A Motorcycle Diary from The Golden Triangle:

I apologize for my absence from blog land. I ended up getting a gig with a travel writing company in NYC and have been writing most of my travel reviews for them... However, mom made me a wonderful collection of my blogs thus far and sent to to me for Christmas- along with a note to "please start blogging again" Love you, mom!

Note: The Golden Triangle is a world class ride. You begin in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, then head north 128 kilometers to Pai. Then you go west towards Mae Hong Song (109 km.), where you trace the Burmese border all day as you head south, towards Khum Yuam. From there, there are several routes to take, but my travel partner, Dorian is quite a daredevil and decided to take the road- less- traveled which turned out to be a great decision-- it was incredible. Our stopping point from Khun Yuam back to Chang Mai (190 km.) was in Mae Chaem. Hopefully, through my words and photos, you can get somewhat of an idea of what an adventure it was. Hold on and enjoy the ride...

Day 1: Chang Mai to Pai

I arrived in Chiang Mai via a 2nd class seat on the night train with my partner in crime, Dorian (a 6'6 motorcycling champ, who's not so rough on the eyes- this made for a much more safe and relaxing journey for me... he was a great find..). After walking around the city a bit in search of the perfect bike for our adventure, we settled on a somewhat beat up (there is beauty in imperfections, as we discovered on day 3 of our journey...) 750 cc Honda something or other (see now that I have no knowledge about these big bikes). I apologized to Dorian in advance for my exceptionally terrible navigating skills. Ideally, the person riding bitch on the motorcycle would play the navigator role. Not me-- I'm pretty useless back there. However, I can speak enough Thai to help us if anything truly terrible happens (Unfortunately, I ended up using "mai dii," "not good," and even "mai chop si dang!" "I don't like the color red" more than I'd have liked to) And, despite the occasional sudden shift at photo ops, making it difficult for him to manuveur, or flying forward on downhill sections even though I squeezed my inner thighs so hard, they were bruised, I'd like to think my photo documentation of the journey is worth having me on the back of the bike. Anyway, we got the bike and attempted asking for directions out of town, which, I (of course) thought I understood, but clearly did not, as it took 45 minutes to get to the highway towards Pai.

The "lost time" was complemented by Dorian's search for a "jumper" (which apparently = pullover sweater). He had lent all his warm clothes to a friend traveling to Japan and only had short sleeve shirts and a pair of cargo pants. Mr. tough guy turned out to be quite a picky jumper connosieur and since none of the "jumpers" were up to par with his standards, he settled with my wind resistent thingy (super tight on his broad frame) and my fly Marc Jacobs shades. An exceptionally awesome contrast to the badass bike he was rocking.

We were so excited that we finally made it out of Chiang Mai that we forgot to stop by an ATM. I had somewhat of a haunch this was a bad idea, as we were passing one of the last modern looking establishments on the highway, but was trying too hard not to pee my pants, as Dorian showed me immediately that open roads= ridiculously fast driving. I don't know how many times I refrained from sounding like his mother... prob. about as many as I flew forward crushing his goods... maybe that was just as good as speaking up ;-) I finally mentioned the ATM dilemma and he admitted he had been thinking the same thing (this began to happen quite often throughout the trip).

We stopped at a little second hand clothes shop (where none of the 200 or so "things you could put over you to keep you warm" were up to par, either) and asked for the next ATM.

"Pai."

Great, only 128 Ks away. We have exactly 225 baht and our gas gauge (and speedometer, THANK GOD) is busted. I'm also parched, but we have nothing but butter and a can of tuna. Dorian opens tank to realize we're nearly empty. So, we fill up the tank with 200 baht worth of gas. I'm thinking the last 25 could be used on water and something to eat so I don't starve in the mountains, but Dorian looks in the tank with a peturbed look on his face and makes the exective decision (he is in charge of all matters involving the bike) to put 20 baht more in the tank, leaving us with 5 baht, which I run away with in search for water.

We hop back on the bike for the first of four steep and windy routes and head towards Pai... hoping to make it without running out of petrol. 2 hours later, canned tuna never tasted so good...

