Thailand Adventure part 4

About a 4 hour mini van ride out of Bangkok and a quick ferry gets you to the beautiful island of Ko Samet. I hadn't originally planned on going there but I had a few days in Bangkok to kill and didn't expect to be sick of that place so fast. I was also drawn to the fact that Ko Samet was originally inhabited by pirates and that buried treasure is said to exist somewhere on the island. If that wasn't enough to convince me to go I don't know what else was.

We arrived at the port in Ban Phe after much delay and boarded the small ferry boat at 1:30. It had been quite awhile since I had seen the ocean and after being in the over-populated megacities of china, the endless expanse was freeing to say the least. After a short ride to the island, we pulled into the port at Ko Samet.
Land ho!

I asked the information desk lady for directions to our guesthouse. Let me rephrase that. I asked the Thai man dressed as a woman for directions to our guesthouse. If you weren't already aware, Thailand is the ladyboy capital of the world. Some of them are quite deceiving until you get up close. Tread carefully.
Anywho.
So after she/he pointed out where we were heading on a map. We headed out through the small village before the beaches. Turned out Heshe had pointed us in the wrong direction and we got lost for awhile before finally arriving at Naga Bungalows. The cheapest place on the island. The room consisted of a small wooden shack with nothing in it but a bed, a mosquito-net and a fan. The outdoor showers had no hot water and you had to brush your teeth at night in the creepy jungle.
This may sound horrid to some people but I was in love.


The atmosphere of Ko Samet was like Kanchanaburi but with white-sand beaches and tropical weather. Since it was during the week the place wasn't packed with many tourists. After relaxing on the beach for the rest of the day we hit one of the bigger bars along the beach. They had a happy hour special where whatever drink you bought you flipped a coin for. If you won, you got the drink for free. If you lost you just had to pay the regular price for the drink. I thought this was an excellent way to mix alcohol and gambling all into one. As the night rolled on we met a couple from Ontario and were treated to a fire show on the beach. Men would juggle sticks and spin staves around until finally they lit a hoop on fire and proceeded to jump through it. After that they invited people from the bar to jump through it. Perfect, I thought.
I've always wanted to see someone on fire. What a great idea to let intoxicated people jump through a flaming ring of death.
I waited in patience until finally a drunk woman stumbled into the hoop and caught on fire. It was a strange feeling, I was torn between running to her aid or sitting there and enjoying this delightful moment in my life. But, no one seemed to panic and they just threw some sand on her and laughed it off. The party went on and afterwards, I joined them jumping through the flaming hoop. Good times.



The next day, we rented ourselves off-roading vehicles. Vanessa got an ATV, which in hindsight was a much better off-roading choice than the two-wheeled scooter I decided to get. Which wasn't all that sturdy on the ridiculous backroads of Ko Samet. We headed off to the other side of the island through a rugged jungle trail, half of which was mud and sand.
It was when I was flying through the air and smashing into a rock on the side of the road that I realized the bike wasn't the best choice. I came down a hill too fast and my bike fell over, throwing me off and smashing the side mirror up pretty bad, as well as my body. I bent the front wheel slightly and on the way home would crash the bike every 10 minutes. I was covered in dirt, bleeding and bruised and just wanted to get home. But we were about an hour out. I didn't have a phone so it wasn't like I could call anyone to come pick me and the bike up, and I was far too lazy to walk the heavy bike back up hills and through mud. It was terribly frustrating, and and hour and 20 bike crashes later, I stumbled and limped to our bungalow to recover for a few hours.
That night I ended up getting up on stage and rocking out with a Thai band. It made me feel better. The next day we spent a few more hours on the beach before heading back to the boat. We would be heading back to Bangkok AGAIN, a place I didn't want to be after the quiet paradise i'd spent the last few days in. But Vanessa had a flight back to Canada the next day and my vacation was coming to it's end. I had done everything I had hoped for on this vacation to Thailand. Hiking through jungles, waterfalls, elephants, tigers, white-water rafting, monkey battles, temples, mountains and oceans. It was all I could ever ask for.
I saw Vanessa off at 5am Friday morning. I would be spending another night in Bangkok alone before heading back to Wuhan. I spent the day visiting the Grand Palace and then had an incredibly spicy salad at a restaurant playing Piranha 3D on t.v. That movie is ridiculous by the way if anyone's seen it. I later met some guys from montreal and, judging by my past experience in Bangkok and by people from Montreal in general, you can guess where the night went.

