Temples and Trekking

It has now probably been only a week since my last entry, but it seems like so much has happened. After the Scots and I left Pai, we headed to Chiang Mai for one night before heading to Chiang Rai. Our one night was definitely memorable though. We booked a cheap guesthouse and I suppose we expected something similar to our last one in Chiang Mai. This was not the case. The dorm was more or less in a wooden shack. The doors didn't really close and there were tons of holes through the floors and walls. Our thin mattresses were on the floor and soon after arriving, Jo found a lovely cluster of ants on hers. After being there for just a few hours, we discovered that the staff were quite friendly - maybe even a little crazy - and we watched them gamble while they fed us snacks. Not surprisingly, we met people in our hostel almost immediately, one Irish and two Dutch, who of course knew more people from a different hostel, and before you knew it, we had a group of ten for dinner. Funny how you come traveling alone and you almost always end up in giant groups.

White Temple, Chiang Rai

White Temple, Chiang Rai

 The next day we headed to Chiang Rai. None of us really knew what to expect (yet another place that we didn't really research ahead of time). The very first thing we were told to do was visit the white temple (I forgot to mention that we immediately met a Canadian and a Slovakian in our new hostel who told us this over hotpot). The white temple isn't like other temples. It was built by a famous Thai artist who wanted to give a contemporary twist on Thai art and culture. When you arrive, you see an intricately built, beautiful temple. There are silver mosaics on the walls, and the bridge leading to the entryway is clad with giant dragons. When you look closer though, you see the gnarly scenes and decor that the artist has created. Around the temple are trees with head sculptures hanging down and long strands of plants growing out of them made to look like guts spilling from a guillotined skull. When you look even closer, you see that the heads are famous characters like Hellboy and Batman. You then enter the temple and cross a bridge. Below you are two pools with sculpted hands reaching up at you, and the odd face screaming at you from the bottom of the pool, like you're walking over hell. Once you get into the temple, you are surrounded with detailed drawings, some of which are not yet finished. There are lighter characters worked into the drawings, like Superman, Angry Birds, Hello Kitty, and Star Wars characters. Then there are darker images, such as the World Trade Centre being hit by planes, or faint images of different guns and weaponry. In the eyes of the Buddha painted at the front, you can make out the faces of George Bush and Osama Bin Laden. Despite the strange subject matter, Thai visitors were still praying. I guess a temple is a temple, end of story. Supposedly the entire project of the temple and the surrounding buildings is going to take 90 years to finish. Even in ten years time, I can only imagine that this place will just get more and more surreal and outlandish. We followed this up with a visit to the hilltribe museum. Sounds boring in theory, but came in very useful, as I'll explain later...
 The next day, after wandering the streets in search of a botanical garden, we gave up and asked for directions in a restaurant. There we met a couple, the husband from the States and the wife from Chiang Rai. They offered us a ride to the gardens, as we had somehow ended up on the other side of town, and started chatting. The man had lived in Thailand for 36 years, and spoke perfect Thai, but definitely still hung on to some American norms of life. He explained how he built his own giant home in the countryside and still wanted the luxuries of life. Just goes to show, you can take the man out of America, but you can't take the America out of the man. After walking around the gardens, we finished the night by somehow managing to go bowling (in Thailand, I know).
 Next it was time to head to Laos, and I have to say, it was the weirdest border crossing I've ever been through. We took a bus to the border town, followed by a tuktuk to the crossing. At the top of the street are shops to give you American money for your visa and passport photos. You then walk down a dirt road where you go to the Thai immigration office (low and behold, we screwed up our timing and managed to get fined for staying in the damn country one day too long). You then hop on a longboat and cross the river. You hop off, avoiding getting stuck in the mud, and walk up a hill to the Laos office, use the American money for your visa, and that's it. Slightly more rural than an American or Canadian customs officer giving you dirty looks.
 Our first destination in Laos was called Louang Namtha. It's in the North, about 20 km from the Chinese border. I think Rachel picked it out for trekking, so I figured I'd stick with the girls and see something new. After our first night here, it was time for me to split paths from the Scots and continue on my own. I had traveled with them for two months, and it felt like I'd known them for years. There's something about traveling that can turn acquaintances into practically family, and you get to know people twenty times faster than you would at home. The girls wanted to do a longer trek, but since I'm on a bit of a time crunch, I opted for two days. I ended up going with a couple - the girl from Austria and the guy from Germany. I think I really lucked out because the two were true nature lovers and wanted to take full advantage of their two days in the jungle. Our guide, Sing, had grown up in a tribal village, and knew everything about surviving in the wild. He showed us all the plants we could eat and use as medecine, and made us all walking stiks with his machete.

