Adventures In Thailand

ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK MAKES A HARD MAN HUMBLE

Had an amazing 9 days in Thailand. Only problem being that they were too short. We packed so much into them but still didn't see and do everything we wanted to. This is going to be a very long post, so you might want to a get a cup of coffee and snack or something.

We started out in Bangkok for two nights and a day. Arrived the first night in the early evening and checked into our moderately priced, moderately nice guest house. Here are some pictures I snapped on the way from the airport.

We wandered around for a while to get our bearings and ate some gorgeous food. Sampled Thai "whiskey" which is actually rum, and very delicious. And cheap.

This is a picture of some baby buddhas that decorated the bar we were at. This became our favourite hang out while we were in Bangkok.

We ended up at a bar that had a live band and sheesha pipes.

Being the adventurous soul I am, I decided to try a puff or two. (It's only flavoured tobacco.)

Found it quite inoffensive, but certainly not something I will do on a regular basis. It was nice to be around some live music though. Not something I've seen a lot of in Korea. Unless you count Boney M of course.

After that we went to see the "Ping Pong Show." For the sake of my more "delicate" readers, I'm not going to get into details about that...but for those of you who know what I'm talking about... Yeah, not an experience I would recommend. I consider myself to be very far from prudish, but I was shocked and horrified with that experience. Shaun seemed to look at it as research or something, and enjoyed it far more than I did. (Luckily, or sadly, there were no cameras allowed.)

The next day we spent sight seeing and eating. Food is so so cheap there, and so delicious. We probably ate 6 meals every day.

First stop was the Royal Palace. There we saw the Emerald Buddha which is actually made of jade. (This is not my photo. No cameras allowed inside the temple.)

We wandered around the grounds for hours looking at the amazing decorations on the buildings. I took about 100 pictures. Here are some of the best ones.

After the Grand Palace we stopped for lunch and our favourite drink, guava shake. I'd never tried guava before, but both Shaun and I were in love with these drinks. While in Bangkok we had one probably about every hour if we could manage it.

Our second stop was Wat Pho, another Temple, where lives the Reclining Buddha. It is 46 metres long and 15 metres high and decorated with gold plating. This was probably the best part of the day for me, maybe because it was such a surprise. I had never heard of the Reclining Buddha and was expecting a normal-sized statue. Imagine my surprise when we walked into the temple and I saw this massive gold Buddha. I was truly awe-inspiring.

The feet are inlaid with scenes in mother of pearl.

Also in the Temple you can buy a cup of tiny coins that you take and drop into a row of black metal pots. We weren't sure what the exact point of it was, but chose to believe it was for good luck or something along those lines. We made a wish while we did it, just in case. I've since looked into it and I guess it's just a local custom that is "supposed to be auspicious and bring merit" and good way for the Temple to raise funds. So we were pretty much right. Here is a picture of me dropping the coins in the buckets.

I took this picture out on the grounds of the temple. It also houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand.

Next stop was Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn. It's around 85 metres high and decorated with bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China.

It's incredibly beautiful both from across the river it sits beside, and up close. You can climb up a set of deadly steep stairs to about two-thirds of the way up

which gives you a pretty nice view of Bangkok and of the temple grounds. We stayed up there for a while enjoying the sunshine and the view.

After our steep climb we were famished, so took the ferry back across the river and ate a quick bite at a restaurant on the river. The waitress was exceedingly rude to us, but seemed to having a jolly time with another table of somewhat more rich-looking tourists. Perhaps she hates backpackers....But the food was good, of course, and we enjoyed watching some local children swimming in the river.

After our lunch we took off to the Weekend Market, the biggest most famous market in Bangkok. Sadly we got there only about an hour before closing, but we still managed to part with some money. I bought a really cool pair of embroidered shoes and some Buddha paintings which I think were hand-made originals, as all of them were slightly different.

After our shopping trip we were both exhausted to made our way back to our guest house and then out for more food and some more Thai whisky. We didn't do anything too exciting that night, just sat around and talked about how great the day was and debated everything under the sun. Retired far too late considering we had to be up at 7 the next morning to catch our bus to Ko Chang.