It was sometime around 3am. I was sitting watching woman do incredible things with ping pong balls, when I realized I was not ready to go back to Wuhan just yet. Also how I ended up at this place.
My flight was the next morning with a quick layover in Guanzhou (a city in China) before heading home to dirty, cold wuhan to sit in my room alone for a week before school started up again.
I don't know if it was the cheers from the crowd as a ping pong ball flew into a cup, or the ladyboy sitting in the corner flashing her butt at me. But I had not finished with my vacation yet. I still had a bit of money.
And there's always room to do one more crazy thing.

Thailand Adventure part 3

We were back in Bangkok at about 7:30pm. After getting dropped off at Kao San road and bargaining a price with a Tuk Tuk driver, we were on our way to the train station. A Tuk Tuk by the way are the 3-wheeled trike taxis that bomb around Bangkok, weaving crazily through traffic and consistently try to rip off tourists. Luckily this was one place where my Thai came in handy, and when they heard me speak Thai they usually wouldn't rip us off.
At the train station we tried to get our tickets to Chiang Mai but much to our disappointment, all the sleeper class tickets were sold out for a few days. Memories suddenly flooded into my head of my 13 hour train ride in China without a seat. I would NOT go through with that again in any circumstance, but i also did not want to stay in Bangkok for a few days. While sitting around debating what to do, we found Craig sitting alone in the train station waiting for the same train we were trying to get on. What are the chances of that? He was here about an hour before us and got one of the last sleeper tickets. What a doosh. After much debate we decided to suck it up and book a ticket anyways. We ended up scoring the 2nd class air-conditioned car with two, very broken but better than the ground, seats.

The train ride turned out to be quite a crazy adventure. As we rolled out of the Bangkok station heading north, we met up with Craig and made our way to the restaurant car for dinner and some drinks. We ended up meeting a whole group of Germans and the beers kept coming. They even kept the car open just for us. But soon, the Thai staffs hospitality waned when they realized we could drink all night and weren't going to bed any time soon. So they kicked us out of the restaurant and closed the car for the night. Left to wander the cars with nowhere to continue our little party, we all somehow ended up in one of the bathroom cars. Out came another bottle of whiskey from the Germans and the night continued on, much to the annoyance of the rest of the train who were likely trying to sleep. We would meet lots of other Germans on our trip and i'll have to say they are quite the fun bunch of people. Especially when they get into the booze. So here we were, all crammed tightly into the washroom car, taking shots and discussing the differences between our countries late into the night. When finally enough people had come to complain and we decided we should probably head to bed. I stumbled back to my car, sat down in my chair and fell into a nice, whiskey induced sleep.



I woke up surrounded by thick, green jungle and beautiful mountains. There was a part between the cars which was open to the outside and I leaned out to take a look. The view almost immediately cured my hangover and I took a deep breath of some of the freshest air i've breathed. We were about an hour out of Chiang Mai already, what a great train ride.

Chiang Mai is a small city of about a million people in the hills of northern Thailand. It's surrounded by jungle and in close proximity to the many hill tribe villages that live in the mountains, who still try to maintain traditional ways of life. We took a Tuk Tuk through the main city to the hostel which I had picked out from my guidebook. Julies Guesthouse in Chiang Mai is definitely one of the coolest little places i've ever stayed and if anyone ever goes there I recommend it. The rooms were also 150 baht a night for a two bed private room. Which is about $4 Canadian. On the roof they have hammocks laid out and the downstairs common room is full of backpackers mingling. They even have a giant fridge they stock with beer and let everyone take whatever they want as long as they write down in a book what they took. That was the mood in Chiang Mai, laid back and friendly. The bar worked on the honour system for god sakes. This was a place that old hippies flocked to, and we met lots of them who had taken up permanent residence in the city. We explored the city a bit, but decided to take a day of rest before heading on any crazy adventures. At night we went to the Riverside bar and saw one of the best cover bands i've ever seen. Thai people know how to rock and roll like no ones business. Looking around the bar I noticed they were very different from Chinese people. The Thai are hipper and more stylish. They were more laid back and friendly than their distant cousins from the North. If I could describe Thai people i would say they are like Rastafarian Chinese. I heard Bob Marley and Chilli Peppers everywhere. They definitely had a better music taste than the endless Lady Gaga I hear in China.



