Would you like some beef and wine before class?

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised any more by the questions that I'm asked over here, but this one surprised me a bit. The week before New Years we had several things on the agenda in terms of celebrations for the New Year but there were no plans (at least to my knowledge) that involved drinking large amounts of wine at school before class. We, the teachers, had arranged to do a gift exchanged amongst ourselves and order pizza on the Friday before the New Year. Classes were canceled in the afternoon so that the students could have their own little parties and hang out before the long weekend. This was our plan - the director of the English Program had other ideas. On Thursday, I don't teach in the morning, but I do have several afternoon classes. I had gone out to get coffee in the morning and read and came back at about 11:00. As I approached the office, I smelled what could only have been bar-b-que but that didn't jive with where I was - there shouldn't be bbq at school. Much to my surprise, I walked into the office and there is our director grilling up some beef with several bottles of wine on his desk. The other teachers wrapped up with their classes and came back to the office and we're told that this is his New Years party for us. So we obligingly started to eat and drink. He had brought a good amount of beef and three bottles of wine. Despite our protestations that we had to teach later in the afternoon, he kept our glasses full and we all enjoyed some good wine and beef. About 50 minutes later, I headed off to class sucking on a mint my director so thoughtfully provided for me. And so that's how I ended up drinking a good bit of wine before class - all in the name of celebrating New Years.

The following we came back to school and had our official party and the students got time in the afternoon for their parties as well. I brought my camera for these festivities and took a few pictures. Here's the album that I made from our New Years parties.

Bai Pai Ma

There is this place which has achieved somewhat legendary status among the foreigners living in Thai. I've been told of this place many times by many people. When asked by foreigners and Thais alike if I'd been and upon receiving my answer of "no", I was given the open-mouthed questioning look. If I could read their thoughts it would go something like this, "I can't believe he's lived he for almost two years and hasn't been to Pai!" And most then walk away in disgust. All this being said, I felt like I had to find a way to get myself to Pai. And I did as my post title proclaims (albeit in phonetic Thai, but a proclamation it is nevertheless). About four weeks ago now, we had a holiday. For those of you familiar with the month of December in Thailand, that doesn't come as much of a surprise. It also explains why I haven't written in a while and why I've seemed to gain a few pounds. Anyway, December 10 is Constitution Day in Thailand and unlike last year, the country was actual governed by a constitution (this holiday doesn't actually celebrate just any old constitution, it actually celebrates the day that Thailand first became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, but that's beside the point). It was a Monday and that meant that we had a three day weekend.

Pai is in Mae Hong Son province and is northwest Chiang Mai. It's up in the mountains and is about four hours from Chiang Mai (add another two hours to get from Lampang to Chiang Mai and it's quite the trip). I was able to convince two friends from Chiang Mai (Som and Maew) to come with me. I went to Chiang Mai late Friday evening. I was planing on going earlier in the evening but Mike (another teacher at Bunyawat) made chili. So I stuck around to eat some. I met up with the gang at the bus station and headed up to Pai. The drive is famous for it's curves. Pai is 136 km from Chiang Mai and there are 762 curves along the way. In a bus it takes about four hours. In Pai, we rented a few motorbike and hit the usual spots-a few waterfalls, Pai canyon, the river - and ate a ton of food. More importantly, we took a ton of pictures. In a weekend, we (and by we I mean Som) managed to fill my 2GB memory card. That's about 1400 pictures. Needless to say, my inaugural trip to Pai is well documented. We also did a good bit of shopping as well. I haven't really spent much time talking about what we did partly because I'm a bit daugnted by what I have on my To Write list and partly because the pictures explain most of that. So check out the album below!

Worlds Apart

Christmas in Thailand 2007

It's Christmas time and unfortunately I'm away from home again. But like I did last year, I've decorated a tree and am trying to make this tropical Buddhist home of mine feel a bit more like Christmas. I've gone ahead and posted a picture of my Christmas tree this year along with a photo of the Christmas tree that my family has put up in Colorado. Enjoy and may you all have as many wonderful memories as you put up your tree as I did while listening to Christmas music in 80 degree weather.

Christmas in Colorado 2007

7-11

It just came to my attention that there are 4,300 7-11 branches in Thailand. That's a lot of 7-11. It prompted me to look into the company a little more. Worldwide there are 28,123 stores around the globe making it the largest chain store in any category (even more than McDonald's). Thailand's 4,300 stores means that Thailand has the 4th largest number of stores after the Japan, the US and Taiwan. Taiwan has the highest density of 7-11's in the world.

I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again - 7-11 has been a huge part of my life here in Thailand. Many an adventure has been had in its stores and countless items have been purchased off its shelfs. I'll leave you with a little known fact - 7-11 in Thailand isn't called 7-11. It called Sewen because Thai's have a hard time pronouncing the 'v' sound partly because Thai doesn't have that sound.

Buddha Casting

Thailand is a predominately Buddhist country and as such there are temples nearly everywhere. Having been here for a good bit of time, I've seen my far share of temples. One of the most common sights in the temples are the images of the Buddha. These images occupy a place on honor within the temple as well as many peoples homes. Recently I was able to witness the casting of a Buddha image at a temple in town. The director of the English Program decided to have a Buddha image cast and invited us to the casting.

