Chasing Crabs with torchlights TO Underwater Viewings of Whale Sharks - Week 18

Week 18  - Thailand (Koh Lanta)

24^th to 30^th of November

This little stop in Koh Lanta just made all the difference!!!

After four months of travelling we were all getting a bit weary of sleeping in different beds every few nights, negotiating different menu’s and using challenging modes of transport…it was time for a little stop. A little breather….and the island of Koh Lanta could not have been a better destination for this. Close to Krabi and Phuket on the western coast of Southern Thailand, the island is reachable by a water taxi from both of them. We picked up the boat in Krabi and were on KL in two hours. I think it takes a bit longer form Phuket. Another option is to go by mini-bus over land, using two car ferries and do a bit of island hopping on your way there. We used this option for our return journey to the mainland. The island of Koh Phe Phe (the kids are still laughing about that name!!) is also in this area and many tourist do day trips over there. So what makes this area so popular? Well, it needs to be seen to be understood, but I’ll give it my best go!! The clear aqua marine blue see-through water, with the yellowy sandy beaches is almost enough…but then add on year-round 28 to 30 degrees seawater, with visibility up to 30 meters on the hot summers days, the palm trees, great cuisine and breath taking sunsets… Well, what more do one needs for a tropical dream holiday destination? Maybe a hammock on the beach?? Well, they are there too, plus the Thai-massage with the lull of the ocean in your ear and do not forget the marvellous exchange rate!!

As you could gather from Alana and Arno’s posts, we made the absolute most of this opportunity to rest, to play to learn new skills and make new friends!

Our two bungalows were set back form the beach on a hill amongst tropical vegetation. The Narima Resort was started 12 years ago by a Thai family, who has worked all their lives away form their birth island, but always had a dream to return and created a business to serve tourists but also provide career possibilities for native Thai’s. They secured a beautiful private beach and woodland area more than 20 years ago and then established the resort once they retired form their engineering jobs in Bangkok. We were honoured to meet the owner, who was seen to be meeting and greeting guests every morning at breakfast time. He even waved us goodbye on our leaving day!!

We were having so much fun on the beach and beside the infinity(!!!) pool, that we were really not too interested in travelling to far from the Narima. During my early morning run on our first day there, I located the Mini-marts and the big long white sandy beach!!! So after breakfast we took a tuk-tuk over to the shops to sort the little girlies out with new swimmies. We were sooo blessed to successful in one out of the three shops. The only ones available for children were in their sizes!! Ha!!! We decided to walk the 3 km or so back to our resort, but stopping on the beach for a play and a swim. After a little while we realised that it might be a good idea if we were to speed our walk back to Narima up a bit……VERY dark clouds were gathering and we could not really hide from them!! Thomas still has a bit of a ‘thing’ about thunder and lightning, so we were in for an exciting walk back!! Long story short…we did not even put on clothes over our swimmies but just walked back in another torrential rain shower. Here and there we were hiding underneath trees, hotel lobbies until the big water has passed us by. This was an challenging adventure back to our resort, but this unexpected rain shower provided us with the best opportunity to work together as a family. We had to be strong for one another, help each other (either carrying a shopping bag or a little one!!) and persevere to the end…regardless of the circumstances. I will always remember our two hour long walk back!!!!

Now, we met a fellow traveller in Xi’an, Ceaser form Spain. He told us about the cliff top restaurant with the bested sunset view in ‘all of the world’!! My word, Narima Resort was right beside it!!!!! So an energy recovery stop had to be made at the Diamond Cliff restaurant…and Ceaser…it is as marvellous and spectacular as you were making it out to be!! Thank you sooo much. We had some pancakes, coffee and mango-steamed rice (yum) there, while watching the lightning bolts striking the ocean on the horizon. Absolutely magical!!!!

The resident scuba diving school/shop (Scubafish) offered us a free come and try dive in the swimming pool. I saw this as my chance to get a taste for this underwater sport. Thomas joined me and our instructor John was so good at his job!! I did not feel unsafe and had a great time swimming on the bottom of the deep pool! Alana and Arno tried too, but they have already decided that they will be doing the 2 (Alana) and 4 (Arno) day training. You can read some more of their experiences here.

