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Chiang Mai – Where everybody knows your name

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Greetings from Chiang Mai. I’ve arrived back to my home away from home after five weeks in the Philippines, topped off with a four day stopover in Hong Kong. After that much time on the road I will be here for the next month to catch up on some much needed work.

I have been coming here so often lately that I don’t even announce when I am arriving or leaving. There are only so many going away dinners you can throw in the same town. Instead I just head down to the night market at Chiang Mai Gate, as I almost always run into someone I know there.

Sure enough, as soon as I got to the market I heard JAMES!! being yelled in unison by two farangs on a motorbike, who then jumped off the bike and ran towards me – helmets and all – to administer welcome back hugs.

Chiang Mai Welcome
[Chiang Mai Welcoming Committee]

If by chance I hadn’t ran into anyone, I can always rely on getting a welcome back hug from Mrs Pa, who makes the best smoothies in Chiang Mai, at the Chiang Mai Gate market.

Over the following days I had more random meetups with friends on the street, which made me start subconsciously singing the Cheers theme song.

I have an apartment

On my previous stays in Chiang Mai I have usually not stayed longer than three weeks, so I have never bothered to get an apartment. This time I am here for a whole month, so I have rented a studio. It’s been good to empty the contents of my bags into cupboards and onto desk space. There is a fridge but no kitchen, but hey, what kind of mad man is going to cook when you have some of worlds best street food outside. I have breakfast at home, and everything else is eat out.

Chiang Mai Apartment
[My Chiang Mai Home]

I haven’t stayed in a rented apartment since I was in Mexico last year, so I will make a note of my living expenses for the month as a comparision.

Thai Food

While I loved my time in the Philippines, Thailand is a hard act to follow when it comes to food.
By the way, if you haven’t been to Thailand and you are wondering if my name is Clarky McMoneybags for eating out every night, have a look at this incredible free ebook that has just been released: the Bangkok $1 Menu guide. I can personally attest that all of these prices are true, and the food is every bit as delicious as the photos portray them to be. This is a Bangkok guide as well, so you will find that the prices in Chiang Mai are a little bit cheaper.

Songkran is coming

In a case of poor timing, I have been in Thailand for the previous two years right before Songkran, so I have made sure to clear my calender to attend this year. Songkran is the water festival that celebrates the Thai Buddhist new year. It’s one giant water fight, and from all accounts it’s a ton of fun (at least the first time around.)

My friends who were at Songkran last year looked like they had a blast, and it killed me to see these updates while I had just left. I’m already seeing super soaker water guns being sold in shops, so it’s time to shop around for my Songkran gear.

Water guns for sale
[Songkran - Choose your weapon]

Any road trips planned?

I usually arrive back in Chiang Mai after slogging it out on the road for a month or two at a time. By the time I get here I tend to chuck my bag under the bed and stay put. Even after all this time I still haven’t been to Pai. The amount of hippies that go there makes me think I won’t like it, but I still like to go to a place before I say I don’t like (that’s only fair.)

I had some friends go on an epic Northern Thailand bike ride recently, which I would like to do at some point. I might save that for later in the year for when some Northern Thailand newbies will be coming up.

The Smog!

During the dry season in Thailand farmers burn off the land before the rains arrive. While there is always a bit of haze, this year is one of the worst on record. Looking out my window Chiang Mai resembles more like a city in Anywhere, China.

Stop Burning
[A sign in Chiang Mai, preaching to the converted]

If there is one benefit of the smog (if you can say such a thing), check out the sunsets, or should that be smogsets?

Chiang Mai smog sunset
[Chiang Mai Smogset]

This was a clearer night than usual as lately I haven’t seen the outline of the mountain. This smog might be a good incentive to knuckle down and stay indoor for the month and get stuff done, before heading off again to…

Boy on U Bein Bridge, Amarapura – Myanmar

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Boy on U Bein Bridge, Amarapura - Myanmar

At 1.2 km long U Bein Bridge is the longest teak bridge in the world. The bridge crosses over a shallow lake at Amarapura (now a suburb of Mandalay), which was the former captial of Burma.

