Nick Seeber's blog

Thailand photos on Flickr

UPDATE: I managed to figure out how to embed a Flickr slideshow within the blog post...

I've finally added our Thailand photos to Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickseeber/sets/ 

If you haven't seen them, you can also find all of the holiday blog posts here:

http://www.nickseeber.com/thailand-09/ 

Enjoy! It feels like a long time ago...

Nick & Liz in Thailand - Part 4: Cooking, Trekking, and then back to Bangkok

This is Part 4 of our Thailand holiday updates. You can find Part 1 here , Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and some photos here and here.

The last few days on Koh Chang (the island where we've been staying for most of our time in Thailand) were quite action-packed - a few highlights below! As ever there are lots of photos but they'll come later once I'm home and I've had a chance to process them.

On Monday we spent most of the day at a Thai cooking course which was great fun. It was held at the Blue Lagoon resort, and is one of two such courses one can do on the island. We were in the capable hands of Ronnie and Chen, two friendly and experienced chefs, who taught us about some of the different ingredients used in Thai cooking and then walked us through cooking some different dishes. We also ate them as we went along which was good fun! By the end we were rather full...

The course was small - Liz and I were one of three young couples taking part - so was very friendly and there was plenty of 'hands-on' cooking. For the first set of dishes we focused on deep-fried stuff - wontons, spring rolls, prawns wrapped in egg noodles, and something called 'deep-fried black pearl'. The latter uses an egg that's been pickled with herbs to make it go completely black, but it tastes completely normal. It just takes a bit of bravery to try it! We also made some sweet chilli dipping sauce - yum.

The second lot of dishes were all noodle-based. We made the ubiquitous Phad Thai, as well as several others, and all were delicious. One of them, 'drunken noodles' is apparently a hangover dish, and is spicy. Also yum. Then the last lot of dishes were curries - red, green, and a clear soup curry called tom yum. Despite being warned not to get curry in my eye whilst pounding the paste, I managed to do so and it stung for a while... However the curries were lovely! Finally we had banana in coconut cream for dessert. It wasn't very necessary but tasted as great as everything else.

The next day we went over to White Sands on the other side of the island to spend the day with my old boss and her family, mostly at the pool at their hotel. Then we popped out for lunch at a Thai place that our hosts at Amber Sands had recommended.

Wednesday was our last full day on the island and we were very excited, as we finally did what we'd been looking forward to the most - elephant trekking. Liz had told me that she was going to have a bigger, faster, and better looking elephant than me, but in the end we shared one, who we named Ellie. We had an hour or so of walking through the jungle with a mahout (the person who is in charge of each elephant, and spends a long time training and getting used to them). He was an enthusiastic photographer, and borrowed my camera to take more than a 100 photos of us on the elephant! So we'll have plenty to choose from. We also each got to ride on her neck (like the mahout) which was really fun.

Later we fed the elephants bananas, and then led a couple of them down to the river where we had a chance to swim with them. The elephants were very well trained and did some squirting of water right on cue. Photogenic :-)

Yesterday we took the bus back to Bangkok which was again pleasant and uneventful. We were sad to leave Koh Chang as it's been lovely to stay there, but it was also good to see Rob and Jane again.

Today we've been out shopping and then met Rob and his friend for lunch at a fantastic Japanese restaurant. It's obviously much more expensive than street food, but compared to London prices it was a steal - about £6 for a great set of dishes including some amazingly fresh and tasty sushi.

Tonight the plan is to go see some muay thai boxing, and then tomorrow of course we fly home. I expect I'll probably put out Part 5 once we're back, which will have a bit about the boxing and also some general thoughts about Thailand and Thai culture...

Nick & Liz in Thailand - Part 2: Tailors, Temples, and Travelling

Another update on our two-week holiday in Thailand (Part 1 here). We're now in blissful paradise in Koh Chang and the spa we're staying at has internet (though v slow) so here are some more highlights:

First thing on Monday morning we went to get fitted for a couple of tailor-made suits at the famous (within the Bangkok ex-pat community, anyway) Pinky Tailor. Pinky is a very charming and experienced chap who has a small and pleasantly cool shop near where we were staying, in which are every variety of suit and shirting fabric you can imagine. On the ground floor is the most expensive stuff, then on the first you have the next best, and on the second the rest.

I had decided to get two suits made, which at THB 10,000 (a bit less than GBP 200 - sorry, can't find the pound sign on this keyboard!) are a bargain. One will be very dark blue, the other dark grey with a pin-stripe. The fitting was painless, and as I knew precisely what I wanted (thanks to reading English Cut and Permanent Style - both great blogs, links to come later) the decisions weren't a problem either. Both are in the same style - fitted cut with narrow-ish sleeves, two buttons, single vent at the back, and medium lapels. Amazingly he did a first fitting in the afternoon, about 5 hours after I had been measured. This was with a waistcoat-like piece of the blue suit, where his assistant pinned and 'chalked' the fit. They will both be ready when we return to Bangkok on Thursday next week.