So the rest of us just enjoyed the restful time in and out of the water, while A and A were watching safety and training video’s, writing exams and practising in the pool.

This week turned out to be such a great fun filled ‘holiday’ amongst weeks of extreme travelling. We made friends with Isabelle, Florian and their two boys (Paul and Felix) form Germany. Thomas really enjoyed all the cuddles with little Felix, who just turned one. Paul and our little girls spend hours in the pool, jumping, baby-diving and perfecting their underwater swimming. With the awesome layout of the Narima resort (private beach with beach bar, half way up the steps was the infinity pool and then at the top of the steps the restaurant overlooking the pool) I felt pretty confident to let the children play in the pool or on the beach at their own leisure. What a joy to have ‘swimming’ children. This all gave me some precious chill out time sitting in a bamboo chair doing some reading or writing AND working on my sun kissed look!!

The lovely Isabelle then invited the kids and I to come on a traditional long-tail boat accompanying them on a day trip to the Bu-Bu island on the eastern side of the island. I was so thankful, because Arno and Alana was due to go on a diving boat for their first deep sea dives and for Alana to complete her scuba diving certificate. So, off we went early morning for the 45 minute drive across the island in the signature pick-up truck taxi thingy. We were taken to the mangrove forest that connect the two Lanta islands. A rickety walkway above the dark muddy swamp, took us out to where we boarded our long-tail boat.

An interesting boat ride followed, including a stop to feed the ‘swimming monkeys’. One actually boarded the boat…I just tried to keep the kids and myself well clear from this little mister. I’ve heard of so many stories where monkeys, which are used to being fed, get a bit out of sorts and biting people. For that reason, I will never trust a monkey to come near the kids or I.

Once docked on the Bu-Bu Island, we found ourselves a little quiet spot and just enjoyed the lovely warm water, pretty shells and the Robinson Crusoe feel of the island. Unfortunately the visibility was next to zero, so the planned snorkeling did not happen. We rounded a great day off, with a little trip to our nearby mini-mart for some ice creams. We were also so looking forward to hear all Alana and Arno’s stories after day on the diving boat….

The feedback was one of overwhelming awe about the under-water wonder world. Arno could not wait for his next dive and Alana was so pleased that she was now qualified to dive down to 12 meters, accompanied by a diving instructor or master diver. She was also looking forward in just relaxing for the next few days, examining the sea world, chasing crabs and playing in the pool. So big, but still so little……

You can not visit Thailand and not attend a Thai cook school of some kind. I was soo excited. Alana wanted to join me, so the two of us were picked up by a driver, who was sent by the Lanta Thai Cook School. We picked up a few other ‘chefs’ on the way and arrived at the double story wall-less school. As a group of 7 people, we had to choose 4 out of the 10 suggested options. We decided to make a fried rice dish, a red curry, a ginger stir fry and banana fritters. We first prepped all the veggies, then we tackled one dish at a time, eat it (Yay!!!) and then moved onto the next one!! It was such a great time for Alana and I to cook together and enjoy learning together. The thing about Thai cuisine, I’ve learned during this experience, is that you need to do ALL your prep and then just cook the food quickly. Not one dish took longer than 5 minutes to fully cook…. This was just the bestest afternoon!!!

Another little sweet moment we had was a date night of just Arno and I dining out on our own, just the two of us…yes…we managed to get the kids to bed early and then relaxed at the beach restaurant. While waiting on our food we realised that background music was actually a collection of worship music! We felt soo blessed!!

Then I saw something moving VERY quickly love the sand...with further investigation Arno discovered that the beach were filled with crabs. Apparently they know that there will be nobody to interfere with their own time on the beach, once it is night time...or so they thought.....

The following evening Arno took the kids, kitted out with torches, down to the beach. A new game of finding a innocent crabby AND than changing it to the water side with the light of the torch, excited giggles and delightful squeals following. The kids (and their dad) had the best fun! I even felt that I was missing out and just had to join in too!!!!

