Jo
7 April 2009, Langkawi

Well we have come full circle this time, and here we are back in Langkawi, after an eventful sail back with Poppy and Ned.We were so excited to see our pale faced children straight from the freezing north of an English winter, and it was lovely to see them look healthier and less exhausted by the day!!We met them in Phuket, and took them for a brief trip north east to the 'hongs' of  Phang Nga Bay, which are dramatic, as well as being iconic Thailand for this bit of coast. We took delivery of our newly rebuilt dinghy, complete with hyperlon tubes, (that's rubber to most people), so here we are with effectively dinghy number four in as many years. As it equates to a car for us here, perhaps I am getting my come-upance for all those years of embarrassing my children with my old, much beloved bangers!Thai food is good news for Ned, who has such a restricted diet, but the wealth of wonderful fresh vegetables, and rice noodles is pretty good as a low protein diet, and much enjoyed by me too. Ned and I certainly get the prizes for spicy food tolerance! Giles often takes eating out as a chance to get some meat into his diet, which as we haven't been running the freezer for this holiday, has been notably absent from meals on board, and our total failure to catch fish has meant that we haven't had that either! Buying meat or fish locally is so off putting, as it is normally crawling with flies, that I just don't do it! Eating out is cheap and fun, so we do so whenever we can.Which brings us to a little story from Ao Chalong, where we had to go and clear customs, on the south east of Phuket. Well, in typical Winter fashion we arrived in order to do our port formalities, but unfortunately, although we remembered that the authorities have a lunch hour from 1-2, we had not realized that they shut up the office an hour after that!! So we missed the moment, never mind, we were anchored (miles) off, and decided to return for a meal in the evening. We had had many lunches at the restaurant next to the customs office, and they had always been delicious!We were unperturbed by an empty restaurant, big mistake, but not really, as in due course a yummy meal was produced, and much enjoyed by all. Then came the time to pay up, and oh dear, the bill was almost double what we were expecting, we carefully checked the prices with the menu, and the bill seemed to bear no relationship to it whatsoever! The trouble is that we are not proper tourists, we are long term visitors, so our attitude is somewhat different than if you were only there for a week or so, and we have an instinct for what is right.Anyway, there was no way that Poppy and Ned were going to take it lying down, so we quietly suggested that maybe his addition was wrong, and pointed out the discrepancy. Well, that was no good, and although we were very smiley and civil, he threatened to call the police. Fine said we, we'll hang about, but we hung on and on, until it was obvious that no one was coming, so we added a huge chunk to what we thought the right amount, and said that will have to do. He did not demur, but it left us feeling sad, when most Thais are so nice, and if they rip you off, do it with a little more subtlety and charm! Never mind, it probably did him a favour, and will make him a little more wary next time around.  We had lovely sunny weather and a good trip south, mostly stopping at places we have been to before, but apart from a night at Phi Phi Lei, 'The Beach', Poppy did not go to any of the same places as last year.It is accepted that it will take a week to sail south to Malaysia, so although we checked out in Phuket, there is no problem staying in Thai waters for a reasonable amount of time. In fact many of our favourite places are on the route south, as they are too far from tourist bases, and not very accessible.One of these is the Emerald Cove on Koh Muk, where you swim into a cave and through a long dark tunnel, holding a torch, to end up in a beautiful 'hong', with a white sand beach and wonderful tropical trees, but surrounded by the perpendicular walls of the eroded island, literally in a secret world. Of course being Thailand it isn't, but as we went after the last tourist boats had gone, the feeling is still there.We went on from here to another favourite place, the Bulan Channel, where you slide through a rocky gap formed by two islands, and enjoy the calm of birdsong, as well as the best echoes we have ever heard! Monkies on the beach added to the atmosphere. On from here to the large island of Tarutao, where we had an unfinished walk to complete! Thank goodness we hadn't persisted last time around on our way north, as my ribs would not have allowed it, but it was a lovely waterfall