After years, my return to the South of Thailand!

After nearly 2 years away, I have FINALLY returned to the South of Thailand!

Work obligations have kept me away for so long; on top of that the mess that I've made down here in my personal life had some say in the matter too.

All of that aside, it was great to be back! We traveled to all our old haunts: flying from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, traveling by overnight train to Surat Thani, busing it to Khao Sok National Park rainforest, catching a big boat to Phang Nga bay and kayaking to Yao Noi island. (And we did all this in 4 days!)

Pictured above are shots from the boat, kayaks and the view at sunset from our beach huts on the island Koh Yao Noi. Yao Noi is our stopping point for our 2 day overnight sea kayaking trip, and it remains to be one my top favorite location getaways in the world!

One day on the little island you can: watch the local fisherman reel in the their catch of the day ; try your hand at making your own rubber from a locally owned plantation; cycle to the Northern point and get to the quiet rock climbing sites (not yet known to the crowds!); walk to the West side for stunning sunset views where the ocean meets mangrove forests and sand meets rice field plantations calmly guarded by the local water buffalo...it's got it all right here.

Pictured above: Milk tries a local sweet made of coconut ice cream on a bed of sticky rice tucked in a bun sweetened with Pandanus leaf. To the right: Queenie prefers to eat her rubber straight from the tree.

The return to Koh Yao Noi was a special one for me. We work with an internationally awarded sea kayaking company called Sea Canoe, and the owner Mut has made it his life's mission to create a sustainable tourism source of income for this little, growing island economy. The island itself is only an hour's boat ride from Phuket, but it seems worlds away with everything it lacks: flashy resorts, crowds, traffic jams, and drunken tourists. It's a Muslim fishing community here, so it's pretty quiet in the evenings and don't be surprised if people stare unapprovingly if too much skin is showing any given time. The charm of Koh Yao is exactly that, it hasn't been tainted yet from over-exposure to Western tourism (like most of her sister islands) and the community's culture remains intact.

We stopped at a Royal Project founded by Her Royal Highness Princess of Thailand, and the efforts here are to support the livelihoods of small-scale local fishing farms. This floating 'farm' is home to a breeding effort for rare and exotic species used for government zoos and aquariums, research facilities, and for some species a chance to be re-populated and released into the wild (such as the Leopard Sharks currently held here.) The income here is small for the man who runs it but it is enough for him and other fish farmers like him. It allows him a source of income close to home without the pressure of uprooting his family and moving into the big cities for work opportunities.

I've uploaded some videos on YouTube you might like to watch!

• Click here for a video of Queen almost losing her fingers while feeding giant groupers!
• Here is a video of a Frankenstein species of local fish: part shrimp, part lobster, part dragon! The Mantis Shrimp!
• And last but not least, watch us eat a Thai delicacy 'the dressed up oyster' served fresh from the sea and devoured Thai style!
  

Cycle rickshaw temple tour, Chiang Mai

Ok, so when I heard that we were hiring cycle rickshaw drivers to run us around Chiang Mai...I had my obvious concerns.

Concern number 1: The rickshaw drivers tend to be old men, in their late 60's (at least!), working hard in the heat of day.

Concern number 2: Running rickshaws in the middle of Chiang Mai city traffic means dodging trucks, cars, motorbikes...and well everything else that screams in a city.

Concern number 3: MOST IMPORTANT!!! Western tourists (myself included) tend to be a bit heavier than the Thai locals who may ride these rickshaws from time to time. There's no feeling in the world, quite like watching an 80 year old man struggle to pull your fat ass out of a tight turn.



And yet, here we were. I was aiming for the youngest in our crowd, but unfortunately the great grandfather of all drivers winked, smiled toothlessly and lured me into his hitch. How could I say no to that?!



We actually had a really nice time. We took a slower route through Chiang Mai that allowed me to notice shops and stalls for the first time (despite driving past them every other day for the past 3 years.)

We cruised through temples and created informative sightseeing maps for our future tour groups to enjoy.

At the end of the day, I came to peace with it. These guys struggle every day. They live off less than $3-4 US dollars a day, if they're lucky... If we can do our part to hire 35 rickshaw drivers every other week for 2 hours a day, well that's money well spent as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe other tourists in Chiang Mai will be inspired to seek out cycle rickshaws instead of their noisy younger brothers, the motorized tuk-tuk. Are you?

Jungle trekking made fun during Thailand's rainy season!

Our site inspection tour carries on, and for the past few days I've been trekking in the jungles of Northern Thailand (Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai Province). I've been doing this trek for years, with the same guides and the same company...and yet, every time I run it I feel like I'm 10 years old and it reminds me that I, for the moment, am one of the luckiest people in the world to call this land my backyard playground!


