A Thailand Trail. The background and advance plan.

If the truth be told, it's all Melvin Bragg's fault, the omniscient presenter of "In Our Time". On Thursday 23rd June he hosted a discussion on Radio 4 entitled "Angkor Wat". I was hooked. Here was a place that I had to visit. Angkor Wat is, of course located in the north west of Cambodia which is fairly adjacent for Thailand and all the delights that country can offer to tourists. In fact all bar four days of the planned holiday will be in Thailand so I propose to start with some general information on that country using the UK as a comparator. They have similarly sized populations, but at 200,000 sq miles Thailand has roughly twice the land area. The United Nations have devised their Human Development Index which attempts to measure how "civilised" a country is according to various measures like levels of education, health provision, income, life expectancy, happiness, etc, etc. Norway has consistently come top of the list for years. Thailand is 66th and UK is 18th out of a total of 191 countries. At 66th, Thailand is considerably more developed than its neighbours with Vietnam at 115, Laos 139, Cambodia 146 and Myanmar 149.

The flags of both countries use the same three colours, red,white and blue of course. 

 

The Union Flag represents the three countries that form the Union. Wales is not represented as it was already colonised at the time the first Union Flag was designed. In the Thai flag, shown above,  the colours are symbolic, red represents the people,  the white, religion and blue, the monarchy. Speaking of religion Thailand is 94% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, 1% Christian and the rest composed of various oriental religions. 

Atheists registered as 0.003% of the population so I might be struggling to find like-minded people. 

Both UK and Thailand are Monarchies with interesting parallels. Constitutionally the UK is a monarchy and Parliamentary democracy whereas Thailand in the late C20 has swung between democracy and military rule with at least 12 changes of constitution and several coups. King Rama lX who died in 2016 reigned for 70 years and 126 days and was then the second longest reigning monarch in history (the longest being Louis XlV). He was pipped into third place by UK's Elizabeth ll when she died in 2022. Here is the present King. One has to be careful what one says because they have quite strictly enforced lese- majeste laws with prison sentences of between 3 and 15 years, (Not sure how Harry would fare if the roles were reversed).

Climatically, Thailand can be said to have two seasons, hot and hotter! Officially however it has three. The hot, from March to May, the rainy season from about June to October and the "cool" November to February. We'll be there for a month, the last two weeks in January and the first two in February. We can expect highs of 30 and lows of 20.

For about £2,500 per person you can buy a holiday called The Thailand Triple. This consists of a week split between Bangkok and Chiang Mae in the north west and a week on an island in the south west. This mirrors some of what we have planned but we are also adding several day trips from Bangkok and the visit to Cambodia to include the Angkor Wat complex and Phnom Penh. This will take four weeks and should cost well under £1500 each when all the bills are added up. 

Above you can see a downloaded image of part of the Angkor Wat temple complex. A visit here is a major driver for the holiday. 

We will,  by and large be staying in hotels which are remarkably good value. We are not talking bamboo with en suite gecko here, but properly built concrete and carpets. Room prices vary between £10 to £150 per room per night. I set a budget of about £35 which gets you a room and breakfast.  The rooms that I have booked are equipped with a large bed, fridge, flat screen tv, air con, wifi and a seating area. The hotels have outdoor swimming pools with sun loungers and spa facilities 

The exception to this is our accommodation on Ko Samui. This is a beach resort on an island where we will be staying in a bungalow for a week. 

If you want to find out some more details of how the holiday unwraps or even unravels then keep an eye on this site. I shall be posting blogs every few days with the occasional nudge on Facebook. 

Chilling out in the Canaries 11/3/2022

 Round and round the rugged rock, this blog is the story of a driving trip all round the circumference of Gran Canaria. Rather than running ragged rascals, we drove our hired Renault Clio along what at times were pretty hairy roads. The road was being improved particularly in the north west quadrant. Nearly the all the west side is less developed and much more arrid as the pictures show. I'm afraid that this is going to be more of a picture gallery than a blog. This was El Risco, our first stop where we enjoyed a coffee and almond cake. 

A glimpse of the new tunnels under construction rather disappointingly removing the views, hairpins, danger and fun all in one fell excavation. 

And now the new view inside the recently finished tunnel. 

They have left some of the old road which gives access to this really remarkable viewpoint. It is called La Balcon and I don't need to explain why. In the foreground you can see ox-eyed daisies, which seem to survive anywhere. We are on the north coast here looking east towards a distant Las Palmas. 

Here we are looking straight down about 400 metres to the shoreline. 

This is the equally impressive view to the west. 

This picture is almost surreal. Arising out of the sea cloud is the mountain of Telde, remember, that third highest volcano in the world and also Spain's highest peak. It is over 40 kilometers away on the neighbouring island of Tenerife. 

