THAILAND! Part 1
THAILAND!
That's where I was for ten days this month. When asked how it was, I am very speechless. There is no one word to sum up the experience. It was... horrifying, exhilarating, relaxing, silly, and much more.
Days one and two: Walked into SFO and stood in line to check in. An excited face appeared beside me. "Hi!" Nick was the only one there, and very enthused to see a fellow traveler. That's because Ryan and Ben were supposed to show up hours before me. Where the hell were they? Eventually they showed up and we waited at the terminal for a couple hours while they discussed how they should've spent more time playing Xbox.
The plane ride was 13 hours long. I took an Ambien right away and was delighted to wake up to only 5 hours left of flying time. That sentence depresses me.
During the layover in Taiwan (SUP, TAIWAN?) we changed clothes and got kicked out of a duty-free store for taking pictures. Typical.
Arrived in Bangkok (BANGKOK) and found all the moisture that ever existed. The humidity attacked my previously straight hair with ferocity. (I had to wear a hair scarf the rest of the trip to hide the medussa underneath.) We beckoned for a taxi with a meter who tried and failed to make conversation with Ryan in Thai. He didn't even end up using the meter!
Khasan Road! People everywhere with water guns. I mean everywhere. We couldn't walk two paces without getting squirted. We decided to call Evan right away, but didn't know how to use the pay phone. We put coins in and dialed, but it just beeped at us. Hey little Thai kid, let me point to this money and then point to the phone. Nodding does not help. Okay, let's try again. A Thai teenager stood in line behind us and was therefore obligated to help if he ever wanted to use the phone. He magically worked the phone and we met up with Evan. Only after being squirted and having buckets of water poured on us along the way. Oh, and flour was put on our faces.
Here's why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran
Had a couple beers...okay, a few beers. Okay, got a little drunk and then searched out our bus. The bus ride was 11 friggin hours long. I sat next to a German girl, enthusiastically talked to her for a few minutes, and the next thing I knew I woke up in the middle of the night entwined in Nick's arms with my legs grossly encroaching German Girl's space. Thanks, Ambien!
At around 5 am we arrived at the "waiting area." We were 11 hours south of Bangkok, but we still had to boat to Koh Phangan. I desperately had to pee at this point, so paid 5 baht ($1 = 35 baht) to use the bathroom. Which was basically a porcelain hole in the ground. Next to it was a pit of water with a plastic pot. Having no idea how this worked, I did my business and moved on. More on this later! (Oh believe me, it gets better.)
Bussed to Koh Phangan (rode in the air-conditioned VIP room for 30 baht more) and got on a taxi to take us to the other side of the island. MORE WATER FIGHTS. It was glorious. Any time the taxi stopped, kids and teenagers would throw buckets of water at us, drenching our persons and our belongings. Some good photos here: http://fifthdiversion.com/Thailand/1-Travel/index.html
Got to the other side of the island, took a short boat taxi to another beach, and checked into our bungalows. Mind you, this is a solid two days of traveling later.
Koh Phangan is beautiful yadda yadda, we were tired as all hell. Wanting to make sure I still knew how to sleep horizontal, I took a 3-hour nap. Oh wait! Not before using the bathroom! This time it was a toilet. No flush. But there was a big bucket with a smaller plastic pot on top of it. What was this plastic pot deal and how was I supposed to flush these Thailand toilets? There was a sprayer, like a bidet. I sprayed water into the toilet. Nothing. Oh well!
Our bungalows had two beds with single thin blankets (not that we'd need anything thicker), an outside hose for washing feet, a porch with two chairs, a very loud fan, a drying rack, a night table, and a vanity. The bathroom of the bungalow had a cold shower (not that we'd need heat) which was basically a hose/shower head that got the entire bathroom wet upon use. The entire room was quickly covered in drying passports, pants, and other wet belongings.
At around 8:30 pm we all decided it was time for bed. Dont forget, two solid days of traveling, okay? I asked Ryan how I was supposed to flush the toilet. Apparently I'm a spoiled Westerner who has never filled up a bucket of water and poured it into the toilet to flush it. Magic!
