heavy metal thunder

Autumn and I went out last Friday, and were told by enthusiastic foreigners outside the Family Mart that the Best Drummer in the World was playing at a bar down the road. So we went, because you can't miss an opportunity to see the Best Drummer in the World.



He started with what I thought was going to be an enthusiastic sound check, but no. It was a song.

Here he is in action. It's only a fifteen-second video, but that's all you need. Note the enthusiasm of the crowd.


(It didn't sound any better than that in real life.)

So that was fun.

Newspaper taxis appear on the shore

After two whole days on boats, I looked forward to some overland travel (no I didn't! I looked forward to someplace pretty where I could stay for a few days and *not* be on a bus or a boat or a train or any other seat for hours at a time.) I had to get to Thailand, either way.

The ferry from Huaey Sai, Laos to Chiang Khong, Thailand takes maybe five minutes. It just crosses the Mekong.



Thai immigration guy: why did you put my entry stamp on the right side of a brand new page halfway through my passport? It would have looked so clean if you had put it below my Lao entry stamp.

When I arrived in Chiang Khong, I took a tuk-tuk to the bus station to catch a bus to Chiang Rai.

THIS:


This is the beautiful, shiny, majestic public bus from Chiang Khong to Chiang Rai. It's near the most beautiful bus I've ever seen, I'd say.

I listened to some Elton John on the bus. "Your Song" reminded me of karaoke with Alan, and "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" is kind of my favorite karaoke song (even though I've only sung it twice,) stolen from Annie.

But then.

"Tiny Dancer." It was perfect.

This could have happened,


but didn't.

Grooving up slowly

Children's Day was fine, but the evening that followed was better.

When the Thai staff arrived back at the school, they pulled up chairs in the kitchen and dove into the leftover rice and ribs from Children's Day. Somebody filled a pitcher with ice and poured over it a big bottle of red Fanta, then dumped in some dozen straws and they passed it around. I didn't understand much of what was said, but this was such a magical experience of communal eating and bonding over the day that it made me miss communal meals like that. I've eaten in groups in restaurants here, but the focus is always something else. This meal had a great sense of relief and accomplishment and leftovers. It was fantastic.

Later, Bert took Autumn and me on a little road trip in his newly on-the-road-again Mercedes where we visited a village on stilts. There were cows.



Afterward, we went to dinner where I had tasty Pad See Ew Goong and Bert installed karaoke software on his laptop. As we were the only people in the restaurant, it was important that we make sure that the new program worked. We chose "California Dreamin'" and "Unchained Melody." This, of course, was only the beginning.

Bert brought his new portable karaoke machine to Fern Bar! I sang a few songs with Autumn. Later, Bert was singing "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and this guy apparated out of the aether and sang the drunkest, loudest karaoke I've heard.



He was amazing. I tried to get some really epic tunes out of him (Dream On was a failure, but Stairway to Heaven was glorious.) We sang like fifteen songs. I don't even remember everything we sang, but "Come Together" by the Beatles and "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles stand out. I do appreciate that the audience was so supportive of my karaoke problem.

After Bert and his karaoke went home, I went to Oliver's for a bit and then tried to sing more karaoke at the place on my street but they shut down about five minutes after we got there. Instead, I sat in the dark and chatted with cool people for about an hour before heading home.

I'm always happiest when I have a song in my head, and I don't know if it's because singing makes me happy or because happiness brings out song, but karaoke nights are always the best nights, especially after a long Saturday.

Sitting watching picture slides

Since leaving the USA in September, I've kept a list of things I'd never done before. I thought that the beginning of 2010 would be a good time to share some of them.

To start, I hopped on a plane with no one to meet me on the other side. My first few days in Bangkok, I was a basket case. I couldn't sleep, I was lonely and confused. I got over it and kinda fell in love with Thailand.

I drink only bottled water. It is kind of weird to have to go buy water all the time or (now) go downstairs and refill my water bottle from the big drinking water dispenser. Potable tap water is something that's easy to take for granted.

