from dusty cabs to turqouise waters

it was five in the morning when i roused my crew out of bed. ben swung himself down the ladder of the top bunk, flashing us all a glimpse of the ladies panties he was still wearing from the pool. gunner's face was priceless as those frilly, electric blue boy shorts clung to him and he rummaged through a pile of clothes to find his jeans. i rushed the crew through breakfast and loaded them into a rickety toyota corrolla: our cab from siem reap to the border crossing. when i tell people i took a cab from cambodia to thailand, i always get a look of shock, but when the alternative is a chronically late bus ride down asia's most infamous road, it's well worth the ten dollars per head to cab it. apparently, the road hasn't been paved so that thai airlines can capitalize on the tourists who don't want to deal with the discomfort. i'm not sure if that's true or possible, but i wasn't willing to deal with those alternatives.

i knew that getting us all to the thai beaches would be a mission, but i was determined to get us there within 24 hours because i did not want to spend my birthday on a bus. the sun beat down unmercifully into the back seat. we couldn't roll down the windows because of the dust, couldn't crank the air because of the gas, and couldn't sleep because of the heat. by the time we got to the border and stood in line for customs, hopping on a bus was not an option for us. fortunately, thai cabs, while considerably more expensive, have AC, seatbelts, and drivers with serious road rage. within three hours, we were cruising through bangkok and on our way to the bus station. another two hours later, we were on the a double decker sleeper bus with a stewardess and snacks. it was 6 am when we arrived in krabi, thailand and sussed out a breakfast of rice and egg, nescafe and condensed milk.

we ferried from krabi to ko phi phi and found ourselves a bamboo bungalow and immediately changed into our swimsuits. floating, i was surrounded by sharp cliffs, palm trees, and green water. while resting, jenny heard a familiar voice and two guys walking toward the cliffs on our south side of the island.
"allan!"
we knew that he was on the island, but when ko phi phi is crawling with wild, young debauchers you don't expect to run into your friend when you're taking a nap. instead of going to the cliffs to climb, allan led us to the other side of the island, long beach, where we drank tall, cool chang beers and watched the sunset stretch itself along the glittering water. that night we met for cocktails at a little bar with red, pleather booths and it started pouring down rain. we waited and had another cocktail, hoping the rain would lighten up, but it didn't. the light clay mud began to run and the streets began to flood. we took off our shoes and ran for it, laughing as we got lost in the streets looking for a particular seafood restaurant. under an awning, we gave up and began the search for any restaurant that had space for us. the waiters didn't know what to think of us as they ushered us to our seats; other patrons glared as we scuttered between the tables, trying to avoid dripping on people. when we sat, they brought out a case of napkins and we laughed as we dried off. more beer chang, thundering rain, steaming bowls of tom yam and enormous prawns.

gunner and jenny went back to the bungalow, while allan and i continued walking. we went to his hostel, where his bedfellows were listening to 90s alternative rock on their ipod, which they had hooked up to tiny speakers. it was still pouring and the humidity was starting to set in, a sticky warm wet that makes your fingers prune so that you can't tell if it's rain or sweat on your skin anymore. allan and i crammed on his tiny bunk bed and talked until we fell asleep, to sleep until the mosquitos woke me up and it was dawn and time to walk home.

river trips, hill tribes, elephant rides...the end of thailand

thaton

the bus to thaton was a crazy green with polished cielings so that we could see our reflections in the metal- it screamed vegas. the air became sweeter as we pulled away: the smell of bamboo and horses on the outskirts of chiang mai gave way to even subtler scents- of honeysuckle and bananas. i peered at locals piled into a pickup truck, adorned with bright linens and colored headdresses. the mountains are not peaked like they are in america, but clustered fists covered with lush foliage. i am pleased to be outside of the city now, away from the pollution and the hustle.

when we arrived, i tripped and fell from the bus. a terrible dizzy spell and a sickness i've never felt followed and i couldn't sit up straight at the bar where we had looked for shade. out of no where, a thai woman with rough dreadlocks saw me and ran to get a key and lay me down in one of her rooms. she but tiger balm under my nose and some rust colored powder on my tongue, instructing me to wash it down with water. she returned to the room with a wet towel and wiped me down, instructing me to rest. she had such a calm, serene authority to her, that i never questioned her motives or techniques. i let her nurse me and make me soup and lecture me that evening about not wearing long pants. i turned out to be very sick- though i'm not sure what it was. perhaps my body just needed some time to adjust to this new culture or to purge itself before starting again. i'm not sure, but i had a hard time getting out of bed for the next two days. i slept most of the time in thaton.

