Much apologies for my extended absence-- blame it on a) laziness and b) a bout of Mono. Yes that's right, I was essentially out of commission for almost the entire month of March, so you haven't missed too much. Thankfully, I am feeling much better and have gotten my energy back which means I've been out and about again.
Actually, since my last entry on my trip to Khao Sok in Southern Thailand, I have already been back twice (once right before I got sick and once just this past week). It may sound crazy, going back to the same place every month when there are so many things to do and see in this country/ area of the world. But honestly, after being gone for 7 months, I am getting a bit tired of always being in unfamiliar situations, of not knowing what to do or when I'm getting ripped off, of being lost or clueless, etc. So instead, I really enjoy being able to tell the taxi drivers who are trying to rip me off that I don't want a ride because I know how to take the local bus for a heck of a lot cheaper, and knowing to walk over to Art's if we want to watch the monkey's, and knowing to go to Thai Herb for a delicious meal, etc. And most importantly, I know some really awesome people down there. And I've really enjoyed spending my travel time developing relationships with these Thai people as opposed to taking photographs of yet another waterfall or yet another temple, ya know? So I'll fill you in on some highlights of those two trips.
One evening was spent with our friend Ja and members of his extended family at the bungalows that his sister and her husband own. Ja brought us there to prepare a bar-b-que dinner for us. So what did we have? Pig's head. Luckily, the pig harvest from last semester prepared me for the plate of cartilage and fat and facial features that we were presented with. All things considered, it was pretty good. The meal also included a delicious yet spicy green curry and a soup with fish that Ja had speared earlier that day.
The majority of our nights down there are spent outside around a table at the bar where Ja works. We waste away the night Ja, Baw, Beer, Lek, Lek's Canadian husband, and whoever else chooses to stop by--playing cards, playing guitar, telling stories, and what not. It's always a ridiculous, chill, fun, relaxing time.
We spent two nights at one of the National Park's floating bungalows on the giant lake. This site was a little deeper into the jungle than the last we were at so we got to see a lot more wildlife. We saw: wild pig, a whole pack of bull/buffalo things, a couple of truly impressive hornbills, longtail macaque monkeys, langas, an owl, a deer, and a mouse deer, all from the safety of a longtail boat. While walking though, we came across a set of wild elephants tracks. There were just deep circles embedded in the dirt close to 2 feet in diameter--that is a giant animal! We were actually lucky not to see it though, as they can be quite dangerous.
We had quite the memorable Easter breakfast during our stay on the lake. We walked a little ways up a river into the jungle to a nice spot with downed logs to sit on. While us girls took in the scenery, Ja and Do cooked us a meal using only bamboo. They made a fire which burnt dried bamboo. They boiled water inside a tube of bamboo which they then poured into bamboo cups using a bamboo laddle, in order to serve us our choice of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee. Then, they cooked scrambled eggs inside a section of bamboo while they toasted bread by spearing the pieces with thin strips of bamboo and propping them up next to the fire. Keep in mind, all of these utensils and instruments were fashioned on the spot. Pretty impressive and pretty delicious.
One night while we were out on the lake, looking for wildlife, we stopped the boat for a while to wait for the sun to set. So the guys Ja and Do started fishing-- as they do anytime the boat is stopped. Ja caught a small fish which he immediately chopped up in order to use for bait in the hopes of catching something bigger. Well, he did. After some struggling, he pulled a 2 foot long snake head fish into the boat. It got a bit hectic on board that small boat with a massive flopping fish plus 5 people-- 3 of which being girls unprepared to deal with a massive flopping fish. But no worries, they eventually managed to stow it between the thin bamboo slats of flooring and the hull of the boat. It was late by the time we got back that night, so we ate the fish the next night instead. They bar-b-qued it over a fire and it was honestly delicious.
Our trips down there also included a visit to an impressive cave full of stalactites and stalagmites that resembled a coral reef, trips to local temples where we fed the fish and monkeys that live there, plenty of swimming in the lake and in the river, and plenty of reading, napping, and ice cream eating. So even though I go back to the same place, there is always something new and exciting to do and always plenty of relaxing to be done.
Since my last post I also took an overnight trip to a National Park outside of Bangkok. We spent the night in a tent and walked on concrete pathways to a couple of waterfalls. But the highlight of the trip was actually outside of the park. Someone had read about a bat cave where every night you can watch the bats fly out to feed. Well, it turned out to be quite the adventure to get ourselves there, involving some hitchhiking, some awkward encounters with the locals, some negotiating for a guide, and a lot of confusion. But, we made it, after a walk up a crazy steep rocky slope. We arrived at the entrance to the cave about an hour before sunset. We poked our heads inside but there wasn't much to see except darkness and the stench of bat shit was literally unbearable. So we simply camped out outside the cave and waited. Eventually, the humming and chirping of the bats grew louder and louder. One brave bat circled around the entrance to the cave several times before flying sporadically out and down over the tops of the trees. Then another decided to show its face. Then a few more started making the rounds near the entrance before disappearing into the darkening sky. AND THEN, they came. Bat after bat after bat came erupting out of the mouth of the cave. Not that you could even identify a single bat's body. Instead, it was just a mass of dark bodies and flapping wings. They formed a river, starting at the cave and flowing out, around the corner, down the cliff, through the tree tops. Each bat followed the same path, packed together like a school of fish. Honestly, it was just like that scene from The Green Mile when John Cawfey tilts his head up, opens his mouth, and releases a continuing stream of flies. It was absolutely unreal, especially considering that it went ON and ON and ON. Actually, we left before they had stopped because it was getting too dark which meant our walk back would be dangerous. We literally sat and watched for over ten minutes and they were STILL coming. I cannot even fathom how many bats fly in and out of that cave every day.
Those are some of the more exciting things I've done recently. Tonight I am leaving to go to Chiang Mai for about 5 days. Next week is Songkran, the Thai New Year, so we have no school at all. Since this holiday comes at the hottest time of the year (I don't even want to talk about how hot it is here) Thais celebrate by taking to the streets and pouring or shooting water at anyone and everyone. And supposedly nobody celebrates better than the people of Chiang Mai. So I'm headed up there and will stay with my host family from last semester. I am so excited to see them again and to be able to celebrate like the Thais do. I'll let you know how it goes.
So I don't have much more time to write because I need to pack and get ready to go. But I should write something about the current situation in Bangkok. It's gotten bad. Last night, there were the first causalities due to the political unrest. 19 people died last night and some 700 were injured. Feel free to check out the Bangkok Post, The Nation, or the BBC if you want to know more about what's going on. But the jist of it is that the 'red shirts' have been camped out in the city protesting for about a month now, demanding that the government dissolve parliament and call for new elections. They are in support of Thaksin, an ex-prime minister who was ousted in a 2006 coup and who is one of the most corrupt people in politics. Things got violent last night as the government attempted-- and failed-- to clear out their rally sites. A lot of the injuries were due to the use of tear gas and rubber bullets but there were also live rounds fired and bombs, grenades, and molotov cocktails. Things are pretty quiet this morning but obviously tensions are still ridiculously high. And people are especially nervous for next week during the holiday. The governor of Bangkok has cancelled all official Songkran celebrations, unfortunately. The sky train also closed down completely yesterday and the giant shopping malls at the heart of Bangkok's shopping district are still completely closed, along with many roads. It is ridiculous how much money the city, and country, is losing due to the lack of tourism and shopping income. It's all pretty sad-- that it has come to this. Hopefully they can resolve it soon although I'm not holding my breath. Don't worry about me, though, I live in a pretty remote part of the city where it's easy to stay out of the way. Plus, I'm leaving town--granted I can actually get out. I'll update you more on the situation in a week when I get back.
I miss everyone, but am starting to realize that the end is near. I will see you all soon! Hope everything is well. Go cubbies!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sabai
This post is pretty late, but I had quite the adventure a while back that I thought I should write about. After only a couple of weeks of school, we had an entire week off of classes because of some "University Games". So there were some big groups of students planning trips to Malaysia, or to get scuba licenses, or Chiang Mai, or Vietnam. But I didn't want to travel with that many people which is why my friend Kelly and I decided to do our own thing. And I couldn't be happier that we did. We spent a few hours the week before looking up where we wanted to go and general ideas of what we wanted to do. But on Friday afternoon we hopped in a cab with no tickets, no reservations, no nothin' except our packs and a guide book.
A bus took us 12 hours to a town on a bay on the West coast of Southern Thailand, called Phang Nga. It was an overnight bus (thank god for Tylenol PM) so we arrived before sunrise, around 5:30 am. If you have ever seen the James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun", parts of it were filled in this bay. There is an island-- now dubbed James Bond Island-- with a huge, iconic rock pillar thing jutting up from the sea and looking like it could topple any day. Anyways, it is quite the tourist attraction and Kelly had her heart set on seeing it. The only real way to do that is to take a tour of the bay from one of the many small companies operating out of town. We were convinced into taking an overnight tour, which cost us a whopping $30 including all accommodation and 3 meals. So a few hours later, we set out in a small longtail boat, with a Swiss couple and a local guide. The bay is GORGEOUS. The landscape is all limestone, which, because of the way it weathers, has created unbelievable islands of towers and cliffs that dramatically occupy the waters. It has also formed some incredible caves both on land and underwater. So we spent a few hours boating around, seeing the mangrove forest, floating through rock passageways, and taking in the scenery. We also stopped on a couple different islands to walk through a cave or to have lunch on the beach or to step foot on James Bond Island. It is a very small island, but manages to host a few rows of stalls selling souvenirs to tourists. Then, Kelly and I were dropped off at the Muslim village that is located in the middle of the bay. How, you ask? It is built on stilts. I'm not exactly sure why they decided to locate there, but they did. They depend on fishing for their livelihood but have also begun catering to the tourists who come through there. So we explored a bit, ate a delicious dinner, and then spent the night in a room with nothing but a mattress on the wooden floor a few feet above the water.
The next morning after breakfast, our guide came back to pick us up and take us back to the mainland. Our plans for that day were to get to the National Park just outside of town in order to do some hiking. There is only one 2km long trail there, but it is well marked and has some cool stuff to see along the way. Before the actual trail even starts, there is a series of waterfalls separated by a couple of big natural pools. They were quite crowded with local Thais, fully clothed, swimming and playing around and having picnics. Once the trail started, though, the only other people we ran into were a middle-aged white couple. It was a really nice little hike, traveling right next to either the river or a limestone cliff the entire way. Several times, we were expected to cross the river on what the Thais might call a 'bridge' but were really just a log or two that bowed and wobbled as you balance-beamed your way across. There were several caves along the trail that you could walk a little ways into. We saw a bunch of really cool butterflies, a crazy lizard, and alot of truly HUGE trees. And on our way back, we did as the Thais do and went for a swim in the pools-- fully clothed despite the bathing suits we were wearing underneath. That night we got a room in town, clean with our own bathroom, for a grand total of $5.
