It's the tail end of the hot season here, which means the daytime highs are in the very upper 90s and so is the humidity. When the sun is out, it's blistering. In the shade, with any breeze, it's not quite so bad.
The first day was totally miserable but I've kind of started to adjust. That doesn't mean I sweat any less, just that I don't feel quite so miserable while doing it.
With all the sweating, drinking water is a necessity. The hotel provides 2 bottles of water each day with housekeeping but that's just not enough. Having been warned against drinking the tap water, I'm buying LOTS of bottled water. On the one hand, I'm glad it's relatively cheap. I can get a big (1.5 liter) bottle for 15 baht (about 45 cents). On the other hand, I feel really bad about all the plastic bottles I'm tossing.
06 May 2012
05 May 2012
Orphanage for HIV kids
We loaded up in song teus to head to the Agape House orphanage for HIV kids. Avis, the Canadian woman who started Agape House 16 years ago, spoke to us briefly. She said that there are 40 new cases of HIV infection reported in Thailand per day. Part of the reason is that, in Thai culture, no one tells anyone if they are HIV positive...or lies if asked by a partner. A lot of times an HIV parent with an HIV child will leave the child with the orphanage when they get a new partner to avoid questions.
Of the 89 kids at Agape, 7 of them are not HIV positive...they either were at one time and after treatment are showing negative or they are the children of someone who died of AIDS. Several of the negative kids are due to be adopted soon. Many of these HIV negative children were born to HIV positive mothers but, if delivered by ceasarian, the babies are not infected.
The Thai government pays for the ARV (anti-retroviral) drugs used to treat HIV for Thai citizens but doesn't cover more run of the mill medications or treatments.
There are about 45 nannies at the school to care for the kids in shifts. Older children move to smaller 'homes' where there is a house parent looking after maybe 6 older kids. Originally, none of the kids survived to 18 but they now have kids in their upper teens to 20 or so. They never 'age out' so the challenge at this point is what to do with the survivors. Vocational training has been added where these kids are learning hairstyling, woodworking, sewing, etc to enable them to find work.
We were supposed to do a service project of some sort...painting, cleaning classrooms, etc. However, the kids are on break from school and what they really wanted us to do was play with them and interact with them. We'd brought paper, markers, frisbees, jump ropes, play balls, etc (purchased locally) so people kind of scattered to play with kids individually or in small groups as the spirit moved.
The nail polish was a big hit. The girls loved having their nails done and doing ours. One girl was especially taken with. At some point during our time there she approached any unpainted female in our group and asked to do her nails. She asked to do mine and when I said yes, she trotted out the back door. I was a little puzzled by this but she came back with a piece of grass that she'd gone out back to select. She put 3 coats of purple polish on my nails then used the grass to put decorative dots on the polish.
She was really quiet but could speak some English. I asked her name (Taun) and how old she was (14) and how long she'd been at the home (8 years). At one point when she was painting one hand, a younger boy came up and wanted to paint my other. She shook her head, shooed him away, and said, "It will not be beautiful." I had no doubt.
Some of the boys painted the toenails of one of the girls in our group and they were not content to confine painting to the nails. By the time they were done, she not only had painted toenails, she had painted stripes across all her toes.
I also played with play dough with some of the younger kids. One girl had her arm in a sling (greenstick fracture the weekend before) but she was gamely pounding away with the clay. She became entranced when she discovered that her bead bracelet made neat patterns in the clay. One little boy made an elephant head. Then a body for it. Then another small animal to put on its back. A little girl made a fan-shaped flower on a stem. Then she had a small hot dog shaped piece that she used the corner of a piece of plastic to poke it all over. I didn't figure out what she was doing until she put it into the flower as the stamen. Clever!
All went well for a while and then they started squishing each others pieces and laughing then wandered off to do other things.
We played badminton, soccer, frisbee, dodge ball, and hand games. We made paper airplanes and drew pictures and sang songs. We all tuckered out long before they did. But the staff was exstatic at the activity the kids had.
We left at 2 with many of the kids hugging us, waving and saying "Bye-bye!" over and over again.
Of the 89 kids at Agape, 7 of them are not HIV positive...they either were at one time and after treatment are showing negative or they are the children of someone who died of AIDS. Several of the negative kids are due to be adopted soon. Many of these HIV negative children were born to HIV positive mothers but, if delivered by ceasarian, the babies are not infected.
The Thai government pays for the ARV (anti-retroviral) drugs used to treat HIV for Thai citizens but doesn't cover more run of the mill medications or treatments.