MINI BUS HELL

Day 3, Monday, found us squeezed into a mini bus with 9 other people on our way to Ko Chang, one of the largest island in Thailand, where we planned to spend the bulk of our holiday. Things were fine, the air con worked, the seats were relatively comfortable, we had entertainment in the form of a strange (we think) American girl who was regaling her friend with her thoughts on the lyrics to many songs by the Killers. (Her favourite was Number 2.)

About 2 hours after we set out we stopped at a restaurant off the free-way for snack and toilet and when we were all piling back into the van the driver told us that we were supposed to wait here for another bus that would come soon. So we unloaded our luggage and sat down to wait. And the bus did not come soon. Maybe 45 minutes later two huge gaudily decorated buses pulled up. We still weren't sure if these were our buses, as we had paid budget prices for our tickets, and these buses looked very luxurious. They were indeed the ones we were waiting for, so after they finished their 20 minutes stop we climbed aboard and discovered that its true that you cannot judge a book by its cover, or a bus by it fancy paint job. The only seats left were ones that had been bolted in behind the original seat where a door used to be. So we had, by my calculation, exactly 3 inches of leg room, and no air con vent. And to top it all off, there were ants living in the wall that seemed very interested in me. Maybe those were the budget price seats...

At last we made it to the port and were preparing to board the ferry when we were ushered to a car and had our bags loaded into the back and they drove away with us. I guess our budget fair tickets were for another ferry 10 minutes down the road. A ferry that looked more like a fishing boat. But certainly had more character than the huge car ferry we originally thought was for us.

Here is a picture of the sun setting over Ko Chang and the shrine to Buddha at the front of the ferry boat.

After a lovely boat ride and a cramped ride in the back of a pick-up truck, or "share taxi", we arrived at Lonely Beach and rented a hut that was to be our home for the next for days. Now doesn't "a bamboo hut on a beach in Thailand" sound like perhaps the most wonderful thing you could experience? Think again. I'm sure it would have been if our hut had had more than an inch-thick smelly mat to sleep on and had not been infested with horrible biting ants. I can handle roughing it, but ant bites are not something I relish. Never-the-less it was certainly cheap (around $3 a night) and did have a lot of character.

The best part was the shower. I wish I had a picture of it, but did not have the prescence of mind to snap one. It was a big pool of rain water inside a stone hut with a little basin that you used to scoop water from the pool to pour over yourself. Very refreshing on a hot day. Not so nice in the chilly evening. But still somehow wonderfully satisfying.

Here are some pictures of our surroundings while on Ko Chang.

SHANDA GOES SCUBA DIVING

Our second day on Ko Chang we went SCUBA diving. The day started at 8 am when we were picked up by the dive company's pick-up truck. It seems to be the preferred way of mass-transporting people there...just shove them in the back of a truck.

The boat-ride out to the dive spot was very long, so Patrick, our dive instructor, used that time to give us the low-down on what we'd need to know. I was a little nervous. Equipment and me don't really get along. My nerves did not diminish as we got dressed in our gear. And then as soon as we jumped in the water, I lost my weight belt and Patrick had to dive down to get it. This did not seem a good sign to me, and my jitters increased. We finally got my re-weighted and then swam over to the buoys where we were to do our training exercises before going down for the actual dive.

Now for those of you who don't know, I have had ear problems my whole life. And when SCUBA diving it is very important to nuetralize the pressure in your ears or else you can burst your eardrum. I had a lot of trouble getting my ears to pop and thus was getting very frightened and freaked out. I kept making Patrick take me back to the surface because I couldn't control the panic. But eventually I managed to keep myself calm, and before I knew it Patrick was pointing down and lo and behold, my flippers were touching sand! And once I got down there among the fish and coral, I was fine. All thoughts of worrying about my ears went out the window, and I relaxed and just enjoyed the wonder around me.

This is one of the islands we swam around while diving.