walk, with lots of scrambling, and plenty of dips in lovely fresh water to keep us going, it took us four hours return, but although we did it at the heat of the day, the joys of walking in the shade made it possible.Next day on again to another island in the Butang group, Koh Rawi, on the extreme south west of Thailand, where friends had told us that there was excellent snorkeling on the south side of the island in a channel formed by a small island to the south. It lived up to all expectations, in spite of a grey day without much light, lots of lovely brightly coloured coral, but awkward because of the racing tide. Giles who wasn't swimming was appointed dinghy man to look after the snorkelers, but got diverted by a lone man on the deserted island to the south, who beckoned him, and asked for a lift to the larger island.Giles with some reservations agreed to help, and carried the man with a water bottle and a machete  across the fast flowing water. During the course of the journey, the man indicated that he hadn't eaten for three days.We thought no more of it, and back on Brother Wind were having a belated cuppa, when a scruffy dive boat appeared with three white chaps in it. We wondered what on earth they could be doing so late in the day with light fading fast, but as they were swimming all around us, we asked what sort of fish they were looking for. 'Not fish a body', came the abrupt reply before he disappeared again, clearly not wanting to share the info with us.Next a fast launch appeared complete with flashing blue light, not uncommon in these areas where every conceivable light is available cheaply, and used with no reference to possible maritime code!However, it transpired that these were the 'Park police', and they came over to see if we knew the yacht 'Mr Bean', from the garbled conversation that we had with them, we gathered a lot of the tragedy which had taken part on the same buoy that we were now attached to some twelve hours before.Sobering and sad, 'Mr Bean' was a boat that we had seen, but we had never met the Roberts, it all felt horribly close to home, and we felt desperate for poor Lindy, and how she must have been feeling.  The man with the machete that Giles picked up, was evidently nothing to do with the event, but was another escapee off the illegal unregistered Thai fishing boats, which we had seen earlier.It seemed almost right that the wind came around into the west that night, and we had to move eastwards for some better shelter, although it was the small hours of the morning by the time we reanchored I think we all slept better for being elsewhere.At last next day, we set sail, so far there had been no wind, and Ned was feeling hard done by, so up went the cruising chute for the 35 mile sail back to Langkawi, I can't pretend we had a great wind all the way, but at least we had a little bit of sailing, and it looked very pretty!Out of Thailand and into Malaysia, and somehow we had zig-zagged enough to log 260 miles in two weeks, adding at least 100 miles to the rhumb line.Since then , we did a whistle stop road tour of Langkawi with Pops and Ned, and then let them experience the joys of Rebak Marina, where the use of the wonderful facilities of a top notch resort deluded them that they were on a rich man's holiday; although they concluded it might pall rather fast! After they had flown off, we had a quick restock, tidy and clean up (can't think why!), and then our old friends Lucinda and Johnny Lewis Crosby arrived with us for three nights, en route to Australia. We had a lovely potter around the southern islands of Langkawi, which are stunningly beautiful, and then off to the 'Hole in the Wall' anchorage, where we had hoped to eat out at the floating fish restaurant, but dramatic rain and thunderstorm put paid to that. Next day we caught the tide south in blazing hot sunshine, stopping on the way for a quick dip, then a late lunch at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, and they whisked away to the airport for the next leg of their journey to Perth.Oh well holidays end for us as well as everyone else, and we are now down to the serious and trying business of getting boat jobs done before we return home next week. It is never easy, and always frustrating, as seemingly straight forward things are not always easy to source here, and somehow one thing goes right and then something else breaks down. It is so hot and humid here at the moment that everything you do results in one's own personal sauna. Never mind, the frustrations of boat maintenance in the transitional period in the tropics will be exchanged for the fickle English spring in Norfolk next week when we come home for six months to sort out our new house. Can't wait!!

