The Madrones

Final dispatch from Thailand (with Pictures!)

madrone — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 20:47:00 GMT

We've come to the end of our Thai journey. It's been great sharing it with you all as we have gone along. We've spent our last day in Bangkok today, and will be getting picked up by taxi at 3:45 in the morning to get to the airport.

Before we take the long flight home, we thought we'd post a few more pictures of things we've seen. When we get home, we'll be posting more. We'll let you know when they're up.

Since you people seem to love monkeys so much, here's another one. This one is also getting into trouble, and he also clearly knows how to party.

Two pics of us on our elephant ride. We forgot to write about it, but now you know...we rode an elephant. The other camera has the pictures of Adrian riding on the elephant's head, so that will have to wait til later. For now though, you'll have to trust us...riding an elephant is really cool. They like to stop and eat a lot.

HUGE Buddha in Sukhothai ruins. (Look for the lady in the hat at the bottom of the picture for perspective!)

More amazing Sukhothai ruins. (See Adrian in there?)

Floating market at Damnuan Sadoek.

Night life in Bangkok. This is us at the Shell gas station that converts its parking lot and fill-up area into a bar at night!

Us at Wat Pho in Bangkok.

Wat Pho

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

The best way to drink Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee...out of plastic bags!!!

A snapshot of Bangkok.

Hope you've all enjoyed. See many of you soon!!!

Adrian and Kerry

Unabashed Tourists

madrone — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Here's a snapshot of how we have spent the past few days in Bangkok:

We wake up early, sightsee all day, come home in the evening for rest time, and then go out and stuff our bellies full of delicious food before going to bed.

Saturday was a transit system adventure to a few temples and shrines all over the city. In the morning we took a tuk-tuk across town to a Brahman shrine in the middle of the city. We realized pretty quickly that taking a tuk-tuk across town was a huge mistake as we spent the entire time with our shirts over our faces trying to filter the huge clouds of exhaust assailing us from every direction. While it was the quickest mode, we probably should have taken an air-conditioned taxi and sat in traffic with fresh recycled air. The shrine itself was very active and satisfyingly over-stimulating. It was set on a normal ol' street corner in the middle of huge skyscrapers with skytrains whizzing by up above. Many devotees were there to hire onsite Thai dancers to dance offerings of appreciation and reverence. We took many photos.

After that we walked about 20 minutes to another shrine where we found ourselves completely alone with many realistic phallus sculpture offerings to a fertility shrine. This shrine was hidden away next to a hotel parking garage. We paid our respects and took more pictures.

Then we were off on a skytrain ride to a Hindu temple honoring Uma Devi (consort of Shiva). Here there were no photos allowed so we just walked around and admired the amazingly colorful temple building. We watched as many people gave trays overflowing with flowers and fruit to shirtless men in fabric wraps who appeared to be the only ones allowed in the main temple room. We took many snapshots in our minds (and actually stole a few irreverent shots from across the street).

We took the skytrain back to the river boat pier after this and headed "home" for some rest.

We found an Israeli restaurant for dinner. That's right, Israeli. Not only is there an Israeli restaurant in Bangkok, but there are TWO right next door to each other, with a THIRD (a Chabad House) about a block away! Thank goodness for all those travelling Israelis!!! This was the first Israeli food we've had since being in Israel 6 years ago, and it was yummerific! Chicken Shwarma, Falafel, tomato/cuke salad, hummus and pita. Kerry had her regular mixed-fruit shake and Adrian his beer. We went to bed satisfied.

That was Saturday.

Today, Sunday, we woke up early again and were carted off in a minivan full of other tourists to the "famous" floating market in Damnoen Saduak. It was a complete tourist racket, but there was good food to be had (something you can always count on in this country) and many photos to be taken.

After arriving back home in the early afternoon we took off for more sighseeing in the city. This time we went to Chinatown. We took the river boat ferry again (this is becoming our favorite mode of traveling. No stress, no exhuast and it's fast!) and then we walked off the map up and down small alleyway markets. There were no other tourists around and we had many visual and tastebud treats, along with a few unsavory ones. We got some fancy jasmine tea from a bulk tea stand next to some grilled pig snouts and fried innards and also indulged in some dehydrated sugared Kiwi slices next to some other mysterious steamed and fried meat products. Tantalizing and repulsive all at once! We spent alot of time wandering around here before heading home for rest time.

