Thailand
Well, while most of you were out basking in the glories of spring in the US (the splendor of which I am perfectly aware), I managed to while away the month of April in one of the most scenic places I have ever seen, surrounded by some of the most happy people I have ever met, eating some of the most fantastic food I ever hope to eat and all for the low, low price of having to put up with a few tourists along the way. Yes, Thailand (or what I experienced of it anyway) was…wonderful.Little did I know beforehand, April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, the end of the hot season just before the wet season. So, where better to spend the month than down on the beach, with the sea breeze preventing total system meltdown. So, that’s what we did! (oh, sorry, remember my friend Justin who I met in Ecuador? well, he’s done with peace Corps now and met up with me in Thailand and we will continue to travel together for a couple of months in India.) And, we didn’t head to just any old beach, but the peninsula in the Andaman Sea which is home to umpteen world-class rock climbing routes! So, it was a month of basking in the Thai sun (not nearly as intense as the NZ sun), and then getting back into the shade as quickly as possible, and venturing into the world of rock climbing, surrounded by some of the world’s best climbers and some of the world’s best climbing! While my climbing is well short of world class, I am a lot better now than I was to start with, and I’m hoping to do more when I get home.
The rock climbing though was really just a vehicle for experiencing Thailand in a way that allowed us to stay in one spot and get into the Thailand groove — and what a very nice groove that is. While it is true that Thailand is full of tourists these days, the plus side is that it means there is considerable infrastructure for travel (making it surprisingly easy to get around) and it’s all the more rewarding when you do feel like you’ve gotten a slice of life off the tourist track. Justin and I stayed on a little beach called Ton Sai, and it was really a little haven of rock climbers (Thai and tourist alike) all just hanging out and doing what they love. I imagine that the Thai culture we were surrounded by may be too small of a sample to judge the whole culture by, but what I encountered was happy people who weren’t particularly concerned with having/getting any more than what they had. Smiles were broad and quick, and rarely hid any ulterior motive. I’ve heard that people around Krabi (the largest town nearby) and the coastal area there are meant to be not as friendly as other areas of Thailand, but the vast majority of people I encountered where happy to lend a helping hand if need be and without any expectation of reimbursement. It made for a really relaxed, open atmosphere in which both Justin and I felt very comfortable. There were the odd twinges when we’d see old (usually flabby) men walking around with a pretty, young thing (Thai) on his arm, and we would be forced to remember that there’s often a dark side to any real-life Shangri-la.
I suppose that dark side was much more apparent in Bangkok where we had to spend a day or two when we arrived and another day before we left. While it was shockingly clean and unimaginably huge to me, people living in poverty were more apparent and girls sold into the sex industry were openly available for any takers. Obviously, there is A LOT of Thailand that I did not experience, but would very much like to some day (in addition to including Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — if you ask me, the world tain’t no small place at all).
Let’s see, specific highlights of my month in Thailand would include: belaying out of a longtail boat while Justin climbed a pillar of rock rising out of the sea, learning about Thai cooking and ingredients and discovering how easy so much of it is (and how it’s even yummier than what we get at home), getting through the crux moves of “Karaoke” a climb that I bombed on the first time I tried it, taking a dive trip in warm, turquoise waters, walking through the red-light district in Bangkok, Tina’s! the best and cheapest restaurant on the beach.
I guess that’s all I can think of now. It’s only been a short while since I left Thailand, but already my head swimming with all that is India. I’ve been in Mumbai less than 24 hours and already I feel like I’ve been put through the wringer! Surely to be a good web post in another couple of months! Stay tuned!
NEXT STOP: India
(You’d better all be enjoying that glorious spring while I’m here trying to survive 105 degrees in the shade! I know, I know, poor me!)
April 29, 2004 in Asia
