research journey

2006-11-12T01:32:00.000-08:00

Taipei/Taiwan

View of Taipei from the roof of Kristen's building. Note the mountain -- that is Yangmingshan (I think).

I can think of no better way to see a new country than to visit a good friend who is living there. I was just so lucky in my visit to Taiwan, as my good pal Kristen Loring is there for the year doing research and working at the National Palace Museum. Kristen also is very good at reading and conversing in Chinese, which opens up a whole part of the city I would not have understood or ventured into otherwise. In fact, I am very much indebted to Kristen for all of her work and attention when I was visiting, from interpreting the menu and ordering every meal to buying train tickets and explaining to the taxi where we wanted to go. She is a fantastic tour guide and I hope to reciprocate sometime when we can visit Thailand or Laos together.

I left Los Angeles in quite a hurry, or so it felt even though I did know when I arrived at the end of July that I would be leaving for Asia again at the end of October. Many things contributed to my lack of preparation for coming back here, most particularly the pressure and stress resulting from my need to write and complete my dissertation within a year. Things have been quite intense, to say the least. So I pretty much packed everything the same day I left town, along with going to the Thai Consulate twice for my visa, and other random things. No problem, I thought, I only really needed some articles and books and things I was taking to others from the States. Everything else I could get in Thailand if I needed it. However, as I was on the plane, getting closer and closer to Taipei, I remembered more and more things I needed that totally slipped my mind in those last few days in LA, such as my phone charger, and perhaps more importantly, my keys to my apartment in Chiang Mai! Even worse, after I landed in Taipei and was beginning to find my way through the airport to passport control, I realized that I did not do many important things, such as: send Kristen a second email right before I left confirming my flight times and dates, write down Kristen’s address and phone number, or do even a single iota of research about the place where I was going. Absolutely crazy! Kristen is a very responsible and dependable person, but still, what if something happened and she didn’t show up at the airport? What on earth would I do?? Luckily I walked out of baggage claim and customs, and there she was. And she looked great! How exciting and what a good friend!

One of the things I was very excited about in visiting Taiwan was getting to eat the food. Taiwan is well known for the quality of its food, and I was not disappointed. Dumplings, tea eggs, steamed buns, tofu, noodle soup, grilled meat, sweet potatoes, fruit, tea… everything I ate was like a delicacy and very satisfying. I ate so much when I was in Taiwan! And enjoyed every bite.

I got to explore around Taipei with Kristen and we even got out of the city and went to a mountain and a town nearby. We had intended to go to the beach, but my timing in visiting was not so great; it rained or threatened of rain nearly every day that I was there. The mountain we visited, named Yangmingshan, was very nearby -- just a short bus ride away, it is practically in central Taipei. Kristen and I planned to hike to the top of Yangmingshan, but the weather was not very inviting. It was like hiking in a cloud. A wet, cold, windy cloud. Or perhaps it was more like climbing up and down steps in a cloud, for that is what the hike really was – many, many steps. It was very enjoyable, though, and I think Kristen and I made the most of it.

Another place we went was the town of Jiufen. This is an incredibly beautiful town nestled in the mountains near Taipei. Although the forecast predicted otherwise, Kristen and I had hoped to visit Jiufen, another town, and hang out on the beach all in one day, we only visited this one town, which turned out to be enough. We took the subway, a train, and a bus to get there, and when we arrived, we could see the ocean from the town. But when we left we could only see rain. Jiufen is a very touristy town, with a long, winding market and many tea shops on the side of a mountain. Of course “touristy” in Taiwan is very different than “touristy” in Southeast Asia – I don’t think Kristen and I saw any other non-Asians on that whole excursion!

After a week with Kristen it was time to move on to Thailand, where I have settled in nicely and where I cannot complain about the food either, even though I miss the delicacies of Taipei. I envy the location of Kristen’s apartment as well – about a half a block from a bustling food market serving any kind of delicacy one could need, and near many, many shops as well. I wish I could have spent more time on that island and know I can always go back, which I would love to do, but that it wouldn’t be the same without my Chinese-speaking friend and guide!

2006-07-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

A final reflection on my time here in Thailand, Laos, etc.:

2006-07-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Cambodia

Oh, Cambodia! What can I say? I finally made it there after all these years of coming to Southeast Asia and only visiting Thailand and Laos. I had originally planned to go to Cambodia at the very end of May, but ended up rescheduling because of a festival in Nong Bua that I didn’t want to miss. I knew I would be disappointed if I didn’t travel to Cambodia before returning to the States. And I am glad I made that choice.

I began my Cambodian vacation in Siem Reap, the town that serves as the launching off spot for the Ankgor temples and ruins. Angkor/Siem Reap is one of the hottest tourist spots in Southeast Asia, and it shows. The central part of town is booming with fancy buildings/bars/restaurants and there seem to be hotels going up all over the place. Siem Reap is a nice town and I wish I had had more time to spend exploring it.

I got into the Siem Reap airport around 4:30 in the afternoon, so I didn’t see much my first day. I just walked around to try to get myself orientated, then ate dinner and pretty much went back to my room, watched some TV (a luxury!), and went to sleep. I didn’t feel the culture shock that I did when I went to China earlier this year, probably because Cambodia shares so much with Thailand and Laos, not to mention the fact that so many Cambodians in the touristy areas speak English pretty darn well. I can say it was difficult to speak only English. Typically here in Thailand or in Laos, even if I speak English with someone I will use Thai words, or if I am practicing English with a Thai or Lao I can rely on my knowledge of Thai to help explain what something means. No such luck in Cambodia, and thus I found myself longing to speak Thai. Strange. I had made plans with my driver to meet at 8 am the next morning to begin exploring Angkor. By “driver” I mean motorcycle driver, and this is not an uncommon thing to have in Cambodia, especially Siem Reap. It is a convenient way of seeing as many sights as a person could want, especially those further away, and for me it was nice not to do everything totally on my own as I am used to doing (it does get lonely). Also, there is no motorcycle rental in Siem Reap, so to get around tourists have to either go by foot, bicycle, or hire someone. I hired Hout, who had been my motorcycle driver from the airport. He was 24 years old, and had already been driving tourists around for 5 years, and his English was very, very good. Another nice thing about having a “driver” is that I didn’t have to think too hard about where I wanted to go and I definitely didn’t have to think about how to get there. The only complaint I have is that I know Hout overcharged me, and I could not bargain him down, no matter how hard I tried. But he knew I liked him as a driver, since I hired him for basically all of the time I was there. I had originally planned to hire him for 2 days, then rent a bicycle on my third day to go back and see some of the more popular Angkor sites a second time (such as Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat), but I didn’t, and I am glad. It was very, very hot in Cambodia (hot and humid; the sun was quite intense), and I was pretty worn out anyway, so I think it is better that I didn’t do the bicycle thing. I even got to go have dinner and a drink with my driver at his friend’s house. That was great for me, because it was just getting to go into a Cambodian home and eating with them, sharing a little tiny part of their life. It’s my favorite thing to do, and I jumped at the opportunity. Cambodian houses are very small (obviously a generalization, but overall a very true statement), and many people live inside. Remember that most Cambodians are very poor, like the Lao, and make do with what little they have. The food was delicious and the hosts very hospitable, but I wasn’t very hungry as I had eaten a heavy lunch of Indian food.

I intended to keep an ongoing list of all of the temples and sites that I saw when I was in Siem Reap/Angkor, but it got so overwhelming so quickly that I didn’t. All I know is that I saw a lot, the majority of the greater Angkor area. I have to admit, I was nervous when I got to Siem Reap, and when I started out on my first day. What was it going to be like? Would it live up to the hype, to the expectations?? I knew there would be a lot of tourists, but how many? As an aspiring art historian, I was particularly anxious. Angkor is supposed to be one of the most incredible sights in the world, it’s in the part of the world I study, but what if I didn’t feel the enthusiasm I was supposed to feel? What if I just plain wasn’t impressed? Basically, I was worried it would not live up to all of the hype. Because there is a lot of hype. I needn’t have worried. Angkor was awesome. From the second I walked up to the Bayon (the first temple I visited at Angkor), I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed, and would be very, very pleased. In fact, as I stared in awe at the stone reliefs covering the walls, I contemplated changing my research focus. OK, that isn’t exactly true, but for the first time I could truly and totally understand why/how people could dedicate their lives to studying that kind of thing. And to think that these things were made 700-1000 years ago!!! Unbelievable!

As I write this, I am not sure how to describe being at Angkor. Most likely this is because too much time has passed since I have been there, but it could be due to any number of reasons. All I can say is that there was never a lack of interesting and beautiful things to look at and marvel over, and that true to their reputation the Cambodian people were just lovely. There was a large number of tourists at Angkor every day, but apparently nothing at all compared to high season, and according to my driver there were less than the normal amount for this time of year – I had excellent timing since I traveled during the World Cup when tourist numbers go way down (something to note for those of you planning on traveling abroad in 4 years). The majority of tourists that I saw (by far) were East Asian (that is to say Chinese, Korean, or Japanese), most specifically Korean. It was crazy at some times when my path overlapped with theirs as I ventured though the temples. Crazy because there were just so many people! But overall, the crowds didn’t bother me, as they really only stuck to the main sites around Angkoe, so it was easy to get away or avoid them. And I couldn’t complain much anyway – I love it when people (tourists) are at a place where they can only learn, about history, art, whatever. That is definitely a good thing.
During my days in Siem Reap, I wore myself out. I climbed around so many of the temples, etc., in the hot sun that each evening it was an accomplishment for me just to eat dinner, check my email, and get back to my room. I know I saw so many temples, palaces, whatever, and I was overwhelmed by what I saw. I tried to not go overboard taking photographs since so much of the area is already represented generously in books, but I still ended up taking 800 photos when I was in Cambodia! That just seems ridiculous to me!

After 4 days/5 nights in Siem Reap (not including the 1st day), I traveled to Phnom Penh. I had bought my bus ticket the day before and when I woke up that morning I really regretted that decision, wanting to spend one last day just exploring around Siem Reap. I had gone to a nearby wat the day before and got to talk to a few of the monks who were excited to practice their English (which was very good). I didn’t have enough time to do things like that, but I figure next time I go, I can spend more time exploring the town and the wats. I spent 4 nights in Phnom Penh, which is quite a big and bustling city! It was slightly overwhelming at first, and I still don’t feel like I saw too much of it, but I think that’s OK. I had picked out what looked like it would be a nice area to stay from reading my guidebook on the bus, but when the bus pulled into Phnom Penh, it was swarmed with people trying to get the farang to go to their guesthouse, take their motorcycle, whatever. Too much!, and although I typically ignore these people when I travel, this time I thought whatever, just take me to your cheap guesthouse in the backpacker ghetto. So I ended up staying in a different area than I had anticipated, but it worked out well since I only had to pay $3 a night for a clean room with its own bathroom. Once I heard $3, what could I do?
I traveled to the National Museum (which is just fantastic), the palace, riverfront, Wat Phnom, Tuol Sleng, the killing fields, and some markets while I was in Phnom Penh. I had contemplated whether or not to go to Tuol Sleng (the former school where the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed tens of thousands of people) and the killing fields for many reasons – what if it was too overwhelming/overpowering for me? Then afterwards I would have no one to talk to about it (traveling alone) and might have a hard time adjusting. I also could rationalize that since I have studied so much about recent history in Cambodia and Southeast Asia in general that I was already far more well informed than the average tourist and thus didn’t need to see everything to know what happened there. But I realized that I had an obligation to the Cambodian people to see these things. I mean the genocide and civil war are as much a part of Cambodian culture as the temples and things I ran to see in Siem Reap. And I am glad I went. Although I didn’t really learn anything new, I was able to see all of these things firsthand, and I spent a lot of time contemplating what one earth makes a society devour itself as happened in Cambodia. What makes people resort to such horrible acts, and how can others just stand idly by and watch it happen? (By others I am not merely referring to people, but other countries who knew what was going on but did not want to get involved because of the tangled political mess that was Asia in the seventies.