On the menu for dinner was the spiciest mouth-blastingest curry along with many iced beverages to cool our mouths.

We have photos of it all!

Tomorrow is our last day here. We feel equally excited to come home and sad to leave. But first, one more day of adventuring, photos and tastbud treats.

Bangkok = Crazy

madrone — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:00:00 GMT

The title for this post says it all. We've just transitioned from all these smaller little Thai towns to the equivalent of New York City. Whew. So far, tiring but enjoyable.

We pulled into Bangkok after a relatively uneventful trip. However, things took a turn for the crazy once the sun set. We were all set up in our nice guesthouse room--private bathroom, beautiful teak wood floors, fourth floor view. (As an informative sidenote, the "guesthouses" we've been staying in are about halfway in between a hostel and a hotel.)

We were just settling our heads down on our pillows for a nice relaxing sleep, when what comes clanging down the street? A giant bulldozer! It parks itself right below our window and starts tearing into the street and shaking our guesthouse like an earthquake. Apparently, much of the construction work here goes on 24 hours a day. Or sometimes it waits until dark when the temperature is cooler.

So, we try to sleep above this full-on road construction for about 10 minutes, until it just becomes laughable. Then, the inevitable decision: we have to move. So that's what we did.

There was another guesthouse further down the soi (alleyway or small street), away from the roadwork. One room was available, and we took it. It was a tiny, cramped shoe-box of a place, that was more like a dorm with walls that didn't reach all the way to the ceiling. We could hear everything up and down the hall, but it was no bulldozer and at least we got some sleep. So...obviously that room was no keeper either. Which means we spent the better part of today searching for a new room.

Well, we found one. A very nice, comfortable, cozy place. It's in a crazier area (only a few blocks away from the indescribably insane Khao San Road), but somehow still seems quieter than where we were last night.

Once we got the room situation straightened out, we decided to get to work seeing some sights. We took a river taxi ride down into the city. Then we took the sky-train to Lumphini Park, which is a bit like Central Park in New York or Forest Park in St. Louis--a calming urban oasis.

After that lovely bit of downtime, we headed back to our room for a rest. Then, off to a sidewalk cafe we had passed during a walkabout last night. We had an absolutely amazing dinner--a whole fish cooking in some amazing soup broth with vegetables. It simmered over a little fire pot throughout our entire eating time. Only $5 (slightly expensive by Thai standards) and simply delicious!!!

As for the next several days, who knows? More sites to see. More traffic to dodge. More smog to breath. In other words, more fun.

Back in Bangkok

madrone — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:00:00 GMT

Well, we have made it back to Bangkok. The journey today was relatively uneventful, except for the toilet on the bus. I guess we should be glad they even had one, since it was a 7+ hour ride...and it sure beat the shit-soaked one on the ferry ride, but it was nasty nonetheless. So, aside from that, we made it to Bangkok safely.

We did make a pitstop for lunch and had to order blindly as no one spoke English and the menu was all in Thai. That was quite an adventure. Kerry ended up with some mystery processed meat shapes in curry over rice. Adrian had spicy bits. It was weird and kind of good and kind of scary.

We had many ruminations on the ride about traveling and being foreigners. Nothing conclusive to report at this time, except that it is both rewarding and hella difficult.

It really comes down to culture clash. In our case, we're travelling on our own (as opposed to with a group). We have no tour guide, and have little preexisting knowledge of Thai culture. So, we're pretty much on a learn-as-you-go basis. (Or, sometimes a not-knowing-what-the-heck-is-going-on basis.)

Here are some examples of cultural differences we have run across (keep in mind that these are our observations, not necessarily the full truth per se):

Pooping. It's handled differently here. There are a mix of eastern-style squat toilets (as we have discussed in earlier posts) and western "throne" toilets, depending where you are. Often, there is no toilet paper. That is because usually, when you go #2, you use your left hand to clean up. Then, there is a handy kitchen sink-type spray nozzle next to the toilet to wash your hand (and maybe your butt too?...see, perfect example of not-knowing-what-the-heck-is-going-on). Then, as an extension of this, it is considered rude to hand money to someone with your left hand or touch someone with your left hand. Something we don't think about too much, because we don't wipe with either of our hands in the first place.

