This and that:
Number one nationality visiting Thailand: Swedish
Number two: Australian
Most popular national sport: Muay Thai Boxing
Top favorite foods: Papaya salad, green curry, grilled bananas, young coconuts
Best beach I found: Koh Tau, Tanote Bay
Number of people from Oregon I met in Thailand: about 6
Best mode of sitting in Thailand: hammock
Best mode of transport: Tuk-tuk on land, long tail boat on sea
Bangkok is great for: street food, people watching, shopping
Koh Tao is great for: outdoor sports, water sports, beaches, hammocking, snorkeling
Ko Phi Phi is great for: parties, beaches, kayaking, camping on the beach, BBQ
Patong is great for: lady boys, showing off your steroided muscles, showing off your tan, showing off your wife/husband/newly acquired girlfriend, showing off your designer clothes, showing off your motorcycle, showing off your yacht, just plain showing off
Biggest boat seen in Thailand: the White Cloud, anchored for a while in Koh Tao harbor. It was the biggest boat I have ever seen, besides a cruise ship. Actually I looked it up and it is in the top 100 biggest yachts in the world. Also, since the owners obviously need more than just a silly old private 221 foot yacht, it has a helicopter and helicopter landing pad on top. For joy rides of course!
Best cabaret show seen: in Koh Tao. One lady boy did an especially great rendition of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."
Most fun adventures: camping out on "The Beach" on Phi Phi Leh. A few friends and I camped out for a night on "The Beach" which is actually called Maya Bay. "The Beach" refers to the beach in the book "The Beach" by Alex Garland which was later made into a movie staring Leo DiCaprio. We set up tents but actually just slept in sleeping bags on the sand, had a seafood and chicken BBQ, and sang songs around the campfire. This was a really great time. I still have yet to read the book and see the movie though.
Worst luck person met: A British man who got too drunk in Bangkok, was robbed of his passport and all money, bank account was looted, and had a "bad and embarassing" incident with lady boys. He thinks he was drugged... very possible. He is still stuck in Thailand.
Number on injury of farangs (foreigners): tail pipe exhaust burns on the inner right calf from motor bikes. (ouch)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Goodbye Thailand...
Goodbye Thailand, hello Singapore (for the third time). Thailand has gone by in a whirl. I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Thailand in a vacation sense, not a backpacking adventure sense. I spent the last week on Ko Phi Phi which is on the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea which is where the 2004 tsunami hit hard. Ko Phi-Phi was nice... lots of time spent lounging on the beaches, people watching (all foreigners, hardly any actual Thais), reading, and eating. Very relaxing. Thailand is a very nice country but is incredibly Westernized, so I would recommend it to people who are looking for a nice vacation, but it was not my favorite place for actual "backpacking." Anyway, after Ko Phi Phi I spent a day and night in Patong which is the beach town adjoining Phuket. If I could describe Patong in one word: debauchery. That about sums it up. Over the top, extravagent, flashing lights, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!, booze, tight clothing, loud sounds. Patong is a place I would not go back to. As far as I could tell it is a place to see and be seen (for farangs, which means foreigners in Thai). It is also the sex tourism central of southern Thailand. The only place that I think surpasses Patong for sex tourism would be Pattaya, which is just a bit south of Bangkok. Anyway, I flew out of Phuket on the 3rd for Singapore and had to be up early. I went out for a cup of coffee at 6:30 AM and was met with an ample amount of lady boys messing with their hair and smeared make up, drunk men stumbling around with bottles of beer in one hand, and what looked to me like 15 year old Thai girls clutching their other hand. Music still blarring, parties still going. Debauchery would be the word. Anyway, departed Phuket and am back in lovely Singapore where I arrived to be surprised by the rains and actually (relatively) cool weather.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ko Phi Phi
Hello!
I am currently on the west coast of Thailand on another island called Ko Phi Phi. It is a bit smaller than Koh Tao. Ko Phi Phi has beautiful beaches, amazing karst scenery, kayaking, water sports, snorkeling, diving, etc... Pretty much a place with lots of fun in the sun. Phi Phi is the main area in Thailand that was hit by the 2004 tsunami. I was looking at a book of the damage that happened on Ko Phi Phi. The pictures were really heart wrenching. Pretty much the whole island was completely descimated. I went to a memorial park right off the beach yesterday for the tsunami victims. The park was pretty depressing. It had a big stone with some of the names of the people killed in Phi Phi. As far as I can tell things have been built back up here pretty well. There is still alot of building going on along the beach. New bungalows, hotels, stores, etc... are being built to replace the ones that were damaged and/or washed away by the wave 4 years ago. I met a Thai man last night with scars all over his legs from when he was caught in the wave. Alot of his family died but he managed to hold onto a tree and survive. Even though Phi Phi is booming once again you can still see traces of the tsunami damage. Piles of rubble are all over the place, there are a ton of "tsunami evacuation route" signs all over the island pointing to higher ground.
