The Many Uses of Motorcycles

Scooters are the foundation for food stalls, taxis, and transportation for families up to 5 or so. As a food stall they are fitted with a table that extends out from the left side 3 feet. This table includes a propane burner that is curved (usually) to hold a wok. Sometimes there is a display case on the table. There is always an awning. The food vendor works on the right side of the bike, over the seat, cooking on the burner. The seat becomes a table too. They go down the road kind of slowly ... as you can imagine.



The motorcycles turned into taxis have 3 wheels - one on the side car that hangs off the left of the bike. The side car has an awning and benches. It's comfortable for two (even with Justin in the picture) and could seat 3 or maybe 4.

Usually the dad is driving the family transport vehicle. An older kid sits in front of Dad. The younger ones sit between Mom and Dad - Mom's always the caboose on the back.

These aren't big scooters - but they are everywhere here. Kids use them to get to school (the girls usually ride side saddle on the back), men use them to get to the mosque for prayers, and women use them for shopping. And people transport crazy things on them - I saw a guy carrying a large aluminum ladder on his shoulder while driving a scooter the other day. I guess that's just the way it's done.

One-Two-Three Climb!

I have to do a little dance. Are you ready? Everybody get up, twirl around, and sing with me. I went rock climbing in Thailand! Wow. I've been wanting to do that for years ... and the euphoria of finally having done it is still making me twirl.

After meeting up with my friend Justin in Bangkok we caught a flight on Nok Air (the Ted of Thai Airways) for Krabi. We found a very Sandie-esque place to stay in Ao Nang (more on that in another blog) and then we went to Railay to go climbing. Neither of us had any gear, so after finding a place to rent gear we headed for the easy wall a short walk on the beach away. One-two-three wall. I led (yes - for you doubters reading I actually led) three 5's. Don't scoff - they use the French rating system here. So it was more like 5.8 and 5.9.

Then we ran into this Aussie bloke. He wanted to climb a 30 m 6a route that went into the cave. How could I say no? Well I didn't and up we went. So the little person climbing in the picture is me almost 30 meters up.

It was Justin's first time climbing in 7 months. He's a little sore - but did great. Neither of us is as good as the monkeys (ling in Thai) that I found climbing around a cave on the other side of the beach. Oh well ...

Tour de Wat

My first sensory overload day in Bangkok was spent walking around. After sitting for more than 24 hours, I wanted to be moving and I wanted to try and stay awake. To get used to the time difference.



So we went and toured some Wats. This is probably not the best technical definition - but a Wat is a Buddhist temple. Complete with orange robed monks (senior monks have both shoulders covered) and gold Buddhas. The Buddhas in Bangkok are belly-less. So the Buddha Belly reference is pretty much lost. Wat Pho has the largest reclining Buddha. Ever feel like someone has an eye on you?



The Wats are covered in ornate pottery - sometimes it looks like real dishes that you would use on your dinner table - that creates these intricate designs.