The next day I rented myself a second bike. Scoot Scoot II. This red beauty came with helmets this time, but because i'm badass like that I decided against wearing it. But mostly because I saw children driving around on them without helmets. As you probably figured already, safety regulations are much more - whats the word i'm looking for.. non-existant.. in Asia. Like petting a 500-pound man-eating predator for example or driving 90 down a highway on a vehicle I had never driven before without a helmet. But, living in China the past 6 months I had grown used to the carelessness and come to embrace it. I myself had gotten a little better with driving the bike, but we were deciding if we were going to let Craig rent his own to follow us up the mountain we intended to drive up. We worried about our new adopted child, you know? I took him out on mine to show him the ropes and then gave him the keys and let him go off on his own for a bit. We were sitting eating breakfast when he came back covered in blood. He had bailed out on one of the busy streets and gone flying onto the sidewalk. We took the keys away and patched him up.
"Yea... theres no way i'm letting you get on a bike and try to drive up a mountain after that." I said to him. And we put him in a cab to follow us there.
We began our ascent up Mount Doi Suthep, about 20 minutes out of the city of Chiang Mai. The roads twist and turn sharply with perilous cliffs on the side of you. It was quite the ride and Vanessa was hanging on the back for her life as I twisted my way up the mountain. The view kept getting nicer as we made our way up. On top of the mountain, we visited a Buddhist Temple, had lunch and decided to go off on our own little hike through the jungle. As we made our way through the thick jungle we came across a bunch of caves where as we passed noticed some monks who had taken up residence in them. I tried to be quiet and respectful while passing them but much to my surprise they suddenly turned on some music and one started puffing on a cigarette. What was this? Were monks allowed to smoke cigarettes? Had we discovered renegade monks who escaped the monastery to live in caves? They did not speak a word of english but happily waved and smiled at us as we passed. It was a strange sight indeed. We headed back to the bike and made our way down back the mountain. I now wish I got a picture with smoking cave monk. Oh well.



On our last day in Chiang Mai, we signed up for one of the day trips. We jumped on a truck with about 6 other people and headed off about 2 hours out of the city. After one of the bumpiest rides of my life we got out at an elephant camp where we got to hang out with some elephants for a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed feeding them bananas for some reason. They would get all excited when you had them and follow you around until you gave them to them. Then they'd snatch them from you with their trunks and pop them in their mouth, peel and all. When it came to ride them I didn't really even want to. I just wanted to feed them more bananas. But the tour group had a schedule and moments later I was riding atop an elephant through the jungle. After the elephant ride we would have a three hour hike to a waterfall. And we pulled up the camp where we met our Thai guides, one of which was a dog, who ran through the jungle with tourists everyday and knew the route. We followed our canine guide through the dense jungle and eventually stopped at a little hill tribe village hut to have lunch. We ate some Pad Thai and then they gave us a bucket of rocks and slingshots to keep us busy for a little bit. Oh they knew me so well. After trying to peg a target for awhile the hike continued to the waterfall. And after a white-water raft trip back to the elephant camp, we got back in the truck and headed to visit one of the hill-tribe villages. The most famous one being the long-necked Karen tribe. Who you've probably seen in national geographic with all the rings on their necks. I had no idea they were in Thailand until then.

Just outside the Karen village there was a little monkey going crazy. He had a leash attached to him but he had gotten himself all wrapped around a bush. His owner was nowhere to be seen so I decided to help the little guy out and broke the branch, freeing him from his shackles.
This was a terrible mistake.
The monkey immediately jumped up and knocked someones drink out of their hand, which was a cold coffee drink. He then proceeded to drink the coffee and after that he was wired beyond belief. He went bananas.
Jumping off the bench at me, he grabbed onto my arm, climbed up and ripped off my necklace. I was pissed.
This monkey was going down.
I grabbed him and tried to pin him down on the ground but he jumped out again and started climbing up my leg. He started pulling my hair and I grabbed him again and tried to hold him still. Grabbing his little arms, flailing and punching me, I managed to throw him off me. At the time I was not very happy but thinking back I had just enacted one of my lifelong dreams. I had successfully had a duel with a monkey. Though he was far too nimble for me and I eventually gave up the battle. I still believe it was a tie.



