Isla Colon (Bocas del Toro, Panama)

Continued from previous post...
From Almirante, Ale and I waited at the harbor for the water taxi to Isla Colon.

water taxis taking off

I didn't have a place lined up to stay, and after we'd spent the last 10 hours together Ale and I formed a pact that since we were both traveling alone, we'd stick together.  

Ale is stoked to finally be on a boat/ not in a car

When we found the hostel, I was really impressed.  It was right on the water and they had all kinds of rentals-- surfboards, SUPs, bikes, snorkel gear, and skateboards! As the sun was falling, we checked in and I immediately went down to jump in the water.

view from our deck (/my foggy phone)

Overwhelmed by possibilities, I went to the front desk to see what I could rent at that hour.  I met two girls from Cali who were doing a work-trade, and they said surfing/SUP wouldn't make sense, so I opted for a skateboard to explore the island.

I loved seeing everything at people-speed.  Kids were playing in the street. Some mothers were coddling their babies, others were screaming at their toddlers.

High security at Bocas del Toro International airport

When I returned, I met our roommates from Guadalajara (Edo & Raul) and Ale down in the common area for happy hour. 

They tolerated my terrible spanish over some caiphirinhas con maracuya, and we went to the roof where I got into some deep conversation with a girl from Mexico... and then I played some songs on my ukulele that turned into sing-a-longs... and then we all decided it was time for a dance party over at another nearby bar where there was also easy entrance to the ocean and I got yelled at by the doorman for picking up a starfish (for which I now feel bad).

The next morning, we barely made it up in time for breakfast.  When Raul's breakfast came first, he passed his to me, and Edo passed his to Ale.  I laughed and quickly returned it, but Ale said "no, they're trying to be gentlemen"-- as if she was correcting a cultural faux pas I had made.  I also thought it was interesting how she phrased it, as if me rejecting the endeavor would rob him of the opportunity to be a gentleman.  Who am I to do that?

I'm an American woman and a feminist, but I'll be damned if I couldn't get used to some of this chivalry stuff every once in a while.

After finishing breakfast, Ale and I opted to do a quick trip to a nearby beach since I had to be back by 3 to catch a boat to meet with Jaimie and his family.

grabbing a quick lunch

boats, boats all types of boats 

Thinking it was going to be our last goodbye, Edo firing up his go pro for a family picture

At first, I had invited Ale to come to stay with me at Jaimie's, but then after realizing it might be rude to just show up with another person, plus not knowing how she would do in a rustic setting, I told her I thought it would be best if I went first.

Chronologically, I'm going to save the trip to Jaimie's island for another post.  But basically I left and stayed on his islands for a day, then came back and spent the rest of my time exploring.

Before going to Jaimie's, I didn't get a chance to go surfing, so I came back hoping to find some waves.  We decided to go check out Red Frog Beach, which was supposed to have waves.  On my way to find an ATM for the boat fare, I stumbled upon some kids having band practice.

Stumbled upon a school drumline rehearsal

Headed to Red Frog Beach

View of our hostel from the water

I forgot the word she used, but Ale called me her ___ (word I forgot)-- meaning we stick together no matter what (like a wingman, but more like a partner in crime? or a sister, but tougher?). It's amazing how being in a foreign land can make total strangers become something like family in the course of a few hours. Having her there made me realize how nice it is to travel with someone. We're very opposite in many ways (she isn't a good swimmer, I love the water) but somehow it worked.

San Jose: In a world of plastic and noise

I have had this "cousin" that I actually never knew of until I learned how to google my last name.  When I first met him (online), we were both living "off the grid" in the woods.  Years passed, and we both ended up living on islands. A few months back, he was contacted by some TV producers to do a show about his life, but to add some dimensions, they wanted more people, so he reached out to me to see if I'd be interested.  My initial reaction was "YES! ... but I like my flight benefits... so maybe not" But I knew I wanted to visit and meet him anyway.

On Wednesday, I got an email saying that we were overstaffed, and if anyone wanted to take the following week off (unpaid) they would need to sign up by Thursday.  I jumped at the opportunity, and booked my flight Thursday. Friday I drove to Dallas and hopped a plane to San Jose, Costa Rica.

I messaged Jaimie to see if it was okay if I visit/if he needed anything from town (because I remembered what it's like to be on a remote island) and also messaged his partner, Dashaina to introduce myself.  Jaimie only asked for some raquet/tennis balls (one of the few things I would imagine would be less satisfying for him to try to make, since he's made just about everything else at his house). As I sped from Austin to Dallas, I whizzed through Walmart to grab some racquet/ tennis balls and a tarp that I could hang over my hammock since it was supposed to rain. I forgot batteries for my headlamp (foreshadowing!)

