Our stay at Glur Hostel in Ao Nang, Thailand was very enjoyable. It was the first place where me and Denise got our own room! At Glur, you could get a bunk in a dorm with a shared bathroom or a private room. We chose a private room, it was very nice in my opinion . Glur had a very beautiful common room that was very open air and it had a ping-pong table (hours of fun). The gardens and hammocks were top notch. It had breakfast including toast, butter & jam, fruit, and coffee. The staff were very nice and the room was reasonably priced. I would rate Glur Hostel an 8 1/2 out of 10.
Our recent visit to two large caves in Khao Sok National Park (see Evan’s post) reminded me of a guest post I wanted to write when we were in northern Thailand two weeks ago. The administrator has granted me an exception to go out of order (he runs a tight ship but it’s a pretty good work environment). In Chiang Rai we were about 50 kilometres away from the cave where that kids soccer team was trapped for 17 days last summer. I kind of wanted to do a day trip there but lost that vote 3-1. Probably for the best as we weren’t going to enter the cave even if allowed (doubtful).
But just being in the region gave some interesting context for a story that lots of people followed somewhat closely as it was happening. For example, while the cave is in a rural area and probably minimally marked, the region itself is much more developed than I pictured. I remember hearing eg. that a few of the players had no official nationality as they were from tribes that spanned over the Thailand and Myanmar borders. But Chiang Rai is very close and is a pretty big city with hospitals that look modern and fully equipped, large highways in good shape and an international airport. Even the closest town to the cave has a few pages in the Lonely Planet with a map of the ‘downtown’ and some recommended guesthouses. So that all makes a bit more sense how they were able to deploy a lot of specialized equipment and local/international personnel in pretty short order (although it probably did not feel that way for the kids). Also interesting that it was a soccer team as we came to learn that the Chiang Rai soccer team punches above its weight in the Thai first division (with some sponsorship from Singha beer). Perhaps these kids are part of some kind of Vince Carter effect local youth soccer boom. As a further aside, the logo of the team (above) is an elephant beetle. I read that there are places here that stage elephant beetle fights and associated wagering. We haven’t found the stadium yet.
Not to make light, especially as one of the Thai divers was not able to get out, but from our month of travels I can imagine the potential finger pointing and regrets eg. about snacks not packed if we had, say, missed a bus connection. Never mind hiking into a cave that promptly flooded and being trapped for over two weeks. Incredible that they stayed calm and the rescuers got them out, and kind of cool to have been so closeby.
From Away 