Frequently Overheard in Thailand...

I've been living in Thailand for 10 months now, and I've started to notice some words and phrases that I find myself saying fairly frequently.  Certain aspects of Thai life that you would think by now I would be used to, but they still seem to phase me and cause some sort of reaction.  Here's a list of phrases frequently overheard in Thailand...

• "It's hot." - I know back home in the States there has been a bit of a heat wave going on, but Thailand is permanently part of a heat wave. It is hot here. every. single. day. If you look at the weather for my town it looks the same if it's March, July, or December.  Hot. Muggy. Potentially a thunderstorm or two. By now I should probably be used to the heat - but I still find myself saying this at least once a day - maybe when I'm hoofing it up the 4 flights of stairs to my office, or a short walk to get lunch, or if I attempt to sit in my room without the AC on. I just can't seem to accept the heat here. 
• "I'm full." - Since Thailand is all about food, I'm usually starving before every meal, and then 10 minutes into it I'm so full I immediately lapse into a food coma. It's probably a combination of a lot of rice + hot weather + MSG and other random ingredients.  Either way, it's amazing how fast I can go from famished to stuffed. 
• "I almost just died."- It's not that I partake in particularly risky behavior over here in SE Asia so much as it is that walking around town I happen upon many potential threats - a pack of angry street dogs, a motorbike driving on the sidewalk, a frying pan spitting hot oil, a large pipe sticking out of the ground, an active power line swinging 5 feet off the ground, etc. A simple minivan trip to Bangkok can sometimes feel like the end of the world is near while the driver goes 150 km/hour around curves and rushes past trucks full of some variety of livestock. I'm pretty sure that Nell and I say this to each other at least once a week, but hey - so far so good!
• "I have no idea what he/she just said." - I've really enjoyed the smile and nod approach to the confusion that happens daily in my life when people yell things out to me in Thai or try to have a full conversation.  Sure, my Thai has improved a lot in 10 months, and I tend to understand a lot more than I can say - but a lot of the time I have no idea what someone is trying to tell me as I pick up only 3 or 4 words from every sentence.  I just smile and nod or say "khob khun ka" (thank you) and I'm on my way.  I can't even imagine what it will be like to re-enter a society where I understand everyone and they understand me... I guess I might have to start watching what I say! 

And now for some random pictures to add a little flair to this post!

Love Thailand's flowers.

Chillin' with a baby Leopard

My new fave from Pad Thai Lady: Pad Thai Gai Mee Krob (crispy noodles)

Koh Mak: Worth It

Like many of the amazing vacation destinations in Thailand, getting to Koh Mak was quite the journey. After an overnight bus trip that concluded with a roadside drop-off at 4:30am, an hour-long songtow ride, a 5 hour wait that involved sleeping on cement benches on a pier, and an hour long boat ride over choppy waters that rearranged some of my internal organs, we finally arrived to our colorful bungalows at Monkey Island. As soon as we got there and saw the hammocks blowing in the wind and the clear blue ocean waters not 10 feet from the front door, we knew immediately it was well worth the trip.

I was joined by my friends and fellow teachers Nell, Shea, Clare and Ciana on the weekend away. It was a great group and everyone was psyched for a weekend with nothing to do but laze on the beach, swing in the hammocks and eat delicious Thai curry and lots of fresh pineapple. The bungalows were simple with a bed, a fan, and a mosquito net - but they were also only 75 Baht per person! (That would be about $2.50). It was quite the steal and since we were pretty much the only people staying at the resort (it's low-season in Thailand right now due to the frequent rain) we had the run of the place and didn't have to share the hammocks with anyone. We did get to hang out with a pretty chill rasta man who worked there and played us Thai reggae every night, bonus! We got lucky with the weather and besides a few afternoon storms which helped to cool things down, I escaped with a pretty decent tan.

Koh Mak is definitely a bit of a trek from Suphan but so worth it and so beautiful.  I love how many gorgeous islands Thailand offers - I've hit up a few but there are still many to explore - what a lucky country!  The way home was not nearly as stressful, except maybe for the poor puppy and box full of chickens that had to tough out the boat ride with us, and we made it back to Bangkok in time for a 3-D screening of the new Transformers movie before we hoofed it back to Suphan. The countdown to the next long weekend is already on!

Paradise Found: Bali & Gili Trawangan

I'm back in Suphan now, currently getting ready to teach my first class which is about to take place, so it's slightly painful to write this blog post about my most recent trip to Indonesia that covered Bali and Gili Trawangan.  Simply put, these two places are paradise.  Bali was everything I had heard about and more, and Gili T (as it is lovingly called) was the most beautiful, relaxing, perfect piece of earth I've ever set foot on.

Nell and I decided early on that we wanted to spend our last two weeks of summer break on a beach doing nothing, and I would have to say our trip was a total success in that regard! I spent 3 of the 7 days in Indonesia in Bali - one night in Kuta, which is really all you need there, and 2 nights in Ubud.  Ubud is definitely the heart of Bali; it's full of culture, its residents wear traditional Balinese dress, the grounds and temples are covered in spirit offerings full of rice, flowers, candy, etc. and the rice terraces are perfectly carved into the hills. We stayed in a homestay there that was really nice and in our budget and spent most of our time walking around the city and soaking it in.  Nell and I attempted to hire a taxi to take us around for the day to see the volcano, the islands famous temples, and the rice terraces - but we only made it to the terrace and a very foggy volcano viewpoint before the rain set in and ended our tourist expedition.  I definitely didn't see all there was to see in Bali, which means I guess I'll have to make a return trip at some point in my lifetime! I think I've found the perfect honeymoon destination...now all I need is a groom : )