Arno’s last day of diving saw him qualified as a Padi Open Water diver, down to 18 meters. He had tears in his eyes as he was trying to describe the beauty of the unseen world to many, me included. His little farewell present was to have the honor to see a whale shark cruising by….

Thailand, especially the Narima Resort, has completely ran away with our hearts. We would absolutely love to come back here….meeting up with our new friends (who’s been here a number of times now)..doing some more diving… Thomas joining Arno and Alana and maybe even the mama……

Our Thai-time was running out now. We’ve met up with wonderful locals and international globetrotters, animal encounters to our hearts content, many hours spend on trains….curries and pineapple-fried rice. Oh Thailand, I will be missing you..(minus the ants though….)

We were very sad to leave all our Narima friends. We were getting a lunch time bus traveling across the Lantas, using two short ferry boats, to the mainland, heading for Krabi Airport. Our final night was spend in the Bencha Mountain Resort. Mr ….. sent a big minibus to collect us from there and transport us the 20 minutes over to the resort. We travelled through palm and rubber plantations and were surprised by a little karst mountain, with the resort at its foot. In the process of into and out of taxi’s, Thomas left his little day pack. We eventually tracked the driver down AND managed to have it returned to us…but all his last saved pocket money pounds were being used for the extremely high fee the taxi driver was charging us for the return of the bag…. A big thank you to the owner of Bencha for helping us to locate the bag and organising the return of it.

 The Bencha Resort consisted out of a collection of stone bungalows perch up a very steep hill. It was an mission to get our luggage up to our house!!  A sweet resort, but a little bit rough around the edges. After our amazingly enjoyable week at Narima, I felt a little bit cheated out of my happy Thai memories. We were just booked in for one night before catching our flight to Delhi, via Kuala Lumpur.

Sherpas and BIG (HUGE...... actually THE BIGGEST!!!) mountains...haaaaaaaaaa - Week 20

Week 20

6-14 December Nepal (Kathmandu, Pokhara)

After a very busy week in India, we were getting mountain fever......we were actually going to the Himalayas!!! No wake up call needed, we were all ready and excited when our taxi-toot came!!

A very short hour plus 20 minute flight took us from New Delhi to Kathmandu and we wee enchanted with the display of the Himalayan beauties en route.

It took us longer to get through the airport red-tape, but at last we found ourselves in a Nepali taxi catching the late Saturday afrenoon activities in the streets along the way to the house of our hosts!! Heather, Micha, Sereana and Prakash stay close to the Boudha stupa in western Kathmandu. We are so thankful to our American, now living in Scotland, friend Heather Canter, who connected us. The Nepali Heather very kindly offered to host us for two days and to help us acclimatizing to the Nepali unorganized chaos!! To start off with, no street addresses. You basically need to tell the taxi- driver the general direction and area you want him to take you to. as you getting closer to your target,  you either need to direct him with a 'right here' and ' left there' or ask him to call the hosts so they can direct him!!!!! With Heathers excellent directions, we managed to arrive on own steam in front of their green garden gate!! Proud moment!!!! (You travelers will understand this!!)

Heather and Micha have been missionaries establishing God's Nepali church, by investing time and energy into the youth. They've been living and working in Kathmandu for over 12 years, met each other here and will celebrate the 10th anniversary in January. They've adopted a few Nepali children, all of them teens now. Their own little daughter, Sereana, will turn 3 also in January. God's blessed them with an amazingly big house. Twice weekly Heather hosts kids clubs and twice weekly Micha ( originally from Fiji) host bible classes for the teens. We were given the use of their library, the floor was covered with matrasses and Heather was pilling on blankets against the cold. We were barely in this room, before our children were all lost in a book. Warm fuzzy feeling!!! We were welcomed to a Nepali meal of alloo paratha( flat bread/potato pancake) and choli ( chickpea stew) with an amazing tasty dip called 'achar'. New flavors, but so delicious!! Thanks to Babitha who has prepared it all for us.

