I did a day trip to Mae Salong today. It was a beautiful little town, although very touristy, on a hilltop near the Myanmar border. Beautiful views to all directions! Also, it had an interesting history as 10,000 soldiers of Chinese nationalistic army (Kuomingtang) took refuge there, started farming opium poppies and were financed by the US government to fight against communist Russia. Nowadays opium poppies have been replaced by tasty Oolong tea and Mae Salong has very good Chinese food!
How not to behave in dormitories
I've really enjoyed staying in hostel dorms - it's cheaper and you meet a lot of people that way. The great majority understands the way to sleep with up to seven strangers in the same room and are very considerate. However, I wanted to write up a list of faux pas I've seen committed (none of them too serious, and none of them ruined my sleep in the end).
1) If you arrive back from the bar at 4 am, you do not bring a guest, you do not put the lights on, and especially, you do not chat with your guest and friend for two hours. I personally slept through this, as I'm not bothered by light or sounds! However, I'm bothered by cold and mosquitoes...
2) If there is a mosquito netting on the door, keep it shut. I do not want to sleep with dozens of mosquitoes as you thought to air the room (which could happen through the netting) when it was getting dark. Also, making a joke about how my blood must be sweet as the mosquitoes do not bother you is not making it any better for me.
3) Please do not set the airconditioning unit aimed at my bed, at full blow, and 17C. I prefer to sleep at 25C. Actually, anything below 20C I need my fleece, woollen leggings and socks. And if I change the settings, there's probably a reason for it - please do not reset to full blow at 17C. When in a hot country, try to bear a slightly warmer sleeping temperatures than 17C.
4) If you want to switch of the fan in the middle of the night it is fine, but please walk around my bed to the fan to do so. Please do not reach over my bed, as I was scared to wake up to your 70-year-old, hairy, smelly, very little dressed body reaching over me.
5) I understand that you do not trust the hostel lockers for safekeeping of your valuables and it's a good idea to take them in bed with you. However, if you're too drunk to put them on the right bed, don't be surprised if I've kicked your camera, wallet and sunglasses on the floor as I didn't know you placed them in a neat row at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night.
Hopefully not to be continued!
Friday, 28 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Chiang Rai
On my first night in Chiang Rai I found the Teachings of Buddha from my hotel, and I read half of it in one sitting. It made me stop and think about myself, life and the world, and it made me realise that I'm very happy at the moment. I'm doing what I want to do, and I am who I want to be. Very good! After that I made a mistake of reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road before going to bed, and I got so scared in my little grimy windowless room that I had to sleep with the glaring halogen light on - wearing my airplane sleeping mask!
Yesterday I was totally knackered from the previous day, so I took it easier strolling in the market hall and a couple of beautiful temples. I also found a nicer guest house to stay - one with a dorm as well! I've learned to enjoy dorms a lot; you're bound to meet people. The cheap price (2.50 eur/night) doesn't hurt either.
Today I went to see the White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, which was blindingly shiny in its glory. I like seeing something so different to everything else! The inner walls were painted in the weirdest modern fresco of terror, chaos, superheroes, deadly fuel companies, all ruled by a calm Buddha on the top of it all. The same artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat had created a sea of plaster hands reaching from the lake around the temple. Although I was impressed by these pieces, neither them were something I'd take home with me. However, his more traditional Buddha-themed paintings were also displayed, and I bought a small print of my favourite one. I was tempted by the big poster-size prints, but getting them home with out ruining them would be too tricky!
Yesterday I was totally knackered from the previous day, so I took it easier strolling in the market hall and a couple of beautiful temples. I also found a nicer guest house to stay - one with a dorm as well! I've learned to enjoy dorms a lot; you're bound to meet people. The cheap price (2.50 eur/night) doesn't hurt either.
Today I went to see the White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, which was blindingly shiny in its glory. I like seeing something so different to everything else! The inner walls were painted in the weirdest modern fresco of terror, chaos, superheroes, deadly fuel companies, all ruled by a calm Buddha on the top of it all. The same artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat had created a sea of plaster hands reaching from the lake around the temple. Although I was impressed by these pieces, neither them were something I'd take home with me. However, his more traditional Buddha-themed paintings were also displayed, and I bought a small print of my favourite one. I was tempted by the big poster-size prints, but getting them home with out ruining them would be too tricky!
