The Historical North

Tourist elephants at Ayutthaya

Since leaving Plodd Stop we have headed north to the historical centre of Thailand and alternated days between visiting old temples and going to cooler climes in the beautiful National parks.

Wat Si Samphet Ayutthaya

Stopping first in Ayutthaya, we spent a day wandering round the ancient temples of the old Capital of Thailand from the 12th to 18th centuries. With its easy access to Bangkok it is very touristy with plenty of coaches bringing people for day trips including rides on the "ceremonial" elephants. Spread over a large area it was hot and thirsty walking through the extensive parkland which has been established around the monuments.

Wat Mahathat Ayutthaya

Wat Si Samphet was built on the site of the old royal palace in the 15th century with each of these elegant Chedi housing the remains of a previous king. Across the park the other major temple Wat Mahathat is one of the older temples built in the 14th Century and the main temple for the city. It is famous for its fallen Buddha head surrounded by tree roots.

Green Pea Fowl - Ban Bueng

After the heat of Ayutthaya we headed to the wildlife sanctuary at Ban Bueng. This out of the way reserve attracts few tourists (6 the previous day), and the staff seem somewhat unwelcoming, as though we are an intrusion on their peace. Their campground is closed as they had an incident with an elephant a few years ago, so we ended up camping at a nearby fire research centre where the security man was very helpful. In the reserve the next day three coachloads of schoolchildren arrived but were soon swallowed by the forest so we walked a couple of the trails, seeing some lovely birdlife and a few deer. This park has the densest population of tigers in Thailand and their pug marks are sometimes seen near the camp - but not by us.

Wat Sorasen Sukhothai

Back to the historic circuit we drove to Kamphaeng Phet - a smaller town with deserted temple ruins, then north to Sukhothai. This was the capital of Sukhothai Kingdom which separated from Khumer rule in the 14th century and is considered the foundation of modern Thailand.

Big Buddha at Wat Si Chum

The main centre of the old town was surrounded by a wide moat and walls enclosing an area 2kms by 2kms, inside which are the main temples. many smaller temples were built also built outside this area.


Wat Mahathat Sukhothai

Buddha Head

Wat Si Sawai

Borrowing bikes from the hotel we cycled round the town in the evening cool, enjoying the evening sun lighting the monuments, then the following morning visited the main temple sights.These included the famous Big Buddha at Wat Si Chum noted for its incredibly long fingers on its hands, The main and huge Wat Mahathat with numerous Buddha figures and Wat Si Sawai. Interestingly Wat Si Sawai was originally built as a Hindu Temple and was later converted to a Buddhist shrine, explaining its completely different form.

Doi Inthanon National Park

Back to the mountains we headed to Doi Inthanon National Park where we camped for two nights at 1100m, and drove to the highest point in Thailand at 2600m. The top has a small shrine to King Inthanon and is a very popular outing from Chiang Mai, but no real viewpoint, though part way up there are two new shrines built by the Air Force to commemorate the 60th Birthdays of the revered previous king and queen. These huge structures occupy a lovely location on the mountainside with views across the other peaks, and are surrounded by beautiful colourful gardens. Doi Inthanon has numerous beautiful waterfalls on its many rivers.

Colourful gardens round king and queen 60th Birthday Stupas

Back down to Chiang Mai where we have spent a couple of days while the car is serviced and enjoyed wandering along its friendly and tourist occupied streets. We visited the more famous of the 300+ temples here, it is easy to get templed out, most of which are still active with many Buddhist monks in attendance, even offering chat to a monk session to learn more about Buddhism.
In less than a week we shall cross into Myamnar on the next stage of the journey.

 

Main Assembly Hall Wat Mahathat Chiang Mai

14th century Wat Mahathat Chiang Mai

Statur

Wat Phra Singh Chiang Mai

 

Wat Phan Tao

 

Waterfall in Doi Inthanon

Elephants supporting Chedi in Sukhothai

Red Billed Blue Magpie

 

Sunset in Sukhothai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

Tropical Thailand

Preparations for Chinese New Year

We had an easy crossing in to Thailand, through the Betong border. We presented our insurance and carnet and completed the Temporary Import form, then helped the Thai customs man to fill in and stamp the carnet in the relevant places before being waved through the customs inspection area and we were free to travel. The combined formalities at both border posts took little over an hour.

