On Monday, December 13, we spent much too long at the the wifi cafe and then had a late lunch at the Nepali/Burmese tea place. Then we went on a great walk through the markets to On Nut, the last BTS stop after Phra Khanong, to which we'd never been. We heard there were cool markets there and had noticed all the tents on our way of town, but it turned out to be mostly Western-style clothes and accessories, and we were soon disinterested . After making a regrettable stop at McDonald's for the soft serve ice cream that Lacey and I had been craving, we took the sky train back past Phra Khanong to Nana, which never fails to get a certain refrain stuck in my head, and it's bustling night market. While certainly busy, Nana's market was also very commercialized and touristy. We did however accidentally wander into what appeared to be Bangkok's Little Middle East, lined with sisha bars and restaurants representing most West Asian countries. We decided on an Omani restaurant for dinner and were served absolutely delicious eggplant paste (like a hummus), with a naan-like bread, falafel, and Turkish coffee by our waiter from Mumbai. It was so good.
Tuesday, December 14.
Another awesome day in Bangkok. We got up early to get to the Grand Palace before the crowds and heat set in, as had been recommended to us, only to find that it didn't open for visitors until 8:30 anyway, and by that time there was a bit of a line and it was mighty warm. We saw pretty much everything that was open for viewing--the miniature Angkor Wat, the Emerald Buddha, lots of other Buddhas, and a museum of Thai coins and royal regalia through the years. But my favorite thing, without a doubt, was the story painted in a mural that wrapped around the entire "upper terrace" portion of the palace complex. It chronicled a story akin to India's Ramayana, and was painted in incredible detail with beautiful colors and intermittent gold leaf, and it covered the outer walls from floor to ceiling. While walking along from the mural's beginning, we heard beautiful chanting begin, so we followed the sound to the central temple which was filled with kneeling worshipers, singing from books or reciting from memory. From the palace, we got a taxi to Dusit Park, where we ran into some kind of temporary market fair with all sorts of craft goods and specialty foods. We found a popular stall for lunch and I ordered the only two veg dishes they had on rice. I'd never seen either before, and they were so delicious: one was some sort of radish, and the other was a sweet peanut dish that looked like baked beans. We walked out of the market with coconut ice cream on skewers in hand and found our way to the Vimanmek Mansion museum, to which our Grand Palace tickets granted us admission. If it wasn't already, this made it so worth the tickets' price. After wrapping ourselves in the required sarongs, we walked up the stairs into the queen's room--a small, octagonal room with an incredibly gorgeous chandelier taking up most of the ceiling and tapestries and other items along the walls. All of these were made using the stunning iridescent wings of emerald beetles, as well as gold threads and leaf. All of the beetles used have to have died a natural death, but I don't doubt they're all kept until their deaths just for that purpose. In any case, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I think I could've stayed in that room for hours just admiring the ever-changing, magical color of those spectacular wings. From there, we walked into the main exhibition, housed in a huge room with a grand fresco ceiling. All around the room were amazing pieces of art that had been crafted by poor rural farmers that the Queen's SUPPORT Foundation had brought in and trained in these traditional Thai arts. There were amazingly intricate teak woodcarvings, howdahs, figurines, and other items of awesome metalwork incorporating more gold than I'd ever seen and more of those wondrous beetle wings. The last part of the exhibit was a display of Thai silk weaving and award-winning silk embroidery, all done by people trained through SUPPORT.
After getting back to Phra Khanong, we decided to pay another visit to the "Pad Thai guy" across the street, with whom we'd had our very first, late-night dinner in Bangkok. Then we brought a durian back to the apartment to decide once and for all if it was in fact tasty. I'm sorry to say, it just wasn't, So much so that we simply couldn't finish it and hoped it would still be good the next day when Matthew, who loves them, got home.
Wednesday the 15th was our final day in Thailand, most of which was spent wandering around the markets purchasing last minute items and soaking up our last--for now--of Phra Khanon's lively local scene. For breakfast, we found the delicious coconut and chive pods that we'd had on the coast in Trat. For lunch, I picked up some veggie noodle stuff in a bag and then we sat down at a busy little street place that we'd been meaning to try. One of the two women sitting next to us spoke really good English and helped us order, and then we continued to talk with her about what we were doing, etc. She was very cool. While Lacey and Austin ate some dish she'd recommended, the cook served me my best and cheapest Thai iced tea yet: the perfect one to end on.
That evening once Matthew got home, we went to a little restaurant on Soi 2. I had a delicious tomato and onion omelet and Matthew kindly treated us all to this last Thai dinner. Then we wandered up Soi 71 to find various fruits and snacks. We all tasted our second durian, which ended up being far more tolerable than the one we'd mustered the courage to try the day before. For Thailand's "king of fruits," it's awfully stinky, but I think I could come to like it after all.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Last day on the beach and back to the city lights
Monday, December 13.
One week and I'm homeward bound! As has become our trend, we succeeded in saving money on our return trip to Bangkok, which ended up being extremely fortunate when it turned out that we would otherwise have run out of cash before reaching an ATM in the city.
On Sunday, we had a great early morning snorkeling adventure. We swam out past the pier where we found a large coral and lots of colorful fish, worms, and urchins. Apparently, the snorkeling off of a nearby island is far more diverse and rewarding, but, not knowing what we were missing, we had a lot of fun.
Once sufficiently water-logged, we came back to camp for breakfast and tea and then took some footage for a silly video idea we'd had. Then we got our stuff as ready to go as we could and hung around until dinner, which Lacey and Austin made with a squash, rice, beans, coconut milk, and a whole lot of sugar. We also had some more sweet coconut banana mush for dessert before bed.
At 4:30 this morning, I was woken up by rain. I scrambled out of my hammock, donned my pack, and carried my liner and blanket and other things we wanted to keep dry to the open-air, covered eating area, where we all tried to fall asleep on a wooden table until our alarms went off at six. It was go time. Austin cooked up our remaining eggs and veggies for breakfast, we had the last of our tea, returned the blankets and food box borrowed from the resort, tossed our waste, packed up our wet hammocks, and by 7:45, we had said goodbye and many thank yous and were on our way up the road to meet the truck on the other side of the bridge. Our generous host, so understanding of our financial restraints, had booked us tickets for the hundred baht cheaper local boat, instead of the 350 baht tourist boat wd'd taken to get there, and we piled on this ferry by day, fishing boat by night with a couple dozen Thais.
