I’m sitting at my desk, chin in hand, staring out the window at the incessant snow falling, daydreaming of Thailand; the warm, picturesque beaches and amazing jungle. There is something truly captivating about that country…the people are affectionate and genuine, the land is wild and beautiful. They welcome you and your curiosity and, in return, only ask for interaction and an introduction to your culture. Here’s an extremely long-winded account of my travels that in no way conveys how truly awesome Thailand is. I realize some of these details and stories may seem inane, but this travel journal is as much for me personally, to sort out my thoughts and recollections, as it is for publication on my blog. Please bare with the rambling…you may eventually find something interesting buried in all the details.
12/22/04
we boarded a bus at Bangkok international airport bound for khao san road, the main street which dissects the tourist district. This place is a backpackers heaven…hundreds of like minded travelers, scraping by in cheap hotels [a single room with no hot water, only a fan goes for 200 baht/night, that's about $5], eating street vendor meals, lounging and taking in the scenery. Neon lights and Thai script everywhere.
We dropped our bags and changed at the wild orchid [we opted for hot water and air con]. This was our first introduction to their sewer system, which isn’t equipped to handle toilet paper so you place all your dirty stuff in the trash. Not so sanitary. Also most toilets don’t flush; there’s a barrel of water nearby and you pour buckets into the toilet bowl until this weird suction thing happens and everything disappears. What a wastewater marvel. First we headed to a salon for the moment we'd all been waiting for…waxing. Saying OSHA has not checked this place recently is an understatement. After some hot wax, a bit of blood and a few screeches, my armpits and bikini line were smooth. and all for the bargain price of 200 baht [about $5]. we met the others at au thong for our first thai meal and the first of many chang beers.
Liz and I split red curry with beef, fried fish with a thick brown sauce laced with lemongrass, and also drank 4 beers for the bargain price of 160 baht [$4]. I likened khao san road to a WWII internment camp, all the backpackers are cordoned off in this clearly defined, self-sufficient area. Except there's bars, pool tables, drinking and dancing…ok, maybe that’s a bad analogy. Everything closes at 1 am, so four of us hop in a tuk-tuk...
[a three-wheel open air taxi job piloted by the most haphazard men in Thailand]
...and ask him to take us somewhere that's open.
Minutes later we find ourselves in a back-alley hostess bar where girls for hire lined the walls around the dance floor. The décor felt like a 1970's Sassoon commercial. We didn't last long there.
12/23/04
up early to catch a boat taxi to Wat Pho, the home of the 2nd largest Buddha in Thailand. Pitstop at a 7-11 [I am so disappointed to see these convenience stores taking over the world. They are everywhere in japan too. Sell all your wal-mart stock and buy 7-11 if world domination is your thing] where I bought a microwave pizza for breakfast, which was an odd combination of krab [with a k], corn, mayo and pineapple…gastronomical exploration. of course, subsequently we pass all this awesome looking street food…not sure if my stomach could have handled it anyway.
The huge reclining Buddha was amazing. It barely fit inside the building which was constructed to house it, making it difficult to get a good vantage point really.
Visitors stick real gold leaf to all the surrounding statues for good luck. They also set out food, bottles of soda [always with a straw...i have no idea] and other treats for the gods at the small shrines that are everywhere, from convenience stores to hotels.
There is also a series of about 100 metal bowls in which you drop special coins for health…they made a really beautiful noise. The whole complex is called the temple and it was full of gaudy, mosaic covered structures that each have their own name.
We headed straight to a thai massage school from there for the first of many indulgent rubdowns. It was not at all what I expected…we were twisted and contorted and stretched and cracked and pulled. I figured the feel-good part was when they quit and you could finally untense your muscles and breathe. Many of the positions were reminiscent of stances I’ve been studying in yoga, but I work at my own pace in class. After being manhandled, we had a bit of time on khao san road to wander, shop and, of course, eat. I had the most amazing spring rolls.
Then we headed to the train station, which took forever in downtown traffic. The next leg involved a 13-hour ride on a rickety overnight train that looked like something out of a Hitchcock film.