I can say that my trip to Cambodia was rewarding and relatively pain-free. What I mean to say is that I enjoyed myself and didn’t have to experience any broken-down buses. I do feel like I could have done so much more or learned so much more, but then I realize it was my first trip to the country, and I was only there for 9 days. Perhaps on my next trip I can delve further into Khmer culture and religion/art/textiles…

2006-07-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Chiang Tung (Kengtung), Burma (Myanmar)

Chiang Tung is a town in the Eastern Shan States of Burma. I have wanted to travel there for a while now. I almost went there in January, but didn’t have enough time, and so decided to wait until I could go there with my friend and former roommate Julia. It is in the same general area as Sipsongpanna in China, northwestern of Laos, and northern Thailand. Chiang Tung and the surrounding area has a common history and cultural background as well. So, when June 10th finally rolled around (the date Julia and I had decided would be the beginning of our adventure), I was thrilled. Travel to Chiang Tung from Chiang Mai involves taking a 4.5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai (Thai border town), crossing the border to Burma, then taking some form of transportation an additional 160 km from Tachilek (the Burmese border town on the other side of Mae Sai) to Chiang Tung. Because Burma is run by a paranoid, authoritarian government (or is it totalitarian?? I don’t know anything about words to describe governments, but I do know that the government in Burma is absolutely no good), travel in the country is quite restricted. Julia and I were crossing just to go to Chiang Tung, so we did not need to have visa before crossing. However, we both completely forgot to bring our 3 passport photos, so what could have possibly been a much smoother crossing turned into us following the guy from the immigration office all over town to get our photographs taken. OK, it wasn’t all over town, but it felt crazy and chaotic to me, and it was HOT. After everything was settled and we paid all the necessary fees (and handed over our passports, to be kept at the border as we explored Chiang Tung), we arranged with the immigration guy to take the “air-conditioned” bus, rumored to take only 4 hours. It seemed like a decent option, as the only other one presented to us was a private taxi that would have cost us at least 100 Baht more (OK, 100 baht is only $2.50, but it seems like an enormous sum when traveling, especially when you are used to things being fairly cheap and you are aware that you are being ripped off compared to the price for locals). We were rather hungry after all of the traveling and border crossing, but we did not get to grab anything to eat, as we had to rush to the bus station to be sure to catch the bus. The immigration guy had told us there would be all kinds of food at the bus station, and that we could eat there, but he was totally wrong. No food stands at all. But we got our seats on the completely full bus (Asian style – in other words people were sitting in the aisles as well), and we were off.

It was very exciting to be in a bus, traveling in a completely new area, even though it was a very long day of travel. With all of the traveling I have done in the past year, I was used to it, as traveling in a bus has become somewhat of second nature to me (it doesn’t mean I have gotten over my total phobia of them, however). Julia was coping with it fairly well, although she is much happier when she is able to drive herself. We seemed to be moving along at a decent pace, and looked to be on schedule. In fact, we were getting quite close to Chiang Tung from our calculations, when suddenly the bus pulls over on the side of the road. All I could think is “you have to be kidding me…” I really wanted to be in denial that the bus was broken down, especially after my last broken-down bus experience (see Lao blog, below), but it was pretty obvious that there was a problem. I got off the bus to see people wildly running towards the engine (at the back of the bus) and throwing bottles full of water on it. It just seemed totally chaotic and crazy, especially the urgency with which they were trying to throw the water onto the engine. It seemed clear to me that the engine had overheated, which wasn’t entirely surprising given the age of the bus and the hills we had been climbing. But the throwing of the water seemed totally insane, plus I had no idea if there were any other problems. All we could do was wait and see. It didn’t seem good, but I tried to stay optimistic. After a short period of time, people started walking up the road. We knew by this point that we were 25 km from Chiang Tung, but it didn’t seem possible that people actually were going to walk the rest of the way. We found out they were walking towards a “market” in a “town” just at the top of the hill. Julia and I decided that it might be a good idea to walk there as well, so we grabbed our stuff and away we walked.

The “town” and the “market” turned out to not be much, but it resembled so many roadside villages I have passed through in all of my travels in Laos. We were able to get some water, and concluded, after discussions with fellow bus passengers, that the bus repair was going to take a long time and the sun was setting fast. We decided to try to hire a tuk-tuk-type vehicle to take us the rest of the 25 km to Chiang Tung. After much discussion and haggling with the help of a fellow passenger (who turned out to be Akha) who spoke both Burmese and English. We were in the tuk-tuk heading back to the bus to pick up our bizarre makeshift “passports” when we saw it heading towards us. Yes, it was actually running and moving, but with a black cloud coming out of its tailpipe. So, we turned around and met it back in the “town.” We paid the tuk-tuk driver a small sum for his troubles, got on the bus, and eventually we arrived in Chiang Tung.

It was a little after dusk when we arrived, but everyone was very helpful in getting us to the “Noi Yee Hotel” we had picked out from our guidebook. The guy who ran the hotel was, to say the least, very eccentric. In fact, it was easy to conclude after the few days I spent in Chiang Tung, that the town is a breeding ground for eccentricity. It is a rather isolated place; although it is near China, only a half-day’s drive from Thailand, and there are small towns/villages in the nearby area, the nearest city in Burma is like 400 kilometers away! Anyway, Julia and I decided that we really liked our hotel. It had a fabulous central location, a nice view, and all the necessities (beds and a bathroom, and even a veranda! -- which you can see Julia sitting on in the photo).

Chiang Tung is a beautiful city! There are stunning wats (Buddhist temples) on every corner (this could be a slight exaggeration, but that’s how it feels), a lake in the center, hills and mountains, and friendly people everywhere. The town also has a fabulous and huge morning market that I did not heave enough time to explore to my satisfaction. I did get to see the whole market, but it was so full and so beautiful that I could have spent many more hours there. I also got to visit many of the wats in the town, and they were just stunning. The Buddha images were gorgeous and quite numerous. And what was perhaps the most amazing thing about the city was how peaceful it was. Very mellow, with very little traffic. Of course the lack of traffic was welcomed by me, but I do understand that it is a reflection of how poor the community (and country in general) is. As can be seen in neighboring Thailand and Laos, as communities get more money, the people purchase motorcycles and, for the wealthy, even cars/trucks, and streets become increasingly clogged. Another nice thing about Chiang Tung is that because the people and the history are closely connected with northern Thailand, we could speak Thai and not only be understood, but understand others and have conversations.

Julia and I found a restaurant that we were quite find of and thus visited every day we were in town (to be frank, there weren’t many, especially ones that could prepare a truly vegetarian meal). On our second night we befriended a Thai guy named Chai traveling alone (which we found quite surprising). It turned out that Chai had just finished being a monk at a wat in northwest Thailand. I didn’t hear the part of the conversation when he explained why he was visiting Chiang Tung, but I think he was in Mae Sai (the Thai border town) and decided to come see what this town was like. I have to say, Chai spoke very quickly, so Julia and I both spent time puzzled at what he was saying, but he was very nice. In fact, the next day, when Julia and I decided to explore the area separately, I ran into Chai after I unknowingly passed the morning market, which had been my destination. We ended up walking around all over the town for hours, which was really enjoyable. I had stated that my intention was to visit as many wats as possible, so in the process of wandering that morning we visited at least 4 or 5 wats. I always enjoy looking for banners, but I also enjoy visiting the wats for many reasons, including looking at the many things that exist at a wat, and comparing it (in my head) to the many other places I have visited in this region. The wats in Chiang Tung did not disappoint, especially Wat In which had an unbelievable collection of Buddha images. I definitely could have spent hours just staring at those Buddha images, but I didn’t have the time. It’s OK; I got a lot of nice pictures, and I suspect I will visit Chiang Tung again. Wandering around that day was very hot and the sun was surprisingly intense. Although I slathered my neck and face with sun block, I got quite burnt. I could definitely feel it the next day, but luckily I didn’t have to carry my bags very far.

The next day was our return back to Thailand. This journey to Chiang Tung was a short trip compared to most of the ones I have taken this year, but it was wonderful, rewarding, and quite relaxing. The trip back from Chiang Tung to the border was far less eventful than the ride there. We opted for a shared taxi this time. As our friend Chai had (wisely?) taken a shared taxi to get to Chiang Tung, he had already set his ride with the same driver he rode up with. After a bit of finagling (on Julia’s part – she’s very good at it), we got to ride in the same taxi, which was scheduled to leave at like 7:30 or so in the morning. Once the driver finally arrived, we hopped in, and it was an absolute riot. The guy was a total eccentric, and it felt like it took forever for us to really get going on the road. He would get really excited and talk with us, not looking at the road at all, and at one point, we stopped to wash the car – in fact we stopped to wash the car in the same “town” where Julia and I had been stuck just a few days earlier on our way into town (that's him in the photo, washing the car while we were waiting in it). It figured. But we made it, and even survived the bus ride all the way back to Chiang Mai (easier said than done – Julia was going absolutely stir crazy by the time we got to the Chiang Mai vicinity. By my calculations we arrived just on time, or maybe about 10 minutes late, but the bus attendant person had told Julia we would get into Chiang Mai by 6:30, a whole 45 minutes off).

2006-07-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Another Nearly Futile Lao Adventure:

I began writing this blog from my guesthouse room on 10 April 2006 after an exhausting, though not entirely productive, two weeks in northern Laos. The problem is that I never finished the blog as I became either too busy or too lazy (or a little of both) to muster up the energy to complete and post it – until now, of course, knowing that it has been too long since I have posted anything…

As some of you may or may not know, I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately, and in more ways than one. I am back in Laos for the Lao New Year (which, in classic Lao style, can’t really be nailed to down to a specific set of days. While the 14-16th are designated as official holidays here, most people tell me the New Year starts on the 12th, while others have told me the 15th!!) The Lao New Year should basically fall on the same days as the Thai New Year, but I made the decision to come to Laos over Thailand based on my absolute adoration of this country and people. However, after having to leave Ban Nong Bua, I have not entirely been the same, and have longed to go back to first place that has felt like “home” to me in many months. Let me clarify: while I do truly think of Chiang Mai as “home” at the moment, I have not spent much time there lately. Plus, while I do have a friend or two in Chiang Mai, I am largely alone in the days that I spend there, and I am alone while traveling. However, when I was in Nong Bua, I never felt alone. So many people looked after me and wanted to make sure all was well that loneliness was not an issue and I felt as if the town was both my family and friends. When I think of Nong Bua, I just think that I am a very lucky person. But this posting is not supposed to be about Nong Bua! Oh yeah! See, it is very clear how much I miss that place, and appreciate the people. OK, so it is difficult to go from that kind of environment to one of being a lonely, single traveler. To go from being part of a community to being just another falang to stare at, and then of course any actual conversation with an actual Lao (or Thai) person is a reminder of one’s status as single traveler.

Anyway, on top of dealing with these factors (oh yeah, I am supposed to be doing research??) I have been a bit sick as well. I got to Laos, and in fact all was going pretty well, and I was finding ways to spend time until the New Year. But suddenly I found that the weather was surprising cold in Luang Nam Tha, and before I knew it, I was sick! I was in Muang Sing, a town where I spent many days back in November, and I was entirely uninspired to do anything. It took a day or two to make the connection between my physical health and my mental health, but once I realized it, it dawned on me why I was so uninspired to even try to go visit any of the local wats (imagine – me, not wanting to go to any wats!). So, for a few days I completely took it easy, and did not even begin to try to push myself to get any research done. To top it off, as I recovered from my cold, my stomach did not feel all that great, causing me to want to spend each morning in my room and leaving me very not hungry and not wanting to eat anything. Who knows what I ate that left my stomach so unhappy, it could have been anything, although I think it was probably some bad water (perhaps tap water being sold as bottled water, who can know).

But instead of going on and on about these sordid details, let’s just say that in my desperation to find some inspiration, I decided to leave Luang Nam Tha and go to Oudomxai, a town not particularly known to be enjoyable, but I had never been there and thought I could try to check out some of the local wats.

I was feeling a bit lazy, I have to admit, and therefore I did not push myself to get to the bus station very early in the morning on the day I had planned to go to Oudomxai. I got up, packed, ate breakfast, and planned to catch the 12:00 bus. I left my guesthouse at around 9:45-10, and here is the problem – thinking that I didn’t want to spend hours waiting at the bus station, I stopped to get a cup of coffee. This actually did take longer than I expected it to, but it was as much my own fault as anything. I got to the bus station no later than 11 am, but the 12:00 bus to Oudomxai was already crammed full of people (special note to those readers who have not traveled on these buses: crammed full means literally no one can move around because people are sitting on makeshift seats in the aisles, standing in the doorway, etc.). It was definitely packed full, but I went up and checked with the ticket guy. I had to wait for the 2:30 bus. So much for getting there early enough and so much for not having to wait for hours at the bus station! I was hoping that maybe, just maybe the bus would fill up and leave early, but it did not happen. I think we would have left maybe 15-30 minutes early – the bus was full with everyone and we were ready to go, but we were waiting anyway until finally, we were off…

So, after we left the bus station, we picked someone up at their house, then headed toward the main road. All seemed well, but in retrospect the bus did appear to be moving a little slow. However, a slow moving bus is far from an oddity in Laos, where the pace of life is entirely different from our own and (believe it or not) not everyone is in a rush to get where they are going; in fact moving from place to place in a slow bus trying to make its way up a large hill or along an unpaved road is completely normal to Lao, although it might not be for too much longer. The buses in Laos are all second- or third- hand buses from Korea, China, perhaps Vietnam, so just making it to the next destination is all a travelers can really ask. Thus, the slow bus did not seem odd to me until we made it to the main road, about 20-30 minutes away from Luang Nam Tha, and we pulled over due to some kind of problem. I was not entirely happy about this, as I had gotten off to such a slow start this day and was hours behind schedule. But I was optimistic it wouldn’t be too long. After talking to the Canadian guy and a Lao guy from Vientiane who wanted to practice his English a little bit (perhaps about 20 minutes), we were back on the bus and moving along. But the pace was noticeably slow and after a short span of time, we pulled over once again, much to my chagrin. Bus definitely broken. Everyone filed off the bus, and reality soon sunk in that I would not be getting to Oudomxai before dark. I had wanted to get some exploring in the main town that same day, so I could get orientated and explore the surrounding area the next day, but it clearly wasn’t going to happen like that. The bus driver had once again crawled under the bus, looking at the engine, or whatever part of it was that was broken.

