Coreyography

I love it when a plan comes together!

I'M IN: Bangkok, baby!
HAVING VISITED: Kollum, Allephuza, Trichy and Chennai back in India
NEXT UP: Myanmar!

The end of my time in India was both amazing and difficult, sort of like all of my time in the sub-continent come to think of it.  I was not able to find people to take a houseboat trip with in Kerala (where you live on a boat tooling around for 1-3 days) but I did log some time on the backwaters, first on a ferry (eight hours from Allephuza to Kollum) and later a canoe (three hours around a relatively isolated island community).  And yes, everyone is correct - the backwaters are just lovely.  Serene and lots of nature to gawk at.  But mosquito-y?  Aye-firmative.  Many, many bites had I.  Every day at dusk I would cheer my anti-skeeter allies, the bats, as they emerged for their nighttime mosquito feeding fests (I have another "My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend" alliance with spiders and lizards).  These were definitely the largest bats I have ever seen - I'm guesstimating 12-15 lbs.  Really huge!  Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of any of these friends...  My other favorite thing about Kerala was staying at the Government Guest House in Kollum - this former Raj era mansion is now a crumbling mess, but a majestic (20 foot ceilings) and cheap ($5/night) one, which is just the way I like 'em.

And the past few days in Bangkok have been just fantastic - like seeing an old friend again after a long separation.  All my favorite things about this crazy city remain - the preponderance of movie theaters (serving the delightful popcorn buckets wherein you can have half caramel corn, half salted which is as fantastic in theory as it is in execution), the fantastically friendly Thai people, the Sky Train, and the great food.  There are a few new restaurants and some new friends I've made and the only disturbing change I've noted since my last visit here is a marked increase in 'Get R Done' t-shirts.  Worn by Thai and tourist alike...  I have no idea.

But the best news is I was able to get a visa for Myanmar no problemo, so it is to there I will head tomorrow.  And my monk friend Mr. Moon will be around, so I am looking forward to hanging with him and his friends again in Meiktila.  And doing a bit of touring, too.  Yippie skippy.

Actually, the best BEST news is that I booked my plane ticket back to the USA and just like the song says, "I'll be home in for Christmas..."  My encounter last year with the skinny Egyptian Santa convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that there's truly no place like home for the holidays.  So hopefully I will get around to see friends and family on the East Coast in January in the midst of looking for jobs.  Plus this means I can attend the inauguration, about which I am quite excited. 

Not sure what the Internet situation is like in Myanmar these days - when I was there last year it was virtually non-existent in most of the country.  But Mr. Moon tells me that there is now a computer room in Meiktila, so perhaps I will be able to post an update while there.  In the meantime, hope you have a gobblin' good Thanksgiving!

Visa, It's Everywhere I Want To Be

So - after a lot of back and forthedness, I am going to Burma/Myanmar tomorrow after all!  I had some trouble with getting the visa in time and other trouble moving my flight, but everything worked out in the end.  I also have my new passport!  So everything is getting sorted out pretty well. 

In the meantime, I've been having a good time in Bangkok and a not so good time in Ko Chang.  I decided to sneak off to the beach for the weekend since I was just hanging around waiting for my visa.  I heard that it was the off season there in Ko Chang, but that hasn't been an issue any other place I've been so I didn't think this would matter.  Not so much - it rained the entire time and the Thais there were quite grumpy, acted as if we were interrupting their vacation (as we probably were).  I was otherwise unimpressed with the place because there seemed to be two choices in accommodation: ultra luxury and rathole.  I chose rathole, of course, and was quite nervous that I was going to fall through the floor of my bungalow.  This fear turned out to have some validity as I FELL THROUGH THE FLOOR of a bar later that night.  I was stepping down off a little platform and the tiny hole in the floor of the deck suddenly became as big as my right leg.  This was not even the worst injury of the evening - a French woman and her boyfriend fell into the ocean a little bit later when a railing collapsed.  So I blame faulty maintenance.  And my longtime nemesis: gravity - it's always keeping me down!  I have some pretty impressive bruises as a result of this mishap, and to be honest my pride took a bit of a hit, but am otherwise unscathed.

