Bangkok
navigated to our hotel via skytrain, phonetical spellings, etc= good job
Marriott...showers!
biggest craziest market ever
- bell agenda
- 3d pics
- necklace
- beer shirts
- towers
- overwhelming
room service, pizza, movie
wat part of town via water taxi
gambling games
gem scam
back to reclining buddha wat...totally disenchanted with bangkok
- sat and talked about hating it before going inside
- thai pose pic in front of buddha
- full of farong
other stairs wat, pretty skyline, still hate bangkok
costume photos
3d pics
amulet mkt
kaosong rd
- disgusting tourists
- beer shirts
- "elephant" guy
tuk tuk back
golden mount
"you know nothing about Bangkok"
Marriott pool
sauna
wat supply rd
chinatown
sunday- market
monday- tourist side
tues- pool, siam, - internet - fish - donuts, relax day
wed pool, sauna, goldn mt, going out attempt
thurs- all day, concrete, chinatown, siam, airport sleeping nest
Friday, October 18, 2019
hang chat
We boarded another bus from Lampon to Hang Chat, the small town where Caroline teaches. She picked us up on her motorbike and took us to her house separately in 2 trips. When we arrived, we were both so exhausted from the lack of sleep on the night bus. Caroline took Lisa home first and by the time I got there, she was curled up in bed sound asleep. I really really needed a shower, so Caroline showed me where the towels were and how to work the shower and within two minutes before i made it to the bathroom, I too had passed out sprawled across the bed.
Caroline has a washing machine, which was very exciting for us because we and our clothes were fowl. We got to put on fresh clean clothes that she loaned us and threw everything (backpack and all) into the wash. It was so luxurious.
Once we woke from our nap, Caroline took us into town on her motorbike so we could eat lunch. We piled it 3 deep, a feat which she herself had never attempted. Only owning two helmets, she also suggested that none of us wear a helmet so "we're all in this together". Her logic was flawless so we agreed.
She first took us to a favorite lunch spot of her's where she seemed to had ordered "her usual". We also leaned some more about ordering food, which, at this point, was still a very daunting task at meal time. She said if the place had a wok, we could pretty much order anything: stir fry, pad thai, etc. After lunch, she took us to her friend's coffee shop. We ordered iced coffee over shaved ice- kind of like a snowball. A note about Thai coffee. It is a desert. If you order iced coffee here (or even regular coffee), standard procedure is espresso, condensed milk, and some sort of condensed milk-sugar mixture. So when we ordered it with the shaved ice, it turned into an incredible mountain of sweetness, which she covered with chocolate chips, gummies and cookies. And I ate it all. Once we were all in an acceptable food and sugar coma, we all piled onto the motorbike again and headed back home.
Caroline's house is so lovely. It is on the school grounds, which she shares with a few janitors, but she gets an entire 2 bedroom house to herself. Most Thai buildings are designed to be more or less open to allow breeze but keep out bugs. The upstairs has really high pitched ceilings with open windows all around and an upstairs balcony porch. We took a load off on this balcony porch and it started raining. It rained until dark. And it was perfect because we were tired and might have otherwise felt obligated to be out sight seeing. Instead we just sat in clean clothes watching the rain on the porch and talking for hours. It was a great lazy day.
This particular day was a Buddhist holiday that celebrates the day that the Buddha was born, was enlightened and died. Caroline's friend, Pi Lan came over on her motorbike to help transport us all to the temple. When she pulled up, she said "On behalf of Hang Chat, thank you for comming!" She brought us candles to carry at the temple and instructed us on the process of circling the temple three times while carrying the candle and we were instructed to make a wish. She announced before we started that her wish would be to be Kate Middleton because she loves Prince William. I think she was joking (?). We went inside the temple and she showed us how to kneel and bow three times in front of the Buddha. Then we all went to eat. Caroline had told us stories about Pi Lan frequently telling her how fat she is. We surmised that Caroline and Pi Lan were, in fact frienemies. Once we were at dinner, PiLan began telling Caroline how much smaller we are than she is. She even described us as "Thai size". We tried to say that the three of us are all about the same size, but she wasn't having it. That is, until Caroline suggested that Pi Lan and I place our arms side by side on the table in comparison. Once my arm was exposed she recoiled at the sight of my enormous American forearm and then agreed that, yes, were were all over-sized disgusting Americans.
The next morning was Caroline's first day back at school after her break, so she brought us in with her to show us around. All the little Thai students were so cute in their uniforms. We got dragged into a classroom of 12 year olds and shown off in front of the class. Basically, the kids were totally unimpressed.
We planned to go to the nearby pre-researched elephant conservatory during the day while Caroline was teaching and we were going to take her motorbike. She gave me a quick lesson on how to drive this thing and then left us alone to brave the super highway with my freshly aquired gear changing and foot-breaking skill. I was mildly terrified at first, but once we got out on the road it was pretty ok. The tricky thing is that the scooter lane also functions as an emergency lane/ loading lane/ hanging out lane/ the occasional bicyclist on the highway lane, so it takes a good deal of paying attention. But we made it. Finally: Elephants!
First is an elephant show. We sat in the bleachers accompanied by 2 other people, so it was basically a private performance for 4. We giddily smiled and snapped pictures as the elephants performed a number of impressive tasks including painting (the most impressive), playing musical instruments and rolling and stacking logs as a team. At the end we got to buy corn and bananas to feed to the elephants, who approached the stands expectantly when they were finished with the show.
We promptly made our way to the elephant riding station to fulfill the most anticipated activity of the Thailand trip. It began raining as we paid our Bahts and boarded our elephant into a bench seat on its back. Even though it was raining and we were soaked, we were quite pleased to tough it out for a full hour ride. I think we both expected to be able to straddle the elephant, as one might a horse, and were a bit disappointed by the bench. As a consolation, we removed our shoes and rode with our bare feet touching the elephant's back. It was pretty great. When we were almost back to the center we saw a dog (there are loose dogs everywhere here) happily come across an enormous pile of elephant dung larger than the dog itself. The dog inspected the pile for a moment and then took the opportunity to roll in it. What a find!
After the ride we toured the grounds. There is an elephant hospital on site and we got to see an especially mangled elephant that had been damaged in a fight. Also they have a mother and baby elephant on display and we got to spend a lot of time freely interacting with both. The baby tried to take my camera. It had a soccer ball.
Once it was time to head back, I had to get help from a Thai man when the motorbike refused to start again. We became extremely self-congratulatory when we managed to find our way back to Hang Chat and even stop at the iced-coffee-snow-cone desert place. We didn't even have to place an order- just walked up and she said "Same as yesterday?" Yeah, we're pretty cool around here. The shop's owner, Ann, and her mother were both VERY impressed that we rode all the way there on our own. Apparently the self-sufficient farong on a motorbike is a rarity in these parts.
When we got back, another one of Caroline's teacher friends wanted to take us out to eat in Lampang. Summed up earlier as "a real spitfire" (by us upon meeting her), Pi Pan is a short happy spunky Thai lady in a shiny pink skirt suit. She took charge of the table and ordered us heaps and heaps of food that just kept coming. It was all so delicious and we ate and ate like it was no thing. Around the same time, everyone began to get progressively less comfortable. Faces turned red. Tiny beads of sweat began forming on hairlines. Noses were wipes and tears rubbed away. Oh my god. This food was spicy! And there was nothing to do except keep eating. Stopping only made it worse. "Fight fire with fire!" was our anthem as we plowed through the offerings challenging us from the table. Pi Pan commented that the food was very spicy for her too and that farong don't eat this food. Well, we brushed our proverbial shoulders and tallied another rite of passage into hard core Thai immersion.
Once we had had some time to wash our hands and sit with ice in our mouths for a bit, Pi Pan dropped us off at the Big C because Caroline needed a few things. It was very exciting. Basically a Walmart. But Thai. So different. Same Same, but different. We marveled at shiny new things, florescent lights and skin-bleaching products. As per our first night in Cha Am with Caroline we decided to pick up some beer and do another taste test of cheap 40s available at the Big C. Chang, Tiger, Singha, a few with horses on the front...
Pi Pan returned to take us back home and she had her poodle, MuMu in the car with her. Dog-starved, Lisa and I descended on the creature passing it back and forth and talking to it with huge grins on our faces. Back at Caroline's we sat on the balcony until the we hours eating snacks, sampling a table of beers and chatting to the musings of local geckos, Sarah McLachlan and Phil Collins. I mean, seriously...
Next morning, another day another city, and back into our old travel-stained clothes.
Caroline has a washing machine, which was very exciting for us because we and our clothes were fowl. We got to put on fresh clean clothes that she loaned us and threw everything (backpack and all) into the wash. It was so luxurious.
Once we woke from our nap, Caroline took us into town on her motorbike so we could eat lunch. We piled it 3 deep, a feat which she herself had never attempted. Only owning two helmets, she also suggested that none of us wear a helmet so "we're all in this together". Her logic was flawless so we agreed.
She first took us to a favorite lunch spot of her's where she seemed to had ordered "her usual". We also leaned some more about ordering food, which, at this point, was still a very daunting task at meal time. She said if the place had a wok, we could pretty much order anything: stir fry, pad thai, etc. After lunch, she took us to her friend's coffee shop. We ordered iced coffee over shaved ice- kind of like a snowball. A note about Thai coffee. It is a desert. If you order iced coffee here (or even regular coffee), standard procedure is espresso, condensed milk, and some sort of condensed milk-sugar mixture. So when we ordered it with the shaved ice, it turned into an incredible mountain of sweetness, which she covered with chocolate chips, gummies and cookies. And I ate it all. Once we were all in an acceptable food and sugar coma, we all piled onto the motorbike again and headed back home.