In addition, I ended up ordering five shirts, and a dark green three-quarter-length coat. I realise that this doesn't really square with getting out of debt, but it was a great bargain and I don't regret it at all :-) Though I may be living on baked beans and toast for a while...

After the tailoring we headed to the Grand Palace, which is a complex of buildings built in very grand traditional Thai style. The highlight (in my view) is the monastery of the Emerald Buddha, which is sectioned off from the rest of the Palace. Inside are 4 or 5 beautifully decorated buildings, one of which is the temple containing the Buddha, which is reputedly very ancient and is carved not from emerald, but from jade. It sits about 3 feet high on a high pedestal, surrounded by an enormous quantity of gold-encrusted carvings. There is also a faint smell of incense. Sadly photos are not allowed but I have plenty of the rest of the monastery.

The remainder of the palace is interesting but fairly unremarkable. A couple of throne rooms are fairly spartan, with the exception of the (obligatory) gold thrones in the center. And there were also armories with swords and guns.

We then headed back to the Conrad Hotel, where we were meeting Rob and Jane before going off to see the celebrations that night (giving thanks to the river) which are beautiful - people release small floating circles of flowers with candles in, and the scene is very picturesque. However Liz was taken ill with some kind of bug (we initially thought it was dehydration, which she had experienced the day before) and after checking she was okay to travel, we then went back to the house. Liz went to bed to rest and Rob and Jane and I had some takeaway food.

Thankfully in the morning Liz was feeling much better so we headed to Koh Chang, via a 5-hour coach ride (air conditioned and spacious, it wasn't a hardship at all really!); back-of-a-pickup; and then ferry; and pickup again. We arrived around 8.30 and after dinner (v nice) we retired for the night.

This morning we have been enjoying relaxing by the pool at the spa. It's AMAZINGLY beautiful - I hope that photos tomorrow will do it justice. In the mean time you can inspect the website here: http://thespakohchang.com/ which give you some idea. The plan is to relax today, and maybe borrow the bikes and go for a ride tomorrow. On Friday there is a shuttle bus to the local beach (White Sands...) and so we're probably take that.

I expect I'll probably post again once we're at the next place we're staying, where we go on Saturday.

Hope all is well at home.

Nick & Liz in Thailand - Part 1: Bangkok

Liz and I arrived in Thailand for our much-awaited two-week holiday at 3 pm on Saturday, after an 11 hour flight. We were both knackered. It feels like it's been more than a day and a half, because we've done so much! Here are some selected highlights...

The accomodation is lovely - our hosts, Liz's brother Rob and his girlfriend Jane, have been very accomodating and have been awesome tour-guides / informed locals. Their house (we estimate) is 6 times as large as our flat in London and very comfortable. It's in the posh area near the various 5-star hotels and the embassies. Apparently the American embassy is the second largest in the world after Baghdad.

Contemporary dance featured at the venue for our first evening's entertainment. We (finally, thanks to Rob's poor sense of direction!) arrived at the Patravadi Theatre and its adjoining restaurant. It's right by the river bank, so we got to watch the boats preparing for tomorrow (Monday) night's festivities. I took some photos which will be up when we get back to the UK. During dinner we were entertained by a succession of acts doing various dances and acrobatics, most with a comic element and a halloween theme. Most impressive were the two gymnasts - one girl who did an act on a sort of suspended hula hoop, and a young (extremely muscular) guy who did used a long silk sheet and climbed up it. REALLY impressive - hopefully the photos will turn out well.

Then this morning we had a bit of a lie-in followed by breakfast and a special treat - Kopi Luak. This is special coffee that's made from beans that have been eaten by civet cats and 'recovered' from their droppings. Weird. However the coffee was nice - can't say I could taste anything odd.

We headed to Jim Thompson's House - described by Lonely Planet as a sort of Ideal Home built in elegant Thai style by a notable Thai ex-pat in the 60s. He heavily promoted the silk export from Thailand and became famous after the film 'The King and I'. Then he disappeared in mysterious circumstances in (I think) 1967, and there are various conspiracy theories that posit the CIA, wild animals, a lorry-driver, and himself (ie he faked his own death. At some point I will find out more.

After that we headed to the Chatuchak Weekend Market - where you can buy pretty much anything. I bought a cheap pair of flip flops. Initially I thought they were Quiksilver knock-offs, but on closer inspection they are Quikriders :-) Either way they seem to fit well.

Then tonight we had some street food and went back to our lodgings for gin and tonics. V nice.

The plan for tomorrow is temples and getting fitted for a tailor-made suit. Photos of everything will be up in a couple of weeks...

A very news-y update

So I haven't put an update on the blog for a while. Whilst I can't deny that I've had the time (after all I've managed to keep up with my favorite American TV dramas), it's felt like a big effort.

