Going where I’ve never been

 Or maybe joke of the class? It’s hard to tell when you don’t speak Thai!

 My teaching experience hasn’t received much press time on this blog, but considering that I spend 40 hours each week immersed in it, I think that the time has come to change that. Teaching, as loyal readers will remember, was pretty nervewracking for me at the beginning. This is understandable when you take into account that I was thrown into a classroom after a three week training course (hardly sufficient!) and that, for those who know me, I don’t have the most commanding presence out there. I’ve never enjoyed being in charge (vocally that is – I love running behind-the-scenes shows), and I’m certainly not comfortable in a position of authority. I always hated babysitting and teaching teenagers in Thailand (everywhere?) is exactly that – babysitting.

The nerves settled after a few weeks, though it honestly took quite a bit longer to hit the point where I genuinely didn’t mind getting in front of a class and ‘teaching.’ I still can’t say that I enjoy it per se, but it’s become much easier to swallow and every day has its charms. The time is flying and whereas at one point I was doubting my ability to finish my contract, I am now aware that it’ll be over before I know it.

The problems with Thailand’s educational system are well-known, widely published and nowhere near being solved. I won’t go into a lot of general facts and theory, as these are easy to find (thanks, google!) if you’re interested, but I will discuss them in terms of my own short experience.

The number one, all-encompassing problem is the lack of critical thinking and creativity. Thai schools use rote teaching methods in which the Thai teacher sits at the front of the class, talks on a microphone and the students write down what she says. Their sole task is to memorize these things and then spit them back out on a test – there is no such thing as participation or critical thinking or questioning, it is what it is. This runs more deeply into Thai culture as a whole, but I won’t get into that right now. Basically, there is a formula and the point of school is to learn it – not too unlike what is happening in American schools with such a huge focus on standardized testing. School is less and less about thinking and more about memorizing that magic formula to pass the test that will determine the futures and salaries and budgets of those in charge. The end goal is the piece of paper, not an expanded mind. Considering that Thai schools are profit-hungry businesses, it makes sense.

Anyways, this has translated into a relatively frustrating experience. It is nearly impossible to communicate to these kids that you want them to be creative, be funny, think of something new! It’s not that they’re incapable, but that school as they know it is a place for right and wrong, black and white. Give them an open-ended question – where do you see yourself in 10 years? They will just stare at you, perplexed, waiting for a clue as to what “the” answer is. Of course there are exceptions and occasionally you have a student who GETS it (and makes my day!), but overall, straying from the textbook is futile.

With that said, many of my students can write sentences quite well, have impressive spelling skills and all of them have  flawless handwriting. What they can’t do is put a sentence together in spoken form! They can often manage to get the point across, but I honestly don’t think that I’ve ever heard one complete, grammically correct sentence come out of any of their mouths! It’s a shame, but they are so reluctant to speak English (they’ve spent their whole lives memorizing how to write it) that there’s no way they can get better. It’s surprising when you realize that all of these kids have been studying English for the past 5-12 years.

Moving on. The system flaws are not helped out by the fact that most of these kids have no reason to WANT to learn English. A handful of them do, of course, and they understand that it could open up some doors for them. Most of them, however, don’t see the point. Thailand is not a fully developed country and only a small percentage of the population will ever cross the border; travel is not something that is finacially possible or even a consideration for most Thais. This is an extremely nationalistic place (more on that in another post) – many of my students just don’t understand why a second language matters or how it could possibly affect them.

Not wanting to learn English, when coupled with no-fail policies (we wouldn’t want anyone to stand out!) naturally contributes to all sorts of other issues in the classroom. Tardiness, as I’ve mentioned before, is the norm. This is partially due to “Thai time” (meaning any time different than what was specified) and probably isn’t helped by the fact that I don’t discourage it – I love getting out of some teaching time!

The other major issues are the talking, the primping and the cell phoning. These things, again, aren’t helped by my severe lack of disciplinarian skills, but they seem to be the norm for all foreign teachers. These kids can talk at unimaginably loud levels, they never get tired (this is the birthplace of Redbull!), the girls (and many boys) must consult their mirrors every 3 or 4 minutes and the cell phones are pretty much an extension of their bodies. A typical class will have the 7 studious kids up front, trying to take notes, the group of too-cool guys slouching in the back row, no textbooks in sight, the 10 ‘princesses’ scattered throughout, constantly smoothing their hair and applying lipgloss and about ten cellphones being ‘secretly’  utilized at any given moment, by any given kid.

The difference between here and what I remember from my school days is the lack of defiance. The second that you shoot them a look, ask where the textbook is or why the cellphone is out, they will immediately look embarrassed, wai you (bow) and fix whatever it is they were doing wrong. This doesn’t mean that they won’t resume within five minutes, but Thais don’t do confrontation and it’s evident in the classroom. When class is over, they’ll all thank you, say ‘see you next time,’ and will wave enthusiastically at you outside of class, yelling the all-too-common “Tee-cha!”

Strangely, many of my students are my age and a few are older. I have one girl who is 29, in an intro class with a bunch of 16 year olds. Age is an ambiguous thing here – no one ever looks their age (especially not while wearing a school uniform!) and the maturity rate is so different from the west. A 20 year old Thai is like a 15 year old westerner in terms of maturity – I have a group of 23 year old girls and I cannot process it in my head. They giggle and idolize pop stars and gossip like high school freshman. Most will live at home until they are married, if not longer, a result of limited finances and very tight-knit family units.

Cheating is another major facet of Thai education. They ALL cheat, shamelessly. Tests aside, it’s not necessarily seen as a negative. The attitude is more that of, “You asked for the correct answer, so here it is!” Give them an assignment out of the book? The two smartest kids will finish, show me, then everyone else will promptly crowd around and then excitedly show me the exact same answers. Write about yourself? Strange, all 24 kids have the exact same life! And they wonder why no one ever learns…

They know better than to cheat on a test, but oh, they will try! I’ve got to admit, they’ve got some clever tactics, but luckily I’ve done my research. There’s the ridiculous method of just blatantly talking amongst each other, then there’s the “holding my paper up to ponder my answers but really I’m showing the girl behind me” method, the trick where the kids who’ve finished stand outside the door and signal answers through the window and many others. Every student, even the smartest, straight-A kid, will have wandering eyes during a test. It’s something genetic, I believe…even if there’s no chance of seeing anything due to distance or if it’s the worst student in the class, they will look. Test day is almost as stressful for me as for them!

This seems to be a post full of complaints and criticisms, but that really isn’t my intention. There are a lot of enjoyable aspects of it, and I do as best I can with what I’ve got. I know that I have no right to call myself qualified, though I’m not sure that “qualified” makes a difference here. All of these issues have becomes less bothersome as time has passed, largely because I’ve realized that it’s useless to care too much when the kids don’t. The ones who do (and I do have some) will let you know and they will talk to you outside of class – those are the ones that make this enjoyable. I’m sure this is a common sentiment of teachers everywhere, but it’s interesting to look at it in light of the culture you’re dealing with.

It’s a shame that so many of these problems persist – there are articles in newspapers and whatnot all of the time, but nothing is ever done to change things. These kids aren’t dumb, they aren’t slow and they aren’t lazy, but the school system certainly sets it up so that they appear to be in certain realms. I think it’s a big reason why Thailand isn’t developed yet and doesn’t seem to be getting any closer. If schools don’t teach critical thinking, responsibility, consequence (aside from being hit with a stick) and awareness of the outside world, then your population will be without. When it comes to English, at least, they could start by not employing crash-course “teachers” like myself!

One thing that I’ve learned in Thailand is that no matter how long it may take or how haphazard the method may be, someone will always make sure that you get where you’re going!

A good example of this happened several weeks ago, as Gabe and I were trying to hail a taxi home from Sukhumvit. A persistent tuk-tuk driver kept trying to lure us in, claiming he would take us to Tao Pun (the major road near my place) for 70 baht, well below a cab fare. Although it seemed like it was a bit far for a tuk-tuk ride, he insisted that he knew Tao Pun (not always the case) and we decided to go.