Western peninsula beach near Krabi

New temple

The southern most province of Thailand has long been unsettled due to its mainly Muslim population wanting independence from Thailand so the advice is not to linger. We stopped only to get some cash and to buy a couple of SIM cards - 30 days unlimited internet for £2.50 - before heading around 200kms north to Hat Yai where we booked into a very comfortable small hotel. Hat Yai is one of the main towns in southern Thailand and in the morning we walked to a floating market, though it only operates at night, and a temple still under construction, something we have seen all over the southern part of Thailand, hundreds of new Buddhist temples being constructed or extended.

Islands near Phuket where James Bond was filmed

Dusky Langur

Having cleared the unsettled zone we took a more leisurely approach to travel the long narrow peninsular portion of Thailand, heading first to the west coast beaches. We found some lovely places where we could camp by the beach, but sadly most were strewn with rubbish left by picnickers. Around Krabi on the west coast large limestone mountains dominate the landscape with small sandy beaches wedged between, making it a fast developing tourist haven. We camped on a beach just north and returned to the fossil beach at low tide to see the millions of fossil gastropods and bivalves in a relatively thin layer of rock, which looks almost like concrete.

Wild Asian Elephant

Wild Gaur

Phuket is probably Thailand's most famous tourist destination, and wanting to understand the attraction we headed there for a night, camping on a small secluded beach by a café. This large island must have been beautiful before the tourist developments with a mix of long and small sandy beaches separated by rocky outcrops and a relatively large forested area in the centre, but the huge resort developments and incessant congestion takes away a lot of the pleasure. The limestone scenery so dominant along this coastline continues and we visited a viewpoint looking out over numerous small limestone islands rising sheer from the water, used for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.
Leaving the west coast we headed to the east and found a fantastic camp spot by a secluded beach under coconut palms where after two weeks of moving on we had a day sitting enjoying the cool sea breeze and the beautiful warm water.
Passing the narrowest part of Thailand we headed to a couple of National parks. At Kui Buri park we took a short tour and were thrilled to see around 50 wild elephant as well as a couple of Gaur. In the three herds we saw were many very entertaining baby elephant scampering around. Further north at Ban Krang dusky langur spent the night in the trees above our camp then entertained us the following morning playing in the trees by the campsite.

Bridge on the River Kwai

Just north west of Bangkok at Kanchanaburi is the bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge itself is a major tourist attraction so somewhat overwhelmed with people, but nearby are the amazingly moving Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries, and a couple of interesting museums depicting the history and living conditions endured by the PoW's and often not discussed the appalling conditions endured by the 200,000 SE Asians brought in to work on the railway.

Hell Fire Cutting

Whilst the bridge is famous the worst conditions were in the camps further north where the PoW's and Asians had to make cuttings through rock outcrops using hand tools only. Teams of three would use a 10lb hammer and a long chisel to cut holes in the rock for dynamite charges, then the rubble would be moved by hand, a lot of the work completed during the wet season when temperatures are in the mid 30's with 100% humidity. One person died for every sleeper that was laid on this section of track - an enormous price to pay.

Death railway Trestle Bridge still in use

Taking another break from the heat of the lowlands we headed to Kao Yai National Park at 700m. The morning chorus of gibbons near the campsites and visitor centres is a call to try and find them, and we were lucky enough to find two groups of gibbon in the trees. The park is also home to elephant, one of which came through the campsite causing great excitement and passed within a few metres of our van.

White Handed Gibbon
 

We are now at Plodd Stop - an overlanders rest place where we have enjoyed chatting with other Dave the owner, and other overlanders on various travels in SE Asia.