I was feeling more confident in my Spanish and started the trip by thinking I would try to spend less time trying to google where to go and how to get there, and more time talking with locals who could help me.  I had wrongly made the assumption that San Jose would be relatively easy for me to get in and out of, but I was wrong.

From Instagram:  

At first I thought my mom was crazy when she gave me this ring, but after wearing it a few times in uncomfortable situations, it has become one of the top 5 things I would never leave at home as a solo female traveler. Tonight, a bus driver told me he was going where I needed, and after a quarter of the way through the bus became nearly empty (something I've never experienced in another country) and the driver ("Dave") insisted I sit up front with him. I noticed several people waving him down but he ignored them. After telling me how beautiful I was and how I should be more afraid than I was, I told him I had nothing to be afraid of because my husband is a *very* dangerous man and he was waiting for me at my hotel. He seemed suspicious, and asked several times why I didn't have kids. I just told him that I was also a very dangerous woman, and we just couldn't afford to put kids through such a lifestyle.

 

I finally reached my hotel and it was already dark.  I went across the street for dinner, and then walked a ways up to find an ATM.  I bought a guava-filled pastry and walked across the street to a courtyard in front of the Teatro Nacional. 

Teatro Nacional

When I found a seat, a 50-something year-old woman approached and asked if she could join me.  At first I thought she might be homeless (she had on shiny gold leggings, hot pink lacy sandals, and a white-ish decorated sweater that could have come from the closet of one of my old elementary school teachers). I felt on-edge, but (as shallow as this sounds) when I saw that she had clean hands, nails, and teeth I thought that having her there might actually be safer for me, so I moved over so she could sit.  We made small talk and I warmed up my Spanish by asking stock questions (Are you from here? Do you have family? What do you recommend doing here? What is your favorite food to eat?)  When a nicely-dressed and seemingly sincere guy came and asked us if we knew where the ATM was (at least I thought that's what he was asking?), she hissed something at him that I didn't understand.  When he left, she muttered how much she hated Nicaraguans-- and that they have no reverence for the law.  Costa Ricans have respect for their authority.  I tried to ask her if it was legal to jay-walk, and maybe she misunderstood because then she went on a tirade about how it wasn't safe for me to walk home, and insisted that I stay with her in her hotel. Just then, I thought, "Wait.  What kind of woman is by herself in a park at night? A prostitute!" But just as soon as I came to that conclusion, I realized that I was also in the park alone, so how was I being perceived?  I told her it was time for me to go, and hastily made my way back to the hotel.

The next morning, I woke up at 6 thinking I could gather my things and surely make it to Bocas in good time. To shorten the story, that wasn't the case-- so I had another day to in San Jose.  Dashaina wrote me back and she just asked for books for her girls and natural deodorant.  So I decided to make a scavenger hunt out of it for the day.  I ended up finding something *like* natural deodorant (sin parabens? sin alcohol?) and somehow found Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends. Otherwise, this was a pretty basic day of just wandering around and exploring. 

En un mundo de plastico y ruido, ser estar de barro y de silencio.
(In a world of plastic and noise, I'd rather be of the earth and of silence.

A local soda at the central mercado

That night I struggled to find good food that wasn't overpriced gringo feed. By the time darkness came, I was way too far away from the sodas where I wished I had eaten (good local eats). When I travel, I want to eat everything, but I also try to be extremely selective so I don't break my wallet and my belt. I like to walk around and make a mission out of finding food, but I can talk myself out of anything if it's not local/cheap/healthy enough.  I'd gone all day without really eating anything, so I got really hungry and opted to check online reviews. Trip Advisor is informative in some places, but I'd argue that maybe in CR it's just loaded with American reviews (that I shouldn't have given much weight to). It sent me down some weird alleys to a really beautiful restaurant called Cafe Mundo where it looked like all the gringos were posted up.

The route to dinner had abandoned streets and alleys that almost felt haunted, so this made me chuckle.

Good wine and good scenery.

I had considered going out with some Couchsurfers, but by the time I finished my vino tinto, I decided to call it early so that I wouldn't miss my trip the next day.

I booked a direct shuttle to make things less complicated (it cost about $30 more, but it included lunch and there was wifi on board!).  The driver picked me up from my hotel and there was a chatty American family onboard and a sleeping woman. The sun rises and sets much earlier in CR, so at 6am the sun was already out in full force and the city was bustling.  As soon as we got out of San Jose, I hated myself for not getting up and out earlier the day before, at least to do a day tour in one of the national parks.  It was beautiful! I saw a baby sloth.  And a volcano.  And other cool things.  That said, it was still 10 hours of transit, and so when the chatty American father tried to (at times, incorrectly) explain to me the flora and fauna from the region, I rarely bothered to chime in or correct him since that would engage in a conversation that I was too tired to have.  So I just smiled, nodded, said "oh!" and "oh?" and enjoyed the scenery.

the lump under the branches is a baby sloth

promise, it's a volcano.