that is, with the exception of visiting the karan hill tribe outside of the city. the karan are a indigenous people to northern thailand who elongate their necks using gold coils of metal that stretch out their necks and knees. they look like giraffes, walking down the street trying to hold the weight upright. in addition to these, there are women with elaborate headdresses and black teeth, some of which have stretched out earlobes. the groups of women (i'm not really sure where the men are) sell handmade scarves and trinkets for tourists who pay to come and see them in their "natural habitat", which is strange because it gives them a freak show quality which i found really awkward and distasteful. i felt bad taking their picture. i kept looking at the little girls with these massive coils around their necks and knees and wondering if they did it for their own cultural reasons or if they do it so that tourists will come and gawk at them and give them money. i have a feeling its the latter, which made me feel strange.

mae kok river
thaton to chiang rai via bamboo raft

from february 28th to march 1st, monika, jenny and i pulled a huckleberry finn in the most authentic way imaginable: we floated on a handmade bamboo raft down the mae kok river. it was the most leisurely pleasurable experience so far on the trip because it got us far away from other foreigners, and go slow enough to really absorb everything around us. our raft was about 20 feet long, most of which was a covered hut where the three of us played uno, read or listened to music most of the day. the rest was the bow and stern where our guides stood and steered the vessel that they had assembled for the purpose of our adventure down river. the bow is handled by me, a dark old Thai with laugh marks entrenched in his face. he's always pointing to things and asking for them in english. when he messes up, he laughs hysterically and turns his head, revealing the mole on his neck from which 3 long silver hairs burst like streamers. tan, the stern, is much more mellow and reserved. he rarely tries to speak or respond to us, he just smiles and smokes from his long, hand-rolled cigarette. tan always wears a straw hat that, since he looks so young, makes him seem even more like one of mark twain's characters, except he wears a bright green t-shirt that says, "happy halloween" on it. tan's always the one sneaking up on us with plates full of fresh fruit- papaya, watermelon or pineapple that he's literally just sliced up with his all purpose machete.

over the days on the river, tan and me taking care of us was the main theme. they liked to try and joke with us in their limited english- entice us to sing and then laugh at our silly songs or what they hear as garbled language. we stopped in 3 villages along the way, meeting many small children who loved to show us through the streets of the village. pointing out where they live or showing off their little brother, the pregnant ox or the local mission. when we would return to the boat, tan and me usually had lunch of noodle soup ready or, if we were camping the night, had begun setting up the grill for dinner. every evening we slept on the raft under mosquito nets after feasting on fresh fish grilled on the open fire over a handmade bamboo grill.

on our last day, we went to a hot spring that had been made into a spa and soaked, relaxing away the sore necks from sleeping on the hard floor. then we continued to float until we came to an elephant camp. here, at my request, we had worked in a stop at a place to ride elephants. we automatically bought food to feed our elephants, which made all of the others acts giddy and perform for the possibility of getting fed. one balanced in a tripod using her trunk and front legs, kicking her back legs up gleefully. the others were equally excited and blocked my way with their trunks- sticking the moist, pointy end toward me and sucking in torrents of air. we paid our money and were off- two guides, three girls and two massive elephants rocking down the road. we switched places a few times, so that in the end the guide was walking and giving verbal commands as i rode on the elephant's enormous, bristly head.

chiang rai- chiang khong

shortly after the elephant camp, we arrived at our stop for chiang rai. a driver met us there, we said our goodbyes to tan and me, and we were off to chiang rai. though chiang rai is a pretty big city and there is probably a lot to see, we decided to head directly for the smaller border town of chiang khong and stay at a guesthouse there. we relaxed and had a hot shower, did laundry, played with the guesthouse kittens and had our thai massages. the matron's mother and i bonded over a game of charades, trying to find the thai translation for "ginger" i finally went into the kitchen, but still couldn't find it, so jenny looked it up online. king is the word. so grandma and i had ginger tea together and then i was invited to share breakfast: purple sticky rice that you mash with your hands and then press into a second dish- pork with stewed garlic and vegetables. as we were talking, it turns out that she lived in osaka for 5 years, so we spoke a little japanese and she pulled out her pictures from 20 years ago and how happy she looks beneath the sakura blossoms. now it's time to raise our gaze to the other side of the mekong, the river that you see if you look out beyond the guesthouse as you sip your ginger tea. that's the city we're moving too. houay xai, laos. a whole new country. a whole new chapter.

