Last of Thailand

Okay, that title is decieving because I am now in India and have been here for 6 days, but I want to take this chance to write down some of the notes I took in my last week and a half in Thailand. Jake and I traveled to Railay Beach first, then up to his old village in the Northeast.

(These are the notes, in order of when I wrote them down, which is out of order from when events actually happened.):

Issan

• The neon lights of gas stations look out of place juxtaposed against seemingly endless kilometers of rice paddies.
• A loud CLANK! like an anchor against metal, and then the bus filled with smoke. A worker hurried to teh back to open a window but the only explanation Jake and I have gotten is "mai ben rai." But now we are driving about 20 mph toward the village.

The Village

I am sitting in Jake's 2nd family's living room while he showers with a bucket (surprisingly refreshing!) and I am running around in circles with Pii Thian, a relation to jake's host father, Paa, though that relationship is unknown. Both Pii Thian and Paa have English-Thai dictionaries in front of them and are picking words at random to teach me. It goes something like this:

Pii Thian: Farmer

me: Farmer?

PT: Farmer

me: Farmer

PT: Farmer speak English, chowna speak Thai

me: chow now

PT: chow naaaaaa

me: chow naaaaaaaa

... and so it goes. It's funny to think of Jake spending 6 weeks doing this, learning Thai in this way.

Railay

Before we went to the village, we had 4 nights in Railay Beach. On the first we stayed in a shabby treehouse, three floors up. To get to our 3rd floor we had to climb a ladder. On the 2nd night electricity went out at the "resort" and we were forced to use candles to climb said ladder. I got very nervous that one of the hundred or so people would make a mistake with the candl;e in the middle of the night, and we would be trapped in our 3rd floor room. Jake shared my anxiety, so that night we moved, and for just 200 more baht ($6, split between the two of us), we went from a supremely cramped, dangerous situation to a spacious room, with hot water and a balcony.

Our entertainment on Railay was slow. Whereas we were used to the beaches of Thailand being hubs for nightlife, Railay didn't have much to offer.

We went rock climbing, the main attraction of the island and the most fun. For 800 baht we rock climbed for half the day in some of the most gnarly rocks I have ever seen. Unlike in America, where before you attempted to climb actual rocks you would get an hour or so of lessons on tying knots, belaying, etc., we were more of less thrown into the situation untrained. Our guide was a master, who knew every hold on every cliff face. I relied on him to tell me whre to put my foot or hand, and though at times be as much as 75 feet below me, he would shout up, "Abby! Right... hold byu your right knee..." and sure enough, there it would be!

Of our 4 days, we had exactly one taht was picture-perfect, no rain. Jake and I chose on that day to treat ourselves to a real resort ($90 a night), where we exploited all their services, from the man who retrived our luggage from the second hostel to the breakfast in bed they didn't really offer. It was fabulous, just lying around on th enicest beach on the island, reading and relaxing.

Bangkok

At a hostel on Rambuttri Road. I am trying to read while I wait for Jake to return from getting his 30-baht haircut, but I am feeling too expressive to intake someone else's words.

Bangkok continues to be the best place on Earth. I liked Korea while I was there - the food was fun and the country was surprisingly easy to navigate - but it doesn't hold a candle to Thailand. Here, all pleasures in excess (food drink, cheerfulness, heat). I am loving life, and especially the food.

Jake and my first meal was at Chote Chitr, where we overate the crispy noodles, green curry, and fried fish, then topped ourselves off with our favorite street dessert of heavily buttered bread and bananas (see last post in Thailand for reference to very same meal).

Yesterday we visited Thammasat, where, as I was munching on my gloriously-simple-but-all-time-favorite-Thammasat-meal of chicken, rice, and spices, I was accosted by Pam, the old exchange coordinator. She looks the same and said that after I left Thammasat started getting many students from UT, as many as 14 in one semester. When I studied abroad, I was the sole representative from the entire southern United States. (Perhaps I can attribute the rise in UT exchange students to the huge poster of Meris and Lily paying alms to the Thai monks in Ayutthaya hanging outside the UT BBA exchange office?)

Today we made a trip to the old tailor's, where Jake is getting three new shirts made. I didn't want to because of the hassle and the fact that my job does not requre collared button-ups, but sure enough, I found a navy blue I liked, and before I knew it I was coughing up the less than $30 for a custom-made shirt. It turned out to be no hassle at all, because the tailor keeps everyone's measurements and what they have bought in the past in a big scrapbook with little samples of cloth taped directly on to the pages. When he pulled out my file, there they were - the sheer white, bright blue, and light pink swatches of cloth my shirts were made of two years ago.

Then came the remeasuring. While my waist seems to have stayed put, my hips have expanded by a full five centimeters. The Thai/Indian man taking my measurements laughed and said, "You need to run!" Sigh, only in Thailand is that sort of comment endearing.

Got to go. My bowels have quickly returned to the state they were in when I left!

Thailand Tomorrow

Been waiting for two and a half years...(!)

Odds and Ends - Seoul

Two things that have gotten me to look like a rambling lunatic in Korea: teaching and Spanish. The former happened when, lo and behold, every Westerner I have met has been a teacher. I had fully intended to leave teaching behind on this trip, to shake it off and refresh myself before September. Believe me, I did. But then Jake's friend, John, started asking about TFA, and here I go, one soju too many, yammering to him at 6 o'clock in the morning about the freaking workshop model. Next thing I know it's 7 a.m. and he is excusing himself to the balcony, where Jake finally got a word in edgewise. Ay.