Here in Bangkok, I made it to the new Harry Potter movie (liked quite a bit - so excited, so frickin' excited for the new book) and DieHard 4.0 - one of the most exquisite crapfests put to film, which is to say that I loved it.  I think you'll agree that the Yippy Kye Yay line comes at the exact perfect moment in the film - it was so perfectly timed that I exclaimed aloud in the theater.  There were other parts of the script with which I was less impressed, like this dialog that comes at a pivotal plot point: "I've been waiting for you."  "We've been waiting for you, too."  Hmm, that is like the anti-zing.

Otherwise, I have been entirely obsessed with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by the Artic Monkeys - have you heard this?  Go buy this if you want to love a new album (or whatever kids are calling those things these days).

As you may or may not know, my great great grandfather was a Baptist missionary in Burma from 1891-1940, so I'm v. much looking forward to seeing what I can learn about him, as well as visiting the country in general.  I have heard differing things about internet access in Myanmar, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post or email.  Hopefully so, but if not I'll meet you back here in two weeks...

070707

Hope you are having a lucky day today (I originally typed "licky day" - Freudian slip?).  Being around hippies, as I am here in Pai, is auspicious indeed and fitting for Seven Day.  I like Pai a lot - the vibe here is very relaxed and fun, with most everyone tooling around on motorbikes in the beautiful mountain countryside.  Being skeered of motorbikes, I'm spending time reading in my hammock and meeting lots of nice people (most of whom are not hippies, but some are) and even seeing some familiar faces from earlier in my travels.  It's odd to see people I've met in weeks past because in comparison with other strangers they seem like old friends, and it feels great to see a familiar face.

Earlier this week I did one of my favorite things on the trip thus far - spent the day at the Elephant Nature Park feeding, bathing and being amazed by elephants.  The park is a conservation site/sanctuary that I heard about from fellow travelers Craig and Maria, who I met at the retreat on Koh Phangan.  Unfortunately the Park was full up of volunteers until August (Craig and Maria volunteered a few weeks and highly recommended the experience) but the day visit was quite special as well.  Elephants at the park roam free and get to to as they please.  Most have suffered abuse, either in tourist trekking camps or logging or begging on the streets in cities.  It is pretty frightening to be so close to so many elephants and it is humbling as well. I really enjoyed just looking at them as I had never really seen an elephant up close.  They are so strange and amazing looking.  I'm pretty sure that elephants are part alien.

Also had a good Fourth of July - I went to the American Consulate in Chang Mai, ostensibly on a search for a hotdog.  They were out of dawgs, but not out of cheap domestic light beer (my favorite vintage) and I had a couple of Coors Lights (delicious!) and chatted with the ex-pats also in attendance.  Their firework display was rather pathetic, truth be told, but some fireworks is always better than none.  I capped off my evening with a burrito at a Mexican restaurant!  It was even somewhat burritoy, although greasy (?) but the salsa was definitely spicy.

My plan from here: chill out in Pai a few more days, perhaps head to some other Northern cities.  I will need to get back down to Bangkok by the middle of next week to arrange my visa for Myanmar where I will head week after next.

Happy Canada Day!

I'll bet you are celebrating by downing shots of maple syrup, just like me!  It was one year ago today that I was in Montreal doing a sort of test run for this trip, seeing how I liked traveling by myself and staying in hostels.  As my friend Ali would say, good times, great oldies.

I arrived in Chang Mai yesterday (my geography was off and I'll head to Pai hippieville in a few days) and I already like this town very much.  There is a very relaxed atmosphere with lots of temples and bookshops.  I'm staying at a great place (with a pool!) for less than $7/night and most everything else is quite cheap as well.

Thought you might be interested in the bus situation here.  Yesterday was the first time I took the Government bus (also sometimes called third class) - fans on the ceiling (no AC), three bench seats on the right side of the aisle, two on the left.  It was better than I imagined it would be, aided in large part to the bus not being crowded and the weather cooling off a bit.  I experienced similar amounts of sweating as on the second class AC buses (AC doesn't work so well on those) with the added benefit of no dripping from broken AC units above your head.  The second class buses have two bucket seats on either side of the aisle and each seat has an overhead reading light.  Then there are first class buses, and VIP buses, and Super VIP.  Not sure what all the gradiations are, but I took a Super VIP from Cameron Highlands to KL and it lived up to its name!  One pimped out seat on the left, two on the right side of the aisle, with pumping AC and sixteen different seat adjustments.  I've seen some double decker buses about which I am extremely curious, supposedly the seats have massage capability and you have individual TV sets!  So, it's a large gamut.

