Khao Sok National Park -- 130 million years old and still going...

On Chieow Laan lake

Daybreak on Chiew Lann Lake

I headed out pedaling north from Rawai Beach on February 22^nd.  I had long overstayed my scheduled time on Phuket Island, but it had been so easy to do so. I had been living in a compound of 30 bungalows surrounding a swimming pool, stage, bar and restaurant.   Many nights we had live music as bands literally from around the world came to our Orchid Garden Inn to rehearse.  All in my back yard.   Conversations late into the morning with interesting people from all over the world.   A party every night in your back yard.  It was very easy to overstay.

A German-Thai couple, Dieter and Sinon, ran the place.  They were happily married for 26 years, with 2 grown children.  Dieter spoke English better than most Brits, and virtually all Americans.  He appeared to know the lyrics of every Dylan song ever recorded,  along with all the Rolling Stones.   I enjoyed immensely our conversations and I look forward to seeing him again.

But it really felt good getting back onto the road pedaling again.  I got 100 kms north to Taqua Pai by 4 pm.  The rain storms came and I decided to stay the night.  By the intensity of the rains that night, it was a wise decision.  The monsoons were beginning early this season.

of what???

I headed out on sunrise the next morning to cross the mountains to Khao Sok National Park.  I had heard of the beauty of these mountain national parks and I did not want to miss them.  It was a 1000 meter climb.  The first half I did all right.  But once it hit the 10% grades, I hopped off my bike and walked it up the remainder of the climb.  I needed almost 5 hours to make 50 kms.  Not very fast, but I did it by muscle power.

I got a bamboo bungalow for $7 @ night.  It had water, good reading lights, and a fan strong enough to blow away most of the malarial mosquitoes.  For the next 4 days I would be outside from sunrise to sunset, so this would do.

I spent my first day hiking all day into the park.  It is unlike any other forest I have ever been to.  It is covered by immense ferns and bamboo forest rising up to 30 meters.  Large hardwoods reach perhaps 60 meters thru the bamboo.  It does NOT look anything like the Amazon or Africa.  This is true triple canopy forest.  There is an ascending trail that claims to pass by 7 waterfalls.  It was one tough, slippery trail.  Grab ahold of the vines and fig roots or you might be sliding downhill quickly.  What they called waterfalls here I would call cataracts.  But they were isolated and beautiful.  Because of the immense growths of ferns and bamboo, they were also hard to see.  The one thing missing was the dinosaurs.  From childhood movies, these fern forests always were filled with the great beasts.

Triple canopy forest

Where are the pteradatyls?

I kept climbing higher and higher until I got to signs telling me not to go any further.  I looked around.  I was by myself.  I kept going.  There was no longer a trail.  I had to climb over vines constantly, or get tripped up.  Finally I discovered a vine about the same dimensions as barbed wire, only much sharper.  I looked at my bleeding calves and the leaches on them and decided I had gone far enough up the mountain.  In the whole day, I had never had one good panoramic view.

A German couple told me that I simply had to take the tour of the Chieow Laan lake.  Pay the money and stay as many nights as you can.

The lake is man-made but no matter.  It is incredible.  Its waters are blue, sweet, and pure.  I drank from it.  It has some of the most jagged limestone karst mountains on the planet.  There are overhangs of over 90 degrees.  The pictures say it better than I.  This area is populated by almost all the large fauna in Thailand.  Bears, elephants, wild pigs, tapirs, everything but tigers.  We rode thru the mist in our long-tail boat looking at the fern and bamboo forests coming to edge, expecting most anything.

Without the camera flash, the cave was much darker than this

We stayed on floating bamboo huts with a good mix of European travelers.  After a great lunch, we took the boat straight to the cave hike.  Getting to the cave was much more vigorous than I expected.  We were led by ‘Mr. Big Man’, and large, heavy-set Thai man in his 40′s.  He chain-smoked, did not wear shoes, and out-hiked all of us.

On the trail to the cave, we met a group who had just come out.  They were completely soaked.  Some were muddy.  Several looked truly traumatized.  They warned us about going in.  ’Way more difficult than we thought’.  ’If you have claustrophobia, do NOT go in’.  ’You will have to swim over to the other side of the cave in water over your head in darkness.’  A younger girl looked as if she had been crying.

Well, I do have claustrophobia.  41 days in solitary confinement can do that.  For a while I seriously thought about dropping out.  But the idea of me sitting outside for an hour or two waiting did not work either.  When we got to the entrance, I found it very large.  The others entered, walking in knee-deep water.  I followed with my head torch on.  The cave was filled with bats, crickets, and a particularly large spider, whose legs spread as wide as a man’s hand.  Two Swedish girls freaked out at the spiders.  For the rest of the trip Big Man enjoyed himself immensely by alternately scaring the women and flirting with them.  They did not seem to appreciate it, and he definitely did not care.   I found it amusing.

Cave fauna

The cave tightened up.  We were in cool water over our waists.  We got bumped by large fish, over 30 cms long.  Some people got freaked out.  We all had to descend a very slippery 3 meter slope into water over our heads and then swim along the passage.  They did have a rope there for those who could not swim.  Others struggled.  A young Finnish man, Mikka, commented about how challenging this was.  I agreed.  The tunnels tightened up to less than a meter wide with cold water rushing past your chest, but with the lights, it was great.

A long time later, we finally emerged, cold and wet, to a roaring jungle rainstorm.  Big Man commented that the water level of the cave would rapidly rise and no one would be able to go into it for a while.  The trail we had hiked in on dry was now thoroughly covered with mud, water, and debris from the deluge.  It looked entirely different.  Well, if we wanted to be in the world’s oldest rain forest, we sure got the rain part.  We got back to the cabanas toward sunset and swam in the lake.  The consensus was that the cave was much tougher than expected, and better too.