After grtting a truck to the bus station from the ferry pier, we waited at the "food center" for the next bus. The charge three baht for the station's only bathroom, and by the time we'd payed for our one hundred baht meal, all in change, and had bought three bananas for the ride, we had 2.25 baht left, so the woman gave us one baht back so Lacey could use the bathroom. Austin and I waited till Bangkok. If we had spent any more on those motorbikes, or had to pay a rental fee for the snorkeling equipment, or bought one more mango on the island, we wouldn't have made it. Hallelujah. Now we know: If going to a remote island with no ATMs, bring way more cash than you think you need.
We got to the Ekkamai station at around 6:30 and carried our packs--lighter without all of that food--back to the apartment. Then we ventured to Soi (lane/street) 2 to find some dinner, which we brought back to the apartment to eat. i had an interesting green veggie with rice. Lacey and Austin had several seafood items and some pork that apparently reminded them of home. Matthew got in late and took a red eye bus down south for his couple days' break from traching, so we were on our own for the next couple of days.
One week and I'm homeward bound! As has become our trend, we succeeded in saving money on our return trip to Bangkok, which ended up being extremely fortunate when it turned out that we would otherwise have run out of cash before reaching an ATM in the city.
On Sunday, we had a great early morning snorkeling adventure. We swam out past the pier where we found a large coral and lots of colorful fish, worms, and urchins. Apparently, the snorkeling off of a nearby island is far more diverse and rewarding, but, not knowing what we were missing, we had a lot of fun.
Once sufficiently water-logged, we came back to camp for breakfast and tea and then took some footage for a silly video idea we'd had. Then we got our stuff as ready to go as we could and hung around until dinner, which Lacey and Austin made with a squash, rice, beans, coconut milk, and a whole lot of sugar. We also had some more sweet coconut banana mush for dessert before bed.
At 4:30 this morning, I was woken up by rain. I scrambled out of my hammock, donned my pack, and carried my liner and blanket and other things we wanted to keep dry to the open-air, covered eating area, where we all tried to fall asleep on a wooden table until our alarms went off at six. It was go time. Austin cooked up our remaining eggs and veggies for breakfast, we had the last of our tea, returned the blankets and food box borrowed from the resort, tossed our waste, packed up our wet hammocks, and by 7:45, we had said goodbye and many thank yous and were on our way up the road to meet the truck on the other side of the bridge. Our generous host, so understanding of our financial restraints, had booked us tickets for the hundred baht cheaper local boat, instead of the 350 baht tourist boat wd'd taken to get there, and we piled on this ferry by day, fishing boat by night with a couple dozen Thais.
After grtting a truck to the bus station from the ferry pier, we waited at the "food center" for the next bus. The charge three baht for the station's only bathroom, and by the time we'd payed for our one hundred baht meal, all in change, and had bought three bananas for the ride, we had 2.25 baht left, so the woman gave us one baht back so Lacey could use the bathroom. Austin and I waited till Bangkok. If we had spent any more on those motorbikes, or had to pay a rental fee for the snorkeling equipment, or bought one more mango on the island, we wouldn't have made it. Hallelujah. Now we know: If going to a remote island with no ATMs, bring way more cash than you think you need.
We got to the Ekkamai station at around 6:30 and carried our packs--lighter without all of that food--back to the apartment. Then we ventured to Soi (lane/street) 2 to find some dinner, which we brought back to the apartment to eat. i had an interesting green veggie with rice. Lacey and Austin had several seafood items and some pork that apparently reminded them of home. Matthew got in late and took a red eye bus down south for his couple days' break from traching, so we were on our own for the next couple of days.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A lesson on losing and life on the beach
Wednesday, December 8.
I can't seem to learn this lesson enough. I won't profess to know just what the lesson is, but I have a feeling it's something like this:
Why cling to possessions? They don't mean a thing in the end. And besides, someone probably really needs those Chacos you lost in the ocean today, and someone else will deeply appreciate the prized stickers on that favorite Nalgene. You've got to let go. There's just no point in doing otherwise.
It's extremely tempting to be ridiculously frustrated with myself, or with anything else that could be blamed, especially when I reached for the shoes immediately after our three person kayak that should really only take two, flipped, and when Lacey's Chacos, but for some reason mine didn't, and when Austin's equally full Nalgene floated, but mine was nowhere to be found -- by me, anyway. I'm doing my best to remain calm about it, but I have to admit: I'm not about to throw my fiddle in the water, whether or not it's in a water-tight PVC pipe. I do understand though, I think.
All that aside, we really have had a wonderful second day here. We got up at seven and, a little later, had an oatmeal breakfast and makeshift tea with plenty of room for improvement over the Whisperlite stove that Heather kindly lent us. Then we hopped on a "tri-yak" at fifty baht an hour and had a simply glorious ride out there before we flipped over and a fairly crazy adventure ensued. After a long time of searching for my missed items, Austin lost track of one of the paddles, so while I satin the boat to keep from losing it too and tried to clear my mind, Lacey and Austin dove frantically for the paddle while trying to hold onto the other two. Without a paddle, I drifted farther and farther away, and so eventually decided to beach it and wait on shore. Once I made it, I turned to see my two companions swimming goofily to shore with the three paddles. After that, Lacey and Austin paddled back while I walked along the shore, partly to look for my shoes and partly to lessen the tippiness of the kayak. Pretty soon, the beach dropped off so I had to finish the long walk on the road, but soon enough I got a ride on the back of a motorbike, and the paddlers got back soon after I did.
After a delicious lunch of veggie omelettes, we spent the rest of the day relaxing. As the sun started to change the colors of the sky, Lacey and I set out for fruit while Austin foraged for a coconut, and we came back with three mangoes, a pineapple, and thirteen bananas for a total of 165 baht (about US $5.50)--a lot by Thai standards, but not so much for an island where probably only the bananas were local.
Friday, December 10.
On Wednesday, we had dal bhat Austin style for dinner and a perfectly ripe mango for dessert -- actually, it was probably the best mango I've ever had. On Thursday after tea, we had oatmeal for breakfast and then Lacey made our packed lunch of potato salad and fruit salad (mmm). Then we set out for the place with the best deal on two motorbikes, renting two scooters at 550 baht total for 24 hours (that's about eighteen US dollars). That's right -- it was motorbike day. It turned out the place was run by a guy from Northern British Columbia who's lived in Thailand for years and knows more about the island than most residents we've talked to. It was much harder than I expected, though mostly because the road I started on was a small dirt/gravel path with lots of bumps and deep sand, but before too long, we were zipping around the island with the wind in our hair and toothy grins on our faces. We failed to find the little-known waterfall we'd been pointed to and instead took a swim on the perfect beach -- beautifully rockless sand, a amazingly clear water, a beautiful view, and nice little swing. Then we made our way to a bigger waterfall, ate our lunch, went for a fresh water swim, and played for a while on a big rope swing before drying off in the sun and hiking back to our bikes. Then we drove all the way up to the fishing village at the Northwest tip of the island to look around and stopped by one of the other falls, where we just climbed to the top and hung out for a few minutes. Then we headed home, but not before getting quite lost and riding up a long, narrow driveway to the library, only to find out that it was closed.
