We are so far behind in posting these blogs...it has been a crazy week but will continue to get to these internet cafe's and blog blog blog.
After looking over Becky's leg and noticing that he really seemed to smash it up on the bike....we were glad that today would be the last day on the bikes.
It was quite a morning....I (Andrew) was woken up several times with loud chirping noises thinking there was a bird in our room so in the middle of the night I started flailing around smashing the walls with a pillow trying to kill a bird that didn't exist.
This would continue throughout the night and I would never see any type of bird in the room.
We quickly chocked down some mango, bread and coffee before heading out to meet with a few of the people we have been volunteering with throughout the week. They made us a wonderful breakfast that I thought was delicious but Becky thought otherwise.
It was a bowl of noodles with some great spices and in the US it would be considered a soup or something that resembles a wonderful lunch. Soup Broth, Noodles, Onions, limes, chives and crispy bean crackers....mmmmmm..mmmm good.
During this breakfast we met an Australian who has been roamin' around the town and talked with us quite a bit about the culture. It was a great morning and an all around good time for all! Becky was on her bike again and dinged up her leg to grow that wonderful bruise she has started.
We rode our bikes back to Brian and Jess's house so Becky and Lita could get fitted to turn their purchases from the market into beautiful dresses. Jess will be bringing these to the beach in a few weeks once we leave Cambodia and head south.
After this adventure around Bri Bri's house, we headed out on a long bike ride to a pool for a dip and a nap. One would never think a bike ride along a highway could be so empty. Throughout our bike ride of 35 minutes we dodged cars and headed toward a very large hotel that reminded me of a casino in Vegas. The bulging letters in red at the top of the hotel just screaming....free drinks when you sit down at the penny slot machines. It was quite a site.....and come to find out...it was just a hotel with a pool and tennis court in the back.
When we arrived, there was nobody manning the bar and I had an urge to jump back there, pour us some Singha beer and jump straight into the pool. You would be surprised how quickly someone comes out of nowhere to serve us....the luxuries of being in Southeast Asia.
We hung around this place for quite some time. Many of us fell asleep while reading by the pool and the sun glaring down at us. The one thing that got me to jump up was the sound of snake patrol. Even though I am a bit jumpy around snakes, I never thought I could wake from a deep slumber and jump up onto the lounge chair to get far away from the slithery bastard.
This would be the last trip on our Thailand bikes. We headed back to Auntie's Coffee shop and paid her 30 baht per day for the bike.
This would be our last night in Mae Sot :(.....
We have been reading and hearing about this restaurant a bit out of town called 'The Jungle Restaurant' which was quite a jungle. Once we returned these bikes, we went back to the hotel for a bit....showered, changed, and headed out to the Jungle Restaurant.
This was also a massive outside restaurant that had tables everywhere.....I have to say though...the bathroom was the best part.
You get to piss in a tree! The things they do to keep tourists satisfied.......
An adventure of this day is over and we headed back to pack.......on our way to Chang Mai which should hold some great adventures.
Cheers.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Mae Sot Part 3
Ok picking back up at the Burmese boarder...
After we spent some time looking at the boarder and the semi-permanent refugee camps we made our way to the Burma boarder market. There were tons of stalls lined up and merging into each other selling all kinds of trinkets from back pillows, to electric tools, to Buddha statues and wood carvings. I got a few wooden spoons and a bracelet for about $2 total. Still amazes me what you can get for a few dollars in this country!
About an hour later we rode back towards town and stopped at another Wat where we made friends with a monk. Side note: lots of Wats in town have things called "Monk Chats" where you can actually sit down with a monk and learn about their lives and what it's like to be a monk - pretty cool. This was not one of these Wats but just wanted to make a note of that.
The monk we made friends with was in his 60s and spoke English fairly well. He told us about the high up monk that had passed away a year ago and was now being memorialized in the Wat. The monk asked us for a donation, gave us the high up monk's book (all in Thai) and blessed us with "good luck" water - which he sprayed on us using about 20 bamboo sticks held together. We explored the Wat further and saw the largest reclining Buddha I've seen so far on this trip. We have plenty of pictures to share about this!
We continued deeper into Mae Sot and visited the fair trade shops where many Burmese and Karen women sell their crafts to support their families. It was great to hear about the opportunities these women are given and that they receive the money they should for their beautiful purses and shawls and pillow cases instead of just selling them on the street for their pennies. There really is a lot to learn about different cultures interacting together in Mae Sot, you have the Thai people, the Burmese people, Muslim people and Karen people (tribal) all living in the same area. Quite interesting to walk down the street let me tell you.
We went behind the fair trade market to their coffee shop for some snacks and some drinks. We had the best Burmese Samoas (mainly potatoes, onions and coriander deep fried) and we learned not to order Burmese tea cakes!
After our morning adventure we returned to the schools to continue our volunteer work.
That evening we walked down the "Gem" street in Mae Sot and saw all the rubies and sapphires and jade for sale. It was fun to barter with the gem dealers (I even got a small star sapphire for 150 Baht (about $4).
