Ahh... Koh Lanta, it was so hard to leave. One week there cost me barely over $100. That's what a week of lazing about goes for in the south of Thailand. I could have signed up for another week or two I think...
At that price though, it must be said, you do run the risk of encountering little creatures you'd rather not. Creatures like frogs in your open air bathroom (these guys didn't bother me) or bed bugs (yes! so not fun...). But little irritations aside, I can't say enough about how much I loved Koh Lanta, and particularly Bee Bee's Bungalows where I spent 5 of the 8 nights. It's a little bungalow village and probably one of the cutest places I've ever seen. I swam in the sea every day and got more sun than I've had in ages. Had my fill of fruitshakes and fried rice and pad thai and grilled shrimp. Heard enough Jack Johnson to last me for awhile too. A funny... every day, without fail, right around the same time (usually 5:30 ish, an hour or so before sunset), Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" would come blasting out of the beachside speakers. This never failed to elicit a giggle from me, and always made me think of my sister, whose 7th grade (6th grade?) boyfriend made her a 60 minute mix tape with just that song repeated over and over and over. If that's not love, I just don't know what is.
I even got to practice a little Thai... one morning as I'm out doing my customary splashing around, one of the Thai bartenders hops in the water. "Sabai dee mai?," he asks. Oooh, oooh, I know this one!! I realize... finally after weeks of being asked this question (basically "are you doing alright?") by Kruh Madri, I *KNOW* the answer. "Sabai dee, ka," I reply. Eyebrows raise. "Sinouk mai?" (Are you having fun?) "Sinouk mak!" (Lots of fun!) "Gin kao rue yang?" (Did you eat already?) "Ka" I respond (this was kind of cheating, but just an easy agreement). "Gin arai?" (What did you eat). "Gin pancake" (ummm, perhaps a cheat again, but whatever.) "Aroi mai?" (Was it delicious?) "Aroi mak!" (Very delicious aka 'my favorite!'). At this point I'm getting cocky... oh yes, Josie talk Thai very well. But I think the bartender realizes he's reached the limits of my vocabulary. He points to his bicep and then points to my arm. "You have very power," he says. Ummm.... thank you? "I am baby, baby," he laments. Yeah, whatever, dude, I get it, my arms are bigger than yours. He then looks pointedly at me... "Do you have the man friend?" My turn for the eyebrow raise. "I have lots of man friends, but I'm here with my girl friends... bye!" I waved as I waded back out of the water.
So I left Lanta behind, and now I'm back in Bangkok, a city I've come to regard as the armpit of SE Asia. It's just sticky and sweaty and dirty and seems to attract a weird mixed-bag of travelers that don't really float my boat, as the saying goes. I'm sure this is a gross over-generalization, but I'm sticking with it for now.
A little more on the budget travel adventure. That whole Southeast Asia on a shoestring thing generally doesn't include air travel, which means I've spent a whole lot of time on buses. The trip down to Koh Lanta was a 36 hour adventure by bus and boat I'd rather not repeat anytime soon. Two nights in a row sleeping on a bus is not fun. Seriously. Fortunately, the destination makes the journey worthwhile, and of course I realize that a long bus-ride to what is essentially a paradise most definitely qualifies as a "luxury problem". The trip back to Bangkok was a breeze by comparison, although it did include (instead of a boat ride) a 3-hour jaunt by minibus to our bus pick-up in Krabi.
Oh, the minibus- one of the myriad joys of traveling on the cheap. There are usually 10-12 passengers jammed into a small van. Sometimes they're quite new and nice (this one was) but more often than not they're shaky, noisy, cramped little things that look as though they might lose a sliding door at the next big bump. They are inevitably driven at breakneck speed. This trip was no disappointment in that regard. Tracey and I had barely thrown our packs in the back when we were lurched backward as the van lept forward on the way to pick up one last passenger. Our driver certainly seemed to be going for speed. As he raced along toward the car ferry, the Canadian girl behind me launched into a tirade about how this guy was the worst. driver. ever. I laughed to myself thinking, oh, you can not have been traveling for long. I promise I didn't turn into one of *those* people (the ones who always have a better story, the scarier driver, the prettier beach, the tastier curry) but I wanted to, I really did.
