tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6159087685655750302024-03-13T13:59:41.840-07:00Teach. Eat. Smile. Explore. An Adventure Living in the Land of Smiles.Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-9526136180897318912013-06-30T15:58:00.002-07:002013-06-30T21:14:36.698-07:00Room to Read School Visit in Nepal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My fundraising work for <a href="http://www.roomtoread.org/" target="_blank">Room to Read</a> culminated in a school
site visit in the wonderful country of Nepal last week. I am proud to report
that the organization I have been <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">independently working for and supporting</a> is
just as amazing as I have thought (and even more so now that I have had the
chance to learn more about them in the country their work started in)! My sister, Mollie, and I had already been traveling in Nepal
for almost a month and seeing all of the great aspects of Nepal while also
seeing the reasons why Room to Read’s presence is so needed there.</div>
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We met Rishi, a writer and photographer for Room to Read
Nepal, at their office in Kathmandu and were soon off in a jeep to a school
about an hour from the city. Rishi was awesome and answered all of our
questions as we drilled him about Room to Read’s work in Nepal, its monitoring
process, and actual effectiveness. As we steadily drove up into the hills, I
could see how much of a challenge getting to school could be for kids living
only an hour from Kathmandu. Their homes and school were set in a beautiful,
but remote, setting and some of the students walk up to 2 hours to get to
school. </div>
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Mollie and I both expected to just peak in at a school in
session and were not ready for the overwhelmingly beautiful welcome we
received. All of the students (ages 4 to 12) were lined up to “Namaste” us and
give us bouquets of flowers or put garlands around our necks. We were
overjoyed!</div>
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We then met with the principle, librarian, and teachers who were clearly proud of their school and excited to show us their work. The school
was established in 1985 (without Room to Read), but they were lacking teaching
materials and sought out Room to Read’s assistance. Room to Read established a
library program at the school last year and now each classroom has its own
corner library, stocked with Room to Read published books in Nepalese, to put the books at the students’ fingertips. In addition, they
provide teacher and librarian training to help teachers teach in a more
engaging and interactive way instead of lecturing to these small children the
way the government traditionally trains them to.</div>
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We were led into the bigger classroom that all the students
were gathered in to display their literary talents and welcome us with a song.
Each Friday, they have library activities and they gave us an example of what
these activities included. Children recited poems they had memorized, stories
and essays they had written, and one girl listed off over 40 book titles and
authors that she had read that semester! All of the students came from farming
families who were in a lower caste and their stories and poems reflected on
tragic, yet common, problems in their lives, such as poverty and kids being
tricked into sex trafficking. However, they all focused on the difference an
education can make and their gratefulness for the resources Room to Read helped
provide by working with their community.</div>
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On our way back to Kathmandu with Rishi, he explained the
importance of partnering with the government and communities instead of simply
going in and building a school. Room to Read Nepal is constantly lobbying the
government to use Room to Read’s educational model by showing the government
the results from their research and monitoring (Room to Read actively works
with a school for 3 years and then phases out so the school becomes self sufficient-allowing Room to Read to focus on more projects. 98% of the schools that they phased out of are still going
strong). Their goal is not to have Room to Read schools and libraries all over
the country, but to raise the standards of education in the country and give
the government an effective model to use. </div>
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Mollie and I left Rishi incredibly pleased with Room to Read
as an organization and were so grateful to have been able to see their work
first hand. Of the countries I traveled in, Nepal has the greatest need and I
am happy to put the funds I have raised to Room to Read Nepal. Please <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">support my work and passion </a>by investing in global literacy and help me establish a library (books, learning games, furniture, and
librarian training included) in Nepal!</div>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-12601172528991755902013-04-13T08:35:00.003-07:002013-04-13T08:35:29.951-07:00Mom Comes to Thailand Part 3: Chiang Dao, Tathon, Mae Salong, Chiang Rai, and Chiang Mai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlBvViLdlZo/UWl0ZKSTyzI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/SRtWT8ZssiU/s1600/DSCF4600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlBvViLdlZo/UWl0ZKSTyzI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/SRtWT8ZssiU/s1600/DSCF4600.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a>We arrived in Chiang Mai on a Wednesday morning and
completely bypassed the smoky, trafficy city by taking a taxi straight from the
airport to the bus station and then a 2 hour bus ride to Chiang Dao. Chiang Dao
was one of mine and Eric’s favorite places during our motorbike trip and we
were looking forward to going back. Although it was smokier than it was a month
before, it was still the same beautiful and relaxing place. We stayed at
Malee’s again, but this time opted for a bit of a nicer bungalow (well my mom
and I did, while Eric camped in his tent on the lawn). We took advantage of the
pool again and returned to Nest for another wonderful California style meal. There
is a pretty large monastery up the road from Malee’s, which we had seen parts
of our first time in Chiang Dao when we did our hike around the monastery’s
perimeter. This time we checked out the whole thing, which was amazing! It was
set into a small mountain so the main area where the monks pray, chant,
meditate, etc was actually in a small cave. It was very beautiful and what I
would picture when I think of a monastery. There was another the other
direction, which also had a cave prayer area so we were overall very impressed
with Chiang Dao’s wats. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monastery in Chiang Dao</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our spot on the river complete with papaya tree and pineapple bushes</td></tr>
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After two nights in Chiang Dao, we headed out to our next
stop a couple hours north in Tathon. Tathon is a small town on the Mekok River
and is really close to Burma/Myanmar. We stayed at an awesome place (Areeya
Puree) on the river, which had a big enough pool to swim laps and cheap rooms!
We spent a lot of time relaxing next to the pool or river, swimming, and
reading. We also walked up to another wat/monastery, but this one was much more
stereotypical tacky than the ones in Chiang Dao. The views at the top were
still beautiful regardless of all the smoke and we were looking out at Burma.
We went on a walk up the river our second day in Tathon and am pretty sure we
actually walked to the border, which we didn’t realize until we read how close
Tathon was to the border. After two nights in Tathon, we moved on to Mae
Salong, but fortunately were able to leave our big bags at Areeya Puree since
we were going to stay another night in Tathon between Mae Salong and Chiang
Rai.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoky Mae Salong</td></tr>
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Mae Salong, which is not so elegantly called the “Tourist
Village” on signs, was once a big poppy/opium growing area and is set along the
ridges of some mountains at around 4,000 ft. When the Thai government started
to cracked down on the drug trade, it switched farmers from opium to tea. So
the main street of the town that winds along the ridge is lined with tea shops
where you can just barely show any interest in what they have and they are
handing you little cups of tea samples. Over the two days that we stayed in Mae
Salong we probably tried twenty different teas and many of them over and over.
We made sure to spread out our tea purchases so we wouldn’t feel bad tasting
and not buying anything. There are a few different hill tribes around Mae
Salong and they definitely got in on the Tourist Village. The road was lined
with women with their stalls of colorful purses, clothing, hats, belts, and
jewelry. Unfortunately some of the women became a bit aggressive with their
selling, which made my mom and I a little scared to even look, but of course we
did and of course we made our purchases. Besides tea tasting and shopping,
there isn’t much to do in Mae Salong. The first day we walked the 714 steps to
a wat of some sort, which gave us a good view of the smoky town and the second
day we walked around a tea field a bit outside of the main part of town. It is
amazing how removed Mae Salong feels from “civilization” just because it is off
the main road half an hour, but Tuesday morning we got on a song taew and were
lounging by our pool in Tathon within an hour and a half.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oAUYXZ0091o/UWl1Uy4-g2I/AAAAAAAAAmg/UkrO9a0IvRQ/s1600/DSCF4679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oAUYXZ0091o/UWl1Uy4-g2I/AAAAAAAAAmg/UkrO9a0IvRQ/s1600/DSCF4679.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea Tasting</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L4PDv4aSLTg/UWl18-MEndI/AAAAAAAAAmo/ru7qprCH14E/s1600/DSCF4705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L4PDv4aSLTg/UWl18-MEndI/AAAAAAAAAmo/ru7qprCH14E/s1600/DSCF4705.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>We left Tathon Wednesday for Chiang Rai, but we went in
style! After a bit of confusion about arranging our transportation, we set off
down the Mekok River by long tail boat. It was a bit expensive (1,500 baht),
but really worth it. It was really fun motoring down the river making a great
breeze and seeing the beautiful scenery go by. There were a lot of kids
swimming around almost the entire way to Chiang Rai (2 ½ hours) as well as men
fishing and people from the small towns on the river enjoying themselves. They
dropped us off in a somewhat random part of Chiang Rai a little outside of the
city, but within walking distance so we eventually found our way to the Garden
House guesthouse we stayed at our last time in Chiang Rai. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-iu7psHmTk/UWl2co285_I/AAAAAAAAAmw/LbeE40xcmwM/s1600/DSCF4724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-iu7psHmTk/UWl2co285_I/AAAAAAAAAmw/LbeE40xcmwM/s1600/DSCF4724.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>Our first day and a half in Chiang Rai was pretty much all
about the markets and we thoroughly supported the Chiang Rai economy. They have
a night bazaar, which is more of a tourist attraction, but also a relatively
large morning market that sells all types of food, clothing, cooking tools,
etc. When we needed a shopping break, we went to Wat Pra Kaew where the Emerald
Buddha was discovered before it was eventually moved to the Grand Palace in
Bangkok. It is the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand, but it is actually
made of jade, not emerald. Eric couldn’t quite hang with my mom and I as we
continued to shop and we took advantage of his absence by eating all the
Thailand treats we love instead of real meals. This included mango and sticky
rice, banana rotis, coconut ice cream, kanom kruk (another coconut treat), and
Thai tea. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5oSKLEfKcBM/UWl3BQ60KKI/AAAAAAAAAm4/k6SX5174-90/s1600/DSCF4730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5oSKLEfKcBM/UWl3BQ60KKI/AAAAAAAAAm4/k6SX5174-90/s1600/DSCF4730.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>On Friday morning we decided to check out the Black House
(Baan Daum), which we had heard about from our friends. Eric and I visited the
White Temple last time we were in Chiang Rai, which most people see with the
Black House. They are both made by artists, but Eric and I thought the White
Temple was pretty weird and touristy and were expecting somewhat the same of
the Black House only in the opposite color. It turns out the Black House is
beautiful and awesome! It was definitely dark (besides the color) since it is
decorated with a lot of skulls, animals skins, etc., but was on such a
beautiful piece of property and all of the art was really interesting. After
the Black House we went to the Hill tribe Museum and learned a lot about the
hill tribes in and around Thailand. There are tons of tours here where you go
to a tribe’s village (especially the Karen Longneck tribe) and Eric and I never
wanted to go. I am really grateful we didn’t because we really got an idea of
how much the people are being exploited, especially the Karen tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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We heard music outside of the museum and conveniently walked
out to find that the start of Song Kran parade was beginning! Song Kran (Thai
New Year, which is actually a Buddhist celebration so it is celebrated anywhere
there are a lot of Buddhists) is officially April 13-16, but Chiang Rai began
celebrating on the 12<sup>th</sup>. Although it is a religious holiday, it has
developed to become a nation wide water fight (and actually we got hit with
water for the first time on Tuesday). We walked around for the rest of the day
getting hit by buckets of water, by water guns, and other gently sprinkling
water on our shoulders.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F7nlOmZ_znM/UWl3J6sbLKI/AAAAAAAAAnA/ctzSmIX2OH8/s1600/DSCF4798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F7nlOmZ_znM/UWl3J6sbLKI/AAAAAAAAAnA/ctzSmIX2OH8/s1600/DSCF4798.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom at the Khao Soi place next to our hotel (very typical restaurant setting)</td></tr>
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We left Chiang Rai Saturday morning for Chiang Mai, which is
probably tied with Bangkok as the most popular place to celebrate Song Kran. We
arrived at our hotel and were happy to find that we were staying on the river,
next to a Khao Soi restaurant, down the street from the start of the Chiang Mai
Song Kran parade, and a few minutes from the night market! We enjoyed another
parade where we were splashed with more water (and tricked into paying to be
blessed with some mud stuff and a flower necklace) and watched Thais splash
scented water on all of the Buddha images in the parade. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cris-lKCz_s/UWl4H0WBAbI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/sbfi2k_RSpw/s1600/DSCF4808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cris-lKCz_s/UWl4H0WBAbI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/sbfi2k_RSpw/s1600/DSCF4808.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>Our last afternoon and evening together in Thailand was spent walking around and getting soaked, hanging out next to the pool at our hotel, eating some of our favorite foods (whole salted fish, pad see ew, mango and sticky rice, and 7-11 ice creams), and shopping around at the night market. My mom flies home tomorrow and Eric and I are will be in Laos tomorrow night! It has been a great last couple weeks in Thailand and I am so happy I was able to see and do so much. At some point I will write a more conclusive post, but am handing my computer over to my mom so I will not be updating my blog quite so often. Happy Song Kran everyone!</div>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-49165614539648438932013-04-09T01:54:00.001-07:002013-04-09T01:54:32.441-07:00Mom Comes to Thailand Part 2: Bangkok and Ayutthaya<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4isYIawa2c/UWPRswKPxlI/AAAAAAAAAlI/lHDXS7gJzCA/s1600/DSCF4539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4isYIawa2c/UWPRswKPxlI/AAAAAAAAAlI/lHDXS7gJzCA/s1600/DSCF4539.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very hot at the Grand Palace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"></span>The second phase of my mom’s visit was all about sight
seeing after almost a week of relaxing on an island. We took an overnight bus
from Ranong back to Bangkok where we parted ways with Eric for a few hours. He
went on to Ayutthaya to reserve us a guesthouse and we went on to the Grand
Palace. A trip to the Grand Palace was part of our orientation when we first
got to Thailand and both Eric and I tried to convince my mom that she really
didn’t need to see it, but she was persistent and eventually I stopped fighting
it. It costs 500 baht each to go to the Grand Palace (which is a lot to me) and
it is definitely a hot experience, but I actually really enjoyed my second trip
there! My mom and I didn’t take a guided tour, so we were free to walk around
the palace area at our leisure, which is what I think made it better than my
first experience. It is definitely an impressive complex and we both really
enjoyed the museum for the Queen’s project, which showcases her dresses and
gives information about her initiatives to employ Thai women as weavers,
embroiders, etc. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucs5tDLuW1M/UWPRv23rT7I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/V1t4aZvAMmI/s1600/DSCF4542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucs5tDLuW1M/UWPRv23rT7I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/V1t4aZvAMmI/s1600/DSCF4542.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"></span>After about 3 hours at the Grand Palace, we walked down the
street to Wat Po, which is famous for a really big lounging Buddha. After
spending so much time at the Grand Palace, I wasn’t that impressed with Wat Po.