Sing, our guide

After hiking for about five hours, we arrived at a tribal village to spend the night. This was most definitely one of the most rewarding nights of my life. As soon as we arrived, all the kids started telling everyone that the foreigners had arrived, and we were swarmed by children wanting to play. One of the girls found some rocks and challenged me to jacks (which I apparently suck at), and none of them could get over my nose piercing. When it was time to cook dinner, we used plants we had found in the jungle to make soup, and the children gathered to help out, and show us how to prepare the local ingredients. It's pretty hilarious; you're sitting on the ground using a banana leaf to cut on, using a machete to cut up vegetables, and chickens and pigs are wandering around you the entire time. When we sat down to eat, a few of the locals who managed the property and their kids joined us. It was funny, every once and a while, a villager would pop their head around the corner, curious of what was going on. They were immediately invited to join us and eat, and our table got fuller and fuller. There were babies, mothers, and grandmothers, fathers, and teenage boys. We offered to buy our guide a beer, and before you knew it, even more people were joining us for a glass. The young adults of the village then got into their traditional clothes and danced for us. At the end, they tied strings to our wrists - meant to give you good fortune and wish away bad spirits - and fed us eggs - meant to give you strength. The whole night, I also thoroughly enjoyed playing with and making small talk with the young girls who happened to know a few words of English from school. The host family set up our sleeping area in our wooden shack - I'd say one of the nicer ones in the entire village.

Marten and Hannah making dinner with the kids

 The next morning we were woken by the roosters and by all the people working away to prepare breakfast. I forgot to mention that every meal was eaten with sticky rice which you form into balls and use as your utensil. We were off quickly for another day of hiking. Along the way, Sing picked plants to use for our lunch. When we got to our rest spot, we prepared everything using tools from the jungle. First, we made a fire (the German was thrilled to finally use flint and magnesium that he had purchased before leaving home). We then set up banana leaves and started cutting up the vegetables we had picked with the machete using bamboo as a cutting board. In the meantime, Sing had cut a long tube of bamboo, used it as a pot on the fire, and filled it with water to use as the base of our soup. We threw in the ingredients, and used a stick to mix everything inside of the bamboo. Sing then carved another tube of bamboo to make a giant dish and laid out banana leaves for plates. We poured our soup into the dish and used sticky rice (conveniently wrapped in banana leaves) to eat with it. Sing also showed us how to set up traps to catch different kinds of animals. I swear, this man could survive for a year alone in the jungle, it was amazing. The hike was definitely not a walk in the park, but despite the sweat, it was arguably the best two days I've had on my trip thus far.

Sweaty mess...

 Now I'm back in Louang Namtha resting up for the night, and getting ready to head to my next destination early tomorrow morning. Now that I'm on my own, it forces me to meet new people, and every new person has a new story, which I absolutely love. Needless to say, I'm more than anxious to see what the rest of Southeast Asia has in store for the lone traveller.

The Hippy Hubs

After leaving Bangkok, the plan was to gradually make our way North towards the Laos border, and hit up some of the popular backpackers' spots along the way.

Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai

We started off with just a couple nights in a town called Sukhothai. At the end of our stay in Bangkok, I came down with a bit of a fever, so I wasn't up for much, meaning that unfortunately my time in the North hasn't been quite as lively as I would've liked. Sukhothai is a fairly small town in the middle of Thailand. There isn't really too much there, but it is the old capital, so it definitely has some history. On our one full day there, we rented bikes and went around the ruins that are considered the 'Old City'. Turns out that apparently Sukhothai probably hasn't been the capital in, like, 1000 years... (this is a bit of a joke, I actually have no idea when it was the capital last, but if the Old City is any testament, it may have very well been 1000 years). I think I've talked in my blog about those surreal moments that hit you from time to time when you're traveling, those moments where you think "How the hell did I get here?". Well, biking on an old fifties-style bike with a basket going around ancient ruins was one of those moments. After a leisurely day, we had a laidback evening, as I tried to recover from whatever illness I had incurred (the girls were BEYOND nice enough to give me the private room with my own double bed). The next day we biked around the town for a bit getting lost as usual, until it was time to head on our next busride to Chiang Mai.

long neck Karen tribe woman

 I had unbelievably high hopes for Chiang Mai, since everyone I've met, both at home and on this trip, has raved about it, saying what a great, relaxed town it is. I honestly think that perhaps my expectations had gone beyond what they should have - not that I didn't like Chiang Mai, but it was just different than what I expected. We had decided to stay in Chiang Mai for six nights since we'd been moving around so much. I took this as a prime opportunity to rest up and get rid of whatever I'd had (after I'd thought I'd recovered, I was constantly getting lightheaded and had acquired some lovely heat rash on my legs). On our first day, we realised that we had no choice but to buy into some of the tourist traps, as that is just what Chiang Mai had to offer, other than numerous night markets. We started off with a visit to the Tiger Kingdom. Now I didn't even realise that this type of thing existed, but apparently there's one place in Northern Thailand where you can go into a cage with a bunch of tigers and pet them or play with them, whatever you want. Somehow, through growing up around people and being trained, these giant tigers are safe to openly be around (though apparently the baby tigers tend to get nippy). We chose to go in with the adult tigers, and the only thing between you and them is a trainer with a tiny piece of bamboo to knock them on the nose when they get out of line. Awesome. I of course took this as an excellent photo-opp. Obviously though, I had to have a bit of fun and pose with the tiger along with Rachel and Jo.