The casting took place at a temple in town. There was a short ceremony before the casting in the temple and then most everyone moved out into the courtyard where the casting would take place. They had set up the molds and were heating the metal when I arrived. In the picture below, you can see the molds in the left part of the picture. The metal is being melted in several different fires/ovens and those are fairly easy to spot (hint - look for the flames).
We arrived to the scene above and then entered the temple for a ceremony. But the ceremony lasted longer than our attention span so we ventured outside to watch what captured our attention which was the incredible bright flames and the steady buzz of activity around the molds and the fires. The kept feeding the fires and stoking them; keeping the metal molten until the ceremony finished.
It came time for the image to be cast so they pulled the bricks down from around the molten metal housed in what was now a glowing container. Using very long poles they exposed the container which was now bright orange.
Very carefully they used this clever little tool to lift the molten metal up out of the fire/oven and proceeded to clean off the outside of the container. These containers didn't have a lid to them and if you remember they just threw charcoal on top of them assuming (and correctly so) that the surface of the molten metal was hot enough to ignite all the charcoal and burn it off.
They transferred the molten metal from the lifting tool/contraption and put it into a tool/contraption more suited for pouring. They carefully lifted the molten metal up onto the platform which surrounded the molds and began to pour the metal into the mold.
The steam which was coming off of the metal as is streamed into the mold was incredible. The color of the metal was also equally amazing. This black and white photo shows the steam a little bit better than the color photos could.
Here's a picture of the molten metal (which I'm assuming to be bronze...I never got confirmation of that, but most of the Buddha images are made from bronze) as it is poured into the mold. This picture doesn't do justice to the color of the metal. But you can still see the oranges and the yellows in the container nonetheless.
While this was all happening, people had gathered around the men working and had run a string through their hands (a common part of Buddhist ceremonies) and held their hands up in a wai while the image was being cast.
And that was that. The image was cast. The image had to sit for a few days before it could be broken out of the mold and then polished and have the finishing touches added to it. The image will stay at the temple for a few days and then it will be taken to my boss's house where he'll keep it or store it until he decides to donate it to a temple.

And that's how Buddha images are made - Thai style.

Kingdom of Illusions

I was browsing through a book store in Chiang Mai a few months back and came across a book entitled ‘The Kingdom of Illusions’. It was a book about Thailand and the title stuck a chord with me and I immediately wished that I had thought of that. You see, Thailand, for all intensive purposes and on many levels, is a kingdom of illusions. There is a very high value placed on appearance and one must be conscious of their appearance. This value is reflected in dress, behavior and other aspects of life. In my classes my students often spend more time than their American counterparts adding what I would call finishing touches on their project. The result is something that is often more visually appealing than what their American counterparts might produce. However, often times the quality of the assignment doesn’t mirror the level of quality of the appearance of the project. Some of the most beautiful projects I’ve received are significantly lacking in substance. While the value of appearance is one to be encouraged, it shouldn’t overshadow substance.

Thailand is in the process of recovering from several prolonged years of political confrontation which resulted in a coup and the ensuing political ramifications of that. A constitution has been reinstated and elections are scheduled for December 23 after which a new parliament will be installed. Recently, the Election Commission released a set of rules and regulations for the campaigns leading up to the election. They hope to stamp out the widespread vote buying and other underhanded methods of obtaining votes which is far too common in Thailand. They hope that these rigorous standards will ensure a fair and free election. Several days ago, the last of the candidates registered with the EC and following the closure of the registration they took all of the candidates to Wat Phra Kaew, one of the most sacred and famous temples in Thailand, and had them swear in front of Buddha image that they would follow these rules. The Bangkok Post published a political cartoon the following day which I feel captures my sentiments. It shows the candidates in a boxing arena with a statue of the Buddha in one corner with a politician seated in front of it while whispering out of the corner of his mouth to his followers behind him who are engaged in a tremendous fight to also promise to abide by these rules. The Election Commission and the current government (as well as the candidates themselves) are trying to create this illusion that the election is going to be democratic and fair. I can’t help but think that the lessons and values (related to appearance and substance) which my students have at this age are not much different from those of the politicians. Of course I realize that politicians project images and it is rare to find a politician who consists of much more than an image, but I can’t help but wonder what messages these public ceremonies are sending to the people watching them. I can’t imagine that anyone took them seriously. To those who have already been taught that image trumps substance this only reinforces that message. To those who have lost faith in the government and the candidates this only confirms their fears. And to those who hoped for something different this time around this only shows them that the while the government has changed the substance has remained.

King's Fashion Trends

Those of you who have been to Thailand know that there are two uberubiquitous sights in Thailand - 7/10 and in recent years the King's Yellow shirt. Many people started to wear the yellow shirts several years ago in honor of the King's 60th Anniversary on the throne which was celebrated in June of 2006. The shirts sported a emblem designed specially for this celebration representing the many aspects of the monarchy. Once the anniversary celebrations were complete, people continued to wear their yellow shirts. Politicians are always sporting one when they make public appearances and the news anchors always have some splash of yellow if not the shirt during their broadcasts. Teachers and other government employees are asked to wear them every Monday and many wear them multiple days throughout the week. To continue honoring the King and his 80th birthday (which is on December 5th), a new logo was designed for the 80th birthday celebrations and people bought even more yellow shirts with the new logo. After nearly a year of wearing a fairly plain yellow shirt with a symbol, many companies began offering more stylized shirt with other designs and patterns in order to spice it up a bit. Nonetheless, there is still an abundance of yellow on every shirt (only now there is a little bit of flair). Over the course of the past year and a half or so I've collected roughly six different versions of the yellow shirt (both 60th anniversary and 80th birthday shirts). Anyway, the point here is that people have become accustomed to wearing these yellow shirts as a external representation of their affection and support for the King.