Back at Dusita, it was my turn to cook dinner, and it turned out really well. We had long beans, eggplant, and onion on rice noodles with a great lime soy sauce, and our last and still more divine mango on the side. For dessert, we cooked up one of the sweetest, tastiest things I've ever eaten. All we did was heat up coconut milk with fairly unrefined brown sugar, add in the rest of the over-ripe bananas in small pieces, and then boil it until the milk got thick and the 'nanas got mushy. It was SO GOOD. (Yes, we'll be having this at home.)
After that, we walked out onto the beach in the dark with our candles left over from HM the King's birthday, sat down on a fallen palm tree, and broke open two coconuts to sip their milk under the stars. It's a laborious process, requiring one to cut open and dig out the deep and very fibrous outer husk and then drill a hole through the shell to stick a straw in, it is so worth it. What more could one ask for?
I woke up this morning and peeked over my hammock with an overwhelming appreciation for what lay before me. The early morning light breaking through the coconut fronds, water lapping rhythmically at the shore just meter away, and not a soul in site.
With more detailed directions to the hidden waterfall from our Canadian friend, we headed out after scrambled eggs with veggies. We didn't have time to make it to the falls in the end, and so took a treasure-collecting walk on the Ao Phrao beach instead, but returned to the bikes fully satisfied with our time on wheels and our self-guided tour around the island from the left side of its skinny roads. The rest of the day was spent relaxing -- what do yo know... We had a pasta salad and tang for lunch and then talked as much we could with three of the resort staff -- all from Cambodia. After much deliberation, we succeeded in inviting them to have tea with us at 4 O'clock, as we'd missed it this morning and didn't have enough food left to have them for dinner. It was great fun, and the youngest one, fifteen years old and the daughter and niece of the other two, came back later while Austin was making dinner and sat down to look at her English-Cambodian phrase book with Lacey and me. We then brought dinner -- the rest of the macaroni with eggplant, long beans, onions, and soy protein in a stroganoff-esque sauce -- onto the pier to watch the sun set, and then cracked into some more coconuts as the moon rose. Tonight it's early to bed, and tomorrow we borrow the resort's masks and flippers to go snorkeling off the shore for our last day in this tropical paradise.
Saturday, December 11.
The wind is howling across the ocean and through the trees. Walking on the grass alongside the beach, I couldn't be happier. I'm sitting in my hammock facing the water, enjoying the wind in my hair and its cooling effect on the temperature.
I can't seem to learn this lesson enough. I won't profess to know just what the lesson is, but I have a feeling it's something like this:
Why cling to possessions? They don't mean a thing in the end. And besides, someone probably really needs those Chacos you lost in the ocean today, and someone else will deeply appreciate the prized stickers on that favorite Nalgene. You've got to let go. There's just no point in doing otherwise.
It's extremely tempting to be ridiculously frustrated with myself, or with anything else that could be blamed, especially when I reached for the shoes immediately after our three person kayak that should really only take two, flipped, and when Lacey's Chacos, but for some reason mine didn't, and when Austin's equally full Nalgene floated, but mine was nowhere to be found -- by me, anyway. I'm doing my best to remain calm about it, but I have to admit: I'm not about to throw my fiddle in the water, whether or not it's in a water-tight PVC pipe. I do understand though, I think.
All that aside, we really have had a wonderful second day here. We got up at seven and, a little later, had an oatmeal breakfast and makeshift tea with plenty of room for improvement over the Whisperlite stove that Heather kindly lent us. Then we hopped on a "tri-yak" at fifty baht an hour and had a simply glorious ride out there before we flipped over and a fairly crazy adventure ensued. After a long time of searching for my missed items, Austin lost track of one of the paddles, so while I satin the boat to keep from losing it too and tried to clear my mind, Lacey and Austin dove frantically for the paddle while trying to hold onto the other two. Without a paddle, I drifted farther and farther away, and so eventually decided to beach it and wait on shore. Once I made it, I turned to see my two companions swimming goofily to shore with the three paddles. After that, Lacey and Austin paddled back while I walked along the shore, partly to look for my shoes and partly to lessen the tippiness of the kayak. Pretty soon, the beach dropped off so I had to finish the long walk on the road, but soon enough I got a ride on the back of a motorbike, and the paddlers got back soon after I did.
After a delicious lunch of veggie omelettes, we spent the rest of the day relaxing. As the sun started to change the colors of the sky, Lacey and I set out for fruit while Austin foraged for a coconut, and we came back with three mangoes, a pineapple, and thirteen bananas for a total of 165 baht (about US $5.50)--a lot by Thai standards, but not so much for an island where probably only the bananas were local.
Friday, December 10.
On Wednesday, we had dal bhat Austin style for dinner and a perfectly ripe mango for dessert -- actually, it was probably the best mango I've ever had. On Thursday after tea, we had oatmeal for breakfast and then Lacey made our packed lunch of potato salad and fruit salad (mmm). Then we set out for the place with the best deal on two motorbikes, renting two scooters at 550 baht total for 24 hours (that's about eighteen US dollars). That's right -- it was motorbike day. It turned out the place was run by a guy from Northern British Columbia who's lived in Thailand for years and knows more about the island than most residents we've talked to. It was much harder than I expected, though mostly because the road I started on was a small dirt/gravel path with lots of bumps and deep sand, but before too long, we were zipping around the island with the wind in our hair and toothy grins on our faces. We failed to find the little-known waterfall we'd been pointed to and instead took a swim on the perfect beach -- beautifully rockless sand, a amazingly clear water, a beautiful view, and nice little swing. Then we made our way to a bigger waterfall, ate our lunch, went for a fresh water swim, and played for a while on a big rope swing before drying off in the sun and hiking back to our bikes. Then we drove all the way up to the fishing village at the Northwest tip of the island to look around and stopped by one of the other falls, where we just climbed to the top and hung out for a few minutes. Then we headed home, but not before getting quite lost and riding up a long, narrow driveway to the library, only to find out that it was closed.