Anyway, we drove the 2+ hours to Krabi at speeds much higher than those recommended for safety. The soundtrack to our drive was a pulsing techno-dance beat that I think was one track on repeat, although it could have been just one very, very long remix. Our driver, with very slick, very spiky hair, Versace shades and a cigarette tucked behind his ear, seemed somehow urged on by the female vocalist's demands to (and I somehow doubt this little lyrical gem was a kindly reminder from the Thai Post) "lick it before you stick it". And yet, I still managed to doze off for nearly 40 minutes.
So here I am, back in Bangkok, waiting for the folks at the India Visa Service to past a shiny new visa into my passport and I'll be off to New Delhi tomorrow. Can't wait to see what India brings. Just a guess, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say probably not too many cheeseburgers.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The light was leaving, in the west it was blue...
Just a quick post from beautiful Koh Lanta...
I think I may have found paradise. Staying in the cutest little place EVER. Enjoying a daily dose of Jack Johnson, gorgeous sunsets, delicious fruit shakes, fresh seafood, and almost more sun, sand & sea than I can handle. A little stormy today, but still warm, and lots of cozy little spots to find shelter in. Not a bad way to start Spring, and the price is certainly right (I think I'm looking at less than $15/day including food! Ahem... clearly I've cut back on my alcohol consumption...)
More to come (and pictures too!) when I return to Bangkok late this weekend.
Hope this finds you all doing well.
I think I may have found paradise. Staying in the cutest little place EVER. Enjoying a daily dose of Jack Johnson, gorgeous sunsets, delicious fruit shakes, fresh seafood, and almost more sun, sand & sea than I can handle. A little stormy today, but still warm, and lots of cozy little spots to find shelter in. Not a bad way to start Spring, and the price is certainly right (I think I'm looking at less than $15/day including food! Ahem... clearly I've cut back on my alcohol consumption...)
More to come (and pictures too!) when I return to Bangkok late this weekend.
Hope this finds you all doing well.
Monday, March 17, 2008
There's a tear in your eye and I'm wondering why, for it never should be there at all...
I hope the luck 'o the Irish smiles on all of you today...
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how lucky I am. Hmmmm... perhaps luck isn't the right word though; after all, as Greg Kinnear so smugly says in Little Miss Sunshine, "Luck is the name losers give to their own failings". :) But I digress (as usual). Lucky, fortunate, blessed, whatever. You name it, I'm definitely feeling it these days. I suppose I have experienced something of a paradigm shift while on this trip. (NB: that's "'pair-a-dime", not "pa-'ri-duh-gum"... in-joke for all you speechies). I'm not over-fond of that term actually, but I think it fits here. I can feel my perspective changing. I would say that in general I tend to be a "glass half-full" kind of gal, but I think I've joined the "my cup runneth over" camp.
You'll see I've tagged this post with "rambles", a label that shows up rather frequently here. This is a little just thinking out loud, but I also want to write this now, as I'm feeling it, so as not to forget it. I hope that when I return home I will continue to recognize this. I think about the village I've spent the last several weeks in, and the people there, and their lives, and the difficulties they face, and the fact that most families will struggle to pay for their children to attend high school (the cost of which incidentally is somewhere around $200/year). I think back to Majda, the woman I met in Mostar, who was forced to leave her home in Bosnia for several years during the war there. There are countless other examples like these, and we don't even have to look outside the borders of our own country, our state, or our county for that matter, to find them.
When I think about the things that most of us worry about, fret about, fight about, cry about, I am struck by how trivial most of these things are. Now, I know it's all relative, and I know I have the luxury of being on an all-expenses paid year-long vacation, so it's not exactly like life is kicking my ass right now, but seriously.... think about it. Most of what we struggle with are what I think might best be described as the consequences of our opportunities. Maybe you're stressed out about your job, maybe the mortgage on your house is too expensive, maybe you didn't get invited to a party... I don't know. I guess I'm feeling like all we have are "luxury problems" to borrow a favorite phrase of Cory's. I mean, if you're healthy, and all your basic needs are being met (you know food, shelter, safety, all that) isn't the rest kind of just gravy? I'm just sayin'...
