Temples

All the way down the steps again and we decided to go and see some of the surrounding small Temples. As you can see they are extremely colourful...

Here again you are not allowed in them unless you take your shoes off. I dressed specifically in a Chinese style top and calve length pants to try and make sure that they will not tell me I can't go in.

There is different rules here for women than for men.

I got lucky as the Monks seemed quite fine with me entering some of the enclosed spaces although most of the Temples in this area are quite open - you don't really need to go in as you can see most of what you want to see from outside. Maybe it had something to do with those birds and my seven years of good luck...

We have been told that this isn't the case in the bigger Temples which we will visit on a next occasion - so if I can't enter those Eugene will have to go and look for me.

Altogether a great day and definitely something neither of us will ever forget.

Buddha & Buddhism

So we finally got to the very top of the hill only to find out that we have to climb a whole bunch of steps to actually reach the Buddha. I thought I was going to die, the heat is unbearable...

A small Thai lady stormed us trying to sell us some birds in a tiny cage. I first said no and told Eugene to get her away from me because I can't stand the site of animal cruelty. And off course to me it is cruel to have birds in a cage...

She basically refused to leave and kept telling me to take the birds. We eventually figured out that it is Thai culture to take captured birds up to the Buddha and then whilst standing on your knees in front of him to release them into the wild. The amount of birds you release represents the amount of years that Buddha will then bring you good luck.

So Eugene tried to stop me, but I figured I would do my good deed for the day and release birds which shouldn't be kept captive. I bought seven birds from the lady with the broadest smile and no teeth that you have ever seen in Thailand.

We started our climb to the Buddha through the entrance to the stairs which is shaped like giant serpents with tongues that look more like very sharp claws.

Once we got to the top, we first had a good look around to see what the other people were doing to make sure that we don't do anything offensive. I had to take off my shoes and bend down on the blue tiled platform in front of the giant Buddha. The Thai people first pray and then do some sort of incense ritual before releasing the birds.

I skipped this part - not feeling too comfortable, looked up to the sky and said - please help these birds never to be captured again!!! As you can see in the photo's Eugene was ready to get the action shots.

Lookout Point

We finally had a day off where we could go and spend the whole day to go and do a couple of Tourist things, so we decided to go to some of the nearby Temples as we didn't want to travel too far.

First up was the lookout point from Buddha hill - It is called this because it is the highest point in Pattaya and as you can see from the photo's, when you are there you have a panoramic view of the whole Pattaya city and the shore line.

Right in the centre of the hill is a Buddha the size of a small house. It is huge... See the next entry onto the site about Buddha and the Thai religion...

Truly an amazing view.

New Year Pics

Chinese New Year

The Thai people celebrate everything - Any excuse for a party. The normal New Year is a hustle and bustle of Western people and look pretty much the same as how we do it with family and friends. They do however believe in traditional food and loads of fireworks.

The Chinese New Year is a three day celebration, this year between 16 & 18 February. The Thai people start their mornings off with the traditional giving of offerings to Buddha. This ranges from placing incense sticks on their small temple structures which they have outside their homes and shops to full on firework displays, food, cold drinks etc.

The noise never ends and every one is in a great mood for the three days.

If the Chinese New Year is such a blast we can just imagine what the Thai New Year is going to be like. This celebration is for a week and it apparently involves a load of water bombs and fun, fun, fun.

We will definitely be taking part in this one. It's in April...

Our Mall

There is a few "Malls" in Pattaya at which you can generally get everything under one roof.

There is Central Festival which we go to most of the time as it is cheap, quite close to home and most of the Thai people there are used to foreigners which means they understand more than two words of English.

The Garden Plaza otherwise known as the "Ripley's Mall" is also a good one but, everything is more expensive than anywhere else. The Thai people has also realized that they can put up prices when it comes to holiday makers and westerners. You go here to find proper Western food, but otherwise we shop where the Thai's shop.

Then there is Tesco's which is kind of like Hyperama or Makro in SA. Just ten times the size. I love this shop - and it is one of the cheapest to go to. Thank goodness we spend most of time diving - we would be bankrupt by now if I went shopping every day...

Food in Thailand

Well, well - what can we say...

All the stories about rats, worms and insects are very true.

First look at the pics of all the stuff that look normal. These are the things we stick to most of the time... The Fruit in Thailand is absolutely devine. I have never tasted watermelons and pineapples as sweet as the ones you get here and it is extremely cheap. You pay two rand for a pineapple and four rand for a watermelon.

Seafood is very cheap - especially calamari, local fish and prawns. You could go out and have a complete fish with rice and salads for about R20.00 to R35.00 per person. We had twelve proper size prawns the other day which cost us R10.00

The sushi is an absolute treat and when we go out it costs us +/- R100.00 for both of us and believe me you are stuffed by the time you walk out of the restaurant. You get the same amount of sushi that will cost you an easy R500.00 in SA, if not more...