Ten minutes later we were pulling into the driveway of Tao Pun Hotel – definitely not where we needed to be! Gabe and I started laughing, though I half expected that we would have to pay this guy then switch to a taxi. That wasn’t the case, however – it quickly dawned on our driver that we meant THE Tao Pun (white people don’t go there!) and he also laughed, saying “Tao Pun, 100 baht!” We agreed as it was still a good deal and soon we were being dropped off at our 7-eleven. There was no frustration, irritation or insistence that we pay since we hadn’t clarified our destination; he just found humor in the mistake and fixed it!

There were other great examples this past weekend. We had decided to go to Lopburi to see the monkeys and a few of my friends. We’d planned to catch an 8:30 train on Saturday morning, but a late night of drinking with the street vendors and the changing plans of my friends botched that idea. It was no problem, as the online railway schedule showed a 3^rd class train leaving Bangsue at 10:04. We jumped in a taxi and got to the station merely minutes before, wondering if we’d miss it again.

We DID miss it, but not by mere minutes…it had left at 9:40! Their train schedule wasn’t even remotely related to ours and it showed the next train leaving at 1:45. We were directed to the other station where there was a departure for Ayutthaya any second, which would at least get us halfway there. We ran and managed to get on, cramming into the aisle as the food vendors pushed past, calling out their prices.

It was a two hour trip and about halfway through a very nice guy gave up his bench for us. As we neared Ayutthaya we got up, ready to exit. We got off at what we believed to be the right stop, only to see a sign reading “Ban Phe”…luckily we made it back on, several Thais gesturing at us. At least five people asked where we were going and made sure we knew it was two more stops. At the next one, several others reminded us not to get off quite yet. Soon after, a conductor came by, indicating to me that Ayutthaya was next and not to miss it.

We got off and sat to wait an hour for the next train to Lopburi. While waiting, another conductor approached me and, assuming that we were headed to Bangkok, pointed out which platform we needed to be on. I told him that we were going to Lopburi and he apologized, revising his information. It wasn’t anything that I didn’t already know, but I certainly appreciated it!

We eventually got to Lopburi and spent a few hours getting attacked by crazy monkeys and catching up with some of my friends (see photos!). The last train was at 5:30, but Gabe and I decided to stop back in Ayutthaya to hang out with Michelle for a bit. It ended up being something of a pointless stop; we only managed to explore the night market and grab a snack before the storm rolled in. It wasn’t going to let up, so we decided to just go ahead and go back to the station to catch the 9:45 train.

We got to the station via shared songtaew, only to find out that the train was first-class and would cost 320 baht – unacceptable since it had only cost 13 baht to get there! Gabe suggested trying our luck with the buses, so we headed back into the rain to find a tuk-tuk. He went to inquire and was told “Buses finished, only trains now.” Meanwhile, I spoke to another old man who thought for a moment then said, eyes lighting up, “I know a bus! Only until 9:00, is far but I take you now. 100 baht!”

We figured that we had nothing to lose and took him up on the offer. We climbed into the back of his tuk-tuk, sheets of plastic hung around the outside to block the downpour. Halfway there, the tuk tuk stalled and didn’t start again. Our driver got out, pushed it out of the intersection, and motioned for us to wait. I assumed that 9:00 wouldn’t happen, and that we’d have to find someone else to take us back to the station and end up paying for the train anyways.

Lo and behold, the determined nature of the Thai transport professional did not fail us! A new tuk tuk pulled up across the street, our driver indicated that his engine was full of water and that his friend would take us to this mystery bus. He walked us across the street, waved at his friend, and sent us on our way!

Within ten minutes we pulled up next to a van with a few people standing around it, waiting on the side of the road. This was the ‘bus’ to Bangkok, so we paid our driver and were greeted by guys who were apparently waiting on us. These vans are known as minibuses and are basically a carpool service. They run a certain route, will pick up/drop off anyone along the way and don’t leave until they are full! We paid 40 baht (much more like it) and squeezed in.

We were in Bangkok within 45 minutes and pulled up to a huge transport center outside of a mall in Rangsit, on the outskirts of the city. This was apparently the final stop and although I luckily knew where we were (I have friends living in the area), it was still a hefty taxi ride to Bangsue.

The driver asked where we needed to go and after I told him he spoke with one of our fellow passengers. She indicated that we should follow her, so we shrugged and did so. This girl literally spent 30 minutes asking all sorts of bus drivers, minibus touts and random people how to get us to Bangsue. I knew that we could just stop a taxi, but she seemed determined and we kept following her through the hordes of people.

Eventually she explained in very broken English that she was waiting for Bus 29 – it could take us MoChit, where we could get on the subway to Bangsue. Was that okay? I said that of course it was okay, and asked if she was going to the same place, which would explain why she was spending so much time on us! She smiled and shook her head, said no, no, she lives in a different area. Soon Bus 29 pulled up and she led us over, reiterating that we could get the subway at MoChit. We thanked her and she disappeared – I was blown away at her generosity!

The bus was of the archaic, local variety and cost an entire 7 baht to ride. It was packed at first and neither of us were totally sure how we would know where to get off, since we had no concept of the route. Eventually the crowds thinned and we were able to sit; as soon as we had a view of street signs and landmarks, we recognized the area and actually managed to get off at exactly the right spot!

Finally, finally we got home! It was about 9 hours of travel for 3 hours of sightseeing, but thanks to the nonsensical (yet effective) networks of “transporters,” we ended up exactly where we needed to be.

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You should all have my flickr link, http://www.flickr.com/photos/26728799@N06/ (there are new photos up), but I wanted to send out Gabe’s as well. You can check out his photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/outdoorgabe/, and should probably add it to your favorites. Enjoy!

In most parts of the world, running is a test of physical endurance and mental strength. In Bangsue, running is a test of quick reflexes, high steps and the adaptability of the respiratory system! Although one of the most appealing aspects of the sport is the chance to let the mind wander and refresh itself while the body takes over, such an indulgence would result in disaster around these parts!

Let me take you through a typical morning run in Bangsue, Bangkok.

My alarm(s) go off at 5 a.m., and I do my best to be out the door by 5:10. I walk down the six flights of stairs, greet the night watchman downstairs (if he happens to be awake) and head outside. The first thing I notice is that the neighborhood doesn’t sound much different than it did at the time I came home the evening before. Taxis and tuk-tuks and motorbikes and buses are still making their way up and down the road, the (mass) population of dogs is still barking at said vehicles and there are quite a few food stalls open with their radios playing and patrons talking in the dark of the morning.

I say hello to the nighttime tea lady and the noodle soup lady next door (they are still there from the night before, finishing up their allotment of Hong Thong whisky with soda) and also to the morning tea lady (who definitely disapproves of alcohol). They always smile and wave and often offer a drink, I smile back (in my most convincing 5 a.m. effort) and begin my run.

The first mile involves getting off of our road. I run down the sidewalk, jumping into the road to avoid the chicken lady throwing buckets of soapy water at her stall for morning cleaning, jumping back onto the sidewalk only to have a motorbike come out of a front door; luckily I’ve mastered the art of anticipating such things and am (almost) able to dodge it as though it’s the most natural thing in the world. I then step over a sleeping dog or five without breaking my stride and weave through a group of people at the bus stop.

I finally get down to the 7-11 where I cross the road, stopping in the middle to wait for a break in traffic. If I make it there by 5:15, I have the sidewalk nearly to myself. If I get there at 5:20, the banana lady’s husband will be backing his truck onto the sidewalk for unloading; by 5:25, the rest of the market vendors have arrived for setup. I then get to the end of our road where I make a left, weaving through another group of people waiting on buses and staring at the crazy white girl.

I make a left onto the next road, Prachachuen, which is much quieter and cleaner than our road. I squeeze my way through the group on the corner which, without fail, consists of a donut lady, a chicken lady, a rice-porridge guy and a tuk-tuk driver. I run up the stairs to the bridge and cross the road, ending up on the small brick path that runs along the canal.

The brick path is nice to have, as there are no vendors and (usually) no motorbikes driving on it, but it certainly isn’t ideal. A good 40% of the surfacing is complete crap, as bricks are missing or broken or jutting up into the air. Not a huge deal, except when it’s dark out and you’re underneath the only trees in the vicinity. As you might expect (especially if you know how incredibly graceful I am), I’ve had a handful of pretty impressive falls on this path! Luckily nothing has been too serious, just some scraped up knees (it’s like I never left age 4) and a few rolled ankles. In any case, I’m much better about picking up my feet these days!