The lounging Buddha is huge, but it seems like more of a tourist attraction and
I don’t really know what the actual significance of it is besides just being a
very large Buddha (but that is enough to make something noteworthy in
Thailand). We were pretty exhausted after our touring (which was on top of an
overnight bus ride), so we headed back to the bus station to get to Ayutthaya.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2GBJe_dmZs/UWPRz3u6_eI/AAAAAAAAAlY/acDxi8h8Csg/s1600/DSCF4550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2GBJe_dmZs/UWPRz3u6_eI/AAAAAAAAAlY/acDxi8h8Csg/s1600/DSCF4550.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"></span>We woke up relatively early our first morning in Ayutthaya
to take advantage of the cooler time of day (still probably at least 85 degrees
though) and rented bicycles to see the ruins. It was Eric’s and my third trip
to Ayutthaya, so we were kind of pros at that point knowing which temples were
the coolest and where it was fun to ride bikes. My mom was really into the
ruins and we all enjoyed riding bikes around the park areas until we were too
tired and hot to see any more. We took advantage of our A/C room in the lovely
Baan Lotus guesthouse and didn’t really emerge until dinnertime.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HMiyk5YWs0/UWPWieLAcqI/AAAAAAAAAlw/XuODP2B8c1Y/s1600/DSCF4570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6HMiyk5YWs0/UWPWieLAcqI/AAAAAAAAAlw/XuODP2B8c1Y/s1600/DSCF4570.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>The next morning Eric had to go to Suphanburi to pick up our
salary from March, so my mom and I went shopping at the floating market. I had
been to this market before, so I knew what to expect, which was a hilarious
tourist attraction next to the market including elephant rides, drugged tigers
for photo ops, goats and koi fish to bottle feed, among other things that Thais
think foreigners will love. The market itself isn’t really a floating market,
but has shops set up on a circular pier/dock. We ate some amazing coconut ice
cream and did some shopping before watching a very entertaining (and free) show
put on my the culture department. Everything was in Thai, but we think they
were reenacting some of the battles between the Ayuttayans and Burmese complete
with fancy swordplay, fire, and a small child who was killed in the end and
dramatically leaped off the stage. </div>
<br /><div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XT5NkGu8WpY/UWPWh27ts0I/AAAAAAAAAlo/y8kR9nE_pmw/s1600/DSCF4589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XT5NkGu8WpY/UWPWh27ts0I/AAAAAAAAAlo/y8kR9nE_pmw/s1600/DSCF4589.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After the market we went on
the long boat tour around Ayutthaya, which stops at three different temples
(one active one and two with ruins). This was my third time doing the boat
tour, but it was still fun and I was finally able to walk around what I think
is the coolest ruin in Ayutthaya since the other times I had been they had been
working on renovating it. We said goodbye to Ayutthaya for the last time
Wednesday morning to take a van to the airport in Bangkok to catch our flight
to Chiang Mai and begin the northern leg of our trip. My mom really enjoyed our
time in Bangkok and Ayutthaya and I was a little surprised that I had so much fun </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">too considering we did things that I have done before (sometimes
multiple times).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div>
</div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-57333757024510751952013-04-02T00:11:00.002-07:002013-04-02T00:11:51.253-07:00Mom Comes to Thailand Part 1: Ko Phayam<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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Eric and I said our goodbyes to Suphanburi, to our favorite
Thai teachers, to Wattana, to Nay, and to our smoothie lady and left for
Bangkok on a Friday after finishing our week of tutoring the math and science
teachers. My mom’s flight got in at 10 am on March 23<sup>rd</sup> and we
surprisingly didn’t have any problems finding her at the airport! She was alert
(impressive after such a long flight), excited to be in Thailand, and came
bearing cookies and brownies. We took her to Chatuchak Market so she could be
sufficiently overwhelmed with a huge Thai market and do some shopping. </div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx-ItqP0eE4/UVqCNB9waUI/AAAAAAAAAko/sO4IjeyFOmw/s1600/DSCF4519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx-ItqP0eE4/UVqCNB9waUI/AAAAAAAAAko/sO4IjeyFOmw/s1600/DSCF4519.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aow Yai--Our beach in Ko Phayam</td></tr>
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We then made our way to the Southern bus terminal, which was
much easier to get to than expected so we spent a few hours hanging out at the
bus station before boarding our 8:30 pm overnight bus to Ranong. We got to
Ranong and took a taxi to the pier at around 5 am and had another 4 or so hours
to wait until the ferry left for our destination-Ko Phayam. It was then a 2
hour ferry ride to the island, a 20 minute motor taxi ride to the beach we
would stay at (Aow Yai) and some walking from bungalow to bungalow trying to
find a good deal. We were hot and exhausted after all the traveling and
couldn’t wait to put our backpacks down and jump in the ocean. (By the way, my
mom’s modes of transportation count in two days was 9)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WDfsK_dxXM0/UVqA5w20g_I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/gqH4TpiZwFI/s1600/DSCF4426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WDfsK_dxXM0/UVqA5w20g_I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/gqH4TpiZwFI/s1600/DSCF4426.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Bungalow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We went for the cheapest bungalow option, which was a very
basic bungalow at Ko Phayam Coconut Resort. We easily slipped into the island
lifestyle of waking up and going on a run, walk, or swim, more swimming,
breakfast, reading, more swimming, etc. One day we rented a motorbike so we
could see the other part main area that people stayed on the island and Eric
played taxi driver shuttling my mom and I to the different beaches. The other
beach was in a bay as opposed to our long, wide beach (great for running) and
was very beautiful. The water was very shallow and Eric and I were able to walk
almost all the way to where the bay met the open ocean! </div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bgu8KIXqGcE/UVqB3bT0n3I/AAAAAAAAAkg/NH5KU71OIg0/s1600/DSCF4495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bgu8KIXqGcE/UVqB3bT0n3I/AAAAAAAAAkg/NH5KU71OIg0/s1600/DSCF4495.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buffalo Bay before the tide went out</td></tr>
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Ko Phayam is way less developed than most islands in
Thailand. There is only electricity in the evening and they turn off running water
at night (and sometimes at random times during the day). These two aspects of
the underdevelopment were a bit inconvenient at times, but it was so nice to be
on an island with a huge open beach and very few tourists relative to the rest
of Thai islands. The food was still expensive as on all islands, but it was
actually really good which isn’t always the case in areas where there are a lot
of tourists. Our favorite dish was Burmese pickled tea salad, which I will definitely try to recreate at home. We ate a lot of great seafood every single day, which is always a treat.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L6z6q6UFvhw/UVqBkCZrBSI/AAAAAAAAAkY/slXfWCw7BNs/s1600/DSCF4454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L6z6q6UFvhw/UVqBkCZrBSI/AAAAAAAAAkY/slXfWCw7BNs/s1600/DSCF4454.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful sunsets every night</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhG_gpcftRk/UVqCfho3XpI/AAAAAAAAAkw/NXnvVFMKlxU/s1600/DSCF4528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhG_gpcftRk/UVqCfho3XpI/AAAAAAAAAkw/NXnvVFMKlxU/s1600/DSCF4528.JPG" height="300" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Mom shell hunting </td></tr>
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<br />
My mom did a great job fitting in with the many 20 somethings
traveling in Southeast Asia with her backpack and ability to handle far from
glamorous living conditions. She probably could have stayed on Ko Phayam for
months spending a few hours each day collecting shells (which ended up being a
large tuppleware full for her to carry around the rest of her trip) among the
other relaxing beach activities. We were a bit sad to leave Ko Phayam, but
after 6 nights it was time to move on to the next leg of our trip. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYZxg922vY0/UVqCy7owmAI/AAAAAAAAAk4/JLhsLLcCw0w/s1600/DSCF4530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYZxg922vY0/UVqCy7owmAI/AAAAAAAAAk4/JLhsLLcCw0w/s1600/DSCF4530.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The street we called town nearest to our beach where we walked to get good coffee for mom, shop a little, and rent the motor bike.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-89523989091253054672013-03-31T04:12:00.001-07:002013-03-31T04:12:05.420-07:00Mae Hong Song Loop Part 5: Doi Inthanon
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3w4TxSN3nqI/UVgW3pldCCI/AAAAAAAAAis/30oWDnIZ-Dw/s1600/429769_4914037362666_1447362501_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3w4TxSN3nqI/UVgW3pldCCI/AAAAAAAAAis/30oWDnIZ-Dw/s1600/429769_4914037362666_1447362501_n.jpg" height="163" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the top of Doi Inthanon</td></tr>
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We left Khun Yuam somewhat early Thursday morning to start
the drive to Doi Inthanon, the tallest mountain in Thailand and a huge national
park. Eric had read really great things about Doi Inthanon and we planned on
staying 2 or 3 nights before returning the motorbike in Chiang Mai. Although
the drive was just as beautiful as all the other days, the novelty of traveling
by motorbike was wearing off for me. It was our third day in a row of driving
(we should’ve stayed two nights in Mae Hong Song) and my butt was definitely
feeling it. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Er9lxhtGBJQ/UVgXS3E4McI/AAAAAAAAAjA/aanforp_wOI/s1600/544259_4914038402692_1304994465_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Er9lxhtGBJQ/UVgXS3E4McI/AAAAAAAAAjA/aanforp_wOI/s1600/544259_4914038402692_1304994465_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>The road going into the park was exceptionally windy and
steep and we spent a lot of time in first gear puttering up the mountain. We
saw a sign for a campsite and turned off the main road into the national park
to find an amazing, yet empty, campsite. It was a bit too empty and we found only
one man working at the information building to have little to no information.
We didn’t bring our tent on this trip and learned that you could only rent them
at headquarters, which was about 30 km away. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8LRH18likVw/UVgW5M1UV1I/AAAAAAAAAi0/rEmdco8aJMY/s1600/486054_4914037962681_1491372182_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8LRH18likVw/UVgW5M1UV1I/AAAAAAAAAi0/rEmdco8aJMY/s1600/486054_4914037962681_1491372182_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freezing and bummed about the expensive hike</td></tr>
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Before going to headquarters, we drove to the top of the
mountain (this is Thailand so of course there is a </div>
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road that goes to the top
and not a hiking trail). It was actually freezing at the top so we didn’t spend
much time up there. We tried to do a hike that Eric had read about that was
near the top and supposedly had great views. Unfortunately it cost 200 baht
each to do this hike (paying to do a hike that “requires” a guide-no thank
you). This should have been an early sign to us about the type of operation
this national park was running. When we finally made it to headquarters, we
learned that renting a tent, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads cost the same as
staying in a nice guesthouse, but we paid up since our only other option was a
lot more time on the motor bike to get to the nearest town. We then drove over
to the campsite to see enough camouflage tents set up to house an army, all of
which were empty, so we took our pick. This just made what would have been a
kind of disappointing experience a hilarious one that was so stereotypically
Thai.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3xfSiBzkPw/UVgW6eb18jI/AAAAAAAAAi8/NSoqnl1Hfs8/s1600/522530_4914041402767_239911300_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R3xfSiBzkPw/UVgW6eb18jI/AAAAAAAAAi8/NSoqnl1Hfs8/s1600/522530_4914041402767_239911300_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>Thing started looking up when we were able to share our
silly experience with another random American at the campsite who had just
gotten out of a 2 week meditation retreat. The three of us took advantage of
the evening by walking to 2 of the few free attractions at the park- a
waterfall and a research center/garden. The waterfall was a small hike from the
research center, which was more like an immaculately groomed arboretum. We
strolled through the gardens and thoroughly enjoyed our evening activity before
dinner. </div>
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Another strange thing about the park was that there were a
few different villages in the area that became the park, but the villagers
weren’t kicked out or anything so our campsite was across the street from a
village with food stalls, a school, and small grocery store. The people were
very friendly, though, and it was convenient having good cheap food so
accessible.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djwEB4xmdoQ/UVgW3DlktCI/AAAAAAAAAik/UpvpMyvHeSw/s1600/420030_4914042322790_329183783_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djwEB4xmdoQ/UVgW3DlktCI/AAAAAAAAAik/UpvpMyvHeSw/s1600/420030_4914042322790_329183783_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a> </div>
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So obviously we decided against staying in Doi Inthanon more
than one night and parted ways with our new friend Friday morning. She planned
on hitch hiking her way to the top of the mountain and we planned on checking
out some more waterfalls and a cave. We were hoping for some hikes, but the
waterfalls were basically on the side of the main road (but still beautiful)
and we never ended up finding the cave. The side of the park that we exited
from is very close to a main highway, which was quite a change after over a
week of windy country roads and we made our way into the bustling city of
Chiang Mai.</div>
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It really was an amazing trip and different from anything I
have ever done, especially in Thailand. If I were to do it again, I would stay
two nights in Mae Hong Song and then go further south to Mae Sariang bypassing
Khun Yuam and Doi Inthanon. I would highly recommend Chiang Dao and Pai to
anyone traveling in the north of Thailand and Mae Hong Song if you have more
time or are on the western border. Traveling by motorbike in those regions
allowed me to see what I envisioned when I thought of Thailand before moving
here. That is, rural villages, beautiful unscathed mountains (besides the
burning), and truly friendly people. Definitely a trip I will remember for the
rest of my life!</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-1941058708734783932013-03-20T00:39:00.002-07:002013-03-20T00:40:21.854-07:00Mae Hong Song Loop Part 4: Khun Yuam (Day 8)We had a relatively short drive from Mae Hong Song to Khun Yuam (60 km) up and down hills on windy, beautiful roads. We stopped for lunch at the top of one of these roads where this older shirtless man with an adorable/yucky little pot belly served us some rice with fried eggs. His english was actually very impressive for living in almost the middle of no where and he talked to us about where we were headed, villages to stop in, the death of Hugo Chavez, and other socialist ramblings. He was a funny old guy who could have talked our ears off all afternoon if we had let him, but, alas, we had a destination in mind and said our goodbyes promising to return in November.<br />
<br />
Shortly after lunch we realized that we should have filled up our little gas tank in Mae Hong Song so our drive became a game of how efficient we could be with tucking and shifting into neutral (2 people and a 40 pound backpack on a comically small motor bike trying to tuck down windy roads was probably a hilarious sight to behold). We were very surprised when we made it to the gas station in Khun Yuam and went on to find a place to stay for the night.<br />
<br />
Khun Yuam didn't have much to it, but we found a guesthouse appropriately called The Farang Guesthouse (Farang=white foreigner), which was actually pretty nice and we were able to talk down the price by 150 baht (probably because we were the only people staying there). After resting in the heat of the day, we left the guesthouse to check out the town and find food, but there really wasn't anything to see (and not many places to eat for an early dinner). We did surprise some people and chickens walking through their neighborhoods (because we are white and scary and novel).<br />
<br />