Monday, 24 January 2011
Reggae, Thaton, river cruise
The Chang Pai reggae festival was a fun evening, except the low temperatures after the sunset (lucky I took my woollen leggings with me!). Unlike the festivals I've been to before, the music didn't start until sunset although the listings indicated otherwise, so we had spare time to enjoy the sun and the festival feel (beer). The set I enjoyed most was by Kingkong Sound System from Langkawi - their music felt most relaxed and most reggae to me (I'm not an expert when it comes classifying music), stuff that I'd like to listen to. One of the guys I met at the awesome Diva hostel was there to see Easy Star All-Star who he really liked, but their dub covers of the Beatles and Pink Floyd just made me rather want to hear the originals.
On Sunday I braved a four-hour local bus from Chiang Mai to little town of Thaton. The leg space on the bus was tiny, but at least I didn't feel motion sick like the girl in front of me. Moreover, she was asleep when it happened, so her and people in front of her got a not-so-nice surprise. Thanon was surprisingly touristy, and in addition to numerous bungalows it had a Swiss chalet hotel/restaurant. The Wat Thaton area was definitely worth the climb up the hill, as it contained a number of impressive large buddha statues and beautifully painted stupa at the top of the hill. As I arrived in Thanon in the afternoon, I had a stroll up the hill in the low five o'clock sun that paints everything twice as pretty!
Today I took a long-tail boat from Thanon to Chiang Rai on Mae Kok river. The distance from Thaton from Chiang Rai is almost 100 km on road (probably shorter by river) and the boat journey took less than four hours with several stops at tribal villages and a hot spring. Travelling by the river is probably the best method this far (see all of the ones tried out in the post below) - fresh air, beautiful scenery and it is surprisingly cool due to the breeze. In Chiang Rai I've already seen the Hilltribe museum and now I'm planning maybe another trek in the hills before moving on to Laos. Also I've managed to spend a big portion of my today's budget on souvenirs handmade by the hilltribe women!
On Sunday I braved a four-hour local bus from Chiang Mai to little town of Thaton. The leg space on the bus was tiny, but at least I didn't feel motion sick like the girl in front of me. Moreover, she was asleep when it happened, so her and people in front of her got a not-so-nice surprise. Thanon was surprisingly touristy, and in addition to numerous bungalows it had a Swiss chalet hotel/restaurant. The Wat Thaton area was definitely worth the climb up the hill, as it contained a number of impressive large buddha statues and beautifully painted stupa at the top of the hill. As I arrived in Thanon in the afternoon, I had a stroll up the hill in the low five o'clock sun that paints everything twice as pretty!
Today I took a long-tail boat from Thanon to Chiang Rai on Mae Kok river. The distance from Thaton from Chiang Rai is almost 100 km on road (probably shorter by river) and the boat journey took less than four hours with several stops at tribal villages and a hot spring. Travelling by the river is probably the best method this far (see all of the ones tried out in the post below) - fresh air, beautiful scenery and it is surprisingly cool due to the breeze. In Chiang Rai I've already seen the Hilltribe museum and now I'm planning maybe another trek in the hills before moving on to Laos. Also I've managed to spend a big portion of my today's budget on souvenirs handmade by the hilltribe women!
And the journey goes on by...
- Aeroplane
- Car
- Minivan
- Bus (1st class sleeper/2nd class/local)
- Pick-up truck (with and without seats at the back)
- Song thaew (covered pick-up truck in Thailand)
- Jeepney (old US army jeep in the Philippines)
- Taxi
- Scooter taxi
- Tricycle (scooter with sidecar in the Philippines)
- Tuk-tuk (one or two seats, all kinds of orientations of seats)
- Reverse tuk-tuk (seats in front of the moped)
- Rickshaw
- Electric car/golf cart
- Metro/subway/underground
- Train (hard seat/hard sleeper)
- Tram
- Cable tram
- Cable car
- Ski lift
- Elevator
- Escalator
- Elephant
- River boat
- Diving boat
- Long-tail boat
- Catamaran
- Ferry
- Traditional Philipino boat (big and small)
- Bamboo raft
- Toboggan
- Bike
- Bamboo walking stick
- Fins/flippers
- Snorkel
- Scuba gear
- More boats
- White-water raft
- Tube (in Vang Vieng)
- Water buffalo
- Horse
- Zip line
- Parachute
Friday, 21 January 2011
In the jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight.