Every half mile or so the path will cross either a cross street or a bus stop. The cross streets will nearly always have a motorbike flying onto or off of them and the bus stops will always have at least one person standing right in the middle of the path. Luckily I’ve also mastered the art of painlessly getting around them; as I’ve said before, it’s not considered rude here and there’s really no sense in getting irritated over it.

At least three days per week (I can’t identify any sort of order to this) a huge water truck makes its way down Prachachuen, spraying water onto the path (sometimes it hits the trees too). When this happens, I have to turn around and out run it back to the last bus stop to avoid getting pressure hosed with canal water.

Eventually I make it across the train tracks (often waiting for the train, watching the motorbikes and tuk tuks weave their way through the railroad barriers at the last minute) and to a highway. I make a mad dash across the service road and pick up the path on the other side. The path is much better-kept on this side and sometimes I even see another runner or two (typically Muay Thai boxers who train at a nearby gym. They can fight, but they can’t run!). By now it’s fully light out (the sky is getting light by 5:30) and morning traffic is in full force, so while the path is better, the exhaust fumes are doubled and the cross streets twice as hard to deal with!

Once I finally get down to the next highway, I turn around and run back. By this time, Prachachuen is in full force, with breakfast vendors out, rice and curry cooking, school kids jumping onto motorbike taxis and barefoot monks collecting their morning alms. People are pretty used to me by now, and I get plenty of smiles and a few ‘Good morning! Where you go?’ inquiries from laughing tuk tuk drivers.

Rather than head all the way back around to my road and deal with the war zone that is the morning fresh market, I cut over on Soi 11, smile at the old man who always jogs past me there, step gingerly past the boxer/great dane mix who sleeps in the middle of the lane and soon end up on my road, 9 miles later, across from my building. I spend anywhere from 2-8 minutes waiting on a chance to jump across the road, nod at the line of monks filing down our sidewalk and I am finished! I head upstairs for a wonderful cold shower and get ready for work.

Strangely, despite my scraped knees, developing smoker’s cough and mental exhaustion, I’m running stronger than I’ve run in a couple of years. While I can’t wait for some clean air, green spaces and quiet time out in the countryside, Bangsue has worked out better than I ever would have imagined!

Just when you think you are adapting to the Thai lifestyle, avoiding the tourist priced eateries, learning useful phrases, knowing the roads, etc. YOU GET SCAMMED! I write this laughing because nearly all experienced backpackers think they are smarter than the rest. The only reason backpackers say it won’t happen to them is because it already has happened to them or a good scammer hasn’t approached them. Generally speaking while traveling in a foreign country you have about 5-10 seconds of conversation to decide if that person is genuinely hospitable or a scammer. It’s a tough judge of character because if you travel every day with this guard up, shoeing away anyone offering a service, then you will miss out on many of wonderful people, amazing experiences, and culture that can only be discovered with the help of locals. Slow down, respect, and enjoy!

Bangkok for the most part is a safe and friendly city especially considering the dense population and low income. In a country that depends on tourism for a source of income, there is no doubt some people will find ways to take advantage of naive tourists. Tourists visiting developing nations call this a scam; however, entrepreneurs in industrialized nations call it capitalism.

Our weekend started out Friday down in Siam Square. I ventured down to the mansion of Jim Thompson, the man who is responsible for introducing silk to the world. The history of Jim’s life is fascinating and his disappearance mysterious. Rather than bore you with his life details, I will merely suggest you google his name if you feel inclined. Allison and I agreed to meet up at the “Earth from Above” exhibit nearby, as this will be her 3rd try to view the exhibit barring rain or other time constraints. The website is fascinating. http://www.yannarthusbertrand2.org/index.html I had a little time to kill so I wondered around looking for an accessory for my camera. There was no luck with the camera but I did stumble across a model shoot for an international magazine. It was open to the public and teams of hostesses and waiters walked around with all sorts of exotic Thai munchies/desserts on platters. Meanwhile hoards of photographers where taking pictures of gorgeous Thai girls laying on, standing next to, bent over a Ferrari and Audi R8. (I have many pictures but Allison said they couldn’t be posted here ☺) I managed to peel myself away just in time to go meet Allison at the exhibit.

We made it through the whole exhibit and decided to walk down to “Little Arabia” for dinner. Thai food is amazing but variety is good! She picked out a Lebaneese restaurant after telling me about all the delicious foods her dad and grandpa make. Dinner was good, however Allison said the kibby doesn’t match up to the kind her family makes. Little Arabia was a nice change from the Bangkok we have been accustomed to.

Plans for Saturday where rearranged a bit. Originally we planned to take a train to Ayutthaya, see some temples, and meet up with her friends for an evening birthday celebration. Our train left before we ever looked at a clock so a quick change of plans landed us at Chatuchak market. We roamed around, making a few selective purchases, for about 8-9 hours. For the first time since dating Allison, I felt old! My feet hurt from walking, back ached from standing, it was hot, etc etc…and sweet little Allison isn’t phased at all. I am convinced she could walk/run for days on end and never need a sip of water. That girl is bionic!

By this time, neither of us were up for a night of drinking so we settled on dinner and watched a movie on her computer. I don’t think Allison made it past the opening scene before her eyes got heavy. Allison insists this trait is inherited from her mom and NOT due to walking all day!

Feeling refreshed Sunday morning, our plan was to hang around town and see some of Bangkok’s main attractions. Dressed a bit more formal than our typical backpacker attire out of respect to the religion of nearly 23% of the world’s population, we visited Wat Po, a Buddhist temple home to the largest “reclining Buddha”.

Wat Po was quite inspiring. The intricacy put into every detail is just amazing. The temple is definitely beautiful, adorned with spires, Buddha statues, and tall gargoyle (ish) figures standing guard at every entrance. After feeling the heat of the afternoon, we wondered to a nearby 7-11 for some water and candy. While enjoying our refreshments outside, a gentlemen walking by stopped to ask where we are from. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy talking about his government job, giving us tips on the city, places to go, etc etc. Allison and I continued a conversation with him about used-book stores in Bangkok, which eventually led into other “great deals” around Bangkok. He was kind enough to tell us of a place to get really nice custom tailored clothing for a cheap price. This tailor is right across from his work and they make garments using only the finest cashmere and silk. Dress shirts, slacks, suits are their specialty. This is starting to sound appealing. Even though I wear a suit only a couple times a year, I’m thinking that it would be cool to have a custom made suit to take back home. This gentleman also offered us great advice on getting around Bangkok for cheap. He explained the tuk tuks with a yellow license plate are owned by the government and given stipends for fuel. On weekends they are encouraged to take tourists around town, wait for them at every stop, all for only about 30-40 baht. Apparently this is a way for the government to promote its town to tourists. This sounds realistic.

Just about that time, one of the many hundreds of tuk tuk drivers pulled up close to where we are standing and our new found friend pulled the “unsuspecting” driver over to have him confirm this deal on transportation. Before we knew what was happening, we were convinced to get in the tuk tuk to check out this tailor shop. It was a hot afternoon and we were tired of walking, so we decided why not. The only thing we really wanted to do was to be back at Wat Po in the evening to take some pictures in the better light. Off we went buzzing through the streets in the tuk tuk. The driver was really friendly, showing us what some of the buildings are as we passed. He is the first tuk tuk driver I have ever heard speak decent English. We pull up to our destination at the tailor shop. There were quite a few tuk tuk drivers lounging around out front, which is a pretty common site for Thailand. Once inside, some sharply dressed people offered some refreshments, and shown to leather chairs to relax. It was royal treatment. Allison and I both felt uncomfortably out of place. There was obvious pressure to buy now, buy a lot, and buy quickly. Once we conveyed that we only wanted to look around and that this “guy” who mentioned the place we should come check the store out….we were no longer given the royal treatment. He still tried to push a small order of 3 dress shirts and 2 pants for a “bargain”. He got the hint that we were backpacking around Thailand and not well-to-do tourists. Quickly, he pawned us off to the gift shop as a last effort for income. We strolled out and our smiling tuk tuk driver was ready and waiting!