On the next day we were up at dawn.  The Scandinavians said aloud  “You watch.  The French will be late.  They always are.  They are just like the Spaniards and Italians.”  And sure enough, we had to wait again for them again.  We went out on the lake at sunrise along the shoreline and saw 4 species of monkeys including gibbons and macaques, horn-bill birds, and wild pigs.  Then we began a hike that ended up a very steep rock climb over very sharp rocks.   We probably spent 1 and 1/2 hours going up.    Again, it was tougher than we expected.  How Big Man did it barefooted I could not imagine.  I was older than the next oldest person by over 20 years, but I made it a point to stay up near the front of the group.  At times I did struggle.

This is what we saw.

Yes it was worth getting to here

It was now all worth it.

I have been on some cream puff trips.  This was definitely not in that category, and I liked that.  I got pushed more than I expected.

I fly home tomorrow from Bangkok,so this should end my posts for this trip.  Ah, to feel alive and free and joyful  on our beautiful planet.  I am such an Earth Chauvinist.

On the road, you meet people that you simply would not run into at all, ever, at home.  ‘Characters’ I guess.  People that you will never see in your home towns.  They may think that about you too.  Here are some interesting ones, from many different backgrounds, in no particular order.

James, the New Zealander, riding across Asia to England

I met this very young New Zealander in Krabi, Thailand.  He had ridden across New Zealand, flown to Singapore, and was riding to China.  From there he was riding across central Asia to ENGLAND.  He planned to do it in 16 months.  His budget was $17 US @ day.  Wow.  Go Youngblood go.

They ended up calling him 'the Devil'....

The devil’ was in his late 30′s perhaps.  He spoke working class German and simple English in a raspy, sandpaper monologue.  He clearly had learned English in the street.  He smoked cigarettes and drank beer non-stop on the trip while telling insane but fascinating stories in broken English.  …full of sound and fury…  He sat in the back of the van playing pop Thai songs on his mini-boom box and singing along to them in all too loud a voice.  Who is this guy?
But what finally got my attention about him was when we went thru Thai customs.  We were in the back of the line and the Devil began speaking fluent Thai to the customs agents.  They began laughing.  The devil continued speaking rapid fire Thai with the agents until they were all splitting up.  The customs agents waved us to the front of the line.  We passed thru quickly.  Other Thais gathered around Devil as he spoke.  Clearly he had mastered a very difficult language.  I asked him how long he had studied it.  He said 12 years, and he could read and write it too.
Then I looked at the tattoos that covered most of his body, the brutal piercings on his face, and his gypsy clothing.  He did not look like a student.
Wherever he went he rapped with the Thais and quickly gained their confidence.  I had not met a single foreigner who spoke Thai nearly as well as this man.
As I watched him, I noticed that the tattoos on his right side of his body were very different than those on his left.  Devil smoked and drank with his left hand so I presumed that he was left-handed.  I had seen tattoos like the ones he had, when I was in prison in Mexico.  These were not the parlor tattoos that you paid for.  These looked like the ones done by guys to each other when they are locked up for long periods of time.  It looked like he had done his right arm and leg by himself, while others had done his left side.
I sat next to him handed him another beer.
“I spent two years in a Mexican prison.  How long did you spend in prison in Thailand?” I said.
He looked at me for a while.  His face became  very serious.  Then he said
“Only another prisoner could see that.  I pass ten years in prison in Thailand.  You know what for?”
“Sure.  And then the Thais let you stay afterward?”
“Yes.  After ten years, I have no more family.  No other country want me.  So I petition Thailand on my knees.  I promise to be good.  I speak Thai so well that they welcome me.  Ha.  Now I stay here forever.  This my home.  Soon I become Thai citizen.  I never break the laws here now.”
The Devil lit up, swigged some beer, and smiled.  He had a twinkle in his eye.

Floren, the accidental bicycle tourist

I ran into to Floren riding in opposite directions on highway 4 in Thailand.  Floren had gotten off the plane in Bangkok from Austria planning on riding on buses around Thailand.  Then on his first bus he saw some bicycle tourists.  On impulse, he stashed his heavy gear, bought a bicycle, and strapped his gear to it and begun bike touring.  He had never done it before and knew no one who had.  He had about 1000 kms under his belt and was loving every moment of it.  His equipment on his bike was makeshift.  He hadn’t professionally packed his bike.  He had many basic questions for me about bike-touring.  By his exuberance alone, I could see that Floren was a convert.  We wished each other well and headed off in opposite directions.

I have a quiz for you.  In the following two pictures, guess what they are.  You have 3 choices.
A REAL WOMAN
A TRANSVESTITE LADY BOY
A POST SURGICAL SEX CHANGE MAN-TO-WOMAN

Please guess for yourself, because others have told me that I was wrong on all three.

#1, #2 or ...

#3 ??????

(the answers are at the bottom of the text)
In Thailand you are confronted by what the Thais call ‘the third sex’.  These are the katouie lady-boys.  They are men who early on decide that they should be ladies.  From that point on, they dress and live like women.  Chiang Mai University even has a special department for them.
Thai culture is accepting of katouies, and tolerant of other cultures and ideas in general.  In fact, I have never seen another culture in the world so tolerant of different lifestyles and beliefs.
I spend most of my time in rural Thailand, riding my bike between national parks and cities.  I have been surprised at how many lady-boys I see in restaurants, markets, and stores in the most rural of places.

This lone picture does not do justice to these 2 women from Bahrain

On the boat to Ko Phi Phi Island, there were two young women who stuck mostly to themselves.  Their backs and parts of their legs were covered with tattoos.  They were laughing between themselves.  Finally I asked them where they were from.

Bahrain.  But you do not know anything about it.

I told them it was an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf. They said that I knew more about Bahrain than any other tourist they had met.

I looked at them smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.  I said something about them not fitting the stereotypes.

“What else do you know about us except stereotypes?”  I felt immediately that I had spoken ignorantly.

“The men in Bahrain do not know what is under our hijabs.  And here we want you foreigners to see us.  That would make them angry.”

“And maybe more”  the other chirped in.  They laughed.  We were beginning at last to enjoy our conversation when our boat captains called us back.

THE ANSWERS ARE:

#1 is a post-operation male-to-female

#2  is a male transvestite, and

#3  is a real woman.

I was wrong on all of them.  And I base my information strictly upon what others told me.  There were NO corporal exams.  Don’t even think about it, and that is that!

