Waking Up
I didn't set an alarm so I woke up naturally. Since there was little light coming in through the window I thought it was must be very early. I figured I'd get up and make the most of the day. However, when I checked my iPhone it was already past 10am! There's a wall about 2 feet outside my window, which blocks inbound light. D'oh, this would not be an early day for me.
Starbucks
To keep with my travel traditions, I figured I'd try Starbucks once. Starbucks are as frequent as McDonalds. I've probably been to Starbucks in 20+ different countries. The product consistency is pretty impressive given how different water can taste from region to region. There was a Starbucks in the plaza up the road a couple of miles. Instead of espresso, I opted for a mocha. I also asked if they could fill my water bottle, saving me from having to pay for bottled water.
So this is a first. The Starbucks rewards program in Thailand is unique to Thailand. They don't take US cards and Thai cards are not accepted outside Thailand. This wasn't misinformation given to me from the staff, it was clearly documented on the sales receipt. They also charged for Wifi and it wasn't cheap...almost the equivalent of $5 for 2 hours. A first in my world travels. I spent a couple of hours arranging lodging, determining what I wanted to see, and updating my blog.
Markets
En route to a waterfall I passed some village markets. The village I passed through was a good distance from Chewang, so it the market catered mostly, if not exclusively, to locals.
Waterfall Hunting
The destination today was the Hin Lat waterfall. This particular waterfall is on the northwest side of the island. It took a while to get there, but I broke the journey up by stopping at a couple of markets along the way. The area is best described as part temple and part park. Near the temple is a garden with some wise sayings. I walked around the temple and took a few pictures. I soon discovered that both my memory cards were full! There was a small stand that sold beverages and food, so I setup camp there and copied the cards to my laptop.
Since there were gigs of data it took some time. The coffee shop had WiFi so I did some blog updating while the copying continued. The backup process involves a little magic. My Macbook only has an SD card reader and the camera takes both a CF and SD card. When shooting I usually write to the CF card and backup (via the camera's copy function) to the SD card. I can than import from the SD card to my camera...which means no extra adapters are necessary to import to my computer. It took me a couple of hours to figure out this workflow, but it works well and should be documented somewhere for SLR owners (many higher end SLR cameras just have CF).
Anyhow, I ordered an advertised $1 fresh lemon shake, which was really lime. Let me tell you, this thing was absolutely amazing. Best ever. I was tempted to keep slamming them down, but the day had to go on. I rightfully felt like a chump dishing over $10 to Starbucks for a mocha and wifi after this experience.
After the copying was done I began the hike to the waterfall. I wasn't sure how long it would take, but figured I'd have an hour or so before sunset. I took about 20-30 minutes to reach the waterfall and it was a moderate hike, by no means simple. The hike was amazing, better than the waterfall. I felt like I was in a video game hopping around a jungle (Unchartered, the best game in the last 20 years comes to mind). There were two parallel paths, one closer to the water and one higher up. I didn't pass anyone, but did see a couple of people coming back. The trail broke and started up again several times, so I wasn't certain if I missed the falls. Eventually I'd get there though. Upon first glance the waterfall wasn't as impressive as the Na Muang falls, but the adventurous hike made the whole trip worthwhile.
I snapped some pics and began the hike back. I tried to do the hike in double time. It did get dark before I reached the starting point, my iPhone's flashlight helped a bit from time to time.
Room Swap
When I checked into this hotel the attendant told me I paid for a standard room, yet all they had available were economy rooms. There were many comments on TripAdvisor about the hotel giving out free upgrades without asking if rooms were available, so I didn't really didn't care. If they were stingy I would have been more bothered. I swapped rooms hoping for a room with more sunlight, thinking I slept late in part because of the lack of sunlight at sunrise. The room was on a different floor, but had a similar poor view. So in the end it was a wash.
Massage and Dinner
Just like the night before I got a massage and dinner at the same fantastic massage and BBQ place. This time I opted for a traditional massage, opposed to a head and shoulders massage. Strangely, at 200 baht the traditional massage is 50 baht cheaper than the head and shoulders massage. Just like the day before it was fantastic. The lady began by washing my feet and giving me a foot massage. Than we went to a common area on the second floor were she worked out muscle knots throughout my shoulders and legs. I was impressed. Dinner was equally good...the lifestyle is really growing one me. By the time I finished dinner it was almost midnight, so I head back to the hotel for some sleep.
