So I haven’t updated in a while and for that, I must apologize.
Since my last update, I’ve been to China, Laos, Singapore, and loads of new places in Thailand.
I’ve only recently completed my second semester of teaching (and let me tell you–this semester was worse than the last in terms of workload and discipline problems with my students). But now it’s almost all over; I only have to proctor for 2 more days of final exams! I’m relieved, although I do predict that I will miss this job to an extent–you know, no real boss for a year and doing whatever I want…(within reason, of course).
My flight back to Chicago leaves Bangkok on the 15th of October and arrives in Chicago at some point after that (if you want specific details, let me know).
Something tells me that I’m going to want to sleep and sulk about after I get to my parents’ house, but I don’t think my mother is going to let me do that (being the good mother that she is and all). Mom, in case you’re reading this, I would like the following to be waiting in the fridge when I arrive: tabouleh, hummus, grape leaves, salsa and guacamole from Joseph’s, and pasticcio. If you really love me, you’ll make the trek to Nazareth Sweets and get me some Harissa. Come to think of it, I’d like some Turkish delights too. Thanks, mom.
Before I fly back to ‘Merica, I am going to go to Vietnam and Cambodia. Why? Because I want to give my father an anxiety attack. (Hi, dad).
Maybe I’ll try to write in this thing some more. Or maybe I won’t. We’ll see…
I’m going to China soon (ok, like really soon–in two days!). It’s my summer vacation and I’m gonna party like I wanna…
Here’s my rough itinerary, in case you care (of course you care, right?):
1) Guangzhou (Canton)
2) Kunming
3) Dali
4) Lijang
5) Shangri-la (yeah, I know)
6) Tibet (Lhasa)
7) Xi’an
8) Beijing
9) Shanghai
10) Hong Kong
Now, I might not do all of these, but I’m at least going to try my best to do the first 6 items…and Beijing (because I have to see the wall, man!). I only have a 30-day visa, but I’m gonna try to get it extended. I’ll let you know how that goes. Hopefully everything goes as planned…and hopefully my lack of Chinese-speaking skills doesn’t get in the way of my fun. Alriiiiiight!
Oh, and here’s a super professional video that I made of my trip to Ko Chang, a Thai island on the Cambodian border:
And since I might not have the time to make new entries on this blog while on the road, I’ll probably be posting updates via twitter (which can be viewed here–see the sidebar thingy). Check back here frequently for updates!
Bye bye and wish me luck! And please comment if you can–I love reading them.
Ugh. The past couple of weeks have left me feeling drained. 2 weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of catching some sort of jungle fever that left me hacking up toxic slime. This most recent weekend, I had a terrible case of the Siam Squirts (food poisoning, for those of you who are unfamiliar with jungle speak). This is the second time I’ve come down with that, except this time the “squirts” came out both ends. Yes, perhaps that is more information than you needed to know. Sorry for the visual.
Today is Chinese New Year. Instead of celebrating like I should be, I’m being lazy and taking things easy because I feel like a big pile of elephant poop. Last Friday, I decided I would throw a Chinese New Year party for my class of Chinese students who I teach every day. I did this under the assumption that they would A) speak English and B) bring Chinese food. Well at least they brought Chinese food. We’ll work on the English part later.
Most brought Dumplings from 7-11 and other assorted foods that I tried to eat but felt like ralphing up because of the onset my Siam Squirts episode. One student brought me some black sesame soup (which was actually rather good). As we were eating like a bunch of rabid animals, one of my students said, “teacher, we are–ummm how do you say–wolfing down?”. When they say cute crap like this, I have to muster every ounce of self-control on my person to keep from laughing. They love busting out colloquial phrases during the most unexpected moments.
After we ate, I had them “perform traditional chinese songs” which meant that the one girl who brought her Chinese flute with her had to perform awkwardly in front of class because the rest of them seemed to “forget” how to sing said traditional Chinese songs (much in the same fashion that they usually “forget” how to speak English during class). Then they gave me an extensive Chinese lesson during which I learned how to say phrases like “how much,” “give me a discount,” and “I don’t want to buy that.” Useful, huh?
Next, I had them talk about their hometowns. Even kids from crap areas of China were trying to convince me that their towns had some sort of touristic value. “Best shopping in China,” said one. “The desert is actually very beautiful,” said another. It all sounded like a trap to me.
Needless to say, I think I’m gonna be visiting China for an extended period of time during my summer holiday. Perhaps I’ll backpack around and maybe I’ll even get to see Hong Kong and Tibet. Apparently tourists can go to Tibet? Maybe they were lying and want me to die–who knows?
At any rate, let’s hope I can get my arse in gear so that I can start planning this monster of a vacation. My ideas always seem to work out in some form or another. They might not be the best, but they always work.
