Sunday, January 31, 2010
Notes from Mae Hong Son, Thailand
In the wee hours of morning before sun's first light, I gathered my camera gear and put on my clothes, yet I was far from the only person stirring. I walked out the door of my guesthouse into the refreshingly cool morning air and began my walk up the mountainside. As I walked along the streets just beginning to fill with dawn's first light, I realized that I did not walk alone; for both in front of me leading the way and following behind walked men of the orange cloth. The monks who led my way were out gathering alms of food from the villagers, food which would make up there only meal of the day. As our company progressed up the hill, I split away from the group turning even further up the mountainside. I passed under golden arches guarded by dragons and the spirits of the woods in their shrines. Up a moss covered path I strode until I reached the long nearly endless stair up through the forest into the heart of the mountain. Up and up I climbed, flanked by twin Naga upon stairs so steep and crumbling that I had to grab hold of the scales of the great serpents to keep from failure. Finally, I reached the heart of the mountainside, the great shrine of the Buddha. I came upon the revered image, alone in the quiet of the early morning, and there sat myself down in mirror image of the that great meditater. There in that position I stayed, for several minutes until I finally got lost in the peace that comes when the mind quits searching for something to hold onto and surrenders to the silence. It was in that moment - I use "moment" yet I do not know how long it actually was, time is not a dimension of that space between thoughts - I say, it was in that moment that the sun's first rays reached over the peaks of the easten mountains, falling first upon the Buddha's brow, then slowly continuing to bathe him in golden light. A light, when reflected off of the gold leaf adorng the Buddha, made for a pretty awe inspiring sight. While I am not a Buddhist, nor do I classify myself as a member of some noes age order; there is one thing that I know for sure... In that moment, I got what my old Prof. Phillips was talking about, and what an exeprience it was.
Around Town
Well what to say about Chiang Mai... There are so many things to talk about that I am tempted to keep it short and simple in a way that is not at all like my usulal method of operation... So here it goes, hang on:
I went blasting up the moutainside on a motor scooter and through the sea of humanity in the streets as rush hour which lasts roughly from 4am in the morning until about 3am the following night.... I met some amazingly cool, free spirit hippy girl from berkeley arts college by way of Nevada city as she asked me for a light in the middle of a park... Played Jenga with previously mentioned artist, a pro, a lady boy, and a three year old as I watched drunk moo•ay•tai fighters kick the shit out of each other... Got blessed by revered monks... Saw a livng statue shrine, where a monk meditates for hours without moving or seemingly breathing...went to cooking school on and organic farm... Almost died of methane poisoning... Oogled at old fat guys going home with young girls, and consequently learned the Thai phrase roughly akin to "not looking for a sexual partner right now thanks"....Talked world cup prospects with a Brit, Sweed, and Italian... Got lost in a night bizaar, awe struck by temples, danced with Thai college girls, ate way to many thing when I had no idea what they were or what was in them... Amazingly didn't get sick... Got swallowed up by the friendliness of strangers... And inspired by a people.... Chiang Mai.... Cool place
I went blasting up the moutainside on a motor scooter and through the sea of humanity in the streets as rush hour which lasts roughly from 4am in the morning until about 3am the following night.... I met some amazingly cool, free spirit hippy girl from berkeley arts college by way of Nevada city as she asked me for a light in the middle of a park... Played Jenga with previously mentioned artist, a pro, a lady boy, and a three year old as I watched drunk moo•ay•tai fighters kick the shit out of each other... Got blessed by revered monks... Saw a livng statue shrine, where a monk meditates for hours without moving or seemingly breathing...went to cooking school on and organic farm... Almost died of methane poisoning... Oogled at old fat guys going home with young girls, and consequently learned the Thai phrase roughly akin to "not looking for a sexual partner right now thanks"....Talked world cup prospects with a Brit, Sweed, and Italian... Got lost in a night bizaar, awe struck by temples, danced with Thai college girls, ate way to many thing when I had no idea what they were or what was in them... Amazingly didn't get sick... Got swallowed up by the friendliness of strangers... And inspired by a people.... Chiang Mai.... Cool place
Friday, January 29, 2010
The long way
Here follows the account of Will Spear and the finding of the Old Sukhothai (basically I wrote this a few days ago but couldn't post it until now...enjoy).
