At last, my long awaited first post from my 42 day Odyssey to Southeast Asia. Many more to follow….

I have a friend by the name of Khun Moongmink from Bangkok whose profession involves translating documents from English to Thai and vice versa. Of all the people in Thailand, Moongmink’s facility with English probably ranks in the top 3%. She has a rather extensive vocabulary and relatively good grammar but like most Thai people she has difficulty with pronunciation.

We were having a conversation the other day in our way back from Khao Yai National Park. I asked her when she was going to visit me in the San Francisco Bay Area. She hesitated a bit before replying to my question by saying:

“What is the cost of etiquette?”

I was a bit startled by her reply, as it had nothing to do with my inquiry about her visiting me. Now, I know my etiquette and good manners are lacking sometimes, but I do not charge people - it always comes free, So I asked her what did she mean by the cost of etiquette to which she repeated again, “What was the cost of etiquette?”

Finally after 3-4 minute of this back and forth conversation, it finally dawned on me what she was trying to say. She was asking me WHAT WAS THE COST OF AIR TICKET? except that her pronunciation of air ticket sounded like etiquette. Laughing out loud, I informed of the subtle difference of pronunciation between the two phrases

In any case, an air ticket to San Francisco will cost a lot money, and etiquette is free!

This week’s travel photo of the week is appropriately named THAI PUSSY NAPPING. Many of you who have arrived at this blog were expecting to see some naked Thai girl rather than some ordinary Thai pussycat. If so, I am very sorry to have mislead you.

If that’s all you’re interested in, then you can mosey along now (as they say in Twitter). However if you have a genuine interest in Thailand, I’m sure you’ll find lots of provocative (non porn) material and articles on Thailand on this travel blog.

What’s the back-story behind the picture?

While having dinner at Morgan Cafe in the popular beach town of Kai Bae on Koh Chang Island (circa August 2005), I met this particular Meow-Meow. I believe she was the “house pussy” for the restaurant, but I’m not sure. One thing I do know - she sure was a lot better company than most of the THAIgers in the area. Let’s say, she took a particular liking to me! Meow!

Now believe it or not, in Thai language, a cat is called maa-ou (pronounced meow). Strange but true!

Believe it or not, my search for the the most eco-friendly beach destination in THAILAND has uncovered a place I haven’t been to yet, and that is Koh Libong! I am sure most travelers have never heard of this relatively obscure island as well.

Koh Libong is the largest island in southern Thailand’s Trang Province. The island is home to a rather substantial colony of Dugongs, a large marine mammal that is closely related to the manatees. These creatures feed on the sea-grass beds that flourish off Koh Libong’s southeast coast. A colony of green turtles are also residents of the island.

From what I have read, there is more of a commitment to an environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism industry in Trang Province than anywhere else in Thailand. The governor of Trang Province has gone on record stating that he wants to avoid the haphazard and reckless tourism development that has ruined other island destinations in Thailand i.e. Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi etc.

In order to protect the natural beauty of the region, the Swedish Government has funded a master plan for sustainable development in Trang Province. In particular, on Koh Libong, Swedish environmentalists and Thai academicians from Bangkok have joined forces in an effort to make the island an ecotourism model for the region.

Three small Muslim fishing villages are scattered around the island – the native people in these communities seem to be enlightened about the need for conservation and environmentally friendly practices. The interior is home to rubber plantations and is heavily forested. There are only a handful of small resorts, all located on the west coast of the island. While many small beaches surround the island, there is only one “classical tropical beach” – a 1 KM stretch of golden sand fronted by clear, aquamarine waters.

Since I have never been to Koh Libong, I will have to wait to till I visit this island (and Trang Province), before I can assess the staying power of this sustainable tourism movement. If history teaches us anything, tourism development is usually guided by greed (and the pursuit of the almighty dollar) and has destroyed many an idyllic paradise.

Only time will determine the fate of Koh Libong and other island destinations in Trang Province. I have plans to do some reconnaissance there in 2010!

For your information, over the Christmas Holidays, I plan to visit Ko Lipe, considered by many to be overall, the most beautiful island in Thailand. From what I have read, Koh Lipe is another Island Paradise that’s on the threshold of getting trashed!

Birdwatching and sighting exotic tropical butterflies are two of the most popular pastimes of the many Natural History enthusiasts who visit Costa Rica. From my experience, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to sample the rich diversity of the tropics including the wildlife from the comfort of your own hotel, especially if you’re staying out in the countryside. From your own verandah, chances are you’ll see many species of birds and colorful butterflies, iguanas and the like, and if your hotel is located in a heavily wooded area, you may even be visited by a howler monkey troop. Whoop, whoop…

At night, if you listen carefully you may even hear the chirping of the resident gecko (or two) who lives in your room. Don’t be afraid, they won’t harm you. They earn their room and board by keeping the room free of small insects.