Back at Dusita, it was my turn to cook dinner, and it turned out really well. We had long beans, eggplant, and onion on rice noodles with a great lime soy sauce, and our last and still more divine mango on the side. For dessert, we cooked up one of the sweetest, tastiest things I've ever eaten. All we did was heat up coconut milk with fairly unrefined brown sugar, add in the rest of the over-ripe bananas in small pieces, and then boil it until the milk got thick and the 'nanas got mushy. It was SO GOOD. (Yes, we'll be having this at home.)
After that, we walked out onto the beach in the dark with our candles left over from HM the King's birthday, sat down on a fallen palm tree, and broke open two coconuts to sip their milk under the stars. It's a laborious process, requiring one to cut open and dig out the deep and very fibrous outer husk and then drill a hole through the shell to stick a straw in, it is so worth it. What more could one ask for?
I woke up this morning and peeked over my hammock with an overwhelming appreciation for what lay before me. The early morning light breaking through the coconut fronds, water lapping rhythmically at the shore just meter away, and not a soul in site.
With more detailed directions to the hidden waterfall from our Canadian friend, we headed out after scrambled eggs with veggies. We didn't have time to make it to the falls in the end, and so took a treasure-collecting walk on the Ao Phrao beach instead, but returned to the bikes fully satisfied with our time on wheels and our self-guided tour around the island from the left side of its skinny roads. The rest of the day was spent relaxing -- what do yo know... We had a pasta salad and tang for lunch and then talked as much we could with three of the resort staff -- all from Cambodia. After much deliberation, we succeeded in inviting them to have tea with us at 4 O'clock, as we'd missed it this morning and didn't have enough food left to have them for dinner. It was great fun, and the youngest one, fifteen years old and the daughter and niece of the other two, came back later while Austin was making dinner and sat down to look at her English-Cambodian phrase book with Lacey and me. We then brought dinner -- the rest of the macaroni with eggplant, long beans, onions, and soy protein in a stroganoff-esque sauce -- onto the pier to watch the sun set, and then cracked into some more coconuts as the moon rose. Tonight it's early to bed, and tomorrow we borrow the resort's masks and flippers to go snorkeling off the shore for our last day in this tropical paradise.
Saturday, December 11.
The wind is howling across the ocean and through the trees. Walking on the grass alongside the beach, I couldn't be happier. I'm sitting in my hammock facing the water, enjoying the wind in my hair and its cooling effect on the temperature.
Coastward Bound
Monday, December 6.
After a final couple of hours at the internet cafe (for now), we packed up our stuff and walked with our pack to the bus station. The next bus wasn't for an hour and a half, so we walked back around the bend to wait at a Starbuck's in this big, somewhat intimidating "mediplex." The Starbucks itself was very nice with comfy couches, and the baristas were super friendly, so we all ordered little sandwiches (say what?) and sat down to wait. At 5:30, we finally boarded the bus, and five hours later, we were in the seaside town of Trat, where, after denying several taxis, we walked the two kilometers into town, grabbed "dinner" at a 7-11, and then found the Ban Jaidee guest house, where it wasn't too late to get a couple reasonably-priced rooms (200 baht a room--about seven dollars). As we entered, we met a German guy who said he owned a guest house on Ko Khood, the second largest island after Ko Chang, and the farthest away. He said that if we were looking for a less touristy place, that Ko Kood was the place to go, and he said we'd be able to camp there no problem, although it's outside of the national park. So we changed our plans right then and there, and in the morning the lovely guest house owner booked us spots on a boat to Ko Kood. After packing up our things in the morning, we went to the market to get the rest of our food for the week--mostly veggies, as we'd gotten the rest of the non-parishable items in Bangkok. It was so much fun. You could tell that foreigners don't go in there much, if at all. Along with our noodle soup breakfast, we got these little eggy pods they cook up in something that resembles an open-faced egg poacher. They seem to be made of egg, coconut milk, and sugar. Six for ten baht and they are so delicious. We're hoping to find them later in Bangkok. After shopping and eating, we waited at the guest house for the truck to the boat, at which point we zipped across town to the coast out onto a long pier, and before we knew it, we were lounging in sling chairs on a simple, two floor ferry. We arrived in Koh Kut just a couple of hours later, and rode the free taxi to the Happy Days guest house, where it turned out we couldn't actually camp, but they pointed us to the "resort" down the road (they're more like rustic collections of bungalows on the beach with a central restaurant/shop), and we began the walk with our heavy packs. We asked at three places with flat-out denials and got very discouraged, as most of the huts cost upwards of a thousand baht per night (anywhere from 35 to 70 dollars), and we'd planned just to pay a small park fee and be done with it. But just around the corner, Lacey and I put down our packs and were given a free coconut by the guy who later became known as the coconut man while Austin went to ask one more time, and he came back saying we had two palm trees each right ont he beach, and water to bathe and brush our teeth with for only 100 baht per night, and that the family was happy to have us. And so it was that the coconut grove at Dusita resort became our new home.
Relieved and rejoicing, we set up our hammocks, went for a pre-dusk swim, wondering how we'd ended up in this pristine setting reserved, it had seemed, for computer desktop backgrounds, and then cooked up a delicious dinner of rice and curried vegetables and went to bed. Oh, what a life.
After a final couple of hours at the internet cafe (for now), we packed up our stuff and walked with our pack to the bus station. The next bus wasn't for an hour and a half, so we walked back around the bend to wait at a Starbuck's in this big, somewhat intimidating "mediplex." The Starbucks itself was very nice with comfy couches, and the baristas were super friendly, so we all ordered little sandwiches (say what?) and sat down to wait. At 5:30, we finally boarded the bus, and five hours later, we were in the seaside town of Trat, where, after denying several taxis, we walked the two kilometers into town, grabbed "dinner" at a 7-11, and then found the Ban Jaidee guest house, where it wasn't too late to get a couple reasonably-priced rooms (200 baht a room--about seven dollars). As we entered, we met a German guy who said he owned a guest house on Ko Khood, the second largest island after Ko Chang, and the farthest away. He said that if we were looking for a less touristy place, that Ko Kood was the place to go, and he said we'd be able to camp there no problem, although it's outside of the national park. So we changed our plans right then and there, and in the morning the lovely guest house owner booked us spots on a boat to Ko Kood. After packing up our things in the morning, we went to the market to get the rest of our food for the week--mostly veggies, as we'd gotten the rest of the non-parishable items in Bangkok. It was so much fun. You could tell that foreigners don't go in there much, if at all. Along with our noodle soup breakfast, we got these little eggy pods they cook up in something that resembles an open-faced egg poacher. They seem to be made of egg, coconut milk, and sugar. Six for ten baht and they are so delicious. We're hoping to find them later in Bangkok. After shopping and eating, we waited at the guest house for the truck to the boat, at which point we zipped across town to the coast out onto a long pier, and before we knew it, we were lounging in sling chairs on a simple, two floor ferry. We arrived in Koh Kut just a couple of hours later, and rode the free taxi to the Happy Days guest house, where it turned out we couldn't actually camp, but they pointed us to the "resort" down the road (they're more like rustic collections of bungalows on the beach with a central restaurant/shop), and we began the walk with our heavy packs. We asked at three places with flat-out denials and got very discouraged, as most of the huts cost upwards of a thousand baht per night (anywhere from 35 to 70 dollars), and we'd planned just to pay a small park fee and be done with it. But just around the corner, Lacey and I put down our packs and were given a free coconut by the guy who later became known as the coconut man while Austin went to ask one more time, and he came back saying we had two palm trees each right ont he beach, and water to bathe and brush our teeth with for only 100 baht per night, and that the family was happy to have us. And so it was that the coconut grove at Dusita resort became our new home.
