Summer Vacation

I just got back from two weeks in Thailand and a few days in Cambodia. A group of 6 (this seems to be the magical number from group trips lately), including me, Paul, and 4 other Mito AETs (Austin, Wade, Zane, and Carla).

Bangkok

We flew into Bangkok on the night of July 31^st. The second I stepped out of the airport I immediately felt out of place. Leaving the air-conditioning I was hit by this wall of humidity and thick smells of pollution and humans. We were met by two Thais that were friends with Austin and who we were staying with for the night. First we had to haggle for a taxi ride. When a taxi pulls up you have to tell them where you want to go. If they don’t want to go there they drive off or they will haggle over the price for driving you there. It was easy when we had locals helping us and we didn’t get ripped off that first night but later on we found out it’s not so easy on your own.

The next day, Pi Joe and Pi Ning (spelling ?) took us around to a few touristy spots in Bangkok. First we had to exchange our money (forgot to do this at the airport). So we walked around some of the streets looking for a bank. The streets were packed with cars and bikes, the side walks were small and packed with people and food venders. The gutters were filled with murky liquid and foul smells. Between the open sewer smells, the weird food smells from the venders, and the smog I was having a hard time breathing.

Mostly we got around by taxi. The traffic in Bangkok was awful and a total sand still in some spots. The driving was scary, too fast, no signaling, not staying on your side of the road, honking, not to mention the million bikes and scooters running in between cars and buses to be avoided. I just kept telling myself, “It will be fine, they do this everyday…”

The first place we visited was the Grand Place and Wat Phra Kaeo. It is an active temple complex with several shrines dedicated to past/present royal figures and Buddha. Because it is an active temple Paul had to rent poofy pants to cover his knees because he was only wearing shorts. He looked goofy. I guess my capris were good enough for me.

There were several large and small buildings all ornately decorated with gold leave, lots of color, and mirrors. Thai architecture is very different from Western styles. I really felt like I was at a carnival but these were places of worship. There was a ceremony taking place while we were there with lots of chanting so that was neat to listen to. We also saw the famous Emerald Buddha. I’d never heard of it. However, I’m not Buddhist or Thai but it was still cool to see. It was a three foot tell emerald colored statue of Buddha that was found in a block of plaster. They don’t know who made it or where it came from.

Next was Wat Arun. This temple was built in the 17^th-century. It had very steep steps that made me nervous. In the 1970’s (I think) the people of Bangkok donated pottery that was broken and cemented into the sides of the temple giving it an eclectic look. It was weird to see a temple decorated with plates and tea cup handles.

After that we toured around down town Bangkok and one of their busiest malls. There were so many stores. I think every fashion statement from around the world was represented in that mall. Not to mention all the knock off hang bags, wallets, and sun glasses a person could ever want. Yes, I now own a pair of “Versace” sunglasses that cost me 3 dollars. From the mall we rode the canal boat back to where we were staying for dinner. Now when I say canal, I really mean open sewer system. I actually saw fecal matter. The smell was awful and the water was such an unnatural shade of greenish gray. The canal boats seemed like Bangkok’s version of the subway system. And I don’t think many tourist use these boats because we were the only foreigners. The water was really choppy and splashed into the boat lots. There were blue tarps that you could pulls up to block some of the water but at one point a bucket full dumped over the side. I was covered in smelly water and bits of organic material. I can’t say in words how good the shower felt that night. It had been a long day. We finished up by going to see the new Batman movie (which hasn’t come to Japan yet).

Here are some pictures from Bangkok

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027639&l=07e46&id=168301094

Cambodia

The next morning we woke up early to catch a bus to the border of Thailand and Cambodia. At the border we had to haggle on how much we would pay for our visas. They wanted more than what the sign said. There were a lot of beggars and children. After crossing the border we hired a “taxi” to take us three hours into Cambodia to Siem Reap, the town where we were staying. We later found out that the taxi we hired was unlicensed but honestly I don’t know if any vehicle in Cambodia would be legal. The road into Cambodia was rough. The cars had their gas tanks in their trunks because they bottom out so much on the bumps. It had just rained when we went through so the road was muddy and filled with pot holes that would swallow a car. Our driver drove way too fast and I once again had to repeat my chant, “It will be fine, they do this everyday…”

The next day we went to Angkor Wat. That was amazing and my favorite part of the entire vacation. The complex was huge and I think you could spend a full two days touring all the temples. We just saw the largest four or so. We hire two motorized rickshaws for the entire day. It cost about 30$ to hire a driver for the entire day. Everything in Cambodia was really cheap. Our hotel was only about 15$ a night and it was really nice and clean.

Some pictures from Cambodia

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027666&l=2e060&id=168301094

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027687&l=07f80&id=168301094

Ko Chang, Thailand

The next day after the temples we headed back down the bumpy road and to Ko Chang, Thailand. This time we hired a van from a tourism company to take us the entire way to Ko Chang (about 7 hours away). We had some car problems along the way and the trip ended up taking a few more hours but we were happy to get to another place to sleep. Ko Chang is a touristy island but it is the off season so it wasn’t crowded. Paul could only stay for a few days in Ko Chang before he had to head off to Hawaii for Jame’s wedding. I stayed with the other AETs for another 5 days.

Looking back on it, my trip to Thailand was just a series of “Am I going to die?” situations. Traffic in Bangkok, steep steps on temples, motorized Rickshaws, muddy roads at high speeds… We also did a ropes course with a zip line. I had never done a real ropes course before so this was scary. The big zip line was about 3 stories off the ground and 100 yards long. I guess, I don’t know…I had my eyes closed most the time. You couldn’t see the end of the line through the trees. They gave us gloves and a harness but I couldn’t help thinking that I really wanted a helmet (like that would have done any good).

One day we went snorkeling. That was a ton of fun but I got really sea sick from the hour long boat ride to the small islands we snorkeled around. That was my second favorite activity of the trip. The water was really clear and warm and there were lots of tropical fish and coral to look at. I was a little nervous about jellyfish because we had seen several large (21/2 feet in diameter) washed up on the beach near our hotel. We all got really sun burned despite excessive use of sun block. I got a pretty bad burn on my butt. No I wasn’t wearing a thong swimsuit. I actually got burned through my suit. It was very had to sit for the next few days. We also rented scooters (I think these were closer to motorcycles than scooters) to get around the island. Because Paul had left at this point I had to drive one by myself. This would have been fine except that Austin, Wade, and Zane were the other scooter drivers I had to keep up with. I guess I have more of a sense of self preservation than these boys because they were going much faster than I felt comfortable with but I had to keep up or get lost. Zane was not so bad because Carla was riding on the back…but I just got real nervous about driving something with two wheels at 60MPH down steep curvy mountain roads. Another, “am I going to die moment”…this time I did have a helmet.

Pictures from the island

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027936&l=46857&id=168301094

Finally on August 12^th it was time to head back to Bangkok and on the 13^th was headed back to Japan. I was happy to be home but I was really happy with my time off.