That's where I was for ten days this month. When asked how it was, I am very speechless. There is no one word to sum up the experience. It was... horrifying, exhilarating, relaxing, silly, and much more.
Days one and two: Walked into SFO and stood in line to check in. An excited face appeared beside me. "Hi!" Nick was the only one there, and very enthused to see a fellow traveler. That's because Ryan and Ben were supposed to show up hours before me. Where the hell were they? Eventually they showed up and we waited at the terminal for a couple hours while they discussed how they should've spent more time playing Xbox.
The plane ride was 13 hours long. I took an Ambien right away and was delighted to wake up to only 5 hours left of flying time. That sentence depresses me.
During the layover in Taiwan (SUP, TAIWAN?) we changed clothes and got kicked out of a duty-free store for taking pictures. Typical.
Arrived in Bangkok (BANGKOK) and found all the moisture that ever existed. The humidity attacked my previously straight hair with ferocity. (I had to wear a hair scarf the rest of the trip to hide the medussa underneath.) We beckoned for a taxi with a meter who tried and failed to make conversation with Ryan in Thai. He didn't even end up using the meter!
Khasan Road! People everywhere with water guns. I mean everywhere. We couldn't walk two paces without getting squirted. We decided to call Evan right away, but didn't know how to use the pay phone. We put coins in and dialed, but it just beeped at us. Hey little Thai kid, let me point to this money and then point to the phone. Nodding does not help. Okay, let's try again. A Thai teenager stood in line behind us and was therefore obligated to help if he ever wanted to use the phone. He magically worked the phone and we met up with Evan. Only after being squirted and having buckets of water poured on us along the way. Oh, and flour was put on our faces.
Here's why: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran
Had a couple beers...okay, a few beers. Okay, got a little drunk and then searched out our bus. The bus ride was 11 friggin hours long. I sat next to a German girl, enthusiastically talked to her for a few minutes, and the next thing I knew I woke up in the middle of the night entwined in Nick's arms with my legs grossly encroaching German Girl's space. Thanks, Ambien!
At around 5 am we arrived at the "waiting area." We were 11 hours south of Bangkok, but we still had to boat to Koh Phangan. I desperately had to pee at this point, so paid 5 baht ($1 = 35 baht) to use the bathroom. Which was basically a porcelain hole in the ground. Next to it was a pit of water with a plastic pot. Having no idea how this worked, I did my business and moved on. More on this later! (Oh believe me, it gets better.)
Bussed to Koh Phangan (rode in the air-conditioned VIP room for 30 baht more) and got on a taxi to take us to the other side of the island. MORE WATER FIGHTS. It was glorious. Any time the taxi stopped, kids and teenagers would throw buckets of water at us, drenching our persons and our belongings. Some good photos here: http://fifthdiversion.com/Thailand/1-Travel/index.html
Got to the other side of the island, took a short boat taxi to another beach, and checked into our bungalows. Mind you, this is a solid two days of traveling later.
Koh Phangan is beautiful yadda yadda, we were tired as all hell. Wanting to make sure I still knew how to sleep horizontal, I took a 3-hour nap. Oh wait! Not before using the bathroom! This time it was a toilet. No flush. But there was a big bucket with a smaller plastic pot on top of it. What was this plastic pot deal and how was I supposed to flush these Thailand toilets? There was a sprayer, like a bidet. I sprayed water into the toilet. Nothing. Oh well!
Our bungalows had two beds with single thin blankets (not that we'd need anything thicker), an outside hose for washing feet, a porch with two chairs, a very loud fan, a drying rack, a night table, and a vanity. The bathroom of the bungalow had a cold shower (not that we'd need heat) which was basically a hose/shower head that got the entire bathroom wet upon use. The entire room was quickly covered in drying passports, pants, and other wet belongings.
At around 8:30 pm we all decided it was time for bed. Dont forget, two solid days of traveling, okay? I asked Ryan how I was supposed to flush the toilet. Apparently I'm a spoiled Westerner who has never filled up a bucket of water and poured it into the toilet to flush it. Magic!