Then, there is safety. In the U.S., things seem pretty highly regulated. There are lots of laws, permits, tickets, etc. that are in place to try to keep things safe. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. What we have observed in Thailand is that things seem to run a bit looser. People drive crazy. Building and construction projects often look haphazard. And food safety is...well, different.

The struggle with culture clash, as we see it, is to not fall blindly into thinking, "We do it right. They do it wrong." It's just not that simple. However, sometimes when you're feeling frustrated with things, that can be the feeling that takes over. So it goes.

So, to conclude, we will be staying in Bangkok for the rest of our trip. We might decide to take a day trip somewhere to get out of this crazy city (it's huge with a lot of traffic and smog), but while we're here we anticipate having many more adventures.

One thing is for certain, we are becoming seasoned at handling the touts (the people who scout for innocent-looking foreigners and their money--offering rides, the inside scoop on where to buy suits, jewels, etc.). So hopefully we'll stave off the cons and the swindles for the next 4 days before we fly home.

PHOTOS!

madrone — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:15:00 GMT

We spent some time at the internet place tonight uploading a few of the pictures we have taken during our adventures so far.

Enjoy!

Island beach (near Ao Nang in Southern Thailand)

Longtail boat (Southern Thailand)

Monkey loves ice cream!

Wat Tam Seua (near Krabi, after climbing 1300 steps!)

Eating at a night market

Monk tying string (for luck!)

Monk receiving alms at Wat Doi Suthep (outside Chiang Mai)

Wat Doi Suthep (walking around the Stupa)

Wat Mahatarat (Sukhothai ruins)

Amazing Wat Sri Chum (Sukhothai ruins)

Wat Saphan Hin (Sukhothai ruins)

P.S. Most of the pictures are of Adrian because we could only use the memory card from the camera Kerry has been using.

Sukhothai

madrone — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:30:00 GMT

We arrived in Sukhothai this afternoon. It was an interesting bus ride and we can't help but wonder why anyone who has ever driven a motor vehicle or riden in one in this country isn't dead. We were travelling at break-neck speeds on curvey mountain roads. Once again givin' it up to Ka!

Sukhothai is interesting. On the north end (or maybe it's the west end, not 100% sure) is the old part of the city. This is almost entirely made up of the Sukhothai Historical Park, which are ruins dating back to the 13th century. On the other end of town is New Sukhothai (where we sleep). This is a ratty ol' sketchy place with more street dogs than people, and we have yet to feel the Thai friendliness we've felt everywhere else on our travels here. Not to mention the fact that people line up around the block to order maggots, grubs, roaches and other such delecacies for dinner at the night market.

But this is not why we are here; we came to see the ruins. And they are STUNNING! Huge ancient crumbly stone buddhas and stupas spaced out in about a 4 mile radius. As soon as we arrived, we took a bus out to the ruins, rented bicycles and tooled around until close to sunset. It is a good thing we still have Miriam's camera (Adrian's mom) because it is a photographer's dream and we each need our own camera. We have plans to go back out early in the morning tomorrow specifically hoping for good lighting.

Once we've had our fill of the ruins, we plan to head out and make our way back down to Bangkok. We're tossing around a bunch of ideas, but it's looking like we'll head out on the morning of the 21st, if the newer part of this city doesn't get to us too much and we decide to hightail out of here sooner.

At this point in our journey, we are definately feeling travellers' exhaustion. Constant human interaction for a couple of introverts can be a bit much. We're sure Bangkok will be just what we need to rejuvinate. HA!

Markets in Chiang Mai

madrone — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Today (Dec. 18) is our last day in Chiang Mai. Tommorrow, we're off to Sukkothai to visit some temple ruins; it's about a five hour bus ride south. After about a day there, we're planning on riding the train back to Bangkok to finish off our trip.

Before we leave Chiang Mai, we have to talk a bit about the markets here. We've been hitting the markets just about every day. Some of the markets run in the day, some at night. Some are in big buildings with storefronts inside (kind of like a mall); some are set up right on the street.

