Monkey Temple

Prachuap, Thailand, January 24, 2006

I finally left Hua Hin to explore further down the East Coast of the Thai Peninsula.

Before I left, I picked up some silk scarves for you Mom. Let me know what other colors you're looking for.

This is me at my Guest House, all loaded up and ready to roll.

I took a bus to Prachuap Khiri Khan which is 80km South of Hua Hin. It's a quiet fishing village with a wonderful Temple on a Mountain but I came here for several other reasons; and they were all MONKEYS!

There is a Waterfall Fountain just as you arrive in Town and there are Monkeys everywhere.

On the street...

On the cars (remember African Lion Safari when those monkeys used to love to rip off vinyl roofs?)

Even on the Hydro Wires...

Now I know what the expression 'Barrel of Monkeys' is really all about.

I bought some bananas from this woman and had her feed these guys. The movies I got of this are a riot.

These monkeys live at the base of an ancient Buddhist Temple that is at the top of a Stairway 395 steps up.

The monkeys followed me as I made the climb.

Like old Souls, reincarnated to guard their Spiritual Home with Joy.

And as they messed up the stairs, an orange robed monk quietly swept it all clean again.

You can see the steps from this top view.

The Islands behind me are far away. The view is amazing. As I looked out I tried to imagine what it must have been like for the Thais as they saw the Japanese invasion force come on to their shores here. This was one of the points they chose for their invasion; right into this harbor. As I stood looking out from the top I wrote in my Journal:
"This is the Castle of Prachup Khiri Khan. It does not command as a fortress. It shares its blessings with the World. The people of Thailand have learned a great secret of serenity that we in the West can only hope to catch a glimpse of."

Nancy My sister

On Saturday, June 11th, my dear friend Nancy Barbour had a massive heart attack in her home in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. Paramedics gave her CPR for half an hour and finally got her heart beating again. But she was in a coma and never regained consciousness. The following Tuesday, her sister, Pauline flew in from France and the following day, doctors took Nancy off life support since there was no brain function remaining.

Nancy was the woman who I mention in
Calgary to Thailand in 2 Minutes.
(this is a very recent picture of Nancy with her dog Mocha Java.)
There is a celebration of Nancy's life tonight at 7pm Central Standard time, in Winnipeg. Pauline asked me to write something for the service. Here's what I wrote.

I only knew Nancy for a short time but our connection was as family. In the last email she sent to me, on June 7th, she called me her brother. (This is the first picture I ever took of Nancy. We went on a picnic together in Calgary with her dog, Tucker, who died last year.)

Just after I first met Nancy in October 2000, I fell off a roof and ruptured two vertebrae in my neck. Nancy barely knew me but she took me into her home and nursed me back to health.

When Nancy graduated from from the University of Calgary with her bachelor of Arts in 2001, I was honored to escort her to her commencement and share the moment.

Nancy challenged me to open my thinking and look beyond the conventions of Society. She irritated me sometimes. She challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and explore larger worlds. She was a difficult person to be with sometimes. I couldn't get away with speaking in old tapes around her.

She helped me move out of my old hypnosis and see new visions. What I learned from her, I am applying every day.

The greatest compliment I can give a person, I give to you now Nancy. You didn’t make me want to be like you. You made me want to be like Me. Even though we are not related by blood, you are my sister and I love you.

The Golden Triangle

April 14, 2005

My Visa expires tomorrow so I thought that instead of facing a possible prison sentence for overstaying my time here, I thought it would be a good idea to cross the border today. So I booked myself into an interesting tour that included visiting Laos and Myanmar (Burma). There is actually a very famous place where the three countries intersect. This place is the Mekong River and is called 'The Golden Triangle'. Those of you who remember the Vietnam War, will know that this was an incredible place in the History of that era. A lot of fighting took place here. It is also the place where a lot of opium was smuggled from one country to another.

Our first stop was a Hot springs near Chiang Mai. The water is so hot you can boil an egg in it in a matter of seconds. The temperature is 181 degrees Celsius.

I'm pointing my finger at the point in the river that divides hot from cold. Just one inch apart it goes from scalding hot to cool.

And that's the last cute puppy picture you get Sarah and Rachael. I don't care how much you beg!

This is Nancy and her parents, who are visiting from Singapore. They were really fun to have along on the Minibus. Nancy's dad is a real Joker; always laughing and having fun. They also invited me to come visit Singapore. It sounds like a great place to see.

Then it was off to an ancient City near the border of Burma. This is s Bodhi tree; like the one Buddha sat under when I experienced enlightenment. The sash means that the tree holds a Spirit and is sacred.

I can't help it. I just love the Temples.