There are about 45 nannies at the school to care for the kids in shifts. Older children move to smaller 'homes' where there is a house parent looking after maybe 6 older kids. Originally, none of the kids survived to 18 but they now have kids in their upper teens to 20 or so. They never 'age out' so the challenge at this point is what to do with the survivors. Vocational training has been added where these kids are learning hairstyling, woodworking, sewing, etc to enable them to find work.
We were supposed to do a service project of some sort...painting, cleaning classrooms, etc. However, the kids are on break from school and what they really wanted us to do was play with them and interact with them. We'd brought paper, markers, frisbees, jump ropes, play balls, etc (purchased locally) so people kind of scattered to play with kids individually or in small groups as the spirit moved.
The nail polish was a big hit. The girls loved having their nails done and doing ours. One girl was especially taken with. At some point during our time there she approached any unpainted female in our group and asked to do her nails. She asked to do mine and when I said yes, she trotted out the back door. I was a little puzzled by this but she came back with a piece of grass that she'd gone out back to select. She put 3 coats of purple polish on my nails then used the grass to put decorative dots on the polish.
She was really quiet but could speak some English. I asked her name (Taun) and how old she was (14) and how long she'd been at the home (8 years). At one point when she was painting one hand, a younger boy came up and wanted to paint my other. She shook her head, shooed him away, and said, "It will not be beautiful." I had no doubt.
Some of the boys painted the toenails of one of the girls in our group and they were not content to confine painting to the nails. By the time they were done, she not only had painted toenails, she had painted stripes across all her toes.
I also played with play dough with some of the younger kids. One girl had her arm in a sling (greenstick fracture the weekend before) but she was gamely pounding away with the clay. She became entranced when she discovered that her bead bracelet made neat patterns in the clay. One little boy made an elephant head. Then a body for it. Then another small animal to put on its back. A little girl made a fan-shaped flower on a stem. Then she had a small hot dog shaped piece that she used the corner of a piece of plastic to poke it all over. I didn't figure out what she was doing until she put it into the flower as the stamen. Clever!
All went well for a while and then they started squishing each others pieces and laughing then wandered off to do other things.
We played badminton, soccer, frisbee, dodge ball, and hand games. We made paper airplanes and drew pictures and sang songs. We all tuckered out long before they did. But the staff was exstatic at the activity the kids had.
We left at 2 with many of the kids hugging us, waving and saying "Bye-bye!" over and over again.
04 May 2012
Painting
We did the drama workshop in the morning. In the afternoon, it was painting.
Sawai (artist in residence) talked about the main, traditional painting styles. The style used in most of the temple murals we'd seen in Bangkok were areas of flat, pure color in deep, dull red, blue, and black with gold leaf. They tend to be dark, except for the shine of the gold leaf, and the perspective is always from slightly above. All of the Ramayana murals use this style.
The style from the north part of the country is called Lanna. It's more modern-looking. The color areas are still flat but bright and with mixed colors (green, orange, purple, etc). The subjects are from daily life, not just the Ramayana. The faces tend to be more round and stylized.
Sawai showed us examples of the 2 styles and then showed us some of his own work. He did a number of paintings in the Lanna style for a gallery on the upper floor of the CCI seminary. Those paintings are great but I was absolutely blown away by his pen-and-ink drawings. They were large, intricate, stippled images. I was fascinated.
One of the guys in the group was also taken with his pen/ink work and got one of his unfinished studies to have made into a tattoo.
However, the real point of the workshop was to learn about traditional Thai painting so Sawai walked us through the sort of training exercise traditional Thai painters would go through. It involved tracing a standard motif (in this case, a lotus), filling in the main color with gold and painting in the lines in red. We used poster paints on a good quality paper.
For aspiring traditional painters, they would keep practicing with this exercise until the teacher says they have mastered it. Then the artist is allowed to be more creative, add stylistic elements or flourishes.
In the time we had, we certainly did not master the technique.
Sawai (artist in residence) talked about the main, traditional painting styles. The style used in most of the temple murals we'd seen in Bangkok were areas of flat, pure color in deep, dull red, blue, and black with gold leaf. They tend to be dark, except for the shine of the gold leaf, and the perspective is always from slightly above. All of the Ramayana murals use this style.
The style from the north part of the country is called Lanna. It's more modern-looking. The color areas are still flat but bright and with mixed colors (green, orange, purple, etc). The subjects are from daily life, not just the Ramayana. The faces tend to be more round and stylized.
Sawai showed us examples of the 2 styles and then showed us some of his own work. He did a number of paintings in the Lanna style for a gallery on the upper floor of the CCI seminary. Those paintings are great but I was absolutely blown away by his pen-and-ink drawings. They were large, intricate, stippled images. I was fascinated.