We then made our way back to Brian's house and tried to go to his favorite Italian/Thai restaurant Casa Mia, but it was closed for the day so we headed back to T Corner for some Green Curry Rice.
By the end of the day I was so tired from biking all over town and to the boarder that I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow. I have bruises from where I kept hitting my leg on the bike every time I swung my leg over to get on and off because my body was so tired.
Update on my back: Still doing fine - haven't had to take any pain killers or anything. I think the biking was a bit strenuous because my physical therapist said I could bike 20 mins a day, and I've been biking all day every day, but I'm still doing fine!
More later!
After we spent some time looking at the boarder and the semi-permanent refugee camps we made our way to the Burma boarder market. There were tons of stalls lined up and merging into each other selling all kinds of trinkets from back pillows, to electric tools, to Buddha statues and wood carvings. I got a few wooden spoons and a bracelet for about $2 total. Still amazes me what you can get for a few dollars in this country!
About an hour later we rode back towards town and stopped at another Wat where we made friends with a monk. Side note: lots of Wats in town have things called "Monk Chats" where you can actually sit down with a monk and learn about their lives and what it's like to be a monk - pretty cool. This was not one of these Wats but just wanted to make a note of that.
The monk we made friends with was in his 60s and spoke English fairly well. He told us about the high up monk that had passed away a year ago and was now being memorialized in the Wat. The monk asked us for a donation, gave us the high up monk's book (all in Thai) and blessed us with "good luck" water - which he sprayed on us using about 20 bamboo sticks held together. We explored the Wat further and saw the largest reclining Buddha I've seen so far on this trip. We have plenty of pictures to share about this!
We continued deeper into Mae Sot and visited the fair trade shops where many Burmese and Karen women sell their crafts to support their families. It was great to hear about the opportunities these women are given and that they receive the money they should for their beautiful purses and shawls and pillow cases instead of just selling them on the street for their pennies. There really is a lot to learn about different cultures interacting together in Mae Sot, you have the Thai people, the Burmese people, Muslim people and Karen people (tribal) all living in the same area. Quite interesting to walk down the street let me tell you.
We went behind the fair trade market to their coffee shop for some snacks and some drinks. We had the best Burmese Samoas (mainly potatoes, onions and coriander deep fried) and we learned not to order Burmese tea cakes!
After our morning adventure we returned to the schools to continue our volunteer work.
That evening we walked down the "Gem" street in Mae Sot and saw all the rubies and sapphires and jade for sale. It was fun to barter with the gem dealers (I even got a small star sapphire for 150 Baht (about $4).
We then made our way back to Brian's house and tried to go to his favorite Italian/Thai restaurant Casa Mia, but it was closed for the day so we headed back to T Corner for some Green Curry Rice.
By the end of the day I was so tired from biking all over town and to the boarder that I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow. I have bruises from where I kept hitting my leg on the bike every time I swung my leg over to get on and off because my body was so tired.
Update on my back: Still doing fine - haven't had to take any pain killers or anything. I think the biking was a bit strenuous because my physical therapist said I could bike 20 mins a day, and I've been biking all day every day, but I'm still doing fine!
More later!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Mae Sot part 2
So it's been hard to get time to blog on this trip, we're just constantly walking around and visiting different Wats (Temples) and eating at different restaurants, so we've decided to lump together the days at each city into one or two blogs instead of individual posts per day.
Doesn't hurt that I also just paid 200 Baht ($6) to use the computer for 1 day. That's expensive considering I can get a 1 hour massage for less!
Anyways, to continue our Mae Sot adventure:
Our second day in Mae Sot began with a late start. I think all of us enjoyed sleeping in after our days of traveling on planes, buses and Tuk Tuks. The guest house we stayed at offered a complimentary breakfast including toast, coffee, tropical fruits and various unknown pastries. Towards the beginning of our trip Andrew and I were more cautious and tried to stick to the travel rules (aka not drinking any water except from bottles with plastic seals on them, not eating any fruit unless we peeled it ourselves, not eating anything from street vendors) but this quickly ended because we just ended up missing out on a large part of the experience. We haven't been sick yet so keep your fingers crossed!
After breakfast Andrew and I volunteered for a portion of the morning. More about that in the volunteering post.
Afterwards, Andrew and I decided to go on an adventure and explore Mae Sot on our own. This may not seem like an adventure to you, but going out in a city where you can't even ask for directions if you get lost because no one speaks English is quite the adventure to me. If we had gotten lost I'm sure Andrew would have acted out our questions and found our way home (but that wasn't necessary). Walking through the street market it smelled of onions, spices and ginger in the first section. As we got deeper into the market it started to smell like fish and meat that had been sitting out all day (comparable to riding on the 45 going through China Town). We saw stands full of onions, other stands with whole pig heads for sale, and even a few stands with live animals for sale such as miniature turtles, snakes and cockroaches. The market was not only unique in sight and smell, it was also packed with people, umbrella stands, bicycles and motorbikes trying to get through the narrow passage ways.