We saw so many fish, none of which I know the names of unfortunately. And it was amazing to watch the clam-like creatures and little bottle-brush-like animals closing up and hiding as we swam over. The best was when we swam through/beside/with a school of fish. I could have reached out and touched one if I hadn't signed a contract that said I wouldn't interfere with the wildlife.

After the first dive we ate lunch and then swam around the boat and out to an island where there were hermit crabs on the sand and a big swing in a palm tree. Our second dive went much more smoothly than the first, although my ears still did not behave as I would have liked them too. Patrick coaxed an eel out from under a rock and we saw more exotic fish and some anemones that were flowing with the current and had little fish hiding in them.

I've always wanted to try SCUBA diving, and now that I have I think I will do it again. It was possibly the most relaxing thing I have ever done in my life. Nothing to do but breathe, kick your feet a little, and look at amazing sealife. Our day of diving definately rates very high on the list of the best days of my life.

INDULGENCE "O", ACTIVITY "X"

Our second day on the island we were both pooped from too many light nights and early mornings so we decided to allow ourselves a day of indulgence. We sat on the wooden deck of our "lodge" and ate all morning and read and drank fruit shakes. In the afternoon we headed to the beach and swam in the waves, then went for bbq chicken supper and took a bottle of Ko Chang wine to the beach. I was falling asleep on the beach so went home early. I slept in the hammock that night, away from the biting ants, and was awoken by a huge thunderstorm in the night. But I was warm and cozy wrapped in my hammock under the bamboo roof of the porch, so got an excellent view of the lighting and rain without getting wet.

RAMBO THE ELEPHANT AND TREETOP TARZAN

After our day of indulgence we were ready for some activity. So we signed up for an elephant trek in the jungle. They picked us up in the usual pick-up truck and as we pulled up to the elephant huts we looked over and saw a large bull elephant named Rambo running out toward us. We climbed a small tower to then climb on his back. Well actually, onto a seat that was strapped to his back. The trek took us through rainforest, a pomelo orchard

and a rubber tree plantation.

The "driver" of the elephant picked one of the pomelos for us to taste. It's like a huge green grapefruit, but with a lot less sourness. A lot les flavour in general actually. But still very delicious.

We stopped at a mountain stream for a dip and to give Rambo a break and drink.

Shaun go to ride directly on his back for the return journey, and he (Rambo that is) kept walking straight into the pomelo trees and lifting his trunk. We finally figured out, with much grunting from the trainer, that he wanted Shaun to pick on and feed it to him, which he did with much delight. I have to admit, I was jealous. But when we were almost back I got to climb down on his back as well, so I was happy. Though it wasn't a very comfortable ride as I was sitting right on his shoulder blades.

After the trek was over we went to a Treetop Adventure park. I was expecting lovely wooden bridges to ramble on through the treetops. Instead it was zip cords and rope ladders and things to climb and fall off of. Which I did about 5 minutes in. And that was enough to make me decide it was not my cup of tea so I went back to the club house and waited for Shaun to finish. And I have nothing to show for experience but bruises on all my apendages.

TATTOO AND BANG BAO (OR THE TALE OF TWO INCOMPETANT KAYAKERS)

Friday, our last day on Ko Chang, I had an appointment in the morning to get a tattoo. So I left Shaun sleeping, his only task being to wake up early enough to check out of the hut, and headed to the tattoo hut. Now when I say hut, I mean just that. Yes, I got a tattoo in a hut on an island in Thailand. At least it wasn't made of bamboo.

It was done in the traditional way, with needles attached to a stick of bamboo. So it's much gentler than with a gun so it heals faster, but also takes a lot longer. I was there for around 4 hours and the tattoo itself took about 3. But it was really amazing experience to watch such a beautiful peice of art emerging. And the detail they can accomplish with the bamboo is amazing compared to the conventional gun method.

Here's the finished product. Notice also the many ant bites.

After the tattoo was finished we took a truck to Bang Bao, a village built in a bay, most of which extends off a long pier. I wanted to go there for the shopping and the seafood, not to mention the view. We figured it would be a great place to spend our last night. And we were right. We found a really nice guest house for a really good price. Had a bite to eat and then rented a kayak to paddle out to the end of the bay where we were told we could see monkeys in the evening.