The King was admitted to the hospital about four weeks ago and upon his admission to the hospital swarms of people flocked to the hospital to sign a guest book set up in the hospital and offer their moral support for the King. Buses and water taxis offered free rides for people going to the hospitals and many international monarchs and diplomats expressed their wishes for a speedy recovery. For nearly three weeks there was a steady flow of people in and out of the hospital. He left the hospital last week. His departure became nothing short of a large celebration and procession. Thousands of people came to the hospital to see him off and it the entire journey home - from the moment he walked out the hospital doors to the moment his car entered the palace grounds - was filmed and broadcast on all channels. After paying respects at statues of his parents in the lobby of the hospital he got in his car. The entire hospital ground was covered with people sporting their yellow shirts. The entire route from hospital to palace was lined with more people. What was interesting (and what has become a little absurd lately) was the countries response to his attire. The day the king left the hospital, he wore a pink collarless shirt and a pink blazer. I've been told that an astrologer reportedly told the king to wear the color typically associated with baby girls and bubble gum because it also symbolizes Mars and would help him gain strength. This sparked an almost fanatic rush by the countries loyal royalists to purchase pink shirts and show their support. Stores reported that their stocks of pink shirts were gone within hours of the kings appearance on TV. Manufacturers promised to increase production and retailers promised to increase their stocks of pink shirts. Several days later, the king returned to the hospital to pay a visit to his older sister who is also in the hospital. This time he was wearing a green blazer with a pink shirt, as green can reportedly bring success for someone like the king, who was born on a Monday. The rush to buy pink shirts was short-lived as people now sought out green shirts. Vendors immediately ordered more green shirts and people headed out to buy them. No more than two days after his appearance in a green shirt, he returned to the hospital for another visit this time wearing a blue shirt. You can guess what happened next. Anyway, I find this to be highly indicative of the typical Thai response to the monarchy. There is a tremendous amount of respect for the king and for the most part that respect is deserved. But much of this respect and admiration is blind and very few understand the relationship which the king has with the country and so many express their (somewhat blind) love by imitating him and expressing this love externally (by wearing the yellow shirt etc.). I've had many people who while claiming to love the king are unable to explain why. And it's not that they can't find the words or reasons, it's that it's not something to be questioned or thought about but simply done. It's a very complex relationship - one which has many different facets and intricacies and one which has been developed for 61 years. What this most recent trip to the hospital and the ensuing fashion trends does indicate though is that there will be a significant amount of change (which will be fiercely resisted) when the king dies. But until then, people will continue to wear these yellow shirts and follow his every move.

Royal Barge Procession

A few weeks ago I was witness to an old Thai tradition steeped in culture, religion and Thailand's monarchy. The ceremony took place on a Monday in Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River and was broadcast throughout the country on all the TV stations. It was held in the afternoon and I actually canceled class so that my students and I could watch. The Royal Barge Procession is a old tradition with its roots tracing back nearly 700 years. As with many early cities and civilizations, Thailand's early cities were located along major rivers. It is speculated that the Royal Barge Procession originated during the Ayutthaya period during the 14th century. It has been held since then, but the ceremony has always been sporadically held. In 1932, as the absolute monarchy became a constitutional monarchy the Royal Barge Procession began a period of decline as monarchical power also declined and it wasn't until 1957 that a Royal Barge Procession was held. The tradition has been successfully revived, in large part due to the popularity of the current king. Since the late 18th century, the ceremony has been associated with the Royal Kathin Ceremony procession. The Kathin Ceremony is the presentation of robes and making of merit in tribute to and support of the monasteries under royal patronage. Over the past 60 years there have been 16 sailings of the Royal Barges, with most occurring on special occasions. This year's sailing was done in celebration of the king's 80th birthday while last year's was held in honor of the kings 60th year on the throne. The procession includes numerous boats with this year's total reaching 52 unique boats and the boats were manned by more than 2,000 oarsmen. The barges usually move down the Chao Phraya River from the Wasukri Royal Landing Place past the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew), the Grand Palace and arrives at Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn.

The barges are themselves works of art and are recognized as such. In Bangkok, they are housed and restored in the Royal Barge Museum. Joey and I were able to venture over there while he was in town and caught a close up look at the boats. They were stunning. Here are a few pictures (sadly not my own) of some of the boats.

This first boat is The Royal Barge Suphannahonse and was built in 1911. The bow of the boat was built to resemble a mythical swan, or Hongsa, and is adorned with gold lacquer and glass jewels, with a crystalline ball and tassle dangling from her mouth. It was carved from a single trunk of teakwood and is 46 m long. When the members of the Royal family participate in the sailing, they will sit on board this boat. This year's ceremony didn't feature the King (who was in the hospital) but his son, the crown prince.

The Royal Barge Anantanagaraj was built in 1914 and the w is carved into the 7-headed Nagaraj, the mystical snake-like creature, in gold lacquer and glass jewels.

The Royal Barge Narai Song Suban H.M. Rama IX is the only barge built during the reign of the current king. It was built in 1994 and built in cooperation by the Royal Thai Navy and the Thai Department of Fine Arts and was built to honor His Majesty during his 50th anniversary celebrations in 1996.

This an aerial view of what the procession would like as it makes its way down the river. The whole procession stretches about two kilometers down the river.

Finally, a picture of the Royal boat landing at the pier at Wat Arun.

Take care and I'll be back soon with more!

