To the far North! Reggae Festival in Chiang Mai

A normal 2-day weekend does not give you much time to travel far, but last weekend that didn’t stop me. I had wanted to go up north to Chiang Mai even before I came to Thailand, and hearing that there would be a reggae festival made me want to just go for it. I was planning on making it a solo trip, but after I posted my plans on Facebook, a girl from my program decided to come with me. Her school had given her the next week off (so lucky) and she could stay a few extra days.

On Friday all afternoon classes were cancelled and I went to the doctor because I have been having weird stomach pains sometimes and I wanted to get it checked out. The doctor spoke decent English, but instead of doing any tests they just loaded me up with antibiotics and medicine, told me to eat bland food (not possible for me), try not to stress (when 3^rd graders are throwing chairs at each other?) and get lots of rest (so I keep traveling). I hate taking antibiotics, especially when your mother is into Homeopathy, you know all about how bad it can be for your body. But since I can’t remember the last time I took them, I decided that maybe it is a good time and if it makes me feel better then great. The fact that I’ve been taking probiotics everyday for the last 2 months should help too! The appointment ended just after 1pm and I decided to go back to my apartment instead of school to pack. I forgot to mention my toe. The previous morning Lizzie and I were walking on our route to work on the side of the freeway and there are these big grates in the ground for runoff. I was wearing flip-flops and my toe when into one, ripping of a chunk of the skin. I wanted to cry. It was so painful I could hardly sand it, but we had to keep walking so that we wouldn’t be late for work. I went directly to the nurse who cleaned it, then took out a huge tweezers and scissors and cut off the piece that was hanging off. I think a few nerve ending went with it. The rest of the day I had to explain to the students why I had a bandage on my big toe. They were very sympathetic.

I waited till 4 to head into Bangkok. I took a van to Mochit, the big bus station and waited for Elana. She wanted to pay with her card so we didn’t purchase our tickets until later so we got stuck with terrible seats (here they have VIP busses that have much more room and they serve snacks, first class and second class where your knees are against the seat in front of you. For a 10 hour trip you pay about $20 for regular busses and $27 for VIP—totally worth the extra money). 

VIP bus

They ended up not even taking credit cards, go figure! I feel like I’m getting to be an expert sleeper on ever-night busses, but the combo of the cramped quarters and that fact that my toe would not stop throbbing made it a very long night.

Some funky shoes for about $5 (I didn't buy these ones though)

We made it to Chiang Mai at about 6 am Saturday morning. I booked a VIP bus back so that I didn’t have to deal with it later and we got a truck to take us to our hostel. I was freeeeezing on the ride! It was such a difference from central Thailand, but very refreshing. Our hostel let us check into our room when we arrived so we went and crashed for a few hours. 

The hostel was called MD House and 

had a pool shaped like a penis in the front! At first

we were like, “did they do that on purpose?” but c’mon, how could you do that and NOT be aware? Our room had two beds, a hot shower and air conditioning and breakfast was included. It cost about $13 a night.

During the day we walked around, had lunch and some mango and sticky rice. I love the city, it is much smaller than I imagined for being the second largest in Thailand and there are no big buildings. It is very walk able; there are great restaurants, markets, art galleries and parks. It was a beautiful sunny day, but not humid. At 4 we met up with two other girls from our program. One lives in Chiang Mai and the other about an hour away. This was the first time we’d seen each other since orientation so I was really excited. We found this young tuktuk driver who was super nice and spoke great English. He agreed to take us out to the grounds where the reggae festival was, so we all crammed in the back and took off. The grounds were set around a lake and there were mountains all around. A big stage was set up and there were lots of vendors selling crafts, drinks and food. They had spread straw out everywhere and banners of red, yellow and green blew in the wind.

The festival didn’t really get going till after sunset so we sat in a little bamboo structure and had a few beers. Our friend Zach came to meet us because he had been in Chiang Mai with his school for a conference and they let him come.