view of Mae Hong Son

 I almost forgot to mention this one little restaurant that we came across called the Funky Dog Cafe (appropriately named after the owner's goofy looking little dog). It was very cute - when we first went in, we all ordered the same curry with all different kinds of meat. The owner then proceeded to say "Oh no, this curry is much better with just chicken, you should all just order that." We knew he just didn't want to make it three different ways, so we went along with it. We then ordered different drinks and he said, "Oh no, Sprite is much better, good for you." We had a little laugh and went with it. After looking around the walls at the different sayings, poems, and artwork, we found that this was quite a little hippy joint. You couldn't help though but love the little old man - who told every table afterward to have the same curry with chicken - who seemed so cheery and at peace with himself and with life. You don't find that with all the locals, but there is a definite vibe - especially among ex-pats who've ended up here - of tranquility and a go-with-the-flow mentality: HIPPY TOWN! After a day of rest for me, and a day of walking for the others (they also met up with the Argentinian we'd met in Bangkok), it was Rachel's birthday, so we decided to take a Thai cooking class. At home, my mother among others can tell you I am a horrible cook, and a messy one at that. After a visit to the local market and a mini-lesson on different herbs, I successfully made spring rolls, curry paste and massaman curry, sweet and sour vegetables, pad thai, and fried bananas with ice cream - all from scratch! Honestly, it wasn't that challenging and they guided you along the way, but it definitely upped my confidence in my ability to try some new dishes...and it also confirmed that, yes, I am indeed a very messy cook. After surprising Rachel with a birthday cake - I forgot to mention that we also met up with Julia in Chiang Mai at this point - we went out for a small dinner and drinks. I decided to take it easy (surprising I know), and headed home after a few drinks, but the others went full force, and reverted back to our island routine. This of course meant that the next day was a hangover day. On our last day, we rented bikes again and, for some reason, headed to the mall. We decided to pay another amazing visit to the cinema to see a movie, and welcomed the free AC. In short, Chiang Mai flew by. I don't know that I really experienced it fully, but what I did experience was good and fun, but not mind-blowing. Though I will say that the night markets were pretty awesome, and lived up to what I would've expected.
 Our next stop was in Pai, which is where I now find myself. Pai is a small town about four hours Northwest of Chiang Mai. If someone were to go to Chiang Mai, and not really find it to be a hippy town, then Pai is the place to go. This is THE hippy town. On our first full day here, we did a day trip to Mae Hong Son and the surrounding area. We started at 4am and went to a lake for the sunrise, followed by a Chinese style village for breakfast. We then went to a mud spa where you could get mud facials or body scrubs. Being on a budget though, we went for the 'el cheapo' foot bath. We then went and saw a village of Burmese refugees where the women have stretched necks. It actually gave me an overwhelming remeniscence of Peru and the indigenous villages in the Sacred Valley. Our last stops were to a temple on a hill overlooking the town of Mae Hong Son and to a fish cave - basically a park with a river swarming with giant fish. After heading back to Pai, we wandered the streets, indulging in sugary doughnuts. It's funny how alive Thailand becomes after dark. It seems to be that way everywhere in Thailand. A town might seem deserted and dead, and then when the sun goes down, it'll turn into a bustling market full of music and vendors. Today we rented bikes again (this seems to be a trend of this part of the trip). The girls wanted to head to the hot springs, but being lazy and slow, I opted to just go to the local swimming pool, and chilled out for the day. They, on the other hand, biked fourteen kilometres, and visited the local hot springs. Tomorrow we head out for our last stop in Thailand, Chiang Rai. It is strategically located next to the Laos border. On a positive note, I began my research of Laos last night with a wikitravel search, and found that there are definitely some regular spots for backpackers. In two and a half weeks, I'm splitting off from the girls, and heading to Vietnam and Cambodia on my own. While I probably should be nervous about traveling on my own, I have to say that I'm actually quite comfortable with the idea. As much as I love traveling with other people, I think it might be nice to beat to my own drum for a bit, and really focus on my photography portfolio. Anyway, today marks two months of my trip down and three to go! Here's to the next few months!

Same, Same... But Different

After departing the laid back vibe of the islands, the Scots and I headed for Bangkok. Now almost everyone I've talked to, both here and at home, says Bangkok is nothing special. It's a big chaotic city full of scam artists and traffic jams. Well it turns out it is. But what's a city without a bit of chaos, confusion, and a good tourist trap?
 At this point, the girls and I are going day to day; we don't make plans until the morning of, and we're collectively flexible to go with the flow. On our first night in Bangkok, after an overnight ferry and eight hours in a minivan, we were not up for anything crazy. Plus, I think we all agreed we need a major detox after the islands. We opted to go to a movie, which was a fabulous change of pace and a definite comfort of home (and for some reason, the big movie theatre is on TripAdvisor's top ten things to do in Bangkok...Huh?). I'll admit though, it was a pretty decked out movie theatre with VIP seating. The only catch of the evening was that, before the movie, we had to stand for the national anthem, played to images of the King. It's hard to know for sure, since we are constantly lost in translation, but I get the feeling that the government and royal family in Thailand censor a lot of media in order to maintain popularity. I would've assumed this was true to an extent, but I'd say it's quite a prevalent part of Thai culture. That night, Rachel met an Argentinian guy traveling alone in the stairwell (like I've said before, you meet people everywhere here...), so he tagged along the following day for sightseeing. We did the classic day in Bangkok of visiting temples, such as the Golden Mount, Wat Pho, and the Grand Palace. Of course we got slightly lost and wandered the streets for hours, popping into various air-conditioned structures along the way - one of them so happened to be a contemporary art gallery, which I can definitely appreciate any day. We finished off at Kao San Road, probably the most popular street for tourists in Bangkok. It's mainly crammed with street vendors selling souvenirs and food, thrown in with massage parlours (happy ending?) and plenty of restaurants and bars. I think there is some general thought that Kao San is filled with strip clubs and pingpong shows, but that's actually in the Red Light District, conveniently located next to our hostel. Naturally, you can imagine what we had planned for that evening...

