Hello friends and family,
It has taken me a while to update my blog, but it's only because I've been having such a good time :) Let me tell you about my last week and a half in Bagkok, Lopburi, and Kanchanaburi...
Two Saturdays ago I met my fellow I to I travelers who I will be touring with for a month. They all come from the UK so I feel like I have a trip inside of a trip as I am learning not only about Thai culture, but also about the British and the Irish.Sheila is an energy-filled, fun grandmother from the quiet town of Devon, England. Joanne comes from Ireland and is amidst a career change, starting to build models. Winnie's family comes from Hong Kong, but migrated to the North of England. Mike is a recent college graduate from Birmingham who has taken full adavntage of his last summer before becoming a working bloke,travelling first around Europe and now around Thailand. Elyse always makes me laugh. Oh and she's from North London. After saving for several months, she is travelling for three months in Thailand, Cambodia, and South Africa. Becky is in University studying to be a podiatrist. Finally, Kathleen and Helen just finished their first year at the Univeristy of Manchester together. The nine of us are fearlessly led by our two Thai guides, Tam and Jaep.
We spent our first few days together in Bangkok. We visited the Weekend Market which is so big that one truly needs a map to get around. The highlight was finding the fish spa, where one puts their feet into an aquarium filled with fish that suck/bite your feet to clean off the dead skin. There was a lot of laughing, mixed in with a lot of screaming and while I don't think that my feet were much softer, it was quite the experience. After the weekend market, our guides and their friends took us to a local Thai music bar. They offered us chicken feet (no thank you, or ma ka cop khon ka) and the official drink of Thailand: Sang Som rum and Coke. The bands were great and I loved dancing, but the best part was indubitably lookingaround and noticing that we were the only Westerners in the entire bar. This was when I realized the amazing benefits of having Thai guides.
We left Bangkok for Lopburi on train. This town reveres monkeys and so they allow monkeys to roam around the city freely. I could not walk one block without running into a wild monkey. I aboslutely loved it. Lopburi is also the hometown of our guide. Tam. We spent many nights hanging out at our home away from home, Come on Bar, with Tam's highschool friends (including the bar owner, Toby). We also tooka tricycle ride around the city, stopping at the monkey temple where a monkey hugged my leg and gave me some monkey kisses. In Lopburi we stayed for a few days at a temple, sleeping on the floor and bathing with a bucket, just like the monks do. There, we had a short introduction to meditation and many lessons on Thai massage. We also visited a technical highschool where we learned some Thai and saw a typical classroom. Thirty students no longer seems quite so big of a class size. One of my favorite moments in Lopburi was when Elyse and I woke up especially early to see the special occasion of 2000 monks visiting the city. When we walked into the National Museum, the lawn was filled with thousands of Thai people, dressed in white and resting on their knees while holding food in their hands. In the very front was a line of orange robed monks. Elyse and I made a small donation to buy some food nad kneeled next to the Thai locals who generously offered their front row spots so that we could sit closer. In several lines, the monks walked down the aisles, collecting fod from the Buddhist followers that kneeled beside them. Unlike my experience in Luang Prabang, the monks were not given cooked rice, but rather noodles, sauce, rice, soup mix, etc. Elyse and I also got the opportunity to make a fod donation to the passing monks and to make a wish. Also different from Luang Prabang, it was clear that this was a special occasion for all of the locals. Many took phtos and video and the excitement was in the air. I felt so fortunate to be part of the experience and incredibly thankful that the Thai people were so kind as to wanting us to particpate with them. I had the most amazing time in Lopburi and I am certain that while I loved the many activites that we did, what I most enjoyed was meeting Tam's friends who instantly felt like old buddies. I will miss Lopburi very much.
After a week in Lopburi, we moved onto Kanchanburi. Here we visited the Bridge on the River Kwai. It is very sad to walk the bridge as you think of all of the death that it caused. Every step one takes represents a life lost. But while I found the bridge extremely sad, I enjoyed learning a bit about its history at the war museum and war cemetary. We also visited an elephant camp in Kanchanburi. I loved experiencing my fellow travellers first time on elephants with them. And I LOVED LOVED LOVED bathing the elephants after they had taken us on a trek. To wash them, we sat on their necks and then they walked into the river where elpahnt poo was occassionally seen floating. When the mahouts (elephant trainers) shoulted, the elpehants dunked their entire body and head into the river, causing us to go down with them. WHen they got up, they blew out the water form their trunks. We scrubbed them with banana scented soap :) and hear the moans they made, simialr to purring cats. It was an amazing experience. After the elephant camp, we visited Erawan waterfalls, a national park filled with several levels of waterfalls. While walking the path, Sheila dn I ran into hundreds of white butterflies floating in the air. We stepped inside of them and danced, while surrounded by butterlies on all sides. It was so beautiful. Then, we reached a big waterfall, where Elyse, Mike, and I climbed up the rocks to get behind the waterfall. The sound of the water constantly falling was simultaneously loud and relaxing. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I don't have pictures of much of this day, but when my I to I friends post some pictures, I will add them to the blog.
Well, I thinks that sums up my amazing adventures. Tomorrow we return to Bangkok and then head to the south of Thailand. I can't wait...