Each market has its own character. Many have food vendors, some have street musicians. Some are packed elbow-to-elbow, others are a bit more sparse. Some are trafficked by many tourists (Especially Israelis!!! There have been Israelis in every single town we've visited so far!), some markets see mostly Thai shoppers.

The first market we hit here was the night bazaar. The bazaar sprawls over several city blocks, with the majority of the vendors peddling out of little carts on the sidewalk. It runs every night--365 days a year--from about 6pm to about 11 or 12. You can buy almost anything you can think of--artwork, crafts, jewelery, knock-off fashion accessories, souvenier junk, t-shirts, pirated CDs, DVDs, and video games, and on and on.

The biggest thing about the bazaar is the haggling. You've got to fight tooth and nail to get a good (and sometimes great) price for what you want. At first, this was hard for us. As Americans, we're used to having a set price for things, and some idea of whether it is a good price or bad price. With the bazaar, you just kind of have to get a feel for it.

During our first few price wars, we both walked away with our heads spinning...Did we get a good price? Did we just buy something we have no need for? Did we just get totally taken for a ride? But slowly, we developed a haggling strategy that worked...and was fun!

We started working a kind of good cop/bad cop routine for getting the best prices. It went like this: Kerry would approach a vendor and start looking at their stuff. The vendor would come over and start talking Kerry up. Kerry would talk about how cool and beautiful their stuff was, and how it would be a nice present for this person or that person.

Meanwhile, Adrian would stand slightly off to the side watching--usually with arms crossed and a distracted, sullen look about him. Kerry and the vendor would get to an initial price deal, then Kerry would come talk to Adrian. Adrian would roll his eyes or just look kind of annoyed, and would say, "No way. We're not paying that. Drop it another 60 baht or we're out of here." This usually resulted in another drop in the price, and we'd walk away happy. If you know us, as most of you do, you will get how this is funny because Kerry is actually the one who wears the pants when it comes to handling the pocketbook. This is especially true since Adrian almost lost a wad of money in Surat Thani a week ago. HA!

The next market we hit was called the walking market. For this one, they closed off several city blocks to all traffic. People (mostly Thais, with a sprinkling of farangs) would walk through looking at all the vendors, street performers, food, artwork, sidewalk massage stands, and, of course, all the other thousands of people there. It was a blast.

The walking market also had some of the most amazing food we've had so far in Thailand. It was all street vendor-style food, but the array of food they were making was mind-boggling. First, we had Khao Soi. It is a specialty Northern Thai dish that is like a spicy curry noodle soup with meat (usually chicken) and crunchy fried strips of fried on top. You get a little plate of stuff to put in the soup--green leafy vegetables (like kale or cabbage), onions, and a lime to squeeze into it--and some dry red-pepper flakes to sprinkle over. YUM! (Thanks to Sylia for the heads up on this before we came)

Another night we found one vendor grilling meats. We picked out some pieces of grilled meat (pork maybe?), they whammed em with a tenderizing hammer, then they hacked em to pieces with a big cleaver. They tossed it all in a little tray, and gave us two skewers to eat the pieces with. We also got some crazy curry sausage there. Delicious.

There was another food vendor who made these little scrambled egg thingys. He would pour eggs into a banana leaf that was folded into a little rectangle boat and put a variety of goodies in the mix (mushrooms, seafood, crab, etc.). Then he'd toss it on the grill (open fire), let it sit until the eggs were mostly solid, then put another banana leaf on top and flip it over. When they were done, his daughter (or younger sister?) would take over and cut the omlette in its banana boat into squares and hand it to you with a skewer. Then you could sprinkle it with soy sauce, hot pepper and other condiments before putting it in your mouth. Very tasty.

There were also lots of fresh fruit vendors, and some of them would whip up fruit smoothies right on the spot (you can get fruit smooties everywhere here, and we do). For desert, we got some Thai Iced Tea popsicles, some "Ancient Ice Cream" that tasted like toffee, some mini-pastries filled with pineapple goo and taro mash, and lots of sweets inside hand wrapped banana leaf arrangements usually made from sticky rice, coconut milk and banana mash. Soooo Gooooood!

