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Published: August 5th 2011
*Sorry all, I get behind on this stuff...so this entry covers a few weeks and many cities*
The frogs in Chiang Mai were so loud that we were often surprised, upon entering our air conditioned room, to discover we'd spent the last hour yelling over the din. The hostel's proudest advertisement was for All You Can Eat Free "Toast"! This word is ubiquitous among tourist establishments in Thailand and seems to be the product of some strangely confused Thai person's decision that all Farangs (foreigners) crave dry tasteless white bread above all else.
Sukkhothai was characterized by the overwhelming heat. We drank many fruit smoothies for the ice content alone and I found myself prostrate in a restaurant, fan trained on me for most of our time there. The ruins were beautiful as well.
Back in Bangkok we again pulled our trick of the train, getting tickets after they'd sold out, and were then free to spend the day partaking in our favorite past time: riding the ferry. On board the heat suddenly evaporates in the cool breeze, the splashing waves lull me to sleep. And the city passes by in all its contradictory glory: Golden temples glinting
chiang mai
we went rock climbing!below the mid-day sun, slums disappearing into the mold and algae, crumbling slowly into the river, ultra modern government buildings and sleek, tree-lined, faux-eden luxury hotels. All stand side by side, interspersed in a trail mix of buildings, nestled in absurdity along the river banks.
Koh Tao was a good place to relax, composed mostly of tiny secluded beaches scattered about, reached by steep, washed out dirt roads. The sun was never too hot and the wind breathed a constant reminder of the ocean. It's not the kind of place I would typically want to visit, existing solely as a tourist destination, the population is estimated at ten percent Thai, all the signs are written in English and everything is overpriced. The few Thais we encounter are surly and bored. The "expats" stay for a few months to a couple of years and are dive instructors or bartenders, doing as little as possible to get by (as seems to be the trend in Thailand as a whole). Every other building is a bar as the main activities on the island are diving and drinking (along with, of course, as the old Thai lady we befriended in Sukotthai said, "sea
more sukkhothai
I was being sacrificed? Not sure why...just following instructions sun sand"). We went snorkeling on two days, the first I quite enjoyed: The water was warm and the waves minimal, I floated easily along through plentiful and varied fish. Unfortunately, the visibility was rather low, and all the colors were diluted with fine white sand. The other spot we tried (in our search for improved visibility) placed us in frighteningly shallow water (two feet or so from the coral) which required one to hold as still as possible. I found this difficult as I apparently have a minor fear of fish and the reef was SWARMING with life. I felt slightly panicked the whole time as I kept imagining sea cucumbers exploding beneath my accidental foot step.
We took a disastrous ferry ride from the Island to Chumpon to catch a train to Malaysia. The sea swelled and pitched for over three hours, so remaining on deck meant a constant shower in freezing salt water, however the cabin presented with an overwhelming stench of gas which left all who entered with a distinct green hue. In Chumpon we met another set of grumpy American expats who suggested we bide our time while waiting for the train with a
little bit of Muy Thai. Irene and I jumped at the chance and soon found ourselves in a boxing ring in the middle of the bar, wearing the borrowed clothes of a Thai boxer. We had very little time and were both, obviously quite ridiculous.
"You must act as one," the boxer excoriated us in one of many of the aphorisms he coaxed us with throughout our lesson.
"Are you Buddhist?" I asked him as he fitted me with gloves.
"I am Christian" was his characteristically terse response.
"Oh, you just sound very "Zen"" I told him to cover my perceived faux pas
"I used to be a monk," he countered.
"Really? When was that?"
"When my heart was broken," he says without any change in facial expression. Irene and I sigh in perfect unison. He finishes tying my gloves. "Just kidding."
Everything costs a little bit more in Malaysia. Surprisingly, there is a tangible benefit from the increase. The roads are a little bit cleaner, the food is more varied, the people speak more English and the motorbike runs significantly smoother. Our third bike rental dubbed Baby Fry (Fry III) is a tiny little Honda that has
purple bun
food in penang magically imbued me with the ability to maneuver expertly! This greatly improves our ability to navigate the little island of Penang, and so we spent most of our time there wandering accordingly: stopping for strange food stalls, turning suddenly at the sight of a beautifully unfinished temple at the top of the hill. After a lengthy failed attempt to scale Penang Hill (all the paths seemed to end in people's back yards) we accidentally found ourselves in the Penang Botanical Gardens where numerous signs touted "The Path to Penang Hill". *sigh*....we'd worn ourselves out in the aborted efforts and the sun had begun to reach languorously for the horizon over the twisted, monkey saturated jungle. Penang appears to be one endless sprawling suburb of towering high-rises spread out among dramatic steep cliffs dripping in all directions with dense emerald rainforest. Abandoned colonial-era buildings, slowly reclaimed by the earth, dot the landscape, providing the perfect middle ground between the imposing wilderness and excessive development.
Our next stop in Malaysia was a tiny cluster of Islands called Langkawi. It is the middle of the monsoon season but we still managed to camp on the beach surrounded by oversized (easily 6 feet
happy monkey
monkey's were easily photographed in penang long) monitor lizards and a pack of lazy semi-wild dogs.
We are now in a small town called Tanah Rata. It is cold here and I, for the first time on this trip, slept late, curled in blankets. We found our first real hike, a straight vertical ascent up Gunung Brinchang clambering over tree roots, braving mud pits and all matter of spiky plants. We reached the top covered in mud, bleeding (me) and bruised (Irene), and soaked in sweat only to meet a busload of tourists who had just driven up on a tour. We smiled, not a little smugly, as they took in our appearance with raised eyebrows. On the walk down (by road, the path would have been disastrous to go down) we stopped at a strawberry farm where we drank strawberry milkshakes and picked a half kilo of fresh strawberries for the road (this was especially amazing as we had neglected to bring food/water for the hike, assuming it would not be a real hike at all, as our experience has been so far).
Tomorrow we leave for Singapore! I will try to post pictures soon!
<3
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Marcia
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poetic descriptions
what a fabulous trip! Thanks for the poetic descriptions!