I am currently on the west coast of Thailand on another island called Ko Phi Phi. It is a bit smaller than Koh Tao. Ko Phi Phi has beautiful beaches, amazing karst scenery, kayaking, water sports, snorkeling, diving, etc... Pretty much a place with lots of fun in the sun. Phi Phi is the main area in Thailand that was hit by the 2004 tsunami. I was looking at a book of the damage that happened on Ko Phi Phi. The pictures were really heart wrenching. Pretty much the whole island was completely descimated. I went to a memorial park right off the beach yesterday for the tsunami victims. The park was pretty depressing. It had a big stone with some of the names of the people killed in Phi Phi. As far as I can tell things have been built back up here pretty well. There is still alot of building going on along the beach. New bungalows, hotels, stores, etc... are being built to replace the ones that were damaged and/or washed away by the wave 4 years ago. I met a Thai man last night with scars all over his legs from when he was caught in the wave. Alot of his family died but he managed to hold onto a tree and survive. Even though Phi Phi is booming once again you can still see traces of the tsunami damage. Piles of rubble are all over the place, there are a ton of "tsunami evacuation route" signs all over the island pointing to higher ground.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Room Mates
This fellow (or lady) lives in the bathroom of my bungalow. I was brushing my teeth the other night and inspecting the corners of the bathroom for tarantulas (because I heard rumors of extremely large spiders on this island) and I got quite a fright when I noticed this enormous lizard!! There are actually two of them that live in the bathroom and they sit around next to each other all night, then disappear in the morning. A very handsome lizard! The pair of them don't make bad room mates... They don't pee on the seat, they don't leave dirty clothes around, and they eat the mosquitos!
Lovely Sunset
Lovely Thai sunset from last night. The bungalow I am currently living in is on this beach which is called Mae Haad. I enjoy it because there is a pier close by so there are alot of boats to watch coming in and out.
Boat Trip
Me on the front of our boat during the beginning of the snorkeling/shark stalking trip. I was lazing about leaning up on the mast with the pink, green and orange ribbon things on it. After a while my back really started to hurt. I was also covered with ants which I thought was strange. I turned around to inspect the mast and this is what I found that was digging into my back:
A dried up chicken head and two dried up chicken's feet with very large talons!! The ants were actually crawling on the chicken parts and on to me because I was leaning on them! It was the chicken talons that were hurting me. As far as I could figure, the dried up chicken parts on the mast are some sort of offering to the sea gods. Thats my best guess. Ouch!! You will notice the head on the left side tied by the pink thing, and the two chickens feet on the right side.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Books, etc...
A few book reviews:
"Shes Come Undone" by Wally Lamb. A good book, definetaly one that Oprah would put in her book club. About mothers, daughters, and feelings. Typical Oprah book club style. I really enjoyed the book, but it was very similar to We Were The Mulvaneys (Joyce Carole Oates) and The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold.)
"The Bonfire of the Vanities" by Tom Wolfe. I have been wanting to read a Tom Wolfe book for a while because I have heard that he is what is considered to be a "new journalist" ala Hunter S. Thompson. I really like Thompson's writing so was very excited to read some Wolfe. This book seemed like it would be a good play. So many characters, different plot lines that all get mixed together into one at the end. It is about what happens when a Wall Street financier and Park Avenue property owner Sherman McCoy hits a young black teen in the Bronx and then leaves the scene without reporting it to police. McCoy is then brought to justice and the whole thing is made into a big deal because all cases must be treated equally. My sympathies actually lied with McCoy, even though he was the one that commited the "crime." I'm not sure how this book is "new journalism" but it was pretty good.
Currently reading "The Accidental" by Ali Smith. Randomly picked this up at a book store. At first I didn't like the writing style too much. It is kind of like a painting at an art gallery that is a big red circle on a black canvas that is selling for 1 million dollars. Sort of weirdly contemporary. But after the first few chapters I have started to warm up to it. Will report more when finished.
"Shes Come Undone" by Wally Lamb. A good book, definetaly one that Oprah would put in her book club. About mothers, daughters, and feelings. Typical Oprah book club style. I really enjoyed the book, but it was very similar to We Were The Mulvaneys (Joyce Carole Oates) and The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold.)
"The Bonfire of the Vanities" by Tom Wolfe. I have been wanting to read a Tom Wolfe book for a while because I have heard that he is what is considered to be a "new journalist" ala Hunter S. Thompson. I really like Thompson's writing so was very excited to read some Wolfe. This book seemed like it would be a good play. So many characters, different plot lines that all get mixed together into one at the end. It is about what happens when a Wall Street financier and Park Avenue property owner Sherman McCoy hits a young black teen in the Bronx and then leaves the scene without reporting it to police. McCoy is then brought to justice and the whole thing is made into a big deal because all cases must be treated equally. My sympathies actually lied with McCoy, even though he was the one that commited the "crime." I'm not sure how this book is "new journalism" but it was pretty good.
Currently reading "The Accidental" by Ali Smith. Randomly picked this up at a book store. At first I didn't like the writing style too much. It is kind of like a painting at an art gallery that is a big red circle on a black canvas that is selling for 1 million dollars. Sort of weirdly contemporary. But after the first few chapters I have started to warm up to it. Will report more when finished.
Stalking Sharks in Koh Tao
Greetings from Koh Tao, Thailand! I've been here for about 3 days now. I took a bus from Bangkok which reached a city called Chumphon about 14 hours later. I switched buses at 3 in the morning where I was taken to the ferry dock. The ferry was not set to leave Chumphon for Koh Tao (an island by the way: Koh means "island" in Thai) until 6 in the morning. But, very conveniently there was a little room set up with bamboo mats on the floor for people to sleep while waiting for the boat. So I curled up with my backpack, ready for a few Z's, but unfortunatley someone else in the room snored incredibly loudly... So much for sleep. Anyway, caught the ferry at 6 AM and reached Koh Tao around 9AM. A very nice little place, very touristy though. I am not really used to places like this where you walk down the street and see more foreigners on vacation than locals. Still, there are wonderful beaches and lots of hammocks to laze around in.