When we set out it was a wonderful evening. Sunny and calm. We paddled around the point and up and down the shore. We managed to see one monkey even, so we were happy. When we got bored with monkey hunting, we decided to try to paddle across to the other side of the bay to a beach where we could go for a quick swim. When we got about half way there, however, the wind picked up considerably (the locals had been predicting a storm would be settling in ever since we got to the island, so we shouldn't have been surprised.) I knew that if we just kept paddling we'd eventually make it to the other side and it would be foolish to try to paddly directly into the oncoming wind and waves to get back to the pier. Shaun did not see it this way, however, and began to panic and regale me with tales of British people who drown in Thailand every year. So I agreed to turn around, which, as I knew, was easier said than done. He managed to get going in the direction of the pier, but I was not so lucky. And next thing I knew I was out in the middle of the bay all by myself. Being the resourceful young woman I am, I knew it would futile to try to follow where Shaun was leading, so I turned around and made for the beach that was our original goal. I made it there fine, granted quite exhausted, and wandered into an "exclusive resort" that was situated along the beach. I must have a looked a fright, soaking wet from the rain that had started to fall and from jumping in the water once I got close to shore. But some nice people at the resort helped me and gave a motor-bike ride back to town. Shaun meantime had made it back to the pier and sent help after me. We must have met on the road.

So it was an adventure anyway. I seem to be really good at getting into those. Shaun's still convinced we almost died, but I know I've got more moxy than to let a little wind take me out. ;)

After our "near death experience" we decided some sustinance was needed. And as we were sitting on the lovely deck of our guest house having a drink, an amazing storm blew in. We had to move in off the deck because the wind was blowing the rain in horizontal sheets under the roof. It also closed all the shops I wanted to shop in, much to my disappointment. But we managed to find a lovely seafood restaurant.

I ordered a whole fish, fresh off the boat, and it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Very meaty and not too fishy, just nicely flavoured. And the sauce! It was just the right amout of flavour to compliment the fish without overpowering it. I also had a spicy soup with fresh prawns. The whole thing was incredible.

Here is the view from the deck of our guesthouse at night.

Here it is in the morning.

The deck had these really cool tables. The floor was cut out and overtop was a low glass table. You sat on the deck and dangles your feet over the water. At night, when the water is clear, you can see a statue in the water. The guest house was called Buddha view. I think that's why.

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN

The next day we got back on a mini-bus, this time for the whole journey, and back to Bangkok. I got a massage and then we had supper and I finally got my shopping fix. I bought lots of jewellery and 11 pairs of fisherman pants! I figure those should last me a few years at least. And an amazing pair of handmade leather boots.

We had another amazing supper and a few drinks. Nearly ended up back at the ping pong show thanks to a shady taxi driver. Then it was up early to get to the airport. Arrived home at about 11, stayed awake long enough for a quick phone call home and to but all my wet clothes in the wash, then crashed.

We had a really great time. We came home relxed, though exhausted. I'm still catching up on sleep. I only wish it could have been longer. 9 days wasn't nearly enough to experience Thailand. There were so many other things we would have liked to do!!!

I took 8 albums of photos. Here are the links if you want to check them out:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55478&l=95a4e&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55529&l=09b41&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55532&l=9e1fe&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55560&l=57f30&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55561&l=c8500&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55563&l=fda2a&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55836&l=3a358&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56083&l=1340f&id=890700076

New friends

Well I just wanted to do a short little post to get everyone up to speed before I run off to Thailand in a few days and come back with more stories than I know what to do with. I'm sorry to say that I have no pictures to go along with this post, so please bear with me.