Relieved and rejoicing, we set up our hammocks, went for a pre-dusk swim, wondering how we'd ended up in this pristine setting reserved, it had seemed, for computer desktop backgrounds, and then cooked up a delicious dinner of rice and curried vegetables and went to bed. Oh, what a life.
Chinatown
Saturday, December 4th.
We had breakfast this morning at one of two Nepali/Burmese places nearby. The owners of both were born and grew up in Myanmar, but are ancestrally Nepali. Then, after checking emails at the cafe, we met back up with Matthew and took the BTS to the train station, from where he showed us the way to Chinatown. Chinatown was wild. At first, we walked through streets with interesting shops and stalls -- stands selling every kind of raw seafood, Chinese medicine shops with stuffed alligators on display, selling snake heads, tiger balm, and ginger, among other things -- and I had Thai iced tea, papaya, and cantaloupe, while Lacey and Austin had a mystery lunch at a street kitchen where the only sign, containing two items, was written in either Chinese or Thai--I can't remember. They ordered one of each, only to find out that one consisted of two of the mystery rolls and the other of three. I don't know if a single thing in them was clearly identifiable, but they definitely weren't vegetarian. After lunch, we got ice cream bars from a vendor and then ventured into the different world of dark side lanes, so narrow that we had to step into shops to let people pass, and some so uneven that a brave motorcyclist who tried to tow his goods through one fell over in much embarrassment. Every such alley we walked through was packed with nameless shop after nameless shop of cheap merchandise -- from hair clips and hats to toys and dishware. We walked into one of these deep, narrow stores that, much to our surprise, had five or six flors, each selling something different. One sold toys, one sold stationary, one sold lamps, clocks, and snow globes, etc. Lacey found out the hard way that photography wasn't allowed (I wonder why...). It's unlike any American Chinatown I've been to. For one thing, the food is actually Chinese...
After leaving Chinatown, we stopped by Wat Traimit to see the 3-meter-tall sitting Buddha, apparently solid gold. It was certainly very shiny. After getting off the BTS at Phra Khanong, we noticed a sign and stopped by, only to find out that this was the other Nepali place: Rays. Sweet! I got some kind of green bean dish with garlic. It was so good, I might just go back for more. The food was more Burmese than Nepali, but at least our waiter, Chai, could understand the Nepali we spoke to him.
We had breakfast this morning at one of two Nepali/Burmese places nearby. The owners of both were born and grew up in Myanmar, but are ancestrally Nepali. Then, after checking emails at the cafe, we met back up with Matthew and took the BTS to the train station, from where he showed us the way to Chinatown. Chinatown was wild. At first, we walked through streets with interesting shops and stalls -- stands selling every kind of raw seafood, Chinese medicine shops with stuffed alligators on display, selling snake heads, tiger balm, and ginger, among other things -- and I had Thai iced tea, papaya, and cantaloupe, while Lacey and Austin had a mystery lunch at a street kitchen where the only sign, containing two items, was written in either Chinese or Thai--I can't remember. They ordered one of each, only to find out that one consisted of two of the mystery rolls and the other of three. I don't know if a single thing in them was clearly identifiable, but they definitely weren't vegetarian. After lunch, we got ice cream bars from a vendor and then ventured into the different world of dark side lanes, so narrow that we had to step into shops to let people pass, and some so uneven that a brave motorcyclist who tried to tow his goods through one fell over in much embarrassment. Every such alley we walked through was packed with nameless shop after nameless shop of cheap merchandise -- from hair clips and hats to toys and dishware. We walked into one of these deep, narrow stores that, much to our surprise, had five or six flors, each selling something different. One sold toys, one sold stationary, one sold lamps, clocks, and snow globes, etc. Lacey found out the hard way that photography wasn't allowed (I wonder why...). It's unlike any American Chinatown I've been to. For one thing, the food is actually Chinese...
After leaving Chinatown, we stopped by Wat Traimit to see the 3-meter-tall sitting Buddha, apparently solid gold. It was certainly very shiny. After getting off the BTS at Phra Khanong, we noticed a sign and stopped by, only to find out that this was the other Nepali place: Rays. Sweet! I got some kind of green bean dish with garlic. It was so good, I might just go back for more. The food was more Burmese than Nepali, but at least our waiter, Chai, could understand the Nepali we spoke to him.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Back to Bangkok!
Thursday, December 2.
We woke up in our bamboo hut at 5:30 and met Non out at the shop for a breakfast of Kao nyao sankaya (sticky rice with coconut milk topped with a sweet egg and coconut milk pudding...mm mm, good). The Pun-Pun truck showed up from the farm at 7:00 already full of people, so Non, Lacey, and Austin crammed onto the benches in the back with all of our packs, and one of the Pun-Pun guys and I stood on the back and held on. It was a wicked fun ride, zipping through the wind to Chiang Mai. Once in Chiang Mai, Non took us to the main market where we purchased a couple pairs of the Thai farmer pants we'd all grown to love, and then we stopped by the bank to pick up my debit card that had been rescued from the hungry ATM (hallelujah!) before heading to a gas station on the main road to begin hitchhiking. Non happened to be going to Bangkok as well and explained to us that hitchhiking is safe in Thailand, and that most people are happy to take foreigners for a ride, so we were stoked to save a train load on another ticket and to experience more of Thailand from the back of a truck. Hitchhiking consisted of Non asking drivers of pickups if they were going to Bangkok and would like to take us along. Not a single one was and we got pretty discouraged until finally a group of construction workers showed up who were headed that way and welcomed us aboard. It wasn't a comfortable ride, but there was a tarp over our heads to shade from the sun, and it only took 8 hours, instead of the 13 or so that the train would've taken. Best of all, we didn't have to pay a cent! Once we got to the city, we said goodbye to dear Non and got a taxi back to Matthew's.