Here you can see how this precipitous viewpoint is constructed using that wondrously adaptive material, plate glass. This picture also demonstrates that phenomenon I call the "Harry Worth" affect. You have really got to be over 60 to remember him and his shop window. 

Helen demonstrating her head for heights. Although it looks to me that her eyes are shut. 

I warned you that I would tell you some more about bananas, well here we go. Firstly that vast area of white is the polytunnel netting that I referred to in the first blog. It acts both as shade from the excessive sun and protection from the winds. The variety grown here is Dwarf Cavendish which grows only about 3 metres in height. The fruits are half the size of the Caribbean or South American varieties and they do pack more flavour and sugar. if you live in England, go to ASDA who stock them and try them for yourself. Besides the bananas notice how little other vegetation there is. 

You can just see the road in this shot but you are often left wondering where on earth the road goes next. I featured this picture with climbers in mind. The cliffs ahead look to provide some excellent routes, I wonder how many have actually been climbed. 

If I knew more about the geology of volcanic regions I would be able to write reams describing the rock formations below. As I don't, I won't. 

Here is one of the classic views on the island. Start with the sky and drop down, that's Teide again, the highest peak on Tenerife. Now it's more like 50 kilometres away. Then you see the sea cloud again. To the right is the town of Artenara. This is another centre of activity with the historic peoples of the island. We then look across the Crux de Tajeda with Pueblo Tajeda just visible in the bottom centre. 

Pueblo Tajeda has been described as Spain's prettiest village. It certainly has a very impressive setting. 

Here we are in the main street where we enjoyed melty but tasty ice cream. 

The little port of Puerto de Morgan is a delightful little resort with a parade of restaurants facing a sandy beach. There's a classy marina and a beautiful old collection of houses and narrow alleyways decorated with tropical flowering plants. 

The square with restaurants surrounding the bandstand. 

Turn around 180°and you are facing the marina. We liked this place so much that we returned to spend the day there later. 

You are looking at a golf course built in the middle of a desert. I hate to think how much was invested to create this oasis.  A slice or a pull will leave you trying to play golf in a quarry. 

Our only real view of the Dunas de Maspalomas. This 1000 acre site has been a nature reserve since 1987. We found this area around Maspalomas very user unfriendly.  The main problem was just trying to get out of the car. The difficulty was parking when every conceivable space was already occupied and there was a constant cruise of cars looking for that none existent place. So the dunes may well be a great visit but you will need ask someone who managed to get their feet sandy. 

We eventually managed to park near the shopping centre. After a walk round the shops and along the promenade I took a couple of shots in the fading light. 

As ever I like to try to finish with a sunset. This resort is on the south west quadrant so the sun is going down just around the corner. 

Chilling out in the Canaries 8/3/2022

 Our location in Playa del Hombre means we really have to have a car in order to get the best out of this holiday. In Gran Canaria there is really only two choices. You head to the hills or you head to the beaches. Today it's the former, indeed you can't get higher than the highest peak on the island Pico de las Nieves which stands at 1,949 metres. By coincidence this happens to be the same numbers as my birth year. 

Although relatively small (the circumference is 235 kms) the island displays a remarkable variety of landscapes. Ar  id larval desert that only supports stubborn socially isolated cacti and the odd lizard if your eyesight is quick enough to spot that tail-flicking movement, is juxtaposed with lush verdant slopes supporting a cornucopia of agriculture. Clearly the answer lies in the microclimate. Ironically the bananas seem to be grown in those really dry areas. Presumably these are the sunniest ie cloud free districts,but more of bananas later. Let's look at some hillside farming. Terracing is of course essential with slopes like these and many are decades if not centuries old,

Some handy clouds here to support my theory. Talking of cloud, we encountered these in abundance at the top of Pico de las Nieves. Unusually we could drive right to the top and the reason why is that the summit is shared with a military base hence the road was constructed. If you have ever wondered who is watching you, well it's everyone, but also someone on the top of this mountain. 

Seconds later the view becomes this. 

And in a few more seconds..........

And if you are interested in seeing the military base, look quickly as it's a restricted area. 

The next view point was also affected by cloud cover. This is the Caldera (crater) de los Marteles. It is 80 metres down to the bottom and 550 metres across. The landscape was created by an explosive phreatomagmatic eruption or for the layman when larva comes into contact with underground water. It occurred about a million years ago. The crater has a flat bottom and weather permitting you can see the geometric lines of ploughing showing that agriculture has been a traditional activity on this relatively flat land. In Wales it would have been a rugby stadium. 

We continued downwards heading for a ravine type valley which has been inhabited constantly since the first indigenous peoples arrived on the island. The location represents the greatest density of archaeological sites spread along both slopes of the ravine among which troglodyte habitats abound, under escarpment ledges and on hillsides. It is considered to be one of the most stunning cultural landscapes in Gran Canaria. This troglodytic lifestyle has persisted even up to the present day. 

