The Last Days, Or It Ain't Over Until You Get A Job

After my quiet days on Ko Pha Ngan, I took a ferry to the mainland and the overnight train back up to Bangkok, discovering that all trains are not equal. Second class does not look the same on each train. Again, I had an upper berth, but this train was packed with locals. The train rolled into Bangkok's train station at 6am, and I was back in the bustling city. I spent the Sunday at the markets and checking out local art galleries. On the last day of my trip, after sleeping in, I took a cooking class at the Blue Elephant cooking school. Something I had put off due to the expense, but definitely worth it.

My only regret is that is did travel for longer. But I've got time, and my passport isn't full yet...




The Upper Berth: "Travel is glamourous only in retrospect."

Thailand's Islands--Where I Learned to Love Bungalows

Local Dive Master: So you are here during our worst two weeks of weather for the year...
Me: Oh well you know, sh*t happens.

Traveling overnight to the islands is the cheapest way to go, but certainly not the most glamourous. The one hour flight seemed to take all day with transfers to the ports. So I headed to the travel agent in the train station, while I waited for the train that would never come. I was hoping to get a spot on the overnight train. That would prove impossible. I was traveling the weekend before the Full Moon Party and all of the Thais had a three-day weekend. What cha gonna do? So overnight bus was my last choice. But at least you get an all inclusive ticket, bus and boat to the island. I got to the train station at 9pm. And I arrived on the island of Ko Tao at 7am.

I chose Ko Tao after a friend had told me it was the cheapest place in the world to get diving certification. So I figured I would try it, and if I had time head of to other islands. I ended up spending three days learning how to dive. As mentioned above, it wasn't the best time to be in the islands. During the rainy seasons, different sides of the gulf experience a lot of storms. And usually you can pick where to go because when one side is stormy, the other is fine. I was there during the two weeks, when both sides of the islands have bad weather. But I figured a rainy day on Ko Tao, had to better than sunny days back home.

With a few days to go, I was bored of Ko Tao, but too tired to make my way to the other islands I wanted to see. The thought of packing my bag again made me want to cry. So I hopped the morning ferry to the neighboring island Ko Pha Ngan. I hopped on a motorcycle taxi and headed toward the less populated side of the island. I had only one stipulation--I wanted a bungalow, and it had to come with a hammock. At the first hotel, I found my 10 dollar a night bungalow with a hammock. I spent the next two days, scootering around the island, sleeping on the beach, or sleeping in that hammock. There are worse ways to spend a few days.






The cat decided that it also lived in my bungalow.


















The second one from the beach, yep that's mine.







Tan lines, a pedicure, and sand between my toes. Like I said, there are worse ways to spend a few days.

So You Want to Go to Ayuthaya?

Ayuthaya was the center of Thai culture from the 14th century into the 18th century. I had seen it's impressive temples in books, and as we all know, I love to look at old things. So off I went for a day trip from Bangkok to see the city. Or so I thought. . . You can take a local commuter train for 50 cents to Ayuthaya. The ride is supposedly and hour and a half. When I arrived at the station, a man from the info desk rushed to ask me where I was going. (You are foreign so you must not know what you are doing!) He said my train was leaving in five minutes and hurried me to the window to buy a ticket. The younger attendant would not let me buy a ticket for that train and suggested the A/C car of the one in 50 minutes for ten dollars. I caved just to get on my way. The older attendant however was very upset that he would not sell me the earlier train and started yelling at the young whipper snapper. I definitely learned that along the way, some people are just going to be there to help you out.

I killed time by booking my transportation to the islands and went to wait on the platform. Now when you can't read signs, there is always the doubt in your head that you might not be in the right place. However, there were a few other tourists so I just stood thinking I had figured it out. After striking up a conversation with a retired English professor from New York, we both realized a long time had passed. Our train was at least forty minutes late. We found an attendant and asked about the train.

English: Train will come in a few minutes. Train is late.
Thai: Train is late. It may or may not come today, such is life. However, I will refrain from telling that another train for your destination is leaving in ten minutes. Perhaps you will figure that out yourselves. Have a nice day.