Friday, December 3rd.
After a delicious 11:00 dinner of Pad Thai off the street, we went to bed and woke up early to find an internet cafe. We found a perfect place with great drinks and free wifi, and spent a couple of hours getting caught up and deciding what we wanted to do. We then tried some unfamiliar fruits from a stand for lunch, said goodbye to Heather who had arrived early in the morning, and set out to find Chinatown. We failed, but ended up being led around the science center by some eager young girls and then went to one of the city's several parks, called Chatachak for a lovely walk and a tight fit in a paddle boat for a sunset ride around the pond there. Then we found a great dinner at a little place recommended by Matthew, found another internet cafe because our favorite was closed, and vowed never to go back (expensive drinks, no wifi, yada yada yada).
Saturday, December 4th.
Today we've figured out how to get to Chinatown and are hoping to meet Amelia, who's in town for a couple days before flying home. Tomorrow is the King's birthday, and we're hoping to explore the grand palace and other sights in the old town. On Monday the plan is to get the bus down the Eastern Seaboard to Ko Chang, a mountainous island where we're hoping to find a secluded beach to camp near. After a week or so down on the seaboard, we'll have a couple more days to explore Bangkok before heading back to Hong Kong. Woohoo!
We woke up in our bamboo hut at 5:30 and met Non out at the shop for a breakfast of Kao nyao sankaya (sticky rice with coconut milk topped with a sweet egg and coconut milk pudding...mm mm, good). The Pun-Pun truck showed up from the farm at 7:00 already full of people, so Non, Lacey, and Austin crammed onto the benches in the back with all of our packs, and one of the Pun-Pun guys and I stood on the back and held on. It was a wicked fun ride, zipping through the wind to Chiang Mai. Once in Chiang Mai, Non took us to the main market where we purchased a couple pairs of the Thai farmer pants we'd all grown to love, and then we stopped by the bank to pick up my debit card that had been rescued from the hungry ATM (hallelujah!) before heading to a gas station on the main road to begin hitchhiking. Non happened to be going to Bangkok as well and explained to us that hitchhiking is safe in Thailand, and that most people are happy to take foreigners for a ride, so we were stoked to save a train load on another ticket and to experience more of Thailand from the back of a truck. Hitchhiking consisted of Non asking drivers of pickups if they were going to Bangkok and would like to take us along. Not a single one was and we got pretty discouraged until finally a group of construction workers showed up who were headed that way and welcomed us aboard. It wasn't a comfortable ride, but there was a tarp over our heads to shade from the sun, and it only took 8 hours, instead of the 13 or so that the train would've taken. Best of all, we didn't have to pay a cent! Once we got to the city, we said goodbye to dear Non and got a taxi back to Matthew's.
Friday, December 3rd.
After a delicious 11:00 dinner of Pad Thai off the street, we went to bed and woke up early to find an internet cafe. We found a perfect place with great drinks and free wifi, and spent a couple of hours getting caught up and deciding what we wanted to do. We then tried some unfamiliar fruits from a stand for lunch, said goodbye to Heather who had arrived early in the morning, and set out to find Chinatown. We failed, but ended up being led around the science center by some eager young girls and then went to one of the city's several parks, called Chatachak for a lovely walk and a tight fit in a paddle boat for a sunset ride around the pond there. Then we found a great dinner at a little place recommended by Matthew, found another internet cafe because our favorite was closed, and vowed never to go back (expensive drinks, no wifi, yada yada yada).
Saturday, December 4th.
Today we've figured out how to get to Chinatown and are hoping to meet Amelia, who's in town for a couple days before flying home. Tomorrow is the King's birthday, and we're hoping to explore the grand palace and other sights in the old town. On Monday the plan is to get the bus down the Eastern Seaboard to Ko Chang, a mountainous island where we're hoping to find a secluded beach to camp near. After a week or so down on the seaboard, we'll have a couple more days to explore Bangkok before heading back to Hong Kong. Woohoo!
Final reflections from the farm
Wednesday, December 1.
I can't believe it's already December. In any case, I feel as though I've been experiencing paradise again. The lush green palms. The fresh tropical fruits after every meal. The quiet walk back from the reservoir. The mornings of hard work and afternoons of beautiful relaxation. This is the life, I'm tellin' you.
Lacey, Austin and I took our last trip to the reservoir today (Heather left yesterday to spend a couple nights in Chiang Mai before training back to Bangkok to catch her earlier flight home), and walked back on the quiet, winding road to the village just as the sun was setting. Layer upon layer of green mountain sat humbly in the distance beneath the horizon. The light on the clouds seemed to form a heavenly mother peak above them. The other-worldy sunset intensified as we walked, and the sky's ethereal orange peaked through the big leaves of coconut and banana trees. Tonight we have our last dinner with Non at Didi's guesthouse, and in the morning it's back to Bangkok. But something about Northern Thailand has me hooked. This place I will definitely be seeing again.
I can't believe it's already December. In any case, I feel as though I've been experiencing paradise again. The lush green palms. The fresh tropical fruits after every meal. The quiet walk back from the reservoir. The mornings of hard work and afternoons of beautiful relaxation. This is the life, I'm tellin' you.
Lacey, Austin and I took our last trip to the reservoir today (Heather left yesterday to spend a couple nights in Chiang Mai before training back to Bangkok to catch her earlier flight home), and walked back on the quiet, winding road to the village just as the sun was setting. Layer upon layer of green mountain sat humbly in the distance beneath the horizon. The light on the clouds seemed to form a heavenly mother peak above them. The other-worldy sunset intensified as we walked, and the sky's ethereal orange peaked through the big leaves of coconut and banana trees. Tonight we have our last dinner with Non at Didi's guesthouse, and in the morning it's back to Bangkok. But something about Northern Thailand has me hooked. This place I will definitely be seeing again.
WWOOFing days
FYI: WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and while we are not actually members of the WWOOFing network, we were essentially WWOOFers for the week.