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Jo
23 March 2009, Thailand

We returned to Brother Wind in the early hours of Friday the 13th, after two weeks of 'land travels'. Three nights in Bangkok staying in luxury with Patti Moore, and being treated to a wonderful dinner watching the sun set from the second highest building in Bangkok 59 floors up, must rate as a highlight! The restaurant of the Banyan Tree Hotel is not only on the 60th floor, but outside! With little more than a waist high rail around the roof terrace. Wonderful for catching the evening breeze it must be somewhat more alarming in high winds.

We did the normal tourist things in Bangkok, a river trip, Wats Po, Arun, Phra Kaew, the Grand Palace, and Jim Thompson's House, as well as a very tempting trip to the Jim Thompson Warehouse, where I am still regretting the roll of bargain silk that I didn't buy for curtains in the new house.

We then set off in huge luxury, all organized by Patti's secretary with driver Sirichai, and his wonderful Bangkok air conditioned taxi, painted in Norwich Canary colours of green and yellow, for a four day trip north to Chiang Mai, via Ayuthaya and Sukhothai, and a diversion to the Myanmar (Burmese) border at Mae Sot, where we walked across the bridge into Burma for a couple of hours, in order to renew our visa by two weeks.

It turned out to be a fascinating experience, from sophisticated Thailand straight across the bridge to the third world, no shiny cars here or women in tight jeans and designer t-shirts, it was men in sarongs and bicycle rickshaws, but still with smiley faces. We sat and had a meal in a very local place, and watched the world go by, then took a trip on a rickshaw to see the gold encrusted 'stupa' of their ancient 'wat', and admire the millionth Buddha image that we had seen on this trip! Our rickshaw peddler then decided to take us to one of the weirdest wats we have seen, an enormous crocodile probably 50 metres long, and men only allowed the dubious privilege of going into the temple in its bowels!

We spent a night in Mae Sot in a lovely old stilted wooden house set in a beautiful garden, where we met an Austrian couple our sort of age, who were driving a camper van around the world. We thought boating a more testing but also more relaxing option, at least we have the option of just stopping somewhere at a lonely anchorage and getting away from the world, on land it can't be so easy.

On we went to Chiang Mai, where we said our farewells to Sirichai, and clocked into a guest house in the old walled bit of town.

Another day of 'wats' and we felt we were ready to never see another Buddha! We had wanted to do a serious trek somewhere north of Chiang Mai, and to visit some hill tribes, but we decided that the packaged up trips might not be for us, so we arranged to hire a car the next day and do our own thing! Just as well, as I could scarcely move my back was so bad, and getting me into a car was effort enough. The journey north was torture, every bump and lurch exacerbating my back troubles, so it was a great relief to get to Chiang Dao, and eventually find 'The Nest' a haven of bamboo bungalows set overlooking rice paddies, forest and hills in a lovely flowery garden, and a bed that seemed to promise a bit more comfort!

It did indeed, and nest day we did a lovely elephant ride through burnt forest, on our own with elephant Da, and his mahout Dang. It was nice to know that he was late arriving with us because free range Da was unwilling to be caught.

Dang took us for about an hour up to his hill tribe village, and it was lovely to see how he and the elephant related to each other. At one moment Da decided to stop and wouldn't budge, he had spotted an orchid growing high up on a tree, and until Dang had climbed off the elephant, leaving us somewhat worried, and collected the orchid, there was no moving Da. When we finally got to the village Dang planted it on a tree stump.

The scenery all around Chiang Mai was a disappointment, mostly because we were there in the wrong season. The rice was being cropped, and the paddies burnt off, which meant that there was continuous haze in the air. Much of the jungle seemed to be burning too, but we were assured that the trees would survive, it just meant that the landscape looked scorched and black, and where we assumed there were mountains we simply couldn't see them.

Thailand certainly grows rice on a far more commercial agrarian way than any other Asian country we've seen, its flat lands north of Bangkok are almost rice prairies, and the south east Asian landscape that we have grown accustomed to, a landscape never without people working the land wherever they can, and taking three or four crops of rice a year from a paddy, has been largely mechanized in this part of Thailand.