Better one month late than never, right? I know many of you have been dying to know how I spent my Christmas vacation. Well, obviously I lived to tell the tale, so it couldn’t have gone too badly. Actually, it went swimmingly (pun intended).
The fun started off on Christmas eve when I boarded the overnight bus (12 hours! shit!) for Phuket. For me, this long ride was much better than any short plane ride I’ve been on, so it was worth the sore neck I woke up with on Christmas morning. When I arrived at the bus station, I almost had a panic attack when reality sunk in and I realized that I had no plan and no strategy for survival at this foreign destination. I pushed my way through the throng of taxi/tuk tuk/motorbike drivers who shouted at me and finally was able to bargain for a ride to Patong beach (Phuket’s most famous beach). It’s not that I really wanted to go to Patong or even knew what was there, but it was the only place I could remember from when I glossed over my copy of the Lonely Planet the day before.
I finally ended up at Patong, feeling as if I were half dead (and looking it too–long bus rides are not kind). The taxi driver (actually it was some random dude’s car…but whatever) dropped me off at a hotel that probably belonged to one of his friends (drivers get a commission for crap like that). I didn’t expect to stay there, but decided that I would because I bargained the room from 800 baht down to 500 and figured that was just a good a deal as any I would find–plus the place wasn’t half bad (meaning it had HBO). I later found out that it was less than 2 blocks from the beach, and was merely thankful that I had ended up at the right beach (you never know where you might end up with Thai taxi drivers).
At first, I didn’t care for Patong beach and the surrounding town. Sure, it had its fair share of sex tourists and more shouting taxi drivers than you could shake a stick at, but it was also kinda special. It grew on me as I spent more time there (ok, actually the street food was great and as long as my stomach is happy…).
On my first day there, I moped around on the beach, cursing the fact that I had to be there alone on Christmas day. It was kinda dirty and lined from end to end with beach chairs and umbrellas so I just plopped down by the water on a clean patch of sand. I later thought of going out to Christmas dinner, but then decided to eat Thai food and turn in early. I’d rather eat good Thai food than try to scarf down some shitty, half-assed Thai version of what a Christmas dinner should be.
On day two of my mini-adventure, I thought I would walk from Patong down to Karon/Kata beach. I walked for at least 2 hours up a mountain-type-thing and then figured out that I was probably never going to get there, so I hailed a cab (the only cab I saw in a long while). The driver told me I was in the cape of the Island and would never have gotten to where I wanted to go and probably did more harm than good taking that route (except, of course, he told this to me less eloquently and in broken English). But at least I kinda had fun doing it, in spite of the dehydration and sunburn that I was beginning to feel creeping up on me.
I finally arrived at Karon beach, which was actually really nice (much better and cleaner than Patong–I highly recommend it). I chilled out on the beach for several hours, basking in the sun and enjoying the white-ish sand. I also ate a crap ton of pineapple (sidenote: the pineapple on Phuket is divine! It’s sweet and tender and tastes like coconut in the center. I couldn’t stop eating it the entire time I was there and its perfection continues to haunt my dreams nightly).
When I got back to my hotel that night, I decided that I was going to hand my balls over to a travel agent so that I would not find myself taking another unexpected hike up a mountain on my third day. A Thai friend recommended that I check out the Similan islands, so I had the agent find me a tour there for the next day.
I woke up bright and early on day 3 and waited for my ride to the pier where I would board the speedboat for the Similan islands, chatting for a bit with the desk manager who told me stories about some of the funnier experiences he’d had with tranny prostitutes in the hotel.
When I finally connected with my tour group, I was told that the speedboat trip to the Islands would be 1.5 hours. “No Problem!” I said to myself. Yeah–Ha! There were loads of waves the entire ride and every time our tiny boat hit one of them, it would soar into the air and crash back down with a deafening thud. Try to handle that for 2 hours. I would have puked except for the fact that I hadn’t yet eaten anything. The Thai woman puking next to me every 5 minutes had me wishing to get off that demonic vessel before I went insane or died–whichever came first.
While the ride there was definitely not enjoyable, I found that it was well worth the pain after we arrived at our final destination. We stopped first at one of the minor Similan islands to go snorkeling. I stared in awe at all the mutant fish that I saw when I went under–giant neon purple and blue monsters that were as big as your common toddler–and schools of smaller, brightly-colored fish that swam all around me, seemingly unafraid of my human presence.
