Welcome to North Sikkim

Once again, we were up early (05:30!) for photo ops at Tashi View Point only 7 kilometres outside of Gangtok (India), but there were too many clouds to see the majestic peaks.

Typical scenes of the day for us as we travelled were intrepid roads carved along the sides of mountains with hairpin curves aplenty...rickety swinging suspension bridges...warm valley bottoms nurturing a diversity of tropical species...large butterflies constantly flitting about...hillsides covered in a green carpet of lush vegetation including abundant stepped rice paddies swaying in the breeze and acres of cultivated tea plantations.

Mr. Tea

Tea bushes are pruned to waist height for ease of plucking and to encourage new, tastier, and more tender shoots with only the top 1 to 2 inches being used; India and China are the top producers of tea.

These varied tapestry scenes were vertically seamed together with splendid cascading waterfalls, crashing uninterrupted onto the rocks like the heartbeat of the world. In number, it seemed as if they were non-stop, from small delicate trickles to grand gushers.

Cascading onto rocky road

The other constant was bridges and their varied integrity was as diverse as their types. But one similarity of many was the ever visible Prayer Flags. The robust bridges gave passers confidence but others were a bit heart stopping with views through the gaps of rapids below - will it hold us??

Some even had signs stating that only one vehicle could cross at a time. Others were deteriorated to the point of closure with alternate crossing. Some places didn't even merit bridges and we had to cross through the water over rocks and boulders while raising our feet to keep them dry.

Welcome to North Sikkim

Safely on the other side

Riding yesteryear's technology, as robust as they are, one still needs to be prepared to give it some sweet talking and attention. Gatty equipped us with essential tools and parts that proved to be a prudent move when at one lonely part of the road Jordan needed to replace a broken clutch cable.

The tools and parts came out, the old cable was extracted, the new one was in and adjusted in a few minutes and we were on our way, ending up that day in the grotty valley bottom crossroads town of Singtam (East Sikkim) situated along the river. The town roads were lined with transporters and taxis, waiting for their next fare.

On to Gangtok

As dawn was about to break in Kalimpong (India), Jordan rushed out bright and early in the clear cool air to catch the day's first golden rays igniting the highest snowy peaks.

Dawn's delight

We had been instructed to have the bike chain adjusted soon, so we found a little shop that specialized in Royal Enfield repairs. The young man spent about 20 minutes doing the task which cost us the equivalent of $1.50.

Royal Enfield getting some attention

We then travelled towards the border of the Indian state of Sikkim. Recent history (1975) has had Sikkim join India and today it still retains at least some semblance of autonomy, which we observed by having to get a special visitor's permit to enter. Even though it is the least populous Indian state, it has a motley array of cultures and 11 languages can be heard!

With due paperwork all in order, we fuelled up (the bike and us) and continued to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.

Old sign

As we snaked our way along the mountains and through the towns and villages, we constantly came across many colourful Prayer Flags of the primary colours. We saw both types, either tall and vertical rectangles hung on several individual poles, or smaller horizontal rectangles or squares strung together. They are always hung in a specific order: blue (sky and space), white (air and wind), red (fire), green (water), and finally yellow (earth).

Good wishes going out

Prayer Flags are not worship to gods, but rather good wishes sent out to everyone through the blowing wind on the flags.

The public transportation of choice from town to town is jeeps that cram in about a dozen passengers and it's not unusual to see a few passengers extra on top riding along with the baggage. But we were surprised to see an older man literally hanging onto the back of a van with his fingers as he perched precariously on the spare tire.

Are we there yet??

Arriving late in the afternoon in Gangtok, we had a hard time finding a hotel vacancy. We were travelling in peak season. But we finally found a nice one, and after booking, we walked to the MG Marg Market. The broad main street of the Market is pedestrian only and a very popular hangout among the locals and a great place for tourists to stroll and shop.

Heading down steep stairs of MG Marg

Sikkimese carrying large heavy loads hang onto them using a broad loop around their foreheads and then leaning slightly forward. We have seen some extremely heavy loads being carried in this manner.

Royal Enfield Himalaya adventure

Our dreadful 1st night dibs in India were soon forgotten over a nearby rooftop breakfast as we gazed out at a most magnificent scene. We were overlooking Darjeeling below us, perched on a ridge with snow-capped Mount Kanchenjunga in the background picking early dawn's golden sun rays on its peak. Mount Kanchenjunga is the 3rd highest peak on earth with an altitude of 8,598 metres.