Caroline's house is so lovely. It is on the school grounds, which she shares with a few janitors, but she gets an entire 2 bedroom house to herself. Most Thai buildings are designed to be more or less open to allow breeze but keep out bugs. The upstairs has really high pitched ceilings with open windows all around and an upstairs balcony porch. We took a load off on this balcony porch and it started raining. It rained until dark. And it was perfect because we were tired and might have otherwise felt obligated to be out sight seeing. Instead we just sat in clean clothes watching the rain on the porch and talking for hours. It was a great lazy day.
This particular day was a Buddhist holiday that celebrates the day that the Buddha was born, was enlightened and died. Caroline's friend, Pi Lan came over on her motorbike to help transport us all to the temple. When she pulled up, she said "On behalf of Hang Chat, thank you for comming!" She brought us candles to carry at the temple and instructed us on the process of circling the temple three times while carrying the candle and we were instructed to make a wish. She announced before we started that her wish would be to be Kate Middleton because she loves Prince William. I think she was joking (?). We went inside the temple and she showed us how to kneel and bow three times in front of the Buddha. Then we all went to eat. Caroline had told us stories about Pi Lan frequently telling her how fat she is. We surmised that Caroline and Pi Lan were, in fact frienemies. Once we were at dinner, PiLan began telling Caroline how much smaller we are than she is. She even described us as "Thai size". We tried to say that the three of us are all about the same size, but she wasn't having it. That is, until Caroline suggested that Pi Lan and I place our arms side by side on the table in comparison. Once my arm was exposed she recoiled at the sight of my enormous American forearm and then agreed that, yes, were were all over-sized disgusting Americans.
The next morning was Caroline's first day back at school after her break, so she brought us in with her to show us around. All the little Thai students were so cute in their uniforms. We got dragged into a classroom of 12 year olds and shown off in front of the class. Basically, the kids were totally unimpressed.
We planned to go to the nearby pre-researched elephant conservatory during the day while Caroline was teaching and we were going to take her motorbike. She gave me a quick lesson on how to drive this thing and then left us alone to brave the super highway with my freshly aquired gear changing and foot-breaking skill. I was mildly terrified at first, but once we got out on the road it was pretty ok. The tricky thing is that the scooter lane also functions as an emergency lane/ loading lane/ hanging out lane/ the occasional bicyclist on the highway lane, so it takes a good deal of paying attention. But we made it. Finally: Elephants!
First is an elephant show. We sat in the bleachers accompanied by 2 other people, so it was basically a private performance for 4. We giddily smiled and snapped pictures as the elephants performed a number of impressive tasks including painting (the most impressive), playing musical instruments and rolling and stacking logs as a team. At the end we got to buy corn and bananas to feed to the elephants, who approached the stands expectantly when they were finished with the show.
We promptly made our way to the elephant riding station to fulfill the most anticipated activity of the Thailand trip. It began raining as we paid our Bahts and boarded our elephant into a bench seat on its back. Even though it was raining and we were soaked, we were quite pleased to tough it out for a full hour ride. I think we both expected to be able to straddle the elephant, as one might a horse, and were a bit disappointed by the bench. As a consolation, we removed our shoes and rode with our bare feet touching the elephant's back. It was pretty great. When we were almost back to the center we saw a dog (there are loose dogs everywhere here) happily come across an enormous pile of elephant dung larger than the dog itself. The dog inspected the pile for a moment and then took the opportunity to roll in it. What a find!
After the ride we toured the grounds. There is an elephant hospital on site and we got to see an especially mangled elephant that had been damaged in a fight. Also they have a mother and baby elephant on display and we got to spend a lot of time freely interacting with both. The baby tried to take my camera. It had a soccer ball.
Once it was time to head back, I had to get help from a Thai man when the motorbike refused to start again. We became extremely self-congratulatory when we managed to find our way back to Hang Chat and even stop at the iced-coffee-snow-cone desert place. We didn't even have to place an order- just walked up and she said "Same as yesterday?" Yeah, we're pretty cool around here. The shop's owner, Ann, and her mother were both VERY impressed that we rode all the way there on our own. Apparently the self-sufficient farong on a motorbike is a rarity in these parts.
When we got back, another one of Caroline's teacher friends wanted to take us out to eat in Lampang. Summed up earlier as "a real spitfire" (by us upon meeting her), Pi Pan is a short happy spunky Thai lady in a shiny pink skirt suit. She took charge of the table and ordered us heaps and heaps of food that just kept coming. It was all so delicious and we ate and ate like it was no thing. Around the same time, everyone began to get progressively less comfortable. Faces turned red. Tiny beads of sweat began forming on hairlines. Noses were wipes and tears rubbed away. Oh my god. This food was spicy! And there was nothing to do except keep eating. Stopping only made it worse. "Fight fire with fire!" was our anthem as we plowed through the offerings challenging us from the table. Pi Pan commented that the food was very spicy for her too and that farong don't eat this food. Well, we brushed our proverbial shoulders and tallied another rite of passage into hard core Thai immersion.
Once we had had some time to wash our hands and sit with ice in our mouths for a bit, Pi Pan dropped us off at the Big C because Caroline needed a few things. It was very exciting. Basically a Walmart. But Thai. So different. Same Same, but different. We marveled at shiny new things, florescent lights and skin-bleaching products. As per our first night in Cha Am with Caroline we decided to pick up some beer and do another taste test of cheap 40s available at the Big C. Chang, Tiger, Singha, a few with horses on the front...
Pi Pan returned to take us back home and she had her poodle, MuMu in the car with her. Dog-starved, Lisa and I descended on the creature passing it back and forth and talking to it with huge grins on our faces. Back at Caroline's we sat on the balcony until the we hours eating snacks, sampling a table of beers and chatting to the musings of local geckos, Sarah McLachlan and Phil Collins. I mean, seriously...
Next morning, another day another city, and back into our old travel-stained clothes.
chang Rai
stop n chang mai... lisa= dental work part 2 meta= fruit muslei cup
immediate bus to chang rai
arrived at night, got first hotel 200 per night
went to night market
pizza place- menus, bbq sauce, corn on it, pay now
felt weird, dodnt like it
farong breakfast
kid peeing in trashcan
bus to artist wat
amazingness of wat: keanu reeves, kung fu panda, osama, bush, twin towers, debate over whether the monk was alive or wax
artist town, cardboard cutouts, galleries
lunch...with coke!
walk back to chang rai
- nice out of cities
- 10 km
- rain
- thai woman smile and say something...interpretation: you stupid fucking idiots
- 5 hours
- kept asking directions, 100 more meters
- markets, wedding shoes purchase
ice cream chocolate basket for dinner
7-11 breakfast, bus to lampang (difficulty of conveying this word)
immediate bus to chang rai
arrived at night, got first hotel 200 per night
went to night market
pizza place- menus, bbq sauce, corn on it, pay now
felt weird, dodnt like it
farong breakfast
kid peeing in trashcan
bus to artist wat
amazingness of wat: keanu reeves, kung fu panda, osama, bush, twin towers, debate over whether the monk was alive or wax
artist town, cardboard cutouts, galleries
lunch...with coke!
walk back to chang rai
- nice out of cities
- 10 km
- rain
- thai woman smile and say something...interpretation: you stupid fucking idiots
- 5 hours
- kept asking directions, 100 more meters
- markets, wedding shoes purchase
ice cream chocolate basket for dinner
7-11 breakfast, bus to lampang (difficulty of conveying this word)
Pai
Pai, we had been warned, was a rough ride. 3 hours through windy mountain roads is enough to make even the toughest traveler a bit queasy. I was absolutely miserable. Stuck in the back row of a small minibus, couldn't see out the front, hungover, hot...it was awful. At our mid-ride bathroom stop I held back tears as I panicked and attempted to calmly tell Lisa that she might have to go on to Pai without me.
minibus ride :(
pretty
fisherman pants
walk the town
asheville
guilt ridden elephant rides
- water part, head jumping
- free jungle ride on angry elephant
- sore legs for weeks
- pretty
- pre-ride elephant play
- teenage mahouts with flashy hairdos
tea house with swings
bike ride
- crash
- hot
- gear problems, bad brakes
- wat sit
- pretty scenery
local market and vegetable soup
cheese banana nutella roti
walking the town nighttime shops
thai massage
yoga with mam
wat sunset mosque in distance
muslim heavy per capita
better bus ride back
hotel bird
hotel description
minibus ride :(
pretty
fisherman pants
walk the town
asheville
guilt ridden elephant rides
- water part, head jumping
- free jungle ride on angry elephant
- sore legs for weeks
- pretty
- pre-ride elephant play
- teenage mahouts with flashy hairdos
tea house with swings
bike ride
- crash
- hot
- gear problems, bad brakes
- wat sit
- pretty scenery
local market and vegetable soup
cheese banana nutella roti
walking the town nighttime shops
thai massage
yoga with mam
wat sunset mosque in distance
muslim heavy per capita
better bus ride back
hotel bird
hotel description
Chiang Mai
May 19: We arrived in Chiang Mai via Greenbus from Hang Chat. The greenbus is the local inter-city bus, it's rickety and fan-cooled and very often packed. It's impressive just how full that bus can get, people sit on blankets on the floor. Such was the case for our Chiang Mai transport, after of course waiting for about 2 hours for a bus to pick us up. We had been dropped off at the Hang Chat bus station by one of Caroline's fellow teachers and promised that a bus would arrive shortly. Well ,you see, sometimes the greenbus is actually full to capacity and then it just passes on by. This blind wait for the bus created a fun sense of urgency when I had to decide if it was worth the risk of possibly missing the bus in order to make a mad dash to pee at the gas station across the street. In my mind, our fellow bus-waiters looked on anxiously, wondering if I would make it. I did.
We arrived in the New City early afternoonish and with a serious agenda on our hands. Goals for Chiang Mai included cheap dental work, monk-guided meditation, Thai royalty photos, and massage.
After tracking down some much needed Thai iced coffee and a tuk-tuk, we located Caroline's favorite Chiang Mai hostel. In an uncharacteristic splurge, we sprang the extra dollar for an all female dorm (after Meta's comically horrified reaction at the mention of co-ed dorms.) Once settled we set out immediately to a nearby wat where there would be an evening meditation session. This wat was kind of a sprawling community, with several buildings and food stands. It was located in the silver-working district, and one of the buildings and it's ornaments was constructed entirely of silver. Of course, as women, we weren't actually allowed to enter this building. This was one of the (fortunately few) times that I was reminded of our lesser status, particularly within the temple scene.
There was a small area with a sign that read "Monk Chat and Meditation". A few minutes early for the surprise chat session, we sat on the wooden bench and spoke some English with the giggling schoolgirls hanging out. Soon a monk saw us, and joined us for a chat.
The monk chat was not quite what one would expect. We were ready with several burning questions compiled from our wat sightings. But this monk was not so interested in temple talk. He chatted and chatted about his life, he was from Cambodia, and talked with us about Cambodian food and culture and his current studies at the Chiang Mai University. All of this was great and quite endearing, but when Meta was able to segueway into a question about the different Buddha postures, he responded with "Yes, they mean different things. Anything else?" We managed to squeeze some additional information from him and had started to ask a second question when four more guests arrived for the chat. This was a bit of a setback as the new guests had to go through their introductions and tell where they were from. Excited that the new chat guests were all European, our monk took the opportunity to hold his nose and speak in a funny nasal voice saying, "I am American...I like shopping...etc". The European visitors sat visibly uncomfortable in nervous laughter as the monk made fun of Americans in front of our backs. Lisa seemed reasonably unfazed and gave him a shrug, while I wrote off the monk completely and refrained from criticizing his choice of delivery, as his normal voice was far more nasal than every American I know. Monks are henceforth dead to me. ...And for the next hot and mosquito-infested hour the monk chat was an oration of all things monk. We learned his feelings and opinions on the political history of Cambodia, as well as his favorite films and foods. He loves Rambo and dreams of being a soldier. Try as we might, none of the monk chat attendees were able to get a word in, let alone ask questions. One positive outcome was a fashion show of sorts where the monk showed us how the robes work and showed off the sleek form-fitting orange one-shouldered cargo vest worn underneath the robes. My mind trailed off wondering where I might procure one of these vests. Eventually we excused ourselves as politely as possibly (which was still pretty awkward), a storm was brewing and we were on foot, but more importantly we were bored and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. As we slipped out and nodded goodbye our monk reminded us that meditation would begin in another hour or so, and we should come back. We nodded and smiled but the monk chat had really exhausted our daily reserves of Buddhist tendencies. The rest of the evening was spent eating at the market (ordering pad thai in bad thai) then getting a sub-par oil massage that was more like an oil rubdown given by two women who seemed irritated that were were there. (It was pleasant enough but nothing like our previous Thai massage. Also they massaged the boobs. Also we weren't given any instructions, whereas previous massages had included a massage outfit to put on. I assumed we were to just get naked. Lisa came in after me and I said "I think we are to be naked next to each other. There's a first time for everything." This massage was stupid.) We shared a beer and oreo milkshake at Mike's Burgers while listening to a cover band play across the street (Which was incidentally our first introduction to the Bruno Mars hit "Just the Way You Are", which we picked up quickly do to its simple repetition and stood for a moment on the corner singing along.) We ended the day with a long midnight walk around the square moat that encapsulates the city center. We like to refer to this walk as "squaring the square." On this mild adventure we encountered a most curious and adorable animal hanging out in the trees lining the street. A sugar glider? We also passed a few wats of interest that we made a note to revisit the next day. Among them include the wat we dubbed Club Wat for it's glittering mirrored exterior. Another was Homeless Wat, named for the man and his dog asleep at the entrance.
We did manage to get some cheap dental work done the next day, after a 5 minute online research determined that we would most likely not contract any diseases, namely AIDS, from this foray into medical tourism. Our teeth cleanings showed that Meta had two cavities and I needed a crown for a broken tooth. At a fraction of the US price, we really pulled one over on the system. I intend to do all of my dental and medical work this way from here on out.
After the dental cleaning we set out to resquare the square and visit some wats, and ran into our good friend Caroline. She had come to stay the weekend with us in Chiang Mai. Caroline is something of a celebrity in Chiang Mai and was immediately greeted at the hostel by other travelers she had met in recent excursions.
Our dusty trio took to the streets. We ate sticky rice and mango (delicious!) from the food carts and explored the square. We made up stories about our elusive roommate at the dorm. We found Club Wat, which was sadly closed, but we did take some pictures in the mirrored glass. We visited an outdoor wat at twilight, listened to the chanting monks and climbed some stairs to sit beneath a large Buddha and watch the bustling street below us. We drank some varieties of cocktails and found a place to eat. The restaurant was adorned with fantastic old Thai movie posters and colored lights. Meta and I were introduced to khao soy, a delicious soupy meal with a coconut milk base, chiles and tofu or chicken and fried noodles and all kinds of rich deliciousness. As much as we wanted to check out the night bazaar, we were all exhausted after our long day of heat and exploration. We made a stop so Meta could pick up ear plugs (Caroline snores. Loudly.). This set of four tiny green pieces of foam cost 150 baht. That is the equivalent of 5 American dollars, and more expensive than most of the guest houses we stayed in. The value of the baht never ceases to mystify, but the value of earplugs in a room with Caroline is arguably priceless.
The next day Caroline introduced us to her friend who makes smoothies and fruit bowls at the food market. For breakfast we ate a gigantic bucket filled with yoghurt, fresh fruit, and muesli. The morning was spent at a leisurely pace. Caroline and I read while Meta had her cavities filled. My crown appointment was later in the afternoon which gave us enough time to visit Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, probably the largest wat we visited on the trip. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: the city's most famous temple, stands on Doi Suthep, a hill to the north-west of the city. This temple dates from 1383. By tradition, its site was chosen by placing a relic of the Lord Buddha on an elephant's back and letting it roam until it trumpeted, then circled, and finally laid down and died. The temple's location provides views of the city on a clear day.
This wat was gorgeous. We were dropped off after a winding drive up the mountain and climbed a staircase active with people selling various wares and food. Once at the top we ignored the sign demanding that foreigners pay some amount of baht (resolving, of course, to offer our money once inside.) This blatant segregation of foreigners is widespread and interesting because it depends solely on visual cues. A white citizen of Thailand would be asked to pay, while an Asian American would not be questioned. For the most part, this method is probably pretty accurate. Either way we never got used to the shamelessness of the distinction, the blunt reminder that we did not belong.
Highlights of this two story wat include the the young girls dancing in traditional Lanna attire, the high school band that sat on the floor and played their instruments, the tiny mangy puppies wandering around, rows and rows of the biggest bells I've seen, and getting blessed by a cranky monk who gave away bracelets with the blessing, (he splashes water on you and hands over the bracelet. A wat-affiliated volunteer ties the bracelet on the womens' wrists as the monk is not to make physical contact with women). We also experienced our first Chinese fortune, acquired through a canister filled with sticks. Each stick has a number on it and after spending some time meditating on the Buddha, you shake the canister until a stick falls out. There are corresponding numbered papers which tell you your fortune. Caroline's fortune confirmed that she and Meta would find their "lost party" (I had gotten separated from them.) My fortune claimed my unyielding happiness in all of my affairs which left me somewhat suspicious.
After the wat we headed back to the city for a quick lunch (sandwiches at a hip vegetarian restaurant where one of Caroline's friends works), and I had my dental appointment. This went pretty smoothly, after the doctor laughed at my nervousness and conceded to give me the novacaine. This man later made fun of my teeth for being too dark. Real professional, guy. And in the true Thai spirit of "you've seen one farang, you've seen a thousand farang", my (Lisa's) dental records are under the curious title of "Meta Gary". I got to keep my mis-identified x-ray as a souvenir. I might add that this xray was taken without the offering of a protective vest. But who am I to complain about a little radiation exposure? No one, apparently.
Next goal was the Thai royalty photos we had so joyously read about in our travel book. In truth, it is basically the ONLY thing we read about before heading to Thailand (you might say we were ill prepared for Asia). A little research done by Caroline and Meta while I was with the good doctor, and we were headed toward the local mall. We passed the Homeless Wat on the way but couldn't cross the busy Chiang Mai traffic and sadly had to let it go. Also we were sipping on one BEET SMOOTHIE, courtesy fruit n muesli stand girl who I am in love with. Okay. Caroline was quite the skeptic about these royalty photos until we arrived at the mall and found that they're not the cheesy tourist attraction we had envisioned, but instead a professional glamour-shots-type operation with great outfits, make up, hair, and backdrops. Caroline perked right up at this new set of circumstances, but thai royalty shoots come with a hefty price tag that the traveling farang were simply not willing to pay. We were a bit disgruntled that our cheesy gatlinburg style dreams were dashed. Caroline consoled herself with some meat on a stick and we all did a little shopping in the market conveniently set up at the mall entrance. Meta and I scored some sweet skinny suspenders (same price as our earplugs, for reference).