In my last post I hinted that my coming to Old Sukhothai was a bit of an adventure, and indeed what an adventure it was... I got up nice and early in the morning in the cityof LopBuri so that I could catch the early train up to the city of Phitsanulok, from which I planned on catching a bus to the Sukhothai. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I should have hoped. To begin with, the early train which is a faster an nicer, was unexpectedly filled with a few million school children touring the area, such that seating which I had been assured the previous day would be plentiful, was, in a word, nonexistent. So I got to sit at the train station for an extra two hours or so until my shitty slow train with nearly iron seating arrived... The train was scheduled to take 5 hours to reach our destination; rather than the three and a half of the faster train which I couldn't get a seat on. I napped for about an hour or so and spent the rest of the time looking out the window at the endless rice fields and scenery. We stopped a few times for passing trains and what not and at the 5 hour mark I startedto get my stuff down and prepared to get off. In order to appreciate the situation there are a few things which I should further explain. You see, for the most part all of the train stations you pass through don't show up on your map, and aside from the major ones, you cannot tell where you are at unless you read Thai: I, unlike Jack, don't talk Thai Pam, don't talk Thai at all (meet the parents reference). So basically you look at your ticket and see what time you ate suppose to arrive and that is when you know when you should be getting off. Well, as my arival time came, my station did not, and we ploded along. Then we passed a big lake, and I though to myspef, huh... That shouldn't be there! I pulled out my big map to see wha lake it was, and HELLO, there was a big old lake at the halfway point! Shit. So yah, it took another three hours... Another three hours of two screaming French children running up and down the eyes and crying, three hours of me starving, and three more hours of little Thai ladys walkng up and down the isles screaming thier wares which included foul smelling meet products, which god help me o came perilously close to consuming... When finally we did arrive, I walked from the train station to the bus station. But when I got there, I found it was the wrong station, so I alked back to the train station to beg help in vetting to the right one. One of the train people got me on a little taxi thing which is bascally a quad with a covered trailer. Just before we were about to depart the woman told me that it would be 1 Here follows the account of Will Spear and the finding of the Old Sukhothai (basically I wrote this a few days ago but couldn't post it until now...enjoy).
In my last post I hinted that my coming to Old Sukhothai was a bit of an adventure, and indeed what an advnture it was... I got up nice and early in the mornng in the cityof LopBuri so that I could catch the eay train up to the city of Phitsanulok, from which I planned on catching a bus to the Sukhothai. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I should have hoped. To begin with, the early train which is a faster an nicer, was unexpectedly filled with a few million school children tourning the area, such that seating which I had been assured the previous day would be plentiful, was, in a word, noexistent. So I got to sit at the train station for an extra two hours or so until my shitty slow train with nearly iron seating arrived... The train was schedualed to take 5 hours to reach our destination; rather than the three and a half of the faster train which I couldn't get a seat on. I naped for about an hour or so and spent the rest ofthe time looking out the window at the endless rice fields and scenery. We stopped a few times for passng trains and what not and at the 5 hour mark I startedto get my stuff down and prepaired to get off. In order to appreciate the situation there are a few things which I should further explain. You see, for the most part all of the train stations you pass through don't show up on your map, and aside from the major ones, you cannot tell where you are at unless you read Thai: I, unlike Jack, don't talk Thai Pam, don't talk Thai at all (meet the parents reference). So basically you look at your ticket and see what time you ate suppose to arrive and that is when you know when you should be getting off. Well, as my arival time came, my station did not, and we ploded along. Then we passed a big lake, and I though to myspef, huh... That shouldn't be there! I pulled out my big map to see wha lake it was, and HELLO, there was a big old lake at the half 500 baht, for what should have been about 100... My spidy senses tingling, I told her the Thai word for bus station, she looked irritated with me and told the kid driving the contraption something an he sped off. After about four minutes of m trying to signal the kid to pull over, he finally did and we had a nice little chat about where I wanted to go and for how much. Indeed I did not want a two hour ride to Sukhothai, buta five
minute one to the bus station. He seemed to understand, but over the roar of the freeway we had somehow gotten on and the whole issue of language, it was hard to be sure. Yet, arrive we did at the bus station safe and sound. I waited arond for a while longer got on a bs and rode inbetween two old monks for a few hours until I got to the New Sukhothai. Tired and disheveled, I got to my guesthouse, at some food and went in search of a massage.
