Greetings!
I am currently only 1 ½ days away from India and figured I needed a blog update, that, and I am avoiding writing a paper due later today (but don’t worry, I’ll get it done!).
I know I wrote the day of riding elephants in Thailand, but that was over a week ago now. If I can I will try to properly summarize my travels during that time.
The last day of my Academic Field Program (AFP) we drove into Bangkok from port and went to meet with a professor from Chula University. His lecture was to be combined with a site visit in the city. It turned out that our site visit was to a slum in Bangkok. The professor told us about the current conflict that is ensuing between the slum community and the Thai government. The Thai government wants to build a public park where the slum of 300 people currently resides. The members of the community are fighting at hearings and working with Chula U. to stay where they are. Some families have been living in the same spot for 600 years and they do not want to be relocated. We were able to walk through the slum and see how people were living and then sit down and talk with the community leader about their current plans. They are willing to make concessions to the government such as offering night patrols, conceding part of the land, and providing cultural shows to tourists. It was a really amazing experience, and something that I never would have found on my own. (We also saw a cock fight as it is a traditional part of their culture-each rooster would sell for around 1,000 US Dollars!!!)
Moving on. That afternoon we had lunch at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the river and then Eva and I went directly to the Grand Palace (the former Royal Residence of the Thai Monarchy). We were able to walk all around the Grand Palace and see the huge temples and grounds, but it was hot and we were exhausted from walking with our heavy backpacks. Before we left, a girl from a Thai university interviewed us for her school project which was really nice. And THEN a whole group of Thai high school students (25) started asking us questions for their school project regarding tourism. They were so amazed that we were traveling and only 20 and all the boys were shy with us. One of them wanted to take a picture with me and then everyone wanted one, I guess it was a pretty big deal to take a picture with an American girl, lol. But they were all very nice and fun kids, it also shows that the Thai government is well aware of the importance of tourism in their country.
On our way to finding another activity we ran into some tuk-tuk drivers that were very friendly and spoke pretty good English. They bought us ice cream and took pictures with us and even tried to kiss us! It was hilarious! Then they drove us to the huge Reclining Buddha temple for free as I think we made their whole day J
That evening we had a bus to catch at 7:30 and we got stuck in Bangkok traffic for 45 minutes at 1 light. I was hyperventilating as we were meeting a group (of 7 people= Pablo from Spain, Yuliya from Russia, Lucia, Jen, Sara from Mexico and Luis from the US/Mexico) and I was afraid to miss them/the bus. It ended up fine and we got to the bus where it was a 10 hr ride to the north. On the bus (a VIP bus for about $25) they gave us blankets, pillows, snacks and even played 2 horrible horror movies (a werewolf one and a Japanese stalker movie) to our dismay. When we arrived early, 530 a.m., in Chiang Mai we were shuttled to an alternate hotel as ours was not ready. However that hotel was fully booked too, so they offered us 2 rooms with 2 huge beds, for 9 people. 5 of us slept in one bed and 4 in the other for about 2 hours before moving hotels. Needless to say that was interesting. Then we get taken to another hotel, that is not the hotel that we paid for, but was apparently an “upgrade.” The hotel was fine, but not the hotel we had booked, but we wanted to get our day started so we just dealt with it.
That day we went to a huge Buddhist temple on a hill outside Chiang Mai, it was a large complex and had the most beautiful view of the city from high above. There were hundreds of monks there that day as well which was very cool to see. (in Thailand, every male Buddhist has to be a monk for at least 3 days of their lives). We had fresh strawberries and orange juice while walking to the temple and it was a great day. That night we went to a huge night bazaar and did some good shopping. The markets are enormous and go as far as the eye can see. My friend David met up with us that night and we exchanged Thailand stores thus far and ate a traditional Thai banana/chocolate/fried thing from the street that was pure heaven.
O I forgot to say, that I looked up the LDS church in Thailand and wrote down the address. I remembered that afternoon to casually ask my hotel if they had any idea where the building was or if it even existed. They pointed me outside and gave me some directions. I took a left and a left, and the church was literally right in the backyard of the hotel. It was weird, because I was not even supposed to be staying in that hotel!!! I walked in and found some sister missionaries and they told me church was the next day at 930. I was ecstatic! So I went to church in Thailand! They have the missionaries translate from Thai to English and I stayed all 3 hours while my friends went on a river thing. It was wonderful, the people were so nice, and there was even a monk attending church that day, although I don’t know for what purpose? I met several young couples, one from BYU, and they dropped me off at a nice restaurant for lunch. Then I went to a spa and had an aromatherapy massage and a foot reflexology massage and it was amazing. (Jealous, Carol?) It was a fantastic day overall.
