AMAZING THAILAND FOR TOURISTS VS AMAZING THAILAND FOR EXPATS

What an amazing waste of effort making that post.

[Geezer]

Perhaps being negative is no effort for him.

More than once I have seen it proposed that a posterтАЩs true nature is not reveled by his posts. I tend to think the opposite is true. That it is behind the shield of anonymity that oneтАЩs character is displayed.

[Geezer]

Not only the same color and design of shorts (for ten years) but shirts as well.

But the ridiculous aspect of his attire is the rugged hiking boots with which he is invariably shod. This by a Geezer who, is now blessed with arthritis, largely limiting his perambulations to a route between Center Condo and Sunee Plaza.

Pity would be wasted on him. This week he will make his second assent of Phu Kradueng, a mountain in Loei which is accessible only by an arduous five kilometer hike up a precipitous trail.

This assent will be unaided except for four strapping lads and a palanquin. (See the avatar made in Burma.)

[Geezer]

тАЬMust I be carried through the skies on flowery beds of easeтАж?тАЭ (An old hymn)

Note: Same style hat, shirt and shorts as in the avitar taken years ago.

[Beachlover]

What made you want to be carried up a mountain?

[Geezer]

What made you want to be carried up a mountain?

There are those who have enjoyed trekking in the mountains for years, and can no longer manage it owing to decrepitude.

In the case of the Burma avatar, falangs donтАЩt chose to employ a palanquin -- they are required.

What made you want to be carried up a mountain?

You really are cute :tongue3:

[Geezer]

The porters who carry campersтАЩ gear on the steep trail up Phu Kradueng, though of diminutive Thai stature, are incredibly strong. Most falang backpackers strive to keep their pack under 35 pounds. For a trek of a week or more, when one must be prepared for bad weather, 45 lbs may be necessary.

I asked a porter how much weight they carried. He said 70 kilos, with the stronger men carrying 90 kilos. Can you imagine a Thai man carrying the weight of a 200 lb. falang up a steep rocky trail for four hours?

Perhaps if I had calves like this man preparing to start the climb I could be a porter.

[Smiles]

What made you want to be carried up a mountain?
Want?? There's no 'want' involved, it's simply the only way to get up there in style (is there any other way?). We see before us Geezer's idea of "carrying on" the spirit of the British Raj in South East Asia and a fine example of the White Man's Burden.
I totally agree with and applaud the quest.

[Beachlover]

What made you want to be carried up a mountain?

There are those who have enjoyed trekking in the mountains for years, and can no longer manage it owing to decrepitude.

In the case of the Burma avatar, falangs donтАЩt chose to employ a palanquin -- they are required.

Heh... that's cool. Sweet that you can do that.

[Beachlover]

Christ... I can usually move with 30-35kg on my back before I start to struggle... but 70kg is insane.

What really amazes me is high altitude porters above 3,000 metres... to see them moving through such thin air with so much weight on their backs... I don't know whether to wince or gaze in aw... especially as I'm usually only carrying 20kg and gasping for oxygen like a fish.