I hope you're feeling lucky today too.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep...
Feeling a little melancholy...
As my time here in Kewsua comes to an end, I realize how much I'm going to miss everyone here. Trying not to get wrapped up in that though, and just be grateful for the time that I've had here. These past 6 weeks have been just incredible. I'm sure it will sound trite, but it's hard for me to not think of this stay as life-changing. You can be sure that this is yet another place about which you will hear countless stories...
The picture is one of the goodbye notes given to me by the 6th grade girls. They had their graduation ceremony on Tuesday and then each dropped by to give me these sweet little letters and pictures. Today Joi came to the house and helped Stacia translate them all for me. I started to tear up a little at their sentiments "You are a person with a good heart." "Please remember me." I don't think I could forget.
Melancholy aside, I'm also looking forward to the next steps in this journey. On Monday morning I'll catch songtaew back to Chiang Mai where I'll take care of some errands including picking up new pages for my passport at the US consulate (I only have one blank page left!), trying to ship a few things home (not sure I want to cart those slingshots around for the rest of my trip), and buying new books (I think I've read 9 while I've been up here). On Wednesday, I'll head down to the beach (via Bangkok where I'll start the ball rolling on my visa for India), and then back to Bangkok for a few days before flying to India on April 1st.
India holds a lot of intrigue for me. It's the first place I *knew* I wanted to go when I started planning this trip, and as it turns out it's going to be the last big leg. I can't even imagine what my time there will be like, but pretty excited to find out. I should note that thanks to my friend Sejal, who really ought to consider being a travel-writer, I am very well-prepared for this sojourn. Sejal, let me take this opportunity to officially (and publicly) apologize for ever having teased you about your thoroughness during grad school. ;)
More soon....
As my time here in Kewsua comes to an end, I realize how much I'm going to miss everyone here. Trying not to get wrapped up in that though, and just be grateful for the time that I've had here. These past 6 weeks have been just incredible. I'm sure it will sound trite, but it's hard for me to not think of this stay as life-changing. You can be sure that this is yet another place about which you will hear countless stories...
The picture is one of the goodbye notes given to me by the 6th grade girls. They had their graduation ceremony on Tuesday and then each dropped by to give me these sweet little letters and pictures. Today Joi came to the house and helped Stacia translate them all for me. I started to tear up a little at their sentiments "You are a person with a good heart." "Please remember me." I don't think I could forget.
Melancholy aside, I'm also looking forward to the next steps in this journey. On Monday morning I'll catch songtaew back to Chiang Mai where I'll take care of some errands including picking up new pages for my passport at the US consulate (I only have one blank page left!), trying to ship a few things home (not sure I want to cart those slingshots around for the rest of my trip), and buying new books (I think I've read 9 while I've been up here). On Wednesday, I'll head down to the beach (via Bangkok where I'll start the ball rolling on my visa for India), and then back to Bangkok for a few days before flying to India on April 1st.
India holds a lot of intrigue for me. It's the first place I *knew* I wanted to go when I started planning this trip, and as it turns out it's going to be the last big leg. I can't even imagine what my time there will be like, but pretty excited to find out. I should note that thanks to my friend Sejal, who really ought to consider being a travel-writer, I am very well-prepared for this sojourn. Sejal, let me take this opportunity to officially (and publicly) apologize for ever having teased you about your thoroughness during grad school. ;)
More soon....
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Magic in the kitchen, with abracadabra...
We did it! The new refrigerator survived the hill climb in Chantip's truck and we are all set. More pictures up on flickr. Thank you so very much to everyone who contributed to this effort! I truly can't believe it was less than a week ago I sent out the email asking for your help...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
So many stories of where I've been, and how I got to where i am...
I spent the better part of last weekend going back & forth to the Burmese border to get a new Thai visa. The thing is, Thailand will allow U.S. citizens to remain in Thailand on a tourist visa for up to 90 days in any 6 month period, but you have to leave the country every 30 days. I'm not entirely sure what the logic is here.
When I entered Thailand from Laos last month I was traveling with a friend from Brazil; the immigration officer happily stamped his passport for 90 days. I half-hoped he might do the same for me, but no, 30 days. When I asked about it, he just laughed and said, "Oh, Josie, U.S. and Brazil very different!" "Sure," I replied, "you like them more than you like us, right?" "No! No!", he said, "I like America very much. Listen. You come back next year. I give you 90 day stamp. I promise." Sure.
Anyhow, I had a stamp good til March 2nd, so I decided to head to Mae Sai, that being the closest border town to Chiang Mai. In theory, this trip should have taken about 12 hours roundtrip. In reality it turned into a 27-hour adventure that included a sleepless night in a cheap guesthouse in Chiang Rai, where Stacia and I got stuck because all of the busses heading back to Chiang Mai were full. This was likely due to the elections being held throughout Thailand on Sunday. For each election, Thais have to go back to their hometown to vote, AND there is no alcohol served from 6pm the day before the election until midnight the day of. So not only were we disappointed about being stuck 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai, but we couldn't even drown our sorrows in a cold beer. We spent a few hours walking around the night bazaar (lovely), and then headed back to our guesthouse, where apparently the group staying in the room above us had managed somehow to subvert the ban on alcohol sales. I think they may have also been bowling. In the room. I finally fell asleep sometime around 3:30 am and was none too happy when the alarm went off at 6 so we could catch our 6:30 bus back to Chiang Mai. But, no matter, I have a new visa, and I'm officially welcome in Thailand until March 30th. Fingers crossed that I don't get arrested sometime between then and April 1st, and I'll just have to pay a small fine when I fly out to India.
As I was riding the bus back to Chiang Mai, I was thinking of all the other bus rides, train rides, boat rides, plane rides I've been on during this trip. I know I've told some of you about some of them. From watching a family of Romanians throw what looked like all their worldly possesions onto a train, to almost getting left at a busstop in Serbia, to riding on the world's tiniest minibus in Laos, to hanging out for hours in an airport in the Philippines, to being awoken by police on a boat in Halong Bay in Vietnam, and let's not forget that looooong train ride across Siberia, there have been many, many transportation adventures. Here's one of my favorites from Turkey, back in October. At the time I think I sent this to a couple friends, but thought you all might enjoy it.
October 17, 2007: I watched the sweetest scene last night outside my bus window and just thought I'd share it with you....
I took a night bus from Istanbul to Goreme last night which has to go down in my top 5 (bottom 5?) travel experiences so far. I'm sick with some kind of nasty cold, and while it was a non-smoking bus of course the driver gets to smoke the whole trip which was awesome for me being just 2 rows back from the front. Also... sort of funny, sort of weird, sort of disturbing, the movie selection for the trip was "Dawn of the Dead", unedited, save for being dubbed over in Turkish. So there's this bus full of old people, babies, young kids etc. and this godawful, gory American horror movie on. Yuck. I just turned on the iPod and closed my eyes tight.
Anyhow, the movie had finally stopped (thank goodness), and we pulled into a rest-stop, probably around midnight. I'm listening to Brett Dennen, "The One Who Loves You Most" (always need the soundtrack info), and I look out the window and notice there is a group of kids standing near the bus in the next bay. I would guess there are all around 19-22. There are fıve of them, 2 gırls and 3 boys. The two girls are coupled up with two of the boys and there is one "extra" boy with a guitar strapped to his back. It becomes pretty obvious that one of the girls is leaving. She starts hugging everyone, the two boys that aren't her boyfriend hug her tight and kiss her on both cheeks, she turns to the girl and they hug for a long time before she fınally turns to the boy that is obviously her boyfriend and hugs him tight and kisses him on the mouth. He takes her hand and leads her up and on the bus. About a minute or so later, one of the other boys gets on the bus to retrieve him. He gets off the bus and basically just falls into the arms of his other buddy, the one with the guitar. I can just tell he's crying hard, and the boy with the guitar just holds on to him and rubs the back of his head and lets him cry. He's not saying anything to him or anything, just holding him. I watch as the girl standing outside the bus takes a call on her cell phone, which I assume is from the girl leaving on the bus. They are all, save the crying boy, watching the bus pull away and waving. Then the third boy joins the other two hugging and they all just stand and hold on to one another. This just *killed* me.... I know I am a complete sap anyway, but I totally started to cry. Don't you just remember having those dramatic goodbyes? :) I think the sweetest for me was to see these young men who looked so "tough" be so gentle with one another. There was no punching on the arm or trying to shake off the sad, just this open-armed (literally) acceptance of the crying.
It made me think of something else I saw when I was at that war photo exhibit in Croatia. They had this part of the exhibition where there was a video that a journalist had made of some Israeli soldiers walking into an ambush in an abandoned building... it was really scary and there was a point when they thought one of their officers wasn't going to make it, but they eventually pulled him out. Of course during the fighting these guys are all business and serious and shouting and yelling and everything, but there was this amazing scene after the officer was safe and in the hospital. His commanding officer came in to see him and laid his head down on his chest and just said, I love you, Avi, I was scared for you. Again... so amazing to see these big tough guys be so soft.
Allrighty...just thought I'd share the sappiness...
When I entered Thailand from Laos last month I was traveling with a friend from Brazil; the immigration officer happily stamped his passport for 90 days. I half-hoped he might do the same for me, but no, 30 days. When I asked about it, he just laughed and said, "Oh, Josie, U.S. and Brazil very different!" "Sure," I replied, "you like them more than you like us, right?" "No! No!", he said, "I like America very much. Listen. You come back next year. I give you 90 day stamp. I promise." Sure.
Anyhow, I had a stamp good til March 2nd, so I decided to head to Mae Sai, that being the closest border town to Chiang Mai. In theory, this trip should have taken about 12 hours roundtrip. In reality it turned into a 27-hour adventure that included a sleepless night in a cheap guesthouse in Chiang Rai, where Stacia and I got stuck because all of the busses heading back to Chiang Mai were full. This was likely due to the elections being held throughout Thailand on Sunday. For each election, Thais have to go back to their hometown to vote, AND there is no alcohol served from 6pm the day before the election until midnight the day of. So not only were we disappointed about being stuck 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai, but we couldn't even drown our sorrows in a cold beer. We spent a few hours walking around the night bazaar (lovely), and then headed back to our guesthouse, where apparently the group staying in the room above us had managed somehow to subvert the ban on alcohol sales. I think they may have also been bowling. In the room. I finally fell asleep sometime around 3:30 am and was none too happy when the alarm went off at 6 so we could catch our 6:30 bus back to Chiang Mai. But, no matter, I have a new visa, and I'm officially welcome in Thailand until March 30th. Fingers crossed that I don't get arrested sometime between then and April 1st, and I'll just have to pay a small fine when I fly out to India.
As I was riding the bus back to Chiang Mai, I was thinking of all the other bus rides, train rides, boat rides, plane rides I've been on during this trip. I know I've told some of you about some of them. From watching a family of Romanians throw what looked like all their worldly possesions onto a train, to almost getting left at a busstop in Serbia, to riding on the world's tiniest minibus in Laos, to hanging out for hours in an airport in the Philippines, to being awoken by police on a boat in Halong Bay in Vietnam, and let's not forget that looooong train ride across Siberia, there have been many, many transportation adventures. Here's one of my favorites from Turkey, back in October. At the time I think I sent this to a couple friends, but thought you all might enjoy it.
October 17, 2007: I watched the sweetest scene last night outside my bus window and just thought I'd share it with you....
I took a night bus from Istanbul to Goreme last night which has to go down in my top 5 (bottom 5?) travel experiences so far. I'm sick with some kind of nasty cold, and while it was a non-smoking bus of course the driver gets to smoke the whole trip which was awesome for me being just 2 rows back from the front. Also... sort of funny, sort of weird, sort of disturbing, the movie selection for the trip was "Dawn of the Dead", unedited, save for being dubbed over in Turkish. So there's this bus full of old people, babies, young kids etc. and this godawful, gory American horror movie on. Yuck. I just turned on the iPod and closed my eyes tight.