Darjeeling dawn

We unbooked from the dump and found a very acceptable little hotel right across the street from Adventures Unlimited, the folks we booked our motorcycle rental from (www.adventuresunlimited.in). We soon intercepted Gatty, the young super friendly proprietor, and got the bike and route all organized and prepared.

The rental bike was a Royal Enfield 500-cc single cylinder. The English brought these bikes with them which proved ideal workhorses for the terrain. The rights to manufacture were obtained post Brit and even today one can see with nostalgia new ones almost unchanged.

The in-between time that day was spent discovering Darjeeling's uniqueness. The beautiful old clock tower in the background is currently being restored.

Narrow and steep streets

Chicken anyone?

Our 1st day of motorcycling got us a late start and we quickly saw what we would be in for, best described as intense. The roads presented all kinds of adventurous challenges. Narrow. Precipitously steep. Tight blind hairpin bends. Extremely rough and rocky in many spots. The incredible mountain scenery was a constant distraction to the concentration of safe driving.

We made a long descent through acres of tea plantations, down into a gorge, and across a mountain fed river then up, up again to the sleepy town of Kalimpong where we spent the chilly night, about 50 km from Darjeeling.

Thank you!!

I would like to use this medium to graciously thank Nurse Tracy who takes time out of her day to thoughtfully read each of our escapades to my beloved Mom who is in the hospital. A Great Big Thank You to Tracy and a Great Big I Love You to my dear Mother who I think of everyday.

When not eye to eye, Mom, always heart to heart

In my absence, I really appreciate Tracy's kindness to Mom, making her days a little brighter!

INDIA

We were off to experience the majestic Himalayas by touring the intrepid back roads on a rented Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Jordan added this to our bucket list about 6 years ago when our friend Stan told us about this type of trip. So our anticipation was growing the closer our 3-legged flight took us from Bangkok Thailand to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) then Guwahati and finally Bagdogra. All 3 flights were far from being full.

The Himalayas boast the highest mountains on earth (with Everest of Nepal as the most commanding). Stretching from Pakistan, they weave their way through northern India, Nepal, and Bhutan. We were headed to intercept them in the Indian state of Sikkim. On a map of India, you will see it squished in between the eastern end of Nepal and the remote, shy mountain nation of Bhutan.

After landing in Bagdogra, we were immediately immersed in the frenetic culture that Indians are known for when we had to negotiate a taxi ride up into the mountains. There was a lot of fevered talking and gesturing including the unique Indian head wiggle, which incidentally can mean just about anything like "maybe" "yes" "no" or "no problem" as Jordan learned the latter when he asked the taxi driver "Do you have a spare? Your tire is bald."

The 2.5 hour ride (for a distance of only about 70 km) which included a generous amount of horn blowing began in the low fertile flatlands with fields of tea plants. Soon we were introduced to a wall of green mountains. The pavement abruptly transitioned from flat to steep, narrow, and winding.

Without barriers, the road hung on the side of the sheer slopes as it zigged and zagged up into a rarefied atmosphere. We passed through towns that speckled the vertical land and clung apelike to the slopes. This road to Darjeeling at times would best be described as Jar-dealing! But we were oblivious to the portentousness of it.

About two thirds of the way into our journey, the road doubled and crisscrosssed with the curious train (called the Toy Train) running on a narrow 2-foot gauge rail, a leftover from the English occupation as are many of the roads carved into these mountain sides. These arteries serviced their hill stations of which Darjeeling was one, and established their presence in this area being a strategic route to Tibet.

Slowly chugging along

There were never any "Railroad Crossing" signs or barriers. The train continually crosses the road and vehicles are just expected to look before proceeding across the tracks. The train also loops to navigate steep climbs.

Before getting our Visa to enter India as a tourist, we had to have a hotel booking of several nights. So we had found and booked 1 online and our taxi driver delivered us to the doorstep. Substandard is putting it kindly. But is it Standard by Indian definition? We were tired and didn't want to trek the town to find out, so we took the room knowing that soon our sleep would be ignorant of the cold musty ambiance of the windowless bunker...

Bootin' around Bangkok

On October 19th, we left Sea Turtle once again on the motorcycle to return to Bangkok to pick up our Visas and for our flight to India on the 24th of October.

On our way to the Embassy in Central Bangkok to pick up our Visas, we were hit with a fierce rainstorm. The street drainage system couldn't keep up with the deluge. We quickly pulled in under cover and watched the traffic. The water became so deep that it covered the sidewalk.  It was up to the doors of the cars and a few of the un-deterred scooters conked out.

They need water taxis!

