Monday, January 03, 2005
Our Trip - Overview
While the first half of our trip took only 3.5 hours on a plane from Bangkok to Singapore, we spent over 50 hours in transit, almost exclusively on buses, getting back to Phimai (we spent 8 hours on a boat).
All in all we travelled 2,873 miles - about the distance from San Diego to Maine. It is nice to be home and we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight.
All in all we travelled 2,873 miles - about the distance from San Diego to Maine. It is nice to be home and we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight.
New Year's Day - 2005
We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the Gulf of Thailand. We took a 4 hour ferry from Surat Thani to the island of Ko Pha Ngan. The island is about 12.5 kilometers in diameter and very mountainous. From the pier, we caught a pick-up truck across the island, along a ruddy, dirt road over the mountains to the beach of Thong Nai Pan Yai.
We spent the afternoon reading our books on the white sand and enjoying the warm weather and rest from travelling. The beach is quite isolated from the rest of the island and has less than one hundred small bungalows and a few bars/restaurants. There were a few games of volleyball going, and a few people running along the beach. Mostly, people were relaxing on the beach, taking naps, and wading in the emerald green water.
That evening, Katrina and I walked down to a restaurant that was serving BBQ kabobs and mashed potatoes - Mmmm Mmmm. Many of the tourists took a boat taxi to another beach where they were having a large New Year's Eve bash and there were only a few people on the beach. While I was paying the tab, however, some guy came and offered to buy Katrina a drink and invited her to hang out with him and his friends. I never quite know how to respond to those situations (of which this is not the first). Part of me wants to punch the guy in the stomach, but mostly I just smile and feel VERY proud when Katrina puts her arm around me and we walk off. Maybe that stems from me being kind of nerdy when I was young. I NEVER got the girl, or made anyone jealous. Anyway, enough about Doug's psychological meditations...
Our New Year's was VERY romantic (if I do say so myself). After dinner we built a fire on the beach and looked at the millions of stars you never see from the city. The restaurant was playing great music and we had the best time talking about our accomplishments from this year and our plans for the next.
We have been in Thailand for almost 3 months and have only seen rain on ONE day. Unfortunately, that day happened to be New Year's Day. We spent the day reading, eating, walking, eating some more, and playing cards. We are like little 4th grade best friends who are never seen apart, and we love every second of it.
Katrina and I are very happy, and very excited for the new year. 2004 a very good year for both of us and we are very grateful to our family and friends who have supported us in everything we have done (even if they think we are crazy).
We spent the afternoon reading our books on the white sand and enjoying the warm weather and rest from travelling. The beach is quite isolated from the rest of the island and has less than one hundred small bungalows and a few bars/restaurants. There were a few games of volleyball going, and a few people running along the beach. Mostly, people were relaxing on the beach, taking naps, and wading in the emerald green water.
That evening, Katrina and I walked down to a restaurant that was serving BBQ kabobs and mashed potatoes - Mmmm Mmmm. Many of the tourists took a boat taxi to another beach where they were having a large New Year's Eve bash and there were only a few people on the beach. While I was paying the tab, however, some guy came and offered to buy Katrina a drink and invited her to hang out with him and his friends. I never quite know how to respond to those situations (of which this is not the first). Part of me wants to punch the guy in the stomach, but mostly I just smile and feel VERY proud when Katrina puts her arm around me and we walk off. Maybe that stems from me being kind of nerdy when I was young. I NEVER got the girl, or made anyone jealous. Anyway, enough about Doug's psychological meditations...
Our New Year's was VERY romantic (if I do say so myself). After dinner we built a fire on the beach and looked at the millions of stars you never see from the city. The restaurant was playing great music and we had the best time talking about our accomplishments from this year and our plans for the next.
We have been in Thailand for almost 3 months and have only seen rain on ONE day. Unfortunately, that day happened to be New Year's Day. We spent the day reading, eating, walking, eating some more, and playing cards. We are like little 4th grade best friends who are never seen apart, and we love every second of it.
Katrina and I are very happy, and very excited for the new year. 2004 a very good year for both of us and we are very grateful to our family and friends who have supported us in everything we have done (even if they think we are crazy).