We could go on and on about the food, and not make a dent in how much amazing stuff there was. Hopefully, this captures a little flavor of those tasty market foods.

Overall, the Chiang Mai markets were a blast. Even for those not terribly excited about shopping--cough,cough...Adrian--they are such wild sensory experiences, you just can't get enough.

Wats in Chiang Mai

madrone — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:00:00 GMT

Well. We've been so busy doing things in and around Chiang Mai that we have not had any time to post to our journal. So, here is a brief snapshot of one thing we've been doing a lot of.

We've been visiting lots of wats. That's kind of a joke because wats rhymes with lots...get it? If we haven't explained earlier, wats are buddhist temples, and they are usually quite amazing. Wats here are kind of like churches in the U.S., in that there are thousands of them throughout the country. Here in Chiang Mai, you can't go two blocks without walking by another wat. (Thailand is 90% Buddhist)

Wats usually have many buddha statues, ranging from several stories tall to the size of your thumb. People walk in, drop to their knees, put their hands together, and do a short, silent prayer. Many times there are monks around, wrapped in orange/gold robes (and you will sometimes see a few nuns--in white).

People will go to the monks for blessings, and they'll shake some water over your head with a wooden whisk-thingy. Early in the morning you can witness the monks receiving their alms. This is when someone gifts them (usually with money, sometimes with food) and then they immediately drop to their knees before the monk while he says a chant over them. This is usually done as the monk walks around in the community, but it also happens at the wat. Sometimes there are several monks receiving alms as once and their chants are beautiful.

Sometimes there is a monk sitting in a temple to tie a plain white string around your wrist and do a little chant or prayer. We both have two strings on our wrists right now from monks. The monk this morning said, "Good luck, ok. Good luck, ok," while he was tying our strings.

Usually, wats are pretty quiet places of solace. However, this morning, we went to Wat Doi Suthep (outside of town on a mountain overlooking the city) and it was a freaking madhouse at 9am, and was looking to get much crazier through the day. Chiang Mai is really hopping right now because there is a huge flower exhibition going on that people are coming to from all over Thailand. Seems like while all these Thai folks are here, they're also doing a lot of touristy things, including coming to this particular wat. There must be tens of thousands of people visiting that wat every day. Totally crazy.

It's funny too, because we're used to certain types of places of worship, and the rules that go along with them. For example, you probably wouldn't take photos in a church or synagogue while services were going on. In those places, you usually go to pray for a set period of time--like a few hours on Saturday or Sunday.

Wats are not like that. You can go pray at a wat anytime (day or night). They seem to be more incorporated into everyday life. So, people are walking around, taking pictures, talking on cell phones, just hanging out. Yesterday, we were at a wat, a Thai family bowed in front of a monk, he did his chant thing, splashed them with water, and as they were getting up, the dad immediately took a cell phone call. And no one took offense. It was totally normal.

The only rules you really are supposed to follow in wats are: take your shoes off in the temple areas; wear proper clothes (no shorts or revealing shirts, etc.); and women can't touch the monks. There are some others, of course. But these are the basics.

Culturally, going to wats has been a great experience. They are simultaneously highly spiritual, reverent places, and very day-to-day.

We'll write about more of our Chiang Mai experiences soon (including riding an ELEPHANT!!!).

Thanks for all the comments.

madrone — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:35:00 GMT

Dear everyone. Before we get to another post about our trip, we wanted to thank everyone who has posted comments to our journal. Sometimes traveling can feel a little lonely. It is so nice to know that people are following along with us as we go.

Love to all. (Especially those in Washington who are apparently getting hammered with winter rain and wind storms. From where we are sitting--next to our guesthouse swimming pool, with the temperature in the mid-80s--that sounds rough. Maybe we won't come home!)

Goodbye Koh Phangan, Hello Chiang Mai

madrone — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 21:42:00 GMT

Hello from Chiang Mai.

We arrived here late on the 14th after another whole day of traveling. Our journey off the island of Koh Phangan was much less eventful than our journey to get there. This time we were prepared for the stinks and the touts and the hustle and bustle so it didn't hit us quite as hard.