Chiang Mai has turned out to be lovely area with lots of friendly locals and travellers. I have spent an unfortunate amount of time in internet cafes writing a short-term fellowship application, which has been interesting with skype calls and a lot of noise all around me. It always takes a little while to get into the project proposal writing, as I write about myself and my science with normal sense of modesty. Why is it so difficult to say that the work you do is top quality?
In between the fancy words about science I managed to do a two-day trek in Doi Inthanon national park. When I was booking I asked for a trek with slow pace and not very much steep uphill climbs, as I am not the sportiest of the lot. The trekking turned out to be slightly different; the first hour was steep uphill climb with a reasonable pace (and after that two lovely hours of even ground), and the second day was two and half hour steep descend with really brisk pace. I guess you can't get around the uphill if you're going on a hill, but I didn't understand why we had to run through the second day without opportunities to look the nature we had come to see.
The surroundings were absolutely beautiful. The forest (the guide called it jungle, but it didn't match my perception of jungle really) offered lovely shade, and the waterfalls and fields we passed gave nice variety to the views. The waterbuffaloes had wooden bells on their necks, and they provided gentle background music day and night, combined with grasshoppers and roosters. We had an opportunity to swim in a waterfall on the way, but the water was freezing cold! The lunch and dinner were purchased from a local market; lunch was bagged fried rice and dinner was cooked from fresh ingredients by our guide. The overnight stop was at a Karen hilltribe village, where we had one big wooden house filled with mattresses and mosquite nets. The kitchen and the toilet were very basic, but the guide smartly cooked us a lovely green curry with chicken and Thai eggplant as well as tofu with beansprouts on a huge cast-iron wok heated by a campfire. After the dinner the local children sang Karen songs to us, and we sat with a guitar by the campfire until late in the night. I really enjoyed getting out of town, getting some fresh air and excercise and seeing the way how local tribes live. There was also some touristy elements; elephant riding and bamboo rafting through a lovely river with a relatively fast current, but I enjoyed the other bits much more!
The trekking group was a good mix of different ages and nationalities, and people were friendly and interested in discussing a huge variety of topics by the campfire - everything from the meaning of marriage to life after death. The unfortunate side of the group was four Spanish bodybuilders who did not understand English very much and behaved in rude fashion towards fellow trekkers and the locals. They would continously chatter, shout and whistle in very lound Spanish (loudness on its own is already impolite to Thais), act aggressively (e.g. beating the trees with their bamboo walking sticks) and refuse to eat the offered food ("not enough protein") or to pay attention to the local children singing to us. They did not have a sense of what to wear, going topless in the village and in the restaurant where we had lunch the second day. They also would use their rudimentary English to show off to an attractive Dutch girl in the group ("tonight you sleep with me") but not for anything else. Of course they thought they were really funny. What we thought was really funny is that when we turned up to the overnight camp the Spaniards started acting confused, and it turned out that they had thought the trek was only for one day. They had not prepared for overnight in a village, and came down shouting to our guide "Hotel! Hotel!" and were not too happy about the "Manana!" reply.
Speaking about tomorrow, there is a big reggae festival near Chiang Mai going on and I might go over there for a day, just like every other traveller in town!
In between the fancy words about science I managed to do a two-day trek in Doi Inthanon national park. When I was booking I asked for a trek with slow pace and not very much steep uphill climbs, as I am not the sportiest of the lot. The trekking turned out to be slightly different; the first hour was steep uphill climb with a reasonable pace (and after that two lovely hours of even ground), and the second day was two and half hour steep descend with really brisk pace. I guess you can't get around the uphill if you're going on a hill, but I didn't understand why we had to run through the second day without opportunities to look the nature we had come to see.