This past weekend was one of new friends and interesting conversation. Saturday night found us outside our favourite CVS having a few drinks, minding our own business when along came Jamil, an outgoing fellow from Pakistan who lives in our building. He works as a cook at a guest house for Indian and Pakinstani people who work at the Samsung plant near-by. So he invited us to come eat at the guest house, thinking we might be interested in some Indian food. Which, of course, we were. So Jamil sat down with us, and before you know it another friend Hokey, a Korean whom my fellow teacher Chris plays basketball with, joined us with his hip-hop cell phone and perfect mastery of English curse words. So this turned into more drinks (I chose to drink orange pop) and, as it usually will, the conversation turned to matters of religion and science. Did you know, for example, that a chicken is not an animal? Great debate was had over that topic, let me tell you. But luckily before things got too heated the fried chicken arrived, and at that point we didn't care whether it was an animal or not, just that it was delicious. Once we were finished picking the bones and licking our fingers we realized it was 4am, so retired to our respective beds. Another one of those random evening that will live on in memory as reasons I love Korea.

So on Tuesday we took up Jamil's offer of Indian food. 8 of us Villagers and my new friend Erich, a fellow Suwoner, formerly of Edmonton, with a Saskatchewan obsession and rented piano in his tiny Korean box-house, set off to find the guest house. We were greeted by Jamil and escorted to a sitting room in the parking lot complete with sofas, a table, and some orange drink. We chatted there for a while until there was room at the dining tables for us, and then partook in the most fabulous meal. There was actual basmati rice, much better than the usual sticky rice you get in Korea, lamb, lentils, and cucumber cooked in amazing spices so it was rich and sweet and...unlike cucumber. Who knew you could cook cucumber? We all gorged ourselves embarassingly and were so full we could hardly walk home. And all for the low low price of $8! Jamil was so happy to host us, and we were more than happy to accept his hospitality. We will definately being going back there some day soon.

So the adventure continues. As fall sets in we are relaxing as far as going out and doing things, but I hope that will change soon, or it could be a very boring winter. I'm looking into taking some drumming classes (sorry Mom, another musical instrument you'll have to store for me) and possibly going to Buddhist meditation "workshops" on the weekends. Some cozy things to keep me occupied for the winter. And! New friend Erich has informed me of a bungee jumping site in Korea somewhere. Guess what my next obsession will be?

So, I'm off to Thailand in two days. Probably won't post until I get back.

Sushi, Noraebang, tall towers and a Folk Village

Well we are slowly recovering from the loss of Mel and Shawn. Life must go on, I guess. And the fact that their replacements are very fun people helps in the healing process. (No, no one will ever replace Mel and Shawn, but Collin and Rupali are pretty awesome too.)

Last week we decided to go for sushi on Friday night, something Mel and Shawn would never had done with us as they are both seafood haters. We figured it would help us to not miss them. We went to an all you can eat sushi buffet and needless to say got very very full. It was Korean-ized sushi. Mostly california rolls with various sauces on top, and some sashimi-type bits. But still very very delicious. And only $10 for an hour and a half of as much sushi as you can stuff into your stomach. I don't think I need to say that we will definately be going back there again.

We also discovered a new noraebang that night. Window booth as usual. We're never satisfied with displaying our talents just to ourselves, but must also make sure everyone in the street can see us too.

Some of the Korean teachers from school came with us and a good time was had by all.

Saturday during the day we vegged out. Shaun and I did some research for our trip to Thailand next week (YAY!!!) and in the evening we went to Jongno Tower. It's one of the tallest buildings in Seoul and there is a really exclusive (and expensive) bar at the top of it. It was a nice little exersion, though a pricey one. The view of Seoul was amazing, and the bathroom have a really cool motion-detecting sink. I got a glass of wine that cose approx. $20, was only half full and was the most disgusting wine I have ever tasted.

On Sunday I went to the Korean Folk Village, an historical reconstruction of Korean life. There were tons of building in different styles from around the country, and from different eras. It was interesting to see, but a lot of the same stuff over and over again. My favourite parts were the statue garden (I'm such an art snob)

and the performance of traditional dance.

This isn't my video, I found it on the web, but it's pretty much the same thing that I saw.

The best part was these hats. They have a long ribbon attached to the stick that you see here, and with the slightest bob of the head the musicians make them twirl around in amazing patterns. Also while their doing this they can flip in the air and play drums. Now that's multi-talented.

