More Munros : Comrie to Aberfeldy

Munros this section :

Ben Chonzie

Fun for all ages at the mountain bike centre.

My accommodation at Comrie is very pleasant, hostel prices but it could be a hotel, barring that I have to make my own bed, and indeed coffee.  There's no bar here, but I have brought a few cans from the village, and there is a van here selling gourmet burgers, yay.  Seems this is mainly a mountain bike centre, and why not... I am taking a day off, I need a rest, and to wash things of course.  The mountain bike centre cafe provides an artisanal pie for lunch, hmm, seems like mountain biking is kind of middle class.  Definitely worth a trek back into Comrie later, I do shopping and of course find a pub.  There is indeed yet another burger.  It is huge.

Fresh snow on the top of Ben Chonzie.

An easy couple of days out of Comrie, on paper at least, with just a single Munro, isolated Ben Chonzie.  Well, I make short work of most of the ascent, on a nicely graded gravel track, from here there's a gentle ridge walk of which the summit is the highest point.  Lovely on a nice day I am sure, today not so much - a cold rain on the ridge turns to actual snow on the top, yay.  Good to get over it and head back down, I quickly find another track leading down to the valley I plan to camp in - very early, it is not even 4pm yet but I could use the rest.

From here an even easier walk, mostly road along Loch Tay, and then beside the river Tay itself - the latter kind of busy, so I'm pleased to find a charming trail along the river, with many flowers planted alongside.  I suspect it is for the exclusive use of local anglers, but I get away with it somehow.  The route takes me past the Crannog Centre I visited some years ago, and the historic, and impressive, Tay Bridge, before delivering me to Aberfeldy.  Time for more shopping... not to mention beer.  I visit two pubs in fact, drinking pints of Schiehallion, and in the second eating yummy pizza.

The Crannog Centre - now with beach volleyball?

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

More Munros : Beinnglas Farm to Comrie

Munros this section :

Beinn Chabhair
An Caisteal
Ben More (Crianlarich)
Stob Binnein

Lovely weather on top of Ben More.

From camp - basically a random farm in the middle of nowhere - I head straight up the second Munro of the trip, Beinn Chabhair.  Again it is hard work - each ascent so far has been more or less from sea level and it is a long way up.  And of course the weather has turned, there is a howling gale blowing which doesn't help.  I make it to the top, then down to an exposed saddle, it is incredibly windy here too.  I can at least shuck my pack for a relatively easy climb up An Caisteal and back down.  But then I have to face the facts, trying to conquer the other three Munros I planned for today is going to leave me still stuck up here late in the evening in appalling conditions.  I decide discretion is the better part of valour, and still it is a long, long slog back down until I rejoin my route and find a camp spot, in a bog of course.

The Ben Sheann Hotel in Strathyre.

OK, another day, I'm feeling a bit more hopeful, only two Munros planned for today, and an actual hotel room booked this evening, I just need to get to it.  Well, yet another climb up from sea level, this time up Ben More, the ascent is bad enough but the insane wind makes it so much harder, sometimes I can barely stay on my feet.  It's nice to pass a few people coming down, shows this is at least possible, and yes I make it to the top, and a little further on the next, Stob Binnein.  From here there is a long ridge path, would be lovely on a nice day, not so much today.  Then down and some easy road walk to Strathyre, my hotel is nice, though sadly only one of the village's pubs is open, and it has no food.  Ah well, packet pasta in my room it is...

A bit easier than going up and down mountains.

My less than successful Munro campaign continues the next day - looking at the climbing involved I reckon my plan would take 12 or 13 hours, not impossible but I'd have to forgo the hotel breakfast, and indeed I feel a bit broken.  So instead an easier, flat route along cycle paths and minor roads, it is very pleasant especially as the sun is shining again.  I still manage to make it harder by walking off with the hotel room key and not realising for half an hour, ho hum.  Well, I make decent time to Comrie, and a little past it to the 'croft' where I have another real bedroom - the luxury!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

More Munros : Balloch to Beinnglas Farm

Munros this section :

Ben Lomond

Starting the adventure, in Balloch.