The surroundings were absolutely beautiful. The forest (the guide called it jungle, but it didn't match my perception of jungle really) offered lovely shade, and the waterfalls and fields we passed gave nice variety to the views. The waterbuffaloes had wooden bells on their necks, and they provided gentle background music day and night, combined with grasshoppers and roosters. We had an opportunity to swim in a waterfall on the way, but the water was freezing cold! The lunch and dinner were purchased from a local market; lunch was bagged fried rice and dinner was cooked from fresh ingredients by our guide. The overnight stop was at a Karen hilltribe village, where we had one big wooden house filled with mattresses and mosquite nets. The kitchen and the toilet were very basic, but the guide smartly cooked us a lovely green curry with chicken and Thai eggplant as well as tofu with beansprouts on a huge cast-iron wok heated by a campfire. After the dinner the local children sang Karen songs to us, and we sat with a guitar by the campfire until late in the night. I really enjoyed getting out of town, getting some fresh air and excercise and seeing the way how local tribes live. There was also some touristy elements; elephant riding and bamboo rafting through a lovely river with a relatively fast current, but I enjoyed the other bits much more!
The trekking group was a good mix of different ages and nationalities, and people were friendly and interested in discussing a huge variety of topics by the campfire - everything from the meaning of marriage to life after death. The unfortunate side of the group was four Spanish bodybuilders who did not understand English very much and behaved in rude fashion towards fellow trekkers and the locals. They would continously chatter, shout and whistle in very lound Spanish (loudness on its own is already impolite to Thais), act aggressively (e.g. beating the trees with their bamboo walking sticks) and refuse to eat the offered food ("not enough protein") or to pay attention to the local children singing to us. They did not have a sense of what to wear, going topless in the village and in the restaurant where we had lunch the second day. They also would use their rudimentary English to show off to an attractive Dutch girl in the group ("tonight you sleep with me") but not for anything else. Of course they thought they were really funny. What we thought was really funny is that when we turned up to the overnight camp the Spaniards started acting confused, and it turned out that they had thought the trek was only for one day. They had not prepared for overnight in a village, and came down shouting to our guide "Hotel! Hotel!" and were not too happy about the "Manana!" reply.
Speaking about tomorrow, there is a big reggae festival near Chiang Mai going on and I might go over there for a day, just like every other traveller in town!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Chiang Mai and future plans.
Chiang Mai is an enchanting not-so-little city in Northern Thailand. Lots of pretty wats and amazing Saturday and Sunday markets. The Saturday market was surprisingly non-touristy and the crafts on sale were much nicer than the fake sunglasses and not-so-funny t-shirts on sale everywhere. I ended up buying a pair of baggy trousers and a hip belt with pockets, and now I have not only comfortable clothes and more pockets, but I also fit into the relaxed traveller look (haha).
I was meant to go and see the Tribal Museum today, but the tuk-tuk driver told me it burnt down last week. I don't know if this is a weird scam, but I ended up not venturing that way. I really was in a mood for a museum, but the rest of them as well as the botanical gardens are closed as it's Monday. Oh well. Day after tomorrow I'm going on an overnight Village Tribe Trek - exactly as touristy as it sounds and includes bamboo rafting, elephant riding, swimming in a waterfall and a night in a local village, but I'm really looking forward to getting outside the city.
The plan after Chiang Mai is to see more of Northern Thailand (Pai, Chiang Rai) and then at the end of the month cross the border to Laos. Also, I was recently informed that my boyfriend will need even a longer while to finish his studies, so I figured I'd go and work in Australia for a bit like a lot of travellers do. The only difference will be that I was offered a science job instead of fruit picking! Hopefully the visa and other details are not too painful to sort out.
I was meant to go and see the Tribal Museum today, but the tuk-tuk driver told me it burnt down last week. I don't know if this is a weird scam, but I ended up not venturing that way. I really was in a mood for a museum, but the rest of them as well as the botanical gardens are closed as it's Monday. Oh well. Day after tomorrow I'm going on an overnight Village Tribe Trek - exactly as touristy as it sounds and includes bamboo rafting, elephant riding, swimming in a waterfall and a night in a local village, but I'm really looking forward to getting outside the city.
The plan after Chiang Mai is to see more of Northern Thailand (Pai, Chiang Rai) and then at the end of the month cross the border to Laos. Also, I was recently informed that my boyfriend will need even a longer while to finish his studies, so I figured I'd go and work in Australia for a bit like a lot of travellers do. The only difference will be that I was offered a science job instead of fruit picking! Hopefully the visa and other details are not too painful to sort out.