After we fought our way through the market place we made our way to a very tall and skinny cone-like Wat we had intended to get to. It wasn't the prettiest Wat or the most unique Wat. As we continue our adventure in Thailand we'll see more and more impressive Wats, but still it was one of the first one's we'd seen, so it was worth the trip. Every Wat in Thailand is covered in gold and littered with Buddhas and other figures. It's really a sight to see. I think our only complaint is that we don't know the significance of each of the figures.
Transportation in Mae Sot is mostly by bike or by motorbike. You can't cross a street or go through a market without seeing hundreds of these. It's a pretty unique culture where cars are the minority. Also littering the streets are wild street dogs. They're everywhere. No, I'm not exaggerating they're literally everywhere you turn.
After we finished adventuring Brian and Jess brought home take out called Khao Sai (said Cow Soy). It was a red curry broth with peanut sauce and egg noodles. Something we never would have experienced if we had stuck to the common touristy towns.
After lunch we went back to the school and continued with our volunteer work.
Once our second day of volunteering was over we decided it was time to get a famous Thai Massage. Brian took us to their favorite spot, ironically it was at the local hospital. I'd like that kind of service at the hospital in the states! For 120 Baht (about 4 dollars) I got a 1 hour massage. Andrew, his mom and I all got massages and Andrew's dad and brother got foot massages. It was then that my love affair with Thai massages began. It was like a physical therapy session with all the stretching and massaging combined with a deep tissue rubbing session. It was great. And only cost me $4. Now if only physical therapy cost that little I'd be a happy (and not as broke) physical therapy patient!
On our way home from the massages it started storming so we decided to just get some food from the night market. Brian got us the "greatest hits" the Cashew Nut Chicken, Pad Thai from Mr. Pad Thai and my favorite mango with sticky rice.
Our 3rd Day in Mae Sot had an early start. Brian met us at 7:30am so that we could bike to the Burmese boarder before our volunteer work began. It was a 7km bike ride on a highway (again remember that bikes are king in Mae Sot). Once we got to the boarder it was easier to understand the impact of our volunteer work.
We saw the semi permanent refugee camps steps away from the Thailand boarder, the police patrolling the boarder, the Friendship Bridge where people "legally" pay to cross the boarder and the Burmese people who crossed underneath after paying off the police. It was hard to see what these people's lives must be like. I can't imagine living in the filth of these camps and having no where better to go. It really made me appreciate everything that we have.
Note from Andrew:
The one thing that jumped out at me was an image that we would never see in the states.
A naked kid running out of a cardboard box (his family of 10) with a gun (not loaded) totally naked and pointing it at others. It was quite a sight to see families living in cardboard boxes, smelling like the Tenderloin and calling that home.
One thing that was crazy to me was the Thai police....
They would smile at us when we walked by and act as if we were better than the others below. They stand next to the illegal cigarette / liquor stands with their AK-47s waiting to get paid off....
The rumor is that they are not allowed to cross over the walkway on the Thai border (which is why the Burmese have built up stations to the edge with wooden posts to resell their products).
Deeper into the border camp, there is a river that runs under the bridge. This river has people building boats to catch dirty fish to resell in the market place. You would be surprised to know that many of these people catch fish that swim in dirty 'poop' water and resell them in the market.
Back to Becky:
We have to head out to go on a walking tour of Chaing Mai, so we'll continue our Mae Sot post later. Hope all is well in the States!
LOTS OF LOVE!
Doesn't hurt that I also just paid 200 Baht ($6) to use the computer for 1 day. That's expensive considering I can get a 1 hour massage for less!
Anyways, to continue our Mae Sot adventure:
Our second day in Mae Sot began with a late start. I think all of us enjoyed sleeping in after our days of traveling on planes, buses and Tuk Tuks. The guest house we stayed at offered a complimentary breakfast including toast, coffee, tropical fruits and various unknown pastries. Towards the beginning of our trip Andrew and I were more cautious and tried to stick to the travel rules (aka not drinking any water except from bottles with plastic seals on them, not eating any fruit unless we peeled it ourselves, not eating anything from street vendors) but this quickly ended because we just ended up missing out on a large part of the experience. We haven't been sick yet so keep your fingers crossed!
After breakfast Andrew and I volunteered for a portion of the morning. More about that in the volunteering post.
Afterwards, Andrew and I decided to go on an adventure and explore Mae Sot on our own. This may not seem like an adventure to you, but going out in a city where you can't even ask for directions if you get lost because no one speaks English is quite the adventure to me. If we had gotten lost I'm sure Andrew would have acted out our questions and found our way home (but that wasn't necessary). Walking through the street market it smelled of onions, spices and ginger in the first section. As we got deeper into the market it started to smell like fish and meat that had been sitting out all day (comparable to riding on the 45 going through China Town). We saw stands full of onions, other stands with whole pig heads for sale, and even a few stands with live animals for sale such as miniature turtles, snakes and cockroaches. The market was not only unique in sight and smell, it was also packed with people, umbrella stands, bicycles and motorbikes trying to get through the narrow passage ways.