It's adventure time again! It has been a long time... well, the Covid situation in the UK finally seems under control, so I am back, and indeed vaccinated. Travel outside the UK is still dicey, so, Scotland it is... I head for London just as the pubs reopen, time for a beer or two before the overnight bus to Glasgow. 

I'm slightly worried about being turned away from Glasgow, there is some sort of virus hotspot there, but in fact I have no problem quickly transitting to a train, off to Balloch. A nice little place, though I am not staying, I walk straight out, heading for the highlands as of course I am planning to bag some more Munros this trip. Much of this first day is in the lowlands though, it is quite nice to walk through British agricultural country, I've missed it. For most of the day I'm on roads, I do briefly join the West Highland Way, then detour away, before rejoining it for a lovely walk, seven km or so along the banks of Loch Lomond, it certainly is bonny. My campsite is on the lochside too, a beautiful place to stop, I even dip my toes in the water but it is very cold. 

Camped up by Loch Lomond.

Day two, and I keep along Loch Lomond for a little while, keeping to the West Highland Way, before turning uphill for the first Munro of the trip, Ben Lomond. It's a beautiful day for a walk, lovely views of the Loch below me, and fine walking on a well built path right to the top. This was a good idea! Hard work getting up there mind, given I started practically from sea level. On the way down I decide to take a shortcut, first of many I'm sure, yomping down over the bog to rejoin the West Highland Way. Good thing I went a shorter way, I'd expected the Way to be flat along the Loch, but in fact it is a crazy series of up and down. It is past seven by the time I reach camp, still, it has a bar, time for some beer and hearty food, all good.

On top of Ben Lomond.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Kayaking (actually, cycling) in Thailand : 3

Charming riverside accommodation.

I make my way south from Tak, continuing to follow the river of course - it still seems to be flowing quite quickly, I do wonder if the kayak plan would have basically worked had I stuck at it, but never mind.  On the other hand I suspect I'd have had problems with some of the accommodation options I booked... next stop out of Tak is Kampaeng Pet, quite a way by river so I went with the furthest place upstream I could find, it is fully eight kilometres from the centre of town.  Not exactly the middle of nowhere, but the nearby shops and restaurants are all of the typically Thai 'only open during daylight hours' variety.  With my bicycle it is no huge problem, I can and do ride far enough away to find a 7-11 and a roadside noodle place, but if I'd arrived by boat I would have faced a fair old walk to get food.

Temple ruins in Kampaeng Pet.

A nice place to stay anyway, right on the river.  There doesn't seem to be much current here, I test this out by going for a little swim - turns out most of the river is only a foot or two deep, but there is a deeper channel on the far side, where there is also a fish farm.  I have a day off here, there is yet another historical park here with old temples - I am quite close to Sukhothai here, at one point this would have been a satellite town, and later part of the Ayutthaya kingdom of course.  The expansive ruins make for a very peaceful wander about, few tourists these days... somewhat interesting is that here, they've excavated several large 'pools' - these would be where the stone - laterite - used to build the temples was quarried.  It is clearly not the best stone for building, I can see why it was never really used to build homes.  A nice restful day anyway, and in the evening I manage to find a bar and even a rather nice pizza place, the decor is most authentic, the pizza somewhat less so.  There is at least proper cheese, but thanks to the Thai sweet tooth, underneath that is something rather less like tomato sauce, and more like jam!

One last picture of the Ping.

