woke up early enough to talk to Martha on the phone- sticky rice
got stuff out of the room early…
taxi to southern bus terminal… bus to kanchanaburi= hot
got pandan bun, sausage roll, and pandan puffs from srifa- so ono!!
found ban sabai sabai…
pulled up to old man's house. stayed in a hammock in his loft, dog at my side.
no internet. no other humans or cars.
i was tired= day of rest
read thich nhat hanh
rode bike to next town to find net café and dinner—udon and ice cream
Kanchanaburi Sunday- 9/4
yeschai nomai chai nevermindmai pen rai goodbyelaaaah gon
woke up, got ride to bus stop- pizza and almond tart breakfast
internet café- sams guest house-- floating shack on the river!
dropped stuff off… caught bus to erawan
hiked up, hiked down all barefoot
met some cool english kids caught bus back to sams but stopped for a sec at night market- chicken, cashew, and pineapple dumplings?
ate at apples—the shit!
cleaned up in room
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
woke up… got email back from Martha that i could stay longer!
yogurt and fruit
changed my plane ticket
switched hostel… slightly cheaper but sketchy and right next to khaosan.
not as good an idea as previously thought
was gonna hop a boat to skytrain? ran into efrain instead
Indian food. omnom
visited golden tower wat. visited some other wats too. wandered and looked for all the wats.
cha yuen and ice cream!
walked in park… foot massage
mcdonalds/ rape convo/ split
token american thoughts
went home… came back out for pad thai/sticky rice
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.
lunch with michelle- som tam—was going to get a ticket to james bond
bought socks/ ice cream… then more ice cream!
long walk to park
watched monkeys with locals
rice milk at market
michelle’s students interviewing me
dinner at pizza place with michelle/seth/sudjit? crepe on the way to bus stop
ticket to Bangkok
middle of night binge on pocky and rice snacks
following Michelle to school
Breakfast!
in her classroom
Monkey bidness
The next day we had a fun time trying to order some really good som tum… we just let them surprise us and ended up with little mini crabs in it.
And it was so good! While she was at school, I found myself returning to the park. It was a long walk there, so when I got there I just picked a spot that was semi shaded to just sit.
walk in the park
monsoon-ish
There were other families there, and I suddenly felt awkward. This stinky sweaty farang… female… and alone! In a public park! Anyway, this turned into a highlight as the awkwardness and guardedness between parties subsided. Watching the monkeys play nearby, it became like a theater where we all watched the monkeys with anticipation, and laughed together at key moments. The baby trying to sneak past the momma, who would then grab it by the tail and yank it right back. That’s a universal comedy, I guess.
Tonight I've been trying to dust off my old gopro/upload some of the movies but I couldn't figure out how. So I searched my computer with "gopro" to see if I could find the manual or software I thought I saved on here, and found this old stream-of-consciousness word document gem that I forgot that I had kept from when I was in Thailand.
It's awkwardly written, but kind of fun. I started writing this as though it were for my eyes only, but I've tried to go in and fill in the gaps so I can share bits and it'll all make sense. I become less and less diligent about posting towards the end, but maybe I'll fill those gaps in later.
______________________________
Sunday night arrival in Phuket: August 28, 2011
HelloSawatdee kha
How are you?kuhn sabai dee mai?
fine- sabai dee
My name is Mandy Rau Cheu Mandy
I am from Texas Rao maaa jahhk Texas
One of my favorite things about traveling is being able to immerse myself in a different language. I am pleasantly surprised to find out how little English is spoken here in Thailand. I've memorized these stock phrases, and every morning I want to write down 3-5 phrases or words that I think will be useful for that day-- and for anything else I need I can just act it out. So far, it’s been a non-stop game of charades .
5 star treatment!
Just checked in
rainy
cushy hotel
used a showertoilet
Phuket 8/29/11
thank you-korp kuhn khaaa
does this bus go to phang nga?- rot may kun nee bai Phang Nga mai?
breakfast buffet/Australian woman
tired… why am i at another beach! was going to phuket but ended up getting ticket
to phang nga
just as i arrived saw students getting out… went to office
and found teacher who contacted michelle
took me on motorbike to park/Monday Market/ night market-
got pad thai and cha yuen
donuts from Market, pandan filling pancakes, shitty Chinese
sweets, peanuts, etc
On my first morning, I caught the first bus I could to Phang
Nga. I learned that charades should not be relied on to cross language barriers. On the bus ride to Phang Nga, I learned that no matter what, you must always know how to ask where the bathroom is in any given country's language.
I also learned here that toilets outside of fancy hotels are all holes in the ground, and they don't have toilet paper, just basins filled with water and a cup. You do the math.
I was going to visit my friend Michelle who had been teaching english there. She had sent me a facebook
message saying there was a bus stop right in front of her school, and without a
phone I figured those were good enough directions. I got there just in time to see hundreds of Thai kids
getting out of various schools.
Somehow I stumbled across the right one, and the “disciplinary chair”
called Michelle to put us in contact.
Lucky! (or maybe because I was the other token white girl)
Michelle at her school
Within a few hours
of being with her, she took me to various markets, introduced me to pandan leaf
custard, showed me monkeys and a beautiful park, taught me how to say Toilet…
where!? and how to properly order “thai iced tea”.
Monday night market
We cruised around town on her motorbike, and the town cop
tried several times to stop her and tease her flirtatiously about the time he
gave her a ticket for not wearing her helmet. And Michelle just laughs and goes along with it, even though
I’m pretty sure neither of us could understand what he was trying to say, only
that he wanted her attention that much longer. And even with all that we did in the first night, we
still had time to catch up on where we’re at in our lives.
We talked about boys, and about music. Michelle showed me this Best Coast music video (that would later narrate many relationships to follow):
As I'm trying to piece these memories together, I just remember feeling like a teenager at a slumber party. I had been so intensely trying to learn Thai/memorizing my guidebook, but being with her put me at ease. With my head and shoulders on a Strawberry Shortcake blanket, and the other half of me feeling the coolness of the tile floor, I stared at the ceiling listening to Best Coast and dreamed about boys.
