Elephant riding, trekking, rafting and partying

I have recently got back from an amazing time, trekking through Chiang Mai!

Riding on top of the bus

Firstly, we started out the journey riding around in a little open minivan called a songtaew and picked up the people who would come on the tour with us. We were with one guy who I met on the train from Byron Bay, Australia called Mason, 2 French guys, 2 English guys, and a Korean girl. Our guides name was Dea, and we started off by driving for about half an hour south of Chiang Mai to the elephant riding camp. Dea said it would be a cool idea if we rode on the top of the bus so some of us got on the roof and held on to the little rack at the top which was pretty fun.

Elephant Riding

At the elephant camp we met our nice Elephant (I think her name was Mae Song or something) and got up on the little seat on the back. The Mahut (Elephant driver) rode up on the elephants head. Unfortunately he used a metal hook to dig into the elephant to make it go which was a little harsh, but I guess there are worse jobs for the elephants to have. Once the elephant knew we had bananas, she would stop every few steps and put her trunk up behind her to receive a new banana. This was cute at first but got annoying after a while. The elephant sloshed through the muddy path and came to the top where we had a nice view over rural Chiang Mai. It was a cool experience but I think at the end of the day they are just exploiting the poor elephants for these rides, being forced to walk around and around every day, where they should just be free instead. There are other elephants in worse positions but still I much prefer elephant sanctuaries, similar to the one in Chiang Mai, where they look after the elephants and give them food and let them do what they want in their own environment.

Walking through a rice paddy

After the elephant rides we drove down to where we would start our long walk to the village. The nature around Thailand is really nice, full of lakes, rivers, rice paddies, wet bushland, towering trees, and so many insects and animals. Our guide showed us many different things such as how to cut a walking stick out of bamboo, different leaves you could eat such as some nice sour tasting ones and some minty ones to clean your teeth. Different seeds and where other animals and insects hide. He really had a keen eye for all the things around the area, and could spot a little frog or a spider from ages away.

The local Karim village people

We walked for a few hours and stopped at a nice little waterfall and had a lunch consisting of noodles, pineapple and passionfruit. After walking for about 3 hours we finally arrived at the 'village'. In reality, it was actually just 2 little huts made out of leaves and bamboo and a family consisting of about 8 people, all in the middle of nowhere! We gave some little presents to the children, and got to shoot one of the farmers guns which was pretty cool. The villagers seemed so nice with their nice little community. I wondered if they ever got lonely living out there in the middle of nowhere, but they seemed so self-sufficient with water, animals, hunting equipment and things like that. They were the Karim people, who actually speak Burmese and who are native to the area. One of the girls was only 14 but was on her second husband, and had a pair of boy identical twins and a little baby girl. They seemed genuinely happy and nice, and I could see no real complications with their life.

Our guide Dea at the campsite

We walked for another half an hour and arrived at the campsite where we would stay for the night. There were 2 locals who looked after the campsite (which again was just 2 leaf houses) and all sat around the little fire. We sat around talking for a while, cooking some local things. Dea made an awesome dinner out of all local ingredients that he had either found or bought from the market, basically curies and things. He even found a frog on the path and roasted it up. I didn't want to try it because I thought it might taste gross but I ate some of the meat and it was really amazing! Like firm chicken but chewier and tastier. We got up to a lot of fun things that night. We got a guitar from the campsite owners house and managed to fix it up with some sticks, pieces of metal from a beer can, and a machete, and sat around playing from the book of songs they had, like John Lennon- Imagine. Then we went down to the river and set off some of the fireworks we had bought from the local market with 2 of the guys from the campsite who put the in the end of bamboo sticks and fired them around. We also found some passion fruits floating along the river and ate them. Then after most people had gone to bed 3 of us sat around smoking some of the local 'herbs' and talked with Dea. He was actually a really nice guy, and even though his English wasn't perfect, and we were with a French guy and a Korean girl we still all managed to talk and laugh about things and have an awesome time! It just showed me that age, language and race don't really matter at the end of the day.

The local dam

The next day we walked to an amazing huge waterfall and climbed around on the rocks for a while and had a shower underneath it. We crossed a few rope and bamboo bridges, walked through rice fields and dense jungle and finally finished our amazing walk. There was a dog called Bek who followed us the whole way through the trek and walked for about 4 hours, always surprising us when she would disappear then reappear back in front of us on the track.





We then went bamboo rafting, which was a little scary considering that our raft drivers were about 8 years old, and the rapids were pretty fast too. Finally we headed back to the hotel, but then decided to all go out with our guide Dea who showed us some local Thai music bars. They were cool and everyone got drunk and tried to impossibly sing along, and you even get a massage when you go to the toilet there.