Our journey back to Chiang Mai took us to the Queen Sirokit Botanic Gardens, just north of the city. They are vast, but well done, and wonderful to see so many familiar plants from home, which obviously must have originated here. Laburnham, jasmine, cherry blossom, spiraea, philidelphus, all kinds of azaleas, as well as lots of annuals that we think of as quintessentially English, candytufts, antirrhinum, and lots more. Sadly there was too much to see, and we had a flight to catch, so on we went, for a late flight back to Brother Wind in Phuket.

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2 March 2009, Phuket, Thailand

We've been on the move for the last couple of weeks, after a good sail back to Thailand, and a few days waiting for Giles's brother Mark to join us, while we agonised about the west wind (very unseasonable), but in the end decided to sail the west coast regardless!!

The north west coast of Thailand, i.e. between Phuket and Burma, is the missing part of the Thai jigsaw as far as we were concerned, and we were very unwilling not to go there, in spite of the fact that it would be a lee shore had the wind persisted. As it turned out, apart from the first day that Mark was with us we had very little wind at all, and what there was had a pattern of changing 360 degrees during the day!

North of Phuket is a very different Thailand, it had been badly hit by the tsunami, and any parts that had begun to be developed at that stage have not recovered.

There are certainly lots of huge sandy beaches, and also rivers and islands, an early destination was to Ban Thap Lamu, where we went into a river estuary, where the Thai navy is based, - well all two ships of it anyway!

Going ashore was a good introduction to Thai life for Mark, plenty of scruffy little stalls where I could replenish my vegetable supplies, and the chaps could buy a whole case of Chang beer. The Navy wives Club, seemed the only place to eat, and did us proud with an unusual amount of choice on the menu, the soup was the only mistake, it was almost pure chilli.

Next day we moved on to Koh (island) Phra Thong, where a shallowish channel from the south wound gently along for 12 miles until we spotted a small fishing village ashore, where we decided to land and have a walk before dusk fell. The locals were unconcerned by our presence amongst them, but it was interesting to see the sheer volume of bamboo fish traps being made. At last we could understand what lay beneath the endless fishing buoys we continuously have to watch out for along this coast. There had obviously been a certain amount of tsunami aid to the village, and further inshore there were one or two modern little houses being built, and a pretentious 'aid to fishing communities' building. The rest of the village looked like it had just grown back in a totally traditional way. The island is just sand, so no vegetables were growing, but a small market seemed to indicate that people would come out in their long-tails from the marshy mainland here, to sell produce, and probably trade fish with the locals.

On we went to Koh Phayam, stopping on the way at some beautiful empty islands, where the white sand beckoned, so we swam and dinghied ashore for a look. The huge number of quite big snake tracks on the beach made it a rather less appealing place for an evening bar b-q, with memories of our fried snake last year!! There were also a lot of lizard like tracks as well, which in Australia would have been croc, but here are probably monitor lizards.

We got to Koh Phayam in torrential rain, and the fishing fleet anchored in the bay of Ao Yai vanished completely. When it eventually cleared we anchored, and went ashore to check out arrangements for a ferry trip to nearby Ranong. We felt that Mark ought to see a proper Thai town!
So after getting soaked by a rogue wave while launching our dinghy in the dark, we were up early next day to be taken by tuk-tuk across the island to catch the ferry.

Sunday in Ranong was perhaps not as bustling as it might have been, but the market was still in full swing and fun to see. Ranong is on the Burmese border, so the only tourist trade it gets are people renewing their visas. We weren't too sure if there was a discernible Burmese influence, but some of the people looked more Burmese than Thai.

We rashly took a motor bike taxi each to get us back to the ferry pier. It was a hair raising fifteen minutes, as each motor bike seemed hell bent on getting there first, scooting around big pot holes, and irrational drivers with total abandonment. I was not in the mood to use up another of my nine lives, and kept thinking about my how much my ribs would hurt, let alone my helmetless head!

But all was well, and the fact that there was no water to float a ferry in seemed almost a relief by contrast. We were piled into another truck to take us somewhere further downstream, where the ferry was waiting for us. Needless to say returning to the island it was packed with all sorts of stores and building materials. After eventually finding somewhere on Koh Phyam to buy some more fruit and veg, we succumbed to yet another motor bike taxi, but this time it was on tiny roads, on an island which has no cars, and was a delightful trip!