After a long day of elephant feeding, hiking, white-water rafting and monkey battling we once again had to head back to Bangkok. When we got back to the train station we were informed that the train we were supposed to board had broken down and we would have to take a bus back. We weren't too happy about this but luckily the bus only took about 8 hours and we arrived back in Bangkok at about 5am monday morning. We checked into another of the thousand hostels near Kao San road and took a much needed day of rest.
We would be heading down south next, to the island of Koh Samet to spend the remaining days of our vacation in a tropical paradise.

Thailand Adventure part 2

I awoke to the sounds of the most annoying animal i've ever heard.
I thought the chinese bird outside my window or the man coughing up phlegm every morning was the worst, until I heard this thing. It would continue to pester me each morning in Kanchanaburi and regretfully I do not possess a firearm. Nature 1 Corey 0.
I stepped outside of our wooden hut to check out what was making this awful sound and was greeted by a wonderful little dog we afterwards nicknamed Buddha; Because he was wise beyond measure. It was then that I took notice of the 5 foot long lizard sitting on a rock beside our bungalow. Good start to a day so far.
We had our breakfast at our hostel on the terrace overlooking the lake. It was then that we met Craig from Vancouver. A 19 year old kid travelling through Thailand on his own and would later become me and Vanessa's adopted son. I left the two there and headed out into town to rent my motorbike.
At the rental place the man took my passport as a deposit and asked if I had ever driven one before.
"No, but i've ridden on the back of one in China many times." I said. This didn't seem to bother him in the slightest as he started up the engine and gave me a quick run down on the bikes controls. I left out the fact that I've crashed near every vehicle i've ever driven as well as have no balance whatsoever.
"Turn handle. Gas. Brake. Stay to the left. Go. Bye bye." He then quickly handed me the keys and sent me on my way.
I peeled out of the parking lot and wobbled my way slowly onto the street. I immediately regretted this decision. I was in ASIA for god sakes, with the craziest drivers in the world. Driving a vehicle with no experience, no insurance and no helmet. What the hell. You live once. I drove around town for a little bit to start to get the hang of driving, then headed back to the hostel before setting out.

Minutes later I was cruising the countryside, with the green mountains of Burma on my left and the jungles of Thailand on my right. It was a feeling of freedom hard to describe. After the first hour or so of driving my fear started to fade and I was becoming more confident on the bike. We even named the bike. Scoot Scoot.
Amazingly, I found my way there using the jumble of maps i'd picked up at the hostel and we finally pulled up to the Erawan 7-Step Waterfalls hiking trail entrance. On the way into the park I was surprised and shocked to bump into Ryan and Tyler; we had parted ways in Bangkok and I had no idea they would be there. It's weird how things like that happen and it wouldn't be the first time.



The Erawan waterfalls is about an hour hike up steep hills and rocks. There are seven tiers of the hike, each with an even better waterfall than the next until you reached the seventh. Which is the one the place is named after. As we made our way up the tiers I couldn't help to notice the abundance of fat old european men with incredibly attractive girlfriends. Oh how the hot ones cling to money. And i knew they were european because they were all wearing speedos. So. Many. Speedos. We made a game out of it. I probably saw at least 75 men hiking the trails or swimming in the waterfalls in speedos. All of which shouldn't, in ANY circumstance, ever consider wearing one in public. We were so distressed by the scenery in fact, we didn't even stick to the path at one point and went off on our own climbing up a waterfall. Doing so we didn't make it to the seventh waterfall before the park closed and had to go back the next day. After swimming in one of the pools and getting attacked by fish, a feeling I despised but everyone around me didn't seem to mind, we headed back down the trails. On the way down we came across a family of monkeys who laid claim to the steps leading down. I approached cautiously, as I was told the monkeys here sometimes attack people. The smaller ones moved away as I moved closer but the oldest and biggest one stood his ground, baring his teeth at me and staring me down.
If he could speak I was imagining him as Gandalf saying. "You shall not pass!"
I tried to find another way down the hill but they were all about a 20 foot drop. The stairs were the only way. It was do or die. Man or beast. As I was getting ready to challenge this primate to a duel over who may pass, a "Speedo" came by and threw a bag of peanuts at him. The monkey excitedly caught it and ripped the bag open, peanuts flying everywhere. Now was my chance! I quickly jolted around him and ran down the stairs.
Nature 1 Corey 1.

