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Thailand

As I've traveled for the last year, most backpackers I've met said Thailand was one of their favorite places.  I'm looking forward to my visit.

15-27JUN03 I found a reasonable room at the Best Beach Bungalows on Chaweng Beach and fell asleep for a few hours.  While eating breakfast, I spied several Thai massage businesses along the beach.  I read my book and glanced occasionally to see which place gave the best massage.  Then, I lined up.  

It was good.  Two hours of bliss for about $7 US.  I resolved to get a massage every day while I was in Ko Samui.  I filled the rest of my day eating, reading, sleeping, swimming in the warm surf, and generally relaxing.  

By the third day of my Thai massage, I was becoming a regular customer and had fun chatting with the three partners, Duan, Nee, and Kip.  I took my CD player with me and listened to Bob Marley or Paul Simon while getting my massage.  Nee and her cousin, Pahm, asked me If I knew how to reggae.  I said, sorta.  They invited me to meet them at the Club Reggae that night.

Club Reggae was very nice.  A live band that played a little reggae and a mix of other good dance music.  I drank a few tequilla sunrises and danced a few dances.  Dancing in the tropics is a sweaty affair and it took lots of time to cool down between songs.  We lasted until around 2am then Pahm made room on her motorbike for three and took me back to my hotel.

The next day as I was getting my massage, I asked Nee if she would like a holiday.  She said she would ask her partners.  They agreed that Nee should have some fun so we began to plan a two week holiday to Bangkok and Chiang Mai.  

I arranged for tickets on the ferry and on the night train to Bangkok.  We left at noon and arrived on Kao San Road (infamous backpacker ghetto) the next morning around ten.  Kao San Road is  a non-stop circus.  Travelers come and go at all hours.  There are food, and shops of every description lining the street.  

My old backpack is a bit too small so I found a new backpack and a small pouch just the right size for my camera and a guidebook and my current novel.  Nee found a skirt and a pair of tops she couldn't live without.  Everything was really cheap.  

The next day I was determined to track down ECC Thai Language school.  I found them on the net and took a taxi to their location.  I filled out their application and took their entrance test.  After a glance at the test and the application,they decided they could waive the interview to determine whether I might be successful with the course.  The first available course starts in mid-August.  I'm waiting for email confirmation.

That night we began the quest for ribs.  When I was in Jakarta the sign said there was a Tony Roma's in Bangkok.  Look it up in the yellow pages, right?  Wrong.  We had to check 10 shops and travel agencies before we found a two year old phone book that listed "Tony Romans".  Five more stops and we found an older directory with no listing at all.  So, we started asking taxi drivers if they knew where to find it.  At last we found one who thought he knew.  He took us to a great sea food restaurant (not Tony Roma's)  Nee insisted that he keep trying and finally like a vision from heaven the sign appeared.  We had a great meal of barbecued baby back ribs and a brick of onion rings.  

The next day, Nee took me to Wat Pho.  This is the temple where she received her Thai massage certificate.  We visited her school and several of the temples around the grounds.  I was awed by the Reclining Golden Budda.  Apparently the image was getting a facelift because it was surrounded by scaffolding.  It is 46M long and 15M high and very impressive.   After the temple we took a water taxi across the river to see where Nee lived when she attended school.  

We found a swimming pool close to the hotel and spent some time in the sun.  We watched the World Cup.  We watched HBO and MTV.  But, mostly we had fun walking up and down the streets looking at the stalls and sampling food.  I have a new favorite drink thanks to Nee, watermelon shake (ice and watermelon blended together).  We saw a bari saxophone player wailing at a tree in the park and we saw a version of a Thai game that is part basketball and part football.  

Then we took off for Chiang Mai.  This time we traveled on the day train so we could see the scenery.  It was beautiful.  Rice paddies, jungles, mountains.  We took second class aircon and to my surprise we were fed three times.  It was fairly comfortable until the air conditioner was fixed then it got chilly. 

We passed the time on the train trying to improve my Thai.  To give you and idea of the challenge here is a sentence in Thai:  Mai mai mai mai mai.  If you get the five inflections right it means: New wood doesn't burn, does it?  I think I'm in trouble but, Nee is patiently trying to improve my tones.   

We arrived after dark in Chiang Mai and found a hotel near the river that encirles the old part of the city.  The next day, I woke up with a raging fever and a cold.  So, the first task was to find a pharmacy.  I downed some cold medicine and some ibuprophen and waited for my fever to dissipate.  We spent a quiet day while I convalesced.  The medication did not reduce the fever and that reminded me of the time in Bali.  There after a week of treatment the fever persisted until I took antibiotics.  So the next day, I took some of my supply.  Bingo, the temperature dropped to near normal and I felt much better.

Well enough, in fact, to have a Khan toke dinner.  This is a buffet and cultural show at a local venue.  The food was great and the show was beautiful.  Classical Thai dancing and dances from the hill tribes surrounding the area.  