Soon, a bus pulled up that was heading in the opposite direction, and the driver and assistant got out to help our guys. A couple of them were underneath the bus, clearly discussing the situation. I was really hoping at this point that we could all just get on the bus heading back to Luang Nam Tha, and was about to inquire about doing just that when the next thing I knew, our driver had actually gotten on the other bus and it was driving away! It didn’t really dawn on me until the bus had gone around the curve and was out of sight. I just couldn’t believe it! Apparently it had been decided that either the engine had to be fixed with a new part, or we would have to take a new bus. The driver had gone back to Luang Nam Tha to figure it out. At that point we were pretty much stranded and there was no way of knowing how long it would take for him to return. The only thing I knew is that it was Laos, and thus the chance of there being a “spare” bus for our driver to borrow was close to zero. And there was nothing to do. I sat there and talked to the Canadian guy a little bit, and talked to the English-speaking Lao guy a little bit, and eventually got my i-Pod out and sat and listened to it. Everyone was thirsty and hungry, but no one showed exasperation, as that just isn’t the Lao way to handle things. I did bitch off and on to the Canadian guy, just because I was unusually frustrated and was missing Thailand. I had been in Laos for over a week, but for some reason I had not totally adjusted to being there (again unusual for me, since I wear my love of Laos on my sleeve at nearly all times). I knew if it had been Thailand, people would have been on their cell phones calling and trying to figure out how to get out of the problem. In Thailand, another bus would probably have been sent to come help us, or at least a songthaew (pickup truck with two rows of seating in back), or something. But it wasn’t Thailand, it was Laos. And the sun was setting.

(Photo, left, of view from road where we were stranded. Note the horrific deforestation, a result of the Chinese coming in and paying off Lao officials for the clearing of trees. This particular spot will soon be a Chinese-owned rubber tree plantation. It is tragic indeed to see the absolutely beautiful forests of northern Laos disappear each day at the hands of the Chinese, taking advantage of the Lao officials who are corrupt and in a very poor country whose citizens can do nothing to stop it.)

As dusk was settling around us, our driver came back on the back of someone’s motorcycle. He and the motorcycle driver set to work right away underneath the bus. They had brought some sort of replacement part with them, so they removed the old one and began to put the “new” one in its place (I must emphasize the quotation marks around “new” for those of you sitting at home, because I am positive that although the piece was new to the bus, it was definitely not unused. Again, this would emphasize not only the difference between rich countries such as the States and poor places like Laos, where people are incredibly resourceful). Basically, after a short time, the sun set and it was dark. We were still on the side of the road waiting. It was evident that they were working hard on the engine, but it was also clear that it would take a long time. The driver and the other man had a flashlight to enable them to see what they were doing. And that is it. No other source of light. I was slightly nervous at the thought that they were fixing the bus under those circumstances, but I was more anxious to just get on the way and get to Oudomxai.

Everyone was clearly getting hungry, as was I. It is ridiculous in retrospect – I always travel with food and plenty of water, especially in Laos, but for whatever reason, I had gotten on this bus with relatively little. As the sun disappeared, a group of guys from the bus gathered brush and started a fire. People gathered around, and it was clear they were cooking something. It turned out to be bamboo shoots, which are utterly delicious. They shared the bamboo with everyone, but there wasn’t much to go around. A woman from the bus came over and handed me an orange also, which was very kind of her. I felt so bad for not having anything to offer them. After that I completely zoned out from everyone and everything, and before I knew it, the bus was ready to go! I couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t going to argue. I don’t remember what time it was when we were finally able to get back on the bus and get going, but judging from the fact that we got into Oudomxai at about 1 am, I am guessing we get back on the road at around 10 pm, and I know that we were on the side of the road for around six hours. Unbelievable, but a good lesson to me. I had been so focused on such petty things, feeling sorry for myself for who knows what reason at all, and I had forgotten to appreciate everything for what it was. That might sound slightly ridiculous, but I remember thinking about it at the time. I can’t really expand further on that notion or my thoughts about the lessons learned from that bus trip. But I can say that we did get into Oudomxai at around 1 am, and I had been quite worried that I would have to spend the night at the bus station with no sleep. Luckily, I was wrong, and I was able to stay at a clean, decent guesthouse right across the street from the bus station (with the help of the tuk-tuk drivers who knew our bus hadn’t come in yet and were waiting for it. They said to just go knock, and lo and behold, a teenager was sleeping near the door, probably exactly because of events like this. I felt terrible waking him up, but business is business after all).
I stayed in Oudomxai for only 2 nights because I did not want to stray from my schedule and miss anything important with the upcoming Songkran/Lao New Year festivities. So, needless to say, I did not get to explore as much as I had wished. Rather than get into any further details about Oudomxai or Lao New Year, I can just say that the trip back to Luang Nam Tha was far less eventful and, in fact, pretty normal (northern Lao standards only). That is, until we got to the turn off for Luang Nam Tha and the road was closed for road construction (road construction is a very common thing around Luang Nam Tha these days, as the Chinese and the Thai are improving the route connecting southern China with Thailand with little regard for its effects on the Lao population). Our driver was clearly not sure what to do, so he decided to take a turn-off further down the road that was a little fishy to me, with my small knowledge of the Luang Nam Tha area, and clearly many of the passengers thought it was a terrible idea as they “yelled” at him to not continue down the road. He continued anyway, and before too long, we found ourselves facing a very, very rickety old one-lane wooden bridge across the Nam Tha river. Not a good idea from anyone’s perspective. The driver stopped, stared at the bridge a bit, and even got out and walked onto the bridge before deciding it would be OK to cross. I was about to initiate the idea that all the passengers get off the bus and meet it on the other side, but before I knew it the driver was gunning it. I held my breath and the German guy sitting next to me turned white and closed his eyes. I can say it was quite frightening, but we did make it. I have included a photograph of the bridge that I took the next day, but it hardly captures it. And by the next day when I took this photo, new boards had been added to the bridge where there had been either gaping holes or rotting boards the day before.

Oh, traveling in Laos. Expect the unexpected. But regardless of the tediousness and often downright pain of the travel, know that you will be rewarded every time, because Laos is truly a wonderful place.

2006-05-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Nan Province: March 2006

I was very excited to return to Nan after my success there on the previous trip, but true to my personality, I was also a bit nervous. What if I actually misunderstood people’s receptivity to me there? What if they aren’t excited to see me?? What if I am actually not happy to back there and discover I don’t like it? What if 2 weeks is too long to spend in Nan? What if, what if, what if…? So silly that I think that way, but it is who I am – definitely. However, I got off the bus, and it felt great. I was very happy and returned directly to the guesthouse I always stay at when I am in town, the Nan Guesthouse (aptly named, I would have to say), got a room, and went to the museum. Nan has a wonderful museum, especially for a fairly small, out of the way (but important!) area and last time I had been in town, I didn’t take my notebook to the museum, and I needed to take some notes.

My first few days in Nan, I didn’t get a whole heck of a lot done, but I did call my monk friend (Phra Kongsin) to let him know I was back, and made a plan to go to Ban Nong Bua a couple of days after I talked to him. When I got to Ban Nong Bua, Phra Kongsin was still at the school where he teaches (as he had told me he would be), and Mae Bua Jan (one of the weavers) was sitting at the wat waiting for me. I was whisked off to the house of Mae Lamai, who was having a feast for lunch for some kind of celebration, I think a wedding. Many people were there, and in true Thai and Tai Lue fashion, there was an abundance of food. And what was the food?, you may ask. Well, here is where my true adventures begin, for as many of you already know, I ended up staying in Nong Bua for 10 days, and nearly each day was full of suspense of what the heck kind of food I would be eating that day. Don’t get me wrong, the food (or at least the majority of it) was utterly delicious, just very different from my sense of normal. But I am very proud of myself, because I really did make a point to eat and try everything they served me, something which is usually very difficult for me. I just how important it was to be polite and appreciative, how important food is to the culture, etc. And, in fact, I am very aware of how much they did appreciate my eating, because often when I met a new person in the village, my eating habits were discussed. I am just glad I am not a vegetarian, because I suspect this is really not a concept familiar to the Tai Lue people who love eating meat. But I digress. The food they were eating was mostly this raw meat “laab” (often written in English as “larb” which is a bit funny and a bit ridiculous, but let’s not get into that) and sticky rice. Yes, that is correct, I did say “raw meat” and by meat I mean from a water buffalo, and by “laab” I mean a kind of minced meat (with all parts of the darn buffalo) spicy dish. In fact, they did cook a very small portion of the laab, mostly for me, but one man really wanted to sure I tried the raw dish, so what could I do? I told him I had tried it already, but he didn’t exactly fall for that one, so I ate it while he watched, and damn was it pretty disgusting. They put some kind of ultra-bitter/super-sour sauce on the laab, and that really was about all I could taste, but I felt like I was hardly going to survive. Of course, I did survive, and went on to try many other things over the course of the next two weeks. That same day I also was encouraged to try this rolled-leaf-kind-of thing that reminded me a bit of the rolled grape leaves we associate with Greek food. It was kind of an after-lunch kind of thing, and I popped one into my mouth, unsure of what to expect, and it was equally as bitter as the raw meat dish, which they all knew and kind of looked at me and said “priaw?” (which translates as “sour?”) I couldn’t exactly hide that one, so I had to agree, and still had to chew up and finish the whole thing. Ugh.

After the lunch, I was able to meet with Phra Kongsin, who was so helpful and just a joy to talk to. We talked mostly about banners, although we also just chatted a bit. I realized that the sun was getting low in the sky, so I had to leave and head back to my guesthouse in the main city. We discussed briefly the possibility of my coming to stay in the village, with his parents, but I had no idea when or if it would happen. Well, two days later, I got a phone call from Phra Kongsin telling me that it was all set up and that I should come stay in Ban Nong Bua soon – over the coming weekend if possible. I tried to set it up for Sunday, but he decided for me that Saturday was better, so I was off the next day.

When I got to Ban Nong Bua the next day, I was taken to Phra Kongsin’s parents’ house. His dad wasn’t there, but his mom had skipped out on her evening aerobics to meet me. She is very sweet. His mom is basically a farmer who works in the fields every day, which is not an easy life by any stretch of the imagination. I was so thrilled they opened their house to me, but she would never let me help with anything, which made me feel a little bad. I tried to be as pleasant as possible, although for the first day or two, I had little clue what was going on. Both of Phra Kongsin’s parents speak Tai Lue, which is similar to northern Thai, both languages of which I understand only the faintest bit. In fact, the whole village speaks mostly Tai Lue or northern Thai, so I often just had to guess what was going on around me, although by the end of my 10 days, I was getting better (I think).

My stay in Ban Nong Bua was full of Buddhist ceremonies, weaving, chatting with Phra Kongsin, and teaching English to the local kids. And, of course, eating the local foods. My days pretty much revolved around the wat, as I would get up in the morning and eventually go over and sit with Mae Lamai and Mae Bua Jan, the two weavers who were my original two friends in the village, until I had to go teach English. When I originally agreed to go live in Nong Bua, I had told Phra Kongsin that I would teach English to the local kids, who were on vacation from school. Not only did I have no experience teaching English, I had no idea what to teach, so I was really not expecting to have to do it. Silly me – of course if I agree to something here in Thailand, especially if I say it to a monk, I will have to actually do it. So, for probably 7 of the 10 days I was in Ban Nong Bua I taught English in the morning at the wat. In fact, in the morning of the second day I was in the village, I heard the head of the village over the loudspeakers making his weekly announcement. And although I couldn’t understand really anything that he was saying, I was very aware all of a sudden that he was talking about me, mentioning that I was staying in Nong Bua and that I would be teaching English starting that day. Imagine my surprise! After a couple of rough days of not really knowing what I was teaching, I settled in and I think the kids got a total kick out of me. Really, I was just surprised at how good their English already was. They learn English in school in Thailand, but I was still surprised at how much the kids knew. They were a lot of fun, and I was actually very sad on the last day I taught them. At the end of each class, I always gave them the choice of coming back the next day or not, and they always wanted to. One day they even came over to me in the afternoon and invited me to come listen to them practice their traditional northern Thai instruments (don tree), which was very fun.