By now we realize these people are all in cahoots with each other and the whole thing was a setup. As we drive down the street listening to our drivers near perfect English, it was obvious. We notice every single tuk tuk and taxi has a yellow license plate. There is no special government issued tuk tuk. No harm done but we got scammed. We told the driver to go back to Wat Po. He insisted he needed to get gas first. I didn’t understand but Allison did. Apparently he gets free gas from the government, by taking us to a couple of shops. He promised if we went in another store for 10 minutes so he could get gas, we could go back to Wat Po. Reluctantly, we agreed and as I climbed out of the tuk tuk I saw the sign for gems and jewelry. I burst out laughing. There were many other tourists looking around confused. The whole routine started over, got the royal treatment, explained we didn’t want to buy anything, got shown the over-priced gift shop, and slid out the side door to avoid the sales lady. There he was, our glorious tuk tuk driver, smiling and ready to be of service. He took us back to Wat Po without any further conversation. We paid him 40 Baht as agreed for the tuk tuk ride and off he went. No big deal, just a few hours of lost time.

Further research online, indicates that this is a really common scam. The same stores we visited were mentioned. The same stories are told, all with the same outcome. As it turns out, the drivers get paid cash to bring tourists to their shops. The highest paying being the tailor, gem shops, rug stores, and silk factories. Most tourists will pay the prices not knowing any better. It’s all a set up and you can read about it online. The web indicates that the government frowns on this but there is no real way to prevent it other than awareness. We fell for the scam. Fortunately, neither of us are spontaneous shoppers with expensive taste.

The colors at Wat Po were brilliant just before the sun went down. Allison and I walked to the pier and took a boat back to our little suburb far away from any tourist sites. I prefer to be around locals that don’t speak English. I prefer to be stared at walking down the street. I don’t mind if they giggle and smile at as I fumble my thai phrases trying to order a meal. I don’t mind being served fried rice because I unknowingly pointed to dried squid on a menu that has nothing but symbols. This is the Thailand I want to learn about! This is the Thailand I want to explore. In a country that caters to tourists, you have to get off the tourist trail in order to see what Thai culture is really about. Lesson learned!

After an entire two days back in Bangkok, Gabe and I were about ready for another trip. Gabe had been kind enough to go buy the bus tickets on Tuesday while I was at work, and seemed a bit unsure about things when I talked to him that night. There are many different bus operators, so he did a bit of asking around, trying to get a midnight-ish bus to Trat, where we would catch a ferry to the island of Koh Chang.

We needed four tickets, and the only four seats available were in the very back row of a bus, which is unacceptable for an overnight trip since the seats cannot recline. As he started to walk away, the woman suddenly found a brand new bus, leaving two minutes after the first bus, that had every single seat free. He did his best to ensure that it was a real bus, really going to Trat. She insisted that it was, so he bought our tickets and crossed his fingers!

Considering the luck that we’d had with the train just days before, we did more finger crossing as we began our journey to Koh Chang. What a journey it was! It began with a taxi from our apartment to the subway station. We then took the subway to the skytrain, which we then rode to the Ekamai bus station. Luckily it was a real bus (although the 11:32 departure time ended up being 12:17) and the four of us were soon sitting in the front row, armed with ipods and hoping for a bit of sleep.

There was no Thai pop music this time around and I was actually able to get a bit of shut-eye. We were expecting a 5-6 hour trip, but at some point around 4:15 the ‘bus hostess’ turned on all of the lights and walked around, shaking us awake and asking ‘Koh Chang?’ We nodded, half asleep, and she indicated that it was time to get off. It seemed way too early and we definitely weren’t at a bus station, but we followed the hoards of white people who were also filing off and into the rain.

It took some time to really wake up and figure out what was going on (luckily Chris and I were able to…neither of the guys ever really opened their eyes during all of this), and it turned out that we were at the ‘bus stop’ for the tour operator, where they proceeded to sell us tickets for their taxis to get to the ferry. My first instinct was ‘scam!’ but it really wasn’t, the price was about right. So I managed to buy four taxi tickets and four ferry tickets from a guy at a little table in the corner, then I squeezed myself into a spot on the ground among all of the other backpackers and their backpacks. It had been pouring down rain since we’d left Bangkok, and when coupled with the 3 hours of bumpy bus sleep, I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about things.

We were soon loaded into a songtaew and taken for a long, chaotic ride to the piers. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped, the sun was starting to come up and there was a stand with real coffee for me and a pineapple shake for Gabe! Things were looking up…we soon boarded the ferry and were pulling into Koh Chang by 7 a.m. Once we’d arrived at the dock, there was yet another songtaew ride (are you keeping count of how many legs this trip had?? We’re at seven!) up and down roads that made Khao Yai look like a beginner’s course.

We got off at Lonely Beach and set out to find a place to stay. We looked at a few places, passed on the 80 baht beach huts with stray cats living on the mattresses and finally stumbled onto some great little concrete bungalows. We still don’t know the name of the place, as it consisted of about five little houses in between two much larger, more established places, but the lady who owned them caught us as we wandered by and got our attention (partially due to the bath towel that she was wearing). Her husband showed us the rooms while carrying their one-year old on his hip and we were sold! For 250 baht ($8) per night we had a clean water-front bungalow with tile floors, hot water, a hammock on the porch and the sound of the ocean (which was located a mere 10 feet from our porch!).

The four of us went next door (literally five steps from our door) to this beautiful restaurant that was really nothing more than a polished teak deck with low tables, cushions on the floor, hammocks along the perimeter and a massive menu of Thai food, at Thai prices. Although it was 9 a.m. it felt as though it was lunch time, so we enjoyed a lazy meal of Tom Yum, Pad Thai and fresh fruit shakes while the waves lapped at the deck a couple of feet away. After that, it was nap time – the cool, overcast weather was perfect and we slept for several hours. Our room had great wood-framed windows that opened all the way up, letting in an amazing ocean breeze and of course that wonderful sound.

The laziness (and I mean this in the best way) lasted the rest of the day; we walked around a bit but soon found another restaurant where a friendly old man served us incredibly fresh som tum and coconut soup, along with complimentary watermelon. After that, it was back to the restaurant next door, where we spent hours drinking a few beers, writing in our journals and hearing nothing but the water. It was a blissful first day!

Gabe and I tried out a place called The Treehouse for breakfast the next morning. It’s one of those places that gets raved about in the Lonely Planet guidebooks and thus has become backpacker central. We had not been impressed with their huts (a tent would have been a greater luxury) and I’ll admit that I was a little wary of it – I like authenticity! We ended up being wonderfully surprised, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of rice milk and a banana pancake while, once again, sitting on a deck with the ocean beneath us.

We rented a motorbike that day and had a great time lazing around on White Sands Beach (the more upscale area of Koh Chang), exploring the undeveloped eastern side of the island and unsuccessfully searching for the Nonsi waterfall (it did give us another chance to push through thick brush for a couple of hours though). That evening we ended up back at The Treehouse with Chris and Joe where there was more amazing food (we were determined to get through that menu), fruity drinks, a gorgeous sunset and hours of lazing in hammocks until we finally managed to drag ourselves to bed. Day number two = success!

By day three I was pretty sure that there was no reason to ever leave the place! I went for a short run (felt more like mountain climbing) and then, surprise surprise, it was time to go eat and lay in hammocks again. We spent some quality time on our beach with the other two and then, as soon as we felt as though an acceptable amount of time had passed, we headed right back to The Treehouse to work more on menu-conquering! Literally, every meal felt like Christmas morning and it never cost more than three or four dollars for the two of us.

That night The Treehouse was hosting a party where they would be serving a special barbeque menu. We all tried to make space in our stomachs before the food ran out…I’m not sure that it was a good idea, but I made space! It was the epitome of vacation time…a beautiful, lazy island, swinging hammocks, reggae music, fresh fruit shakes of every imaginable sort and more food than anyone could ever hope to eat (though we certainly tried!). Bangkok was a distant memory and we all tried not to remember it…

Sunday was our final day and it dawned gray and rainy. It was the sort of rain that wasn’t going to stop, so after sleeping in late (wondering how on earth I would live without the sound of the ocean) we packed our stuff and headed back to our second home for, yes, another meal. We hung around there, eating and reading and writing until about 2:00. At two the four of us caught a songtaew back to the ferry and departed Koh Chang. The storms were rolling in and it seemed to be a good day to leave (assuming that we had to leave). The ferry was slow and we caught the tour operator’s songtaew back in Trat, wondering how on earth we’d make it to the ‘station’ by 4:00, which was the last bus of the day.