Sunday, November 28
I sit in the kitchen on our fourth day with Non. We work in the mornings before it gets hot, and in the afternoons we learn about other things, wander about the village, nap in bamboo shelters, and generally have fun. On our first work day, we cut the grass along the path and cleared the area where we would be mixing adobe, using our hands and various scythes and choppers. The next day, we learned how to make adobe bricks, and made eighteen of them, which we set out in the sun to dry (bricks have to dry for fourteen days before they can be used). Yesterday, instead of working, we rode in the back of a pick-up to an elephant camp with Pee Tong Bai (Non's older sister friend whom we refer to as Didi), her husband, and one of Pun-Pun's interns. It ended up being far too expensive and, instead of rides or shows in which, based on our window into elephant captivity in Nepal, I wasn't all that interest anyway, it offered some interesting perspective on tourism in Thailand. One afternoon, we learned how to make banana chips in Didi's kitchen from a local woman's group leader. It's very easy. Just slice up green bananas with a cheese-type slicer/mandolin, drop them in hot oil on the stove, and scoop them out with a strainer once they stop bubbling. They're great with salt or paprika, and probably lots of other things. Different than banana chips in the states, but better, I think. Almost every evening, we swim and bathe at the reservoir up the road, except for one day when we showered at Didi's guest house instead. Today, Janelle, a Pun-Pun intern from Singapore, came to see the place and then went to the noodle shop in the village with us for lunch. Afterward, we stopped by Didi's shop for some sweets, some laughs, and our favorite Namtan Maprau (sugar coconut) drink, then sat down by the guest house kitchen for another little rest, and then went swimming and bought some groceries on our way back up here. Janelle is such a cool person and it was really interesting talking with her about what got her here, Singapore, and education around the world. I hope to meet her again someday.
Sunday, November 28
I sit in the kitchen on our fourth day with Non. We work in the mornings before it gets hot, and in the afternoons we learn about other things, wander about the village, nap in bamboo shelters, and generally have fun. On our first work day, we cut the grass along the path and cleared the area where we would be mixing adobe, using our hands and various scythes and choppers. The next day, we learned how to make adobe bricks, and made eighteen of them, which we set out in the sun to dry (bricks have to dry for fourteen days before they can be used). Yesterday, instead of working, we rode in the back of a pick-up to an elephant camp with Pee Tong Bai (Non's older sister friend whom we refer to as Didi), her husband, and one of Pun-Pun's interns. It ended up being far too expensive and, instead of rides or shows in which, based on our window into elephant captivity in Nepal, I wasn't all that interest anyway, it offered some interesting perspective on tourism in Thailand. One afternoon, we learned how to make banana chips in Didi's kitchen from a local woman's group leader. It's very easy. Just slice up green bananas with a cheese-type slicer/mandolin, drop them in hot oil on the stove, and scoop them out with a strainer once they stop bubbling. They're great with salt or paprika, and probably lots of other things. Different than banana chips in the states, but better, I think. Almost every evening, we swim and bathe at the reservoir up the road, except for one day when we showered at Didi's guest house instead. Today, Janelle, a Pun-Pun intern from Singapore, came to see the place and then went to the noodle shop in the village with us for lunch. Afterward, we stopped by Didi's shop for some sweets, some laughs, and our favorite Namtan Maprau (sugar coconut) drink, then sat down by the guest house kitchen for another little rest, and then went swimming and bought some groceries on our way back up here. Janelle is such a cool person and it was really interesting talking with her about what got her here, Singapore, and education around the world. I hope to meet her again someday.
One Night in Bangkok and 13 hours on the train
Arriving in Bangkok was unbelievably surreal. It was as if I'd never seen a big modern city. We were blown away by the shiny, busy airport with moving walkways and fancy light-up signs, and just as much so throughout the ensuing taxi ride. There weren't any skyscrapers in Nepal.
After Matthew Vaughan the Generous kindly picked us up from the airport and we dropped our stuff off at his place, we met his friend for a delicious first Thai dinner at a street kitchen. We shared several dishes, of which the Pad Thai was my favorite. We also had our first and best yet Thai Iced Tea, which you can get for under a dollar here, as opposed to the four dollars it might cost in the states. After dinner, we made our way to Central World—the large, glitzy mall that was partially burned down during the riots in April. We got a little history lesson the way and began to understand the context a little more, and then sat through thirty-five minutes of previews and stood for the king before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. I was very impressed with it after my disappointment with the fifth and sixth movies.
In the morning, we got up late, showered, and found our way successfully to the train station where we purchased tickets for that night's ride up to Chiang Mai. We hoped the way back South wouldn't be as expensive. Then we wandered across the highway and found an internet cafe where we got delicious fruit smoothies and emailed Non—the girlfriend of Ryan, who owns the land we'd be wwoofing at—who would be hosting us at the farm, to tell her when we'd be arriving. We then got back on the sky train toward Matthew's, but stopped off at Lumphini Park (named after the Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in Nepal), strolled around the park, and had fun on the playground (the swan-like paddle boats only fit two people). Once we got back off at Phra Khanong, we found a small place under the highway for lunch, where a Dutch guy who spoke Thai was just finishing up and helped us order delicious rice and friend vegetables. On our way back to the apartment, we passed a spice shop to which we'll definitely be returning, and then we finished packing and headed back to the station to catch our train.
After what we'd heard from Lacey about sleepers in Vietnam, we weren't expecting much from the train, and it ended up being very enjoyable. Each set of two facing seats folded down to become one person's lower bed, and the less expensive “up” bed folded down from the ceiling, was narrower, and had no window. The food was expensive but not half bad (delicious fresh-squeezed OJ), the stewardesses were friendly (one of them even helped Austin out in our game of cards that he was already winning), and the ride went by quickly.
After the ATM at the station ate my debit card, it took us far too long to find the “big white truck” that would take us to Mae To. It leaves the village every day at 6:30 and returns from Chiang Mai at 12:00 noon. It was a sleepy, bumpy ride, and the driver stopped every so often to drop people off, pick others up, or make deliveries. Once we got here, still not having been able to connect with Non, we wandered up the hill and found Wok, who lives and works at Pun-Pun, a large organic farm and intentional community, who led us up the path to Ryan's land. After dropping our stuff off in the adobe kitchen there, we headed back to Pun-Pun and lazed about at their cafe with delicious fruit shakes for a couple hours until Non came by.
After Matthew Vaughan the Generous kindly picked us up from the airport and we dropped our stuff off at his place, we met his friend for a delicious first Thai dinner at a street kitchen. We shared several dishes, of which the Pad Thai was my favorite. We also had our first and best yet Thai Iced Tea, which you can get for under a dollar here, as opposed to the four dollars it might cost in the states. After dinner, we made our way to Central World—the large, glitzy mall that was partially burned down during the riots in April. We got a little history lesson the way and began to understand the context a little more, and then sat through thirty-five minutes of previews and stood for the king before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. I was very impressed with it after my disappointment with the fifth and sixth movies.