There are no restaurants, or places to go out and eat in Ban Nong Bua, so I was pretty much at the mercy of the people in the village to feed me. In fact the food was overwhelmingly delicious, but there were times when I really was reluctant to eat the things put in front of me. I tried my best to at least taste each and every dish, as I alluded to in a previous paragraph, and I know it was greatly appreciated. As I met people around the village, they would ask the person I was walking with (usually Mae Lamai, one of the weavers) about my eating habits. She would always tell them that I ate everything, and they always seemed impressed. However, by the end of my stay, I was getting a little burned out on eating strange things, and found that by after I left Ban Nong Bua I actually developed my first real cravings for food from home – cravings that have stayed with me to this day. So, what were the things I ate in Ban Nong Bua, you may ask. Much of it was typical northern Thai food, called “nam prik” and usually pasty combinations of spices, herbs, meats (esp. fish) perfectly eaten with sticky rice. However, the more interesting dishes make for a better story, so here is a short list of some of the things I ate in Nong Bua: raw buffalo meat laab (already mentioned), raw fish laab, ant egg soup (which has the ant eggs or larvae, or whatever, in it, but also actual ants because I can imagine it is pretty difficult to harvest the ant eggs without getting the ants as well, and separating them must be incredibly difficult), fried crickets, and my absolute least favorite, the “salad” of random pig innards (such as intestines, stomach, frankly I don’t know exactly, nor do I want to know).

The hospitality I was shown by the people in Ban Nong Bua was incredible. On many days, I would get up at 5:30 in the morning and go to the market with Mae Lamai. Everyone was curious about me, but very welcoming and friendly. In fact, each day I would go to the market, I would buy the most delicious, freshest soy milk ever, and the woman who sold it would never let me pay for it. It was a very small amount of money, but is a reflection of the generosity of the people in the village. After so many months of traveling from one location to another, I can say that Ban Nong Bua is the first place that I felt like I had a home, and I really appreciated it. It has been hard to leave, but I look forward to going back, and hopefully getting more research done. I am particularly indebted to Phra Kongsin, who took time each day that he was available to meet with me and discuss either my research directly, or Buddhism and local culture. I can imagine it takes a lot of patience to discuss these things with me, as he speaks little to no English and my understanding of Thai is quite basic. All in all, I have to say the people of Ban Nong Bua are very wonderful; it is a special place and I feel very fortunate to be welcomed into the community as much as I have. I look forward to going back.

2006-03-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

Laos, trip#2

View of the Mekong in Vientiane. Those specks are people walking out in the huge area of land that appears in the river during the dry season. The strip of land on the horizon is Thailand.

I know those of you at home are enjoying my photos and my blogs, so I thought I would definitely include something about my most recent trip to Laos, although I have to be totally honest in saying there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to write about. I spent a lot of my time in Vientiane, the capitol city of Laos, waiting to talk to people or stressing about funding for next year. I don’t necessarily think it was the most productive of times for me, but that is all about timing, which I had no control over.
I traveled to only three places on this trip: Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Nong Khiaw. Not much to say about it. In Vientiane I met with some very helpful people and stayed at a fabulous (although pricey, for me) guesthouse.

I was only in Luang Prabang for probably a total of 2.5 days. The afternoon of my only full day in Luang Prabang, I wasn’t quite sure what to with myself, but I knew if I traveled around the main wat area, I would eventually be invited to help a novice or young monk practice their English and thus would have a chance to practice my Lao (I am always in desperate need to do that). I was right, and spent probably 3 or 4 hours at a wat chatting with a group of novices. The group size varied throughout the time I was there, averaging between four and eight novice monks who really got a kick out of talking to me all at once while speaking Lao very quickly. They knew I had no idea what was going on when they did that. One of them was even speaking Khamu at times, a language not even related to Lao. I think they got a kick out of the farang trying to practice her Lao. The novice I spoke with the most would immediately switch to speaking Thai if I spoke Thai to him instead of Lao, which was actually quite startling – I could tell the difference immediately even though the two languages are so closely related.

Later that evening, I was walking down the street near my guesthouse and saw one of the novices I had spoken with earlier in the day. “Rebecca!” he yelled. “Pai yuu sai?” (where are you going) rather than answer, I responded with a “jau pai yuu sai?” (where are you going?) and he responded that he was going to study. I said “dii lai” (very good), gave him a thumbs up, and we were on our way. A group of Lao next to where I was standing just broke out into laughter. How enjoyable. I think there are few things more wonderful about Luang Prabang than the numerous novices and monks walking the streets heading to school, to study, or to wherever they may be going. It is very beautiful, and a very good reminder that although Luang Prabang can feel like it has been totally overrun by tourists, it is still a very important Buddhist city, with novice monks coming there from around northern Laos to get a better education than they could ever receive at home.

Nong Khiaw, the other place I visited is about 3-4 hours north of Luang Prabang. It is a very beautiful area with limestone cliffs, caves, and the Nam Ou river. I didn’t get much done there but it was quite relaxing and I did get to see some banners. I had wanted to explore villages around Nong Khiaw, but it proved a difficult task because no one was of any help to me in the town. But at least I finally made it there. I thought I would get to Nong Khiaw on my last trip to Laos, but things did not quite turn out as I thought they would, with the lost wallet and all. Oh well.

2006-03-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Nan Province

What is there to say about Nan Province? I went there for only my second time within days of my return from Mae Chaem. I had gone to Nan for the first time this summer and could not wait to get back. Nan is one of the more “isolated” and less touristed places in northern Thailand. It shares a border with Laos, and there is even a border crossing between the two countries in Nan Province, but it has yet to be opened to non-residents. This is twofold for me because if the border was open, I would use it in an instant because it connects the two places I would like to spend time more than just about anywhere else in this whole region (Hongsa and Muang Ngoen are two towns on the Lao side of the border that I visited in November. They never quite made it onto the blog because I never had time to write about them, but that area completely stole my heart, with some of the most beautiful banners I have ever seen). However, if the border was open, I would be far from the only farang using the border, and thus two rather non-touristy areas would change very quickly.

Back to the point of this blog. I arrived in the city of Nan after 5 or 6 hours on a bus and another mountain road which makes me really question my commitment to my dissertation topic. In many ways, I wish I could just say “OK, I am sticking to the easy places” like Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang. But in fact I really love what I do and am happiest when I am out in the “chonabot” (countryside). As soon as I arrived in Nan I was glad to be there. It is a place full of people that genuinely appreciate my attempts to speak Thai. Nan Province is also full of beautiful wats, textiles, Tai Lue villages, mountains, and trees. I only had about 5 days to spend in Nan Province before I had to head back to Chiang Mai so I could fly to Vientiane, Laos. You can see why I have been too busy to keep this blog up-to-date. Anyway, I knew from my last trip to Nan that my top priority was to get out of the city and head north to the area that has numerous Tai Lue villages. I wanted to get to the Thung Chang area because I was very curious to see the banners there. I had not been there yet, and its close proximity to the Lao border has made me very curious to know if the banners look at all like those in Muang Ngoen and Hongsa, two towns on the Lao side of the border. I never made it to Thung Chang. It was just too far and I had so much to see between Nan city and Thung Chang. Perhaps next time I can head straight to Thung Chang – top priority.

So, what did I do in Nan Province? Well, I went to Ban Nong Bua and ate lunch with two very nice women who happen to be weavers. Wat Nong Bua is well known throughout Nan Province and perhaps all of northern Thailand because it has some incredible murals painted inside of the wihan (main temple building). The Tai Lue who live in Nong Bua are active weavers, and have built a traditional Tai Lue house at the back of the wat complete with two active looms underneath. The house functions to teach the tourists about Tai Lue culture and is a place where the women can weave and sell their beautiful cloths. After lunch with the women (who were incredibly generous and nice), I headed further north for about another hour, and visited two more Tai Lue wats, one named Wat Ton Laeng that I had never been to before – it was fabulous – and Wat Nong Daeng, the wat that sealed my love for Nan and was the first wat where I truly saw banners hanging in sizable numbers in the wihan for the very first time. I was excited to get to Wat Nong Daeng and it did not disappoint. There were awesome things everywhere and I just didn’t want to leave. I talked to one old lady who was in front of the wihan, then wandered around a bit. I realized that some village residents and a monk or 2 were in another building working on something, so I kind of peered in to see what was going on. They seemed to be cleaning the building. So I just sat around a bit more until one of the villagers helping at the wat got curious and came over to talk to me. I talked to him a little bit, then eventually invited myself to go help them clean. And spent the rest of the afternoon helping and gaining some valuable merit (as was pointed out to me by one of the monks). It turns out they were organizing some of the temple objects into a sort of museum display (not unusual to have at a wat).

It was fun and the head monk of the wat (“abbot” is what it roughly translates to in English) kept trying to convince me to spend the night in the village. But I didn’t have anything with me and wasn’t really mentally prepared for such an event, so I kindly refused. Repeatedly. And at the end of the day rode my motorcycle the 2+ hours to get back to the city of Nan and my guesthouse. I had promised them I would come back the next day, prepared to spend the night. But I hate to admit this – I never made it back.

The next day I got all of my things together and headed off in the direction of Nong Daeng. Because I had to pass near Ban Nong Bua, I decided to take the weavers a little present of dried fruit to thank them for their kindness and generosity the day before (note to readers who may not already know: generosity and food are two integral parts of Thai culture). I got to the wat and rode my motorcycle around to the back, knowing that was where the weavers were and suddenly found myself absolutely swarmed with schoolchildren. Pretty funny. I think they were shocked to see a farang. I just laughed and was friendly and realized there was a monk with the schoolchildren who was taking photographs of the ridiculous situation (that would be taking photos of me and the kids). It was kind a bit surreal. The teacher of the schoolchildren came over and was very friendly to me, excited to talk with me, especially because I understood Thai. She gave me her name, phone number and address and told me if I was ever in Mae Charim (a town about 30 km west of Nan city) to contact her. She even gave me some candy. At the same time I was swarmed and being photographed, the weavers had been gesturing for me to come over to them to say “hi.” I finally made it over, at the same time as the kids, but after it all died down we chatted for a bit, I gave them the fruit, and again I was invited to eat lunch with them. In the meantime, the monk who had been taking the pictures came over. I think he was a bit curious about the ridiculous grinning farang who spoke some Thai. It turned out the monk was very sweet and had been teaching the kids about the murals in the wat. One of the weavers pointed out that the monk and I were the same age, and thus could be “friends.” OK. When the monk and I got to talking, he was thrilled to hear that I was a Ph.D. student from the States who was so interested in Tai Lue art and culture. He even offhandedly mentioned I should spend time in the village so I can learn more and then record what I learn to help preserve a culture that is changing quickly. Who could refuse that? So I got his email information. I kept telling them I needed to leave so I could go to Wat Nong Daeng, but I was very tired and they convinced me that it was just too far. So I stayed there a bit, then followed the monk’s directions to get to another Tai Lue wat closeby that I had never even heard of. Once I left, I went to the wat, Wat Don Mun, and was blown away by how amazing it was . Once I got back to Nan city, I was very happy with how my day turned out, even though I felt horrible about not making it back to the place I had set out to at the beginning of the day. Well, you just never know where one path will lead from one day to the next. And to think I really almost didn’t stop at Wat Nong Bua. My entire experience would have been completely different from here on out. It again makes me question how a series of events occurs and how it is set into motion? The question of fate comes up again. Or is it a game of chance? Unanswerable, but I consider myself very lucky to have these opportunities and for them to work out as well as they do. I know I am in a Buddhist country, and certainly that will only affect my perspective. More on this later, but my friend the monk is sure that we knew each other in a former life. He is a Buddhist after all – who could expect any other explanation from him??

Then the next day I was milling around Nan trying to go to places nearer to the city and ended up following the procession to the cremation ceremony for a very important abbot-monk from the wat that has the city pillar in Nan. Wow, that was amazing and generally indescribable. It was so beautiful to see and really meant a lot to me. The cremation was a valuable lesson about the impermanence of it all. The next was my day to leave Nan. In the morning, only about an hour or two before I was scheduled to take the bus, I met another abbot and was trying to learn about the banners hung there from him, but he spoke really quickly and was too excited to show me his photos of his trips to America. He really liked that I went to the cremation the previous day and gave me a book from the funeral. And then I ran to the bus station and returned to Chiang Mai, looking towards Laos, my next destination. I was sad to leave Nan, but had promised pretty much everybody I had met that I would be back in 3 weeks time, and knowing that made leaving much easier.