My but and back have never hurt that bad before, so sore were they from sitting in seats designed for people literally half of my size. I had yet to get a massage while in Thailand so I figured that there was no better time to go for it. What followed wase being ripped apart by the strongest little Asian woman I think might exist n the planet. This was no soft massage with scented oils, nor even a deep tissue massage. I got twisted and turnd in direcions I did not know I could bend, such that half way through it I was wishing I had stumbled into a
dirty massage parlor run by ladyboys, but this was not the case... Thankfully the secnd half hour was actually relaxing and I did walk away feeling both limber and relaxed... Yet still, it was a ranger fitting ending to a most interesting and unexpected days events.
As to the ruins of Old Sukhothai, it was one of the most amazing and spectacular places I have ever been, such that I feel my words
will never be able t do it justice. That said, I shan't try do describe it, I will simply have to show pictures to anyone who cares to see it when I return.
In my last post I hinted that my coming to Old Sukhothai was a bit of an adventure, and indeed what an adventure it was... I got up nice and early in the morning in the cityof LopBuri so that I could catch the early train up to the city of Phitsanulok, from which I planned on catching a bus to the Sukhothai. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I should have hoped. To begin with, the early train which is a faster an nicer, was unexpectedly filled with a few million school children touring the area, such that seating which I had been assured the previous day would be plentiful, was, in a word, nonexistent. So I got to sit at the train station for an extra two hours or so until my shitty slow train with nearly iron seating arrived... The train was scheduled to take 5 hours to reach our destination; rather than the three and a half of the faster train which I couldn't get a seat on. I napped for about an hour or so and spent the rest of the time looking out the window at the endless rice fields and scenery. We stopped a few times for passing trains and what not and at the 5 hour mark I startedto get my stuff down and prepared to get off. In order to appreciate the situation there are a few things which I should further explain. You see, for the most part all of the train stations you pass through don't show up on your map, and aside from the major ones, you cannot tell where you are at unless you read Thai: I, unlike Jack, don't talk Thai Pam, don't talk Thai at all (meet the parents reference). So basically you look at your ticket and see what time you ate suppose to arrive and that is when you know when you should be getting off. Well, as my arival time came, my station did not, and we ploded along. Then we passed a big lake, and I though to myspef, huh... That shouldn't be there! I pulled out my big map to see wha lake it was, and HELLO, there was a big old lake at the halfway point! Shit. So yah, it took another three hours... Another three hours of two screaming French children running up and down the eyes and crying, three hours of me starving, and three more hours of little Thai ladys walkng up and down the isles screaming thier wares which included foul smelling meet products, which god help me o came perilously close to consuming... When finally we did arrive, I walked from the train station to the bus station. But when I got there, I found it was the wrong station, so I alked back to the train station to beg help in vetting to the right one. One of the train people got me on a little taxi thing which is bascally a quad with a covered trailer. Just before we were about to depart the woman told me that it would be 1 Here follows the account of Will Spear and the finding of the Old Sukhothai (basically I wrote this a few days ago but couldn't post it until now...enjoy).
In my last post I hinted that my coming to Old Sukhothai was a bit of an adventure, and indeed what an advnture it was... I got up nice and early in the mornng in the cityof LopBuri so that I could catch the eay train up to the city of Phitsanulok, from which I planned on catching a bus to the Sukhothai. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I should have hoped. To begin with, the early train which is a faster an nicer, was unexpectedly filled with a few million school children tourning the area, such that seating which I had been assured the previous day would be plentiful, was, in a word, noexistent. So I got to sit at the train station for an extra two hours or so until my shitty slow train with nearly iron seating arrived... The train was schedualed to take 5 hours to reach our destination; rather than the three and a half of the faster train which I couldn't get a seat on. I naped for about an hour or so and spent the rest ofthe time looking out the window at the endless rice fields and scenery. We stopped a few times for passng trains and what not and at the 5 hour mark I startedto get my stuff down and prepaired to get off. In order to appreciate the situation there are a few things which I should further explain. You see, for the most part all of the train stations you pass through don't show up on your map, and aside from the major ones, you cannot tell where you are at unless you read Thai: I, unlike Jack, don't talk Thai Pam, don't talk Thai at all (meet the parents reference). So basically you look at your ticket and see what time you ate suppose to arrive and that is when you know when you should be getting off. Well, as my arival time came, my station did not, and we ploded along. Then we passed a big lake, and I though to myspef, huh... That shouldn't be there! I pulled out my big map to see wha lake it was, and HELLO, there was a big old lake at the half 500 baht, for what should have been about 100... My spidy senses tingling, I told her the Thai word for bus station, she looked irritated with me and told the kid driving the contraption something an he sped off. After about four minutes of m trying to signal the kid to pull over, he finally did and we had a nice little chat about where I wanted to go and for how much. Indeed I did not want a two hour ride to Sukhothai, buta five
minute one to the bus station. He seemed to understand, but over the roar of the freeway we had somehow gotten on and the whole issue of language, it was hard to be sure. Yet, arrive we did at the bus station safe and sound. I waited arond for a while longer got on a bs and rode inbetween two old monks for a few hours until I got to the New Sukhothai. Tired and disheveled, I got to my guesthouse, at some food and went in search of a massage.
