in the jungle

one of my goals (and reasons for choosing thailand to come teach in the first place) has always been to ride an elephant through the jungle. there are many opportunities for this to happen all over the country, but i had a specific idea of what i wanted it to be, and for that, i knew it had to happen in chiang mai.

we were given a week off of summer school because of songkran, and decided it would be the best time to venture up north, since it was the one area we had yet to explore. we took the overnight bus from bangkok to chiang mai on friday night and arrived around 730 in the morning. at 930, we were off on a three day trek.

the trip started when we were picked up from buddy tours, the place we booked with, and climbed into a song taew that was already packed. we met our tour group and including our guide, kiki, there were 11 of us. first, our group of 5: tasha, steph, her friend nicky who was visiting from canada, me, and winer. then there were two gus from london, conor and jon, one guy from brazil (his name is italo but we always refer to him as brazil), longkorn, or lachlin, who at one point lived with the karen hill tribes and so was more of an assistant to kiki than another person on the tour, and frenchi. her name was celine, but thats not important either.

so on top of all of these people and our backpacks, we also had a large garbage can in tow. none of us really understood why at first, but soon, we discovered that it would hold our 'ammunition,' because even though songkran didnt techinically start until tuesday, the locals were all starting that day, and starting with the farangs who were heading out to trek.

though it would usually take place on the last day, our first stop was bamboo rafting. they put 2-4 people on this long raft and we navigated down the river for about an hour, all the while getting splashed by thais who were picnicking on the banks. even though the water level was pretty low, there were still times when it was deep enough to cause little rapids, and when it was time to get off, i still wanted to glide downt he river some more.

we went for lunch and then we filled the trash can with water and ice so we could head into battle (the ice is essential, read the songkran blog for a better explanation), and with longkorn hanging off the back on offense, we were prepared to head into the jungle. and by the time we were ready to start hiking, we were actually quite wet.

we did a few hours of walking and in between visited a waterfall and a temple on a mountain before we made our way to our campsite for the first night. they called it a karen village, but it really was set up in that style specifically for these trekking tours they bring through, and a different family stays there on the nights there are tourists there.

they cooked us dinner and we sat around the fire for a while having some drinks, but i retired to our shared bamboo hut earlier than most others since i was beyond exhausted. it was a simple structure made entirely out of bamboo except for the roof which was made out of dried leaves. and though i wouldnt say it was the most comfortable nights sleep ive had, it definitely wasnt the least, and i was too tired to really care.

campsite for night #1.

our second day started with breakfast at 9 and then we were off for a day full of waterfalls and walking. i think we stopped at 5 different locations, including one in which we had our 'packed lunch.'

waterfall, lunch site.

lunch packed in leaves!

we retreated to our campsite for the night just before sunset. this time it was bigger than the one the night before, and good thing because there was another group sleeping there as well. we spent a few hours joking about how much more fun our group looked because aside from 4 girls, they were all significantly older, but when it came down to it, there were only 4 of us that stayed up that night and we ended up joining them because their group was still going waaaay past when our group fell asleep.

campsite for night #2.

two funny anecdotes from this night: 1. when we woke up in the morning, we discovered the stone wall to the communal bathroom to be crumpled on the floor. 2. apparently even after i went to bed, some others stayed out and stayed quite loud. frenchi, who had already established that she was not down for a good time, was not happy about that and decided to ask them to quiet down. they did not. the next morning, when she discovered that longkorn (who was apparently the main perpetrator the night before) was still sleeping, she jumped up from the breakfast table and ran into his room, shrieking and jumping up and down. none of us had any idea what to do, we were just shocked that a grown woman was doing this, and when she came back, we tried but coudlnt hide our laughter.

so we set off again for our last waterfall, which was (kinda) deep enough to allow for cliff jumping. after having already done this, i knew it was scary, and just stayed on the lower ledge. from there, we went to lunch and then went to the final stop and the part i was most looking forward to: ELEPHANTS!

winer and i on our elephant, bua thong cha-cha!

i wouldnt say that it was exactly what i wanted it to be, because i wanted to be on the elephant myself. but it was pretty good. and i was super happy.

imagine 20 thai kids saying: eeeelefants

from there we battled the water back into chiang mai, and made plans to meet up with the rest of our group for the rest of our time in the city, since, aside from frenchi, we had all gotten so close.

kanchanaburi weekend, part 1

hands down, this was one of the best weekends ive had since coming to bangkok, and possibly thailand in general. with the three day weekend (read why here), riha loosely organized a trip over to kanchanaburi, a town about 2 1/2 hours to the west of the city, and 14 of us from the bangkok group ended up joining in on the fun.

