De Pipa para o mundo

TAILANDIA

2009-01-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Phuket

Koh Yao Noi "Small long island"

Krabi

Phi Phi Island

Where the film "The Beach" was filmed.

Ton Sai beach and Railey Beach in Krabi province

Myanmar -- Arika had to do a border run because she was using her US passport. A big mistake, since the regulations had changed and US citizens were only granted 15 days after a one month visa. Brazilians, on the other hand, get three months each time!

Ranong

Hot springs-- one of the few hot springs in the world that doesn't have any sulphur in the water. It was considered a place for healing and we tested its healing properties by laying on a concrete "healing" floor that was heated by the water. And soaking in the spas.

Nice lunch by the river.

Boat to Koh Tao. Everyone was horribly sick because the ocean was very rough. We survived without vomiting, but barely.

Koh Tao-- "Turtle Island"

Don't be fooled by the name. There are hardly any turtles left since there are many tourists and development here. Its a place that is famous for diving. So we gave it a try.

Since everything close to the beach is more expensive here, we found it more worthwhile to rent a motorbike and stay at a charming guesthouse on top of a mountain. This ended up being the best guesthouse that we staying in in Thailand. (It had wireless too!)

Our guesthouse-- there was also a whale skeleton on the deck.

This is Cao-- the lovely guesthouse dog (on the right :).

The roads were the worst that I ever saw in Thailand. But we still managed to explore the island-- even though I had to walk through some of the worst parts while Mario got the motorbike through.

Bangkok

Fried bugs on the street.

Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand

In the Doi Tung Mountain area.

Jade Buddha that was made as a sister to the famous Emerald Buddha that is in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The Emerald Buddha used to reside in this temple in Chiang Rai.

Flower festival in Chiang Rai city.

All of the local ethnic groups were represented.

Mario's dream: An elephant ride. Actually, his dream was to ride an elephant into the jungle to discover a forgotten temple covered with vegetation. This was the closest that we could get.

Nossa estratégia para viajar redonda a Tailandia: pega onibus entre as cidades e aluga uma motocicleta quando chegar.

The hilltribe groups of Thailand often rely on ecotourism to make money. This Lahu village (far off the main road) was dedicated to preserving and educating the public about their culture. Their cultural center was well organized with an educational film in different languages, a museum with traditional household items that were donated by members of the village, a small gallery of photos, and homestays for tourists.

View point to the west of Chiang Rai city.

Waterfall.

View of Chiang Rai landscape.

Barbeque rats from the rice field that we saw at the market close to our guesthouse.

Hilltribe groups had organized to showcase their cultural diversity for tourists. There are five different groups represented here. Mario was very interested to see the long neck Karen.

Akha woman

Akha statue at the front of the gate into the community.

Another hill tribe group.

Lahu group.

A different hill tribe group.

Long-neck Karen women and children. I bought a beautiful scarf from one of them.

Flowers from Doi Tung gardens. A famous destination for Thai tourists since one of the King's official homes is located here.

Temple close to Doi Tung. On top of the mountain and famous for holding a piece of Buddha's bone inside one of the stupas.

Temple outside of Chiang Rai. Made by a famous Thai religious artist. There are beautiful paintings inside, including a model of a monk inside that looks so real that Mario and I sat in front of it and had a whispered discussion: "He's in trance!" "No, he's not. He's fake!"

On the bus ride from Chiang Mai to Pai. My movie star photo :)

PAI, MAE HONG SON PROVINCE

We didn't know this when we arrived, but Pai is the most popular New Year's Eve destination in Thailand for young and hip Bangkok-ians. It was FULL of people. We had to fight to get a motorbike to rent. And later we found out that there are over 500 motorbikes for rent in the town (!). During the rest of the year, Pai is quiet, peaceful, bohemian, liberal, friendly and artistic.

Traditional northern Thai cigar. We borrowed it from a street vendor to try it out.

River and bungalows close to the town center.

New Year's Eve in Pai. There is a tradition to release a balloon into the sky as you make a wish so that your wishes will come true in the future. There were about a thousand of these balloons in the sky during this night. And it was breathtakingly amazing. Like a new solar system of stars.

Waterfall

Chinese village: well-preserved to promote eco-tourism. This area is also famous for their coffee.

