It is totally pouring here for the 2nd time in a few days. Fortunately it is still not too cold or anything but very wet. Apparently this is unusual for the dry season so maybe it is global warming, who knows. Scooted to work today and didn't get too wet, the background noise of the rain is quite soothing actually. Got to get back to working on my configuration management system!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Big Bikes
Scooters are all over the place in Thailand so they deserve a whole separate post, but more on that another time. Like our good friend Dave, crashing scooters is a very common occurrence as well, I think about 7-8 of the people here in my group have gotten in some kind of scooter mishap. Despite this most of us here at the collective have rented them and a bunch of us have them rented for a month at a time. I figure if you go super slow and drive defensively you can avoid most accidents and if you do get in one it shouldn't be bad. Most of the accidents happened the first day a person had the thing and they had no idea what they were doing.
A bigger motorcycle is harder to come by though and quite a bit more expensive. There are lots of bike rental places in Chaing Mai (3-4 hours from Pai), but only 2 or 3 places here in Pai. Sometime during the 'Plan B' night I found out from Jeff that he was planning on renting a 'Big Bike' as they call them here and going on a road trip up a road he had previously tried to explore on his scooter. He had driven up the mountain road for 2 hours until realizing he had used over 1/2 of the gas he had started with and was forced to turn back. The seed was planted and he needed to know what was at the other end of this wonderful mountain road. I had been thinking of renting a dirt bike and doing some exploring so volunteered to join him on whatever big bike I could find. Weston is looking to actually buy a bike and do some serious traveling after the collective so once he got wind of the plan we had a real biker gang in the making.
The plan was to meet at 10am and get bikes and hit the road. After putting ourselves to bed at 3am we still were up and so excited to get on the road we were out the door by 9:30. We went to a place we knew had big bikes and they had 4-5 different kinds on the sign, but only one real bike in stock at the time. Since it was Jeff's idea and he wanted a sport bike (the one they had), we let him take that one and decided we would go on a smaller scooter tour instead. We agreeed to call him once we got scooters and then figure out a plan but probably not ride together since the big sport bike would be so much faster. We headed to the old standby scooter rental shop that many of us had rented from and got in line. Since it was Saturday morning there were tons of people just renting for the day. While in line we looked up and saw a little sign saying they had Honda Phantom 200's and Kawasaki Boss 175's but none were in sight.
Once we got the owner guys attention we pointed at the sign and said we were interested in the Honda Phantoms. As most things in Thailand and many countries you just don't know what you are going to get, so the guy says he has no Hondas but does have some of the Kawasakis which immediately lights up our eyes. He leads us back into the garage and around the corner to find 3 big cruiser bikes all lined up and covered in dust. Perfect! at least 2 of them have to work right? The guy is super busy with scooter rentals so, says he will be back in 5 minutes and leaves us standing there. We motion to him that we are going to start pulling the bikes out and he nods ok. So pulled the bikes out from their apparently long term parking places and started to check them over. Finally the guy comes back once we start attempting to fire them up. He motions for us to let him do it. One fires up immediately and seems to run ok but eventually stalls out. He fiddles with the other one for about 10 minutes and the whole time we are thinking, great what good is only one bike then one of us can't go. Finally he checks the gas and it is completely dry. (see pic)
After adding gas and some more jiggery pokery they are both idling nicely and ready to drive out of the shop. We pull them out and get ready to try and get a better price than the 450 Baht per day we were quoted. You pretty much bargain for almost everything here other than in restaurants/bars and really big stores. We try to get a better deal especially since we are getting 2 and we are good customers (rented scooters there before). He won't budge and we are ready to hit the road and meet up with Jeff, so we shell out the dough leave a passport as deposit for both and pull out onto the main drag. Since this place barely has enough helmets for the scooter customers and they are not even very protective we didn't even bother asking for any. I had seen a couple of real motorcycle helmets over at the Wai Lin house and so set out to find Dave the owner and borrow them. The helmets were even dustier than the bikes, but I value my head so we dusted them off and put them on. I felt much safer with a real helmet then the crappy one I use on the scooter.
These big cruisers are much more stable and powerful than the little scooters we are used to. A lap around the block and we are confident that they will take us on our prospective journey. Initially the guy told us to stay within 15km of town and we thought it might be because they won't run long enough to get us any further. We had no plans of staying that close but just nodded in silent agreement and said we would be riding around in circles around the mountain roads near the town, which is sort of mostly true. We stopped back at the Wai Lin house to get our gear then cruised over to the Mango Tree house to meet up with Jeff and get breakfast and pack a lunch for later. Revving the engine to clear out the meandering pedestrians certainly felt good as we exited the center of town.
We packed up some lunch, I tied my GPS on the handlebars over the non functioning speedometer and then strapped my backpack in the backseat. We were finally ready to go except I had no money and no gas. We caravanned to town and I went to the ATM and then we went straight to the gas station to fill the tanks. I put in quite a bit of gas (about 10 liters) not sure how long that would take me but it was almost full and better safe than sorry, since my bike was the one that was completely out. Now we were really ready. Jeff led the way since he knew the road he wanted to explore and find out what was on the other side.
We cruised down the road towards Chaing Mai, looking for a big monumental bridge dedicated to the king that crosses the road and then to take the next right up a twisty mountain road. The road was beautiful and very curvy. Thanks to Andrea and Chris I had some good practice this winter riding dirt bikes in the desert so was very comfortable driving the big cruiser. The seat position is much different but the controls and concepts are all the same. I keep saying this is big, but really as far as bikes in the US go it is pretty small, which is nice it is lighter and more forgiving for us to handle, the last thing we wanted to do was drop it and not be able to right it again. We took turns leading the way through the mountain passes stopping often to enjoy the view or take some pictures. After an hour and a half or so we paused by a river and enjoyed the lunch we had packed and then pressed on.
We continued up the road until we came across a big resort type place that looked interesting so we stopped to check it out. This place turned out to be pretty fancy and was clustered around a small lake with bike and walking paths all over the place. We took a nice long walk down to and part of the way around the lake and then back up into the hills to the top of the resort passing a herd of cows in the woods and some fishermen sleeping by the shores. Manicured lawns surround individual small cottages for rent. We knew there was supposed to be a nice Wat up the road so we found our bikes and continued on.
Not too far up the road we came to a small town with a Wat complex in the center surrounded by a white wall. There were some beautiful buildings in the Wat and a nice open space in the middle. On the corner of the whole thing was a giant tree. This was basically the end of this particular road, one road continued on the long way to Mae Hong Son and there were a couple of much smaller roads around the square leading to parts of the village. We wandered around the temple area for a bit and then into a tiny restaurant/store for a bite to eat. For about 100 baht ($3) we got 3 meals a couple soft drinks and a beer. Now that it was getting late in the afternoon we decided to head back to Pai, driving the windy roads in the dark didn't sound like a good plan.
We made very good time getting back down the mountain with fewer stops. We had seen a back road that led back to Pai and decided to mix it up and take that on the return trip. This was a really nice little country road a lot of fun to ride on. More narrow than the main road we had been on, but almost no traffic and really fun to ride on. Back in Pai we rested for a bit and then decided to really get our money's worth out of the bikes and went on one last blast up another road that goes by the Mango Tree House and the Pai airport. On weekends we are usually on our own for food for the most part. Tonight there happened to be a group dinner at 'Mama Falafel' for anyone who wanted to go, so we went over there and ate some yummy falafel and fries. Turns out Andrew and Shonali were really excited to learn to ride a real bike so we agreed to take them out to the dead end airport road by Mango Tree and give them a quick lesson. Overall everyone did well, one bike was dropped but there was little to no damage and no injuries. Gotta wrap this post up and get to work, more later...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Long Week
It's been a busy week with both fun and work, now that it is Sunday I finally have some time to update the blog. So enjoy the new post called 'Plan B', I have 2 more really awesome ones coming as well from the events of this weekend, but it is getting really late.
During the week we work most of the day so don't have a lot of time to get into too much craziness. I think I was exhausted one night and went to bed by 10pm, another night we made white russians and watched The Big Lebowski at one of the little cinema places in town. The cinemas here are great, your own little room and couch to watch your favorite DVD's. You can bring all your own snacks and treats with you. Here is a picture of all of us crammed in for a film one night. Another night we went out on the town but the weekend deserves separate posts. I started writing a post about all the wacky noises you hear here in Thailand but will have to get back to that at a later date.
During the week we work most of the day so don't have a lot of time to get into too much craziness. I think I was exhausted one night and went to bed by 10pm, another night we made white russians and watched The Big Lebowski at one of the little cinema places in town. The cinemas here are great, your own little room and couch to watch your favorite DVD's. You can bring all your own snacks and treats with you. Here is a picture of all of us crammed in for a film one night. Another night we went out on the town but the weekend deserves separate posts. I started writing a post about all the wacky noises you hear here in Thailand but will have to get back to that at a later date.