we left friday night. half went from the northern bus terminal around 530, when the last bus from that station took off. the rest of us met in pinklao to leave from the south bus terminal at 630. we didnt actually arrive at the bus station until closer to 730-8 and didnt get on the bus until around 9. by that time, the other group had already made it to kanchanaburi and found out that, due to the long weekend, most of the hotels had no vacancies, and that part of that group got the last two rooms at the one they were staying at. obviously, this made us worry about what we would do when we got there a few hours later.

when we got to the bus station in kanchanaburi, we decided the best thing to do first was call around to some of the places we were given brochures for when we bought the bus tickets. the first place we called was rainbow lodge, and we were told that they had two rooms open for the night, one at 250 baht and one for 350 baht. there were five of us and we decided we would take it, so they sent a driver to pick us up free of charge.

it was just a short drive to the hotel, and we got there and were lead to our two rooms, which were actually little bungalows.

one, without aircon, had two twin beds, and the other, with aircon, had a double. we decided the best thing to do was to pick names out of a hat to decide which three people would share the double, and it ended up being me beth and emily, while amy and neil each got their own bed but without ac. after dropping our things off, the same guy who picked us up form the bus station, who spoke english so well he almost sounded native, offered to take us to a bar, which was owned by the same person who owned our hotel. it was walkable, so it only took a few minutes by car to arrive at sugar member, the bar that stays open past 12 when its legally suppose to stop serving alcohol. we met up briefly with the rest of the group but didnt stay out too late since we had to wake up early the next morning.

erawan national park is about an hour from kanachaburi and the park closes at 4, so the plan was to leave "early." apparently, we didnt get up early enough, because the other group had left by 10. we made it to the bus station and got on the 1030 bus, but since it was a public bus, it took almost 2 hours to get to the park with all of the stopping and how slow it had to go uphill, being such a big vehicle. when we called the other group, they were already at the 2nd tier of the waterfalls, so we knew we had to move fast.

by the time we caught up to them, it was already the 4th tier of 7. the rest of the gang decided to go swimming at that level, but i chose to stay out and take pictures with my camera. it was at this level that there were "slides" in the sides of the rocks and i was able to get some good shots of people going down them and in the water. we decided if we were going to make it to the top in time to actually enjoy it, we would go straight there from that level, so we booked it to the 7th tier. at the lower levels, there were steps and railings, but as we got higher, though we were still following paths, we were climbing rocks and trekking through smaller paths and more trees. we made it to the top, where we had been told there were rock formations in the shape of three elephants, which was seen as a good sign. this is what it looked like:

which might maybe resemble one elephant head. but since there was no where to swim at the top, we decided to head back down to the lower levels. it was a much quicker journey going down, and at tier 2 i decided to swim and get behind the falls. however, those pictures are on beths camera so a picture of that tier will have to suffice for now.

we knew that the bottom levels stayed open til 5, but just before 4 we were told the last buses leave at 4, so we rushed down to try to catch them. however, when we got there, we discovered that the one time "thai time" apparently does not exist is when buses leave for the night. the only vehicles left were private buses or vans that had already been hired.

waterfall, part 2

all weekend, though we were emersed among the other teachers, steinar and i were still treated as guests. no matter how much we offered to help cook or clean, we were told to not worry about it. they were always insisting that we were the first to eat, drink, or shower. and whenever we tried something, or were even just sitting there doing nothing, they continually asked us if we were ok. at first, we both tried to insist that we help out or eat second, but after a while we realized there was no point to that and gave in, accepting that this was part of their culture.

so after sleeping on a hard marble floor in a freezing room without a blanket, i was awoken earlier than id prefer for it being a sunday. after another small feast, we were told to shower and pack up, as we were getting ready to leave to head out to a temple and then back to bangkok. what we were not told, was that we would not be getting back home until about 8 hours later.

we stopped first at the temple, which seemed more like a bazaar to me. it was a tiny structure in the middle of stands and racks of everything imaginable, and of course, the lotto tickets they sold as you were walking out after finding your lucky numbers. it reminded me nothing of the temples i had visited while in india, and i was a little disappointed.

we piled back into the van and went on, to where i had no idea but assumed it was towards home. i was wrong. next i knew we were back by the army base we had accidently gone to on our way in. but this time, we didnt turn around. instead, we continued inside until we found a tallish structure. then everyone emptied the van for a second time.

it turned out that here, we were doing some "army training," and did something similar to a zipline, but we were hanging much lower from the apparatus. it was amusing that the first in the group to go turned out to be bai thong, as she was only 4, and they werent even sure at first that she should do it at all because of her size. but shes a daredevil and went without thinking twice. afterwards, some people repelled from the side of the structure as well.