I didn't set an alarm so I woke up naturally. Since there was little light coming in through the window I thought it was must be very early. I figured I'd get up and make the most of the day. However, when I checked my iPhone it was already past 10am! There's a wall about 2 feet outside my window, which blocks inbound light. D'oh, this would not be an early day for me.
Starbucks
To keep with my travel traditions, I figured I'd try Starbucks once. Starbucks are as frequent as McDonalds. I've probably been to Starbucks in 20+ different countries. The product consistency is pretty impressive given how different water can taste from region to region. There was a Starbucks in the plaza up the road a couple of miles. Instead of espresso, I opted for a mocha. I also asked if they could fill my water bottle, saving me from having to pay for bottled water.
So this is a first. The Starbucks rewards program in Thailand is unique to Thailand. They don't take US cards and Thai cards are not accepted outside Thailand. This wasn't misinformation given to me from the staff, it was clearly documented on the sales receipt. They also charged for Wifi and it wasn't cheap...almost the equivalent of $5 for 2 hours. A first in my world travels. I spent a couple of hours arranging lodging, determining what I wanted to see, and updating my blog.
Markets
En route to a waterfall I passed some village markets. The village I passed through was a good distance from Chewang, so it the market catered mostly, if not exclusively, to locals.
Waterfall Hunting
The destination today was the Hin Lat waterfall. This particular waterfall is on the northwest side of the island. It took a while to get there, but I broke the journey up by stopping at a couple of markets along the way. The area is best described as part temple and part park. Near the temple is a garden with some wise sayings. I walked around the temple and took a few pictures. I soon discovered that both my memory cards were full! There was a small stand that sold beverages and food, so I setup camp there and copied the cards to my laptop.
Since there were gigs of data it took some time. The coffee shop had WiFi so I did some blog updating while the copying continued. The backup process involves a little magic. My Macbook only has an SD card reader and the camera takes both a CF and SD card. When shooting I usually write to the CF card and backup (via the camera's copy function) to the SD card. I can than import from the SD card to my camera...which means no extra adapters are necessary to import to my computer. It took me a couple of hours to figure out this workflow, but it works well and should be documented somewhere for SLR owners (many higher end SLR cameras just have CF).
Anyhow, I ordered an advertised $1 fresh lemon shake, which was really lime. Let me tell you, this thing was absolutely amazing. Best ever. I was tempted to keep slamming them down, but the day had to go on. I rightfully felt like a chump dishing over $10 to Starbucks for a mocha and wifi after this experience.
After the copying was done I began the hike to the waterfall. I wasn't sure how long it would take, but figured I'd have an hour or so before sunset. I took about 20-30 minutes to reach the waterfall and it was a moderate hike, by no means simple. The hike was amazing, better than the waterfall. I felt like I was in a video game hopping around a jungle (Unchartered, the best game in the last 20 years comes to mind). There were two parallel paths, one closer to the water and one higher up. I didn't pass anyone, but did see a couple of people coming back. The trail broke and started up again several times, so I wasn't certain if I missed the falls. Eventually I'd get there though. Upon first glance the waterfall wasn't as impressive as the Na Muang falls, but the adventurous hike made the whole trip worthwhile.
I snapped some pics and began the hike back. I tried to do the hike in double time. It did get dark before I reached the starting point, my iPhone's flashlight helped a bit from time to time.
Where I'm staying vs going
Entrance to Hin Latt Waterfall and Wat Hin Latt (temple)
The sign is wise!
I used a Joby Focus tripod to get this shot, it's very portable
This one required walking through the water...not fun
When I checked into this hotel the attendant told me I paid for a standard room, yet all they had available were economy rooms. There were many comments on TripAdvisor about the hotel giving out free upgrades without asking if rooms were available, so I didn't really didn't care. If they were stingy I would have been more bothered. I swapped rooms hoping for a room with more sunlight, thinking I slept late in part because of the lack of sunlight at sunrise. The room was on a different floor, but had a similar poor view. So in the end it was a wash.
Massage and Dinner
Just like the night before I got a massage and dinner at the same fantastic massage and BBQ place. This time I opted for a traditional massage, opposed to a head and shoulders massage. Strangely, at 200 baht the traditional massage is 50 baht cheaper than the head and shoulders massage. Just like the day before it was fantastic. The lady began by washing my feet and giving me a foot massage. Than we went to a common area on the second floor were she worked out muscle knots throughout my shoulders and legs. I was impressed. Dinner was equally good...the lifestyle is really growing one me. By the time I finished dinner it was almost midnight, so I head back to the hotel for some sleep.
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