The next morning, we headed off to our next destination, which required an hour and a half bus ride on a local bus to some other town. The bus played Thai Karaoke music videos the whole time. We then had to get on another bus for about an hour to our final destination--Khao Sok. It is a National Park Northeast of Phang Nga, on the inland of the Southern Thailand peninsula. The small town outside of the entrance to the National Park comprises of one road featuring bungalows, restaurants, tour services, and mini-marts, and one side road with more accommodations. So sure, the place caters to the visiting tourists, but there is no 7 Eleven in sight and the focus is still very much on the National Park. After looking around for a bit, we found a nice, cheap bungalow at this relaxed, locally run joint. From there, we booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the lake inside the park (again, you need a tour to get there). Then we wasted away the evening at a spot along the river where you can watch a huge pack of monkeys swim and climb and swing and run and play for hours on end. And then the next morning we headed out with two middle-aged German guys, a middle-aged German couple, a Canadian family with two young girls, and our local guide, Ja, who also runs the bar at our bungalows.
The lake is incredible. Its landscape is very similar to that of the bay, but it is less wide open and with more channels and inlets and islands. So you can't always see far out into the lake before a cliff blocks your view. But there is this underlying sense, as you travel farther and farther on the boat, that this lake is HUGE. Eventually, we made it to the National Park's floating bungalows and restaurant. These bamboo structures, connected by precarious bamboo walkways, actually are floating atop the water. Through the one inch gaps in our floor boards, we could watch fish swimming beneath our feet. While waiting for lunch, we had a relaxing swim and a good time jumping off of the bamboo diving platform. And after lunch, we went for a hike. The forest (jungle) down there is very different from the stuff I was used to hiking through in Northern Thailand, so I was grateful to get a close look at the differences. We walked for a little under two hours before coming to the entrance of a cave. Wow. We spent an hour walking through it before coming out at the other end. The thing was GIANT. In the 70's, it was used as a communist bunker, and there are even some craters in the area left from bombs aimed at them. We ran into some crazy wildlife inside the cave including a couple of big frogs, a couple of enormous spiders, an area coated in hundreds of small spiders, and the--bats! There were a couple of sections of the cave where the ceiling was just littered with dangling black bodies. It was pretty incredible to see. But perhaps the coolest part of the cave was the river that runs through it, even on the dry season. We walked next to it mot of the way, but then came to a point where the only way forward was to swim. So there we were, swimming down the small river deep inside a dark cave. We then made our way back to the bungalows and enjoyed an extra delicious dinner consisting of fried fish, garlic stir-fried veggies and pork, Thai omelet, and yellow curry with chicken and sweet potatoes. That night, under the light of the full moon, as well as before breakfast the next morning, we all got on the boat and cruised around the lake looking for animals. We saw a couple of hornbills and a couple of different kinds of monkeys. The German guys, Kelly, and I spent the evening hanging out with Ja, who told us a lot about the jungle including some pretty crazy stories about his uncle's encounter with a Tiger and his friend's with a wild elephant. So yes, they do exist.
The next morning, we left the floating bungalows but did another hike and had another swim in the lake again before heading back to town. Then that evening, we agreed to meet up with the two groups of German people. Well, turns out one of the German men (married with children and a school teacher) had quite the crush on Kelly. So we promptly left that crowd and spent the rest of the night with Ja and some of his friends at his bar. He is only a year or two older than us and so we all had a great time hanging out. Lucky for us because for the next 2 and a half days, we had our own personal guides to show us the real Khao Sok. One day, we went for a long hike in the jungle, to a nice secluded waterfall. Along the way, we saw more monkeys, tons of lizards including one over 4ft long, and four snakes. At the end of the hike, Ja made us noodle soup and coffee using only a fire and bamboo. Another day he and a friend, Beer, took us swimming in the river, then to visit the local temple, then to watch them and other locals play a traditional Thai sport (Takraw, a sort of cross between hackey sack and volleyball). And the morning before we left, they took us to the river where in an hours time Ja had speared around 15 small fish. So at that point, about the last thing Kelly and I wanted to do was go back to school in the big city. Life down there is incredible, and it actually reminded me alot of the Karen villages up north. The town may not have much money, but that is of less concern to people who live genuinely relaxed, content, beautiful, and happy lives.
So anyways, it was a fabulous week. I really was enjoying discovering Bangkok, but getting out of there was a surprising breath of fresh air. About two weekends ago I took a little overnight trip to see some swimming monkeys (which turned out to be possessed and creepy) play around in these giant mud flats (which included 'skiing' behind a boat on a huge wooden board). So that was another nice little getaway. And I have a few more trips in mind which should be pretty exciting! Hope everyone had a great Valentines weekend-- or Chinese New Year, a more popular holiday in these parts. And hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather!!
A bus took us 12 hours to a town on a bay on the West coast of Southern Thailand, called Phang Nga. It was an overnight bus (thank god for Tylenol PM) so we arrived before sunrise, around 5:30 am. If you have ever seen the James Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun", parts of it were filled in this bay. There is an island-- now dubbed James Bond Island-- with a huge, iconic rock pillar thing jutting up from the sea and looking like it could topple any day. Anyways, it is quite the tourist attraction and Kelly had her heart set on seeing it. The only real way to do that is to take a tour of the bay from one of the many small companies operating out of town. We were convinced into taking an overnight tour, which cost us a whopping $30 including all accommodation and 3 meals. So a few hours later, we set out in a small longtail boat, with a Swiss couple and a local guide. The bay is GORGEOUS. The landscape is all limestone, which, because of the way it weathers, has created unbelievable islands of towers and cliffs that dramatically occupy the waters. It has also formed some incredible caves both on land and underwater. So we spent a few hours boating around, seeing the mangrove forest, floating through rock passageways, and taking in the scenery. We also stopped on a couple different islands to walk through a cave or to have lunch on the beach or to step foot on James Bond Island. It is a very small island, but manages to host a few rows of stalls selling souvenirs to tourists. Then, Kelly and I were dropped off at the Muslim village that is located in the middle of the bay. How, you ask? It is built on stilts. I'm not exactly sure why they decided to locate there, but they did. They depend on fishing for their livelihood but have also begun catering to the tourists who come through there. So we explored a bit, ate a delicious dinner, and then spent the night in a room with nothing but a mattress on the wooden floor a few feet above the water.
The next morning after breakfast, our guide came back to pick us up and take us back to the mainland. Our plans for that day were to get to the National Park just outside of town in order to do some hiking. There is only one 2km long trail there, but it is well marked and has some cool stuff to see along the way. Before the actual trail even starts, there is a series of waterfalls separated by a couple of big natural pools. They were quite crowded with local Thais, fully clothed, swimming and playing around and having picnics. Once the trail started, though, the only other people we ran into were a middle-aged white couple. It was a really nice little hike, traveling right next to either the river or a limestone cliff the entire way. Several times, we were expected to cross the river on what the Thais might call a 'bridge' but were really just a log or two that bowed and wobbled as you balance-beamed your way across. There were several caves along the trail that you could walk a little ways into. We saw a bunch of really cool butterflies, a crazy lizard, and alot of truly HUGE trees. And on our way back, we did as the Thais do and went for a swim in the pools-- fully clothed despite the bathing suits we were wearing underneath. That night we got a room in town, clean with our own bathroom, for a grand total of $5.
The next morning, we headed off to our next destination, which required an hour and a half bus ride on a local bus to some other town. The bus played Thai Karaoke music videos the whole time. We then had to get on another bus for about an hour to our final destination--Khao Sok. It is a National Park Northeast of Phang Nga, on the inland of the Southern Thailand peninsula. The small town outside of the entrance to the National Park comprises of one road featuring bungalows, restaurants, tour services, and mini-marts, and one side road with more accommodations. So sure, the place caters to the visiting tourists, but there is no 7 Eleven in sight and the focus is still very much on the National Park. After looking around for a bit, we found a nice, cheap bungalow at this relaxed, locally run joint. From there, we booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the lake inside the park (again, you need a tour to get there). Then we wasted away the evening at a spot along the river where you can watch a huge pack of monkeys swim and climb and swing and run and play for hours on end. And then the next morning we headed out with two middle-aged German guys, a middle-aged German couple, a Canadian family with two young girls, and our local guide, Ja, who also runs the bar at our bungalows.
The lake is incredible. Its landscape is very similar to that of the bay, but it is less wide open and with more channels and inlets and islands. So you can't always see far out into the lake before a cliff blocks your view. But there is this underlying sense, as you travel farther and farther on the boat, that this lake is HUGE. Eventually, we made it to the National Park's floating bungalows and restaurant. These bamboo structures, connected by precarious bamboo walkways, actually are floating atop the water. Through the one inch gaps in our floor boards, we could watch fish swimming beneath our feet. While waiting for lunch, we had a relaxing swim and a good time jumping off of the bamboo diving platform. And after lunch, we went for a hike. The forest (jungle) down there is very different from the stuff I was used to hiking through in Northern Thailand, so I was grateful to get a close look at the differences. We walked for a little under two hours before coming to the entrance of a cave. Wow. We spent an hour walking through it before coming out at the other end. The thing was GIANT. In the 70's, it was used as a communist bunker, and there are even some craters in the area left from bombs aimed at them. We ran into some crazy wildlife inside the cave including a couple of big frogs, a couple of enormous spiders, an area coated in hundreds of small spiders, and the--bats! There were a couple of sections of the cave where the ceiling was just littered with dangling black bodies. It was pretty incredible to see. But perhaps the coolest part of the cave was the river that runs through it, even on the dry season. We walked next to it mot of the way, but then came to a point where the only way forward was to swim. So there we were, swimming down the small river deep inside a dark cave. We then made our way back to the bungalows and enjoyed an extra delicious dinner consisting of fried fish, garlic stir-fried veggies and pork, Thai omelet, and yellow curry with chicken and sweet potatoes. That night, under the light of the full moon, as well as before breakfast the next morning, we all got on the boat and cruised around the lake looking for animals. We saw a couple of hornbills and a couple of different kinds of monkeys. The German guys, Kelly, and I spent the evening hanging out with Ja, who told us a lot about the jungle including some pretty crazy stories about his uncle's encounter with a Tiger and his friend's with a wild elephant. So yes, they do exist.
The next morning, we left the floating bungalows but did another hike and had another swim in the lake again before heading back to town. Then that evening, we agreed to meet up with the two groups of German people. Well, turns out one of the German men (married with children and a school teacher) had quite the crush on Kelly. So we promptly left that crowd and spent the rest of the night with Ja and some of his friends at his bar. He is only a year or two older than us and so we all had a great time hanging out. Lucky for us because for the next 2 and a half days, we had our own personal guides to show us the real Khao Sok. One day, we went for a long hike in the jungle, to a nice secluded waterfall. Along the way, we saw more monkeys, tons of lizards including one over 4ft long, and four snakes. At the end of the hike, Ja made us noodle soup and coffee using only a fire and bamboo. Another day he and a friend, Beer, took us swimming in the river, then to visit the local temple, then to watch them and other locals play a traditional Thai sport (Takraw, a sort of cross between hackey sack and volleyball). And the morning before we left, they took us to the river where in an hours time Ja had speared around 15 small fish. So at that point, about the last thing Kelly and I wanted to do was go back to school in the big city. Life down there is incredible, and it actually reminded me alot of the Karen villages up north. The town may not have much money, but that is of less concern to people who live genuinely relaxed, content, beautiful, and happy lives.