Pai

We made it to Pai! The bike (and my stomach) we sounding not so good, so we immediately parked it, grabbed a bite to eat and laid down for a bit. I introduced Dorian to the delicious banana coconut combo shake, and we played with a dirty puppy while sipping on a few. Then, we searched for a place to crash. "Crash" has a whole new meaning after riding a motorcycle through some of the steepest, windiest roads in completely unregulated Thailand. Basically, my heart needed to crash.

We walked out of the main town and across a little bridge, leading to a lovely little set of bungalows to rent for a mere 250 baht a night. We even scored hot water and a really comfy bed. God bless low season...

After resting until about 9, we decided to face the world again for a late dinner. I also remembered that I had promised the nice little family whose restaurant we left the bike, and our helmets with, that we would "be right back." My guilty conscience led us to reclaim our goods first, but not before having one of our many debates. Feel free to add your thoughts/ideas ....

When we dropped the helmets off, the man jokingly said "50 baht, 50 baht." I knew he was "kidding," but have noticed in Thailand that people seem very weary to keeping your belongings. For example, when climbing in Ton Sai, I was not allowed to keep my purse at Base Camp... even though there was absolutely nothing valuable in it. So, I thought it would be nice to give the family a little somethin' somethin' for their hospitality, especially since we had left the stuff there much longer than originally promised. To me, they were serving the same purpose as a locker would have served and we would have paid for that. I thought 50 baht was suitable. However, Dorian thought this was crazy and that they were "just doing something nice." In my opinion (well, not quite an option, but more towards a fact), Thais are extremely hospitably because tourism drives their economy. However, I think they're getting to a point where they're sometimes being taken advantage of. I mean... If some random tourist walked up to me and asked me to watch their pricey bike and helmets, I might be a little weary. Kind of like watching someone's luggage in the airport: of course, you always say yes when they ask if you can watch it while they make a quick trip to McDonald's, but then you hear the "do not watch over any belongings besides your own" announcement and have the "well, shit" thought for a second. Anyway- I was going to buy them a bar of Ritter chocolate, which used to be my go to "this comes from the West and therefor you wouldn't buy it yourself" thank you gift, but then I remembered how every time I've given it to someone, they say "this makes you fat." Yes, that's right ladies and gents, anything western = fat. I gave them 20 baht instead and got a head shake from Dorian when I returned.

By the time this was all taken care of, all the "fine dining" establishments in Pai were closing and street food was the only option. We picked at a few random things that we had never tried (a purple sticky rice paddy with condensed milk on top, some super spicy Chinese soup, and extraordinarily potent ginger tea) and then just decided to live it up at breakfast before we headed out.

After a surprisingly good night sleep, complimented with some tempting beats from the local bars (because of the demands of trip, we stayed sober 99% of the time), we woke up, had a breakfast for champions at Pai Country Kitchen and then rolled out west towards Mae Hong Song.

After leaving Pai with a full tank of gas, plenty of baht, and a full belly, we headed towards Mae Hong Son. Since the we weren't able to really stop at points of interest on the route from Chiang Mai to Pai due to our lack of funds and gasoline, we agreed to take the next leg of the trip slowly. There are loads of chances for offroading through rice fields and small villages along the route, but I would definitely not recommend trying these routes unless you have considerable experience (ie: I would never, ever have done this myself). However, they certainly are "roads less traveled," and provide a chance to see some pretty incredible scenery and villages. The first village we passed through was a pretty surreal experience. Of course, villagers stared like we had three heads, and then probably wondered how the hell we found the place. We're stupid- thats why! We ended up at a dead end where a bunch of children were screaming at us, but smiling. It's funny- the kiddos were adorable, so I simply smiled and waved, but for all I know, they could be screaming at me to go to hell. Think positive...

I kind of wish I had taken more photos through the villages, but I always feel a bit weird taking pictures of people if you're just "passing through," especially on a motorbike. It's like "ohhh look at those freaks- SNAP!" However, I do get my photo an uncomfortable amout of times whenever I go out, so maybe I shouldn't feel THAT guilty about it- I'm a tall, blonde freak!

