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Happy New Year, everyone. We’re a bit later than the folks back in the States, so I’ll let everyone know what the new year will be like, since I’ll see it first. Mut Mee Guesthouse is having a river bank bbq tonight, so I’ll be attending that but probably going to bed at my normal time–10 p.m.
Latest news indicates the tsunami death toll is approaching 140,000–will it never end?
Went motor bike riding along the river today without killing myself! It was a very lovely day, in contrast to Montana’s below zero weather and snow. I went a little off the beaten track at one point and rode through this very small, rural village. What friendly people! 90% of those who saw me waved and said “Hello,” in English. Lots of kids and some older people, too.
Gotta go and return the motor bike. Again, Happy New Year!
I’m still lazing away the days on the banks of the Mekong in Nong Khai, warm days with lots of sunshine. It reminds me a lot of Africa. I got out into the countryside a bit today on an old, beaten-up, one-speed bicycle. I visited the very weird {{link http://www.mutmee.net/030010_sculpture_park.htm Salakaewkoo}} grounds. It is the creation of a Laotian man, who died in 1996 after spending 27 years on this project. It is his take on life in general and Buddhism in particular, I suppose. There are cement statues by the dozens, some close to 100 feet high, many of them very bizarre, like the two skeletons in a very loving embrace. His mummified remains are encased in glass on the third floor of the temple on the grounds. A very interesting place, eerie, bizarre, otherworldly. The 74-years old “curator” gave me a tour of the temple. His English is somewhat broken, but I got his age out of him and he asked for mine. He also said he had been working at the temple for two years, and that there are, unusually, both Hindu and Buddhist influences in the temple and grounds. Quite a nice old gentleman. I talked to another fellow, though, at length, and his English was quite decent. He was from Khon Kaen, someways down the road, but was in Nong Khai for a funeral. It seems that one of his inlaws fell in the toilet and hit his head on the floor. What a way to go! Hmmm, tsunami or toilet, I guess we all gotta go sometime! This guy was also a Buddhist monk for 12 years in Bangkok, and worked in Japan for 10 years, which is where he learned his English. He was very informative about Buddhism. Another very friendly Thai. I’ll write more about Salakaewkoo when I post photos after I return. Click the link above to read more about it and see some photos. My Buddhist friends in Missoula, Susan, Lynne, and Marga, would love this place, I think.
(To read more, click on, uhmmmm, “more” below)
Continue reading Thailand — 12/30 — Nong Khai
Yes, the devastation and loss of life continues farther south and west. Latest reports from the news services say that the final death toll may be {{link http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7188962 as high as 55,000. }} What a loss! Last night I was making different plans for the beach part of my journey in about a week, fearing that {{link http://www.sukorn-island-trang.com/016_tour03.html Ko Sukorn}} had been wiped off the map. I was looking at the Gulf of Thailand side, the east side of the isthmus away from the tsunami. Most of the areas are going to be packed, since this is the high tourist season and, I dare say, many people have changed their plans and booked for that area.
Waiting in {{link http://www.udonthani.com/english/ Udon Thani}} this morning for the bus, I found an Internet cafe and checked my email. I received one from the {{link http://andaman-island-hopping.com/hotels/sukornbeach.htm Ko Sukorn Beach Bungalows}} office in Trang and, amazingly, through some kind of miracle, they received just a very small amount of water damage! Wow, was I surprised and very happy for the people who live there. So, I am still going there on Jan. 6. I’ll take the train from Nong Khai on the fourth, then from Bangkok on the 5th. Thank God, or Buddha, or weird flukes that they weren’t hit hard.
{{link http://www.thailandguidebook.com/provinces/nong_khai.html Nong Khai}} is a pleasant little town of about 50,000 on the border across from {{link http://www.visit-laos.com/where/vientiane/ Vientiane}}, Laos. The {{link http://www.mutmee.net/ Mut Mee Guesthouse}} is right on the banks of the {{link http://www.mekongsources.com/MkRegion.asp Mighty Mekong River}}, which, even this far up, is quite wide and very brown with silt. (Note to self: Let’s hope there is not a huge rainstorm farther upstream causing flash flooding. Hope my karma is still good and that I’m not going to get caught in any large amounts of water unexpectedly.) It’s not as hot as in Bangkok and I’m told the nights actually get chilly. It looks like a very interesting area to explore and, since I’ve found a good Internet cafe here, I’ll keep you posted. Tonight, I’m going on an hour-long sunset cruise on the river! More later.