With Visas in hand and a clear sky, there were a couple of sights to see that we had heard about. We visited the famous short street called Thanon Khao San. Decades ago, the backpackers hung out here for the cheap accommodation and street food. Today, it is more popular as a tourist venue with souvenier sellers, pubs, and McDonald's but the delectable street food vendors are still there.

A Bangkok favourite street

As the sun was setting, we made a quick stop at the steamy street called Cowboy Soi. This came into its own as the haunt of American soldiers on leave during the Vietnam war. Today it's another spectacle for the tourist and the girls of the night still provide their services

With a day to kill before our flight out to India, we zipped out of Bangkok for a change of pace. It was 75 kms to a popular floating market in the village of Amphora where time slowed down and reverted back to simpler ways. Shops in age old shanties that lined the canal complimented the scene of floating commerce. Indigenous chefs aboard their skiffs were eagerly cooking delightful meals and serving hungry visitors as longtail boats provided transportation to tour the canal.

Waterway commerce

"Boatside" chef

With an early morning flight, we were off to bed after a busy day. We hope to update the blog with India adventures - depending on available internet access...

Now where to?

Back at Sea Turtle on October 5th, after 9 days away travelling from Phuket (Thailand) to Malaysia and back, we made no waste of time cruising the internet to figure out our next adventure.

It was the discovery of cheap flights to India where we could do some intrepid motorcycle touring on remakes of the old British Royal Enfield bikes up into the Himalayas. But India is another country that requires pre-issued Visitor Visas. So we left a few days later on October 11th for a 2-day run up to Bangkok to make our Visa submission at the India Embassy, a 7-day process.

An unusual poolside sign at our hotel that we couldn't quite figure out...what could it possibly mean??

Naughty!

We saw a half dozen accidents along the way which fortifies the reputation that Thai driving is the 2nd worst in the world in terms of deaths per capita (26,000 last year). Anything from multiple vehicle pile-ups to a large rig straddling the medium.

There was also a beefed up pick-up overloaded with fruit that blew a tire, but his load was so tall and top heavy that the truck tipped over onto its side leaving fruit strewn about the road. Beefed up pick-ups are common. What are they? A pick-up with a 1-ton axle and gigantic overload springs. They believe it gives them unlimited carrying capacity but more than a couple of times we have seen them in the ditch or stopped dead on the freeway missing a wheel. Empty, they are some of the fastest and craziest drivers - I guess rushing to get their next overload fix!

Buses and transport trucks are often dressed like clowns. These mobile kaleidoscopes sport elaborate and fanciful paint jobs and accessory gauds of lights, mirrors, reflectors, and their favourite trinkets. The "Michelin Man" is the best loved!

Flamboyancy run amok

It was a quick trip, there and back. Traffic was horrendous in the large City of Bangkok with over 8 million people (12.6% of Thailand's entire population). Jordan was able to navigate around without getting lost, which always amazes me.

We were rained on a lot during our journey - hence the numerous signs indicating the many waterfalls - and we were glad to be back at Sea Turtle.

Food foibles

As we travelled on our  motorcycle returning to Phuket (Thailand) from Malaysia, we stopped for lunch one day at a sidewalk eatery that once again reminded us that in this part of the world, you can have an international experience while sitting in one chair and observing your surroundings.

Our waiter, let's call him Zamir, was recently from Pakistan yet spoke good English and had a manner that in America would be considered pushy, but no doubt he considered it helpful. When we ventured towards the buffet counter, he adamantly said "No, no, sit here!" pointing us to a table with menus.

"But we just like to look at what we might want to order", Jordan said trying to ease Zamir's anxiety. But he enlightened us, "That's Malay food. You don't want it." We felt like saying, "Oh my mistake, I thought we were in Malaysia." We relented only because the menu had pictures.

As we perused the diverse selections of mostly Indian foods, Zamir peered at us with a drooped head and eyes wide as though he was looking over the top of invisible glasses. We're not familiar with this look. Was it to evoke a response? Like maybe, "I'm waiting!"

As diverse as the residents and foreigners are here, a westerner on a Thai licensed motorcycle seems to be a slight oddity. But not at this restaurant. We were just another colour on a palate of confluent cultures. The waiter was Pakistani who spoke English. The patrons we could see were a mix of at least 3 different ethnicities. Indian food, Malay food, Arabic calligraphic decorative inscriptions framed on the walls. And the name of the establishment was Danish Briyani Place. We can understand most of it, but Danish?

Lunch came and even though it wasn't even close to the pictures, it was delicious.