The one place we wanted to make a point to stop at was Lod Cave, which we managed to miss because it's completely unmarked. Thais do an exceptional job of making it difficult for you to find points of interest that they would rather "guide" you to for a fee. Makes since, but it's quite frustrating. After backtracking about 30 ks, we found the cave. Definitely worth the trip- it was enormous and beautiful.

Another perk of backtracking was that we got to go back to the viewpoint to see an incredible sunset. Great, but this also meant we'd have to drive at night, which terrifies me (and when you're doing a trip for the scenery, it kind of defeats the purpose..) However, the end of the 109 ks from Pai to Mae Hong Son was flat and kind of nice to ride through after sunset.

Mae Hong Son is a charming, sleepy little town with a nice little lake in the center and some unique temples. When we arrived, I was h(angry) and about to bite Dorian's head off, who sensed my hanger and decided to push every button possible until I just about exploded. You can't hurt your driver, you can't hurt your driver, you can't hurt your driver (and honestly, I couldn't if I tried).

We headed out of MHS early the next morning. The roads had been challenging thus far, but our guide actually described the next part of our trip to Mae Chaem as "torturous." Yeehaw...

PLEASE, PLEASE WATCH!!!

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=135327771759&h=1qwo6&u=B9V_e&ref=mf

Pictures from Baan Dada orphanage/childrens' home

check out this link to see my photos from my trip to the Thai/Burma border. I volunteered here and met some incredible kids. More info soon...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084377&id=20104105&ref=mf

Just call me Mother Theresa

Ok.. not quite- but I've been up to a fair share of good deeds lately. Maybe they will cancel out my "sick day" on Wednesday, in which I failed to wake up on time to catch the bus and had to cancel classes. Whoops. Thank God for a very gracious 30 sick days a year ABAC gives you. There's one good thing about everyone being hypochondriacs over here (All my students are wearing "SARS" masks.. and since it's ABAC, they have designer masks. Think masks with whiskers that look like cat's mouths.. uh huh)

Two weeks ago I went to Vang Vieng, Laos, about 4 hours north of the capital, Vientiane. Laos is absolutely gorgeous. Think, Lord of the Rings gorgeous. The van ride north was a bit scary, since it's the rainy season and mudslides happen quite often. I was packed in a mini van with 10 Thai people who were all furious because the man setting up the van had promised only 7 people would be in the van. I was huge compared to them. A big stupid "farang" (foreign) butt taking up their precious space. 

When I arrived, my backpack, which was on top of the car was soaking wet. Forgot to mention the torrential downpour the entire trip there, which continued throughout my entire trip, preventing me from kayaking, tubing, climbing, and everything else wonderful VV has to offer. HOWEVER, I had an incredible time meeting people from all over the world, relaxing, and reading. I stayed in a wonderful bungalow (see the view in the picture) on the Mekong River, which I rented from a lovely couple who met on a bus just 3 months ago before traveling Laos together and deciding to rent out a guest house in VV for a year. Shaun was Australian and Kristin, German. They gave me a great list of things to do in spite of the rain, including attending a Laos wedding ceremony. 

The best afternoon I had in Laos was spent with an incredibly poor family of 8. Everyone is Laos is soooo so poor, but they're even happier than the Thais, which I didn't think would be possible. The mother cooked me noodles and kept a cup of fresh Laos coffee coming to me every hour that I taught her kids English. By the end, they all had mastered their ABCs and 1,2,3s! As fun as it is to teach the iddy bitties, I'm still happy with my choice to teach University students. It makes teaching the itty bitties so much more fun. 

I could talk about Laos forever.  I will definitely go back as soon as I get my unlimited reentry visa to Thailand. As of now and for the next month, whenever we leave, we have to pay 1,000 baht to get back in. In a month, I will be eligible to purchase a multiple reentry visa. Then, I'll pay a flat rate of 3,500 baht and cross the border as many times as I'd like :)

I'm trying to pack tons of info into one quick post because I leave at 6:30a.m. tomorrow for Songhburi, a 7 hour bus ride from Bangkok. I'm volunteering at an orphanage there for the next 5 days called Baan Dada. It has tons of Burmese refugee children and I'll be teaching English, yoga, and arts and crafts. Most of them are from 3-10 and I'm really looking forward to it. A couple girls from my group are already down there and are loving it. 