Most guides recommend coming out in the evening to catch the bridge at sunset. I was leaving that day so I made do with a morning visit. The bridge was streaming with school kids making their daily crossing, and whenever you have a big camera hanging around your neck there are always requests for photos.

Travel Photos: U Bein Bridge Photo Gallery

My first mountain climb – Mt Hibok-Hibok in the Philippines

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I love a good walk. I can wander the streets of New York or London all day no problem. While I am at ease on flat urban terrain, I have never attempted a mountain climb before. On my trip to the Philippines I figured this was the ideal place to test my flatland legs on a mountain.

Originally I had my sights on Mt. Kanlaon on the island of Negros, but upon arrival in Dumaguette I discovered the mountain was closed to trekkers due to the threat of landslides. Fortunately my itinerary for the Philippines was to have no itinerary. I had travel days that were dictated by the whims of the ferry and bus services. For one of my destinations the ferry company said the ferry might run in two days, proving that for travel in the Philippines the best plan is to make no plan.

With my first choice of mountain knocked out of contention I went online and soon discovered a perfect mountain for beginners to climb, Mt. Hibok-Hibok on Camiguin island.

Mt Hibok-Hibok from the beach
[Mt Hibok-Hibok from the beach]

Camiguin

Before coming to the Philippines I had not even heard of Camiguin (it is one of over 7000 island afterall.) Camiguin is a small island off the coast of Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines. Camiguin can be circumnavigated by bike in a few hours, which is what I did on one of my days there. This little islands main claim to fame is that it has more volcanos per square kilometre than any other island on earth. Luckily for me and its inhabitants, none were going off. Hibok-Hibok is considered an active volcano, and it last erupted in 1951 killing 3000 people.

Ricefields and volcano - Camiguin
[Ricefields and volcanos - a typical Camiguin scene]

Climbing Mt Hibok-Hibok

Mt Hibok-Hibok stands at 1332 metres high, making it a comfortable day trip. I met my guide, Rey, pre dawn and we rode his motorbike to the Ardent Hot Springs at the base of the mountain, where our trek would begin. It turned out that Rey had a fever the night before and was seeing black when he woke up, yet he still got out of bed. I think of my time at waged employment and how I took sick days at the slightest hint of a sniffle, and here was my man climbing a mountain with a fever (self employment is a great motivator). While this was not a favourable day for Rey to be climbing, it worked out well for me.

Climbing up Hibok-Hibok
[Fever Rey, leading the way]

Seeing this was my first mountain climb I was happy to be going at a slower than normal pace with regular stops along the way. It was also an overcast and cooler than usual day which made the climb easier. I was warned that the path is steep and rocky, and most of the way is through jungle with only a hint of a path.

Mt Hibok-Hibok path
[Stare long enough and you will see a path]

The ascent took 3 hours with the last third being particularly steep, climbing over the mountains rocky peak.

James on Mt Hibok-Hibok
[Yours truly on the peak of Mt Hibok-Hibok]

On a clear day from the peak you can see the Islands of Cebu and Bohol (the latter being home of tarsiers). There was much cloud cover when we arrived on the peak, so I would not be seeing Bohol again this time around. Still, the view was grand enough to satisfy my sense of accomplishment.

Like much of my travels throughout the Philippines, there were no one else around that day. We had the peak to ourselves, so we relaxed for an hour before making our way back down.

Rey and James on Hibok Hibok
[One day son, this will all be yours]

I had heard before the climb that coming down is in some ways harder, especially if your legs start turning to jelly. I was feeling it a little in the legs, but for me the hardest part was having to concentrate more on every step. I found that going up I didn’t need to think about where I was putting my feet as much, so I let my mind wander to other things to distract me from thinking about the physical exertion. The walk down took two hours, making it a round trip of six hours.

Future Climbs?

I’m glad it worked out that I didn’t do Kanlaon first, which would have been a two day climb. The one thing I didn’t do on this climb was any warm down exercises. As a result I could hardly walk from stiffness for the next few days. I would have been in trouble if I had of woken up on a mountain top as stiff as that and having to get back down.

When I was in Sabah, Mt Kinabalu kept calling my name to climb it. It towers at over 4000M, which is a fair step up from Mt Hibok-Hibok’s 1332M. I think my strategy will be to go up in 1000M brackets each time to test my legs and lungs.