Further consolation involved massage. In the interest of sampling all manner of massage, Meta and I decided on the full hour head-neck-shoulder-foot massage, while Caroline stuck to the traditional Thai contortion massage. The woman at the front desk had to call our masseuses into work. While we waited we admired a fabulous 70s photo of the Royal Family dressed in yellows and oranges and looking very Partridge-esque. The massage girls rode up together on a scooter and we all got down to business. This was hands down the best massage of the trip, eliciting romantic feelings on my end, the way any good massage should.
NEXT UP GAY BAR. Interesting dynamic here, the place was practically empty save for a handful of pretty Thai boys and their older, fatter (richer?) white boyfriends. While we sipped cocktails a brother-sister child con team approached us and tried to sell us roses. When we declined the offer the small boy upped the ante by challenging Caroline to a thumb war with a 5 baht buy in. The dynamic between these two kids was amusing - the boy was charming and manic his older sister was snarky and bored. The thumb war trick was a hit and the boy "won" 5 b from each of us and graciously gave us roses.
We left the bar to check out the night market but we were too late and it was shutting down. We picked up some mango and sticky rice and headed back to our gay bar where we were greeted warmly by our Thai gayboy friends. We had a few more drinks, listened to Rhianna, giggled with the boys, made polite conversation with their older gentleman friends, and were invited to go out dancing at the nearby Club Mandalay with them when the bar closed. Too bad Club Mandalay is exclusive and even when Meta showed some skin and one of the white boyfriends claimed I was his sister, the bouncer would not budge. We were welcome only for a price, and at the late hour and with our hurt pride, we were not willing to pay. Instead we picked up a few snacks to munch on our defeated walk home. Caroline swears she's going to get into that club for free before her time in Thailand is out.
We fell into bed at an unusually late hour. We tipsy-chatted with our dormmate who we had been going back and forth between loving and hating. Caroline stepped outside to talk to her gig (Thai slang for part-time lover!) on the phone and got caught up in some late night adventure of her own while Meta and I promptly passed out in preparation for our next adventure: Pai.
We arrived in the New City early afternoonish and with a serious agenda on our hands. Goals for Chiang Mai included cheap dental work, monk-guided meditation, Thai royalty photos, and massage.
After tracking down some much needed Thai iced coffee and a tuk-tuk, we located Caroline's favorite Chiang Mai hostel. In an uncharacteristic splurge, we sprang the extra dollar for an all female dorm (after Meta's comically horrified reaction at the mention of co-ed dorms.) Once settled we set out immediately to a nearby wat where there would be an evening meditation session. This wat was kind of a sprawling community, with several buildings and food stands. It was located in the silver-working district, and one of the buildings and it's ornaments was constructed entirely of silver. Of course, as women, we weren't actually allowed to enter this building. This was one of the (fortunately few) times that I was reminded of our lesser status, particularly within the temple scene.
There was a small area with a sign that read "Monk Chat and Meditation". A few minutes early for the surprise chat session, we sat on the wooden bench and spoke some English with the giggling schoolgirls hanging out. Soon a monk saw us, and joined us for a chat.
The monk chat was not quite what one would expect. We were ready with several burning questions compiled from our wat sightings. But this monk was not so interested in temple talk. He chatted and chatted about his life, he was from Cambodia, and talked with us about Cambodian food and culture and his current studies at the Chiang Mai University. All of this was great and quite endearing, but when Meta was able to segueway into a question about the different Buddha postures, he responded with "Yes, they mean different things. Anything else?" We managed to squeeze some additional information from him and had started to ask a second question when four more guests arrived for the chat. This was a bit of a setback as the new guests had to go through their introductions and tell where they were from. Excited that the new chat guests were all European, our monk took the opportunity to hold his nose and speak in a funny nasal voice saying, "I am American...I like shopping...etc". The European visitors sat visibly uncomfortable in nervous laughter as the monk made fun of Americans in front of our backs. Lisa seemed reasonably unfazed and gave him a shrug, while I wrote off the monk completely and refrained from criticizing his choice of delivery, as his normal voice was far more nasal than every American I know. Monks are henceforth dead to me. ...And for the next hot and mosquito-infested hour the monk chat was an oration of all things monk. We learned his feelings and opinions on the political history of Cambodia, as well as his favorite films and foods. He loves Rambo and dreams of being a soldier. Try as we might, none of the monk chat attendees were able to get a word in, let alone ask questions. One positive outcome was a fashion show of sorts where the monk showed us how the robes work and showed off the sleek form-fitting orange one-shouldered cargo vest worn underneath the robes. My mind trailed off wondering where I might procure one of these vests. Eventually we excused ourselves as politely as possibly (which was still pretty awkward), a storm was brewing and we were on foot, but more importantly we were bored and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. As we slipped out and nodded goodbye our monk reminded us that meditation would begin in another hour or so, and we should come back. We nodded and smiled but the monk chat had really exhausted our daily reserves of Buddhist tendencies. The rest of the evening was spent eating at the market (ordering pad thai in bad thai) then getting a sub-par oil massage that was more like an oil rubdown given by two women who seemed irritated that were were there. (It was pleasant enough but nothing like our previous Thai massage. Also they massaged the boobs. Also we weren't given any instructions, whereas previous massages had included a massage outfit to put on. I assumed we were to just get naked. Lisa came in after me and I said "I think we are to be naked next to each other. There's a first time for everything." This massage was stupid.) We shared a beer and oreo milkshake at Mike's Burgers while listening to a cover band play across the street (Which was incidentally our first introduction to the Bruno Mars hit "Just the Way You Are", which we picked up quickly do to its simple repetition and stood for a moment on the corner singing along.) We ended the day with a long midnight walk around the square moat that encapsulates the city center. We like to refer to this walk as "squaring the square." On this mild adventure we encountered a most curious and adorable animal hanging out in the trees lining the street. A sugar glider? We also passed a few wats of interest that we made a note to revisit the next day. Among them include the wat we dubbed Club Wat for it's glittering mirrored exterior. Another was Homeless Wat, named for the man and his dog asleep at the entrance.
We did manage to get some cheap dental work done the next day, after a 5 minute online research determined that we would most likely not contract any diseases, namely AIDS, from this foray into medical tourism. Our teeth cleanings showed that Meta had two cavities and I needed a crown for a broken tooth. At a fraction of the US price, we really pulled one over on the system. I intend to do all of my dental and medical work this way from here on out.
After the dental cleaning we set out to resquare the square and visit some wats, and ran into our good friend Caroline. She had come to stay the weekend with us in Chiang Mai. Caroline is something of a celebrity in Chiang Mai and was immediately greeted at the hostel by other travelers she had met in recent excursions.
Our dusty trio took to the streets. We ate sticky rice and mango (delicious!) from the food carts and explored the square. We made up stories about our elusive roommate at the dorm. We found Club Wat, which was sadly closed, but we did take some pictures in the mirrored glass. We visited an outdoor wat at twilight, listened to the chanting monks and climbed some stairs to sit beneath a large Buddha and watch the bustling street below us. We drank some varieties of cocktails and found a place to eat. The restaurant was adorned with fantastic old Thai movie posters and colored lights. Meta and I were introduced to khao soy, a delicious soupy meal with a coconut milk base, chiles and tofu or chicken and fried noodles and all kinds of rich deliciousness. As much as we wanted to check out the night bazaar, we were all exhausted after our long day of heat and exploration. We made a stop so Meta could pick up ear plugs (Caroline snores. Loudly.). This set of four tiny green pieces of foam cost 150 baht. That is the equivalent of 5 American dollars, and more expensive than most of the guest houses we stayed in. The value of the baht never ceases to mystify, but the value of earplugs in a room with Caroline is arguably priceless.
The next day Caroline introduced us to her friend who makes smoothies and fruit bowls at the food market. For breakfast we ate a gigantic bucket filled with yoghurt, fresh fruit, and muesli. The morning was spent at a leisurely pace. Caroline and I read while Meta had her cavities filled. My crown appointment was later in the afternoon which gave us enough time to visit Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, probably the largest wat we visited on the trip. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: the city's most famous temple, stands on Doi Suthep, a hill to the north-west of the city. This temple dates from 1383. By tradition, its site was chosen by placing a relic of the Lord Buddha on an elephant's back and letting it roam until it trumpeted, then circled, and finally laid down and died. The temple's location provides views of the city on a clear day.
This wat was gorgeous. We were dropped off after a winding drive up the mountain and climbed a staircase active with people selling various wares and food. Once at the top we ignored the sign demanding that foreigners pay some amount of baht (resolving, of course, to offer our money once inside.) This blatant segregation of foreigners is widespread and interesting because it depends solely on visual cues. A white citizen of Thailand would be asked to pay, while an Asian American would not be questioned. For the most part, this method is probably pretty accurate. Either way we never got used to the shamelessness of the distinction, the blunt reminder that we did not belong.
Highlights of this two story wat include the the young girls dancing in traditional Lanna attire, the high school band that sat on the floor and played their instruments, the tiny mangy puppies wandering around, rows and rows of the biggest bells I've seen, and getting blessed by a cranky monk who gave away bracelets with the blessing, (he splashes water on you and hands over the bracelet. A wat-affiliated volunteer ties the bracelet on the womens' wrists as the monk is not to make physical contact with women). We also experienced our first Chinese fortune, acquired through a canister filled with sticks. Each stick has a number on it and after spending some time meditating on the Buddha, you shake the canister until a stick falls out. There are corresponding numbered papers which tell you your fortune. Caroline's fortune confirmed that she and Meta would find their "lost party" (I had gotten separated from them.) My fortune claimed my unyielding happiness in all of my affairs which left me somewhat suspicious.
