Crabby in Krabi?

I read this snippet in The Lonely Planet...

"If you find that everything suddenly and inexplicably sucks, take yourself to the nearest watering hole and have something to eat and drink..."

After

• a 12 hour train ride from Bangkok to Surat Thani, in a room the size of a small clothes closet, that had enough space to fit two backpacks lengthwise from head to toe, and enough room, barely, to squeeze two narrow cots (also known as our beds), where we managed to fit ourselves into various positions like a jigsaw puzzle of sorts...
  
• a 3 hour wait for a 40 min bus ride that took to the pier/bus stop where we would catch the next leg to Krabi
  
• another 2.5 hour wait at the pier where we situated ourselves, limbs askew, on linoleum tables and plastic chairs and munched on fresh bread rolls and hot Nescafe instant coffee, along with a couple dozen weary travelers from around the world
  
• a 3 hour bus ride to the town of Krabi, where we celebrated with a can of Singha beer and toasted being on the West coast
  
• a 20 minute sweltering hot walk into the town of Krabi to find a bus, tuk tuk, or taxi for hire that would take us to Ao Nang, the seaside town about 30 km away
  
• a 40 minute tuk tuk drive through the mountains to the ocean town of Krabi, on the Andaman Sea,

Jack and I were feeling very heavy. Everything seemed to suck - our exhorbitantly-priced room (by the standards we paid in Bangkok) was grungy, the water didn't work, we couldn't flush the toilet, all we wanted was to have a hot shower...

...we realized that we needed some sustenance!! It's easy to forget, in this intense heat, to drink enough water and to eat regularly. Something physically happens - you lose your appetite, and the idea of eating anything seems like such a bad idea, and things start to require a lot of effort. Your focus diminishes and your perspective changes.

Thankfully, at this point, we remembered the guidance of the Lonely Planet bible, and dragged our weary selves to a little eaterie along the main strip of Ao Nang. There seems to be a strong Italian presence in this village, and we ordered a huge bottle of water, gulping down glass after glass after glass, and two large pizzas. OMG, by the time we had finished the water and the food, the world suddenly seemed happier and brighter, and we were very happy to have arrived here!

It's the 25th today, and we are staying for another day. We woke up at 2:30 am, which seems to be our normal pattern at the moment. We read for awhile, then went for a walk along the beach at 4am. People were starting to wake up and the local 7-Eleven had hot Nescafe coffee. When the sun came up, we did yoga on the beach and went for a delicious and refreshing swim. (The water was still broken!)

Jack has spoiled us with a speed boat rental. It's a little 220 hp boat, that comes complete with 4 bottles of water and life jackets and snorkelling equipment. We plan on packing a picnic lunch and some beer, and driving the boat to some of the nearby islands. We will swim, sunbathe, snorkel, until we can't handle any more. Life is good!

Chohk dee for now! : )

tuk tuk adventures

Hello again!

It's day 2, we are still in Bangkok, and we had some fun adventures today! :)
We got up very early, around 6am, and the city was very much asleep. We wandered around for awhile, trying to find a place for a good cup of coffee to start the day.

On our quest, we found a shortcut alleyway, filled with the most amazing, eclectic collection. Street vendor carts parked alongside the walls, waiting for the days to begin. Some with food still on them, food that hadn't been sold, and would likely be sold today. Stray cats and dogs wandering around in search of scraps of food. Heaps of garbage, right next to little huts where people lived and slept. We stumbled across a Thai boxing gym, where you could pay for lessons, and where they held matches. The owner of the gym lived in a little room above the gym, that he accessed with a rope ladder. We saw pots and pots of lush, green, very healthy plants, and teak wood carved doors, that led into somewhat sketchy looking laneways. There were beautiful shrines, decked out with fresh offerings and burning insense. Quite a mixture.

After finding a place that served a delicious breakfast, we decided that we needed to book a train trip and some accomodations for the Full Moon party happening on the island of Ko Phangan on the 29th of July. It's a wild party, sometimes up to 4,000 people attend, and the available rooms on the island are hard to find. We met a man at the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) office named Ninja, and he helped us book our train ride to Krabi (the west coast of Southern Thailand) and some additional transport to and from islands, as well as for the Full Moon Party.