The leader of the ribbon guys did a solo bit with a huge long ribbon. He did break dancing moves and stood on his head, all while keeping the ribbon going. I was gasping and clapping along with the Koreans on that one.

I was also intruiged by these drums.

They have different kinds of skin on either end so they make a very different sound depending on which end you play them on. And you also used two different sticks, one thin bamboo one, and one with a round rubber tip. They make a really beautiful sound, and I think there's a lot of skill that goes into playing them. I really want to learn how..I'm going to see if I can find some lessons somewhere. Though maybe having another delicate musical instrument to fly home would not be such a good idea. I'd have to have to choose between my drum and my guitar.

There was also a buddhist temple onsite. I'm not sure if it was an actual temple, as in people actually used it...or if it was just...a representation of a temple for the purposes of the folk village. It was my first temple visit though, and I was rather awestruck, even if I wasn't sure it was a real temple. I want to search out more of them now, and am even more determined to do a mediation retreat while I'm here.

For supper I had chicken stew with ginseng. Very delicious, though it could have used more salt. And yes, that's three kinds of kimchi. The cabbage one was much "riper" than what I'm used to. The first bite was quite a shock, but once I knew what to expect I rather enjoyed it.

That's pretty much all that's been happening, I guess. I'm working on expanding my circle of friends, meeting a fellow Canadian in Suwon on the weekend to talk about organic farming and what not. You know, the usual. Still going to the gym, which has been much more enjoyable since the weather cooled down a little. Bought a bunch of Korean poetry books and a cookbook.

To see the rest of my photos from the folk village visit my facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1188934&l=36359&id=890700076

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50788&l=ea857&id=890700076

Birhdays, partings, and new friends

It's been too long since I posted anything...I guess nothing much has been happening. I've been religiously going to the gym since the beginning of August and rather enjoying it. The theatre festival took up a lot of my time. But we haven't been having many crazy adventures of late...

Let's see..where did I leave off. Oh yes, I don't believe I've posted about my new friends yet. One night not too long ago after soju and fireworks in the park, we partook what has become our new fad, crane games. You know the kind where there is a glass box full of toys and whatnot and a big claw that picks them up. They have them all over here and you can win really cool things like mp3 players, digital cameras, ipod accesories. At least in theory you can, but they make it pretty much impossible to win those.

Anyway, I don't think I mentioned it, but my faithful teddy, Punky, was accidentally left behind at the Motel Coconuts while we were at the Mud Festival, and I have since been mourning the loss. Now it just so happened that there was a teddy in the particular crane machine we were at, and after pumping in all of my cash, I finally won her. I named her Miju, and while she is not Punky, she does have a striped jumper like he did.

Here she is while still inside her prison.

Also that night while walking around looking for more crane games, we came across Hue.

Imagine the looks we got carrying him home!!! (Don't worry, I didn't steal him, he was set out to be taken away with the trash.) I named him Hue after the seedy Hotel I can see out my window. I will paint some fashion on him eventually.

We have been going through a period of transition here at the Village. Three teachers have gome home, and two more have arrived, soon to be a third. It was a very sad week for us, saying goodbye to two members of our five-some.

We went to our favourite place, Carne Station (all you can eat bbq and all you can drink alcohol) on Saturday for one last night out. Needless to say we took full advantage of the open bar sitchation. And then went to our favourite Doll House noraebang, horseheads in tow.

Details are splotchy at this point...sorry...

Tuesday was my birthday, and Mel and Shawn's last day of work. So it was a bitter-sweet day for all.

I got some carrots as a gift, a joke at the expense of my penchant for red-heads and thus all things orange.

Here is me blowing out the candles on my cake. And I thought I was going to a staff meeting...

Here's a pic of the staff as they were on Mel and Shawn's last day.

After cake we went for Thai food and then back to our apartment for drinks and fireworks. And a tearful, prolonged goodbye. Its crazy how, though we've only been together for 4 months in total, I feel so close to the people here. It broke my heart to say goodbye to them. I suppose I should get used to it if I'm going to keep up this nomadic lifestyle...

We miss you Shawn and Melodie!!!!!!!! The Villagey will never be the same without you!!!!!