Okay, before you say anything, let me just say that I only included this doggie picture to show you how different they seem in Northern Thailand. See how upset he looks; nothing like the dogs on the Islands...

Next, we took a Long tail boat ride around 'The Golden Triangle' which is one of the most amazing places in the world; not so much for how it looks but for the history it represents. This is the place where Thailand, Burma and Laos meet. This giant Golden Buddha is on the Thai side.

Burma has a Casino on it's banks here and many people from Thailand and Laos like to take quick trips over to gamble. Gambling is illegal in Thailand.

My new buddy Shamus, from Ireland B.H. (Before loss of hat)

Shamus A.H. Someone behind me caught the hat as it flew by though.

We stopped for half an hour on the Laos side to walk around and do some shopping. I can't believe we haven't picked this whiskey up as an item in our Canadian liquor stores. Who wouldn't want to drink a bottle of whiskey with a dead snake inside?

Honestly this place was really just a tourist trap, set up so that we could say we were in Laos, but the people were very friendly. And they speak Thai.

I finally found someone who spoke my language.

These are a very nice couple who were on our Tour. He is a software developer from Holland and she is from Bangkok. He comes back every six months to visit her.

Finally, the big event. This is Shamus (W.H.) just ahead of me in the line to enter Burma for a Visa.

I broke my Cambodia record for stays in a different country than Thailand. I was here in Burma for almost three minutes before heading back to the Thailand border. I know you won't believe this but I actually got lost trying to find the line for Thailand and my guide had to come and get me.

I asked if I could take a picture of the Thai Immigration officer as he stamped my passport. He was delighted. Then he said: "50 baht!" and laughed. I ran through in case he changed his mind.

So now that I was a free man again, we headed to a Mountain tribal village to look around.

Okay, I couldn't help it. He was begging for this photo!

Honest! He just jumped up in my arms!!!

I didn't take pictures of the people here. They charged for the photos and it was just too much of a tourist trap for me. Some of our group went down the hill to see the famous long neck tribe. These are women who put rings on their necks to stretch them. This tribe was very much like the Karen tribe I talked about in my Elephant trek posts. They girls get married at 14 years of age and if they aren't married by 19 they are considered spinsters. There is some work being done by the government to try to change this custom because of the harm it does to the women.

Cute And Cuddly

Okay, I know I'm getting a bit out of hand with the cute animal pictures, but these are sooooooooooo cute... They are all from Koh Samet.

It's not that they're relaxed. It's HOW relaxed they look.

This is another island action shot. I had to use a high speed lens to capture this one. The dog is jumping out of the way of a speeding motorcycle. Fortunately this is Thailand and the motorcycle was still moving slower than the dog so no one was hurt.

I call this composition: 'Cat chasing Lizard in Airport'.

In Thailand, there are a lot of flies buzzing around the open air restaurant tables. This is one of the devices used to keep the sanitation under control. (She is on a coffee break...really!)

These are sand crabs. There are thousands of them on the Koh Samet Beaches. But cute? You decide.

Okay Rachael, I owe you a cute doggie picture after so many cats. This girl reminds me a lot of Cleo, except this is as fast as she gets. And L? They still have those binky hairs that got all over those hardwood floors back home.

And this is Dan (Sorry if I got your name wrong. I have it in my notes somewhere) from St Albert, Alberta Canada. He and I had a great talk while travelling to Koh Tao. Rachael, you want his number? You'll have to write me more...

Koh Tao (Turtle Island)

*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS IDYLLIC IMAGES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF PARADISE THAT MIGHT BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME SNOW-BOUND READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.*


What I enjoy most as I snorkel in the coral reef surrounding this beautiful Island, is how the current carries the marine life and myself, by the same sway of the current, back and forth, like an effortless dance of nature. The buoyancy of the salt water holds my body on the surface as I watch the pastel of fishes swim past.

I am in awe of the pastel colors that swim quietly before me. The coral reef looks like some archaeological ruins beneath the waves. I glide over a shallow reef to a deep section that drops off to twelve feet beneath me with a bright white sanding bottom to it. Suddenly a large rainbow colored fish swims out from it's hiding place.

The just as suddenly, a school of a thousand minnows flash before me, all swimming in perfect harmony, never touching, suddenly reversing direction; the color of quick silver. I swim into them but they miraculously swim all around me, never touching me; like the amplitude of a symphony, secretly played out in this eternal Sea.

Dennis wanted you to see what a day at the office looks like today from his point of view.

And remember what I've been saying about dogs hanging around us all the time?

We were sitting having breakfast when we suddenly noticed this little guy with us. I asked Dennis to take this picture and he said: "this should be good to get the dog in it too. I didn't even know he was under my hammock til that moment. I feel so protected where ever I go. Meliss, is that you in a new disguise?