Ryan

Pictures from Laos and Phu Kradung

I've finally gotten my pictures edited and up on the internet. I'm using a different website to host the pictures this time. I'm keeping everything within Google and hopefully that cuts down on the amount of work I have to do (more importantly it means I only have to label the photos once).

So here are the highlight pictures from my semester break trip. Enjoy!

The Other Side of Paradise (i.e. the Mekong River)

After crossing the border, I headed into Nong Khai and found a little place on the river to call home for the night. My impeccable budgeting made it so that I was down to my last few kip as I crossed the river. I had exchanged my last few baht a few days ago to replenish my supply of kip and so as I walked off that bus I had several different currencies on me but they only totaled up to about $2. I needed to get cash and kept my eyes out for a Bangkok Bank ATM (so that I could avoid those nasty fees). I spotted one, but I thought that I’d rather check-in first and then come back so I didn’t stop. The after checking in, all I wanted to do was eat dinner, but in order to do that, I had to have money and thus I needed that ATM. I re-traced my steps trying to find the ATM that I had seen earlier but I couldn’t find it. I ended up at the bus station and hadn’t seen it. I circled back and still didn’t see it. I eventually consulted the map I had and found a Bangkok Bank branch in town and went there. Plain and simple – no problem. But had already wasted a good hour trying to find that ATM. Stupid Ryan. I did find food which I promptly ate and went to sleep.

The next day I rented a bicycle and rode out to the second Buddha Park. It’s another sculpture park much like the one that I went to in Laos - only cooler. It was actually built by the same man is they are pretty much across the river from each other. This one is much larger and older, and in my opinion, a much cooler experience. But the one is Laos is more well known and people, mostly foreigners flock there. I’m glad I got to see both. The statues were huge! They dwarfed me. I remembered to bring my tripod that day, after forgetting it when I went to the other one – I’m glad I had it this day instead of the other day. I got some really neat pictures of myself with the statues. It was a large park and took a good hour to walk around and absorb all of the statues. There was a lot of emphasis placed on the wheel of life sculptures which represent different stages in life. The guest house gave me a handout explaining it, which was neat, but I still don’t fully understand it. Many of the statues were explained, but in Thai and my reading isn’t that good yet. I headed back to the guest house, but was caught up by the boat races! I decided to ride back along the river and ran into this huge festival along the river. Everyone was watching the river, and it turns out that they were watching the Dragon Boat races. They are an annual event held at about this time of year all along the Mekong River. I watched a few and then dropped off the bike and came back to get some food and snacks and watch the races and people watch. It was really neat. There was an announcer and he would talk about the different teams and people would get really excited as the races were underway. In each boat there were maybe 30-40 people and during the race they all paddled. They were going downstream so they must have gotten going pretty fast. They also trained by paddling upriver.

After I had my fill of food and boats I caught the bus to Sangkhom. That was an adventure – but it’s good I’ve re-gained my patience otherwise that would have been unbearable. I was told to take the yellow bus – it’ll take me straight to Sangkhom, he said. Wrong, he was. It took me to the next town were it stopped. I had to get off and wait for another bus. That bus arrived after a good bit of waiting, but it also didn’t go all the way to Sangkhom. I got off again. And waited. The last bus was finally here – I climbed aboard, ready to go. But then they said we won’t leave for another 30 minutes. That’s okay because I was in the right state of mind and eventually I got there. I left at 1and got in at about 6 – five hours. Direct it should have taken about two. The country was really pretty and I didn’t have any where to be. It was great to be able to take on those problems and changes and not get stressed. It’s very different than most of my trips to Chiang Mai. I stayed in this great little bungalow along the river. It was really cheap and right on the river. It wasn’t the nicest place, but it worked for me. I just wanted a place to rest my head and then a place to read and nap in the morning, which is exactly what I did. I met this English guy there who just couldn’t stop talking. When one person would leave the room, he would start talking to another. He even followed the lady around while she was working in the yard. He is retired and has come out here for a few months to relax and get out of England. Interesting man. A bit annoying. He sold doors. I then hoped on a bus to Loei. I was told to catch the yellow bus going left and I’d be set. It came, I got on and I was set. This time the bus actually went where it was supposed to go but it traveled very slowly. At one point, we even stopped for 30 minutes. I’m not sure why. A lady got on. Then she got off. But I stayed and eventually we started moving again. I got to Loei and checked bus times to Phu Kradung and Lampang and found a place to stay. Dinner was found and then I had a date with The Saint dubbed in Thai.

The following morning I headed for Phu Kradung. I had to make a connection near the park and had to wait for a bit and so I did. I ended up going to the park with a group of students from Khon Kaen and they tried to befriend me. I entered the park and got my tent arrangements made – they’d have the tent set up and waiting for me when I arrived. The only thing that was left was climbing the mountain. It was about 1000 vertical feet and about a 8.5 km hike from the base to the park headquarters. The climb was fairly straightforward. I just went up. There were some good flat parts along the way to recoup and many shops along the way to stop at if you needed. I stopped at the last area for a bit to eat and some water and then headed to the summit. The sign at the top of the mountain reads, 'Welcome Phu Kradung Conqueror'. They make a big deal about climbing it. And now I’ve done it. From the summit it was another 3 km to the park headquarters, but it was flat. It was quite a strange environment. It was sandy with pine trees. But there was also this meadowy yet tropical feel to it too. There was a mist and clouds which hung over the mountain as well. I found my tent and got settled in. I ran into the guys I rode over with again and they made me take a shot of whiskey – I guess that’s why it took them so long to get to the top. I read a bit and walked around but then it started to get cold so I went to a shop and got some hot tea. While sitting and reading at the shop, the shop owner asked me to translate her menu into English for her so that it would be easier for her to help the foreign customers. I did and sat there for a long time reading and watching people as they passed by and ate dinner. Eventually those guys found me and we spent an hour or two engaging in conversation (and drinking) but the events of the day soon overtook me and I sought out the refuge of my tent.