Luckily, I was still in Bangkok when the tsunami hit the southern part of Thailand. I’m glad I didn’t decide to travel to Ko Sukorn earlier than I am planning. At least, I hope they didn’t get hit hard, but I do fear the worst and may have to change my plans. Sukorn is not that far from Phuket, which was hammered, according to the news. What a tragedy for the marvelous, friendly people of Thailand and for the people of the other countries that were hit. My heart and prayers go out to them. Of course, all the local newspapers have huge headlines reporting the disaster. I hope the Thai government gives swift aid to the people down south.
Today, in a few hours, I fly to Udon Thani and then take a bus tomorrow to Nong Khai, there to spend about a week at Mut Mee Guesthouse. Hopefully, we’ll be spared any natural disasters! More later.
Another smoggy, but enjoyable, day in Bangkok unfolds. I didn’t make the river run yesterday, so that is the main item on my agenda today. So far this morning, I’ve been sampling different coffee shops along Sukhimvit Road– McBean’s and Blue Danube. It is fun to sit at a window table overlooking Sukhimvit and watch the people–the young guys setting up their outdoor tables to sell various items, the women selling breakfast (rice, chicken, veggies, fruit, etc.) to passersby, a few businessmen with briefcases heading who knows where (it’s Sunday), and hordes of tourists, seemingly more tourists than Thais. Tourists from all over the world, if the amazing variety of restaurants is any indicator. What do you want to eat today? Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Pakistani, Lebanese, Brazilian, French, German, Dutch, English, etc. It seems that almost every cuisine imaginable can be found in Bangkok. Last night I ate at an outdoor Thai restaurant called Suda. Nothing fancy about it, very popular with tourists and locals alike, very cheap, excellent food. I dined on deep fried fish in a spicy garlic sauce with rice and iced Chinese tea for $2.50. Highly recommended place on Suk 14, if you’re ever in Bangkok.
I’m still waiting to catch an elephant wandering down the street during the day when I have my camera with me. I’ve seen them at night, formidable goliaths emerging from the shadows with their handlers in tow, but I’m hesitant to shoot off the camera flash into their eyes, startling them and, perhaps, enraging them, so that they charge me and squash me like an insignificant bug, going rogue and trampling everything else in their blind rage! I can see the headlines in the Bangkok Post “Naive Tourist Responsible for Downtown Mayhem! Many Injured! Elephant Runs Amok!!”
Tomorrow I fly to Northeast Thailand to Udon Thani, then take a bus the next day to Nong Khai. I don’t know what the Internet facilities will be like, so this may be my last post for awhile. Happy New Year, everyone, if you don’t hear from me before then.
Happy Holidays from Bangkok. It’s Christmas Day here as I write this from an Internet cafe near the Suk 11 Guesthouse. I forgot to mention that in the guesthouse there is a calendar in use at the front desk from a store in Eureka, Montana. It’s a small world, for sure. Wow, is the smog terrible today! You can’t see more than about 1/2 mile, it seems. Not much going on in the way of Christmas in Bangkok. There are more decorations than I would have thought, but they mainly celebrate the commercial aspect of the holiday, rather than the religious. What else would you expect in a predominantly Buddhist nation?
Bangkok Christmas Display — outside a department store.
Last night, Christmas Eve, I spent at a Buddhist temple, Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). A 4-day festival is in progress there, so I thought I’d check it out. The temple at night is truly beautiful, bathed in the glow of different colored lights, mainly purple, turquoise, and light orange–very awe inspiring! I’ll post some photos when I return. There was the usual delicious food, especially prawn cakes and rice, and a variety of local crafts on sale, including wood work, lacquerware, and fabrics. There were also fascinating puppet plays, acrobatics, and local folklore presentations. I may go back again this evening or tomorrow, the final day. At any rate, I want to go during the day to take some more photos of the interesting stone work and Buddha images that abound.
Wat Arun at Night
Well, I just had to catch a ride on a motorbike to get there. I took the subway as far as possible, and motorbiked the rest of the way to the ferry crossing on the Chao Phraya river. It was a breathtaking motor bike ride, as usual. I’m bucking the odds, I know, because it’s not the safest way to journey in Bangkok, but it is the most fun. We went right through the heart of Chinatown, very crowded, congested with traffic. The driver, though, managed to squeeze between cars and buses without squashing the both of us, not to mention taking off any arms or legs that stuck out. As you can imagine, I made myself as small as possible!
Today, I might visit the huge weekend market at Chatuchak (or might do it tomorrow) and I may also visit the Peace Corps Headquarters, which is housed in a quaint, old building worth visiting, according to one of my guidebooks. More later.