One of the guys in the group was also taken with his pen/ink work and got one of his unfinished studies to have made into a tattoo.
However, the real point of the workshop was to learn about traditional Thai painting so Sawai walked us through the sort of training exercise traditional Thai painters would go through. It involved tracing a standard motif (in this case, a lotus), filling in the main color with gold and painting in the lines in red. We used poster paints on a good quality paper.
For aspiring traditional painters, they would keep practicing with this exercise until the teacher says they have mastered it. Then the artist is allowed to be more creative, add stylistic elements or flourishes.
In the time we had, we certainly did not master the technique.
Likay - traditional drama form
We started of the day at the Christian Comminication Institute, conveniently located a block or so from our hotel. CCI was founded around 1960 by a missionary couple (Alan & Joan Eubank). They wanted to use a traditional folk drama form (likay) to help spread the gospel.
There is another form of drama that is very formalized and can't be changed...the stories the movement, the music...it all must remain untouched. However, likay is more improvisational. It tends to be a small troupe of players that roves from town to town, sets up in the town square and does a number of performances before moving on. The shows are pure entertainment (no social message), painted canvas backdrops, lots of humor, and frequently ribald. The stories are modern with topics from daily life.
The Eubanks created Gospel-based stories in the Likay format. There are some archetypes that are maintained from traditional Likay...The Hero is always charming and idealistic, for example.
Today the troupe performed a Likay version of "The Good Samaritan." The parts are spoken and sung but there are also gestures and movements that go along with it. Afterward, Ken had come of the performers show us how these movements communicate, almost like a sign language. I wished they'd showed us this before the performance. I followed the story but knowing the gestures were more than theatricality would have been helpful.
After the performance the troupe worked with us on some of the (very) basic traditional dance movements. It's a lot of stylized hand positions and movements that, to do properly, you have to have joints that bend in ways they generally don't...fingers that arc toward the back of the hand, elbows that bend a bit past open. They showed us the type of stretches that dancers do daily to facilitate these moves. Done properly, it's vey graceful. There were a couple of women in the troupe that had studied traditional dance formally and they were a joy to watch.
There is another form of drama that is very formalized and can't be changed...the stories the movement, the music...it all must remain untouched. However, likay is more improvisational. It tends to be a small troupe of players that roves from town to town, sets up in the town square and does a number of performances before moving on. The shows are pure entertainment (no social message), painted canvas backdrops, lots of humor, and frequently ribald. The stories are modern with topics from daily life.
The Eubanks created Gospel-based stories in the Likay format. There are some archetypes that are maintained from traditional Likay...The Hero is always charming and idealistic, for example.
Today the troupe performed a Likay version of "The Good Samaritan." The parts are spoken and sung but there are also gestures and movements that go along with it. Afterward, Ken had come of the performers show us how these movements communicate, almost like a sign language. I wished they'd showed us this before the performance. I followed the story but knowing the gestures were more than theatricality would have been helpful.
After the performance the troupe worked with us on some of the (very) basic traditional dance movements. It's a lot of stylized hand positions and movements that, to do properly, you have to have joints that bend in ways they generally don't...fingers that arc toward the back of the hand, elbows that bend a bit past open. They showed us the type of stretches that dancers do daily to facilitate these moves. Done properly, it's vey graceful. There were a couple of women in the troupe that had studied traditional dance formally and they were a joy to watch.
03 May 2012
Wat Doi Suthep
We left Chiang Mai and drove up the hairpin turns to the top of the mountain. It had started to sprinkle about halfway up the mountain but by the time we got to the top, it was really raining. We were supposed to go to the temple then the Orchid Jade Factory but decided to do it the other way around.
At the jade factory we saw a brief video about the 2 different types of jade and all the different colors that jade comes in...violet, black, white, red and, of course, green. Then we went back into the factory area where they were shaping jade into different things...mostly Buddha statues. There was a gallery of incredibly intricate jade carvings.
Out front, there was all the jewelry; not just jade but also ruby and sapphire. It was beautiful, high quality stuff and many of us got something. I didn't. Not that it wasn't gorgeous, I just don't wear much in the way of jewelry.
By the time we were done there, it had mostly stopped raining so we went back to the temple area. There are about 300 steps you have to climb to get to the temple; the steps rise between elaborate and huge snake handrails.
At the top, Ken walked us through the Ramayana story murals in the gallery ringing the temple. Then we wandered a bit on our own. There were dozens of Buddha statues around the central temple and a number of people were walking three times around it with a lotus flower held vertically between their palms. It's kind of like a mini-pilgrimage and a way for Buddhists to make merit.