The rainy season came a lot earlier this year, so the trek was pretty interesting. 5 hours straight uphill: steep climbs; treacherous mud slicked footpaths; pouring rain; and a fog so thick we often lost sight of each other.

It turns out that the rain, fun as it was to trek through, meant dire circumstance for the villages we were passing through. For people whose livelihoods depend on seasonal planting and slash and burn agriculture, the rain meant they couldn't burn off their lands which in turn means they'll be missing out on this season's crop planting and much needed harvest. The Lahu people we visited (the most remote of all hill tribe people in Thailand) spent more time at home worrying if the rice kept in their storage would be enough to last them through the season.

We did what we could: we listened, we nodded, and we promised to bring responsible tourists to their villages. If they weren't making enough rice to eat, we'd do our best to make sure we could bring in revenue to get them through the next few months.

Despite the coming hardships, the Lahu kids were playing soccer in the villages and it was obvious the babies were happy to have their parents out of the fields and in the homes more these days. Villagers happily walked with us in the rain for bits of the trek, stopping to ask questions and chat.

There is nothing quite like the look and sound of the jungle in the middle of a rainstorm.

Surrounded by so much greenery, you can't help but physically soak the green into your pores. With the rain comes beautiful jungle mushrooms, which we picked, cooked and feasted on that night over our cozy bungalow's fire.

Pictured here are a mix of shots taken: mid-trek; posing in front of various ethnic hill tribe villages we pass through during the 3 day trip; meals provided by villagers; and bungalow accommodations we crash in at the end of a hard day's hike. (Read more about ethnic hill tribes on my Lisu Chinese New Year post, when I got the insider's peek into their mysterious culture.)

Hill Tribe trekking out of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Company guides: Lisu Lodge (and ask for Charlie!) Check them out if you're ever in town!

...Better yet...come to Thailand and be sure to put this on your itinerary!

If you would like to see more photos of trekking and my volunteer work overseas, check out my Picasa Web Albums here!

Chiang Mai Rock Climbing, Site Inspections

Hi! I know it's been ages since the last time I wrote here, but since my last post I've flown back to Thailand, rented an apartment and settled in again (for a whole 4 weeks!) Work's been getting me down and I've been struggling these past few weeks to...well, let's just say I've been struggling.

Things are looking up though! And lately I've been back to me-old self again, smiles n' all.

I'm currently on a Tour Familiarization and traveling through Thailand again with my homies Queen and P'May. I'll be on a few adventure tours this season (for the first time in Thailand in over a year!) and that means I get to: visit all the exotic destinations on tour; meet and greet all of our operators; and run through all the adventure activities we rock here in Thailand with our groups.

For now, it's just us: the girls, the guides, and staff. Since I've known some of these operators since 2007, it's like visiting family most of the time.

First stop, Chiang Mai:
Rock Climbing at Crazy Buttress, with CMRCA (Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures.)

Meet the CMRCA crew: P'Muad, Add, Ouan, Pum, Josh, and Phi. Group Picture, is at the CMRCA shop and in the background the climbing wall/mats they let us use, anytime we're looking to practice our badass free climbing technique, experiment with some new twists in our movement, and most importantly blow off steam when rolling through Chiang Mai!

Caving and Climbing adventures. The cave is nearly a 50 meter abseil into pitch blackness, and we spend a fair bit of time caving and teaching groups about cave formations and this mysterious underground world. Once you pop out of the cave, you're blinded by dizzying heights and some impressive limestone cliffs...or crags.

Meet the crag: Crazy Horse Buttress. We brushed up on our free climbing skills, revisited our equipment safety, 'Figure-8s' and rope tying techniques, self belayed and let loose on the crag.

It's been a while since my last climb, and despite the mosquitoes and torrential downpour of rain that left me stranded mid-air for a little while, I really pushed myself hard today and it felt great. I needed it: undivided concentration on the sport; the pure strain of physical exertion; and the release of sweat pouring down my face and body washing my stresses away.

Now, I'm sore, sleepy and craving a hot shower...so I'll be off. Tomorrow morning we start early with a city tour of historic temples (dating back 700+ years) here in Chiang Mai. We've hired rickshaw drivers for the day, and since they tend to be old men in their late 70's, I'm fully planning on hopping out, running on foot and pushing my own rickshaw while my driver sits in the seat and relaxes his weary hard-working bones. :)

Just another day, and another reason I love my life.

Interested in finding out more about our friends at CMRCA? Check our their Facebook page for the best updated info.