Well some others figured it out, and we ran to the cashier to exchange our tickets with about 15 seconds to spare. The four of us jumped onto the moving train to discover...no seats. We walked the length of the train looking for seats for the 2 hour, unair-conditioned ride. (So that's why it's fifty cents!)

I stood as two older women took up four seats. Eventually a man came along and told them to let me sit down. (Again, someone will come along and help you out.) So I sat on my wooden seat angled at a perfect 90 degrees.

With the late train, I had less than two hours to spend exploring the city before catching the last train back to Bangkok. As I drove threw all the ruins it started to rain. Yes, making my day that much better. It was one of those days that made me remember that things aren't going to go smoothly. But I saw something I had never seen, met some nice people, and I can at least say that I been there. All in all, not so bad.











And what did I find? A series of small walls!

















At least on the way back, the seats were cushioned.

The Midnight Train to Bangkok

Well, it was the six o'clock train, but that doesn't have a good ring to it. I was expecting a leisurely ride, and then do my best to sleep in the upper berth as the train made it why to Bangkok. Well the woman who makes up the beds decided everyone needed to go to sleep at 7:30, and I was very surprised when most people actually went to sleep. I arrived in Bangkok at 6am and went for coffee, where I met another girl who was nervous about moving back in with her parents since they too lived in a sleepy town in Virginia..yes she was also from Leesburg.

In Bangkok, I stayed with a mother's friend's sister's neighbor's sister's friend? I don't really remember the connection, however they were incredibly gracious hosts who have lived in Thailand for a number of years. I had heard a lot about Bangkok from other backpackers; most people hate it. Bangkok is loud, crowded, and polluted. But like any other major city is Asia, it's vibrant and buzzing with surprise sights down wandering streets and alleys.

I did the normal things you do in Bangkok. First stop, Royal Palace and Wat Pho. On the recommendation of a friend, I went to the Jim Thompson house. Some of you know of Thompson. He was an expat who marketed the Thai silk industry to American fashion designers. So all of that silk in the King and I...actually from Thailand. He was an enigmatic figure, who learned the year of his death from a physic. Was she right? You betcha. He went walking in a Malaysian jungle alone and never came back. Moral of the story--don't go walking the jungle because that's stupid. Maybe even refrain from recreational walking altogether. But I digress, the cool thing is he built an awesome house in the middle of Bangkok. He combined four traditional teak homes into one larger house. The house was filled with antiques from all over Asia, definitely a cool sight to see. Unfortunately, you won't get to see it because cameras were not allowed.

I spent many hours trying to plan out my vacation so that I would ended up in Bangkok over a weekend. Every tourist has to visit the Chatchuck market in Bangkok. Not only is it interesting to see, but it's the cheapest place to get souvenirs for everyone. So I shopped until I couldn't take it any more then headed down to the islands for my last week of vacation.







Mother of pearl toes!

Pai, Where Thai Hippies Call Home

No one hates Pai. No one dislikes Pai. Everyone I've ever met raves about Pai. It's all true. Pai is great and I can't even tell you why.

After a winding three hour drive to Pai, we were dumped off at a motorcycle shop. It's the first thing you need in Pai. For seven dollars a day, you get a bike and full insurance, you just can't beat that. I found an overpriced bungalow for 12 dollars a night. The rain for Chiang Mai followed and I took an afternoon off to sleep. At that point in my trip, I would have paid 12 dollars for the pillow.

Walking around Pai, you can see why it's popular with backpackers. Lots of cafés and bars, all with live music. But the town isn't populated by just tourists. During low season, most of the bars were filled with Thais, well not filled it's was low season.

When I went to rent my scooter, I met an Israeli girl who was also traveling alone, so I told her she could drive around with me. I was a very experienced scooter driver, having driven...twice. Not buying a scooter was my only regret in Taiwan. However, I learned that with a scooter I will drive rather than walk for five minutes. That's probably not a good thing.