The most surreal bit of the trip between Koh Phangan and Chiang Mai had to be the "mini-bus" that took us from the SuratThani bus depot to the airport. The driver was a young Thai dude with spikey hair who looked too cool for school. He loaded our bags in the van, started it up, and immediately began blasting deafening techno dance music. The whole inside of the van was vibrating with bass for the entire twenty minutes to the airport. We got there and he let us out as if there was nothing unusual at all about his rolling dance club. Very odd. We giggled the whole way.

Reflecting back on Koh Phangan for a moment: we could have stood to spend much more time there (maybe months). We really aren't beach people in general, but there was something special about this place. We fell into the flow of doing nothing quite easily. Of course with the speedy pace of this trip, we still spent about half our time figuring out the details of how to make the trek up to Chiang Mai.

Some highlights of the island: We rented another motorscooter and used it to tool around and get from place to place, but mostly we just hung out at our bungalow (or as we called it, our "bunghole") on the beach. We found a resaurant on the beach where they set up tables and chairs right on the sand and served the most scrumptious food. We would sit there and watch the sun set with the waves lapping right by our feet.

We also each got our first full body Thai massage on the beach. It's like yoga massage where you leave your clothes on and they bend you and stretch you and push on all the right spots. The place where we got our massages was a hut on the beach. There are little open huts set up everywhere for mid-day napping and on the beach they are set up every 50 feet and used to give farangs (foreigners) massages while on their island holiday. We took advantage and it was amazing. Picture yourself in a shady open hut on a hot day with a cool breeze blowing, you can hear the water gently rolling up the beach only 5 feet away and birds singing in the coconut trees above you, all while being bent and twisted by a skilled Thai massage therapist. Divine.

Semi-regretfully, we moved on.

Now we're up here in northern Thailand. Its a whole new flavor. Our next post will talk more about what we've been doing up here.

The Incident...

madrone — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:00:00 GMT

This is Adrian writing. I have a rather lengthy story to tell, and it involves the highs and lows that can come along with traveling. It may get a little woo-woo at times, but you're just going to have to deal with it. Before I start the story, I have to preface it with a little description of my intention going into this trip.

As we were planning our Thailand trip, I committed myself to fully going with the flow during our travels; letting the journey be the guide. In essence, I believe that if you fully turn yourself over to fate (some might call it God, or spirit, or something else), it will take you where you need to go.

My intention has been helped by the fact that I have recently been reading the series of Stephen King books called the Dark Tower; I brought book five of the series on this trip. In these books, the main characters are all following "the Path" toward their collective destiny. This destiny/fate/path/journey is called "ka." Although this series is fiction, I have experienced "ka" at times throughout my life, and truly believe that it works. That's where we join this story...

Yesterday (Monday, Dec. 11), we left the little town of Krabi (grah-bee) where we had been staying for several days. We had come to really like Krabi, so it was a little hard to go. But we decided we really wanted to see Koh Phangan, which is a small island on the south-east coast in the Gulf of Thailand.

We packed up our bags and set off. It was a full day's journey. First, a semi-open-air pickup-truck/taxi called a sawngthaew to the bus station. Next, a four-hour bus ride through the countryside picking up locals as we went. Then, off the bus in the SuratThani bus station; twenty-minute wait, then on to another bus for a half-hour ride to the ferry terminal. After than, a two-and-a-half hour ferry ride to Koh Phangan. Finally, a twenty minute ride in a pick-up truck to our "bungalows" (more on that later).

While we were on the second bus--going from SuratThani to the ferry terminal--I was fiddling with my small backpack that was on my lap. I noticed that the zipper on the side pocket was half open. That seemed strange as I am pretty fastidious in keeping everything zipped, snapped, tied, and shut. I immediately went cold because I had been keeping my mom's digital camera in that pocket. (I borrowed the camera from her to use as a backup in case anything went wrong with our camera.)

I reached inside the pocket, and my mom's camera was gone.

As I began to sweat, I started patting down my shorts pockets and going through other pockets in the backpack. No camera. However, as I was doing that, I discovered something else. I had been keeping a wad of Thai currency in my left side pocket, and it too was gone.