The rest of the night we danced to reggae, ate, and hung out by bond fires. One of the bands, Easy Star All Stars just blew me away; they were amazing and even threw in some great renditions of The Beatles. We left late and took a free songtaw back to the center, just a short walk from our hostel. The concert was definitely worth making the trip. 

After breakfast on Sunday we checked out China Town and the flower market. There was a big market inside with lots of herbs, tea, and dried fruits, along with countless things I didn’t recognize. There was one temple that was different for many that I've seen here in Thailand since it was all Chinese. Very different style than the Thai temples, but very important to the city of Chiang Mai all the same. The flower market was beautiful and smelled amazing as you walked by, I wish I could have brought some back to put in my apartment.

Later we sat down to an Indian lunch and rested our feet. On Sunday evenings there is a walking street set up with all kinds of artist and vendors. This is the kind of thing I’ve been looking for since I got here! I bought a necklace and a little Buddha, a bag and some other things. I ate the best Pad Thai for dinner before I went back to the hostel, grabbed my bad and took a tuktuk to the bus station for my 9:00 bus. This ride was much better, but I ended up getting back about half an hour before I had to walk to school! I took a nap at my desk and ended up making it to the gym after work. I think I need to catch up on my sleep! (Sorry this post is kind of long, not much to do today at work! Hope you all enjoy!)

Sunday walking street

Bangkok and floating markets

Last weekend I went into Bangkok to celebrate Kristin’s birthday on Friday night at a club called Narz. I have never been out to a really nice place like that in Bangkok; we usually go to the backpacker’s district of something like that. There were about 10 of us and then some guys from South Africa who we met traveling showed up too. We had a blast dancing all night. Then at one point one of my Thai friends came up to me, so random, but I fell like I see him everywhere, such a funny coincidence, so after some people left we hung out with them for awhile and left at about 5 am. 

Cassie and Christie

Amphawa

The next day Lizzie and I were planning on going to a floating market about an hour out of town. To tell you the truth I was pretty exhausted and not too excited, but I was determined not to punk out. We took the BTS to Victory Monument and then got a van to Amphawa. Then it was just a short songtaw ride and we were there. It was amazing and I was glad we had stuck to the plan. It was a beautiful sunny day and we spent it walking through the bustling market past toys, crafts, sweets and tons of food. I love markets because you always see things that you have to try and guess what it is—like are those bugs or sweets?

Our yummy lunch! Can't get any fresher than this

Later when we got hungry we sat down on these little steps facing the water. There were all these long boats set up there, each one serving a different dish. We gave our order to a man that yelled it out to the women, who then started making our orders. We got grilled squid, giant prawns, son tom papaya salad, pad thai, chicken satays with peanut sauce, and beer and each spent under $5. It was so fresh and yummy; I would eat it everyday if I could! We were planning on staying the night there to see the fireflies that are a big attraction there, but we decided to skip that and go back to Bangkok. 

Mackerel-famous in this market

We went and put our backpacks in a friend’s hostel, took a shower, and met people out on Khaosan road, the backpacker’s street. It was fun, but I was not really in the mood to drink because of our rowdy night before. I did see many people I hadn’t seen in awhile, so that was good. Later at about 1 am Lizzie and I were going to get a taxi home so we could wake up in our own beds and not in a hostel in Bangkok. As we were going to the cab, 2 people we had met in Koh Tao came up! They were in Bangkok for about a week, one was on her way home to England and the other was flying to Egypt in a few days to meet him girlfriend. It is SO random to me that weeks later we just run into people we know, it’s happened before as well! We caught up a bit and then said goodbye and went home. The next day I slept until 2 pm, (I NEVER get to sleep in) only getting up to talk to a friend on Skype for his birthday. I finally texted Lizzie later and we got ourselves motivated to go to the gym and then to the market. We made salads, had some masaman curry and watched the movie Invictus. Getting up at 6:15 Monday mornings is never nice.