Pai canyon. Very cool. These skinny tall trails went off far in the forest and we followed a few of them but never arrived at the end.

Historic bridge outside of Pai

Pai landscape

Elephant camp

Sunset drink at a resort. The beautiful hand painted umbrellas are one famous local handicraft of the region.

mais TAILANDIA

2009-01-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

BORNEO - MALAYSIA

2008-10-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

INDONESIA Ago/Set-08

2008-09-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Bali - Agosto e Setembro 2008
Ulluwatu

Templo de Ulluwatu e seus macacos "ladroes"

Nusa Dua - Costa Leste de Bali

Celebracoes da Independencia - A maioria Hindu com festas em todas as partes

Ulluwatu - Bali

Minha base em Ulluwatu - Casa do Bagui (Dr. Ding)

G-Land - Grajagan - JavaA emocao comecou na ida, com o motorista kamikaze... adrenalina!!!

UBUD -Terra dos artesaos de Bali

A caminho de Desert Point - Lombok , com os amigos de Recife - Mano, Bruno Pig, Ze Renato e Bruno

6 longas horas de ferry + 4 hs de carro

A casinha basica que a galera se hospedou...um luxo!

Em Desert, nosso amigo Hugo ofereceu a melhor comida que comi aqui na Indonesia...e com feijao a la Brasil!!!

As mais perfeitas ondas que ja vi na minha vida!!! Um sonho!

Senggigi - Lombok

A caminho de Sunaru, aos pes do Monte Rimjani(Nacional Parque)

Tete Batu, do outro lado da Montanha. Gente simpatica e amigavel....

Kuta Lombok

Monte Agung - Bali

De volta a Bali - Abaixo, por-do-Sol em Padang-Padang

A caminho das montanhas , no norte de Bali

Monte Batur

O maior templo de Bali em Besakih, proximo ao Monte Agung

Na Floresta Sagrada dos Macacos em Ubud

Floresta dos macacos em Sangeh

A caminho das cachoeiras de Gitgit - vista do monte Agung e contato com animais locais...

Templo de Luhu Ruiun Danu Beratan - para mim, o mais lindo de Bali

As cachoeiras de Gitgit

Por-do-sol em Lovina, e Templo Budhista, o unico de Bali

Templo de Tanah Lot

Australia - Julho 08

2008-08-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

A chegada em Sydney com por do sol em alto estilo...

Fabinho me deu a maior assistencia em Sydney e me levou num city tour pelas praias ao redor.

Gold Coast,

Encontrei com Gustavo no albergue, e alugamos uma van por 11 dias desde Brisbane, Noosa ate Sydney, parte pela costa, parte pelos varios parques Nacionais...

Springbrook: uma das regios mais lindas que vi na Australia!

Arvores cujas sementes sao datadas de 2000anos...

Passada basica em Nimbim, para provar da cultura local...

Comida todos os dias com alta qualidade. Passamos bem!

Gustavo estava com prancha e wetsuit, e revezavamos no surf. Matei a fissura do surf...

Na Australia e facil de ver cangurus por todas as partes...

De volta em Sydney, com meu grande amigo Romero Rodrigues

Despedida de Sydney e de Fabinho.

Ja em Perth, com Robertinha, Andrew e Manu... foi o maior luxo: ate de helicoptero eu voei ate Margaret River com o Andrew que e piloto.

Neste parque no centro de Perth, fiz varias amizades...

Nova Zelandia

2008-07-01T00:50:00.001-07:00

New Zealand - Junho 2008

North Island
Coromandel Peninsula

hot water beach

Rotorua

Waitomo

Wellington

South Island

Bungue jump - 134mts (Nevis)Quenstown

Fiordland

Olha so que mundo pequeno...encontrei a Robertinha, Manu e Andrew em Quenstown

Quenstown

Oahu- last stop in Hawai'i

2008-06-10T15:09:00.001-07:00

Honolulu- we stayed with Arika's friend Michael. Great view from his house.

Honouma Bay-- popular (too popular) for snorkling.

Driving North...

Difficult to find a camp spot-- Oahu is full of houses, fences, and threatening signs.

North Shore-- famous for its HUGE waves!

Note Woman surfista on the welcome sign into Haleiwa on North Shore