After negotiating and booking, we tuk tuked our way back to the road we've been staying on, called Soi Rambuttri. We found a slightly better room for tonight, and moved our gear to there. Then we decided that we wanted to experience what is known as the Weekend Market (Chatachuka). We had no idea where this market was. We hired a tuk tuk for 150 Baht (approx 5 dollars) which weaved us through the city for about 30-40 minutes. These tuk tuks can MOVE quickly, and the drivers think nothing of squishing themselves in between cars and trucks and other vehicles - even oncoming traffic! - to go as fast as they can to get to the destination.

The market is HUGE! It's like the size of a couple of football fields, packed with every kind of thing you could ever possibly imagine. There were rows and rows and alleyways filled with stalls. Food, drinks, wood carvings, clothing, silk, lingerie, jewelry and beads, purses and bags, hats, sunglasses, art work, those were just some of the things we saw. We wandered around for about an hour. I found a few sundresses to help keep me cool and Jack bought himself a pair of ganja shorts (Bob Marley inspired with the Jamacian flag colors of red, green, and yellow!). We sipped some lemonade, found ourselves getting very sleepy in the heat and the hustle and bustle, so we decided to head back to Rambuttri.

We found a tuk tuk willing to take us the distance, and settled in for the bumpy and harrowing ride back. The skies decided to open and we were immersed in a downpour. It felt refreshing, and we quickly got very wet. We hit some major traffic jams which left our driver increasingly aggitated, and it wasn't long before he was holding his head in frustration. As it turned out, there was a demonstration going on, which blocked all access to Khao San road. He got us as close as he could, and with a lot of grace and weary smile, he shook Jack's hand as we paid him and said thank you. So we hoofed it in the general direction, getting absolutely drenched, hoping that we were going in the right way, and not recognizing anything that we saw. We finally passed through the demonstration, across a bridge, and hailed another tuk tuk driver to take us what ended up being 5 blocks to our road. Wet and sleepy, we decided to have a quick shower and take a snooze.

We ended up sleeping for 6 hours straight. With only a couple of grumbling bellies to rouse us out of bed!

Tomorrow, we plan on taking in some other Bangkok sites - the grand palace, the Chao Praya river, maybe a longboat ride to see a floating market, and a Thai massage (or two). We catch our train at 5pm. It's an overnight train, 14 hour trip, to Krabi. And we will get to see some of the Thai countryside.

Until then! : )

Bangkok, baby!

It's almost 1am here in Bangkok. Jack and I have arrived, found ourselves a very inexpensive room on the San Rambuttri lane in the Khao San area of town. A part of town known for catering to backpackers with cheap accomodations (we are paying about $10 for our room tonight) and copious numbers of watering holes.

We dropped off our packs, freshened up as best as we could in the tiny sink in the room. The toilet is in a small closet in our bedroom, which also serves as the shower. Should be fun experiencing that tomorrow! ; ) Then we hit the town.

Talk about a stimulation of the senses. Tantilizing food smells from street vendors compete with diesel exhaust from motorbikes and tuk tuks. Loud trance music spills out from clubs called Lava and The Cave, while street musicians pund out rhythms with bongo drums and digeridoos. The streets are teeming with people - drunk, sober, people dressed to the hilt, and people like me in grubby hiking clothes. The signs are a mix of neon, English and Thai.

And it's hot and humid. My favorite kind of weather. The kind that makes your clothes stick to you when you do nothing more than engage in a conversation with someone.

Our bellies are now full of tofu, garlic, green curry, rice and lots of Singha beer. We stopped in to this little internet cafe to let you all know that we are well and happy.

Chat more soon!

Chohk Dee (cheers and good luck!)

...and we are off! : )

tongue Thai-ed

I keep stumbling over the Thai language. I find it challenging to phonetically sound out the words. I trip over how to pronounce sounds like "ng" and "phr." Even the simple phrase Thank you ("Kap Kun Ka") gets muddled in my head.