I've read some really interesting books lately (I've read crap too, but I'll keep that to myself):

• One about UN workers in the '90s with the unfortunate title of Emergency Sex got me totally fired up about Clinton's horrible foreign policy decisions;
• The Kite Runner, which totally knocked me out;
• and a recommendation from my Brazilian friend Tobias, The Alchemist, which is right up my alley at this point, about a man getting omens from the Universe about his destiny.
  

Have you read any of these?  I am always, always in the market for recommendations, too, so please send those along.

So go easy on the Molson but have yourself an excellent Canada Day, eh?

All Sorted & Feeling Fine

Well - things are looking MUCH better from this end.  I went to the American Consulate in Bangkok first thing on Monday morning.  I was expecting experience to be something like when Sam Waterston visits Spalding Gray in the movie The Killing Fields - I would be invited into someone's office and we'd banter about politics and pop culture as s/he sympathized and helped get everything figured out.  Yeah, no.  It was lines and numbers and bulletproof glass, just as at home.  Once I got inside (no cellphones, iPods, cameras or umbrellas allowed) I was giggling at myself for thinking it would be otherwise!  So net-net: I will get a new passport (good for 10 years) in 2 weeks.  The upsides of this are many and include: another trip to Bangkok!  After Transformers and Diehard 4.0 are out, no less!  Yippy Kay Yay indeed.  Plus: a much better passport picture.  I was in a bit of a rush getting my passport in SFO and the picture reflected such (and that I'd washed my hair with Dr. Bonners the night before, don't ever do that).  This trip #4 to Bangkok will have some implications on my route which I will try to nail down in the next few days - at issue is the Myanmar visa and which borders are open between Myanmar and Laos & Myanmar and Thailand.  After a few days of Pouty McGrouchy, I'm back to feeling cheerful and looking forward to what's to come.  Losing the moneybelt was just a mistake followed by some bad luck, nothing irreparable. 

After flirting with heading back to the beach, I decided to press on Northward.  Yesterday I took a bus here to Sukothai where I'm planning to see what?  More temples!  This afternoon has been the Devil Beating His Wifeingest weather I've ever seen.  Completely, blindingly bright and sunny and it's raining at the same time (?).  At the end of this week I'll head on to the hippie enclave of Pai and then on to a city I've heard nothing but fantastic things about - Chang Mai. 

Back in Bangkok

...and it feels great to be somewhere familiar!  And somewhere a little grungier (and cheaper) than KL and Singapore.  I have my route for the next few months or so pretty well planned out (see below) and it's going to be temples, temples, temples.  I got a jump start by visiting Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) yesterday here in Bangkok and was greatly rewarded - it is beautifully tiled and you can climb it for some nice city views.  Tomorrow I'm off to Ayutthaya, a river island city which used to be the capital of Thailand. 

New route:

• Northern Thailand, June 16 - July 16
• Laos, July 17 - July 27
• Viet Nam (North to South), July 28 - August 20
• Cambodia, August 21 - August 31
• Myanmar, September 1 - 15
• Turkey, September 15 - September 30
• Greece, October 1 - 25
• Tanzania, November
• Egypt, December
• Tunisia, January 2008
• Morocco, February 2008
• Then onto Europe!

Southern Thailand Wrap-Up

Not only have I not been posting, I haven't been taking pictures either!  My meager picture offerings are updated.  Warning: 50% of snaps are of electric wires and most others are of gutters.  Yes, I could be taking pictures of beautiful vistas and the like, blah blah blah. The wire situation just about gives me a panic attack every time I look up.  Sometimes they even crackle as you walk mere inches away - wowser.

What I have been doing is having a great time my last week in Southern Thailand.  I spent two days on Koh Samui, which reminded me a bit of Gatlinburg, Tennessee - lots of people visiting for no discernible reason.  After seclusion, peace, love and harmony at the retreat for a week, I was frankly looking forward to a little sleazy civilization and Samui did not disappoint.  My bungalow there was a true rathole and I spent most of my time on the beach. 

From Samui, I headed to Phuket where I stayed at the best hostel I have encountered yet - the Phuket Backpacker.  The hostel was clean and pretty and all of that, but the best part was the ease of meeting folks.  I met and went out with differing groups the three nights I was there and had a fantastic time.  Maybe too much fun?  Yesterday when I left I was a little sniffly, and this has manifested into a full blown cold - boo.  A group of us also went out to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Center, which was super neat, and hiked a up to see a v. impressive waterfall.  Not sure if it will always rain when I am near waterfalls, but I'm rating 100% so far - it poured down rain right when we arrived.