After the inside of the temple, I walked around the outside. From the back side of the temple there is an incredible, panoramic view of Chiang Mai. It was a little hazy from the rain but still an impressive view.
I walked back down the steps and toward the bottom were lots of vendors selling fuit, food, scarves, clothes, etc. I went in with 2 of the girls to get a pashmina scarf...with 3 you get a discount. I also bought some rambutans, mangosteen and rose apple.
At the very bottom of the temple stair area, I met up with others in our group who were waiting for the others. There were also vendors here as well. There was a fruit vendor that had watermelon which was very popular with our group. I got some guava and something I'd never seen before. Urt said it was santee...or something like that. It was faintly pinkish colored and the fruit part was soft, like a mango but curved around a large, gellatinous pulp covered pit. Urt said not to eat the pulpy part, just the pinkish part. I didn't think it was bad but the others in the group who tried it pretty much universally spit it out. They thought the rambutan was ok and the mangosteen was yummy.
At the jade factory we saw a brief video about the 2 different types of jade and all the different colors that jade comes in...violet, black, white, red and, of course, green. Then we went back into the factory area where they were shaping jade into different things...mostly Buddha statues. There was a gallery of incredibly intricate jade carvings.
Out front, there was all the jewelry; not just jade but also ruby and sapphire. It was beautiful, high quality stuff and many of us got something. I didn't. Not that it wasn't gorgeous, I just don't wear much in the way of jewelry.
By the time we were done there, it had mostly stopped raining so we went back to the temple area. There are about 300 steps you have to climb to get to the temple; the steps rise between elaborate and huge snake handrails.
At the top, Ken walked us through the Ramayana story murals in the gallery ringing the temple. Then we wandered a bit on our own. There were dozens of Buddha statues around the central temple and a number of people were walking three times around it with a lotus flower held vertically between their palms. It's kind of like a mini-pilgrimage and a way for Buddhists to make merit.
After the inside of the temple, I walked around the outside. From the back side of the temple there is an incredible, panoramic view of Chiang Mai. It was a little hazy from the rain but still an impressive view.
I walked back down the steps and toward the bottom were lots of vendors selling fuit, food, scarves, clothes, etc. I went in with 2 of the girls to get a pashmina scarf...with 3 you get a discount. I also bought some rambutans, mangosteen and rose apple.
At the very bottom of the temple stair area, I met up with others in our group who were waiting for the others. There were also vendors here as well. There was a fruit vendor that had watermelon which was very popular with our group. I got some guava and something I'd never seen before. Urt said it was santee...or something like that. It was faintly pinkish colored and the fruit part was soft, like a mango but curved around a large, gellatinous pulp covered pit. Urt said not to eat the pulpy part, just the pinkish part. I didn't think it was bad but the others in the group who tried it pretty much universally spit it out. They thought the rambutan was ok and the mangosteen was yummy.
Train to Chiang Mai : May 2-3
We gathered back at the hotel at 4:00 to walk to the train station. Lora, Virginia and I had walked it the day before so that we'd know where it was and how long it took to get there.
it was maybe 8 blocks.
We must have made quite a parade of farang (foreigners) with 23 of us walking single file down the sidewalk (where there was sidewalk) or in the street, all toting luggage and backpacks.
It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for us. The part of Bangkok we were in was older. The sidewalks, where there were sidewalks, tended to be broken or missing in spots, narrow and dotted with trees or garbage cans or parked motor scooters. The motor scooters also tend to use the sidewalks instead of the street because traffic is so crazy. So in addition to the obstacles, you also have to dodge scooters and people.
It was an adventure and sometimes we gave up the sidewalk all together and just walked in the streets. Lora kept saying, "Just walk, they'll drive around you." Easy for her to say...
Lora recommended that we either eat supper before getting on the train or buy something to take along. I got some snacks at the 7-11 earlier and at the train station bought fresh fruit (a bag each of rose apple, pineapple and guava) and some chicken satay that I ate while waiting for boarding along with a can of pop and a big bottle of water. All that was 94 baht (about $3)
Around 5 I decided I'd rather just get on the train than stand around the station so I got my ticket from Lora and boarded.
I stopped at the first car and showed my ticket to the uniformed guy. He told me I was the next car so I went to the porter for that car. He took my ticket and my suitcase and led me to my seat then put my suitcase under it. Then he trotted back out to the entrance, ready and eager to help the next person.
