Thailand, round 2

Fun Fact! In Thailand, the Ronald McDonald statues in front of stores feature him in the respectful Thai gesture "wai": head bowed slightly, hands in front of the chest in prayer position. Hooray for an American burger chain doing their proper cultural research!

I kicked off 2009 with my lamest New Years celebration yet - and yes, this includes the years spent with my family when we pretended 11:00 was midnight so we could go to sleep early - in a dead sleep on a plane to Bangkok. Suspended in the air between two countries who celebrate their New Years in Jan/Feb (China) and April (Thailand), I woke up at 1:15 am to realize that my own culture's 2009 had officially begun, and then I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep. Right: My boarding pass for the Shenzhen - Bangkok flight. Handwritten.

Since our flight to Bangkok landed at 2:30 am, and the one for Phuket departed at 6:40 am, I spent the first night of the New Year cat-napping on a bench in the airport, and the first day feeling pretty exhausted. However, I caught up on sleep quickly, and as always the excitement of travel kept my tiredness from registering until I returned to my own bed on Sunday night.

Chapter 1: Ko Phi Phi
I took an organized tour (my first and last, if I can help it) to Ko Phi Phi, a beautiful island covered in giant limestone karsts, similar to those in Guilin and Yangshuo from my early China trip. We had cloudy weather and were overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists packed onto the beaches, but the natural beauty of the islands was still obvious.

Ko Phi Phi. Look familiar? It was also apparently the set for the 1999 film "The Beach," starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Have I seen it? Of course not.

I also had two exciting encounters with the natural world during our island tour. First, we were given snorkels to explore the underwater world around the island. My snorkel experience has been limited to murky lakes, so seeing the colorful schools of fish, spiny sea urchins, and active clams against the coral floor was a dreamlike experience. A dream that ended quite abruptly when my limbs suddenly went tight and then limp, and I found I could no longer swim. Luckily, my panic/paralysis lasted only a moment, since I cried out and Andy helped me swim (ahem, pulled me) back to the boat. Turns out it was just a friendly sting from a fairly sizable jellyfish - as evidenced by my battle scars. It left tentacle marks and swollen skin from my back, across my stomach, and down to the opposite thigh. Luckily our guide got me some stinky green seaweed-like substance to rub on it, and it stopped burning within a few hours.

My other encounter with nature was a bit more pleasant. We went to "Monkey Beach," where there were lots of monkeys eating, playing, and swinging in the trees. One came over to meet me (see the picture on the left - no zoom on this photo!).





Chapter 2: Phuket
Phuket (pronounced poo-KET, and not "fuck it," in case you are giggling to yourself) is an island off the west coast of southern Thailand. It has long been a popular tourist destination, and is still in the process of being redeveloped after great damage caused by the 2004 tsunami. It was picturesque, warm, and relaxed, but after a couple days I decided that me and this type of resort destination do not get along.

I travel primarily to learn - to interact with people, understand their history and culture, and just the sense for how it feels to look out from another center of the world. Mingling with unsmiling and overweight European tourists, and being treated as one, was totally alienating after beginning at feel at home in Southeast Asia.

Nevertheless, the trip as a whole gave me little to complain about. A few of the highlights:

• Swimming in the ocean. Like a gigantic playground for adults, the ocean never fails to bring out my inner child. After swimming around (and somersaulting, bobbing, and pretending to be a shark) I got out of the water and Andy informed me I had been swimming for over an hour. I had no idea, but believed him the next day when my arms and legs were sore.
  
• A moped ride in which Andy got a ticket for not having a driver's license on him, and then ran out of gas. While I waited, I got to watch a Thai soccer match and made friends with some locals, who gave me a glass of ice water and asked me with genuine interest about my life.
• Making friends with an elephant on the beach. I have seen plenty of elephants at the zoo, but never imagined them to feel as they do - with short, coarse hair protruding from dry, cracked skin.
  

Chapter 3: Bangkok
I spent a day in Bangkok during my last Thai adventure, but this time had a much more full and exciting day. Beginning with a 3 am arrival onto the crowded backpacker streets of Khao San Road, and a 3:30 am falafel and noodles, Andy and I set out to fully enjoy the more authentic parts of downtown Bangkok.

Early on Sunday morning, we headed to the Grand Palace (พระบรมมหาราชวัง in Thai), a building complex that houses the King's throne and official residence, along with Buddhist temples and a famous jadeite Buddha. We had fantastic weather; it was in the 80s, which is cool for Bangkok, with a sunny blue sky. After deleting all of my duplicates and unclear images, I ended up with 57 pictures of the Grand Palace alone. Here are a few of the best:

















Other highlights from Sunday include great street food; the best-tasting pineapple of my life (and yes, I'm remembering my goal to stop exaggerating); a lunch so spicy it made my eyes water and burnt my lips; and a walk through Chinatown (Andy had a craving to speak Chinese... since that's something we never get to do at home...). Overall, the kind of day where I review the pictures and have already forgotten the weight of my heavy backpack on sunburnt shoulders, and instead recall the smell of chicken kabobs, rush of pink taxis, and the melody of the Thai language floating by on the street.