KatmanDO'S and KatmanDONT'S: A trip to Nepal

March 24-29
Dad and I made our way from hotel to the airport the morning of the 24th to our next destination: Kathmandu, Nepal! We were headed there to see our family friend, Jacole, who has been living there for the two years teaching in an international school--it was so awesome to see her and what she's been doing. This post may be kind of long, but I didn't want to do in an exact day by day schematic, so I'm gonna break it down by the Do's and Don'ts I experienced during my time in this eye-opening country. None of this is supposed to be negative at all, because I had an amazing trip, but it was definitely an entirely foreign world from what I think I had pictured and through this understanding I was able to truly appreciate the chaos and beauty that is Nepal.

DO: Go to the bathroom before you land. Upon arrival to KTM (a large, empty feeling, red brick building with a dark concrete interior to match) I found myself snaking my way around the side of the building to a rather smelly and clearly overused squatty potty restroom. Not what I pictured the airport facilities being like, but again, takin' it in strides.

DO: Know someone who lives there or has been there. Jacole was the most amazing guide/resource and helped us navigate our way. She was so welcoming and knew what to see, how to get there and all the ins and outs which saved us a lot of stress and a lot of time planning...plus she knew the great places to eat!

DON'T: Get into a cab before negotiating a fare. Opposite of what we do in Thailand (where the use of the meter in the taxi is the most legit), bargaining for your fare will often save you tons of rupees as Jacole told us. Drivers who use meters often have them rigged so that when they honk the horn or change the radio station, the meter jumps and the rider is left to pay a hefty sum.

DO: Take some time to appreciate the cacophony of sounds that erupt from the streets of Kathmandu. There seems to be a different horn sound for each vehicle and a different vendor peddling something on every square inch of the city. At first it was irritating to have so much noise pollution, but when a Nepali man coined it a Street Symphony you couldn't help but smile and let yourself melt into the ruckus.

DO: Brace yourself. I thought Bangkok was scary to drive in: enter KTM. It's terrifying as your miniature Suzuki taxi is drag racing through ancient alleyways, whizzing around corners hoping his self-created horn sound will be enough warning for any oncoming traffic that is hoping the same for their vehicle.

DON'T: Breathe too heavily. With a population BOOM in the last 5 years, Kathmandu is having some serious issues keeping its pollution under control. Driving past the Bagmati river (a very holy river that flows into the Ganges in India) is almost like swimming through a backed up sewer. It barely moves as it struggles to meander through piles of plastic and trash which themselves are littered with poverty-stricken collectors searching for anything that could be reused or resold. Whatever doesn't end up in the river seems to be strewn about the streets or gathered into small piles and burned every few feet throughout the city. Don't worry though, if the pollution doesn't get you there is always the dry season dust that seems to shroud your lungs like an unwanted pashmina (although sometimes you wish you had one to breathe through to filter the air).

DO: Visit Nala Kavre (or any village away from the hustle of KTM). Ullens School, where Jacole teaches, sent their upper level students to 2 different sites in rural Nepal to spend a week doing service projects. We got to go along one a few hours east of the city and it was one of the most amazing experiences I've had thus far. We crawled through the dust and construction of the city and wound our way through the beautiful countryside to Kavre, a small village nestled on a terraced mountainside. Even with the haze of burning season smoke, the scenery and view from the village was unbelieveable. The students were renovating the village primary school (repainting, making learning tools for the classroom, etc.) and we were greeted by a throng of curious local children, who, after a little while, warmed right up to us.

Jacole, school Principal and Me with a bunch of the students: Nala Kavre, Nepal

While visiting a rural village:

DO: Eat with your hands. You're thinking what? but it is quite the feeling to sit around inside the bottom floor of a stranger's wood, mud and straw home in the mountains of Nepal, surrounded by locals, eating the same lentils (daal), curried chicken (bones and all), rice and potatoes and smiling while you struggle to scoop it all together into a ball and not drip it all over your shirt.

DO: Visit an elder's home. I was reading Three Cups of Tea at this time and I literally had an out-of-book experience on a tour through the village. We passed by the home of an old man and he waved us over. He laid out a mat for us and brought out his whole family. Through the help of my village buddy we sort of translated a conversation and he offered us tea and water all the while beaming with a genuinely warm and proud smile that he was able to play host and that we were so interested in spending time with him.

