The Misadventures of Joey Tafuro

It has been an uneventful past few days as far as traveling is concerned. I am still in Chiang Mai and still finding things to keep me busy. Last Thursday I decided to head out in search of some nightlife and came across a nice bar called “Sax” which played a good assortment of music. I chatted with the bartender for a bit, her name is Nicharee in Thai but goes by her english name of Apple.

She 25 yrs old and lives and works in Wales but is currently on break from that and visiting Thailand again. She was born and raised in Bangkok but has worked in Chiang Mai and has friends here. After she got off work she took me out to a few places around town. One being a really relaxed rasta bar not too far away. We hung out there till closing and then got to jam with the owners and a few patrons for another hour or so. They had bongos, drums, guitars and other instruments to use. I tried my hand at the bongos while a dredlocked, arab guy in dark sunglasses hit the drums. The paintings on the walls of this place were pretty twisted and amazing and I can only imagine the state of intoxication the artists must have been in. The owners finally decided it was time to go so they gave us the keys and said to lock up before we left. We were still wide awake and chatting away so we decided to stay there. I guess the Thai way of life is to not ruin anyone’s good time by telling them that they have to go home so they trusted 2 people who they had never met before to close up their bar. That is a lesson to me in trust and a brand new experience while traveling.

We made plans to hang out the next night and decided to try and get to the rasta bar a little earlier so that we could hear the live band. It was pretty fun. Lots of farang (foreigners). That brings us to Saturday and St Patrick’s Day so I told her we need to at least stop by an Irish Pub for a little while so I can get myself a nice tall Guinness. We eventually made just in time to watch the end of a pretty intense rugby match featuring Scotland. While ordering drinks I overheard someone make a comment about being American so I introduced myself. A group of 3 girls also partaking in St Patrick’s Day activies. It turns out they are all from New York and one was from Levittown, Long Island not too far from where I grew up. Apple wasn’t into the whole Irish pub thing and to be honest, one Guinness was enough so I was ready to go out.

It was getting pretty late but she wanted to meet up with a couple of her girl friends and go get some food. I wasn’t too hungry but I couldn’t pass up the chance to be taken out by 3 girls to a Thai-only hot spot. We showed up at this outdoor food court a few kilometers from where the center and they started ordering away. Thai’s love to eat. It felt like every few hours we were sitting down somewhere with a selection of Thai food. I will admit, I have found a few items no the menus here that I am starting to get a taste for. I realized that it is pad thai that I am not a big fan of and I don’t really like any noodle dishes but anything with rice or curry chicken, beef or pork is very good. Some of the soups are extremely tasty too. I still can’t bring myself to eat them every day but I do my best. I was really glad they took me to this place because it was way off the tourist trail and I was literally the only farang. It was nice to finally get some attention again. You wouldn’t believe how much I missed all the children pointing and smiling at me in Africa calling me MZUNGU!!! It is true though, the further you wander from where all the tourists go the more people look at you and wonder why you are there. Even if it is just a few blocks down the road.

Apple has been great. I appreciate her taking me out and being a good local guide in a sense. We ended up heading out of Chiang Mai the next afternoon to a lake near the mountains. It was really nice and the temperature dropped significantly so the cool air was refreshing. We had some snacks and drank a beer and watched the sunset. That sounds so much like a date… maybe it was? We headed out again that night for what was going to be my final night of drinking and partying for a little while. I told her she was too hardcore for me and that I need to get back on a normal schedule of sleeping during the night and doing things durnig the day. Marisa’s wedding is in a couple of days and I don’t want to be a zombie for all the activities we will be doing.

I ended up changing hotels this morning and moved closer to the riverside area in order to make it easier on Marisa’s family and the organizers to pick everyone up from one place when we do things. I should be getting a hold of Marisa in a few hours to do dinner with everyone so it will be fun.

It looks like I will have one more weekend coming up in Chiang Mai and then it is time to get the hell out of here. In all seriousness though, I have loved it here. I feel a bit guilty that I don’t have much more than bar hopping and sleeping to talk about but I guess I shouldn’t stress too much. I saved up the money so for a short period I could enjoy life in the form that I want to and not the form that I’m pressured into needing. I’ll have plenty of time for work again someday.

But for now, cheers and sawasdi krap!!