In the morning, we got up late, showered, and found our way successfully to the train station where we purchased tickets for that night's ride up to Chiang Mai. We hoped the way back South wouldn't be as expensive. Then we wandered across the highway and found an internet cafe where we got delicious fruit smoothies and emailed Non—the girlfriend of Ryan, who owns the land we'd be wwoofing at—who would be hosting us at the farm, to tell her when we'd be arriving. We then got back on the sky train toward Matthew's, but stopped off at Lumphini Park (named after the Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in Nepal), strolled around the park, and had fun on the playground (the swan-like paddle boats only fit two people). Once we got back off at Phra Khanong, we found a small place under the highway for lunch, where a Dutch guy who spoke Thai was just finishing up and helped us order delicious rice and friend vegetables. On our way back to the apartment, we passed a spice shop to which we'll definitely be returning, and then we finished packing and headed back to the station to catch our train.
After what we'd heard from Lacey about sleepers in Vietnam, we weren't expecting much from the train, and it ended up being very enjoyable. Each set of two facing seats folded down to become one person's lower bed, and the less expensive “up” bed folded down from the ceiling, was narrower, and had no window. The food was expensive but not half bad (delicious fresh-squeezed OJ), the stewardesses were friendly (one of them even helped Austin out in our game of cards that he was already winning), and the ride went by quickly.
After the ATM at the station ate my debit card, it took us far too long to find the “big white truck” that would take us to Mae To. It leaves the village every day at 6:30 and returns from Chiang Mai at 12:00 noon. It was a sleepy, bumpy ride, and the driver stopped every so often to drop people off, pick others up, or make deliveries. Once we got here, still not having been able to connect with Non, we wandered up the hill and found Wok, who lives and works at Pun-Pun, a large organic farm and intentional community, who led us up the path to Ryan's land. After dropping our stuff off in the adobe kitchen there, we headed back to Pun-Pun and lazed about at their cafe with delicious fruit shakes for a couple hours until Non came by.
Leaving Kathmandu
Monday, November 22.
Yesterday, our last in Kathmandu, was an amazing day. It clinched the deal on my return: There are endless amounts of exploring left to be done here. After our last group church service, Ana, Amelia, David and I hailed a taxi to Bhoudhanath—the famous Bhudda stupa where most of the group went while we were in Kirtipur, but to which a few of us couldn't make it. It was wonderful. We sat up on the roof of Flavor's cafe with a straight-on view of the stupa as the afternoon light began to change. From up above, we could see the women kneeling on wooden mats inside the prayer wheel-filled wall surrounding the stupa and running their hands along the length of the wood, presumably rubbing off and thereby distributing the prayers on the flags stacked beneath their pious hands. We wondered if Kanchi, our sherpa who lives nearby, does that. (I wouldn't be surprised if she does.) When we came out after eating, there was a sea of people circumambulating for evening prayers. I walked around taking pictures and soaking it up and then got a little bit of last minute shopping done.
After taxiing back to the guest house, David led Amelia and I through the streets, past the bead bazaar, to New Road—one of the biggest commercial streets in Kathmandu, filled with shops selling jewelry, cell phones, clothing, and the like. Though rushed, it was an unforgettable walk. Courtyards with small, Newari prayer pagodas, joyful drumming and singing circles under the full moon, string upon string of beautifully-colored glass beads, men and women selling vegetables from tarps on the side of the road. I left feeling so sad that I didn't have more time to explore, and so excited to come back someday.
We made it back to the guest house just in time to say goodbye to everyone. Mike, Lacey, and Austin had bought marigold garlands for those who were leaving, so they left with a final blessing. After saying goodbye, Lacey, Heather, Austin, and I had a delicious and ridiculously fun last dinner at Third Eye, the nice Indian restaurant that had been recommended to us. We spoke Nepali with the two waiters up on the terrace, one of which was so cold that he put this neck warmer thing over his ears and stood by a little fire they had.
We also made friends with some army guys on security at the airport the next morning (Monday), after sharing three twin beds in room 510 and and getting a 6:00 taxi in the morning. It didn't speed the good ol' process up. Our flight had been changed to 5 hours later without us knowing, and we and an Israeli guy were the only ones to show up unnecessarily hat 6:30 in the morning. Good thing we know how to wait!
Yesterday, our last in Kathmandu, was an amazing day. It clinched the deal on my return: There are endless amounts of exploring left to be done here. After our last group church service, Ana, Amelia, David and I hailed a taxi to Bhoudhanath—the famous Bhudda stupa where most of the group went while we were in Kirtipur, but to which a few of us couldn't make it. It was wonderful. We sat up on the roof of Flavor's cafe with a straight-on view of the stupa as the afternoon light began to change. From up above, we could see the women kneeling on wooden mats inside the prayer wheel-filled wall surrounding the stupa and running their hands along the length of the wood, presumably rubbing off and thereby distributing the prayers on the flags stacked beneath their pious hands. We wondered if Kanchi, our sherpa who lives nearby, does that. (I wouldn't be surprised if she does.) When we came out after eating, there was a sea of people circumambulating for evening prayers. I walked around taking pictures and soaking it up and then got a little bit of last minute shopping done.
After taxiing back to the guest house, David led Amelia and I through the streets, past the bead bazaar, to New Road—one of the biggest commercial streets in Kathmandu, filled with shops selling jewelry, cell phones, clothing, and the like. Though rushed, it was an unforgettable walk. Courtyards with small, Newari prayer pagodas, joyful drumming and singing circles under the full moon, string upon string of beautifully-colored glass beads, men and women selling vegetables from tarps on the side of the road. I left feeling so sad that I didn't have more time to explore, and so excited to come back someday.
We made it back to the guest house just in time to say goodbye to everyone. Mike, Lacey, and Austin had bought marigold garlands for those who were leaving, so they left with a final blessing. After saying goodbye, Lacey, Heather, Austin, and I had a delicious and ridiculously fun last dinner at Third Eye, the nice Indian restaurant that had been recommended to us. We spoke Nepali with the two waiters up on the terrace, one of which was so cold that he put this neck warmer thing over his ears and stood by a little fire they had.
We also made friends with some army guys on security at the airport the next morning (Monday), after sharing three twin beds in room 510 and and getting a 6:00 taxi in the morning. It didn't speed the good ol' process up. Our flight had been changed to 5 hours later without us knowing, and we and an Israeli guy were the only ones to show up unnecessarily hat 6:30 in the morning. Good thing we know how to wait!
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