DO: Get to know the kids. I met some incredible little kids in my few hours in Kavre. My main man was Suhnsant, a 10-yr old, who I kind of took under my wing and bummed around with (he had the best English of his friends). He and his friend Sabi took me around the village, proudly showing off their homes, the local animals, where they get water, what they eat, etc. Along with them I got to know Rosan (4), Susmita (6) and Sustika (8) who were siblings and probably some of the cutest little kids I've met. It really makes you think when you go somewhere like this where the entire school is as big as some lecture halls I had at college, they have little or no plumbing or electricity, the water isn't necessarily always clean and the families make their livings off farming the land of these steep mountains--how inspiring it is that the children (and adults) are so happy. They were so curious and welcoming and excited to show off what they did have. They loved having their pictures taken and the second the click was heard they sprinted and clambered over you to get a glimpse of the result. It was sort of heartbreaking when I left and Suhnsant looked at me and just goes 'Nathan, can you take me back to America with you?' I just told him that if he stayed in school and worked hard to get good grades one day he could come to America and he could call me (I wrote down my email address so that, someday if the village gets internet, he can email me.) Some students don't get to go past grade 6, because they are needed to work the fields or it is to expensive to go to a good school. These kids are so bright and have so much potential, yet driving away from their smiles and waves you wonder why they don't get the same opportunities I got.
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DO: Go hiking in the Nagarjun National Forest and hike all the way to the Jachmo Gumba stupa 10 km up the spine of a vertical mountain. I thought I was going to die a couple times (mainly due to a heart attack) but the view from the very top of the stupa was unreal. You could see all of KTM spread before you and in the distance you could see a mountain range and behind that another mountain range and behind that range there was another. The stupa (sort of a religious dome with a tall tower/spire on top) was covered with multi-colored Buddhist prayer flags strung between trees, waving peacefully in the breeze.

DON'T: Let the fact that your dad wasn't nearly as tired as you were when you reached the top of the mountain lower your self esteem :)

DO: Visit Boudha Stupa, a magnificent site located in Kathmandu. It is an enormous stupa painted a vibrant white and topped with the eye of Buddha, watching your every move as you walk clockwise (the respectful direction) around its base, spinning the prayer rollers as you go. Be sure to spend some time wandering the streets of the surrounding Tibetan refugee village and bask in sounds of the Buddhist monastery bells in the heart of mostly Hindu Nepal. Take a minute to try out a singing bowl (a small metal bowl that sings a tone as you rub a wooden pestl around its rim while holding it flat in your hand--it's sort of like when you can make a tone with a crystal wine glass) and witness the beauty of the a Thanka painting school (a traditionally intricate style of painting depicting various religious lore and motifs.) I was also blessed by a monk in the monastery and given a yellow rope necklace to wear as a sign of good luck.

DON'T: Spend all of your time in Thamel. This is the area where tourists gather and, while it is loaded with hostels, restaurants and shops, it doesn't have quite the same feel as the rest of the city. It seemed that this area was better maintained in that people came and picked up trash at night and it was a bit more lively, but it's not as local of a feel. Thamel does have some great shops though and, if you're willing to do some heavy bartering, some great deals--Dad and I both walked away with some amazingly soft and beautiful yak's wool blankets. We spent our first few days in Patan, more of the ex-pat area, and got a good idea of neighborhood and day to day life. You could walk most places you wanted to go, braving the onslaught of horns as vehicles fly through the narrow backstreets, and it was altogether calmer--not the constant peddlers and restauranteurs beckoning you to 'look for free' at their merchandise.

DO: Take the Mt. Everest Flight. I wish words could describe the majesty that are the Himalayas, but I just can't do them justice. You get on this little plane (2 seats across) at the domestic terminal and are whisked away into the clouds. You are given a diagram of the mountains that you are looking at as you pass them from a distance on your left while the flight attendant tells you their names/info. Each person has the chance to go up to the cockpit and have a panoramic view through the windshield and as Dad and I had our turn up front the plane made its turning pass past Mt. Everest and I lost my breath. It's almost like being starstruck to see something so familiar yet seemingly so unattainable and I just stared. As the wind swept the snow from its towering peak I felt like I was floating--the Himalayas are so incredible that even above the clouds they are tall enough to be their own mountain range.

DON'T: Pay too much attention to the missionaries. It was sort of disheartening to encounter missionaries in KTM, not that I necessarily am against sharing your beliefs, but in a nation so heavily rooted in its religious traditions it seemed almost selfish to me that these people were here. Nepal is mostly Hindu and because of this there is not a real definition between state and religion (a lot like Thailand and Buddhism); it's more of just a culture in and of itself- a rich one at that. The colors and the pageantry and the effort put in to their ceremonies and the respect they hold for what they believe. I don't know it just seems that trying to convert the Nepalese isn't so much changing their religious beliefs as it is tearing at an intricately and beautifully woven fabric that has grown and thrived for centuries.

DO: Visit Bhaktapur. A world heritage site, this city-dating back to before the 15th century- is how you would have imagined KTM looking before its doors were opened to the outside world. It is reminiscent of Europe with narrow alleyways opening up to spacious squares-including the royal Durbar Square- filled with decadent architecture and carvings. People still live here and it's so awesome to watch them go about daily life: drawing water from the well, spinning wool, weaving, preparing lunch, making pottery, etc. Only a short drive from the city this is definitely worth the daytrip.