I ate a mangosteen! I had wanted to try one when I first came to Thailand but they weren't in season. It was a chance stop at a fruit stand in Pai to get bananas when I saw the small, brownish-purple fruits. I asked the man what they were and jumped up and down and squealed for longer than necessary before tearing into one with my fingers. I was soon shown how to open them without making a mess (lace your fingers together holding the fruit between your palms and squeeze gently until the shell cracks open.)

I played darts. And won my first game. I played snooker, and lost completely and totally.

I rode on a motorbike, sorta drove a motorbike (ha!) rode sidesaddle on a motorbike, rode with 3 people on a motorbike, burned my leg on a tailpipe. Oh, motorbikes.

I sang with a live band!

I haggled.

I used a squat toilet, often, and occasionally managed not to wee on my feet.



On that note, I managed not to make a little post about squat toilets. This picture is one I encountered on the way to Pai, and it's pretty typical of the more rustic ones. You've got your toilet, your bucket and scoop for flushing, and no toilet paper. Many of these aren't designed to accommodate toilet paper and instead (if one has the forethought to bring some with them) one is supposed to dispose of used toilet paper in a waste bin. There are some stinky stalls in Thailand. Usually there is a muslim shower, fondly known by some as a "butt blaster." This one was not so well-equipped.

Hopefully 2010 will be equally abundant with firsts.

What's in your head?

This week I discovered that it's possibly a bad idea for a couple of girls to go kayaking at night. There are rocks in the ocean. We had to carry the kayak across the beach for a bit but made it back safely. Back on the beach I came the closest I had yet to singing "Zombie" in Thailand, but the guitarist didn't know the whole song and neither did I.

Rocks, by the cold light of morning:


The next day I got to skip class to go on a fruitless field trip to the labor department. The staff of my school took the opportunity (being in the Big City of Rayong and all) to get the tires changed on the van, so I had a couple of hours at the mall to kill with Autumn. I've written before about this mall, where all the clothes are too small and quite expensive. What I discovered last time I went there, though, are the little glass karaoke rooms on the top floor. Autumn and I copied the Thai staff and rented one. It took awhile to figure out how to show actual karaoke instead of a music video with no lyrics, but once we got it down we got it down!



It was in this small glass room that I came even closer to singing "Zombie" than I had the previous night. The song in the catalogue was called "Zomble" which was apparently not a typo, and it was a crazy dance version of the song...with no lyrics on the screen. Foiled again!

The following day was New Years Eve which was fantastic! I have no pictures of the evening, but a group of us went to dinner at Christies and then moved to the Tawan Inn for karaoke! This time, Autumn and I requested "Zombie" right off the bat. We didn't want someone else to sing it before us, since it is probably the most popular English-language karaoke song in Thailand. I think we rocked it. Other karaoke highlights not sung by me include "My Heart Will Go On," "La Bamba," and "Looking Out My Back Door."

New Years Eve was great for other reasons, too. I've made sweeping changes in my life and it feels like a great opportunity to recognize that. I also got to see the fantastic Alan (who taught me to teach and now works in Singapore.) All the company was great, actually. There was dancing on the lawn! There were fireworks at midnight! We kept going until about 3:30 in the morning, but I felt plenty refreshed this morning. I only dislike the unfortunate pattern of singing karaoke at the Tawan Inn with awesome people who will shortly leave the country.

I hope that your 2010 or 2553 is fantastic!

It is perhaps worthy of note that almost every adjective in the preceding tale was going to be "fantastic" until I made a conscious effort to change most of them. I think "fantastic" might be the word of 2553.

She's wondering what clothes to wear

When packing for Thailand, I filled my limited space with modest teacher clothes and didn't bring any tee shirts. I knew that they would be abundant and cheap, especially in tourist areas, and I have purchased a number of amazing tee shirts in my time here. Apart from jeans, though, I don't have anything to wear them with.