bai thong was upset that she couldnt take a second turn, so after getting in and out of the van yet again, we came upon a quiet place by some water that had paddle boats, kayaks and a zipline designed especially for little kids. bai thong went numerous times, and after a while, the guys decided they wanted to do paintball, which was also available at this area. it seemed too hot for me to even consider putting on all that padding and running around for an hour.

et again, we got back into the van, for what i thought would be the last time. i was wrong again.

we drove around the base to a monument for king rama v, perhaps the most revered monarch of thailand. the day of his death is even a national holiday. so everyone got out here and went up to pray to his statue as well.

we got back into the van, drove around and saw some buildings, and finally hit the road. for about 20 minutes. then, of course, it was time to eat again, and we stopped at a small restaurant for lunch.

finally getting back into the van for the last time, my shirt drenched with sweat from the constant movement in the humidity, i put on my headphones and zoned out for much of the trip back. at some point i turned off my music and at 6 i was woken up by the national anthume playing on the radio, as it does daily at 8am and 6pm. we werent too far from home, and so i decided to stay up for the reminder of the ride...luckily, as i would have been woken up a few minutes later by the guitar and another sing a long anyway.

all in all, i was very happy with the weekend. it gave me a different perspective of thai culture and i even had a lot of fun. it was also nice getting to know some of my coworkers in a different, more relaxed setting than at school when we are at school and seen as the outsiders.

waterfall, part 1

this weekend was interesting to say the least. steinar and i went with some of the other teachers from our school on a trip to what was only described to us as "the waterfall." we were told to meet at the 7/11 by our school at 6 am on saturday with 700 baht. as we were walking in the dark to meet, we got a call saying that it would be a little later. turns out, we didnt end up leaving until almost 8. such is life in thailand.

so we drove about two hours to get to this waterfall, nang rong. the place we were at was actually a bit of a distance from the waterfall, so we dropped our stuff off and changed before heading out. im not really sure what the point of changing was though, since thais swim in their clothing. i put on my bathing suit underneath anyway though.

at the bottom of the waterfall.

all of the pictures from actually being in the water were taken by the others from our group. i went right into the water and didnt want to ruin my camera so i ended up not taking it out. i was so excited to be able to get water for the first time since leaving phuket, and it was actually really clean too, if a little chilly. but the humidity made the water feel amazing, and we stayed there climbing and relaxing for a few hours before we were toldto pack up because we were heading to raft.

most of the group at the top of the dam, after rafting.

so we arrived at a river just past a huge dam, as it happened to start drizzling. by the time we got all of our gear on and were piling into the two rafts, it was a full out thunderstorm with lightning and thunder, which im sure was not the safest thing. still, as we made our way down the river, in the raft with the group who really didnt speak english, we had a blast battling the rain, rapids and language barriers. at one point, we bumped into a raft in front of us, causing ours to tip, and everyone got dumped out. i have to say, except for the coldness following the rain stopping, it was a fantastic experience. once we got to the bottom of the river, we piled into the back of a pickup truck, standing, and rode back to the start. it was a truly thai experience.

me with bai thong, the daughter of ms. tuk ta, another teacher at the school.

once back at the house, we were fed. actually, we were fed constantly. it seems as if the thais eat every half hour, which is why, steinar decided, they are so tiny, because their metabolism never stops. perhaps. but we had a thai barbaque, steaming meats and vegetables for literally hours. following food, or rather during food since it never really stopped, one of the other teachers broke out his guitar and started to play some thai songs, followed by steinar playing some songs from the us. it continued on like that for hours, back and forth between thai and american songs, and sitting outside that night listening to everything, both cultures coming together, and surrounded by thais doing what they normally would whether or not i was here, it hit me that i am actually in thailand.

TGIF.

im worn out. this week went by much faster than last week, probably because i am getting more used to the whole thing, and thats a good thing. but as i get further into teaching and the lessons, its becoming harder to explain to the kids and the more familiar they become with me, the less they are paying attention. its hard to find the right balance of friendliness and discipline, especially with the younger ones. i dont want them to come to fear me, they have the thai assistant to fulfill that role. but today especially, even they didnt care enough to control the class.

this weekend steinar and i have been invited by the thai teachers here at our school to go to what has only been said to us as "the waterfall." all i know is that we meet at 6:00 tomorrow morning, get back around 8 sunday night, and need 700 baht for everything. im convinced its some kind of initiation event for the new foreign teachers, and that we will show up with them in robes and fire and chanting before throwing us into the woods to find our way out. but ill let you know how that goes if i get back next week :)