Khun Yuam was really just a place to stay for the night and not a necessary stop along the drive, but still a nice small town. (I just realized I didn't take any pictures between Mae Hong Song and Khun Yuam or in Khun Yuam, but there were some neat little villages we passed by while we were focused on gas conservation)Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-3134807297159485082013-03-18T07:31:00.003-07:002013-03-18T07:33:29.852-07:00Mae Hong Song Loop Part 3: Mae Hong Song (Day 7)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4uacO__i1Gk/UUcjgkWNO3I/AAAAAAAAAiI/UlNYGxS_qNM/s1600/600395_4913961560771_935214935_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4uacO__i1Gk/UUcjgkWNO3I/AAAAAAAAAiI/UlNYGxS_qNM/s1600/600395_4913961560771_935214935_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We left Pai around 9:30 am Tuesday morning to start our next long drive to Mae Hong Song. We climbed the first of many windy hills and made our way into a cloud that fortunately never unleashed on us. We got to the top of the small mountain and put on more layers, but within five minutes of driving all layered up, we came out of the clouds and descended into a warm and gorgeous little oasis valley. This was a sign of what the rest of our drive would be like and we stopped on the side of the road often to try to capture the scenery on camera. We were so happy for the nights of rain in Pai that completely eliminated the smokey skies and we had nothing but blue skies and pillowy clouds all day.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSTmTvG92nk/UUcjfyMRFWI/AAAAAAAAAiA/ycGkLcn-WB4/s1600/481092_4913943240313_1469633824_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tSTmTvG92nk/UUcjfyMRFWI/AAAAAAAAAiA/ycGkLcn-WB4/s1600/481092_4913943240313_1469633824_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We planned on going to the Tam Yod cave in Soppong, but they charged 500 baht for the two of us (the equivalent to two extra days in a bungalow) so we passed and continued to enjoy the drive. It is supposed to be a really awesome cave with a rive going through it, so if you ever had the chance to see it and are not traveling on a Thai salary, I would probably do it. We did stop at a much smaller cave on the side of the road (for 20 baht each), which used to house coffins from the ancient Burmese. The tombs that were discovered were over 3,000 years old!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxkvscdRgx0/UUcjc4MwyjI/AAAAAAAAAho/NQ64qju7dak/s1600/66397_4913957640673_1027818383_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CxkvscdRgx0/UUcjc4MwyjI/AAAAAAAAAho/NQ64qju7dak/s1600/66397_4913957640673_1027818383_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_CDhQyd9Qc/UUcjdmynU0I/AAAAAAAAAhw/6O4K0ey2SgU/s1600/150454_4913963400817_1329983721_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_CDhQyd9Qc/UUcjdmynU0I/AAAAAAAAAhw/6O4K0ey2SgU/s1600/150454_4913963400817_1329983721_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>We hadn't heard great things about Mae Hong Song and expected a larger town (since it is the capital city of the Mae Hong Song province) without much going for it in a less beautiful setting than Pai. We were happy to discover that it was a relatively small city (much smaller than Suphanburi), with the perfect amount of tourism and it was in a beautiful setting! The cheap guesthouses are situated around a small manmade lake and we found a great little place for 300 baht (which was originally priced 500 baht). Supposedly it is a great base for doing treks, which I can believe with how beautiful the surrounding area is and it looked way less commercialized and ridiculous than the trekking companies in Chiang Mai.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oFTm_Ob-6Rc/UUcjhnptyVI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/poPM603Goao/s1600/734541_4913966600897_1946100676_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oFTm_Ob-6Rc/UUcjhnptyVI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/poPM603Goao/s1600/734541_4913966600897_1946100676_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>Because of the long drive and all the stops for taking pictures, we didn't get to Mae Hong Song until 4 or 5, but had enough time to stroll around the little lake, get some Vietnamese noodle soup for a late lunch, and relaxed and read a bit before dark. We went out a little later for dinner and enjoyed the small market on the lake where vendors sold Burmese style clothing, art, and other little things. I bought a very beautifully woven scarf from a really cute and friendly woman that is part of the Karen Hill Tribe (famous for their long neck women) and regret not buying more from her.<br />
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I woke up Wednesday morning for a beautiful long run and then we walked up to a temple on the hill to get a great view of the town. We easily could have stayed a few days since the town had such a nice atmosphere, but we decided to continue on our road trip and were on our way by noon.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ldodwf6iNPY/UUcjej0ek7I/AAAAAAAAAh4/JmuOrnRHCtI/s1600/420001_4914031162511_497563946_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ldodwf6iNPY/UUcjej0ek7I/AAAAAAAAAh4/JmuOrnRHCtI/s1600/420001_4914031162511_497563946_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-41038955578280847022013-03-15T21:17:00.000-07:002013-03-15T21:18:43.680-07:00Mae Hong Song Loop Part 2: Pai (Day 3-6)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uu5fSZsLOHQ/UUPwY0REbPI/AAAAAAAAAgs/YVfUHWF13F8/s1600/150428_4909800736753_2060841334_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uu5fSZsLOHQ/UUPwY0REbPI/AAAAAAAAAgs/YVfUHWF13F8/s1600/150428_4909800736753_2060841334_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>We got an early start for our long ride to Pai on day 3, which we soon realized was too early for our cold selves (I never thought I would actually need warm clothes in Thailand so I did not pack accordingly). We only made it to the main part of Chiang Dao before stopping for breakfast and coffee. This unplanned early stop turned out to be awesome and hilarious. As I was in the bathroom I heard some drumming and rushed out to see the start of a parade, which it looked like almost every member of the small town was in. With this ridiculous sendoff we started our drive to Pai. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IibMVqTlGFE/UUPweDZlJxI/AAAAAAAAAhU/TIZXkJdebHw/s1600/734184_4909801896782_870472360_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IibMVqTlGFE/UUPweDZlJxI/AAAAAAAAAhU/TIZXkJdebHw/s1600/734184_4909801896782_870472360_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>The drive from Chiang Dao to Pai became more and more enjoyable as the weather started to warm up a bit and we started gaining elevation. We were really enjoying ourselves and time was flying by when we had an unfortunate turn of events. While we were driving a flying bug got stuck in Eric's helmet and quickly took refuge deep inside his ear, which caused a lot of panic on both our parts. It sounds silly, but it looked torturous (and Eric would confirm that it was). We continued to drive after a long stop on the side of the road hoping the bug would find its way out (but didn't) and we made slow progress with some stops when the trapped bug struggled too much for Eric to focus on driving. After about an hour of this (and the thing was still alive!), we stopped at a roadside stand to get a straw and get that guy out. With a lot of air on my part, patience on Eric's part, and suggestions of using water from a nice Thai couple, we at least killed the bug (and it is still unknown if any of it came out at the time since Eric went to the doctor in Chiang Mai where the doctor took out lots of bug parts). It was enough for Eric to feel much better and we were on our way again.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E1sRGkoUr5s/UUPwas5ziUI/AAAAAAAAAg8/sP23ApYz_fs/s1600/303902_4909804376844_131528680_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E1sRGkoUr5s/UUPwas5ziUI/AAAAAAAAAg8/sP23ApYz_fs/s1600/303902_4909804376844_131528680_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Because of this little episode, we got to Pai later than expected and felt quite ready for a nap when we checked into a guesthouse. I didn't know a lot about Pai before our trip, but had heard it was a hippy tourist valley town. I prepared myself for the deadbeat hippy traveler types and kept my expectations relatively low. (Sidenote: My definition of deadbeat hippy traveler types are those that you see in many parts of the world who have dirty dreadlocks, wear the same loose and somewhat trendy hippy clothes--which I do love at times-- who don't really do anything in the countries they visit like working or volunteering and don't attempt to learn about our be a part of the cultures they are visitors to). However, I was very pleasantly surprised by Pai! There are definitely a lot of tourists and most of the town caters to them, but it was great to see a place in Thailand where they is actually a market for organic food since most of the farming here is anything but organic. Although there were some of the aforementioned types of travelers, it wasn't a homogeneous group of people. Many people are just there for a few nights, many accidently stay for weeks of months, and others relocate to Pai permanently. There is definitely a big night life (which Eric and I didn't take part in since we are like grandparents), but there is no drinking or smoking allowed on the main streets, which I thought was nice. There is a lot of good shopping (very tempting for me) and local artists bring their work out in the evening to sell on the street.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-stpQFaUorwI/UUPwZiveZ_I/AAAAAAAAAg0/7I-vTLjc_Sc/s1600/157015_4911153210564_1423841668_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-stpQFaUorwI/UUPwZiveZ_I/AAAAAAAAAg0/7I-vTLjc_Sc/s1600/157015_4911153210564_1423841668_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Our days in Pai consisted of leisurely mornings reading in bed, one "activity" per day, eating, more reading and napping. The first night we made the mistake of staying at a guesthouse in the midst of the main street and were awoken in the middle of the night by those taking advantage of the night life and then awoken again early in the morning to hear the effects of said night life. I escaped with a great run out into the country and looked into guesthouses and bungalows further from town. We found some nice bungalows for a great price in what was somewhat of a Swiss community that had a very friendly communal feeling. It was very peaceful and a great place to stay for the following 3 nights.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u3p2CccAJV4/UUPwbzVENFI/AAAAAAAAAhE/tp-tyoW2eZU/s1600/417416_4911146570398_766277081_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u3p2CccAJV4/UUPwbzVENFI/AAAAAAAAAhE/tp-tyoW2eZU/s1600/417416_4911146570398_766277081_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Our third day in Pai we went on a hike to a waterfall, which was long enough to discourage others, so we only saw a couple other groups the entire 5-6 hours. It was a very beautiful hike with many many stream crossings. After slipping in a few times and getting my feet wet, I gave up trying to cross the rocks and trudged through the rest of the crossings which proved to be much faster and refreshing for my hot feet. We discovered that we went to the north of Thailand at the wrong time of year because from February to April they burn the rice fields and all of the hillsides so the views are very smokey. We got used to it and it was interesting seeing the contrast to the parts that had been burned (or were still burning) on our hike. Luckily, it rained the next couple of nights which got rid of the smoke completely for the rest of our trip and we got some great views of Pai the last day there!<br />
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I can definitely see why people stay in Pai longer than they plan and would have stayed longer if we had not been paying to keep our motorbike every day.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C1GIfl3VKBs/UUPwdNN9cmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/XGJvuGIsP00/s1600/479723_4911150650500_1896901647_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C1GIfl3VKBs/UUPwdNN9cmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/XGJvuGIsP00/s1600/479723_4911150650500_1896901647_n.jpg" height="95" width="400" /></a></div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-49012684819777988132013-03-13T23:21:00.001-07:002013-03-13T23:21:15.156-07:00Mae Hong Song Loop Part 1: Chiang Dao (Day 1-2)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xQD0-aLUrP0/UUFqHoZQGpI/AAAAAAAAAf8/AG2D25Am5Lw/s1600/DSCF4121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xQD0-aLUrP0/UUFqHoZQGpI/AAAAAAAAAf8/AG2D25Am5Lw/s1600/DSCF4121.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first break of the trip. We named our bike Lek (small in Thai), but she had a big heart.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Eric and I had a three week break between finishing teaching our students and one week of teaching the science and math teachers at our school and headed out the Sunday after our last day with our students to the north of Thailand. We met my cousin, who was finishing his 6 weeks of traveling throughout southeast Asia, in Chiang Mai. It was great to see family and to hear about some of the countries that Eric and I will be headed to after Thailand, but unfortunately we were quite disappointed by the city of Chiang Mai, which we had heard many great things about. After two days in the city, we were definitely ready to get out of there so we rented a motorbike from Mr. Mechanic in Chiang Mai for 250 baht a day (about $8) plus gas (less than $5 a day) Wednesday morning to start the Mae Hong Song loop. Unfortunately I never asked anyone to take our picture, but imagine Eric (who is about 6'3") driving what is more like a scooter than a motor cycle with me hanging on behind him carrying our big backpack that we shared for the trip.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otxss3MHBaQ/UUFqJaexp2I/AAAAAAAAAgE/PeBfj07s4b0/s1600/DSCF4124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-otxss3MHBaQ/UUFqJaexp2I/AAAAAAAAAgE/PeBfj07s4b0/s1600/DSCF4124.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>Once we were 20 minutes outside of the city, the feeling of freedom washed over us. Thailand has a very developed tourist industry, which makes it very difficult to get off of the tourist track. As I have talked about in my posts about weekends when we rented a car, having your own transportation makes a huge difference and riding on the back of a motorbike is an even more enjoyable way to travel. Our first stop was Chiang Dao, which actually isn't part of the Mae Hong Song Loop, but was an excellent addition. It was about 2 hours from Chiang Mai, not including stops, which were relatively frequent since our butts could only handle half an hour to an hour of driving at a time. 10 km outside of Chiang Dao the highway was lined with Som-o stands (Pomelo in english) so we enjoyed one next to the stream before heading into Chiang Dao.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L81l7lA15So/UUFqOixauTI/AAAAAAAAAgU/EfNAeEfbGW4/s1600/DSCF4150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L81l7lA15So/UUFqOixauTI/AAAAAAAAAgU/EfNAeEfbGW4/s1600/DSCF4150.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>The only bad thing about the area is that it is difficult to find a truly cheap place to stay, but after stopping at 5 or so places, we found a place called <a href="http://www.maleenature.com/" target="_blank">Malee's</a> for 350 baht a night. We thought of looking for a cheaper place, but when we saw the mini pool (and playset) we were sold. Plus, we were just down the street from some hiking trails, the Chiang Dao cave, and a nice little village. After a quick swim, we went to the little resort next door that Eric had read had great food. Holy Shamoly. Prices were relatively high, but the menu looked like it was made by a gourmet Californian chef. We order a panini with grilled vegetables and a chicken sandwich with bacon, tomato, and lettuce and both came with side salads. Our jaws dropped when one of the extremely friendly ladies brought our food out and continued our meal in awe. We are going back to Chiang Dao with my mom in a couple weeks and will definitely eat at this place again.<br />
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After being wowed by our lunch at <a href="http://www.chiangdaonest.com/" target="_blank">Nest</a>, we decided to check out the cave expecting a similar deal to the caves we saw in <a href="http://teacheatsmileexplore.blogspot.com/2013/02/300-peaks-park.html" target="_blank">Sam Roi Yot</a> (aka hike straight up and then explore an awesome cave). However, this was much more of a tourist trap and although it was a crazy cave with many different rooms, it required a guide and was tricky about how much you had to pay. We payed an expected fee outside (40 baht each) and then when we walked in they told us we had to take a guide and it cost 100 baht, but we were also expected to tip her. This was a bit of a bummer, but we learned from this experienced and were much more careful about what we payed for the rest of the trip.<br />
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Thursday morning we woke up and went on the 7km hike near Malee's, which involved a lot of straight up and even straighter downhill hiking. As always in Thailand, there were some awesome trees and we soaked in the sound of the forest and barely saw anyone the entire hike. The trail skirted the property of a Wat and near the end we ran into some monks working on the trail with machetes, chain saws, and who were also smoking cigarettes (wish it had been appropriate for me to take a picture and yeah, not sure what the deal is with the smoking since I assume that is not allowed in Buddhism). Further down there were some other guys working on the trail (non monks) who enlisted Eric to chop down some of the bamboo with their machete and he welcomed the exercise while I laughed at the man's enthusiasm every time Eric chopped one down.<br />
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After hiking we had some pool time, found some cheap noodles down the road, more pool time, read, and napped. After going for a run through the main part of the village (which was home to some of the friendliest people I have met in Thailand), Eric and I found another cheap, yet amazing, meal of omelettes and went for a ride up the road toward the national park nearby. The road leading to the park was absolutely gorgeous and wound its way along a little stream and was surrounded by jungle mountains with cool air blowing by us all the while being wrapped in the smell of orange blossoms. I thought of how amazingly different I felt compared to the nights in Chiang Mai wondering what I was doing in Thailand. I went to sleep very content for the second night in a row looking forward to our next leg of the trip the following morning.<br />
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<br />Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-70718677214404586572013-02-22T05:20:00.000-08:002013-02-22T05:20:59.186-08:00Last Days of Teaching and Some Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today was the last day of school for us English teachers (we don't have to be here for finals week next week), which marks the end of my high school teaching career. Teaching was a great experience and I vividly remember the feeling of anxiety I experienced sitting at my computer at home thinking about what it would be like teaching a class of 50 Thai high school students (850 students in all). I have gotten to know some of my students well and have grown to love them all (well almost all). It took me some time to figure out how to teach certain classes, but I do feel like I figured it out and now some of the classes I dreaded going to the first month here have become my favorite classes with some of my most loving and passionate (which meant loud and obnoxious at first) students.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite senior classes</td></tr>