Now if you’re into exotic insects (of the non butterfly variety), you’ll be in “Seventh Heaven” as many of the ‘little buggers’ will be crawling around the hotel grounds doing their thing - sight unseen of course. It was just the other day that I was leisurely enjoying some hot Costa Rican coffee on the veranda of the Guayabo Lodge in Turrialba Valley, when I had an encounter with a large, rather ferocious looking beetle. The creature was making his journey across a small table; unfortunately it didn’t see the table edge and the poor beetle took a dive overboard, landing unceremoniously upside down of the floor. With a little prodding, I flipped the bug over allowing it to continue it’s daily rounds. Strange but true!

La Plaza de la Cultura (Culture Plaza) in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital city is one of the most popular venues for locals and tourists alike. Located in the heart of San Jose’s busy downtown area, the park is flanked on one side by the Gran Hotel, at one time the most prestigious hotel in San Jose, with the National Theater looming in the background. On any given day, you’ll see a variety of street performers – mimes, clowns, jugglers, Andean folk musicians and the like - as well as local artisans displaying the wares.

People watching and feeding the pigeons are the most popular pastimes at the Plaza de La Cultura; these birds are out in force during lunchtime and after 5:00PM as well as holidays and weekends. Sort of reminds of the days, when as a little boy I used to visit Union Square, a famous landmark in downtown San Francisco and at one time, the most popular pigeon-feeding venue in the city. Of course, feeding the many pigeons that congregate at the park, can only lead one thing – a lot of bird shit and some rather unsanitary conditions. Oh well, the Ticos and their children love these foul birds…

On my latest visit to Costa Rica, I strolled to The Plaza sometime late afternoon on Ash Wednesday, the official start of the five day Semana de Santa (the Easter Holidays) in Costa Rica. While the rest of San Jose was relatively dead, the Plaza was jamming with activity. There were many working class Ticos at the park enjoying the start of the holidays. Mixed in with the many families (mostly parents with their small children) was a rather motley group of punk rockers. Of course, the pigeons were out in force. I observed a number of old ladies doing a rather a brisk trade selling pigeon food - small packets of corn – to the many parents, and the young children were having a field day feeding and chasing the birds. There were also several entrepreneurs making some monies by taking pictures of people, printing the photos on the spot with a portable photo printer. Some of the Ticos even had their picture taken with pigeons eating corn on the top of their head. Watching this, I shook my head, thinking why would anybody want to pay for a picture of a pigeon shitting on his head?!?!

Besides a trio of clowns selling toy balloons shaped like phallus symbols, entertaining a small group of locals were a pair of mimes. The mimes were painted in white - the man was dressed up as a cowboy, while the lady looked like a modern version of Raggedy Ann, a famous fictional character that appeared in a popular illustrated book series written for children. The Mime duo was quite talented and experienced - as they went thru their poses, they looked like a pair of ceramic statutes. There was a real photo taking frenzy going on as most of the onlookers were busy taking pictures of the mimes with either their cell phone or pocket camera. The mimes had a decent payday as many people rewarded the performing duo by placing a small donation into their collection hat. Just another day at the park…

There were rumors circulating that the world’s largest tree frog was recently discovered in the Highlands of Costa Rica. Measuring over 18 inches long and tipping the scales at over 2 pounds, this individual was identified by a foremost biologist as an aberration of the red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) which inhabit the rainforests of Central America. The giant tree frog was sighted living in the bromeliad garden at Hotel Bougainvillea, located in the suburbs of San Jose, Costa Rica’s Capital City. Normally individuals of this species of tree frogs are no more than 2 inches long.

A nocturnal species, these tree frogs are characterized by large bulging eyes that enable them to see in the dark. As with all tree frogs, sticky pads on their toes help these small creatures hang onto slippery leaves and climb trees. During the day, they sleep on bright green leaves which afford them a certain degree of camouflage from potential predators. At night, the red-eyed tree frogs are prolific hunters of the rainforest where they feast on variety of small insects- grasshoppers, flies and moths are their favorite foods. I can imagine that this giant individual at the Bougainvillea gardens has a voracious appetite.

Intrigued by this new discovery, I stayed at Hotel Bougainvillea for 3 nights on my most recent visit to Costa Rica, hoping to catch a glimpse of this giant frog. It wasn’t until my last day there that I happened to stumble upon ‘The Giant’ while strolling through the hotel’s magnificent tropical gardens. The frog was lying quietly among the bromeliads getting ready for his daytime siesta. I affectionately named the frog, Federico as I took several pictures of him before leaving San Jose.

P.S. If you go inside the gift shop at Hotel Bougainvillea, you will find some of Federico’s cousins for sale. They make good pets and are very cuddly!