For now though I am happy that I got to make this unexpected detour to the island of Camiguin.

Mandalay Palace, Mandalay – Myanmar

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Mandalay Palace moat, Mandalay - Myanmar

Ahh Mandalay, surely one of the most evocotive destination names in the world (up there with Zanzibar and Timbuktu). Rudyard Kipling may have had something to do with that with his poem (On the road to) Mandalay. For our generation, being in the middle of a land that has been under an economic embargo, Mandalay still sounds like it is from a far away and exotic land, in an era when lands are aren’t as far away any more.

Those who have been will soon tell you that the romance of the name doesn’t match the reality on the ground. Much of the city was destroyed in World War II, and todays Mandalay is built in the cheap Chinese concrete style. There is a palace in the centre of the city, and before I arrived the map kind of reminded me of Chiang Mai, giving me the impression it might be a lovely place to stroll around. Todays Mandalay Palace is a post war facsimile and houses military personnel, so I just admired the view of these trees along the long stretch of moat the surrounds the palace instead.

Leg rowing fisherman, Inle Lake – Myanmar

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Leg rower, Inle Lake - Myanmar

A leg rowing fisherman on Inle Lake, rowing with one leg while controlling a net. As with any great skill, they make it look so easy to balance at the end of a small boat with an oar wrapped around their leg. I’m sure I would end up in the drink after 2 seconds of paddling.

Read more about my visit to Inle Lake.

More photos at: Inle Lake Photo Gallery

Aww, Tarsiers – The unofficial mascot of Bohol

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With my time in the Philippines ticking by, I reluctantly dragged myself away from Palawan to give some other destinations in the Philippines half a chance. One of those places was the island of Bohol and a visit to its star residents, the tarsier.

Tarsier
[Tarsier in Bohol, Philippines]

While various species of the tarsier can be found across the Philippines, Borneo, and Sulawesi, Bohol has made a name for itself as the home of the tarsier. They are practically the island mascot, and the new 200 Peso note of the Philippines confirms this with a tarsier and the Chocolate Hills of Bohol adorning the reverse side.

200 Peso - Philippines
[The unofficial mascot of Bohol on the 200 Peso note.]

Bohol happens to be one of the best places to see a tarsier, with two sanctuaries that offer easy access to them in the relative wild. I say relative wild as they are free to leave the sanctuary compound in the evening to look for food. At approximately 5 inches tall and being an endangered species, your chances of seeing one in the wild are beyond remote.

Tarsier Conservation Area

The Tarsier Conservation Area near Loboc is the biggest of the two sanctuaries. The day I went there were a dozen tarsiers visible, each with a guide standing by, just in case you walk right past. They are easy to miss, and even with a guide pointing them out it took a while to find some of them.

Tarsier
[Tarsier hiding behind leaves]

This is certainly the more commercial of the two sanctuaries, and it is the only place which has tarsier souvenirs on offer, if that is your thing.

Smoking Tarsier
[Nothing says "I've seen a tarsier" like a cheesy T-shirt.]

The Philippine Tarsier Foundation

The owner of the hotel I was staying, an avid recycler and environmentalist, recommended that I visit the Philippine Tarsier Foundation. It’s not as commercial as the first place, and the day I visited there were only two tarsiers visible. They have a breeding progam there, with more of a focus on tarsier education and conservation.

Tarsier
[Aww - Tarsier]

With these photos I’ve had the advantage of having a camera with a 105MM lens. While I can get close up without sticking a camera in their face, the photos don’t portray how little they are. To give you a clearer picture of their size, here is a photo at the Foundation of Prince Charles holding one.

Prince Charles holding a tarsier
[Prince Charles got to hold a tarsier - it's a Prince's life.]

Also at the Foundation is a photo which confirms what I have always thought – that Yoda looks like a tarsier.

Yoda/Tarsier
[Was Yoda inspired by tarsiers?]

I’m not alone in this thought that a tarsier totally looks like Yoda.

Once we eventually found our first tarsier, someone in my group remarked that they are kind of boring, that they are just sitting around doing nothing (yes, someone said that). I told him you want them to be boring, otherwise you would not be seeing them at all. Tarsiers are nocturnal, so for us day trippers we aren’t going to be seeing a tarsier doing much.