After we fought our way through the market place we made our way to a very tall and skinny cone-like Wat we had intended to get to. It wasn't the prettiest Wat or the most unique Wat. As we continue our adventure in Thailand we'll see more and more impressive Wats, but still it was one of the first one's we'd seen, so it was worth the trip. Every Wat in Thailand is covered in gold and littered with Buddhas and other figures. It's really a sight to see. I think our only complaint is that we don't know the significance of each of the figures.
Transportation in Mae Sot is mostly by bike or by motorbike. You can't cross a street or go through a market without seeing hundreds of these. It's a pretty unique culture where cars are the minority. Also littering the streets are wild street dogs. They're everywhere. No, I'm not exaggerating they're literally everywhere you turn.
After we finished adventuring Brian and Jess brought home take out called Khao Sai (said Cow Soy). It was a red curry broth with peanut sauce and egg noodles. Something we never would have experienced if we had stuck to the common touristy towns.
After lunch we went back to the school and continued with our volunteer work.
Once our second day of volunteering was over we decided it was time to get a famous Thai Massage. Brian took us to their favorite spot, ironically it was at the local hospital. I'd like that kind of service at the hospital in the states! For 120 Baht (about 4 dollars) I got a 1 hour massage. Andrew, his mom and I all got massages and Andrew's dad and brother got foot massages. It was then that my love affair with Thai massages began. It was like a physical therapy session with all the stretching and massaging combined with a deep tissue rubbing session. It was great. And only cost me $4. Now if only physical therapy cost that little I'd be a happy (and not as broke) physical therapy patient!
On our way home from the massages it started storming so we decided to just get some food from the night market. Brian got us the "greatest hits" the Cashew Nut Chicken, Pad Thai from Mr. Pad Thai and my favorite mango with sticky rice.
Our 3rd Day in Mae Sot had an early start. Brian met us at 7:30am so that we could bike to the Burmese boarder before our volunteer work began. It was a 7km bike ride on a highway (again remember that bikes are king in Mae Sot). Once we got to the boarder it was easier to understand the impact of our volunteer work.
We saw the semi permanent refugee camps steps away from the Thailand boarder, the police patrolling the boarder, the Friendship Bridge where people "legally" pay to cross the boarder and the Burmese people who crossed underneath after paying off the police. It was hard to see what these people's lives must be like. I can't imagine living in the filth of these camps and having no where better to go. It really made me appreciate everything that we have.
Note from Andrew:
The one thing that jumped out at me was an image that we would never see in the states.
A naked kid running out of a cardboard box (his family of 10) with a gun (not loaded) totally naked and pointing it at others. It was quite a sight to see families living in cardboard boxes, smelling like the Tenderloin and calling that home.
One thing that was crazy to me was the Thai police....
They would smile at us when we walked by and act as if we were better than the others below. They stand next to the illegal cigarette / liquor stands with their AK-47s waiting to get paid off....
The rumor is that they are not allowed to cross over the walkway on the Thai border (which is why the Burmese have built up stations to the edge with wooden posts to resell their products).
Deeper into the border camp, there is a river that runs under the bridge. This river has people building boats to catch dirty fish to resell in the market place. You would be surprised to know that many of these people catch fish that swim in dirty 'poop' water and resell them in the market.
Back to Becky:
We have to head out to go on a walking tour of Chaing Mai, so we'll continue our Mae Sot post later. Hope all is well in the States!
LOTS OF LOVE!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Mae Sot Day 1 | Mar 15 |
Hey Gang,
So now that you've read about our adventure just getting to Mae Sot, the fun of actually being here begins. We arrived at Brian and Jessica's house around 6:30am. Jess and their golden retriever puppy, Kushi, had just woken up (or maybe we had woken them up with our overburdened Tuk Tuk tearing down the street). It was so great to see where they've been living for the last year. This is their second house here in Mae Sot, but still.
They have a roommate as well, she's from Whitman and works at the same school they do. So we tried not to be too loud in our hello hugs and tired sighs. Jess made us some coffee and we started talking about of various adventures. Soon it was time to head out on the town.
Our first stop was to Auntie's Coffee where we rented 3 bicycles for the week. These bikes would become our best friends and our only form of transportation for the duration of our stay here. Brian ran off to get a 4th bike and then we headed over to a Burmese restaurant for a traditional Burmese breakfast.
The breakfast consisted of heated chickpeas, oil and crunchy toasted onions (I'm sure there were other spices involved as well) and freshly made Na'an. The way they made the Na'an bread was quite unique with a oven/stove specifically designed to make this type of bread. It was salty and warm and delicious. A great introduction to Burmese cuisine.
After breakfast we checked in to the Rujira Guest House, our home for the next few days. We were going to stay with Brian and Jess, but then 4 additional people is a bit much in your home :).