The car consisted of maybe 20 sets of seats. Each set is a pair of facing seats on either side of the aisle...so 4 people per set. The seats are bench-style with padded seat and back, a row of cup holders in front of the window and arm rests on both sides. There is space under the seats where you put your luggage, sliding it in endwise from the aisle. There is a space under your feet (as your sitting) that stores a table top you can put up between the seats if you want to write or play cards with your seatmate or something.
Another guy came through periodically to sell orange juice ("Fresh. No water. No sugar.") or fruit plates. He came through one time with a menu of items for dinner and breakfast. I didn't need dinner but since the porter told us we'd be arriving in Chiang Mai between 9 and 10 (instead of 7:45 as our tickets said) I thought I'd order something. I ordered the rice porridge with shrimp, fruit, juice and tea (100 baht).
It took about an hour to get out of Bangkok. And by then it was dark so we didn't really get to see much for most of the journey.
The kids were in 'high spirits' and partying in the set of seats next to mine. I can't blame them and it didn't bother me (they shared...) but I couldn't help but think it must be annoying for the people in our car who weren't part of our group...probably 4 of the sets of seats.
The toilets were at the engine end of the car...one western style, one Thai style. The Thai style one is common in Asia. It's basically a squat toilet. There are platforms for your feet on either side of a hole and you squat over it, facing the wall. There is a hand rail on the wall in front, which comes in handy if the train happens to lurch while you're squatting. Whether western or Thai style, they both are literally holes. They go straight to the tracks below. And they both have a sprayer hose nearby so you can "flush". I assume the water from the sinks where you can wash your hands or brush your teeth do the same.
Around 8:00 the porter started making up the beds for people who wanted that then. He was vey fast and efficient about it. The top bunk folded down from the wall/ceiling, sort of like a murphy bed. In it were all the parts needed to make up the 2 beds...pads, sheets, blankets, pillows and curtains. The two facing seat bottoms slide together and the back rests slide down to form the bottom bunk. He put a foam pad on top of that and wrapped it in a sheet then put a pillow and a plastic bagged blanket on it. The curtains hang on the outside of each bunk so that you have a little privacy.
I had a bottom bunk. It was just long enough for me to stretch out on. It had to be pretty cramped for the boys. But then, the seats are designed for Thai-sized people, not great hulks like us.
When the beds were made up, the party kids moved it down to the dining car so people who wanted to could sleep. I think I went to bed around 9. I pulled the curtains, changed out of street clothes, put in ear plugs and went to sleep.
I woke up a few times in the night, mostly when we would pull into a station somewhere. It was kind of funny...it was the lack of motion and noise that woke me up. Sometimes, it wasn't a station stop...just a change in the track sound or motion. At one point, I woke up and thought, "We're climbing..." but I don't know why I thought that.
Somewhere along the way I woke up and looked out the window and saw the sky was getting a little lighter so I knew we were on the dawn side of the night. By 6, I was awake but just laying there resting. By full light, I was sipping hot tea in bed and watching Thailand roll by.
I saw lots of rice paddies...large areas that were pancake flat and had smaller areas bordered by low earthen berms. It's on the cusp between the hot season and the rainy season. The paddy fields are dry now but I assume the rains will fill them in the coming weeks.
Some of the areas we rode through looked reasonably prosperous with neat and tidy painted houses. Others looked desperately poor with tin or wood shacks. In both cases, a lot of them were raised up off the ground on stilts (poorer houses) or pillars (better houses). All the livestock I saw out the window was either Brahma cattle or water buffalo...and there weren't lots of either.
After the rice paddies, there were some bamboo forests, some rocky mountainy areas and some rolling hills.
At one point, I saw a guy riding a bicycle down a dirt road. There was a little platform over the back wheel where a dog was sitting, along for the ride.
All over, Bangkok and out in the country, there are LOTS of small motorcycles and scooters. Once out of Bangkok, there are more motorcycles than cars.
We arrived in Chiang Mai around 9:00 and were met by Ken, our contact and guide for Chiang Mai and were welcomed with jasmine leis.
We loaded up in micro-buses for the 10-minute trip to the Eco Resort...our home away from home for the next week or so.
it was maybe 8 blocks.
We must have made quite a parade of farang (foreigners) with 23 of us walking single file down the sidewalk (where there was sidewalk) or in the street, all toting luggage and backpacks.
It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for us. The part of Bangkok we were in was older. The sidewalks, where there were sidewalks, tended to be broken or missing in spots, narrow and dotted with trees or garbage cans or parked motor scooters. The motor scooters also tend to use the sidewalks instead of the street because traffic is so crazy. So in addition to the obstacles, you also have to dodge scooters and people.