So anyways, it was a fabulous week. I really was enjoying discovering Bangkok, but getting out of there was a surprising breath of fresh air. About two weekends ago I took a little overnight trip to see some swimming monkeys (which turned out to be possessed and creepy) play around in these giant mud flats (which included 'skiing' behind a boat on a huge wooden board). So that was another nice little getaway. And I have a few more trips in mind which should be pretty exciting! Hope everyone had a great Valentines weekend-- or Chinese New Year, a more popular holiday in these parts. And hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bangkok Life
I have lived in Bangkok for about a month now. Which means I have been busy learning about and adjusting to life in the big city. In case you were wondering, Bangkok has a population of over 9 million, or 12 million including the metro area. Chiang Mai is less than 1 million. So it has been quite the transition. Bangkok is a bit strange because there is no true center of the city. Instead, it is very spread out with several distinct areas. My university, Thammasat (the second oldest in Thailand), is in the heart of the oldest part of the city. It is a mere 10 minutes walk from the Grand Palace and some of the most important temples in the city. There are around 30,000 students, although because I am in the Thai Studies program, my classes are only with other international students. We do have Thai professors, though, who are all extremely smart. I am taking four classes: Social and Economic Development in Thailand, Thai Politics, Thai Cuisine, and Thai Language. I must admit, it has been beyond painful to sit inside classrooms and listen to 3 hour lectures, but I am grateful to be learning even more about this country. The campus is right on the river, which means that in order to get to school everyday...I take a boat. It's really just a ferry that crosses directly to the other side, but it is always a fun part of the day, especially as it gets hotter and hotter outside. From the ferry, I live about a 15 minute walk away. I am in an apartment building with a ton of other international students which is great because all of my friends are here. The building is brand new and is definitely nicer than my place in Chiang Mai. It's simple, but it's big and bright and air-conditioned. The biggest bummer, in my opinion, is that not much is going on within walking distance of our building. Good thing I am becoming a pro at Bangkok public transportation.
I have almost, but not quite yet, taken all forms of transportation in Bangkok-- and there are many. Aside from the cross river ferries, which cost a whopping 3 baht (a dime), there are also boats with routes up and down the river. Those are really great, except when they are stuffed to the brim with tourists. You can also hire boats to take you down the many canals that meander through the city. On the roads, the city is filled with taxis in bright, goofy colors-- often pink. They may be expensive relative to other options here but by American standards, they are cheap. I rarely pay more than a couple of dollars. Cabs are abundant, convenient, and air-conditioned, with only one major downfall. Traffic. Traveling any significant distance during rush hour (which is more like 3 hours, twice daily) is basically torture, so I avoid that as much as possible. Tuk-tuks also function like taxis, although once you get over the novelty of them, you realize that they are loud, dirty, and have a knack for ripping off foreigners. I have been working on figuring out the buses, since I'm not sure which ones go where. Most are not air-conditioned, have wooden floors, and will pick people up without coming to a full stop. But I love them because they are cheap (20 cents) and convenient. Bangkok also has motorcycle taxis which I have yet to try. You can recognize them by the bright orange, numbered vests that the drivers wear. They are typically used for short trips or for navigating through thick traffic. And they are CRAZY. For motorcycles in general, it is not uncommon to find them driving on the wrong side of the road, or on the sidewalk, or between cars with only an inch of room to spare. And just because they have an innocent passenger on the back does not at all mean they will go easy. It truly is a test of courage. One excellent way to avoid traffic altogether is the Skytrain, or BTS. It's similar to Denver's lightrail or Chicago's El, and is very modern and nice. Plus, most trips are less than a dollar. The problem is, however, the lines are limited and there is no stop anywhere near my apartment or school. Bummer. The last component of public transit is the mysterious subway which supposedly exists but I have never even see and doesn't seem to go anywhere worthwhile. So as you can see, just getting around in this town often turns into quite the adventure.
Another characteristic trait about Bangkok is the food, or rather the incredible availability of food. You cannot walk two blocks without coming across an opportunity to buy food. Restaurants come in all shapes and sizes, but most commonly are small with a couple of tables and stools and serve only Thai food. But then, even more common are the street vendors. They are everywhere. Sometimes they form a sort of market, lining sidewalks with countless carts and leaving little room for all the people to squeeze by. Other times, there will simply be a random vendor or two occupying a random spot. One thing is for sure, it is impossible to go hungry. Especially considering the, again, absurdly low prices. They sell everything from fresh fruit to fruit shakes, from fried meats with sticky rice to every kind of meat on a stick, from nuts to roti, from noodles to rice dishes, from mystery no-crust white bread sandwiches to mystery gelatin sweets. And of course, there is fried anything-you-can-possibly-think-of including bananas, fish cakes, spring rolls, dough, squid, and plenty of other mystery treats. But what's so great is that, aside from a few outliers, streetfood is often the best and cheapest food you can find. Cheap, easy, authentic, and delicious-- does it get much better? And no, I have yet to get sick at all from the food.
Another interesting aspect of Bangkok is the current political situation. Apparently the next 60 days have the potential to bring about MAJOR change to Thailand. Then again, they could bring about nothing new. But it is quite tense around here none-the-less. There is a supreme court ruling due out on February 26th that will decide whether or not to confiscate some 2 billion US dollars of the former Prime Minister's, Thaksin's, assets. In the case of an unfavorable outcome, Thaksin's supporters are expected to stage one the largest protests ever (and that means BIG). There are a couple of other court rulings that carry alot of weight regarding current politics. Even more exciting, though, are some of the rumors floating around. Thailand is known for its coups, which seem to happen on a regular basis but are almost always peaceful and bloodless. The last successful coup was in 2006 and ousted the Prime Minister Thaksin. Well, there have been plenty of rumors lately about a coup against the current Prime Minister Abhisit. Apparently there was some top secret coup attempt just two weeks ago but it was unsuccessful and not publicized. This week, the head of the military is visiting the United States, leaving a different man in charge. A man who many believe would be the one to stage a coup if it were to happen. What makes this even more interesting is the status of the King, Rama IX. Thailand is a Constitutional Monarchy and the King remains a beloved and important part of Thai life. He is however, 83 years old and has been in the hospital for several months now. In the past, confirmation of a successful coup came from the King and whether or not the coup leaders were granted an audience with His Majesty. Currently, though, it does not seem as though King Rama IX is in a position to do this and no one is quite sure what that means. The exact state of the King is not known to the public. Furthermore, as a matter of culture, Thais do not generally think or talk about the future of the King, who has ruled for over 60 years. Essentially, they go about believing he will live forever. So no one is prepared for life without Rama IX. Replying to the question, "what do you think will happen to the Thai political situation if the King were to pass away?" a guest lecturer in my Thai politics class and former deputy Prime Minister said with a straight face, "All hell will break loose".
So it is an exciting time to be in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. And of course the city also offers lots to do. I've been trying to get out and explore when I'm not in school. Last Friday I spent the afternoon in China town, which isn't far from campus. We just walked around, among the stores selling mounds of plastic stuff and restaurants selling sharkfin soup. There is also a GIANT flower market on the edge of China town where you can find a dozen roses for a dollar. Seriously. I've visited some of the local temples which act like oases in a sea of otherwise ugly and poorly designed concrete monsters. I also went with some friends to spend a day at a private cooking school where we shopped at a local market and then learned how to make 5 traditional Thai dishes all from scratch. We made: Chicken galangal coconut soup, chicken with cashew nut stir-fry, spicy glass noodle salad, red curry with chicken, and fried fish cakes. It was all delicious (okay, except the fish cakes) and easy and quick to make. And the shopping opportunities are endless here. You can go to some of the most high-class malls with all of the biggest designer names, or you can go to the weekend market which is an crowded tangle of outdoor stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine and would take you about a month to look through everything. The same goes for the nightlife. You can go to expensive, upscale clubs with dress codes or you can find small local joints as well as everything in between.
So that's kindof what I've been up to in the city. There's alot to do, so hopefully I'll stay busy exploring it all. But I also appreciate all of the precious opportunities to get out of the pollution and traffic. Which I will update you on very soon...
I have almost, but not quite yet, taken all forms of transportation in Bangkok-- and there are many. Aside from the cross river ferries, which cost a whopping 3 baht (a dime), there are also boats with routes up and down the river. Those are really great, except when they are stuffed to the brim with tourists. You can also hire boats to take you down the many canals that meander through the city. On the roads, the city is filled with taxis in bright, goofy colors-- often pink. They may be expensive relative to other options here but by American standards, they are cheap. I rarely pay more than a couple of dollars. Cabs are abundant, convenient, and air-conditioned, with only one major downfall. Traffic. Traveling any significant distance during rush hour (which is more like 3 hours, twice daily) is basically torture, so I avoid that as much as possible. Tuk-tuks also function like taxis, although once you get over the novelty of them, you realize that they are loud, dirty, and have a knack for ripping off foreigners. I have been working on figuring out the buses, since I'm not sure which ones go where. Most are not air-conditioned, have wooden floors, and will pick people up without coming to a full stop. But I love them because they are cheap (20 cents) and convenient. Bangkok also has motorcycle taxis which I have yet to try. You can recognize them by the bright orange, numbered vests that the drivers wear. They are typically used for short trips or for navigating through thick traffic. And they are CRAZY. For motorcycles in general, it is not uncommon to find them driving on the wrong side of the road, or on the sidewalk, or between cars with only an inch of room to spare. And just because they have an innocent passenger on the back does not at all mean they will go easy. It truly is a test of courage. One excellent way to avoid traffic altogether is the Skytrain, or BTS. It's similar to Denver's lightrail or Chicago's El, and is very modern and nice. Plus, most trips are less than a dollar. The problem is, however, the lines are limited and there is no stop anywhere near my apartment or school. Bummer. The last component of public transit is the mysterious subway which supposedly exists but I have never even see and doesn't seem to go anywhere worthwhile. So as you can see, just getting around in this town often turns into quite the adventure.
Another characteristic trait about Bangkok is the food, or rather the incredible availability of food. You cannot walk two blocks without coming across an opportunity to buy food. Restaurants come in all shapes and sizes, but most commonly are small with a couple of tables and stools and serve only Thai food. But then, even more common are the street vendors. They are everywhere. Sometimes they form a sort of market, lining sidewalks with countless carts and leaving little room for all the people to squeeze by. Other times, there will simply be a random vendor or two occupying a random spot. One thing is for sure, it is impossible to go hungry. Especially considering the, again, absurdly low prices. They sell everything from fresh fruit to fruit shakes, from fried meats with sticky rice to every kind of meat on a stick, from nuts to roti, from noodles to rice dishes, from mystery no-crust white bread sandwiches to mystery gelatin sweets. And of course, there is fried anything-you-can-possibly-think-of including bananas, fish cakes, spring rolls, dough, squid, and plenty of other mystery treats. But what's so great is that, aside from a few outliers, streetfood is often the best and cheapest food you can find. Cheap, easy, authentic, and delicious-- does it get much better? And no, I have yet to get sick at all from the food.