2006-02-20T05:47:00.000-08:00

Mae Chaem and Doi Inthanon

For basically the first week of February, I was very fortunate in that I got to visit with my dear friend and occasional roommate Julia in the town of Mae Chaem. I guess in theory I should not even be writing about Mae Chaem, or should change the name of town for this blog to keep this beautiful place as anonymous as possible. I am just kidding, but Mae Chaem has been largely fortunate in that it has remained off of the tourist radar and many people are worried that things could change. In Thailand (and this region in general) once a town gains the interest of tourists, it changes almost overnight. Clearly this is a two-way street because tourism brings a lot of money into an area, but it also changes a place often beyond recognition. But I am not writing a blog to lecture about the effects of tourism, just a happy little update about what I have been up to and where I have been.

Mae Chaem sits in a beautiful valley at the base of Thailand’s tallest mountain, Doi Inthanon (over 2500 meters above sea level). Julia is doing her dissertation research in Mae Chaem, so I have always been curious about it through her stories, but also because Mae Chaem is quite famous for its cotton textiles, specifically the intricately woven hempiece that is integral to a traditional northern Thai skirt. There are quite a few weavers in the Mae Chaem valley which helped draw me in – and on the weekend I went to Mae Chaem, the town was having its annual festival celebrating the weaving. I was able to stay with Julia and her Thai family, “Mae” and “Phi Oi” and I am very grateful for that. Her Thai family is very thoughtful and generous, and for that matter, so is Julia, who took me around to nearly all of the wats in the Mae Chaem area looking for banners. As many of you must know from reading my blog, I do not feel like I have truly visited an area until I have seen the majority of its wats. There are some beautiful wats in Mae Chaem, and many exciting banners. And, from what I can tell, many friendly weavers very happy to talk with a strange farang or two about the banners that they weave and give to the wat (always a good thing for a doctoral student working on banners to know).

Julia, showing her serious side

The cloth festival was not the only thing happening in Mae Chaem over the week that I was there; a festival at one of the wats overlapped with the cloth festival to make the town even more exciting. I can never get my fill of wat festivals and the one in Mae Chaem did not disappoint. Everyone was very excited, drinking and dancing and carrying their offerings to the wat to gain the ever-needed merit to ensure a better life for a practicing Buddhist. It was a lot of fun and Julia and I both got swept up into the procession (Julia numerous times as an honorary “Mae Chaem-ian”).
On Sunday morning, there was a beautiful (and long) parade to commemorate the cloth festival. Local Thai and “hilltribe” (Karen, Hmong, etc.) participated in the parade, wearing their best traditional clothes. I enjoyed every minute of it. Special note: in fact Julia has two families hosting here in the Mae Chaem area, her Thai family and a Karen family in a village nearby. When I was in Mae Chaem I got to visit her Karen family/village twice and was very touched by their kindness and generosity. Attending the parade, Julia actually wore a traditional Karen dress – handwoven for her just that week – and Duansri, the women she lives with in the Karen village, came to watch the parade with her.

When I was in Mae Chaem, I spent one of the days riding my motorcycle to the top of Doi Inthanon.. It was exciting to finally visit the highest point in Thailand, which is famous for the variety of birds which live in its vicinity. However, unlike some members of my family, I know nothing about birds or birdwatching so I cannot really tell you much else about that subject. Doi Inthanon was beautiful though, and it was very nice to be out in nature and breathing the super-fresh air.

2006-02-07T03:14:00.000-08:00

I recognize that it has been a very long time since I have written anything for my blog – over a month! Thus, I am trying to remedy the situation by including something new before I head east once again, to the province of Nan in northern Thailand and then a two week stint back in Laos. I am not entirely sure why it has taken me so long to include something new on this blog. I have been busy and seeing new things that I am enjoying. I think I am also getting a bit overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do, or else I am just getting more focused. Really, to be frank, I have no idea. But what I do know is that I have spent the last month focused on exploring northern Thailand, visiting with my mom and stepdad Richard, and catching up on other things I have been needing to do, like updating my research records and photographs.
For about 2 weeks in January, I had the pleasure of showing my mom and Richard around on their first trip to Thailand. We spent a day in Bangkok, taking in sights such as the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the Chao Phraya River and canals, and the Skytrain. We also spent 3 days and 3 nights in Mae Hong Son, a beautiful area in northwestern Thailand not far from the border with Burma. Mae Hong Son is a mountainous area whose dominant ethnic groups are the Shan, or Tai Yai, and the Karen. It was very beautiful and we really enjoyed our “resort” where we stayed. It’s called the Fern Resort and I happily recommend it to anyone traveling through Mae Hong Son willing to spend more than they would at the average guesthouse in town. The food in Mae Hong Son was fantastic and I can say we thoroughly enjoyed the indulgence of eating it. We did a lot of walking in Mae Hong Son, up hills to see a wat and on a trail in the forest surrounding our resort.

However, perhaps the most memorable part of our trip to Mae Hong Son, especially for my mom and Richard, was our return to Chiang Mai. We woke up on the day of our departure to the news that the plane that Thai Airways uses for the route between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son was broken. As there is only one plane used for that route, there was an extremely high possibility that we would not be able to fly home that day. I couldn’t believe it, nor did I want to believe it, but it was true. Once we figured out that flying back that day was truly not a possibility, we headed straight to the airport to try to figure out how to get a ride back to Chiang Mai. Thai Airways was providing mini buses for the passengers, so we got on the first one we could. I have always heard about the windiness of the road between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai and thus had avoided it until that point. However, I didn’t realize how bad it was until it was too late to take the dramamine I had in my backpack, tucked away in the back of the van. I do think part of the horror was the driving and not just the road, because our driver was taking the road quite quickly. In fact we made it to Chiang Mai in about half the time it takes on a bus. Needless to say, both my mom and I felt quite sick and I was totally unable to enjoy the beautiful scenery we passed through. Oh well.

It took me a couple of days to recover from the departure of my mom and Richard, but after that I headed north to Chiang Rai, Doi Tung, and Chiang Saen. Although Nan was higher on my priority list this area in the far north, I had found myself in sudden need of a new visa and thus had to make plans to cross the Burmese border at Mae Sai. This is a common thing for people to do, and only required me to be in Burma for a couple of hours. I really wanted to head to the town of Kengtung about 150 kilometers north of the border, but I got started a day later than planned and had to be back in Chiang Mai about 5 or 6 days after that to meet up with Julia.

In fact I really enjoyed the far north, and getting to visit Doi Tung was particularly exciting for me. The “tung” in the name “Doi Tung” is a reference to the northern Thai banners that I am studying, and the name “Doi Tung” means (roughly) “banner mountain.” The 2 stupas built on the top of Doi Tung are frequently woven into banners here in northern Thailand as well. Thus visiting Doi Tung was a great experience and felt rather like a pilgrimage for me. I was not disappointed; the stupas are wonderful, as were the banners hanging around them.

I look forward to getting back to explore the region in further depth. However, as always seems to be the case, I had time constraints and could only do a superficial overview. I am not complaining though, because the next place I was scheduled to visit was Mae Chaem, a jewel of a region in northern Thailand that is quite famous for its cotton textiles. Luckily for me, Mae Chaem just so happens to be the place where my friend Julia is doing her fieldwork for her dissertation, thus I was scheduled to visit there with her and found out (again from Julia) about the upcoming cloth festival being held there (which is why I had to go at the very beginning of February – for the festival)…

2006-02-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

In Mae Chaem

2006-01-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Performance of the Shaolin Monks
Menghun

Upon our arrival to Menghun, Iris and I walked past a group of what certainly appeared to be Shaolin monks who were putting up posters were talking with each other. I didn’t think too much of it. They seemed friendly, but it was only my third day in China and perhaps this was a regular phenomenon. Later in the day, after checking into our “hotel,” we were walking down the main street when the Shaolin monk crowd were playing music and walking around (parading, that is) with large, colorful flags. They were very friendly and seemed to enjoy the fact that Iris and I had gotten our cameras out and were taking pictures of them. We walked around a bit, and kept seeing the monks. Iris even said to me, “If we see those guys one more time, I’m joining them.” Of course we did see them again – in fact we saw them two more times, but apparently Iris had changed her mind since she did return to Jinghong with me the next day.

The next time we saw our Shaolin friends was when Iris and I had found a nice little place to eat and were just settling in to wait for a delicious dinner. They appeared excited to see us. In fact, they sat down at our table, grabbed my notebook away and looked at it, and began talking to us in Chinese. Iris understood a bit and was able to communicate with our Shaolin friends; I, on the other hand, was clueless. I did figure out, when they saw my camera, that 2 of them wanted us to take our pictures with them. We were happy to oblige, and I am very pleased with the result. After our food was served, they took off, and we were unsure if we would see them again. We should have known better because later that evening, after I had returned to the room to put on my many layers to protect me from the cold, we heard them over a megaphone trying to get people to come see their performance which was to take place that evening! They had posters, a television, and a megaphone trying to get the people of Menghun to come see their show. At 5 Yuan (less than a 75 cents), how could we resist? They were thrilled to see Iris and me, as usual, and escorted us to seats they thought would be good for getting photographs.

As we sat there in the little theater, freezing to death, we realized that we had no idea whatsoever when the performance began. The sad thing was that the only other people in the theater were a group of kids and a parent in the front row. We sat there for probably 15 minutes and began to wonder how much longer we should sit there before giving up and leaving. It was very cold, and the theater was not filling up at all. It was very sad to think of the effort of the Shaolin guys to get people to attend their show, only to have a small handful of people. We shouldn’t have worried so much. At about 5 minutes (or less) before 8 pm, the theater suddenly got fuller and fuller. In fact, the other 4 Westerners in town showed up as well. By the time the performance began, the theater was nearly full! It was pretty incredible, and we were glad to see all of the other people. Then the suspense of what we were about to see took over.

I don’t think the show even lasted an hour, but it certainly was interesting. Keep in mind that music blared though most of the performance. Perhaps one might think that music during a Shaolin performance would be some type of traditional Chinese style music, but in fact this was not the case. Loud, Euro-techno music played very loudly almost the entire time, adding another layer of surrealism to the whole scenario. There were 2 younger boys performing who were clearly training with the older men; these boys were dressed in orange and did routines such as kung fu moves with swords in between the bigger acts. And what were the bigger acts? Well, we had a guy contort his body to move it through a small metal ring whose diameter was probably a foot or so; a guy who drove a piece of metal through his elbow and carried around a bucket full of water; another guy who put a metal pole against his throat and pushed a group of 3-4 men across the stage (who were trying to resist by pushing against a board); and yet another guy who wound a metal pole around his neck over and over again. In recounting these performances, I think I am leaving something out, but I can’t really remember. It was pretty fun though (and gruesome at times). Each time the Shaolin performer got up to do his thing, he would wind a piece of red cloth tightly around his waist, then pay his respects to the Kuanyin image on the backdrop they had set up on stage.

After the main performances, things get even weirder when the main monk sat in the middle of the stage and talked for probably 15 minutes. As he talked, the performers came out and sold things to the audience: little daggers, lighting-up Buddha image key rings, plastic Kuanyin images, bells, etc. He talked nonstop the whole time, and no one paid any attention whatsoever. Except, of course, the Westerners who had no idea what he was saying but felt so bad that he was up there talking with all the commotion. It was very strange. Iris and I met up with the other 4 Westerners after the performance, and we had all concluded separately that perhaps the Shaolin performers had been instructed not to return to the stage until they had sold everything, because they were walking around for a very long time. After they did finally stop selling their goods, the lead monk-guy who had been talking that whole time performed a grand finale for us: he broke a wine bottle without ever touching it. He broke it by throwing his energy at it. Very exciting to see, I have to say. And then it was over, and I remembered how cold I was, especially after walking out into the crisp night air.

2005-12-30T00:19:00.000-08:00

Street Life of Jinghong, or The Trash Man

I will be the first to admit that this specific blog entry will not be much of a revelation for those of you who have traveled in China, or perhaps other Asian countries (I wouldn’t really know), but oh well. I feel the need to share one of the most enjoyable things for me during my stay in Jinghong: watching, and listening to, the streetlife. Although there are plenty of cars to fill the streets, and each driver is more than happy to let the others know that he is there by honking the horn, the most fun and interesting are the two- or three- wheeled vehicles, specifically the non-motorized, pedal powered ones. These vehicles are used not only as a means of getting from one place to another, but also as a way to get any number of things around town: piles of produce, furniture sets, friends and family, etc. Again, this is nothing out of the ordinary for people who use what they have to the fullest extent possible, but it was great fun to watch each day. Yet, what particularly caught my attention and held it for 2 weeks were the people who made their living either selling things from their cycles or using their cycles as a means of receiving things from others. I think this is because these people used sound to announce themselves as the moved up and down the street. The sounds come in the form of a recording, of music or voices, played into a megaphone. It took me a couple of days to figure out what the random sounds and announcements were that I was hearing all of the time, but once I figured it out, I was thrilled. Let me explain by using my favorite examples. First is the “bread man.” His announcement was only 4 syllables, which I think referred to two types of bread he sold or to his bread in general. Of course I have no idea, since I don’t know Chinese… I am just guessing about his announcement, but I loved the sound of him coming up and down the street. The second example I have is my favorite. It was the trash man, who I got to see/hear every day at breakfast. The first time I ever saw or heard the trash man I was very confused. I kept hearing this sweet melody that sounded like a kid’s toy playing over and over again. It sounded like it was coming closer, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally I saw him, and observed the situation. The trash man slowly rides his three wheeled cycle down the street, playing his melody over his megaphone. He would stop to either pick up the trash he saw on the street, or wait for people to bring him their trash. It seems silly, perhaps, but I enjoyed hearing the sweet melody of the trash man every day. I thought it was particularly interesting that his melody was played to attract trash, whereas in cities in the states, if we were to hear a sweet melody being played in the street, I think we would assume it was the ice cream man, intended to attract hungry children (and adults).

