wanderlusty

Ok, so after a WAY too long internet hiatus, we finally have gotten what seems like a solid internet connection in our apartment!  The past week-ish we have been relaxing on the most beautiful beach I have ever laid my baby blues on… there were not any roads on the island, you can only reach it by boat, so naturally any kind of internet time was pretty expensive.  I’ll try to sum up what has been happening the past week or so…

After a long day of airports and terrible airline meals we finally landed in Krabi town, backpacked around to find the cutest little guest house ‘Chan Cha Lay’, unpacked, took a luke warm shower in their outdoor bathroom (no hot water), sprayed on some bug spray, and decided to go grab some curry and beer.  We eventually wandered into this placed that looked like a log cabin tree house and kicked off our flip flops and settled into a nice little nook on the floor.  They were blaring some old American Rock, ACDC, Zeppelin, it was a nice break.  We ended up hanging out with these two awesome kids from Spain (Catalonia to be exact, they were VERY insistent on declaring Catalonia as their home instead of Barcelona) and they were so sweet and fun to hang out with.  We exchanged all of our typical facebook info and swore that one of these days…we were gonna meet up in Spain.  How could I refuse an invitation like that?

Next morning was spent throwing our stuff back into the pack and heading out to the beach.  We took a longtail boat only about 30 min and watched as the brown river water of Krabi gradually turned into that oh-so-lovely emerald green.  The little cruise was a great way to see the huge limestone monoliths that seemed to be dotting the horizon.  We were dropped off on the beach, had to hike a fair amount to find a reasonable place to stay (with AC of course), and then we hit the beach.  Let me tell you… words cannot describe the feeling of walking through some hot and sweaty jungle and it suddenly opening up into a pristine beach paradise.  The beach is hugged by towering limestone cliffs.  Breathtaking.  We finally made it.  And the best part?  There is hardly anyone here…

Brock convinced me we needed to climb through a little cave to access another beach, Tonsai, that is notorious for rock climbing.  After a tedious 20 min adventure we arrive and watch a couple guys try some ridiculous climbs up the cliff side.  Turns out we stayed a little too long and soon the sun was setting, the tide was high, and our once open cavern to hike inside was now full of water and it was dark.  I wont go into details about what happens next, but lets just say it was a long night of feeling our way through the jungle and ocean, TWICE, and we eventually turned back… ate some barracuda with a watermelon smoothie (my fave) and rented a hut for 6 dollars.  Hut = four walls and leaky roof.  Thankfully they had a mosquito net.  And I wont even go into the freezing cold shower situation, or the fact the power went off so the fan was useless, or the fact that there were creepy lacy pillows in the middle of the jungle.  I’m glad it is behind me, but I’m secretly glad I put up with it just to prove to Brock that I COULD.  :)

Side note : Thailand has the biggest bugs I have ever seen.

Ok so the next couple days we just hung out on the beach, soaking up the sun.  I got my feet scrubbed by this woman named Pai who hunted me down every day and kept hassling me.  Honestly it was nice… and afterwards I spied a couple other ladies that had finally given in as well.  You can buy almost everything on the beach.  We were just laying down, or I was burying Brock in the sand, and suddenly the beer lady would come around with beverages and grilled corn on the cob.  Does it get any better?!  Oh and I ALSO ate crocodile!  So delicious!

Living on the beach went by way too fast.  We had to pack up 5 days later and head back to town to find a place to settle down for a month.  Thankfully the beach is only 30 min away, and thankfully we found an awesome place in no time.  Krabi town is little and not very touristy.  Its been a nice change of pace being able to settle down and not have to worry about packing up in a couple days and finding somewhere new to stay.

So there are quite a few things I have gotten used to living in Thailand.  One would be… living with lizards in the bathroom.  They seem to love it in there and you can always find a little one scurrying about the walls or ceiling .  Brock claimed to have seen a big yellow one yesterday… but I have yet to see that guy yet.  Speaking of animals…we live next door to this tiny Thai food place with the most AWESOME cat ever named Futi.  I have got to post a picture soon.  He is so awesome and friendly, I’ve started calling him King Cat Futi and always peek in to see if he is laying around when I pass by.  I love him.  Anyway, another thing I have gotten used to is saying ‘mai yao kha’ which means ‘no thank you’.  Trust me, you use this alot.  And also ‘Mungsowriat’ which means vegetarian.  I have also learned that you are lucky to have one English tv channel.  Russian tv new is also broadcast in English for some weird reason so we watch that too.  Mainly just the news.  And the english movie channel has been steadily playing ALL the Die Hards and other cheesy movies like that.

So I’ve been drinking watermelon shakes and eating papaya salads as often as humanly possible here.  Taking it slow and wandering around the new town.  Found a great Italian place, and a super cheap cafe.  Speaking of cafes, the coffee here sucks.  Its almost always instant and it disgusting.  Ok not disgusting.  I still drink it almost everyday.  But I miss a nice hot cup of good coffee.  You know its bad when places advertise ‘Real Coffee’.

We started our school yesterday and at first I was excited… but now I am already bored.  The pace of the course is SO slow and Im often thinking about ‘Pillars of the Earth’ the book I am ALMOST finished with.  Such a great read.  Thanks for the tip mommy!  But anyways, I have been thinking more about whats going to happen next in the book than I do class.  We have our first teaching assessment next Tuesday in front of a local school class.  My group is going to be 9-10 year olds, and I have to come up with a lesson plan for an hour.  I’m pretty excited to be in front of a class for the first time trying to teach English.