I woke up early the next morning before the sun so that I could walk out to the edge of the mountain and watch the sunrise. I joined a large group of people and hiked the 2 km out to the edge. The tea and coffee cart beat us there and was set up when we arrived. I then watched the sun rise. It was very cloudy and foggy but the mix of everything was really beautiful. I met some more people there who were standing by me as the sun rose. I was able to get some really neat pictures. This experience and the views themselves made the whole trip worthwhile. I headed back for some rice soup before hitting the waterfall trails. There were 4-5 waterfalls that I hiked to that morning before heading back down the hill. A short bus trip and I was back in Loei by 5. It was into the hotel, find dinner and I called it a night. I had been up since about 4:45am. Oh by the way, on the way down the mountain I did pick up a few souvenirs including a Phu Kradung shirt which also says "hello, how are you? I’m fine and you?". I thought that was hilarious.

And so that brings to an end my vacation. It was a good one. I’m glad I went and I got to do some cool things and I’ve got some good stories. And another one bits the dust.

Notes from the Road

Following my excursion to Phonsavan, I once again boarded those rickety buses and followed that thin black line snaking up, over and through the mountainous northern part of Laos. This time my ultimate destination lay further to the south and after five or six hours the road started to flatten out. I was headed to what many call the ultimate tourist destination in Laos - Wang Wien. It's reputation for attracting those on the backpacker circuit is the stuff of legends as is the attraction which draws those tourists - tubing down the Mekong. I arrived and decided that my body had suffered enough and I would treat myself to a nicer place, in particular one with a nice bed and a nice river view. Wang Wien, located right on the Mekong river is nestled into a valley and off to the west are some spectacular limestone cliffs which are littered with caves. I procured a room on the fourth floor with a view of the cliffs over the river and the rice fields in the distance. The views of the sunset (and the softness of the bed) were well worth the cost of the room. Day 1 in Wang Wien was travel and relaxation. The following morning I woke up and continued to enjoy the spectacular views and the wonderful bed until they forced me out at noon. I switched to a cheaper place just downstream and proceeded to explore town and several of the surrounding caves. After several hours of walking, another massage was in order. I never made it to the Mekong to go tubing, but I did enjoy a couple relaxing days in Wang Wien doing nothing but eating, reading and sleeping. After the hectic and incredibly busy past week, it was much deserved.

I jumped on yet another bus and snacked on a sandwich en route to Vientiane. I ended up spending most of the afternoon driving from Wang Wien to Vientiane and along the way I noticed several things. As we got closer and closer to the town, the electric lines and telephone poles became more and more like the telephone poles in Thailand – cluttered with wires. A tangled mess. There were wires looped around each other, hanging low across the road, wrapping around the pole, stretched through the trees and intermittently connected to the houses through what appeared to be a simple and exposed connection. This was a change from the country that I had seen up until that point. The telephone lines had one or two wires connected to them, if that. There was a stretch that I remember as I traveled from Phonsavan to Wang Wien that had the poles but was conspicuously lacking in any wires connecting the poles. Speaking of lines, as we got closer to the city, more and more lines appeared on the streets. Until Vientiane, there were no lines on the road. It was a free for all (not that lines make much of a difference). I arrived in Vientiane without much hassle and made my way to a guest house were I procured a room which was followed on by dinner and sleep.

I awoke refreshed the next morning and had breakfast at a little restaurant before walking around and taking a look at several of the temples around town. They were interesting, but nothing spectacular or impressive. Following that, I went to the National Museum and walked around there for a while. It was more interesting, but was a bit repetitive. I did enjoy the constant referral to America as being the ‘American imperialists’ or some other fun reference. It was comical how overdone it was. I then headed to lunch and had myself a Swedish pizza in honor of the Swedes I had met earlier on. It wasn’t much different than a normal pizza but it was good pizza so I couldn’t complain. A quick trip back to the guest house and then I was off to the Buddha Park, a collection a statues from various stories in Buddhism, Hinduism etc. It’s quite unique and very interesting. I only wish I knew more so that I could interpret the images. I knew a few, the Buddha was obvious. Ganesh was there as was what I thought to be allusions to Shiva. I was proud to be able to identify Indra riding atop Erawan, her many-headed elephant. And that pretty much wraps up the highlights of the day. Vientiane is a nice town, but there's not a lot to keep one occupied.