After the wat we headed back to the city for a quick lunch (sandwiches at a hip vegetarian restaurant where one of Caroline's friends works), and I had my dental appointment. This went pretty smoothly, after the doctor laughed at my nervousness and conceded to give me the novacaine. This man later made fun of my teeth for being too dark. Real professional, guy. And in the true Thai spirit of "you've seen one farang, you've seen a thousand farang", my (Lisa's) dental records are under the curious title of "Meta Gary". I got to keep my mis-identified x-ray as a souvenir. I might add that this xray was taken without the offering of a protective vest. But who am I to complain about a little radiation exposure? No one, apparently.
Next goal was the Thai royalty photos we had so joyously read about in our travel book. In truth, it is basically the ONLY thing we read about before heading to Thailand (you might say we were ill prepared for Asia). A little research done by Caroline and Meta while I was with the good doctor, and we were headed toward the local mall. We passed the Homeless Wat on the way but couldn't cross the busy Chiang Mai traffic and sadly had to let it go. Also we were sipping on one BEET SMOOTHIE, courtesy fruit n muesli stand girl who I am in love with. Okay. Caroline was quite the skeptic about these royalty photos until we arrived at the mall and found that they're not the cheesy tourist attraction we had envisioned, but instead a professional glamour-shots-type operation with great outfits, make up, hair, and backdrops. Caroline perked right up at this new set of circumstances, but thai royalty shoots come with a hefty price tag that the traveling farang were simply not willing to pay. We were a bit disgruntled that our cheesy gatlinburg style dreams were dashed. Caroline consoled herself with some meat on a stick and we all did a little shopping in the market conveniently set up at the mall entrance. Meta and I scored some sweet skinny suspenders (same price as our earplugs, for reference).
Further consolation involved massage. In the interest of sampling all manner of massage, Meta and I decided on the full hour head-neck-shoulder-foot massage, while Caroline stuck to the traditional Thai contortion massage. The woman at the front desk had to call our masseuses into work. While we waited we admired a fabulous 70s photo of the Royal Family dressed in yellows and oranges and looking very Partridge-esque. The massage girls rode up together on a scooter and we all got down to business. This was hands down the best massage of the trip, eliciting romantic feelings on my end, the way any good massage should.
NEXT UP GAY BAR. Interesting dynamic here, the place was practically empty save for a handful of pretty Thai boys and their older, fatter (richer?) white boyfriends. While we sipped cocktails a brother-sister child con team approached us and tried to sell us roses. When we declined the offer the small boy upped the ante by challenging Caroline to a thumb war with a 5 baht buy in. The dynamic between these two kids was amusing - the boy was charming and manic his older sister was snarky and bored. The thumb war trick was a hit and the boy "won" 5 b from each of us and graciously gave us roses.
We left the bar to check out the night market but we were too late and it was shutting down. We picked up some mango and sticky rice and headed back to our gay bar where we were greeted warmly by our Thai gayboy friends. We had a few more drinks, listened to Rhianna, giggled with the boys, made polite conversation with their older gentleman friends, and were invited to go out dancing at the nearby Club Mandalay with them when the bar closed. Too bad Club Mandalay is exclusive and even when Meta showed some skin and one of the white boyfriends claimed I was his sister, the bouncer would not budge. We were welcome only for a price, and at the late hour and with our hurt pride, we were not willing to pay. Instead we picked up a few snacks to munch on our defeated walk home. Caroline swears she's going to get into that club for free before her time in Thailand is out.
We fell into bed at an unusually late hour. We tipsy-chatted with our dormmate who we had been going back and forth between loving and hating. Caroline stepped outside to talk to her gig (Thai slang for part-time lover!) on the phone and got caught up in some late night adventure of her own while Meta and I promptly passed out in preparation for our next adventure: Pai.
Friday, May 20, 2011
in which they meet jack sparrow and are bitten by fish
Well the night bus to Bangkok was a real treat as always. Once there, we were able to successfully navigate the massive Bangkok northern bus terminal well enough to purchace tickets for our short (3 hour) jaunt to Kanchanaburi. The town is small and quaint. As Lisa put it, it is welcoming to tourists, but not catering to them. When we first got in, we walked the main drag of the town and took the first guest house we came to. It was great. Clean (poop-free), a hot shower, a fan...even a tv! And it had a very nice foliage-heavy courtyard that all the rooms opened to by way of a glass Japanese-style sliding door.
We decided to go check out a few recommended wats in the area and wake up first thing in the morning and head to the waterfall that is considered the main attraction in the area. After examining the map and trying to determine its scale, we decided to rent a bicycle to get to our destination. When we headed out to rent it, we came to a scooter rental place first, and accepted the challenge. I (meta) am the driver in these situations, and my main concern was acclimating myself to left side of the road driving. Also, they gave us an empty gas tank, so the first goal was to get to the petrol station on the big traffic road. Nervous about navigating, left-side driving and the possibility of running out of gas before reaching the station, I recognized that we were going the wrong way, and promptly turning around straight into a sandy patch. We toppled right over and I'm sad to say my clean, fall-free scooter record is no more. We were both ok, save a skinned knee or two and we climbed back on. I attempted to start the thing back up and it wouldn't start. I tried a few times and started getting nervous that I had broken it and wondering how many Baht they were going to charge me for a damaged scooter. I child walked up and motioned for me to step aside. He hopped on and started it up in one try. Relieved, we smiled and thanked him, although he didn't seem to care at all about our gratitude and shrugged it off like he does it all the time. With Lisa playing the role of navigator, we headed off into the countryside to our first wat of the north.
Wat Tham Khao Pun is unique because it is underground in a cave. We payed an entry fee and climbed down a series of narrow slippery steps into the dim musty space. It was impressive. An enormous reclining Buddha met us in the first opening. We took turns lighting incense and kneeling as we had been taught at the previous wat. I really enjoyed being out away from the tourists, and even out away from town. We were the only visitors to the wat at the time so we were free to explore the narrow passage ways in silence except for the sounds of dripping cave water and the occasional flapping of bat wings. It was really cool. Just being deep inside a cave is pretty cool, but the contrast of all the gold statues against the roughness of the caves felt like finding a secret treasure.
Before we went out to the cave, Lisa was reading about it in our tourist literature. She casually mentioned that sometime in the past, and Englishman was murdered at that wat by a drug addicted monk. Neither of us thought much about the tale. As we emerged from the cave's exit, a man and a very small boy stood waiting at the top. The man began speaking to us in broken English and we soon discovered that he was speaking of the murdered Englishman. Furthermore, for a price of 10 Baht (about 33 cents) he offered for the child to lead us into the woods to show us the location of the murder. The answer in this scenario is always "yes", so we gave the child a coin and, barefoot, he motioned us to follow. As we headed away, the man called out to us, "The boy only speaks Thai!". Lisa and I were smitten with our tiny, overly-serious 4 or 5 year old tour guide as well as giggling about the absurdity of our present situation. It was a perfect blend of morbid and adorable as we reached a ditch in the woods. The boy pointed down at it, and then looked back at us. We weren't sure how to react, or even what we were supposed to be looking at. Honestly, we were in it for the kid. (Who Meta snapped several sneaky photos of, true to form). We attempted to feign excitement and smiled and said thank you in Thai trying to extract some sort of sweet expression on the kid's face. But not this one. He was a working boy. And not only that, he was working the murder circuit. It was a hard job, and he was jaded. After only a moment of admiring the unmarked killing ditch, he led us back to the entrance examining and jingling the change in his small hands.
We decided to explore some more of the coutryside. Not very far down the road, we passed a sign for another wat called "Buddha'a footprint" and decided to stop in. It should also be noted here that we made a checklist upon arriving to Thailand and one item on the list is "visit 20 wats", so we rarely pass up the opportunity to add to our tally. The road we followed off the main road to get to it was a small path that led between farms. It was an absolutely gorgeous scene of lush green fields, Thai farmers out in the fields, a Brahman cow or two and everything surrounded by towering green hills and rocky bluffs. Also the sky was that really wonderful blue grey full of fluffy clouds like it might rain. The written description is necessary because we both immediately recognized the need to document, pulled out cameras and both of our camera batteries died at the same time.
We pulled into the back entrance of the wat to find a wat that was the complete opposite of the cave one. It was all open and outdoors and fairly sprawling. The grounds were emaculate and it was much like strolling through a garden. They even had a small zoo in the back with peacocks and deer! We both found the whole place to be quite wonderful.
We decided to go ahead and explore the countryside since we had paid for the gas. It was lovely. A couple highlights: We had to pull over a couple times to allow farmers to move their Brahman herds through the streets. Also at some point we saw a Thai couple on a scooter pulled over to the side of the road. Instead of the standard and universal courtesy nod that says "I see that you are on a scooter, and I am also on a scooter", the driver held out his meat on a stick and waved it in the air, smiling as if to say, "Look what I have! It's meat on a stick! We pulled over to have a snack! I love life, don't you?!" And we did. It was a much-needed shift from the tourist-polluted beaches in the south and the general chaos of travel.
We returned the scooter and availed ourselves to a gem in town called Tofu Bar where we gleefully feasted on tofu, pumpkin and a miracle food called fuk (pronunciation unclear) until we were stuffed. A light rain fell as we strolled through the main drag of the tourist section of town and waxed poetic of our love for it. Maybe it was the Chang talking, or the fuk...or maybe it was real.