It was an adventure and sometimes we gave up the sidewalk all together and just walked in the streets. Lora kept saying, "Just walk, they'll drive around you." Easy for her to say...
Lora recommended that we either eat supper before getting on the train or buy something to take along. I got some snacks at the 7-11 earlier and at the train station bought fresh fruit (a bag each of rose apple, pineapple and guava) and some chicken satay that I ate while waiting for boarding along with a can of pop and a big bottle of water. All that was 94 baht (about $3)
Around 5 I decided I'd rather just get on the train than stand around the station so I got my ticket from Lora and boarded.
I stopped at the first car and showed my ticket to the uniformed guy. He told me I was the next car so I went to the porter for that car. He took my ticket and my suitcase and led me to my seat then put my suitcase under it. Then he trotted back out to the entrance, ready and eager to help the next person.
The car consisted of maybe 20 sets of seats. Each set is a pair of facing seats on either side of the aisle...so 4 people per set. The seats are bench-style with padded seat and back, a row of cup holders in front of the window and arm rests on both sides. There is space under the seats where you put your luggage, sliding it in endwise from the aisle. There is a space under your feet (as your sitting) that stores a table top you can put up between the seats if you want to write or play cards with your seatmate or something.
Another guy came through periodically to sell orange juice ("Fresh. No water. No sugar.") or fruit plates. He came through one time with a menu of items for dinner and breakfast. I didn't need dinner but since the porter told us we'd be arriving in Chiang Mai between 9 and 10 (instead of 7:45 as our tickets said) I thought I'd order something. I ordered the rice porridge with shrimp, fruit, juice and tea (100 baht).
It took about an hour to get out of Bangkok. And by then it was dark so we didn't really get to see much for most of the journey.
The kids were in 'high spirits' and partying in the set of seats next to mine. I can't blame them and it didn't bother me (they shared...) but I couldn't help but think it must be annoying for the people in our car who weren't part of our group...probably 4 of the sets of seats.
The toilets were at the engine end of the car...one western style, one Thai style. The Thai style one is common in Asia. It's basically a squat toilet. There are platforms for your feet on either side of a hole and you squat over it, facing the wall. There is a hand rail on the wall in front, which comes in handy if the train happens to lurch while you're squatting. Whether western or Thai style, they both are literally holes. They go straight to the tracks below. And they both have a sprayer hose nearby so you can "flush". I assume the water from the sinks where you can wash your hands or brush your teeth do the same.
Around 8:00 the porter started making up the beds for people who wanted that then. He was vey fast and efficient about it. The top bunk folded down from the wall/ceiling, sort of like a murphy bed. In it were all the parts needed to make up the 2 beds...pads, sheets, blankets, pillows and curtains. The two facing seat bottoms slide together and the back rests slide down to form the bottom bunk. He put a foam pad on top of that and wrapped it in a sheet then put a pillow and a plastic bagged blanket on it. The curtains hang on the outside of each bunk so that you have a little privacy.
I had a bottom bunk. It was just long enough for me to stretch out on. It had to be pretty cramped for the boys. But then, the seats are designed for Thai-sized people, not great hulks like us.
When the beds were made up, the party kids moved it down to the dining car so people who wanted to could sleep. I think I went to bed around 9. I pulled the curtains, changed out of street clothes, put in ear plugs and went to sleep.
I woke up a few times in the night, mostly when we would pull into a station somewhere. It was kind of funny...it was the lack of motion and noise that woke me up. Sometimes, it wasn't a station stop...just a change in the track sound or motion. At one point, I woke up and thought, "We're climbing..." but I don't know why I thought that.
Somewhere along the way I woke up and looked out the window and saw the sky was getting a little lighter so I knew we were on the dawn side of the night. By 6, I was awake but just laying there resting. By full light, I was sipping hot tea in bed and watching Thailand roll by.
I saw lots of rice paddies...large areas that were pancake flat and had smaller areas bordered by low earthen berms. It's on the cusp between the hot season and the rainy season. The paddy fields are dry now but I assume the rains will fill them in the coming weeks.
Some of the areas we rode through looked reasonably prosperous with neat and tidy painted houses. Others looked desperately poor with tin or wood shacks. In both cases, a lot of them were raised up off the ground on stilts (poorer houses) or pillars (better houses). All the livestock I saw out the window was either Brahma cattle or water buffalo...and there weren't lots of either.
After the rice paddies, there were some bamboo forests, some rocky mountainy areas and some rolling hills.
At one point, I saw a guy riding a bicycle down a dirt road. There was a little platform over the back wheel where a dog was sitting, along for the ride.