Temple at Wat Pho

 Okay, so before I get into this story, for anyone reading thinking I'm in danger or just plain mad, it's not the case, and now that this story has happened, I can be extremely confident that it will not happen again. After having a drink at the hostel to loosen up and actually be able to sit through a pingpong show, we headed down the street. We went with the first person who came up to us offering a pingpong show with free cover and cheap drinks. We didn't really think it through because nobody tells you about that kind of scam; after all, it's basically a strip club. So we head with this guy to a place and it's fairly empty and the show isn't really too exciting. I won't go into detail on what a pingpong show is - if you don't know, look it up. We decide to head out and maybe try a different one to see if it's any better. When we stand up, we are ushered to a desk with the cashier. She writes up the bill and asks us for 4,400 baht, about 150 dollars. Obviously we did not see it coming and none of us even had that much money. We told them what the guy who had taken us there said, and she claimed that he doesn't work for them (right, I'm POSITIVE that's true...). The lady starts going off to Rachel saying that she'll pay her 100 baht to shoot a pingpong - laughable, I know. We gave them enough money to cover the cost of what our drinks should've been and said we didn't have anymore. The lady had the nerve to lift up my dress (I assume she thought I was wearing a money belt or something), and that was it. I was in assertive mode. In the meantime, five women were surrounding us and had closed the exit door. Rachel and Joanne assumed that they would rob us of all we had and beat up the Argentinian - I didn't even think that far, I just wanted to get the hell out. After the lady lifted my dress, I gave her my stern stare-down and assertive speech to lay off and bolted for the door. Once we realized they weren't going to stop us, we ran down the stairs and through the market until we were sure they weren't following us. Verdict for the pingpong show? Never again. While after relaxing and getting a grip soon after we could laugh about it, it was definitely a nerve-racking situation and I'm just BEYOND thankful that I was not in that situation alone. In short - lesson learned. And of course, there is never a situation that some late night street food can't cure.

Bangkok skyline

 The next day we didn't really have much of a plan, but had read that Chinatown was good, so went for that. I also read about bird's nest soup, and am always enthusiastic about gross new foods. If you've ever watched Planet Earth, one of the segments on caves shows Thai caverns where birds make their nests on the wall by weaving their own saliva. The nests are harvested and used to make soup. Basically, it's bird spit soup. We found it fairly quickly, and as is easily imaginable, the texture was a little strange - but it wasn't horrible. We wandered the streets and explored the market before heading back. I decided to split off and visit the Arts and Culture Centre, which was unfortunately closed, but I stuck around to take some photos anyway. Even though I'm not traveling alone right now, I got a small taste of what it might be like later on in my trip. Honestly, even after a day, I feel quite comfortable and secure in Bangkok. I don't feel targeted (though needless to say, there are lots of opportunities to feel this way), and it's very similar to moving around in any city; everyone has a purpose and destination, and if you don't give them a reason to care about your presence, you remain anonymous. As Rachel would say, 'I love a good city'.

bird's nest soup

 Lastly, I must explain my title because this is one of the staples of Thailand. Obviously locals generally don't speak a lot of English, and the only words they seem to have down are 'same same'. What does that imply? Whatever you want it to. Typically, it just a way for them to agree with you, but sometimes it actually does mean 'same'. Since these infamous words get thrown around extremely loosely, it's only natural that the 'same same' is actually different. I'm not sure if the Thai people completely understand the mocking humour involved with the saying, but they have mounds of t-shirts dedicated to it, and it's almost as commonly heard and found as Gangnam Style (that's saying a lot!).

Statue at the Golden Mount

 Tomorrow we head to Sukhothai. None of us really know anything about this place. We literally looked at a map and chose a town halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I guess we'll have to wait and see...

The Island Routine

When the Scots - Joanne and Rachel - and I got back from Singapore, we hatched out a plan to see the islands on the east coast of Thailand before we started heading up north. If we spent three nights on each island, we'd leave ourselves three weeks on our visas to see the rest of the country. Julia, the Danish volunteer, met up with us and the four of us traveled together. We started in Koh Samui.

Ice Bar on Koh Samui!!!