Until recently I had never really considered what a tarsier does in the wild. If I did think of them at all, I might have thought they were a miniature cross between a koala and a sloth, just sitting around all day eating berries. If you thought that as well (if you even thought of tarsiers) then watch this video and prepare to be amazed. (Seriously, watch this video before reading any further.)


Tarsiers by BBC Earth.
[Thanks to my tarsier loving friend (and world greatest tarsier link curater) for sending this video.]

When I saw this video I was stunned. Carnivorous? And to weave in some more Yoda references, this video was like seeing Yoda fighting Count Dooku in Star Wars episode II. I had no idea he could move like that. Like Yoda, I had only thought of tarsiers to be a slothful creature.

As a friend of mine remarked after seeing the video:

Thank Odin that the “only completely carnivorous primates” are just 5″ tall … can you imagine them leaping after us?

We would be the endangered species.

Where Not To See A Tarsier

Drive around Loboc or toward the Chocolate Hills and you will see makeshift signs proclaiming tarsiers on display. These are illegal zoos, though enforcement seems to be lax. Tarsiers go crazy in captivity, to the point that they bang their head against the cage until they die.

I can’t believe I got to take a left turn here!

The Tarsier Foundation is about half an hour from the capital of Bohol, Tagbilaran. Having a brief look on the map, I saw that I would have to drive ride through the jumbled streets of Tag and find the road that leads to the sanctuary. I opted to follow the coast road instead and turn inland from there. Not only would this save me riding through the city, but getting there was easy to remember. All I had to do was to take a left turn at Alburqurque. I can’t believe I have gotten to use that phrase in a real life situation (and I’m sure readers in New Mexico are rolling their eyes about now).

Alburqurque Church
[Make a left turn at Alburqurque (Alburqurque in Bohol that is).]

Finding my rhythm in the Philippines

From here the road soon turns to an unpaved (re: dirt) mess of a road, but this is more than made up for with the scenery of green rice paddies and coconut trees that line the road.

Rice paddies
[Coconuts and rice - what a combo]

The backroads of Bohol
[The backroads of Bohol]

I have to say that I was a bit bummed out after leaving Palawan. I felt like I might have left too soon, but spending the day bike riding around Bohol soon sorted me out. On this ride I remembered how much I love riding bikes in the countryside, and after having visited the urban chaos that is Manila and Cebu, this is the Philippines that I wanted to see. And I got to see tarsiers.

Trip Notes:

I visited the Tarsier Conservation Area as a guest of the Bohol Tourism Board. My accommodation was hosted by Amarela in Panglao Island. All opinions are my own.

Coffee Of The Day: El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a coffee of the day, so I’m making a comeback post in style.

Coffee Of The Day: El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
[Coffee Of The Day: El Nido, Palawan, Philippines]

I arrived in El Nido after a cramped, knee busting, 6 hour mini van ride from Puerto Princesa. After being uncanned from our sardine tin I headed straight to The Alternative guesthouse to unwind from the days travels. I had been recommended this lodging by Jodi at legalnomads.com, who worked here for two months. I had only planned to to be here for two days, but after seeing the view from this lounge pod my plans soon changed. First order of the day, after ordering a coffee, was to change my flight. I’m staying here for a while.

Part of the appeal of my job is to find interesting office space to work while I travel around the world. I often find myself working on a bed in a guesthouse, so I like to get out to a cafe at least once a day to break things up. I’m not a sit on the beach and do nothing type of guy, but I do like walking along the beach, and even better to have a cafe with a beach view. In this case the beach is underneath my table, with the soothing sounds of the sea lapping the base of the building.

This little nest above the sea might be a little too comfortable though. I know that working on a beanbag is not conducive to getting work done. I have personally tested this out with many summers plonked on a beanbag with a laptop while watching the cricket. Yes, I don’t think this will ever be called a productivity pod. I will leave any heavy duty work I need to do for when I am without distraction at a table. For now though this will make an ideal place to reply to emails and do my daily web reading.

The Alternative Guesthouse - El Nido, Philippines
[Yours Truly, hard at work at The Alternative Guesthouse - El Nido, Philippines]