As my Thai visa expired yesterday, so it was time to come to Malaysia.  I spent 12 hours yesterday on the bus to Penang and I am staying in the capital, Georgetown (no Hoyas spotted yet).  Pros about Malaysia: Roman script (best alphabet ever - holla!), less humid than Thailand, good food (Indian plus Chinese plus Malay = yum).  Cons: Georgetown is like the least pedestrian-friendly city I have ever encountered.  It is beyond pedestrian unfriendly, it's like someone sat down and tried to devise a system that would kill many pedestrians per year.  The main culprit: open gutters.  I can't think of a worse idea.  Apart from people who make their living lobbying for rats, everyone can agree that gutters should be under the sidewalk.  Sidewalk did you say?  Why bother with those when this real estate can be used for parking, businesses, etc.?  I took a little stroll around town this afternoon that ended promptly after getting brushed by a motorbike for the THIRD TIME.

So it's my birthday on Friday and for the occasion I'm checking into a Western hotel!  With a TV and A/C and everything.  Depending on the status of my cold, I will either spend the night drinking with new friends or catching up on bad TV.  It's all about win-win situations.

Judgment Day

Things are going v. well at the retreat - I'm really enjoying my time there.  I've met a most interesting and engaging English couple, and have been having an excellent time chatting with them amidst spending time looking inward.  I planned to post pictures today, too, but I forgot the dern USB cord...  Perhaps tomorrow.  Just to whet your appetite: there are pictures of Harry, pictures of a lizard and pictures of Harry with a (different) lizard. 

So: judgment time!  First, the gear:

• Pack:  A+ 
  It's been absolutely fantastic.
• Daypack:  F- 
  It's been absolutely horrible and I look forward to burning it.  I feel about this daypack like fourteen year-olds feel about their parents: it is completely inappropriate no matter what and makes me uncomfortable even when it is doing what is supposed to.  Hopefully my search for something better will bear fruit soon.
• Shoes:  A 
  Still not even the hint of a blister, they have been quite great.  Minor quibble: they are a bit inconvenient with the Thai custom of taking shoes off frequently.
• Clothes  C+ 
  I purposely bought all synthetic fibers so I could wash them out frequently not remembering the stank that often accompanies such fabrics when sweat is a factor.  I also need a few more clothes, like for hanging out in my room and the like, so I am going shopping this afternoon - fun!
• Sleeping sac:  B+ 
  The silk sleeping bag is certainly the heaviest thing you would want in this climate, and it has even been too much on some nights.  But overall, it is really fantastic to have the equivalent of silk sheets every night!
• WiFi Phone:  B   
  My friend Janna's daughter Anne has a bubble machine which entertains her for long spells of time.  The machine only produces bubbles every 7 or 10 times that it is supposed to, but if you hold the handle JUUUUST right and make sure you've done 3-4 other things correctly, it's a bubble frenzy.  The WiFi phone is my bubble machine.

I've also managed to read a few non-guidebooks books. 

• The Emperor's Children:  D
  I don't get the hype with this book - it had a fawning review in the NYTBR and tons of other praise in publications I respect; I found it pretentious and without point, but I did finish it.
• Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs:  A-   
  This was a great gift from my brother (thanks, Jay!).  I've read several of Chuck Klosterman's essays, but this was the first book of his that I've read.  I quite enjoyed his choice of subject matter, especially The Real World (a guilty pleasure of mine), but found his theses lacked consistency but were hilarious regardless
• Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery:  B 
  This was poorly written and had an alarming number of typos for a published work, but did a fantastic job of setting out all the theories about Thompson's disappearance.  I think he got into an accident in the jungle, BTW.
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman:  A-   
  P.D. James has been my great discovery thus far - although seeing as how she's a best-selling author, I'm kinda late to the party.  Her mysteries are v. well written and feature ambiguous morality prominently, which I always find interesting
• Come Wind or Weather:  A 
  Just a fantastic book!  I found this in the "Give One, Leave One" pile in a bar in Chumpon before getting on the night ferry and what a find!  A great read, indeed, and it stoked my wish to learn to sail!
• Shopaholic Abroad:  C- 
  Chick lit in the best/worst sense of the word.  A friend I met on the tour recommended Sophie Kinsella as mindless entertainment and she was right - I read it in one day!
• A Certain Justice:  A- 
  Another P.D. James, another good book.  I was consistently confused by the terminology of the English court system (what on Earth is 'taking the silk' anyway?  and what the heck is up with the robes and wigs?  it's too bizarre!) but otherwise impressed by the character development and plot.