Overall it was an awesome experience, but the best thing for me was being able to see how the villagers lived there. Their lives are so different there but still they are ultimately happy, and is that not what we base our very lives around? They can live here in these little leaf huts, no electricity, no medicine, no shops, no outside contact yet still live a sustainable and happy existence. I believe there are more than a few means to an end, and to see these people so happy with what little they have gives me hope :)

Finishing the trek

I am going for an interview for a teaching job in a nearby province on Monday, where I will teach Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They will probably be grateful for a teacher as it is a smaller province, and I will get free accommodation and a motorbike there, as well as bus tickets to and from Chiang Mai. I am also thinking of buying a little honda 150 cbr motorbike to get around, and i'm looking forward to meeting lots more people around the area, locals and expats!

Friends, perspectives, opportunities, inner peace

There are a few things that I have quickly developed some perspective on in my short time in Thailand. Two of these are girls and money.

Out here in Thailand, as a 'far-ang' (foreigner) you are kinda like a celebrity. Girls either love you for your money, or your western looks, and local Thai guys either love you as a novelty, or hate you because all the Thai girls like you (but usually the former). And when I say girls love you, I mean it is like fishing for retarded fish, in a barrel, with a huge net. In Australia I am just another guy trying to impress a myriad of beautiful women with my meagre slew of positive qualities, but here I need to seek shelter from the colossal torrents of eager women (not literally but you get the picture). Personally I have never really had the 'yellow fever' so much, but I can appreciate a good 'luk krung' (half-blood). The point is that here it is easy to see how attraction is relative. I am in no hurry to find a girl but if I did she would have to speak English, be relatively educated and intelligent (as a lot of Thai's are not) and of course attractive (preferably with some western blood).

Bangkok Slum

Money is another thing I have come to appreciate here a lot more. Did you know that the world is currently about 400 trillion in debt at the moment, but only to itself obviously. Here everything is cheap, for a few dollars you can get a taxi across the whole city, a meal, a massage, a bottle of whisky, or pretty much anything else you might want. As I was in Khao San Road I decided to go into KFC as it was my last day in Bangkok and I had eaten enough Pad Thai to satisfy a starving platoon of orcs. It was funny to see that at the counter they had a little change donation box for a charity that helps people in Africa. Here I was in Thailand, surrounded by derelict buildings, people living in tents and little corrugated iron sheds, and there were still people much worse off. Laos is a country bordering on Thailand which is about half as cheap as Thailand. A Thai person going to Laos with Thai Baht is about the equivalent of an Australian going to Thailand with Australian Dollars. And even then, most of those people still have access to running water, some food, and a place to shelter for the night. It realllllly puts Australia, America and Europe in perspective. And there are millions and millions of people that live in similar or worse conditions. Millions and millions.

The train conductor who saved me from total chaos

Anyways, after leaving Bangkok after an eventful few days, it was time to head up to Chiang Mai. I got to the train and was directed to train. I got to my carriage and found that I was sharing it with a guy from byron bay and two german girls which was a surprise, and there were quite a few different foreigners and interesting travellers heading up to Chiang Mai on the train. After about half an hour on the train a guy comes to inspect tickets and then I find out I am actually on the wrong train, and my train was about an hour earlier. The train inspector didn't speak much English and I couldn't speak any Thai so a chinese girl on the train called her Thai friend who then translated back to the train conductor and I ended up working out that I had to get off at the next stop and buy a ticket. I had to get off at some random place in the middle of nowhere with a million dogs lying around and run with the train conductor to buy a ticket, where I actually ended up using my credit card which meant the guy had to climb onto the roof to fix the antenna for the eftpos machine. It was all kind of confusing but I managed to get back on the train and get back to my carriage.

Train stopping to feed the chickens and dogs

After a 10 hour trip, the train having to stop once because dogs were on the tracks, another time to get another engine to go up the hill, and a third time to feed some chickens out of the window, I finally managed to get to Chiang Mai.

I met up and am currently staying with my uncle Alex, his son (my cousin [or brother in Thai]), his partner Bee and family friend Air. The day after I arrived, we went out to lunch at an amazing place about 25km north near the mountains with another german friend of Alex's who does sound design. Chiang Mai is actually a really beautiful place, and a welcome escape from the craziness of Bangkok.

Circus comes to Chiang Mai

Then we all went out to a local circus that came to town from Germany, and walked around the Chiang Mai sunday markets. I met this crazy girl called Narusan who was a half Japanese and half Thai skater girl, and apparently spoke 7 languages. She was really friendly and came up and held my hand (kinda randomly) and walked around with me. Then she went off to do something and I ended up loosing her.