Another interesting aspect of Bangkok is the current political situation. Apparently the next 60 days have the potential to bring about MAJOR change to Thailand. Then again, they could bring about nothing new. But it is quite tense around here none-the-less. There is a supreme court ruling due out on February 26th that will decide whether or not to confiscate some 2 billion US dollars of the former Prime Minister's, Thaksin's, assets. In the case of an unfavorable outcome, Thaksin's supporters are expected to stage one the largest protests ever (and that means BIG). There are a couple of other court rulings that carry alot of weight regarding current politics. Even more exciting, though, are some of the rumors floating around. Thailand is known for its coups, which seem to happen on a regular basis but are almost always peaceful and bloodless. The last successful coup was in 2006 and ousted the Prime Minister Thaksin. Well, there have been plenty of rumors lately about a coup against the current Prime Minister Abhisit. Apparently there was some top secret coup attempt just two weeks ago but it was unsuccessful and not publicized. This week, the head of the military is visiting the United States, leaving a different man in charge. A man who many believe would be the one to stage a coup if it were to happen. What makes this even more interesting is the status of the King, Rama IX. Thailand is a Constitutional Monarchy and the King remains a beloved and important part of Thai life. He is however, 83 years old and has been in the hospital for several months now. In the past, confirmation of a successful coup came from the King and whether or not the coup leaders were granted an audience with His Majesty. Currently, though, it does not seem as though King Rama IX is in a position to do this and no one is quite sure what that means. The exact state of the King is not known to the public. Furthermore, as a matter of culture, Thais do not generally think or talk about the future of the King, who has ruled for over 60 years. Essentially, they go about believing he will live forever. So no one is prepared for life without Rama IX. Replying to the question, "what do you think will happen to the Thai political situation if the King were to pass away?" a guest lecturer in my Thai politics class and former deputy Prime Minister said with a straight face, "All hell will break loose".
So it is an exciting time to be in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. And of course the city also offers lots to do. I've been trying to get out and explore when I'm not in school. Last Friday I spent the afternoon in China town, which isn't far from campus. We just walked around, among the stores selling mounds of plastic stuff and restaurants selling sharkfin soup. There is also a GIANT flower market on the edge of China town where you can find a dozen roses for a dollar. Seriously. I've visited some of the local temples which act like oases in a sea of otherwise ugly and poorly designed concrete monsters. I also went with some friends to spend a day at a private cooking school where we shopped at a local market and then learned how to make 5 traditional Thai dishes all from scratch. We made: Chicken galangal coconut soup, chicken with cashew nut stir-fry, spicy glass noodle salad, red curry with chicken, and fried fish cakes. It was all delicious (okay, except the fish cakes) and easy and quick to make. And the shopping opportunities are endless here. You can go to some of the most high-class malls with all of the biggest designer names, or you can go to the weekend market which is an crowded tangle of outdoor stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine and would take you about a month to look through everything. The same goes for the nightlife. You can go to expensive, upscale clubs with dress codes or you can find small local joints as well as everything in between.
So that's kindof what I've been up to in the city. There's alot to do, so hopefully I'll stay busy exploring it all. But I also appreciate all of the precious opportunities to get out of the pollution and traffic. Which I will update you on very soon...
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Vacation
I'm sure that many of you reading this have already heard about this trip from my parents. But I thought I would write about a few of the highlights anyway. So here goes:
Chiang Mai: Our trip started off here, where my parents met me at my apartment. Even though we had a guide with us, it was pretty fun to be able to show my parents the things that I had already seen and done. We visited some of the most significant temples within the old city, which my host parents had taken me to several months ago. We went up to Doi Suthep, the temple on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, which I had been to with school and with my host parents. We went to Kad Luang, a giant market complete with clothing, shoes, baskets, dried fruit, nuts, bamboo worms, fresh fruit and veggies, live fish, raw meat, dried fish, and so much more-- where I often went to shop or walk around. We even bought some worms for my parents to check 'eating a bug' off their list but you can give them a hard time because they chickened out and never tried it. One night in Chiang Mai, we met my host family and went out for dinner with them. It was pretty hysterical. My sisters were as energetic and crazy as ever, running about the restaurant. My host dad was severely limping with a soccer injury. And my host mom struggled to find food that my dad's hyper-sensitive-to-spice mouth could handle. I had a great time and was so glad that they could all finally meet each other. We also took one morning to drive to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. We took a little walk through the jungle, enjoyed the scenery, and saw a great waterfall.
We also spent one full day with...elephants. Upon arrival at the Mae Sa elephant camp, we first watched their elephant show which included some soccer, some darts, some painting, some log stacking, and other various tricks. But after the show, we became elephant trainers for the day. The people at the camp spent about 3 minutes going over how to ride an elephant before hoisting each of us up onto our own animal. And then there we were, walking down a trail sitting on the necks of the giant yet gentle elephants; no saddle, no bench, no nothing-- just us and the elephants. Granted, the elephants' real trainers (the only ones the animals would really listen to) walked beside us to keep the big guys in line, but still, I did some steering... We rode them over to these villages were many of the trainers live with their families. They are hilltribe people transplanted into this tourist site which basically puts them on display everyday. So it was a little bit weird but also an opportunity to see some of the traditional housing, dress, and even the long-neck padong women. We then rode back to the camp where we bathed the elephants in the river before lunch. After lunch came what was probably my favorite part of the day. Painting. How cool! The elephant will paint anything you want it to. You simply dip the brush in the color paint you want, stick the brush in his trunk, and then trace the paper with your finger where you want the elephant to paint. He will then remember and retrace that line with the brush! Dad made a cubs logo, Mom made a flower, and I made a portrait of an elephant. Overall, it was an incredible day. To be able to interact that closely with these charismatic and intelligent animals was really unbelievable.
Chiang Dao: We drove a couple of hours from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao for only one night. We checked out this ridiculously huge cave. Monks used to live and meditate in there, until tourists started invading. So there are alot of Buddha images and shrines inside the cave. We walked and walked but still didn't even see half of what is down there. That night was Christmas Eve and we stayed in a little bungalow at this small place which threw their very Christmas party. Dinner was a big buffet and BBQ, which also featured some performances by local kids while we ate. It was the first Christmas Eve that I have ever slept through the night. The next morning, though we were greeted with small stockings and Merry Christmas wishes, hardly felt like December 25th. Instead of spending the day in front of a Christmas tree, tearing off wrapping paper, eating roast beef, and being with family, we visited a serene forest temple, walked through beautiful royal gardens, and were served a whole fried fish on a plate. It was a Christmas to remember, to say the least.
The Golden Triangle: Our next few days were spent in a quite luxurious resort where from our balcony you could see both Burma and Laos. But not only see them, you were literally on the border. All it would take is a couple minutes to walk to the river and a few more to swim across. On our way to this spot, we crossed over the border into Burma for the afternoon. We got farther than I did last time, taking tuk-tuks to a couple of temples just minutes form the border. One of them is a replica of an even larger pagoda in Burma's capital of Rangoon. The real one is made of some 60 tons of solid gold and is one of the most important Buddhist sites in the world. Whoa. Anyways, the Golden Triangle was historically THE epicenter of the opium trade. Today, though, Thailand has been really successful in its attempt to eliminate production and trade of the drug. We spent one morning in a really nice museum dedicated to opium and its influence in the area. Then, in the afternoon, we hopped on a long-tail boat that took us to Laos. We only walked around the little market there, admiring the countless tables of moonshine bottled with cobras and scorpions, before heading back to Thailand. While in this area we also visited a local village, which was nice to give my parents some idea of the kind of homes and lifestyle that characterized the Karen villages that I had spent time in. And we enjoyed some relaxing free time around the resort where they have their own elephants roaming about. It's a really gorgeous area, surrounded by mountains that are covered in jungle. It's also a bit mysterious, I thought. With the underlying theme of drugs and the proximity of the three countries, it just felt like any minute a boat full soldiers and machine guns would appear from around the bend and trees would began to sway with the force of helicopter blades. But no such luck, we spent a couple of very peaceful days up there.
Cambodia: We spent only 2 full days in Cambodia but they were pretty incredible days. For the most part, we were simply exploring the ancient temples from the Khmer empire. The biggest and most famous of which is Angkor Wat. And man is it big. We got an aerial view of it from a quick little hot balloon ride. And then walked around the temple itself. There is a moat that encloses the entire grounds. Within the moat is a huge manicured lawn, lake, incredible trees, some 6 libraries, plus what feels like layers and layers of walls and rooms and levels making up the temple. The sheer size was incredible. We spent around two hours inside and could not possibly have seen everything. Plus the craftsmanship was also incredible. Each part of the temple is built from giant sandstone blocks, which just boggles the mind to think about transporting and stacking the enormous weights without the help of any machinery. But then, every inch of the sandstone was artfully finished. Every column, every wall, every ceiling was carved or etched or sculpted. I can't even imagine what the place looked like in its prime-- with crisper details, sharper corners, and the pure white of the stone. Time has definitely taken its toll, as this site was built in the early 12th century, but overall this site is amazingly well preserved.
Most of the rest of our time was spent exploring other smaller temples and ruins in the area. I won't say too much because the pictures say it better. But I will say that Wat Bayon (the Temple of Smiling Faces) and the Jungle Wat were my two favorite sites in Cambodia, even more so than Angkor Wat. Wat Bayon has a total of 54 GIANT stone faces smiling and looking down on you as you wonder the temple. Each face is a puzzle of giant stone blocks pieced together to form a handsome portrait. This site was also in more of a state of ruin than Angkor Wat. The faces are largely whole and complete but the walls around them have crumbled here and there. You could walk through an intact hallway but then clamber over a pile of stay bricks, then look through a standing window frame without any wall surrounding it. Then, in a further state of ruins, was the jungle wat. It is widely known as the site of some Tomb Raider filming. But it is fascinating, I think, to see nature in the process or retaking a manmade structure. Incredible, giant, old trees grew from the tops of roofs. Roots traced their way through seams in the rock. Bark coated stone walls. It was, for some reason, truly beautiful.
We also took a trip to a floating village which was quite the site. The people live either on anchored boats, or on houses that they have constructed to float atop bamboo platforms with the help of empty barrels. These houses along with a couple of little stores lined both sides of the river, their backyards consisting of marsh. It absolutely reeks of dead fish. Toilets consist of a hole in the floor of the home which is then surrounded by scrap plastic sheets for the several feet between the floor and the river water below. Nearly all homes have hammocks, many or them occupied as we floated by. And surprisingly, many of those people were watching TV. They all get around in small boats, often children who looked as young as 8 were paddling by themselves. They grow vegetables in the water. There was even a floating pig pen. Most all of the villagers are fishermen, although the lake that the river opens into has seen a dramatic decline in fish population. Also, according to the seasons, each family must move their entire house due to the changing water levels. Our Cambodian guide actually grew up here. And while he shared many happy memories from his home, he also told of how hard the life can be and how it seems to only be getting harder.
A more uplifting experiencing in Cambodia was our encounter with "wild" monkeys who have grown all too familiar to the tourists visiting the ancient sites. We spent a while on the side of the road feeding them bananas, and simply watching them monkey around. So funny! Another amusing sight was to watch the activity on Cambodian rodes. Instead of the overwhelming amount of motorcycles that consume Thailand, Cambodia is covered in bikes. Everyone from small kids to grandparents navigate the streets on their bicycles. It was ridiculous to watch how many people could fit on one bike, to watch kids on their bike bum rides by holding onto their friend on a motorcycle, and the unbelievable loads that they would strap onto the bikes. So overall, Cambodia was a fun, educational, exciting adventure. And it was great to be able to see how different Cambodia is from its next door neighbor which I've been spending so much time in.