Out on Khaosan road-backpacker's district 

Football and Farang

January 8^th and 9^th I went to visit some friends of mine in Supanburi, a small town just east of where I live. The night before my friend Kristin came to visit and we went out in the city of Nakom Pathom near the University for a friend’s birthday. To tell you the truth, this was the first time I have ever been there, even though it’s the closest city to where I live. We went out to this bar and of course we were the only foreigners there, it was fun. When we tried to get a cab at 1 am, however, it was not so fun. There were no cabs to be found. A guy on a scooter even stopped to ask us where we were going and told us that cabs didn’t run at this time. This was the first time I have never seen a hundred cabs going by, especially in a city! While Lizzie went off with the scooter guy to try and call one from a hotel, Eric and I stood on the corner. FINALLY he spotted one across the street that amazingly happened to be empty too. We flagged him down and called Lizzie to come meet us. Close call, I really had almost thought we’d be stuck there for the night.

The next morning Kristin and I headed out and caught a bus at about 11. Half an hour later our friends Zach and Andy, who were also headed to Supanburi for the weekend got on the same bus. Even in the air conditioning it was hot and the ride was slow, but finally we made it. We went straight to the soccer stadium where there was a match between Saraburi, a town close by. Since there are other teachers working there they all came to support their team. It ended up being quite a crowd or “farang” (foreigners) in the stands, something I don’t think happens to often at these games, especially when we are dancing on the chairs and trying to sing along with the Thai cheers. We all ended up cheering for Saraburi because they were more fun. They ended up loosing, but everyone had a really great time. I wouldn’t be surprised if we made it into the local newspaper J

After the game we all were invited to an Australian teacher’s house. There was a little shed out back and we grilled food, had salad, and plenty of beer. Some of the guys even constructed a table out of a clothes drying rack and some cardboard to play beer pong on. It was so much fun to connect with people again and act silly. Later we walked to the main road and got 2 tuk tuks to take us to the teacher’s apartment. Just imagine about 15 people in 2 tuk tuks riding down the street at 1 am… it

was quite a spectacle.  Some people decided to go
out to the bars later, but I and some other (those who lived there and knew there would be nothing going on at that time) stayed in. Since there were 4 rooms, about 3-4 people crashed in each bed and the others on random floors. Later we were woken up by Katrina, (there is another Katrina in my program!) coming into the room. She had gauze on her face and a scrape on her nose. Apparently TJ had been carrying her on his back, tripped, and she met the sidewalk, then the hospital. She came back with 3 stitches in her face! Things are never dull around here that’s all I can say. 

The next morning we were all feeling groggy and went out in search of food. We went to this little place to get Pad Thai that was a well known by my friends who live there. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was not looking forward to the bus ride, but I did want to get home so we headed out. The rest of the evening was spent in bed and doing laundry.  

Random things you only learn from living in Thailand

The double seat on to the right of the door when you get on a bus is reserved for monks. You can sit there, but if a monk gets on you must move right away.

My cold shower is always warmer at night then it is in the morning.

Yogurt flavor: vanilla with pieces of corn and kidney beans in it.

The word for foreigner is the same as the word for guava: farang.

I am now a pro at riding a scooter home with four bags of groceries.

There are over a dozen colors of taxis, and all different combos of stripes down the side.

Taxi drivers will tell you they know where you want to go when you ask, but after you get in they actually don’t.

If you see a movie in the theater, they play the kings song before it starts and everyone must stand to show respect.

No dogs here go hungry. The other morning I saw a businesswoman in a suit pull over on the side of the freeway and feed 3 dogs leftovers.

I walk down a road filled with garbage every morning and there is a couple that is always there going through it. When the woman sees us, she stands up and wais saying, “saway, saway” (beautiful) with the cutest toothless smile and it makes my day.

You can buy sushi for 5 baht on the side of the road, with mayo. ??? That’s just not right.

Thais are obsessed with plastic bags and straws.

I hate it when you’re trying to have a nice meal or relax on the beach and 10 different people come by trying to sell you the same thing (lasers, lighters, sarongs, bracelets) and just stand there even after you politely say you don’t want in Thai.