A few days ago I went on a snorkel boat trip for a day around the island. The highlight of this trip: stalking sharks! The crew told us if we were lucky we would see some sharks while snorkeling. Everybody shivered and then the captain screamed: "Hurry up and get snorkeling! The sharks are hungry!" A few people stayed on board our junk but I hurridly finned and masked up and jumped in. My mission: stalk some sharks. I recently finished reading "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea," and decided that I should be a bit more like Captain Nemo, afraid of nothing. So I went further out to sea with my little snorkel than the captain told us was safe. Oh well, there were sharks on the line here. Farther and farther I went. So far, had not seen any sharks so I amused myself by stalking some pretty rainbow colored fish that were snacking on the coral muck. After the rainbow fish dispersed I amused my self (very shortly) by stalking sea slugs. This proved to be not as amusing as I had hoped... Where were the sharks? All the sudden... a shadow! Two shadows! Three shadows! FIVE SHADOWS!!! I jerked around to see if there were any other people around. There weren't. I investigated further. SHARKS!! A pack of them was swimming along in a very menacing manner on the sea floor. I thought about what to do... swim away. No. Stay still? No. Stalk them. Yes! While I am sure that the captain (who I think was drunk) would not have let us in to shark infested waters if the sharks were dangerous, I decided to pretend that the sharks were dangerous. I was pretty much in grave danger. On the verge of a shark attack. Definetaly. It was almost like Jaws. I channeled Captain Nemo's spirit and chased after the pack of sharks. My "Jaws" shark attack adventure proved to be useless since the sharks were more scared of me than I was of them and they sort of just swam away when they heard me coming. Anyway, after the first pack disappeared another pack showed up. I stalked them around for about 20 minutes until this pack disappeared into the coral and into the murky depths of "way beyond safe area." I am glad I didn't have a harpoon because the spirit of Ned Land was starting to overtake me, my wrist was twitching at the idea. After about1 hour in the shark infested waters I emerged having seen about 25-30 sharks (all of them scared of me), with all my limbs intact. I got out of the water triumphant! A few others had seen the sharks as well and we traded "battle stories." It was obvious that we were all out for a little adventure. The (definetaly drunken) captain told us the sharks were called Blacktip sharks.
The boat trip was a great time! Sharks, rainbow fish, white sand beaches, snorkeling, relaxing. while I was not stalking sharks I amused myself with deciding who would be Chief (Lord of the Flies style) if our junk shipwrecked. I mulled it over, observing everyone on the boat. I finally decided on the old German guy with the big nose and beer belly. I thought that his nose would probably have a calming effect on everyone. My second choice was the Swedish mother of two boys. She could be vice-chief. I would be shark stalked extordinarie. It would be great. We would have pig roasts every night... and stuff like that.
A few days ago I went on a snorkel boat trip for a day around the island. The highlight of this trip: stalking sharks! The crew told us if we were lucky we would see some sharks while snorkeling. Everybody shivered and then the captain screamed: "Hurry up and get snorkeling! The sharks are hungry!" A few people stayed on board our junk but I hurridly finned and masked up and jumped in. My mission: stalk some sharks. I recently finished reading "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea," and decided that I should be a bit more like Captain Nemo, afraid of nothing. So I went further out to sea with my little snorkel than the captain told us was safe. Oh well, there were sharks on the line here. Farther and farther I went. So far, had not seen any sharks so I amused myself by stalking some pretty rainbow colored fish that were snacking on the coral muck. After the rainbow fish dispersed I amused my self (very shortly) by stalking sea slugs. This proved to be not as amusing as I had hoped... Where were the sharks? All the sudden... a shadow! Two shadows! Three shadows! FIVE SHADOWS!!! I jerked around to see if there were any other people around. There weren't. I investigated further. SHARKS!! A pack of them was swimming along in a very menacing manner on the sea floor. I thought about what to do... swim away. No. Stay still? No. Stalk them. Yes! While I am sure that the captain (who I think was drunk) would not have let us in to shark infested waters if the sharks were dangerous, I decided to pretend that the sharks were dangerous. I was pretty much in grave danger. On the verge of a shark attack. Definetaly. It was almost like Jaws. I channeled Captain Nemo's spirit and chased after the pack of sharks. My "Jaws" shark attack adventure proved to be useless since the sharks were more scared of me than I was of them and they sort of just swam away when they heard me coming. Anyway, after the first pack disappeared another pack showed up. I stalked them around for about 20 minutes until this pack disappeared into the coral and into the murky depths of "way beyond safe area." I am glad I didn't have a harpoon because the spirit of Ned Land was starting to overtake me, my wrist was twitching at the idea. After about1 hour in the shark infested waters I emerged having seen about 25-30 sharks (all of them scared of me), with all my limbs intact. I got out of the water triumphant! A few others had seen the sharks as well and we traded "battle stories." It was obvious that we were all out for a little adventure. The (definetaly drunken) captain told us the sharks were called Blacktip sharks.
The boat trip was a great time! Sharks, rainbow fish, white sand beaches, snorkeling, relaxing. while I was not stalking sharks I amused myself with deciding who would be Chief (Lord of the Flies style) if our junk shipwrecked. I mulled it over, observing everyone on the boat. I finally decided on the old German guy with the big nose and beer belly. I thought that his nose would probably have a calming effect on everyone. My second choice was the Swedish mother of two boys. She could be vice-chief. I would be shark stalked extordinarie. It would be great. We would have pig roasts every night... and stuff like that.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A Few Random Pictures in BKK
A spread of misc. food stuffs on a food cart. 
Bangkok apartments along a small river. 
Typical street food scene. This Is What You Get...