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The past two weeks have been busy as my seniors came in to get help on projects for their other english class, turned in optional creative projects for my class, and as I got my finals and grades together. I was incredibly impressed with many of my seniors creative projects (although there were many many other projects that were just recipe books plagerized from the internet). The only requirement was that they had to use english (written or oral) and it was awesome seeing what they came up with. I had a tie for first place. Two girls made a DIY book (with a focus on reusing things from my Reduce, Reuse, Recycle lesson) and another two girls wrote a magic cookbook with silly recipes including "crocodile heads and spit from an ugly girl" which they presented to me by singing and acting. Other students wrote and illustrated stories, comics, made photo journals, music videos, cooking videos, and more. The Thai education system really lacks creativity and the other teachers don't seem to do anything to stop the students from copying homework and exams and plagerizing from the internet, but in reality the students are incredibly creative and just need to be encouraged to think creatively and for themselves. I was so grateful for this realization and love my students for proving that they are better than many teachers give them credit for. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adorable freshmen</td></tr>
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After the students finished their final exam (an incredibly easy 10 question test) they had free time, which became photo shoot time in a lot of my classes. Thais love taking pictures of each other and of themselves and most of my students have smart phones or super nice cameras. It was hilarious posing with my students especially with the hilarious boys that constantly tell me they love me. My students made me feel really great and touched this week with their "I love you"s and "I will miss you." It makes me feel like I actually did a good job teaching them and/or that they enjoyed coming to my class even if it was just to be entertained by my shananigans (they seriously make me feel like I am funny enough to pursue stand up comedy). A few girls in my smartest freshman class were adorable and after asking to take pictures with me whispered to me and got the courage to ask for a hug. I then had a small line of girls hugging me and the happiness it brought me tells me I am probably a better fit for primary school. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oyClCSu80-I/USdttvMrU8I/AAAAAAAAAeg/Y1RluAGZOUA/s1600/DSCF4096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oyClCSu80-I/USdttvMrU8I/AAAAAAAAAeg/Y1RluAGZOUA/s1600/DSCF4096.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a>Our teaching situation hasn't been close to ideal: classes are huge, there is incredible lack of communication and organization, we are underemployed and spend way to much time just sitting in our office, the grades in our class do not effect the students, and most things are just for appearances. I don't think I would recommend Thailand to people interested in teaching abroad (mostly because countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos need us more from what I know) and the city I live in is not what I expected when I imagined myself teaching in Thailand. That being said, I do not regret teaching here. I think I have reached some students (and that is worth it to me even if it is just a handful of students), I have developed a few relationships that I hope will last the rest of my life, and I have learned more about myself and how I respond to negative situations. My underemployment has motivated me to learn about things that interest me in my free time and I am looking forward to working hard at my future job (although I do not know what it will be). <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LsVM96zhAiw/USdtytcPAeI/AAAAAAAAAe8/nc1nlJppbaw/s1600/DSCF4103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LsVM96zhAiw/USdtytcPAeI/AAAAAAAAAe8/nc1nlJppbaw/s1600/DSCF4103.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8VnITddP2-4/USduSjSOdNI/AAAAAAAAAfY/3HGrlN6GRZI/s1600/photo3328.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8VnITddP2-4/USduSjSOdNI/AAAAAAAAAfY/3HGrlN6GRZI/s1600/photo3328.png" height="261" width="400" /></a>I have been teaching for about four months and now I have four more months of some amazing travel opportunities ahead of me. This weekend Eric and I will head north to Chiang Mai to meet my cousin and spend 2-3 weeks in that region. We actually have to come back to Suphan for 1-2 weeks to teach the science and math teachers english (a very silly and pointless little project) and then my mom is coming to visit for 3 weeks! After my mom leaves, Eric and I will work our way across Laos, down the coast of Vietnam, take a quick trip to Cambodia, spend 2 weeks in Sri Lanka, and I will end my travels spending a month with my sister, Mollie, in Nepal! My travel plans are loosely based around Room to Read as they work in every country I just listed (besides Thailand). My hope is to visit regions that they work in (although I can't just drop in on their schools) and plan on doing an official school tour in Nepal. I will continue to fundraise for my Run Vietnam for Literacy campaign and hope that by the time I get home my friends, family, and I will have raised enough money to build a library (in turn changing the lives of thousands of kids) in one of the countries I visited. The work I have been doing for Room to Read has definitely kept me engaged and excited about life when things got a little stagnant here and I am so greatful for my growing passion for the organization.<br />
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Our last day began similar to our first day being told to give a speech to the entire school minutes before it was speech time. There was a ceremony for the freshmen and seniors (M3 and M6), my students, and I was given a ton of candy and some flowers from my favorite students saying their goodbyes. I am a sucker and saying goodbye usually makes me tear up, which definitely happened when some of my favorite classes and students came to say goodbye. We had a goodbye dinner with the foreign languages department, which was delicious as always (it is great going out to dinner with people that can order more than the same stuff you are used to). We gave another speech to our department and were presented with gifts which we found out were hilarious when we got home. Eric received a tie with pink hearts all over with a matching pocket napkin thing and cufflinks. I received a black clutch purse covered in rhinestones, which would be perfect for any high school prom. Our little party really did make me realize how much I love some of the other teachers and came home only feeling good about my experience teaching.<br />
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So with that incredibly long post, I am off for some more extended traveling and will update my blog from time to time!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodbye dinner with our department</td></tr>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-20006132223274106312013-02-17T22:44:00.001-08:002013-02-17T22:46:11.400-08:00300 Peaks Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aD4XXOUEIx8/USGppNBMMPI/AAAAAAAAAdM/38pDu6stBdI/s1600/16453_4748387701528_2128367035_n%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aD4XXOUEIx8/USGppNBMMPI/AAAAAAAAAdM/38pDu6stBdI/s1600/16453_4748387701528_2128367035_n%5B1%5D.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>We had yet another spectacular camping weekend with Jane and Andrew and it just keeps getting better! All four of us confirmed that National Parks are the best parts of Thailand and should be the main focus of anyone who wants to see beautiful parts of Thailand on a budget without the presense of speedo clad, obese tourists (most of the time, but every once in a while one sneaks into a national park). Jane and Andrew learned about Sam Roi Yot (300 Peaks Park) a few weeks ago and actually went the weekend after the Khao Yai race weekend (while Eric and I rested in Suphan). After staying in Suphan for a weekend, Eric and I were defintely ready for another weekend trip and were stoked when Jane told us how amazing it was and that they wanted to go again. So they picked us up in a slightly improved hooptie Friday after school and we were off! </div>
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The park is about 50 km south of Hua Hin, which is probably one of the most horribly touristy beach cities in Thailand. I haven't actually been there, but was appalled when we drove through on our way to the park. Helloooo fat whities! Get me to a national park! It is about 5 hours from Suphan so we didn't get there until 10 when it was sufficiently dark and creepy at the parking area. We pulled up in this abandoned looking neighborhood (which wasn't actually abandoned in daylight) and were greeted by 10 or so of the scraggliest looking and smelling stray dogs I have seen. Jane and Andrew pointed to where we were headed which was up up up into the dark. Luckily they had been there before or this place would have been impossible to find. We hiked the 1 km up and over a hill (pretty much straight up, but with stairs) and descended onto a rare sight--an empty and beautiful beach!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRtwiFES1rk/USGpyx5fFoI/AAAAAAAAAdk/q2LJtFb2tQQ/s1600/182634_4748375461222_31196161_n%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRtwiFES1rk/USGpyx5fFoI/AAAAAAAAAdk/q2LJtFb2tQQ/s1600/182634_4748375461222_31196161_n%5B1%5D.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>There were some cabins, a restuarant (that was closed that late), nice bathrooms (with toilet paper!), and swept paths. We pitched our tents and walked towards the water contemplating a late night swim. Eric is always enthused about swimming in the ocean so he went for it while the rest of us stood at the edge and contemplated getting bathing suits on. A few minutes after Eric went in (it was shallow for a long time so he had walked out pretty far) we heard a yelp of excitement and Eric called to us to get out there. I assumed he was just enjoying the water (same old), but waded out to him in my t shirt and jean shorts. As I was walking out I noticed there was something different about the water and checked to see if my headlamp was reflecting on the water. It wasn't and as I got out to Eric he splashed some water around to reveal one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and like to describe as shiny horses running on a wave. Whenever we moved the water, it would cause a trail of light making the ocean sparkle. We splashed in the water looking at the different ways we could make the water light up. It was enchanting and my shorts were definitely soaked in momentarily sparkly water by the time we walked out of the water. Look up bioluminescent or phosphoresence to learn what we experienced (although evidently there are a lot of forms of it). <br />
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We woke up Saturday morning to a still empty and beautiful beach and enjoyed some pineapple pancakes before heading out to explore the area. We drove to a hike that Jane and Andrew had done the previous weekend, which gave us an awesome view of the ocean in one direction, the mountains in the opposite direction, and shrimp farms and cannels in between. I say hike for lack of a better word, but pretty much every hike we have been on in Thailand means 200-800 meters of straight up, usually with some type of stair system. So yeah, I definitely got in my stair workout last weekend.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6k2tOl9zCRM/USGpxYnBv2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/sPJO76KT7i4/s1600/154819_4748381101363_555779384_n%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6k2tOl9zCRM/USGpxYnBv2I/AAAAAAAAAdc/sPJO76KT7i4/s1600/154819_4748381101363_555779384_n%5B1%5D.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>After the viewpoint hike, we followed signs to one of the big caves in the area and did another hike to reach it. I fell in love with caves at summer camp in Colorado and I have loved "caving" even since then. Caves and waterfalls are probably my two favorite things found in nature and Thailand has an abundance of both! This cave was waaay bigger than the ones in Colorado with crazy stalagtites and stalamites. We explored the cave until our stomachs were growling and drove to a restaurant on the side of the road that a Thai man we ran into recommended. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qleoem80Xp4/USGpvounAcI/AAAAAAAAAdU/u3insO_KJtI/s1600/66912_4748387741529_804403823_n%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qleoem80Xp4/USGpvounAcI/AAAAAAAAAdU/u3insO_KJtI/s1600/66912_4748387741529_804403823_n%5B1%5D.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>We ordered all seafood dishes and were not disappointed! Squid with garlic and pepper, fried fish, squid salad, sea food and vegetables, and something else amazing and we were filled up! We ended our day's exploration by putting me behind the steering wheel for the first time in over 4 months, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road. It was touch and go for a minute, but I got us back to the parking lot in one piece (and we saw trucks full of monks on their cell phones on our way in). We relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day and Eric and Andrew made a bonfire on the beach for our evening activity.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MQVh1zYmw1k/USGp2ky4RAI/AAAAAAAAAd0/c8fUwE5YJ8E/s1600/525126_4748394021686_1558271187_n%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MQVh1zYmw1k/USGp2ky4RAI/AAAAAAAAAd0/c8fUwE5YJ8E/s1600/525126_4748394021686_1558271187_n%5B1%5D.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>We woke up Sunday morning after being feasted on by mosquitos and I enjoyed a lovely beach run before breakfast. There was another cave near our campsite (that didn't require us to drive) that Jane and Andrew talked up a lot. Eric and I laced up our running shoes for yet another steep uphill hike and left the other two to relax on the beach. We were amazed when we walked into the cave filled with trees and bushes and crazy cave walls, ceilings, floors, etc. Then we realized this wasn't even the cool part of the cave and walked into the main section that houses a beautiful temple (picture at the top of this post). I think magnificent is the best word to describe it. It is gorgeous in photos and it is even better in real life. We took our time soaking in the beauty and exploring the cave. I think it is one of my favorite things I have seen in Thailand yet! More tourists started to find there way to the cave so Eric and I headed out to enjoy a little more beach time before making our way home. I could easily spend a week in the same campsite in Sam Roi Yot exploring the park and hanging out on the beach and am looking forward to going to more national parks the rest of my time here!<br />
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<br />Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-69193206898568054132013-02-03T21:27:00.003-08:002013-02-03T21:27:43.027-08:00Training Race in a Beautiful Place!I had such a great weekend racing and exploring in one of my new favorite regions of Thailand and I can't wait to tell you about it! Hiroshi, the Japanese teacher at our school, told Eric and I about a race at the beginning of the semester and after seeing that the entry fee for a 10k was only 300 baht ($10) we registered without hesitation. The race was put on by Northface and was part of the Northface 100k series. Our friends, Andrew and Jane, who we camped with the <a href="http://teacheatsmileexplore.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-tallest-mountain-in-suphanburi.html" target="_blank">weekend before</a> decided to join us for the trip (but not for the race since registration was closed the week before), making it 100 times more enjoyable with their company and the fact that they were able to rent a car so we had the freedom of our own wheels! <br />
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Andrew and Jane picked us up in the Crown (which I should've taken a picture of), which was referred to as the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hooptie" target="_blank">hooptie</a> for the rest of the weekend and we were off! I cannot describe the feeling of freedom that having your own car brings in Thailand, but let's just say it is worth paying twice as much to rent a car over public transportation (although we actually saved money on transportation by renting the car). I was very impressed with Andrew's driving skills considering Thai cars have the steering wheel on the right side and traffic goes the opposite direction from what Americans are used to. Add in some crazy U turns on freeways, trucks flying past stacked 3 times their height, monkeys and stray dogs hanging out in the road, and people crossing right in front of you and you've got a challenge in front of you. However, we made it to our general destination with only a few wrong turns!<br />
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Eric and I woke up at pitch dark o'clock (5am) to get to the start of the race, which was at a resort in the beautiful countryside about 30 minutes from where we were staying. Surprisingly we found our way there without making any wrong turns due to the incredibly well marked signs and directions to the resort. It seemed like a lot of the runners (half Thais and half foreingers about) were from Bangkok, which was evident when we drove the hooptie into the parking lot filled with fancy clean cars. I was not expecting such a well organized race since organization, directions, punctuality, etc are scarce in Thailand, but this was probably the most legitimate race I have ever ran! And to top it off, it was the most beautiful race I have ever ran!<br />
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We checked in a little before 6 am and were given our nice event shirts (already making the 300 baht worth it) and warmed up around the venue while the 25k runners started their race (the 50 and 100k racers had left much earlier). We were called to the start line a little before 6:30 and the other runners were a hilarious mix of foreigners (probably many of them teachers like us), young Thai runners that actually looked like athletes, and the other Thais who look more like the people I see running in Suphan who probably run 15 minutes miles on average. This included an older woman who ran with her tiny dog on a lease wearing a dress (the dog was wearing a dress, not her). Eric and I were near the front of the start line and speculated whether the group in front of us knew proper running ettiquette when it comes to slow people crowding the start line. We were blessed by a monk before the start and the gun went off! As expected, this group did not know proper ettiquette and started the race at the 15 minute mile pace. We found our way around them and relaxed into a good pace for the two of us. <br />