I'm heading back to Bangkok on Wednesday morning, then leaving Wednesday night for Ko Tao, a nice little island on the east coast. It's an overnight train ride, so my train gets in at 5:30am and I catch a 3 hour ferry to Ko Tao at 7a.m. I've signed up for a 4 day diving course to get my scuba diving (PADI) license! I'm really excited and just found out today that another group of teachers will be down there too, which will be great. I've also heard it's an awesome place to meet people, since it's one of the top places in the world to get your PADI.

My eyes are closing.... must sleep so I don't sleep through another alarm. I promise a good post with many pictures in the near future.

xoxo

2-0 at 3a.m. 2-3 at 4

Just finished watching the U.S. lose to Brazil. It was quite exciting when we were up 2-0... Then we lost the signal to a monsoon and everything went downhill from there. It's really cool to talk to people all over the world watching the game though. A guy I graduated with is teaching in China and commented on my Facebook status of "up 2-0 at 3a.m. in Bangkok" with "watching in Beijing, I don't care if I have Chinese class in 4 hours." Kind of cool, but a bummer that we lost. I'm starting to get into soccer a bit more (Yes Jon, that's right). We live a couple blocks from the stadium where the Thai National team plays and I'm looking forward to going to some games :-)

We had a fun weekend in Bangkok, but I can't wait to travel again next weekend. We're headed to Kho Chang (if you haven't figured it out by now, Koh means "island.") We'll spend 5 nights there snorkeling, motorbiking, hiking, laying out.. etc... It's the second largest island and so there's a lot to do. There's a National Park, so I'm definitely looking forward to hanging with some monkeys! Ever since I missed out on the monkey park in Hua Hin, I've been dying to feed those little guys..

We went to Khoa San road last night. "Khao San road is backpacker land. All the buildings have been converted into guest houses. There are long distance telephone booths with air conditioning, all the cafes show brand new Hollywood films on video, and you can't walk ten feet without seeing a bootleg tape stall. It's main function is as a decompression chamber for those about to leave or enter Thailand, a halfway house between east and west."- The first paragraph of "The Beach." ... and that it is. We met people from all over the world, which was cool, but it was a bit much-- pretty wild. After talking to some people, I realized how key it is to know someone in the countries you travel to. All but one of the tourist hadn't heard of RCA, where all the best clubs in Bangkok are. They're clearly missing out by hanging on Khao San... and the pad thai didn't have ANYTHING on the food in Huamark (where I live) However, it was nice to hear some English.

I bought the Rosetta Stone for French (300 baht) and have been practicing so I don't loose it! I actually met some frenchies on Khoa San, so I got some non- computer generated practice in as well. I start Thai lessons on Tuesday. I'm planning on going 1 hour on Tuesdays and 2 on Thursdays. I cant wait. I've been learning a lot of words, but the tones are so hard to remember. I feel like such a jerk when the woman who owns the restaurant I eat at every day corrects me over and over. Hopefully, since I'm getting an early start, I can eliminate the bad habits before I even know them! It feels great to actually be starting a class again. I don't think I'll ever be able to stand to not learn. 

We got our first pay check on Friday! We make 24,000 baht a month. I've been keeping track of how much I've spent and after the first month, with all the expenses of getting adjusted and buying things for my apartment, and spending lots on clothes without realizing it because it's so so cheap, I've only spent about 18,000. So, that leaves quite a bit to travel. I'm thinking I'll spend about 14,000 a month (we'll see)! Feel free to make checks payable to Carolyn Fuller who will gladly deposit it into my travel fund (aka my B of A checking account) You are all living vicariously through me, right? ;-)

Goodnight for now. I'll post some more pictures soon- it's 4a.m. here and I have to be up in 2 and a half hours to get on the bus to teach a class. My other three are canceled because it's freshman day tomorrow :) Later. 