Feeling open for anything we stopped into a fish massage establishment. We had seen them down south and figureed, why not. They way it works is you sit with your feet in a large aquarium full of Gara Ruffa fish. Then they eat you. And people just love it. Supposedly they rid you of dead skin, provide a massage, circulation, detox, etc etc. It was horrifying at first. Fish obsessively eating the dead flesh from your feet feels exactly as you'd imagine. Sick.
(Compounding the discomfort was the fact that I [Lisa] was using this opportunity as an exercise in recovering from childhood trauma, involving carp and resulting in an irrational fish fear that I've carried into adulthood. Now you know.)
So after a few initial moments of both of us freaking out, the fish biting massage was actually okay and even sort of fascinating. Meta did point out that this tank was one thing, but in nature the fish biting the feet would not be okay. I agreed.
After the whole fish thing we figured it was time for our first Thai massage. Thai massage, it turns out, is kind of intense. Kind of a massage-chiropractic-yoga hybrid. These women will contort your body in ways you never thought possible. A balance of pain and relaxation.
Also in Kanchanaburi we had the great honor of meeting the famed Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator. We had read about this guy in the local rag in bangkok. He dresses up in full Jack Sparrow regalia and lets tourists take pictures of him and sells them bookmarks or something. He really does bear a striking resemblance, especially with the costume. So we were hanging out at the bar, having a Chang and taking a load off, when Mr. Sparrow himself approaches. He was in plainclothes, so we didn't recongnize him at first. He introduced himself as Jack, and it all came together when he motioned to a huge poster on the wall featuring the man himself in all of his Depp inspired glory. Amazing. Jack went on to give us a shot of his whiskey-herb concoction that he brews himself. He produced a jar of the stuff brewing and I was beginning to wonder what was his affiliation with this bar. He made a few dirty jokes with accompanying hand motions (apparently the herbs make one horny). Meta and I were able to overlook this offense because we were still so starstruck. THE Jack Sparrow impersonator!
The next morning we picked up a couple of bananas at the fruit stand. As our tour book promised, we met bananas that don't taste like chalk! We've been mercilessly joking about that ridiculous phrase ever since we read it about a month ago, but you guys, the bananas here are pretty amazing. Sweet and dense and rich. Delicious.
We rode the long rickety bus to the national park featuring a seven step waterfall and wild monkeys swinging from the trees, with signs warning visitors to beware the fierce monkeys. It's a beautiful hike, up the mountain for about an hour. There are seven stopping points featuring scenic waterfalls. It also appears to be a top site for local Thai retreat, as it was jam-packed with people. Once at the top, we stripped down to our bathing suits and splashed around in the gushing water and it was incredible. (It should be noted that our discarded pile of clothing was instantly surrounded by flies and other insects, via Pigpen. After a solid week of sweaty travel, baby wipe baths in public restrooms, and no laundry, we were veritably disgusting.) SO THEN we began our mountain descent. Level 2 had a great pool and a rocky cove behind the waterfall, so you could climb up on the rocks and sit behind the wall of water. The problem was the fish. You see, there's actually no need to spend any amount of baht on flesh eating fish to remove your dead skin cells because at the Erawan National Park, these guys will do it for free. And they're bigger. And uglier. And there are so many of them. Cue childhood trauma relapse, I could not get into that waterfall. I felt like a fool, surrounded by tiny children who were not the least bit fazed by the killing machines nibbling their toes. I found a comfortable and safe rock to sit on and volunteered to take pictures of Meta swimming the fish infested waters.
(*Meta's account: Lisa wasn't the only one put off by the fish. I was terrified. The ones at the fish spa were about an inch long. These wild suckers were topping out and a foot/ foot and a half. They were swarming the edges of the pool, but the middle was fish-free. So I stood on a rock flipping out as I worked myself up to taking a big breath and hurling my body forward as far as it would go to get to the middle quickly. Once there I was safe...until I attempted the waterfall climb on the other side. They got me again and there was nothing I could do about it. But it was worth it. Once I was back out of the water in a waterfall cave it was like something out of a movie. The inside was dripping moss and fern covered stalactites. I sat on a rock inside the cave and watched monkeys and hundreds of Thai people frolic in paradise.)
We returned to town (after a short setback when our bus broke down) with about an hour to eat before catching a bus to Bangkok where we would get on the night bus to Lampang. There was quite a bit of confusion at the Bangkok bus station when the bus we had bought tickets for was apparently cancelled. This was conveyed by a man (later discerned he was the bus driver) putting a pile of money in Meta's hand and taking our bus tickets out of mine. What followed was an attempt at information sharing through a serious language barrier. Lots of pointing, mostly. We needed a new ticket to Bangkok and we had to leave immediately to catch our connecting bus. We weren't sure which buses went to the correct station. In the midst of this confusion, a small boy (bus driver's son?) reassured us over and over "It's okay. Bangkok! It's okay" accompanied with the okay hand gesture. His confidence and soothing tone really got us through this rough patch. We boarded a minibus going to what was probably our terminal in Bangkok.
The Bangkok terminal was bustling with a night market. Nothing looked familiar and we weren't even sure we were at the right place. We navigated the maze of wares, exhausted and confused. Every three carts or so were selling the exact same merchandise, same neon watches and lit up cell phones, so you can never really tell where you are.
On the night bus to Lampang we each took two sleeping pills. This is the recommended dosage but so far we'd been using one. The difference is drastic. I was out cold in ten minutes. When we were awoken in the middle of the night for a meal (which wasn't free on this measly six hour trip), I was slumped over in my seat with my head hanging in the aisle, drooling on the bus floor. We debused for this fifteen minute break and bumbled around the rest stop in a groggy stupor, occasionally running into things. Bought socks (the bus is so cold) and oreos. We stood waiting to get back on the bus, unable to form words, holding our socks and silently passing the oreo package back and forth. Soon we would wake up in Lampang and take the short bus ride to Hang Chat and to Caroline, where we would nap off the remaining drug effects. But in the meantime, we ate cookies and waited.
We decided to go check out a few recommended wats in the area and wake up first thing in the morning and head to the waterfall that is considered the main attraction in the area. After examining the map and trying to determine its scale, we decided to rent a bicycle to get to our destination. When we headed out to rent it, we came to a scooter rental place first, and accepted the challenge. I (meta) am the driver in these situations, and my main concern was acclimating myself to left side of the road driving. Also, they gave us an empty gas tank, so the first goal was to get to the petrol station on the big traffic road. Nervous about navigating, left-side driving and the possibility of running out of gas before reaching the station, I recognized that we were going the wrong way, and promptly turning around straight into a sandy patch. We toppled right over and I'm sad to say my clean, fall-free scooter record is no more. We were both ok, save a skinned knee or two and we climbed back on. I attempted to start the thing back up and it wouldn't start. I tried a few times and started getting nervous that I had broken it and wondering how many Baht they were going to charge me for a damaged scooter. I child walked up and motioned for me to step aside. He hopped on and started it up in one try. Relieved, we smiled and thanked him, although he didn't seem to care at all about our gratitude and shrugged it off like he does it all the time. With Lisa playing the role of navigator, we headed off into the countryside to our first wat of the north.
Wat Tham Khao Pun is unique because it is underground in a cave. We payed an entry fee and climbed down a series of narrow slippery steps into the dim musty space. It was impressive. An enormous reclining Buddha met us in the first opening. We took turns lighting incense and kneeling as we had been taught at the previous wat. I really enjoyed being out away from the tourists, and even out away from town. We were the only visitors to the wat at the time so we were free to explore the narrow passage ways in silence except for the sounds of dripping cave water and the occasional flapping of bat wings. It was really cool. Just being deep inside a cave is pretty cool, but the contrast of all the gold statues against the roughness of the caves felt like finding a secret treasure.
Before we went out to the cave, Lisa was reading about it in our tourist literature. She casually mentioned that sometime in the past, and Englishman was murdered at that wat by a drug addicted monk. Neither of us thought much about the tale. As we emerged from the cave's exit, a man and a very small boy stood waiting at the top. The man began speaking to us in broken English and we soon discovered that he was speaking of the murdered Englishman. Furthermore, for a price of 10 Baht (about 33 cents) he offered for the child to lead us into the woods to show us the location of the murder. The answer in this scenario is always "yes", so we gave the child a coin and, barefoot, he motioned us to follow. As we headed away, the man called out to us, "The boy only speaks Thai!". Lisa and I were smitten with our tiny, overly-serious 4 or 5 year old tour guide as well as giggling about the absurdity of our present situation. It was a perfect blend of morbid and adorable as we reached a ditch in the woods. The boy pointed down at it, and then looked back at us. We weren't sure how to react, or even what we were supposed to be looking at. Honestly, we were in it for the kid. (Who Meta snapped several sneaky photos of, true to form). We attempted to feign excitement and smiled and said thank you in Thai trying to extract some sort of sweet expression on the kid's face. But not this one. He was a working boy. And not only that, he was working the murder circuit. It was a hard job, and he was jaded. After only a moment of admiring the unmarked killing ditch, he led us back to the entrance examining and jingling the change in his small hands.
We decided to explore some more of the coutryside. Not very far down the road, we passed a sign for another wat called "Buddha'a footprint" and decided to stop in. It should also be noted here that we made a checklist upon arriving to Thailand and one item on the list is "visit 20 wats", so we rarely pass up the opportunity to add to our tally. The road we followed off the main road to get to it was a small path that led between farms. It was an absolutely gorgeous scene of lush green fields, Thai farmers out in the fields, a Brahman cow or two and everything surrounded by towering green hills and rocky bluffs. Also the sky was that really wonderful blue grey full of fluffy clouds like it might rain. The written description is necessary because we both immediately recognized the need to document, pulled out cameras and both of our camera batteries died at the same time.