The next morning, on a tour, we left for Chiang Rai, a city to the North where the Golden Triangle is. We stopped at a Long Neck Village along the way and man was that a sight. The Long Neck people (you have all probably seen pictures of them, they have the large gold necklaces around their necks, the older/more beautiful you are the more you wear) who are actually a Burmese tribe have been set up in Thailand. They are refugees from Burma that are allowed to stay in Thailand by the Thai King if in exchange they become a tourist attraction. So tour groups pay the tribe to bring tourists to take pictures of them. It is the ultimate exploitation but it does provide them a sustainable life. You feel awful though, walking through their “village” which is really just booths of their artisan crafts and many of the young girls dress in traditional dress and put on makeup for the tourists. The children are adorable but they often seem bored or sad as they man the booths for their families. That’s all I can say about that.
Then we went to the border of Thailand and Myanmar/Burma and did tourist shopping (part of the tour). And then we made it to the physical Golden Triangle, the area where Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand all meet. We were even able to take a boat across the river and briefly enter Laos. In Laos you pay a small amount to enter and then there are tourist vendors all along the main little “strip.” But Eva and I found 3 young boys playing out behind the shops and we played with them. I gave them gum and taught them how to give High Fives, it was the cutest thing. They were all dirty and had been playing in the mud and their teeth were rotted but they seemed happy as could be. They did as us for 5 or 10 baht, but as we have grown accustomed to this we try not to give money to any children. Instead, I went and bought them all ice cream and they seemed to enjoy that just as much and forgot about asking for money.
The next morning we flew back to Bangkok to catch the bus to the port. We arrived about 45 minutes early so David and I went to a nearby park. We walked around the park for awhile but then only had about 15 minutes before the bus was leaving. Suddenly, we saw these small paddle boats on the lake in the park and we ran and got into a goose shaped one. We paddled for about 5 minutes around the lake (the guy thought we were crazy) and then proceeded to run back to the bus. We made it in time but were sweating all the way back to the port (a 2 hour bus ride).
So Thailand was great. Sorry it took me so long and 3 pages to say all that but the whole last half of the trip I chose adventures over internet so I just get to write.
Since re-boarding I have had 4 days of classes (today at 230 is my last) and we have been planning for India. It was quite beautiful to see Indonesia and Singapore from the ship as we went through the Straits of Malaka (I think that’s what they were called) everyone was watching for pirates as it is infamous for pirate attacks. However, we made it out safely (I was told today though that a boat behind us was attacked by 6 smaller boats-Thank goodness we have a big ship!!)
I am going with Ryan to Kolkata (Calcutta) for 3 days and then meeting Maureen in Delhi to go to the Taj Mahal. I have 7 days of free travel and I am excited to really experience India, scared, but excited. Ryan and I want to do some service in Kolkata so hopefully we can find some. I will also post pictures on Facebook and send out the link to any/all who want to see my journey so far. I did try posting from onboard yesterday but the bandwidth is just not big enough.
Last night we had the 2nd Scholar Ship Hunger Banquet and it was quite informative. I was a low class woman from Senegal and my dinner consisted of a bowl of rice that I had to eat with my hands on the floor. It was eye opening to think about the fact that only 10-15% of the world is high class, 10-15% middle class, and the rest low class. And many of the countries I am visiting very accurately exhibit these proportions. Many initiatives have been taking place on the ship and I hope to see other good experiences like this one in the future.
Today we are having church onboard again and it is fast Sunday so I am starving! This is the first time I haven’t eaten breakfast onboard and man do I miss it! Tonight is also the cultural show from Asia/Australia and I know it will be great fun as people perform Bollywood dances, an Asian soap opera and other numerous and hilarious things.
Sorry to write for so long but a lot has been going on. I will write from India with more news! Love and miss you all!
O and Erin and Nate are engaged! Yay! I will be going to San Diego on June 21st for their wedding. She is the first of my 6 best friends from BYU to get engaged and I am quite happy for her!
Kasee
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