Anyhow, the movie had finally stopped (thank goodness), and we pulled into a rest-stop, probably around midnight. I'm listening to Brett Dennen, "The One Who Loves You Most" (always need the soundtrack info), and I look out the window and notice there is a group of kids standing near the bus in the next bay. I would guess there are all around 19-22. There are fıve of them, 2 gırls and 3 boys. The two girls are coupled up with two of the boys and there is one "extra" boy with a guitar strapped to his back. It becomes pretty obvious that one of the girls is leaving. She starts hugging everyone, the two boys that aren't her boyfriend hug her tight and kiss her on both cheeks, she turns to the girl and they hug for a long time before she fınally turns to the boy that is obviously her boyfriend and hugs him tight and kisses him on the mouth. He takes her hand and leads her up and on the bus. About a minute or so later, one of the other boys gets on the bus to retrieve him. He gets off the bus and basically just falls into the arms of his other buddy, the one with the guitar. I can just tell he's crying hard, and the boy with the guitar just holds on to him and rubs the back of his head and lets him cry. He's not saying anything to him or anything, just holding him. I watch as the girl standing outside the bus takes a call on her cell phone, which I assume is from the girl leaving on the bus. They are all, save the crying boy, watching the bus pull away and waving. Then the third boy joins the other two hugging and they all just stand and hold on to one another. This just *killed* me.... I know I am a complete sap anyway, but I totally started to cry. Don't you just remember having those dramatic goodbyes? :) I think the sweetest for me was to see these young men who looked so "tough" be so gentle with one another. There was no punching on the arm or trying to shake off the sad, just this open-armed (literally) acceptance of the crying.
It made me think of something else I saw when I was at that war photo exhibit in Croatia. They had this part of the exhibition where there was a video that a journalist had made of some Israeli soldiers walking into an ambush in an abandoned building... it was really scary and there was a point when they thought one of their officers wasn't going to make it, but they eventually pulled him out. Of course during the fighting these guys are all business and serious and shouting and yelling and everything, but there was this amazing scene after the officer was safe and in the hospital. His commanding officer came in to see him and laid his head down on his chest and just said, I love you, Avi, I was scared for you. Again... so amazing to see these big tough guys be so soft.
Allrighty...just thought I'd share the sappiness...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Just what makes that little ole ant think he can move a rubber tree plant?
I'm feeling very inspired today. I think most of you received my emails, but in case you didn't, here's the rundown. (And by the way, if you'd like to get emails from me, but don't, shoot me an email at josierandles@gmail.com.) Last night before I went to bed, I sent out an email asking for donations for a new refrigerator for the new kitchen here at the school in Kewsua. I said that Stacia and I intended to fast until we received the funds to be able to buy the fridge ($850).
This morning when Stacia and I checked the paypal account she set up for this fund, we had already raised $726.00, along with a $100 pledge that I received in an email. As we were typing out "thank yous" and feeling a bit stunned, another $55.00 in donations came in. We met our goal. Before I even got a chance to blog about any of this. Before lunch. Which, incidentally, we haven't eaten yet... I think we might just hold out 'til dinner, you know as an excercise.
I'm finding it hard to put into words how thrilled I am about this turn of events. Today I'm feeling very blessed to have so many incredible people in my life. Thank you for your help! I'm going to sign off with the same quote from Gandhi that ended my emails... it's ringing very true for me today. I'll write more soon.
3/5: Updated to add: Here are some before and after pictures of the school kitchen that Stacia has taken. Also, we're heading down to Chiang Mai on Saturday to purchase the new fridge!
This morning when Stacia and I checked the paypal account she set up for this fund, we had already raised $726.00, along with a $100 pledge that I received in an email. As we were typing out "thank yous" and feeling a bit stunned, another $55.00 in donations came in. We met our goal. Before I even got a chance to blog about any of this. Before lunch. Which, incidentally, we haven't eaten yet... I think we might just hold out 'til dinner, you know as an excercise.
I'm finding it hard to put into words how thrilled I am about this turn of events. Today I'm feeling very blessed to have so many incredible people in my life. Thank you for your help! I'm going to sign off with the same quote from Gandhi that ended my emails... it's ringing very true for me today. I'll write more soon.
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. - Gandhi
3/5: Updated to add: Here are some before and after pictures of the school kitchen that Stacia has taken. Also, we're heading down to Chiang Mai on Saturday to purchase the new fridge!
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