The west coast of Thailand, contrary to what the brochures say, does not have wonderful diving and snorkelling, as too many silty rivers run into the sea, and the water is not clear. The exception to this is the south west of Thailand, and two groups of islands which lie about 40 miles offshore in the Andaman Sea.

The northern group, the Surin Islands is much less frequented by dive boats than the southern group the Similans, mostly as it is much harder to get to, so next morning we were up early to set our course for the Surins. We tried to steer a more southerly course than we would have to avoid going into Burmese waters, although we did stray there. If found in their waters, they have the right to confiscate your boat!

We arrived at a stunning bay on the east of the northern island, and picked up a mooring buoy, these are laid by the national parks, to help reduce the number of anchors being dropped, which inevitably destroy coral, but sometimes they are laid in water too shallow for a yacht. We eagerly jumped over, and were not disappointed, lovely clear water, some beautiful coral, and plenty of fish. It was lovely to see coral again, as we really had not seen anything decent since we were in Indonesia.

I took my much loved little water-proof Olympus camera, and Mark had been given a newer version of this for his retirement. Imagine then his horror, when after a happy time taking photos, he got back to Brother Wind only to find that it has leaked, and no longer works. Next day we did several more snorkelling stops in the Surin islands, but were quite disappointed not to find anything as good as the first day, in spite of what the rangers and books told us.

On to the Similans we went, where we knew that there wasn't any coral to speak of, but we had some lovely snorkelling amongst some wonderful fish, and the large boulders in the water created their own beautiful seascape. For once we were pleased that there wasn't any wind, so many of our friends have sailed out to these islands, which have no protected anchorages, and had a miserably rolly uncomfortable time, as well as a stirred up sea, so poor visibility. So at least that part of the equation was good! We think that our walk ashore one evening gave us a sighting of the Nicobar pigeons which live on the islands, but we payed for it by being eaten by mosquitoes!

We made an early start at 3 am the next day, so as to get back to Phuket, and well positioned for Saturday morning, when we had Peter-John Meynell and Patti Moore flying over to join us for the weekend. Yet again, no wind to help us, but after 15 hours of motoring, we were within about a mile of our chosen anchorage, and dusk was falling, when our faithful motor put in a protest and stopped.

For once there was a little wind, and we had the genoa up, so we were able to gently continue our course, and drop anchor off a lovely island where there was a small and scruffy pearl farm, pour a glass of wine, and review the problem.

Happily it was dirty fuel and filters in need of a change, so nothing at all catastrophic.

Next morning, we duly collected P-J and Patti, and set off northwards into the Phnang Nga Bay, to go and see some limestone karst stacks, and visit a few hongs, - the eroded core of the stack, often accessed by dramatic tunnels, with wonderful stalagtites. We anchored for the afternoon in Koh Hong, surrounded by three islands whose sheer cliffs rose all around us. Luckily all the tripper boats had gone, and we were able to enjoy a lovely swim in the very 'soft' seawater of the hong.

Next day the rising tide whisked us further north to the fascinating stilted village of Koh Pan Yi, which is Muslim. We did a fast long tail trip even further up river, going through narrow gaps of mangroves, as far as another limestone cave. We were also shown some cave art, which laid claim to being Neanderthal, but considering the rate of erosion, we felt that a very tall story! The village itself is very touristy, but we had a delicious lunch there, by which time the ebb had begun, to whisk us back to Yacht Haven Marina in time for the others to catch their flight.

However, they weren't going to escape so lightly, about five miles short of our destination, the clouds gathered, the lightening cracked, and the rain fell and fell and fell, wiping out all visibility. The echo sounder did its unreassuring trick of displaying 4 foot, and setting an alarm off, so adrenalin was flowing fast! However, we crept onwards, the rain cleared, and everyone made their flight with plenty of time in hand. Mark going back with P-J to Vientiane for a couple of days before he returns home.

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