I started thinking...where and when could anything have happened? Then I remembered. As we were getting off the first bus in SuratThani, we stepped straight into a crowd of what appeared to be taxi drivers, all shouting, "Where are you going? Where are you going?," and jostling for business. The whole scene was totally chaotic and disorienting. We didn't know exactly where we were yet, and didn't know quite how to make the transfer.

It dawned on me...I just had my pocket picked...big time. The currency was no big deal. I couldn't remember exactly how much I had in my pocket, but I thought it was probably the equivalent of about $20. But the camera...OUCH! The one thing we had borrowed for our trip! And we had promised we would take care of it! Damn.

I kept running things through my head. I remembered putting the money in my pants pocket that morning. I had thought at the time, "Maybe this isn't the best place for all this cash. But Thailand has been so safe so far, and it'll probably be fine." I also remembered thinking about the camera while we were packing in Krabi. I had thought a similar thing, "This isn't the best place for this, but it's fine."

So, as we got to the ferry dock, Kerry and I were talking this through. Kerry was pretty upset, but I felt like it would be ok. We bought traveler's insurance that specifically covers stolen items, and had only taken a few pictures in Bangkok with that camera. So, it could be replaced...no problem.

As we got to the ferry dock and didn't know quite where to go, a very nice Thai woman pulled us aside. She asked about where we were staying on the island, and we said that we didn't know yet; we would get something when we got there. She told us that she could sell us an air-conditioned room, which would include a ride waiting for us at the ferry dock when we arrived. That sounded great, so Kerry paid the lady and we got a receipt. Then we got on the ferry and took off.

As our ferry rode across the warm blue water, Kerry and I talked. We talked about traveling, and impermanence, and not being careful, and how "things" are not that important, and at least we're safe and unharmed.

It seemed that while the incident had happened, we would learn from it and be okay. However, as I was sitting there thinking more, I realized we knew almost nothing about the lady who had sold us that room on the island. We had a vague receipt, no phone number, no address, a brochure for a different resort that she had said was "owned by the same people." That lady had our cash and was long gone.

The dark clouds began to settle in...there was a very good chance that just hours after getting our stuff ripped off, we had just gotten totally scammed. We were going to get to the island, there would not be any ride waiting for us. The "resort" would not exist, and we'd be out even more money.

At that point, both Kerry and I were thinking, "What are we doing here? This country sucks. Why are we such idiots? I wanna go home." Those things, and various swear words.

So, I got to sit in that funk for at least a couple of hours. I was brooding and very unhappy. My whole philosophy of traveling seemed so idiotic and naive. I was clearly a chump.

As we pulled into the island, Kerry and I looked at each other. The island did look very nice. We said to each other, "Maybe this will all work out. Maybe it'll be great." But our hearts just weren't in it.

We got off the boat, and immediately saw a guy standing there with a sign for the place we'd paid for. We showed him our receipt, and he said, "Ok. We'll leave in a couple of minutes. I'm picking other people up too."

Ok. So at least the place is real. (Of course, once we got there it turned out to be pretty run down. Comfortable enough, but super grungy. The staff were all really nice, but they were also all drugged to the eyeballs.)

So, we got to our grungy little filth-box of a room. Flopped on the beds; exhausted.

I start going through my big backpack, looking for my shower supplies and some semi-clean clothes. (It's in the mid-90s and humid everyday here, so everything I own is constantly drenched in sweat.) I unzip the mesh pocket where I keep my towels. (I had actually gotten into this same pocket on the ferry because it was where I had been keeping my money belt, rather than wearing it. After all my dumb moves, I figured the least I could do would be to start wearing the money belt again.) I reach into the mesh pocket and grab something that feels palm-sized and hard. I didn't expect to find anything like that, so I pull it out...it's the camera!

I show Kerry. She starts laughing. I can't believe it. For some reason, as I'm standing there stunned, I start patting down my shorts pockets. I realize my back pocket is buttoned shut. I'm sure I checked it already, but I check it again. I open it, and pull out a big wad of money. I show Kerry. She's in hysterics. I still can't believe what's going on.

The camera didn't get stolen. My money didn't get stolen. We're safe and sound in the place we paid for at the ferry terminal.