Friday, 14 January 2011
I found my favourite Buddha in Sukhothai
Yesterday I left Bangkok behind - somehow I just didn't enjoy it that much. Khaosan Road was full of potential new friends, but I just thought of them as pretentious drunks, kids who think they're somehow adventurous if they flock together to Thailand and stay in a guesthouse. Not too different from what I'm doing though, so you can call me a hypocrite. I just didn't stay in Khaosan Road (but slightly north of it in a lovely little ascetic guesthouse by the river) or drink beer. I think my opinions were highly influenced by the three days without appetite and without proper meals... you ever seen a young woman who misses two meals in a row?!
Getting to the Bangkok Northern bus station was easy enough, and an extremely kind Thai woman on the local bus took me under her wing. She and her daughter showed me where to buy a ticket, where the platform was and even waved me goodbye! The bus journey was amazing - happened to be a 1st class bus with lots of space for my feet, free water bottle and snack and a free lunch at a service stop! The best part however was watching the endless rice fields glistening in the setting five o'clock sun, incredibly green in the soft red light.
Today I went to see Old Sukhothai, the ruins of the capital of an old Thai kingdom. I toured the area with a bike, which gave me an amazing feeling of freedom. The central ruins were well looked after, surrounded by lawns, tall bright green trees, red-blossomed hedgerows and pools of water. The outer areas are proper countryside with corn fields, forests and hills with the occasional wats scattered in between.
The ruins were mainly red brick, which contrasted beautifully the green all around them, and I found myself falling in love with one of the Buddha statues. It was surrounded by some simple pillars and the statue wasn't anyhow grand or special. It just sat there, looking so calm and wise, that everything I had learned previously about Buddhism came flooding back to me. The statue made me smile by its simple serenity in the middle of ruins.
The Buddhist temples in Thailand have been somewhat busy compared to the Chinese ones. A lot of glitter, gold, colour, kitsch. A lot of offerings to Buddha, and many people and donation boxes to ask for money. The statues are golden and grand, but somehow I do not sense them as places of religiousness, although the religion seems an important part of life here. In China, many temples had the serene feeling of religion, but it appeared as Buddha was someone to worship, not someone who's ideas should be considered. A visit to a temple was obviously important, but very brief business. But you never know with religion, as it is personal and not necessarily a topic to ask about.
Getting to the Bangkok Northern bus station was easy enough, and an extremely kind Thai woman on the local bus took me under her wing. She and her daughter showed me where to buy a ticket, where the platform was and even waved me goodbye! The bus journey was amazing - happened to be a 1st class bus with lots of space for my feet, free water bottle and snack and a free lunch at a service stop! The best part however was watching the endless rice fields glistening in the setting five o'clock sun, incredibly green in the soft red light.
Today I went to see Old Sukhothai, the ruins of the capital of an old Thai kingdom. I toured the area with a bike, which gave me an amazing feeling of freedom. The central ruins were well looked after, surrounded by lawns, tall bright green trees, red-blossomed hedgerows and pools of water. The outer areas are proper countryside with corn fields, forests and hills with the occasional wats scattered in between.
The ruins were mainly red brick, which contrasted beautifully the green all around them, and I found myself falling in love with one of the Buddha statues. It was surrounded by some simple pillars and the statue wasn't anyhow grand or special. It just sat there, looking so calm and wise, that everything I had learned previously about Buddhism came flooding back to me. The statue made me smile by its simple serenity in the middle of ruins.
The Buddhist temples in Thailand have been somewhat busy compared to the Chinese ones. A lot of glitter, gold, colour, kitsch. A lot of offerings to Buddha, and many people and donation boxes to ask for money. The statues are golden and grand, but somehow I do not sense them as places of religiousness, although the religion seems an important part of life here. In China, many temples had the serene feeling of religion, but it appeared as Buddha was someone to worship, not someone who's ideas should be considered. A visit to a temple was obviously important, but very brief business. But you never know with religion, as it is personal and not necessarily a topic to ask about.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Wat? A 20-baht tour of the Bangkok temples.
I think I had a tiny bit too much sun on my last day on Koh Samui, as for the three next days I had problems with appetite and energy levels, and hence with the mood too... so I've been sleeping and reading books and not very much more. Literature-wise, I've read a lot of Jodi Picoult recently, her topics are compelling human perspectives into a range of difficult topics, and currently I'm reading Time Traveller's Wife, which is awesome.