I thought I'd get back into it by doing small updates daily from my iPhone (on which I have the eminently usable TypePad app) and see how I get on.

I suppose it might be interesting to give a few highlights from the last couple of months:

- In September I discovered that I had a serious problem with my left foot. It had been stiff for a month or so, but I thought it was a pulled muscle. When it didn't get better (and actually got much worse) I went to the awesomely Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead and, after having it prodded and X-rayed, discovered that I had sustained a hairline stress-fracture of the metatarsal. Ie a classic footballer's injury, though I think it was done running. I have to just wait and let it heal which is very frustrating.

- I had a great holiday in Cornwall with a couple of friends. We took the train down to Truro and then rented a car, and stayed 4 nights in Newquay. We had lovely weather, but as it was school term it wasn't very busy. Highlights of the trip were St Michael's Mount; Tintagel Castle (which I enjoyed from a distance due to my foot); the Eden Project; and lunch at Rick Stein's bistro in Padstow (we tried for the restaurant but it was fully booked). I was the nominated driver but it didn't really do the foot much good - had a bit of a relapse!
 
- A week later my girlfriend (Liz) and I moved into our lovely new flat in Kilburn :-) We're having lots of fun and (as we're lucky enough to have a spare bedroom) are looking forward to having friends come visit.

- We spent a very pleasant weekend in Ireland with my uncle and aunt in Ennis. They are moving to London soon so I hope we'll see lots more of them. The only low point of the weekend was being forced by Patrick to watch an unremittingly awful film - The Oxford Murders. Sort of like a rubbish version of a Dan Brown novel, if that's not an oxymoron. Patrick, Liz hasn't forgiven you :-)
 
- Liz's mum and dad visited, which was lovely - they brought with them a load of Liz's treasured possessions which had been "stored" (read: abandoned) for years. Yay ;-) And also bara brith, a delicious Welsh fruit cake which we spent the next couple of weeks eating. Yum.

- My sister got married at the beginning of October, and as that was the first of my siblings to do so it was a very exciting occasion. The night before we stayed with my schoolfriend Thomas and his wife Ariane in Frome, and got to see my god-daughter Aliza and her little sister Tilia. Both so gorgeous! The ceremony the next day was in Bristol with the reception in a beautiful hotel near Bath. It was lovely to see all the family and a good time was had by all. On the following day (as we'd borrowed a car) Liz and I braved the awfulness that is Ikea on a Sunday and came back home with LOOT. Including a bonsai tree, lampshades, and a load of crockery. Domestic bliss.

- And - we've has our first house-guests! Kim and Kate visited, for the night before our flat-warming, and we spent the day in Westfield whilst Liz was doing a catch-up workshop for her Masters (which is now over, woop woop). And then last week, Liz's brother Dave (who lives in the wilds of Scotland) visited for a night, and great fun was had by the three of us. Come again soon, Dave! (Dave is my one reader so I know he'll see this!)

- Finally, we spent this weekend in Gloucester attending the wedding celebration of Liz's schoolfriend Ibby an her husband Gareth. Much dancing, followed by much pain the next day for my foot. Grrrrr.

I'll end here - writing lots of text on the iPhone feels risky and there doesn't seem to be a save function! Scared I'm going to lose it all- though if you're reading, clearly I didn't...
 

Hell's Gate - 35 years of burning

A story to capture the imagination: Hell's Gate, Uzbekistan.

This place in Uzbekistan is called by locals “The Door to Hell”. It is situated near the small town of Darvaz. The story of this place lasts already for 35 years. Once the geologists were drilling for gas. Then suddenly during the drilling they have found an underground cavern, it was so big that all the drilling site with all the equipment and camps got deep deep under the ground.

None dared to go down there because the cavern was filled with gas. So they ignited it that no poisonous gas could come out of the hole, and since then, it’s burning, already for 35 years without any pause. Nobody knows how many tons of excellent gas has been burned for all those years but it just seems to be infinite there.

Stories like this make me want to travel!

Finding the most inaccessible place on earth

I enjoyed this New Scientist article about finding the most inaccessible place on earth:

The maps are based on a model which calculated how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water. The model combines information on terrain and access to road, rail and river networks. It also considers how factors like altitude, steepness of terrain and hold-ups like border crossings slow travel. Plotted onto a map, the results throw up surprises. First, less than 10% of the world's land is more than 48 hours of ground-based travel from the nearest city.

There are obviously lots of flaws in the logic - I think I would have made the size of the city larger (say 1 million+ inhabitants) which would have made the remoteness of some places starker. But as it is, the study is fascinating...

On a separate note, I like that the modern air routes (shown as pale blue lines on the map above) aren't too dissimilar to the undersea telegraph cables shown on this map from c. 1890s:

Like the convergent evolution of sharks and dolphins, sea and air routes have clearly adapted to the constraints of the environment...