 Koh Samui is the southern-most island and the largest. It has several towns and resort areas, so we chose a hostel in a town called Chaweng. It was mostly a random decision, but it was definitely a good one. I think it must have been on our first day when we kind of developed our 'island routine'. We would arrive, check out the town and relax. The next day was our beach day. We decided to invest in some beachballs, and lord knows I couldn't resist the local Starbucks. After the beach day came the party night. Julia was staying at a different hostel and invited an English girl to join us. We jumped from bar to bar, and even got roped into visiting the ice bar. Yes, Thailand has an ice bar. They give you ponchos and fuzzy hats. After about five photographs, the greatness wore off, and we moved on extremely quickly. At our fifth bar, we decided to make a bet: first one to get a guy to buy them a drink won a free drink on the rest of us. For some reason, there was a general assumption that I would win ( I honestly have NO idea how I managed to get this reputation, but anyway...). Being strategic, I paired up with the English girl, and we decided to work together and split the pot. After many attempts and fails, I lost the bet, but it definitely made for a fun night. The rest day of our routine was called Hangover Day. It was the day we dedicated to accomplishing absolutely nothing. We figured that after a night out, we needed to save money anyway, and this was our solution: sleeping in, watching movies, and eating dinner on the curb outside 7-Eleven.

Haad Rin Beach on Koh Phangan

 Of course, it wouldn't be a routine if we didn't repeat it. The next day we headed to Koh Phangan. Yes, this is where the infamous Full Moon Parties happen. Five thousand people raving on a beach drinking buckets of booze and jumping fire. We, however, got the minimized version at the Black Moon Party. Same idea, but way less people and definitely more chilled out. Being four girls, we got decked out, buying matching fluorescent shirts, and painting ourselves in neon bodypaint. We met three Spanish guys at our hostel to split a cab, but ended up spending most of our night with them; at this point, I think we're all starting to lose track of the amount of people we've met. And what comes after a night out? A hangover day! You get the idea...

Koh Tao sunset

 Our last island was Koh Tao. This island is mainly a scuba diver's haven. There is dive shop after dive shop, all offering dives and courses cheaper than anywhere else in the world. Even though money is fairly tight, I couldn't throw away a prime diving opportunity. I decided to go with a German and Canadian that we'd met on the ferry over. I couldn't get over how dirty the water was though! In some areas the reef was beautiful, colourful, and thriving. In others though, it was dead and there was garbage everywhere. It's definitely sad to see, but I suppose it's only really something visible and completely obvious to divers. That night, we stuck to tradition, and went to a beach bar. We spent our night watching fire dancers, and of course, meeting new people. We also managed to meet up with the Londoners that we met in Phuket for a few days! After our last hangover day, we finished our island venture and headed out on the overnight ferry to Bangkok. Julia left us and headed straight up north by plane, so now it's just the Scots and I again. We all keep saying how crazy it is, the way you meet people, learn so much about them, and then say goodbye a couple days later, and never see them again in your entire life. We stayed in three different hostels in the past ten days, and I'm having a hard time remembering each individual story, simply because there are just too many! We said we need to start keeping a log of people and writing down their trip outlines, just so we can keep it sorted in our heads. Anyway, so now we're done with the fun and games of beach parties and are on to getting some culture. We are currently in Bangkok, and plan to see the city, and Suhkothai (I think that's what it's called...) befoe heading to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Pai, all up north. Hopefully we can find the same excitement and unpredictability in the north that we found in the south!

Food, Glorious Food!

SO! I have A LOT of blogging to catch up on, but to simplify things, I'll stick to breaking down each leg. After Phi Phi, the Scots and I continued on to Singapore (this all occurred about two weeks ago, but I promise I will fully catch up very soon!!!!).

Finding our inner panda at the Singapore Zoo

 After spending a night in Phuket - where we happened to meet some hilariously eccentric Londoners - we had one day to blow so we decided to go shopping. After walking from our hostel for about two minutes, a man saw that we were looking at a map, and asked if he could help us. We said we were looking for the shopping centre, and after showing us where it was, he offered to take us around Phuket for the day to visit the market, the jewellery factory, and the shopping centre - and the best part, it was only six bucks! We hesitantly said yes, and immediately when we saw his fancy four by four SUV, we knew there was a catch. I of course assumed we were going to be robbed that day, and quickly stuffed my money and credit card into a hidden pocket in my pants. After taking us to the jewellery factory, our guide whipped out a booklet and explained that he needed to take us to three jewellery shops to collect stamps, at which point he could get a free tank of gas. Although we had obviously been caught in a scam, it was a big 'aha' moment and frankly a giant sigh of relief. If that was the catch, we figured we weren't getting robbed that day. Being three backpackers up for just about anything, we decided to happily go with it, and ended up having a pretty good day driving around the city. That night we headed to the airport for Singapore. You know when you're traveling and you have those surreal moments where the situation seems so unlikely and random (I think I've mentioned this in a previous post)? Well, sitting on a plane with two Scottish girls that you met a couple weeks before - when you've barely flown with any of your close friends, let alone family - is pretty weird.