We got instruction about energy saving (electricity only available to use in the evenings…otherwise solar energy is used...that means-no hot water or washing machine until the power is on at night time…). No used toilet paper into the toilet (we are very trained regarding this by now!!!) and do not flush the toilet after using it...unless you are doing a 'a big flush'!! All to save water ( some body need to go outside a few times per day to pump water for the house from the garden well). This is just the way things are being kept under control at home. There are so many other everyday tricks of the trade living in Kathmandu...a way of life so foreign to us... bad, really bad roads, poverty like you can not believe to be right at your front door, neglected animals, raw meat laying in open dust covered stalls...1.4 million living in this city amongst the hills and valleys out of the 28 million Nepali's in total.

Arno was on washing duty, once the electricity came on, round 6pm. He also hung it all out on the rooftop, ready to catch the first rays in expectation of drying, the next day.

We were all excited, waking up on Sunday morning, because a Nepali expat community house group was meeting at Heather and Micha's house. The kids got to make cute Christmas ornaments under Heathers supervision… and the toilet roll creations are safely packed into our bags ready to be hung on Ouma Leta's Christmas tree!! We met some very dedicated (mainly) America families, who raising their own families in the dusty city of Kathmandu, helping people to see and experience the love of Christ on a daily basis. One family, Kami and Aaron will be hopefully come to visit us on the farm in January, while they are staying with friends in Cape Town!!!! How awesome is that??!!

After church we were spoiled with another Nepali meal prepared by Babetha- Heather's helper. Under Heather's trained eye we started the packing for our trek in the Annapurna range close to Pokhara, west of Kathmandu. After too many hours of research, we've decided to go under the supervision of an very experienced Nepali trekking company, Earthbound Expeditions. The owner, Rajan, was so quick with his response on my e-mails and answered all our questions to make us feel confident enough to invest in this Himalayan higher altitude experience. We initially planned to take the public bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara, but once we calculated the cost and weigh up the convenience factors, we decided to go with a private jeep (organized for us by Earthbound). We paid a bit more, but it was a door to door, VS pick by taxi in Kathmandu, waiting on the public bus.....puke factor, no stop... then another taxi in Pokhara. For me there was really no comparison!!!!

Pleasantly surprised on Monday morning to realize that our trekking guide, Shree, will be chaperoning us to Pokhara. Well, that was the whole experience in short....on time, very efficient, accommodating, stress and hassle free and when you throw in the awesome wonder of God's creation....unbeatable. Well done everybody at Earthbound!!

After the chaos of getting out of Kathmandu got behind us, we were 'climbing' up various little mountain passes, beeping our way around hairpin bends and just marveling at the ability of all Nepali drivers, regardless of the sizes of their vehicles, to miss one another. The scenery was amazing with breathtaking drops and the snow caped mountains drawing nearer and nearer!! To complete the 230km took almost 8 hours, including our coffee/hot chocolate stop and lunch stop. Reaching Pokhara we for once understood why the expats in Kathmandu were all drooling when they hear we were going that way. With a beautiful lakeside, reflecting the awe-inspiring Annapurna mountain range, this town is just such a peaceful mountain getaway from the dust and noise of Kathmandu. Resting in the shadow of two out of the 10 highest mountains in the world, we were getting really excited about our forth coming trek. The streets are lined with small pavement shops displaying the most colorful and authentic  Nepali knitwear, blankets and good replacements of local quality outdoor gear...(sometimes  I could not even spot the difference!!)

On Tuesday morning we were still halfway through breakfast when Shree and our three Sherpa /porters arrived in the minivan. Again spot on time and we were ashamed of not being ready to go... Yet..... We continued on from Pokhara for one and a half hours, deeper into the Himalayan green.