 

 

Bridge on the River Kwai

 

Rubber tapping                                                                        Porcupine

 

 

 

Sunrise at secret beach

 

 

 

 

Back on the Road in SE Asia

Camping by the Melacca Strait

After a busy time back in the UK visiting family we returned to Malaysia to meet our van which had been shipped from New Zealand. It took a while to get used to the heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur, but within a week we had managed to get the paperwork for the car sorted and we were back on the road.

Melacca Kampung Kling Mosque

We first headed south from KL to Melacca - one of the oldest colonial towns in Malaysia. Much of the old town has remained much as it was when it was built in the 1800's, and includes the oldest mosque in SE Asia which is on Harmony street, so called because a few hundred yards away is the old Buddhist Confucian temple, and a Hindu temple, and on a nearby street is a Christian church. The Mosque contains components from many countries, Portuguese tiles, Dutch painting, English carving and middle eastern carpets, all blended beautifully together.

Cameron Highlands

Camping on the coast just north of Melacca it was amazing to see the continuous stream of huge container ships heading north, presumably carrying goods from China and SE Asia to Europe. Virtually all shipping from east of Singapore to Europe passes through the Melacca straits reflecting how strategic the port was when first established.

Cameron Highlands tea Plantation

Heading north we drove to Frasers Hill in the highlands to find some cooler weather. Frasers Hill is an old town built as a resort for the colonials to escape the heat and humidity of the coast, and is located in forested mountains. From there we headed to the Cameron Highlands, driving through the famous tea plantations on a very busy Sunday afternoon, and camping at just under 2000m where we even had to wear extra layers to keep warm.

Ipoh Railway Station

Ipoh, one of the main towns on the railway line north of Kuala Lumpur, has a magnificent railway station built in 1844 just alongside the old town which has a strong Chinese influence. Amongst the many old building are a series of murals painted on walls depicting scenes from old Ipoh.

Old Ipoh

The town sits under some beautiful limestone hills, and was established when tin was found nearby. In the last hundred years many new temples have been built, either in caves in the limestone or in the lee of the cliffs. The Perak Cave temple was built in 1914 by the local Chinese community and in addition to one large Buddha it has turned many smaller side caves into chapels to different Buddhas, and has a staircase up through the caves to a view point over the town.

Rickshaw mural in Ipoh

A more recent Tibetan Pagoda constructed in the 1930's houses a Buddha at the top of an eight storey pagoda. The inside of the pagoda has suspended platforms which can be reached from an internal staircase providing an unusual perspective.

Perak Cave Temple

The last couple of days in Malaysia we drove through the beautiful forested mountains in the centre of the country. A treetop walk 20m above the forest floor gave fantastic views of the forest canopy, and camping by a lake where elephants had clearly been browsing in the previous few days. Although we heard them trumpeting in the forest we sadly did not see them.

Tibetan Pagoda - Ipoh 

Today we successfully crossed the border and are now in Thailand.

 

Inside Tibetan Pagoda

 

Treetop Walk

 

Malaysian Mountain Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

      

Farewell to New Zealand

Cape Palliser

Returning to the North Island, and with  few weeks until we leave New Zealand we looked to visit some of the places we had missed on our way south in the winter. We first headed to Cape Palliser on the southern tip of North Island, a beautiful spot with views across to the snow covered mountains of South Island. Here we were treated to the regular generosity of local New Zealanders.

Profusion of Spring Flowers

First the local from the adjacent camper came over and chatted and in conversation asked whether we had tried Paua - a sea mollusc which is a delicacy of the local Maori. On hearing that we hadn't he slipped into the cold water of the Cook Strait and 20 minutes later presented us with a paua he had just prised off the rocks, having found a couple for himself as well. Having been given guidance on how to cook it we enjoyed it in a soup for lunch - similar chewiness to Calamari with a buttery smoothness. As paua are known as abalone elsewhere the shells are most attractive, with the ones from Cook Strait the most colourful. A little while later some locals we passing and came over to offer us fresh grapefruit they had picked from their garden, and then added some freshly caught fish as they had too many. A generosity we have been treated with again and again.

