Our Worldwide Travels

Sunday, 3 May 2015

One of the main reasons we visited Chiang Mai – the elephants!! We had an amazing day. Usually there’s a big group of tourists, so everyone would take it in turns to wash/feed/ride the elephants but as it was only Jack and I, we got an elephant each for the day! The sanctuary is based on a huge nature park where the elephants wander round freely (unlike in some towns where the elephants are chained up and sadly only unchained when tourists come to ride them). We were really impressed with how well the trainers looked after their elephants in this sanctuary. They didn’t use instruments to control elephant movements, instead they made bizarre sounds which the elephants seemed to understand and obey. The morning was spent hand-feeding the elephants, followed by us riding them (bareback!) to a nearby river where they drank. After lunch we bathed the elephants but firstly they gave us our own shower!! It was actually quite refreshing and another new experience for us both! After washing/bathing them we went on a mini trek through the jungle before more feeding and eventually saying our goodbyes.

Photos - Phuket

Ready for Phuket

The main strip

Cheeky cocktail

How we felt after the show!

Ladyboys, happy endings and ping pong shows

Phuket, Thailand

Most people know of Phuket’s infamous reputation. The name conjures images of prancing lady-boys, massages with a certain special ending, and – of course – the ping pong shows.

We decided to experience some of what the town has to offer first hand – when in Rome!

It was interesting to see an entirely different crowd in this part of Thailand,

What are all these old white dudes doing here?

… That one didn’t take long to find out.

Within just a few hours we had already seen several lady-boys, strutting down the street in their high heels, heterosexual men with confused erections staring after them. Ironically, they tend to be the ones most scantily dressed, acting the most feminine, wearing the most makeup, and, more often than not… you wouldn’t have a clue.

With lady-boys checked off our list, we thought of the other experiences Phuket had to offer. The happy massages weren’t on the top of Kerry’s list… or mine *sigh.*

So that left us with just one option: ping pong shows!

We had heard a lot about these shows and knew more or less what we were getting ourselves in for. But, despite the warnings, online articles and travellers’ stories, we still weren’t entirely prepared for the reality.

We started the night off with several cocktails, mainly to grow the balls needed to walk through the door.

On the other side of the door there was no real stage to speak of, no rows of seating, no curtains drawn in suspense. The other side of the door was, in fact, a strip club.

In retrospect, this really shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

We took our seats between several middle aged men with topless girls (half their age) sat on their laps, and exchanged pleasantries.

As the men around us were offered various sexual favours, we sat and waited for the show to begin.

And so it did.

Dressed in nothing but a night gown, a lady came to the stage and got straight to it. She was all business as she squatted down over a piece of paper, marker pen protruding from between her thighs. Moments later she stood up, showing us a sign reading “Welcome” in hand(?) writing more legible than my own!

We applaud politely.

Without going into too much detail, her succeeding acts involved; bursting balloons with darts, smoking cigarettes and various tricks with ping pong balls, all, needless to say, carried out using nothing but her multi-talented VJ – as Kerry likes to call it.

Thinking the show had ended, Kerry and I prepared to leave all but a little too soon.

Turns out that the show wasn’t over.

Two girls were now sharing the stage, erotically grinding against each other. Their show proceeded to include acts that were actually illegal where we were just weeks before. Kerry pointed out a man sat in the corner, who was enthusiastically showing those around him the prominent outline of his growing package.

The show in general was one neither of us will forget in a hurry. Thanks Phuket, you’ve been… something.

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Photos - Taman Negara Rainforest

And our trek begins ...

Elephant footprints

Our natural shower

Candlelit dinner inside the cave

Our sleeping arrangements

Refreshing river swim

Noodle lunch in the heart of the jungle

Children of the tribe

Naturally made dart

Dart gun

We made it!

Relaxing cruise back

Sleeping in the jungle

Taman Negara (national park) and Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

We spent a couple of days in Kuala Tahan, a village within walking distance of Taman Negara (the world’s oldest rainforest). We were taken by wooden longboat to a mini waterfall and swam in the refreshing river, deep inside the rainforest. We also did a night trek where our guide pointed out creepy crawlies of the rainforest – including 2 scorpions and a bird-eating-spider! The following day we were meant to head to Thailand but it’d mean Jack spending his birthday on a sleeper bus (not so fun). Instead, we ending up doing a 2 day, 1 night jungle trek, and slept inside a bat-inhabited cave!! The trek was challenging but enjoyable, we had a good group and an awesome guide. We walked 16km in total, with our sleeping bags, roll mats, food and 3 litres of water. We walked over rocks, fallen trees, roots and leaves covered with leeches. I was bitten once, it didn’t hurt but bled a lot. On a number of occasions we had to balance on logs, suspended several meters above rivers/streams, to get to the other side. During the trek, we also got the opportunity to meet one of the genuine tribes of the jungle. It was a little daunting. They speak their own language and have their own traditions and beliefs. We were shown how they catch food using a blow dart-gun. It was an effective weapon, made entirely of materials found in the rainforest. An interesting - slightly disturbing - fact we learnt, was that when a member of the tribe dies, instead of burring/cremating the body, the corpse is hung and left on top of the highest nearby tree, as the body is apparently closer to haven this way. Imagine coming across that!!