Dieter and Sinon

This is what it looks like when they grind down your front teeth for crowns  Now is this UGLY OR WHAT?

OH THE HORROR! After the grinding, and before the temporaries...

I couldnt wait to get these temporaries on...

So, I am getting older, and my teeth are wearing down and starting to chip away and crack.  I have done my best to take care of them.  I brush 3-4-5 times a day and I floss at least as often.

In 2007 I noticed that my 4 front lower incisors had really worn down.
They had lost at least 1/3rd their length.  They looked just like my dad’s
teeth when he was in his 60′s.  I asked my dentist in Bloomington what to
do.  He said I needed four crowns.  $3200 total.    (Today this estimate might be closer to $4500)  But he was so busy that he could not get at them for 2 months.

TWO MONTHS?  I want them now.

A few weeks later, I am in San Diego on a previously planned trip.  I bite into
some hard fruit and one of my lower incisors breaks partially away.  And there it is.  Undeniable.  THE GAP. When you are missing a front tooth, it looks like your IQ has just dropped 30 points.  I start walking around with my lower lip deliberately covering my lower teeth.  I cannot go on like this.

So I take the train to San Isidro, at the California-Mexico border.    I
walk over the border.   First of all, I find that there is virtually no customs whatsoever in entering Mexico.  I walk by one sleepy guard, turn the corner, and then I am on the chaotic streets of Tijuana.  I speak good Spanish and I am confident I can find a good dentist.  I see DENTISTA signs and I start knocking on doors.  The first three I run into all seem like quacks.  Bad facilities and unimpressive staff.  I quickly exit.  Then I see a sign advertising a dental lab.  I walk in and the waiting room is filled with Mexicans.  No one here speaks English.  I notice a crucifix and religious images on the wall.  Then I talk with the dentist, Jesus Rodriquez (his real name).  Yes he does porcelain crowns on
noble metals.  He has a laboratory next door where his staff makes the
crowns.  He has been doing this for 25 years.
How much would these crowns cost, Dr. Rodriquez?
About $450.
Per tooth?  That is not much cheaper than the USA.
No senor.  About $450 for ALL FOUR teeth.
Can I see some of your work?
Come with me.
We walk into the waiting room, and Dr. Rodriquez asks if any of his patients
here would like to show this man any crowns he may have done.  Several
volunteer.  I look, and the work looks good to me.
We go back to his office.
Well, when can you begin?
He looks at his watch.
I am sorry, but it will have to be this afternoon.
What?  Today.
Yes.  That is what THIS afternoon means in Spanish too.
At 5 pm on that same day, I am back in San Diego with 4 decent looking
temporaries.  A week later, I have 4 good crowns on.  I must state that I
did rush Jesus into finishing the work because of a non-refundable scheduled
flight.  I am so happy with his work that I give him a $50 tip.  He was a
kind, dedicated dentist working under an unreasonably tight schedule.

Three of those crowns have been without problems.  I did have one replaced.
I attribute part of the reason to my rushing him to work faster than he
wanted to.  So what were my total savings?  About $2000.    And I am happy
with my teeth.

THAILAND DENTAL…

The wonderful dentists. My Doctor of dental surgery Nahathai Puttawhiro www.32dentalclinic.com

With thoroughly modern equipment

My friend Clifford has recommended a dental clinic here.  So I show up unannounced.  All the dentists and assistants are women.  As an aside, they were quite beautiful too.  I show them my five worn and cracked front teeth.   Yes, they can begin in a few days.
How much for five baked porcelain-on-palladium crowns?
$1340
okay.  Let’s schedule the appointment.

I get there on Saturday, February 5th at 9 am.  They have me down in that
chair straight for 3  1/2 hours without a pee break until they are done
putting on the temporaries.  They are clearly perfectionists.  Again and
again the two dentists check and measure and then work again.  I see that
there is a master/apprentice relationship here.
Half way thru, they have finished cutting down my front teeth to posts for
the crowns to fit on.  I ask to look at the posts.  And what I see truly
frightens me.  I have FIVE VAMPIRE teeth.  This is the ugliest I have ever
been.  And believe me, I have been ugly before.
I put my hand involuntarily over my mouth.
Then the younger dentist says “Oh sorry.  But drill break now.  Cannot work
anymore.  You go home.  Come back next month.”
They watch the look of horror spread on my face, and then they all start
laughing, probably at the expression on my face.  I finally laugh with them.   Oh do I love smart, funny women.  Smart-assed funny women too. They are the VERY best.
On on February 12th, I go in to get my permanents put on.  The dentist says that the teeth are the wrong color.  I look at them and they are yellowish.  Like I have been smoking cigarettes a long time.  She is truly disappointed and sorry for having inconvenienced me.  She says she wants to send them back to the lab.  Of course it will not cost me, but we will have to wait another 5 days.  I agree.

I go in on February 17th and they finish the work in an hour.  The dentists thoroughly check my bite.  They give me a written two-year guarantee.

My final teeth. I am hoping they last the remainder of my life.

So here is the current accounting:

1.  For five porcelain on palladium front upper crowns, $1340

2.  Teeth cleaning   $30

3.  Tooth protector, to  prevent grinding while sleeping   $30

What are my risks?

1.  Most seriously, if something goes wrong, I am NOT returning to have it fixed.  I must state that I have had crowns break in the US within a year and the dentist refused to honor his work and charged me full fare for the replacement.

2.  Inferior work.  I have no evidence of this.  My three Mexican crowns have 5 years on them and they are wearing fine.  Making dental crowns is a mature technology.  No country has a ‘leading edge’ on this.

And what are my potential rewards?

1.  This is simple.  I most likely have just saved myself well over $4000.

2.  Personally, I am delighted not to be held ransom to the extortionist rates of the US medical system.  I am voting with my feet.  If you want to pay those rates, you go right ahead.  But not me.  But there are other options, if you are willing to research into them.

If you are thinking about having serious dental work done overseas, I would allow for a minimum of 2 weeks.  Get started on day one of arrival, and allow for extra time for adjustments and such.  We should do this for any major medical procedure.