Onwards - a little way at least, I've booked a room just the other side of Kampaeng Pet, this would have been a short day even on the kayak, although as it turns out, it would have involved a lengthy walk carrying the thing.  There is not a lot here, but at least there is a 7-11 so I can buy beer.  Then off to Nakorn Sawan, again - a long ride, over a hundred kilometres, but I make it, and that is the end of the trip.  Well, this worked nicely enough, but I'm still a bit sad that the kayaking didn't happen.  One thing I definitely could have done would have been to get a train to here, and then paddle further down river as far as Ayutthaya - the old capital of Siam and currently top of my list of places to visit in Thailand.  Not a very long way, and it seems that section of river is largely devoid of weirs and has many, many resorts for me to stay in.  So maybe next year for that... I do still like the idea of the Chiang Mai - Nakorn Sawan route, but I think it is probably more like three weeks, and I would not be able to rely on booking hotels online - instead, I think I'd have to drive along the route in advance, locating riverside resorts (there are many that don't have an online presence), and getting a contact phone number for them.  I think the wilderness section through the national park would likely take five days too - so for that, I would very much need a water filter at least.  One day!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Kayaking (actually, cycling) in Thailand : 2

The Ping, at Hot.

OK, so the kayaking thing is a bust, but I am not just going to sit around at home - not least I have booked a whole bunch of hotels and indeed a train back from Nakorn Sawan, so I need to get there somewhere, and obviously the best alternative I have is to cycle.  First though, I have one room booked that is a pretty long way from Chiang Mai, and also the other side of some very large mountains from the next hotel, booked for four days later.  So, having returned to Chiang Mai via an expensive taxi ride and dumped the boat back at home, I decide to do some extremely lazy travelling, by car.  One day I will do road trips, oh yes... but I am not old enough yet.

Always nice to come here.

Anyway - obviously my destination, Hot (actually pronounced more like 'hort') is of course on the river, more or less, but it is also on the main road from Chiang Mai, which as it turns out takes a very scenic and exciting mountain route.  Hot turns out to be a nice little place, and I find a good restaurant too.  Taking a look at the Ping, I notice it is flowing quite quickly, just as it was away from the resort yesterday (yes, there was a massive weir there too, but I'd have had to get out of the water anyway...).  I wonder if this stage of the kayaking would have worked?  Although, my accommodation, though very pleasant, is three kilometers uphill from the river, not sure I'd have enjoyed that much.  Anyway... it was worth driving here, not least as on the way back I'm able to visit Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain of course.  Yes, I have done all the things here before, but even so, this is the nicest day I've ever visited the twin Pagodas, and they've laid out a new garden next to the King's too, very nice.  I had not noticed the neutron monitoring station by the summit either...

The bat cave!

Back to Chiang Mai for one night, then I am off on my bike, yet again.  It is a familiar route, over the mountains to Lampang, then down highway 1 to Thoen and on to Tak.  These places remain not terribly exciting... I do at least find a bar in Lampang, but beyond that it is back to, restaurant and then retire to the hotel  / resort.  I am staying at some quite nice places this time, I basically tried to book as near the river as possible, whatever the cost.  So a couple of times I find a wedding ceremony happening, Thai weddings are quite strange - it seems to be a thing to have some kind of comedian keeping up a more or less constant patter, including making very strange, loud noises.  All makes sense to them I am sure.  This trip is I guess slightly different to the first time I took this route, in that I am going the other way - well, it is downhill I suppose!  Also it means I spot things to look at that I didn't notice from the other side of the road - for instance, there is an interesting cave temple a little south of Thoen, not only containing many life size statues of monks, but also a large colony of bats.  With only my phone torch to guide me I get really quite close to them, most cool.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Kayaking in Thailand : 1

More travelling!  It has been about time...

My first practice paddle.

Well, I am still in Thailand - given the Covid situation it is hard for me to get to any other country.  I could fly back to the UK, but as it is currently under lockdown and experiencing a second wave of the disease I'm not sure I fancy it much.  And indeed I have responsibilities (wow that sounds weird) - my three hundred plus students are not going to teach themselves next semester.  So, I put my foot down and insisted on a full two week break (I'm not going to miss any classes, but the typically insane school management wanted me to come back after just eleven days to push paper around...).  This means I have time for a little trip, and I want to try something a bit different, namely kayaking.  I have purchased a rather nice inflatable boat, the plan is to travel for five hundred kilometres or so down the river Ping, from Lamphun where my school is to Nakorn Sawan, from which I can get a train back.  What can possibly go wrong?