Haru-san the crazy half japanese half thai girl

I then went out with one of Alex's friends Micha who is a cool 22 year old guy from Hawaii who works in multimedia and he showed me around Chiang Mai with some of his friends. We ended up going to a place called THC bar which has an open rooftop, then a backpacker bar and then to a local Thai club called monkey bar. It was a really fun night and I ended up getting pretty drunk on the cheap alcohol here. It is actually easier to get drunk here as well because its so hot. And that was all on a sunday night!

Tomorrow I am going to go on a trek and elephant riding and rafting adventure with a guy called Mason who is a guy from Byron bay who I met on the train. There are also a fair few people who do rock climbing around the area so thats something I want to get back into.  I also plan to sit in on some lessons at an English language school, and find a job teaching as soon as possible as well as do a bit of work for Alex and his partners. So far I have found a potential job in a place called Phayao which is about 3 hours away from Chiang Mai, and it looks like it will be monday to Wednesday with free accommodation and a motorbike. I can then come back to Chiang Mai and look for work here (as well as partying) in the other time I have off.

At Monkey Bar :)

Overall I am loving being back in Thailand, and the lifestyle over here is just so great. With a little introspection and meditation I am quickly regaining a stable centre of inner peace and happiness that I feel has somewhat waned in my time in Australia. Its funny to think how much the experience of life can fluctuate- life really can be awesome if you try and make it that way I think. I am also just starting to recognise (or remember) the importance of a positive attitude and the impact that actually has on your  whole life experience.

Travelling Alone

Buddha

The next day as I was getting over some of the culture shock I decided to do some touristy things. As I was walking to a buddhist temple, a tuk-tuk driver offered me a good deal to check out some of the local sites so thats what I did. I went to one temple which was the 'standing buddha' which is basically a fucking massive gold Buddha standing. Once I got there, there was a woman selling wooden cages with 3 little finches in them, and the aim was to set them free in front of the Buddha so it would bring you good luck. I figured I might as well make 3 little birds lives better, so I went to get some money out. The lady was really weird and wanted me to take her to Kho San road and buy her drinks and tried to get me to come with her but I basically shut her down (nicely).
I then went to go and pretend to be interested in buying a suit so the driver would get a fuel voucher for bringing me there.

Today I bought a ticket to Chiang Mai on Friday. Bangkok is a cool place, but really busy and touristy. It would be fun if I was here with some friends to party and stuff but there is not that much appeal beyond that. Also I would like to get started with finding a teaching job and making friends with some locals.

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Travelling Alone

Playground under a motorway

Travelling alone defiantly takes some getting used to. To go from a state of complete stability and organization with all your friends and family to the opposite is a shock for sure. There are defiantly times where question what I am even doing, but with a little introspection and insight, I can get to appreciate what i'm doing.
I think travelling is such an important thing. It just gets rid of any stubborn viewpoints you might have adopted about the environment you live in. Ironically Australia is one of the nicest places to live on earth, but it seems that a lot of people are unhappy to a certain degree. Here in Thailand there are people living in complete poverty, who are so happy and genuine. They do all still want money, sure. But they get by with what they have and they are adaptable. Seeing all these things in front of you just shows you what the world is really like, and how lucky we are living in western society. The fact is that the world is a really big struggle for a lot of people, and it can't be ignored by the people who have a fortunate situation. Once you have adopted a positive viewpoint however, you start to develop a kind of  inner strength and happiness, and start to appreciate what you do have as opposed to what you don't (from my limited experience).

Now that I have seen a Ping Pong show, I think I have seen it all. I figured seeing as I was in Bangkok, I might as well. Sexuality is shoved in your face a lot here, which is fine if thats all you are looking for, and on a good note it is about the most prosperous thing for the Thai economy as well. But looking underneath what is essentially glorified prostitution it is really just a sad world of desperation, catering to drunk tourists. I met a really nice tuk tuk driver called Artie, who told me all about his life as an ex Muai Thai boxer as well as his family and kids, and he wished me luck in being a teacher in the future.

Bangkok Train Station

Anyways, I am going to Chiang Mai on the overnight train on Friday, and i'm planning on doing a meditation retreat once I am there for a while, and possibly some kind of a trek. And then getting on finding a job. Its only my third day but I feel like I have already experienced so much.
Until next time!

Meeting some locals

Today I moved to my hostel in Kho San road. I walked around the area and was stopped by an Indian fortune teller dude. He seemed nice enough and he told me some things about my life and that I had a 'moon face' whatever that means, and then he gave me a necklace and asked me to give him heaps of money so I kinda left after that.

It might be small, but its $10 a night!