‘ECO’-TOURISM RUN AMOK  –  LOVING IT TO DEATH

February 15th, 2011

Krabi, Thailand

We didnt catch anything. And they forgot to bring our poles too.

We have a tendency to exaggerate to the better how our vacations go. We generally go on vacations to ‘feel better’. We want this to happen. And expectations form opinions. Who wants to come home from a vacation saying to friends “It was terrible. I will never go there again.” Well, I want to do a bit of truth-in-advertising here.

Clifford and I went on a fishing boat. There were 14 of us aboard, but just 8 rods and reels. The lady who booked us told me that there would only ten people and everyone would have equipment. We left late and trolled aimlessly. At the stern of the boat were two Russian paraplegics. If I hooked anything, I was handing them my rod to reel it in. They needed to catch a fish more than I. But three hours into the trip and no one had had a single hit. The six Russians in their party had by then downed at least three fifths of vodka and whiskey. They began making loud crass jokes about how bad the fishing was.

I watched the two near kids crewing the boat. They were searching with the fish finder. We saw nothing. So they took us swimming and snorkeling instead. To my complete surprise, the younger Russian paraplegic grabbed and mask and snorkel and rolled off the boat. This man was way over the top drunk. I watched him closely, ready to jump in. But he had tremendous upper body strength and swam strongly thru the water. Finally he was enjoying himself. He was the last one back aboard. He pulled himself out of the water with surprising ease.

We then had a mediocre meal with small proportions. That was ok for me because I was here to fish, not eat. But it was not okay with others. Then we went bottom fishing. As a group, we caught perhaps eight fish, nothing bigger than eight inches. I have done much better bluegill fishing in small farm ponds.

When we got back Clifford had me talk with his fisherman friend, Amir.

“Oh they haven’t caught fish on those boats for years. In the last eight times my friends have gone out, they have only caught one tuna, of about two kilos. The coastal waters of Thailand are COMPLETELY fished out. If you want to catch any fish, you must go at least 100 kms. from shore. And that will cost each fisherman $600-700 apiece.”

“And they keep booking boats on a lie?”

“Yep. You paid. It is a one-and-done. I guess there are still enough people coming who will pay once. But no one ever catches anything anymore. The only thing they catch is your money.”

That face is one of heat exhaustion. Bad judgement on my part.

I decided to ride over the coastal mountain ridge to the tourist mecca of Patong Beach. Dieter had warned me that Patong was now a terrible place. “DONT GO DWIGHT. I KNOW YOU. YOU WILL HATE IT.” Dieter is a German ex-pat. He and his Thai wife have managed remote tourist resorts for 25 years. Dieter said that he had not gone to Patong in six years, and it was less than 25 kms. away. Dieter finished up by calling Patong ‘Tune-Town’. Hmmmm? So I left anyhow.

I got off to a late bicycle start with my 15 kilos of gear. Then I had my first flat tire of the trip. So by the time I began the 700 meter climb, it was noon and 30 degrees centigrade. Then I found that much of the slope was around 10%. I cannot sustain climbing 10% on a loaded bike. So I had to walk my bike up much of the slope. I quickly went thru my two liters of water. I had to rest in the shade a few times on the climb. It took me a while to get it that this was heat exhaustion.

Coming down the ridge was as steep as going up. I had to ride the brakes the whole way down. I used up all that potential energy melting my brake pads. How I wanted a long slow coast. I finally pulled into the neon billboard city called Patong. It was one living advertising sign. Everyone was after your business. Across the board, the prices for everything had just doubled. I booked a room with free WIFI. But there was NO WIFI. The stated prices on the food menus did not exist after you sat down.

So I packed up my bike and left. Patong was not worth a photo.  This time I took the northern way out of Patong. Much longer, but not nearly as steep. I got back to my original bungalow in much quicker time. Dieter could not resist.

“I told you so Dwight.”

And I could not argue with him.

So I had a dental delay. I told Dieter I would go to the Ko Phi Phi Don islands.

“Oh that is terrible Dwight. You will hate it.”

I bought my boat ticket anyhow. When I asked how much it would be to take a bicycle on the boat and back, they told me $48. That was more than MY ticket. I told them forget it. I would leave my bike with friends. Fuck that shit. (FTS).

The island Ko Phi Phi Don was as overdeveloped and overcrowded as Dieter had promised. I realize that I am part of the problem. Just my visiting adds to it. Having stated that, the beauty of the islands, mountains, beaches and reefs are overwhelming. You just have to go somewhere where there isn’t someone standing right in front of you. I found a good hike up the mountain quickly got me to isolated serenity. Any time I was snorkeling was fine too. I saw lots of beautiful fish. But nothing bigger than two kilos. The Thais have even fished out the big fish on the reefs dedicated for snorkeling only. I saw significant coral bleaching. This great coral die-off is happening around the world, and there appears to be nothing at all that humans can do about it in time to make any difference.

The ‘isolated’ beaches on the uninhabited islands that we went to were so full of boats that late arrivers had to wait in the bay until someone pulled out. I am talking about maybe 1000 people on a 200 meter beach, 50 kms. from any city. It is the policy of the Thai Ministry of tourism to maximize the tourism business. They will send out as many boats as they can fill. I am not blaming them. But if you come to these stunning islands in the Andaman Sea, be ready for it, because the number of people will be right in your face.

The new 'roughing it'. Chain-smoking Swedish heifers 1/3rd my age commanding Thai men 2/3rd of their body masses and double their age to carry their overladen backpacks from the boat to the carts and then carry the luggage into the hotels. Will wiping their backsides be next?

Have the man carry your back pack and place it into the cart and then roll the cart to your hotel and then carry your back pack to your room. Wow!

Having stated all of this about the crowds in certain places, it is still stunningly beautiful. If you want to avoid the crowds, check beforehand and go to the islands where there are no cars or motorcycles or porters. That should eliminate about 90% of the other hominids.

Approaching Ko Phi Phi. It juts out at you

Climb up here and gaze. You will be away from 99% of the crowd below.

A sunset worth climbing and waiting for.

Approaching Phi Phi Leh. There is a hidden beach inside of that rock.

One of many overhanging rocks.

There are many hidden bays, coves, and beaches within these mastifs.

Two of the three valuable books I feel are worth reading

photos of 2 of the books here

The books are
1.  LAST KID IN THE WOODS  — NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER, by Richard Louv

2.  CONSERVATION REFUGEES  –  by Mark Dowie

3.  KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST  –  by Adam Hochschild

Before I go on bicycle trips, I get some good reading material for me.  I read in my tent, in guest houses, and wherever I have the time.  Often, these are the books that I do not seem to get the time to read.  I thank my friend Keith Snow for two of the recommendations.

I have been an avid reader my whole life.  With the exception of about 5 months, I have NOT lived with a television in my home since I was 17 years old.  I mean that.  I have had TVs hitched up to VHS and DVD players.  I should mention that you can watch a lot things on TV with Netflix.  But I have not had a TV with a cable connect or even antennas my whole adult life.  So at this point I do not know what I am missing.  My children objected when they were small.  but those were our standards.  We wanted to raise our children ourselves, rather than some marketeers somewhere else.

I am a big fan of NETFLIX.  I have never downloaded a movie for view in my life.
The typical US family watches TV 5+ hours a day.  So, compared with them, I now have 5 additional hours to do other things.  I have no  problems filling this time.

So here are the books that I read at night in the guest houses I stay in as I travel.

1.  LAST KID IN THE WOODS  — NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER, by Richard Louv
This is about what is happening to a whole generation of children worldwide who spend an increasing amount time in front of TVs, computers, and video games, and less and less time outside.  Louv writes about the radical transformation from children being sent outside to play in 50′s and 60′s, and the new organized ‘play’ hours of today.
Louv is concerned about the psychological price children pay by not being outdoors exploring and creating their own worlds.  He presents a case that children who are not exposed to unstructured time  outdoors can suffer permanent damage in ways not even considered in contemporary child development psychology.
This book needs better editing and organization.  It is also too long.  But I think this is an especailly important book for those with small children, or grandchildren.

2.  CONSERVATION REFUGEES  –  by Mark Dowie
Did you know that perhaps over 22 million people, mostly in Africa, have been displaced from their traditional homes, most of them people of color.
I have always thought that national parks should be free of people.  Dowie presents a radically different case.
I remember when I was in the Serengeti National Park 20 years ago.  I discovered that the Masai are free to wander thru the park as they have done for millennia.  What?  How can this be?  Won’t they kill all the animals and destroy it?  I asked.  No, the Kikuyu guide said.  They never kill the animals, except for a rogue lion or two.  They help the park.  They have been here forever.  If they are doing so much damage, why are there so many animals here?
Mark Dowie states that the best people to protect the national parks in much of the ‘third world’ are precisely those people who the governments have driven out.  He acknowledges the problems that increasing populations have put on the parks.  but he states that the parks will fail without local cooperation.  All locals must have an economic interest in the park.
Most disturbing, Dowie writes about how a number of parks were established NOT to protect the natural environment and wildlife, but to drive the people off the land to then dig the mines and cut the forests.  He documents how the same corporations that contributed money for these ‘parks’ then bring in their mines.
Dowie attacks environmental sacred cows.    John Muir was in favor of killing off the remaining Indians in Yosemite, if they did not leave on their own.  What?  Why did I not know that?
Dowie completely questions the morality of the Europeans, who have killed off their wildlife and cut their forests come.  What right do they have to tell the Africans how to run Africa, when they failed in Europe?
This book has changed my perception of an issue as much as any that I have read in 20 years.  A must read.

#3.  KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST  –  by Adam Hochschild

Did you know that, between 1880 and 1910, Belgian mercenaries most likely killed 10 to 13 MILLION Congolese?  I sure didn’t.  The Belgians have done their very best to destroy all evidence of this.  If no one remembers a genocide, then did it happen?
This book is much more than disturbing.  Hochschild makes a case that almost all the European colonies in Africa, and perhaps the world, were genocidal in nature.  In fact, he defines colonialism as a form of genocide.  Strong words,  huh?  Read this book, and see if you are as surprised at what you did not know as I was.
This book is to the Congo what the GULAG ARCHIPELAGO was to the old Soviet Union.  It exposes the complete horror and sadism of what happened.  Read this book at your own risk.

Pedaling over the bridge onto Phuket Island

I left from Takua Pa at about 11 am, much later than I had planned.  But I simply had to visit all the Tsunami museums and exhibits.  I didnt figure I would get very close to Phuket Island with this late start.  So it was heads down pedalling.  I had hills to climb, but I was feeling really strong.  The trip was doing me well.  I just stopped for quick papaya salads and fruit juices and kept flying.  Sometimes I was maintaining close to 25 km per hour.
I took one short nap at lunch and then hit the road again.  By 5 pm I had 100 kms under my belt in the heat as I got to Phuket Bridge.  Wow I was having a fine day.  I was much further than expected.  Usually it is the other way around.
My plan was now to take the first reasonably priced guest house I could find.  But as I rode 20 kms.  into the north side of the island, I found that it was all agriculture and national parks.  Not one place to stay, and the sun had just set.  To top it off, the roads were wet.  Major trucks came by spraying me with sand and mud.  My bike did not have lights, and it was beginning to rain harder.
I saw a small restaurant to my left.  No sooner had I pulled my bike under the awning and heaven completely broke loose with a tropical deluge.  The road filled with deep water as cars plunged into it.  They threw water 5 meters to the side.

An unplanned homestay in Thailand. I am not sure what we were toasting to, but they all thought it was VERY funny.

By the way they stared at me, I gathered that I was the first ‘farang’ (foreigner) who had eaten at this restaurant.  No one here spoke any English.  There were about ten young men sitting at a table.  I figured that they were regulars.  I ordered a beer for me, and two large bottles of beer for them.  Cheers and toasts and I was sitting at their table.  Glasses were filled and refilled as we talked and laughed, about what I was not completely  sure.
I got out my Thai grammar book and dictionary and grunted out the tones as best I could.  They laughed more.
The guys took turns introducing everyone else by name.  One of them  would tell me the name of their buddy and ask me to repeat it.  The buddy would object, but I would repeat it anyhow.  Then the whole table would break up in l laughter.  They would repeat the process again and again, with roaring laughter each time.  I did my best to remember their names.  I was not sure if it were the foulness of the names, or my terrible mispronunciations of it that made them laugh so hard, but it sure worked.  I was the life of the party.  No matter how many times I repeated their names, their laughter did not diminish.  They were literally blowing beer thru their noses.  Some of them kept repeating my mauled words.

Now at this table, I was clearly just a one-trick pony.  But I decided to master that trick well.  I have learned to speak basic block Thai in direct, simple statements.  The grammar is very easy, and the pronunciation very very difficult.  So I imagine my statements went something like this.

You want more beer, Mr. DickNose?

HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Mr. Fart Breath, please give me more rice.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I do not want hot sauce, Mrs. Little Penis.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Yes I like Thai food very much, Mr. Vagina Mouth.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

From left to right at the table I present to you Mr. Dicknose, Mr. Fart breath, Mrs. Little Penis, and Mr. Vagina Mouth

Wow could I tell jokes in Thai.  I felt proud of myself as a cultural ambassador from the United States.  I am sure that if my professorial colleagues at Indiana University ever read this, they would be very proud of my new levels of academic development.   And I am sure that they will NEVER read any of this.

Then even more food came.  Bags of whole steamed crabs, hot fish soup,  snacks, deep-fried little fish, rice, veggies and chicken, and food spicy enough to give me the hickups on the first bite.  The bowls went into the center of the table and everyone including me ate from them.  Fantastic food.  And the ordinary Thais appeared to eat like this every day, and not get fat.
Later the young men shook hands and departed.  We all had clearly had a good time.  And then, there I was, in a closing restaurant, all alone except for the staff.  I had arrived wet, hungry and thirsty.  And now I was dry, full, and drunk.  It was pitch dark outside and still raining.  Trucks were roaring by.  I had finally done it.  It was getting toward 11 pm and I had gotten my ass high and stranded with no place to go, and no tent this time either.
I walked over to my bike, really not knowing where to go, or what to do.  The waiter grabbed my hand and shook his head.  He led me to a side room in the restaurant. They had already cleared out a little area and placed a mat on the floor for me.
Wow.  What kind people.  They saw my predicament and had already solved it before I could ask.  Wow.  They brought my bike inside and gave me a towel and showed me where I could bathe.  I really needed to.  I offered a few hundred baht ($$7) and they refused.  I finally had to press the money into the eldest lady’s hand and refuse to take the money back.  We bowed to each other with our hands in prayer position and said our good nights.

Then I bathed and slept on the floor.  Next day we were all up at dawn.  They had their cameras out to take pictures of me.  I thanked them again and we wished each other well.  My daily blessings.

Visiting my old friend Clifford Brown.  This is about an ancient friendship.

Clifford Brown and I have known each other since we were teenagers.  We worked in the psych building at Indiana University together, attended rallies and got arrested in demonstrations together, were family friends, had our kids at about the same time, and spent time with each others families.  We all have friends like this.  I am not special.

Clifford has battled his alcoholism his whole adult life.  More than a few times, I swore off ever seeing him again after he would come by totally drunk.  I almost had to physically throw him out of a party at my home in 2002.  Yet I loved the humor and genius in the man.   As much as anyone I have ever met, Clifford understands the joy and madness of life.

So I find that Clifford is living on Phuket Island and has not had a drink in almost 5 years.  Sure, I will visit him.  And what a visit it has been.  Ohhh, I have to listen to the Alcoholics Anonymous and spiritual stuff.  But that’s okay.  I will occasionally have to verbally bitch-slap him down when he gets too preachy.  But then the humor gets going and I cannot stop laughing.  Clif keeps it lovingly outrageous, and at times, brutally honest.

Here are some photos.  BTW, Clif and I have been insulting each other for almost 50 years, so I see no reason to stop now.

Clifford and I in a more serious moment.

Continuous onset puerility

Tourists walking out to the tidal wave...

Do read both of these eye witness statements

Well written...

The massive tsunami that hit Thailand on December 26th, 2004, did most of its damage in Thailand in the province of Phang-Nga.  It is where most of the 8,000 people died.  The ones that the media mostly paid attention to were those in the tourist locations.
Of the 240,000 who died that day, over half of them were on the southern side of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.   India and Ceylon lost another 80,000.  But the documented drama of the event focused mostly around southwest Thailand.

I rode my bike directly thru the areas that were most affected.  I stopped at two of the museums and spent a half day reading the descriptions of the events and watching the videos.  Yes, some of it was morbid curiosity of the terror.
As a spent many hours studying what had happened, these were the take home points that I gathered.

1.  Most of the people on the beach had perhaps 10 minutes warning that something was happening.  Two large but non-lethal waves hit many of the beaches.  Then the water receded extremely far, in some cases over 200 meters beyond the low tide marks.  Many tourists and the hotel staff came out on the beach and walked out onto the exposed seabed as the massive wave built up in the distance.  There are some videos shot from above showing tourists walking right at a wave that is 10-15 times their height and not stopping until the wave is upon them.  They did not have a chance.  The same happened with many of the hotel staff.  So many felt that the water would just stop magically at the high water line.  They stood there, in awe, watching this giant wave coming in to kill them.  I fear I might have done the same…

2.  The energy of the wave carried boats weighing several 100 tons over 2 miles inland, depositing these boats 15 meters above sea level.  Many people who were over a kilometre from shore were killed by water that they did not see coming until it was upon them.  Most were crushed by the debris that the onslaught carried.

3.  At least two major waves came in.  Killing waves can continue to come in for up to 24 hours after the initial event.

4.  There was an early warning system in place.  Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Sunday morning at about 8 am, Thailand’s best meteorological experts had a crisis meeting. They decided not to warn about the tsunami “out of courtesy to the tourist industry”.  An hour later, the first massive wave struck.
The experts had been discussing the economic impacts of a tsunami warning.  The main argument against such a warning was that there have not been any floods in 300 years. They believed the Indonesian island of Sumatra would cushion the southern coast of Thailand.
But the experts also had bad information; They thought the tremor was 8.1, instead of the actual Richter reading 9.2

Today one cannot travel along the coast of Thailand without seeing continual parade of signs marking coastal evacuation routes from tsunamis.  There are over 60 broadcast towers in highly populated areas to warn the people.   Indonesia has a similar system.  but still  over 700 were killed by a ‘sneak’ tsunami in 2006.
As with all rare outlying events, it is difficult to maintain an alertness to something that happens so infrequently.