We mulled around at the station long enough to stock up on food and beer. There was a huge food court where they cook for you as you order. I bought my tickets and headed to the counter marked ‘fried oysters‘ which turned out to be onions, egg, lemongrass and batter scrambled, topped with a generous handful of small oysters, then folded and fried till crisp, served with a plastic baggie full of hot chili pepper sauce. Really tasty but greasy.
We'd bought small speakers which we used to turn the train into a narrow dance club. As the night wore on, I went exploring with a couple of the other girls. A nightman on the train who was super fun to joke around with urged us to ‘go all the way‘ so we kept walking until we stumbled upon a cafeteria car where several of our mates were drinking with the cooks, staff and several thai passengers. We snacked and sang with them for a while. As I was returning to my car, one of the waitresses caught up to me demanding I pay her 50 baht. The only English she spoke was numbers but she was pointing at my beer. I tried to explain I had brought the can with me from my seat and had not gotten it from the cafeteria. She was having none of it. As I tried harder to mime and explain, her voice got louder and testier. People were starting to stare. I had no money on me so I couldn't just appease her. Finally a friend approached and gave the woman 50 baht she didn't deserve just to shut her up. This was one of the only times I got the feeling that a thai was trying to take advantage of us knowing we had money.
12/24/04
we stumbled off the train and onto a bus bound for surat thani, a city half way down the east coast of the thai peninsula that serves as a hub for boat and land traffic. From there we boarded a ferry bound for koh phangan, which took about 2 hours. Koh phangan is a small and lesser known island than those that neighbor it. It consists of many beaches each with their own flavor, accommodations, etc., although some are more extravagant than others. We landed on had riin, which is the main hub for nightlife and shopping. The waterfront is lined by open air bars and dance clubs that bump literally all night long. There is a main street leading away from the ocean with shops and food stands. We stayed on the south-eastern tip of the island on had yuan which could only be reached by a boat taxi from this main beach or a 1.5 hour mountain hike. We opted for taxi and boarded a long tail boat with all of our packs, whatta boat-full.
The boat taxis we discovered don't like to shuttle to our beach because there isn't enough traffic. They instead dropped us at had tien, a beach slightly larger than ours that is a 20 minute hike from our bungalows. I don't mean a stroll, but an athletic workout traversing rocks and steep cliffs in dense foliage on not so clearly marked trails. Luckily some of the workers from big blue, where we were staying, met us at the beach and they played pack mules, donning about 3 hiking packs each for the climb. As soon as we boarded the boat bound for had yuan, I was taken by the landscape. Dense forests covered inland mountains which descended to sheer rock faces dotted with groups of bungalows on stilts. Palm trees peppered the coast and lined the white sand of the beaches.
The wide coast was swallowed by sapphire waves that gave way to emerald, sea foam and forest green striations of water color. Some of the boulders supported bamboo walkways that curled along the water's edge.
It is breathtaking. Liz and I claimed our bungalow, put on bikinis and headed to the open air building that served as the restaurant and front desk. Two pina coladas ASAP. Ate fried glass noodles in a sweet, thick brown sauce with shrimp and green leafy vegetable for lunch. We sat with other group members sampling the cocktail menu and watched the sunset over the ocean. That night we got our introduction to the buckets - a sand pail filled with a fifth of sangsom thai whiskey, a thai-strength red bull and one bottled coke. With about 6 straws, it's enough to destroy a small army.
Big blue also had a bar of sorts that they opened just for us most nights. 2 of the walls completely opened to the night breeze and we played our own cds, danced and lounged on a raised area covered with mats and awesome thai triangle pillows. Each Friday there is a dance party at a bar on had tien. Liz and I donned our headlamps [I knew they would come in handy] and hit the trail. With a little help from people along the way we found the really cool complex comprised of different levels of sitting areas, dance floors and bars, all outdoors. Another bucket later, we made our way home. Still not sure how we navigated the trails correctly at that point considering we got lost in the daylight sober subsequently.