DON'T: Depend on electricity. With the huge influx of people coming to Kathmandu has issues with supplying electricity to everyone. Because of this the city undergoes something called load shedding in which the city is zoned off and different zones get electricity at different times of day for a set amount of time. This can cause some issues when sometimes there are days when you only have power 6 hrs a day and that's between 1am and 7am. Many hotels and shops will run a generator to be able to stay open, but this in turn leads to gas shortages, so it's kind of a vicious cycle. Dad and I faired okay, but its strange to be in a hotel and only have 1 light for a few hours while it's dark out--imagine having to live with that everyday!

DO: Eat yourself silly. Jacole lead us to some great restaurants during our stay: Lapka's Cholo (momos), a restaurant where I ate water buffalo, another for pizza and another for traditional Tibetan cuisine. Nepalese food is really awesome and traditional food is a must: momos (dumplings), daal (lentils), flatbread, curries, rice, chicken, many vegetables, nuts, etc. Jacole took us to Bojan Grea, a traditional Newari (one of the castes in the caste system) restaurant located in an old ornate mansion. We were greeted with a tika (like a bindi--or a red dot on your forehead) and were entertained all evening with traditional music and dancers right by our tables--which we sat at on cushions. We were served course after course and they kept bringing the food until you finally threw yourself over your brass plate and bowl and begged them to stop :)

As you can see I had quite the time on my trip to Nepal. If I were to go back I would like to spend more time in the country/trekking in the mountains, but for now I can rest easy knowing that I soaked up as much Nepalese culture as one could hope for in 5 days! NAMASTE

Semester 2: Back at It

18 May 2553

So I decided to interrupt the summer travel entries ( i know i know--you're all so sad :) ) to fill everyone in my current life back in Bang Phli. The past week since my mom went back to the US of A has been fairly low key; my days have been filled with meetings and lesson planning and getting geared up for the new semester. It was nice getting back into a routine after so much travelling and be back in the village with familiar faces and to see the other teachers, etc. It's hard to believe that it's time to teach again and that tomorrow marks the 7 month 'anniversary' of my leaving for Thailand!

So today was my first day back and it was actually pretty good. It was nice going into it knowing what to sort of expect and have a better idea of what the kids are going to be like. It was awesome to see some familiar faces and see how excited the kids were to see that I was still in Thailand (it makes you feel pretty awesome when students come up and say they missed you and were worried you had gone back to America!) I also have some new students this semester as my schedule changed a bit so it's fun to get to know some new faces as well as work with some of the Thai teachers I've gotten to know over my time here. Last semester I taught mainly Grade 5/6 Math and Science with a little bit of Health and English-Conversation splattered in there (all for the English Program--meaning the kids take their classes in English everyday.) This semester my schedule is as follows:

-Grade 1-3 (Regular program--all classes in Thai except English): English-Conversation
-Grade 1-9 (English Program): Swimming/P.E. --yes I am now a gym teacher complete with windpants
-Grade 4-6 (English Program): Basic English
-Grade 7-9 (EP): Health

It's strange coming back and not teaching really any of the same classes I taught last semester, although I have many of the same kids, but after having 7 classes today (Yes 7 and I was exhausted) it seems like it will be a pretty good year. I'm excited to be teaching English as I feel like I'll be a little more qualified in that area than Math/Science and working with the Regular program kids is gonna be cool because E-Convo is all about getting them excited and comfortable with English (plus they are really little and a ton of fun!) and less about bookwork and assignments.

There have been some other changes since last semester as the school has downsized a bit and is reworking some financial stuff. Anyway, the English Program classrooms now have 2 grades per room which is going to be an interesting challenge trying to teach English while another grade is learning Math or Thai; today was alright though as most of the teachers ease into the semester with games and introductions. We also have a new office complete with Air/Con which makes an incredible difference during the day when it can reach temps of 107!! It's Emily, Josie and me in the office with a new teacher, Zanie, who is Sinaporean/Burmese and will be mostly teaching the upper level kids and Pop, our new, pretty old, slightly confused coordinator. Pop is a really nice and jolly guy, but he is pretty much incoherent when he speaks and tends to start up on a random high-decibled tangent (usually a yell) in the midst of silence and then stop...and then start again. Today I was working on tomorrow's plan and out of nowhere he just shouts from 2 desks away (NATHAN! HOW YOUR STUDENT TODAY? YOU CLASS DO GOOD?'-oh and he's teaching English classes) Needless to say he provides some comic relief to the day and is extremely nice!