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We ran through farms and beautiful fields at the foot of some small moutains and ran as the sun rose in front of and then over us. Eric and I were amazed by the region and were really grateful for the beauty of the course which started on paved road, then became a dirt road, then some sections of single track (that made us both wish we had mountain bikes here), by some ponds and temples, and back to the resort. The only downside was the smell of burning trash that lingered from the night before. I felt better and better as we ran (Eric feeling the inverse) and had a little bit of competition the last kilometer of the race as another American girl passed by me. Don't worry, I hung with her and then passed her at the end and almost caught up to an energetic Thai guy in front of me! A finisher medal was placed around my neck and I was told that I was an inspiration (Thais really love boosting my ego!) I ran 51 minutes even, which is slower than I wanted, but I was perfectly happy considering how enjoyable the race was (and I beat Eric). <br />
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It turned out that both Eric and I got 2nd in our age groups and I got 3rd overall for woman! We were awarded our trophies and laughed at the assembly of the tops of the trophies--Eric's runner had boobs and mine did not. At the finish of the race there were two elephants congratulating finishers, classic Thai dancing done by extremely made up little girls and some Thai drumming from some little Thai boys. It was very cute and what was even better was the amount of free food! They had fried rice, pad thai, tons of fruit, and sports drinks for finishers. We probably didn't earn everything we ate and received, but loaded up nonetheless! Seriously, the best 300 baht I ever spent. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are Thais favorite poses: "I so cute" and "I smart"</td></tr>
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After stuffing ourselves and taking pictures at the finish, we headed back to the hotel to meet Jane and Andrew to continue our adventurous weekend. We drove the hooptie into Khao Yai National Park, which is the biggets national park in Thailand, and set up camp at a very crowded but nice camp site. Eric and I were pretty beat from the early morning and the race so we all did a short (1km) hike to a pretty awesome water fall and just hung out and climbed around for the afternoon. The evening was spent trying to make a fire (Eric and Andrew tried and eventually did make a fire while Jane and I layed around and talked) and fearing the monkeys that were way to used to being fed by humans. The next day we went on a bit of a longer hike where within the first five minutes we saw a sloth bear and huge wild elephant tracks. That was pretty much all the wildlife we saw besides some more monkey (waaaay cooler to see them in the wild than stealing your snacks at your campsite), but there were crazy trees and vines everywhere and it was an amazing hike through the jungle. It ended at an open field with a lookout tower about 1km from the main road so we hung out and then hitched a ride back to the park headquarters where our car was parked. <br />
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We drove home back through the hilariously gimmicky area outside of the park that is known as Thailand's little Switzerland. It included hundreds of resorts and silly roadside restaurants or attractions that evidently some tourist are into. It was a really great weekend and the 10k gave me a lot of confidence for my half marathon in May! If you would like to contribute to my Run Vietnam for Literacy campaign in honor of my second place finish, please do so <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">here</a>! <br />
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-5449455328131197592013-01-28T19:44:00.001-08:002013-01-28T19:44:08.434-08:00The Tallest Mountain in Suphanburi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9nVqFGgUc/UQYQeV37oBI/AAAAAAAAAbM/RFmhoGe6zXE/s1600/484854_4574017942393_1087738982_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>Eric and I have been wanting to visit our friends, Andrew and Jane, who are also teaching in Suphanburi province and live just an hour and a half van ride away and we finally made the quick trip last weekend! They are also interested in exploring the more rural parts of Thailand (like us) and their small town, Dan Chang, actually gives them access to some awesome wilderness! So Friday after school Eric and I left the big city (Suphan) for some outdoor adventures. Down the street from Jane and Andrew's apartment is a Swedish guy who makes some awesome pizza and we definitely indulged in the western treat Friday night. I haven't eaten pizza since our first weekend in Suphan since it is incredibly expensive (for living on a Thai salary) and not that great, so I definitely took advantage of dinner in Dan Chang.</div>
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Eric and I woke up Saturday morning to check out Dan Chang near Andrew and Jane's apartment before our 10 am scheduled meeting time with the guy who was going to take us to the mountain and camp site. Dan Chang is much much smaller than Suphan and has a really good vibe, which made Eric and I a bit jealous of Jane and Andrew. There is nothing wrong with Suphan, but it isn't a big city and it isn't a small town so it lies in that awkward size where it isn't like everyone knows each other but it doesn't have all the activities that a big city would have. After buying some snacks at the market for our camping overnight we left to meet up with our driver. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9nVqFGgUc/UQYQeV37oBI/AAAAAAAAAbM/RFmhoGe6zXE/s1600/484854_4574017942393_1087738982_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gA9nVqFGgUc/UQYQeV37oBI/AAAAAAAAAbM/RFmhoGe6zXE/s1600/484854_4574017942393_1087738982_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Andrew and Jane have been trying to figure out how to get to the tallest mountain in Suphan that they had read about and finally figured it out a couple weeks ago by talking to this guy who they think runs the Dan Chang mafia (basically just one of those guys that is always on his phone and knows everyone). He arranged to have his friend (who also seems like a mob boss but has the best smile) pick us up and drive us to the camp site at the base of the mountain. He was running an hour late, so we walked to the big reservoir dam about 2 miles from their apartment. It was amazing being able to walk from their apartment to some country roads and to enjoy the company of some people we don't get to see that often. (sidenote: Jane is the only foreign girl in Dan Chang so she was really looking forward to girl time and Eric pretty much only interacts with girls in Suphan so he definitely needed some male company.)</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-94MS8A--q4E/UQYQYnugwKI/AAAAAAAAAas/cQAPUcdN0wE/s1600/22194_4574010382204_441122914_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-94MS8A--q4E/UQYQYnugwKI/AAAAAAAAAas/cQAPUcdN0wE/s1600/22194_4574010382204_441122914_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>The second mob boss picked us up (I will now refer to him as Smiley since I can't remember his name) from the reservoir in his pickup and we began the longer than expected cramped ride to the mountain. The only camping Eric and I have done here was at <a href="http://teacheatsmileexplore.blogspot.com/2012/12/camping-in-erawan-national-park.html" target="_blank">Erawan</a> falls where there was a very official yet cheap camp site with food stalls near by and we had no idea what to expect with this camping experience. We stopped at Smiley's house on the way to buy a ridiculous amount of eggs to take with us (evidently no food stalls) and also stopped at this little water fall off of the dirt road (I think mostly so Smiley could get rid of us for a little so he could take a nap). We finally made it to our camping spot after some other stops by 4:15. At this point I was pretty tired and dehydrated so I decided to skip hiking the mountain Saturday afternoon with promises from everyone that they would do it again the next morning. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JCv9iOCGG80/UQYQfgVjkiI/AAAAAAAAAbU/Qdrk_zj-eB8/s1600/486118_4574015702337_698767927_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JCv9iOCGG80/UQYQfgVjkiI/AAAAAAAAAbU/Qdrk_zj-eB8/s1600/486118_4574015702337_698767927_n.jpg" /></a>They headed off and I enjoyed the start of a new book and appreciated the quiet and the beautiful views. It always surprises and pleases me that Thais like to camp and this campsite definitely filled up despite it being so far away from anything and up a long dirt road. By the time Jane, Andrew, and Eric got back from the hike, the newly arrived groups of our fellow campers had set up their giant tents, busted out the propane tanks, woks, variety of meats and vegetables, and had just put away their super fancy cameras for sunset photos. I hope to be invited to go camping by a Thai family because they do it in style. Unfortunately for us, they love to stay up late and wake up eeeeeearly. We were woken up between 6 and 7 am to "Noooong, Soooong, Saaaaam! Hehehehehehe!!!" (1, 2, 3) as the various groups photographed the sunrise and posed in their pictures. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kpPZvTZrr7o/UQYQcmv-LDI/AAAAAAAAAbE/7tuqnlpNHCU/s1600/424796_4574031622735_1440094327_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kpPZvTZrr7o/UQYQcmv-LDI/AAAAAAAAAbE/7tuqnlpNHCU/s1600/424796_4574031622735_1440094327_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>So we got up with them and left to hike up the tallest mountain in Suphan (which is actually only 800 meters from where we started). That sounds pretty pathetic, but it was 800 meters of straight up and was a great outdoor stair master workout. We were led by the two friendliest and most active dogs I have met in Thailand (who we named Kingston and Tukie after some of Eric's friend's dogs) and hiked up in the fog. We walked through various fields of vegetables and a small village (mostly just a collection of houses with their respective farms) and loved every minute of it. We made it to the top and enjoyed being in/above the clouds looking down on our campsite. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQj6wlsU9Zs/UQYQaELQZCI/AAAAAAAAAa0/HQuNUa_3JeE/s1600/312427_4574027422630_1328425210_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQj6wlsU9Zs/UQYQaELQZCI/AAAAAAAAAa0/HQuNUa_3JeE/s1600/312427_4574027422630_1328425210_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Of course there was a giant Buddha statue at the top of the mountain that I'm pretty sure the guy that runs the campsite hikes up to every day to honor. Thais love their Buddha statues. We took some short naps and snacked on our treats from the Dan Chang market and waited for the fog to clear a bit, which it didn't, and descended back to our campsite, then back to Dan Chang, and eventually home to Suphan. It was a great weekend and I am definitely looking forward to spending more time in more rural areas of Thailand and Asia when we are finished teaching! Also, Eric and I are <a href="http://www.goadventureasia.com/TNF/tnf.htm" target="_blank">running a 10k</a> in this coming weekend and Jane and Andrew are joining us! The race is outside of a national park that is supposed to be pretty amazing and we are going to do some more camping and exploring after the race! This is my first (and maybe only) training race for my half marathon so if you would like to show some support for my Run Vietnam for Literacy campaign, please donate at <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">my website</a> and join me by running or getting outdoors this Saturday! </div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-51598433399265424612013-01-22T18:15:00.003-08:002013-01-23T22:18:17.277-08:00More Hilarious English<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We lesson this week involves group story writing where the students get into groups of 4 or 5 and write a story together, but each student writes one sentence at a time and then passes the paper on (so they are not actually creating the story as a group if that makes sense). Anyway, here are my favorite stories (I gave them the first line):<br />
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1. Once upon a time, there was a Thai boy who hated rice....because he dreamed that a rice to become worm. So he never eat rice. Finally he very fat until he can't walk anymore. The angel show up and blame him and tell him that he have to eat rice everyday. (Shows you how important rice is to them!)<br />
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2. Once upon a time, there was a rooster that could not crow....so it is sickness but it patients symptom. A man see rooster sickness. He cares it. He gets it to hospital and get to love it. When a rooster gets better. He takes it to his house. He care it such as feeds food and cleans feather's rooster. Once a day the rooster become beautiful boy. He says "I'm a fairy and I'll give a prize to you. What do you want?" The man say "I want you to be my wife, will you married me? I love you." He watches eyes to eyes with him and say yes. (This is a first of a series of stories where there is some interspecies, gay romance)<br />
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3. Once upon a time, there was a hunter who loved animals....but I don't love animals. But a hunter loved animals. Although he loved animals but he need to kill them for survival. One day, he found a cute rabbit and he fall in love it at first sight. In full moon day, rabbit become a very cute boy and hunter loves him very much and named him "Mildy." They are going in the room together and the hunter kissed the cute boy. They promise them are married and love together forever. After that they belong together. A hunter promises that he will not kill any animals. And a hunter changes his job to grow carrots for trading and Mildy. (unclear at the end here if Mildy is a rabbit again or if he is a boy who loves carrots)<br />
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4. Once upon a time, there was a girl with magic shoes....and she have a magic book. She is going to Hogwart by magic broom. Suddenly, she see the big storm. Three hours later, she is eating rabbit. Mommy made some cookies made from meat for us. Then she is die by poison in the cookie. After that she resurrect by the prince's kiss. Three year later she have three baby. (This one has some interesting plot point changes, kept me on my toes the entire read!)<br />
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5. Once upon a time, there was a princess who smelled very bad....She took a shower twice a week. She said "I had this shower!!" She liked to wear a dirty cloth. Everybody wouldn't like to get along with her. At last, the princess determined to scoop her eyes out so she can't see everybody who dislike her, cute he ears so she can't hear the irony of everybody so when the princess in handicapped, she is going to live in North Korea. (I found this one seriously disturbed/hilarious)<br />
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6. Once upon a time, there was a boy with magical sunglasses. He is very smart. He live in Bangkok. His name's Aut. He is going to Japan. He is looking for girlfriend. But he was gay. He uses magical sunglasses for see woman. After that he go to Tokyo. He earns money from wash dishes. He fell in love with Briget, will you marry me? (omgomogmogmogmg he proposed!--the collective he of five 17 year old Thai boys)<br />
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So you now see what I am working with! Pretty awesome. </div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-40469639197364690212013-01-20T03:27:00.002-08:002013-01-20T03:27:46.070-08:00Hazards of Running in Thailand<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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When I first got to Thailand I thought there was no way I
could ever run here. Most of this was based on the heat I experienced at our
orientation in Bangkok. After a week or so of getting settled in Suphanburi, I
was brave and motivated enough to give running a try here (how else can I
continue to justify eating so much great food!) It is definitely possible and
enjoyable, but here is a list of the top 5 things that make running in Thailand a bit
hazardous. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p_KBsjqHarU/UPvTlmjvmHI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/iVhhXuVpkRw/s1600/DSCF3722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p_KBsjqHarU/UPvTlmjvmHI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/iVhhXuVpkRw/s1600/DSCF3722.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the best time of day to run and it definitely helps being near water!</td></tr>
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1. Heat—This was the first thing that turned me off from
running in Thailand, but it has actually cooled down a lot since we got here
(70 seems cold now) which has made running much more enjoyable. However, I
should probably get used to running in the heat to train for my race which will
be mid hot season in Vietnam.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2vk5A-_LBd8/UPvTnv15JQI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Op9KQ_ne86g/s1600/DSCF3725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2vk5A-_LBd8/UPvTnv15JQI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Op9KQ_ne86g/s1600/DSCF3725.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A standard Thai restaurant set up before it gets busy with people. </td></tr>
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2. Sidewalks—We are fortunate enough to live in Suphan where
one of the ex prime ministers is from. This means the city got a lot of funding
when that prime minister was in power and we actually have sidewalks. However,
it is very rare that I see a Thai person walking to their destinations, so
sidewalks are not really used for walking. What are they used for? Eating. A
sidewalk is like a restaurant’s or food cart’s outdoor dining room and I almost
feel guilty when I am actually walking on the sidewalk and walk through their
restaurant. So I either weave my way through people, tables, and chairs, or check the street a couple times to run in the road to get around the sidewalk restaurants. Also, there are a bunch of signs and poles in the middle of sidewalks to watch out for. At my height, I can usually walk under the signs and just have to avoid poles, but Eric being so tall makes him really have to pay attention.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vz7cobpwpKw/UPvTm7jLDmI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/g9XaHhmHzSE/s1600/DSCF3724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vz7cobpwpKw/UPvTm7jLDmI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/g9XaHhmHzSE/s1600/DSCF3724.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guardian of the river run.</td></tr>
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3. Stray Dogs—Thailand has a huge number of stray dogs
(although not as many as India) and the streets and sidewalks are their domain.