The following morning, I talked to my Mom and Dad for a while in the morning before heading out to walk. My cell phone had come with me and the other day I had noticed that if I was close to the river in the right spot, my cell phone would get service. So, I gave my parents a call and let them know that their son was doing alright. I walked pretty much all day after that phone call which was nice and something I really enjoyed doing. That’s something I haven’t done enough of this trip. Walking has always been a big part of my travels and I enjoy the peace of mind that exists when your walking in a new place with no real destination or intended route. It's a wonderfully blissfully free feeling. My agenda for the day included the Laos Arc de Triumph, which isn’t very triumphant. It was built from American-donated concrete, which was intended to build a runway. Instead they built a monument to the Communists victory over the Americans and their allies. They (jokingly) call it the Vertical Runway. You can climb up to the top. On several of the upper levels, they have shops inside selling tourist items. On top there are views of the city, none of which are very impressive. It’s approached by a wide road with lights down the middle – very European. After that it was to Phra That Luang, the national symbol of Laos, which wasn’t impressive. There wasn’t much to it other than what one sees in the pictures. It was a bit worn down. There were no paintings or other significant items. It was simply that ubiquitous missile-shaped structure. Then to the Unknown Soldiers Memorial, which again wasn’t impressive. I’ve noticed that there’s not much to see in Laos. I guess most people come to Laos to go hiking or do other nature-oriented things. They do have a lot of nature. They are actually one of the most pristine of the SE Asia countries and have a lot of undeveloped/untouched wilderness. That is due to several factors mainly bombings and insurgencies but also a relatively sparse population. They also have a lot of Beer Lao, so drinking is another good thing to do. I came back into town and spent several hours on the internet updating the blog and then headed off to the bus station were I wasn’t able to get a seat on the bus (it was full) and had to wait an hour. After that, I got on the bus and was later joined by a Canadian man traveling through SE Asia. We endured immigration together. As with my entrance into the country, my exit from the county had some hints of drama. I purchased a ticket that took me from Vientiane, Laos to Nong Khai, Thailand going across the Friendship Bridge built over the Mekong River. The bus stopped on the Lao side of the river and I went through immigration - a couple quick looks at the passport and my pretty face and with the thud of the stamp I was officially out of Laos. We all then climbed back on the bus for the short trip across the bridge. Departing on the other side of the bridge we looked out at a swarm of people - no they weren't there to welcome me back into Thailand. They were all trying to get into Thailand as well. We promptly got in line and took up our places in the queue. Shortly after getting in line, the hostess on the bus approached us and said that they bus was leaving. Judging by the length of the line it would have taken us at least 30 minutes to get through immigration and the bus along with our bags was leaving shortly. We thought about grabbing our bags and figuring out a ride into the city after immigration only to discover that while we were one side of the border, our bags were on the other. No dice. The hostess tried wheeling and dealing and eventually found a solution to our particular problem. There were many immigration officials manning their posts to check the papers of those crossing the border in a personal vehicle and the number of personal vehicles crossing at that moment was small so she had us walk through immigration impersonating a car. It actually worked. We got our passports stamped and a smile from the immigration official who found our method of beating the line fairly humorous. And with that my trip to Laos had come to an end but there were still adventures to be had in Thailand before heading back home.

Shake, rattle and roll (and not in the good way)

Ugh. There are few words which I can use to describe my feelings after having traveled from Luang Prabang to Phonsavan (and ugh is one of them). I left that peaceful oasis of a town at about 8:30 after having a sandwich at the bus station (which was amazing by the way). And that was the highlight of the day. It's unfortunate when the highlight of the day comes at 8:00 in the morning, but that was indeed the case. I ended up sleeping most of the time on the bus. I didn’t realize that I was that tired but I couldn’t stay awake for more than a few minutes. I read a bit, but always got too tired to read so I closed my eyes and slept. The bit of the landscape that I saw was absolutely stunning. We just wound around, up and down, mountain after mountain passing through this gorgeous town’s right on the side of the rode. We would pass through a town every 30 minutes or so and each town was perched right along the road with either a cliff rising up behind the houses or dropping away underneath them. The road however was less impressive. Despite the fact that this was one of the best roads in the country and a significant amount of traffic plies back and forth on this road, it was in a significant state of disrepair. It was narrow and windy and hard to navigate. At several points, there were areas that had been covered by run off from mudslides and it was clear that there had been a significant number of mudslides recently. It’s very easy to see that road being shut down without too much difficulty. After one of my many naps, the scenery changed. It went from being mountainous and tropical to being hillier with rolling meadows and pine trees. The houses switched from being built from bamboo to being built from planks of pine. The transformation was incredible. There is definitely a difference in temperature. It hasn’t been too hot, but it’s a lot cooler at the moment than in Luang Prabang or Lampang. The pine trees (inevitably) reminded me of home and there were lots of flashbacks to home.

I got into Phosavan after a grueling nine hours on that bus. In a half-asleep state, I descend the stairs and exited the bus to fetch my bag and before my foot even hit the ground I was bombarded with propositions and guest house touts. I had only just awoken and wasn’t at all prepared for that – even fully conscious it would be overwhelming. And as my last entry prior to leaving alluded to, I’m not a fan of the bus station tout. I normally avoid them and find some other means of transport into the city or simply walk. However, in my semi-delirious state, I acquiesced to their demands to take me somewhere. They were aided but the appearance of a young Japanese guy who attached himself to me after I got off the bus. His English skills weren’t very good and felt like his best bet was to befriend me and have me help him find a place to stay. I was more than happy to do so and we ended up spending the next couple days together. But his appearance and willingness to go along with anything made me a much easier sell. We eventually did find a place after a painful 20 minutes of the tour operator who eventually was given the honor of transporting us trying to get us to sign up for different tour packages. We did find a place and after a few deep breathes in my room, I was ready to venture out into the town. Phonsavan is not a pretty town. It has a very industrial and bleak appearance – a drastic change from Luang Prabang. I was hoping it would grow on me but it never did. We ended up finding a place to rent a motorcycle and thus avoided being forced to take one of the package tours out to the Plain of Jars, the attraction in Phonsavan.