Pad thai stands never close on Khosan road in Bangkok, and the best pad thai you can get is from street stalls.

There is no point to having 25-cent baht. No point.

Picking your nose in public is not looked down upon.

Fish massage- you stick your feet into a tank with all these little fish and they nibble away the dead skin. You can get them at any supermarket; I have yet to try them.

Obsessed with colored contacts, or black contacts that make then look like cartoon characters. It freaks me out when my young students wear them.

More to come later…

Christmas and New Year’s –Island hopping

My Christmas vacation started right after work was let out (early) on Friday December 24^th. After attending a Christmas luncheon at the EP building in our school, Lizzie and I darted off to Bangkok. We checked our bags into a budget hostel on Khosan road and met up with my friend Erin to go and see some of the lights and decorations in Siam Paragon and outside Century World, both huge malls. Even though the weather is still hot and humid, Thais do a good job trying to make it feel like Christmas. There are lights everywhere and a whole “winter wonderland” outside Century World (this is the mall that got burnt during the riots, if you saw in the news, but they have rebuilt the part now so it is open again) with flying fake snow and bear gardens. It was quite fun to see. After dinner we went and met up with another friend Kristin (KJ) in a small Rasta bar off an ally on Khosan called Happy Bar. Its this fun hippy place with good music, fun people, and make out of wood that has been covered in writing and people’s signatures inside and out. Then it was off to an Irish pub to meet some other friends and listen to a Thai cover band. This place was a much different vibe and I would have not been able to stand the smoke, but it was air-conditioned, so sometimes you can’t be too picky! Since Lizzie and I had an early morning bus ride, we walked around the corner to our oh so lovely hostel and crashed for a few hours.

12/25 Christmas

At 5 am we woke up, checked out and walked to the Lamprayah office where we got on a bus and headed south! They bus was comfortable and we slept until they woke us up in Chumphon to get on the catamaran. This thing was amazing! It was huge, air-conditioned inside and then there was a mid level and top deck. They played movies and it didn’t even feel like you were on water it was so smooth. After a few hours we got off on the first stop which was Koh Tao. Koh Tao is a very small island in the Gulf of Thailand that is known best for its diving and coral gardens. We learned right away there is no cheap transportation and had to get a “taxi” (bed of a pickup) to our hostel that cost 150 B. The islands can and will charge much more for tourists, sometimes they would go down when we told them we worked in Thailand as teachers… we KNOW how much things usually cost, but it didn’t always work. We stayed in a little backpackers hostel right in the middle of these little shops and restaurants. There were 6 other people staying in our room as well whom we got to know well over the next 4 days and bumped into again NYE! Right across the street was a flying trapeze, where they gave lessons and did shows that were fun to watch. There was also a pool, but we had missed the weekly Friday night pool party. We asked the front desk guy Phil where a good place to eat was and he told us to go to a place called Zest right around the corner. Well, say no more, Zest became our new go to and we ended up eating there about 5 different times! They had the most amazing sandwiches on wheat baguettes with amazing meats and cheeses and about any other veggie you would like. This may seem like no big deal, but in Thailand? Yeah. I also would go there in the morning to get fruit salad consisting of banana, pineapple, mango, watermelon, and honey dew with muesli and yogurt, accompanied by a perfectly made cappuccino (none of that fake Nescafe thanks!).

We spent the day at the beach and walking around, and then, since it was Christmas, decided to go out for a nice dinner. This was a great thing about the island. Divers from all over the world move here, and then decide to start restaurants, creating this assortment of international cuisine that is usually only found in malls or in Bangkok and other touristy places. We went to this Italian restaurant called Puerto Bello. It was probably on of the best meals I’ve had so far. We split a smoked salmon and asparagus salad and a quatro formagio pizza with artichoke. I mean we had an amazing meal and still only spent $10 each. I love Thailand.

Later we bought some rum from the convenience store and went to the beach and a place called Lotus Bar. Soon all the tourists and travelers were out celebrating Christmas is a most non-traditional way! It was fun to run into people from Mexico, Switzerland, Australia, and England. There was this little boy throwing fire who was so cute! I thought my parents had forgotten about me (not really), but they had tried to call but the lines were busy L I talked to them on Skype the next day. 