In the middle of our time in Bali we took off on a 2 hour speedboat ride to another island in Indonesia, Gili Trawangan.  Gili T is one of three Gili islands off the coast of Lombok.  Gili T was small enough that we could walk around (tip to others: don't go at sunset or you'll wind up feeling your way around the barren part of the island at night using your cell phone as a flashlight and avoiding weird animals - not that I know from experience or anything...) and it was surrounded by water that is of the crystal clear turquoise/teal/blue variety.  There are no cars, no motorbikes, and no dogs allowed on Gili T - the only way to get around is to walk or take a horse and buggy - this only adds to the islands cuteness factor. While on Gili T we spent most of our time on the beach, drinking banana shakes, eating pizza at one of the bean-bag beachside restaurants, watching movies at night projected onto big screens on the sand, and attempting to snorkel (unfortunately we picked a windy day to do this and the water wasn't clear enough to see any of the island's famous sea turtles that live offshore.) I would go back to Gili T in a heartbeat, and I easily could have spent more time there, it was really hard to get back on the boat, but luckily we couldn't be too sad about "going back to Bali."

The only downside about Bali and Gili T is that they are not as cheap as Thailand, actually Thailand is cheaper than any of the other countries I've visited, so by the end of my week my funds were in a bit of a dire situation (I'm living a cash-only existence these days since I don't have a Thai bank account and my school pays in cash) so Nell and I instituted a serious budget.  Of course, the budget made room for some luxuries - like a 2 hour Balinese body scrub and massage - while we sacrificed things like "lunch".  Every Rupiah spent in Bali was well worth it though and I would do it all again if I had the chance to go back- which I hopefully will! Up next: off to Malaysia!

Up In The Air

I'm not usually the uber-adventurous type - I've never been bungee jumping or skydiving (I blame Reeves and my time in Namibia for that) but on my last day in Chiang Mai I decided to try my hand at abseiling and zip-lining through the forests of northern Thailand. Nell, Emily, Amy and I signed up with Jungle Flight for a 3 hour "treetop eco adventure" in the Doi Langka jungle.

Upon arrival we strapped into our harness and learned which ropes would be responsible for keeping us tethered to the zip line and not dropping 50+ meters into the forest below.  I definitely felt a little bit nervous when we stepped up to the first platform, but upon receiving assurance from our guide, Hero, I strapped on and conquered the first flight flawlessly (if I do say so myself.)

The jungle flight involved 22 zip-lines, some well over 100 meters in length, and 4 abseils - where you're attached to a rope and just do a straight drop unto a platform below. The final abseil was 40 meters to the ground and definitely induced a minor panic - but it was all good and Hero took great care not to drop any of us.

photo courtesy of Nell. 

It was so much fun to try something new, enjoy the beautiful trees and mountains in the distance, and fly through the air.  Once we all relaxed we were able to have a lot of fun with it, letting go and waving our arms and kicking up our feet.  The final flight we were strapped on from our backs instead of on our waist so we were able to fly "superman" style across the jungle - it was a lot of fun but it certainly caused for some awkward pictures with the harness! : )

The Dog Days Are Over

I've always had a fear of dogs.  It's not that I don't like them.  It's just that they make me nervous and I always think they are going to attack me.  Thailand has done absolutely nothing to assuage this lifelong fear.  The streets of Thailand, and Suphanburi especially, are teeming with stray dogs, and while occasionally a cute one will come along, for the most part they appear to carry a wide variety of diseases and they are not so nice.

Which brings me to this story... Nell and I stuck around Suphanburi this weekend to get some things done and take a break from our whirlwind travels. On Sunday we decided to head to the Suphan train station to attempt to buy tickets to Chiang Mai for New Year's break (sold out! Fail).  The train station isn't an active stop from what I can tell, but they do sell tickets, so we hopped on a songtow and after asking a few people for directions, we turned down a moped ride and took off by foot down a rather deserted road.  We were walking along train tracks so we knew we were headed the right way.  Initially there were other people along the way, however, we soon found ourselves on the road by ourselves in between two rice paddies - with the train station in sight in the distance.  As we were walking along we noticed an abandoned shack with a makeshift metal fence, and then before we could react we saw three very large, very angry dogs sprint through the fence and run right up to us.  I'm pretty sure my heart immediately stopped beating.  It was a total face off as they stood at our feet and barked viciously.  As Nell and I freaked out, I had visions of our flesh being torn to shreds and I considered giving in and letting them eat me, but we decided to stay very still and assess the best way to go (not to the left or right since that would be into the rice paddies).  As we considered backtracking we looked back only to see 5 more dogs sprint up the road towards us and join in the chorus of barking (possibly rabid) dogs at our feet.  Being surrounded by 8 barking dogs is literally my nightmare.  My heart was pounding, I started praying, my voice was shaking, and Nell and I both thought we were going to die on a dirt road and never be discovered.  Nell said she decided she would take the first bite since she was able to get rabies shots before she left the States, but I don't think it would have mattered, once they bit one of us they probably would have eaten us both!

I'm not sure what the best strategy is in this situation, but the one that worked for us was to stay very still for a few minutes, show the dogs that you're not going to hurt them, and then walk backwards away from them before turning and then speed-walking away.  Needless to say, once we escaped and made it to the train station, we did not take the dirt road back! We cut across the train tracks and walked alongside the highway back into town.  All of the farangs here seem to have different solutions for dealing with the dogs - I have 2 friends that have already been bit - one that required the 6 rabies shots and the other just left a big bruise - and I think we have all decided that the days of dog as man's best friend are on hold while we're living here.  I might try to go get some fire poppers to scare the dogs should this situation ever occur again, hopefully not!

The Dog Days Are Over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU