Almost forgot to post the pictures for you. Here you go:
Cambodia: Part 1
Cambodia: Part 2
Cambodia: Part 3
Friday, May 8, 2009
Cambodia
Haha, so that "4 posts in one day" thing didn't work out so well. I'm still going to make separate posts though... and now I have Kanchanaburi to add to my list. I figure I should get these posts done before I go back to the States - at that point, I might as well just tell you all in person, eh?
So, Cambodia.
First of all, if you don't know any history about Cambodia, don't worry - I didn't either, until I visited it. A quick rundown: the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia back in the '70s, and they killed a LOT of people, including pretty much all government officials and anyone with an education. They refused entry or exit to nearly everyone, which is probably why most people I've talked to have never heard about this. They abolished money, marriage (except by arrangement by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader)... all sorts of things that we would never think of living without. The Khmer Rouge basically wanted a "peasant utopia".
That being said, visiting Cambodia today is stepping into a third-world country that is still, nearly 30 years after the removal of the Khmer Rouge, recovering from a terrible, terrible time. The average age is said to be somewhere in the teens - surprising, but totally believable. It seemed like 1 of every 5 people I saw was an infant, and at least 50% of the people I saw were children (i.e. under 18). They are VERY poor, probably due to the fact that all the educated people were killed off 30 years ago, and money was abolished (it's back now, though). Now, they will gladly accept any kind of currency other than their own, preferally US dollars. All the ATMs give out US dollars. Except for the Vietnamese Dong, nearly every other currency is stronger than theirs.
But all that aside, I really, really, REALLY enjoyed my time in Cambodia.
Bad news first (again): Phnom Penh, the capital, is not very exciting to visit, unless you're into history. The city itself is extremely dirty... the complete lack of a trash system is evident by the mounds of garbage literally lining the streets. Sometimes, it would cover the sidewalks and we'd have to walk in the streets. And the history that you can learn there is interesting, but depressing. Because it's all about the Khmer Rouge, of course. We did visit the high school prison (there's a phrase you didn't think would ever be meant literally!) and the killing fields - both very depressing, but I'm glad I went. I think this was the point in time when it truly hit me how removed I am from what goes on in the rest of the world - I mean, I've never seen things like this in Texas! It really opened my eyes and made me think about happenings all over the world, not just things that affect me in Texas.
But, on to the good stuff. Siem Reap was absolutely amazing! We visited this whole complex of ancient temples, starting bright and early at 5am. We went to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, which is probably one of the most well-known ancient temples on the planet. The sunrise was a bust though; it was a cloudy morning. Still, seeing all these ancient temples, all in one little areas... so cool! Going at 5am was worth it. By midday, it was so blistering hot outside that we had to leave. Good thing we went early and saw a bunch of good stuff before then!
After the temples, a few of us headed into town for lunch. First mistake we made was deciding to sit at a table next to the street. Second mistake we made was talking to the kids that were trying to sell their little knick-knacks on the street. These kids stood at our table for, and I kid you not, a solid 30 minutes. That's how desperate they were to sell something. Saddest thing is, even though Josh bought some bracelets from one of them, these kids still wouldn't go away... because we hadn't bought something from ALL of them. They finally got distracted by some other tourists walking down the street, though.
Overall, Cambodia was a good trip. The people were really nice, even though they're annoyingly persistent. Siem Reap was beautiful and lots of fun. Phnom Penh was full of history I never dreamed of learning. And the people I travelled with were cool, of course.
So, Cambodia.
First of all, if you don't know any history about Cambodia, don't worry - I didn't either, until I visited it. A quick rundown: the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia back in the '70s, and they killed a LOT of people, including pretty much all government officials and anyone with an education. They refused entry or exit to nearly everyone, which is probably why most people I've talked to have never heard about this. They abolished money, marriage (except by arrangement by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader)... all sorts of things that we would never think of living without. The Khmer Rouge basically wanted a "peasant utopia".
That being said, visiting Cambodia today is stepping into a third-world country that is still, nearly 30 years after the removal of the Khmer Rouge, recovering from a terrible, terrible time. The average age is said to be somewhere in the teens - surprising, but totally believable. It seemed like 1 of every 5 people I saw was an infant, and at least 50% of the people I saw were children (i.e. under 18). They are VERY poor, probably due to the fact that all the educated people were killed off 30 years ago, and money was abolished (it's back now, though). Now, they will gladly accept any kind of currency other than their own, preferally US dollars. All the ATMs give out US dollars. Except for the Vietnamese Dong, nearly every other currency is stronger than theirs.
But all that aside, I really, really, REALLY enjoyed my time in Cambodia.
Bad news first (again): Phnom Penh, the capital, is not very exciting to visit, unless you're into history. The city itself is extremely dirty... the complete lack of a trash system is evident by the mounds of garbage literally lining the streets. Sometimes, it would cover the sidewalks and we'd have to walk in the streets. And the history that you can learn there is interesting, but depressing. Because it's all about the Khmer Rouge, of course. We did visit the high school prison (there's a phrase you didn't think would ever be meant literally!) and the killing fields - both very depressing, but I'm glad I went. I think this was the point in time when it truly hit me how removed I am from what goes on in the rest of the world - I mean, I've never seen things like this in Texas! It really opened my eyes and made me think about happenings all over the world, not just things that affect me in Texas.
But, on to the good stuff. Siem Reap was absolutely amazing! We visited this whole complex of ancient temples, starting bright and early at 5am. We went to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, which is probably one of the most well-known ancient temples on the planet. The sunrise was a bust though; it was a cloudy morning. Still, seeing all these ancient temples, all in one little areas... so cool! Going at 5am was worth it. By midday, it was so blistering hot outside that we had to leave. Good thing we went early and saw a bunch of good stuff before then!
After the temples, a few of us headed into town for lunch. First mistake we made was deciding to sit at a table next to the street. Second mistake we made was talking to the kids that were trying to sell their little knick-knacks on the street. These kids stood at our table for, and I kid you not, a solid 30 minutes. That's how desperate they were to sell something. Saddest thing is, even though Josh bought some bracelets from one of them, these kids still wouldn't go away... because we hadn't bought something from ALL of them. They finally got distracted by some other tourists walking down the street, though.
Overall, Cambodia was a good trip. The people were really nice, even though they're annoyingly persistent. Siem Reap was beautiful and lots of fun. Phnom Penh was full of history I never dreamed of learning. And the people I travelled with were cool, of course.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Vietnam
So, I know I haven't posted in a super-long time. To make-up, I'm gonna make 4 different posts today; one each for Vietnam, Cambodia, Chiang Mai/Songkran, and one about my life in general in Thailand. First up: Vietnam!
You may have already seen the pictures. The links should still work if you want to look at them again. But on to the good stuff...
Vietnam was not what I expected. I only visited Northern Vietnam - four days is simply not enough time to cover an entire country. I went to Hanoi and this little town near the Vietnam-China border called Sapa.
Bed news first: I didn't like Hanoi much at all. Granted, I didn't spend much time there, but the time I did spend there was less than exciting or welcoming. Now, I understand that I'm American and that the Vietnamese (especially in Northern Vietnam) have plenty of reasons to hate me. But I felt so extremely unwelcome in Hanoi - a main tourist hub in Vietnam - I couldn't wait to leave. Erika and I took a cyclo instead of a cab at one point, just trying to save some money. We tried to pay the guy $3 after the ride, which is already a generous price (average price is 15,000 dong or just under $1). He made us feel so threatened when he wouldn't accept the money, and then some other guys came up and surrounded us, watching the scene... we finally just handed him $10 and walked away as fast as we could. Then, we checked out the "Hanoi Hilton", which is now a museum. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but the museum definitely made it sound like the American POWs were treated like VIPs, complete with little chocolates on their pillows. I tried not to scoff out loud while I was there, though - I didn't want to get into any trouble, seeing as I'm already American. Oh, and nightlife in Hanoi? Forget it. Erika and I got to our hotel around 10pm, and there weren't even any restaurants open anymore. Very sad.
There were some good parts of Hanoi though. I visited the Jade Temple (or something like that), and got to see a giant embalmed tortoise! I also went to a traditional water puppet show, which sounds boring but was actually really fun. Oh, and I bought a North Face backpack, because North Face manufactures in Vietnam, and all the things with defects go to the streets and sell for $8-15. If you know anything about NF, you know that's a damn good price. And the defect on my backpack isn't all that bad - the shoulder straps are positioned lower than they should be, but a little adjusting of one of the other 1,000 straps on the backpack, and everything works great!
Sapa was the polar opposite of Hanoi. It was so incredible! I really loved Sapa. If you ever go to Vietnam - hell, if you ever go to SE Asia - that is one place I definitely recommend seeing. It's a quiet little mountain town, but it's still got so much life. Sapa's got a healthy tourist reputation, so you meet people from all over the world. In fact, on the plane from Bangkok to Hanoi, I was sitting next to this guy Luke from the Netherlands - we ended up running into him in Sapa too. He'd been to Sapa before and knew some of the locals, so we got to meet some of the nicest people in Vietnam. This one girl, Ha, works for her family everyday from 2pm till 6am as one of the people out on the streets that carries around a basket full of everything from bracelets to blankets to pants, all handmade in one of the villages near Sapa. She's one of the only vendors that knows English, though, so she makes money (and friends!) easier than the rest. She gave me, Alex, Erika, and Danielle all free bracelets - she was really cool. The rest of the vendors don't really speak English, so all they know is "Buy from me?!", and they say it over and over and over again, following you up and down the street. It's sad, but you literally have to ignore them if you don't want to buy anything.
Sapa was absolutely beautiful too. I mean, it's this little town set up in the mountains, with other little villages scattered all around it. We visited this one village called Cat-Cat; we walked all the way down into the valley and then back up, seeing all the animals and crops and buildings along the way. There was even a little waterfall at the bottom. Seriously, this was one of the best places I've visited while I've been overseas. It was amazing.
You may have already seen the pictures. The links should still work if you want to look at them again. But on to the good stuff...
Vietnam was not what I expected. I only visited Northern Vietnam - four days is simply not enough time to cover an entire country. I went to Hanoi and this little town near the Vietnam-China border called Sapa.
Bed news first: I didn't like Hanoi much at all. Granted, I didn't spend much time there, but the time I did spend there was less than exciting or welcoming. Now, I understand that I'm American and that the Vietnamese (especially in Northern Vietnam) have plenty of reasons to hate me. But I felt so extremely unwelcome in Hanoi - a main tourist hub in Vietnam - I couldn't wait to leave. Erika and I took a cyclo instead of a cab at one point, just trying to save some money. We tried to pay the guy $3 after the ride, which is already a generous price (average price is 15,000 dong or just under $1). He made us feel so threatened when he wouldn't accept the money, and then some other guys came up and surrounded us, watching the scene... we finally just handed him $10 and walked away as fast as we could. Then, we checked out the "Hanoi Hilton", which is now a museum. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but the museum definitely made it sound like the American POWs were treated like VIPs, complete with little chocolates on their pillows. I tried not to scoff out loud while I was there, though - I didn't want to get into any trouble, seeing as I'm already American. Oh, and nightlife in Hanoi? Forget it. Erika and I got to our hotel around 10pm, and there weren't even any restaurants open anymore. Very sad.
There were some good parts of Hanoi though. I visited the Jade Temple (or something like that), and got to see a giant embalmed tortoise! I also went to a traditional water puppet show, which sounds boring but was actually really fun. Oh, and I bought a North Face backpack, because North Face manufactures in Vietnam, and all the things with defects go to the streets and sell for $8-15. If you know anything about NF, you know that's a damn good price. And the defect on my backpack isn't all that bad - the shoulder straps are positioned lower than they should be, but a little adjusting of one of the other 1,000 straps on the backpack, and everything works great!
Sapa was the polar opposite of Hanoi. It was so incredible! I really loved Sapa. If you ever go to Vietnam - hell, if you ever go to SE Asia - that is one place I definitely recommend seeing. It's a quiet little mountain town, but it's still got so much life. Sapa's got a healthy tourist reputation, so you meet people from all over the world. In fact, on the plane from Bangkok to Hanoi, I was sitting next to this guy Luke from the Netherlands - we ended up running into him in Sapa too. He'd been to Sapa before and knew some of the locals, so we got to meet some of the nicest people in Vietnam. This one girl, Ha, works for her family everyday from 2pm till 6am as one of the people out on the streets that carries around a basket full of everything from bracelets to blankets to pants, all handmade in one of the villages near Sapa. She's one of the only vendors that knows English, though, so she makes money (and friends!) easier than the rest. She gave me, Alex, Erika, and Danielle all free bracelets - she was really cool. The rest of the vendors don't really speak English, so all they know is "Buy from me?!", and they say it over and over and over again, following you up and down the street. It's sad, but you literally have to ignore them if you don't want to buy anything.
Sapa was absolutely beautiful too. I mean, it's this little town set up in the mountains, with other little villages scattered all around it. We visited this one village called Cat-Cat; we walked all the way down into the valley and then back up, seeing all the animals and crops and buildings along the way. There was even a little waterfall at the bottom. Seriously, this was one of the best places I've visited while I've been overseas. It was amazing.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Pictures from Vietnam
Here are the links for my pictures from Vietnam. Enjoy!
Vietnam: Part 1
Vietnam: Part 2
Vietnam: Part 3
Vietnam: Part 1
Vietnam: Part 2
Vietnam: Part 3
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The wait is over.
Before you say anything, I already know; it's been far too long since I've updated. The reason I haven't updated is because I don't feel like there's much for me to tell you. I haven't travelled since my last post, mainly because I haven't had time. For 4 out of the past 6 weeks, I've had a midterm over the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday). So instead of telling you of any exciting ventures into foreign countries, I'll tell you about school.
Finance is this nasty little class that seems to enjoy feasting on my social life. Things I've learned from this finance class:
1) Everything makes sense and calculates correctly with the professor in class, but nothing works right when I'm on my own.
2) Reading the book and doing the practice problems are "optional", but not really. Opting out of either of those will result in failure.
3) Three hours is not enough time to finish a finance test by Ajarn Chatuporn.
That being said, the rest of my classes are relatively easy. I've got a project in Humanities where, with a group, we have to make a 12-minute video about ancient temples in Thailand. My project in Marketing is - in my honest opinion - ridiculous. My partner and I have to raise money for a charity and a group promoting social entrepreneurship across the globe... and our grade depends on how much we raise relative to the rest of the class. This is no easy task, especially since:
a) most of the local students are very well off, financially. Rumor has it that some of their parents are just donating large lump sums for their grades.
b) raising money in Thailand is no easy task for farang (foreigners). I'm not fluent in Thai, and most of them think Americans are rich already, so they won't donate money to me.
On the upside of life, I found some decent fajitas here in Thailand! A few weeks ago, we went out for one of the exchange students' birthday. She's half-Thai and has visited Thailand before, so she knows of some good eats here in Bangkok. Anyway, we went to this little restaurant called Bourbon Street Restaurant, which sells (you guessed it!) mostly cajun food along with some Mexican dishes. I heard the fajitas were pretty decent, so I decided to try them... and surprise! They were actually pretty good. Maybe it's because the owner is American - we got to meet him when he came by to ask how our meal was. The guacamole was good too, though the salsa could have used some work. And they don't know what queso is. Too bad.
Speaking of meeting people, I didn't go out last night to Bed Supperclub (a very popular club in Bangkok), but some of the other exchange students did, and guess who they meet? Seth Green. You know, the guy who does the voice of Chris from Family Guy, created the show Robot Chicken, was Dr. Evil's son on Austin Powers, played Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was the bane of Eric Forman's existence as Mitch on That 70's Show... the list goes on. Who would've thought you'd meet an American TV star in Bangkok?
Anyway, I don't have much else exciting to tell you. Oh, but I can post my travel schedule for the rest of March and April!
March 26-29: Vietnam
April 2-6: Cambodia
April 10-16: Chiang Mai for Songkran, the Thai new year and a huge water festival
April 16-20: possibly Indonesia, specifically Jakarta and Bali
April 23-27: possibly Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
My finals are scheduled for mid-May (14th-17th), so I'm planning on travelling during the first half of May too. I plan on at least going to Kanchanaburi, Lopburi, and Ko Phangan in Thailand. Plus, I still need to make a trip to Laos.
:D
Finance is this nasty little class that seems to enjoy feasting on my social life. Things I've learned from this finance class:
1) Everything makes sense and calculates correctly with the professor in class, but nothing works right when I'm on my own.
2) Reading the book and doing the practice problems are "optional", but not really. Opting out of either of those will result in failure.
3) Three hours is not enough time to finish a finance test by Ajarn Chatuporn.
That being said, the rest of my classes are relatively easy. I've got a project in Humanities where, with a group, we have to make a 12-minute video about ancient temples in Thailand. My project in Marketing is - in my honest opinion - ridiculous. My partner and I have to raise money for a charity and a group promoting social entrepreneurship across the globe... and our grade depends on how much we raise relative to the rest of the class. This is no easy task, especially since:
a) most of the local students are very well off, financially. Rumor has it that some of their parents are just donating large lump sums for their grades.
b) raising money in Thailand is no easy task for farang (foreigners). I'm not fluent in Thai, and most of them think Americans are rich already, so they won't donate money to me.
On the upside of life, I found some decent fajitas here in Thailand! A few weeks ago, we went out for one of the exchange students' birthday. She's half-Thai and has visited Thailand before, so she knows of some good eats here in Bangkok. Anyway, we went to this little restaurant called Bourbon Street Restaurant, which sells (you guessed it!) mostly cajun food along with some Mexican dishes. I heard the fajitas were pretty decent, so I decided to try them... and surprise! They were actually pretty good. Maybe it's because the owner is American - we got to meet him when he came by to ask how our meal was. The guacamole was good too, though the salsa could have used some work. And they don't know what queso is. Too bad.
Speaking of meeting people, I didn't go out last night to Bed Supperclub (a very popular club in Bangkok), but some of the other exchange students did, and guess who they meet? Seth Green. You know, the guy who does the voice of Chris from Family Guy, created the show Robot Chicken, was Dr. Evil's son on Austin Powers, played Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was the bane of Eric Forman's existence as Mitch on That 70's Show... the list goes on. Who would've thought you'd meet an American TV star in Bangkok?
Anyway, I don't have much else exciting to tell you. Oh, but I can post my travel schedule for the rest of March and April!
March 26-29: Vietnam
April 2-6: Cambodia
April 10-16: Chiang Mai for Songkran, the Thai new year and a huge water festival
April 16-20: possibly Indonesia, specifically Jakarta and Bali
April 23-27: possibly Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
My finals are scheduled for mid-May (14th-17th), so I'm planning on travelling during the first half of May too. I plan on at least going to Kanchanaburi, Lopburi, and Ko Phangan in Thailand. Plus, I still need to make a trip to Laos.
:D
Friday, February 13, 2009
Photos!
Wow, that's a really long post. Yet, I forgot to add photo album links.
Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach
Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach: Part 2
Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach
Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach: Part 2
Overdue.
Hello again! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a long while. I could tell you that I've been busy (which I have), or that I haven't had access to a computer 100% of the time (which is also true), but mostly, I'm just lazy.
I have lots to fill you in on. So here goes nothing...
Last time I left off, I posted some pictures from my visit to Ayuthaya. Basically, Ayuthaya is an ancient capital of Thailand, located a little ways outside Bangkok. Some number of years ago, it was sacked by the Burmese, who (as you saw) destroyed much of the city and took the heads off all the Buddhas. It was really cool getting to walk around there - we even saw elephants at one point! The day trip was free, courtesy of the BBA office at Thammasat. Unfortunately, we had to leave at 7am in the morning. The tour guide was a regular Chatty Cathy... at one point, on the bus ride there, he stopped talking long enough to notice that most of us were falling asleep, and he even said he would stop so we could sleep for a little while... but then he just kept on talking. He told us the entire, actual Thai name of Bangkok, and it took him at least 15 seconds to say it all. What a mouthful. He was also very proud to point out that Ayuthaya was a filming location for the movie "Mortal Kombat" - yes, that's right. Same as the video game. Anyway, after a day at Ayuthaya, we were treated to a cruise down the Chao Praya River back to Bangkok. They had a lunch buffet on the cruise, complete with coffee and cake for dessert; all very delicious!
Later that night, after getting back to the apartment complex, there was a gathering in the penthouse in honor of Australia Day. As far as I know, only 3 of the exchange students are Australian, but we all got together anyway for an "authentic" Australia Day cook-out. Basically, we all wore tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops, fried some sausages on the stove, and listened to Australian music. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun, considering a good 20 or 30 of us were there.
A couple weeks ago, some of us tried to go see a muay-thai fight (Thai boxing); "some of us" being Tommaso, Ben, Ivana, Anne, Martin, Michael, Sohum, Kartik, Chris, Andy, and myself. Once we got to the stadium, we found out that we were going to be charged 1000 baht (about $30) to get in, whereas the Thai locals were getting in for 220 baht. We tried bargaining the price down, we tried showing our Thammasat IDs, we tried everything we could think of. Finally, an English-speaking ticket agent came up to us and said that we could get in for free, provided we bring a letter from Thammasat - apparently, our IDs weren't good enough. So we didn't go. Instead, we went to Khao San road, had some great dinner at this Japanese restaurant, and did a little shopping. On our way there, we even saw the King of Thailand! Kind of, anyway. Our tuk-tuk got stopped because all the streets were being shut down so the king could drive through. We got out and walked down the street to watch him pass by. A police escort passed us first, followed by a line of 30 red Mercedes, and another police escort. It was wild! Most of the Mercedes' were empty, but a couple of them had someone in the back seat, one of which we assumed was the king.
Also, our tuk-tuk driver that night was hilarious! Not only did he race other tuk-tuks, but he popped 2 wheelies while we were in it. So much fun.
At the end of that week, a big group of us went out to RCA, which is a popular clubbing district in Bangkok. While we were there, I met a few kids who are also on exchange, but go to Chulalongkorn, Thammasat's big rival here in Bangkok. Funnily enough, the big soccer game between the two schools was the next day, so we of course heckled each other about who would win and who would lose.
Speaking of the soccer game, it was a huge deal. The stadium is pretty big, and it's located right in the middle of the city, next to a popular shopping center. The festivities started around noon; yes, "festivities". This included pep rallies and free stuff being handed out, random performances by groups from each school on temporary stages, booths set up all over the place to sell food and apparel and more. Unfortunately, something I ate didn't agree with me (oh no!), and I ended up back at the apartment, trying to cool off and settle my stomach. But Thammasat won! 2-0. Bragging rights are ours!
Last weekend, a group of us went to Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach. It was so beautiful (once again), and of course, so much fun. Nine people left on Wednesday night, and six of us (Danielle, Alex, Erika, Sophia, and Vivian) took the overnight train on Thursday into Surat Thani; from there, we took a bus to Krabi, and from there we met up with Ben and Josh and took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. All in all, about 17 hours of travel time. But it was so worth it. We met up with the other nine in Ko Phi Phi and shared one giant bungalow - which was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I didn't get pictures of it before the 17 of us dominated it with all our stuff, but I know others did; I'll try to get a link up. The bungalow had 3 rooms and bathrooms, 5 beds, a hammock, and a nice little deck with some benches and a table; plenty of room for all 17 of us.
Pretty much everything on the island has been rebuilt since the tsunami in 2004, considering pretty much everything was wiped out by that. But tourist accomodations were completely up and running. We stayed on Long Beach, which was a fairly quiet part of the island... probably because it was quite a hike from the main pier. There were a couple beach restaurants right on our beach, of course, but most everything else was by the pier. We still had to hike to breakfast in the mornings, but it was worth it. The food was sooooo good - especially anything involving bananas! The tuna and club sandwiches were also delicious, though. I know, I know; western food? In Thailand? But seriously, touristy areas like Ko Phi Phi are the best places to get decent western foods. Everywhere else just kinda sucks.
Anyway, Ko Phi Phi was so much fun. We took a boat tour around the island - and the first beach we stopped at, we met misfortune. Firstly, the boat pulled up kinda close to the beach, and we all jumped out, expecting to splash into the water and feel the sand between our toes. However, there were more rocks, coral, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins underwater than there was sand. Luckily, no one stepped on a sea urchin. But splashing through the water was no walk in the park when there were rocks or coral digging into your feet every step of the way, or sea cucumbers squishing between your toes in a rather unpleasant way. By the time we got to the beach, nobody wanted to leave for a while (because nobody wanted to do that again). But then, some Thais approached us and demanded that we pay a 200 baht fee for visiting the beach, because it's a national park. Well, none of us wanted to pay, so we trekked back through the treacherous waters to the boat, planning to continue the boat tour and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, the tide had gone out some, and the boat was stuck. There were 14 of us, so we figured we'd try to push the boat out; but we failed. Some of the group went back to the beach and just avoided paying the fee by walking around to the deserted part of the beach. The rest of us chilled out on the boat and waited for some kind of miracle. A couple of hours later, once everyone was back on the boat, we got out again and, with the help of the driver, managed to push the boat back into open water. We continued on our tour, stopping at this gorgeous bay for some snorkeling and getting to glimpse the actual beach from the movie "The Beach" from a distance. Snorkeling was so much fun! The water was incredibly clear, and the fish would come swim right next to me, as if they hadn't a care in the world!
That night, we got together and hiked down to the pier to check out a fire show. We ended up at this beachside bar that starts out the night with a fire show (people twirling sticks and ropes on fire) and ended with fire games (fire limbo, fire jump roping, jumping through a ring of fire...), complete with audience participation! So of course, we participated. I've got some pictures of the jump roping and limbo (neither of which I participated in, haha), and a TON of photos of us jumping through the hoop of fire! As for the fire show, let me just say that the first performer was - and I kid you not - a 5-year-old girl. Maybe younger. She was so calm that she almost looked bored while she was up there. Needless to say, I was very impressed.
Anyway, that was the end of the day at Ko Phi Phi. The next morning, a few of us headed to Railay Beach for some maxing and relaxing. We took a long boat to Railay (which is on the mainland) from Ko Phi Phi, and our driver was, probably quite literally, insane. He spoke very little English, which was fine, until he tried to have a conversation with us. Then it was just hilarious. His name was Tiger (or so he says). He tried to point out dolphins to us, until we realized he wasn't serious. The way he was driving, we were completely soaked to the bone by the time we got to Railay. He had to stop driving and let his partner (another Thai guy on the boat) take over while he relieved himself over the side of the boat. And, here's the kicker - he pulled out a long, hollowed out piece of bamboo or something, and definitely started smoking from it. And I'm not talking about tobacco. Luckily, the other guy was driving at the point, but it was still the craziest thing to see your boat driver just pull that out. Crazy.
Railay was really nice, though. Much smaller than Ko Phi Phi, and there seemed to be more tourists there, but it still had sun and sea and sand. We rented kayaks and paddled around for a little while, getting a closer look at some of the giant rock formations that are sitting out in the sea. Also got to see some humungous jellyfish - each of these guys were at least the size of a basketball. We took the train back to Bangkok later that day - in fact, the train was a good 1 1/2 hours late, so we got to talking with this guy from Canada who spends 6 months in Thailand every year for rockclimbing and 6 months in Canada as a carpenter.
This weekend was my first time on a train, by the way. It wasn't so bad. At one point, I smiled at one of the guys who works on the train (what do you call them? Porters? Officers? He wasn't the conducter...), and he walked over, took off his hat and put it on me, and then walked away. Erika and Vivian just started laughing, and of course, we busted out the cameras and started taking pictures. He came back later and I gave the hat back. He said something in Thai, which of course none of us understood, so I just kinda shrugged in confusion. It was all rather entertaining. The overnight aspect of the train ride wasn't bad either. We booked sleeper cabins, so we each got a small little bed for the night. Overall, a rather enjoyable experience this past weekend, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, that's about all I've got for you now. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
I have lots to fill you in on. So here goes nothing...
Last time I left off, I posted some pictures from my visit to Ayuthaya. Basically, Ayuthaya is an ancient capital of Thailand, located a little ways outside Bangkok. Some number of years ago, it was sacked by the Burmese, who (as you saw) destroyed much of the city and took the heads off all the Buddhas. It was really cool getting to walk around there - we even saw elephants at one point! The day trip was free, courtesy of the BBA office at Thammasat. Unfortunately, we had to leave at 7am in the morning. The tour guide was a regular Chatty Cathy... at one point, on the bus ride there, he stopped talking long enough to notice that most of us were falling asleep, and he even said he would stop so we could sleep for a little while... but then he just kept on talking. He told us the entire, actual Thai name of Bangkok, and it took him at least 15 seconds to say it all. What a mouthful. He was also very proud to point out that Ayuthaya was a filming location for the movie "Mortal Kombat" - yes, that's right. Same as the video game. Anyway, after a day at Ayuthaya, we were treated to a cruise down the Chao Praya River back to Bangkok. They had a lunch buffet on the cruise, complete with coffee and cake for dessert; all very delicious!
Later that night, after getting back to the apartment complex, there was a gathering in the penthouse in honor of Australia Day. As far as I know, only 3 of the exchange students are Australian, but we all got together anyway for an "authentic" Australia Day cook-out. Basically, we all wore tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops, fried some sausages on the stove, and listened to Australian music. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun, considering a good 20 or 30 of us were there.
A couple weeks ago, some of us tried to go see a muay-thai fight (Thai boxing); "some of us" being Tommaso, Ben, Ivana, Anne, Martin, Michael, Sohum, Kartik, Chris, Andy, and myself. Once we got to the stadium, we found out that we were going to be charged 1000 baht (about $30) to get in, whereas the Thai locals were getting in for 220 baht. We tried bargaining the price down, we tried showing our Thammasat IDs, we tried everything we could think of. Finally, an English-speaking ticket agent came up to us and said that we could get in for free, provided we bring a letter from Thammasat - apparently, our IDs weren't good enough. So we didn't go. Instead, we went to Khao San road, had some great dinner at this Japanese restaurant, and did a little shopping. On our way there, we even saw the King of Thailand! Kind of, anyway. Our tuk-tuk got stopped because all the streets were being shut down so the king could drive through. We got out and walked down the street to watch him pass by. A police escort passed us first, followed by a line of 30 red Mercedes, and another police escort. It was wild! Most of the Mercedes' were empty, but a couple of them had someone in the back seat, one of which we assumed was the king.
Also, our tuk-tuk driver that night was hilarious! Not only did he race other tuk-tuks, but he popped 2 wheelies while we were in it. So much fun.
At the end of that week, a big group of us went out to RCA, which is a popular clubbing district in Bangkok. While we were there, I met a few kids who are also on exchange, but go to Chulalongkorn, Thammasat's big rival here in Bangkok. Funnily enough, the big soccer game between the two schools was the next day, so we of course heckled each other about who would win and who would lose.
Speaking of the soccer game, it was a huge deal. The stadium is pretty big, and it's located right in the middle of the city, next to a popular shopping center. The festivities started around noon; yes, "festivities". This included pep rallies and free stuff being handed out, random performances by groups from each school on temporary stages, booths set up all over the place to sell food and apparel and more. Unfortunately, something I ate didn't agree with me (oh no!), and I ended up back at the apartment, trying to cool off and settle my stomach. But Thammasat won! 2-0. Bragging rights are ours!
Last weekend, a group of us went to Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach. It was so beautiful (once again), and of course, so much fun. Nine people left on Wednesday night, and six of us (Danielle, Alex, Erika, Sophia, and Vivian) took the overnight train on Thursday into Surat Thani; from there, we took a bus to Krabi, and from there we met up with Ben and Josh and took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. All in all, about 17 hours of travel time. But it was so worth it. We met up with the other nine in Ko Phi Phi and shared one giant bungalow - which was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I didn't get pictures of it before the 17 of us dominated it with all our stuff, but I know others did; I'll try to get a link up. The bungalow had 3 rooms and bathrooms, 5 beds, a hammock, and a nice little deck with some benches and a table; plenty of room for all 17 of us.
Pretty much everything on the island has been rebuilt since the tsunami in 2004, considering pretty much everything was wiped out by that. But tourist accomodations were completely up and running. We stayed on Long Beach, which was a fairly quiet part of the island... probably because it was quite a hike from the main pier. There were a couple beach restaurants right on our beach, of course, but most everything else was by the pier. We still had to hike to breakfast in the mornings, but it was worth it. The food was sooooo good - especially anything involving bananas! The tuna and club sandwiches were also delicious, though. I know, I know; western food? In Thailand? But seriously, touristy areas like Ko Phi Phi are the best places to get decent western foods. Everywhere else just kinda sucks.
Anyway, Ko Phi Phi was so much fun. We took a boat tour around the island - and the first beach we stopped at, we met misfortune. Firstly, the boat pulled up kinda close to the beach, and we all jumped out, expecting to splash into the water and feel the sand between our toes. However, there were more rocks, coral, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins underwater than there was sand. Luckily, no one stepped on a sea urchin. But splashing through the water was no walk in the park when there were rocks or coral digging into your feet every step of the way, or sea cucumbers squishing between your toes in a rather unpleasant way. By the time we got to the beach, nobody wanted to leave for a while (because nobody wanted to do that again). But then, some Thais approached us and demanded that we pay a 200 baht fee for visiting the beach, because it's a national park. Well, none of us wanted to pay, so we trekked back through the treacherous waters to the boat, planning to continue the boat tour and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, the tide had gone out some, and the boat was stuck. There were 14 of us, so we figured we'd try to push the boat out; but we failed. Some of the group went back to the beach and just avoided paying the fee by walking around to the deserted part of the beach. The rest of us chilled out on the boat and waited for some kind of miracle. A couple of hours later, once everyone was back on the boat, we got out again and, with the help of the driver, managed to push the boat back into open water. We continued on our tour, stopping at this gorgeous bay for some snorkeling and getting to glimpse the actual beach from the movie "The Beach" from a distance. Snorkeling was so much fun! The water was incredibly clear, and the fish would come swim right next to me, as if they hadn't a care in the world!
That night, we got together and hiked down to the pier to check out a fire show. We ended up at this beachside bar that starts out the night with a fire show (people twirling sticks and ropes on fire) and ended with fire games (fire limbo, fire jump roping, jumping through a ring of fire...), complete with audience participation! So of course, we participated. I've got some pictures of the jump roping and limbo (neither of which I participated in, haha), and a TON of photos of us jumping through the hoop of fire! As for the fire show, let me just say that the first performer was - and I kid you not - a 5-year-old girl. Maybe younger. She was so calm that she almost looked bored while she was up there. Needless to say, I was very impressed.
Anyway, that was the end of the day at Ko Phi Phi. The next morning, a few of us headed to Railay Beach for some maxing and relaxing. We took a long boat to Railay (which is on the mainland) from Ko Phi Phi, and our driver was, probably quite literally, insane. He spoke very little English, which was fine, until he tried to have a conversation with us. Then it was just hilarious. His name was Tiger (or so he says). He tried to point out dolphins to us, until we realized he wasn't serious. The way he was driving, we were completely soaked to the bone by the time we got to Railay. He had to stop driving and let his partner (another Thai guy on the boat) take over while he relieved himself over the side of the boat. And, here's the kicker - he pulled out a long, hollowed out piece of bamboo or something, and definitely started smoking from it. And I'm not talking about tobacco. Luckily, the other guy was driving at the point, but it was still the craziest thing to see your boat driver just pull that out. Crazy.
Railay was really nice, though. Much smaller than Ko Phi Phi, and there seemed to be more tourists there, but it still had sun and sea and sand. We rented kayaks and paddled around for a little while, getting a closer look at some of the giant rock formations that are sitting out in the sea. Also got to see some humungous jellyfish - each of these guys were at least the size of a basketball. We took the train back to Bangkok later that day - in fact, the train was a good 1 1/2 hours late, so we got to talking with this guy from Canada who spends 6 months in Thailand every year for rockclimbing and 6 months in Canada as a carpenter.
This weekend was my first time on a train, by the way. It wasn't so bad. At one point, I smiled at one of the guys who works on the train (what do you call them? Porters? Officers? He wasn't the conducter...), and he walked over, took off his hat and put it on me, and then walked away. Erika and Vivian just started laughing, and of course, we busted out the cameras and started taking pictures. He came back later and I gave the hat back. He said something in Thai, which of course none of us understood, so I just kinda shrugged in confusion. It was all rather entertaining. The overnight aspect of the train ride wasn't bad either. We booked sleeper cabins, so we each got a small little bed for the night. Overall, a rather enjoyable experience this past weekend, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, that's about all I've got for you now. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
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