So off I went, driving through the mountains on dirt roads and highways...now that's what I call trekking. We found lots of waterfalls, canyons, and visited the local hots springs. As we walked into the hot springs park, a group of Israeli guys who were staying at my bungalows yelled out to us. She of course had to translate. This would happen to me many times while walking around Pai. One my bus ride out, I was the only non-Israeli half way through the trip, they asked why I wouldn't talk to anyone. They didn't realize it was because I didn't speak Hebrew. Apparently I look Jewish, I mean I never got that at GW?? Nor did I ever knowingly trick professors into letting me out of class for Rosh hashanah. That's some other Beth Wilson that you know.

Pai isn't a town with tons of temples or things to "see" and "do", maybe that's part of the charm. I liked Pai, it was relaxing. However I needed to head off to bangkok, and I was saving up my days to spend extra ones in the islands.

Go to Pai, you'll like it! But you won't really know why.



Perhaps I can afford one of these houses.



Natural hot springs in a forest.

Chiang Mai

I had planned on taking a two-day boat from Laos into Northern Thailand. Due to visa issues, I ended up having to fly into Thailand in order to get a one-month visa. I was lucky to learn about this from fellow travelers. So once again, I flew on an airline with a dubious public record, but hey I flew with them twice, and I'm still here. Although it's never comforting to read a brochure that says "You're save with us!"

Chiang Mai is a base for most trekking expeditions. The short treks usually include an elephant ride and a visit to a hill tribe. I've never been keen to look at others like exhibits in a zoo, nor do I care to encourage abuse that the Thai elephants experience. So I knew that trekking would not be high on my list of things to do, and I was scolded by fellow travelers. Heaven forbid, I do what I want on my vacation. However, there are reputable trekking companies and great wildlife conservations you can visit.

After the calm and quiet of Laos, Chiang Mai was something of a disappointment. I no longer cared to be in the city or go shopping at the city's famous night market. The first day, I toured the Chiang Mai's landmarks. The following day, I had contact a women to do a batik painting class. The woman picked me up at the guesthouse and drove me to her house outside the city. I had a great time sitting in her house painting while it poured rain outside. Thank god I hadn't gone trekking. Bored of the city and rain, I jumped on a bus to the mountain city of Pai.

Luang Prabang

I had been looking forward to Luang Prabang for awhile. It's considered the culture capital of Laos, and the last major city in Northern Laos. After that, the travel gets a little more remote. By the time, I reached Luang Prabang, I was pretty tired of being on the move so I planned to stay for about 5 nights. After a few weeks or picking up every few days, the thought of packing again make you want to cry. I still do not understand how my bag can completely explode all over the room after 30 minutes of my arrival.

I climbed into yet another bus for the 7 hour + drive to Luang Prabang. I have never snow skied, but I can only equate the journey to a downhill slalom. Well that's not quite right, there were some uphill parts too. There was no reading on this bus, you just sat as you experience turn after turn through the mountains. Oh, and there wasn't any air-conditioning. If there had been it would have been usually because the driver decided that keeping the front door open the entire trip was a good idea. I eventually made it to Laung Prabang, to a lovely guesthouse recommended by a friend.

The city of small cottages and wats sits around the steep Phou Si hill at the intersection of the Mekong and the Nam Khan. I ended up in Luang Prabang with a group of travelers I had met in Laos.

One of major attractions is the city's night market. After four in the afternoon, the main road in town shuts down and locals set up tents selling textiles, paper goods, and jewelry. Laos has some of the most impressive weaving I've ever seen. Many of the women selling scarves, bed linens, and hangings bring their work into town from the outlying villages. Friends and I went straight to the source and were able to see many of the weaving workshops including their silk worm farms ad natural dyes.






























































We took a long boat up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou caves. The cave was the worship site for the river spirit, Phi. The caves contain roughly 4,000 buddha figures. The spot has become a pilgrimage sight for the king and local population. Each visitor brought a figure to leave in the caves.