Anyway all is fine and well at Satit Bangna and I'm hoping the rest of the semester continues as such. I'll leave you all with a list of new Thai nicknames from my students today (and again I must reiterate the point that these are indeed real nicknames and I do not alter them for your benefit) Just imagine what it's like to ask a student their name and get these in response! and what's better is when you have 1st graders who can't really spell their names so I have to make up spellings knowing that I'm basically in charge of how they will forever spell Namyeun (yes I created that name today from what my student told me :) ! Anyway, here's the list:
-Guide
-Watermelon
-Foremost
-I.Q.
-My
- View (but they can't say the 'V' so it's said 'Weew')
- Arm
- Popcorn (a personal favorite)
- Film
-Boom
-Moo

Chiang Mai and a quick trip to BKK

Mar 21-23

After retrieving our things from Chiang Rai we hopped on a bus and made our way to Chiang Mai in time for the Sunday Night Walking Street for some good bargains and some good food. Dad headed back to the room while the 4 of us decided to hit the town. We ended up having a blast sitting at the counter of this bizarre VW microbus-converted restaurant for a couple hours chatting with the local lady who owned it and then made our way to Spicy, our favorite after hours dance club where the famed Spicy Lady was the (she's a lady in her 60's who we met last time we were in Chiang Mai and who goes out on weekends and literally dances until dawn). It was hilarious to see her there and even funnier that she recognized us!

The next day we went on a walking tour of the city to check out some of the temples which actually seem to outnumber people (they are everywhere!) and headed to the massage salon where the women's correctional facility inmates work after they are released from prison! It sounds strange, but it is a really nice place and it's a great cause as they work to rehabilitate these women after release and get them reacquainted with society/the working world. After this it was time for Dad and I to split off from the pack and make our way on the overnight bus back to BKK.

We headed back to my place to change out dirty clothes and repack a little before heading back to the city where we spent the afternoon lounging in our hotel room soaking in the a/c and recharging from the week we'd just had! It was finally dinner time and I couldn't wait, because we were going to meet up with Nina (one of my best friends from college) and the Skubiak family for dinner at Lebua Tower. We ate at Sirocco which is, I believe, the tallest al fresco restaurant in the world as it is beautifully perched on the 63rd floor roof of this skyscraper overlooking downtown. It was so surreal, not only to be in such an amazing place with great food, but to see someone else from home in the environment where I've been living for the last 5 months--we just kept looking at eachother as if we weren't actually there at the same time, but soon enough it was right back to where we'd left off. It was such a great night and I was so happy I got to see Nina and the Skubiak clan as they embarked on their own family trip through SE Asia.

Hill Tribe TREK (Day 2)

March 21

I was finally roused from my sleep to the sound of wings flapping and feathers rustling only to find out that what I was hearing was the sound of breakfast being 'prepared.' We had a wonderful rice porridge complete with meat from a black chicken (really special to them and believed to have healing powers). Speaking of sacrifices we learned something really interesting about this particular tribe. Many tribes were Animists, meaning they believed in animal spirits and sacrifices and multiple gods, etc. but were converted to Christianity by missionaries not, they said, because the necessarily believed one way or the other in the religion, but because it was much less expensive to be Christian as they didn't have sacrifice all their livestock and animals to the gods whenever something went awry.

After breakfast (and the coldest shower from a bucket I've ever taken) Bupay and Milu and Milu's sister, Ami, got out all their traditional clothes and started transforming Josie and Emily into Akha women. It was hysterical how much stuff they had to put on and how ornate every detail was. They were so proud to have these two Americans in their outfits and couldn't stop laughing at how they looked (neithe could we!) We then gathered our things and followed Chai and Milu for what we thought was going to be a simple trek to some nearby waterfalls. Simple was not the right word!

We walked for a while through the hillsides, learning about how they farm their crops and taking in nature, until we got to a small stream and waterfall. We were all set for this to be our lunch spot, but Chai said we should walk a little farther upstream. So, we're walking and pretty soon we're having walk in the water a little which was cool and then we're walking some more and Chai says we can go swimming cuz it gets deeper. So, we all pile our stuff and plunge into the FRIGID mountain water--Chai then tells us we should hold our stuff over our heads cuz we need to keep going. So, Mark and I being the tallest formed a sort of assembly line where we carried all of our belongings over our heads to a series of waterfalls that Chai had scaled and handed him up the stuff before we all tapped into our inner monkey and made our way up the slippery cascade . It was really cool to be actually trekking through the water and not on some overtravelled trail.

We then reached a point where there was basically just a sheer wall and thought we were done until Chai pointed out a single shaft of bamboo bridging the gap between two walls. Naturally he just scampered across the pole and shimmied his way up to a small space where we were all to come and climb up farther to another set of waterfalls. We looked at him like he was out of his mind, but really having no choice we formed a line and started making our way up. The bamboo was shaky and not secured and you felt like you were going come crashing down only to be greeted by the Agrocrag (for those of you Nickelodeon Guts fans out there). It ended up that my dad had to stand as a base for the us to push off of to reach the ledge Chai was helping from--it was a process and I thought we were going to lose someone, but at the same time it was such a rush to be doing this all completely free-base with no ropes or hooks or anything (not something you'd probably be able to do back home).