Khao Lak: From Cambodia we flew to the Western coast of Southern Thailand. We enjoyed another couple of days in sweet resort on the beach. For two of those days, my Dad and I went scuba diving. I really missed that feeling of breathing underwater and of course it was not disappointing. The highlights of our 2 days were: a couple of small rays, a couple of big turtles, a school of huge barracuda, countless different reef fish, colorful soft corals, AND 2 sharks! Each was around 5-6 feet long. One was a calm leopard shark sitting on the reef, while the other was a darting, skiddish black-tip shark. Awesome. Our third day down south was our one and only day of the whole day with absolutely nothing on the schedule. So despite a bit of rain we enjoyed our books on the beach and a morning at the spa. Mom had already made friends at the spa while Dad and I were diving. So she scheduled Dad for a foot massage and her and I for a traditional Thai massage. As my mom says, "it was like forced yoga". The resort also put together a really impressive buffet and party for New Years Eve. There were Thai dancers, fire dancers, and a ton of people releasing paper lanterns into the sky. We then enjoyed the midnight fireworks from the comfort of our own beds.
Bangkok: Finally, we made it to Bangkok. I had to do some stuff for school while my parents were still around but it worked out well because I still got to see most everything that they did and still got to spend most of the time with them. We saw the Grand Palace and the nearby temples that characterize the old part of the city. We saw the emerald Buddha which is only a few feet tall but is made form one solid piece of jade. We also saw Wat Pho which houses a 46 METER long reclining Buddha. Seriously. Alot of the buildings in these sites were covered in incredible ceramic tiling. All done by hand, they would arrange the tiles to be 3D, so that flowers bloomed off of the walls and patterns became textures. One night, looking for something to do, we jumped on the skytrain and got off at some ridiculous mall. Turns out, they have a pretty nice aquarium along with a really nice movie theater, both of which we took advantage of. Sherlock Holmes was a great movie, by the way. We also spent an entire day outside of Bangkok. We drove out to the bridge on the River Kwai where we learned alot about Thailand's part in WWII. From there we continued to the Tiger Temple which is a sort of wildlife sanctuary where you can watch and pet and take pictures with tigers (while they are on a short chain to the ground). Also in Bangkok, we walked through a giant and ridiculously cheap flower market, found and moved me into an apartment for this semester, ate lots of good food, and sat in our fair share of traffic.
So this entry is way longer than I was planning, congratulations if you made it through. I can't tell you how good it felt to see my parents. Although, it also reminded me of just how much I miss everyone else. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, and I hope winter is treating you well.
Chiang Mai: Our trip started off here, where my parents met me at my apartment. Even though we had a guide with us, it was pretty fun to be able to show my parents the things that I had already seen and done. We visited some of the most significant temples within the old city, which my host parents had taken me to several months ago. We went up to Doi Suthep, the temple on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, which I had been to with school and with my host parents. We went to Kad Luang, a giant market complete with clothing, shoes, baskets, dried fruit, nuts, bamboo worms, fresh fruit and veggies, live fish, raw meat, dried fish, and so much more-- where I often went to shop or walk around. We even bought some worms for my parents to check 'eating a bug' off their list but you can give them a hard time because they chickened out and never tried it. One night in Chiang Mai, we met my host family and went out for dinner with them. It was pretty hysterical. My sisters were as energetic and crazy as ever, running about the restaurant. My host dad was severely limping with a soccer injury. And my host mom struggled to find food that my dad's hyper-sensitive-to-spice mouth could handle. I had a great time and was so glad that they could all finally meet each other. We also took one morning to drive to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. We took a little walk through the jungle, enjoyed the scenery, and saw a great waterfall.
We also spent one full day with...elephants. Upon arrival at the Mae Sa elephant camp, we first watched their elephant show which included some soccer, some darts, some painting, some log stacking, and other various tricks. But after the show, we became elephant trainers for the day. The people at the camp spent about 3 minutes going over how to ride an elephant before hoisting each of us up onto our own animal. And then there we were, walking down a trail sitting on the necks of the giant yet gentle elephants; no saddle, no bench, no nothing-- just us and the elephants. Granted, the elephants' real trainers (the only ones the animals would really listen to) walked beside us to keep the big guys in line, but still, I did some steering... We rode them over to these villages were many of the trainers live with their families. They are hilltribe people transplanted into this tourist site which basically puts them on display everyday. So it was a little bit weird but also an opportunity to see some of the traditional housing, dress, and even the long-neck padong women. We then rode back to the camp where we bathed the elephants in the river before lunch. After lunch came what was probably my favorite part of the day. Painting. How cool! The elephant will paint anything you want it to. You simply dip the brush in the color paint you want, stick the brush in his trunk, and then trace the paper with your finger where you want the elephant to paint. He will then remember and retrace that line with the brush! Dad made a cubs logo, Mom made a flower, and I made a portrait of an elephant. Overall, it was an incredible day. To be able to interact that closely with these charismatic and intelligent animals was really unbelievable.
Chiang Dao: We drove a couple of hours from Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao for only one night. We checked out this ridiculously huge cave. Monks used to live and meditate in there, until tourists started invading. So there are alot of Buddha images and shrines inside the cave. We walked and walked but still didn't even see half of what is down there. That night was Christmas Eve and we stayed in a little bungalow at this small place which threw their very Christmas party. Dinner was a big buffet and BBQ, which also featured some performances by local kids while we ate. It was the first Christmas Eve that I have ever slept through the night. The next morning, though we were greeted with small stockings and Merry Christmas wishes, hardly felt like December 25th. Instead of spending the day in front of a Christmas tree, tearing off wrapping paper, eating roast beef, and being with family, we visited a serene forest temple, walked through beautiful royal gardens, and were served a whole fried fish on a plate. It was a Christmas to remember, to say the least.
The Golden Triangle: Our next few days were spent in a quite luxurious resort where from our balcony you could see both Burma and Laos. But not only see them, you were literally on the border. All it would take is a couple minutes to walk to the river and a few more to swim across. On our way to this spot, we crossed over the border into Burma for the afternoon. We got farther than I did last time, taking tuk-tuks to a couple of temples just minutes form the border. One of them is a replica of an even larger pagoda in Burma's capital of Rangoon. The real one is made of some 60 tons of solid gold and is one of the most important Buddhist sites in the world. Whoa. Anyways, the Golden Triangle was historically THE epicenter of the opium trade. Today, though, Thailand has been really successful in its attempt to eliminate production and trade of the drug. We spent one morning in a really nice museum dedicated to opium and its influence in the area. Then, in the afternoon, we hopped on a long-tail boat that took us to Laos. We only walked around the little market there, admiring the countless tables of moonshine bottled with cobras and scorpions, before heading back to Thailand. While in this area we also visited a local village, which was nice to give my parents some idea of the kind of homes and lifestyle that characterized the Karen villages that I had spent time in. And we enjoyed some relaxing free time around the resort where they have their own elephants roaming about. It's a really gorgeous area, surrounded by mountains that are covered in jungle. It's also a bit mysterious, I thought. With the underlying theme of drugs and the proximity of the three countries, it just felt like any minute a boat full soldiers and machine guns would appear from around the bend and trees would began to sway with the force of helicopter blades. But no such luck, we spent a couple of very peaceful days up there.
Cambodia: We spent only 2 full days in Cambodia but they were pretty incredible days. For the most part, we were simply exploring the ancient temples from the Khmer empire. The biggest and most famous of which is Angkor Wat. And man is it big. We got an aerial view of it from a quick little hot balloon ride. And then walked around the temple itself. There is a moat that encloses the entire grounds. Within the moat is a huge manicured lawn, lake, incredible trees, some 6 libraries, plus what feels like layers and layers of walls and rooms and levels making up the temple. The sheer size was incredible. We spent around two hours inside and could not possibly have seen everything. Plus the craftsmanship was also incredible. Each part of the temple is built from giant sandstone blocks, which just boggles the mind to think about transporting and stacking the enormous weights without the help of any machinery. But then, every inch of the sandstone was artfully finished. Every column, every wall, every ceiling was carved or etched or sculpted. I can't even imagine what the place looked like in its prime-- with crisper details, sharper corners, and the pure white of the stone. Time has definitely taken its toll, as this site was built in the early 12th century, but overall this site is amazingly well preserved.
Most of the rest of our time was spent exploring other smaller temples and ruins in the area. I won't say too much because the pictures say it better. But I will say that Wat Bayon (the Temple of Smiling Faces) and the Jungle Wat were my two favorite sites in Cambodia, even more so than Angkor Wat. Wat Bayon has a total of 54 GIANT stone faces smiling and looking down on you as you wonder the temple. Each face is a puzzle of giant stone blocks pieced together to form a handsome portrait. This site was also in more of a state of ruin than Angkor Wat. The faces are largely whole and complete but the walls around them have crumbled here and there. You could walk through an intact hallway but then clamber over a pile of stay bricks, then look through a standing window frame without any wall surrounding it. Then, in a further state of ruins, was the jungle wat. It is widely known as the site of some Tomb Raider filming. But it is fascinating, I think, to see nature in the process or retaking a manmade structure. Incredible, giant, old trees grew from the tops of roofs. Roots traced their way through seams in the rock. Bark coated stone walls. It was, for some reason, truly beautiful.
We also took a trip to a floating village which was quite the site. The people live either on anchored boats, or on houses that they have constructed to float atop bamboo platforms with the help of empty barrels. These houses along with a couple of little stores lined both sides of the river, their backyards consisting of marsh. It absolutely reeks of dead fish. Toilets consist of a hole in the floor of the home which is then surrounded by scrap plastic sheets for the several feet between the floor and the river water below. Nearly all homes have hammocks, many or them occupied as we floated by. And surprisingly, many of those people were watching TV. They all get around in small boats, often children who looked as young as 8 were paddling by themselves. They grow vegetables in the water. There was even a floating pig pen. Most all of the villagers are fishermen, although the lake that the river opens into has seen a dramatic decline in fish population. Also, according to the seasons, each family must move their entire house due to the changing water levels. Our Cambodian guide actually grew up here. And while he shared many happy memories from his home, he also told of how hard the life can be and how it seems to only be getting harder.
A more uplifting experiencing in Cambodia was our encounter with "wild" monkeys who have grown all too familiar to the tourists visiting the ancient sites. We spent a while on the side of the road feeding them bananas, and simply watching them monkey around. So funny! Another amusing sight was to watch the activity on Cambodian rodes. Instead of the overwhelming amount of motorcycles that consume Thailand, Cambodia is covered in bikes. Everyone from small kids to grandparents navigate the streets on their bicycles. It was ridiculous to watch how many people could fit on one bike, to watch kids on their bike bum rides by holding onto their friend on a motorcycle, and the unbelievable loads that they would strap onto the bikes. So overall, Cambodia was a fun, educational, exciting adventure. And it was great to be able to see how different Cambodia is from its next door neighbor which I've been spending so much time in.