2005-12-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, China
(that's Chiang Rung, Sipsongpanna for those of you who want the Thai version)

Photos:
1. Dai roofs
2.Dai wat, Galanba
3. Hotel "pond"
4. Around Jinghong
5. In the market

I am not going to pretend like I was entirely productive when I was in Xishuangbanna. I am not sure entirely for this lack of productivity, but I can definitely make up excuses, including the fact that for the entire two weeks that I was there (minus 2 days), the weather was unbearably cold. No sunshine at all, and it even rained for the better part of 3 days. Although I am frustrated with the lack of work I got done, at least I actually finally got there, and can now confirm that their banner tradition is going strong.

It was evident from the moment I stepped off the plane that I was in China and no longer in familiar territory. I was greeted by a uniformed customs guy: “Welcome to China!” I enjoyed his friendly welcome. Once I got out of the very small airport, I wasn’t really sure what to do. A taxi driver came up to me and said who knows what to me, when I realized that I actually had no Chinese money at all. Luckily a woman standing next to me spoke English and so I told her I needed to get to a bank and hotel, etc. The next thing I knew I was in the back of a taxi, completely unable to communicate with the driver and heading into town. I can admit now that I did feel a bit more culture shock than I expected upon arrival to Jinghong. Not being able to communicate was really a change for me after being so spoiled in Thailand and Laos. But I did end up at some strange Chinese hotel for my first night. Certainly I paid too much, but I couldn’t really be bothered since it was more important for me to adjust to being in Xishuangbanna, get orientated, etc. After putting my stuff down in the room, I wandered around a bit. After getting completely lost, and near panic (again, confusion over language), I found my way and was able to locate the “backpacker”-ish part of town. I ate dinner and went back to my room to watch the Table Tennis Women’s World Championships on TV. Wow, fascinating. And a Chinese woman won (believe it or not)!

I was very fortunate my second day in Jinghong, because I tossed a coin and decided to check out the Wan Li Dai Style Guesthouse. They didn’t have a whole room available, but had a bed (some rooms, they call “dorms” but really only have 3 beds, they rent by the bed) available for 20 Yuan (8 Yuan = 1$). The place seemed very nice and (most importantly) clean, so I took a bed. My roommate turned out to be a German woman named Iris who was on her 4th trip to China. Iris was very friendly and knowledgeable, and helped me to get more accustomed to being in China. She was planning on going to a town (Menghun) a couple of hours away the next day for the Sunday market and invited me along. I had been thinking about possibly doing the same thing and was not fully sure of where the bus station was, and everything else, so I jumped at the chance to travel with her. In doing this, I not only had a traveling companion, but I also got to see where the No. 2 bus station was and how to get a ticket, etc.

It was nice getting out of Jinghong, and the mountains (hills) were very beautiful, even if they were stripped of their original forest growth. I want to make a note here that not all of Xishuangbanna is stripped of its original forest, but much of it has been, replaced by tea farms, rubber tree plantations, and pineapples. Anyway, the town we went to, Menghun, was small but nice, with 2 wats in town. Tourists go to Menghun for the Sunday market, which I thought was really only mediocre, but maybe this opinion comes from having been to so many markets already in northern Laos. However, I do know 2 things about my trip to Menghun: the first that it was the beginning of my being very, very cold while in Xishuangbanna, and second that Iris and I were very fortunate because a traveling group of Shaolin monk performers had come to town the same day as us and were performing that night (see other blog). The place we spent the night was also quite interesting, notably the toilets which drained right into the “pond” the rooms opened up to. Ah China… definitely not known for its clean toilets.

Another place I traveled to in Xishuangbanna was Damenglong, again with Iris and another friend from our guesthouse, a completely unusual (unique?) Swedish guy named Pärolof. This time the slow bus ride reminded me of being in Laos – the road was unpaved, bumpy, and dusty. I enjoyed the sleepy town, its friendly people, and its wats.

The Dai people (who are the people in Xishuangbanna who are Theravada Buddhists and closely related to the people of Laos and Thailand that I like so much) have an incredible architecture style which includes homes that look like roofs on stilts. I really enjoyed exploring their villages and visiting their wats. Many of the wats in the Dai villages and towns are built or rebuilt within the last 10-15 years. This is a result of the destruction of Dai wats during the Cultural Revolution in China. The newly built wats try to maintain the integrity of the traditional ones, but they are typically not made from wood, which tends to affect their appearance. It is still possible to find the older temples in some villages, and I was very happy to explore a number of them.

Most of my time was spent in Jinghong, riding bicycles into the surrounding area, taking the minibus to a nearby town, Galanba, and observing life in the major city of Xishuangbanna. I did mope a bit as a result of the crappy weather, painful blisters, and a very painful mouth problem I had for a few days related to the wisdom tooth I have yet to have pulled out. Being in China really grew on me after I adjusted to not wanting to speak Thai to everyone I interacted with, and I can say I really can’t wait to explore China more. It is such a large country, and there are many places I want to go there. I know most people consider being in Xishuangbanna as hardly even being in China, but it was China to me.

2005-12-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

The Mighty Mekong

Mekong at sunset

05-12-05

OK, I know that by posting this blog today I am now skipping much of my Lao trip, but since this is the most recent thing to happen, and it is such a ridiculous amount of travel and trouble that I thought I should go ahead and write about it while it was fresh in my mind. Sorry for the length of this posting. I guess in wanting to share the ridiculousness of this experience I tend to get a bit detailed. So I mistakenly traveled to Laos and didn’t have the foresight to purchase a plane ticket from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai for when I returned rather than trying to get back over land (or river as the case may be). That was a huge oversight, as it turns out. I am not sure what I was thinking, or, perhaps more precisely, what I wasn’t thinking. But anyway, I had it in my head to get to Luang Prabang maybe about a week before I wanted to leave the country so I could purchase a plane ticket then. Perhaps during low season this would have worked, but as the case may be this is high tourist season. So when I got into Luang Prabang, I checked into a great guesthouse (the guy who ran it, Kong, was so very sweet), took a hot shower (the first in seven days or so), then went to a travel agent. Who proceeded to tell me that all the planes were full. Great. What are my options to get to Chiang Mai? Fast boat or slow boat to the Thai border, then a mini bus (for tourists) or the regular bus. So, the fast boats get you to the Thai border in something like 6 hours, but they are notoriously dangerous and even more than that they are very loud and quite uncomfortable (mind you, this is a relative term here. After all of my transportation experiences, the meaning of uncomfortable really does change. I think they are no less comfortable than many things I have ridden on/in, but on a fast boat you can’t stand up every so often to get circulation into your legs). You can guess that my nervousness about traveling would influence me to choose the slow boat. There was just no way I would gamble that, while nearly all speed boats have no problem whatsoever, my speedboat would arrive with no trouble either.

OK, so the travel agent guy said that I could pay for the slow boat which would get to the border at around 4 or 5 the second day, then cross to Thailand and take a mini bus at 6:30, thus getting me into Chiang Mai Sunday night, giving one whole day to decompress before my wonderful pal Julia gets to town. After spending 4 days, plus an hour another day, on boats in Laos, I wasn’t particularly thrilled to have to spend 2 more days on boat, but if that was the way to get to Chiang Mai, so be it. I even purchased a place on the mini bus, the first time I have ever purposefully taken tourist transportation instead of the local option. But I really wanted to get back to Chiang Mai as planned. So thus I lost a day in Laos, but what can you do – I knew I’d be back. Then, as I was paying for my boat/bus ticket to Chiang Mai, I realized something horrible, but important – I had lost my wallet. It was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t believe it; my heart just sunk and I ran back to my guesthouse. I talked to Kong, then ran to the boat landing. Couldn’t find my boat anywhere, even after asking the other boat people who directed me to go far down the bank of the river from where I was. OK, not far, but not close. Maybe like 100-200 meters or so. Defeated, I went back to my guesthouse. I got sympathy from Kong, who promised to go back with me early the next morning (I think he was pretty sure my Lao wasn’t quite competent enough, and that I might have more success with a native Lao person. Very sweet guy). But still no wallet the next morning either, although we did find my boat and talked to the captain (who was speaking Thai from what I could tell).

Fast forward through my stay in Luang Prabang, which I think was too long, but after losing my wallet and losing a day to the slow boat, I just couldn’y quite muster up the energy to travel anywhere else just to return to Luang Prabang. Mistake, yes, probably so, but what can one do? So, I got up early on Saturday the 3rd of December, and got myself ready to go to the boat. Said goodbye to Kong, who was surprised I would go back on the slow boat after losing my wallet on the other one, but what else could I do? I was very sad to think that I was boarding the boat with the intention of leaving Laos, a country that affects me so much each time I come, but knew I needed to be getting back to Chiang Mai, not just for Julia, but to sort out my wallet fiasco as well. Luckily the boats aren’t nearly as crowded heading upriver. And then we were off. Nothing much to talk about here. Loud, slow, beautiful scenery. Sadness in my heart. I knew passing the landing for Hongsa would be particularly difficult since I had such great experiences there and for one thing don’t want them to forget about me and also can’t wait to get back. I realized that this German couple whom I had met 2 days earlier and who had talked to my Australian friends about Hongsa were going to get off there. (See what happen when I skip writing so many days? Who are these Australians and what on earth is Hongsa??) Well, I was excited after confirming with the Germans that this was in fact their plan, and I told them not only to have fun, but that they had to tell the guesthouse people that I said “Hello!” Actually, I think it was more like, “I doubt they’ll remember my name, so can you just please tell the Jumbo Guesthouse people that the crazy American who can speak Lao says hi?” I can’t even imagine what this German couple was thinking. I do admit I get a tendency to get very excited and enthusiastic about things. But then, after hopping back to my seat, I decided this wasn’t good enough, and proceed to attempt to write a short note to the guesthouse people in Lao (which I am not as comfortable writing as I am Thai). I ran back up to German couple and said “Look! I wrote them a note! Can you give this to them instead?” They wondered who on earth to give it to, and I said “Anyone at Jumbo Guesthouse or Lotus Café! They just took such great care of me there!!” Those poor Germans. I don’t know if the note got delivered or not, but I was excited at the time, and it helped my get past Hongsa without crying too much.

Got into Pak Beng, the halfway town, a bit after dusk. Stayed at the first place I found and befriended a German and a Norwegian with whom I ate dinner and shared some beer Lao. Back to the guesthouse for some sleep, then up early to go check out the local temples, something I didn’t do when I was in town a week and a half earlier (or whenever that was). Ate breakfast, then back on the boat. Not too happy to be back on the boat, but again, at least it wasn’t crowded and everyone was nice. This second day was a very long day. Going upriver (and against the current) is very slow and clearly hard on the motor. And while I was so sad to leave Laos and thought so fondly of it and the wonderful Mekong River through much of the boat journey, I began to get pretty anxious to get off that boat. Then the anxiety grew and grew as time passed and we got closer to 6 pm (when the border closes). The next thing I knew, we were pulling into dock at Huay Sai (border town on Lao side), it was already dark, and 6:30 pm. How powerless and frustrating. Needless to say, I knew then that I wouldn’t get to Chiang Mai that evening. Once the boat was docked (and it took another 10 minutes or so to get in just right and then be able to get off the damn boat), we got off and there guesthouse people trying to see their guesthouses to us. They confirmed it: no way to Thailand that night. Excellent. I was completely out of money, and then I had wasted another $10 on the minibus that was heading to Chiang Mai without me. I took off from the dock with my Norwegian friend, Lasse, but then we realized we were the only ones walking away. No we weren’t, we ended up walking with a Canadian couple from Quebec. Walked pretty darn far to the main part of town, but not without walking down a road that had no bridge and thus retracing our steps first. My god could it possibly get any worse?? We ended up staying in a very nice guesthouse for $5 and grabbing a ridiculous dinner with other people from the boat also trapped in Laos (they had taken a free tuk-tuk to their guesthouse. Great). We were all planning on the minibus in the morning because it was much faster than the local bus. The minibus was to leave at 10:30 in the morning, so I planned to sleep, then cross the border first thing in the morning and get things sorted out on the Thai side of things.