This is what you get for 150 baht per night in Bangkok. No, there is no more to the room than is in the picture. A bed that is caved in at the middle, rock hard. It is pretty much a cardboard box, painted cream colored with a fluorescent light and a fan in it. Not bad for 150 baht! You pretty much won't get any cheaper than this in Bangkok.My Birthday Party
A few pics from my birthday party on the 9th of Jan. Here is a picture of me and my long time travel buddy Jayne. (Take note of her new hair, the braids... which I sat with her for 6 hours while she had them put in. Beauty really is pain... Ouch.)
At dinner. Jayne's brother and his girlfriend Nancy had just arrived that day from Canada to visit Thailand for 3 weeks. That is Nancy in the green shirt. Our friend Will who we met on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam, Jayne, and me. Mike is taking the picture. Fruit Vendors
Fruit vendor on the side of Khao San road. Bags will run you 10 to 20 baht.
Another fruit vendor.
Grilled banana lady! There are the infamous grilled bananas that I love so much.... Oh, I am going to miss these when I am home!! I am going to try to re create them on the kitchen stove. 
Fruit shake stand on the side of some road. You can get any sort of fruit shake that you wish. Alot of times to sweeten the shake, they will put loads of condensed milk (see the red and white cans) in. I usually ask for shakes without sugar or condensed milk because they tend to make them way too sweet for me.King Obsession
Here is an example of the obsession with the Thai royal family in this country. There are things like this all over Bangkok plastered with pictures of the king and his relatives. People are even more obsessed with the king than they are with Brad Pitt back home. Golden arches over the road with tons of pictures of the king. 
A close up shot... Lots of pictures of the king (all of them seem to be in his younger days because he just turned 80.) When you are in Thailand, don't even think about saying anything bad about him... or else.Street Food...
There are the meat balls I was talking about. Lots of skewers of random pieces of meat. The vendor will put whatever sort of sauce you want on there and grill them up for you. I think the stuff on the right side is squid. 
A street cart which serves pad thai noodles with all the trimmings. 
This is a street vendor selling "coconut jelly." They cut open the coconut, pour out the milk and scrape out the meat, then mix in some sort of gelatin powder with the insides of the coconut and pour it back in the shell. You can buy one for 25 baht. Tuk-Tuk
This is the way to get around Bangkok in style. Only drawback is, there is no airconditioning. Oh well. Belated Laos Pictures
Me with standing on top of the giant mushroom/pumpkin at the Buddha park in Vientiane. On the left side is the massive lying Buddha. 
The lying buddha at the park in Vientiane.Friday, January 11, 2008
One Night in Bangkok
Ok... actually 5 nights in Bangkok. I was warned many times by travellers that I should get out of Bangkok "as soon as possible" and that this place is rubbish. But, actually I really enjoy Bangkok. With alot of the big cities I have been to on this trip like Saigon, Phnom Penh, Singapore (same same, but different to a city) I have been able to envision myself living there for extended periods of time. But, Bangkok is one place I could definetally not live. I consider myself a city girl, but Bangkok is not really a city... More like a giant spill of metropolis. Given that, I still highly enjoy Thailand's capital. There is ALWAYS something going on. I'm talking any minute of any day or night there is something happening. Bangkok really is a city that doesn't sleep. I've been here for about 5 days now, and am leaving tomorrow to Ko Tau, an island on the east coast of Thailand. Although I have been enjoying Bangkok, I am ready for something a bit more laid back (like white sandy beaches, clear water, and hammocks!!)
Observations/thoughts/questions/ponderances about Bangkok and the Thai people:
-The Thai people LOVE food. I'm talking obsession here. Thai food is some of the best food in the world, I really believe that. I have always enjoyed going to Thai restaurants at home, and I am enjoying tasting the real thing even more! There is so much food here it is mind blowing. Food stalls, food carts, food vendors galore! In every spare square meter of space there seems to be a Thai person who has set up a food vending area. You can get pretty much any kind of food you want on the street at any hour you want for very cheap as well. Since I have been in Thailand I think I have eaten at a restaurant once (for my birthday, a special occasion.) Here are some of the most popular foods you can get on the streets of Bangkok (and some of my favorites):
-Banana pancakes. Actually they are more like banana crepes. These are not really Thai food, I think the Thai people just started these carts because alot of Western people go for them. I had them once, and they are pretty good.
-Pad thai. You can get pad thai anywhere and watch the vendor cook it up for you right there on their portable grill.
-Papaya salad. My personal favorite. The vendor cuts up papaya (not sweet, more like strips of cucumber), tomatoes, garlic, onion, dried shrimp flakes, peanuts, green beans, a bunch of miscellaneous sauces and powders and puts all the ingredients in a big mortar. Then she will take a huge pestle and smash all of it together for a delicious and fresh result! Oh yeah, I forgot one ingredient: chillis!! I'm a big fan of spicy food and I can usually tolerate alot of spice, but sometimes, GEEZ! I learned my lesson the first few times I got the papaya salad and forgot to say: "Little little spicy!" Without this request you will thoroughly burn off all your taste buds from copious amounts of chillis, which apparently are normal for the Thais. They must have mouths of steel or something like that. Now I know to tell them to tone down the spice. Good results!
-Grilled meats. There are all sorts of vendors selling different sorts of grilled meats. Small pieces are usually being grilled on the portable stove on their carts on skewers. There are also meat balls, not the kind we would think of that come on spagetti. They are more like balls of meat. I got one the other day and was not a huge fan. I'm not sure how they do it, but I think they just grind some sort of meat up and roll them into balls and grill them. The one I had was very gristly.
