Well, things are certainly looking a bit better than the last time I blogged, post-bike-wreck. All my wounds, both those physical and those of the pride, seem to be all healed up at this point. Turquoise salt water does wonders for both.
I am writing this from a little internet cafe on the side of the highway full of little Thai boys using their Sunday to play Grand Theft Auto and sniper games and Fifa WorldCup online. I am outside the Wat Suan Mohk International Retreat Center where tonight I will begin a 10 day silent meditation course. This center is one of the best known temples in Thailand for teaching and well known to foreigners interested in practicing vipassana (insight) mediation. I recently completed my 1st ten day silent retreat just 2 months ago near Seattle. That course taught the same meditation technique but with a more rigorous daily schedule of nothing but sitting meditation; it also originated in Burma. This center is a little more friendly and allows for walking mediation as well as yoga and there are even natural hot springs on the campus for soaking in the evenings! Still, 10 days to be alone with nothing but your thoughts is a challenge. This retreat is one of the reasons I chose to come to Thailand in the first place, and it feels good to be achieving that goal. So that is the present. As for the past...
Since my last blog, I finished my Advance Open Water Training in Koh Tao. Had a blast with my group and made a bunch of really good friends. The diving although fun, wasn't great the last few days due to high wind and waves which affected visibility. The highlights were by far the deep dive (to 90 feet below the surface) in which I was within a few feet of a grey reef shark and saw a scorpionfish and the night dive in which I saw a Great Barracuda bit a rabbitfish in half and swallow it in two bites! We also saw a rare cuttlefish and lots of green flashing phosphoresence. It looks like swirling stars underwater every time you move your hands around quickly distrubing the little critters. No whale sharks or manta rays unfortunately, but I will have another chance when I go on a 3 day/2 night live-aboard cruise with 15 dives to the Similan Islands. I am also hoping to see Leopard Sharks.
I left Koh Tao, traveling with two friends from my scuba school, Kris from Denmark and Kirsty from Norway. There are loads of Scandanavians here incidentally. Swedes especially. Supposedly 600,000 out of a country of only 9 million come to Thailand every winter. Anyhow, we took the night ferry from the island back to the mainland. On this ferry you are literallt given a space that is half a small mattress to share with a total stranger. Eveyone has to pretty much spoon all night and the entire boat has to roll over at the same time practically. From Surat Thani we went up to Khao Sok National Park, a quiet little area up in the mountains. The park protects some of the oldest primary lowland rainforest in the world and is home to elephants and tigers and gibbons, oh my. I saw the gibbon, but no tigers unfortunately. I did however get to see Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world (check my photos on Facebook). It is about 2 feet in diameter, red and fleshy, and smells like sour milk to attract flies as pollinators. The biology nerd in me was loving it! I also ran into some cool folks from Sweden, Pelle and Lina, who shared my interest in the lizards and critters all around us, so that was nice to have others to nerd out with. My lady traveling companions just couldn't understand why we were so excited about a giant, stinky flower alas.
After 2 peaceful days in the national park, we headed down to Raileh beach where stunning 500 foot limestone cliffs crash straight into the sea. We spent 3 nights here just bumming on the beach; although one day we did get ambitious and rent kayaks to explore sea caves and we even found a semi-deserted beach to go snorkeling from, a rarity in Thailand. I also went solo for a day to take a speedboat tour of the Ko Phi-phi Islands which are gorgeous bt totally overrun with Tourists and development. I got to see a German man get attacked by monkeys on the beach, so that was interesting. I also did some of the best snorkeling of my life at an open water site they took us too. Oh, and we went to the infamous lagoon Maya Bay that was used as the location for the Leo DiCaprio movie "The Beach" that may be responsible for ruining Thailand (in the sense that there are too many tourists). A good day but I was glad to move on from the crowds.