My but and back have never hurt that bad before, so sore were they from sitting in seats designed for people literally half of my size. I had yet to get a massage while in Thailand so I figured that there was no better time to go for it. What followed wase being ripped apart by the strongest little Asian woman I think might exist n the planet. This was no soft massage with scented oils, nor even a deep tissue massage. I got twisted and turnd in direcions I did not know I could bend, such that half way through it I was wishing I had stumbled into a
dirty massage parlor run by ladyboys, but this was not the case... Thankfully the secnd half hour was actually relaxing and I did walk away feeling both limber and relaxed... Yet still, it was a ranger fitting ending to a most interesting and unexpected days events.
As to the ruins of Old Sukhothai, it was one of the most amazing and spectacular places I have ever been, such that I feel my words
will never be able t do it justice. That said, I shan't try do describe it, I will simply have to show pictures to anyone who cares to see it when I return.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Cats, Dogs, Monkeys, & Big Black Birds
Now that I Come to it at last, I realize that I have yet to say much about the places that i have seen thus far. This is do partially to the fact that i have only had internet access a few times, and that this has been on my phone where typing can be a bit tedious. Yet now I find myself with free access to a computer, i shall endeavor to give a quick few snippets of my adventures. To begin with Ayuthaya was quite impressive as my opening to my little adventure. It was once a seat of power some 500 years ago and there are many impressive ruins about the city. It is quite remarkable in that you see these massive ruins with little shacks surrounding them; there are in a way integrated into the city system, still in use by the people in some places a supports for their food stalls an hovels. In some parts of the city, great open spaces with ruins and intact Wats are fenced off and kept in the best possible conditions. How they go about deciding which to keep preserved and which to allow to decay I have no idea, given that it does not seem to be based upon the size, impressiveness, or age. At any rate, I quite enjoyed the experience of renting a bicycle for around 70cents for the day, and riding down the roads from temple to temple, getting lost amongst the many streets and back lanes - a theme which i would soon realize would mark the entirety of the adventure.
After exploring Ayuthaya, I ventured by train up North to the City of LopBuri, a rather larger city by populace than Ayuthaya, yet it has a fair number less ruins than than its southern neighbor. Yet still, the quite remarkable this about this place is the massive number of macaques, the little (and in some cases rather large) monkeys are bloody well everywhere. They climb up street signs, up building,across power and phone lines, all over the ruins, and yes, all over unsuspecting tourists. I say, my person was accosted and laid upon by no fewer than 11 monkeys throughout the course of my visit. You may guess that the first time this happened was rather shocking to say the least. I was walking down the street, when, from up on high, I was beset by a monkey. The little bugger had jumped from some lofty perch straight onto my back. Needless to say I was more than a little bit surprised by such an occurrence, lost all my wits, and flung about wildly until I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the curbside (by which I mean I danced around wildly, twisting this way and that, reached up and threw the little guy off me and ran away from him). That night, I had dinner with a Frenchman that I happened to chance meet, and after conversing for some time on such subjects as engineering, philosophy, law, and politics, we got down to the very fine business of determining that each city that we had ventured through thus far seemed to have its own representational animal. That is, that in each city, there is one species of animal that is allowed to flourish and run wild through the streets. To begin with, Bangkok has hoards of cats that run everywhere; a fact which I noticed in my short transportation time passing through the city, and later confirmed by my french compatriot. Ayuthaya has its packs of wild dogs which roam here and there, and LopBuri its Monkeys. When I say that they are ever present, I mean that one can barely take a step in any direction without fear of stepping on one. They are bloody well everywhere! This theory, I have since confirmed, when upon my arrive at my current location of Sukothai, I discovered that being void of cats, dogs, or monkeys, it is inhabited by large black birds which perch everywhere and cry quite loudly. Yet, my present location and how I came to be here is a different story wholly unto itself; and which I shall relay in its proper time and place. As for now, I am off to test my fortunes in the ruins of Old Sukothai against the white rain, which the birds are so willing to provide.