This guest house is a short walk from their home (down a red dirt cattle path) but it takes you through several diferent areas in a short period of time. Brian and Jess live in a row of town houses that are relatively nice for the area, a block down you start seeing shacks and houses that seem to be standing up by luck alone, as you walk down the cattle path you see all types of animals from cows, goats, ducks, chickens, to stray dogs. Small children are running around (some clothed, some not) and playing in the rice patty fields. Then you reach our guest house which is a quiet oasis compared to the surrounding area. Our room had air conditioning and a shower that is just a spray head in the same room as the sink and the toilet.
We took another great shower at that point and we were ready to start our volunteer work. We will post more about our volunteer work later. There are some things we're not allowed to talk about, so we'll write about that specifically once we know what restrictions there are. (Please look for the post titled VOLUNTEERING IN MAE SOT later on)
After some morning volunteering we rode our bikes to T Corner for a delicious meal of Green curry rice with chicken and pineapple, chicken and rice. Hands down the Green Curry rice was the winner and deliciously spicy!
We volunteered all afternoon and then went to the fanciest restaurant for dinner, called Ayia. It's a Burmese and Thai restaurant with a variety of food. Favorites were the Paanang curry with chicken and the Ginger Salad. While we were eating dinner a lady walked into the restaurant and sold us some Banana Chips (apparently Brian plays pool with her son - small world!)
After our long first day in Mae Sot it was time for some sleep. Our first bed nights rest since Wednesday in Hawaii. Believe me it was amazing. It was a great first day with Brian and Jess in their town. Can't wait for what the rest of the week holds.
Throughout our stay we keep finding reasons that Becky should have been born Thai. We'll share these with you as we discover them. So far we have:
Reasons Becky should have been born Thai:
-Small portions
-Spicy food
-Love of straws (the whole nation loves them and distributes them with all drinks regardless of if you buy them at a restaurant of 7-11)
-Lots of meals and snacks
So now that you've read about our adventure just getting to Mae Sot, the fun of actually being here begins. We arrived at Brian and Jessica's house around 6:30am. Jess and their golden retriever puppy, Kushi, had just woken up (or maybe we had woken them up with our overburdened Tuk Tuk tearing down the street). It was so great to see where they've been living for the last year. This is their second house here in Mae Sot, but still.
They have a roommate as well, she's from Whitman and works at the same school they do. So we tried not to be too loud in our hello hugs and tired sighs. Jess made us some coffee and we started talking about of various adventures. Soon it was time to head out on the town.
Our first stop was to Auntie's Coffee where we rented 3 bicycles for the week. These bikes would become our best friends and our only form of transportation for the duration of our stay here. Brian ran off to get a 4th bike and then we headed over to a Burmese restaurant for a traditional Burmese breakfast.
The breakfast consisted of heated chickpeas, oil and crunchy toasted onions (I'm sure there were other spices involved as well) and freshly made Na'an. The way they made the Na'an bread was quite unique with a oven/stove specifically designed to make this type of bread. It was salty and warm and delicious. A great introduction to Burmese cuisine.
After breakfast we checked in to the Rujira Guest House, our home for the next few days. We were going to stay with Brian and Jess, but then 4 additional people is a bit much in your home :).
This guest house is a short walk from their home (down a red dirt cattle path) but it takes you through several diferent areas in a short period of time. Brian and Jess live in a row of town houses that are relatively nice for the area, a block down you start seeing shacks and houses that seem to be standing up by luck alone, as you walk down the cattle path you see all types of animals from cows, goats, ducks, chickens, to stray dogs. Small children are running around (some clothed, some not) and playing in the rice patty fields. Then you reach our guest house which is a quiet oasis compared to the surrounding area. Our room had air conditioning and a shower that is just a spray head in the same room as the sink and the toilet.
We took another great shower at that point and we were ready to start our volunteer work. We will post more about our volunteer work later. There are some things we're not allowed to talk about, so we'll write about that specifically once we know what restrictions there are. (Please look for the post titled VOLUNTEERING IN MAE SOT later on)
After some morning volunteering we rode our bikes to T Corner for a delicious meal of Green curry rice with chicken and pineapple, chicken and rice. Hands down the Green Curry rice was the winner and deliciously spicy!
We volunteered all afternoon and then went to the fanciest restaurant for dinner, called Ayia. It's a Burmese and Thai restaurant with a variety of food. Favorites were the Paanang curry with chicken and the Ginger Salad. While we were eating dinner a lady walked into the restaurant and sold us some Banana Chips (apparently Brian plays pool with her son - small world!)
After our long first day in Mae Sot it was time for some sleep. Our first bed nights rest since Wednesday in Hawaii. Believe me it was amazing. It was a great first day with Brian and Jess in their town. Can't wait for what the rest of the week holds.
Throughout our stay we keep finding reasons that Becky should have been born Thai. We'll share these with you as we discover them. So far we have:
Reasons Becky should have been born Thai:
-Small portions
-Spicy food
-Love of straws (the whole nation loves them and distributes them with all drinks regardless of if you buy them at a restaurant of 7-11)
-Lots of meals and snacks
Overnight Bus Ride | March 14/15
Hey Everybody....