sigh of relief, skytinis and long live the king...the beginning of thailand

i was a wreck when i left japan. it's embarrassing to admit it, but i reached my threshold of tolerance and i completely lost it. christina had to pour me into a taxi and take me to the train station and then to the airport. when i finally arrived in bangkok, hired my taxi to take me to the guesthouse, and saw my friend jenny waiting for me wearing that sweet blue dress and a smile, i cried and cried. i feel like japan was an abusive boyfriend that i tolerated and worked with despite the underlying knowledge that it would never suit me. i have never fought so hard to keep my head up but now that i'm gone, i somehow miss it. now that i'm in thailand, i find myself excited when i hear japanese or see that familiar writing.

thailand

bangkok

this city is teeming with life, like a continuous street fair. the thais have food vendors lining the streets, and in every open space there is a gold framed photo of his majesty the king (or his wife). there are street vendors on every corner and rickshaws have been replaced by little tripod motorcycles called tuk tuks which buzz through the streets of bangkok, leaving a trail of black smoke behind them. thai massages, lady boys, outdoor markets and hipped out tourists compose the streets of the city and it is charming. when you walk by, the thai people greet you with a toothy smile and a nod. they are very friendly- often offering advice about sites and holidays (though it's sometimes a scam)- which is such a nice change. i was fortunate to visit bangkok on a buddhist holiday, so i was able to see the ceremony at the golden mount and at the wats (buddhist temples) around town- witnessing the monks in their bring orange robes chanting and praying beneath enormous golden buddhas, the lines of people carrying lotus blossoms folded upward to release the fragrance, and the buckets of goods that people donate to the monks. thai temples are lavishly decorated with bright gold and jeweled figures. i was struck by the similarity to thai artwork and hindu artwork- it seems that the history of these two cultures are tied together, which i didn't know before. after seeing the grand palace and all its splendor, monika, jenny and i went to sky bar for drinks. we overlooked the Chao Phraya river and drank martinis amid the sparkling lights of bangkok. when we left the hotel in search of lady boys in the red light district, i was struck by the poverty that is mixed right in with the wealth of the city. on the same street as bangkok's most posh bar are homeless sleeping on the streets next to stray dogs.

chiang mai

we were all excited to leave bangkok for a smaller and hopefully less chaotic city, so we headed to the trade city of chiang mai in northern thailand via slow sleeper train. it was an adventure: our toilets opened up to the tracks and the steward wanted to drink with us, but it was really exciting and comfortable for the most part. since our arrival, we have explored many more wats and temples, though the ones in chiang mai have exposed brick and broken down statues, which make them seem more authentic and traditional. yesterday, we took a car to Doi Suthep national park, which contains one of thailand's most famous wats: wat doi suthep. we climbed 306 stairs, the handrails of which were two giant serpants fanning down from the temple. right inside the temple, 6 young girls were performing a traditional siamese dance, accompanied by children playing bright, whiny thai instruments. we covered ourselves and went into the wat. at one point, a monk threw water on us with a cluster of reeds and prayed over the people in his presence. you aren't supposed to stand higher than a monk or the statue of the buddha, which makes entering and exiting temples quite interesting: you see thais shuffle and scoot along the floor with lowered eyes and hands placed together in prayer.

after the temple and checking out the local shops (and the elephant chained up behind the shops) we left the temple compound and wandered into the national park, which was completely deserted. we found a footpath and decided to do some outdoor trekking through the jungle. we climbed banon trees, videod a marching assembly of ants and met russians in the forest who gave us hats they had made from banana leaves. as we continued, we found a waterfall and sat beside it just listening to the sound of the water pounding the rocks. i finally felt tranquil and happy. i looked around at the jungle around me, listened to the birds caw and watched my friends, equally moved and speechless. our journey finished with a bamboo forest and another set of waterfalls which were too cold to swim in.

that evening we went shopping through the streets of chiang mai for its legendary sunday night bazaar. i have never seen such a huge outdoor market, selling everything from thai silver to rip off threadless t shirts. even though everything shut down at 11, it still wasn't enough time for me to see everything they had to sell and showcase.

thaton

tomorrow morning, we are leaving chiang mai for a remote town in the golden triangle: the area where thailand, laos and burma touch. apparently you can explore some of the smaller villages which are off the beaten path. our plan is to spend a few days there and then hop on the Ping river to float to the city of chiang rai where we will get a bus to cross the border into laos. from there its time for the gibbons experience!