Saying goodbye to our friend Kris, Kirsty and I travelled on the sleepy island of Koh Lanta. Here I found my ideal, cheap, ramshackle, family-run beach bungalows with good music and food and hammocks galore. I had to spend a lot of time out of the sun and the water to let my motor-bike wounds heal, so it was here on Lanta that I finally got some serious loungin done and my first sun-burn, oh yeah. I also got back on the bike, so to speak, and drove a motorbike all over this large island with Kirsty. We explored the Old Town, which was really quaint and the first place I have seen any wooden homes on the beaches that pre-date the tsunami. We also got to see a crazy Kenyan Masai band play fun afro-fusion music to celebrate the anniversary of one backpacker-famous resort. But the best part was just watching the sunset from a hammok with a pineapple shake in one hand. Good times.
Oh, I also did a one-day run down to the Malaysia border and crossed at a little outpost in the jungle called Khuadon. You have to do this in order to renew your visa and spend more time in the country. Then it was another day of traveling all day (yesterday) heading away from the beack and back north. Now, I am just outside the rural town of Chaiya, and my lazy beach days are over (for 10 days at least). It was great to soak up some serious sun, the first time I have done so since I left Hawaii in 2006. But I am ready to get down to some serious psyche-cleaning that only a long meditation retreat can really provide. I have met loads of great people and made some real friends and eaten lots of amazing thai food. So several missions accomplished, but many more to come, no doubt.
P.S. Again, sorry for spelling mistakes, I am too cheap to proofread this thing as time is money in internet cafes.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Motorbikes and bull sharks and mango lassis, oh my.
So it's been a while since I have blogged. To be honest I have been avoiding it for days. Mostly b/c I didn't want to tell the world about my stupid motorbike wreck, but I am over it now. Unfortunately it's not much of a story but here goes. The day after I finished my scuba certification course (which was great! swam with several bull sharks, yeah), I decided to rent a motorbike with some friends and explore the rest of this island. However, all my friends backed out at the last minute. I was gonna bail too, but then felt that I needed to do it anyways b/c I was consumed with the thought that if I went alone I would crash the bike. Everyone on this island you see other backpackers covered in bandages from their bike wreck and the guidebook warns a lot about it, for this island in particular bc the roads are so bad. But I have this thing about conquering fears when they seem unfounded.
Well, this fear was apparently well-founded. After a really nice paved drive to another big beach, I felt that was not enough and I needed to take this putt-putt, skinny-tire contraption offroading to another, more deserted beach. I though, if all the Thais and cool surfer Norwegians can do it, so can I! Having a lot of ATV and 4x4 experience I was actually doing ok for a while, but then I came to a patch of super-steep, super gravelly road. It was also at that moment that I was looking at the view of the beautiful cove below and not at the road. And before I knew I was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely with the bike uphill from me, wandering what jut happened. Luckily, I was going about 3 mph when I laid the bike down. So all I really got were a few deep gouges (not even stitch-worthy) and a lot of road rash on my hands, right arm and right knee. The funniest part was that as soon as it happened and I was standing there on the side of the road looking at the bike, blood soaking through my shorts and dripping down my leg, I didn't feel upset at all and in fact, though to myself, "Well, now that's out of the way!" Like I knew it was my destiny to wreck a bike along and could do nothing to avoid it. Heh.
So I went home and cleaned and patched myself up (infection is really common here bc of the humidity). The worst part was going to pay the piper for the damage to the motorbike. Seeing as they don't sell insurace for rentals here, I ended up spending the equivalent of 500 bucks to repair the very superifical scratches to the bike. It ran just fine, not even a flat tire, but they actually replace all of the scratched parts with brand-new factory parts so that they can charge the next guy for his scratches to their seemingly-new bike. I was able to talk them down a bit being apprearing so pathetic in all my bandages, and my Brit friend Dave tried to get their sympathy by telling them that I worked with sick children backl home and had been saving for this trip my whole life and that this expensive wreck would end the trip for me. Surprisingly, the Thai ladies at the rental place did not seem to buy that. All in all, it was a stupid mistake and a pricey lesson but I didn't beat myself up over it too much (which I usually do) and didn't let it get me down for more than a day or so.