There is so much to type about but I think this crazy overnight bus ride is a great place to start. After wondering around a few streets of Bangkok and seeing an Irish Pub (completely out of place), people selling those crap shirts you find in every tourist location and being bitten by little yippy dogs at the Wat........it was time to jump into a taxi and find our way to the bus station on the other side of town.
In order for us to get there, we first viewed a massive amount of Thai cops wearing pink bandannas...carrying clubs to beat people with during the protest if they get out of line. Hundreds of people wearing red shirts, streets shut down....barb wire and cement barricades setup all over the place....
Before we could even get into a taxi, we had to find one. The so called...concierge at the Buddy Lodge took our bags for a stroll through a very crowded street looking for a taxi to get us out to the bus station. If you can imagine people wondering through the streets, the same smell as the Tenderloin in San Francisco (fresh scent of dogs, dirty people, puke and booze), that is what we were wandering through while the street vendors are selling plastic bags of noodles to the locals.
Our concierge (wearing his red vest) walked us out of this mess and onto a main street where a Thai man started speaking with him as if he was ready to take our bags and run. Because there were 5 gringos and about 200 lbs of bags, he assumed we needed a Taxi. He claimed that he was a Taxi driver and could get us to the bus station for 300 baht. We followed this guy to his 'taxi' that had no official writing on it and looked like a beaten up Honda Civic that had been pieced together with a red door, spare tires and a very small trunk.
........we end up finding a real taxi and going through one crazy ride to the bus station with a few near death misses.....
This overnight bus was decked out with a woman claiming to be the stewardess wearing a 60s uniform (blue vest, yellow hat and a happy smile on her face). We were sitting on the top level of this massive bus getting ready for a 10pm - 6am ride to Mae Sot where my brother has been living for the past year. Becky immediatly pulls out what she calls the 'Sleepy Time' pills. We all pop the pills and get ready for a crazy ride through Thailand all hopped up on sleepy drugs.
Just like in the plane, they wake us up for any food, water or milk. I had to find the bathroom a few times in the middle of the night and come to find out.....the bathroom is a small red closet that has a urinal taped to the wall. There is no way anyone over 200 lbs and above 6 ft could fit into this small closet that you must squeeze yourself into.
During this whole trip, Becky has tucked away our Passports, life bag and everything that matters to us on this trip under her sweatshirt. She looked like a very happy umpa lumpa that just took the sleepy time pills. She was out cold and couldn't be woken up on the entire trip except when our bus driver SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES...and woke everyone up with bags a flying and almost smashing into a truck in front of us while flying down a massive hill.
After 8 hours on this bus we arrived at the Mae Sot bus terminal where everyone woke up ...flew off the bus and started jumping onto these dirt bikes that had been converted to what we now call 'Tuk Tuks'. They look like a wagon connected to a motorcycle. They can hold 3 people comfortablly. So the smart gringos that we are decide that our 200lbs of bags and 5 people can squeeze into one of these. My brother had to hang onto the front with the driver because when he jumped on the back it almost tipped over.
My dad hung onto the bags for dear life and Becky gripped the back of the Tuk Tuk to make sure she wouldn't fly off the back while racing down the highway in pitch black. We don't want to end up in the hospital in our first day in Mae Sot and it seemed with this ride we just might.
Luckily, the Tuk Tuk scotted its way to Brian's home and we were off on our adventure..finally in our first location .....and we still haven't slept in a bed since Hawaii........
The best is yet to come .....
Becky and Andrew
There is so much to type about but I think this crazy overnight bus ride is a great place to start. After wondering around a few streets of Bangkok and seeing an Irish Pub (completely out of place), people selling those crap shirts you find in every tourist location and being bitten by little yippy dogs at the Wat........it was time to jump into a taxi and find our way to the bus station on the other side of town.
In order for us to get there, we first viewed a massive amount of Thai cops wearing pink bandannas...carrying clubs to beat people with during the protest if they get out of line. Hundreds of people wearing red shirts, streets shut down....barb wire and cement barricades setup all over the place....
Before we could even get into a taxi, we had to find one. The so called...concierge at the Buddy Lodge took our bags for a stroll through a very crowded street looking for a taxi to get us out to the bus station. If you can imagine people wondering through the streets, the same smell as the Tenderloin in San Francisco (fresh scent of dogs, dirty people, puke and booze), that is what we were wandering through while the street vendors are selling plastic bags of noodles to the locals.
Our concierge (wearing his red vest) walked us out of this mess and onto a main street where a Thai man started speaking with him as if he was ready to take our bags and run. Because there were 5 gringos and about 200 lbs of bags, he assumed we needed a Taxi. He claimed that he was a Taxi driver and could get us to the bus station for 300 baht. We followed this guy to his 'taxi' that had no official writing on it and looked like a beaten up Honda Civic that had been pieced together with a red door, spare tires and a very small trunk.
