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Wat Sri Sanphet by night
From the night tour in Ayutthaya, Thailand.This is my last entry and the longest. When I last wrote I was in Koh Tao, Thailand. After leaving Koh Tao, I headed north to Bangkok for a few days. I met up with Cari, a friend that I met in Dublin back in 2000. So it was great catching up with her as she is now married and expecting her first!
Then I headed north to Ayutthaya to see more temple ruins. I met some great people there and then convinced them that they should do the night tour with me. The next day I rented a bicycle and saw a few more temples. Getting a bike was the right choice and I had a great day. Ayutthaya also has a fabulous night market with some amazing Thai desserts. My guesthouse had live music every night. And I was treated to drunken, deeply-accented renditions of Country Roads and Hotel California.
Then I headed north to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I took it easy wandering the old walled city, the National Museum and the temples. At the largest temple monastery, I met a Buddhist monk from Laos looking to practice his English. We talked about
Wat Chai Wattanaram
My favorite temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand. This is taken from the inside of the main tower, facing the river. Laos, nagas and the differences between the Thai and Laos languages. The next day I wandered around the Sunday market astounded at the endless offerings and the low prices, making the Sunday Chiang Mai market my favorite market on this trip.
My Thai neighbor at my guesthouse, Alila, asked me to read and write letters and emails for her as she had misplaced her glasses. She was 50 but looked far younger and had a number of pen pals with whom she kept in touch. For my birthday she gave me a lovely bunch of roses. That day I also took a Thai cooking class and learned how to make 6 dishes. I chose the mild Penang curry and was glad I did when everyone else had steam coming out of their ears with their green and red curries.
The day after my birthday I took a bus back down to Bangkok. Thankfully, I met a guy from Portland, Oregon named Bill, who'd been living in Thailand on and off for 20 years. He was a folk songwriter and a steel-string guitar player. We talked about Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris and Townes Van Zandt, music I'm
Alila and my birthday flowers
My neighbor in Chiang Mai and the lovely flowers she bought me on my birthday. just now discovering. His family was from Texas and as the 10-hour bus ride flew by I heard my lazy drawl coming out. When we arrived in Bangkok he put me in a taxi with a standing invitation to his girlfriend's villa in the south of France.
The next morning I flew to Singapore and rolled into a hostel in Chinatown. The manager William and one of the guests Richard shared their lychees with me as we sat outside. William is Chinese Indonesian and we talked about Indonesia. Richard was from Southern California and was working for the US government in South Korea. The next day the three of us took Kieran to his first dim sum experience.
That night we headed to the Prince of Wales Pub to see a band play and meet up with Kieran's friend James and my friend Jarrett, a classmate of mine from high school in Mexico City. It was a great night that ended too soon.
The prices in Singapore sent us fleeing into Malaysia. We considered going to Sumatra in Indonesia, but the likelihood of Indian food in Malaysia tipped the scale in favor of heading
My cooking instructor
My cooking instructor at the Chiang Mai market showing us the fuk yao bean. (That's really the name!) north.
The first stop was Mersing, Malaysia. It's a quiet port town and we took it easy. Kieran had injured his knee playing football in Singapore and needed the rest and I was burnt out on travel and wanted to just stay put for a few days. So we spent our days watching DVDs, reading and eating Cornettos.
Finally we got bored with that and headed north to Cerating, a quaint beach town. The local surfer cafe, which opened at 5pm and closed at 3am, had the best burger I've ever eaten outside the US. And they let us watch Spain v. Portugal at 2am. We did a night river tour and saw tons of fireflies. We loved it, so the next day we went river kayaking. As we pushed off from the river bank and settled into the kayak, I said, "Right. I've never kayaked before. How does this work?" Aside from a few run-ins with branches, we had a great time and saw a monitor lizard scrambling off into the brush.
I also met Firhaus. Originally from Hawaii, she had come to Cerating as a college student and had returned a few
Korean Buddhist temple
These were hanging in the Buddhist temple in Incheon, South Korea. I made a quick stop there during my layover in Seoul. more times before settling there, converting to Islam and getting married. She was holding her youngest of four, all boys, who let me hold him. We talked for a while about tourism, cloth diapers and her community children's library. She said, "I was just telling my husband this morning that I needed someone new to talk to. You have been a breath of fresh air." I felt exactly the same way.
Then it was on to Kuala Lumpur. It was good to be back in my favorite Asian capital. There had been a mix up with the hostel reservation and we ended up at a different place for the first night. It was nice and sat over an Iraqi restaurant. The guesthouse manager promised a discount if we ate there. We were eager to try a new cuisine, so we agreed. We stuffed ourselves on dips, chicken, rice and Iraqi kebab. The discount was huge and what should have been an $50 dinner was only $12.
We visited the Islamic Arts Museum, which is not only in a beautiful building but also has some exquisite pieces. They had a special exhibit on Women in Islam which
Jarrett and me
Jarrett and I went to high school together in Mexico City. He now lives in Singapore. This is us and some random guy neither of us knows at the Prince of Wales Pub. I really enjoyed. And we had the buffet there, which was delicious. After that we headed over to the National Mosque. We donned the purple robes that you need to be properly covered and we peered into the main prayer room. There was a volunteer there that was very kind and offered all sorts of information on Islam. Unfortunately, her knowledge of the mosque was less thorough. But we walked away with all sorts of pamphlets on Islam, including one that justified polygamy for men but not women because STD transmission was more of a risk for a woman with multiple husbands than a man with multiple wives. I'm not really sure about the science behind that.
The rest of the time we stuffed ourselves with Indian food. And movie tickets are so cheap there ($3!). So, we saw Made of Honor, Incredible Hulk and Wanted. Lots of dreamy leading men. It was great. I tried to introduce Kieran to the wonders of Country Fried Steak with cream gravy, but the Chili's there didn't have it on their menu.
We also met up with Mike and Michelle, who live in Kuala Lumpur, for one of my
6-day-old elephant
6-day-old elephant and mama in Ayutthaya, Thailand. favorite Malaysian dinners - banana leaf. They give you a banana leaf and then put an endless supply of rice, veggies and sauces on it. Yummy. I know Mike from when I lived in San Francisco and had missed them on my first trip to KL, so I was happy to get the chance to catch up with them. After dinner the four of us headed to a German bar for delicious beers. Mike chatted with the owner in German about the then-upcoming Euro final. Unfortunately for Mike, Germany lost.
As the end of June approached, I said goodbye to Kuala Lumpur, Kieran and Cornettos and flew to Bangkok. I stayed with Cari at her beautiful home and had dinner with her and her in-laws at Somboon. It was the best seafood I had ever put in my mouth - raw crab, fried shrimp balls, oysters, grilled fish and more. There was so much food. And it was so great meeting Cari's in-laws. And Cari's sister-in-law promised to send me the name of a dim sum restaurant in NYC.
My flight home had a 5-hour layover in the Seoul Airport, so I took a $5 temple
Temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand
Wat Phukhao Thong in Ayutthaya, Thailand. tour that I saw advertised. It was really nice to get out of the airport and see a small slice of Korea. Then it was on to Los Angeles.
I am now in Southern California at my mom's, enjoying the scenery. I start my drive to Texas this Thursday, will spend the weekend in Austin, arriving in Houston on Sunday. I'll be in Houston for the rest of the summer, heading to New York on August 24 to start my masters program at Columbia.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed sharing my trip with you. Thank you for all your comments and well wishes. I look forward to seeing some of you in the coming months!
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Megan
non-member comment
no way . . .
. . . that lady is 50.