This reminds us of another interesting dining experience we had in Trang a while ago on the way down to Malaysia. We had a hankering for a familiar breakfast, and when we saw American Breakfast on the menu, we looked no further.

From previous experience, eggs can be served runny to raw. So Jordan wanted to make sure he got them well done. "Eggs, no runny", he said. This drew a blank stare as the waitress spoke as much English as the dead ducks hanging on display in the window.

No problem. This is when we use only the simplest, smallest English words and lots of pantomime. "Egg", he said, pointing to them on the menu, "Hard", as he rapped his knuckles on the granite countertop. More blank stares. At this point, he realized his pantomime repertoire for hard-cooked eggs was seriously limited so now he was stuck.

After a few moments of vacant eye to eye contact, the waitress finally flip-flopped her hands and Jordan immediately knew it was the best he was going to get and gave her the thumbs up and made a mental note to add her gesture to our repertoire.

Then it was on to the coffee. "Coffee with milk. Sugar on side", as he showed a package of sugar and put it beside the coffee cup. Blank stare. The coffee came with milk in it, but as they used sweetened condensed milk, the sugar on the side was a moot point.

Ah yes, food can be a peculiar challenge to make life more interesting!

Travelling to and fro

After seeing the hornbill birds on Pangkor Island (Malaysia) on our motorcycle trip from Phuket Island (Thailand) to Malaysia, we continued on our way to Penang Island (Malaysia) where we would get new 2-month Visitor's Visas for Thailand.

Along the way, we stopped periodically for a butt rest. During one of these rest stops, I severely burned the arch of my foot on the motorcycle muffler. Ow! The 2nd degree burn blistered so my aim was to keep the blister from breaking to prevent infection - that meant a lot of tip-toeing!

Crossing the bridge, we arrived at Penang Island on a Friday later in the day, and the Visa renewal department was closed. We were able to drop off our forms on Sunday with a promise of our Visas being ready on Monday. So to kill some time, it was another island motorcycle tour. The most enjoyable part of the Island ride was along a winding road that snaked through verdant hills and past cliff hanging vista points.

An unexpected interlude while waiting for our Visas was the arrival of our friends on Jabula who we had left a couple of days before down in Pangkor. They had decided to make their final jump off for their Indian Ocean passage from George Town (Penang Island). So we spent a genial last chance visit.

On Monday morning with renewed Visas in hand, we headed north to the mainland of Thailand. Palm oil plantations dominate the Malaysian landscape whereas Thailand's counterpart seems to be the forests of rubber trees. At least the smell that wafted throughout the countryside as we travelled indicated that. Jordan said its unique scent could be described as pungent, but I thought it was just plain stinky!

The dripping fluid fills up black pots attached to rows and rows of stately trees, like maple trees drip their sap back in Canada. What's surprising is that this fluid is white, not black like we think of rubber.

Drip, drip, drip...

Once collected, it has a soft, rubbery feel. We stopped to check it out when we saw a pick-up truck parked with a rear cargo of the half-sphered product. We were informed that it naturally turns black, no dye is added.

Go ahead, touch it!

We deviated from a direct route home and took the ferry to the touristy Koh Samui, another island! The fare for the 1.5 hr ferry trip for us and the motorcycle was only the equivalent of $10 US - nothing compared to expensive Canadian ferries.

Looking back at Thailand mainland pinnacles

Our first night was in a rather nice resort right on a quiet beach where our first order of business was an inviting swim in the pool after the long hot day's ride. The highlight of the evening was the amazing sunset...

The next night, we took a budget beachside bungalow on a busier side of Koh Samui. The highlight there was a massage at beachside under the open-aired roof of what we would call a pagoda gazebo.

How divine

Of course, we did yet another pleasantly diverse motorcycle island tour. An unusual and popular photo op was that of Grandma and Grandpa Rocks where erosion formed distinct replicas of separate male and female genitalia.

Our final run back to Phuket Island was punctuated with rain that the mild temperature made it easy to endure.

Pangkor hornbills

Still on our motorcycle trip from Phuket (Thailand) to Malaysia to renew our Thai Visitor's Visas and meet up with our friends at Lumut of Marina Island, we decided to catch the 10-minute ferry from Marina Island to Pangkor Island.

Part of the draw for us to this Island was to see a daily feeding of wild hornbill birds on the seaside patio of a particular hotel. There are various species and these are the largest called Great Hornbills. They are not unlike the Toucan (remember the mascot for Fruit Loops cereal?)

On arriving at the pier, we were immediately met by a young man who had scooters for rent, so we struck a deal and off we went. We had read the feeding time was around 17:30 to 19:00. Apparently the birds don't follow a rigid time schedule! So with time to kill, there was the whole Island to explore.