........we end up finding a real taxi and going through one crazy ride to the bus station with a few near death misses.....
This overnight bus was decked out with a woman claiming to be the stewardess wearing a 60s uniform (blue vest, yellow hat and a happy smile on her face). We were sitting on the top level of this massive bus getting ready for a 10pm - 6am ride to Mae Sot where my brother has been living for the past year. Becky immediatly pulls out what she calls the 'Sleepy Time' pills. We all pop the pills and get ready for a crazy ride through Thailand all hopped up on sleepy drugs.
Just like in the plane, they wake us up for any food, water or milk. I had to find the bathroom a few times in the middle of the night and come to find out.....the bathroom is a small red closet that has a urinal taped to the wall. There is no way anyone over 200 lbs and above 6 ft could fit into this small closet that you must squeeze yourself into.
During this whole trip, Becky has tucked away our Passports, life bag and everything that matters to us on this trip under her sweatshirt. She looked like a very happy umpa lumpa that just took the sleepy time pills. She was out cold and couldn't be woken up on the entire trip except when our bus driver SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES...and woke everyone up with bags a flying and almost smashing into a truck in front of us while flying down a massive hill.
After 8 hours on this bus we arrived at the Mae Sot bus terminal where everyone woke up ...flew off the bus and started jumping onto these dirt bikes that had been converted to what we now call 'Tuk Tuks'. They look like a wagon connected to a motorcycle. They can hold 3 people comfortablly. So the smart gringos that we are decide that our 200lbs of bags and 5 people can squeeze into one of these. My brother had to hang onto the front with the driver because when he jumped on the back it almost tipped over.
My dad hung onto the bags for dear life and Becky gripped the back of the Tuk Tuk to make sure she wouldn't fly off the back while racing down the highway in pitch black. We don't want to end up in the hospital in our first day in Mae Sot and it seemed with this ride we just might.
Luckily, the Tuk Tuk scotted its way to Brian's home and we were off on our adventure..finally in our first location .....and we still haven't slept in a bed since Hawaii........
The best is yet to come .....
Becky and Andrew
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The flights and day 1 in Bangkok
Well our flights were quite the adventure.
Over the past few weeks Andrew and I have been working very hard to make sure that we didn't forget anything and that everything we packed would fit into our two carry ons so that we could only carry on our luggage instead of the dreaded checking. I've had so many problems with checking luggage internationally (like when I checked my luggage to England and made some new friends because they loaned me everything from a towel to clothes, because my luggage was lost for over 3 days). So we get to the airport proud of ourselves that we didn't overpack and that we'll be able to just carry on - and China Air has a 15lb carry on limit. Great. So we quickly moved most of our clothing from my bag to Andrew's bag and crossed our fingers that we would see if on the other side. Start panic mode for Becky. (haha)
We realize a few minutes later that we've now left Andrew's new iPod in the front pocket of his bag and we may never see anything of his again. Great. So as we're standing in line at security I have the brilliant idea to go back and ask the ticketing counter to bring his bag back so we can get it. Well - we could have waited outside until an hour before our flight leaves (I made Andrew get to the airport about 3.5 hours early), but we decided against that because it was just too complicated.
After a few tears due to exhaustion (you try taking a 5 hour red eye and then getting on another 14 hour plane ride a few hours later and not shed a few tears over a bag you think you'll never see again) we made it through security and had a bite to eat. Andrew had his last 2 American beers and we said farewell to the USA.
The 14 hour plane ride wasn't too bad. Except for being woken up every few hours and forced to eat airplane food (seriously they would wake us up to give us our meals) and the cramped seating arrangements. But we survived the long flight and was able to explore the Taipei airport for a few minutes before getting on the 3.5 hour plane ride into Bangkok. It was a pretty uneventful flight as well - though I think it dragged on and on because Andrew and I were ready to get off the plane.
As soon as we hopped off the plane in Bangkok we raced for the immigration lines. Let me tell you it's a good thing that all the signs were in Thai and in English otherwise we would have been walking around in circles for hours. We got our visas after standing in line for an hour and made it through to baggage claim 16. And guess what. OUR BAG MADE IT THROUGH. We did the world's happiest happy dance and said a thank you prayer to all the deities out there.
Brian was waiting for us at the airport and helped us get a metered taxi to the Buddy Lodge. We had to go a round about way because of the protests. They didn't actually start until the next day, but people were starting to gather around. 300 Baht later we arrived a the Buddy Lodge where we took the best showers of our lives (I can already tell that showering will become my favorite pastime for the next few weeks) and sampled some yummy thai cuisine at a Garden Restaurant off of Kohsahn Road. We then enjoyed some wonderful pool time and another meal before the VIP overnight bus. We'll be blogging about the VIP overnight bus to Mae Sot and our experience in Mae Sot so far later on tonight.
Love you all.