B/c of the injuries though I had to stay out of the water for a few days. But I still wanted to complete the advanced dive course, so I decided to just cool it here on Koh Tao, not a hard decision. I moved out of my nice big bungalow with a king size bed (about 15 bucks a night) into a cheap dorm room where I don't get much sleep (people leaving for early dives everyday) but I have made lots of friends. I did go on to complete the advanced course and keep my wounds infection free, so things are looking up. Today, I am finally leaving the island with 3 new friends on the night boat (you sleep out on the deck!) and tomorrow we will arrive in Khao Sok National Park. It is one of the oldest patches of rainforest in the world and has tigers and elephants and waterfall galore. Then it's on to Rai LAy beach on the west coast, a famous rockclimbing spot with limestone cliffs straight down to the sea. So that should be fun.
And no more motorbikes I assure you.
P.S. Sorry for any spelling errors. Internet is expensive, correcting mistakes is time-consuming, and I am lazy.
Food Log: I have been getting lazy about this bc it's all good. So I think I will only include my favorites or the really wierd stuff.
Laab Catfish - not really sure what this was, but very good and typical Esaan food, a southern Thailand regional people.
Goy Lek - this was the sauteed liver and tripe of a pig. there was a little stone inside one piece of the stomach that the pig had preseumably swallowed not long before his demise.
BBQ barracuda, marline, and king mackerel. the fish here is amazing and there are all these little places where you sit at tables set up right on the beach and pic your piece of fish then they grill it up for you.
Sauteed Morning Glory in oyster sauce.
Well, this fear was apparently well-founded. After a really nice paved drive to another big beach, I felt that was not enough and I needed to take this putt-putt, skinny-tire contraption offroading to another, more deserted beach. I though, if all the Thais and cool surfer Norwegians can do it, so can I! Having a lot of ATV and 4x4 experience I was actually doing ok for a while, but then I came to a patch of super-steep, super gravelly road. It was also at that moment that I was looking at the view of the beautiful cove below and not at the road. And before I knew I was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely with the bike uphill from me, wandering what jut happened. Luckily, I was going about 3 mph when I laid the bike down. So all I really got were a few deep gouges (not even stitch-worthy) and a lot of road rash on my hands, right arm and right knee. The funniest part was that as soon as it happened and I was standing there on the side of the road looking at the bike, blood soaking through my shorts and dripping down my leg, I didn't feel upset at all and in fact, though to myself, "Well, now that's out of the way!" Like I knew it was my destiny to wreck a bike along and could do nothing to avoid it. Heh.
So I went home and cleaned and patched myself up (infection is really common here bc of the humidity). The worst part was going to pay the piper for the damage to the motorbike. Seeing as they don't sell insurace for rentals here, I ended up spending the equivalent of 500 bucks to repair the very superifical scratches to the bike. It ran just fine, not even a flat tire, but they actually replace all of the scratched parts with brand-new factory parts so that they can charge the next guy for his scratches to their seemingly-new bike. I was able to talk them down a bit being apprearing so pathetic in all my bandages, and my Brit friend Dave tried to get their sympathy by telling them that I worked with sick children backl home and had been saving for this trip my whole life and that this expensive wreck would end the trip for me. Surprisingly, the Thai ladies at the rental place did not seem to buy that. All in all, it was a stupid mistake and a pricey lesson but I didn't beat myself up over it too much (which I usually do) and didn't let it get me down for more than a day or so.