I have heard of other Thai cities where you can’t really run because of the
stray dogs chasing after you. I’m not sure what makes Suphan dogs different,
but they are friendly or completely ignore you for the most part. I have only
been scarily barked at and followed once while running, which I think is pretty
good. In that dog’s defense, it was nighttime and it was probably protecting
the food it had just been given. That’s the problem with stray dogs in
Thailand—the people constantly feed them so they will always be around. Not sure if this is a Buddhism thing or what. All I know is that things dogs are almost overfed at times. </div>
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4. Cars—The hierarchy of the Thai traffic system puts
pedestrians and runners at the bottom of the food chain so you always have to
be on your guard. Think you are safe looking just one way when you cross a
one-way street? Think again! Traffic rules are more like suggestions and I have
seen some sketchy maneuvers with cars going the wrong direction on a one-way
street. I still have yet to see an accident though so this makes me feel a
little safer. (There is actually very little traffic in Suphan on Sunday--probably because there is no school or special Saturday class so I didn't get a picture of the traffic)</div>
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5. Burning Trash—This is sadly an incredibly common practice
here (and Anna tells me people still do it in South Carolina—come on US
citizens, get some sense!) and is something to be avoided unless you want to
suck in the fumes from burning plastic. I almost always run after school around
5:30 when it is cooler and still light out and this coincides with the time
most people burn their trash, which is always a bummer for me. However, it does
make me run faster when I am near one of these trash fires!<br />
<br />
Bonus Hazard! Children with guns.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDB5-sutSpg/UPvTo7RcnzI/AAAAAAAAAaI/bQAtfv1Lqr0/s1600/DSCF3726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDB5-sutSpg/UPvTo7RcnzI/AAAAAAAAAaI/bQAtfv1Lqr0/s1600/DSCF3726.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, just toy guns. </td></tr>
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As you now know, running here is not necessarily the easiest
or most convenient form of exercise but a runner has to do what a runner has to
do. Please make my training in these less than ideal conditions worth it by
donating to my Run Vietnam for Global Literacy campaign <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">here</a>! </div>
<!--EndFragment-->Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-77423379974287430442013-01-17T15:53:00.000-08:002013-01-17T16:12:13.815-08:00Bridget's Birthday Ball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k_Xf7TS1TWQ/UPiN1z73R3I/AAAAAAAAAXc/shlJVq3oATo/s1600/DSCF3704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k_Xf7TS1TWQ/UPiN1z73R3I/AAAAAAAAAXc/shlJVq3oATo/s1600/DSCF3704.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Now don't confuse the title of this post with a extravagent party (ball). I am, of course, referring to one of the highlights of my 23rd birthday here in Thailand, which was a giant pork meatball. Let me explain.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cbo-t-Ql8Gg/UPiN22VMZGI/AAAAAAAAAXk/rxWtxMwa_uI/s1600/DSCF3706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cbo-t-Ql8Gg/UPiN22VMZGI/AAAAAAAAAXk/rxWtxMwa_uI/s1600/DSCF3706.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't finish it, too much meat for one ball</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p4iIIYa8ZW0/UPiOBnJ3C_I/AAAAAAAAAX0/ONQURO70y78/s1600/DSCF3709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p4iIIYa8ZW0/UPiOBnJ3C_I/AAAAAAAAAX0/ONQURO70y78/s1600/DSCF3709.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>I was very fortunate that my birthday fell on Teacher's Day in Thailand, which meant we had a day off midweek! Eric, Anna and I woke up Wednesday morning and met some of my students (obviously Nay was the one that invited us) to go to the 100 Year Market in Sam Chuk. Evidently this market has been around since the early 1900s and was settled by a largely Chinese population (something like 85% of Thais have Chinese ancestors) and the super old buildings are still around. We didn't eat before leaving so the first order of business was sitting down for a late breakfast at the market and a shop that was known for its huge pork meatballs. I obviously had to order one (50% to eat it and 50% to take a picture with it), but learned that it was meant to be shared between a much larger number of people. It was really good though and I got to call it my birthday ball the entire meal, which I still find more funny than it probably is.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6B5RCwqvS0s/UPiTAQXWX-I/AAAAAAAAAZU/K1NZI_0KbuA/s1600/photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6B5RCwqvS0s/UPiTAQXWX-I/AAAAAAAAAZU/K1NZI_0KbuA/s1600/photo.jpeg" height="400" width="400" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUYv0br_-ZQ/UPiN1zS9oiI/AAAAAAAAAXg/VIqBOMpQu20/s1600/DSCF3702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Txh7GndNMGM/UPiOJMLB5lI/AAAAAAAAAYE/3JRCr7SaKfE/s1600/DSCF3715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>We strolled around the market and tried the many weird and sometimes tasty Thai treats. In general, Thai desserts and sweet snack are not my thing but we did find some good ones! Most of the shops sold some type of food, but there were a few cool clothing stores, standard souvenir stores, and other random stores. INCLUDING one of those amazing places where you dress up in traditional wear depending on where you are and take an awesome black and white picture. My family took one of these types of photos in Virginia City when I was a kid and it hangs on our wall in Tahoe keeping the cabin classy. Eric, Anna, Nay, and I dressed up in some traditional Thai outfits, which are hilarious and posed for an ancient looking camera (is was 60 years old). The woman knew what she was doing and put us in different outfits and sat us or stood us where she wanted us. Unfortunately it takes a while to get the official picture (it will arrive at Nay's house in a couple weeks), but we were able to snap a few of our own! (which will be posted soon)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Txh7GndNMGM/UPiOJMLB5lI/AAAAAAAAAYE/3JRCr7SaKfE/s1600/DSCF3715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Txh7GndNMGM/UPiOJMLB5lI/AAAAAAAAAYE/3JRCr7SaKfE/s1600/DSCF3715.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUYv0br_-ZQ/UPiN1zS9oiI/AAAAAAAAAXg/VIqBOMpQu20/s1600/DSCF3702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>We finished the market outing at a cake shop where we ate some delicious cake that was half chocolate and half orange. Of course is did not compare to a cake my mom or sisters would make for me, but it was amazing for Thai standards and I got a couple pieces to go to eat after dinner. We headed back to Suphan and Eric and I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the hotel pool down the street and getting our bronze on (Sidenote: I accidentily bought lotion for making your skin whiter and have been using it the past couple weeks after every shower. I was wondering where my New Years tan was going!<br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">We then made some pesto pasta made from Thai basil and asparagaus for dinner, which was awesome, finished off the cake I brought home, and may or may not have (we did) go buy icecream too. The three of us finished my birthday off playing Jenga and Uno. It was a very nice birthday and it was great to receive birthday wishes from my family and friends via email and facebook! I am also asking anyone who would get my a birthday gift if I were home to donate to my Run Vietnam for Literacy campaign </span><a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="text-align: center;">. Thank you to everyone who made 22 such a great year and I look forward to the adventures to come this year!</span>Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-55033681520400004142013-01-14T16:27:00.000-08:002013-01-14T16:27:38.486-08:00Children's Day in Song Phi NongAfter all the effort of traveling around New Years, I have been wanting to stay closer to Suphan these next couple weekends and this last weekend was the second weekend in a row (3rd overall) that I stayed in Suphan. Nay, my friend/student, invited us to a small Children's Day celebration in her home town of Song Phi Nong (about 45 minutes from Suphan). Evidently Children's Day is a common thing here that many cities celebrate. So, Nay's dad picked Anna and I up (Eric was golfing with the Japanese teacher) Saturday morning and drove us to their home.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K94N4DbkSOA/UPOrAGa_1_I/AAAAAAAAAW0/jmQM4KC8RfA/s1600/396131_4497056058394_1210390999_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K94N4DbkSOA/UPOrAGa_1_I/AAAAAAAAAW0/jmQM4KC8RfA/s1600/396131_4497056058394_1210390999_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>I was really looking forward to going to Nay's house since she lives in more of a country setting in a traditional Thai style house. This was the first time I actually went inside a Thai person's house and spent time in a traditional Thai neighborhood besides running or walking through one. Thai houses are often on stilts because of the flooding during the rainy season and are all wood like Nay's house. The whole living set up was interesting to me because it is pretty different from western style homes. In the US, homes with an awesome kitchen and well decorated living rooms are the pride and joy of a home maker, but a home's appearance doesn't seem like it is that big of a deal here. In Nay's house and her aunt's house next door, we walked up the stairs to find a very large almost empty room. It would be awesome if you were having a dance party or something, but there was almost zero furniture and a few pictures on the walls. I think it is because people don't really hang out inside their houses, especially if they live in an older house that does not have air conditioning. Most of the people in her neighborhood actually hung out outside and underneath their houses and that was where most of their furniture was. So I assume everything is moved inside during the rainy season and it looks a little more like a living area that I am used to.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-48DFAyRxP3g/UPOq2fJTOcI/AAAAAAAAAWU/tYx7PNg4qzE/s1600/75072_4497022937566_2139368297_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>Anyway, back to Children's Day. We walked over to the stage a few blocks from Nay's house where her neighborhood organized activities for the kids in the neighborhood/town. There were around 40 or 50 kids/toddlers/babies and the community bought a ton of treats and other prizes for the kids. They played games like the pop the balloon game (which was one of my favorites at my childhood birthday parties and which got very violent), musical chairs, throw the ball through the holes in Psy's sunglasses, mouth, or man parts, spinning wheel, dance to Gangnam Style, and karaoke. I swear I heard Gangnam Styles at least 5 times in a 3 hour period and all the kids (even 2 year olds) were dancing along. It disturbs me that the first english words most of these kids are probably going to know are "Heeeeeey sexy lady!" instead of "Hello, how are you?"<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kag75FsRY1Y/UPOqzL55x6I/AAAAAAAAAWE/SOrZeIhfWZ8/s1600/75072_4497022857564_1227720673_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kag75FsRY1Y/UPOqzL55x6I/AAAAAAAAAWE/SOrZeIhfWZ8/s1600/75072_4497022857564_1227720673_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pop the balloon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-48DFAyRxP3g/UPOq2fJTOcI/AAAAAAAAAWU/tYx7PNg4qzE/s1600/75072_4497022937566_2139368297_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-48DFAyRxP3g/UPOq2fJTOcI/AAAAAAAAAWU/tYx7PNg4qzE/s1600/75072_4497022937566_2139368297_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Musical Chairs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XhFO9d1wbOk/UPOq4UoyCXI/AAAAAAAAAWc/jvNGipXdghs/s1600/75072_4497022977567_133670244_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XhFO9d1wbOk/UPOq4UoyCXI/AAAAAAAAAWc/jvNGipXdghs/s1600/75072_4497022977567_133670244_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing to Gangnam Style</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6_gH2md75Q/UPOq7Pf_fpI/AAAAAAAAAWk/MGRa9yn8ZgM/s1600/396131_4497055938391_638507577_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J6_gH2md75Q/UPOq7Pf_fpI/AAAAAAAAAWk/MGRa9yn8ZgM/s1600/396131_4497055938391_638507577_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yup</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIyNW5MH6nQ/UPOq0wmOWdI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Ll2NNlHTGk8/s1600/75072_4497022897565_1424003188_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIyNW5MH6nQ/UPOq0wmOWdI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Ll2NNlHTGk8/s1600/75072_4497022897565_1424003188_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This kid is as sick of Gangnam Style as me!</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EPyTBGiZklU/UPOq-MykjHI/AAAAAAAAAWs/IDZUFADdNPg/s1600/396131_4497055978392_1848810063_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EPyTBGiZklU/UPOq-MykjHI/AAAAAAAAAWs/IDZUFADdNPg/s1600/396131_4497055978392_1848810063_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>The kids were really cute and Nay's dad and the mayor got us on stage to lead a song and give out prizes. They really wanted us to sing a song, which we reluctantly agreed to do. However, we thought they meant lead a song so we had the kids sing the ABCs with us. We then figured out that they wanted us to be the ones to kick off the karaoke. Oops! We were also given some delicious coconut icecream with sticky rice (so good) and lots of fruit. Unfortunately Anna was handed a plate of deep fried hot dogs, fish balls, and other standard fried meats, but Nay intervened before we felt like we had to eat it.<br />
<br />
After the festival we went back to Nay's where her mom and aunt cut up a Som-o (huge grapfruit like thing) and amazing ripe mango from their tree. Mangoes are really common here, but ripe mango is not. The taste of unripe mango is growing on me and I think of it as eating an apple, but ripe mango is sooo much better! They then took us to their neighbor's house where we were given some more crazy fruits and sticky rice cooked in coconut milk with mango to eat later (and omg it was amazing!). As if we weren't full enough, Nay's parents then took us out to an awesome lunch! Evidently Song Phi Nong is known for having good fish and it was amazing! We had 4 different fish dishes and they were all so good--fish balls (but good ones), green curry with fish balls, small fried fish and amazing steamed fish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhB9EOl4E-M/UPOrCkXEpaI/AAAAAAAAAW8/wl2HPXu2ok4/s1600/396131_4497056098395_1689623556_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhB9EOl4E-M/UPOrCkXEpaI/AAAAAAAAAW8/wl2HPXu2ok4/s1600/396131_4497056098395_1689623556_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before(ish)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-spIzN4MMSM4/UPOqxWbOEOI/AAAAAAAAAV8/LkYg5khaLsg/s1600/63779_4497071378777_1570524453_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-spIzN4MMSM4/UPOqxWbOEOI/AAAAAAAAAV8/LkYg5khaLsg/s1600/63779_4497071378777_1570524453_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
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By the time we got home we were exhausted and full of fruit and fish up to our eyeballs, so obviously is was nap time. The rest of the weekend was relatively uneventful and relaxing. Suphan is supposed to have a pretty big Children's Day festival when it comes around, so I am looking forward to that!<br />
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<br />Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-75789070912743085232013-01-10T21:16:00.000-08:002013-01-10T21:21:51.357-08:00Eating in ThailandI think I have been neglecting writing about the eating aspect of my blog so this post is all about food in Thailand. There were actually many many years in my life that I said that I didn't like Thai food and it took me a while to jump on the Thai food bandwagon like everyone else in the US. I ate it once in 6th grade and got food poisoning driving home from Santa Cruz with my friend's family, which was obviously awkward and uncomfortable so I decided I didn't like Thai food after that. I tried Pad Thai a year or so later and still wasn't impressed (this was before I became an adventurous eater willing to try most things) so it wasn't until about a year ago that I realized I actually did like Thai food.<br />
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Food here is pretty awesome and sometimes I have to remind myself of that when I start getting a little ungrateful. However, it can be very hit or miss if you don't stick to the staples that you know. Also, in places like Suphanburi where there are basically zero foreign tourists, menus are in Thai script so you just have to say the dishes that you know in Thai and hope they can make them, which they usually can (the alternative is pointing at something random on the menu which hasn't turned out well for me in the past). It is amazing how you can walk up to a typical street restaurant that has metal or plastic tables and some plastic chairs for seating and the cook has a wok or two and a pot of rice and they can whip up an awesome curry, a soup, and some meat dish in 10 minutes. The first couple weeks we were here we ate a lot of fried rice with chicken since we didn't know any Thai and we would walk up, sit down, smile and shrug our shoulders in hopes that they would bring us food. Fortunately my Thai has improved since then and I can order a few different things, ask for it to go, and tell them the level of spicy I want. These are some of my go to dishes when I can't read a menu:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reqIAG99Aq8/UO-Y6AEGtTI/AAAAAAAAAT0/QSnej3IP35Q/s1600/2667809-Pad_Kaprow_Moo_Fried_Basil_with_pork_Phuket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reqIAG99Aq8/UO-Y6AEGtTI/AAAAAAAAAT0/QSnej3IP35Q/s1600/2667809-Pad_Kaprow_Moo_Fried_Basil_with_pork_Phuket.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pad Ka Praew (basil and meat in a spicy sauce--Eric's fav)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dXnn2w85Edo/UO-Y7FU5dNI/AAAAAAAAAT4/dRzq7K0quWQ/s1600/31000497143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dXnn2w85Edo/UO-Y7FU5dNI/AAAAAAAAAT4/dRzq7K0quWQ/s1600/31000497143.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pad Thai (lime makes all the difference)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--OYXsIkzFZ4/UO-Y8miuacI/AAAAAAAAAUE/0uJpEq_pHjE/s1600/green-curry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--OYXsIkzFZ4/UO-Y8miuacI/AAAAAAAAAUE/0uJpEq_pHjE/s1600/green-curry.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Curry (Geng Panang, but sometimes you say geng panang and get sting beans in red sauce, so definitely a hit or miss situation)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9r26siLpJY/UO-ZBT1qjfI/AAAAAAAAAUc/8BmaqyXdAFo/s1600/P1110802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9r26siLpJY/UO-ZBT1qjfI/AAAAAAAAAUc/8BmaqyXdAFo/s1600/P1110802.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pa Boo Fi Den (fried thai vegetable in yummy sauce, but it can be very spicy)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AKfbpGyZKc/UO-Y9yQ9xGI/AAAAAAAAAUM/6ltpgFAhHi8/s1600/IMG_5905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AKfbpGyZKc/UO-Y9yQ9xGI/AAAAAAAAAUM/6ltpgFAhHi8/s1600/IMG_5905.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken with Cashews (Gai Pad Met Mammua)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hN_eJLSLYXA/UO-ZCCRfJKI/AAAAAAAAAUg/JQ4VrLZBwNQ/s1600/pad-see-ew-muu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hN_eJLSLYXA/UO-ZCCRfJKI/AAAAAAAAAUg/JQ4VrLZBwNQ/s1600/pad-see-ew-muu.jpg" height="189" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pad See Yu (reminds my of Chinese Chow Fun so I love it)</td></tr>
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When Wattana or one of the other teachers takes us out to lunch or dinner we actually get to try new things which is always awesome, but can get a little weird. Yesterday Wattana took us to a really cool restaurant on our way back from the visa office where we ate a soupy curry with whole little fish and lotus flower stems. It was pretty good, but very salty and very fishy.<br />
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As the lead rice exporter, Thailand has a ton of rice and it is almost worshiped here. For example, one of the translations for eating a meal is "gin khao," which directly translated means eat rice. Unfortunately, Suphanburi pretty much only has crappy short grain rice, which we eat a lot of at school. Whenever I eat long grain rice or wild rice (super rare) I get really excited about eating rice again. However, it can definitely get a bit repetitive. Pad see yu is always a great way to change things up when I am sick of rice and almost all restaurants make it, although they are rice noodles so really there's no avoiding rice here.<br />