Back at the hostel we met up with Craig again and headed out for drinks for the night. After a random game of Jenga we found this bar sitting out on the street offering 10 baht shots. Which i believe is the equivalent of a few cents Canadian. We sat and met other backpackers from all over the world and enjoyed the end to a great day. Next, we would be heading to the Tiger temple.



The tiger temple in Thailand started out with one tiger cub. It's parents were killed by poachers and it was brought to a monastery near Kanchanaburi. After that many more tiger cubs were given to the temple to be raised by monks and the numbers quickly grew. It became a sanctuary for the declining numbers of tigers and eventually a tourist attraction, today, they have about 90 tigers. We were initially debating going or not because we had heard rumours of mistreatment and generally hated tourist traps, but when we got there we were proven wrong. All the tourist activities there are not intrusive. You are only allowed to help with or be part of natural daily activities such as walking them, exercises, feeding and playing. The part where you can take pictures with the bigger ones is during a point in the day where they generally nap. In half the pictures I have with the big guys they are asleep. But nevertheless, as I crouched down beside this 500 pound animal and pat him on the head, I couldn't help to be just a little scared knowing it could end my life instantly.
After escorting one of the big tigers on their walk to their resting area, we headed up a hill and through a random herd of water buffalo to the cub pen. We had payed a little extra to be part of the feeding. Luckily there were only about 3 other people with us and we had the little guys all to ourselves. There were 9 cubs, from only few weeks old to about a month. When we got there most of them were sleeping but they soon woke up for play time and were running all around us. Or trying to, the newborns could barely walk. I was playing with one of the younger ones when I noticed out of the corner of my eye one of the older cubs stalking around a corner. Next thing I knew he was charging at me full speed and pounced on my back, digging his new teeth into my side. He may have only been a month old but he had new teeth and was eager to use them. I was bleeding through my shirt as I chased him down and picked him up. "No mauling!" I said to him. Little bastard. Nature 2 Corey 1. But yes, now I can truthfully say I have tiger mauling wounds. It was such an amazing opportunity to be so close to these endangered animals. I can't think of too many places in Canada i'd get the chance to do that. After a quick feeding we said our goodbyes and headed home. It was one of my favourite memories from Thailand.

On the way home, just to add some more excitement to the day, I pulled sharply around a corner in town, lost control and rammed the bike into a bench. I flew off the side and scraped myself up bad on the sidewalk. Good job Corey. Almost two days without crashing and it had to happen at the end. Luckily, Scoot Scoot was okay but I ended up having to pay for the bench that I destroyed. I left it there but I'll have you know i'm the proud owner of the nicest, slightly broken, hand-made bench in town.

The next day we left Kanchanaburi, said goodbye to Craig and boarded another minivan for Bangkok. We would be taking a 13 hour overnight train up to the northern province of Chiang Mai. Where there was thick jungles and the southern tip of the Himalayas. As the bus pulled away I knew I would miss this little town, the waterfalls, the monkeys and tigers.
But I was looking forward to the next part of the trip.