One of the more challenging aspects to the language is that often the English spelling of Thai words differs depending on what map or book you are looking at. For example, I've seen Ko ("island") spelled Koh, Kho, Khoh, and Ko.

I did find a sampling of some common words and phrases and thought I'd share them with you all. I love the distinctly Buddhist sentiment behind these words. The way the general approach to life seems to be to smile, have fun, don't worry/take it easy, enjoy feeling and finding peace, and let's wish everyone good luck!

It seems that my spirit "gets" these sentiments quite naturally. I hope my tongue can figure how to express them too! ; )

mai ben rai, mai mee bunhaa - "it doesn't matter, no problem"

The first phrase roughly translates to "it doesn't matter", the second to "no problem." Together, they typify the Thai approach to life: don't get bogged down by small obstacles, don't worry, take it easy.

sabai - "comfortable, relaxed, well"

This word is usually translated as "happy", but its use is often closer to "comfortable", "relaxed", or "well." To Thais, happiness is not a state opposite that of sorrow. Rather, it is more akin to tranquillity. Sitting by the seaside with the wind blowing your hair is sabai. Winning the lottery is not. Suffix the word dee, or "good", to sabai, and you get the standard Thai greeting: sabai dee mai?, or "Are you well?"

jai - "heart"

The close etymological connection between Thai words meaning "heart" and "mind". Jai, "mind", spawns the word hua jai, "heart". The word jai forms a number of compounds that describe human emotions.

jai rorn -- hot-tempered (hot mind) jai yen -- calm (cold mind) jai lai -- cruel (bad mind) jai dee -- kind (good mind) kao jai -- to understand (enter mind) korp jai -- thank you (edge mind)

gin - "eating"

Thais take eating very seriously, no doubt in part because of the strong Chinese influence on their culture. I know a Thai woman of Chinese ancestry who, rather than asking me "How are you", asks me "Have you eaten yet".

aroy - "tasty"

Deriving from this preoccupation with food is aroy, which means "tasty". Thus does aroy appear in the names of many a Thai restaurant. A common experience among newcomers to the kingdom is to be offered a food they have never seen before, together with the pronouncement aroy. Thais are very proud of their cuisine, so the follow-up question aroy mai? ("tasty?") is usually not far behind. (Suggested answer: aroy dee -- "yummy"? -- accompanied by a thumbs-up gesture.)

ba - "crazy, mad"

Westerners often receive - and deserve - the charge of ba!, meaning "crazy" or "mad". You are ba if you do anything stupid or unexpected, like driving poorly or dancing spontaneously.

pai - "go"

We have already seen two forms of Thai greeting, "Are you well" and "Have you eaten". A third employs the word pai, or "go": pai nai mah, or "Where have you been". It is really little different in intent from "What's going on?".

Pai is also the source of pa, which ostensibly means "let's go", or "get a move on", although a Thai will often say pa a hundred times over the course of an hour preceding actual departure.

sawatdee, chohk dee - "Hello, good luck"

No collection of essential Thai phrases would be complete without sawatdee, the all-purpose Thai salutation. Chohk dee, meaning "good luck". Chohk dee also serves as a fair substitute for "cheers", not in the evolved British sense of "thanks", but in the old-fashioned sense of "may the road rise to meet you, may the wind always be at your back."

Massage

I think the first place Jack & I want to do in Thailand is get a massage. You know, something to work out the knots and fatigue and aches from sitting and flying for 25 hours.

Surely, there must be a late night massage parlor available in Bangkok? ; )

Sanuk!

Sanuk is a wonderful Thai word! It's pronounced like "sa-nook" with a short "oo" sound.

The word "sanuk" describes a quality that all wish to find in themselves and search for in others.
It is a simple yet complex word that can mean joy or pleasure, and an all pervasive sense of "well-being."

I've also seen these descriptions of the word

• a sense that anything worth doing ought to be done pleasurably.
• comfortable physically,
• relaxed and at ease mentally
• to have a good time
  
• to enjoy oneself
  
• to derive pleasure and joy from something…

It is almost a rule of living for Thai people, that whatever they do has to be “sanuk.”

Here's to experiencing "sanuk" in my travels and my living! : )