Pai: Hippy Heaven

The next stop of my trip, after a horrendous bus ride on a "VIP" (cough) bus through some crazy Northern Laos "roads" (cough), was Pai - a lovely little hippy town way up in the mountains north of Chiang Mai. I had heard that there wasn't really much of anything to do in Pai, but that there were plenty of ways to relax, and that was exactly the case.  The scenery was beautiful, the town was full of cute little cafes and gift shops, there were some great restaurants serving delish Northern food, and I had a pretty amazing massage.  I stayed at a really cool hostel called SpicyPai, a little outside of the town area, but set back from the road literally in the middle of a rice paddy - felt like I was back in Suphan. The hostel itself was a bamboo hut with about 20 dorm beds, no windows or doors, and some handy mosquito nets.  It was a bumping hostel and made it easy to meet people since I was traveling solo for this part of my journey. 

I also of course made friends with pretty much every Thai person in town, impressing them with my (nidnoi) knowledge of Thai and one of the DJ's at the bar in town offered to take me around Pai in a motorbike - I could hardly say no since Pai is billed as the place in Thailand to explore by bike and there was no way I was going to drive myself around the mountains! We took about a 40 minute ride through some curved roads, beautiful coffee plantations, and some crazy fog and made it to a viewpoint at the top of the mountain. I was happy I was wearing pants and a light jacket because it was SO cold at the top of the mountain - my blood has definitely thinned out this past year and I cannot handle being cold, so I was glad to see the view but happy when we started our descent and were met with a blast of that hot Thailand air I love so much. I'm glad I was able to see outside of the town center and check out some of the amazing views from up top, Pai was a great little sleepy town and a really nice place to relax and chill chill.

Chiang Rai: The Destination is Worth the Journey

As I mentioned in my post about the trip to Koh Mak, Thailand always has a way of making the destination worth the journey and this past weekend's trip was no exception.  Friday was a national holiday in Thailand due to Her Majesty the Queen's birthday which is celebrated in Thailand as "Mother's Day." In Thailand many people fittingly mark this day by returning to their hometowns to spend it with their mothers. Since my mother happens to be in West Africa at the moment, I decided to take the extra day to head up to the northernmost province of Thailand, Chiang Rai.

Nell and I opted for the overnight train for the first part our our trek - unfortunately, due to the busy travel weekend, we were left with only seats instead of sleeper cars.  We were prepared to sit up and sleep for the night, but we were not prepared for the -12 degree temperature inside the railway car - I have not been that cold since February 2010 in Boston - and I never want to be that cold again! I spent the night sneezing and layering up with the clothes I had and was extremely grateful to step off the train into Thailand's usual heat and humidity when we arrived early on Friday morning.

Friday we soaked up everything we love about Chiang Mai: coffee shops, farang friendly hair salons, khao soy, bookstores with English books, and amazing market shopping.  We stayed at a cute and very cheap hostel called Little Bird and had a very relaxing day.  The next morning we left early for a 3 hour bus ride - VIP style - to Chiang Rai. We had done no research on Chiang Rai but we knew we wanted to see what is known as "the white temple." We picked out the first hostel mentioned in our trusty Lonely Planet guides and dropped off our stuff before hitting the streets to explore and do a little shopping.

We made our way to the white temple, or Wat Rong Khun, via tuk-tuk and it was a stunning sight.  It's definitely one of my favorite places in Thailand so far.  In the past 10 months I have seen hundreds of wats, and for the most part they are same same, but different... until I got to Wat Rong Khun.  It is a gorgeous work of modern art, all white (representing Buddha's purity), and the interior has murals of modern images such as Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, the Twin Towers, Spiderman and Transformers. It was started in 1997 and they are still adding finishing touches to various buildings around the main temple.

On Sunday we took a bus back to Chiang Mai where we spent the afternoon and early evening going BUCKWILD at the Sunday Walking Market.  I bought everything in sight. I have no idea how I will transport all of these souvenirs I keep picking up back to America but I think I'll have a very cute, very Asian inspired apartment one of these days! Our journey back should have been an easy overnight bus and then a minivan ride to Suphan to make it just in time for Monday morning classes... but that would be too easy, and this is Thailand.

The bus driver literally taking
apart the bus in an attempt
to fix it. 