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Now let's talk about Thai desserts and snacks. In general, Thais are very heavy handed and this goes for spicy, salty, and sweet. They love sweets, but as we found out on Christmas when we gave them peanut butter balls, they are not into rich sweets. Also, things on a stick are super popular. There are some delicious meats on a stick, but all too common are various types of gross hot dogs on a stick and fish balls on a stick. Here are some Thai desserts and snacks:<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yN6mqomQXew/UO-dRyXjeWI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/40jTsQxo6rc/s1600/look-choop-thai-dessert-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yN6mqomQXew/UO-dRyXjeWI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/40jTsQxo6rc/s1600/look-choop-thai-dessert-b.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Weird little sweet things that I think are soy bean paste coated in a jelly type thing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lcW1ti_PWbg/UO-dXqzXcFI/AAAAAAAAAVg/aDKf_tgiAE0/s1600/359885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lcW1ti_PWbg/UO-dXqzXcFI/AAAAAAAAAVg/aDKf_tgiAE0/s1600/359885.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Ka Nome Crook (coconut milk cooked in an ebble skiver pan with green onions on top--SO GOOD and one of my favorite breakfasts)</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dfFO1kku5EU/UO-dQawJGzI/AAAAAAAAAVE/UKLYgA-oQU0/s1600/imgres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dfFO1kku5EU/UO-dQawJGzI/AAAAAAAAAVE/UKLYgA-oQU0/s1600/imgres.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Crepe with egg and banana inside and topped with slightly thickened condensed milk and sugar (The first time I got this the woman acted out for me how fat I was going to get)</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L1bhaTwHM3s/UO-dPOpdk-I/AAAAAAAAAVA/etLyFovl6Wg/s1600/IMG_2553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L1bhaTwHM3s/UO-dPOpdk-I/AAAAAAAAAVA/etLyFovl6Wg/s1600/IMG_2553.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Hot dogs, sausages, squid, chicken, pork, etc (choose wisely)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrhU6vf3Wd4/UO-dTJawdmI/AAAAAAAAAVY/2SoroDQdsoU/s1600/Thai%2520dessert%25202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lrhU6vf3Wd4/UO-dTJawdmI/AAAAAAAAAVY/2SoroDQdsoU/s1600/Thai%2520dessert%25202.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nam Keng Sai (a bowl of crushed ice topped with a milky sweet sauce and you can add a variety of gummy type things, sweet potato, corn, and sticky rice)<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have to admit that I have started to miss western food and splurged on some peanut butter and nutella the other day. Cheese is close to non existent here and I am starting to miss it along with Mexican food which is completely non existent here. However, it just takes one amazing Thai meal to remind me that food is awesome here. I think I just get sick of food at school since it can often be cold and is so focused on the rice. Overall, Thai food is pretty tough to beat, but I still think Indian food is better as my true loyalty will always be to India. So now you know a tiny bit about eating in Thailand and I will try to incorporate more of my eating experiences in this blog, now go eat some cheese and dense cake for me!</span></div>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-39983558474515063112013-01-05T22:58:00.001-08:002013-01-05T23:08:27.637-08:00Run Vietnam for Global Literacy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Two things I love: running and reading. For those that don't know, I come from a family of runners and am the offspring of two awesome marathoning parents. I have considered myself a runner since I was a fifth grader competing in the </span><a href="http://holly.blogs.petaluma360.com/10036/westside-relays-petaluma/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Petaluma West Side Relays</a><span style="text-align: left;">. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5gg8zCYisWk/UOesnUnmayI/AAAAAAAAASI/dzqrPulb_nA/s1600/3856_1085014199480_1211881_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5gg8zCYisWk/UOesnUnmayI/AAAAAAAAASI/dzqrPulb_nA/s1600/3856_1085014199480_1211881_n.jpeg" height="400" width="296" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Fast forward about ten years later to 2009 when I ran the Boston Marathon, my first marathon, then 2010 when I ran the Washington DC Suntrust Marathon, and 2012 when I ran my first trail marathon in Susanville, California. (Susanville was a bit of a torturous event so I do not have pictures) </span></div>
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More important and older than my running identity is my identity as a reader. My sisters and I were almost excessively read to from babyhood to young adulthood and we loved it. There was no stopping us when we learned to read and I have been a reader ever since. <i>So what does this have to do with Thailand and my travels?</i></div>
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When Eric's mom and sister came to visit, we left school early after teaching a class or two to meet them in Bangkok. It was 11 am on a Thursday. A time where, in the US, absolutely every child is sitting in a classroom or playing at recess unless their parents are letting them play hooky (like my mom did from time to time to take us to museums and art exhibits in San Francisco). We drove by an elementary school on the way to our apartment and we saw a child in the road who looked about 6 or 7 years old. This child wasn't playing hooky from the elementary school near by. He was walking through traffic selling flowers; he was working. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EfBPgwNrKNM/UOkiIwUvp6I/AAAAAAAAATM/ecGb9dZJlcU/s1600/photo3338.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EfBPgwNrKNM/UOkiIwUvp6I/AAAAAAAAATM/ecGb9dZJlcU/s1600/photo3338.png" height="218" width="400" /></a>Now Thailand is by no means a developing country, but it still has work to do in its education system and getting all children into school and this small experience struck me (not to mention the thousands of girls and young women working in the sex industry instead of going to school). I worked with an amazing non-profit called <a href="http://www.roomtoread.org/" target="_blank">Room to Read</a> during my senior year at Cal Poly and planned a fundraiser for them with a few friends last spring. I learned about Room to Read while I was studying abroad and traveling in India. I read the founder's book, <i>Leaving Microsoft to Change the World</i> and was impressed by his passion (which led him to quit his exec job with Microsoft to start Room to Read) and purpose. I researched Room to Read and one of their employees came to speak at a conference I helped plan for my senior project. After meeting with someone who actually works for Room to Read, I went full steam ahead in planning a fundraiser and am now almost (or completely) annoyingly passionate about this organization. Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 6.7 million children and is not going to stop any time soon. Check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfG06hnTNb8&list=UUjrtaiEV8AJjxC0SmIk-Qyg&index=1" target="_blank">this video</a> to see what Room to Read accomplished in 2012 due to support from people like you and me, local communities in the countries they work in, and Room to Read employees. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q4DQDu0Od08/UOkiIPxI9sI/AAAAAAAAATI/2ci1H0_f6OI/s1600/photo3331.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q4DQDu0Od08/UOkiIPxI9sI/AAAAAAAAATI/2ci1H0_f6OI/s1600/photo3331.png" height="240" width="400" /></a>Room to Read currently works in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa and will continue to increase their impact in other countries when the time is right. Because I am living so close to three of the countries Room to Read works in, I had planned on visiting a few schools while I am on this side of the world. I don't really enjoy traveling as a standard tourist and prefer to do something to be more involved. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to raise more awareness about Room to Read's cause and contribute to their efforts while living and traveling to close to the children that need our help. </div>
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I am combining my love of running and reading by racing the Phu Quoc Half Marathon and fundraising for Room to Read in order to instill a passion for reading in children who do not have the same opportunities I had growing up. I will also visit Room to Read's schools when traveling in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos so I can report back to my supporters on where their money is going and the difference they are making. I plan on blogging about my training progress regularly so check back to see how I am doing and learn more about Room to Read. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bbt-F_oiNZo/UOkgFf76xLI/AAAAAAAAASs/rt_BTf9pNIM/s1600/2062008153932_phuquoc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bbt-F_oiNZo/UOkgFf76xLI/AAAAAAAAASs/rt_BTf9pNIM/s1600/2062008153932_phuquoc.jpeg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, if you received an education as a child (and I know you all did), please visit my fundraising page <a href="https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=323507&supId=374361117" target="_blank">here</a> to make your donation. A little really goes a long way on this side of the world, so no donation is too small. I am, however, challenging everyone to donate at least $13 to represent the number of miles I will be running to support literacy in May. You can also visit my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/482171498491394/" target="_blank">Run Vietnam for Literacy facebook page</a> to learn more. </div>
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Thank you thank you thank you for your support! As Room to Read says: "World Change Starts with Educated Children." Let's help change the world one book and one mile at a time! </div>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-39219635446376959052013-01-01T21:08:00.000-08:002013-01-03T23:40:46.336-08:00New Year in Ko Maak/I Live in Postcard Land<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is pre-warning that this is probably going to be an excessively long post. Read what you wish. </div>
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Although we celebrated Christmas at school, the real holiday this time of year is New Years. People started celebrating Thursday night and carried on until Tuesday night. Therefore, we were told that students wouldn't actually go to class on Friday. My typical efficiency-focused mind thought, "Well that is silly. Either make them go to class or cancel school if no one will go." But efficiency is not really a part of Thai culture. Anyway, we went to school on Friday ready for the kids to probably not go to class. My first class actually showed up and we did a New Years lesson, but the rest of the day kids hung out on campus having little parties with treats and giving each other and the teachers gifts. It was actually really fun seeing all the kids hanging out and having fun and we got some delicious coconut ice cream cones with sticky rice out of it, which was enough to make going to school worth it. By 11 the other teachers told us that they were all leaving (either to go to lunch and come back or just leaving) and we found out we could leave for the day. We had a taxi pick us up and vacation began!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sawgyhWqWss/UOO4jRRnv_I/AAAAAAAAARs/d6LkiHwRd34/s1600/735911_4433614312390_23031989_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sawgyhWqWss/UOO4jRRnv_I/AAAAAAAAARs/d6LkiHwRd34/s1600/735911_4433614312390_23031989_o.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Eric and I had booked a hotel in Bangkok for Friday night so we could get an early start for Ko Maak on Saturday, but with this change of plans we were able to go all the way to Trat (the port town for the islands on its coast). The bus station was crazy busy, but we were able to get an express bus to Trat, which was 5 hours and got us there around 10. We woke up Saturday morning and took a very crowded Song Taew (pick up truck with two benches faces each other) to the pier. It was a beautiful 45 minutes ride and the local Thais riding with us thought we were pretty silly and we thought the same as we sat with their huge sacks of produce from the market. Unfortunately, we went to the wrong pier and mild panic ensued. We eventually made it on another Song Taew to the right pier where we bought our 11 am boat ticket to Ko Maak. It turned out they overbooked the 11am and we had to wait for the 1 pm. This type of incident is all too common, so we sat down and waited. We eventually made it to Ko Maak and were overcome with excitement as we neared the island and drove to our pre-booked bungalows. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvGiD88cYFg/UOO4M8zJj4I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/sBFBQ-pNsI4/s1600/47613_4433614232388_677833136_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvGiD88cYFg/UOO4M8zJj4I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/sBFBQ-pNsI4/s1600/47613_4433614232388_677833136_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>The term bungalows is used very commonly here when talking about accommodations, but these were bungalows in every true sense of the word. Not just some cutesy hut, but a real hut that we were grateful enough to have a toilet (although not a typical flushing toilet--sidenote: They have toilets here that don't flush, but that you just keep pouring cups of water in into everything washes away). We also had a great view from our front door. It was a secluded little beach and the family running the bungalows was hilarious in the way they worked together and very laid back. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d0nPkLXs68w/UOO4UH_CpPI/AAAAAAAAARc/uVK_pdE3RB8/s1600/530553_4433633312865_1075122822_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d0nPkLXs68w/UOO4UH_CpPI/AAAAAAAAARc/uVK_pdE3RB8/s1600/530553_4433633312865_1075122822_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>We planned this trip with two other couples from orientation (yes, it was a couples vacation) and everyone made it by the evening (it was touch and go there for a bit). We had a great evening swim and dinner and met some of the other people that were staying at the bungalows, including an older Canadian man stuck in his 20's, two really nice (and not stereotypically creepy) Italian guys and one of their Thai girlfriends who was super cute. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aHHlxRhsQkU/UOO4KllZ1aI/AAAAAAAAAQs/ureG2q9c-bc/s1600/1516_4433619432518_1691182105_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aHHlxRhsQkU/UOO4KllZ1aI/AAAAAAAAAQs/ureG2q9c-bc/s1600/1516_4433619432518_1691182105_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>I woke up Sunday morning and went on a little run by the many rubber trees and palm trees. It was so humid that it felt like I was running at altitude since it was so hard to breath. Luckily, the ocean was right there and Eric and I went for a long and tiring swim to a beach north of our little beach. Everyone else left us to rent bikes and ride around the island and unfortunately the run and swim combo kind of wiped me out for the rest of the day. However, this wasn't all that unfortunate since I spent the afternoon reading and laying on the beach and that was okay with me!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H9p8n1jEJb8/UOO4RrdHsMI/AAAAAAAAARM/lENZb8PWcik/s1600/293648_4433636032933_98384866_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H9p8n1jEJb8/UOO4RrdHsMI/AAAAAAAAARM/lENZb8PWcik/s1600/293648_4433636032933_98384866_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Monday morning, we all woke up and got our bikes to ride to this bakery that the others had found the day before. It was great riding around the island, which is much more farming focused than tourist focused. This was the busiest weekend to travel in Thailand and besides the issue of getting a boat to the island, it was barely crowded compared to popular tourist spots. We hung out at this beautiful pier connected to a nicer and really neat hotel and I talked with a friendly British woman for a while staying there with her friend and friends. Someday I will travel in style like her, but for now I am happy doing it on a budget and with a backpack!</div>
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Tuesday morning we woke up and started our very long journey back to Suphan. It ended up taking 14 hours to get home, which put a little sour taste in our mouths about the trip, but Ko Maak really was wonderful and I would definitely go back if I could spend more time there.</div>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-4408809363519236682012-12-26T22:00:00.002-08:002013-01-02T21:52:45.063-08:00Thai Style ChristmasThis is now the second Christmas in a row that I have celebrated abroad. Last Christmas Eric and I were in Peru actually on Machu Picchu on Christmas day. Peruvians didn't really celebrate Christmas (besides awful fireworks at midnight on Christmas Eve) so we basically skipped Christmas last year. Thais, however, do celebrate Christmas in the only way they know how to celebrate--loud, confusing, hilarious, and gaudy. You might be thinking, "Aren't Thais mostly Buddhist?" Yes, they are almost all Buddhist, but Thailand is a country that loves to celebrate anything so although we still had to go to school on Christmas day it was filled with Christmas festivities. It was awesome.<br />
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On Christmas Eve Eric, Anna, and I spent the evening making Peanut Butter Balls for the teachers in our office and anyone else we felt like giving them to. It was a solid night of sugary peanut buttery goodness and we successfully found the necessary ingredients (powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, chocolate). I was very happy to be able to skype with my wonderful family on my Christmas morning (their Christmas Eve afternoon), which made me a bit sad to be missing our many Christmas Eve and Christmas traditions, but didn't have much time to think about it by the time we got to school. We were hurried to our office to get our Santa hats and were given bags of candy that we were told to hand out to the kids. I was overwhelmed as hundreds of little hands were shoved in my face to get a piece of candy and a few aggressive boys dove their hands in the bag to grab a handful for them and their friends. We eventually figured out that we were supposed to wait and then dramatically throw the candy to all the kids as they played Jingle Bells and took pictures. Unfortunately I don't have this documented, but I'm sure many people at school do.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6y4CczI1CQA/UNvkgJ2BlPI/AAAAAAAAAPw/8HO4TzZH_XY/s1600/36514_4394718100009_74397000_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6y4CczI1CQA/UNvkgJ2BlPI/AAAAAAAAAPw/8HO4TzZH_XY/s1600/36514_4394718100009_74397000_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>After candy throwing we went into the auditorium where the students had set up booths the day before for the Christmas festival (which of course they skipped class to do). The kids sold various Thai treats at their booths, Mr Hiroshi, the Japanese teacher, sold kimonos for the kids to dress in, and we did crafts with the kids (we didn't really understand what we were supposed to with at our booth so a lot of students were surprised that we weren't selling anything).<br />
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However, before the buying, selling, games, etc, there were some exceptional performances. We were ushered over to the chairs where other teachers were sitting and watched the principal, who was dressed as Santa and who I don't think we have ever met, make a speech in English that Eric wrote. He is pictured demanding they move the podium up to the stage.<br />
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After the welcome speech, groups of students did some overly dramatic Christmas skits and dances.<br />
And what would Christmas be without Gangnam Style? I swear I still hear that song at least 4 times a week and Thailand will probably ride the Gangnam train for another year. These performances also includes a segment where some boys did an actually really awesome robotic hip hop dance wearing batman sweatshirts and creepy white masks. It didn't necessarily scream Christmas to me, but was hilarious none the less.<br />
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After the performances, students were free to hang out and buy stuff at the different booths while Miss Christmas was being judged. Thais are really into beauty pageants and some of these pageants come close to matching America's <a href="https://www.google.co.th/search?q=toddlers+in+tiaras&hl=en&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JOHbUMLJG8f_rAe-yIDADQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAA&biw=1152&bih=609" target="_blank">" Toddlers in Tiaras"</a>. As expected, the judges chose the tallest and whitest girl wearing the least amount of clothing. Meanwhile, we were crafting it up with some kids making popsicle stick ornaments and paper snow flakes. It is amazing how into arts and crafts some kids here are. Whenever I have an assignment that involves drawing they whip up some amazing piece of art. We had one boy who stayed at the booth making paper snowflakes even after we left.<br />
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The Christmas festival ended at noon and we went back to the quiet of our office until they brought out the Christmas cake (topped with butter frosting that I swear was just butter with food dye) and other packaged treats. We gave all of the other teachers the peanut butter balls, which they were grateful for until they bit into them. We thought they would for sure love them since they are so sweet (and delicious), but they all said they were too sweet! Eric, Anna, and I decided it's because Thais don't eat rich food and peanut butter is pretty foreign. Li, the Chinese teacher, and my student/friend Nay, who lived in Norway for a year, said she liked them.<br />