Many hours later, the sleeping girl woke up and introduced herself.  Her name was Alejandra, and she was traveling from Argentina (and, according to her, that was the reason why she slept most of the morning). As lunch was included with our day of transit, our driver dropped me and Ale off at a resort by the beach and told us he would pick us up after we ate lunch.

At first I think Ale and I were cautious to give each other space.  Traveling alone can be such a luxury, so neither of us wanted to intrude. But we sat together and ate our lunch, swapping travel tales and stories about our lives back home. 

 She told me she wasn't a very good swimmer, so I just went in and out to get my fix.  Our ride picked us back up and took us to the border where she helped guide me so I knew where to go and what I needed to say/do.  We crossed the bridge to Panama by foot, and from there... I will continue in another post because this one is called "San Jose".
 

On our way to Panama

Panama-a-a-ahhh...

Thailand: The Amazing Race (and why I couldn't)

Bangkok Layover--Koh Tao 9/5-9/11

1. breakfast at apples- pancake and fruit/muesli/yogurt
2. booked bus to ko tao…cramped!!
3. met up with clement on khaosan
4. bought prepaid phone
5. got on bus... sat with clement. long ride. slept at ferry station. slept on ferry. slept on the front deck of ferry sprawled. burned my belly. 
6. commitment fears--  food. hotels. people. places. 
7. wandered ko tao… booked open water cert and room for 5 days- scubafication!
8. picking up trash on the beach=exercise! and good way to meet locals!
9. call Amazing Race producer back, but get boyfriend first? or dont

(Scubafication until the 11th)

Koh Tao recap

From Kanchanaburi, I booked a ticket to Koh Tao for about 800 baht.  Coincidentally, my friend Clement had done the same thing from Bangkok, and we were able to sit next to each other on the bus/boat.  He’s my funny french friend-- a good person I met at the Bangkok couchsurfing event and had been hanging out with.  But sadly, after we got off the boat and settled into our hotels, we didn’t see each other again.  That's how traveling goes I guess. 

 so french

Anyway, I wasn’t planning on getting dive-certified, but in looking for a room to sleep in, I got lazy.  And it looked like staying at this dive resort would be a good deal (turned out to be 4 nights resort accommodation + dive certification+ excellent dinner for 269 USD).  In retrospect, I’m glad I did it.  I met a lot of really cool people and had an excuse to be in the water a lot (not as much as I’d like to be).  At the same time, I’ve decided that I’m still much more into skin diving.  All the tanks and weights kinda freaked me out, but maybe that would be different if I got my advanced and was able to go down a little deeper.  

Koh Tao beach

Also, I was amazed at how much trash had washed ashore every day. My first night I set out to walk and started picking up trash.  There was SO much and I wish I had taken more pictures.  The saddest thing was when I woke up the next morning to see that the beach was again, covered in washed up trash.  So again, I set off for 1-2 hours walking the beach picking up trash. This became a sort of habit for the next few days, and it was crazy how many friends I made this way.  Workers from nearby restaurants would offer me beverages and trash bags, little kids brought me trash that I'd missed, and others would just make small talk.  I made so many friends, burned a lot of calories, and got a nice tan just from picking up trash.

America/The Amazing Race calls

Found out that a producer from the Amazing Race had called my house, and I guess they are the same casting as Survivor, and they'd circulated my old Survivor  audition tape?

They want me to have a boyfriend that I've been with for 9+ months.  That's weird, but I might be able to find someone and fake it? I'll look into it when I get back, but right now I'm already doing it. Dad always says "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

Thailand: Soul recharge in Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi Saturday, September 3rd

a little nit nawy

good luck chok di

1. woke up early enough to talk to Martha on the phone- sticky rice
2. got stuff out of the room early… 
3. taxi to southern bus terminal… bus to kanchanaburi= hot
4. got pandan bun, sausage roll, and pandan puffs from srifa- so ono!!
5. found ban sabai sabai… 
6. pulled up to old man's house. stayed in a hammock in his loft, dog at my side.
7. no internet.  no other humans or cars. 
8. i was tired= day of rest
9. read thich nhat hanh
10. rode bike to next town to find net café and dinner—udon and ice cream

Kanchanaburi Sunday- 9/4

yes chai
no mai chai
nevermind mai pen rai
goodbye laaaah gon

1. woke up, got ride to bus stop- pizza and almond tart breakfast
2. internet café- sams guest house-- floating shack on the river!
3. dropped stuff off… caught bus to erawan
4. hiked up, hiked down all barefoot
5. met some cool english kids caught bus back to sams but stopped for a sec at night market- chicken, cashew, and pineapple dumplings?
6. ate at apples—the shit!
7. cleaned up in room
8. went back to night market—chive dumplings? oreo shake, ice cream, beef jerky, and coconut mochi ish? holy crap…

safest tuk tuk in sai yok!