12/25/04
liz and I woke and headed for the main drag at had riin. We hiked to had tien and caught a boat taxi to had riin. Lizzy was still feeling it from the night before and the boat drivers were really sympathetic, giving her water and slowing when it appeared she couldn't stand it any longer. First thing, we chose a restaurant for a late lunch. Mexican food is non-existent in Japan so I jumped at the chance for tacos. Ahhh…
Then off to explore…
I tried the fried yellow wantons-on-a-stick on the left of the tray. Think they had egg in the center. Only 12 cents.
Also did a little shopping…merry Christmas to me. The items were more expensive here than in Bangkok, probably because it was the only shopping around so no competitors meant they could gouge you. I vowed not to go crazy yet as I didn't want to lug all my purchases around the country with me for 2 weeks. I did spring for the tiniest black bikini with red polka dots. Liz coerced me and I figured if not now, while I am young and on a vacation to Thailand, then when will I be able to pull this off.
We made it to a yet unexplored stretch of beach front and were amazed to see tons of young travelers soaking up sun, playing volleyball and Frisbee, drinking and chatting.
We met a wandering woman carrying a yoke; she parked it and grilled liz an ear, coated in butter and salt. Delicious.
We realized time had slipped away a bit and decided to head back to had yuan to pretty ourselves for Christmas dinner.
It was a free buffet the bungalows put on with all sorts of spicy curries, pad thai, spring rolls, fried veggie patties, and fresh fruits and there was plenty of chang beer to wash it down. For desert, we decided to try a special menu item…a chocolate magic mushroom milkshakes [sorry Nanny…i'm attempting an honest retelling here…]. While psycho-active mushrooms aren't technically legal, on isolated islands such as this there is zero enforcement of the law. And by de facto social status they are considered perfectly acceptable, so much so that we were able to purchase them from the bungalow's restaurant for 400 baht, about $10. everyone enjoyed the experience, although some first-timers were a little more incapacitated. They decorated us with beautiful tropical flower lais.
We spent the evening laughing and dancing and goofing off on the shore. There were also quite a few thais who showed up at big blue to party that night, which was out of the ordinary. They were all gregarious and talkative which stands in sharp contrast to the Japanese demeanor I have grown used to. How refreshing. Interestingly, thai names are terribly long and difficult to pronounce, like Saeng-arun Thanadamrongsakdi [I didn't make that up], so they have all assumed short, usually one syllable nicknames. We met a po, nok, sung, pi, jo [who helped run the bungalows and epitomized exotic thai beauty]...
and su [I couldn't keep Johnny Cash's song ‘a boy named sue‘ outta my head every time I chatted with him, the bungalow:s jack-of-all-trades].
Met a man named da who I also hung out with some the next day.
He worked at the local power company and lived about 10 minutes down the beach in an old, cramped bungalow with 2 friends. Their quarters consisted of one room, about 10 ft x 10 ft, barely large enough to hold the bare mattress they slept on when they hadn:t crashed in the hammocks on the porch, which had a view you can’t even imagine. Two whole walls had windows cut from their upper halves that were open, no glass or shutters. There was a small tv and a vcd player resting at the foot of the mattress with noticeable water damage where rain had come through the windows. Scattered about were a few cds. About 5 shirts and a couple pairs of shorts hung from a rod along one wall. There was a tiny room off another wall that housed the sink [which was not in use as it held a few pieces of clothing], the toilet and the shower. No knick-knacks, no kitchen, barely any possessions. When I prodded, he elaborated by asking what else he needed…it was cheaper to buy prepared food than cook, besides there was no grocery store on the beach. He spent so little time inside the bungalow he didn:t really need belongings to fill it. Made me question our materialism and need for the things we use to distract ourselves and occupy our minds. I thought I had done an incredible job of slimming down by discarding so much of my property before moving east, but this really put it in perspective. Guess if we all enjoyed the view and scenery that da does, we wouldn't mind spending more time lost in thought gazing out over the ocean or exploring incredible natural wonders. The whole pace of life and sense of priorities are so different there. In a lot of ways, it is enviable.