The reason I, and many others, come to Phonsavan is obviously not the town itself. It is the nearest town to the Plain of Jars. Anyway, the Plain of Jars is an archaeological site in northeastern Laos. They’ve found hundreds of stone jars of varying sizes, many of which are bigger than a person, lying about. They were all carved from single stones. They aren’t sure exactly what they were used for but people now believe that they were funerary urns of some sort. This area was a crossroads for trade a long while back and they think they originated then. There hasn’t been much research into them given that Laos has had a rough last hundred years, but they are starting a few big projects soon and hope to learn more. It’s hard to study something when it’s being bombed. At several of the sites there are many visible craters left from the US bombing Laos in the 60’s and 70’s. During the many Indochina Wars of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, Laos was the most heavily bombed place on earth – ever. More ordinances were dropped on Laos than in all of WWII. Now the challenge, in addition to having very few Lao who can carry out the studies, is that many of the sites are littered with unexploded ordinance from the bombings. So before any archeological activity can happen, they have to be cleared of explosives. In Phonsavan, there is an office for the NGO that has been responsible for clearing most of the ordinance in Laos so far. Anyway, there are three main sites that have been found and cleared of any unexploded ordinance, so that's where I went. We left early in the morning and headed to the first site. This is the closest site to the city and the site that most people visit for that reason. There were several clearings where the jars were congregated. Most of the jars are as tall as I am and are scattered about. They are in different positions - some are still standing up while others have fallen over. Originally they all had lids, but most of the lids have long since disappeared. At this site, it was very easy to find several bomb craters on and near the site, a testament to the many challenges to uncovering the secrets behind these jars (and the indiscriminate bombing that took place). The second and third sites are much more difficult to get to. The owner of the motorcycle shop cautioned us that the road to the second and third site would be muddy and slippery. His warnings didn't come close to describing the actual condition of the road. But at the end of the road were the second and third sites, which were more pristine and spectacular so the drive was worth enduring. But after the bone-jolting bus ride the day before on top of the bone-crushing motorcycle ride, my entire body had been shaken in places that I didn’t realize could (and most likely shouldn't) shake. Driving back into town I noticed the Lao Red Cross building and remembered reading that they offered steams and massages at the Red Cross. So, after a quick trip back tot hotel to drop of some stuff I came back out and had myself a steam and massage.

If I Had A Million Kip!

The next day we woke up really early and Peter and I headed out to see the monks collect alms. We started walking towards the temple that we had been to the other night and saw several people preparing for the daily ritual. Walking through the temple, we didn’t see much, however on the other side of the temple two carloads of Spanish tourists were unloading. They had some idea of what was happening so we eavesdropped on them and figured out what was going to happen. The monks started to appear from the side streets and collect a small ball of sticky rice from each person sitting along side the road. They continued to file by for a good 30 minutes or so. We started walking in towards town following them and more and more monks joined the procession. At one point, there was a long line of people along side the road giving alms and so the monks formed a long line stretching for several blocks as they collected their rice. They then turned off to the right, in what appeared to be a circular route, and started back. It was really interesting to see it. I’d never gone out in Thailand before to see the alms giving, so it was good to see this. After that we headed to the Scandinavian Bakery again for breakfast and then we walked around a bit. We went to meet Yuuka at her guest house and started walking around town. We had a few errands to run and so we all did those real quickly in the morning. I had to go and exchange some money. I wanted to exchange about 5,000 baht. That ended up being 1.4 million kip! I’m walking around with more than a million kip in my pocket! Granted, it’s only about $100, but it still feels like a ton of money. Then it was a walk around town taking in all the temples and the side streets and just getting a better feel for the town. We stopped at a nice little restaurant for lunch where I had the Indochina burger, a beef burger with cheese and pineapple on top. The bun was fantastic. I’m going to have to cook more hamburgers on my grill in Lampang once I get back. At this point, Yuuka headed off - she had to catch a flight later that afternoon and so she went off to use the internet and pack. And so after that, Peter and I went to rent some mountain bikes and took off looking for trails to ride. We headed out into the country and just followed any dirt road or trail we came to until we couldn’t go anymore. Many of the trails ended at fences, but some continued for a while before we got struck. We were riding through the mud and through rice fields. There were streams to cross and large puddles to peddle through. We were dirty and sweaty, but we had a good time. We stopped for water at a shop along the road twice and spent a few minutes along the Mekong. We came back into town, gave the bikes back, and walked back to the guesthouse to get cleaned up. As we walked through town, we had many people look us and smile or laugh at our appearance. We were caked in mud all over. The bathroom floor was a big pile of mud once we were finished showering. It was then time for a few Beer Laos along the river and then we met Eric for dinner. We went to a little India restaurant, which was fantastic, by the way, and had a few more beers. While at dinner, we invited a solo traveler to come join us. He was from France and hadn’t had a home in about two years. He’s just been traveling all over the world, including France, but doesn’t have a place to call home. I think that a few years ago I would have envied him, but I don’t now. In some respects, I pity him. I don’t want to have relationships that last, at the most, a month. I want to have a home and a family and friends. I love to travel, but could never do it by myself for two years. That’s why the past few days have been great. It’s been great to spend time with Peter, Yuuka and Eric. I’ve felt more at home here because of it and because I’m able to say hi to those I see around town who were on that flight with me from Chiang Mai. It’s been a very social couple of days. It’s been a busy and I've had a long few days, but I’ve really enjoyed it.