All over, Bangkok and out in the country, there are LOTS of small motorcycles and scooters. Once out of Bangkok, there are more motorcycles than cars.
We arrived in Chiang Mai around 9:00 and were met by Ken, our contact and guide for Chiang Mai and were welcomed with jasmine leis.
We loaded up in micro-buses for the 10-minute trip to the Eco Resort...our home away from home for the next week or so.
02 May 2012
1 Day in Bangkok
First real day in Bangkok...we'd walked around a little after arrival but didn't really leave the hotel neighborhood. Today we had Stuff Planned.
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed out around 8 for the Grand Palace. it opens at 8:30 and we were thinking it would be cooler first thing in the morning. We loaded up in tuk-tuks in front of the hotel for the trip. Tuk-tuks are 3-wheeled, open air vehicles that can hold about 3 people. There a very Thai thing. And kind of fun if you like breathing diesel exhaust while you're stuck in Bangkok traffic.
And traffic in Bangkok is crazy...there were times when our tuk-tuk was between lanes of traffic with big buses on both sides. The motorcycles are even nuttier...they'll not only ride between lanes, they'll cut between stopped cars to get to an open area, or they'll just go down the sidewalk.
It was an experience...
It's breathtakingly hot...and we came early to be in the cooler part of the day. Lots of women are carrying unbrellas, or technically I guess they'd be parasols. It's a good idea; carry your shade with you and you don't have to have something sitting on your head, keeping some of the heat from escaping.
However, they're kind of annoying in crowds. The women, especially the really short ones don't always take into account the 'spread'. I was poked a number of times by umbrella ribs.
As we entered the palace grounds, everyone had to be evaluated by the fashion police...no knees or shoulders showing, no leggings, nothing see-thru. Out of our group, only Virginia, Lora, Felicia and I passed. Everyone else had to rent sarongs (women) or pants (men) to enter.
The Grand Palace is a huge complex that includes not only the palace but various wats (temples), include the temple of the Emerald Buddha, museums and a long gallery with a series of murals telling the story of the Buddha's life.
We wandered through the areas on grounds and the coin museum. We happened to catch the changing of the guard at the entrance as one shift rolled off and another came on. The grounds guards wore dark, olive green uniforms and helmets. The guards at the palace were in fancier uniforms with sashes and white gloves. Like the guards at Buckingham Palace, they don't move or look around. They just stand stiffly and formally, in the sun. I hve no idea how long each shift is but I can't see how anyone can do it for long.
Leaving the palace, most people took tuk-tuks or cabs back to the hotel. Lora, Virginia, several of the girls and I decided to walk. We started out the way we thought we'd come in the tuk-tuk but I hadn't been paying any attention so I didn't know and just followed along.
Eventually we came to an area near the river...which just had to be wrong. There was a big park there and Lora asked one of the guards there which way we should go. The guard tried to direct us to a bus but Lora said, no, we're walking. The guard said we were foolish and needed to take a cab. Lora tried to get her to just point us in a direction but the guard refused to tell her.
We walked a little further and came to one of those 'you are here' type maps and sure enough, we'd been walking the wrong direction. We flagged down a tuk-tuk for the girls and L, V and I got a cab.
Back at the hotel, we had to check out but still had several hours before catching the train. We brought all our bags down to the concierge area and then people did what they wanted for the time. Some went to the pool. Some made shopping runs for train ride supplies.
V and I decided to walk around. We went a direction we hadn't gone before and ended up in an area that seemed to be all automotive and motorcycle parts/repair shops. We headed back to the areas we'd been to before. There was a neighborhood temple area that had shops and street vendors. Since it wasn't Labor Day anymore, we thought more of them would be open.
We went down an alley that became a very narrow, one-person wide canyon with what must have been peoples' homes. We saw people sitting on the floor watching TV, doing laundry, etc. Eventually, it came out onto the street we knew. Right there at the mouth of the canyon was a vendor with a brasier selling things on a stick. I pointed to a stick with little squid on it and another with some round dough ball kinds of things. They were slightly flattened with an indentation on one side.
The vendor put the sticks on the brasier to cook and them put them in a plastic bag and showed me the sauce options. There were 2 and I was trying to decide which one was likely to be less-hot and an older woman standing ther pointed to one, made a face and shook her head. That was the one that I thought was probably firey so I pointed to the other one. The vendor ladled a little of it into the bag with the skewers and handed it to me. (35 baht)
It was pretty decent. It didn't seem too hot. The squid was good although parts were kind of chewy. I expected the dough balls to have something inside them but they didn't...I think they were just rice flour dough.