Khao Lak: From Cambodia we flew to the Western coast of Southern Thailand. We enjoyed another couple of days in sweet resort on the beach. For two of those days, my Dad and I went scuba diving. I really missed that feeling of breathing underwater and of course it was not disappointing. The highlights of our 2 days were: a couple of small rays, a couple of big turtles, a school of huge barracuda, countless different reef fish, colorful soft corals, AND 2 sharks! Each was around 5-6 feet long. One was a calm leopard shark sitting on the reef, while the other was a darting, skiddish black-tip shark. Awesome. Our third day down south was our one and only day of the whole day with absolutely nothing on the schedule. So despite a bit of rain we enjoyed our books on the beach and a morning at the spa. Mom had already made friends at the spa while Dad and I were diving. So she scheduled Dad for a foot massage and her and I for a traditional Thai massage. As my mom says, "it was like forced yoga". The resort also put together a really impressive buffet and party for New Years Eve. There were Thai dancers, fire dancers, and a ton of people releasing paper lanterns into the sky. We then enjoyed the midnight fireworks from the comfort of our own beds.
Bangkok: Finally, we made it to Bangkok. I had to do some stuff for school while my parents were still around but it worked out well because I still got to see most everything that they did and still got to spend most of the time with them. We saw the Grand Palace and the nearby temples that characterize the old part of the city. We saw the emerald Buddha which is only a few feet tall but is made form one solid piece of jade. We also saw Wat Pho which houses a 46 METER long reclining Buddha. Seriously. Alot of the buildings in these sites were covered in incredible ceramic tiling. All done by hand, they would arrange the tiles to be 3D, so that flowers bloomed off of the walls and patterns became textures. One night, looking for something to do, we jumped on the skytrain and got off at some ridiculous mall. Turns out, they have a pretty nice aquarium along with a really nice movie theater, both of which we took advantage of. Sherlock Holmes was a great movie, by the way. We also spent an entire day outside of Bangkok. We drove out to the bridge on the River Kwai where we learned alot about Thailand's part in WWII. From there we continued to the Tiger Temple which is a sort of wildlife sanctuary where you can watch and pet and take pictures with tigers (while they are on a short chain to the ground). Also in Bangkok, we walked through a giant and ridiculously cheap flower market, found and moved me into an apartment for this semester, ate lots of good food, and sat in our fair share of traffic.
So this entry is way longer than I was planning, congratulations if you made it through. I can't tell you how good it felt to see my parents. Although, it also reminded me of just how much I miss everyone else. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, and I hope winter is treating you well.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pitcures!
I have finally uploaded pictures onto the internet! If you would like to check them out, you can go to this website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/juliecstetson
http://picasaweb.google.com/juliecstetson
Tropical Paradise...and class
I know this is ridiculously late, but here is a bit about my last course of first semester:
It all started with a 23 hour bus ride. Seriously. We drove down Thailand's western coastline basically as far as you can go before reaching Malaysia. Thankfully, it was a pretty nice, double-decker bus with room enough for me to have two seats to myself. And thankfully, I packed some Tylenol PM. We made a few stops for meals and potty breaks, but we also made a stop at the site of Thailand's old capital. Rising out of the perfectly manicured lawn were incredible towers and walls of sagging red brick. The capital was built sometime in the 14th century and it was fascinating to see the toll that time had taken on these man made structures. The incredible detail and complexity of the buildings' ornamentation were evident. Yet at the same time, corners were rounded by erosion, cracks were widened by the roots of plants, and Buddha images were decapitated long ago by looters. And the charismatic red bricks set against the vibrant green grass and the striking blue sky was particularly beautiful. So it was really fun to explore the place, and a welcome opportunity to stretch our legs.
Sprawled across my seats, I awoke in the morning to the bus stopping at the pier. Finally, the ocean! But our journey was not over, we had a four hour boat ride ahead of us. Eventually, we came upon a couple of islands, ringed with immaculate white sand beaches and then surrounded by turquoise waters. This is where we would spend the next two and a half weeks. For my group, the first half of the course was spent on Lipe Island. It's pretty small, you can walk all over it in less than a day. But it is the only island in the Adang Archipelago that has been developed. The first resort opened nearly 30 years ago, but the past 5 or 10 years have seen a huge boom in construction. Today there are some 50 places offering accommodation and even more offering food. So we actually stayed in small bungalows at one of those 50 resorts. Our place essentially had its own private beach which we thoroughly enjoyed either laying out on, snorkeling off of, or looking out at from the deck of the restaurant. So while we on this island, we spent 4 days doing projects in small groups but we could spend the days as we wished. Usually this meant some morning beach time, a couple of hours of work, a yummy lunch, some more beach time, and maybe a little more work-- if we could squeeze it in. In the evenings, we often had meetings with significant people on the island such as business owners, restaurant owners, and locals. Speaking of, the locals are actually a minority people-- the Urak Lawoi. Years ago, they were semi-nomadic sea gypsies, spending most of their time on boats; fishing, living subsistencely, and moving from island to island. The Thai government, however, wanted to be sure that Malaysia did not claim these Southern islands, so they set up a National Park and gave land titles to the Urak Lawoi. This forced them settle in one place. Then, over the years, voluntarily and not, the Urak Lawoi sold off their land to developers. Now, the remaining Urak Lawoi often do not own the land they live on. In fact, an entire village was forced to relocate just months before we arrived. Furthermore, their primary livelihood (fishing) is at high risk due to the severely depleted fish stocks in the archipelago. Many now work in tourism industry but very few have high level jobs. So are projects on the island were meant to try to figure out what is going on on Lipe in terms of development, the local culture, and the state of the island's environment. Then, our last two days on that island were spent snorkeling the reefs in the area and writing midcourse essays. Aside from some rain on our second day-- which was a good excuse to get some schoolwork done-- our weather was fantastic.
At the halfway point of the course, it was time for us to leave Lipe. So we got into our kayaks. We paddled around the entire island of Lipe and then crossed the straight to its neighbor, Adang. It took us just over 2 hours. Once we arrived, we set up camp! The rest of the course we would be spending in tents. Tents on the beach, that is. This campsite was actually at the site of the National park, so we had dinners at their restaurant each of the two nights spent there. Breakfast was always a granola type mixture made with your own personal recipe of boiling and powdered milk, hot chocolate mix, instant coffee, and/or sugar. Lunches were always an endless supply of bread, peanut butter, nutella, honey, banana chips, and beef jerky, plus some watermelon or pineapple. The second campsite that we stayed at was a 17 km paddle away from the first which took about 5 hours, not including lunch. This site was much quieter and more secluded, with no restaurant or tourists to speak of. We had the same breakfasts and lunches but then cooked our dinners, some of which consisted of fish caught that day by our boat drivers. There were some bathrooms but they were straight out of a horror film-- filthy, broken, rundown, and accessible by a long overgrown path. I went there once and decided never to go back, a decision which was re-enforced when someone ran into a viper on that path. I also had a close call with a venomous creepy crawly at that site. While completing an assignment at a picnic table, I just happened to look down and see this ridiculous THING on the leg of the table, a mere inch from my leg. It was hideous. It's body was about 3 inches long, but then its LEGS. It had about 30, each around 2 inches long. It was bright orange. It was one inch from me. It was gross. And disgusting. I carefully but urgently removed myself from the table. According to our local boat driver, the venom from that bug hurts more than that of Thai centipedes. One of the teachers at school was bitten by a centipede and was sent to the hospital for a morphine drip. So yea... that was scary. But actually, I loved camping on the beach. I loved falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I loved waking up to the view of the ocean. I loved showering under a 4 ft tall hose attached to a beached boat. I loved spending a week entirely on either sand or water.
This half of the course was focused more on ecology and less on people. So our days were spent doing activities such as a forest plot survey, a mangrove study, a sea anemone survey, and a giant clam project. We did a few more short paddles in our kayaks. I always looked forward to them, it was pretty cool to slide right along the top of the ocean like that. And we did alot more snorkeling. Throughout the trip, I saw alot of barracuda, anemones and clownfish, starfish, crown of thorns, sea urchins, giant clams, moray eels, small rays, and all your colorful reef fish. Little surprise, I couldn't get enough of it. To get to and from different beaches or reefs when we didn't kayak, we took traditional long-tail boats (these boats also carried all of our gear when we did kayak). They are skinny but long wooden boats with a motor attached to the end of a swiveling 15 ft long pole. Our drivers were a couple of Urak Lawoi from Lipe. One day, on our way back from snorkeling somewhere, our boat suddenly started veering to the left. All of us students were facing forwards but one of our field instructors, Pi Aaron, sat facing backwards on the bow of the boat. We watched as he jumped up and headed for the back of the boat, stopping just before climbing over all of us, as the boat began to straighten out. So I look back to see what was going on back there. Turns out our driver was fishing. While driving. In fact, he had the steering stick in one hand, a fishing pole in the other, and a cigarette in his mouth. He hadn't actually caught anything, but had just become a bit preoccupied with the line for a moment. i kept watching him as he soon propped up the fishing pole, took a seat on the cooler, draped his elbow over the steering stick, took a drag from his cigarette, removed it from his lips, then smiled and mouthed the word "sabai" across the boat to our Thai field instructor, Pi Pui. "Sabai" is loosely translated as chill, relaxed, enjoyable. So that sums up the course pretty well I'd say.
The last part of the expedition, our travel back to Chiang Mai, was like a variation on Planes Trains and Automobiles. It began by loading up longtail boats at 4 in the morning. Those boats took us out into deeper waters where we transferred everything onto a ferry. After a 4 hour ferry ride we had a 2 hour bus ride to the airport. From there, we had an hour and a half flight to Bangkok followed by another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai. It was a long day. But then a final seminar in Chiang Mai and a Thai language assessment interview meant ISDSI was over. Islands was a great way to end it, it would have been hard to top class on the beach. The scenery was spectacular and the activities were fun. The teacher was horrendous but thankfully, he doesn't even teach while we are on the expedition. So overall, it's hard to complain.
Alot has happened since then, such as a three week long vacation with my parents. Hopefully a report on that will come very soon, now that my new room in Bangkok is equipped with wireless. Until then!
It all started with a 23 hour bus ride. Seriously. We drove down Thailand's western coastline basically as far as you can go before reaching Malaysia. Thankfully, it was a pretty nice, double-decker bus with room enough for me to have two seats to myself. And thankfully, I packed some Tylenol PM. We made a few stops for meals and potty breaks, but we also made a stop at the site of Thailand's old capital. Rising out of the perfectly manicured lawn were incredible towers and walls of sagging red brick. The capital was built sometime in the 14th century and it was fascinating to see the toll that time had taken on these man made structures. The incredible detail and complexity of the buildings' ornamentation were evident. Yet at the same time, corners were rounded by erosion, cracks were widened by the roots of plants, and Buddha images were decapitated long ago by looters. And the charismatic red bricks set against the vibrant green grass and the striking blue sky was particularly beautiful. So it was really fun to explore the place, and a welcome opportunity to stretch our legs.