After exploring Ayuthaya, I ventured by train up North to the City of LopBuri, a rather larger city by populace than Ayuthaya, yet it has a fair number less ruins than than its southern neighbor. Yet still, the quite remarkable this about this place is the massive number of macaques, the little (and in some cases rather large) monkeys are bloody well everywhere. They climb up street signs, up building,across power and phone lines, all over the ruins, and yes, all over unsuspecting tourists. I say, my person was accosted and laid upon by no fewer than 11 monkeys throughout the course of my visit. You may guess that the first time this happened was rather shocking to say the least. I was walking down the street, when, from up on high, I was beset by a monkey. The little bugger had jumped from some lofty perch straight onto my back. Needless to say I was more than a little bit surprised by such an occurrence, lost all my wits, and flung about wildly until I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the curbside (by which I mean I danced around wildly, twisting this way and that, reached up and threw the little guy off me and ran away from him). That night, I had dinner with a Frenchman that I happened to chance meet, and after conversing for some time on such subjects as engineering, philosophy, law, and politics, we got down to the very fine business of determining that each city that we had ventured through thus far seemed to have its own representational animal. That is, that in each city, there is one species of animal that is allowed to flourish and run wild through the streets. To begin with, Bangkok has hoards of cats that run everywhere; a fact which I noticed in my short transportation time passing through the city, and later confirmed by my french compatriot. Ayuthaya has its packs of wild dogs which roam here and there, and LopBuri its Monkeys. When I say that they are ever present, I mean that one can barely take a step in any direction without fear of stepping on one. They are bloody well everywhere! This theory, I have since confirmed, when upon my arrive at my current location of Sukothai, I discovered that being void of cats, dogs, or monkeys, it is inhabited by large black birds which perch everywhere and cry quite loudly. Yet, my present location and how I came to be here is a different story wholly unto itself; and which I shall relay in its proper time and place. As for now, I am off to test my fortunes in the ruins of Old Sukothai against the white rain, which the birds are so willing to provide.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thai Purfume
Well my first few days of exploration were pretty amazing... But I think I should start at the airport. To begin with things seemed pretty similar to any city airport: there were planes trains and automobiles everywhere... I got a ticket and onto the train station bus with the greatest of ease, the entire time thinking to myself that there was no way my dad would have been so relaxed over the whole process. The train station reminded me of King's Cross in London, and apart from my butchering of the pronunciation of "Ayutthaya" getting on the train was again, surprisingly easy... That's when things started to change... As the train pulled out of the station I started to notice real differences between here and King's Cross, to begin with, the train pulled right through out into what was probably the poorest area I have ever been in my life... I am not talking about little houses or apartments, huts would also be a bit generous, I am talking more about rusty slabs of tin as roofs held up by odd bits of bamboo and twine. Trash was everywhere, massive amounts of it all over the place, bit unlike hoarders these people keep everything because a bit of plastic is valued as something which could conceivably be used... As we rumbled on a little further i saw multiple walled communities with names emblazoned in bronze like "nice village" and "modern houses" yet the walls which were there to separate the wealthy from the poor actually bought the poor closer by Giving people a very solid wall which they could create there homes against... Yet still, despite there positions of poverty, I am willing to bet that a great deal of these people were far happier than a great many Americans. Children where running around playing and laughing, mothers were cooking meals on makeshift stoves over fires fueled my bits of dung and other goodies, everywhere there were smiles, it was a pretty humblng experience... As we moved further and further out of the city, I saw how the Thai government deals with all the trash along the roads (I am fairly sure that most all trash ends up here from the city as opposed to a trash can becuase it was like all the contents of a dump, from bits of plastic to matresses and bathtubs) they rake it up and burn it, or they don't rake it up and just straight up burn it... I really think that a patch was on fire about every half mile. The smoke mixes with the sewage in the seeming never ending network of nearly stagnent pools and canals of water to make for quite the purfume which sticks to everthing thanks to the humidity... Welcome to the rest of the world little white boy... If perspective was my so called reason for coming here... I think that this trip will definatly achieve the said purpose.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
From One Side to Another
Well, I made it... And what a long way it was. I got on the plane in SFO thinking to myself, how bad can this be... I mean it's far, but it's not that far right... WRONG... It IS that far... The first leg was pretty bad 14 hours cramped in the far back of the plane shoved in the corner with the only entertainment to speak of being a small screen 15 rows up which i couldn't see... The ambien lasted about 5 hours the rest of the time was spent trying to get comfy... Which didn't happen.