We were all a little tired at this point and were happy to see a nice pool for a swim at the top of the cliff we just climbed only to see ANOTHER set of falls gushing before us. Being not Asian we just aren't born with the same agility that their little bodies can handle and as such were seen slipping and falling back into the pool below as we tried to climb up. Chai and some of the local guys who had met up with us found a bamboo rod that they held down to us and basically pulled us from one level to the next. At this point we were exhausted (yet still filled with adrenaline) and were relieved that the next stop was lunch, which was made by cooking food (including rice, fish and veggies) inside of bamboo. Filled and rested we completed our trek up the side of steep hill and through more countryside before making it back to our home and, unfortunately, packing up.

You wouldn't think that saying goodbye to people you just met the day before would be hard, but it kind of was. We were so lucky to be placed in the care of Acha, Bupay and Co. and had really made some cool connections while being able to share our cultures with each other. After some group photos, email exchanges and many goodbyes we hopped into our songteaw to head back to Chiang Rai. Before we finally pulled away, Bupay reached in and grabbed each of our hands saying Thank You and Goodbye in Akha--this gesture was a really big deal as this tribe is generally uncomfortable with touching anyone they don't consider family.

Hill Tribe Trek: A night with the Akha

March 20

The five of us (Josie, Mark, Emily, Dad and I) got up early to meet our tour guide, Poo, and get on the road to begin our 2 day/1 night expedition into the mountains of Chiang Rai complete with a homestay with the Akha Hill Tribe people! I couldn't wait as our songteaw (pick up truck with benches and roof) pulled out and began the winding course up the mountains.

Our first stop was at an Oolong tea plantation on Doi Mae Salong. We were seated at a counter and got to try some of the different teas produced at the plantation and learn about the differences between them. The area we were in was part of the opium trade back in the day and as a way for the refugees who lived on this land to stay in Thailand without being deported they were made to quit farming poppies and were taught the ways of tea cultivation. We learned that some teas are made from baby tea leaves and are harvest every 3 months or so while others are left to grow longer and cultivated less often. It's an amazing setting looking out upon row after row of tea plants stretching to the bases of the surrounding mountains.

We stopped for lunch in Sanctikili, a small town made up entirely of Chinese refugees from the Yunnan provice. We were treated to a traditional Yunanese lunch consisting of various noodle dishes, pickled veggies and soups as well as some dried/candied fruit which we bought by the kilo from a smiling old woman. After lunch we headed to the highligh of the trip: the Akha village where we would spend the rest of the day/night and the next day.

We were greeted by Acha, our dad for the trip along with Milu, our sister, and Chai (Acha's nephew) would would serve as our local guide. The company we went on the tour with works hard to get the locals in these villages involved in the toursim (ie having them assist with the tours) rather than exploiting them like many organizations do. On our first walk through the village we ran into Bupay, our host mom, dressed in traditional Akha garb with a big smile (her teeth covered in a red juice from the Betle nut which is supposed to be good for your teeth--but makes it look like your mouth is bleeding!) The village was small and fairly simple: wooden shacks linked by dirt trails, smiling and curious people going about their daily chores, chickens running amock, etc. Our house was pretty nice with wooden boards on the floor and walls and a few rooms. The kitchen was off to the left and across the hall were the bedrooms/living room. Out back was deck made of thick grass that somehow managed to hold all of our weight even without dropping us to the ground below. There was an interesting parallel between their traditions and the modern world as we took note of the many satellite dishes installed on the straw roofs of the homes. At first you kind of think it takes away from the experience seeing these modern amentities, but after a night with these people you come to the realization that just because they have these things doesn't mean they lose their identities as Akha people (more on that later).

After the tour we spent some time at our new home talking and learning more about their lives. Then we got to spend some time working on traditional handicrafts--Acha showed us how to make wood carvings while Bupay taught the girls how to make bracelets with beads made from seeds they find in the hills/river. Chai invited us to go play Takal with some of the local guys and, having never tried it before, we agreed happily. It turned out to be one of the hardest games I've ever tried. We played 3 vs. 3 and it consists of bascially getting a small woven ball over a badminton size net. It has rules similar to volleyball only you can't use your hands-and what do you naturally want to use when the other team has just roundhouse kicked at a ball at your face? Yes, correct, you want to use your hands! Needless to say we had a great time and I only got kicked in the head once (Chai was yelling 'Boi Boi Boi' as the ball was coming over the net and not knowing that this was the word for 'move' in Akha I thought he was telling me, 'Boy,' to get the ball. Anyway he went up for a full body windmill kick complete with backflip only to be stopped mid rotation by my head and we both ended up laughing, and a bit disoriented, on the ground.)

Dinner proved to be a feast as they pulled out all the stops for us (endless bowls of veggies, chicken and mountain rice--they they grew!). We were all being polite at first and taking little bits of each only to realize we had better get it while it was there because Acha and Bupay were wolfing it down; Emily and I started laughing hysterically as we watched our house mom lean back in her chair without batting an eye and let our a hearty belch. After dinner the whole family and some of the extended family was there and we spent a couple hours just sitting around talking. We learned about their customs and they asked us about America (they were floored by the fact that we have rice that is black and grows in the wild while they work so hard to grow their rice in terraces on the sides of near vertical mountains). We were able to communicate fairly well Chai (who gave us his thoughts on his future and how they perceive love) and Milu (who were both around my age and had learned English in school/from working). To talk to our host parents we had to speak in English to Poo who spoke in Thai to Milu who repeated what was said in Akha.