Pangkor Island's robust terrain is carpeted with lush tropical forests. We headed counterclockwise on the main narrow road that circled the Island.

Before leaving the condensed village that's squished between the shore and the steep hillsides, we came upon a shipyard. There, they were hand-building ocean-going ships of about 25 metres all out of heavy timbers and planking. You could easily picture yourself in a European shipyard of the 1600s.

Jordan was amazed at the huge planks of prized wood. Solid planks the size of a castle's dining room tabletop that could sit 30. What would these planks, rich in colour with a grain completely clear of knots, be worth back home in Canada? And where did they get such pristine timbers?

Beautiful timber

Continuing, the village scene soon drifted aft as we travelled a snaking road that climbed and clung to the sides of the vertical slopes where the forests disclosed where the prime timbers came from. Then the road eased to a pleasant drive past unspoiled beaches perfectly accented with large boulders as if placed by landscape architects.

We ended up early at the hotel where the hornbills would appear so we relaxed to soak up the setting. Soon, out of nowhere, a large hornbill swooped down as a special guest for dinner. First, she set on a tree branch to survey the safeness of the place, then finally flew down to the plate of cut-up papaya on a little table in the middle of the patio.

Free food!

We seemed to be the only persons interested and slowly crept closer to get a few snapshots...

Mrs. Hornbill was fine until she decided we were getting just a little bit too close and flew off into a high tree where she watched the 2 curious humans from her safe perch.

Soon thereafter, Mr. Hornbill came for the last of the meal. (Evidently a "he" as his bill was larger.) He delicately picked up each piece of fruit by the tip of his capacious bill and with a little backward flip, down it went, at the same time probably wondering what are these strange creatures looking at?

Feathered fruit flipper

The sky was turning an ominous charcoal and the faint rumbles were our cue to take flight back to the human jungle.

Visa and video!

Our 2-month Thailand Tourist Visa expires September 30th, at which time we would need to do 1 of 2 things. First, while remaining in Thailand, we could pay for a 1-month extension or secondly we could do a Visa run by leaving Thailand to get another 2-month Visa.

Normally, we would just do the first, but as our close sailing friends are in Malaysia for only a few days before leaving for South Africa, we chose to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and do a Visa run and have a visit. After all, we have wheels now that we bought a motorcycle and a road trip would be a welcomed interlude.

Off to Malaysia

We left on sunny September 22nd, willing to take whatever the rainy season gave us. The roads were great and the scenery amazing. The first part of our travels had us winding past tall pinnacles and mountainous cliffs that reached towards the sky. One could see patches of exposed raspy limestone as evidence of the formations' permanence and betrayed the soft tropical growth that cloaked them. Some were tall and skinny like solitary guards standing watch over the fertile planes at their feet while others were clustered in solidarity as though for protection in a group.

Unfortunately the rain came down in sheets and draped the formations in misty clouds. But even though partially obscured by the shroud of fog, it gave the scene an enchanting aura. However we're hoping on our return trip for better weather and photo ops.

The later part of our travel was past rather boring flat lands matching the monotony of the motorcycle's drone. We arrived just after dark on the 23rd at Marina Island in Malaysia, about 400 km south of the border, and met up with our friends on Jabula.

Bruce and Jeannie were furiously trying to get Jabula ready by Friday to go back in the water and start their passage across the Indian Ocean to South Africa. It's the correct time. Right now, the lights are green for a go but come November the lights will turn red for the sailor and green for the cyclones in certain areas of that passage.

Us with Bruce and Jeannie in their work clothes

We felt very honoured and special when later Bruce and Jeannie presented us with a video production entitled Living the Dream, which is exactly what we are doing! Much of the footage was done while Jeannie manned Jabula's helm, and Bruce, with an expert and steady hand, did the shots as Sea Turtle and Jabula sailed together through parts of exotic French Polynesia.

Included: sailing, swimming beneath a waterfall, watching dolphins jump, extracting pearls from oyster shells...

For a link to this treasured and copyrighted video, either click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHNbOFTlrbc&feature=youtu.be or on Living the Dream under Other Links in the right-hand column.

Updates

We have posted a new entry for The Pea Green Book blog (link on far right of this page). Libertad was the latest host of Pea Green.

Also posted in our slideshow link at the far right are photos of our visit to the Galapagos.