The bus left Chiang Mai about an hour late, so we knew we would already be pushing it to get to school on time, but we still would have been fine had the bus not decided to break down 2 hours away from Chiang Mai. This time instead of being cold, we were suffocating from lack of air circulation inside the bus, it was hot and it smelled like something was not right with the toilet on the bottom floor of the double-decker bus - i ya. We sat on the side of the road getting eaten alive by mosquitoes for 2.5 hours waiting for a new bus to come get us.  When it finally arrived, we were disappointed to discover it was not a VIP bus but a regular bus with minimal leg room and seats that did not recline.  Needless to say, the rest of the trip was pretty miserable, and we made it to Bangkok just in time for morning traffic... which left us way behind schedule.  By the time we made it back to Suphan and into school it was already 11:40 and the day was half over.  Thankfully, I was able to make up the lost sleep by going to bed at 6:15pm on Monday night - amazing! As bad as the journey was, however, the destination and the time up North was well worth it and I'm glad I still have one more trip up North this year to look forward to.

A Suphan Kind of Weekend

It has recently dawned on me that my time in Suphan is slowly coming to a close - I've only got 3 months left in my little corner of Thailand and there are a lot of people, places and things I'm really going to miss. Since I'm attempting to save as much money as possible so that I can travel for a month before I head back to the US, staying in Suphan on the weekends has become more of a regular thing.  Sure, there's not a whole lot going on here, but we make the most with what we have and this weekend was no exception.

Friday night we had a welcome dinner for 2 new teachers, both from Wisconsin, that have joined our staff for the summer.  Like all school functions, and almost any party in Thailand, it featured a lot of karaoke.  Usually I try to stay away from the microphone, but this time I took the stage for "Stop" by the Spice Girls and "The Call" by the Backstreet Boys, and I was pretty, pretty good.

Due to a very important election held today in Thailand, there was no alcohol sold and most of the bars and hang-out spots were closed for the weekend, so we made our own little party on the sidewalk on Saturday night.  We grabbed some yoga mats, snacks and a few beers (snuck away from our friend's restaurant) and camped out on the sidewalk for a few hours for some life chats and funny stories. There was actually a breeze that appears so rarely in Thailand, so it felt like the perfect summer night.

Samchuk 100 Years Market

On Saturday afternoon, Nell and I had taken a stroll that basically covered the entire town of Suphan, and at one point in our wanderings, we were yelled at by someone on a passing motorbike.  This is not an odd occurrence as passing motorists will often yell out things like "farang" (white person) or "beautiful" or even "I love you!"  We reciprocated with our usual smile and they took it as a sign to pull over and ask for our numbers.   They then joined us for dinner and invited us to join them the following day at one of Suphanburi's main attractions: Samchuk 100 Years Market.  We had been planning on going there anyways so we couldn't turn down a free ride when faced with the prospect of a crowded, hot, and long ride on a public bus.  Sunday morning Nell, Liz and I joined our new friends J and Gas for a trip out to Samchuk. I had been there before and it was more of the same: checking out some of the shops and crazy snacks and desserts offered, eating some delicious green curry, and taking a boat to tour a really old house with some amazing antiques - including things like really old cameras and radios - all that still work! J and Gas were the ultimate Thai hipsters and super friendly - showcasing the classic Thai hospitality. I guess normally I wouldn't meet someone in a foreign country and allow them to take me on a road trip the next day, but Thai people are something special and they really love showing off their country to foreigners, so far I've been alright to trust them with my life! 

All in all, a simple but great Thai weekend, and a good reminder to soak up my remaining time in Suphan.

Thai desserts!

Boat Ride Entertainment

Tomb Raiders: Touring Angkor Wat

Emily and I left Chiang Mai on Sunday night to begin an epic trek to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  It started with an overnight bus from CM to Bangkok, on a sofa seat, with 9 other people. It was definitely not the most pleasant bus ride, but we made it to our destination at 4:30 am and were able to quickly hop a bus to the Thailand/Cambodia border at Aranyaphratet/Poi Pet.  Once we arrived at the border we managed to avoid all of the border scams and people trying to sell us Visas for a ridiculous price and quickly found ourselves in Cambodia.  From there it was still a bit of a trek and a lot of confusion to get from the border to Siem Reap but after some negotiating we got a cab to take us the 2.5 hours to the city and we finally made it to our hostel around noon, exhausted and sweaty.

Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples are all absolutely massive, they require scaling a lot of really steep staircases, really good balance, and great effort to stay hydrated - in our 4 days there the temperature hovered around 43-44 degrees Celsius or about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Here are some of the highlights of our time exploring Siem Reap and Ankgor Wat:

• Sunrise at Angkor Wat: Yes, it requires an early morning wake up - 4:30am! But at least you can beat the heat! Viewing the sunrise from Angkor Wat you can get a spectacular shot of the pink clouds reflecting off of the small pond on the grounds.  As a bonus, once the sunrise is over many people head back to their hostels so you can roam through the temples and be pretty much on your own.