Yes, I am really starting a blog entry by writing about clothes.

Well when Ban Phe turned into a market last week (that was the highlight of my life, okay?) there was a stall that popped up with some very cute knee-length skirts. They were all very pretty, and very appropriate to wear with tee shirts. I poked my head in and started thumbing through the pretty polka dots and flowers and pin stripes, and the woman sitting in the stall politely directed me to the "big girl" section (a rack of XL skirts in the back.) Yes, I am plus-sized in Thailand. I'm okay with that. I was originally drawn to a muted plum-and-mustard design, but distracted by a bright shiny purple one. The salesgirl urged me to choose the shiny purple one, possibly because big girls in shiny purple skirts are hilarious. I tried not to let it damage my self-esteem, and I went with her recommendation.

It's just that this is the only picture I took Friday night, and I can't post a blog entry without pictures, even if they are blurry faceless taken-in-the-mirror pictures! Friday was Stephanie's last night in Ban Phe, so we went out to Christie's and yes, I was dressed like a clown.



That's my previously linked horror tee shirt, shiny purple skirt and yellow-and-orange leg warmers. With flip-flops! Ha!

Everyone at Christie's is so ridiculously nice I can't stand it! The proprietress and some of the employees ended up closing shop early and taking us to Rayong (the big city in our province) to celebrate and wish Stephanie farewell. We danced to some great live music and I had a wonderful time. Stephanie is amazing and Ban Phe and I will miss her. I got woke up at 7:30 after about four hours of sleep to say goodbye over breakfast and caught a speedboat to Magical Crystal Island.

On the island, I met up with two tall, slim brunettes named Laura who took the TEFL class with me and now work in Isaan (that's the northeastern part of Thailand, for those of you who are not in Thailand.) It was great to see them and I am glad to hear that they are enjoying their jobs. Unfortunately I was a little too sleep deprived to do much other than lay on the beach and swim and lay on the beach some more, but that's island life for you. Saturday evening, we went back to the bar where there had been amazing live music the last time I spent the night on the island but the energy was tragic this time.

They started with soft poppy rocky songs that no one really *likes* but everyone kind of recognizes. Someone requested "anything by Eric Clapton" and that's where they made their tragic mistake. I would have recommended "After Midnight." It's upbeat and danceable. "Cocaine" could get plenty of audience participation, or even the fast version of "Layla." I think even "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" would have been acceptable.

Of course they played "Wonderful Tonight". And when that didn't get people dancing, they switched to Lady Gaga. And we left.

I spent the night in a rustic bungalow. There was no spider in the bathroom, because the bathroom was in a separate building. There is something absolutely magical about waking up under a functional, rather than decorative, mosquito net.



I love the diffused light, the closeness of nature, the sturdy and simple construction of a bungalow that doesn't pretend to be airtight. And maybe I can also fantasize for a little bit about being on safari somewhere, before I check out and stumble back down to the beach. It was a good, exhausting weekend.

Feeling near as faded as my jeans

The night of the king's birthday didn't hold just the excitement of parade, ceremony and abundant free food. After the ceremony, Autumn and I were invited to hang out with Bert's cool friends at the windsurf place. Now Bert's pretty much the coolest guy in Ban Phe, with his aloofness and his irony and his janky fabulous old Mercedes. Autumn and I were confident that if we did not end up covered in pig's blood, this was going to be an awesome time.

Bert's cool windsurfing friends are indeed pretty cool. His friend Ter, who I had met before a few times and whose name I hope I am not misspelling (*I was misspelling it but have now corrected it--Ter is pronounced like "Duh,") was playing guitar and some dozen or fifteen windsurfers and windsurfer groupies were singing and drinking and generally being awesome. I practiced my Thai a little. I regretted still not knowing the words to "Zombie," but did sing the first verse of a few songs in English. It was great.

