I love this feeling I get when I arrive to a new place knowing that there are places to explore, new food to taste and things to experience. After x days, the novelty factor is gone and gets replaced with the “been there, done that” dull experience. Stay a few more days and it turns into the agonizing feeling of just getting out there. But while novelty factor is in effect, it is pure bliss. First day in Krabi Town and I love it! Â Food I had at a night market was amazing and it was such a refreshing experience after Malaysian / Indian food. Interestingly enough I got bored of Thai food just over three weeks ago. Funny that.
Tag Archives: thailand
Sugar
Asians do love their sugar. Most Thai food for example contain (not so) little amounts of sugar. Curries, papaya salad and pad thai – all have sugar, which partly explains the delicious taste. Granted sugar can enhance the taste of many meals (take teriyaki sauce for example, which is basically soy sauce and sugar), but Thai seem to go over the top with excessive amounts of sugar. I have never been to India, but apparently it is even worse, considering it leads the world charts with both sugar use and diabetes case per capita. Most Malay drinks are sweet to the point that they are barely drinkable. I had excellent chrysanthemum tea in China, but Malaysian one is ruined with enormous amounts of white powder. Lipton Ice Tea sold in Asia is, for one, much sweater than its European counterpart. Fruit shakes, fresh juices, yogurts and lassis have unholy amounts of sugar as well. Tasty meal and a sweet drink is an excellent combination, though, as long as the sugar contents is reasonable, which is unfortunately not the case in Malaysia or Thailand. And do not get me started on pastries and desserts. Like sugar in everyday meals was not enough, most desserts are sickly sweet. Combined with snow-white dough and you have got a recipe for obesity, diabetes and ruined teeth. Some desserts are not even good at all, just sweet and unhealthy. For example, bakeries in Hong Kong and Shanghai were terrible.
I like sweet stuff as much as the next person, but consuming all this sugar daily made me thinking what the hell I am doing to my body. Another realization I made recently is how addictive sugar is. After having a little bit of sugar (like a single Oreo cookie) makes me immediately crave more, even if I didn’t want it in the first place. It is really hard to stop until there is something left to consume. Sigh. One more thing about sugar is that mosquitos and bedbugs apparently love sweet blood, so consuming all that sugar makes you a desirable target for them. Now it would be fun to stop consuming all the sugar and see if that makes any difference with mosquitos (hopefully no more bedbug encounters). This is one goal worth pursuing.
It is time to move on
PS: The price of a three week stay in Hat Yuan is
– one lost towel
– one lost Nalgene bottle,
– one water-damaged Nexus One, which fortunately came back to life
– one salt water damaged Lumix LX5, which is still dead. The situation does not look good either with signs of corrosion. :/
Loved it nonetheless.
It is goddamn jungle
It takes roughly one hour to hike from Hat Yuan to Hat Rin on a jungle trail or about little more than by boat if you include waiting time. Very steep uphill and downhill, high humidity, mosquitos, snakes, roots looking like snakes, spikey vegetation, monkeys and wild pigs. Love it. The trail itself is omewhat difficult to find and follow, unless you are familiar with it. It took me three times to get it right and I got somewhat lost in process too. Apart from being eaten by mosquitos for hesitating long enough I suffered no consequences. I heard a story about a guy who got spent five days in the jungle of Ko Phangan trying to find his way to civilization, which sounds a bit mind-blowing considering the small size of the island. Being used to the safety of the Finnish forest (apart from ticks, which are complete assholes), I do not know how dangerous Thai jungle can be. Yes, there are deadly snakes and dengue fever carrying mosquitoes, but whether there are high chances running into those provided common sense is something I have no idea about. Proper shoes and long pants is a good idea, though.
Thoughts on a rainy day
Surprisingly enough it has been raining here on Haad Yuan for the last few days, even though it is technically a dry season. Rainy weather is fine in my book, as it is a perfect excuse to be lazy and concentrate on food and chilling out. Drying clothes is a hassle and there is a chance of getting mold, though
The sea has been very rough to the point that it is scary to swim. I have this “can swim anytime anywhere” mentality, but swimming a couple of times in the rough sea sobered me up (and gave a bruise on a thigh too). A couple of powerful waves gave me a flashback of the tsunami of 2004 bringing the state of panic to surface. Swimming was not a very wise idea, after all. You do not joke with the sea.
Anyways, it is Friday and it is a party at Guy’s Bar tonight. Tonight’s plan is to go to bed early, wake up before the sunrise and head to Guy’s Bar. Early morning to late afternoon is the best time to be there anyway.
End of transmission.