Y Wednesday, December 2, 2009
My dad came here to fish while we went shopping
Same river seen from my hotel window.
The tiny dot between the two main trees is actually a crocodile!
That was one scary ride!! - In a natural waterfowl swamp
The entire area is about three times as large as Singapore!
My family of 4 in a 'sampan' with the boatman only
...There was no one in sight as far as our eyes can see - and I'm a 6/6 - scary!!
Magical... As we approach the bushes we saw loads of wild buffalos
It is an everyday life for the villagers to take their buffalos home
Home-made Fishing mechanism near Thale Noi, Thailand
It looks rather innocent dont you think? A minute after the picture was taken it even tried to attack us - What did we do? Easy. Drive off !
Ulu Temau - Home of my dad's new found friend, Raja Adam
We fed these deers with buah lansat - the trees were only 2 feet away from the fence - so...just pluck and feed!
Like I said before, the long break I took made me see a lot of things. In some way, I think this trip has changed me. I fed a deer (that is not my hand though) for the first time in my life - well I fed a deer after some screaming and loads of giggling, but I still did it - it was ticklish and rather um...wet. I was able to touch cows - real cows, goats, lambs and a lot of other animals including ducks - live ones. These are rthings that I never would have done before. This trip really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I am able to better appreciate what I have and I am no longer so afraid of animals.
I can swim and all but going out to sea in that little wooden boat really took a lot of guts. To make things worse, we got stuck the some water plants and after about 20 minutes of struggling, the boatman took us back to the jetty and the person in charge told us to try again. I wanted to literally jump out of the boat. We made it the second time. We went bird watching, saw a lot of water plants and even a herd of water buffalos. It was a pity we weren't able to go near the buffalos though as they were wild ones making it risky. And as if I wasn't scared enough, while turning back, out boat very nearly capsized. Once we got on land, my legs were shaking so badly I could barely stand and had to hold on to the people who were with me for support. It was truly a memorable experience.
I also went into one of the local villages and saw the fishing mechanism. It was huge. The villagers there actually built it themselves. How cool is that! And after bringing in what they had caught for the they head off to a nearby market to sell the catch immediately.
Also, I fell ill on the trip and had to stay in the hotel for a while. It was horrid. I had an extremely bad headache, I couldn't eat or drink anything and I just kept throwing out. I felt really terrible. I was also sad as I missed a day of adventures. I promise i'll make it up somehow!!! Thank god I didn't catch the H1N1 though... we were pretty much exposed to the risks...
'Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.' - Charles Dickens
5:39 PM
My darlings... I think they're beautiful
I got a little adventurous and we went to look for caves...
Found a tiny little one
The trees growing on the hills were a marvellous sight!!
In the cave...
It's not everyday that you get to stand on an actual train track and not get killed
The mist surrounding the mountains were simple majestic
I had one of the most adventurous holidays of my life! I learnt loads of new stuff and got to things for the fisrt time. It is definitely a trip worth remembering.
The weather was insane everywhere. I got caught for a while in floods - I got to stand on the train track as train services were disrupted due to the weather!
Unlike my other holidays, I did not really spend much time shopping - pretty much a first for me i guess. Instead, I went sight seeing, climing up hills, looking for caves, walking through nature reserves and things like that. Still, I had so much fun.
'Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.' - Cicero
4:55 PM