As the evening went on, Autumn and I decided to go swimming-or-kayaking. Autumn wanted to go kayaking, but my thought process was that my jeans would get wet, so I would have to take them off and if I take off my jeans I might as well just go swimming. So that's what we did. We put our jeans on the rocks by the shore and went swimming in tee shirts and underfrillies. Bert and Ter, having witnessed our decision-making skills, dragged some kayaks into the water and we all went kayaking around Ban Phe harbor at night, with only the light from the moon and the piers and the festival. It was beautiful. And when Ter and I returned to the beach, I discovered that the tide had come in and my pants had been taken by the sea.

Oh how magical evenings can turn sour, even without pigs blood. My fairly nice Seiko watch was in the pocket of those cheap Old Navy jeans. I scoured the shoreline with some of the cool windsurf people but it became clear that my pants were at sea, and it remained unclear whether I would see them again. I was lent a pair of board shorts and lay shivering in a beachside hammock, contemplating my pathetic life for a bit before the other kayakers returned and we searched the shore again.

Lo! What dark matter was this teasing Autumns feet with each wave? My jeans! And my watch! Still ticking! The bountiful ocean was feeling generous that night after teaching us a lesson in humility-and-leaving-our-pants-above-the-tide-line.

Autumn's pants would not wash ashore until the following day, but we made the shameful trek back to the windsurf place in the morning to retrieve my pants, at least, and to cheer for our new friends.

...Pai, cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise

Pai is a quiet mountain town about 3 and a half swervy hours north of Chiang Mai. Tee shirts for sale in town boast of the 762 curves in the road from Chiang Mai. As I bumped along, higher and higher into the mountains, I started to notice pine trees!

Pai is a small town, but it is becoming popular with backpackers and the main drag in town turns into a bustling market every evening, selling bracelets and belly dancer pants and scarves. I did buy a pair of fisherman pants, after going back and forth about it over the last couple of weeks.

The best thing about Pai, besides the town's love for puns, is that the backpacker culture is easy to escape. On an adventure yesterday, my companions and I visited (and swam below) a waterfall where we saw only a couple of other visitors.



This is one of the glorious views at Pai Canyon.



It's great in any direction.



In the evening, we went back to civilization and had our portrait done by an artist.



After walking through the streets, trying not to buy anything (aside from my fisherman pants,) the three of us settled down for a bit to watch this great funky jazz cover band.



I am completely in love with the lead singer and her fabulous hair and husky voice, and satisfied to know that Oscar Bluth ended up as a sax player in a funky ladyboy band in Pai.

Tomorrow I'll take on those 762 curves once again and start my two-day journey back to Ban Phe.

hitchin' on a twilight train

I arrived in Chiang Mai this morning after taking the overnight train from Bangkok. My only other train experience was Tacoma to Portland, so this was a glorious adventure for which I was sorely underdressed. As I approached the platform and saw the train waiting, I squealed with glee and regretted not bringing white gloves, a jaunty hat and a tailored dress in my backpack. Instead, I wore a $5 dress from Cambodia and a pair of decomposing flip-flops. It was still glorious.

I won the coin-toss for the bottom bunk and was grateful for a window. I didn't sleep very well, but our fourteen-hour train ride offered interesting views, the opportunity to use a squat toilet on the train, and a satisfactory ipod soundtrack (including "Murder Train A-Coming" by Dethklok and "Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat" but not including "The Gambler" or "Midnight Train to Georgia.") My book was equally appropriate (Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux.)

I can confidently say that I am in love with trains.

I also have a few pictures to share from my adventures in Cambodia. The staff photographer hasn't had the chance to upload her pictures yet, but these give the general idea.

Woke up at 4 am to get this:


I felt ickily colonial on this part of the trip. It was very National Geographic.


Elephant convoy at the gate to Angkor Thom:


Expect more and better pictures when I'm not at an Internet cafe. It might be a week and a half, or just a few days, or maybe longer. I must soon acquire new flip flops though, before this pair rots off of my feet.