I have posted these photos of the aftermath.

An excellent children's book on tsunami education

A naval ship that was left high and dry 2 kms inland

Information on this ship

The tsunami education center, funded by USAID. A good building with a most honorble mission.

Approaching Ko Phayam

A view from our bungalow

A beach in Ko Phayam

Jeff was a day ahead of me and already had a room on Ko Phayam Island.  This island is part of the Laem Som marine national park system.  I rode my bike to the ferry early.  I felt great relief to not have to deal with any of the moto-taxis, schedules, and  price debates.  I just pedalled there quickly by myself.
I took the 3 hour ride to an island that has no cars, traffic lights, and only intermittent electricity and infrequent  internet.  It was about 4 by 7 kms in size and known for its fine beaches.  Across the island were 2 meter wide cement trails where one could pedal a bike if necessary to get to any of the many beaches, bars, dance halls and restaurants on the island.

As I rode my bicycle thru the crowd of young backpackers getting off the ferry, I noticed that they were virtually all queueing up to rent motorcycles.  They were 1/3rd my age, yet they felt that they did not have the time or energy to be able to pedal a  bike a maximum of 7 kms.

I would pay for this later on whenever I pedalled on the trails.  I would have to dodge the motorcyclists speeding along noisily and recklessly on the trails.  I should mention that I have seen a few live motorcycle accidents while on this trip.  I am surprised that I have not seen more.

I found Jeff and I shared his Bamboo cabana.  I unpacked, bathed, and looked around.  I had absolutely nothing specific to do for 5 days.  Nothing.  Wow.  When was the last time I had this opportunity, other than in solitary confinement in prison?

Time to turn my motor off, or at least reduce my high idle.
So what to do?  Daily I swam, I used the free sea kayaks to paddle around small islands in the distance.  I read, I went 3 days without wearing any footwear at all, including sandals, socks, or tongs.  And by late afternoon I was usually idly drunk.  Yeah I was.

I got one massage, a decent one.  I talked with the masseuse and she mentioned just how sore and stiff she was from giving massages all day.  So I offered to give her a massage every afternoon after she was finished.  But I told her my rate was 1 baht (about $.03) per hour.  She accepted and paid up in advance.  So I got into massaging the masseuses at sunset on this lovely 2 km beach.  Life could be worse.

Jeff's and my masseuse on Ko Phayam

But finally, it was time to go.  Jeff had decided to stay another day.  We said our goodbyes.  It had been a good ride together.  Jeff now had to get back to the US, but not me.  So down the road again.

January 20th, 2011

Ranong, Thailand

The public hospital in Ranong, Thailand

The hospital waiting room

I landed smack on my right shoulder and ribs on hard pavement. A bloody knee and elbow, and a sore shoulder. I quickly got up and limped to the side of the road with my bike. I was riding fast, over 20 kms an hour, when it happened. It was at the end of the day and I was daydreaming, looking at the mountains in the distance, when I let my front wheel go off the steep shoulder of the road. I tried to correct it, but too late. I flipped the bicycle on the road. It happened real fast, as all accidents always do. For it accidents ever happened slowly, they wouldn’t happen at all.

I was hurting. I cussed at myself for such a stupid move. (I tend to cuss at myself a lot when I screw up. Do you?) I was most worried about my knee. If it swelled up, I would not be able to pedal. I quickly into my medical kit for some aspirin and Ibuprofen to stem the swelling. I cleansed and covered the cuts. Much Later that night, I simply could not sleep. Deep pain from my upper right ribs. Any cough, sneeze, or laughter sent unbearable pain thru my rib cage.  But I did not have much to laugh about.

I did not ride the next day. The chest and shoulder pain was too great. I began to fear that this bicycling trip might end early. I did NOT want that to happen. Two days later, I hopped on my loaded bike and began pedalling south again. Once I got into riding position and began pedalling, my ribs did not hurt enough to stop me. With pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, I could pedal. I had days of 80, 100, and 130 kms.

The knee, shoulder, and the elbow pain faded away, but the rib pain continued on. I could not rest on my right side or cough at all. Whatever it was did not go away in 6 days.. I began to fear a cracked rib.

So……………. what to do? I deliberately don’t have insurance. I also do NOT speak good Thai. I felt that at least I should know the extent of my injuries. Friends told me that if I had a broken rib, I must stop riding. They said one more fall could cause the rib to pierce the lung. And then I really would have problems.

So, I decided to go to the public hospital in Ranong, Thailand. I rode my bicycle into the parking lot on 10:25 am on January 19th, 2011. I went to the desk of a crowded waiting room with my Thai grammar book in hand. There appeared to be well over 100 people in the large waiting area, in various states of being processed. I explained myself to them in Thai as best I could. The lady smiled bemusedly at my mispronunciations, and then began speaking to me in English. She registered me and gave me the number 120. On the digital screen in the waiting room I saw that the current number was 70. I was glad I had brought some reading along with me.

About 5 minutes later she called my number. I went up to the desk and she handed me some paperwork. 10 minutes after that she told me that the doctor was ready to see me. They led me into the office of a gray-haired doctor, a man of about my age. He spoke good English. He examined my ribs. He also said it would be dangerous to continue bicycling with broken ribs. He would need x-rays. He filled out some papers and a nurse escorted me to the x-ray lab. 10 minutes and two x-rays later and I had my results in hand.

The nurse informed me that I had to pay for my x-rays first, in cash, now.

Chai. Tow rai? (Yes. How much?)