As the days go by

Thailand, or at least the Island of Phuket, seems to really love the colour pink. Yes, pink. We notice it everywhere. Large buildings painted entirely pink, bus signs plus many others, men and women both owning pink motorscooters and helmets, vehicles (including garbage trucks and buses), chairs, clothing, etc. Also popular here are cartoon characters plastered onto everything, whether owned by male or female. Perhaps this indicates their young-at-heart spirit!

There is also a multitude of different types of street lights, many quite ornate. Our favourite is just before approaching the pier at Chalong Harbour.

Golden illumination

I was fighting a cold that I just couldn't get rid of for several weeks. I finally went to the hospital (which is where you go for a doctor appointment) and was informed that I had pneumonia! He felt that I was also dehydrated (I know, I never drink enough) and I had a seriously low blood pressure. Once admitted to the hospital, I was hooked up to IVs for antibiotics and fluids. The next day I was feeling much better and headed back to the boat.

But after running a course of antibiotic pills, I was still not feeling top notch. A young nurse in a clinic took my blood pressure and suggested that my electrolytes were probably low. Bingo! After drinking a few Gatorades and other sport-type drinks, I was feeling 100%.

A long time ago, a sailing friend of ours, who by the way drinks water non-stop, fainted. She too was lacking in minerals and told that she needed electrolyte drinks.

With all the rain we have been getting in the past couple of weeks, we had quite a bit in our dinghy. What to do? Take a bath!

Splish, splash...

With the weather not the best, we are in no hurry to head out to the islands. As there is no problem finding minor boat jobs to do, some of our slack time is diminished with such chores. World cruising as they say is defined as fixing your boat in exotic places!

Let's eat

One of the things Thailand is known for is its cheap and abundant food, not to mention it's DELICIOUS!. The choices where to buy are varied. If one wants to mix with the locals for traditional fare, vibrant outdoor markets are everywhere with the best prices. They are always crowded with enthusiastic and inquisitive buyers.

People and motorscooters everywhere

As well as food to take home or food to eat on the spot, you can also find housewares, handicrafts, clothing, shoes, knickknacks, etc. for sale.

Anything and everything

The streets are lined with eateries and bars with good and inexpensive menus so we end up eating out a lot. It's less expensive to eat out than to cook on the boat, plus we don't heat up the boat with hot burners or oven. Dinner out for 2 with a wine or beer each is typically less than $10 total.

For more American food stuffs, there are modern air conditioned grocery stores typical of the western world but you pay for the price above the local outdoor market price. There are at least 2 very modern and big malls that make the tourists and expats feel at home. A couple of them are so large, you can easily get lost!

Eventful anchorage

Our sedate life at anchor in Chalong Harbour (south Phuket, Thailand) has been punctuated by some interesting and lively events.

Clear skies showed us the brilliance of the blazing white supermoon as it was the closest to the earth while it was full. We never knew that the orbit of the moon is elliptical which brings it closer to earth at times. At the risk of sounding trekky, the technical name for supermoon is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, just in case you were wondering.

We arrived in Thailand during the rainy southwest monsoon season that brings unsettled weather. Actually as I am writing this, a squall passed through with gale force winds and horizontal rain that lasted an hour. Surprisingly, no boats dragged. The bottom is muddy sand and excellent holding.

A week ago, we had a similar rain event. We opened up a deck watertank fitting and let the rain fill our 50-gallon starboard tank in about 10 minutes! At times, we've been caught by a sudden downpour while out on the motorcycle but we could duck in under cover and wait it out which usually doesn't last very long. At least it's warm.

Then in heavy winds once again, a boat behind us with no one on board escaped its mooring. Jordan thought the mooring line looked chafed. It drifted over to a distant muddy shore and grounded. We unfortunately couldn't do anything to help as water had leaked into our outboard fuel tank so it wouldn't start. We tried the VHF with no response - no one turns them on at anchor here! But fortunately, the boat had the owner's phone number posted on the side and someone from shore called him. The owner was able to move his boat at high tide and re-moor it. We saw its anchor light on later in the evening. So all ended well.

Another night, we awoke to the sound of booms at 01:30. Fireworks are common here but this was different. Jordan got up and looked out and saw that a big dive boat had exploded and was engulfed in flames!

Boom!

As we watched, there were a couple of more loud explosions. It was surrounded by other boats, and being downwind, we were a bit worried that once the boat's mooring line burned, it could drift towards us. But once it burned to the waterline, a couple of police boats tied a line to it and towed it to where it's cremated remains sank to its water grave. We later learned that only 1 crew man was on board when it exploded who promptly jumped overboard and was soon picked up, unharmed.

Wow...it's been an exciting month so far!

What about the coup?