Hiked to the final tier barefoot

Erawan

my raft-room on the river kwai

Kanchanaburi Recap

I loved Kanchanaburi.  My first night there, I stayed in a hammock in an open bungalow.  With the rain pouring down, no internet, and no transportation, I decided to have my “Aso Sa” (Samoan- sacred day of rest and reflection).  I read a lot of Thich Naht Hanh and wrote a lot.  After the rain subsided, I borrowed a bicycle from the property owner to go get some food from town.  If i didn’t mention it before, one of my favorite games since I’ve been here is ordering food when I have no idea what it is, but trying to give them enough clues about what I like so that it will turn out awesome.   This night turned out to be Udon which was pretty damn good.

The next day I hiked up Erawan Waterfalls without any shoes, and then slept on a raft bungalow on the River Kwai.  I had my best meal thus far there at Apples.  Some kind of citrus coconut chicken dish… that was amazing.  The woman asked me about my taste as if she were asking about my entire medical history.  Then watched me as I took my first bite (modest, but proud of her work). The care that went into making it made it that much more delicious. 

Best meal I've ever had. Cashew, chicken, jabong, mint, coconut, curry, papaya, green beans, garlic, tomato, and countless other things

Thailand: Roses and Garbage in the Khaosan jungle

Khaosan Friday- Sept. 2

11 sip et

12 sip song...

20 yee sip

30 saam sip  

100 loi

1. woke up… got email back from Martha that i could stay longer!
2. yogurt and fruit
3. changed my plane ticket
4. switched hostel… slightly cheaper but sketchy and right next to khaosan. 
5. not as good an idea as previously thought
6. was gonna hop a boat to skytrain? ran into efrain instead
7. Indian food. omnom
8. visited golden tower wat. visited some other wats too.  wandered and looked for all the wats.
9. cha yuen and ice cream!
10. walked in park… foot massage
11. mcdonalds/ rape convo/ split
12. token american thoughts
13. went home… came back out for pad thai/sticky rice
14. loud room… rough sleep

    

    khaosan jungle

bell, stop, breathe, smile

Bangkok recap

Bangkok was so exciting to me at first with all the lights and buildings and riverboats.  My first night there I went to the biggest couchsurfing event I’ve ever been to.  There are so many travelers that there are even subcultures within the backpacker scene. 

But there's something really strange and sad about it too.  I learned what a "ping pong show" was (google it if you don't know, just don't do it at work).  And there's a heavy sex/drugs culture, no doubt.  But I don't see that as Thai culture-- it's a mix of rich tourists who can pay to come see/do perverse things, and a beautiful forgiving land that's been exploited to not ask for more.  

“Because the good family’s way of life is the way it is, the prostitute has to live as a prostitute.  no one among us has clean hands.  no one of us can claim that it is nort our responsibility… the wealth of one society is made up of the poverty of the other. "

Excerpt on "Roses and Garbage", noble girls and prostitutes-- from Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn

I should make a point that I never went out alone at night, and I never felt unsafe in the presence of other Thai people.  Even the tiny old men soliciting ping pong shows and the ladyboys offering a good time could look me in the eye with compassion and offer directions if I was lost.  

The only time I felt unsafe was in the presence of another American.  We had talked about going to another town and splitting a hotel.  As the conversation went on, he talked about how the last time he shared a hotel with a girl she got mad when he tried to put the moves on her, and he justified it by saying she was asking for it by inviting him to stay with her.  I defended the girl, and in a roundabout way backed out of making any travel plans with him.  Then he went off on how American girls are always too worried about getting raped.

That statement hit me like a ton of bricks, and I knew it was true (not in the way he meant it--to say that we're uptight and need to loosen up), but I especially knew in that moment what it means to be an American woman, where we have a legal system that prosecutes rapists.  And why I'm often perceived as naive when I visit other countries.  I rarely worry about rape when I'm in the states, but suddenly I realized there's a whole 'nother "asking for it" clause that this American abroad seemed to adhere to.  I appreciated his candor, but I also knew I didn't want to be around him anymore. 

Aside from all that, I also found myself getting way too comfortable.  In Bangkok, I learned/used numbers and bartering phrases, but unfortunately that’s about it.  When I realized that I hadn’t been carrying my language pad with me, and that I had few interactions with Thai people that weren’t centered on commerce, I decided it was time to take a breather from Bangkok.