This morning was better; I woke up bright and early, energetic and keen to see Bangkok. On my way to a standing Big Buddha I met a local guy who informed me of two things: 1) it is a Buddhist holiday today, so all the temples are free and 2) there is some sort of government promotion which effectively allows me to take a tuk-tuk for a whole day for 20 bahts (0.50 euros) on the condition I go into a couple of shops. He also wrote me a list of different Buddha statues I might want to see, mainly small ones unknown to tourists. Standing Buddha, lucky Buddha, skeleton Buddha, reclining Buddha, the list goes on and on... It's amazing how many beautiful wats (temples) there can be in this city! Good Karma strikes again!
This morning was better; I woke up bright and early, energetic and keen to see Bangkok. On my way to a standing Big Buddha I met a local guy who informed me of two things: 1) it is a Buddhist holiday today, so all the temples are free and 2) there is some sort of government promotion which effectively allows me to take a tuk-tuk for a whole day for 20 bahts (0.50 euros) on the condition I go into a couple of shops. He also wrote me a list of different Buddha statues I might want to see, mainly small ones unknown to tourists. Standing Buddha, lucky Buddha, skeleton Buddha, reclining Buddha, the list goes on and on... It's amazing how many beautiful wats (temples) there can be in this city! Good Karma strikes again!
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Scooter accidents
I woke up the other morning and realised that I've been on the various beaches of Thailand for five weeks now, and that I would fancy seeing something else. So I'm headed back to Bangkok now with a ferry and overnight bus, and then after a couple of days carry on northwards to Sukhothai and Chiang Mai.
In the islands the preferred mode of transport seems to be by scooter. I'm not very good at driving, and my experiences with motorised two-wheel drives is limited to driving into a wall with my brothers moped when I was twelve. So I haven't exactly found the courage to hire one, and yesterday when I took a scooter taxi to the view point over Chaweng beach I was terrified. Obviously not my mode of transport, and I don't think it suits that many others either.
Yesterday alone I witnessed drunk driving, people looking for scooters as they'd forgotten where they left them (drunk) as well as a scooter accident - all too much blood for my taste. Also, no one wears a helmet. I met a girl who'd driven really slowly and carefully, but still ended up in an accident leaving her temporarily immobilised and dumped by her travel buddy (?!). In addition to normal scooters, there has been a couple of water scooter accidents. Two days ago it was windy and the waves were irregularly strong, and one of the water scooter drivers tried to park it on the beach only to get stuck on a bigger wave that threw the scooter all the way on some beer-drinking holidaymakers. Another water scooter ran out of fuel and was towed to the beach, only for the scooter to tip over in the shallow waters, only narrowly missing out the guy who was riding it. I'm getting convinced that anything with a "scooter" is hugely dangerous!
In the islands the preferred mode of transport seems to be by scooter. I'm not very good at driving, and my experiences with motorised two-wheel drives is limited to driving into a wall with my brothers moped when I was twelve. So I haven't exactly found the courage to hire one, and yesterday when I took a scooter taxi to the view point over Chaweng beach I was terrified. Obviously not my mode of transport, and I don't think it suits that many others either.
Yesterday alone I witnessed drunk driving, people looking for scooters as they'd forgotten where they left them (drunk) as well as a scooter accident - all too much blood for my taste. Also, no one wears a helmet. I met a girl who'd driven really slowly and carefully, but still ended up in an accident leaving her temporarily immobilised and dumped by her travel buddy (?!). In addition to normal scooters, there has been a couple of water scooter accidents. Two days ago it was windy and the waves were irregularly strong, and one of the water scooter drivers tried to park it on the beach only to get stuck on a bigger wave that threw the scooter all the way on some beer-drinking holidaymakers. Another water scooter ran out of fuel and was towed to the beach, only for the scooter to tip over in the shallow waters, only narrowly missing out the guy who was riding it. I'm getting convinced that anything with a "scooter" is hugely dangerous!
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Monty Python tourism
Last night in a small Thai restaurant by the Big Buddha bay in Koh Samui I saw a very Monty Pythonesque tourist. This guy was an about fifty year old German sitting with some Englishmen and their Thai ladyfriends who didn't seem too keen on him. He spoke English like the Hungarian tourists with the guidebook. The stuff he was saying was like "you know what I mean, wink wink". He moved like the Ministry of Silly Walks. He looked like a guy who'd lose his leg to a Tiger! in Africa! Unbelievable.
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