At New Bridge we got ourselves sorted out and off we went!! So Babuu, thinnest and tallest of them all carried Arno's huge backpack plus his own, fastened on top of that. The whole load is then tied in the signature Sherpa way- he used the shoulder straps of the back pack, but added his rope device to it, so that he could carry the bulk lf the weight on his forehead and neck....jip, that's right, the strap rest around his head and he pulls forward with his neck to lift the weight off his shoulders. Amazing!!!!!

"Sherpa" is actually the name for a Nepali people group living in the  north eastern part of the country. They are well known for their knowledge of the mountains and their ability to live and work in high altitude and hostile environments!! Because of these qualities this people group has been identified to be great escorts and awesome helpers during trekking. Therefor the peculiar name given to the very strong and agile Himalayan porters.

Then there was Robbie, he carried a small, stuffed daypack of ours and her attached himself to Nina's side. To start off, the little girls were walking quite well, but little people have little legs and sometimes little legs gets tired just that bit quicker...so Robbie was our special Nina helper. Or as she calle him: "my carrier". Even if she was walking, he was never far from her, most of the time holding her hand!!!

Kabina was Philippa's self-appointed shadow!!  Both him and Robbie were quite stocky and tiny in built, but so strong!! Kabinda carried his own small trekking bag and then the little lady, on request. The children were just hoisted onto their shoulders and off they went. Sometimes Philipp was complaining a bit that she was getting scared on Kabinda's neck...he was a fast walker, so it could be quite daunting sitting so high up while he was basically running down the steps......but I am getting ahead of myself here.

After starting up a gentle sloping local access gravel road, we passed the new bridge’ .... still under construction. Every year during May, June and July when the water level of the river rises sporadically due to the melting of the snow higher up on the peaks, the poor little bridge washes away. We saw the reconstruction attempts of the little bridge in progress. We've got so much to be thankful for.

Leaving the small hamlet of Birethanti behind us, we were ascending the into the foothills of the mighty Annapurna’s. Over the next 4 days our bodies were transformed into mean walking machines. We continued on the dirt local access road into the hills till lunch time. The Nepali government has put money aside to build this road 5 years ago. Up to this time, local access was limited to the winding footpaths. After lunch (cooked to order at a little mountain restaurant) we left the road and continued on the local footpath. Beautiful, but quite challenging at times. No faffing about anymore, just one step at a time, up, up, UP!! We were so proud of Thomas and Alana who had to walk all the way. We reached our mountain hotel in Ghandrung (2060m) just as dusk set in. At this height, in close proximity to the Fishtail Mountain, with it’s snow capped peaks, it was absolutely freezing!! Here we fell in love with the typical Tibetan mountain dumplings, called ‘momo’s’. A momo can be filled with cheese, chicken, vege or ‘buff’ (beef!!)

Day two breaks the day with the most awesome sunrise. We decent the mi-zillion of steps down into the valley AND then up again to the village of Tolka. We arrived early afternoon after our 6 hour walk and really had a fun time just to souk up the high mountain beauty. We went for a little exploration and met up with really friendly locals, working their rice and bean lands.

Shree decided that the vista’s from the Australian camp was not going to give us a full picture, so on day 3 we continued a bit further till Dumpus. The rooftop view of Machapuchare (Fishtail Mountain at 6993meters) was just mesmerizing and totally overwhelming.

All to soon we had to greet our team of porters. We appreciate their help so much, their mountain songs, their oozing love for their mountains, fun Nepali chat, strong legs and arms and contagious singing – we will always cherish these memories!!!

Back in Pokhara, we had one mission: Christmas shopping!!! A very successful couple of hours secured great discounts and friendly smiles! Everybody happy. We enjoyed a last meal at a traditional culture show, wrapped up from head to toe…because it was cold!!!!! The Himalayan winter was approaching us at speed!

We stayed with our host family again in Kathmandu and loved the time of joint fellowship. Heather suggested for us to leave most of our extras with her, while we do our last little trip towards the east of Kathmandu. Because of the daily power cuts and the approaching winter, not to mention a very big wet rainy day, we were really struggling to get all our trekking washing dry. Thanks to the suntrap on the flat roof, we were good to go at lunchtime on our last Monday in Nepal.