At night time I met up with a Thai girl I had met the previous night drinking with one of the guys who works at the airport hotel. She bought 4 of her girl friends and 1 guy who was scared of cars. It was nice getting to know them but they hardly spoke any English so it was hard to communicate. I managed to drop literally a whole bowl of soup in my lap so that was shit and I had to go change my clothes. Then we went to a local bar and listened to a Thai band, which were actually surprisingly good but they just lip synced the words to famous bands like Maroon 5. Everyone drinks this horrible but cheap whisky called Sam Song in Thailand, they mix it with soda water. It is actually really gross but like $3 for a whole bottle. It was cool being with some locals as the hawkers don't harass you, and you get to not be a tourist (kinda).

After that I decided to go back and sleep at the hostel but as I was walking back I met a cool tuk tuk driver called Rambo and he promised to show me a 'good time' so I went along with it. Rambo drove his tuk tuk really fast while drinking a beer and ended up driving me to a Thai strip club which was pretty random. After drinking some more with Rambo,  he then drove me back to the hostel where I ate a huge Pad Thai and went to sleep.

Not in Kansas anymore

Day 0- Arrival

So- finally I made it to Bangkok!

Everything went pretty normally on my way in, flight was an hour late but the plane food was pretty good, and there is literally no comfortable way to sleep on a plane in economy.

After a worrying episode of forgetting my arrival pass, and dropping by bag on another guys foot, I stepped out of the airport. I was suddenly blasted with the realisation of what I was actually doing, as well as the sauna-heat that is Thailand all year round (and I am in the coldest month of the year).
I was met by the guys who would take me to the airport, they were 2 young guys about 17 or 18. They were really friendly and they all seem to be interested in foreigners like me, and practicing their English. One of the guys asked me if they had 'Kwala Bares' in the city, to which I said no and he commented (to my surprise) on how Koala's usually live in one tree. I told him that Koala's were not actually bears and he just kinda laughed and didn't understand.

My room

As I got to the 'resort' I realised that I was staying in one of the more upper class places, but for $24 Australian a night I wasn't really breaking the bank. I got a huge room with a double bed and bathroom all to myself. I tried to watch some Thai tv however the tv was stuck on one channel which was a ram eating some grass to classical music and people clapping.




I walked up the road to get some food at about 4am from the street vendors as it was about 5 times cheaper than the hotel (and even then the hotel food was about $3 a meal). The street vendors basically have mobile food stalls on the back of their scooters. I went over to one stall and she didn't really speak a word of English, but her daughter pointed at one and managed to say 'kin-kin' and I assumed that was chicken so I bought it. It turned out to be Thai fish cakes with chicken, beans, chilli and rice, and it cost me only 20baht in total, which is 64 cents!! I gave her another 20baht tip and she was really happy. I guess money means a lot in a country like this!

Walking along the street I realised how different everything was here. The long winding and confusing roads, indecipherable writing, hardly anyone speaking good English, stray dogs, poorly constructed houses, crazy wires everywhere, second rate plumbing and electricity, everything is just a little bit old and downgraded, it really makes me appreciate how nice all the things are we have in western countries!

I think the safety inspector had the day off

The people are what matter though, they seem to have a natural carefree nature, they are hospitable and respectful (but maybe because I have money), and on the most part just really friendly.
Now that I am travelling I have also decided to develop my own morning routine, for vitality and happiness. Half an hour of meditation, followed by some basic yoga, a (possibly fruit) breakfast, and some reading of the Dalai Lama if I have time. Then I will pack my things ready for the days exploring and leave.

Day 1: Total Chaos

So as much as I might of thought I was prepared to travel around Bangkok on my own, I was completely mistaken. As soon as I get out of the hotel about 4 taxi drivers try and offer me some discount to drive around the city. At first I was trying to be nice but I soon learned a swift 'no' shuts them up.

Kho San Road area

Taking a taxi all the way to the city proved to be further than I thought, but I guess i'm lucky that its Thailand cause a half hour taxi ride only cost me about $10 au. I told the taxi driver to go to the only place that I could remember 'Kho San Road'. He didn't speak any English at all, and I tried to tell him to go back to the hotel when it started raining, but he said some shit in Thai and kept driving so I just went along with it.

Kho San Road is an amazing place, and defiantly a culture shock. There are market stalls EVERYWHERE and sooo many people trying to sell you shit, Indians trying to sell you suits (like who is going to wear a suit in a sauna?), sunglasses, watches, massages, and everything else under the sun, just cheap and shitty.

I met a group of students who wanted to interview me for a university project and asked me some questions and stuff. I got to know them and they were really nice, and I even gave them my contact details incase they ever needed to practice their English speaking. Already made some friends in Bangkok :)

Thai Students

I wandered around the streets of Bangkok for a while which are just really amazing, and then spent ages trying to get back to my hotel with another taxi driver who didn't understand my because I lost the address.
Also I got a nice 1 hour massage for only 300 baht (about $10), and i'm gonna go out drinking with one of the guys who works at the hotel i'm staying at.

I love Bangkok!