12/26

Today all we did was lay on the beach, read, and walk around the town some more. It was a scorching hot day (really on of the only ones on this trip) so you couldn’t lie out for too long before diving into the ocean to cool off. The beaches here are beautiful, but small. There are many trees and rocks and the island itself is very hilly. I love the vibe here.

12/27

Today we got so bold as to rent motorbikes so we could see the rest of the island. Neither of us has ever driven a scooter, but we were up for the challenge, especially since renting a bike for 24 hours is the same price of about 2 taxi rides. They took a passport and off we went! Oh yes, this island was for sure hilly! It was so much fun, but also kind of scary at times. I soon realized while going down a steep gravel path that my tires didn’t have great tread on them—not good, I had to use all my strength to inch that bike down without skidding. I almost took a spill another time trying to avoid a truck and hit some sand on the road, but I caught my bike and kept on going. This was a great way to see the island, especially because it is so small that we could make it all the way to the south and across to the other side. The views were breathtaking and just riding through palm trees and jungle could never get old to me. Since we had booked a snorkeling trip for the next morning, we decided to return our bikes, have dinner and a few drinks and call it a (fairly) early night.

12/28

All ready for our big snorkeling day and our tour forgets to pick us up! Oh no! We power walk down to the shop, I explain what happened and demand to get put on a boat. It is our last day on this island and something I’ve been really looking forward to. After some arguing, and some phone calls, we got us hooked up with a different tour so we went with it. We went to a few different sights to snorkel. This was my first time and I had a blast! We didn’t see any live coral, which was disappointing, and I didn’t see any sharks in shark bay, but I did get to see some really neat fish that looked like they were painted with neon glow paint. Our guide was funny, and since we were the only ones on the tour who spoke any kind of Thai he had fun with us picking up sea cucumbers and making us hold them. When I got back on the boat after being in the water I definitely had a case of seasickness, but it was better when we were moving. We had lunch and fruit on the boat and our last stop was this little island that is really 3 but sand bars connect them. This was one of the most beautiful places and it felt amazing just to lie on the beach for a bit after being out on the boat all day. I wish we could have stayed there longer.

After freshening up at our hostel we went and got massages. Lizzie got a foot massage and I got a full body coconut oil massage (cost 300B/$10). It felt like heaven. The place was beautiful and relaxing, I don’t know why I don’t get them more often. I have gotten a Thai massage, but as much as they work you out, they just are not relaxing to me—more painful. I had however hear that oil massages can get a little intimate and I think that’s why I’ve held off too long. Okay, so they go a little farther than in the US, but hey, your butt can use a good massage too. It felt amazing and I think I’m now addicted.

Feeling happy and rejuvenated we decided to try another of Phil’s recommendations and went to a restaurant called Barracuda. Phil never let us down; this place was fantastic. We shared tuna tartar on baguette, handmade chicken and ginger ravioli, and barracuda and other seafood steamed in a banana leaf. I didn’t even know this kind of place existed in Thailand. After dinner we met up with our hostel mates and went to see a cabaret show. It has been awhile since I’ve been to a drag show, and let me tell you, ladyboys really know how to entertain! Even the guys couldn’t deny that they were beautiful.

Great time on Koh Tao.

12/29

And we’re off to Koh Samui! the largest, and very popular island in the Gulf of Thailand. This time the Catamaran did not go so smoothly. There was a huge line of people at the pier and because of technical problems (they never told us) we ended up on the boat, in the dock, for a good 3 hours before leaving. We didn’t even have seats so we just passed out on the deck and took a nap. Thank goodness we didn’t have anything urgent o get to other than sunbathing, I overheard some saying that they had a flight to catch. We did book a free transfer to our hotel, so when we finally arrived it was hassle free. This is another island where transportation costs is raised about 300% for tourists! Our hotel was beautiful, we had a little bungalow looking right over the ocean, but the downside was that it was very far away from everything else. We took a walk to try and find things and walked for a good 30 minutes until we got close to a town. We picked up some dinner to bring back to our room and decided to rent a motorbike the next day to see more and get around more easily.