I'm planning my next moves, not sure if I'll head to Koh Samui next or Phuket or Khoa Sok National Park.  Regardless, it'll soon be time to head to Malaysia as my visa is up on the 22nd.  With so much still to see, I will definitely be back to Thailand when (hopefully) the worst of the rainy season is over in a few months.

Off to See the Wizard

First of all, fight fans will have to wait for Muay Thai action as I did not make it to the fight on Koh Tao.  I did have a good rest of my stay there and traveled to the next island to the south, Koh Phangan, yesterday.  It is absolutely gorgeous here, and somewhat isolated where I am staying - the Monte Vista Retreat Center.  I am taking this week to reflect and work out the kinks with daily yoga and mediation.  Bonus: they have a kitten named Harry!

A few folks have asked me how my budget is faring and prior to the splurge for this retreat, the answer was, "Quite good indeed."  The first week I averaged $46/day and the second $42/day for a average of $44/day for the first two weeks.  I haven't had any large plane tickets to buy yet, but regardless I'm feeling good about the general goal of $60/day.

I hope to get up a most judgmental post grading my gear (how it is working out) and the books I've read thus far this week, plus pictures.

Whether the Weather

Well: I've made it to the beach!  Specifically Hua Hin and it is wonderful (sort of like a tidier, un-rednecky Myrtle Beach with spicy food).  Unfortunately it is raining like cats and dogs (and even flooding a bit) so my imagined time on the beach reading trashy novels has not yet come to fruition.  Instead I've been hanging out in my fantastic hotel room and at bars reading trashy novels.  Still a pretty good time.

I took the train here from Kanchanaburi yesterday and that was QUITE a great experience.  I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but Thai people are inveterate snackers - you see people eating everywhere all the time.  So on the train there were many, many folks selling things up and down the aisles (at least one vendor every two minutes riding along with us, and then at the stations it was a total free-for-all with station-bound vendors hurrying through the cars and people also buying things through the windows).  And they were doing a brisk business!  In the six-hour trip the couple seated on my left bought three different items (fruit, noodles and some custardy looking something) in addition to eating some KFC that they brought with them.  And the dude on my right bought two different items, but doubled up on the noodles.  So that was neat.  I felt very adventurous on the train as well, I only spotted two other Westerners the whole trip.  There was very little guidance in English and a lot of "I guess this is the right train?"  All went swimmingly.

My last day in Kanchanaburi I went on a big tour that was also fun, although not in expected ways.  Downsides: it rained all day and they was very little tour in the tour, which is to say that the tour operators did not so much tell us what we were looking at or point out interesting things as take us from place to place.  Upsides: the places were pretty cool!  And they played Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo in the minibus.  Nothing like the phrase "man whore" used repeatedly to break the ice with strangers! 

Our first stop was Erawan Falls National Park where we hiked to see a series of seven waterfalls.  They were lovely, but the trail was not.  A sign at the outset noted that this was "a trail for all ages - not too slope."  Not too truth.  A friend I met on the tour was in flip-flops and she was hating life.  I was trying to put visions of twisted ankles and broken femurs far from my mind, but they kept cropping up.  We then took a ride on the Death Railway, which did not live up to its name for any of us on the tour.  And then, the whole reason I came to Kanchanaburi: The Bridge on the River Kwai!   I am a huge fan of William Holden, Alec Guinness and David Lean, so there was no way I couldn't not see this.  So I didn't.

I'm really glad I went to Kanchanaburi - it was a nice cool out from the hustle bustle of Bangkok.  The best part of the trip was meeting the extremely nice women who work at the River Guest House where I stayed.  Jun, the manager, and her daughter and Lin, the cook, and her daughter all worked at the GH and were all extremely nice.  The offered some of what they were (very often) eating to me (it was always good, too).  The next time you're in Kanchanaburi, you should really consider staying there.  The only downside: I still have "sea legs" from the floating hotel room.

Up next: hopefully some sun!  And heading further south on my way to Malaysia.