Next, the speedboat lurched and bumped our tour on over to the largest of the Similan Islands where we were to eat lunch and look around. The lunch was great, and I even befriended the random South African family that I ate with (they adopted me for the day because they felt sorry for me). After lunch I scaled up the side of a massive cluster of boulders with one of the South Africans to find what was possibly the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. From the top of the lookout, I could see the beach down below and crystal-clear turquoise water on all sides. The water was so transparent that I could see all the way to the bottom! Not
to forget that the sand on the beach down below was the whitest sand I have ever seen in my life (and probably will ever see). It was snow-like and almost angelic (ha–it looks like I did have my white Christmas, although not the traditional kind).
After climbing down from that awesome sight (and almost dying 5 times in the process; there was only a shabby rope to hold on to as I scaled down the boulders–and who knows what it was attached to and whether that held any integrity) we headed off to another island, our last destination. Here, I just relaxed on the beach and worked on my tan under the perfect Andaman sun.
After that, I boarded the speedboat for the ride back to Phuket (which was even bumpier than the way there). When I got back, I got some interesting street food (it appeared to be pig knuckles and some corn on the cob-type substance stuffed with poopies that tasted even worse than it looked–you can’t win ‘em all) and decided to book another tour for my fourth day at the hotel’s travel agent.
I decided on a tour to the Phi Phi Islands, which I really only wanted to see because the movie The Beach, famous for being a Leo DeCaprio flick, was filmed there. I decided to take a big cruise boat for this tour, assuming that it would be easier on my stomach (and, thankfully, it was).
The big cruise boat that shipped me off to the Phi Phi islands took 1.5 hours–not too bad. The first stop on the tour wasn’t really a stop at all, as the boat just drove around the smaller of the islands, Phi Phi Lee, so that we could take pictures. I was kinda bummed that we weren’t able to get out and swim in maya bay (which the brochure said we would do–the liars!) but it was just as well, because the beach was packed with people and probably wouldn’t have been much fun anyways. Phi Phi Lee was stunningly beautiful, though not as breathtaking as the Similan islands. The ride around was nice, and I was able to get some amazing pictures that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
Next, the boat decided to stop near the larger island, Phi Phi Don, so that we could go “snorkeling off the boat” which was a waste of my time, because there was nothing there and the water wasn’t clear enough to see anything. I suppose the drawback of the larger boat was that it was too big to stop near the beach to give us a better snorkeling opportunity–oh well.
Lastly, the boat drove closer to the big island and the guides crammed all of the passengers onto a large speedboat which ferried us to the beach for lunch. After lunch, I had a bunch of time left over to go swimming and sunbathing. This beach was nice enough, but it couldn’t touch the white perfection of the Similan beaches. On the way back to Phuket, I sat on the top deck of the cruise boat and enjoyed every second of the serene ride to the mainland.
On the morning of my last day in Phuket, I checked out of my hotel and took a city bus to Phuket town (the central, downtown area of Phuket) to get my bus ticket back to Bangkok and do some shopping and sightseeing. I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty excited to explore Phuket town because Andrew Zimmern ate a lot of strange stuff there on an episode of Bizarre Foods. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I wasn’t able to find anything unusually strange to eat and just settled on some pretty standard Thai soup for lunch. Phuket town was really cute and quaint, though, and had a lot of culture to see. I dropped a bunch of baht on some unique gifts and took a lot of pictures while I waited for the overnight bus to arrive at the station. And 12 hours later, I arrived in Bangkok, my lungs immediately feeling the familiar pressure of the intense smog surrounding the city.
I came back from vacation completely happy and with an amazing tan. I RULE (and you should know it).
So, yesterday I went to get a bus ticket for my Christmas vacation. What they don’t tell you in the Lonely Planet guide is that it’s a 3-hour bus ride just to get to the frickin’ southern bus station! Crazy. It already takes me one hour to get to bangkok from where I live, so this means I was on the bus for 4 hours–and that’s just one way!
And lemme tell you something about Bangkok busses. They’re not the best form of transportation in the entire world. And the traffic here is baaaaaad. Yeah, I must show pictures soon (I just got my new camera, so bear with me!).
There are many Bangkok busses that look like the busses in the movies–you know, the ones where people are in the 3rd world and some unlucky tourist is sitting next to some dude with several chickens in a cage (anyone else recognize this visual?). I will get pictures, I swear.
And nowwww for my X-Mas plans:
For Christmas and New Year’s I will be going to Phuket! Phuket is a province of Thailand that is most remembered for being the site of that horrible Tsunami a few years back. It’s a huge tourist spot and it’s been my dream to go there ever since Andrew Zimmern did a Bizarre foods episode there (and ONLY there–that’s how great it is!). I want to follow in his footsteps by eating a bunch of crazy food. And yeah, I’m looking forward to going to the beach too. I might even decide to check out some islands in the south of Thailand because i’ve got a long-ass vacation (11 days, I think). I’ve really got no plan and no place to stay, but I think I can figure out the housing issue once I arrive. I hope to do more research this weekend. Wish me luck!