Plan B
So normally we go to like 4 different places in town for some of the following reasons: they are fun, we know someone that works there, they have live music, and we only know like 4 places and keep going back to them. So Friday night, no one has any plans and we are trying to figure out something good to do. We ended up thinking up 2 plans. Plan A is to get some tents, some firewood and beer and camp by the river and just chill out. We have seen lots of people camping there so know it is accepted and a good place to do such things.
Plan B is to start at the Mango Tree House (where we came up with the plans) and walk to town stopping at any bar we have never been to and skipping those we already have. Then once in town we already knew a few places we needed to try that no one had been for one reason or another.
Because of worries that the logistics of getting camping gear together and the late notice we decided to try Plan B instead. So 5 of us set off down the road and told everyone else to call us and come meet up when they are ready. I had my scooter, but between all 5 of us that was not going to cut it so I just walked it / rode it really slow with one passenger so that the walkers could keep up and I could still get the scooter back to town. There were a few downhills where Weston decided to stand up on the back and pretend to fly but 3 to a scooter is tough to manage, let alone when one person is trying to fly. Fortunately he is coordinated and we were coasting really slow so there were no injuries. He was also on a 'No Shoes' kick so I was a bit worried about him already walking around all over town without shoes, let alone standing straight up on the back of a scooter without them.
We eventually made it to the first place which turned out to be a quiet guesthouse & restaurant right by the river. We sat on the patio overlooking the shore, and there was another picnic table down close to the shore, plus a little bamboo dock on the river (see pic). This was totally chilled out and a good way to start the night. Nice pleasant music and lighting so a round of beers and an order of french fries and we were back on the road looking for the next place. Oh yeah the other goal was to find a place with either Darts or Foosball, neither which we have actually seen anywhere around. So back to the story at hand, just before town was a toy store which happened to have a cheap dartboard for about 200 Baht (6-7$), so we made a mental note to come back for it to buy it for the house later on.
Once in town, the second place we happened upon didn't have a dartboard, but was full of locals unlike the more toursity old standby places we are used to. Perfect for tonight. So we piled around a picnic table and ordered a 'bucket'. A bucket is literally that, a bucket with one giant drink in it and 5 straws. We ended up with a Sang Som (Thai Whiskey) and Red Bull with some extra green stuff in it and a few other ingredients. It was pretty tasty and the place had a friendly vibe to it. Sang Som is actually is pretty good. I don't usually drink whiskey but this is much softer in taste and goes well with Coke, soda water or some combination there of. Our bucket contained an entire bottle of the stuff (just one of those little hip sized ones, don't worry).
Upon emptying the bucket we wandered down the street some more. This time an idea had already come to us of where to go next, so with about 5 different stops for various street food (spring rolls, chicken on a stick, sticky purple rice, roti (pancakes)) we were finally on our way there. There is one biker bar in town and Weston had been looking to by a motorcycle to drive to China and then India after the collective ends in April. So we wandered in there to hopefully find some leads. Decent place with friendly owners, we probably won't go back unless we are in need of more motorcycle knowledge or shopping. The guys there unfortunately only had a customized chopper for like 100,000+ baht where as we were more looking for a Honda Phantom 200 for like 40,000 baht. So on down the road we go...
The next place is called Ting Tong, seems like a big place but none of us had been there mostly because of their obnoxious ad campaign. They have signs all over Pai with mirrors on them that say 'Are you Ting Tong?' Since these are annoying no one ever bothered to go to the place. So ignoring that we wandered across the bamboo bridge that brings you inside the grounds. Ting Tong is rather large and all outdoors including a 1/2 basketball court, a pull up bar, some paralell bars and a pool table. Really not a bad place despite the ads. The pool table was a little worse for wear, (see pic) and very hard to play on but we did our best. The common issue with a few places around that have billards is that the pool tables are in bamboo huts so if you walk around the whole table moves up and down considerably and the balls move about which can make it tricky. Bamboo must be strong since pool tables are super heavy, but it is also very bendable it seems
After Ting Tong we headed to a later night place called the Bamboo something, I will have to check on the name. This place was really cool, nice bamboo outdoor decks with fire pits in the middle and good music. We liked this place a lot and saw some musicians we see all the time playing around town hanging out there after their gigs, so it must be good if the locals frequent it. Finally at 3am it was time to get to bed as a big day was planned for tomorrow, but more on that later!