Next came a layover in Taiwan... All I remember about that place is that there are some serious mountains around the airport... Then the flight to Hong Hong .... I spent that flight praying that I wasn't going to die... It was uber foggy out and the pilot in his wisdom decided to freak everyone out through the massive turbulence by cutting the engines back and then ramping them back up constantly, so much so that no one, including the
flight attendants by there facial expression, was to sure that the engines weren't going to blow up... And as I sat there looking around, i thought to myself "hey, this could be fun, it will be like lost." I sat wondering if I would be the leader like Jack, the sneaky bastard like Sawyer, or the crazy guy like Lock... Then I realized that no... I wouldn't be those guys, I would be Jin, the guy that nobody understood what the hell he was saying because I was one of like 3 whiteys on the plane, and the other guys were German... I would be Jin and I wouldn't have a wife to translate for me... Yah, worst flight ever...
Then came yet another layover in HongHong which I spent walking the entirety of the massive airport... I got on that 3 hour flight in a rather exhausted stated... At least I got to watch a lame Bruce Willis movie on that flight... I landed in Bangkok, got lost in the airport trying to find my luggage until I figured out I had to go through customs first... So I got my stamps, got my gear and hopped on a bus to the train station where I was accosted by an English girl who wouldn't shut up no matter how many I'm tired and want to sleep hints I dropped... I got to the train station and took a 2 hour ride through the poorest part of the city and then out and up to ayutthia... I got of the train and met up with a guy who looked just as lost as me, we made our way to a river crossing ferry, then we parted ways an I walked down the street until I found a guesthouse that I had read about... The had a room, thank god, I took it, dropped off my shit and went in search of food and drink as I had had nothing but a beer and a bit of airplane pasta since dinner in sf... I was so tired I settled for a liter of water, went back to my guesthouse, had a shower and went to bed.... It was a good sleep.
Next came a layover in Taiwan... All I remember about that place is that there are some serious mountains around the airport... Then the flight to Hong Hong .... I spent that flight praying that I wasn't going to die... It was uber foggy out and the pilot in his wisdom decided to freak everyone out through the massive turbulence by cutting the engines back and then ramping them back up constantly, so much so that no one, including the
flight attendants by there facial expression, was to sure that the engines weren't going to blow up... And as I sat there looking around, i thought to myself "hey, this could be fun, it will be like lost." I sat wondering if I would be the leader like Jack, the sneaky bastard like Sawyer, or the crazy guy like Lock... Then I realized that no... I wouldn't be those guys, I would be Jin, the guy that nobody understood what the hell he was saying because I was one of like 3 whiteys on the plane, and the other guys were German... I would be Jin and I wouldn't have a wife to translate for me... Yah, worst flight ever...