The next day we scheduled a tour around Chiang Mai including:  elephant rides, bamboo raft ride, ox cart ride, and buffet lunch. 

Jarle (Norway) and his new wife Anabelle (Portugal) shared a cab with us and we all had a great time.   

Watching the elephants play soccer and basketball may have been a touch touristy, but it was fun.  We fed the elephants bananas, rode for and hour or so then we hopped on a bamboo raft and floated down the river and caught an oxcart to the taxi.  After the buffet lunch, we visited an orchid farm then returned to the hotel.  I was exhausted.  My temperature was down my my energy was low so we had pad thai in the room.

Our time in Chian Mai is coming to an end so I booked our return tickets by air to Ko Samui.  Nee has never flown before so she is very excited.  She keeps talking on the cell phone to Kip.  The only part of the conversation I understand is the "wow, wow. wow" part.  It has been really fun to have someone to share this part of the trip.  Food and lodging cost almost the same for one or two and transportation costs are cheap.  I think I got the best part of the deal.  I've had a professional massage from a Wat Pho graduate every day for the last two weeks.  My ol' body hasn't felt this good in 15 years.  I'm so loose, I rattle when I walk.

When I get back to Ko Samui, I'll hang around for a week or so, then head for the Malaysian border.  When I re-enter Thailand I get another 30 day visa.  I think I'll visit other parts of Thailand and maybe in 30 days I'll visit Cambodia after which I'll return for the CELTA school in Bangkok.  

 28JUN-04JUL03 I'm back in Ko Samui.  Mostly I'm hanging around the beach or the room.  Occasionally I find enough energy to eat or to go chat with Nee at work.   My room has cable TV and is very nice for only $12.50 US per night.  Nee is spoiling me.  She brought a hot water maker and some tea bags and showed me where to buy ice.  Now I have my daily ration of iced tea a a mere fraction of its former price.

I rented a motorbike and Nee drove us around the island.  We saw some very interesting rock formations and spent a few hours lounging on rocks at the waterfall.  We stopped at a hardware store and bought some wire to fix the battery door on my camera.

One night we went dancing.  Nee's cousin, Pahm, gave us all a ride on her motorbike.  DJ was okay, but live music is better.

We alternate between Thai food and western food.  Nee knows some restaurants with good food that is very cheap.  You can get a big plate of pad thai for about $2US.  But, watch out for the red things.  

I'm still thinking about where I'll go after I get my visa renewed.

04-12JUL02 I've spent several days in Ko Samui not doing much.  Nee works some and I hang out on the beach reading.  I found a really good used book shop where I can trade what I've read for new stuff.

One day we rode the motorbike to visit the Big Budda, a spectacular shrine on a small island connected by a causeway to Ko Samui.  

I developed a marketing campaign for Nee's business with signs and coupons.  We worked out a deal with a local hotel to hand out discount coupons and to display her sign in each room.  I spent an hour or so using Publisher to whip up all the stuff.  It was fun.  Her partner Duan gave me a thank you massage for the marketing work and then later the same day Nee gave me another massage.  Talk about loose.

I've developed a taste for a drink made by mixing fresh watermelon and ice in a blender.  It's better than Slurpee.  Last night we went to a club that caters to people from Thailand.  There was a band that put on a great show.  I wish I could understand what they were singing about.  There were even groupies screaming and giving love notes to the male lead singer.  

Because there is a TV in the room we've watched lots of HBO.  I've caught up on all the movies that I've ever wanted to see.  Nee likes to watch the channel from Taiwan with Kung Fu movies.  The movies are in Thai with Chinese and English subtitles.  The subtitle translations are hilarious.  

For dinner one night we went to the Panviman Restaurant.  They set tables on the beach about 10m from the breaking waves.  A little wine and candlelight made it a pleasant evening.

I have to leave Thailand because my visa is about to expire.  I've decided to go to Cambodia and Vietnam for a month or so.  Tomorrow Nee will give me a ride to Na Tron to catch the ferry.  I will be sad to say goodbye.  Then I catch the bus to Bangkok, then catch another bus to Cambodia.  It will be a long journey but I have two books.  If I have the endurance, I'll catch a bus the same day I arrive in Bangkok otherwise I'll stay one night.  If I stay one night my visa will be expired and I'll have to pay a small fine at the border.  I'll decide when I get there if a night's sleep is worth 200 baht.  

If I spend the day in Bangkok, I hope to get a replacement part for my camera.  The battery cover is broken and I've wired it shut to make the camera work.  Talk about spontaneous.  I don't even know what will happen tomorrow.

13-14JUL02 A quick bus trip to Bangkok arrived at 5am.  Not much was open on Khao San Road so I had a watermelon shake and waited for the email place to open so I could check about language school and the status of my camera part.  

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