Our perspective on "Black Christmas"
Many of the locals have referred to the recent earthquake and tsunamis as Black Christmas. Our bus from Kuala Lumpur took us to Krabi, our original destination for a sunny New Year celebration. The damage in Krabi was not nearly as extensive as we were expecting. Very few of the shops and restaurants were affected, although the beach was still cluttered with debris. Halfway down the beach we saw a crane pulling a sunken boat from the water, and many of the Thais examining the damage done to the longboats which serve as their livelihood. There were actually a handful of foreigners reading books on the beach and swimming in the water (which was full of metal scraps and seaweed).
From Krabi we travelled to Phuket where the damage was much greater. Phuket is Thailand's largest island and most popular tourist attraction. On Phuket, the most heavily touristed area is around the beach "Patong" which was one of the hardest places hit in all of Thailand. Patong is a very long, arched beach (maybe 1.5 kilometers wide). We arrived very early in the morning and were quite surprised by what we encountered. The beach was literally torn up and there were only remnants of the cement wall that separated the beach from the town. Large pieces of concrete were scattered all over the beach as were numerous (and quite large) overturned boats, some of which were literally wrapped around the palm trees. The street just beyond the beach was uneven and covered in sand and the first row of shops was completely destroyed. We saw several cars along the road, all crushed from the waves and the debris. The smell was unforgettable: moldy heaps of people's houses and shops were rotting in the street. We spent a few minutes chatting with a news crew from FoxNews who were filming a segment in front of an exceptionally demolished car. The whole experience was very surreal. (See photo album).
However, we were quite surprised to see that the damage was not as widespread as we thought. Most of the shops within a couple blocks of the beach suffered severe water damage. However, about 3 blocks from the beach we found little to no visible damage. In fact, restaurants and bars were still open for business. The contrast was very distinct with damage to stores on one side of a street, but none on the other. In addition, we were quite pleased to see how quickly the streets had been cleaned, with large piles of trash neatly pushed out of the way for local traffic. It seemed very much like the community was in control of the situation.
While much attention has been paid to Thailand because of the number of tourists that vacation here, the damage seems very minor compared to reports we have read about Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Today, the death toll stands at 156,000 less than 5% of which were on the beaches of Thailand.
From Krabi we travelled to Phuket where the damage was much greater. Phuket is Thailand's largest island and most popular tourist attraction. On Phuket, the most heavily touristed area is around the beach "Patong" which was one of the hardest places hit in all of Thailand. Patong is a very long, arched beach (maybe 1.5 kilometers wide). We arrived very early in the morning and were quite surprised by what we encountered. The beach was literally torn up and there were only remnants of the cement wall that separated the beach from the town. Large pieces of concrete were scattered all over the beach as were numerous (and quite large) overturned boats, some of which were literally wrapped around the palm trees. The street just beyond the beach was uneven and covered in sand and the first row of shops was completely destroyed. We saw several cars along the road, all crushed from the waves and the debris. The smell was unforgettable: moldy heaps of people's houses and shops were rotting in the street. We spent a few minutes chatting with a news crew from FoxNews who were filming a segment in front of an exceptionally demolished car. The whole experience was very surreal. (See photo album).
However, we were quite surprised to see that the damage was not as widespread as we thought. Most of the shops within a couple blocks of the beach suffered severe water damage. However, about 3 blocks from the beach we found little to no visible damage. In fact, restaurants and bars were still open for business. The contrast was very distinct with damage to stores on one side of a street, but none on the other. In addition, we were quite pleased to see how quickly the streets had been cleaned, with large piles of trash neatly pushed out of the way for local traffic. It seemed very much like the community was in control of the situation.
While much attention has been paid to Thailand because of the number of tourists that vacation here, the damage seems very minor compared to reports we have read about Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Today, the death toll stands at 156,000 less than 5% of which were on the beaches of Thailand.
The World's tallest building(s)?
We finally found a city on our list of places to live that ranks below New York - but we had to go half-way around the world to find it. Kuala Lumpur (KL) is a dirty city with no sidewalks, poor public transportation, and a lot of crazy drivers. Crossing the border from Singapore into Malaysia we realized that we were back in the Asia that we know and love (well...at least sometimes love).