Sprawled across my seats, I awoke in the morning to the bus stopping at the pier. Finally, the ocean! But our journey was not over, we had a four hour boat ride ahead of us. Eventually, we came upon a couple of islands, ringed with immaculate white sand beaches and then surrounded by turquoise waters. This is where we would spend the next two and a half weeks. For my group, the first half of the course was spent on Lipe Island. It's pretty small, you can walk all over it in less than a day. But it is the only island in the Adang Archipelago that has been developed. The first resort opened nearly 30 years ago, but the past 5 or 10 years have seen a huge boom in construction. Today there are some 50 places offering accommodation and even more offering food. So we actually stayed in small bungalows at one of those 50 resorts. Our place essentially had its own private beach which we thoroughly enjoyed either laying out on, snorkeling off of, or looking out at from the deck of the restaurant. So while we on this island, we spent 4 days doing projects in small groups but we could spend the days as we wished. Usually this meant some morning beach time, a couple of hours of work, a yummy lunch, some more beach time, and maybe a little more work-- if we could squeeze it in. In the evenings, we often had meetings with significant people on the island such as business owners, restaurant owners, and locals. Speaking of, the locals are actually a minority people-- the Urak Lawoi. Years ago, they were semi-nomadic sea gypsies, spending most of their time on boats; fishing, living subsistencely, and moving from island to island. The Thai government, however, wanted to be sure that Malaysia did not claim these Southern islands, so they set up a National Park and gave land titles to the Urak Lawoi. This forced them settle in one place. Then, over the years, voluntarily and not, the Urak Lawoi sold off their land to developers. Now, the remaining Urak Lawoi often do not own the land they live on. In fact, an entire village was forced to relocate just months before we arrived. Furthermore, their primary livelihood (fishing) is at high risk due to the severely depleted fish stocks in the archipelago. Many now work in tourism industry but very few have high level jobs. So are projects on the island were meant to try to figure out what is going on on Lipe in terms of development, the local culture, and the state of the island's environment. Then, our last two days on that island were spent snorkeling the reefs in the area and writing midcourse essays. Aside from some rain on our second day-- which was a good excuse to get some schoolwork done-- our weather was fantastic.
At the halfway point of the course, it was time for us to leave Lipe. So we got into our kayaks. We paddled around the entire island of Lipe and then crossed the straight to its neighbor, Adang. It took us just over 2 hours. Once we arrived, we set up camp! The rest of the course we would be spending in tents. Tents on the beach, that is. This campsite was actually at the site of the National park, so we had dinners at their restaurant each of the two nights spent there. Breakfast was always a granola type mixture made with your own personal recipe of boiling and powdered milk, hot chocolate mix, instant coffee, and/or sugar. Lunches were always an endless supply of bread, peanut butter, nutella, honey, banana chips, and beef jerky, plus some watermelon or pineapple. The second campsite that we stayed at was a 17 km paddle away from the first which took about 5 hours, not including lunch. This site was much quieter and more secluded, with no restaurant or tourists to speak of. We had the same breakfasts and lunches but then cooked our dinners, some of which consisted of fish caught that day by our boat drivers. There were some bathrooms but they were straight out of a horror film-- filthy, broken, rundown, and accessible by a long overgrown path. I went there once and decided never to go back, a decision which was re-enforced when someone ran into a viper on that path. I also had a close call with a venomous creepy crawly at that site. While completing an assignment at a picnic table, I just happened to look down and see this ridiculous THING on the leg of the table, a mere inch from my leg. It was hideous. It's body was about 3 inches long, but then its LEGS. It had about 30, each around 2 inches long. It was bright orange. It was one inch from me. It was gross. And disgusting. I carefully but urgently removed myself from the table. According to our local boat driver, the venom from that bug hurts more than that of Thai centipedes. One of the teachers at school was bitten by a centipede and was sent to the hospital for a morphine drip. So yea... that was scary. But actually, I loved camping on the beach. I loved falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I loved waking up to the view of the ocean. I loved showering under a 4 ft tall hose attached to a beached boat. I loved spending a week entirely on either sand or water.
This half of the course was focused more on ecology and less on people. So our days were spent doing activities such as a forest plot survey, a mangrove study, a sea anemone survey, and a giant clam project. We did a few more short paddles in our kayaks. I always looked forward to them, it was pretty cool to slide right along the top of the ocean like that. And we did alot more snorkeling. Throughout the trip, I saw alot of barracuda, anemones and clownfish, starfish, crown of thorns, sea urchins, giant clams, moray eels, small rays, and all your colorful reef fish. Little surprise, I couldn't get enough of it. To get to and from different beaches or reefs when we didn't kayak, we took traditional long-tail boats (these boats also carried all of our gear when we did kayak). They are skinny but long wooden boats with a motor attached to the end of a swiveling 15 ft long pole. Our drivers were a couple of Urak Lawoi from Lipe. One day, on our way back from snorkeling somewhere, our boat suddenly started veering to the left. All of us students were facing forwards but one of our field instructors, Pi Aaron, sat facing backwards on the bow of the boat. We watched as he jumped up and headed for the back of the boat, stopping just before climbing over all of us, as the boat began to straighten out. So I look back to see what was going on back there. Turns out our driver was fishing. While driving. In fact, he had the steering stick in one hand, a fishing pole in the other, and a cigarette in his mouth. He hadn't actually caught anything, but had just become a bit preoccupied with the line for a moment. i kept watching him as he soon propped up the fishing pole, took a seat on the cooler, draped his elbow over the steering stick, took a drag from his cigarette, removed it from his lips, then smiled and mouthed the word "sabai" across the boat to our Thai field instructor, Pi Pui. "Sabai" is loosely translated as chill, relaxed, enjoyable. So that sums up the course pretty well I'd say.
The last part of the expedition, our travel back to Chiang Mai, was like a variation on Planes Trains and Automobiles. It began by loading up longtail boats at 4 in the morning. Those boats took us out into deeper waters where we transferred everything onto a ferry. After a 4 hour ferry ride we had a 2 hour bus ride to the airport. From there, we had an hour and a half flight to Bangkok followed by another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai. It was a long day. But then a final seminar in Chiang Mai and a Thai language assessment interview meant ISDSI was over. Islands was a great way to end it, it would have been hard to top class on the beach. The scenery was spectacular and the activities were fun. The teacher was horrendous but thankfully, he doesn't even teach while we are on the expedition. So overall, it's hard to complain.
Alot has happened since then, such as a three week long vacation with my parents. Hopefully a report on that will come very soon, now that my new room in Bangkok is equipped with wireless. Until then!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Village People
Once again I have no idea where to begin. Where could I possibly begin to describe two and a half weeks spent isolated in rural hilltribe villages of Northern Thailand? I promise when I get my laptop after this semester, I will put up some pictures although even that can't tell the whole story.
In all, we stayed in 5 different villages. The first village, we spent one night in. The next two villages we spent two nights in each. And the last two villages we spent five nights in each. To get from one to the other--we walked. For over two weeks I did not: ride in any motorized vehicle, sit on a toilet seat, take a hot (by hot I mean anything except breath-takingly cold) shower, use a sink, eat a meal without rice, see my own face, or even sit in a chair. Seriously.
All of the villages that we stayed in are Karen villages, which is one of the many different hilltribes that populate the area. They are well known for their kindness, hospitality, and also their weaving. Most of the women and some of the men still wear the traditional dress. They love their bright colors, including lots of flourescent pink. They also work hard (at least in these particular villages) to preserve other cultural traditions, such as blacksmithing, ancient songs, and herbal medicine-- all of which we got a chance to learn about and try. Their native language is Backinyaw. Much of the older generation, therefore, does not know Thai, which was beyond frustrating. But the majority of the villagers spoke at least some Thai, though it is a second language for them (not like that matters to us). The Karen are also known for their agricultural practices. Like most other hilltribes, they use a form of swidden agriculture which means basically that they burn a plot of forest, plant it for one year, then let it return to forest for up to ten years before farming that land again. But comparatively speaking, they tend to execute this in a very sustainable way. So much of our academic time was spent learning more about how they use their land, the impacts of that, and the problems they encounter. We also spent alot of time learning about the specifics of the different forest types that we passed through. But that's the boring stuff.
I'll start with the hikes. We had four big hikes, with our backpacks. Each was absolutely beautiful but also very different from the next. The first was along a river. We crossed it probably around 15 times. The deepest water that we encountered reached just above my knee. When we weren't crossing it, we were usually either right next to it or literally walking up the river, since a few sections of the river were contained by vertical rock walls, which didn't allow for a trail on either side (= GORGEOUS). Some of the river was calm and smooth, other parts were rocky and rapid, and there were even some small waterfalls scattered throughout. The most challenging part of the hike was its technicality, since it required alot of careful footing. I was also 'lucky' enough to see a snake slither right in front of my feet as I wandered off to go to the bathroom-- so that's always exciting. The next hike was the longest, as it took us 7 hours. But keep in mind, that always includes a lengthy lunch break. Whenever we hiked, our host families from the village we were leaving would pack us a lunch. This included a giant brick of rice wrapped in a banana leaf and some baggies of leftover dishes. More on food later. Anyways, this hike was nothing too spectacular, just your typical up (by up I mean straight up a steep slope)and down through tropical forests. The next hike was essentially like climbing a mountain. But it was especially enjoyable because someone in this country finally learned about switchbacks! We basically just headed up until the trees thinned and we were welcomed by an extraordinary view. It felt strangely familiar-- feeling like I was on top of everything and seeing only the continually lighter silouhettes of mountains deep into the horizon. Who knew Thailand's green mounatins could be so similar to the Rockies? The last hike was another long one but it had a little bit of everything: beautiful views, steep slopes, a few river crossings, and lots and lots of forest. On every hike we always had a couple of local guides. Often they were in flip flops. Often they were very small, older men. And often, they turned around once we reached our destination and walked back home the same day-- granted it would only take them half the amount of time to go back (they didn't have backpacks, okay?). So that was impressive. We also took two smaller day hikes during our time in the villages. One was to climb Doi Pui, the tallest mountain in the province. That offered even more spectacular mounatin views. Plus, we had our midcourse seminar at the top with out professor from Chiang Mai. Not a bad classroom if you ask me. The second small hike was to a 300 meter tall waterfall. wow.
But the real meat of this experience, in my opinion, was living with the families: eating their food, sleeping under their roofs, helping with their chores, and talking with them (or at least trying to). The houses were all somewhat similar. Many of them were built on stilts so that the water buffalo, pigs, and chickens could live underneath. Bamboo is a common building material which is used by making vertical cracks down the cyclinder and then unfolding it so that it lays flat. Walls were either this type of bamboo, wood slats, or every once in a while just nonexistent. If you were lucky, the floors were wood. Otherwise, they were the bamboo sheets which a total of about 4 students broke right through. Roofs were either thatched with palm leaves or made of tin. There was always a 'kitchen' which featured a continously burning wood fire pit and thats about it. Many families often also slept in this room. And then there was usually one or two other rooms that were largely empty as well. Most of the homes I stayed in had a small TV, though I'm not sure how many of them actually worked. They all had electricity thanks to solar panels. And they all had NO furniture. Students would always stay either two or three per house, where we would sleep on thin mats or folded quilts on the floor with mosquito nets hung above us. Bathrooms were outhouse style, unattached to the house. They featured a squat toilet, and a bucket shower. Those first few scoops of water were always rough but once you got your breath back, it was worth it to feel clean again.
