anyway.
The highest waterfall in Thailand was stunning, and bloody cold to swim in, but the trek went well, so it was back to Um Phang and over a final range of mountains into the central plains, the farming centre: rice, sugar cane, tobacco and veg for hundreds of miles, all the way to the coast south of Bangkok. Most of the rivers from the mountain ranges which make up North and East Thailand all flow into these plains. Its hot and dry.
But this is where the history is: kingdoms, cities rising and falling to invading Burmese and Khmer kings, and finally Siam (then Thailand being created in 18th century, I think). Here because of the trade routes (caravans from India, Burma to China), freshwater, agricultural richness and access to the sea, via the huge rivers, south of where Bangkok now stands.
Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai from the 13th century. Sukhothai was first capital of Siam. You have to bring your imagination with you as the buildings now look sad and crumbling. But when they were built they were covered in limestone stucco / plaster and ornately carved. The sacking of the cities, looting and erosion have done the rest - now World Heritage sites. Also only the temples and palaces remain, all other buildings plus all roofs would have been made of teak and so have disappeared.
Other thoughts:
- Burmese refugees: some in these camps since 1984. 150,000 in camps plus over 2 million "migrants" who do not even have a refugee status as they didn't flee active fighting. So these guys get no education, health benefits, etc, and it is these that all the charities are trying to support. Very sad.
- Hill tribes: government is putting in dirt roads, basic school and even solar panels to many villages. Will it destroy their cultures for the shorter term benefits, and are tourists a good or a bad thing? Discuss.
- Markets: they eat anything! Bags of live bullfrogs, water beetles, crickets, intestines. But trying to bring in law to protect the local markets, which are huge and go on day and night, by agreeing with the supermarket chains (Tesco the biggest with 7-11) how big they can build and how near a town centre based on its population! Good one.
- Buddhism: not pretending to understand but I am going to read more on it. All about protecting nature and leading a good life to achieve that. No superbeing about to cast you into hell, you do it yourself! Neat.
Off south to Ayutthaya, another kingdom that took over from Sukhothai for 400 years then Bangkok took them over. A train ride of 6 hours on a slow train - you can open the windows and take photos and watch it all slowly pass.
Photolink: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2008_Chapter_5
Cheers! Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