We pulled into the back entrance of the wat to find a wat that was the complete opposite of the cave one. It was all open and outdoors and fairly sprawling. The grounds were emaculate and it was much like strolling through a garden. They even had a small zoo in the back with peacocks and deer! We both found the whole place to be quite wonderful.
We decided to go ahead and explore the countryside since we had paid for the gas. It was lovely. A couple highlights: We had to pull over a couple times to allow farmers to move their Brahman herds through the streets. Also at some point we saw a Thai couple on a scooter pulled over to the side of the road. Instead of the standard and universal courtesy nod that says "I see that you are on a scooter, and I am also on a scooter", the driver held out his meat on a stick and waved it in the air, smiling as if to say, "Look what I have! It's meat on a stick! We pulled over to have a snack! I love life, don't you?!" And we did. It was a much-needed shift from the tourist-polluted beaches in the south and the general chaos of travel.
We returned the scooter and availed ourselves to a gem in town called Tofu Bar where we gleefully feasted on tofu, pumpkin and a miracle food called fuk (pronunciation unclear) until we were stuffed. A light rain fell as we strolled through the main drag of the tourist section of town and waxed poetic of our love for it. Maybe it was the Chang talking, or the fuk...or maybe it was real.
Feeling open for anything we stopped into a fish massage establishment. We had seen them down south and figureed, why not. They way it works is you sit with your feet in a large aquarium full of Gara Ruffa fish. Then they eat you. And people just love it. Supposedly they rid you of dead skin, provide a massage, circulation, detox, etc etc. It was horrifying at first. Fish obsessively eating the dead flesh from your feet feels exactly as you'd imagine. Sick.
(Compounding the discomfort was the fact that I [Lisa] was using this opportunity as an exercise in recovering from childhood trauma, involving carp and resulting in an irrational fish fear that I've carried into adulthood. Now you know.)
So after a few initial moments of both of us freaking out, the fish biting massage was actually okay and even sort of fascinating. Meta did point out that this tank was one thing, but in nature the fish biting the feet would not be okay. I agreed.
After the whole fish thing we figured it was time for our first Thai massage. Thai massage, it turns out, is kind of intense. Kind of a massage-chiropractic-yoga hybrid. These women will contort your body in ways you never thought possible. A balance of pain and relaxation.
Also in Kanchanaburi we had the great honor of meeting the famed Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator. We had read about this guy in the local rag in bangkok. He dresses up in full Jack Sparrow regalia and lets tourists take pictures of him and sells them bookmarks or something. He really does bear a striking resemblance, especially with the costume. So we were hanging out at the bar, having a Chang and taking a load off, when Mr. Sparrow himself approaches. He was in plainclothes, so we didn't recongnize him at first. He introduced himself as Jack, and it all came together when he motioned to a huge poster on the wall featuring the man himself in all of his Depp inspired glory. Amazing. Jack went on to give us a shot of his whiskey-herb concoction that he brews himself. He produced a jar of the stuff brewing and I was beginning to wonder what was his affiliation with this bar. He made a few dirty jokes with accompanying hand motions (apparently the herbs make one horny). Meta and I were able to overlook this offense because we were still so starstruck. THE Jack Sparrow impersonator!
The next morning we picked up a couple of bananas at the fruit stand. As our tour book promised, we met bananas that don't taste like chalk! We've been mercilessly joking about that ridiculous phrase ever since we read it about a month ago, but you guys, the bananas here are pretty amazing. Sweet and dense and rich. Delicious.
We rode the long rickety bus to the national park featuring a seven step waterfall and wild monkeys swinging from the trees, with signs warning visitors to beware the fierce monkeys. It's a beautiful hike, up the mountain for about an hour. There are seven stopping points featuring scenic waterfalls. It also appears to be a top site for local Thai retreat, as it was jam-packed with people. Once at the top, we stripped down to our bathing suits and splashed around in the gushing water and it was incredible. (It should be noted that our discarded pile of clothing was instantly surrounded by flies and other insects, via Pigpen. After a solid week of sweaty travel, baby wipe baths in public restrooms, and no laundry, we were veritably disgusting.) SO THEN we began our mountain descent. Level 2 had a great pool and a rocky cove behind the waterfall, so you could climb up on the rocks and sit behind the wall of water. The problem was the fish. You see, there's actually no need to spend any amount of baht on flesh eating fish to remove your dead skin cells because at the Erawan National Park, these guys will do it for free. And they're bigger. And uglier. And there are so many of them. Cue childhood trauma relapse, I could not get into that waterfall. I felt like a fool, surrounded by tiny children who were not the least bit fazed by the killing machines nibbling their toes. I found a comfortable and safe rock to sit on and volunteered to take pictures of Meta swimming the fish infested waters.
(*Meta's account: Lisa wasn't the only one put off by the fish. I was terrified. The ones at the fish spa were about an inch long. These wild suckers were topping out and a foot/ foot and a half. They were swarming the edges of the pool, but the middle was fish-free. So I stood on a rock flipping out as I worked myself up to taking a big breath and hurling my body forward as far as it would go to get to the middle quickly. Once there I was safe...until I attempted the waterfall climb on the other side. They got me again and there was nothing I could do about it. But it was worth it. Once I was back out of the water in a waterfall cave it was like something out of a movie. The inside was dripping moss and fern covered stalactites. I sat on a rock inside the cave and watched monkeys and hundreds of Thai people frolic in paradise.)
We returned to town (after a short setback when our bus broke down) with about an hour to eat before catching a bus to Bangkok where we would get on the night bus to Lampang. There was quite a bit of confusion at the Bangkok bus station when the bus we had bought tickets for was apparently cancelled. This was conveyed by a man (later discerned he was the bus driver) putting a pile of money in Meta's hand and taking our bus tickets out of mine. What followed was an attempt at information sharing through a serious language barrier. Lots of pointing, mostly. We needed a new ticket to Bangkok and we had to leave immediately to catch our connecting bus. We weren't sure which buses went to the correct station. In the midst of this confusion, a small boy (bus driver's son?) reassured us over and over "It's okay. Bangkok! It's okay" accompanied with the okay hand gesture. His confidence and soothing tone really got us through this rough patch. We boarded a minibus going to what was probably our terminal in Bangkok.
The Bangkok terminal was bustling with a night market. Nothing looked familiar and we weren't even sure we were at the right place. We navigated the maze of wares, exhausted and confused. Every three carts or so were selling the exact same merchandise, same neon watches and lit up cell phones, so you can never really tell where you are.
On the night bus to Lampang we each took two sleeping pills. This is the recommended dosage but so far we'd been using one. The difference is drastic. I was out cold in ten minutes. When we were awoken in the middle of the night for a meal (which wasn't free on this measly six hour trip), I was slumped over in my seat with my head hanging in the aisle, drooling on the bus floor. We debused for this fifteen minute break and bumbled around the rest stop in a groggy stupor, occasionally running into things. Bought socks (the bus is so cold) and oreos. We stood waiting to get back on the bus, unable to form words, holding our socks and silently passing the oreo package back and forth. Soon we would wake up in Lampang and take the short bus ride to Hang Chat and to Caroline, where we would nap off the remaining drug effects. But in the meantime, we ate cookies and waited.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Day 4-5: Mai Kow Jai...over and over...
The final night in Hua Hin included a swim suit costume change and a walk on the beach and then a night market...with food on sticks! Lisa had the most exciting food that could manage to impale itself upon a stick. It was a squid. Squid on a stick for Lisa. We also shared BBQ bananas in coconut sauce and some other stuff on sticks. The night market was quite exciting and made for a fine send off from Hua Hin.
We made our way to the bus station around 9:30 for our 10:25 overnight bus to Phuket (where we planned to immediately catch a ferry to Kho Phi Phi). No one really spoke any English at all at the bus station and it was quite crowded and bustling with travelers. We asked several questions to the station attendants by way of charades, etc. about how we would know when it was time for our bus. They were clearly annoyed and not of very much help. We saw a few buses come in early with the name of our town so we got up and held up our tickets and they just shook their heads no and told us to sit down. Assuming our bus was late, we waited a little while until the next bus rolled in with "Phuket" on the side. Naturally this had to be our bus, so we gathered our bags and ran to get on. We walked the isles looking for our seats as the bus began to pull away. Before we found a spot to settle in, the bus attendant asked for our tickets. He looked at them and immediately told the driver to stop. We got kicked off the bus, again with no attempted explanation. We walked back to the station to ask again. The next hour or so we took turns subjecting ourselves to the wrath and humiliation that was the Hua Hin bus station staff. Every time, without even creative attempts at communication, all they said was "no" or "sit down" or the straight forward irritated head shake as they became increasingly disgusted with our presence. By now it was 11:30, and we had no idea what was going on and were very tired and frustrated. We tried to figure out how we could have missed it, because we began trying to get on every bus that came through an hour and a half ago. I risked my life and asked an attendant another time. When she told me to sit down, I asked again. She angrily slammed her finger down on my ticket and said "wrong company. go sit down." Now we had the information that there were multiple companies and we had to figure out a bus that corresponded to us. This, for us, was an elementary matching game of matching corresponding shapes of Thai letters, since we don't read the language. Minutes dragged on and no bus. We had barely slept at all the night before due to jet lag, and were now confused and exhausted in a bus station full of employees that hated us. Lisa started in on talk of Hua Hin hotels, and we decided that if 1:00 am rolled around, the bus probably wasn't coming. I walked to the window a final time, where the bus man shut it in my face and walked away. Appalled, I mastered my first Thai phrase in that moment which was "I do not understand" and planned to throw it at them again and again until we got somewhere. As I was getting up, a Thai couple approached us who saw our frustration as well as its source and, in very broken English, offered to help. It was now 12:30am. As we were trying to communicate with the new liaisons, a bus driver wearing a shirt with a logo that matched the shapes on our ticket walked up. Our bus was here. We vaguely found out that it had encountered accidents on the way and was running late. It was the happiest moment of our lives.