The girls and I in our temple-appropriate dress

 Before I delve into the details of Singapore, let me sum it up in one word: delicious. I was extremely lucky because Joanne had gone to university with a girl from Singapore, Rong, and she was unbelievably kind in being our tour guide for four days. First, she organized for a friend of hers to pick us up from the airport at one in the morning and take us to our hostel (who does that for strangers???). AMAZING. The next morning, she picked us up and drove us to a local food court. She sat us down, and began racing around, buying all kinds of Singaporean dishes for us to sample. Of course, when you think you've just had lunch in Singapore, it's still time for another meal, so she took us to a coffee shop to try iced coffee and kaya - some sort of coconut spread on toast and raw eggs that you just slurp down straight. We walked it off around Chinatown and went to our first temple. While it always kind of irks me women have to cover up and men don't, it was neat that they had wrap skirts and shawls at the temple entrance for us to use (this may be common but I've never seen it before). And of course, shortly after, it was time for dinner. For our first night, Rong took us to an Indian restaurant on the roof of a megastore (two city blocks for one store in Little India - complete chaos). After filling up we headed for our night out in an area called Clarke Quay. Everyone always goes on about how Singapore is so expensive, but we actually didn't really find that. As a tourist, the only thing that really followed that stereotype was the alcohol. Rong took us to a Latino bar with a live band. Amazing, until you buy one round of drinks for five people and the bill is over 100 dollars. That amazingness wore out quickly. Before we knew it, we ended up sitting on the bridge filled with other backpackers with a bottle of vodka and some sprite from 7-Eleven...Still, a great night out.

Night on the town with Rong and Jestyn

Chili crab!!!...Yummmmm.

  The following day we decided to get ourselves into all kinda of tourist traps, starting with Sentosa - a man-made island/amusement park attached to Singapore. Although it was pourng rain, we decided to stick it out anyway, and immediately bought ridiculous plastic ponchos. Instead of going crazy on their luge track, the waterpark, and Universal Studios, we settled for the aquarium, which seemed like a great way to blow some time so that we could at least say we did Sentosa. It wasn't actually that bad! I got picked as the volunteer for the dolphin and sea lion show (another add-on to our tourist trap theme), and we stared at some giant crabs for like twenty minutes! Exhilarating! We did, however, get lost on our way back to the hostel. Turns out there's, like, eleven exits from the subway station, and we took the wrong one. Just picture three white girls holding out a map wearing giant plastic ponchos in Little India. We got stared down by hoards of Indian men, and that's putting it lightly. Rong of course met up with us to take us out for another food filled night. We started with chili crab: two giant crabs drenched in chili and butter sauces with buns, fried rice, prawns, and vegetables. That was round one. Next we went to a food market and tried stingray, satays, one-armed crabs, cane juice and vegetables. I forgot to mention that Rong's boyfriend Jestyn was also an amazing tour guide; he definitely deserves some credit.

Walking in Singapore's billion-dollar Marina Bay Gardens

Late night prata

Next on our list of tourist traps was the zoo and night safari. For anyone who plans to go to Singapore, DO NOT miss the night safari. It's pretty much just a zoo at night, but wandering around paths through a zoo in the dark definitely brings out the inner child. The Singapore zoo is actually unbelievably impressive. As an animal lover, I usually hate zoos, but Singapore's seemed to have very reasonable habitats and you were able to forget about the concept of a zoo and just enjoy being around the animals.Funny, we went to a giant city and interacted with more animals than we had in our entire stay out of cities! For our last night of eating, Rong took us out for a late night prata: an Indian style fried pancake usually served with curry for dipping. Greasy, fatty, and very satisfying.
Before heading to the airport, we checked out Marina Bay Gardens - a billion dollar park in downtown Singapore. I also managed to see a photography exhibition; very inspiring and also necessary considering how slowly my graduation photography portfolio is coming along. Me traveling clearly does not equal productivity. Not surprising in the least... I also had a bit (actually a giant) hair disaster which started on this day and ended a week and four hair colours later... And of course, it wouldn't have been a day in Singapore without one last meal with Rong: pork rib soup with rice and chicken feet. Yum!
 After heading back to Thailand, we spent one more night in Phuket, and woke up first thing to head out on our next leg: the islands!