Woke up, grabbed my last delicious Lao coffee for the time being, visited the local wat, and then went back to the guesthouse. Grabbed Lasse and crossed the border with absolute ease. Then talked to the guy standing next to the “minibus to Chiang Mai: good driver with drivers license” sign and found out that the minibus was already full. NO! You HAVE to be JOKING! Lasse was having stomach problems and wasn’t sure if he was going to continue to Chiang Mai or not, but I ran up to the tuk-tuks determined to get to bus “station” because a bus was leaving for Chiang Mai at 9 am (it was probably 8:50 at this time). Of course I didn’t have anything smaller than 1000 Baht, and the tuk tuk cost 20 Baht. Lasse had not Thai Baht, and I tried to explain the situation to the tuk tuk drivers (in Thai, although at this point it was more like Lao-Thai). I explained that I had lost my wallet in Luang Prabang (they were surprisingly sympathetic) and had used all of my small Baht bills in Laos along the way. Finally it was decided that they could find the change for my large bill, and then we double checked about the minibus. Yes, full! Off to the bus stop, ran in, but the 9 am bus was full too! NOOOOO!!!! The next bus left at 11:40 and would get into Chiang Mai at around 6:30. No joke. My heart just sank. I bought 2 tickets anyway (Lasse still had no Thai Baht since we had no time to stop at an ATM) and the woman was very nice and friendly and got a total kick out my ability to speak Thai.

Fast forward to the bus ride. It was so upsetting to think that I was going to be getting into Chiang Mai nearly 24 hours after I had thought I would, after so much time on that damn boat! I can hardly describe the feeling. Lasse and I were not the only ones from the boat there waiting either. The same Canadian couple were going to take the bus, as were these 3 Korean guys who spoke hardly any English but were quite hysterical to watch and very friendly. Finally, the bus pulled up and we got on! It wasn’t particularly comfortable or exciting, but at least we were on our way. Finally. The bus filled up a bit in Chiang Khong, and more and more along the way. This day was a holiday, the King’s Birthday, and I think many Thai used the 3-day weekend to travel. Still, I was just happy to finally be on track to Chiang Mai. Then we pulled into some larger town (not quite a city, but it felt enormous after being in Laos for so long – I mean it had a real bus station) and many more people got on the bus. Standing room only! The tickets were checked, and we should have been back on the road. But we weren’t. We were just sitting there. It made no sense, and no one was doing anything. They hadn’t announced a break, which is what they normally do, so what was going on? Lasse and I both were getting increasingly upset. Then one farang (westerner) and one Korean got off the bus. Great, get back on, I was thinking, or we’ll be here forever! More time passed and slowly more and more people seemed to be getting off the bus. As it cleared out, suddenly we realized that the bus was having engine trouble. Unbelievable! No one had said anything, and it was unclear how long it would take. So I grabbed my small backpack (which I have been guarding very closely since beginning my journey since it had my laptop and camera in it) and exited the bus as well. Talked to the Canadian girl a bit, then a Thai woman came running up to us. She spoke fabulous English and told us that she had to get to Chiang Mai to catch a bus to Bangkok, so she hired a car and wanted to know if we wanted to share it. The cost would be about 200 Baht and we could get a refund for our bus tickets. She was convinced that it would take forever to fix the bus. So the Canadian girl and I waited for her significant other and Lasse and we decided to go for it. We got the refund and Lasse went to get the bags from the bus. We met behind the bus, when I realized that my basket from Muang Sing with all of my food was still on the bus! Lasse was so sorry he forgot, so tried to get onto the bus to get it. Just then 2 Thai people on the bus were giving me the thumbs up signal – the bus was fixed! Oh no!, I thought. But we had already gotten the refund. I still needed my basket! So I got past the bus driver and went to get my basket. Right then everybody else who had gotten off the bus decided to get on so they could be on their way. But I still needed off! Desperation! I was so frustrated. Apparently it was funny to Lasse and the Canadians to see me trying to fight my way off the bus. I finally did, and we climbed into the back of a songthaew (the trucks with the 2 rows in back that I have mentioned before) and were off!

It was pretty funny, in a rather tragic kind of way that can happened when you travel. The 4 farang were chatting together and having a good laugh when it started to rain a bit. Great! I thought the rainy season was over! I hadn’t seen rain in nearly 2 weeks, but timing is everything. So we realized, as did the Thai passengers, that our backpacks were on the roof, so we got the driver to pull over and we pulled the packs in with us (which made it quite a bit more crowded). And we were off again. The driver was going a bit fast, but I have to admit I wasn’t too worried until it really started pouring and then the morbidly phobic traveler in me came out. It really wasn’t too bad though. As we were driving, a small plexiglass window had blown out and one of the Thai girls was getting wet, so we pulled over again to try to fix it. Then we were off again. In the meantime, our bus came up from behind us and passed us. Unbelievable!

All in all, the songthaew ride was pretty uneventful, although a bit long. We chatted a bit and had a decent time of it, but we were all anxious to get done with the endless travel. We FINALLY pulled into the Chiang Mai bus station at around 6:30 or so, and I was home by probably 7:15. Very happy to finally be back in Chiang Mai. In fact, the absurdity of my travel between Luang Prabang and Chiang Mai did actually cure me of my moping and sadness about leaving Laos. And in fact, although I am a bit sick of boats and the slow travel, I do feel safest on these slow boats and they are sometimes about the only means of transportation to places in Laos. This journey seems rather absurd, to me and probably those of you reading this, but as it goes, this really is par for the course when traveling in Southeast Asia, even Thailand which seems so very wealthy compared to its neighbors.

2005-12-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

2005-12-02T01:58:00.000-08:00

Festivals in Muang Sing:

The main festival, called “That Xieng Tung Festival” revolves around a stupa 5.5 km outside of Muang Sing proper. “That” is the Lao word for stupa (FYI that is a hard, aspirated “t” sound, not a typical “th” like in the word “the”). This festival took place on November 16, the exact date of the full moon. However, 2 days before the main festival was a wat festival at Wat Xieng Jai, the temple right behind my guesthouse. Apparently this festival was particularly special since it only happens every 5 years. It involved people from all over Muang Sing, who brought gifts of food, money, and even material items such as bicycles and household objects. Of course these gifts were decorated with paper flowers, and were generally in the form of “trees”. It’s hard to describe but it was beautiful. I spent almost the whole day at the wat kind of looking around and then waiting for something to happen. It appeared that people just kind of arrived throughout the day, setting up their things, going into the wihan (main building) and making merit through offerings and prayer. The things were to be given out to the monks in a kind of “lottery” system, as explained by the woman who ran my guesthouse. At about 1:30 or 2 pm, someone began praying over the loudspeaker, and thus a group prayer began, lasting for, I’m guessing, about a half hour or so. After the prayer and another span of about a half hour, the things were distributed. The monks (and novices) each received these slips of paper wrapped in a banana leaf. The older monks got more papers, and thus more chances to get the main prizes or at least more prizes in general. The slips of paper appeared to me to be written in “Tam” (I’m not sure if that is exactly the write name), the language the Buddhist manuscripts in the area are written in, and as my friend Mathilde pointed out, only the men were able to read them (which makes sense since women would never learn how, not having the opportunity to become monks). When the monks found their gifts, they would read the prayers to the givers. It was great to watch, and I took many, many photos.

Then two days later was the main festival. Actually, I don’t have very much to describe here. Many, many people come from all over the area, including Yunnan in China. It very much has a carnival atmosphere. There were vendors everywhere, selling things to offer at the stupa, textiles, food, and the carnival booths (which included throwing darts at balloons, knocking over tin cans, etc). Not only the Buddhists show up, there are Akha people (hill tribe) everywhere as well, dressed in their finest. It was a great atmosphere and I stayed there for many hours. The Buddhist population carries flowers, candles, and incense as they circumambulate around the stupa. I think things may have happened before I got there or perhaps after I left, but again I doubt there was much to see specifically, and no banners were around that I could tell. The Akha were certainly followed everywhere by tourists with cameras (who doesn’t want a picture of the Akha? Their dress is really beautiful). I think what is special about this festival is not only the making of merit by making offerings and circling the stupa, but the opportunity for thousands of people to come from all over the region and have a good time.

2005-12-02T01:56:00.000-08:00

17-11-05

Well, I am sitting here in my guesthouse room in Luang Nam Tha with the intention of writing about my experience in Muang Sing for this blog. But perhaps it is too soon since I have been there to really process the information. I went to Muang Sing because ever since reading about it I had a hunch that it might be a good place for research, for seeing about banners and Tai Lue weaving in general. I went at this time specifically because I knew there was an important festival held at the nearby stupa. This festival comes on the same day as other notable festivals in Thailand and Laos, and I believe they relate to the end of the rainy season and the rice harvest. Regardless, I was excited to get to Muang Sing, a tiny town not even 10 km from the Chinese border. Once there, the sun was shining, a welcome respite from the rain and intense amount of mud I had been dealing with for the past couple of days. I settled into the Muang Sing Guesthouse, a nice guesthouse where I could have a clean room with 2 small beds complete with mosquito nets and an attached bathroom all for $3. The guesthouse was owned by a couple who also owned the Tai Lue Guesthouse across the street – they were very nice and friendly. The room had a window overlooking a wat (temple), I thought that would be a good thing, especially since the banners I was looking for would be in the wats, and because I really enjoy being in or around the temples. Well, perhaps being next to a wat during an important festival isn’t the best idea in the world. Needless to say that one night after an important day of merit, the monks (or someone) started chanting over the loudspeaker and banging on the large drum at 1 AM! Apparently (as confirmed by my wonderful neighbors) they didn’t take a break until 5 hours later! Didn’t get much sleep that night. But it was good. No, it was great. Who can complain about celebrations?

I ended up spending 6 nights in Muang Sing. And I hardly regretted a minute of it. Sure, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the town. Only one street is paved! Most tourists stay for one night, maybe two, but I have noticed that the longer you stay in a place, the better you get to know it. Each day (or nearly every day) I rented a single speed bicycle and conquered the surrounding area looking for temples to wander into. At first I was very unsure and shy about everything – wandering up to a temple, al the novice monks just staring, what if it the main building was closed, etc. But I learned immediately that such worries were unnecessary. And it is very rewarding. The monks (or usually novice monks) are so incredibly welcoming, and make a point to open the main building for me if it is locked. And each one has had gorgeous banners hanging in them. Excellent!

I can honestly say that traveling alone does get old at times. It can be lonely, especially when most travelers are in pairs or larger groups. And the Lao are always pointing it out because they don’t particularly like it. But I was very fortunate in Muang Sing to meet many wonderful people. My first night I ate dinner with a small group of tourists from all over – Spain, Italy, Brazil. It was fun. A couple of nights later I met a woman from Holland spending a couple of weeks in Laos before going scuba diving in southern Thailand. Then a few of us who had been in town for a number of days formed kind of a small group at the first temple festival and we ended up eating together pretty much every meal after that. It was good meeting them. The group consisted of: Michael and Fiona, from New Zealand; Otto, a nuclear scientist from Germany who has done quite a bit of work in China and is quite a well traveled man; Mathilde, a French girl who had been interning in Luang Prabang for the past 5 months; and me. We had a lot of fun.

Needless to say, by the day after the main festival, the day I had scheduled myself to leave Muang Sing, I didn’t want to go. All of my new friends had left already – at 5:30 in the morning, no less! – so that helped motivate me. I went to the market early and bought a plastic basket like the ones the women in the area used daily. Then when I ate breakfast, the woman who runs the guesthouse brought me my food and told me I was welcome to stay in Muang Sing as long as I wanted. I felt so bad! Oh how I wanted to stay! But I told her that I was planning on leaving to go to Luang Nam Tha that day and so she left and came back to my table with a bag of fried banana chips for me to eat on the bus. How sweet is that?! So, reluctantly, and with tears in my eyes, I left Muang Sing to return to Luang Nam Tha and more explorations of local wats!

2005-12-02T01:49:00.000-08:00

I am posting many pictures of Muang Sing here, just because they are so enjoyable and because I can. Th photos include: a view from my guesthouse roof at dusk, monks riding in the back of some Chinese vehicle, Muang Sing valley, Tai Dam women selling textiles, inside a wat (temple), and monks' quarers at a different wat. Enjoy!
And sorry the photos are placed so poorly. I am still trying to figure out this photo posting thing.

