Journey to Thailand

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Sawatdee Krop, (Hello)!

This is my first posting of my 2006 trip, as I prepare for my 2008 journey this year. You can also view past trips of mine at: http://www.salemstate.edu/imc/vietnam

We started our sojourn in Bangkok where we saw the Grand Palace (doesn't everyone?), went to Jim Thompson's house (loved it), and ultimately Wat Pho with the world’s largest, reclining Buddha almost to ourselves. As a consequence of the severe jet lag we were experiencing, we were taken advantage of by a fluent, English speaking Thai guy in a white suit (one of those classic scams). He hooked us up with a tuk tuk driver, who supposedly had free gas due to a national holiday that very day (suckers), and proceeded to take us to many destinations. But not the one we wanted! He took us to lots of businesses for things like a new tailored suit, jewelry, travel agents (TAT), etc. After threatening to leave, he finally took us to our desired destination and we were able to escape into China Town on our own. After being taken literally for a ride (I never knew what that meant until now) my partner and I decided to leave the big city.

This is where my journey really kicked in. I have grown to love the backpacker lifestyle and hope to continue on with it into my middle age. I just love the freedom of it all. We boarded the north bound train the next morning to the old capital of Ayuthaya, to see the famous ruins left by the Burmese in their quest to destroy the Thai kingdom (they failed!).

Being an ancient history buff, we jumped back on the train the next day and rode the rails to Sukhothai up north, where we were joined by our good friend Elizabeth. She flew direct from Bangkok after her grueling 24 hour flight. Unlike me, she seemed no worse for the wear.

Unfortunately, I had a bout of traveler's sickness, inspite of my watching carefully what I ate. Everything was cooked and my water was always bottled. Go figure? Lucky for me they have street doctors. I was downtown and noticed there were nurses standing around on their break. I crossed the street and stepped off the sidewalk into a small office. There was a doctor with her assistant (the note taker). She asked several questions before making her diagnosis. The assistant wrote it all down, then disappeared into the back room before coming out minutes later with the prescription. The total cost of several drugs was only $2.70, U.S. I paid them and left. The next day my diarrhea was real bad, so I decided to take the drugs. Within 12 hours I was able to ride a bike in the ruins of Sukhothai. Amazing!

The great thing to do there is to rent the bicycles for 50 cents and bike to all the ruins scattered throughout the park. It was great to have the freedom to move about without tuk tuks controlling your life. The monuments are fantastic and you get a better sense of the spirituality of the place and its peaceful surroundings from a bicycle seat.

My favorite temple was Wat Mahathat that resides within the 1600 square meter Royal Palace. It is Sukhothai’s most massive and significant temple and was probably built sometime around the 13th and 14th centuries. Construction on Wat Mahathat was probably started by King Sri Indraditya, the first king of Sukhothai, and was continued into the early Ayutthaya period. Within the Royal Palace’s two compounds are various structures that are surrounded by a moat and a lotus pond. Their placement together, clearly adds to enhance their innate spirituality. We paused to take many photos here.

Rather than taking a bus back to meet the north bound train, we decided to grab the bus directly up to Chiang Mai to hopefully do some trekking. Our journey was punctuated by several bus changes. Why all the changes, I'll never know. In the U.S. you stay on the same bus for the duration of the trip. But the Asian way seems to be geared to filling the bus to capacity, I guess that means several buses and several different drivers. You feel sort of like a mail bag on the pony express. The process is a total mystery to me.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, we proceeded to the guest house that I had reserved a month before. The waiting room was filled to capacity with other guests trying to book their stay there. Everything was written onto a giant ledger with hundreds of cryptic notes. Needless to say, my name was not there. The manager was not at all impressed by the confirmation e-mail that I had produced. In other words, first come, first served. They wanted us to wait around and be guided to a business partner's establishment, but we just jumped on board our Tuk Tuk and went to Moon Muang Road where I knew there would be other options. A word of advise, don't let them lead you around by the nose. You are the one ultimately in charge of your own experience!

After a brief search, we found a Chinese, family owned, guest house and were impressed with its quality for only $10.00 per night! The next day, we walked within the old, walled city to see its magnificent restored temples. It was a very relaxing and rewarding day. We met a monk in a small out of the way temple, whom Elizabeth made fast friends with. He had been hit by a car in Chicago of all places and had trouble walking about the temple compound. He was only 42 years old and appeared much older. I'll make a point of stopping to see him on our return this year. The food and drink he gave us was most appreciated in the heat of the day.