Pinnacles valley

Nearby is the Pinnacles valley. Here water has eroded the soft rock leaving fantastic pinnacles on wither side of the valley where harder rock has protected the soft underlying rock from erosion. Standing below the pinnacles as the shadows lengthened you could hear the continuous "rain" of small stones being released from the sheer sides of the pinnacles caused by the temperature changes and the wind.

The unique white kiwi

North from Cape Palliser we stopped at the Mount Bruce Kiwi breeding station, one of the several around the country where they take eggs from wild kiwi just before they are due to hatch, then rear them through to being young adults and large enough to see off most predators before releasing them into the wild. Kiwi are unusual in so many ways; the eggs are huge occupying some 30% of the female's body. Once laid the male incubates the egg until it hatches when the chick is left completely on its own to fend for itself with no parental support at all. On site they have a kiwi enclosure where the young birds are raised, but as they are nocturnal they have also created an indoor glass area where they artificially reverse the day so visitors can see them during visiting hours. Uniquely they have a white, but not albino, kiwi.

Tongariro Crossing

With a week booked in an apartment near Lake Taupo we took relaxed in fairly unsettled weather and waited for a window of good weather so Ed could walk the Tongariro Crossing. This 19km walk crosses an area of volcanic activity (passing Mount Doom) through some extraordinary volcanic landscapes. The recent unsettled weather meant there was still a reasonable amount of snow on the tops, but the path was relatively clear. The path climbs through cold lava fields, the most recent from the 1970's, and crosses the base of a large volcanic crater before climbing a more recent ash cone with spectacular red crater. A short descent passes two beautiful green and blue crater lakes before climbing the other rim of the large crater followed by a long descent with stunning views over Lake Taupo. A beautiful walk.

Descent towards Lake Taupo

Oraki Korako geyser field

Our final visit in this area of volcanic activity was to the Oraki Korako geyser fields. The path leads through a valley where geysers and hot mineral springs are prevalent, resulting in large areas of the most colourful algae covered silica deposits. Bubbling pools, randomly erupting geysers and steam vents dot the barren base of the valley making for an otherworldly experience.

Art Deco in Napier

A British couple we met live in Napier, in the heart of the wine area of Bay of Plenty, and explained its history and how it was rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1931 which destroyed most of its buildings. The centre of the town are all Art Deco buildings constructed in 1932  and 1933, and led us to drive this section of the east coast giving us the opportunity to feed the stingray near Gisborne. At low tide each day stingray come into the shallow water and by donning waders it is possible to wade out with a guide to feed them.

Cooks Cove

North of Gisborne is Cooks Cove where he landed for 6 days to replenish food and water and there is a beautiful walk over the hills to this secreted and sheltered place.

Having missed Tikitiki church on our way south we continued north to the Eastern Cape calling at the church en route. This was built in 1921as a memorial to the local mainly Maori soldiers killed during WW1. Although the outside of the building is relatively standard the inside is decorated in traditional Maori style with beautiful paua inlaid carved pews, and woven Maori coverings on the walls - very beautiful.

Tikitiki Church

Waders at Miranda

Flightless and rare Takahae

During the last few days on the road we checked back into the waterbird reserve at Miranda and were rewarded with thousands of waders on the mud flats - quite a spectacle, and visited a peninsula north of Auckland where a predator proof fence across the neck of the peninsula has allowed endemic NZ birds to repopulate and we were fortunate to see wild rare flightless Takahe and the elusive saddleback - both very special.

Field of Remberance in Auckland

Before our final farewell we spent a couple of days in Auckland while the van was being prepared for shipping and visited the very moving field of rememberance at the Centoaph - 18,000 white crosses planted in the grass below the monument, with special areas for families which had lost 2, 3 and in nine cases 4 sons in the war; quite extraordinary.

Auckland Skytower

Auckland Sky Tower

A final celebration of dinner in the revolving Sky Tower completed a memorable 4 months in new Zealand.