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever

I visited a magical island this weekend. Ko Samet is the reason Ban Phe is on the map, but this was my first visit. I was deliriously happy all weekend until the very end, which was still a perfect ending.

On Saturday after being booted out of Condochain and bidding farewell to the folks who won't stay in Ban Phe, I caught the ferry with two girls from my TEFL class. On arriving on the island we found some available bungalows (very rustic accommodation) and went down to the beach for drinks. We met a cute, sarcastic, whiny Canadian who we joined for dinner at a restaurant on the beach a while later. The food was wonderful. The sand was white. The drinks were abundant.

After dinner, we walked to a hookah bar on the beach. Rugs were laid out on the sand, and there were pillows to lean upon and short tables. The four of us shared a hookah and I listened to the music from the bar and watched the fire dancers down the beach and the lanterns floating up to the heavens for good luck and it was beautiful. This island's culture and inhabitants are so intentional and warm and transient, like Ren Faire or Khao San without the touts.


Paisley Glen or beachside hookah bar?

I didn't think it could get better, but inside the club at the hookah bar there was a wonderful cover band. They played the Cranberries and Guns and Roses and... uh... Shawty got Low. It was FANTASTIC. The singers, the guitar, the dancing, the energy, the music.

We left when the band finished their set and it went back to a dj and walked back the other way to a gay bar on the beach. I dipped in the ocean with one of my companions and it was beautiful. Then we headed back to our bungalows, and found that one of them was full of ants, everywhere. We all slept in one big bed then and in the morning realized we had shared the bungalow with this guy:

I am very glad that we didn't see the spider until the morning. Otherwise we would have had to sleep outside. It is by far the largest spider I've seen outside of a tarantula, and it is fast.



In the morning, we met up with another friend and found a secluded beach with white sand and still turquoise water and just played and swam in the ocean, laid on the beach and ate delicious food. I had an ovaltine shake and banana with coconut milk. While resting for awhile I played some music (it's odd that I haven't listened to my ipod at all on this trip until now.) I put it on shuffle and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" came on and it was perfect.

The mermaids here are whiter than the sand.


I was completely enchanted by Ko Samet, but had to leave to catch the ferry at around 5 pm. I came back to the school here in Ban Phe where I am spending one night before leaving tomorrow for Cambodia with a couple of others. After dinner I walked back to the school with a friend and we stopped at a restaurant that was having a lawn karaoke party with two of the TEFL employees, including our trainer. Both of them are leaving in the coming weeks, one to Singapore and one to England. It was wonderful to sing karaoke with them. I sang three songs--Proud Mary was a duet, it was great. I Will Survive was great. The other was Take it to the Limit by the Eagles. But the music was not right. It was just a generic drumbeat and I couldn't sing to it! Especially with a song that is so slow, Emily singing that song was the most horrible thing I have ever heard. It was better to watch them sing karaoke. When I left it was bittersweet because they're both leaving while I'll be in Cambodia and they're pretty cool people who it would have been fun to get to know outside of the TEFL-trainee relationship. They'll have great adventures though.

I realized when I got back to my room here that my phone was missing! It must have fallen out of my purse at the karaoke place. I called the place but there was a language barrier and a loud karaoke happening in the background barrier so I'm not sure they know what's happening, but I will stop by tomorrow in the hope that they have my phone. If losing my phone is payment for the amazing weekend I had, it was worth it. But I still want it back.

Monkey Baron vs 10 Humans in Helmets: The Musical

There is an abandoned temple near Ban Phe that is overrun with monkeys. I love monkeys! My decorating scheme at home is mostly pictures, figures and masks of monkeys. It's kind of ridiculous. So I jumped at the opportunity to visit the monkey temple on Saturday.



I hopped on the back of a motorbike and ventured with a group of ten TEFLers to the fabled temple. One of our group had visited the temple on his own before, and he led the way. We made a brief stop at a roadside stand to buy big bunches of green bananas for 20 baht (about 70 cents) a bunch. It had been suggested that we leave our helmets on. I joked that we might end up barricaded in the abandoned temple, subsisting on bananas as monkeys methodically sought a way in. Ha.