And just in case I don’t get the chance to say it before I leave–HAVE A MERRY X-MAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Ok. And seriously, send good vibes/thoughts my way. I could use them!
So this week, I get a 4-day weekend on account of the King’s Birthday (normally I get 3 days off–sweet!). I, along with a bunch of other teachers, am going on a trip to Kanchanaburi province. This area of T-land is famous for being the site of the bridge over the River Kwai and the Erawan Waterfalls!
I’m going with some other teachers (as I mentioned) and my boss (eek!). We’re all staying at the home of my boss’s assistant, which should be nice. I’m more interested in seeing how Thai people really live than anything else–and I’m definitely excited that I’ll get to stay in a real Thai home yayyy! The culture nerd inside of me is jumping for joy.
We shall see how things pan out. I’ll keep you posted (or, I’ll try to…).
Last weekend I got to go to a town called Lop Buri to see a monkey festival. Apparently, this festival is to celebrate the monkeys of the town that just kind of hang out around the ruins of an old temple. People there give them mounds of food and drinks during the last weekend of November. I got to catch only the very tail end of the festival but was not disappointed.
First off, I had to take the train to get out to the town (it’s a rather small town about 3 hours from Bangkok). The trains in Thailand are psycho. There are no rules or seat guarantees of any kind (even though you might pay for a guaranteed seat, it’s most likely a trap! ahhhhhh!). I mean, their trains make Chicago’s Metra look like the f’n polar express. I really felt like I was in the 3rd world being on one of those junkers. Also, they totally don’t follow the schedule closely at all. On my return trip, I almost missed the train because it came over 20 minutes early! I would’ve been stuck with the smelly ass monkeys all night if I hadn’t scrambled aboard. Goshhh I wish I had pictures (thanks, Clicky).
But back to the monkeys–they were definitely cute (I mean, come on–anybody who knows me knows that I have a soft spot for small-ish animals covered in fur). They were jumping around, playing, eating, sleeping, and picking bugs out of each other’s fur. And they would walk right up to you! They are so used to having humans around that they’re not scared at all. It was definitely surreal being there (especially with no bars to keep the beasts away from you!).
Heh so I’m finally updating you all about my trip to the island of Ko Samet. It was a beautiful trip with the most perfect weather imaginable. On the first day there, I took a ferry out to the island and then went on a cruise around the perimeter. The boat trip was awesome: we went snorkeling (a first for me!), fishing, and visited a shark farm thingy. It was super cool and we got to eat the fish we caught.
I got a crazy tan, which turned into a crazy burn, and then a crazy tan again. Basically all I did was eat and tan. We got to eat right on the beach for every meal which was really amazing at night. This was cool except for the restaurants’ strange obsession with pumping out Jack Johnson tunes while I was trying to enjoy what would have otherwise been a peaceful beachside meal.
But yeahh…I would go back. I definitely dig the island lifestyle. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to wear clothes the entire weekend. All I wore was my bathing suit and sarong. I’m not even joking–next time I go to a beach, I’m not bringing clothes.
And I can’t forget to mention that I got to stay in a bungalow! Like what the F’ is a bungalow? It’s a crazy house on stilts with only a bed and fan inside. It was definitely not for the faint of heart–a minimalist form of accommodation filled to the brim with oddities like giant cockroaches, lizards, and mosquitoes full of west nile…or something.
Oh yeah and my camera, Sir Clicky McClick, died in a terrible drowning accident while I was on the beach. Yeah, sad. I got, like, a whole 5 pictures before Clicky’s demise. Ehhh whatever.
I know I should be updating this more. And yeah, I know it’s been over a month since I first arrived in Thailand.
Anyways, there are so many things I need to share–so many funny stories and crazy, random stuff. Thailand is truly a strange and foreign land, but I think I really like it here.
So it’s almost Thanksgiving in the states, but I don’t think I’ll be missing it much. It’s true–I will miss my mother’s cooking (grape leaves and tabouleh!), but I think I will be able to manage.
I’m headed off to an Island this weekend where I will hopefully be able to tan (I haven’t really gotten any serious sun yet). I thought I’d step off the plane with an immediate bronze glow and having lost 20% of my body mass. And as with many things, I was very wrong.
This island that I’ll be visiting is called Ko Samet and is supposedly somewhat removed from the mainland (you can only get there by ferry). I’m really excited and definitely in need of some rest. This week was somewhat tough at work, as I found out I will be teaching an extra 10 hours after midterms. Stressful. My boss is, err, interesting (she is Thai after all–they are a strange breed, but more on that later).
Mmmkay. Maybe I will post pictures later or something (pictures, or it didn’t happen–right?).