Plan B is to start at the Mango Tree House (where we came up with the plans) and walk to town stopping at any bar we have never been to and skipping those we already have. Then once in town we already knew a few places we needed to try that no one had been for one reason or another.
Because of worries that the logistics of getting camping gear together and the late notice we decided to try Plan B instead. So 5 of us set off down the road and told everyone else to call us and come meet up when they are ready. I had my scooter, but between all 5 of us that was not going to cut it so I just walked it / rode it really slow with one passenger so that the walkers could keep up and I could still get the scooter back to town. There were a few downhills where Weston decided to stand up on the back and pretend to fly but 3 to a scooter is tough to manage, let alone when one person is trying to fly. Fortunately he is coordinated and we were coasting really slow so there were no injuries. He was also on a 'No Shoes' kick so I was a bit worried about him already walking around all over town without shoes, let alone standing straight up on the back of a scooter without them.
We eventually made it to the first place which turned out to be a quiet guesthouse & restaurant right by the river. We sat on the patio overlooking the shore, and there was another picnic table down close to the shore, plus a little bamboo dock on the river (see pic). This was totally chilled out and a good way to start the night. Nice pleasant music and lighting so a round of beers and an order of french fries and we were back on the road looking for the next place. Oh yeah the other goal was to find a place with either Darts or Foosball, neither which we have actually seen anywhere around. So back to the story at hand, just before town was a toy store which happened to have a cheap dartboard for about 200 Baht (6-7$), so we made a mental note to come back for it to buy it for the house later on.Once in town, the second place we happened upon didn't have a dartboard, but was full of locals unlike the more toursity old standby places we are used to. Perfect for tonight. So we piled around a picnic table and ordered a 'bucket'. A bucket is literally that, a bucket with one giant drink in it and 5 straws. We ended up with a Sang Som (Thai Whiskey) and Red Bull with some extra green stuff in it and a few other ingredients. It was pretty tasty and the place had a friendly vibe to it. Sang Som is actually is pretty good. I don't usually drink whiskey but this is much softer in taste and goes well with Coke, soda water or some combination there of. Our bucket contained an entire bottle of the stuff (just one of those little hip sized ones, don't worry).Upon emptying the bucket we wandered down the street some more. This time an idea had already come to us of where to go next, so with about 5 different stops for various street food (spring rolls, chicken on a stick, sticky purple rice, roti (pancakes)) we were finally on our way there. There is one biker bar in town and Weston had been looking to by a motorcycle to drive to China and then India after the collective ends in April. So we wandered in there to hopefully find some leads. Decent place with friendly owners, we probably won't go back unless we are in need of more motorcycle knowledge or shopping. The guys there unfortunately only had a customized chopper for like 100,000+ baht where as we were more looking for a Honda Phantom 200 for like 40,000 baht. So on down the road we go...
The next place is called Ting Tong, seems like a big place but none of us had been there mostly because of their obnoxious ad campaign. They have signs all over Pai with mirrors on them that say 'Are you Ting Tong?' Since these are annoying no one ever bothered to go to the place. So ignoring that we wandered across the bamboo bridge that brings you inside the grounds. Ting Tong is rather large and all outdoors including a 1/2 basketball court, a pull up bar, some paralell bars and a pool table. Really not a bad place despite the ads. The pool table was a little worse for wear, (see pic) and very hard to play on but we did our best. The common issue with a few places around that have billards is that the pool tables are in bamboo huts so if you walk around the whole table moves up and down considerably and the balls move about which can make it tricky. Bamboo must be strong since pool tables are super heavy, but it is also very bendable it seemsAfter Ting Tong we headed to a later night place called the Bamboo something, I will have to check on the name. This place was really cool, nice bamboo outdoor decks with fire pits in the middle and good music. We liked this place a lot and saw some musicians we see all the time playing around town hanging out there after their gigs, so it must be good if the locals frequent it. Finally at 3am it was time to get to bed as a big day was planned for tomorrow, but more on that later!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Working Today
Worked a lot at the Mango Tree House, (see 'At Work' entry below) today not too much exciting adventures or anything. I will cover some of the basic community living stuff then. There are
about 16-20 of us here total at any one time. We live in 2 houses in different parts of town. One is by the Mango Tree House and is called 'Jeffs place', both of these places are about 1 km or so out of town. The other house (where I am living) is called Wah Lin, and is in the center of town. It is really nice to be in town since there are tons of cool bars and clubs that have live music every night. There are also tons of street vendors and food carts out every night so it is a great town to walk around at night in. One of my favorite places is the pancake cart, those things are awesome, see pic...