We are visiting Thailand during expanded military control. Basically, the military lost patience with the dysfunctional federal ministers who couldn't get their act together and do their job. So the military said "enough" and kicked out the bickering bunch and took pragmatic control. By definition, a coup. But if you worry about visiting Thailand from news reports, in our opinion, you can dispel your misgivings.

As tourists, particularly in this area of Phuket a long way from the capital of Bangkok, we don't see the effects. It's been business as usual for the most part, but just recently, the military has taken the opportunity to tidy some things up around here. Over the years, there has been a lot of uncontrolled development and lax enforcement of proper laws and procedures and abuses as a result of corruption at the more local government levels.

One of the obvious military influences here has been the tidying up of the beach areas which were festooned with illegal buildings and vendors on public beaches. So the beaches here have been purged of ramshackle premises and illegal beach chair renters that dominated and monopolized the otherwise pleasant beach experience. Beach by beach, they came in with soldiers and equipment, and by day's end, it was cleared out with many carted off to jail.

Remnants of dismantled structures

The illegal taxi mafia were targeted as well as corrupt local officials and apparently the jails are full as the accused wait due process. Basically the military has taken overdue action and given notice to all levels of officials to "Do your job or there will be consequences."

Military worries? None for us as we enjoy our stay in Thailand.

Keeping busy in Thailand

Now in Thailand, our first order of business was getting hooked up with a national cell phone company for WiFi so that we could internet from the boat and also get our cell phone functioning.

To get around for the first few days, we rented a motorscooter for about the equivalent of $7 per day. However as our plans are to be in this area for quite some time and wanting to do some distant land travels, we bought a used Honda Phantom motorcycle. It's quite a process though to purchase, license, and register a vehicle and took us about 7 hours over 2 days to get it done.

When we got our vehicle sticker, we noticed that the expiry year was dated 2558 and learned that Thailand follows the Solar Calendar - not the Christian Calendar. Their calendar is 543 years ahead of ours, and for a moment there, we were confused and thought maybe we had been sailing just a little too long!

We're now mobile

It was our 10th anniversary so for a change of walls and some luxury we booked into the orchid filled Kata Beach Resort only a few miles from our anchorage. There were beautiful glorious orchids everywhere...at the reception counter, surrounding the lounging area, on dining tables, in the rooms...

Just a sample

We've been meeting up often with our sailing friends of Morning Glory. They have been at Phuket Island for a few months now taking advantage of cheap labour to get some major work done on their 45-foot catamaran. They sailed from eastern US the same year we left Victoria BC (Canada). We first met them in the South Pacific and again in many exotic places along a similar route to us. They joined us in the village of Kata for a splendid dinner.

Jordan and I hung out at poolside - swimming, sunning, and reading - and feasted at the breakfast buffet.

Pool overlooking the Andaman Sea

As much as we love Sea Turtle, it is nice to spend an occasional night out!

Andaman Sea in background

Phuket

Without turning the motor on, we pulled anchor and sailed 3.5 of the 4 hours to the southerly end of the well-known Island of Phuket (Thailand) ducking and weaving at times to avoid coastal fishing boats and their nets.

For miles out, our approach was under the watchful eyes of the familiar Big Buddha on top of the hill overlooking the bay. We had visited it on a previous visit to Phuket. We joined a motley multitude fleet at anchor in the big Chalong Harbour (N07°49.252' E098°22.210').

Chalong Bay is an official port and the long, 700-metre pier has the offices out at the end to process the entry of foreign boats. It's a bustling part of Phuket. Dozens of day tripping, speedy tourist boats are based here and skim past leaving large wakes, heading off to close islands.

After picking an anchoring spot in the pack in somewhat shallow waters, we dinghied in to get processed. However we arrived just as they were packing up for an early close and we only got half done. It was Friday, and as they seemed nonchalant about having us come back the next day, we wandered into the busy town to check things out.

Chalong Bay in background

We walked down the long concrete pier (visible on the far right extending from shore) which is structurally sound but the floating concrete docks are all coming apart from recent storms and surges. With large rusting bolts, some are now tied together with thick rope and are grinding away against each other. All day and night, you can hear the creaks and groans in their death throes. This is very unusual as we were told that that the facilities are only about 3 years old!

Phuket's main public pier

Docks haphazardly tied together with ropes

THAILAND

After more than 10 days at Langkawi (Malaysia), we pulled anchor at 13:00 on July 28th and set off on a short passage to Phuket (Thailand) which is about 125 NM to the north. With islands spotted along the way, we planned to anchor each night.