B/c of the injuries though I had to stay out of the water for a few days. But I still wanted to complete the advanced dive course, so I decided to just cool it here on Koh Tao, not a hard decision. I moved out of my nice big bungalow with a king size bed (about 15 bucks a night) into a cheap dorm room where I don't get much sleep (people leaving for early dives everyday) but I have made lots of friends. I did go on to complete the advanced course and keep my wounds infection free, so things are looking up. Today, I am finally leaving the island with 3 new friends on the night boat (you sleep out on the deck!) and tomorrow we will arrive in Khao Sok National Park. It is one of the oldest patches of rainforest in the world and has tigers and elephants and waterfall galore. Then it's on to Rai LAy beach on the west coast, a famous rockclimbing spot with limestone cliffs straight down to the sea. So that should be fun.
And no more motorbikes I assure you.
P.S. Sorry for any spelling errors. Internet is expensive, correcting mistakes is time-consuming, and I am lazy.
Food Log: I have been getting lazy about this bc it's all good. So I think I will only include my favorites or the really wierd stuff.
Laab Catfish - not really sure what this was, but very good and typical Esaan food, a southern Thailand regional people.
Goy Lek - this was the sauteed liver and tripe of a pig. there was a little stone inside one piece of the stomach that the pig had preseumably swallowed not long before his demise.
BBQ barracuda, marline, and king mackerel. the fish here is amazing and there are all these little places where you sit at tables set up right on the beach and pic your piece of fish then they grill it up for you.
Sauteed Morning Glory in oyster sauce.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The (Koh) Tao of Diving
So I made it away from the smoggy frenzy of Bangkok to the beaches at last! I left the City of Angels (they have one on Thailand too) on Tueday morning via train. The train south was rather slow expecially as it left the city. The downtown core gave way to shantytowns, then floating ghettos, then suburbs with large house and satellite dishes, and finally rice fields in every direction. Some dry and being burned to ready them for the wet season, the ash swirling in the windows of the train. Some still green and verdant, scarecrows warding off thieving birds. People would get on the train at every stop and walk the aisles selling all manner of snacks and knickknacks. I had a variety of seatmates from a grumpy old man to quiet Muslim women with babies to a lovely little family that I shared my my Ipod with.
After nine hours, the train deposited me in Chumphon, one of the gateway cities to the south. I bargained my way onto a cheap pickup truck-taxi that took me to the pier 10km outside town. There I got on the midnight boat to the island of Koh Tao. The boat was much cheaper than the highspeed catamarans that most tourists take bc it steamed through the night for 8 hours. You get a slim mattree to crash on and a dirty pillow. Along with a young couple from Los Angeles, we were the only farang (foreigners) on the boat. The rest of the people were Thai going to work on the island, fisherman, and dock workers that loaded the boat high with Chang and Singha beers destined for the resorts on the island. As we ran out through the river to the ocean, we passed many fishing boats and canneries. I fell asleep to the gently rocking of the waves in the Gulf of Thailand (a far cry from the heaving of the Bering Sea!)
Woke at sunrise as we pulled into Koh Tao. My new friends and I then began the hunt for accommodations. What we didn't realize immediately was that the island was inundated with kids that had just come over from Koh Pha-Ngan and the biggest Full Moon Party of the year that coincided with New Years. It took us several hoursto find a spot, but I finally settled into my first Thai teak and rattan bungalow at the Pranee Bungalows (about 15 bucks a night and almost right on the beach). I just stayed at Pranees for 3 nights to relax and take in the beach scene before beginning the scuba training. Pranee's was at the quiet end of the beach, next to a posh resort, but only a 5 minute walk up the beach to all the restaurants and bars. The weather has been dodgy with scattered downpours and some cool, but still muggy days. That being said I have still managed to get sunburned even with the little bit of intense equatorial sun that has managed to hot my weak Alaskan/Montanan skin! I have made some really nice friends here from all over, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, etc. and on their recommendation decided to do my scuba course with the Big Blue Dive Resort.