The sauce didn't seem spicy at the start but it really snuck up on me. My nose was running and my mouth burning. We stopped at a 7-11 and I got an ice cream bar (40 baht...about $1.30) to cool the fire.
Back at the hotel I chilled with the group for a bit before we started our train adventure.
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed out around 8 for the Grand Palace. it opens at 8:30 and we were thinking it would be cooler first thing in the morning. We loaded up in tuk-tuks in front of the hotel for the trip. Tuk-tuks are 3-wheeled, open air vehicles that can hold about 3 people. There a very Thai thing. And kind of fun if you like breathing diesel exhaust while you're stuck in Bangkok traffic.
And traffic in Bangkok is crazy...there were times when our tuk-tuk was between lanes of traffic with big buses on both sides. The motorcycles are even nuttier...they'll not only ride between lanes, they'll cut between stopped cars to get to an open area, or they'll just go down the sidewalk.
It was an experience...
It's breathtakingly hot...and we came early to be in the cooler part of the day. Lots of women are carrying unbrellas, or technically I guess they'd be parasols. It's a good idea; carry your shade with you and you don't have to have something sitting on your head, keeping some of the heat from escaping.
However, they're kind of annoying in crowds. The women, especially the really short ones don't always take into account the 'spread'. I was poked a number of times by umbrella ribs.
As we entered the palace grounds, everyone had to be evaluated by the fashion police...no knees or shoulders showing, no leggings, nothing see-thru. Out of our group, only Virginia, Lora, Felicia and I passed. Everyone else had to rent sarongs (women) or pants (men) to enter.
The Grand Palace is a huge complex that includes not only the palace but various wats (temples), include the temple of the Emerald Buddha, museums and a long gallery with a series of murals telling the story of the Buddha's life.
We wandered through the areas on grounds and the coin museum. We happened to catch the changing of the guard at the entrance as one shift rolled off and another came on. The grounds guards wore dark, olive green uniforms and helmets. The guards at the palace were in fancier uniforms with sashes and white gloves. Like the guards at Buckingham Palace, they don't move or look around. They just stand stiffly and formally, in the sun. I hve no idea how long each shift is but I can't see how anyone can do it for long.
Leaving the palace, most people took tuk-tuks or cabs back to the hotel. Lora, Virginia, several of the girls and I decided to walk. We started out the way we thought we'd come in the tuk-tuk but I hadn't been paying any attention so I didn't know and just followed along.
Eventually we came to an area near the river...which just had to be wrong. There was a big park there and Lora asked one of the guards there which way we should go. The guard tried to direct us to a bus but Lora said, no, we're walking. The guard said we were foolish and needed to take a cab. Lora tried to get her to just point us in a direction but the guard refused to tell her.
We walked a little further and came to one of those 'you are here' type maps and sure enough, we'd been walking the wrong direction. We flagged down a tuk-tuk for the girls and L, V and I got a cab.
Back at the hotel, we had to check out but still had several hours before catching the train. We brought all our bags down to the concierge area and then people did what they wanted for the time. Some went to the pool. Some made shopping runs for train ride supplies.
V and I decided to walk around. We went a direction we hadn't gone before and ended up in an area that seemed to be all automotive and motorcycle parts/repair shops. We headed back to the areas we'd been to before. There was a neighborhood temple area that had shops and street vendors. Since it wasn't Labor Day anymore, we thought more of them would be open.
We went down an alley that became a very narrow, one-person wide canyon with what must have been peoples' homes. We saw people sitting on the floor watching TV, doing laundry, etc. Eventually, it came out onto the street we knew. Right there at the mouth of the canyon was a vendor with a brasier selling things on a stick. I pointed to a stick with little squid on it and another with some round dough ball kinds of things. They were slightly flattened with an indentation on one side.
The vendor put the sticks on the brasier to cook and them put them in a plastic bag and showed me the sauce options. There were 2 and I was trying to decide which one was likely to be less-hot and an older woman standing ther pointed to one, made a face and shook her head. That was the one that I thought was probably firey so I pointed to the other one. The vendor ladled a little of it into the bag with the skewers and handed it to me. (35 baht)
It was pretty decent. It didn't seem too hot. The squid was good although parts were kind of chewy. I expected the dough balls to have something inside them but they didn't...I think they were just rice flour dough.
The sauce didn't seem spicy at the start but it really snuck up on me. My nose was running and my mouth burning. We stopped at a 7-11 and I got an ice cream bar (40 baht...about $1.30) to cool the fire.
Back at the hotel I chilled with the group for a bit before we started our train adventure.
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