Ladyboys and Little Elephants

Ladyboys and Little Elephants

Cheers to another great weekend in Thailand. We don’t get paid until Friday, so we attempted to cut costs by staying in Bangkok this weekend. However, thanks to RCA, the “clubbing” area of Bangkok

 most did not succeed. I, on the other hand, managed to only spend 200 baht Saturday night due to Erica's and my plan to smuggle vodka into the bar disguised in Red Bull bottles (The Thais LOVE Red Bull). We went to a place called Cosmic Café, where we met the cool band the second night we were in Bangkok. To our surprise, they were actually playing, which was tons of fun… we danced so hard that my head still hurts from hand banging. ANYWAY, needless to say, yesterday was a slow day, full of sleeping and lying out by the hotel pool that we sneak into.

            I saw something yesterday that I thought would be really cool, but ended up really disturbing me. Since Bangkok thrives off of tourism and tourist typically love anything out of the ordinary, people rent baby elephants, put them on a leash, and walk them around the city. People pay 20 baht to feed the elephants corn. Of course, I was dying to see a baby elephant and was disappointed when I found out I had missed on that walked by a local bar by just minutes. However, when I saw it, it made me incredibly uncomfortable. The elephants look absolutely miserable and are obviously heavily sedated. Their feet are tattered on the bottom because they aren’t meant for walking on concrete, obviously, they’re meant for walking on grass and dirt. Environmentalists have been battling the situation, but haven’t been very successful. The baby elephants are actually illegal, but the law is loosely enforced. Most of the elephants are taken from their mothers at a very young age, poached from their natural environment. In order to capture them without being attacked, most poachers kill the mothers in order to take the babies. Furthermore, the elephants consume large amounts of milk each day and are supposed to stay with their mother until they turn 3. Therefore, the majority of them dies or develops bone diseases.

I think everyone knows that as of now, I am no longer vegan (hooray! And, on a lighter note, I would like a round of applause for eating my first fried grasshopper (not deep fried either… looks just like the real thing but a little shinier…) compliments of ‘A’) My motives for being vegan were based strictly on health and not animal rights issues, because I never got an opportunity to educate myself on the issues…. And I hate “pretending” to be that person without being

 able to back it up. After seeing a dead stray dog every day and the elephant, I really want to try to do some kind of volunteer work in Bangkok with animals. Sounds crazy, I know, but I recently read that there’s a animal shelter for stray dogs in Koh Chang (an island we’re visiting in 2 weeks) that was started by an American woman sick of seeing dead dogs everywhere (when I mean everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE). Anyway, just a rant, but one that I hope to elaborate on in the future at that.

Now, for a lighter and intriguing topic: The Ladyboys of Bangkok, also known as Kathoeys. Although PDA is quite taboo in Bangkok, Kathoeys are very, very common. Some are transgender, but most are what westerners would consider “effeminate gay men.” Most Kathoeys consider themselves to be a “third gender,” a female trapped in a male’s body. So, they dress like females, change the tones of their voices, and work in typically female dominated jobs. The richer Kathoeys get complete sex operations. It’s pretty wild. Usually, I notice about three a day that I can actually tell are men. However, most of them are so beautiful, you can't

even tell! Thai men are so petite anyway that it’s pretty easy to pull off. Here’s a picture of one of the most famous Kathoeys in Thailand- Nony Tum, who acted in the movie “Beautiful Boxer. They have Kathoey beauty pageants and I can’t wait to go to one… they’re supposed to be phenomenal! Ok, I know this is a bit obscure, but it really is amazing how well it’s accepted in Thailand. Even boys as young as 5 “realize” they’re Kathoeys. Their parents accept what would be insane sounding in the U.S. and let them practice feminine behaviors. One of Natalie’s 6-year-old students already puts on makeup, paints his nails, dyes his hair, and has a pink crystal cell phone!  So, the main purpose of this post- if any guys come to visit me, better watch out…. It’s nearly impossible to tell!