Thailand Adventure part 1

It began like most of my adventures have;
Me running full speed through an airport because I miscalculated something or got lost somewhere. Out of breath, I finally made it to my boarding area to find the flight was delayed. Big surprise. Every single flight I have taken in China so far has been delayed. I got in the long line of asians and waited excitedly. I was finally going to Thailand. The months of waiting had finally passed. I was getting out of this dirty, cold city for one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
After a quick layover in Guangzhou, I finally landed at the Bangkok airport at about 11:30pm and waited around for an hour to see if i'd catch my friends landing. Ryan and Tyler (2 teachers from the Xudong branch) were supposed to be arriving around the same time as me. Almost immediately I noticed the amount of english everywhere. The Thai people were all so friendly and helpful. The language I had attempted to pick up became almost pointless as everyone there spoke english. The moment I stepped outside someone came up to me and asked me where I was going, translated for a taxi driver and escorted me there. This wasn't like China at all.
I made my way through Bangkok, past huge highways, toll booths and shopping malls, juxtaposed with hundreds of temples and massive pictures of the King on every corner. Yellow. Everywhere. It was a shock to my senses after the grey of China. I've never seen so much yellow in my life. As well as elephant statues. Thailand has revered elephants for many centuries as well as being part of their national symbol.
Driving through the very small back streets, I arrived at the area around Kao San road; The main spot for tourists and backpackers from all over the world. As I was pulling up to my hostel I didn't feel like I was in asia anymore. Hundreds of foreigners all sat at outside bars and restaurants. 7/11's on every corner. I would come to know this area well. I checked into the Wild Orchid Villa in my double room. Vanessa, My friend and travel buddy from Ottawa was supposed to have arrived that night, but her flight was delayed and she was stuck in Tokyo. So I was all alone in this strange new place, but after a long day of travel I passed out quickly.



The next day I stepped outside to the heat and blue skies. Suck it China.
Randomly, I finally bumped into some of the other teachers and we all set out for the day. Bangkok is situated on two sides of a river and a ferry taxi can take you to most of the main spots in the city. It was great travelling around Bangkok by boat and it offered scenic views of the various temples along the river. Me and another teacher boarded the boat and some lady started yelling at me. She pointed to a sign saying "space for monks." and I was standing directly under it. Great. I've only been here a few hours and i've already disrespected the culture.
In Thailand, Monks play a big part in society. Everybody is encouraged to become a monk for a few years of their lives. They must be silent, dress in a giant orange robe and shave their heads for the duration of there monkhood. Everywhere I went in Thailand there were monks and it was a strange sight seeing them in loud, bustling Bangkok. It's not a very serene city to say the least.



I visited my first temple compound, replete with giant conicle spires and the biggest Buddha statue i've ever seen in my life. There were also a lot of rules for being on temple grounds. You weren't allowed to wear shoes or shorts and women had to cover their shoulders. All out of respect for the city monks. The temples were tourist attractions, but they are still used daily by the hundreds of monks in the city. I respected the culture accordingly, and asked Buddha to not let me die a tragic death on my vacation. Why not.
As the day winded down I came to learn the other side of Bangkok. The nightlife. As I drunkenly staggered through Kao San at night, there was music and alcohol as far as the eye could see. The beer was also %6.4. Which after drinking the sad excuse the chinese call beer for so long, hit me like a truck. My third night in Bangkok I vaguely remember meeting some Thai people, downing some scotch and ending up at a gigantic club. It was shortly after that I realized there were absolutely no women in this club. Except for Vanessa, who had finally arrived, I wondered why it was the biggest sausage fest in all of Asia. Oh yes. I finally realized, I was at a gay club. Awesome.
I layed off the booze for awhile after that. We needed to get out of Bangkok asap. I packed my bags and we booked our bus ticket to Kanchanaburi, where we'd spend the next leg of the vacation.

We took a 4 hour mini bus out of Bangkok and, after passing out from our hangovers, we woke up in a much different scene than we came from.
Kanchanaburi is a quiet little town with a small foreign area for tourists and backpackers. It would become one of my favourite places on the trip.
The driver dropped us off in the middle of the town, and we somehow had to find our way to wherever this backpacker area was. Hoping my lonely planet guide book was up to date, we made our way to Sams place which was a hostel one of the other teachers had recommended. As we strolled through town, I immediately fell in love with this cozy little place. It had a small town feel to it and the main tourist street was lined with small westerner bars, restaurants and live music. Most of the town is right by the river and across that miles of jungle and the mountains of Burma. At Sams place, we checked into our little wooden bungalow that was actually on a platform over the riverbank and I talked with the owner a bit about my itinerary. I planned on renting a motorcycle and driving two hours into the countryside to the Erawan waterfalls. Let me add that I've never ridden one in my entire life. Add the fact that in Thailand they drive on the left side of the road. I also get lost quite often. But I decided that on this vacation I wasn't going to go with any tour groups or take guides, I was going to do things my own way. Which required a lot more planning and left lots of room for disaster. Which the bruises on my body would now tell you.