It was really an amazing experience seeing how much you could understand someone through just body language and facial expressions even before the coversation had been completely translated. I can't imagine a more genuine and sincere group of people who welcomed these strangers into their homes and tried so hard to make our stay comfortable. It was sad to learn that a lot of times they feel like 'animals' (is the word they used) as tour groups come traipsing through the village to see the 'hill tribes' in their costumes and take pictures before leaving after 20 minutes. At the same time it was so cool to see how happy they were that we would take the time to get to know them and learn about them. What an adventure.

We were more than ready to crawl into our mosquito net tent in the living room and under our thick blankets when it was time for bed. It was such a nice change to sleep with windows open and have it be chilly instead of the heat and humidity of southern Thailand and, despite the multiple sets of alarm clocks (aka the roosters below our floorboards outside crowing at 3am, 4am, 5 am and 6 am) we slept really well.

Chiang Rai

March 19

We arrived early to Chiang Rai after surviving the pinball ride that was our overnight bus. It's always an adventure when you are roused from your slumber by sounds of falling luggage and the elbow of the person next to you in your side as you are being slammed into the aisle while flying around a midnight mountain switchback. Nevertheless, we roused our bruised and tired bodies and made our way to Baan Bua which was a quaint little guesthouse in the city and had some breakfast.

Our first stop of the day was to Wat Rohn Kuhn (White Temple) a little outside of Chiang Rai. We were (per usual) the only foreigners on the local bus and had some fun trying to describe where we wanted to be let off--thankfully the bus lady helped us out (once she found out we could speak a little Thai she warmed right up to us and was chattering away as though we were fluent). We were greeted by the beautiful gleaming White Temple which is really unlike the rest of the temples in Thailand. Yes, it is still big and guady and over the top, but there is something about its stark whiteness and glistening mirrored tiles that is sort of magical. However, it is also very strange. It's supposed to represent the equivalent of heaven in it's purity and use of white, but as you walk up to it you cross over a bridge surrounded by sculpted hands (apparently reaching out from the underworld--which represent temptation). The highlight is probably the one hand that has it's middle finger painted red amongst the sea of white. Inside the temple (unfortunately you can't take pictures) is a modern depiction of the transition from the underworld to the enlightened one. I say modern because the muraled walls have images of Spiderman, Neo from the Matrix, cell phones, Star Wars, etc. My only guess is it symbolizes the evils of the world coupled with the 'superheroes' who are trying to defeat them? Strange, but beautiful and interesting. The complex itself is also unbelievable as it won'tbe completed for another 50 or so years; it's crazy to think that the person who started this project won't even be alive to witness its full completion!

Our next stop was to Baan Si Duhm (the Black House) which was created by a friend of the White Temple creator and is a little less unknown. At first I thought it was the weirdest place on Earth, but the more time we spent there the more peaceful and interesting it became. It was sort of like an artist's commune in that there were art installations littered about the grounds inside various black houses, shrines and domes in addition to the many artists who were working on various projects at the time. There was a series of 3 dome structures that had bizarre animal skins/furs/skeletons and furniture made from horns and wood, but were designed with the most incredible acoustics. You could hum a single note and the reverberations echoing from the walls literally enveloped you in a sea of overtones--in laymen's terms: it was awesome!

After our trek around Chiang Rai we made our way to the Night Bazaar for some bartering and some good eats before heading off to bed--how nice it was to have a bed after sleeping on a bus all night!

ANGKOR WAT (Day 2)

March 17 & 18

Today we had a much needed later start to our day as we headed back to some of the less visited ruins. Tanat took us first to Phrea Khan where we explored another perfectly symmetrical temple where part of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was actually filmed! Next was Neak Pean, which was interesting as during the rainy season it becomes an island, but you can walk to it when the weather is dry. Our last two stops were Ta Som and East Bayon (a less impressive version of the Bayon we saw yesterday. At this point we were all pretty much ‘ruined’ out and decided to head back to soak up some sun and chlorine. Looking back it is so fascinating to think of how many different people and different rulers there were over the time of the Khmer era and how they continued to build and change and redevelop the Angkor area. What else, the fact that it sort of sunk into local legend for a few hundred years until someone randomly decided to explore it and start its restoration. How does something that huge just disappear into the vines of the jungle?

After some afternoon R/R we went to dinner and saw some traditional Cambodian Apsara dancing. Dad went back the guesthouse while Josie, Mark and I went to explore the night market a little. After some professional bartering we walked away with some cool souvenirs and decided to cap the night with a $3 foot massage. It turned out to be a hilarious experience as the girls massaging our feet were all 18 and giggled the entire time all the while pointing out how white our skin was.