The drivers were intent on getting us there and, for the sake of my parents, I won’t describe the trip in too much detail! The important part is that we made it in one piece (somehow!), caught the bus (which had waited a good 15 minutes for us) and rolled back into Bangkok around 9 p.m.

When it was all said and done, the two of us spent a total of $140. This includes 12 modes of transportation, three nights in an ocean-front bungalow, a motorbike rental, gasoline, 20-30 meals (each one worth at least $15 by U.S. standards), far too many fruit shakes to count, a sufficient amount of alcohol, an item or two of clothing, internet usage (we had to see whose blog entry got more comments…thanks, everyone) and a few other odds and ends.

Have I mentioned that I love Thailand?

I know I know … everyone is anxiously awaiting a cool blog from Allison who is much smarter, prettier, and a better writer than I am … and all you get is THIS! I will do my best to entertain due to Allison’s busy schedule today.

After 27 hrs of flying to the opposite side of the world and 14,000 km (better start thinking metric) in the air, I landed in Bangkok. This blog is a conglomeration of a few observations and events over the past week.

THINGS DONE ON A MOTORBIKE

Waiting to cross the street provides a lot of time to observe your surroundings as it typically takes a very long time to spot the gap in traffic just big enough to sprint across oncoming lanes, stop on the center stripes, only to repeat the same process over. Motorbikes are remarkable machines that are underestimated in western cultures. They are a staple of transportation here and have incredible maneuverability. I never understood what could be accomplished with a motorbike!!! I nearly clapped my hands in amazement for a guy who managed to balance a large basket of goods behind him with one hand keeping the other on the handlebars. After another mile of walking I realized that he barely earns amateur driving status. It’s the guy carrying the 20ft bamboo ladder while gracefully maneuvering Bangkok traffic that is impressive. Most people think a family of four needs an SUV to get around town … not in Bangkok. A motorbike works just fine. Now granted this is not a common site and typically involves the person riding behind the driver to carry the infant while the small child sits in front of the driver holding on the handlebars, but a feat none the less. A family of 3 is a pretty common site for motorbikes along with dogs, groceries, packages, etc. Not many things are too big to carry on a motorbike. As a pedestrian, you must always be on the lookout for motorbikes. I’ve already lost count of the near misses. You can’t just look at the normal flow of traffic…they come from all directions, even sidewalks, and market stalls.

Motorbikes win my vote for best overall form of transportation!

HORNBILLS, MONKEYS, ELEPHANTS IN KHOA YAI

Allison can attest that its crucial for everyone’s health and wellbeing to leave Bangkok occasionally. Its nice to breath clean air, see a blue sky, hear the sounds of birds, see grass, as these are not common in the busy city. We took advantage of a 3 day weekend by heading a few hours east by train to possibly one of the most beautifully rugged national parks in this part of the world. Khoa Yai national park is considered home for wild elephants, tigers, snow leopards, monkeys, hornbills, barking deer, and so much more. The park stretches to the boarder of Cambodia and consists of mountains, rainforest, and lots of waterfalls. For roughly $10 we stayed at a gorgeous lodge just outside of the boundaries of the park. The grounds of the lodge were covered with manicured gardens, ponds, and an amazing pool complete with its own waterfall.
Day 1 consisted mostly of lounging around the pool sleeping on handmade lounge chairs that would make any carpenter proud. The local eateries proved to be a good choice. It was refreshing sitting on a rudimentary teak deck, listening to birds, staring off into the mountains carpeted with rainforest as we ate fresh thai cooking. Now this is the Thailand I envisioned. We decided to take one of the evening tours offered by our lodge in effort to get a feel for the area and also to see if we wanted to do a full day tour in the park the following day. The evening tour took us a buhdist monk cave that had a few bats and stations for the monks to meditate. The highlight was watching millions of bats stream out of another cave on the mountainside. It was impressive, however, its very similar to watching the bats fly out from under the Congress St. bridge in Austin. We chatted with Tommy, our guide, and he agreed that Allison and I were capable of touring the park on our own. As soon as we got back to the lodge that night we walked down the street and rented a motorbike!

Day 2 was a bit more eventful. I was a tad nervous at first driving the motorbike having precious cargo on the back (Allison). We were given multiple warnings by people for various things… ie: they drive on the left in Thailand, no gas stations in the park, super steep switchbacks going up the mountain, elephants tjhat can charge out of the forest at you as you go past, slippery wet steep hills on a motorbike if it rains, leech socks, extremely difficult trails to follow … nothing to worry about….right? By 6:30 we were on our way with a full tank of gas. The switchbacks were very steep but it was no problem. Allison and I had big smiles plastered on our faces just from riding through this amazing landscape. We almost immediately saw a monkey on the side of the road carrying a baby. Soon after we spotted a Great Hornbill roosted up in a tree. This is supposedly THE biggest bird in existance. It has a bright yellow beak as well as a yellow streak on the underside of their wings. While hiking out to a watchtower we spotted a deer….then we heard barking..??? Never would have guessed there could be such a thing as a barking dear. Its true…they do exist. A couple of local school teachers out shooting photos offered to show us a cool trail where we might spot some more monkeys. It was a neat little hike that made us realize we needed leech socks!!! A quick trip to the visitors center and we are wearing our leech socks and new full brim safari hats! The next stop was Hew Suwat waterfall, which was made famous in the movie “The Beach”. This was a bit too touristy for us. The easy access meant lots of people so we decided to explore a trail that is supposedly closed to the public. The word “trail” in Khoa Yai merely means you are following animal trails that wander aimlessly through the rainforest. Some are marked sporadically with a dot of paint on a tree so the park can advertise they have “trails”. Needless to say it’s easy to get lost. After climbing and clawing our way up and down through the thick rainforest it was obvious by the huge footprints that we were on an elephant trail. These creatures must be super agile to navigate through that terrain!! We found a much more secluded waterfall called Hew Sai. In attempt to find a 3rd waterfall we realized how easy it is to get lost. At each split we would mark the intersection with an arrow of leaves or bamboo to mark where we have been. Some of the elephant tracks were so fresh that we fully expected to climb over a rock and be staring down a set of huge white tusks! Even though we eventually found the right trail, we decided to head back to leave some time for other areas of the park. It was starting to get late in the afternoon and gas to get home quickly became a concern. Using good judgment we opted to skip one of the big waterfalls since it was another 30km up the mountain. Instead we motored up to the summit of the tallest peak. En route we discovered a huge group of monkeys hanging out in trees near the road. We just sat there and watched them play in the trees! One in particular just sat in the tree scratching his back and staring at us as if to say “are you done looking at me?” The view from the summit was blocked by thick fog rolling in. We coasted mostly down from the summit to conserve fuel and stopped off for dinner near the visitors center. The sky was getting dark in areas and it started to rain just a bit. At this point our concern shifted from lack of fuel to lets make it down the steep switchbacks without wrecking the bike in the rain. It started raining harder on our way out of the park. Miraculously about 1 km before the steepest sections, the rain let up and the roads here were still dry. We cruised on down safely and rolled back into town just as the gas needle dipped beyond the red at 120 km. We celebrated with ice cream and beer! What a day!!!

Day 3 was another day of rest and relaxation. Allison and I got up for a nice refreshing run, which was followed by a dip in the pool. We treated ourselves to a 1 hour full body massage which was amazing and only cost about $8!!! It was my first of many real massages. That girl pushed, pulled, beat, and climbed all over me. In the end I felt like I was floating through clouds. If all of you can help me convince Allison that she should become a professional massage therapist … that would be GREAT! More good food and a few hours at the pool summed up the rest of the day. Back to Bangkok…..

Tonight we get on a bus headed for Koh Chang Island for a 4 day retreat. I will make sure Allison writes a lengthy blog about beach bungalows, white sand, hammocks, and clear blue water upon our return!

This blog was made possible thanks to the persuasiveness (aka…”threats”) from Laura. Thank you for the hmm.. cough.. choke.. cough… MOTIVATION to write! ☺

Until next time – Cheers!

As you’ve probably guessed by my lack of writing, Gabe has arrived and I’ve been preoccupied with finally having a partner in crime! I managed to find my way to the airport late Tuesday night and was there in plenty of time to catch him as he came off of the plane. It was a wonderful reunion, and we quickly caught a taxi back to my (our) little “box” in Bangsue.