I started the dive training 2 day ago with just classes the first day and shallow-water skills training yesterday. Today, we got to go to 12 meters and two different dive sites. Already I have seen some nice angelfish, triggerfish, sting rays, squid, barracudas, pufferfish, conchs, sea slugs, and lotsa coral.This afternoon I passed my final exam, and tomorrow I complete certification with 2 dives at 18 meters. I will then be a certified Open Water Diver. I am liking it so much that I may go straight on for the Advanced course after a rest day. It is about another 200 bucks (the regular course being 300), but Koh Tao is about the cheapest place to do it in the world and supposedly they certify more people than anywhere else as well. The one downside to doing it in Koh Tao is that the pressure of so many people diving here and the development to accomodate them all is evident. The water quality that I have seen thus far has been pretty bad with extremely low visibilty. There is coral bleaching evident all over, caused by pollution run-off, and just lotsa broken coral everywhere from novice divers kicking it. The resorts cosume a lot of seafood and fishing stocks have taken quite a hit in recent years. Paradise lost I suppose. However, the diversity of marine life is still amazing, and tomorrow I will most likely get to swim with some bull sharks. Plus, one juvenile whale shark has been lurking about one dive site. Fingers crossed...
Not quite sure where I will head next, but if I do the Advanced course, I should be here in Sai Ree Beach for at least 3 more days.
As promised, here is a list of the better foods I have eaten so far. It pretty much looks like a menu from a restaurant at any Thai restaurant in the US. I haven't gotten too adventurous yet, because I am trying to hit all the basics first.
Pad Thai - my first meal at a street vendor in Bangkok. Sadly, not very good. Not even peanut sauce. This national dish varies widely from place to place. But then I had amazing pad thai (or pat thai) here in Koh Tao with tofu all the fixins.
Tom yum khung - spicy prawn soup, eaten from a vendor underneath a banyan tree on temple grounds
Spicy fried catfish with mango salad - at the Chatuchak weekend market
Green Coconut curry with chicken -Outstanding!
Chicken balls on stick - from a street vendor on the Khao San road, drunk food, not so good
Spicy papaya salad -Yum.
Banana bread - bought from a vendor on the train platform, awesome!
here in Koh Tao - Panang (dry) Curry with pork and friend rice, Pad Kraopao (fried basil wih mild chillies and veggies), Massaman Curry (sweet curry with peanuts and potatoes).
My breakfast is invariably either banana pancakes or muesli with yogurt and fresh fruit.
The fruit here is great, and often blended into cheap shakes: coconut, mango, papaya, banana, watermelon, and more.
After nine hours, the train deposited me in Chumphon, one of the gateway cities to the south. I bargained my way onto a cheap pickup truck-taxi that took me to the pier 10km outside town. There I got on the midnight boat to the island of Koh Tao. The boat was much cheaper than the highspeed catamarans that most tourists take bc it steamed through the night for 8 hours. You get a slim mattree to crash on and a dirty pillow. Along with a young couple from Los Angeles, we were the only farang (foreigners) on the boat. The rest of the people were Thai going to work on the island, fisherman, and dock workers that loaded the boat high with Chang and Singha beers destined for the resorts on the island. As we ran out through the river to the ocean, we passed many fishing boats and canneries. I fell asleep to the gently rocking of the waves in the Gulf of Thailand (a far cry from the heaving of the Bering Sea!)
Woke at sunrise as we pulled into Koh Tao. My new friends and I then began the hunt for accommodations. What we didn't realize immediately was that the island was inundated with kids that had just come over from Koh Pha-Ngan and the biggest Full Moon Party of the year that coincided with New Years. It took us several hoursto find a spot, but I finally settled into my first Thai teak and rattan bungalow at the Pranee Bungalows (about 15 bucks a night and almost right on the beach). I just stayed at Pranees for 3 nights to relax and take in the beach scene before beginning the scuba training. Pranee's was at the quiet end of the beach, next to a posh resort, but only a 5 minute walk up the beach to all the restaurants and bars. The weather has been dodgy with scattered downpours and some cool, but still muggy days. That being said I have still managed to get sunburned even with the little bit of intense equatorial sun that has managed to hot my weak Alaskan/Montanan skin! I have made some really nice friends here from all over, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, etc. and on their recommendation decided to do my scuba course with the Big Blue Dive Resort.