Two Scots and a Canadian

View of Phi Phi Island and Town

Our night out in Phi Phi

 It has been almost a week since my last post...But it feels like ages ago! After we left the school for the week, we headed back to Walker's Inn for my last weekend in Khao Lak. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how much there is to see in the world, you can always find an excuse to be lazy and accomplish absolutely nothing. And that's exactly what we did for most of the weekend. We did finish however with a bang, as the Saturday before leaving Khao Lak happened to be the same date as the Full Moon Party in Koh Panang (I think that's how you spell it...). A beach bar just outside Khao Lak decided to throw a mini party for it, and we obviously couldn't resist. The two Scots - Rachel and Joanne - the Dane - Julia - and I decided to go all out and get matching neon shirts. I ended up going to three bars that night, and even though Khao Lak appears to be a lazy beach town, it definitely knows how to marry the night. I also met my first Canadians that night! Several actually! It was so funny, they were from Vancouver, and at first, I just left the conversation not thinking much of it, but then I though 'Okay, guaranteed we know someone in common and I'm going to figure out who'. And of course within a couple minutes, I did. It's funny, even meeting Canadians from the other side of the country, there is a familiarity and a comraderie that is inescapable when you meet halfway around the world. I also met several interesting people. It's so fascinating to me how everyone, no matter where they're from, has a unique reason for being in Thailand. Some come looking to find themselves, some just want to get away from whatever is happening in their lives at home, and some just want a change in pace in their lives. And a surprising amount never go back. I don't think I've ever found myself so willing to hear other peoples' stories than since I've been here. It's refreshing and insightful; I doubt people even consider what I might take out of their stories, but it's definitely more than you'd think from a simple conversation over a drink. I also pulled off my first ride on a scooter (I knew I had to do this at least once while I was here). It was actually pretty easy and I was definitely lucky to have a good driver, who knew I was slightly skeptical). And I ate a fried cricket! ...And it was kinda gross... That night I managed to pull my first all nighter and make it back to Walker's in perfect timing to catch our bus to the ferry. The Scots and I also got ripped off for the first time, and it was surprisingly humbling - but still a pain in the ass. We had booked a bungalow in an area of Koh Phi Phi called Long Beach and had read that it was about a twenty minute walk out of town. Of course, this was completely wrong and we're actually about a fourty minute walk out of town, and to top it off, we've got to walk up a grueling staircase to get to it. It is beautiful though and the restaurant's view is phenomenal (we were also saying how it would be the perfect place to be if a tsunami hit). After an evening of sleeping off the previous night (and being awake for almost fourty hours), we decided to take a tour to Maya Beach, which is where they filmed the DiCapreo movie The Beach. We kept saying how everything seemed so surreal, from being on the longboat to walking through the sand-ridden jungle barefoot. That evening, we quickly agreed to take in the Phi Phi nightlife. Though I haven't seen the islands on the otherside, I think it's safe to say that Phi Phi is the place to be. There are an absolute TON of young travelers looking for a good time, and it's as if the party never EVER stops. We ordered out first buckets, which is pretty much a giant drink in a sand pale and bar hopped to get a vibe for the whole town. For anyone who plans to travel to Thailand, the second bar we went to was called Reggae Bar and is a must-see. There is a giant Thai boxing ring and tourists can volunteer to fight for a free bucket. I expected people to go in, joke around and throw a few drunken punches and get out, but these were full-on fights. People took it so seriously and were beating the crap out of each other. One match ended because a guy took a brutal punch to the face and his nose started bleeding. I'll be honest, I was very tempted to volunteer, just for the experience, but opted to skip out, thinking that I didn't really need any bruises. Still, definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We then went to another bar where a Canadian was giving out free kisses (a drunken Canadian of course), and eventually ended up at a club on the beach with an amazing dance party where we finished the night. We managed to skip the walk and catch a longboat taxi back - and of course dragged ourselves up that bloody staircase. I have to say, I think I picked the perfect travel buddies. We all have the exact same outlook on traveling, and are all on the same page about taking the right precautions. It's strange to think that I've never been to Scotland, and they've never been to Canada but we seem to be pretty damn compatible travelers. Although sometimes there are slight differentiations in expressions and words that can be confusing... Anyway, after having a lazy beach day, we took a hike up to a viewpoint where you can see the whole town and island. Tomorrow, we're headed out to our next destination. We decided to skip Koh Lanta, and just go to Singapore, so we're taking the ferry back to Phuket where we'll have a day to explore and shop before catching our flight. Our tour guide I mentioned in my previous post is being an amazing host and is picking up us from the airport and cooking for us. Plus since it's the weekend, she's offered to be our tour guide...Hopefully no more rip-offs, at least not in Singapore. Next week will definitely be a complete 180 from beachtowns to city, but I think we're all unbelievably excited for the change. Until next time!

Rachel and Jo resting at the top of our hike

Teaching and Being Taught Thai

It has been almost two weeks since I wrote my last post. I feel like so much has happened, that I've had to go back and review what I've already said. Even though time travels fast when you're having fun, I'm enjoying myself and I still feel I've been here for ages and known some of the volunteers for much longer than a couple weeks. With that said, I'll start from where I left off...

            After my last post, we were driven to the small community where Julia (from Denmark), Sabine (from Australia) and I were supposed to be teaching for the week. We arrived at the house to find that it was completely empty - no beds, no kitchen tools, nothing. We found it strange and started preparing ourselves to be sleeping on the tile floor. Luckily the neighbour informed our driver that they had moved the volunteer accommodation into the school (remember that Western toilet I mentioned? Turns out the landlord took advantage and decided to raise the rent, so the school didn't want to pay it anymore...Very sneaky). Anyway, after being shuffled around, we ended up at a teacher's house who was emptying out one of her kids' rooms for us. It seemed a little sketchy so we made a call and long story short, we ended up back at the Walker's Inn in Khao Lak. Though we were disappointed about not seeing something new, we definitely couldn't complain. We had just been lined up for another week of resort crashing and amazing food. Because there are so many holidays in Thai schools, we only actually taught a couple days that week, but they were definitely rewarding. We also visited a local orphanage (Enya - the little girl I talked about in my last post - came with us and was our official teacher's assistant. Very handy). It was actually very impressive. The orphanage had set up a coffee shop where you could buy different coffees and cakes, and all proceeds went towards the kids. We gave an English lesson, and then watched the kids show off their dance moves to Gangnam Style (they were even doing back flips!!!). I then had my ass handed to me at pingpong by a kid playing with a book... The week was pretty laid back, and we quickly established our favourite spots in Khao Lak: we found a Scandinavian candy store (for the tourists), and a gelato shop that even sells green tea frapps!!! I'm in heaven (obviously I've been back to this place several times)!!!