Kuala Lumpur's imposing landmarks (and the reason for our visit) are the twin Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings until just a few weeks ago. The towers were built in 1998 and assumed the title of world's tallest buildings from the Sears Tower in Chicago which had held the record for 14 years. The Petronas towers - built by KL's Petronas Oil and Gas company - are 1,483 feet tall, and are very distinctive as there is a two-storey bridge that connects the two buildings on the 41st and 42nd floors. The 41st floor serves as an observation deck for the general public and the 42nd floor is for occupants of the towers, for quicker communication and an emergency escape. The title of "tallest building in the world" is apparently quite controversial. Many architects argue that decorative spires, observation decks, and communication antennas are NOT buildings and should not factored in to a building's height. This makes a big difference as the new Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan will surpass the Petronas towers in overall height - albeit by only 184 feet - but will NOT be taller if you only count the distance from the sidewalk to the uppermost OCCUPIED space. However, the generally accepted compromise is to separate structures by their purpose. As a result, there are 2 "tallest" lists: buildings and structures. The CN Tower in Toronto is the tallest structure and Taipei 101 is now the tallest building. (The proposed new World Trade Center in New York will surpass Taipei 101 by 109 feet).
Two interesting tidbits:
1) The 4th largest structure is ALSO in Kuala Lumpur - a communication tower
with a nice observation deck.
2) 6 of the 10 tallest buildings are located in China (not including Taiwan). The
four non-Chinese buildings are: Taipei 101, Petronas Towers, Sears Tower, and
the Empire State Building.
Kuala Lumpur is also home of one of the most amazing Chinatowns we have ever experienced. While the prices were low as expected, the products were awesome. Every name brand you can think of was represented, but not by cheap, underground imitations, but the real thing. Real Nike shoes for $15, genuine North Face equipment for cheap (we bought a backpack for $12), Addidas, Reebok, etc. etc. Many of these companies manufacture their products in Malaysia and we were the beneficiaries of ingenious merchants and a lax enforcement of patents and trademarks.
Kuala Lumpur's imposing landmarks (and the reason for our visit) are the twin Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings until just a few weeks ago. The towers were built in 1998 and assumed the title of world's tallest buildings from the Sears Tower in Chicago which had held the record for 14 years. The Petronas towers - built by KL's Petronas Oil and Gas company - are 1,483 feet tall, and are very distinctive as there is a two-storey bridge that connects the two buildings on the 41st and 42nd floors. The 41st floor serves as an observation deck for the general public and the 42nd floor is for occupants of the towers, for quicker communication and an emergency escape. The title of "tallest building in the world" is apparently quite controversial. Many architects argue that decorative spires, observation decks, and communication antennas are NOT buildings and should not factored in to a building's height. This makes a big difference as the new Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan will surpass the Petronas towers in overall height - albeit by only 184 feet - but will NOT be taller if you only count the distance from the sidewalk to the uppermost OCCUPIED space. However, the generally accepted compromise is to separate structures by their purpose. As a result, there are 2 "tallest" lists: buildings and structures. The CN Tower in Toronto is the tallest structure and Taipei 101 is now the tallest building. (The proposed new World Trade Center in New York will surpass Taipei 101 by 109 feet).
Two interesting tidbits:
1) The 4th largest structure is ALSO in Kuala Lumpur - a communication tower
with a nice observation deck.
2) 6 of the 10 tallest buildings are located in China (not including Taiwan). The
four non-Chinese buildings are: Taipei 101, Petronas Towers, Sears Tower, and
the Empire State Building.
Kuala Lumpur is also home of one of the most amazing Chinatowns we have ever experienced. While the prices were low as expected, the products were awesome. Every name brand you can think of was represented, but not by cheap, underground imitations, but the real thing. Real Nike shoes for $15, genuine North Face equipment for cheap (we bought a backpack for $12), Addidas, Reebok, etc. etc. Many of these companies manufacture their products in Malaysia and we were the beneficiaries of ingenious merchants and a lax enforcement of patents and trademarks.