As we approached the sacred grounds, we entered a less-abandoned area with a huge staircase going up the hill. The railings of the staircase were five-headed snakes. Rather than climb the stairs, we followed the road up the hill to the beautiful temple. The surrounding trees were infested with small monkeys. One or two was carrying a baby on its stomach or back. The monkeys were adorable and a little shy. They loved bananas but only a few of them were brave enough to come very close for them.







Then there was this guy. He's the Baron of this particular band of monkeys and he did not seem to appreciate our visit. When one of our group bent down to hand him a banana, he bared his teeth and ran at her, which was terrifying. We tried throwing what was left of our bananas at him to make him happy, but he had no interest in them and continued towards the group of six or seven of us as we backed away from the temple, the angry Monkey Baron, our motorbikes and our companions.



Inside the temple gate, the others continued to feed the nice monkeys and take some amazing pictures. Outside the gate, I was completely terrified and so were most of my companions. Monkey Baron ran at us a couple of times and we backed further down the hill. He sat and stared at us. In our frantic fear, we attempted to scare him by singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." He was not amused. Finally we realized that there were still some bananas in one of the backpacks. In the hope that the Baron could smell them and that was why he hated us, these last bananas were tossed toward the jungle in an attempt to get him to follow. It worked, after a fashion, and he moved to the side of the road. We hurried past him, back to the temple and our bikes.

Back at the temple, the few people who had stayed behind were still taking pictures. At some silent signal, the monkeys retreated suddenly into the jungle.



We cautiously rode back down to the base of the staircase, wary of any attempts the Baron might make to have his troops jump from the trees and attack our faces as we tried to leave.

Safe at the bottom of the staircase, we put on our best monkey faces and laughed at ourselves.

Yesterday

I don't get to actually sit down with the Internet very often, but hopefully within the next couple of weeks when I get my teaching placement it will be in a place where the Internet is a little more convenient. This week I taught my first two classes. It was a learning experience, and I teach more classes next week. In the afternoons and evenings I've spent a lot of quality time with the ocean.



My hotel sits across the street from the beach. On the side of the street with the hotel, there are other (mostly empty this time of year) hotels and some small restaurants. On the beach side, there are lots of beach chairs and umbrellas and tables. Sometimes people order food and then walk across the street to eat on the beach. Sometimes at night people drag sound equipment down there and throw karaoke beach parties.

On Wednesday after school I joined some of my fellow TEFLers at the beach. There was a huge jellyfish in the water, and some of them were trying to play with it while others were keeping their distance. These shots are from my underwater camera.





The top feels like nubbly plastic. It's not at all what I expected. That is not my hand; one of the brave gentlemen was making sure it was safe.

The jellyfish had a live crab inside of it, which later escaped when it was herded to shore for further investigation. Afterward, jellyfish was promptly returned to the water alive. Crab wandered away.

On Thursday I headed down to the beach with a book after class. The sky was clear with some haziness at the horizon and wispy white clouds overhead. Behind me, inland, the sky was overcast but light gray. I was hoping for a spectacular sunset. I sat down with my book (The Masked Rider, by Neil Peart) and started to read. I noticed a flash on the page, which I thought could absolutely not be lightning behind me, until a good few seconds later thunder rumbled above me. This was the longest, loudest thunderclap I have ever heard. I looked around behind me and the sky was still light gray. This happened again until the sky started to downpour on me, and I hurried across the street to take shelter at a restaurant and eat dinner (garlicky squid on rice.) Sudden weather changes are typical this time of year.

Most of my TEFL class was going to go out Friday night for karaoke to celebrate the birthday of one of my fellow students. Our instructor mentioned that a bunch of the TEFL employees and students from the other TEFL class were going to Rayong (the big city with the giant TESCO Lotus) for karaoke that night and that we were welcome to join them. This sounded like a great idea!