See, this was the problem.

Well... I haven't been going long when it becomes clear this isn't really going well.  I'd been wanting to do something like this since my little taste of kayaking in New Zealand, as I recall there I moved pretty quickly, and thought that covering as much as eighty kilometres in a day was entirely possible.  So here I have been 'conservative' and planned forty-fifty kilometre days, easy enough, no?  No.  I have taken the boat out for a couple of test runs, the first of which I averaged 5km/h, not helped by having to repeatedly carry the kayak past weirs, the second time I did better, 7km/h or so.  But today I am going even more slowly... I think it is simply that the river has no current to speak of here, there are indeed many weirs, each of them blocking the natural flow of the water so that the river is more like a flat, calm canal.  At five o'clock I am facing yet another weir, the fourth of the day, and I've only managed twenty-eight kilometres, not great.  But, OK, Thailand has a ubiquitous, cheap, online taxi service - I can just get them to take me to the resort I have booked for this evening.  But no, 'all our drivers are busy' they say - or in other words, nobody wants to come and get me from the middle of nowhere.

I phone the resort, and manage to persuade them to send a taxi - they don't believe me when I say where I am, and insist on talking to a Thai person to confirm.  But I get there in the end and there is food and beer, yay.  It is very nice in fact.  But, I don't think I can risk carrying on in the Kayak, sadly.  Four days of my plan involve fifty kilometres each, through a trackless wilderness - all sounds very exciting, but if I only manage thirty kilometers per day I will be in big trouble.  So, change of plan - back to Chiang Mai after lazing around at the resort for another day, and then instead of kayaking, yet more cycling.  Well, at least I know I can do that!

The resort was nice anyway...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

No Travels for Timmy

Wow, long time no blog!  Well, what can I say, it is a little bit difficult to go travelling around the world when borders, airports and the like are shut everywhere due to the ongoing situation with the Covid-19 virus.  So, my life has undergone something of a change from the previous five years to say the least, no more living in a tent, constantly on the move.  Rather I am stuck here in Thailand, I have a house, a car, and even a job!

My house and car.

Well - while I do very much miss my family back in England, the prospect of leaving (largely virus-free) Thailand to go back to disease-ridden, expensive Europe wasn't especially appealing.  And in fact I was already thinking of taking a year or so out of travelling, I kind of felt like I needed a break, and having my own place at least a while.  So, it seemed like a good idea to rent a house for a year and get a teaching job here - these are by far the easiest jobs for a foreigner to get in this country.  In a way, my timing was very good, given that I can't really travel at the moment, I might as well keep my self busy, do something productive and even earn a bit of money.  On the other hand, this is surely the worst possible year for me to start my first ever teaching job, the various regulations the Thai government have brought in cause me all kinds of problems, for one I have to somehow teach a class where half the kids are in the room, and the rest streaming the lesson at home (pretty much impossible to be honest), and also one day a week I have to turn up an hour early to help with the temperature checking / hand sanitising rituals.

With my TEFL certificate.  Totally ready to teach, oh yes.

I could also go on at considerable length about the many, many difficulties involved in teaching here.  The Thai education system, initially created around the end of the 19th century and based on European systems at that time, has perhaps advanced a few decades towards modernity in the intervening century.  It is also hampered by a uniquely Thai tendency towards absurd bureacracy and an extreme, unhelpful deference towards figures of authority - basically no matter how foolish or counterproductive a dictat from on high may be, all the Thai staff will jump to obey and expect the foreigners to do the same.  I will not go into any detail though, for fear of getting in trouble!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.