On our way back, we made an abrupt decision to see the large, sanctuary on the hill overlooking Chiang Mai called, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. We flagged down a song thaew driver on a back street, that thought he was going home for the day. (wrong!) The small vehicle began its climb and the city unfolded below the three of us as we ascended. Once there, we respectfully removed our shoes and joined the worshipers, as the sun set the golden chedis ablaze in all their splendor. It was truly a magical time to be there.The temple is certainly one of the most important temples in Chiang Mai, as well as one of the most revered for all Thais and is a major pilgrimage destination. This was reflected by the large crowds gathering up there. I would hate to arrive on a holiday! The view of the city was also worth the effort to get here. The perfect end of a perfect day.


That night we hit the night bazaars and began planning our visit the next day with the Chiang Dao Elephant Camp over dinner. We found a van driver in the streets, or did he find us? We set off on our next adventure with some concerns. I had read a recent article in National Geographic about the mistreatment of Thailand’s elephants and was concerned about supporting the camp with my money vote. We opted to see what it’s all about. The relationship between the mahout (driver) and his elephant is actually a very close bond. It was very clear to me that my mahout cared for his elephant a great deal. If there were abuses going on, they weren’t readily apparent at the government run camps. They were getting their morning bath as we signed in. I was pleasantly surprised to see how happy these particular elephants were and readily agreed to do a brief ride across the stream and into the jungle.

If you haven’t done something like this, you are in for a treat. Your body absorbs every elephant movement orchestrated by the mahout. It felt like the elephant would trip and fall as we crossed the river. I imagined myself getting crushed by the great beast. Dana and Elizabeth just laughed at this. Both of the mahouts slid down off the elephants heads and let them drive for a while. They both have higher control factors and relished the idea of driving the animals. I just took pictures. After finishing our trek though the jungle (the elephant ate half of it on our brief journey), we meandered back to camp, when I was approached by the great beast afer dismounting. He knew my voice and tried to give me an elephant kiss with his trunk. Very moving, somewhat frightening, yet cool! I swear that if I went back to see him, he’d remember me.


After our adventure with the elephant we were taken on a brief 45 minute raft ride down a tributary of the mighty Ping River. I really like the cone shaped hats they gave us. We looked more Vietnamese than Thai. As it turned out they were completely necessary, the sun at noon is very intense. As we disembarked from our trip they took our picture and sold it to us for 5 dollars. It wasn’t as good as the one taken by our boat captain with my camera, so I declined. Elizabeth caved in and bought it. A tribal woman in native dress greeted us in an effort to hopefully sell some colorful bags. I believe she might have been Lisu, but I’m not entirely sure (I bought a purple, wall hanging). Having completed our combined elephant/raft trip, our loyal van driver offered us several other activities for the afternoon. Our first stop were two sacred caves: Tham Phra Nawn (360m) and Tham Seua Dao (540m), which are part of the Tham Chiang Dao complex. I particularly loved the gnomes inside, as well as, the Buddhist shrines lining the cave walls. It was an unexpected display of spirituality. The caves were luckily lit; the stalactites and stalagmites created by water dripping over rocks to form crystals over the millennia are absolutely beautiful hues of pinks, terracotta and purples.


Afterwards we headed for what is billed as a snake show. Nothing could have prepared me for the MCs oratory. He would talk about the snakes in this mysterious voice through a cheesy sound system from the snakes perspective, “Oh you are so sexy, my darling, please give me a kiss, if you dare”. This went on and on ….. I thought it was very, very funny and so did Elizabeth. He then proceeded to display several poisonous varieties of Cobras, as well as the big Boa Constrictor which constricted poor Elizabeth, much to the delight of the Chinese and Korean audience.




To be continued: Next: The Hills of Pai

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Photos

Reclining Buddha
The world's largest reclining buddha at Wat Pho in Bangkok.

Dana with twin Buddhas
Dana (He's a twin) with Buddhas in Ayuthaya

Portrait of the King
Elizabeth and I posing in front of the King's portrait at the gates of the Sukhothai Historical Park.

Wat Mahathat
Here I am in Sukhothai assuming the usual pose.

Wat Chedi Luang
This chedi has been partially reconstructed, either after being destroyed by an earthquake in the 17th century; or by King Taksin's cannons firing on the city to chase out the Burmese in the 18th century. The jury is still out on this one!

Elizabeth with her Monk.
Elizabeth exchanging contact information with her new friend.

Worshipers
Buddhists pray at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep on its hilltop perch overlooking Chiang Mai.

Elephant Camp
Here am I with Dana on our elephant. I felt he really did know me. It was an amazing feeling being approached afterwards by this gentle giant.

Raft Ride
Here we are on a raft ride down a tributary of the Ping River. I loved the cone hats!

Boa Constrictor
Elizabeth was overwhelmed by the sensation of this creature as it squeezed her.