330 baht for each one. ($5.50 US per x-ray)

I gladly paid the $11 for the x-rays and took them back to the doctor. He carefully read my x-rays. You have serious soft tissue and cartilage damage, he said. But no broken ribs. It will take months to heal. You can continue riding again, but I advise against it, or doing any other strenuous work. I shook his hand and thanked him in courteous Thai.

How much do I owe you? I asked.

You have paid for the ex-rays. That is all.

What? That is all.

No. I owe you something. You give me good service and so I should pay.

Here is where they accept voluntary payments

The doctor said something to the nurse in Thai that I could not understand. She led me to a Buddhist Stupa shrine at the entrance to the hospital. There was a slot on it that said something in Thai. Below it in English was written

DONATIONS WELCOME

I put $10 US in and rode off on my bike. I checked my watch. It was 11:30 am. I had spent one hour TOTAL getting processed, x-rayed and diagnosed, in a different language and culture. As I rode off, I thought I had shortchanged them seriously. Several days later I passed this hospital again on my bike going south.  I stopped and added 300 more baht.  Still, what a deal.

It took me a total of $11 and one hour WITHOUT ANY APPOINTMENT to find out conclusively whether I had broken ribs or not. What would it have taken in the US to have this diagnosis? I think those in the United States know what they would have been in for.

I have had excellent experiences in hospitals in other places in the world, in India, Costa Rica, Mexico, Where I got excellent, quick service and a very reasonable (read cheap) price. And yet our for-profit medical industry constantly rails against how bad the medical systems are outside of the US. The people who believe this are mostly those who have not been outside the US ever. Our bumpkin-proletariat is convinced that they have it so much better than the rest of the world. I think this is a result of the ‘Big Lie’ perpetrated by the ads and agitprop of our pro-profit health-care industry. If you don’t know any better, you fall for their lies.

In 2004, I watched the first Bush-Kerry debate. In it, Bush stated that the US had the best health care system in the world. I waited for Kerry’s rebuttal. Then Kerry did it.

HE AGREED WITH BUSH!

Kerry and Bush both said that the US system was the best in the world. OMG! WTF! At that point, I realized that there was no hope for the US health care system. None at all, as long as the ruling class and children of the privileged received the best of care while the rest of the US got the leftovers. These people were too out-of-touch with the real world to even hold and intelligent conversation about health care.

I need some dental work.  A few teeth are simply wearing down with age.  So, guess where I get my dental work done next month? Well you can bet it ain’t gonna be in the USA.

January 18th, 2011

Ranong, Thailand

Note where the palm oil plantation has been cut into the world's oldest forest

I am now riding thru the very oldest rain forest on the planet. Biologists estimate that the tropical forest along the mountains of southern Thailand and Malaysia have existing continuously for 130 million years. No other forests on the planet come close to this in age. Both Malaysia and Thailand now have strong laws on paper protecting these forests. The locals for the most part sound serious about enforcing it. So what are the threats? Palm oil and rubber plantations.

While I was riding south, I got lost, again. I was using my compass to navigate across a mountainous area and I kept running onto dirt road with dead ends. Having to track back on hilly dirt roads on a bicycle can be very frustrating. It did not help that the locals could not understand my rudimentary Thai. I found myself in the midst of an immense rubber tree plantation that went on for at least 20 kms thru valleys and mountains. It was one continuous monoculture up and down the hillsides. i saw that they were expanding this rubber plantation.  I saw no landmarks to help me get out of here. It was getting late in the day and it was looking more and more like I would have to bivouac in this plantation until dawn.

Finally a motorcyclist came by me. I waved him down, and he kindly led me out of the maze to a paved road. This mistake set me back 40 kms. When I came out of the rubber plantation.  At the edge of the plantation, I could see that they were expanding it.  With the price of oil going up, natural latex rubber is more competitive with synthetic rubber.

Tapping a rubber tree

Unending rubber plantations.

Loading cured latex rubber for shipment

Then I found myself in the beginning of a palm oil plantation.  Palm oil plantations are having a much more serious impact on tropical forests. A palm oil plantation can produce consistently about 4000 litres of oil per hectare (about 500 gallons of oil per acre).

The best oil grain in North America is canola oil, and one does well to produce 100 gallons of oil per acre with it. I should know these numbers well since I have been producing my own bio-diesel for the last 3 years.

Palm oil collection station

A palm oil cluster, just loaded with oil

Oil palms begin producing kernels quickly.

And the young palms grow quickly.

Palm oil plantations can produce for 40 years and take considerably less maintenance than annual oil crops. One can make a good economic and energy case that, of all the plant oil crops, palm oil pays the best. In a way, it sounds ideal. And economically, it is. But oil palm plantations can grow in many of the marginal lands where ancient tropical forests now stand. Local peoples are now cutting these forests at a furious rate. Indonesia is the worst, but you can see it happening up north here. From the roads and air planes, you see every marginal piece of forest land being cut for palm oil. It appears that if the tropical forests are not on protected status AND guarded, they will be cut down.

Western environmentalists here are careful not to preach to the local people. If they did, the locals would quickly point out that the west have already cut down most of our forests in Europe and the USA. They will state that they have the right to develop their lands and increase their personal wealth. They strongly feel that economic growth is not just reserved for the western countries. One cannot argue with their perspective, other than to encourage as much conservation as possible, and hope that the impacts are not too great. And so goes the planet.

Coastal shrimp ponds cut into the mangrove swamps

The kids start early here helping with shrimp gathering

All along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand I saw continuous shrimp farms. The Thais have cut up much of their coastal mangrove forests. Biologists have long stated that mangrove swamps are the breeding grounds for many marine species. This is happening around around the world. We will be seeing how this living experiment affects biodiversity in the future.

Camping out in the elephant museum at night. Errie and interesting.

When I was at the Kuiburi National Park, the park rangers let me sleep in the elephant museum at night. So I slept on a mat next to all of the elephant skeletons, bones, and exhibits. Much later in the night, I got up and walked thru the museum in the moonlight. The ghosts of elephants past.

Betel nut growers, chewers, and their disgusting bright orange gums, teeth, lips, and spit

A 24 egg omelette with 30+ additions to it

A truck recycling plastic

Kids at a Sunday fair with inflatable elephants

4 kids on a tandem going to the beach