Given that there are so many of us, we have chores to do around the house. Fortunately we do a week of chores (dishes, cleaning etc) a different chore each day and then we are off for 2 weeks. Pretty easy! Otherwise we have catered lunches and dinners with awesome Thai food and Falang (see 1st post) food once a week. Laundry is picked up and so really there is not too much to have to run around and do!
about 16-20 of us here total at any one time. We live in 2 houses in different parts of town. One is by the Mango Tree House and is called 'Jeffs place', both of these places are about 1 km or so out of town. The other house (where I am living) is called Wah Lin, and is in the center of town. It is really nice to be in town since there are tons of cool bars and clubs that have live music every night. There are also tons of street vendors and food carts out every night so it is a great town to walk around at night in. One of my favorite places is the pancake cart, those things are awesome, see pic...Given that there are so many of us, we have chores to do around the house. Fortunately we do a week of chores (dishes, cleaning etc) a different chore each day and then we are off for 2 weeks. Pretty easy! Otherwise we have catered lunches and dinners with awesome Thai food and Falang (see 1st post) food once a week. Laundry is picked up and so really there is not too much to have to run around and do!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Panhandlers
So I was sitting outside of our new favorite club 'Spicy' in Chiang Mai enjoying a Beer Chang when this fella came by looking for handouts. It was pretty strange to see an elephant walking down the street and come by and stick his trunk out to you. Unfortunately these seem to be the Tijuana Chicklet kids of Thailand, probabably not treated very well and forced to troll the city to make money. You pay some guy 20 baht ($.60) to feed him a few sticks of pineapple.Spicy is serious about being a clean club, if you are caught with anything they will turn you into the 'Nearly Police'.
You gotta watch out for the nearly police they are much more strict than the real police. But seriously it is funny to see all the misspellings all over the place. Obviously I can't write Thai to save my life so I am sure anything I wrote in Thai would be even worse, but there are tons of business names with big professional signs that are totally misspelled.I just got back to Pai on a mini-bus and this time there were no barfing people and I was able to nap most of the way thanks to the Dramamine. I had an excellent yellow curry at Na's Kitchen here in town. It had tofu, potatos and sweet potatos in it, very tasty!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Chiang Mai
For the weekend a whole bunch of us took a trip to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand. Pai is 4 hours by the slow chicken bus and 2.5-3 hours by the faster mini-bus. The mini-bus is just a small van that whips around the curves and is known to cause motion sickness. Thinking ahead we stopped at the pharmacy and downed some Dramamine before the ride. Unfortunately the lady in the seat next to us thought ahead but with different results. She brought a whole mess of plastic bags and proceeded to barf in them the whole way there and throw them out the window. Yuck.
Arriving in Chiang Mai a bit groggy from the Dramamine but not sick to our stomachs, we got some lunch and then rented a scooter for our transportation needs. A nice little scooter runs about 125 baht per day, or $3.75. Just be sure to rent from a place with helmets.
The second largest temple in Thailand, Doi Suthep is located about 10km out of town and a nice view of the city. We hopped on the scooter and headed up the mountain. There was a lot of traffic in town but once on the windy mountain road it was not too bad, just need to remember to stay on the lefthand side of the road. The temple was very cool and has 400+ steps leading up to it as well as a nice statue of a white elephant. See here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phrathat_Doi_Suthep
That night we went to one of the large night markets that has everything from lamps, clothing, scarfs, t-shirts, pirated DVDs and a whole mess of other hadicrafts and jewelery and stuff. I picked up a couple of beer Chang shirts for maybe $3.00 each. Later on we went out on the town and saw a live cover band, then to a club called 'Spicy'. In the club there were mormon waiters, (well waiters that looked like mormons) that would come around and push through the crowds to serve you. This is very nice because getting to the bar in a crowded club can be a realy hassle sometimes.
Today we slept late and then took the scooter out to an
umbrella factory. The umbrealla factory is where umbrellas are made and painted by hand. Not needing an umbrella, the other cool thing they do is paint shirts and bags and really anything you want as it turns out. Another friend here with me had previously gotten a cool design painted on his messenger bag, so I decided it would be even cooler to have my laptop painted. It cost about $3.00 but as you can tell it was well worth every baht!