-Fruits. You can get any kind of fruits you wish, cut up in a plastic bag with a skewer for easy consumption. Some fruits seen around include: jackfruit, pineapple, papaya, strawberry, banana, and watermelon. Oh yeah, they have GREAT grilled bananas on the streets of Bangkok. If anyone remembers, I became obsessed with these in Cambodia. They didn't have any in Vietnam and then they showed up again here and their in Laos but they weren't done they way I like them in Laos. And, glorious day!, I've found them again done properly here in BKK.
-Soups. All kinds of soups can be found at the street carts. Tom yum kung and also clear broth soups similar to Vietnamese pho but with all sorts of random things in there that I don't know.
-Sweets. The Thais don't seem too big on dessert, but you can find some carts that sell different sorts of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.
Those are the basic things that I've seen. I've seen thousands of other things around town, but I wouldn't even know where to begin on guessing what they are, or what ingredients are in them. You could spend years in Bangkok and still not have tried all the street food.
On to other stuff:
-The Royal Family. The Thai royal family seems to have a status similar to celebrities and god. I'm not sure if people actually think of them as gods, maybe the king? I don't know, but there are pictures of the king and the rest of the fam everywhere!! Apparently if you bad mouth the royal family you are in BIG trouble. I heard about a guy who drew a moustache on the king's picture and went to jail for years... The king's sister recently passed away and a few days ago every Thai person was wearing black for mourning I believe. I was walking by the royal palace and there were hundreds of people on the street selling buttons, postcards, posters, t-shirts and other things like that with the princess's picture on them. You can buy pictures/posters/buttons/magazines/books anywhere with the King's pic on them. I am trying to figure out what sort of person would be similar in status to the Thai king in the US. Definetally not the president, thats for sure. The only other thing I can think of is celebrity. Maybe like Tom Cruise or something... But people seem even more obsessed with the King than Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.
-Lady boys. This is an interesting phenomenon that seems to be very unique to Thailand. I'll be walking down the street, watching life go by and think: "Oh, what a pretty lady! Nice dress!" I'll walk a bit closer to this "lady," only to realize that she is actually a he. These are the famous "lady boys" of Thailand. I think some of them are transvestites and just dress up as women, but alot of them have actually had a sex change and breast implants. They are still considered lady boys though. It is a very curious thing. I am wondering why there are so many lady boys in Thailand. There are exponentially more lady boys than in any other SE Asian country. Why? Anyone know? On Khao San Rd. at night time is when alot of them come out to play. They all have nice long hair, boobs, really short dresses, and pounds of make up on. Sometimes I will see a lady boy with a guy and wonder if he knows he is with a lady boy and not a woman. I must say that alot of the time it is very difficult to tell if someone is a lady boy or an actual woman. They are very convincing. Something I think is interesting about lady boys in Thailand: This culture is very conservative but also very tolerant at the same time. If you get caught selling drugs you get caught, if you bad mouth the king you go to jail, traditionally women don't have sex before marriage (or even kiss!), but lady boys, transvestites, homosexuals, and sex-changed people are all highly accepted. I think this is a good thing! One reason why there might be so many lady boys here is because plastic surgery and sex change surgery are relatively cheap in Thailand compared to the rest of the world.
-Materialism. I'm not really sure what to think about this yet. I know Thailand is supposed to be the most "developed" and "Westernized" out of all the SE Asian countries. And so far, I would have to agree. But, in no Western or developed place have I ever seen so much STUFF!! Oh my god, overload! If there is not a food vendor, there is someone selling stuff. Alot of the time it's the most random, seemingly useless stuff too. At any minute you walk down the street people are shopping, shopping and shopping. There is an over abundance of malls. There are spas, plastic surgeons, make up, clothes, electronics, shoes, bags, and on and on. I'm not critisizing, only observing. I think that having alot of material possessions is highly regarded by the Thai people. It seems so any way with the amount of stuff everywhere. It is interesting because the Thai people are also very Buddhist. I always connected very Buddhist people with sort of a simple life. It was like that in Nepal anyway. But then again, the people in Nepal didn't have the money to have anything other than a simple life. The Thai people do, and they take full advantage of this money with shopping.
Well, thats all for now. I'm off for my last night in Bangkok before heading south. Tomorrow I will try to load some pictures online.
Observations/thoughts/questions/ponderances about Bangkok and the Thai people:
-The Thai people LOVE food. I'm talking obsession here. Thai food is some of the best food in the world, I really believe that. I have always enjoyed going to Thai restaurants at home, and I am enjoying tasting the real thing even more! There is so much food here it is mind blowing. Food stalls, food carts, food vendors galore! In every spare square meter of space there seems to be a Thai person who has set up a food vending area. You can get pretty much any kind of food you want on the street at any hour you want for very cheap as well. Since I have been in Thailand I think I have eaten at a restaurant once (for my birthday, a special occasion.) Here are some of the most popular foods you can get on the streets of Bangkok (and some of my favorites):
-Banana pancakes. Actually they are more like banana crepes. These are not really Thai food, I think the Thai people just started these carts because alot of Western people go for them. I had them once, and they are pretty good.
-Pad thai. You can get pad thai anywhere and watch the vendor cook it up for you right there on their portable grill.
-Papaya salad. My personal favorite. The vendor cuts up papaya (not sweet, more like strips of cucumber), tomatoes, garlic, onion, dried shrimp flakes, peanuts, green beans, a bunch of miscellaneous sauces and powders and puts all the ingredients in a big mortar. Then she will take a huge pestle and smash all of it together for a delicious and fresh result! Oh yeah, I forgot one ingredient: chillis!! I'm a big fan of spicy food and I can usually tolerate alot of spice, but sometimes, GEEZ! I learned my lesson the first few times I got the papaya salad and forgot to say: "Little little spicy!" Without this request you will thoroughly burn off all your taste buds from copious amounts of chillis, which apparently are normal for the Thais. They must have mouths of steel or something like that. Now I know to tell them to tone down the spice. Good results!