I was told by several travelers that I will enjoy Chiang Mai and that this is the perfect place to recover from injuries. They were absolutely correct. I haven’t done much in the form of travel but I have lived here for the last week in a state of normalcy. I was planning on coming up here for a few days and then heading back to Bangkok for the week and then coming BACK here for Marisa’s wedding but I decided to just stick it out here. I finally stopped going to the hospital and got the stuff needed to do the cleaning myself. I will go back in a few days if it doesn’t look any better but I was given the the OK to take a shower as long as I dry the wounds well and apply anticeptic afterwards. The wounds themselves aren’t too bad anymore but they are still at risk of infection and I am feeling well enough to walk around and start seeing the city some more. I think in another 2-3 days I will be ready to start seeing the surrounding hills of Chiang Mai. There are several tours I can take to tribes and villages nearby as well as trekking and white water rafting. All things that I wanted to do here but up until now have been unable to to do. I hope to not even bring up the accident anymore after this post because I am certainly tired of writing about it.

Nothing really exciting aside from the robbery has occured the last few days. I was ordered by the doctor to stay out of the sun for 2 days so I kept to internet cafes, my hotel room, and the movie theater. The internet said that ‘300’ was playing at the airport plaza but when I arrived it wasn’t showing yet so I settled on ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ which I never planned on seeing but I thought the movie was very good. It was inspirational. I also watched ‘The Last King of Scotland’ and found that incredibly good. I always enjoy a good movie about Africa.

I have changed hotels 2 times since I arrived in Chiang Mai. I liked my first accommodation but it was too expensive and I was mostly paying for the fact that there was a pool available and since I wasn’t able to swim I moved across the street for half the price. I was paying $6 for a very comfortable room. The only problem is a new club opened up right down the street and you can feel the bass beating till 4am. I said Chiang Mai was very quiet and I’m surprised they allowed this club to open up in the location it was because that whole area is very relaxed. There are a lot of homes near by so I would expect some complaints soon. I eventually found my way to a guesthouse in the same area but a few dark streets away. I don’t even know the name of it. It is a Thai name and I am ashamed to have forgotten it already. I am far enough away from the music and I even have a TV to catch up on the news with.

Aside from relaxing and doing the ‘normal’ things I would do if I was at home and not feeling well, I have ventured out slightly. There is a main stretch of road leading down to the Chiang Mai night market with loads of bars and massage parlours. It is much nicer than in Bangkok because the vibe is more relaxed and you can actually go into a bar and have a drink and not be hounded by the other lady patrons. I treated myself to a Beer Lao and a Thai massage yesterday. It was a half massage since I asked him to stay away from the legs with the scabs still. The 30 minutes was extremely painful with my body parts being bent backwards and lots of pressure but in the end it was worth it. When I no longer have any scrapes I will go back for a 1 hour full body massage. Oh, and it only cost $3. It is one of those moments while you travel that you get overcome with a bit of guilt, especially since it was about 8am EST on a Monday morning for everyone back home.

Yesterday, Marisa and Sean left Texas for Bangkok and will be arriving in Chiang Mai on the 19th. I plan on hanging around the ‘old city’ where I am now until they arrive and then I will switch to a riverside hotel closer to where the wedding will be held. I have decided on doing the visa run to Burma. I have quoted a few prices and it seems like $18 is the cheapest I can find for a mini-bus to take 10 people to the Burmese border to cross and then come back to renew our Thai visas. I want to wait as long as possible so then I have a longer time to stay in the country.

If I do the visa run to Burma then that will seal the deal that I am heading south again after the wedding. Once again altering my travel plans. The original idea was to go north into Laos and then make my way through Vietnam and Cambodia but I think I will go back down to Bangkok and actually enjoy my time there then head to Pattaya the first or 2nd week of April. An ex-coworker of mine (Mark Pratt for any CAF folks reading this) will be in Pattaya with his wife and I would love to head down there and have drinks with them. The beaches there are supposed to be really nice so I figure I can get the sun I was supposed to get in Ko Phangan. After that I will make my way into Cambodia and onward.

I always expected that my plans would change at some point but right now the month of March looks nothing like I had planned and it looks as if April will be more of the same.

This is the new article that talks about the incident outside the hospital when I was leaving yesterday. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold robber shot by police Posted on Friday, 9 March 2007, 10: 48 GMT A gunman robbed a gold shop in the Chiang Mai ... [Continue reading this entry]

Staying with the theme of things, Thailand has continued its reign as the heart & soul of excitement on my trip. A visit to Raum Praet hospital just outside the city walls concluded with word from an actual doctor ... [Continue reading this entry]

So I left Bangkok for the quieter vibe of Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. I decided to fly simply because a 12 hour bus ride was not what the doctor ordered for my already travel- depressed self. ... [Continue reading this entry]