Wow, a lot has gone on in the last two weeks. Since leaving China we have
been touring Thailand for two weeks to wait out the monsoons in Nepal. We
have a lot to tell...
First, though, an unusual thing happened. When we checked our e-mail here
in Thailand for the first time, we had messages that announced the birth of
our good friends Sam and Stacey's baby, Max, the marriage of our good
friends Mark and Beth, and the very sad news of the unexpected death of
Eric's ex-brother-in-law Blaise (who was only around 50 years old). In was
such a catolog of major events that happen in one's life that it gave us a
jolt - it also gave us the reminder to get as much out of each day as we
can.
So we arrived in Bangkok from Hong Kong, and spent 1/2 hour in the airport
pouring over our tourbook deciding where in Thailand we should go. We
decided on Ko Chang, an island near the Cambodian border which contains the
most unspoiled rainforest and jungle in Thailand, and maybe even South East
Asia. We headed into Bangkok for the night, and could already tell the
difference from China. People spoke more English, they wouldn't stop
smiling (how had I not noticed that people don't smile in China?), and no
one was yelling at us to buy something. It was wierd to walk past street
vendors and have them not even look at us! So after a restful night in
Bangkok we headed out by bus to the east.
We met an Austrian, Wolfgang, on the bus ride out, and he held our hands
through taxi drivers and the boat trip to get us to the island. He has been
living on the island for two years - just built a house - and he was heading
back after getting his visa renewed. We peppered him with questions: don't
you miss your family (no), how long have you been "on the road" (20 years),
aren't you lonely on the island (no), are there really pythons and other
snakes on the island (yes, but you don't have to worry about them - worry
about the scorpions), and so on. When we parted, he told us to come down to
his village and see his house.
We stayed in a town (if you could call it a town) called White Sand Beach -
a strip of little resorts made up of grass or cement bungalows and small
resturaunts. We rented a little bungalow with private bath that looked out
on the water for $5 a night and proceeded to do... NOTHING. It was the
perfect antidote to our "China" stress. We swam and ate and read and tried
our best to keep the mosquitos at bay. WE had heard from other travelers
that there is malaria on the island, but Wolfgang said he had never heard of
anyone getting it. As our friend Meg said, if you are taking malaria pills
AND worrying you are wasting your time. So we have been taking malaria
pills, and not giving it too much thought after that.
We spent one day doing a hike down to the south end of the island. What
started out as a dirt road quickly deteriorated, but luckily we found a
passing fisherman who was going our way and led us through the jungle. It
was hysterical - it was raining, and Eric and I in our hiking boots could
barely keep up with the guy in his flip-flops - over rocks and tree roots
and puddles! He did share half of his pomello (like a grapefruit) which was
gladly accepted.
The small village of An Bang Bao was neat - just a pier out into the water
with small elevated huts on either side. Eric and I shared a deep fried
whole fish in a sweet and spicy sauce for only $2 (and no bones - I have to
find this fish at home!) which was absolutely heaven sent.
On our hike back we got lost in the jungle. With all the stories of snakes
and scorpions we started to freak out a little - as we bushwhacked through
waist-high bushes in our shorts. Eric almost went chest-first into an
insanely big spider web (the spider himself had a long and skinny body, with
legs that must have extended three inches from his body), but he quickly
recovered his composure. After a half an hour or so we finally found our
way out (followed the sound of the steam shovel working on putting in a
road). WE were so relieved not to be lost in the jungle, that we didn't
give much thought to the adventure that was right around the corner...
WE arrived back in Hat Kai Bae at around 5:45, and started looking for a
taxi back to White Sand Beach. We fortunately ran into Wolfgang at the
local bar drinking with his friends (this is where he lived), who informed
us that we might have missed the last car. So he invited us to join him and
have a drink and wait to see if another car would come. So we sat and had a
well deserved beer (the day had been about 5 hours of hiking) and started to
meet the ex-pat community of Ko Chang. When it appeared certain that we had
missed our last car, an American named Jerry offered us the use of the
bungalow behind his house for the night. WE decided there was nothing we
could do, and so started to relax and enjoy our night out.
So we started talking to Jerry - a man in his early 60's who looked healthy
as a horse, who has been living on Ko Chang for 7 years. He knew a lot
about San Francisco, and we found out he had lived there for a while. He
then said his brother and his wife lived in Greenbrae, and I mentioned that
I grew up just 5 minutes away from there. Then he said that I probably know
his brother and wife - I thought, don't be ridiculous. We were ready for
quite a shock, though - turns out Jerry is Barbara Boxer's brother-in-law!
(For those of you outside Calfornia, Barbara Boxer is one of our US Senators
- quite a big deal!) We were so tickled with his stories of Christmas cards
from the White House, and how he was invited to his niece's wedding to
Hillary Clinton's younger brother, but had immigration trouble and couldn't
leave Thailand. Sounds like he is quite the black sheep in the family, but
I must say he looked happy!
So we stayed in Jerry's back bungalow for the night, and as he wouldn't take
any money, we took him out to breakfast the next day. WE all went over and
saw Wolfgang's house - on land he bought through his ex-girlfriend
(foriegners can't buy land) who is Jerry's ex-wife - quite the Peyton Place
going on here! It was nice to get a glimpse into life of dropping out of
society and going off to live on an exotic island. While it seemed nice, I
do think I would get bored after a while. As well, these guys had their own
set of troubles and grief here - there is no escape from relationships and
government intervention anywhere....
After 6 days of peaceful bliss, we knew we had to see some of Thailand
before we were to head out to Nepal. So we took the bus back to Bangkok,
spent the night, and then headed out to Kanchanaburi on the west side of
Bangkok. We saw the "Bridge Over the River Kwai", and learned all about the
death railroad built by POWs from Thailand into Burma. We then rented motor
scooters for a day and went swimming in a turquoise waterfall. Riding the
scooter was pretty stressful, as they drive on the "other" side of the
street - we constantly caught ourselves thinking that cars would be coming
right at us.
We also took a long boat ride on the Kwai river to see some of the sights.
I had images of a gondola with some guy punting us down the river - Eric
thought it would be some small motor putting us downstream. Instead, we had
a neon-painted dragster that sped us down the river at a break-neck pace.
We got to see the floating nun - a nun who meditates in a pool of water.
She was able to float around in non-salty water in the lotus position with
only her face sticking out - Eric said it looked impossible, and I swore she
was wearing flotation pants under her white gauzy tunic. Who knows...
After Kanchanaburi, we took a bus to Ayutthaya, the sight of the former
capital of Siam, and supposedly the most beautiful city in all of Asia. The
city is just full of ruins - it is amazing to see. Eric and I tried to wake
up at dawn and see them in the sunrise - unfortunately our hotel locked us
in, so it took us 1/2 hour to figure out we could jump over the balcony,
onto the roof on a Nestle's truck, and then hop down to safety. By the time
we got to the ruins it was daylight, and we were then dissapointed to find
out we couldn't go in until 8:30 AM - ah well...
We then headed back to Bangkok, and got a chance to cruise Khao San Road
(quite the backpacker retreat - Eric said it reminded him of New Orleans at
night), and view the Grand Palace. I must say, the sights and the food here
in Thailand blow China right out of the water. We have just been in awe of
everything we have seen. We hope we still have two weeks at the end of our
trip to come back and see more - many people have told us to go North and
visit Laos - we will see.
So now it is off to Nepal! WE fly tonight, so we unfortunately won't be
seeing the mountains. But we can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning in a
whole new land!
see you in the Himilayas!
Sue and Eric
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