Yup, made it to the Big Mango in good order. Left Seoul early this morning and it was COLD! Knowing that I wouldn’t want to lug around any heavy coats, I left wearing only a tee-shirt, short-sleeved shirt, and a sweater. I was afraid I would have to wait for half an hour for the airport bus and, thus, freeze my behind off. I knew one departed at 6:30 a.m. and I was getting close to missing it. I left the warmth of the subway, took a wrong turn, went back the other way, found out I took another wrong exit and was on the opposite side of the street. There waiting was the airport bus and I in danger of missing it!! Well, the light was with me and I ran and caught him just as he was leaving. Lucky me.
An uneventful flight into Bangkok and the airport bus from there to Suk 11 hostel. Wow, interesting guesthouse. It’s a fairly old-looking and rambling building, with many passageways, dark with hidden surprises. Nothing dangerous, stuff like little nooks with Buddha statues, reading tables, Thai cultural items, all put together in a charming, ramshackle way. My room is very Spartan, but at 500 baht (about $12.50) per night, it’s a good deal, though I have to climb the very steep stairs to my third-floor room.
It was 90 degrees when I got to Bangkok and very, very smoggy, much more smog than anything I encountered during the July trip here. The smell hits you, too, when you get to the city. A mixture of automobile, bus, and motorcycle fumes with food smells from the amazing variety and number of restaurants, and there is also a smell that I will only characterize as “tropical.” Unsure what that would be, but it brought back fond memories of last summer. It also smells a bit like Africa, oddly, a not unpleasant aroma.
I’ll do a little walking around tonight, maybe eat at one of the local seafood joints, and then go to Mahboonkrong Shopping Center to buy a compact tripod for the camera. More later.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! EVERYONE IF I DON’T POST AGAIN BEFORE THEN.
Downtown Bangkok, along Sukhumvit Road, with Skytrain platform at top of photo.
I’m taking the bus today to Seoul and then tomorrow I board the non-stop flight to the City of Angels–Bangkok, the Big Mango. It’s about 20 degrees F. in Andong, but I expect it will be close to 90 in Bangkok. Ahhhhh, warmth. And sun. And palm trees and beaches. Well, you get the picture. More later.
Well, my itinerary is starting to firm up. Since it’s high tourist season in Thailand, I’ve been making guesthouse/hotel reservations over the ‘Net rather than get there and be without lodging. I could probably walk around and find something, but what I would find would be bottom-of-the-barrel accomodations.
So, I’ll go to Seoul next Wednesday and fly out of Incheon airport at 9:50 a.m. Thursday and get in Bangkok at 1:40 in the afternoon. Thailand is two hours behind Korea, so it’s about a six-hour flight, nonstop. From the 23rd to the 26th I’ll be staying at {{link http://www.suk11.com/ Suk 11 Guesthouse}}, a fairly inexpensive, nice-looking place near one of Bangkok’s main thoroughfares–very busy, lots of stores, bars, restaurants, etc. On the 27th I’ll fly to {{link http://www.udonthani.com/english/ Udon Thani}} in Northeast Thailand and stay overnight at the {{link http://www.thaifocus.com/hotels/vbro/100114.mv Charoen Hotel}}. I’m flying {{link http://www.airasia.com Air Asia}}, a cheap, no-frills airline with some great deals. The flight will cost $25. Then, from the 28th until about the 3rd or 4th of January, I’m staying at a great looking little guesthouse, the {{link http://www.mutmee.net/ Mut Mee}} in Nong Khai, right across the border from {{link http://www.visit-laos.com/where/vientiane/ Vientiane}}, the capital of Laos and about 40 miles from Udon Thani. The guesthouse looks to be very sedate, as does the entire area around Nong Khai, just what I’m looking for. It’s the home of the {{link http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Northeast-Thailand Isan people}}, an interesting culture indigenous to Northeast Thailand. I’m sure I’ll take a day trip to Laos and I may try to get to {{link http://www.visit-laos.com/where/luangprabang/ Luang Prabang}}. I originally was going to take a boat trip down the Mekong River, from farther north in Thailand, to Luang Prabang, but I decided to wait to do that until the low tourist season, perhaps this summer. Still, if I have time I might try to get up there from Vientiane by bus, then fly back to Bangkok. If I stay in Nong Khai the whole time, I might take the {{link http://www.thaifocus.com/travel/train/ train}} back to the big city.
I have reservations at a resort on Ko Sukorn in Thailand from Jan. 6 thru the 10th, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts. After that, I haven’t decided anything. I’ll probably try to go to another beach for a few days, and then finish my trip off in Bangkok for several days. Coincidentally, there is a Thailand English Teachers conference in Bangkok from Jan. 20-22, so I’ll try to make some contacts there and perhaps put in a job application or two. I’d love to work in Thailand, even though doing that may spoil paradise for me! :O
The next post might be from Thailand, so keep checking back to see where I’m at and what I’m doing!
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