The food turned out to be much better than I was expecting. In fact, in some villages, the food was actually good. Since they lived off of their land, there wasn't a ton of variety. We ate a lot of pumpkin, fired eggs, this cucumber/melon thing, pumpkin, ramon noodles, longbeans, and pumpkin. It's a good thing I loved that pumpkin. But surprisingly, I never had to eat anything really crazy. A few students found a rat head in their soup once but not me! I did watch one of my host mothers hold a dead squirrel by the tail and dunk it into the fire, but it remained on a shelf above the fire, smoking, until the day we left.
In an attempt to give a feeling for some of the experiences I have had with my families in the villages, the following is a small collection of brief stories:
One day, my host family took Allie and I to duu bplaa or "watch fish". At first we were a little confused, thinking maybe they really meant to "go fishing". But no. We walked through rice fields until we came to this small, water filled cave. Apparently, it is a sort of Buddhist shrine for the village. Therefore, nobody actually fishes there, but they do come to watch and feed the fish. Our adorable 2 year old host brother especially enjoyed this.
We spent an afternoon at the village school playing games with the kids. Even though the games were different, it was fascinating how similar the Karen kids' games were to those from our childhoods.
One of my host mothers took us to gather firewood with her. She is an older, very small woman. She wore the traditional woven skirt and shirt. She is nothing short a sweet old lady. And she absolutely showed us up with a machete. Then, she carried a huge basket full of wood on her back by a strap wrapped across her forehead.
During one of the longer homestays, we stayed in a Christian village. My housemates and I became really close to our family in the short time that we stayed there. One thing that I will never forget is sitting next to the fire in their kitchen, with a belly full of rice and pumpkin, and learning to sing Backinyaw church songs. And then, at the cultural exchange, watching our host father's face as we sang those songs for the entire village. He looked like he could burst with pride.
At that same village, we discovered a giant (softball sized) spider uncomfortably close to our bags and beds. So what did we do? Go get our Pati (host dad) and beg for help. He had just the solution. After assessing the problem, he returned to the room with a stick. And poked it. What the heck is that supposed to do? Not surprisngly, the spider would just run around in completely unpredictable directions, causing us girls to squeal a little everytime. Eventually, by some stroke of luck, it scurried through a slat in the wall and left the room.
It is November and in Thailand that means...rice harvest! So in one of the villagers, we spent a day helping our families with this incredibly important process. All of the families were at different points in the harvest so we all ended up doing different things. Some were cutting down the rice stalks. Some were bundling and tying the stalks together. Some, like me, were thrashing the bundles to seperate the husked rice from the stalks. Basically, we just whacked the stalks against this half cyclindrical, slanted piece of wood until the rice kernels had all fallen off. This task wasn't too difficult but I can't imagine going out to the field and harvesting day after day. It is an incredible amount of work, but does result in the family's rice for an entire year. It really felt like an honor to be part of such a truly sacred and traditional activity.
I awoke one morning to find my three year old host brother sitting beside an outdoor firepit. He was pulling pieces of wood out of the fire and sharpening the ends with a machete. A real fire. A real, sharp machete. A real three year old boy. But... he was good at it. He is the son of a blacksmith.
So hopefully this helps shed some light on what I've been up to. I know this is long, but I also know I cannot convey how incredible this experience truly was. It has given me alot to think about, and is something that I will never forget. I am so thankful to heve had this opportunity. Speaking of, Happy Thanksgiving!!
In all, we stayed in 5 different villages. The first village, we spent one night in. The next two villages we spent two nights in each. And the last two villages we spent five nights in each. To get from one to the other--we walked. For over two weeks I did not: ride in any motorized vehicle, sit on a toilet seat, take a hot (by hot I mean anything except breath-takingly cold) shower, use a sink, eat a meal without rice, see my own face, or even sit in a chair. Seriously.
All of the villages that we stayed in are Karen villages, which is one of the many different hilltribes that populate the area. They are well known for their kindness, hospitality, and also their weaving. Most of the women and some of the men still wear the traditional dress. They love their bright colors, including lots of flourescent pink. They also work hard (at least in these particular villages) to preserve other cultural traditions, such as blacksmithing, ancient songs, and herbal medicine-- all of which we got a chance to learn about and try. Their native language is Backinyaw. Much of the older generation, therefore, does not know Thai, which was beyond frustrating. But the majority of the villagers spoke at least some Thai, though it is a second language for them (not like that matters to us). The Karen are also known for their agricultural practices. Like most other hilltribes, they use a form of swidden agriculture which means basically that they burn a plot of forest, plant it for one year, then let it return to forest for up to ten years before farming that land again. But comparatively speaking, they tend to execute this in a very sustainable way. So much of our academic time was spent learning more about how they use their land, the impacts of that, and the problems they encounter. We also spent alot of time learning about the specifics of the different forest types that we passed through. But that's the boring stuff.
I'll start with the hikes. We had four big hikes, with our backpacks. Each was absolutely beautiful but also very different from the next. The first was along a river. We crossed it probably around 15 times. The deepest water that we encountered reached just above my knee. When we weren't crossing it, we were usually either right next to it or literally walking up the river, since a few sections of the river were contained by vertical rock walls, which didn't allow for a trail on either side (= GORGEOUS). Some of the river was calm and smooth, other parts were rocky and rapid, and there were even some small waterfalls scattered throughout. The most challenging part of the hike was its technicality, since it required alot of careful footing. I was also 'lucky' enough to see a snake slither right in front of my feet as I wandered off to go to the bathroom-- so that's always exciting. The next hike was the longest, as it took us 7 hours. But keep in mind, that always includes a lengthy lunch break. Whenever we hiked, our host families from the village we were leaving would pack us a lunch. This included a giant brick of rice wrapped in a banana leaf and some baggies of leftover dishes. More on food later. Anyways, this hike was nothing too spectacular, just your typical up (by up I mean straight up a steep slope)and down through tropical forests. The next hike was essentially like climbing a mountain. But it was especially enjoyable because someone in this country finally learned about switchbacks! We basically just headed up until the trees thinned and we were welcomed by an extraordinary view. It felt strangely familiar-- feeling like I was on top of everything and seeing only the continually lighter silouhettes of mountains deep into the horizon. Who knew Thailand's green mounatins could be so similar to the Rockies? The last hike was another long one but it had a little bit of everything: beautiful views, steep slopes, a few river crossings, and lots and lots of forest. On every hike we always had a couple of local guides. Often they were in flip flops. Often they were very small, older men. And often, they turned around once we reached our destination and walked back home the same day-- granted it would only take them half the amount of time to go back (they didn't have backpacks, okay?). So that was impressive. We also took two smaller day hikes during our time in the villages. One was to climb Doi Pui, the tallest mountain in the province. That offered even more spectacular mounatin views. Plus, we had our midcourse seminar at the top with out professor from Chiang Mai. Not a bad classroom if you ask me. The second small hike was to a 300 meter tall waterfall. wow.
But the real meat of this experience, in my opinion, was living with the families: eating their food, sleeping under their roofs, helping with their chores, and talking with them (or at least trying to). The houses were all somewhat similar. Many of them were built on stilts so that the water buffalo, pigs, and chickens could live underneath. Bamboo is a common building material which is used by making vertical cracks down the cyclinder and then unfolding it so that it lays flat. Walls were either this type of bamboo, wood slats, or every once in a while just nonexistent. If you were lucky, the floors were wood. Otherwise, they were the bamboo sheets which a total of about 4 students broke right through. Roofs were either thatched with palm leaves or made of tin. There was always a 'kitchen' which featured a continously burning wood fire pit and thats about it. Many families often also slept in this room. And then there was usually one or two other rooms that were largely empty as well. Most of the homes I stayed in had a small TV, though I'm not sure how many of them actually worked. They all had electricity thanks to solar panels. And they all had NO furniture. Students would always stay either two or three per house, where we would sleep on thin mats or folded quilts on the floor with mosquito nets hung above us. Bathrooms were outhouse style, unattached to the house. They featured a squat toilet, and a bucket shower. Those first few scoops of water were always rough but once you got your breath back, it was worth it to feel clean again.
The food turned out to be much better than I was expecting. In fact, in some villages, the food was actually good. Since they lived off of their land, there wasn't a ton of variety. We ate a lot of pumpkin, fired eggs, this cucumber/melon thing, pumpkin, ramon noodles, longbeans, and pumpkin. It's a good thing I loved that pumpkin. But surprisingly, I never had to eat anything really crazy. A few students found a rat head in their soup once but not me! I did watch one of my host mothers hold a dead squirrel by the tail and dunk it into the fire, but it remained on a shelf above the fire, smoking, until the day we left.
In an attempt to give a feeling for some of the experiences I have had with my families in the villages, the following is a small collection of brief stories:
One day, my host family took Allie and I to duu bplaa or "watch fish". At first we were a little confused, thinking maybe they really meant to "go fishing". But no. We walked through rice fields until we came to this small, water filled cave. Apparently, it is a sort of Buddhist shrine for the village. Therefore, nobody actually fishes there, but they do come to watch and feed the fish. Our adorable 2 year old host brother especially enjoyed this.
We spent an afternoon at the village school playing games with the kids. Even though the games were different, it was fascinating how similar the Karen kids' games were to those from our childhoods.
One of my host mothers took us to gather firewood with her. She is an older, very small woman. She wore the traditional woven skirt and shirt. She is nothing short a sweet old lady. And she absolutely showed us up with a machete. Then, she carried a huge basket full of wood on her back by a strap wrapped across her forehead.
During one of the longer homestays, we stayed in a Christian village. My housemates and I became really close to our family in the short time that we stayed there. One thing that I will never forget is sitting next to the fire in their kitchen, with a belly full of rice and pumpkin, and learning to sing Backinyaw church songs. And then, at the cultural exchange, watching our host father's face as we sang those songs for the entire village. He looked like he could burst with pride.
At that same village, we discovered a giant (softball sized) spider uncomfortably close to our bags and beds. So what did we do? Go get our Pati (host dad) and beg for help. He had just the solution. After assessing the problem, he returned to the room with a stick. And poked it. What the heck is that supposed to do? Not surprisngly, the spider would just run around in completely unpredictable directions, causing us girls to squeal a little everytime. Eventually, by some stroke of luck, it scurried through a slat in the wall and left the room.
It is November and in Thailand that means...rice harvest! So in one of the villagers, we spent a day helping our families with this incredibly important process. All of the families were at different points in the harvest so we all ended up doing different things. Some were cutting down the rice stalks. Some were bundling and tying the stalks together. Some, like me, were thrashing the bundles to seperate the husked rice from the stalks. Basically, we just whacked the stalks against this half cyclindrical, slanted piece of wood until the rice kernels had all fallen off. This task wasn't too difficult but I can't imagine going out to the field and harvesting day after day. It is an incredible amount of work, but does result in the family's rice for an entire year. It really felt like an honor to be part of such a truly sacred and traditional activity.
I awoke one morning to find my three year old host brother sitting beside an outdoor firepit. He was pulling pieces of wood out of the fire and sharpening the ends with a machete. A real fire. A real, sharp machete. A real three year old boy. But... he was good at it. He is the son of a blacksmith.
So hopefully this helps shed some light on what I've been up to. I know this is long, but I also know I cannot convey how incredible this experience truly was. It has given me alot to think about, and is something that I will never forget. I am so thankful to heve had this opportunity. Speaking of, Happy Thanksgiving!!
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