2005-12-02T01:40:00.000-08:00

Muang Sing, 11/13/05:

Muang Sing is a fabulous area. I think it has been a difficult transition for me to go from absolutely stressed and without spare time to having lots of free time. I am trying to keep myself busy going around to temples and things, but the pace of life here is, to say the least, much slower than what I am used to. I think I will be able to adjust in time, but it is strange. And I am so worried about reading my book too quickly and then having nothing to read that I have hardly read any of my book. It makes little sense, but I never claimed to be fully logical and without neuroses. I have been riding my bicycle (that I rent for a whole $1 a day) around to different villages and trying to go into the main building at the temple to see if there are banners and of course photocopy them. I think I have been largely successful, although certainly not all buildings are open and I tried to ask a couple of questions and had little luck. I have been splurging of eating – I spent a whole 20,000 kip on lunch today and then another 20,000 kip on dinner tonight! OK – one dollar is about 10,000 kip so that’s $2 per meal, but that is definitely decadent in this part of Laos.

I am now just waiting for the festivities to begin. There is a temple festival tomorrow and the important That Xieng Tung festival on Wednesday. The townspeople were really getting ready for the temple festival today. The women were all working on making food and offerings all day. You could see this all over town. And the men at one point were practicing their instruments. Oh, I love it! Can’t wait for the festivities, and I am sure they will be as rewarding as I think they will be.

2005-11-29T06:48:00.000-08:00

09-11-05: Bus trip from Huai Sai to Luang Nam Tha

I woke up as early as I could muster today (about 7 am) in order to eat something and cross to Laos to find out about getting to Luang Nam Tha (LNT) hopefully in the same day but really without being positive of anything. The Boat Landing website and others made me very nervous about taking the bus, if it was even possible, whatever. Along the way to the border crossing I happened upon a wat that had many fabulous banners hanging in front of it, so I stopped and took many pictures. Crossing the border was no problem; then I exchanged $100 (I am curious to see how far it is going to get me) and walked up the hill to the BAP Guesthouse (recommended by the Lonely Planet and the guy from my guesthouse in Chiang Khong as the place to go to find out about things). The woman sold me a bus ticket to LNT and I was off in a tuk-tuk almost instantaneously. The bus station was on the outskirts of the other side of town, and I got there just in time – I probably got there at, or a little before, about 9 am and the bus was scheduled to leave at 9:30. Whew! I wasn’t even the only falang – there was a Dutch couple and a Chinese American woman. I thought to myself that maybe it wasn’t going to be such a bad trip after all!

After the bus took off, I settled in. Sure the road was a bit bumpy, but I could handle that. I was so happy to be in Laos and to be getting along on my way to one of the parts of Laos that I wanted to go to more than any other. Hooray! And since everyone seemed to act like everything was ordinary, then I’m sure it was and that everything would be OK. We actually took off at a steady clip and I thought hmmmm…is it really going to take 10 hours to go 200 km?? The scenery was gorgeous and I took some pictures out my window. The bus driver was playing great Lao music over the speakers. As we drove through a lot of the road construction, it was a crazy red dirt landscape which contrasted greatly with the luscious green landscape. It was fascinating and I really did become quite relaxed. We did lose a lot of time off of our steady clip, but that was OK. Then it got muddier and muddier. Which didn’t bother me too, too much because I was so impressed with our driver. If he thought he was going too fast going down a hill he would stop the bus, pause, shift into first gear, and start again. So, nothing really to worry about. It was beautiful, the road construction was fascinating, and I was on my way. It did get wetter on the road, and thus muddier, but it didn’t really rain on us, although it was clearly raining in other mountains around us. Then, I am not quite sure what happened, but all of a sudden I became aware that we were going down a big hill and we were clearly sliding down the hill. I swear, I was not just imagining it, I could feel the bus fishtail a bit and lose traction. On a hill. Luckily, the bus driver did get the bus to stop. We sat there a bit, then made it down to the bottom of that hill, where we would have to then go up a somewhat steep incline on the next hill. This is all on the new road, which is indeed very clear, very smooth, and much wider than the old road, but it was all just super duper mud. Red mud. Another bus was coming down the hill we were about to go up, and the two bus drivers and their helpers (on a Lao bus – or Thai bus for that matter – the bus driver is never the only one working on the bus) talked for a bit. Which was fine with me because I wasn’t at all happy about going any further up and over those mountains. I assumed that they were talking about the road conditions, but that is only a guess. The next thing I knew, the bus driver was back in the bus and we were starting up the mountain. Oh boy. I was very nervous. And rightfully so, because our bus could not get traction on that hill. We were sliding, sliding, down, sideways… was I the only one who noticed?? The only one who was tense and white-knuckled?? I have no idea, but the driver got over to the side of the road (the one less traveled), and he and his crew got to work and put chains on the back tires. Brilliant! I got back on the bus (when we were stopped I had gotten off to relive tension), kept my fingers as crossed as they could be, and darn it! We got up that mountain! The helper guy got off the bus and took the chain off the right tire. We went further, then he took the chain off the left tire. I thought to myself, as loudly as I could, NO LEAVE THE CHAINS ON!!! NEVER TAKE THEM OFF!! But apparently they could not read my thoughts.

This was probably 3 hours into the bus trip, I am guessing, and I felt like we were truly entering the unknown. Was the rest of the road going to be this frightening? Because if it was, I wasn’t sure if I would survive. I would probably have gone either completely and totally insane, or had a fatal heart attack, or something.

It really did get better, for the most part. I was tense for most of the ride. We stopped at the halfway point for food, and it was very good to get out of the bus. I talked to the other falang (Westerners). Then we got on the bus again (boy did I not want to get on) and we were off. It was actually possible for me to appreciate the beautiful landscape and I did relax a little bit. Then we hit another very muddy, very hilly patch of road. For me, mud = sliding tires with little traction. The driver was very good, as I kept reminding myself. At one point, going downhill, he brought the bus to a complete stop. He then got off the bus, as did his helpers. Then I saw that they were looking at the end of this truck that was kind of sticking into the road right on this very, very sharp curve on a hillside. And the road was very muddy and slippery. They looked at that truck for a very long time. They were also apparently talking to the drivers of the truck. A few people got off the bus in the meantime, and I was on the verge of ultimate panic, again seeing us potentially catapulting over the side of the mountain. So I got off the bus too. The Dutch couple had already gotten off so I went over and talked to them for a minute. I really didn’t want to get back on the bus. Then, finally, the people pulled their truck further off the road, the bus driver went back and started the bus up again, and rolled on down the hill and around the curve. I sat and watched from the other side of the curve and I have to say I was impressed with the ease in which he did it. I hopped back on the bus, and we were off again. The rest of the bus trip did have its very slippery, muddy spots, but I figured we would be OK (although I was still tense). We saw a double rainbow from the bus, which was beautiful and seemed like a good sign. And I also figured out that if I sat away from the window and didn’t look out any of the windows, I was better off, because then I didn’t know what the heck was going on. A bit after sunset, we got to Luang Nam Tha. Yes, it took 9.5 hours to go about 200 km. Which was good timing compared with many stories I have heard, such as those people who had to get off their bus and push it one direction or another. I was just so happy to be there, I was speechless, and ended up at the first guesthouse that I went to. Which could have been a bit of a problem, because that night I was visited by a rat which proceeded to consume the charger cord for my cell phone!!! I didn’t realize until the next evening when it was too late to switch guesthouses. I pulled the charger out of my backpack (I don’t even know why I brought it?) and it was in pieces. I am furious or frustrated and really hope I can buy a new charger for not too much when I get back to Chiang Mai. Glad it didn’t get to any of my other, more important cords (like my computer cords, for instance). Jeez! Darn rat!

2005-11-03T04:35:00.000-08:00

OK, so it’s one thing to be excited to be back in Chiang Mai. I am, as any sane person would be (sorry Melody). I have settled into my place at Baan Thai, sent away for my visa to Laos, etc. But here is the exciting thing – actually let me start from the beginning.
Some of you may remember that I had mentioned the “rot daeng” this summer when I was here in Chiang Mai. Rot daeng are the little red trucks converted into passenger vehicles in which you kind of wave the driver down, agree to go where you want to go, and hop in the back. Because Chiang Mai stupidly got rid of any bus transportation system they used to have years ago, rot daeng are about the only way to get around town if you don’t have a vehicle of your own. OK, so I knew I needed to get a Lao visa today if I was going to get one – a 30 day visa that is, because anyone can get a 15 day visa when they cross the border, but I don’t want to limit myself on my initial Lao research journey. This meant I needed to get to the tourist area so that I could send my passport off through some random tourist place. Yes, I could have taken my passport to the Lao embassy when I was in Bangkok. That is true, but I really was quite lethargic in Bangkok, so it didn’t happen like that. Anyway, to continue with the story, I wasn’t sure where to tell the rot daeng I wanted to go, since I was just going to wander around the touristy area. But what is the heart of the tourist area? Of course, the Tapae Gate! So I flagged down a couple of different rot daeng, asking for a ride to Tapae, but no one wanted to go there. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the driver doesn’t have to pick you up if he/she has any possible reason for not doing it, like you are white, or going somewhere that he/she doesn’t want to go.) I decided to keep walking, knowing that although no Thai would walk the distance I was walking, it really isn’t all that far from Ban Thai to the old city. And, when I finally crossed into the old city, I decided to take a very small soi (lane) thinking I would probably end up at Wat Chiang Man, one of my favorite temples. I didn’t. In fact, the soi I walked down was a soi I had ridden my motorcycle down when I was here this summer; it dead ends into another temple. When I ended up at that temple (wat), I can’t even begin to describe it. OK, let me just say banners everywhere. I have included a picture. I was impressed, excite, overstimulated, what have you. And to think, I wouldn’t have ended up at this wat at all if I had taken one of those lousy rot daeng. I don’t know much, but I do know if this many banners are hanging up at a temple (outside of the buildings) then a festival either already happened, is happening, or is about to happen. I have read about it, but have never really been in Thailand at the right time for any temple festivals. Well after taking many, many photographs (butt really, probably not enough) I went to the main entrance of the temple, and lo-and-behold… the temple festival is this weekend – the 5th and 6th. Oh yeah, I will be there.
So basically, do I believe in fate? That’s kind of a silly and irrelevant question. But what I do know is that I got some good exercise today, and if I had taken a rot daeng as I had planned, I wouldn’t have found that temple. And finding that temple got my entire next 6 months off to the best start ever.

2005-11-03T04:28:00.000-08:00

2005-11-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

OK, so I do now officially have a home base in Chiang Mai. It’s a nice, clean room that I can call home and be happy to come back to after trudging through Laos, Sipsongpanna in China, rural Thailand etc. The place is called “Baan Thai,” a silly and rather generic name meaning “Thai house.” It’s a place we had looked at this summer when the entire group of us was traveling around looking for a place to live. I really liked it this summer, but it is a bit more expensive and further away from the University than where I stayed this summer. Not to mention the place I stayed this summer had the most fabulous view. But now I wanted something easy, clean, convenient, and with a nice pool. I knew it pretty well also because my friend Laura did live here this summer, and I would come visit her and use her pool. It even has a TV and a fridge! The view isn’t so great, but at least I can still see Doi Suthep (the mountain I had a view of this summer). The neighborhood I live in is pretty yuppie/upscale/trendy for Chiang Mai and does have a fair number of non-Thai. But as someone living alone, it is easy to get dinner, coffee, etc. without having to try very hard, which I like. Now I am all pretty much unpacked (but not very organized) and am now going to try to sort myself out mentally, such as figuring out a rough idea of what I will be doing for the next couple of months, figuring out my path in Laos, etc. All I can do is wish myself luck and hope everyone back home is doing well. Enjoy the pictures.

2005-10-29T00:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I am here in Bangkok trying to figure out the next step in my journey. I need to get to Chiang Mai and then to head over to northern Laos, and I just got a ticket this morning to travel on November 1, although oddly not without the kind assistance of my parents. The clock is ticking until I need to get to the That Xieng Tung festival in Muang Sing. I just want to make sure I get there in plenty of time, because I worry a bit about finding accommodations during a big festival. I think it is a great thing that I have been able to stay with my friend Eleanor here in Bangkok, but perhaps it has made me a little lethargic in getting myself together to move on. Oh well. All that will result from my slowness is a more expensive ticket up north. I guess after that I will have learned my lesson and will have to be more practical in the amount of money I spend on travel. I can’t be too hard on myself – I have a lot to recover from now that I am out of Los Angeles as well. Keep your fingers crossed for me to settle into a place in Chiang Mai easily. I suspect it will be no problem, but I do often make things harder than they need to be.

Thanks to everyone for the emails. I do love hearing from home and am thankful each day for all of the good friends that I have.

2005-10-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

I have added a couple of other LA photos. This is probably more for me than for anyone else, so when I am out and about I can look at my blog and be reminded of good ol' Los Angeles. Of course, it probably is fun for others who do not live in LA to see its beautiful side.

2005-10-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

another LA sunset