Once on the bus we experienced yet another in a line of surreal moments when the regular lighting inside was green. And not like, fun accent lighting for decor purposes, but like actual lighting. It was like the whole bus was in night vision. It was weird, and would have been under normal circumstances, but was especially so after being awake nearly 24 hours and undergoing the emotional roller coaster that was the bus station. Kind of like walking out of a nightmare into a nightmare.
Finally ready for sleep, we each took a sleeping pill because even if you're exhausted, sleeping on a bus is never easy. We were soundly snoozing in a sleep-aid induced slumber when the green lights reappeared accompanied by some loud Thai pop music. We were confused. Again. We didn't have very much time to exchange drugged, bus- haired, bleary-eyed looks before the bus pulled up to a large building and everyone began getting off. The driver told us 17 minutes.
If I had had the wherewith all at the time, I would have brought a camera into this place, because I'm pretty sure it was as odd as it seemed at the time. The ceilings were unnecessarily tall, like a huge warehouse. Inside was a small, convenience-store sized gathering of Thai treats available for sale. All were of unknown identity to us. There was also a cafeteria-style row of hot food. We gathered that this was an eating and resting break. After going to the bathroom on "squatties", we aimlessly bumped and stared at things. The driver pointed us to an equally expansive adjacent room containing round hefty marble tables with marble lazy susans built into the centers. All of our bus companions were silently and expressionlessly eating food and sharing the offerings upon the rotating centers. It took us a while to understand the workings, still until a woman motioned for us to sit down. We were each served a bowl of hot water and rice and we followed everyone else's lead and began loading the rice bowl with the contents of the middle platters. It was actually quite good and also comforting. After 17 minutes, the bus passengers silently and again, expressionlessly began filing onto the bus. It was the first time I felt like one in a herd of cattle on this trip (more times come later). It doesn't all sound horribly strange when its all laid out, so I do think a lot of it was that it was 3 am and the sleeping pills were still active, but...no...not all of it...it was still pretty weird. I wish I had photos, as I feel like that would tell the whole story. You know what they say with the picture and the thousand words...
We slept resonably well/ok/not that well and experienced the first of several early morning bus wake up calls. Around 5:45/6am as buses believe that passengers should be awake. Afterall, its morning. They achieve this by turning on the lights (in this case green ones) and cranking up the Thai pop hits over the bus speakers. Again, hazy and slightly surreal. As we've become more accustomed to the night buses, I've found that I've cultivated a real affinity for Thai pop, particularly as a blaring 6AM wake up call. Kavarna, get ready.
As we've continued traveling, we've gotten pretty nightbus savvy. We now know the ropes of the 3am hot-wate-rice dinner. Still, desolate rest stops in the middle of nowhere, Thailand are always just slightly unnerving. It may be because we're always in the fog of kroger brand sleep aid. It may be the high ceilings and sparse rows of baked goods. The otherworldliness of being immersed in a completely different language that we have no way of comprehending. Or the utter silence of the whole experience. Either way, Thai transit is really on to something. Where else can you get your transport, accomodation, and dinner all at once? Efficiency. I'm pleased to report also that since the nightmare of Hua Hin, all of our bus station interactions have gone very smoothly. We've picked some rudimentary language skills and most people around here are happily willing to meet us in the middle with charades.
We reached our destination of Phuket in order to hop onto yet another form of transport. Oh all the traveling in this Trip of Travels.
We made our way to the bus station around 9:30 for our 10:25 overnight bus to Phuket (where we planned to immediately catch a ferry to Kho Phi Phi). No one really spoke any English at all at the bus station and it was quite crowded and bustling with travelers. We asked several questions to the station attendants by way of charades, etc. about how we would know when it was time for our bus. They were clearly annoyed and not of very much help. We saw a few buses come in early with the name of our town so we got up and held up our tickets and they just shook their heads no and told us to sit down. Assuming our bus was late, we waited a little while until the next bus rolled in with "Phuket" on the side. Naturally this had to be our bus, so we gathered our bags and ran to get on. We walked the isles looking for our seats as the bus began to pull away. Before we found a spot to settle in, the bus attendant asked for our tickets. He looked at them and immediately told the driver to stop. We got kicked off the bus, again with no attempted explanation. We walked back to the station to ask again. The next hour or so we took turns subjecting ourselves to the wrath and humiliation that was the Hua Hin bus station staff. Every time, without even creative attempts at communication, all they said was "no" or "sit down" or the straight forward irritated head shake as they became increasingly disgusted with our presence. By now it was 11:30, and we had no idea what was going on and were very tired and frustrated. We tried to figure out how we could have missed it, because we began trying to get on every bus that came through an hour and a half ago. I risked my life and asked an attendant another time. When she told me to sit down, I asked again. She angrily slammed her finger down on my ticket and said "wrong company. go sit down." Now we had the information that there were multiple companies and we had to figure out a bus that corresponded to us. This, for us, was an elementary matching game of matching corresponding shapes of Thai letters, since we don't read the language. Minutes dragged on and no bus. We had barely slept at all the night before due to jet lag, and were now confused and exhausted in a bus station full of employees that hated us. Lisa started in on talk of Hua Hin hotels, and we decided that if 1:00 am rolled around, the bus probably wasn't coming. I walked to the window a final time, where the bus man shut it in my face and walked away. Appalled, I mastered my first Thai phrase in that moment which was "I do not understand" and planned to throw it at them again and again until we got somewhere. As I was getting up, a Thai couple approached us who saw our frustration as well as its source and, in very broken English, offered to help. It was now 12:30am. As we were trying to communicate with the new liaisons, a bus driver wearing a shirt with a logo that matched the shapes on our ticket walked up. Our bus was here. We vaguely found out that it had encountered accidents on the way and was running late. It was the happiest moment of our lives.
Once on the bus we experienced yet another in a line of surreal moments when the regular lighting inside was green. And not like, fun accent lighting for decor purposes, but like actual lighting. It was like the whole bus was in night vision. It was weird, and would have been under normal circumstances, but was especially so after being awake nearly 24 hours and undergoing the emotional roller coaster that was the bus station. Kind of like walking out of a nightmare into a nightmare.
Finally ready for sleep, we each took a sleeping pill because even if you're exhausted, sleeping on a bus is never easy. We were soundly snoozing in a sleep-aid induced slumber when the green lights reappeared accompanied by some loud Thai pop music. We were confused. Again. We didn't have very much time to exchange drugged, bus- haired, bleary-eyed looks before the bus pulled up to a large building and everyone began getting off. The driver told us 17 minutes.
If I had had the wherewith all at the time, I would have brought a camera into this place, because I'm pretty sure it was as odd as it seemed at the time. The ceilings were unnecessarily tall, like a huge warehouse. Inside was a small, convenience-store sized gathering of Thai treats available for sale. All were of unknown identity to us. There was also a cafeteria-style row of hot food. We gathered that this was an eating and resting break. After going to the bathroom on "squatties", we aimlessly bumped and stared at things. The driver pointed us to an equally expansive adjacent room containing round hefty marble tables with marble lazy susans built into the centers. All of our bus companions were silently and expressionlessly eating food and sharing the offerings upon the rotating centers. It took us a while to understand the workings, still until a woman motioned for us to sit down. We were each served a bowl of hot water and rice and we followed everyone else's lead and began loading the rice bowl with the contents of the middle platters. It was actually quite good and also comforting. After 17 minutes, the bus passengers silently and again, expressionlessly began filing onto the bus. It was the first time I felt like one in a herd of cattle on this trip (more times come later). It doesn't all sound horribly strange when its all laid out, so I do think a lot of it was that it was 3 am and the sleeping pills were still active, but...no...not all of it...it was still pretty weird. I wish I had photos, as I feel like that would tell the whole story. You know what they say with the picture and the thousand words...
We slept resonably well/ok/not that well and experienced the first of several early morning bus wake up calls. Around 5:45/6am as buses believe that passengers should be awake. Afterall, its morning. They achieve this by turning on the lights (in this case green ones) and cranking up the Thai pop hits over the bus speakers. Again, hazy and slightly surreal. As we've become more accustomed to the night buses, I've found that I've cultivated a real affinity for Thai pop, particularly as a blaring 6AM wake up call. Kavarna, get ready.
As we've continued traveling, we've gotten pretty nightbus savvy. We now know the ropes of the 3am hot-wate-rice dinner. Still, desolate rest stops in the middle of nowhere, Thailand are always just slightly unnerving. It may be because we're always in the fog of kroger brand sleep aid. It may be the high ceilings and sparse rows of baked goods. The otherworldliness of being immersed in a completely different language that we have no way of comprehending. Or the utter silence of the whole experience. Either way, Thai transit is really on to something. Where else can you get your transport, accomodation, and dinner all at once? Efficiency. I'm pleased to report also that since the nightmare of Hua Hin, all of our bus station interactions have gone very smoothly. We've picked some rudimentary language skills and most people around here are happily willing to meet us in the middle with charades.
We reached our destination of Phuket in order to hop onto yet another form of transport. Oh all the traveling in this Trip of Travels.
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