-Grilled meats. There are all sorts of vendors selling different sorts of grilled meats. Small pieces are usually being grilled on the portable stove on their carts on skewers. There are also meat balls, not the kind we would think of that come on spagetti. They are more like balls of meat. I got one the other day and was not a huge fan. I'm not sure how they do it, but I think they just grind some sort of meat up and roll them into balls and grill them. The one I had was very gristly.
-Fruits. You can get any kind of fruits you wish, cut up in a plastic bag with a skewer for easy consumption. Some fruits seen around include: jackfruit, pineapple, papaya, strawberry, banana, and watermelon. Oh yeah, they have GREAT grilled bananas on the streets of Bangkok. If anyone remembers, I became obsessed with these in Cambodia. They didn't have any in Vietnam and then they showed up again here and their in Laos but they weren't done they way I like them in Laos. And, glorious day!, I've found them again done properly here in BKK.
-Soups. All kinds of soups can be found at the street carts. Tom yum kung and also clear broth soups similar to Vietnamese pho but with all sorts of random things in there that I don't know.
-Sweets. The Thais don't seem too big on dessert, but you can find some carts that sell different sorts of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.
Those are the basic things that I've seen. I've seen thousands of other things around town, but I wouldn't even know where to begin on guessing what they are, or what ingredients are in them. You could spend years in Bangkok and still not have tried all the street food.
On to other stuff:
-The Royal Family. The Thai royal family seems to have a status similar to celebrities and god. I'm not sure if people actually think of them as gods, maybe the king? I don't know, but there are pictures of the king and the rest of the fam everywhere!! Apparently if you bad mouth the royal family you are in BIG trouble. I heard about a guy who drew a moustache on the king's picture and went to jail for years... The king's sister recently passed away and a few days ago every Thai person was wearing black for mourning I believe. I was walking by the royal palace and there were hundreds of people on the street selling buttons, postcards, posters, t-shirts and other things like that with the princess's picture on them. You can buy pictures/posters/buttons/magazines/books anywhere with the King's pic on them. I am trying to figure out what sort of person would be similar in status to the Thai king in the US. Definetally not the president, thats for sure. The only other thing I can think of is celebrity. Maybe like Tom Cruise or something... But people seem even more obsessed with the King than Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt.
-Lady boys. This is an interesting phenomenon that seems to be very unique to Thailand. I'll be walking down the street, watching life go by and think: "Oh, what a pretty lady! Nice dress!" I'll walk a bit closer to this "lady," only to realize that she is actually a he. These are the famous "lady boys" of Thailand. I think some of them are transvestites and just dress up as women, but alot of them have actually had a sex change and breast implants. They are still considered lady boys though. It is a very curious thing. I am wondering why there are so many lady boys in Thailand. There are exponentially more lady boys than in any other SE Asian country. Why? Anyone know? On Khao San Rd. at night time is when alot of them come out to play. They all have nice long hair, boobs, really short dresses, and pounds of make up on. Sometimes I will see a lady boy with a guy and wonder if he knows he is with a lady boy and not a woman. I must say that alot of the time it is very difficult to tell if someone is a lady boy or an actual woman. They are very convincing. Something I think is interesting about lady boys in Thailand: This culture is very conservative but also very tolerant at the same time. If you get caught selling drugs you get caught, if you bad mouth the king you go to jail, traditionally women don't have sex before marriage (or even kiss!), but lady boys, transvestites, homosexuals, and sex-changed people are all highly accepted. I think this is a good thing! One reason why there might be so many lady boys here is because plastic surgery and sex change surgery are relatively cheap in Thailand compared to the rest of the world.
-Materialism. I'm not really sure what to think about this yet. I know Thailand is supposed to be the most "developed" and "Westernized" out of all the SE Asian countries. And so far, I would have to agree. But, in no Western or developed place have I ever seen so much STUFF!! Oh my god, overload! If there is not a food vendor, there is someone selling stuff. Alot of the time it's the most random, seemingly useless stuff too. At any minute you walk down the street people are shopping, shopping and shopping. There is an over abundance of malls. There are spas, plastic surgeons, make up, clothes, electronics, shoes, bags, and on and on. I'm not critisizing, only observing. I think that having alot of material possessions is highly regarded by the Thai people. It seems so any way with the amount of stuff everywhere. It is interesting because the Thai people are also very Buddhist. I always connected very Buddhist people with sort of a simple life. It was like that in Nepal anyway. But then again, the people in Nepal didn't have the money to have anything other than a simple life. The Thai people do, and they take full advantage of this money with shopping.
Well, thats all for now. I'm off for my last night in Bangkok before heading south. Tomorrow I will try to load some pictures online.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Christmas Pic!