Arriving in Chiang Mai a bit groggy from the Dramamine but not sick to our stomachs, we got some lunch and then rented a scooter for our transportation needs. A nice little scooter runs about 125 baht per day, or $3.75. Just be sure to rent from a place with helmets.
The second largest temple in Thailand, Doi Suthep is located about 10km out of town and a nice view of the city. We hopped on the scooter and headed up the mountain. There was a lot of traffic in town but once on the windy mountain road it was not too bad, just need to remember to stay on the lefthand side of the road. The temple was very cool and has 400+ steps leading up to it as well as a nice statue of a white elephant. See here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phrathat_Doi_Suthep
That night we went to one of the large night markets that has everything from lamps, clothing, scarfs, t-shirts, pirated DVDs and a whole mess of other hadicrafts and jewelery and stuff. I picked up a couple of beer Chang shirts for maybe $3.00 each. Later on we went out on the town and saw a live cover band, then to a club called 'Spicy'. In the club there were mormon waiters, (well waiters that looked like mormons) that would come around and push through the crowds to serve you. This is very nice because getting to the bar in a crowded club can be a realy hassle sometimes.Today we slept late and then took the scooter out to an
umbrella factory. The umbrealla factory is where umbrellas are made and painted by hand. Not needing an umbrella, the other cool thing they do is paint shirts and bags and really anything you want as it turns out. Another friend here with me had previously gotten a cool design painted on his messenger bag, so I decided it would be even cooler to have my laptop painted. It cost about $3.00 but as you can tell it was well worth every baht!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
At Work
So I am at the 'office' today working on some stuff. Here is a nice picture of the space, we have working indoor waterfalls and it used to be a cafe. As you can tell it is very nice and comfortable. Unfortunately I can't find the Thai kid to help me with my post so this will be rather bland. I think he must be in school or something.
I finally found out what the address is here, so feel free to send gifts/money to:
Wah Lin House
Andrew Sanderson
Soi 2 Wiengtai
Pai - MaeHongSon
58130
Thailand
Monday, January 14, 2008
Captain's log: Day 1
After many tumultuous days in transit, I have finally arrived in a sleepy Thai mountain town called Pai. In case you haven't heard, Pai is almost unreachable by vehicle. I strapped on my back pack and hiked 10 miles into the jungle, swinging my machete the whole way. I was confronted by a gibbon (vicious monkey with large fangs) who flung his excrement at me until I surrendered my Nature's Trail granola bars. Sweaty, riddled with bug bites, and wreaking of the gibbon's last meal, I stumbled into the bus station hours later. I was escorted to a large red 1970 city bus that sputters oil in all directions. My bags were tied to the top, beside a cage of disgruntled squawking chickens. I was forced to elbow my way onto the vehicle, which was packed full of impatient locals. 
The bus normally holds 20 people, but on this day the head-count was 35. I sat sandwiched between the window and a small wrinkled man with no teeth who spat bits of tobacco onto the seat when he laughed. We lurched forward onto the gravel road, which is known for it's 765 turns as it winds up the mountain. On steep inclines the engine would cut out, letting the bus roll backward off the trail, until the driver could coax the ignition back into function. Tai people are known to have weak stomachs and after half an hour, many of them could not contain the contents of their stomachs. With heads hanging out the windows, my view of the mountain was obstructed. The temperature steadily dropped as we climbed up in altitude. The old man beside me took to snuggling underneath my armpit, grumbling in Thai when I did not readily accept him. Four hours later, we pulled into a small town whose streets were lit by strings of Christmas lights and littered with street vendors selling an assortment of brightly coloured bags and several flavours of noodle soup. At the bus station, I picked up my bags (which were now covered in chicken feathers) and headed toward a pay phone. I dialed the number of the girl who was supposed to direct me to the guest house. The dull ring in the receiver was interrupted by a voice that sounded of years of cigarettes and Long Island Ice Teas.
"You here?"
Yes, I am. At the bus station.
"Follow the man with the Tiger on his face. Don't let him see you, just go where he goes."
With that, she hung up. I stood with the phone in my hand, wondering what the hell she meant. I sighed and reached for my phone card. I needed to call Laurie to let her know I arrived safely, but was not entirely sure of what I would say to her.
"I love you the most, too."