We got up on the 18th and made our way from Cambodia to Northern Thailand via multiple modes of transport. 1st a taxi back to the border, then a bus to Bangkok and then an overnight bus from BKK to Chiang Rai. I gotta hand it to you Dad, not many parents would be up for an overnight bus, let alone enjoy it!

ANGKOR WAT (Day 1)

March 16
Tanat greeted us right on time with our tuk tuks in the morning (Dad and I in one, Josie and Mark in the other) and we set off to see one of the wonders of the world: Angkor Wat. I’ve actually been counting down the days ‘til I got to see this place and it really didn’t disappoint We started the day with Angkor Wat itself which is indescribable. It is this expansive, beautiful, symmetrical, architectural phenomenon surrounded by kilometers of moat and dense jungle. It’s made stone and the lower level walls are covered in bas relief carvings depicting various Hindu and Buddhist lore (depending on who was ruling the kingdom at the time). Its endless column-lined hallways are designed in such a way that you can look down one and see the light at the end of the tunnel over a km away. You continue across a massive courtyard with a central promenade that leads you to the inner temple. As you approach it looks like 3 peaks all next to each other, but up close you realize that there are actually 5 peaks (4 corners and 1 higher middle peak) that are spaced out in perfect symmetry giving it the illusion of a straight line until you see it’s actual depth. Sorry if you’re completely lost, but it’s a really difficult thing to explain without actually seeing it—pictures don’t really even do it justice as they don’t capture the depth and are fooled into falling for the ‘straight line’ illusion. How a civilization could build something like this by hand without modern technology and in only 47 years will forever boggle my mind.

After a couple hours we sweatily hopped in the tuk tuk to Prah Thom, a temple literally overtaken by the jungle. You had to crawl over tree roots and ruins as you made your way, imagining the whole way what life must have been like when this place was at its peak.
After lunch we made climbed the steep steps of Ta Keo and went to explore Angkor Thom (the center of Khmer civilization before Angkor Wat). At Angkor Thom we climbed on the Terrace of Elephants, hiked up the remains of the old palace of Baphuon and ended up at Bayon. Bayon is one of the more unique buildings in the complex as its beautiful spires are carved with face after face of Buddha. At this point in the day we were all getting a little loopy/delusional having been dehydrated under the beating sun, but we decided to soldier on and make it through the whole day (as it would have been an insane amount of $$ to go back to the hotel and come back). It was seriously so hot that we drank four 1.5liter bottles of water each and never went to the bathroom once AND were still thirsty. Good thing there was no shortage of water though as in front of every temple there were hordes of people screaming at you to buy from them: “Meeestaa, Laddyyy you want some dlink? some wataaa? my wataaa cold! good plice fo you!!”

The last stop was the hill of Phnom Bekang for a view of the sunset over the ruins, which turned out to be kind of a wash. Due to burning season there was a haze over the sky which blocked what would have otherwise been a nice sunset, but it was all worth it to watch the throngs of Asians literally fighting and pushing each other out of the way to get a photo of the lackluster sight. It was hysterical as people were making shape with their hands around the sun, pretending to hold the sun up as though it were Simba in the Lion King and one pair even acted as the Person A was dropping the sun into Person B’s mouth. Yes, definitely worth it. A haggard bunch, we hopped into the pool upon arrival back at the guesthouse, gorged ourselves on some amazing kebabs for dinner and fell asleep before the lights were out.

SCAM-bodia

March 15
530am came all too fast and up we were to check out! We met Josie and her boyfriend Mark down in the lobby (they came to the hotel last night) and headed to the train station (which luckily was right across the street from our hotel). Sleepily we slumped into our seats and headed off into the countryside. The train ride wasn’t half bad—only about 5 hrs— and it’s always nice to see parts of the country you haven’t been to before. The only frustrating thing was that this time of year is burning season in Thailand (aka the farmers burn down their land in order to prep the soil for the coming wet season/planting) which means that as you’re cruising through the fields you are getting enveloped in clouds of ash—it was reminiscent of the burning of HomeTree for those of you Avatar fans out there.

Upon arrival we were hounded by tuk tuk drivers all vying for our fare to the border. We ended up choosing the wrong one and were soon the victims of a frustrating scam! We pull up to this place on the way to the border where we are greeted by ‘officials’ with visa papers, etc. I didn’t feel right about it from the start, but it all seemed kinda legit and we were here, so whatever. They then proceeded to tell us that we couldn’t use USD to pay for the visa which should have been our signal to leave, but how can you really know? Anyway, they want us to pay for the visas in Baht which is normal (as this is what Thai people have to pay in) but you end up paying more because they give you a bad exchange rate. They kept being like ‘No no you can’t use USD at the border anymore, just baht’ and then they wanted us to pay extra for a processing fee. I looked at the guy, already a bit on edge and uncomfortable, and said we would not pay more than the visa fee in baht (which was the standard fee) and that we wanted to be taken to the border now. They got all flustered, esp when I told Mark/Josie to get their money back for the processing fee they were told they had to pay, and finally after some arguing we got our visas and headed to the border. At the border Josie and Dad went inside while Mark and I waited with the tuk tuk driver and came out telling us that USD were in fact accepted and that we had been hosed. After a mixture of yelling in broken Thai and English the tuk tuk driver refused to take us back to the place where we got our visas—so we said we were writing down his info and turning it into the Tourist Police. In reality at this point there was nothing we could do except suck it up and move on and be more wary of things like this. Lesson Learned: Trust Your Gut.