Ok I’m gonna wrap this blog up with some more pics.  I tried to sum up everything that has been going on so sorry if it seems a little rushed.  Now that the internet juice is flowin’ free… I promise it will be updated more!  Love you guys!

Today was the start of the excursion away from our little part of Bangkok.  After walking around our fair share of the city, a days rest due to a massive sinus infection, and at time feeling strangled by the pollution and noise…we make our escape.

Like every train I hop onto… I have to be fashionably stressed and confused before departure.  Like always I am stressing in the cab ride, and asking and re-asking information people and other tourists if this is, in fact, the right train.  We said our goodbyes to Bangkok and boarded, feeling the sharp cool AC unit really going at it.  Funny thing about train AC… it apparently only works when the train is stopped.  Not en route.  So we immediately were pulling up our pants and shorts and trying to move as little as possible and try to keep cool.  We had a stewardess come by with a tray of drinks and some kind of a biscuit for refreshments.  I opened the biscuit… some kind of meat was inside.  So I nibbled around it and drank my pint sized cup of water.  Disappointing to say the least, especially considering I had 12 hrs ahead of me.  Next course!  Rice and some green curried vegetable with some kind of meat… great.  So once again I nibbled at the rice.  Thankfully I packed some soyjoys from home, and that helped both of us cope.  They are definitely not forthcoming with the refreshments on the Thai Railway.  Take note!

The train ride was interesting to say the least.  We passed fields and fields of nothing but lush green rice patties.  And we also passed empty patties that were replaced with reddish brown squares of mud.  I looked out the window and watched Thai workers carrying large hay heaps, bent over the crops tending to them, and some just relaxing along side the watery squares.  The landscape changed from open fields and farms to tropical jungle mountains, beautiful!  We passed over a couple of rivers and saw simple wooden houses no doubt inhabited by large families.  Cooking tools, trash, baskets, all hang around the individual houses.  It looks as though someone had not emptied their garage or trash in years, except this is not their garage.  Its their home.  And watching the communities roll by in the semi comfortable air conditioned train listening to my ipod sends a slow building and steady wave of guilt over me.

We make multiple stops in no-name towns all throughout the jungle and country side.  And soon the sun is setting and the sky has a tye dye horizon of orange and purple.  I look out the window again and see a mother holding her child, and it is staring at the train going by and waving at us.  I wave back as soon as I realize what is happening and hopes that he saw me.  I stare at the sky and watch the purple overpower the sun, and then eventually it all just turns to shades of dark gray and black.

The train ride has left me in a somber mood.  Not really fit to go out into the streets of Chiang Mai and find a place to sleep tonight.  Brock has promised me some comforting Italian food though!  Even though I love Thai food, I definitely still need some variation in my life.  I had a little taste of garlic bread at this jazzy blues place we went to in Bangkok called Brown Sugar and it has been calling my name ever since.  I find myself already missing little things, Even just thinking about fountain drinks with ice makes my mouth start to water.

Gasoline.  Incense.  Flowers.

Hello BKK!

I woke up and immediately went down to have some breakfast.  I had some strange hot pink fruit with white flesh and tiny black seeds similar to a kiwi. Definitely a first.  And definitely tasty. Then we decided to do what I had been dreaming of for months…getting as far away from the hotel as possible.

We casually are walking down the street, taking in the sights and smells (gasoline, tangy food stalls, TAXI!  TAXI!) and we stumble across a shrine we had passed the night before.  What was once calm and serene was now bustling with locals selling offerings (flowers, incense, candles, tiny elephants statues, and my personal favorite…tiny birds in tiny birdcages that you set free).  Groups of emotional individuals clasped burning incense between their hands and prayed on their knees.  Brock and I bought some, and I thought about our safety and health and then gently laid them all at the shrine’s feet.

We made our way past live crabs, fish, fried fish, dried fish, any kind of fish you want!  Squid on a stick? YES!  Small little round balls of indistinguishable meats?  YES!  It was amazing, and exhilarating!

A few blocks down some twisted stairs, past the local dogs just kind of lounging about, we found the boats used for transportation along the river.  I use the term river loosely here, because it is more along the lines of an open sewer and trash can.  In fact, its QUITE common to wear surgical masks, and all the boats are line with a tarp along the side to prevent the water from splashing on the riders.  Word on the street is that it can make one unsuspecting boat rider pretty sick.  Observe…

Pull that side up!

Everything is SO hard to understand so you honestly just have to go with your gut and feel things out.  Whatever you do, DON’T take out the bloody map.  In no time we were swarmed with fake tour guides wanting to show us around the city.  We learned pretty quick.

We then found our way to Wat Samet.  A peaceful monastery in the middle of absolute chaos.  We roamed around barefoot minding all the lazy cats who decided to make this Wat their home.

A little peice of peace.

We toured the infamous Khao San Rd and had a nice lunch of curries and Singha, the local thai beer.

I had been making fun of his nerdy compass...but it actually saved the day.

Ok guys, so I also got my new Thai phone and number.  All my incoming calls are free, if you would like to get in touch with me…hit me on the facebizzy.  And if you see some crazy number calling you answer it!  Its me for god’s sake!

So far the heat isn’t as insane as anticipated.  Not that it isn’t hot, cause it sure as hell is.  But its freakin humid.  Ok so enough for now.  Who knows what BKK will bring to us tonight.  Miss you mommy and daddy!!!  …and Tiggy!