            We decided to make our weekend a little more eventful and started with a trip to the MooMoo Cabaret show. Yes, the ladyboy show. Honestly, it was slightly disappointing. They lipsync and dance, but it's nothing spectacular, and we all agreed to leave early and go to a bar... Solution to any problem? Thai whisky!

            The next morning I went scuba diving! I was a little worried because I've had a hard time recovering from an ear infection I got almost two years ago in Dominican, but I thought I'd at least try it out and see. We went to a site called BoonSung wreck - a shipwreck that has broken into several pieces, partially because of the tsunami. The dives were definitely successful and we saw quite a lot: rockfish, porcupine fish, lion fish, stingrays, cuttlefish, catfish, barracudas, lots of eels, different kinds of shrimp and other weird invertebraes. There were also TONS of schools of fish. There were literally times where you had to part the fish to swim forwards. I was surprised though by the lack of colour. I wasn't sure if it was because of bleaching or just the wreck itself, but there was a lot of grey and brown. I'm excited to dive on the other side of Thailand though to compare!!!

            On Sunday, a big group of us decided it was time to get out of Khao Lak, and went on a daytrip to Khao Sok National Park. Apparently, this is the oldest rainforest in the world, and is located about an hour north of Khao Lak. We started by visiting a local market; as usual, I was one of the few who had no issues with loading up on yummy street food and local fruit. We then went river rafting along a river where we fed the fish (every time you through in food, a swarm of them would flap out of the water...HILARIOUS). We also spotted some sleeping snakes along the way. We headed to our next stop for lunch. It was kinda random, but it turns out that an Olympic Thai boxer's family owns the restaurant where all the tour groups go, so you meet him, get a boxing demo, and get to take photos with him and his medal. Next we visited a monkey temple. Basically what happens is the tour vans get there, and the people start 'summoning' the monkeys down from the trees. They then give you fruit to feed them and a ton of monkeys swarm you for food. I sometimes wonder how people come up with these tourism ideas, but there you go. Last on our tour was the infamous elephant trekking. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about this one because animal abuse is something that I just can't and don't tolerate. It just gets to me. Fortunately, it seemed fairly reasonable, and I didn't witnessed any elephants being hit or tortured. Sabine and I paired up and all the elephants started trekking up a ravine. It was completely terrifying at some points because you're sitting on a metal bench tied in by a string and an elephant is tipping up and down steep hills. It's basically like that nightmare of falling off a chairlift come to life. Sabine and I hung on to eachother for dear life, but all we could really do is break out into hysterical laughter. We took turns riding on the elephant's head, where your legs secured behind the elephant's ears is the only thing holding you on.

            When we found out that we would be heading to the 'luxury hotel' with the other volunteers for the next week, we were relieved, and SUPER excited to see something new. It's actually amazing here: we have AC, TV, a fridge, and a normal hot shower. All the luxuries of home!

            We've now been teaching for a couple days and I think(?) we have the hang of it. I've realized that I'm actually quite a confident teacher. I think all those years in acting really helped (plus, I'm sure teaching in Tanzania and Peru didn't hurt either). I'm also using similar methods to the ones that were used for me to learn French in school, and they're working really well. The challenge for me is adjusting to Thai customs. There are so many little rules that you have to follow related to their religion and social statuses. The one that I still haven't mastered is that you can't point at someone. It's considered deeply disrespectful, but it's such a habit of mine! You also can't show the bottom of your feet, you can't touch a child's head, and of course you must cover your shoulders and knees at all times. You also have to endure the school lunches which are less than appealing, but there is no alternative. We've resorted to bringing a backup supply of cookies from 7-Eleven. It's definitely an adjustment, but the kids are respectful and enthusiastic about learning, so you can't really ask for more.

            After this week, we're headed back to Walker's and I think I've finally hatched a plan for at least the next few weeks. A couple of volunteers from Scotland and I have decided to travel together for now. Next week, we're headed to the islands Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta. We are then headed to...Singapore! We needed to leave the country to get our visas renewed and extended, so we decided to make a trip out of it. As of today, we've booked our flights. One of the girls has a friend there, so we'll even have a tour guide. We are then planning to head back and finish up the islands before heading up North to Chiang Mai. I have to say, I'm a little relieved that I've met some people to travel with, and I can't even begin to imagine how many people I will still meet on this trip. It's really amazing to be constantly introduced to travelers from around the world! Anyway, I'm excited for the next few weeks of adventures!

P.S. I just ran home in my first torrential-down-pour-thunderstorm in Thailand. Note to self: Don't do that again!