Thankfully the visas we got were in fact legitimate, just more expensive than we would have liked, and we made our way through customs, accompanied by our Customs friend: Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy helped us through the process, got us all of our stamps, put us on the shuttle to the bus station and helped us get into our shared taxi to Siem Reap (our final destination). The 4 of us crammed into the cab which seemed fine until we got on the highway and realized that we were in a British style car (which is normal for us cuz they drive on the left side of the road in Thailand). However, we soon learned that they drive on the right side of the road in Cambodia, so every time our driver went to pass he had to pull all the way over into the other lane to see if he had a clear path. Poor Dad was in the front seat fearing for his life as on more than one occasion swerving or the slamming of the brakes took place. Along the way we made a stop at some little store where the driver was like okay you can get out and get something to eat, etc and we were all like oh no that’s okay we’ll just stay in here. So, he got out and then some men proceeded to spray down the car with a hose with us inside-we’re pretty sure they were trying anything to get us to buy something, but we weren’t having it, so we just waited inside, awkwardly as other tourists were seen milling around the store.

We finally made it to Siem Reap after a 2 hr drive through the dry Cambodian countryside where we were dropped at a tuk tuk stand- again being skeptics we weren’t happy that we were being left here. It turned out to be okay as we found out the taxis/tuk tuks are part of associations (sort of like a mafia) and work together to support each other and give each other business. We got a free ride to our guesthouse and then ended up working out a price with our driver to pick us up in the morning and drive us around Angkor Wat for the day. Tanei Guesthouse was really nice and most importantly had a pool which we was more than necessary in the grueling heat of this country. We headed to Pub Street for some dinner (I had a traditional Khmer dish called Amok—a coconut curry) and some 50 cent beer. Fading quickly as we’d been up since 5am we headed back for a quick swim before heading to dreamland in our a/c rooms!

The Adventure Begins

March 13-14
Alright, so like I mentioned previously I have had an incredible past 2 months filled with amazing sights, beautiful scenery and unforgettable memories. I am not sure whether or not I regret keeping up with my blog along the way, but I think it’ll serve me well as a way to remember everything that’s happened and maybe filter out some of the fluff that would inevitably lead me to writing a novel for every entry (which is still quite possible.) Anyway, I guess I’ll start from the beginning: March 13; school is over, I’ve reached enlightenment at the Buddhist retreat and I can’t wait for some travelling. Enter: Dad.

I had been trying to get my room clean and get all packed and suddenly it was time to get Dad at the airport. Danai, our neighborhood taxi driver, took me to get him and I can’t begin to explain how great it was to see a familiar face when we got there. You don’t really realize how long 5 months is until you see someone from home and then it hits you…man, I’ve been gone for a long time! Anyway I got Dad back to my apartment where we went for a walk and went to bed. It was cool to see someone else’s reaction to my home (I don’t think he ever got used to the plane engine that is my ceiling fan!) and be able to finally show what I’ve been up to.

We slept in a little the next day (after 24+ hrs of travelling that’s pretty necessary). Dad and I went to Pe Pen’s for lunch and got to meet a few of the teachers/try some of the food I eat. We gathered our things and made our way to BKK. I took Dad the way we take to get there (taxi, city bus, sky train) and away we went. The 13th marked the first day of the Red Shirt protests which we weren’t really sure what to make of, but at this point all we knew was not to wear red downtown and just be careful—easy. We dropped our stuff off at a hotel in Chinatown and took the MRT (subway) to Chatuchak Weekend Market. This is sort of an overwhelming place, but it’s definitely cool as it’s one of the world’s largest open air market. After having our fill of wares/people watching we took a brief rest by the pond in the park; it’s like a mini-green oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown BKK and for a second makes you forget about the fast-paced, horn-honking life in the city.

Feeling pretty hungry at this point we headed back to Chinatown to scope out a restaurant. We ended up at the Orchid hotel for an international buffet which was awesome! It had been a long time since I’d had pasta and the like and actually had an entire plate of bread (we don’t really get too much of that here in Thailand) We decided to head back early as we had a 555am train to Cambodia in the morning. Dad was a great sport being willing to just hop on board as far as this travelling goes (esp as he just landed less than 24 hrs ago!)