I started the dive training 2 day ago with just classes the first day and shallow-water skills training yesterday. Today, we got to go to 12 meters and two different dive sites. Already I have seen some nice angelfish, triggerfish, sting rays, squid, barracudas, pufferfish, conchs, sea slugs, and lotsa coral.This afternoon I passed my final exam, and tomorrow I complete certification with 2 dives at 18 meters. I will then be a certified Open Water Diver. I am liking it so much that I may go straight on for the Advanced course after a rest day. It is about another 200 bucks (the regular course being 300), but Koh Tao is about the cheapest place to do it in the world and supposedly they certify more people than anywhere else as well. The one downside to doing it in Koh Tao is that the pressure of so many people diving here and the development to accomodate them all is evident. The water quality that I have seen thus far has been pretty bad with extremely low visibilty. There is coral bleaching evident all over, caused by pollution run-off, and just lotsa broken coral everywhere from novice divers kicking it. The resorts cosume a lot of seafood and fishing stocks have taken quite a hit in recent years. Paradise lost I suppose. However, the diversity of marine life is still amazing, and tomorrow I will most likely get to swim with some bull sharks. Plus, one juvenile whale shark has been lurking about one dive site. Fingers crossed...
Not quite sure where I will head next, but if I do the Advanced course, I should be here in Sai Ree Beach for at least 3 more days.
As promised, here is a list of the better foods I have eaten so far. It pretty much looks like a menu from a restaurant at any Thai restaurant in the US. I haven't gotten too adventurous yet, because I am trying to hit all the basics first.
Pad Thai - my first meal at a street vendor in Bangkok. Sadly, not very good. Not even peanut sauce. This national dish varies widely from place to place. But then I had amazing pad thai (or pat thai) here in Koh Tao with tofu all the fixins.
Tom yum khung - spicy prawn soup, eaten from a vendor underneath a banyan tree on temple grounds
Spicy fried catfish with mango salad - at the Chatuchak weekend market
Green Coconut curry with chicken -Outstanding!
Chicken balls on stick - from a street vendor on the Khao San road, drunk food, not so good
Spicy papaya salad -Yum.
Banana bread - bought from a vendor on the train platform, awesome!
here in Koh Tao - Panang (dry) Curry with pork and friend rice, Pad Kraopao (fried basil wih mild chillies and veggies), Massaman Curry (sweet curry with peanuts and potatoes).
My breakfast is invariably either banana pancakes or muesli with yogurt and fresh fruit.
The fruit here is great, and often blended into cheap shakes: coconut, mango, papaya, banana, watermelon, and more.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Bangkok randomness
So after many hours in planes and many bad meals and 2 decent movies (Funny People and Public Enemies) later, I made it to Bangkok. This place is so much, it's had to process really. I got in at 2 am on the morning of the 2nd so I haven't even been here two days yet, but it feels like a lot longer. For starters it is hot and humid. I knew it was gonna be like this, but was not truly prepared for it. The key seems to be lots of cold showers and moving slowly.
I think I'll just share some miscellaneous impressions of the place so far, I'm not up to writing a true narrative quite yet.
the first billboard I see after leaving the airport is for Amway.
a massage parlor in the Patpong area (redlight district) advertising "special testicle massage" for 800 baht, about 25 bucks.
an elderly monk in neon orange robes casually smoking a cigarette as he waits for the bus.
a dead bloated dog floating in the middle of chrao praya river, our ferry boat barely missing it as we cruise by.
teenagers in parks all over the city practicing muay thai (kickboxing), capoiera (brazilian dance fighting), and break dancing.
a flock of naked little boys swimming in the filthy canal, they all strike various muscleman poses as our boat full of tittering tourists roars past.