Check out the funny pink fruit. It is roughly the size of a big grapefruit and it tastes like figs!!! - One of these cost 50c... Bargain!!!

Then if you're up for some shark fin soup or steak - you get to pic your own shark out of the tank... Very sad. This is commonly available in most "seafood" restaurants along Walking street.

How about some cockroaches, frogs, crickets, funny worm things, large ants etc.

Whatever your heart desires - you can catch it on your way home running ac cross the pavement and then ask a "Thai Professional" to cook it for you.

Here's me after a boat dive - having a Thai style barbeque "braai"... There is this restaurant where you pay twenty rand per person for a eat as much as you like "braai" - you get small pieces of meat which you barbeque on these funny ot plates. It is served with rice, thai glass noodles, fruit and soup.

We had a ball...

Fishing village

We decided to go and dive a local wreck called the Hardeep. It was a Japanese naval ship in world war II which was bombed by the Thai people about sixty years ago. It lies at about 30m which makes is a great "semi deep" dive and seeing that it is so old there are lots of growth on it.

The wreck lies on its side , but the ship is still fully in tact. There is also still live bombs on it... Well they are sixty years old and have been through very rough conditions, so I guess well be pretty safe in that if they haven't gone off to date they probably will never go off.

Which ever way - just keep telling yourself that, otherwise you'll be too scared to touch anything down there.

Oh yes - got side tracked for a minute, I am actually supposed to tell you about the fishing village. So to go and dive the Hardeep you need to get on a "baht taxi" and travel about an hour from Pattaya to a very rural fishing village which is apparently owned by the Thai Mafia.

You travel along a semi tar road through dense shrubbery which looks like it is years away from any normal civilization. Once you get to the village, the smell of fish overwhelms you... (Not in a good way, or yummy yummy I feel like having fish for lunch way)...

The peer is very small with hundreds of little houses scattered all over the water - Yip they literally live on the water. Everything is built on stilts. In the background you can see a couple of temples peaking out from atop a hill or even the central town. Amazing site, to have these spectacular buildings in the middle of a village where poverty plays a big role, and fishing is the main income for most people.

My immediate reaction to the village was that we need to go back and explore when we have a day off again, but we were advised that tourists are not very welcome in the village and that you might have some problems with the local authorities when on foot in the village.

We'll wait until we can speak Thai slightly better and see if we feel adventurous enough then...

Days on the Boat

You start out at round about 08h30 - You get your kit from your locker, which needs to be placed in the correct area for the correct boat and you wait for the taxi to arrive.

You load your kit, then there is roll call to check that all divers are present and on the "baht bus" you get. You drive to the peer or am closeby fishing village where you board the boats and off you go to which ever destination the captain chose for the day.

You have a quick boat brief to once again check that every one is on the boat and then you have time to go and "kit up" - get your tank and dive equipment ready etc. From there you have a bit of time to relax and enjoy the views.

About ten to five minutes before you get to the actual dive site, you have a site brief to tell you all about the site you'll be diving at, what to look out for, what could be dangerous etc.

From there get your kit on as quick as possible, do your safety checks with your "Buddy" and off you go.

You hit the water - 26 degrees (excellent)... The viz is ot always that great, but you see very different marine life here than in SA. The highlight of my dives is when I see little anemone or clown fish - "Finding Nemo's". They are addorable and they love your bubbles...

The front of the boats all have ribbons and flowers etc. attached to the front of the bow. These are offering from the captain to budha. This is very sacred to the captain and none of us are allowed to touch it.

Out and about in Pattaya!

Our general method of transport in Thailand is our feet, but on the odd occassion of needing to get somewhere far away or when we have heavy stuff to carry we take a "Baht Taxi" - generally discribed as bakkie's with fixed seating on the back and drivers from hell.

Not even a advanced drivers licence will help you navigate traffic in this place. There are no traffic lights, everyone drives where they want when they want. I don't understand how we don't see accidents every day. It seems everyone adapts quite well to the confusion.

On one of our outings we visited the Ripley's Believe it or not museum. Pics of me and Eugene just to proof that we were there and me getting slightly more friendly with Elvis.... Hope Eugene wasn't watching.

Had great fun from seeing things that are really hard to believe like complete portraits painted on a grain of rice and a guy who had a horn growing out of his skull, a dog that was born with spots that look like the shape of a duck and complete replicas of famous statues like the David at full size, but made out of toilet paper.

One of the most amazing things were a ship made from 1 million toothpics.

From there we went to the Ripleys adventure of horror which is basically your typical "Ghost House" with things jumping out at you and strange illusions like a bridge that you need to cross, but they play images that make you think you're falling off the bridge although it isn't moving.

What a weird feeling - It is amazing how your mind can trick you.

Next was the Ripleys marine room - check out the huge shark teeth.... We guessed it right, this one was from South Africa. We feel a lot saver around these oceans.

I want a car one day that have these tyres!!! (Big ass bakkie)