This is where my interpretation of this experience gets a bit woo-woo. I have thought this series of events through and through. I clearly remember putting the camera in that side pocket of my small backpack. I do not have the faintest recollection of moving it into the mesh pocket inside my big backpack. I clearly remember thinking about what a dumb place my side shorts pocket was to keep that cash, but doing it anyway. I have no recollection of moving that money into my back pocket. Not only that, but I am positive I looked in all of those places on the ferry and did not find either camera or money.

My conclusion...fate/God/Universe/ka is working, but it was also sending a message. We (particularly me) were not traveling safe. We were not being "situationally aware" (as Kerry's uncle Jay calls it). We needed a smack in the face to remind us to be safe, but apparently we didn't need to actually lose anything in the process.

To have this experience on this journey has been very profound for me. This took what has so far been an enjoyable tourist excursion, and turned it into something much deeper. All of this is particularly compounded by the fact that Thailand is a deeply, openly spiritual country.

If you made it this far, I thank you for allowing me to vent off some of the impact that this incident has had on me. I feel that this really captures some of the insanity that is involved in travelling like Kerry and I do. Wheeeee!!!

Krabi 12/08-12/10

madrone — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 18:30:00 GMT

We made it into Krabi at 8pm on Friday evening...an hour and a half past our scheduled arrival. The guesthouse we had reservations with was not there to pick us up as previously arranged and by the time we found transportation to a destination we had no address for (only a name) we arrived and they had no room. Mai Pen Rai! (a thai phrase meaning "It's nothing" or "Whatever" with a smile) go with it! So we went with it. Found another place, which has been fantastic. Very friendly and helpful. After checking in we sat down in the guesthouse restaurant and ordered a fruit shake (smoothie) and a beer and arranged a trip for the next day with the inhouse travel/tour agent. (Every guesthouse has one)

Next morning: We rose early and headed off on the 4-island tour. Beautiful turquoise waters, huge karsts (mountainous island structures sticking straight out of the sea), snorkeling, longtail boats and monkeys! One of the islands even had a film shoot going on for a Bollywood movie (India's version of Hollywood)! Kerry got ill on our adventure (something she ate?) and got initiated into the full squat toilet experience. May there always be a toilet available! We returned home in the evening exhausted and satisfied and fell asleep at 8pm.

After 10+ hours of sleep we woke up today and rented a motorbike/scooter for about $5 (200 Baht) for the day. We gathered our things and took off to the surrounding jungle. We found a wat outside of town and climbed up 1300 stairs (steep, irregularly shaped--more like a ladder) to the top of the mountain where there is a HUGE Buddha statue and magnificent views of the surrounding mountains and jungle. We were in awe!

There were even more monkeys than we've seen yet at the wat. They are rowdy little punks. They rove in gangs and try to steal your stuff. So far, no monkeys have taken our stuff, but we saw them knock a lady down and take her stuff. (Ok. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.) Also, this one monkey was sitting on a handrail happily licking an ice cream pop (while the others only had bananas and crackers). That was one happy monkey!

We're having a blast and are heading off tomorrow for KoPhangan...an island on the other side of the southern strip of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand. We have no reservations and are trusting that we will find our way. So far everything has been so easy. All signs point to yes!

We have arrived!

madrone — Fri, 8 Dec 2006 14:30:00 GMT

We got into Bangkok last night (12/07) at 11:45pm. The flight was long and we were very loopy upon arrival. We then waited in a long line to get a taxi to the place where we had reservations. Slept great in a room with no window but fantastic ambiance. Woke up this morning rested and ready to be tourists. We had some delicious fresh fruit and homemade yogurt and homemade crispy rice and coconut museli for breakfast. After that we walked through the stinkiest open air market and we almost threw it all up. Seriously, it was NASTY! Rottiing fish bits and raw (uncovered in the 95 degree heat) meats were a main feature at the market.

We have already seen numerous wats (buddhist temples) around Bangkok and we're looking forward to going inside some. They are very fancy. We rode in a tuk-tuk (a three-wheeled, open-air taxi/truck/moped). Now, we're off to the airport to head south to the town of Krabi.

So far, everthing's been pretty smooth. Not bad jet lag, and pretty easy to get around.

More soon,

Kerry & Adrian