as I write this I am in an internet cafe surrounded by thai children playing World of Warcraft. adding their own sound effects.
a solitary policeman mans a car checkpoint as my taxi from the airport leaves the tollway and hits the mad labyrinth of surface streets, he glares sternly at me as we drive by but does not stop us.
the Chatuchak Weekend Market, literally 15000 stalls of vendors, all the selling the same junk. this is the like the elephant graveyard of tshirt and jeans from the US, but here they find new life.
kimodo dragons cruising the grounds and ponds of Lumphini park, gorging on pigeons and giving me sideways glances.
roosters begin crowing at about midnight, the dogs and myna birds soon follow and never let up til after dawn.
the atonal gonging of dozens of huge buddhist bells leading up the steps of the Golden Mount shrine.
at 3 am 4 littles girls chase each other in the street, playing some game that involves balloons tied to their ankles.
and, that's just the beginning...
a interesting passage I just read in the Economist. It's about acutally living in a foreign country but it applies to traveling as well, I think:
"foreigness is intrinsically stimulating...an escape from the boredom and banality of the everyday. the mundane becomes superreal and expereinced with an intensity evocative of the events of a true biography... living in a foreign country can evoke many of the emotions of childhood: novelty, surprise, anxiety, relief, powerlessness, frustration, irresponsibility. It may be this sense of a return to childhood , consciously or not, that gives the pleasure of foreigness its edge of embarrassment."
hmmm, something to chew on.
What to expect in coming posts: A log of my amazing meals here, complete with ratings, just to make you all jealous. Maybe I'll figure out how to embed a photo or two. And much much more!
I think I'll just share some miscellaneous impressions of the place so far, I'm not up to writing a true narrative quite yet.
the first billboard I see after leaving the airport is for Amway.
a massage parlor in the Patpong area (redlight district) advertising "special testicle massage" for 800 baht, about 25 bucks.
an elderly monk in neon orange robes casually smoking a cigarette as he waits for the bus.
a dead bloated dog floating in the middle of chrao praya river, our ferry boat barely missing it as we cruise by.
teenagers in parks all over the city practicing muay thai (kickboxing), capoiera (brazilian dance fighting), and break dancing.
a flock of naked little boys swimming in the filthy canal, they all strike various muscleman poses as our boat full of tittering tourists roars past.
as I write this I am in an internet cafe surrounded by thai children playing World of Warcraft. adding their own sound effects.
a solitary policeman mans a car checkpoint as my taxi from the airport leaves the tollway and hits the mad labyrinth of surface streets, he glares sternly at me as we drive by but does not stop us.
the Chatuchak Weekend Market, literally 15000 stalls of vendors, all the selling the same junk. this is the like the elephant graveyard of tshirt and jeans from the US, but here they find new life.
kimodo dragons cruising the grounds and ponds of Lumphini park, gorging on pigeons and giving me sideways glances.
roosters begin crowing at about midnight, the dogs and myna birds soon follow and never let up til after dawn.
the atonal gonging of dozens of huge buddhist bells leading up the steps of the Golden Mount shrine.
at 3 am 4 littles girls chase each other in the street, playing some game that involves balloons tied to their ankles.
and, that's just the beginning...
a interesting passage I just read in the Economist. It's about acutally living in a foreign country but it applies to traveling as well, I think:
"foreigness is intrinsically stimulating...an escape from the boredom and banality of the everyday. the mundane becomes superreal and expereinced with an intensity evocative of the events of a true biography... living in a foreign country can evoke many of the emotions of childhood: novelty, surprise, anxiety, relief, powerlessness, frustration, irresponsibility. It may be this sense of a return to childhood , consciously or not, that gives the pleasure of foreigness its edge of embarrassment."
hmmm, something to chew on.
What to expect in coming posts: A log of my amazing meals here, complete with ratings, just to make you all jealous. Maybe I'll figure out how to embed a photo or two. And much much more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