As I stepped out of the phone booth, I was hit with an incredible hunger. Realizing I had not eaten since I stepped off the plane, I began my search for something decent to eat. I wandered the streets, watching the lanterns lit by locals float into the sky. I smelled Pad Thai and followed the scent to a small stand with piles of noodles and vegetables waiting to be cooked. I placed my order and looked around for a place to set my bags. My eyes passed over parked motorbikes, lazy dogs, and landed on a bench across the street. There was a Thai man sitting there, smoking cloves. He turned his head and as his face entered the light of the street lamp, I saw the sepia tattoo on his cheek: a snarling tiger. Great, so I found the mystery man who I was supposed to follow, but now what? He wasn't going anywhere, but I felt compelled to keep my eyes on him. I abandoned my Pad Thai and slowly moved across the street to stand by the bench. He took a long drag, blew out his smoke, and crushed the butt into his palm. Before I could make it to the other side, we has already making a bee-line for the bar on the corner. I quickened my pace and kept on his trail. I asked myself repeatedly, what am I doing? As the man with the tiger slipped into the bar, I followed. Red light spilled over me and my ears were filled with a heavy drum beat and soft violin. A woman wearing layers of skirts and long flowing hair held a gold lotus in each hand. Inside the lotuses were lit candles.
She danced and twirled the fire around her body, in time with the music. She was so entranced with the vibrations of the instruments that momentarily, she lost control and set her hair on fire. Someone in the crowd quickly put it out with a scarf and she continued with her dance. I took a seat at the bar and let my eyes follow the colorful art on the walls.
"Can I get you a drink?"
The raspy voice was right in my ear. She laughed as I turned around, full of confusion. I let out a chuckle hesitantly, more confused than ever. The voice had come from a young girl with freckles speckling every inch of her exposed skin. She raised her eyebrows and asked again if she could get me a drink. Yes, I'll have a beer Chang.
"I'm glad to see that you found Pu. He didn't see you, did he?"
No. I take it Pu has the tiger on his face.
"Yeah. Awesome, right?"
She explained to me that Pu has had a paranoia of the paparazzi ever since Princess Diana's death. He thinks that any white person with a camera is out to ensure his demise. If he had seen me he would have attacked me, pulling apart all of my belongings until he found- and destroyed- my camera. Apparently it takes a while before Pu will trust any Falang (foreigner). I realize later that she hasn't introduced herself. I know that her name is Shelley, but she speaks to me like she knows me. She tells me that she has a feeling we'll be best friends. BFFs, in her words. She explains that we'll have a secret handshake and use our psyches to communicate. She has yet to explain why she didn't just come to the station to pick me up. I furrowed my brow and thought very hard about that question, hoping our new ESP would kick in. After the band finishes it's last notes, she tells me to grab my bags. We walk into the cold night air and my travel-exhaustion kicks in. She swings her leg over a large motorcycle and pats the seat behind her. I situate myself on the back, not sure if my bags will balance. She kicks it into first and peels out of the main drag.
"You better get used to this. You're going to be driving me around from now on."
I'm going to need a helmet, I think to myself.
The wind cuts through my t-shirt and burns on my knuckles. We follow a winding road, out past the mango trees and into the country night. The mountains loom all around and the stars have never been so clear. I point out Orion and Shelley shows me how the moon is tilted like a bowl in this hemisphere. She pulls into a hidden driveway and parks behind a group of banana trees that are tied with a hammock. We walk to a bungalow and she tosses me the keys.
"This is where I leave you. I'll be back in the morning for breakfast. I still need to debrief you."
I'm still standing outside when I hear her motorcycle back on the road. The country air smells sweet and I take a moment to remember why I'm here. I have three months ahead of me, full of possible adventures. Tonight is just the beginning.
The bus normally holds 20 people, but on this day the head-count was 35. I sat sandwiched between the window and a small wrinkled man with no teeth who spat bits of tobacco onto the seat when he laughed. We lurched forward onto the gravel road, which is known for it's 765 turns as it winds up the mountain. On steep inclines the engine would cut out, letting the bus roll backward off the trail, until the driver could coax the ignition back into function. Tai people are known to have weak stomachs and after half an hour, many of them could not contain the contents of their stomachs. With heads hanging out the windows, my view of the mountain was obstructed. The temperature steadily dropped as we climbed up in altitude. The old man beside me took to snuggling underneath my armpit, grumbling in Thai when I did not readily accept him. Four hours later, we pulled into a small town whose streets were lit by strings of Christmas lights and littered with street vendors selling an assortment of brightly coloured bags and several flavours of noodle soup. At the bus station, I picked up my bags (which were now covered in chicken feathers) and headed toward a pay phone. I dialed the number of the girl who was supposed to direct me to the guest house. The dull ring in the receiver was interrupted by a voice that sounded of years of cigarettes and Long Island Ice Teas."You here?"