12/26/04
No agenda beach day. I was rehydrating with fresh fruit shakes and was returning to the sand with a mango concoction when I noticed everyone gathered around chad, the fellow who'd organized the details of the trip for us. ‘koh phi phi has been destroyed‘ someone said. It didn't make sense. Chad elaborated saying the western seaboard had been demolished by a tsunami that followed an Indonesian earthquake. We all sunk into beach chairs to marinate in the news. We were stunned. Feeling sadness and relief at the same time, we relived the decision we’d made to alter our plans; that meant not heading to the west coast first, instead hitting the east coast islands initially so we could make a huge party on koh phangan. Good luck for us, horrible news for thousands of people. We spent the afternoon 10 feet from the breaking surf, contemplating how unthinkable it would be if the beautiful ocean rose violently, quickly and swallowed up everything. It was a little too real to be comfortable. Of course, it was the talk of our dinner overlooking had yuan.
I had excellent pork and pumpkin curry with fresh basil leaves. Interesting note: I have never paid much attention to the quality of rice as I’ve always considered myself a potato kinda girl, that is until I went to Thailand. A couple of the other girls pointed out how bad Thai rice is and I had to agree. Perhaps we are ruined by living in Niigata ken which is the top rice-producer in Japan and it’s crops are also considered to be the best tasting. That night was the world-famous full moon party on the had riin. It’s held every month on the night of the full moon and, as it was the height of the tourist season, this one welcomed about 10,000 partiers. The seas were incredibly rough; we had to climb over a huge boulder and down a not-so-secure bamboo ladder onto a rock face where we boarded a boat taxi. The waves were so big the boat swerved out of control and everyone got wet attempting to get in. Two girls lost their shoes and a few others got a scraped up. That, coupled with the fresh tragedy, drove the price way up to about $7. We were met by a mardi gras atmosphere on the beach. It was so crowded with neighboring clubs blasting competing music. Liz and I wandered around exploring,
fire dancers,
ran into another JET, and eventually got split up talking to different boys. Here’s where the night went rotten…I spent the next 3 hours or so searching for any of our friends to no avail. Finally gave up and parked it in a beach chair. Slept a bit and finally saw a few other JETs about 7 am. We caught the 8 am boat taxi back to our beach…what a pleasant ride that was.
12/27/04
What a life…slept in until time for my massage. Braved the rough 20 minute mountain hike to had tien. Bought a baguette pizza before heading to the Sanctuary, an open-air spa, where I was put in a tranquil breezy room constructed from hanging tapestries. The relaxing oil rubdown was unreal. She even did my stomach, which was really interesting. I could feel my organs getting massaged. Cost: roughly $13. Hiked back to had rin and parked it on the beach where I put a hurting on their fresh mango and coconut shakes. That night they showed the movie Euro Trip, horrible, in the restaurant and everyone piled down on the mats and pillows slumber party style in the warm night breeze. It’s amazing how differently your senses are piqued there. The air smells different, salty and warm; the night sounds different, strange bugs, constant ocean, distant conversation in Thai; it feels different in a hard to qualify but unable to deny it kinda way. Had a delicious barracuda steak dinner with sauted veggies. Also thought I had some sort of mayonaisey potato salad but when I took a big bite, it turned out to be a pile of garlic butter. Yumm. Afterwards we made a circle of chairs on the shore, sharing stories and a few joints. Marijuana is regarded with no disdain in Thailand. Jo, who works at big blue, told us the government is starting to crack down slightly on consumption of, not necessarily possession of, pot in the larger cities due to pressure from outside sources, like other governments. On had yuan and many of the places we visited there was no effort to be sneaky about smoking it. I was able to buy a bag from the restaurant at big blue, about 3 grams for $10. Interesting to think how much law-enforcement sponsored propaganda drives many people’s opinion of drugs, especially in the u.s. The fervent hatred of some these substances just doesn’t exist in Thailand. The lifestyle many Thais enjoy probably also contributes to the lack of concern about marijuana; the easy-going pace of things and the natural beauty make the country a perfect setting in which to enjoy it.