So we rented a songthaew (that's a pickup truck with two benches in the bed and a roof on top) and 14 of us rode into Rayong. We joined the TEFL group at a huge restaurant/bar where a cover band was playing songs in Thai and English. After an hour or so of this, the whole horde (about 25 people) walked to the karaoke place where we had a private room. This was amazingly fun. There were a fair number of English selections. I sang "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and "Desperado." I also sang "Yesterday." While I had a great time, I'm glad that I don't work at the karaoke bar. Having to listen to other people's karaoke parties all night long might be one of the worst jobs.



I'll leave you with Chaoying. She seems to live in the Condochain lobby. Her coloring reminds me of my kitty Clarice. She's chewing on my camera strap here.

First Weekend in Ban Phe

My first week of teacher training is complete.

Saturday I rode on the back of a motorbike around Ban Phe. I actually tried to drive a motorbike, much to the amusement of the hotel housekeepers who were hanging out of the window laughing at me. Jerk forward, screech to a halt, jerk forward, lean sideways, screech to a halt. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty visualizing this. I'm much better as a passenger. I don't think they make motorbikes with training wheels.

In Bangkok and here in Ban Phe there are motorbikes all over the roads but helmets are rare. Some of them pile on three plus people, including children on their laps. I've seen women ride sidesaddle. They don't really have enforced traffic rules so the motorbikes dart in between cars when they can. As a result, at a stoplight there is always a hoarde of motorbikes blazing forward first when the light turns green.


This fella was hanging out in my condiment tray.

Is it sad that it took me until Saturday to get past my knees in the ocean? It was a hot day, and shortly after sundown I took a dip in the warm ocean. I've never been in a warm ocean before, and it was wonderful. I luckily missed the torrential end-of-monsoon thunderstorm, which waited until I was safe and dry in the restaurant/motorbike rental/convenience store/Internet cafe next to the Condochain.

When the rain let up, I walked back to Condochain to the cacophony of the competing karaoke bars on either side of the hotel. I think that the one next to my side of the building has the advantage. Being in a covered pavilion outdoors, the flashing disco lights draw people and moths alike and the music has a much straighter path through the crack where my sliding glass door doesn't slide all the way shut.

Sunday five of us went to Khao Chamao national park. This trip was amazing. I don't know what I was expecting; we knew there were waterfalls and wildlife (elephants and tigers and bears, oh my!)

The first wildlife I saw was this gigantic black and yellow spider:


The hike to the waterfalls required a park ranger as an escort, and they did not let us bring food or water to the hiking trail. It turned out to be a 2.6 kilometer hike each way, but it was very intense. It was an uphill climb through the jungle. The trail went up and through little streams, and required a lot of energy to find the best place to step among the rocks and tree roots. There were about six waterfalls along the trail, and of course they were beautiful but so was just walking through the jungle. The sounds were amazing, the flora was amazing, the sudden drop in temperature as I stepped around a corner and into view of a waterfall was just amazing!



I bought a bag of fish food for 10 baht (33 cents) at the desk where we gave up our water bottles. The first (or second?) waterfall we passed had hoards of fish beaching themselves to get at this food. I tried out my camera's underwater capabilities here, which was a little tricky since I couldn't see the viewfinder.



The hike was grueling, especially without water. Up near the top, we passed an area with a very zoo-ish smell. The guide said it was tiger. We didn't actually meet a tiger. When I emerged from the jungle after four hours (I think?) I was covered in a slimy film of sweat, sunscreen and insect repellant. And leeches. Also leeches.

I pulled this sucker off my ankle:



It was so worth it though!





It started to rain just as we were leaving the jungle, and I had lunch at the park under a little pavilion while the rain turned into a downpour. The largest animal we met at the park was a deer.



One can rent a bungalow and stay the night at the park, which I think would be amazing. After returning to the Condochain I took a dip in the warm ocean and took pictures.



I tried to get a picture with an awesome wave crashing behind me, but it didn't work.