Yes, I am. At the bus station.
"Follow the man with the Tiger on his face. Don't let him see you, just go where he goes."
With that, she hung up. I stood with the phone in my hand, wondering what the hell she meant. I sighed and reached for my phone card. I needed to call Laurie to let her know I arrived safely, but was not entirely sure of what I would say to her.
"I love you the most, too."
As I stepped out of the phone booth, I was hit with an incredible hunger. Realizing I had not eaten since I stepped off the plane, I began my search for something decent to eat. I wandered the streets, watching the lanterns lit by locals float into the sky. I smelled Pad Thai and followed the scent to a small stand with piles of noodles and vegetables waiting to be cooked. I placed my order and looked around for a place to set my bags. My eyes passed over parked motorbikes, lazy dogs, and landed on a bench across the street. There was a Thai man sitting there, smoking cloves. He turned his head and as his face entered the light of the street lamp, I saw the sepia tattoo on his cheek: a snarling tiger. Great, so I found the mystery man who I was supposed to follow, but now what? He wasn't going anywhere, but I felt compelled to keep my eyes on him. I abandoned my Pad Thai and slowly moved across the street to stand by the bench. He took a long drag, blew out his smoke, and crushed the butt into his palm. Before I could make it to the other side, we has already making a bee-line for the bar on the corner. I quickened my pace and kept on his trail. I asked myself repeatedly, what am I doing? As the man with the tiger slipped into the bar, I followed. Red light spilled over me and my ears were filled with a heavy drum beat and soft violin. A woman wearing layers of skirts and long flowing hair held a gold lotus in each hand. Inside the lotuses were lit candles.
She danced and twirled the fire around her body, in time with the music. She was so entranced with the vibrations of the instruments that momentarily, she lost control and set her hair on fire. Someone in the crowd quickly put it out with a scarf and she continued with her dance. I took a seat at the bar and let my eyes follow the colorful art on the walls."Can I get you a drink?"
The raspy voice was right in my ear. She laughed as I turned around, full of confusion. I let out a chuckle hesitantly, more confused than ever. The voice had come from a young girl with freckles speckling every inch of her exposed skin. She raised her eyebrows and asked again if she could get me a drink. Yes, I'll have a beer Chang.
"I'm glad to see that you found Pu. He didn't see you, did he?"
No. I take it Pu has the tiger on his face.
"Yeah. Awesome, right?"
She explained to me that Pu has had a paranoia of the paparazzi ever since Princess Diana's death. He thinks that any white person with a camera is out to ensure his demise. If he had seen me he would have attacked me, pulling apart all of my belongings until he found- and destroyed- my camera. Apparently it takes a while before Pu will trust any Falang (foreigner). I realize later that she hasn't introduced herself. I know that her name is Shelley, but she speaks to me like she knows me. She tells me that she has a feeling we'll be best friends. BFFs, in her words. She explains that we'll have a secret handshake and use our psyches to communicate. She has yet to explain why she didn't just come to the station to pick me up. I furrowed my brow and thought very hard about that question, hoping our new ESP would kick in. After the band finishes it's last notes, she tells me to grab my bags. We walk into the cold night air and my travel-exhaustion kicks in. She swings her leg over a large motorcycle and pats the seat behind her. I situate myself on the back, not sure if my bags will balance. She kicks it into first and peels out of the main drag.
"You better get used to this. You're going to be driving me around from now on."
I'm going to need a helmet, I think to myself.
The wind cuts through my t-shirt and burns on my knuckles. We follow a winding road, out past the mango trees and into the country night. The mountains loom all around and the stars have never been so clear. I point out Orion and Shelley shows me how the moon is tilted like a bowl in this hemisphere. She pulls into a hidden driveway and parks behind a group of banana trees that are tied with a hammock. We walk to a bungalow and she tosses me the keys.
"This is where I leave you. I'll be back in the morning for breakfast. I still need to debrief you."
I'm still standing outside when I hear her motorcycle back on the road. The country air smells sweet and I take a moment to remember why I'm here. I have three months ahead of me, full of possible adventures. Tonight is just the beginning.
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