• Nice monks: For some reason the monks in Cambodia are so much more friendly than their counterparts in Thailand.  In Thailand I'm often scared to make eye contact with the monks, but in Cambodia they were all so nice and friendly, greeting us with big smiles and happy to talk with us or have their picture snapped. 

• Siem Reap's Night Market: Emily and I did some serious shopping at the market here, it's full of things you don't really need, but when everything is $1 it's so hard to resist! We also enjoyed some pampering by way of fish pedicures, foot massages, and mani/pedis.  The night market is also surrounded by ridiculously cute streets full of restaurants, shops and bars (including a pub appropriately named "Angkor What?")

• Trees taking over temples: It's amazing to see the way these huge trees are growing into and around the ancient ruins.  It's mind blowing to think how old these structures are and how they were built long before modern building techniques and tools were introduced.  The trees winding around and growing out of the stones make for some really beautiful sights. 

• The faces of Bayon Temple: Bayon temple in Angkor Thom was one of my favorite spots, the massive faces that sit at the top of the towers are so fascinating to look at and someone always seems to be looking down on you as you explore.  

• Tuk-Tuk tours: The best way to navigate the temples - because the complex is massive, the Banteay Sray temple is more than 40 Ks away from the central temples - is to hire a tuk-tuk to bring you from one temple to the next, unless you were feeling spectacularly ambitious on a bicycle.  Emily and I hired a man named Po who was so friendly and literally drove us all across the city for $20 for the day - and we started at 4:30am to head out for sunrise.  He was a true champ, at the end his tuk-tuk was practically falling apart and we had to pull over several times to make sure it wasn't going to self-combust, but luckily all was well and we made it back to the hostel in one piece. 

There is so much more I could say about all of the beautiful and amazingly ornate temples and the city and people of Siem Reap, but this blog post is already far too long and I've got a flight to Bali to catch, so I'll leave you with a link to some more pictures on Facebook if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.824462483427.2340862.1606236&l=32bd3b639f

Vietnam: Thai Tour Group Style

Last week I was living the dream. I was part of an Asian tour group, to an Asian country, complete with matching bucket hats and luggage tags and a 20 hour bus ride bursting with karaoke.  Although the tour guide only spoke Vietnamese and Thai and I could not understand (mai kow jai) a lot of what was being said, I still immensely enjoyed my experience in Vietnam.  As soon as we drove into Vietnam from Laos I was blown away by how beautiful it was, and also, how different it was from Thailand.  I guess I was expecting it to be "same same but different" since it is a fellow Southeast Asian country, but right from the start I realized it was no place like home.  The people, the language, the food, the currency, the music - it was all new. We stuck around central Vietnam, and I'm already itching to go back and see the Northern and Southern parts of the country, but here's some of the highs and lows from the trip to Hue, Da Nang and Ha Noi:

Highs:

• Hoi An: I am obsessed with this town.  From the Ancient City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to the amazing markets and streets flooded with custom design clothing shops to the French bakery that sold chocolate croissants, a-ma-zing.  This was definitely my favorite stop, the market was full of people and bursting with color (delicious fruit! silk lanterns! fresh flowers!) and I definitely dropped some serious Baht/Dong/Dollars there (Vietnam accepts all three currencies).  
• Dipping my toes in the South China Sea: Growing up in landlocked Missouri (unless you count the Muddy Mississippi) I've always had a deep love for oceans, and one of my favorite things is to get my feet wet and watch the waves.  We arrived at our hotel in Da Nang pretty late, but the moon was the perfect light for a little adventure to the beach.  After spending a few minutes trying to figure out exactly which body of water we were in, I was happy to enjoy the moment and listen to the waves as they rushed ashore. 
• Motorcycle city: I had heard that Vietnam was full of bikes and motorcycles, but I didn't expect to be that impressed because Thailand has a ton as well, little did I know the number of bikes in Thailand pales in comparison to Vietnam, the streets were teeming with two-wheeled forms of transportation, even the Vietnam version of a tuk-tuk looks like a bike with a wheelchair seat strapped on the front. It made for some scary moments in the market where I thought I might lose a foot or two while trying to purchase a conical rice-paddy hat, but luckily, I survived. 
• Shopping spree: Traveling with 80 Thai teachers from school only added to the greatness of this trip, it was so fun to interact with all of them outside of school when they often seem so intense.  They really let loose on this trip, and I quickly learned that Thai tours are all about three things: eating, shopping, and bathroom breaks.  Our bus made stops every hour or so to fulfill one of these needs.  I wasn't exactly planning on going wild at the markets, but what can I say? I was inspired by my fellow teachers and their excellent bargaining skills.  My apartment floor is currently covered with gifts I picked up for my family and friends (and myself, let's be honest) and I don't even know how to begin to distribute them. 