Then came yet another layover in HongHong which I spent walking the entirety of the massive airport... I got on that 3 hour flight in a rather exhausted stated... At least I got to watch a lame Bruce Willis movie on that flight... I landed in Bangkok, got lost in the airport trying to find my luggage until I figured out I had to go through customs first... So I got my stamps, got my gear and hopped on a bus to the train station where I was accosted by an English girl who wouldn't shut up no matter how many I'm tired and want to sleep hints I dropped... I got to the train station and took a 2 hour ride through the poorest part of the city and then out and up to ayutthia... I got of the train and met up with a guy who looked just as lost as me, we made our way to a river crossing ferry, then we parted ways an I walked down the street until I found a guesthouse that I had read about... The had a room, thank god, I took it, dropped off my shit and went in search of food and drink as I had had nothing but a beer and a bit of airplane pasta since dinner in sf... I was so tired I settled for a liter of water, went back to my guesthouse, had a shower and went to bed.... It was a good sleep.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Green Dragon
So here I am, sitting at the Firewood Grill in SFO, sipping a pint wondering what the *+%# I am doing... Three months ago I got an email from Meg telling me I should come out to SE Asia... I thought to myself Thailand huh... Why not? So now I sit in SFO awaiting the start of the grand adventure... I will be living outta my backpack for the next two months, in a foreign land... For no other reason in my mind for going than because it was on the menu... Don't get me wrong, I am super excited, it is just that it all feels a little strange now that I come to it at last... The longest that I have ever been on my own for was 4 days in a national park surrounded by A bunch d folks named Jones and Smith... And now I am off for 2 months... Maybe I will leave as a 22 year old boy lost in the realm of adults and come back as a boy who can be a man when he wants in order to satisfy society and his soul without ever losing his schoolboy heart... Or maybe I am just a guy who likes to think about everything on a grandiose philosophical scale... Yet at the very least I am sure that this all seems very surreal.... Surreal, but nice.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
$25 Underwear
Well, I'm getting closer and closer to the big departure and in the course of all of my preparation, I think that I have stumbled upon a new masters thesis... why white people feel great about buying $25 underwear so long as the brand is EXOFFICIO... I mean come on... here I am looking in guidebooks for the cheapest tuk-tuk, crossing off possible guesthouses because they cost and extra $2 a night, looking for the cheapest place to buy bottled water in Chaing Mai so I can save 1.8 cents a purchase, yet sitting in my REI designer backpack is $50 in underwear... for 2 freaking pairs...and why, oh, why do i think that that is acceptable in my mind...BECAUSE, this underwear dries really quickly....Dries really quickly you say? YES, dries really quickly!!!! And every other liberal, granola, wannabe hill man out there is so with me on this one, because yah... they might be $25 bucks a pair, but they dry REALLY quickly!!! Forget about the fact that for the same price I could literally turn normal underwear into single use underwear (by this I mean i could put on a brand new pair, wear for a day, defecate in them, chuck em, and repeat)... cause man... do these ones dry quickly... I find it so very interesting that we all wear goodwill clothes with a certain badge of smug honor, scorning those dumb bitches who spend their hard earned greenbacks at designers stores, yet when it comes to REI, ridiculous prices there get a pass, and not just a pass, but a high five... cuz man... those threads, they dry like super fast...
Although I must admit, the idea of finding a pair Exofficio underwear at the goodwill... wow... if only i didn't have a phobia of wearing second hand drawers...
As an afterthought: along these same lines is my $200 flashlight which doubles as a meat tenderizer (especially meat still attached to a would be assailant) which i just spent $18 on for new batteries!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Ticket Bought
Well, I did it, I bought the bastard... 41 hours of transit, 3 countries, 58 days, one survivor!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Pre-Book Freakout
So I have done copious amounts of research on flights, visas, and timetables for the big trip. I know more than I ever intended to, and therein, I believe, is the problem. What is the problem you ask? Well that's simple, I am scared of making the big ticket purchase only to find out an hour later that I should have done something differently. My main concern right now is the timing. Timing has never been my strong suit, from birthdays to love to finals, my timing has always been a little off; like that time I forgot to turn in a final only to remember as I went to get another round between pool games. In this instance the dilemma mainly revolves around how long I ought to be going for. My life at the moment has consisted of day to day activities and the main way I keep track of time is my temporal relationship to the next soccer game planning, so the very thought of scheduling to be gone for 2 months time scares the crap out of me. Moreover, since I am off by myself as the master of my own domain rather than tagging along a guided tour I will invariably be responsible for planning my own life, an intensely gratifying yet foreign concept. So can I handle booking a ticket back to the states a full 58 days after I leave them...I sure hope so...I need to muster my courage or else i fear i shall regret it for the rest of my life.
The Inaugural Post
Welcome one and welcome all! I am so very excited to have finally finished the construction of this blog (next time I think I will outsource the damn thing). This bad boy should be the prime source for all of you Will fixes, as I plan to update it as often as I can. The next couple of months' posts will make up the first volume of this blog with multiple volumes to follow at times to be announced. Over the course of this volume I hope to share with you the inner-workings of mine genius as I plan for, embark to, and hopefully return from South East Asia. Hopefully by the end of it all I can finally find some quiet place to settle down and finish my book.
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