I had every intention of calling in sick on Wednesday, but due to circumstances out of my control, I couldn’t do it in any sort of good conscience. So at 7:30 then next morning I had to leave Gabe to fend for himself, spending his first hours in Thailand prowling around the not-so-farang-friendly neighborhood of Bangsue. Luckily he is more than capable of getting around in foreign places and by the time I’d gotten home, he’d turned dollars into baht, eaten the first of many street treats, established a sense of direction AND found the way back to our place for a nap. We took a riverboat and ate a delicious Thai dinner, followed by several hours of aimless wandering which resulted in some Thai kids letting Gabe try out their bicycles under the Rama IV bridge. He makes friends fast no matter where he is!

The next few days were spent with me working and Gabe exploring Bangkok during the day, then exploring food stalls and parks together at night. He was already itching to get out of Bangkok by Friday (and I’ve been desperate for it for a few weeks), so we decided to take a train to Khao Yai National Park until Monday (when I would finally get my sick day!)

After work on Friday I had to go get a ‘medical check’ for my work permit, which involved walking into a clinic, letting a doctor take my blood pressure, paying 50 baht and walking out with the ‘official’ paper that declared me healthy. I’m sure that this 10 minute process would have cost me several hundred dollars at home…

Our plan was to catch a 7:15 train out of Bangkok, arriving in Pak Chong around 10:00. By the time we had dealt with the medical checking,bag-packing and dinner-purchasing, we were cutting it close on time. We managed to make it to the train station at 7:07and immediately starting searching for a ticket window. We walked several minutes past rows of food vendors and benches, finally finding what we needed. When I asked the man for tickets to Pak Chong, he informed me that we needed to go 100m to the ‘next station.’ Apparently Bangsue has two parts to its station; it was 7:12 at this point and we were definitely more than 3 minutes away from where we needed to be!

Naturally, the train was pulling away as we got to the correct ticket window, so we found a bench, ate the bag of sausages that we’d been carrying around and weighed our options. The train schedule was all in Thai so there was no way of finding out if there was another train that night, and even if there was I wasn’t too sure that the guesthouse would be willing to pick us up so late. We decided that we’d take the first train out on Saturday morning, at 6 a.m. With our decision made, we hauled our bags right back to where we’d started…

After a stop at 7-eleven, we got home and drank a beer (well, I drank a beer…Gabe made it through a sip or two) before falling asleep. The alarm went off a few short hours later, so we grabbed our bags again and cleverly took a taxi to the station. As Gabe said, it was perhaps the best-spent dollar ever! Ticket-buying went smoothly and we were soon on a ‘special express’ train to Pak Chong, enjoying snacks, beverages and beautiful scenery for the next three hours.

Arriving in Pak Chong was like arriving into another world! We stepped out of the tiny station onto a tiny road with tiny restaurants, a tiny number of vehicles and a sense of summer laziness in the air. Gabe immediately said that he finally felt as though he was in Thailand, and I agreed! I hadn’t left Bangkok in four weeks and had almost forgotten how absolutely in love I was with it before getting into the city!

I called the Garden Lodge Guesthouse from a payphone and a songtaew showed up within 15 minutes to take us there. We were both grinning ear to ear and only smiled more once we arrived. They greeted us with a little glass of juice and showed us to our room, a very basic but perfectly comfortable room right next to the beautiful garden. They showed us the pool, which was a gorgeous waterfall-adorned oasis, surrounded by ferns and flowers and trees other decorative Asian touches. We looked at each other, hardly believing that this was going to cost $10 per night!

We weren’t sure whether to sign up for the full-day tour with the lodge, as we are definitely not tour people, but Khao Yai is a mammoth of a national park, covering four provinces and serving as the habitat of many wild elephants and tigers. There was also the issue of getting to the park, as the lodge was located a good 30km away from the entrance. We decided to do the half-day tour that afternoon to get a feel for how things are run, so we signed up, decided against the lodge restaurant full of 150baht western entrees and headed down the road in search of Thai food.

There was no shortage of places to eat and our choice proved a great one! It was just a small teak-floored deck of a place with a thatch roof overhead, serving only 4 or 5 menu items, as any good Thai place does. The woman running the place was super friendly and thrilled to have us. We ordered noodle soup, pepsi and, at her recommendation, some dumpling-type things, all for about $3! We sat there for a long time, soaking in the sunlight, cool breeze, green surroundings, blue sky and lack of motorized sound. Afterwards we relaxed at the pool, enjoying those same things, for a few hours before the tour.

The tour was pretty lacking. We were taken along with about 10 other people to a Buddhist monk cave and then to watch millions of bats stream out of a mountain at dusk. It was all cool, but definitely not worth 500 baht apiece. The last thing that either of us like to do is be bussed around! Plus, we’re jaded when it comes to bat-watching! We were able to use the opportunity to make friends with Tommy, our guide. He was a shaky, eccentric guy who has been living in Thailand for many years (previously in Missouri) and has been smoking faaarrrr too much pot during that period. However, he was extremely friendly, knows the area inside and out, and was happy to give us tons of advice on how to spend the next day.

We decided to rent a motorbike and strike out alone the next day. As soon as the tour was over, we headed down the road to a restaurant/massage parlor/guesthouse/motorbike rental place and got ahold of a nice little blue bike. I signed a paper, they copied my info, we talked with a Dutch expat who advised me to get a Thai license so that I could start getting Thai prices, and then off we went! The motorbike was not an automatic push-button like mine, so it wasn’t immediately smooth sailing. Gabe was the designated driver, and I could tell that he wasn’t totally comfortable with it yet. We decided to put gas in it and have him go drive it around a bit to get a feel for the gears and for driving on the left side!

The gas station was a process as neither of us had been to one before. They have gas attendants and I thought that he asked me how much gas to put in it. I did some rough math in my head and said ‘sahm,’ three litres. Apparently he’d been asking me how much baht to put in, so he assumed that I meant to say 30 baht and did so. I realized my mistake (we all know how far $1 of gas goes!) and we had some more put in, but our math was still off as the gas gauge was barely over the ‘e.’ We thought that maybe it was broken and, as we weren’t getting far with communication, decided to go.

The lady who rented to bike to us had warned that the only station with the proper gas was right there, next to our lodge; there was nothing in or around the park. After another wonderful meal at the steep sum of 100 baht, Gabe took the bike out for a bit as he was definitely not feeling confident about driving it around a mountainous national park with me on the back. He also faced the laughter of the gas attendants by returning and ensuring that the tank was completely filled, then showed back up at our place with a big smile, feeling much better about the bike. We spent the evening over a few beers and lots of politic/environmental talk with Marcus and Jemma, a really cool Australian couple who were staying in the room next door. They had booked the tour for the next day but were unsure about it and kicking themselves when they heard that we were going it alone. We decided to meet up the next evening and decide who had made the better choice!

We set out at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, armed with several maps, a note written in Thai from Tommy, who told us to show it around at the visitor center so that we could hook up with a friend of his, who had the park memorized and would take us trekking all day for a small fee. The ride to the park took about 30 minutes and was wonderful – gorgeous morning, green mountains, flowers, slow-moving life all around…in other words, we were faaarrr from Bangkok. We paid the ridiculous 400baht foreigner fees to get in (only 40 for Thais) and started up the windy mountain roads, which were a bit wet from overnight rain.

I think we were both a bit nervous about the wet roads, but we took it slow and all was well. We stopped at the first overlook to marvel at the unending stretch of misty mountains, and were well rewarded by a Great Hornbill in the tree above us! This bird was MASSIVE and so neat to see – thrilled at already finding exotic animals, we continued on. There was a stop for a viewing tower, so we parked then hiked a long trail towards it. On the way a deer bounded past us, barking like a dog! Apparently this is a ‘barking deer’ and it was the strangest thing ever…it didn’t process correctly in my head! We got to the tower where Gabe spotted an otter down below and we checked out all sorts of crazy birds flying by. There was an elephant salt lick but alas, no elephants at that point.