This is a picture of all of us on Christmas! Uncle Vic, Satch, Aunt Sandy, Eli, me, Ruby and Victor. A lovely Christmas dinner we had. This picture is from Luang Prabang, Laos.Waiting for Hair
One of the many things you can do in Bangkok is get a mane full of braids. I wasn't in the mood to sit for 6 hours for a head full of synthetic hair extension braids, but my friend Jayne was. And I sat around with her through the ordeal. The daughter of the hair dresser (who by the way simply sets up shop on the street) borrowed my camera and took loads of pictures with it. This is me, waiting for my friend's hair to be done. If you look at the background you will get a small peak into what Bangkok... Stuff everywhere!! I have never seen so much "stuff" anywhere. The streets are lined with stuff, stores overflowing with stuff, street carts exploding with stuff. I can't say it is a very materialistic place, because I've only been here for a day, but Thai people really like stuff!! Thats not to say that a common sight is not a western tourist burndened with what seems like a ton or two of shopping bags. Khao San Rd. At Night
Bright lights! Big city! This is Khao San Rd (Bangkok) at night time when the madness really begins. The streets is blocked off so motor vehicles can't go down it so people completely flood the street. As I said before the best people watching in the world! In this picture notice the little boy carrying the flowers in the front. These kids try to sell flowers to tourists who are dining in restaurants. It's a nice thought, but it quickly turns sour when you think about how young they are, how late they are out, and that they are often sheparded around by their parents and pushed to bother tourists while they are in a restaurant.
Pick Up Ride
My friend Jayne and I, on our FREEZING pick-up truck ride from Vang Vieng to Vientiane. We were not dressed appropriately for a FREEZING pick-up truck ride, so a Japanese man lent us his pink and purple ski suit to warm up! (Wouldn't you think to bring a pink and purple ski suit to Laos too??)
Arrival in Bangkok
I hopped on a night bus from Vientiane two days ago and arrived in Bangkok on Khoa San road early yesterday morning. What a sight I was in for!! I am not even completely sure what to compare Bangkok to, I suppose it is a completely unique place. It is a bit similar to Saigon in Vietnam, and also similar to Singpore in some ways.
After a 12 hour sleepless bus ride I staggered off the bus with 3 other travellers I had made friends with, all of us bleery eyed. We arrived in Bangkok at about 5 in the morning and there were no guesthouses open to get a room. So we decided to go sit around somewhere and have an orange juice and shoot the breeze for a few hours until all the guest houses open. As we walked down Khoa San road (the central "touristy" area of Bangkok) I observed a few things: some scary, some funny, some just plain weird. Things I saw on my first 5 minutes in Bangkok:
-Loads of young westerners about the streets with a beer in hand and their finest clubbing attire on.
-A scattering of homeless Thai people asleep in crevices or under tarps, their belongings spread out about them.
-A number of VERY drunk Thai people who looked like they had been drinking hard for 50 years, and their liver was about to go out on them.
-A group of older Westerns and Thai people, wearing dirty scraps of clothing, sitting in the middle of the street, strumming an old guitar, singing, drinking out of a bottle of whiskey. It seemed to me "Hotel California" was their life's theme song.
Anyway, what a sight! My friends and I went to a small restaurant and had orange juices and tried to keep our eyes open. The restaurant was still packed full of young Thai guys playing pool and drinking copious amounts of beer. By this time it was 7 in the morning. All in all, my impression so far is that Bangkok is a very high intensity place!
On Khoa San road: What a strange place this is! It rivals Granville street in Vancouver, BC as the best people watching I have ever seen in the world. I was sitting on the street, eating some street food and watching the rivers of people go by yesterday. I kept seeing something and thought: "Oh my god! That is so weird!" And then two minutes later, something even weirder would pass.
Another thing: Never in anywhere in the world have I ever seen a bigger collection of tattooed, pierced, dreadlocked, dyed, body-modified, crazy clothes wearing, international collection of people than on Khao San road. Everybody seems to be covered in tattoos and have intense manes of dreadlocks. I think alot of people come to Bangkok to get tattoos, because on Khao San road there is a tattoo parlor about every other shop. I have also never seen such a huge collection of tattoo parlors and 7-Elevens...
Thailand is incredibly different than Laos. Laos was the most laid back country I have been too, and so far (even though I have just been to Bangkok), Thailand is the exact opposite. Not a bad thing, just very different.
After a 12 hour sleepless bus ride I staggered off the bus with 3 other travellers I had made friends with, all of us bleery eyed. We arrived in Bangkok at about 5 in the morning and there were no guesthouses open to get a room. So we decided to go sit around somewhere and have an orange juice and shoot the breeze for a few hours until all the guest houses open. As we walked down Khoa San road (the central "touristy" area of Bangkok) I observed a few things: some scary, some funny, some just plain weird. Things I saw on my first 5 minutes in Bangkok:
-Loads of young westerners about the streets with a beer in hand and their finest clubbing attire on.
-A scattering of homeless Thai people asleep in crevices or under tarps, their belongings spread out about them.
-A number of VERY drunk Thai people who looked like they had been drinking hard for 50 years, and their liver was about to go out on them.
-A group of older Westerns and Thai people, wearing dirty scraps of clothing, sitting in the middle of the street, strumming an old guitar, singing, drinking out of a bottle of whiskey. It seemed to me "Hotel California" was their life's theme song.
Anyway, what a sight! My friends and I went to a small restaurant and had orange juices and tried to keep our eyes open. The restaurant was still packed full of young Thai guys playing pool and drinking copious amounts of beer. By this time it was 7 in the morning. All in all, my impression so far is that Bangkok is a very high intensity place!
On Khoa San road: What a strange place this is! It rivals Granville street in Vancouver, BC as the best people watching I have ever seen in the world. I was sitting on the street, eating some street food and watching the rivers of people go by yesterday. I kept seeing something and thought: "Oh my god! That is so weird!" And then two minutes later, something even weirder would pass.
Another thing: Never in anywhere in the world have I ever seen a bigger collection of tattooed, pierced, dreadlocked, dyed, body-modified, crazy clothes wearing, international collection of people than on Khao San road. Everybody seems to be covered in tattoos and have intense manes of dreadlocks. I think alot of people come to Bangkok to get tattoos, because on Khao San road there is a tattoo parlor about every other shop. I have also never seen such a huge collection of tattoo parlors and 7-Elevens...