Becky
Over the past few weeks Andrew and I have been working very hard to make sure that we didn't forget anything and that everything we packed would fit into our two carry ons so that we could only carry on our luggage instead of the dreaded checking. I've had so many problems with checking luggage internationally (like when I checked my luggage to England and made some new friends because they loaned me everything from a towel to clothes, because my luggage was lost for over 3 days). So we get to the airport proud of ourselves that we didn't overpack and that we'll be able to just carry on - and China Air has a 15lb carry on limit. Great. So we quickly moved most of our clothing from my bag to Andrew's bag and crossed our fingers that we would see if on the other side. Start panic mode for Becky. (haha)
We realize a few minutes later that we've now left Andrew's new iPod in the front pocket of his bag and we may never see anything of his again. Great. So as we're standing in line at security I have the brilliant idea to go back and ask the ticketing counter to bring his bag back so we can get it. Well - we could have waited outside until an hour before our flight leaves (I made Andrew get to the airport about 3.5 hours early), but we decided against that because it was just too complicated.
After a few tears due to exhaustion (you try taking a 5 hour red eye and then getting on another 14 hour plane ride a few hours later and not shed a few tears over a bag you think you'll never see again) we made it through security and had a bite to eat. Andrew had his last 2 American beers and we said farewell to the USA.
The 14 hour plane ride wasn't too bad. Except for being woken up every few hours and forced to eat airplane food (seriously they would wake us up to give us our meals) and the cramped seating arrangements. But we survived the long flight and was able to explore the Taipei airport for a few minutes before getting on the 3.5 hour plane ride into Bangkok. It was a pretty uneventful flight as well - though I think it dragged on and on because Andrew and I were ready to get off the plane.
As soon as we hopped off the plane in Bangkok we raced for the immigration lines. Let me tell you it's a good thing that all the signs were in Thai and in English otherwise we would have been walking around in circles for hours. We got our visas after standing in line for an hour and made it through to baggage claim 16. And guess what. OUR BAG MADE IT THROUGH. We did the world's happiest happy dance and said a thank you prayer to all the deities out there.
Brian was waiting for us at the airport and helped us get a metered taxi to the Buddy Lodge. We had to go a round about way because of the protests. They didn't actually start until the next day, but people were starting to gather around. 300 Baht later we arrived a the Buddy Lodge where we took the best showers of our lives (I can already tell that showering will become my favorite pastime for the next few weeks) and sampled some yummy thai cuisine at a Garden Restaurant off of Kohsahn Road. We then enjoyed some wonderful pool time and another meal before the VIP overnight bus. We'll be blogging about the VIP overnight bus to Mae Sot and our experience in Mae Sot so far later on tonight.
Love you all.
Becky
Friday, March 12, 2010
Getting to Thailand
We just got back from our few days of relaxing in the sun in Kauai. It was great to enjoy some down time and easing into the idea of not working for 3 weeks. We left Kauai on a red eye last night at 11pm Hawaii time and got back into Oakland at 9:40am this morning. Not the most comfortable flight (and I'm not sure we'll ever fly US Airways again!) but we survived.
Now we're doing some quick laundry and repacking before heading back to the airport tonight. Our flight takes off at 12:05pm PST and arrives in Taipei 14 hours later. We then have a 2 1/2 hour layover and then we arrive in Bangkok at 11:35am Bangkok time Sunday morning. Talk about the weekend flying by!
We're looking forward to playing some bananagrams and stuffing ourselves with junk food on the plane ride. Hopefully I wont be in too much pain with my back!
Once we land in Bangkok Andrew's brother will meet us at the airport and takes us to the hotel his parents are staying at (The Buddy Lodge) to take a quick nap and shower before the night bus adventure. We'll be taking an 8 hour overnight bus from Bangkok to Mae Sot (where Andrew's brother and sister-in-law are living and teaching) Sunday night.
Hopefully there will be no delays with BART, the two airplanes, the taxi ride in Bangkok and the overnight bus! We'll update you on if everything worked as planned in a few days.
P.S. The Thais are currently protesting in Bangkok (hopefully it wont affect us too badly with getting into Bangkok after our flight)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7059353.ece
Now we're doing some quick laundry and repacking before heading back to the airport tonight. Our flight takes off at 12:05pm PST and arrives in Taipei 14 hours later. We then have a 2 1/2 hour layover and then we arrive in Bangkok at 11:35am Bangkok time Sunday morning. Talk about the weekend flying by!
We're looking forward to playing some bananagrams and stuffing ourselves with junk food on the plane ride. Hopefully I wont be in too much pain with my back!
Once we land in Bangkok Andrew's brother will meet us at the airport and takes us to the hotel his parents are staying at (The Buddy Lodge) to take a quick nap and shower before the night bus adventure. We'll be taking an 8 hour overnight bus from Bangkok to Mae Sot (where Andrew's brother and sister-in-law are living and teaching) Sunday night.
Hopefully there will be no delays with BART, the two airplanes, the taxi ride in Bangkok and the overnight bus! We'll update you on if everything worked as planned in a few days.
P.S. The Thais are currently protesting in Bangkok (hopefully it wont affect us too badly with getting into Bangkok after our flight)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7059353.ece
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