The Lows:

Apparently Vietnam imports bananas from Laos.

• Bus time: there was a lot (a lot, a lot) of time spent on the bus. I could barely walk straight when I finally arrived back in Suphan at 4am on Sunday.  While the roadside scenery in Laos and Vietnam was beautiful, captivating and so vastly different than anything I'd seen before, it was hard to appreciate after 20 hours of full blast Thai tunes and the tour guide yelling dirty jokes in Thai into the microphone.
• America's history in Vietnam: When we first entered Vietnam and the sprawling hills, everything I'd learned in my history classes about the tough battle fields of Vietnam was suddenly so realistic- huge hills, dense forest, winding roads, etc.  Our tour guide pointed out as we were rounding one curve that there were no tall trees in the area because they had been destroyed by America's bombs during the war.  It was hard not to feel guilty.  We also had the opportunity to check out the Vinh Moc tunnels in Hue, a village created 30 meters underground to shelter people from the bombs.  Amazingly, 60 families lived in these tunnels and 17 women gave birth there!  Luckily, the underground villages were never hit by America's bombs.

Striking a pose at the Vietnam/Laos Border

Sa-nguan Ying Teachers!

Same Same, but different.

I feel like I took a trip to America this weekend - Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok - it hosts many major American retailers and all of the world's top luxury brands.  After a lot of traveling and teaching and Thai food over the past 2 months, this weekend I treated myself to some things I've really been missing - goldfish crackers! Mexican food! pretzels! bagels! Starbucks Peppermint Mocha!  It was expensive by Thai standards - but a great shot of home on Thanksgiving weekend as well as a good dose of Holiday cheer since I was able to enjoy Bangkok's Christmas lights, trees, and Santa decorations.  I even got to meet a famous Thai singer in the process - I have no idea what his name is, but everyone else was playing paparazzi so I figured, why not?

Celebrity Sighting: His hair is a work of art. 

I also hit up Chatuchak Market - one of the world's largest outdoor markets (over 10,000 stalls!) and quite possibly the most overwhelming place I've ever been.  It takes Christmas shopping to a whole new level - if I can figure out how to ship a box to Switzerland the Rall fam's Weihnachten in der Schweiz could have some Thai flavor in my place.

For anyone looking to impress the staff at their local Thai joint - see below for a few of my fave phrases in Thai - there are days when I feel like my Thai is really coming along, and then I listen to a Thai conversation and find that I understand maybe 1 in every 80 words...yikes.

Hue how/Im leau = I'm hungry/I'm full.  Thais like to eat, and, why shouldn't they - their food is aroi mak (very delicious) aside from being jing-jing prik (very spicy).  I've noticed that there's no bad time to eat - the vendors seem to always be open - and anytime you want gai or moo (chicken or pork) on a stick, you barely have to walk 5 feet to indulge, of course over-indulgence (and maybe it's the excess amount of khao (rice) as well) lead me to alternate between being either very hungry or very full.

Bai nai? = Where are you going? I get this all the time when I'm walking around, especially in The Soup.  Tuk-tuk drivers and moped taxis along with shop-owners and random people - everyone seems very interested in my destination.  People also like to yell out random English phrases - I admit it will be a rough transition when I go back to the States and don't hear people yell out "beautifulllll" as I walk down the streets.  I've already perfected the Miss America wave and I'm loving every minute of my current fame, 555 (hahaha)!

Nee arai? = What is this?  I find myself asking this a lot, mainly with food, but especially when I see a version of the Thai dessert.  Thais are really into jelly in all its forms, sweetened condensed milk is used in excess, they love to mix flavors, and rarely does a dessert taste like it looks - let's just say I really miss brownies.

Meuan ghan = Same Same  - one of my favorite Thai phrases. Thais say this, both in Thai and in English, all the time.  This weekend in Bangkok I saw shirts that read "same same, but different" - this pretty accurately depicts the true meaning of the Thai saying - they always say same same, but they really mean, not at all.  This bus will get you to Bangkok just like the minivan, same same - but different, because you'll stop and pick up every other person standing on the road for the 100 km drive and it will take 3x as long, mai pen rai!

Christmas Decorations in Bangkok!

635 Baht for a box of Cheerios...yep, that's more than $20!

A very happy gal with my Starbucks PepMocha!