The other time - also soju-influenced - happened when I met a manfrom Peru. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but we have met no one in Korea who speaks English, at least not outside of Seoul. By the time I met my Peruvian friend, I had gone at least three days only speaking fluently to Jake and Audrey, so even speaking the semblance of something fluent to this street vendor was just too delightful. I started off by asking him normal things: How much are these earrings? I speak a little Spanish. Where are you from? and ended the night by looping around to see this guy twice, using my ever-increasingly-sparse Spanish vocabulary to bombard him with what were most likely unrelated phrases and questions.

We're in Seoul now, a city I really like, staying at a hostel that feels more like a coop. Last night we went out with everyone in the hostel, plus met up with John, and Charity is with us, too. Today Meris arrives!

I want to add pictures and will try, but I have to buy the right cord and also load pictures on to computers that do now belong to me. I tried to explain to a man at an electronics store that I wanted a USB cord, miming the question by pointing to my camera. Things looked promising when his eyes lit up and he scurried away, but he only returned with the phone number for Seoul's Nikon store.

First Days in Korea

To the extent that Bangkok was the dirtiest place I have ever been, Seoul is the easiest. Subways cast a web over the city, leaving no area untouched, and trains or buses depart to all areas of the country at least a few times a day.

Greetings from South Korea! When Jake and I first arrived, feeling surprisingly fresh for two people who had just spent 42 hours traveling, we saw Audrey within a few minutes, and the three of us spent the first night getting oriented. We rented cell phones, since Korea does not use the sim card system, and phones won't be usable in other countries we travel to, then we found our hostel, ate some porridge, and went to sleep at about 9:30 p.m., with the hopes that we would be minimizing our jetlag. It pretty much worked.

The next day we spent in Seoul, visiting the Indian Embassy and attempting to explore the palace in our neighborhood. Apparently, Mondays are holidays in South Korea, and everything was closed. Next we headed south, to Audrey's hometown of Jecheon, where we stayed in a "love motel." I expected, as per the name, a seedy sort of place, but it was actually very clean. The walls were covered in stunningly floral wallpaper - each wall a different color - and we were provided with... er... "love" accessories, including lube. All three of us slept on the floor, on thick mats. We were told this is how traditional Korean households sleep - things called minbaks - but we keep getting conflicting information.

Jecheon was bigger than expected. I wish we had known where Audrey was born - whether it was in the countryside or to a family who inhabits the apartments in the city. It was hard, but pleasing, to imagine her as an infant, taking her first breath in this city. The town itself seemed average in terms of size and liveliness, but it was surrounded by three national parks. In the train on the way to the city, we passed what I have always thought Japan would look like - rolling hills set among a thick fog.

In Jecheon we saw a political protest, the aim of which seemed to be generally against North Korea. A crowd of about 300 sat in front of an outdoor stage, where fiery male speakers urged the crowd to wave their flags, and we heard music from a marching band of sorts (sans the marching), composed of all elderly women. Leafing through a cartoon book describing North and South Korea's histories, I realize how much of a threat South Korea still feels by North Korea.

Now we are in Mokpo, a coastal city in the Southwest. This is the liveliest city we have been to so far, with a shopping area to rival Hong Kong and tons of people out on the streets, enjoying meals, going to bars, etc. We had the best meal of the whole trip on our first night here, Korean barbecue pork chops and some kind of intestine. In South Korea, meals are an event. With every entree you are served at least half a dozen other components: kimchi (pickled cabbage... mmmmmm!!), rice, seaweed, eggs, chili sauce and a few other sides we have yet to figure out. Everything comes out in these individual plates, so you are left feeling like your meal is a true feast, all the parts complementing the others so nicely. That night we also loaded up on soju, the standard Korean drink. It is similar to sake: more potent than wine, but less so than vodka.

Today we plan to spend our third and last day in Mokpo before we head to Gimpo tonight to visit Jake's friend from home.

Travel Time to Korea: 42 Hours

Jake and I didn't even know where Qatar was until this morning, when on our way to the Dayton, Ohio airport I looked up where out layover would be. We had for some reason thought we would have a layover in Geneva. Boy! were we surprised when we ended up in the Middle East.

Lots of interesting people-watching: men in white robes, women in black burkhas. Some of the women have their faces covered, too, and some even their hands. Others leave their faces exposed and carry designer handbags or wear glitzy jewelry. The female children dress, for the most part, like American children.

We have a six-hour-long layover, about four hours of which is over now. Jake and I wanted to take a cab from the airport to find some local food or, at the suggestion of the flight attendants, smoke some shuka (?), but I was told I wouldn't be allowed into the country with an Israeli stamp in my passport. Thus, we are killing time in the airport, watching the people and playing Rummy.

Next stop Korea!

Back Again!

The pictures never materialized, I do realize that. But good news! There will be more to come, because I just got my ticket back to Thailand, this time with a stop in South Korea and India, too.

We'll be visiting Charity, who was the inspiration for the trip, as she currently works there as a teacher (also my occupation - how much has changed in two years!); Meris, who I'm pretty sure still gets the free flights of her choosing; Jake (!) who now lives in Philly also as a teacher... and I'm trying to convince my Korean-born cousin, Audrey, to join the affair.

Sewatdeeka Asia!!