We had been the only people there, but two women with super nice cameras, decked out in safari gear showed up and set out on the same trail that we were going to explore. One of them asked if we were going to hike the whole trail and we said no, we just wanted to see what was in the trees. She offered to show us the trail if we wanted, that it wasn’t too difficult. We said sure, and followed her. They were sisters, from some European place, who have been living near Khao Yai for 18 years, running a school. They got us through the confusing part of the trail and then parted ways with us as they needed to go do some butterfly photography in the grasslands. We thanked them, thought about how crappy a tour would  have been, and set off down the trail. We saw plenty of monkeys in the trees and some incredible plant life – the trees were unbelievably big and many unlike anything that I’ve seen before. We emerged from the trail about an hour later, realizing that we’d have to walk up the road (ie up the mountain) a good 3km back to our bike. About 10 minutes into our walk, the women drove by but turned when they saw us and gave us a lift. It was a great start to the day!

After that we headed to the visitors center to get another map, check out our options and buy some leech socks (I think I picked at least 20 off of my legs during that hour hike!). We asked a park ranger about a hike that we wanted to do, as many of the trails are impossible without a guide. He said that it was closed, not to go there. So we altered our plans then grabbed some lunch (even the national park has food stalls with 30baht meals) before jumping back onto the bike.

We soon arrived at Haew Suwat, which is the famous waterfall from “The Beach.” It was gorgeous and so neat to see in person, although everyone else in the park was enjoying it as well, especially since it’s the only one you can swim at. We saw that there were two more waterfalls nearby and decided to try to find them. We set off on a trail that we knew was one of the ‘don’t do without a guide’ trails, bypassing the ‘activity prohibited’ sign at the trailhead. It was definitely a challenge! This trail was basically an elephant trail, created by all of the bamboo and trees that had been flattened by these huge animals. Their footprints were all over, which blew us away considering that we were on the side of slope that we could hardly walk on! Part of me wanted to see an elephant show up, but the sensible part of me remembered the warnings about tempermental elephants and their dislike for intruders near their babies. If one were to show up, we wouldn’t exactly have anywhere to go!Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was thinking about the 8 or 9 wild tigers that live in the park as well…

After lots of hiking, pushing through thick tropical plants, and leaving markers so that we could make it out before dark, we heard the telltale signs of a waterfall and headed that way. Eventually we came to some falls that were just a beautiful as the first ones, but which were completely uninhabited and had been for some time! It was a great discovery, and absolutely worth the sweaty, muddy, probably-hazardous hike that we’d done to get to them!

We weren’t able to find the third falls, eventually giving up as we didn’t want to push our luck too far. There was another huge waterfall in the south of the park that we wanted to go see (there are many, many waterfalls there), but we looked at the map and realized that we’d never make it the 50km roundtrip and still be able to get home on the amount of gasoline that we had left. We settled for a viewpoint that was only 10km away instead, and took off. On the way we stopped and saw tons of monkeys running around in the road, jumping from tree to tree and giving us ‘what are you staring at?’ looks. They are so fascinating to watch!

Our little motorbike made it’s way up the steep climb to the viewpoint, weaving it’s way around potholes that seemed to multiply the further up we got. It was about 4:30 at this point and the day was turning chilly as huge clouds of mist rolled in. By the time we got to the viewpoint, the mist had overtaken everything. We hiked to the big rock that was overhanging what I believe to be an incredible, wide-ranging view and saw…white. It was pretty surreal, really, but I would love to have seen whatever there is to see!

We headed back down the mountain, both feeling a bit uneasy about the way the needle on our gas gauge was sagging. We ate once more at the food stalls and decided we should probably head out. It started to rain a bit as soon as we got going, and our nervousness about the gas situation turned into nervousness about the slick, windy mountain roads. Good fortune struck us once again, and as soon as we got to the steepest of the hills, the road became instantly dry, allowing us to outpace the raincloud and make it out of the park in one piece!

The needle was on E and we’d both been silently wondering who should be the one to get off and walk, but somehow we made it back to the guesthouse! Thoroughly exhausted and completely content with how our day had gone, we returned the bike, took much-needed (hot!) showers and then enjoyed post-adventure beers before crawling into bed.

The next morning began with a run (where I got to breathe air, not exhaust fumes and look at mountains, not city streets) then a MASSAGE. We went to the place that we’d rented the bike from and each got an hour long body massage…for $8! I’m not sure why I hadn’t yet had a massage in Thailand, but now that I’ve done it, I am hooked! Naturally, it’s done in this little open-air bamboo room with a stone floor, comfy cushions, curtains blowing in the flower-scented breeze…oh it was wonderful! Afterwards they served us some lemongrass tea then Gabe and I floated down the street for another noodle-soup and pepsi breakfast!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the pool, then got a ride to the train station around 3. We ate (yes, another) wonderful meal for (again) 30 baht and then boarded our train. It was third class, which means open windows, wooden seats and incessant sales pitches from food/drink vendors who walk up and down the aisles. The wooden seats lost their novelty by the end of four hours, but overall I prefer third class! I’d much rather have a fresh breeze and unobstructed view of the countryside, plus there is always a bag of fresh fruit or a beer whenever you need it! Besides, the trip cost around $2!

I think we both cringed a bit at being back in the city, but luckily it’s only for a short time. We have a national holiday this Thursday/Friday, which means no school! Tonight we are catching a midnight bus with a couple of my friends to Koh Chang, a fairly undeveloped island where we will be staying in a beach hut until Sunday, enjoying plenty of beach time and more jungle exploration.

I cannot wait for all of the adventures that Gabe and I will have, and I think that we are off to an impressive start! As Gabe put it, not only are we good travelers, but we also seem to be pretty darn good at life!

It’s another stormy Sunday afternoon, so I thought I’d pass the time with some more social commentary…

First of all, Thai time. In Thailand, meeting times, starting times, ending times, departure times, arrival times and deadlines are all merely suggestions. Thai people simply are not in a rush to get anywhere or to do anything, and it carries over into most aspects of life here.

I’ve talked before about how students often show up 10-15 minutes late as though it’s nothing – they know that they are “supposed” to be on time, but it’s just not something that gets enforced or really even noticed. Thai people have the ability to walk incredibly slow – I mean to the point where it seems like special effort! They’ll take these tiny shuffle-steps, stopping here and there to look at whatever is being sold next to them, seemingly with no awareness of anything going on around them. Things that might seem incredibly rude in the west – such as blocking an entire walkway to inspect some pineapples, parking a motorbike right in the center of the sidewalk or simply riding your motorbike through a crowded bus stop – are commonplace and don’t get a second thought. Personal space has an entirely different meaning here!

Despite slow walkers, abrupt stops in the middle of sidewalks, jammed paths and, of course, traffic that never lets up (commute time in Bangkok is typically 2-3 hours by car/bus), you never see an aggravated Thai. There is no sense of impatience, road rage is unheard of and irritations are brushed off. I think that a lot of it boils down to Thai time – if you’ve got all day, what is there to get all worked up about?

I’m sure that there are many factors causing this attitude, many of which are related to Buddhism and its lack of the “get ahead” mentality.  However, I think that the hot, humid climate, the sheer number of people, the belief that everything should be “sanuk” (fun) and the monsoons play a huge part as well. I mean, when the afternoon storms hit, everyone simply stops and takes cover where they are, until it’s over. Appointments and meetings be damned, they will wait until the rains stop!

Although there are certainly times when all I want is a place to open when it says it will open (for example, when I haul my massive bag of laundry to the end of the road only to find the door locked), or for there to be just a little bit of logic to the way the sidewalk traffic moves, overall I would have to say that it’s all very refreshing! You have to make an effort to adopt their attitude and simply slow down…once you do, there is no stress, irritation or frustration. As the Thais say, “mai pen rai”… it’s no worry.

I also want to comment a bit on Thai-size. Generally speaking, Thai people are small – they’re short, they’re skinny and their biggest shoe size won’t fit my big toe. There are some exceptions, however, which I notice largely due to working at a school.

I don’t think that I’ve ever seen an older person over the height of ‘short,’ but I’ve got a good number of tall, lanky 17-20 year olds in my classes. Interestingly, I recently read the reason behind this: milk was not commonly consumed in Thailand until about 15 years ago, which is when it started being given to babies. Thus, we are now seeing the first generation of milk-grown Thais… Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have milk-grown feet yet so I’m still out of luck when it comes to shoes!