12/30

Today I got up early and went down to the water as the sun was coming up and did yoga on my sarong. The waves crashing on the rocks were very soothing and it was great to just be by myself. After breakfast we asked to rent a bike, but our hotel was out. We walked back into town, but every place we asked said they were rented out. This started to get really frustrating. Finally we found a place but they wouldn’t have one till 2 pm so we went to the beach and laid out until then. We got the bike and went to pick up lunch at the market. I drove, it was really hard at first to drive with someone on the back, but I got better at it, I think I would have been too scared with Lizzie driving anyway! Later we went and visited Chaweng beach, which is a popular very large beach with lots of shops, bars and restaurants. This is what I think of when I think of Thailand beaches: white fine sand and calm clear water. We chilled for a while, walked, and had dinner on the beach. I ordered a grilled butterfish that I got to pick out and it melted in my mouth. Since I was driving we vetoed going out and returned to our bungalow. We also had a big night to get ready for.

12/31 NYE!!!

We returned the motorbike in the morning and got picked up by the free transfer van we booked. After breakfast my stomach didn’t feel great, so I was kind of worried about it, but hoped it wouldn’t last too long. Since we had to wait awhile at the pier I just rested and started to feel better. My friend Elana and one of her friends met up with us and we all rode the catamaran over to Koh Pha-Ngan together. Koh Pha-Ngan is the island most well known for throwing full moon parties (and half moon and black moon parties, just to make it convenient for tourists wanting to party I think), and NYE is their most famous party of the year. Hotels and hostels get book far in advance and the prices sore during the peak season. This is why we decided to only stay on the island for less than 24 hours, no booking necessary! Full moon parties usually just means partying on the beach, painting your body with glow paint, and drinking mixed drinks from buckets with lots of straws. 

There were platforms built in the water to dance on, DJs, and about 30,000 people. My friend Cassie put it this way: this is Spring Break for the working professional. There were people from all over the world just letting loose and having a great time. They set off tons of fireworks at midnight and lit signs declaring the New Year in fire and we all hugged and wished each other a Happy New Year. 

The dancing continued until morning. I found some other friends of mine (which was amazing since their phones were not working) and got to see them. In Thailand it stays dark and then suddenly becomes light right around 7. We left right as it was starting to get light out, and the crowds didn’t seem to be dispersing, except for people like us who had to catch a ferry. This was a disaster. A bunch of people clambering to get to the pier and vans wanting to charge far too much, cramming as many people into them as they could. In ours they got mad because someone was not sitting in a seat in the back (someone had puked there earlier) and they wanted to make everyone get out. They were yelling at us in Thai, it was a mess and finally someone pretended to sit there and we squeezed 2 more people in just so they would go and we wouldn’t be late. Insanity.

It started to rain as we drove back to our hotel and we all ran down the long path to our bungalow. I forced myself to jump in the shower and wash off the remains of paint and sand before crawling into bed and passing out around 9:30 am.  I woke in the afternoon, looked at the clock and thought of all my friends who would be just celebrating NYE, smiled, and went back to sleep until about 3 pm when we finally managed to get up and eat lunch. Since we would be going home the next day we just took it easy and relaxed the rest of the night. I woke up to Lizzie saying something about a bat in our room and was too tired to respond, only telling her not to worry about it. Then I got up to go to the bathroom and there was a cockroach on the sink that scared the crap out of me. A few hours later Lizzie asked if we could hear the bat screeching, I asked her where the bat was and she pointed over our bed. With the sun starting to rise she realized that what she thought was a bat had really just been part of the lamp! Sarah and I started laughing, Lizzie was mad that she had lost sleep because of that, but then we did hear the screeching and still don’t know where it was coming from. 

1/1/11

Long trip back, starting to get a cold and not ready for work again!