The caves are clearly visible in the rock cliffs. As well as habitations the caves were used for storage and burial purposes. Access to many of the caves is very difficult and the remains of ancestors still remain undisturbed where they were first laid to rest many hundreds of years ago. 

This historic landscape has not however remained static. It has evolved and adapted to present day living. 

Meet our friend, the present day troglodyte and his humble abode. This is his washing up area which has running water..

The cave is also supplied with mains electricity for lighting and the television (He was watching Death in Paradise when we called.) Some of the homes ran on portable generators. He earned a few Euros each day showing people round his home. Below you can see his hallway, the green door leads through to the bedroom/living room. 

He had a few "museumy bits" to illustrate his story. 

Above is his double bed that he shared with his senhora until sadly she died of a brain haemorrhage. Now he shares a single bed,  cut from the rock face, with his little dog, if you see what I mean. We moved on to another place where life has stood still. 

Aguimes has become the best example of a Canarian hill town. The streets of the old town exude a gentle,  relaxed, timeless atmosphere and carefully positioned street statues and sculptures add a series of surprises to a visit to the old town. 

There had been a festival of sorts taking place earlier today. We encountered a group of women in the square who were still determined to enjoy themselves singing and dancing. 

Some of the surprises are bigger than others. Why the nude cellist? It brought to mind that famous quote by Sir Thomas Beecham "Madam you have between your legs an instrument that can give pleasure to thousands but all you can do is scratch it. "

Who can resist a camel ride when it's on offer for free? Certainly this beast was much easier to mount than Helen's last one in the Thar Desert in India. 

Chilling out in the Canaries 6/3/2022

 It must be five and a half years since we have seen my niece, Sarah and her now husband, Adrian. I know this because on last meeting we had discussed the outcome of that fateful day 23rd June 2016. Last week, as a matter of courtesy I phoned my brother to let him know that we would be out of the country for a couple of weeks in Gran Canaria. It was only then we learnt that Sarah and Adrian would be there at the same time. A get together in Las Palmas was called for and duly arranged. They were staying in Maspalomas whilst enjoying the rugged terrain by bike, so travelled up to Las Palmas on the bus. We, meanwhile had hired a car for the middle part of our holiday. 

Actually meeting up in the city could have been quite a problem but serendipitously their bus terminal and the car park we chose were almost adjacent. Here we are with the famous Las Canteras beach behind us. This beach has over 1000 metres of fine white sand and is protected by La Barra a rock and coral barrier that not only provides excellent scuba and snorkel diving but also keeps the sea pleasantly calm. 

We walked the length of the promenade taking in the sights. Wherever you go in Gran Canaria you encounter works of art,  many of them bronze sculptures and each with its own story to tell. This figure (not Sarah) is dedicated to shoe cleaners the world over.

Helen arm in arm with a famous dancing teacher but I'm not sure how much she learnt.

If you look carefully you will see three posts with wooden constructions on the top of them.  They look very primitive but I couldn't find any explanation of their meaning. Perhaps they represented some of the art of indigenous people. If anybody reading this knows, please use the comment facility to let me know. 

Another expansive view of the beach. 

Adrian tells me they add cement to the mix, it saves a lot of work the next day.  What an old cynic he is (but probably right). On first sight this appears to be a representation of a North American "Indian Chief". I'm rather hoping it is in fact a representation of the Canarii, those first inhabitants of the Canary Islands and the designs on each side are references to their troglodyte lifestyle. 

The city is built on a narrow peninsula with higher land at each end of it and sea at either side, a bit like Llandudno if you know it. The natural harbour at Las Palmas is defended by the Castillo de la Luz, built in 1494 on existing Castillian foundations, it had gun platforms for eleven canons. Today it is home to a permanent art exhibition devoted to the work of Martin Chirino. You may have encountered the excellent worldwide organisation called Strawberry Tours. They run free informative tours conducted by local people for the benefit of local charities. We are very grateful to Adrian, who for one day only set up his own "Raspberry Tour" for us. Not perhaps quite as informative as the originals but definitely more amusing. 

We can't leave without reference to the importance of Las Palmas as a port. Historically Spain valued the islands as a jumping off point to the New World. Christopher Columbus discovered the advantage of the trade winds that blow east to west, north of the equator. This was why they were so keen to possess them in the late C15. Today it is still busy importing and exporting goods, as a military base and as a port of call for cruise liners. Modern day windjammers do exist and here's the living proof. A special kind of cruise can be had on the Sea Cloud Spirit. Google it up if you want more information or fancy a cruise. There were two more of a similar size nearby.