Another thing that I have noticed in Thailand is that while you almost never see an overweight Thai adult, there are some pretty big kids running around. I’ve got an overweight kid or two in a few classes, but the biggest problem is definitely among the younger children, the 5-10 year old age range. This has an explanation as well: fast food, internet and television. This is a country that has only had these things introduced in the relatively recent past, but the effects are being seen quickly.

KFC, McDonalds and Dairy Queen are all huge here. Tesco is essentially WalMart, encouraging shoppers to “buy more, save more!” and society in general is modernizing pretty rapidly. Considering that  pretty much every student I have lists their hobbies as “video game, internet, shopping,” it’s easy to see that Thailand is facing more and more of the consequences of westernization and consumerism every day.

A lot of these things are pretty specific to Bangkok, as it is a huge city with rampant consumerism. The villages are much different, the lifestyles much more traditional and much more appealing to me! Eventually I’ll be in Laos, where there is one ATM in the entire country. For now, however, I’ll stick with my observations of of city life!

My dad had asked about the gas prices, which I think is worth mentioning here. Gas is just as expensive, if not more, here as it is in the states. It’s running around 40 baht/litre right now, which is just over $4 per gallon. Most people do not drive, and although the roads are choked with traffic at all hours of the day, it is 85% taxis and buses. There is a large upperclass population, as there is in any big city, but I can’t imagine how anyone on a typical Thai salary would ever dream of having a car!

The gasoline for taxis has always been subsidized, but that will come to a stop at the end of the year, as the government has decided that it’s financially unsustainable and that subsidized prices will not get people to change their habits. Bus, boat and taxi fares were all increased last week by a few baht each and I’m sure that they’ll be raised again before too long.

The Thai’s are hardest hit by food prices, as food takes up the majority of family budgets. School lunches were only 15 baht and standard street meals 20 baht until a few weeks before I arrived; they are now 20 and 25 baht, respectively, due to rice prices. It’s nothing to me, but it makes a  big difference to someone who makes $200 a month! I don’t think that this country could ever go hungry, but they are feeling the pain as much as anyone else in the world!

As “bad” as things are with the American economy right now, it’s good to put it into perspective. $4 gas is bad, but imagine if that $4 was your daily income (minimum wage here)… there’s a big difference between having to sacrifice a vacation to make ends meet and having to find a way to buy enough food for the week! Not too many places in the world have it particularly easy right now, but we’ve got to keep in mind how good our ‘bad’ is..

There is a giant cloud outside that looks like it may spawn 10 or 12 tornadoes (see photos), so I decided to spend some time commenting on a few random topics instead of heading out for dinner.

First of all, spicy food. It’s no secret that Thai food is HOT. Aside from rice and possibly fish sauce, chiles are the most commonly found ingredient in pretty much any sort of food. Even the fresh fruit vendors package up your pineapple or guava or papaya or bananas with a bag of sugar mixed with crushed chiles – there is no escaping it!

No escaping it, unless you happen to be foreign. If you are foreign, Thai people will be terrified to serve you spicy food, issuing warning upon warning if something that you order has any sort of flavor to it. They will then go prepare it without said flavor, pleasing many westerners out there but certainly not pleasing me!

There is quite a bit of Thai food that is prepared relatively spice free, as the consumer is expected to add their own mix of spices from the standard selection on the table: sugar, crushed red pepper, fish sauce and chopped chiles. However, there are also many foods that are hot to begin with, such as any sort of curry and, my favorite, Pad Kaprow Gai (chicken stir-fried with fresh basil and many chopped chiles).

Any time that I tried to order such a dish, the cook would suddenly look very nervous, saying “hot!” or simply “phet,” which is the Thai word for spicy. I would nod, encourage them, try to convince them that it’s okay, I really CAN handle it! They would reluctantly give in and then examine me as I ate, curious as to whether my head would explode.

I probably received the most warnings at school. Around Teacher Appreciation Day, there was free lunch for all of the teachers, delicious self-serve things in pots, prepared by fellow teachers. I went downstairs and was excited to see a giant pot full of hot red curry, one of my favorites! I started to ladle it onto my plate of rice, only to be interrupted by another teacher jumping in to save the day! “Oh no, spicy! You don’t want! Bamboo soup there!” she excitedly informed me, pointing to a boring-looking pot of broth. I smiled and shook my head, pointing at the curry saying “good!” She looked concerned, but let me be.

During the course of eating that wonderful curry, I had THREE different teachers pass by and tell me “Spicy! You don’t like, bamboo soup!” Keep in mind that I was already halfway through my meal and was well-aware of its temperature…I had to wonder if the bamboo soup was included strictly because of the farang teachers!

Anyways, I took that experience as my cue to learn a VERY important phrase: Di-chan chaep phet!” which means “I like spicy food.” It has been magic, and although most Thais will give me a doubtful, worried look when I say that, at least they cook my food correctly and let me eat in peace!

The issues at school are no more – I’ve established myself as a chile-eating farang who can actually handle it! The food stands that I frequent know what I like and start to make my plate before I can even say anything, giving me a knowing smile and saying “Ajarn, phet!” The lady who grills Thai sausage down on the street below my room now knows to add the bag of chiles when she packages my meal, the pad thai girls no longer leave out the spice and the fruit guy knows that I want the condiments with my fruit. All in all, I feel pretty proud of myself – it’s not every day that Thais will put chiles into a blonde girl’s food!

While I’m on the topic of food (one of my favorites), I’ll go ahead and mention a few more incredible recent discoveries! First and foremost, the icecream that is sold on the street. Most Thais are lactose-intolerent and the icecream is (hand)made with coconut milk in lieu of cream. There is usually some sort of nut mixed in, pistachios or cashews, then it is scooped not into a cone or into a bowl, but into a hotdog bun (which is first filled with chopped fresh coconut)! A bit of sweetened condensed milk is poured on top and then, for 10 baht, you have an amazing, not-too-heavy icecream sandwich to enjoy!

A lighter but equally delicious dessert involves a bowl full of crushed ice, chopped fruit, coconut milk and sugar syrup. I’m in love with this concoction, though there are a few strange things that Thais use as toppings for both this and for icecream… corn and kidney beans! Yes, both of these things are used as a dessert ingredient, specifically for iced desserts. I’ve yet to try either one, but the day will come…I’ll make sure to report on it when it does!

Next there is the fresh-squeezed juice. On every corner you can find a vendor squeezing oranges, pineapples and whatever else they happen to have straight into plastic bottles, which are then capped and sold for a mere 10 baht apiece. Refreshing!

I can’t forget the Khao Tom Gloo-ay, which are pieces of banana hidden in a big ball of sticky rice then wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. There is a woman who sells these right at the gate to our school for 5 baht apiece…every day I would want to try one, but could never wait that long to eat breakfast. I finally held off a few days ago and bought a couple of freshly grilled treats for my morning meal – I am now forever changed! Those things are like crack, I can’t imagine NOT having them for breakfast now!

There is another specialty downstairs that I’m trying not to make a habit of consuming – fresh donuts! Basically there’s a woman with a big wok full of oil, throwing in balls of sugary dough then scooping them right out and into a pile next to the wok. You walk up, fill up a plastic bag with however many you want and grab a plastic bag of chilled milk. You then dip the doughnuts into the milk and try to savor it before the heart attack hits! (You can also stop at the man next to her and pick up a few small skewers of grilled chicken, just in case you need some protein with that sugar)

Despite this wonderland of food, I’ve managed to actually drop a few pounds. As I’ve said before, it’s coming largely from lifestyle – if I want to take the subway or a boat, I walk for 20 minutes. If I want room furnishings or groceries, I walk there then carry things back. If I want to mail something, I walk to the post office. I walk home from work everyday, I walk 10 minutes to do my laundry and, of course, I walk any time that I want to eat something. I have no fridge or kitchen or hot water, so there is always a journey involved.

On top of these things, I’m no longer sitting at a computer all day, I NEVER sit in a car, I’m able to run more than my injuries had allowed over the past two years and, very importantly, my beer consumption has DROPPED. Austin is full of delicious microbrews and relaxed patios that persuade you to just “have one more,” whereas Thailand is full of not-so-tasty Asian beer and crazy karaoke bars. I think it’s for the better!

Enough of my mindless rambling, I’m now starving and am going to go brave the storm – I’m sure that whatever I find will be well worth it!