 

Thailand still continues to amaze me everyday :) Today Erica and I went shopping a few blocks from school and got massages... continuing to learn Thai, slowly... but definitely making progress.

Last night we finally found the missing link to our Thai adventure- Thai friends! We went to an awesome coffee/cocktail shop called "Shades of Retro" (funny name, right) with A, Natalie's boyfriend. I've been craving a good martini since people don't really drink them here and I definitely got my fix. I taught the bartender how to make a chocolatini and it ended up being a hit. He claims he's going to add it to the menu and call it "The Yippee," since I'm from Texas. Had a great convo with A about Buddhism, Karma, Recreation, etc.... I've decided it's definitely something I want to explore and this is the place to do it! I found a monestary you can stay at for 2,3, or 4 weeks in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) where you can literally be a monk for a month! You wake up at 4a.m. and wear their cool get up and can't eat after noon every day. Practice yoga and meditation and live in silence for awhile. The only catch? If you're a chick, you gotta shave your head. Don't think I'm ready for that. Maybe our new Thai friends can enlighten be and I can hang out at Wat Pho a few times. I'll definitely hit up the amulet market this weekend to score a cool necklace to inspire me...

Last weekend was great. Natalie, Erica, Meredith, Bob, Paddy, Devon, and I went to the Hua Hin Jazz festival. We were hoping to get a fix for missing Bonaroo. Wasn't quite what we were expecting, but it was an awesome time and the music was great. It was on the beach and people from all over Thailand came for it.. the bands were from all over too- Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, etc... The group dynamic was great and I'm hoping to go on more trips with the same people in the future :) 

I'm trying to pin down some travel plans for 2 weeks from now because we have a 6 day break. I think Natalie, Erica and I are heading north to Chiang Mai to hike, kayak, etc. We want to rent motorbikes to explore and head to Pai (pronounced "Bye"), a hippy town where you can't even drive anything that makes noise. You can take cooking classes there and do lots of yoga. It's pretty cool up there too (like... 75.. cool compared to Bangkok which is like a freaking sauna..) We aren't allowed to leave the country for 3 months because we have this crazy visa process and it costs a lot if we want to get out and get back in. not quite sure how it works, but I don't feel like spending any money I don't have to.

Speaking of money- we get paid soon! I'm looking forward to my frist real paycheck on a salaried job! I was talking to Erica today about how much we work, since we really weren't expectin to be this busy. In the past, teachers have taught about 5 classes (so, 10 classes a week) and had 2 days off. I have 8 classes (17 total for the week) and work 45 hours a week!!! Nuts, huh? But, like I said, I absolutely love it, so I'm not complaining at all. I am, however, looking into options for getting some kind of teaching certificate in the future. I really wasn't expecting to like teaching English this much, but I absolutely love it and could see myself doing it for a long time. We make a really low salary, 24,000 baht a month (about $570), which is fine because housing is paid for and everything is so cheap. ABAC is funny because it  seems like since they send so much money on their school, they would pay their teachers well. Natalie makes twice as much as me per month teaching elementary school English right up the street and teaches 2 classes a day. IF you have a degree in secondary education, just an undergrad, you can make about 80,000 baht a month and live like a freaking king. International schools all over southeast Asia are desperate for degreed native English speakers and will pay a ton for them. They're also incredibly fond of white skin, so much that someone with a degree that's dark skinned would definitely be less desirable than a white person. Something funny-- Thai's are TERRIFIED of the sun. I mean, terrified. If you're rich, you have white skin (similar to those crazy Brits way back when). When they walk outside, the girls cover their faces with their notebooks to avoid the sun. They also have bleach in all their face products! Paddy actually got some by mistake and his face got super pale! There's even bleach in their deodorant. I don't think I will ever understand some things here...

Well, off to dinner with Erica! I love that people don't cook at home here and you eat EVERY meal out. It's a great way to socialize, it's super cheap, and you meet awesome people. Peace!

P.S. keep up the comments! I love hearing from you- especially you, Julia! So good to hear from you...Love and miss you all!