As soon as we left Langkawi, we were in Thai waters so our first night anchorage was in a cove on the south side of Ko Lipe in the Butang Group of islands. (The Thai word "Ko" or "Koh" means "island".) It was a short 7.5-hour run that put us in at dark where we anchored out of the west wind on a rocky bottom (N06°29.038' E099°17.904'). Thailand time is 1 hour earlier which made our log entry at 19:30, not 20:30.

The Island looked pretty with a sandy beach but we decided not to leave the boat until we were officially checked into Thailand at Phuket. We had heard stories of other boaters receiving stiff fines for being caught on shore before checking in.

There were a few fishboats and we could see lights from a couple of resorts on land. The west wind swirled around the point all night but we were in a protected spot.

On the 29th, we had a real rocky bumpy 10-hour motor-sail tight into the wind making for Ko Rok Nok which is right next to Ko Rok Nai. We set anchor in the protection of the lagoon between the 2 islands along with 3 other sailboats and a handful of indigenous fishing boats (N07°12.689' E099°04.006'). There we snorkelled the coral reef in front of beautiful sandy beaches. The water wasn't perfectly clear but it was pretty good. It had been a long time since we had seen clear water or snorkelled so it was nice to finally get in and see some coral and fish.

The next day, we made it as far as the protected bay of Ko Phi Phi Don (N07°43.979' E098°46.100'), a 7-hour motor-sail.

Imposing cliffs of Ko Phi Phi Don

Phi Phi has impressive scenery. Tall, limestone, sentinel cliffs protect its palmed beaches, however with its close proximity to touristy Phuket, it is overrun with travellers. It is full of tour boats roaring back and forth, shuttling the invaders of serenity to what's left of the beach. The uncontrolled development has plastered the shore with tacky stalls, hotels, and eateries were one can now only see tranquility in the imagination of times lost,

Next morning (July 31st), we gladly pulled anchor and sailed for 8 hours, past Ko Phi Phi Lei which was the setting for the 2000 movie The Beach (beach hidden from this view).

Location of movie

We beat most of the way on a port tack up into the east sound of Phuket to uninhabited Ko Rang Yai (N07°57.445' E098°26.922') where we shared the peaceful anchorage with only 1 other sailboat and a couple of longtails. (Longtails are Southeast Asian boats that have their own version of an outboard consisting of a motor mounted high on the transom with its propeller extending several metres out the rear, giving the boats their name.) This Island's shoals are said to produce top quality pearls for export around the world. Tiny Ko Rang Yai can be circumnavigated in about 15 minutes!

Longtail - see prop way at the back

There was a huge mansion on Ko Rang Noi, the tiny island right next to our anchorage. It almost seemed to encompass the entire Island and appeared empty while we were there with no lights visible at night.

Langkawi life

Langkawi (Malaysia) is a duty-free Island, meaning anything imported here is duty free and the end price to the consumer is reflected in that, So we stocked up on, you guessed it, beer and wine. We once met a sailor who did a consumer price index of each country he visited. It was simply the price of beer. Here in Langkawi, it was about $0.60 a can, almost the cheapest we have ever found. The passable boxed wine came in at the equivalent of under $3.00 a bottle.

Dining at the local eateries, which there were plenty of, was cheap too and delicious.

Our days and time here was also occupied by some boat jobs. Jordan opened up the inspection plates on the fuel tanks and extracted a few litres from the bottom. He let it settle over a couple of days in clear containers. It showed an acceptable amount of sediment and a wee bit of water but nothing that the filters and water separator couldn't handle.

Then it was on to the outboard. It was overheating so Jordan took out the thermostat and found it defective, so fixed that, a not so easy job. Strange as the motor is near new. Nice to have such a fix-it-kind-of-guy on board!

Did some playing too. Jordan got a present. A quadcopter drone complete with camera that takes basic pictures and videos, so he spent some time - on shore of course - practicing flying it with the remote controller.

Flight school

One morning, we heard a sudden wind increase. By the time we got up in the cockpit to check, the wind was a full gale from an intense squall that passed through the big bay. We struggled to get down the sunshade canvas canopy but not before it suffered rips and we lost 1 pole overboard.

Then we determined we were dragging. Of the 30 plus boats at anchor, most occupied, the crews were up on deck dealing with the wind or watching anxiously as other boats ahead of them were dragging towards them. Our boat being 1. Dragging is a rare anxious occurrence for us that we prefer to avoid. However, we got the motor started and anchor up, albeit with some difficulty and motored out into the wind until it died, which wasn't long. We counted 7 boats that dragged, but in the end, no tragedies.