Thailand is incredibly different than Laos. Laos was the most laid back country I have been too, and so far (even though I have just been to Bangkok), Thailand is the exact opposite. Not a bad thing, just very different.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Back To Vientiane
I am currently back in Vientiane. I met back up with my travel friend, Jayne, in Vang Vieng and we decided to come down to Vientiane together. We trudged over to the local bus station and bought our tickets yesterday morning in Vang Vieng. Later, we came back to the station with our backpacks only to find out that the bus was full, even though they had sold us a ticket! A strange man came up to us and asked us if we wanted to take a pick up down to Vientiane. We were pretty desperate to leave so we accepted. I asked what the catch was, and he said nothing so we shrugged and hopped in the back of a rusty old pickup truck along with 19 Lao-locals and a Japanese couple. I was wearing a tank top because I thought I would be riding the 4 hour drive in a much-too-warm bus. But, plans never seem to be concrete around here. So I sat in the pick up truck bed shivering cold, wearing my tank top while all the locals were bundled up to the max! I thought I was on the verge of hypothermia when the trusty Japanese man pulled a bright pink and purple ski suit out of his pack and handed it to Jayne and I to share! I thanked him profusely and practiced my Japanese with him for a while while I snuggled up in a 80's style ski suit! It was great. Anyway, made it to Vientiane with only minor hypothermia. Next stop... plotting that as we speak.
Goodbye!!
Goodbye!!
Vang Vieng
Sa bai dee!
I have just ended a week stint in Vang Vieng, a small town of about 25,000 people about 7 hours (in a local bus) south of Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng is an interesting place, what the guide book likes to call a "traveller's haven" and a "backpacker's destination." I would have to agree with this. Vang Vieng, while beautiful, is mostly made up of foreign backpackers who come looking for a good time.
Example 1) A large proportion of the restaurants in Vang Vieng have what is called a "Happy" or "Special Menu." No, this does not mean you get more cheese on your pizza, or more banana in your shake, it means you get a nice helping of marijuana or magic mushrooms in your food (if you order from this menu.)
Example 2) A large proportion of the people walking around on the streets are not locals but foreigners under the age of 30 with extremely long dreadlocks, no shoes, and holes in the butts of their pants. And a large proportion of these people have just had a Happy Shake.
Example 3) Intertubing. Intertubing is one of the main attractions of Vang Vieng. I went intertubing 2 times which was quite fun, but was not a Laos cultural experience in any way. You rent an intertube in the morning and jump in the back of a pick up truck with all your friends and are dropped off at a set in point. Everyone then jumps in their intertubs and floats down the Nam Sang river. Yes the sights are beautiful: huge jutting mountains all around, gentle waters, wildlife, etc... But the main lure of the tubing are the bars that dot the banks of the river. People stop off at bars on their way down the river and drink copious amounts of Beerlao (the #1 beer in Laos.)
Example 4) Friends bars. Not a place that you go with your friends (although feel free too), it is a bar/restaurant complete with many pillows and beds, where you can go can watch episode after episode of the TV sitcom Friends. Seems silly, but people actually do go. I tested out a couple Friends Bars, and they really suck you in. Very un-Laos.
Anyway, Vang Vieng was alot of fun, but to be honest I am glad to be gone. It is a fun experience, but doesn't enrich your knowledge about the Lao culture of people in any sort of way. Good new years fun though.
I recommend it to travellers looking for a fun time, but if you don't like bars and meeting other young backpackers, probably not the place for you.
I have just ended a week stint in Vang Vieng, a small town of about 25,000 people about 7 hours (in a local bus) south of Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng is an interesting place, what the guide book likes to call a "traveller's haven" and a "backpacker's destination." I would have to agree with this. Vang Vieng, while beautiful, is mostly made up of foreign backpackers who come looking for a good time.
Example 1) A large proportion of the restaurants in Vang Vieng have what is called a "Happy" or "Special Menu." No, this does not mean you get more cheese on your pizza, or more banana in your shake, it means you get a nice helping of marijuana or magic mushrooms in your food (if you order from this menu.)
Example 2) A large proportion of the people walking around on the streets are not locals but foreigners under the age of 30 with extremely long dreadlocks, no shoes, and holes in the butts of their pants. And a large proportion of these people have just had a Happy Shake.
Example 3) Intertubing. Intertubing is one of the main attractions of Vang Vieng. I went intertubing 2 times which was quite fun, but was not a Laos cultural experience in any way. You rent an intertube in the morning and jump in the back of a pick up truck with all your friends and are dropped off at a set in point. Everyone then jumps in their intertubs and floats down the Nam Sang river. Yes the sights are beautiful: huge jutting mountains all around, gentle waters, wildlife, etc... But the main lure of the tubing are the bars that dot the banks of the river. People stop off at bars on their way down the river and drink copious amounts of Beerlao (the #1 beer in Laos.)
Example 4) Friends bars. Not a place that you go with your friends (although feel free too), it is a bar/restaurant complete with many pillows and beds, where you can go can watch episode after episode of the TV sitcom Friends. Seems silly, but people actually do go. I tested out a couple Friends Bars, and they really suck you in. Very un-Laos.
Anyway, Vang Vieng was alot of fun, but to be honest I am glad to be gone. It is a fun experience, but doesn't enrich your knowledge about the Lao culture of people in any sort of way. Good new years fun though.
I recommend it to travellers looking for a fun time, but if you don't like bars and meeting other young backpackers, probably not the place for you.
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