Journey Home

I won't be adding any more posts from this point forward as I'm leaving for Canada at 4AM Wednesday morning (4PM Tuesday for you).

I'll be arriving in Vancouver at 11:40AM on Wednesday (traveling back in time is really confusing) where I'll be meeting up with my band (the Greg Milka Crowe Band) and we'll be  touring back to Winnipeg. 

I'll be back home on the 6th of August.  Thanks for keeping up with my adventures.  I look forward to seeing you all!

Condensing the last four weeks into one post

So, with everything coming to an end, I've had very little time to write.  Here's a VERY rushed summary of my last four weekends/holidays in chronological order.

Buriram:

Awesome.  Such a genuine experience.  The village was amazing and I got to learn a lot about life as a rice farmer / silk weaver.

Erawan Falls - Kanchanaburi:

I was sad that I missed seeing these waterfalls during my last visit to Kanchanaburi, so I went back with Lori to check them out.  Absolutely beautiful.  There were 7 different tiers to the falls and each was more breathtaking than the last.

Monkeys!

Cambodia:

Phnom Pehn:  Everything that was a culture shock to me when I arrived in Thailand was enhanced exponentially in Cambodia.  Traffic, invasion of personal space (harassed constantly for money), and extreme poverty were a few of the most intense differences.  Most areas in Phnom Pehn are also not nearly as developed as Bangkok which gave it an interesting feel.  

Cambodian gas station (for scooters):

I got to finally check out some Muay Thai boxing (the guy in the bottom pic has a board with about 12 cell phones strapped to it.  There were many of these guys taking multiple people's bets over the phone).

I hardly took any pictures of S-21 (the Genocide Museum) or of the Killing Fields.  I won't write anything about either site either.  It was far too much of an emotional experience to summarize into one short entry.  These two stops were by far the darkest of my trip to S.E. Asia.

Angkor Wat was incredible.  I thought Ayutthaya was already very impressive.  We spent a whole 12 hours exploring the ruins (of Angkor Tom and Ta Prohm as well).  

Back in Thailand - Southern beaches (Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Krabi).  The weather was cloudy or raining 3 of the 4 days, but it was a relaxing way to end the trip.  

And having finally gotten some sun, I'm now sporting a most impressive watch tan. 

 

Critters

I'll get the ugly out of the way first:

Think you know your critters?  These guys show up at night on the streets.  They have hairy legs, and LONG antennae.  They seem to be able to almost fly sometimes, but maybe only for short periods.  They're almost the length of a playing card from the back of their hind legs to the tips of their antennae.  They're super fast and can climb up through your drain.  

Any guesses?  If I had to say one bad thing about living in Thailand, it would be that I have to deal with these guys.

I've caught 4 in hotel rooms that I've stayed at (none in my apartment so far though, thankfully).

Now for some cooler ones!:

Bats:

Cambodia has a lot of bats.  They fly around the lamp posts at night.  During the day I managed to get some good pics of these guys in Phnom Pehn.

Giant snails:

I've seen a few of these, this was one of the biggest with the shell being almost the size of my fist.

Giant fly:

I've only seen one of these.. Minus the wings it was about the size of my thumb.  Looking past the fact that its size was fairly horrific, it was a beautiful insect!

Praying Mantis!!:

So cool.  I never thought I'd get to see one of these guys in real life.  It was way bigger than I expected one would be (probably almost 6 inches long).  Its movements were so un-insectlike.  It moved about timidly, as though each limb had a very expensive glove on it.  

 

And to make things more interesting, I also got to watch a stand-off between a praying mantis and a gecko!  After watching for a good 2 or 3 minutes, the gecko got spooked and ran away.

Speaking of geckos -  I was super excited about them for the first week or so of my trip, before I realized that they're absolutely everywhere!

I mostly see them on the walls of apartments, etc at night, but I've had a few in my apartment. 

 

Most of them are about 4 or 5 inches long, but my most recent visitor was just a baby.  No longer than 2 inches.  Adorable.

Mangosteens, Rambutans, and other amazing fruit

In most markets as well as at street vendors, you can typically purchase pineapple, watermelon, longan berries, lychee nuts, durian, dragon fruit, mangosteens, and rambutans.

Pineapple and Watermelon:

One will cost you about 15 or 20 baht (under 60 cents) and they are sold pre-cut and peeled in bags with sticks.  The quality of both of these is outstanding.  Pineapple was my favourite fruit before going to Thailand, but I really had no idea what I was missing quality-wise.  I’d probably come back to Thailand for the pineapple alone.

Durian:

I never quite expected to see durian in as large quantities as I have been exposed to.  I tried this crazy spiked fruit back in Winnipeg (they sell them at Superstore if anyone is interested).  I can’t say that I’m a fan.  Their aesthetic and smell does add character to the market though.  

Longan Berries:  Look like a cross between very small potatoes and walnuts, but they grow on a vine like grapes.  The inside is very similar to that of a mangosteen (see below).

Dragon Fruit:

Oh so pretty.  Texture of a kiwi, flavour of a melon cross-bred with a pepper.  I like them but haven't gone out of my way to purchase them.  

Lori loves them.  :P

Mangosteens and Rambutans – My two new favourites:

Mangosteens look a little bit like a plum from the outside but unlike a plum, it’s only the centre that you CAN eat.  The outer shell is purple and then the centre is fleshy, white and divided into 5-10 segments.  The flavour and texture of this part is like a cross between a mango and a peeled blueberry.

Rambutans are super exciting looking on the outside and unlike any fruit that I’ve seen before.  They are the size and shape of a kiwi, with a colourful shell that’s almost nut-like.  The inside of the Rambutan has the texture of a peeled grape with the pit of an olive in the centre.  The flavour is similar to that of lychee.

 

In an attempt to find more pictures of crazy fruit that I’ve eaten, I found the following link. http://www.knowphuket.com/fruit.htm  

I’ve eaten everything on this link except for snakefruit.  I love Thailand.