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We were supposed to have classes in the afternoon and surprisingly my 7th period class actually did show up, so I taught a New Years lesson where we attempted to write New Year resolutions. My 8th period class, however, did not make an appearance. Instead, the best students in that class came to class to tell me they were having an ice cream party and weren't coming to class, but invited me to come to the ice cream party. An entire class of 50 not showing up for class is all too common for me and I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I went down to where my entire class was hanging out eating Nam Keng Sai--a Thai dessert of shaved ice which the students put syrup, pieces of white bread, and corn flakes in. Bet you never ordered that at your favorite Thai restaurant in the US! I attempted to get them to sing a Christmas song for my family, but they were clearly over it.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yxqpia38Rds/UNvke05L_aI/AAAAAAAAAPo/DQh7c6GydXk/s1600/10050_4394735540445_285036415_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yxqpia38Rds/UNvke05L_aI/AAAAAAAAAPo/DQh7c6GydXk/s1600/10050_4394735540445_285036415_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a>Wattana took us out to dinner for Christmas where we had some awesome Thai food including wild rice (so rare here) and some delicious fried fish. Although I missed me family a lot, this was definitely a Christmas I will remember! [videos to come]<object id="BLOG_video-UPLOADING-0" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="UPLOADING" width="320" height="266" ></object><object id="BLOG_video-UPLOADING-1" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="UPLOADING" width="320" height="266" ></object><object id="BLOG_video-UPLOADING-2" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="UPLOADING" width="320" height="266" ></object><object id="BLOG_video-UPLOADING-3" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="UPLOADING" width="320" height="266" ></object></div>
Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-3836265581218995102012-12-19T04:26:00.002-08:002012-12-19T04:26:35.706-08:00On Tuesdays We Wear Pink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Practically every Tuesday Eric has to hear Anna and I quote <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuelCsZ30pU" target="_blank">Mean Girls</a> and not understand what we are talking about. If you don't know what I am talking about, please follow the link to the beloved Youtube.<br />
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Colors are a big deal in Thailand and each day of the week has a color. Thais know the day of the week they are born on and its coinciding color because that color will be good luck for them. Tuesdays are pink the students wear pink polos (and pretty awful blue sweat pants) to honor the king (although the king was born on a Monday, so maybe it isn't really to honor--not sure, this is one of the many things I don't really understand).<br />
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In this picture all 2,500 students are lined up for the morning assembly honoring the king.Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-12296844972830718902012-12-17T16:29:00.001-08:002012-12-17T16:29:27.583-08:00Railay Weekend with 3/5 of the Vukicevich's Eric and I had our first visitors to Thailand who are actually still here with us! Eric's mom, Eileen, and his sister, Lauren, got to Bangkok Wednesday night and we met them Thursday afternoon. We were both able to get our classes covered on Friday (thanks Anna!) so we had yet another three day weekend! Pictured below is our welcome to Thailand fruit basket.<br />
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We flew out of Don Meung Airport in Bangkok Thursday afternoon and had the incredibly pleasant 11/2 hour flight to Krabi (which would've taken 10-12 hours by bus or train). Flying is awesome AND we ate our first real sandwiches in over two months (thank you globalization for giving me Subway in Thailand) AND AND (a doubley excited and) Eileen and Lauren brought me home made chocolate chip cookies from my sister! I was really looking forward to these and they definitely delivered.<br />
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Anyway, we landed in Krabi when it was still light out, which was great! One of the many great things about traveling with parents is that they like to spend the extra $6 to make things convenient. Eileen had booked a hotel on Railay and transportation to it from the airport. We were picked up at the airport from a very friendly driver happy to practice his english. He dropped us off at the pier where a long boat took us to Railay. THEN a water tractor-taxi picked us up from the long boat so we didn't have to walk through the stretch of shallow murky water. Finally, the tractor-taxi took us to a golf cart that drove us up the hill to our hotel. One thing I enjoy doing when I travel is counting my modes of transportation. I have found myself doing this and getting really excited anytime it is more than like 3 different types of transportation. So, we left school Thursday morning by a truck, took a van to Bangkok, a plane to Krabi, a SUV taxi to the pier, a long boat to Railay, a water tractor-taxi, and a golf cart. Seven modes!<br />
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Our hotel room was very nice and a huge change from the hostels Eric and I have been staying at or camping last weekend. This is the view from our hotel room where we could also watch people rock climb. In the morning we headed down to one of the beaches. Unfortunately it wasn't really beach weather (and actually we never really experienced real beach weather unfortunately), but we swam nonetheless. We then explored Railay with its really amazing landscape, crazy caves, and stalagmites and stalactites. There was a lookout spot that we rock, rope, and root climbed our way up to in the somewhat muddy clay. It was a really nice view of Railay and was a nice little exercise.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">After climbing we decided to rent kayaks, which was probably my favorite part of the weekend. We kayaked under rock overhangs and into tunnels (AKA Eric forced me against my will to kayak into a dark tunnel). We watched as the rain came in and it started pouring on us as we padelled to an overhanging cliff to take cover. The rain cleared and we watched a beautiful sunset on the beach until another rain cloud came in and we scurried to a little non-resort restaurant (which unfortunately is rare on Railay) and ate dinner as the rain poured around us. </span><br />
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The next morning we signed up for a 4 Island Boat Trip to see some of the small islands around Railay. Turns out every yucky European and Thai thought this was a good idea too and this was our first island stop. Eric and I should have known, but it did get better at our next stop where we snorkeled (for my first time!), saw some really cool fish, and where it was less crowded (and the lame people on our boat stayed in the longtail). It was a nice little touristy thing to do, but unfortunately Eric started feeling a bit sick at the last island. When we got back to Railay, Eric and Lauren headed back to the hotel while Eileen and I spent a little more time on the beach before another rain storm hit and watched people like this:<br />
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I used to hate hearing that statistic of how few Americans travel and thought it was embarrassing. I am now very grateful that Americans that look (and act) like this stay within our borders.<br />
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I won't go into details about Saturday night as Saturday evening to Sunday morning Eric, Lauren, and I took turns have "stomach issues," which is a nice way to say we were either throwing up or having diarrhea. I will remain mysterious and leave it up to you which it was. If I go to Railay again, I will definitely want to do some rock climbing, which is what it is really known for.<br />
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It is also known for this penis- cave shrine:<br />
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We flew back to Bangkok Sunday afternoon and made it on the last bus to Suphan just in time. Even with the rain and not feeling well, it was a great weekend and we are currently hosting Eileen and Lauren at hotel Yu Dee Mi Suk (our apartment) and taking them to school today!<br />
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<br />Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-90669857317406305442012-12-10T22:06:00.002-08:002012-12-10T22:06:37.910-08:00Camping in Erawan National ParkI spent another weekend in paradise, but this paradise was surrounded by mountains, tropical forests, and gorgeous waterfalls. We had another three day weekend and Eric and I spent our first weekend going somewhere just the two of us, which was a good thing since our tent proved to be for 1 1/2 people! We invested a whopping 400 bath ($12) in a tent and headed off Saturday morning for a weekend in Kanchanaburi, a neighboring province to Suphanburi.<br />
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We had a false start Friday night where, unfortunately, we learned that buses to Kanchanaburi stop running at 5 (we got there at 5:30). We were told that they start running early in the morning and leave every half hour. Saturday morning we got to the bus station at 8:20 thinking we had perfectly timed it to catch the 8:30 bus. We got on the bus and at...9:25 we were off! (turns out when they say buses leave every half hour they mean when the bus fills up) The ride was a bit painfully long, but luckily (meaning unluckily) they started blasting some beautiful (meaning awful) Thai music the last hour of the 3 hour bus ride to Kanchanaburi city. Erawan National Park is another 2 hour bus ride from Kanchanaburi city so we ate some lunch at the bus station and hopped on another bus. This ride was much more enjoyable as we drove to and through the mountains, along rivers and beautiful country roads. We were also fortunate enough to stop half an hour in to pick up an entire freshly roasted pig (head, tail and all) in a a bag to later drop off at a resort outside the national park.<br />
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We got to the camping area of the national park, set up our tent near the river, and headed out to see the lower sections on Erawan water falls before they closed. Erawan Waterfall is very well known i Thailand and did not disappoint. On Saturday we were only able to see the first two levels of the seven level falls, but were still very impressed with the bright blue water and surrounding scenery. Eric went for a swim with the Thai kids and adults (who were fully clothed) and the Europeans (who I wish were fully clothed). We then walked to the little town outside of the park to eat some dinner that was cheaper than what was sold within the park and watch some kids fly kites. When we got back to the camp site we made friends with a couple from Belgium that are vacationing in Thailand for 7 weeks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campsite</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The river next to our campsite.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 2</td></tr>
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After a night with very little sleep (due to our lack of sleeping pads, partying Thais, howeling dogs, and noisy birds) we got up and woke our Belgium friends up in order to be the first ones to get to the top of the falls, which opened at 8. It was an amazing little hike and we were more and more in awe of the beauty of the 7 waterfalls which each step. The falls were so beautiful and perfect it seemed like they had to be fake, but it turns out natural beauty really does trump any artificial beauty. We saw one other group (a family of Thais) on the way up and that was it. We had each section to ourselves to photograph and appreciate. At the top, we swam in the cool water and let the fish nibble on our toes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 1</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 2 (with the lack of sleep showing on our faces)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 3</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 4</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 5</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 6</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Level 7</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish nibbling my toes!</td></tr>
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I was very grateful we were able to enjoy the falls alone for a while because a little after we got to the top more and more tourists and Thais started showing up and by the time we got back down to levels 1-3, there were huge crowds swimming, picnicing, and enjoying the falls in a much less serene way. We had some lunch and read under a gazebo next to the river and said goodbye to our Belgium friends. Eric and I then went on a hike on a "nature interpretive trail." The trail eventually led to a very nice lookout point and Eric may or may not have seen a cougar or some other large animal (we weren't sure, but there was definitely some movement in the trees). We finished the day with another swim in the falls and a delicious dinner near the campsite.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric's Jungle Trek Part 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the end of our little hike.</td></tr>
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We rented sleeping pads so the evening was a little more enjoyable and we spent Monday morning getting breakfast and reading on the river. At noon we got on the bus and made the journey (which was a little faster this time) back to Suphan. I was so refreshing to get away from cities and relax in nature. I am still recovering from two somewhat sleepness nights, but will be ready for another adventure to paradise starting Thursday when Eric's mom and sister get here! Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-615908768565575030.post-48913422369125353892012-12-05T23:02:00.001-08:002012-12-05T23:03:24.787-08:00My First Island Trip: Ko SametTo continue with the more exciting part of last weekend after English camp.....now I really feel like I am in Thailand.<br />
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As I left off with my last post, Wattana dropped Eric, Anna, and I off at the bus station to send us on our way to paradise. We had one 1 hour bus ride and then a 2 hour (or so) bus ride which both went smoothly. The second bus dropped us off at the dock to take a boat to Ko Samet (Sidenote: Ko means island and Ao means beach). There is a ferry that is very cheap to take over, but it stops running at 4 and we probably didn't get there until 9, so we decided to take the plunge and pay for the speedboat. Unfortunately we got overcharged/cheated, but we will now know for the future. It is tricky here because in really touristy places they will definitely take advantage of you, but in places like Suphan sometimes they will say something (like a shirt) costs 250 baht and then only charge you 220. So we have just learned to be prepared for when we go to touristy places.<br />
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The speedboat only took 10-15 minutes and I was pretty wowed as we approached Ko Samet. It was dark, so I wasn't taking in the beauty, but the crazy party scene that we were quickly approaching. There were fire twirling performances, clubs with dancing, and bar after bar along the beach. We didn't make any reservations, so we got dropped off with these two British guys at the cheapest area of the beach to stay. We checked into our hotel and ventured out to see what was going on. I definitely wasn't in the mood to dance my pants off, but actually had a really fun time walking a long the beach and hanging out at various restaurants/bars. We sat at one at the end of the beach where fewer people had made it to where the waiters were really funny, twirled some fire specially for us, and Anna got hit on by creepy fat men from the Netherlands.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast on the beach</td></tr>
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The next morning we had breakfast practically in the water (high tide was very extreme especially since it was a few days after the full moon) and hung out on the beach and swam. After an hour or so of relaxing, we thought it would be fun to explore a bit and find a little less crazy beach to stay the night on. So, we were off on "Eric's Jungle Trek." I have been on many of these types of adventures before so luckily I was somewhat prepared for what unfolded in the next couple hours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric's Jungle Trek begins</td></tr>
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The west side of Ko Samet is lined with beaches, which are separated by some rocks or a little bit of "forest" at times. There was a trail that went through the trees and other times we walked a long the beach or through the different resorts and hotels. We decided that we would walk until we found a cool place to stay Sunday night so we could put our stuff down and keep going. It seemed like each beach or bay we got to was cooler and cooler so it was very difficult to decide to stop to check into a hotel, so we didn't. Nor did we really stop for food (besides Eric getting a coconut, which I was later very jealous of). We did stop for beach swinging/hammocking, swimming, picture taking, etc.<br />
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I had read about some really cool beaches at the very south of the island that sounded affordable, so we were motivated to keep going. The beaches in the south definitely got more spread out and we were tiring out a bit (Anna and I were both carrying backpacks and purses, so this was a learning experience to pack less). After walking along rocks for a while without seeing a beach, we finally rounded the corner to see an awesome beach in a gorgeous bay. We celebrated and started thinking about what we would eat when we got there. We were walking through some trees as we got closer and practically stepped on a sleeping security guard. He instantly got on his radio and he explained (mostly in Thai) that it was a private beach and we couldn't go. He led us around the back of the resort where we got some glimpses of how the rich a famous must vacation. I just looked up the resort and <a href="http://www.kohsametparadee.com/gallery/#" target="_blank">here </a>is its website. It costs around 20,000 baht which is almost my entire month's salary (about 700 US dollar a night). Oops!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this photo saying "This will be in the blog when I say we finally made it to our beach." I was wrong.</td></tr>
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He left us at the road, which we begrudgedly kept trekking down (and when I say down, I mean up, up, and up). I have a tendency to be able to laugh about ridiculous situations very quickly after they happen and often during, which I am sure is annoying for others when the ridiculous isn't over. Case in point, I'm laughing as I look at the uphill road we have to walk up and bust out my camera. Anna: "I swear Bridget if you take a picture of me right now, I am going to kill you." I disobeyed and am still alive (sorry Anna!). It turns out the beach that the resort was on sounds a lot like another beach on the north tip, which was the one that had affordable places to stay.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Bridget, I'm going to kill you."</td></tr>
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We saw a sign for the beach at the south tip of the island, which I had read was a good example of more traditional lifestyle on the island. Unfortunately traditional does not mean hotels for you to stay in and the only place to stay was another out of our league resort. The women gave us a pitty look when they told us the price (which is actually less than $100 US dollars, but too much for our Thai salary) and suggested we go to the beach we originally stayed at to find something affordable. We took advantage of their chairs and ate a popsicle before turning around and walking back.<br />
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There was a truck shuttle, but we thought it would be too expensive. Fortunately they weren't busy and gave us a ride halfway up the island to a beach we thought was cool the first time around. It was a very fast, bumpy, steep uphill/downhill ride, but it was a great time, beat walking, and we were dropped off right on the beach. The first hotel gave us a price and when we said it was too much and started walking, they dropped down 1/3 of the price--deal! We put down our stuff and walked to this really cool restaurant with the seating areas along a pier that we had eyed 3 hours earlier. It was amazing--great view, great atmosphere, good food. We hung out for almost two hours before going for a late afternoon swim and testing out my waterproof camera. The beach we stayed out, Ao Thian, had some really cool restaurants and bars, plenty of places for massages, and seemed a like a good balance of fun and family oriented. There were also a few groups of Thai people there and even less foreigners, which I liked. We had a great night hanging out, playing poker using pieces from the top of a bottle for chips, and going for a late night swim.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing our water tricks</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our restaurant on the water</td></tr>
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We had an American breakfast in the morning, which wasn't very good, but my watermelon smoothie made up for it. Then we layed out and swam a bit before walking back to where the speedboat dropped us off so we could start the journey home. Walking basically the entire west side of the island was actually really fun, incredibly beautiful, and a great way to see more than the average Ko Samet tourist. Ko Samet is one of the closest islands to Bangkok and supposedly doesn't compare with the beaches down south, but I felt like I was in paradise the entire time. I can't wait to see the ones in the south! But first, Eric and I are going camping in the mountains in Kanchanaburi this weekend, so I can start fulfilling my desire to get outdoors and away from the cities!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing watermelon smoothie (and me and Anna)</td></tr>
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Bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14124005443019026672noreply@blogger.com0