The following morning, Peter left for his elephant camp trip and so I was on my own in the city. I made plans with Eric to meet up after work, but until then, I was free. I headed to the museum first since I’ve wanted to go but haven’t had the time. I got there and was informed that it was closed for the day. I was really bummed. I was looking forward to the museum and learning more about Luang Prabang and Laos because I do feel that my understanding is a bit lacking. I’m working on it, but I still have a long way to go. Anyway, with the museum gone, I headed back to the guest house and had a nice nap (the past few days finally caught up with me. After waking up from that, I started to walk around town and ended up at a sandwich place for lunch and then hit a few temples up after that. I followed that on by a trip to the coffee shop for a little internet. Then it was the night market where I spent more money than I was hoping to and then yet another nap before meeting Eric for dinner. Eric and I first headed to a really nice colonial hotel for drinks and then dinner at another restaurant in town. We had a nice dinner and a bottle of wine, both of which were good. We had good conversations and really enjoyed each others company. I think it was good for us both – we both understood the difficulties living in a foreign country and the challenges that presents. I think we both realized that we both wanted to have that social interaction and so we made it happen. I was glad to have met him and I think he was glad to have met me too. So, it worked out well. I hope to see him again.

More adventures in the Oasis

My Buddha! Can this town be for real? Not only is it a pleasant and relaxing oasis away from the stresses and aggravations of SE Asian life, but it's also teaming with mounds of these mouth-watering taste sensations that have been absent from my life for so long - baguettes. On every corner one will find a street-side vendor with their mountain of baguettes. It's no luxury good here, my friends - it's a way of life. And for those of you who might think that nothing good has come out of France, I beg to differ and will publicly declare my love for the French for bringing baguettes to Laos. My restaurant of choice this morning was the Scandinavian Bakery where I had a great breakfast sandwich on a freshly baked bagel. It was heaven. Yuuka joined us there and after talking with Eric, we headed up to the temple on the mountain to enjoy the views and the sights while we waited for Eric to arrive. We climbed up Phousi hill, the mountain/hill in the center of the city, saw the views of the city from the top and climbed down. While on the mountain, I looked out at the path that our plane must have taken two nights before. You could visualize exactly what happened. It was a bit surreal to be looking up at what I was looking down on, only when I was looking down I was a bit more nervous. The views from the top were spectacular. We wound our way back down and ended up running into more folks from our flight. This happened over and over again - we had friends all over town. I felt like I was a part of Cheers - everyone seemed to know my name. One the mountain, we encountered our first war relics in the form of flower pots made from the back of a rocket.

After conquering Phusi Hill, we went to meet Eric. Eric was going to take us out to the waterfall outside of town. We met him in front of our guest house and took off. It was Eric and Peter in front, with Yuuka, Piachang and I in the back. The conversation again broke down like it had the night before and a mixture of Swedish, English and Thai ensued. We got to the waterfall and walked up to the animal sanctuary that was located near the waterfall. They’ve got quite a few rescued Asian bears and a tiger on the property. Eric had been several times before, but hadn’t seen the tiger. We split up to walk around the pen. Peter saw him first and gave a shout. We came running down only to see his tail disappearing into the jungle. Then a bunch of water buffalo in our direction started making noises and he came running back! He was a very impressive looking creature. We then wandered over to the waterfall. There are several different levels and at the lowest level you can jump off a waterfall which is about 4 meters high into a pool down below. There was also a rope swing. After playing around in the water there for a while, we went up to the second level which was smaller and didn’t have as large of a pool at the bottom. You couldn’t jump off, but you could climb under the waterfall and have the water falling on you head and kind of disappear into the waterfall. Finally, the largest of the waterfalls. This one was by far the biggest and was gorgeous. We walked up the waterfall, first emerging about halfway up and eventually came out on top of the waterfall. There was so much water that the trail had become a river and there was water pouring down it. It was muddy and wet and absolutely amazing. At the top, there was a swampy looking area and a flat pool of water along the edge and it just dropped off straight down. Looking out, you saw the water and then the view off in the distance. It was like someone just took to pictures and placed them together – they didn’t seem to fit together. We sat up top of the waterfall for a while taking different pictures and hanging out and then made our way back down towards the car. We then drove into town and had a Laos sandwich made on the baguettes that you find all around town. The sandwich was amazing – yet another variation of the sandwich that I approve of. Eric had to head off at that point so he dropped us off at a Spa where we all got a Mystic Laos massage. We arrived all dirty and sweaty after having been hiking and swimming all morning, a shower before hand was needed and after changing into the nice clean clothes they provided for the massage, I felt like a new man. The massage was wonderful. It was similar to a Thai massage, but had less stretching and bending. They focused more on putting pressure on certain places and working those pressure points. I enjoyed it. It’s hard to say which is better – they both have their strengths. It just depends on your mood and what you’re looking for. After that, we sipped our tea and felt incredibly relaxed. From there, we walked back into town through the night market, doing a little shopping along the way before finding our way towards dinner. Dinner that night was a more traditional Laos dinner. The food tasted okay, but wasn’t great. It seemed to lack a lot of flavor. I’m not sure why. But the meal wasn’t as good as I thought it would have been. We then headed to one of the bakeries in town and had some cake for desert, split up and headed back to our guest houses.

An Oasis!

My god! Is there any place as so serenely peaceful, clam and surreal as this city of Luang Prabang? I'd heard nothing but good things about Luang Prabang from many people but I never quite expected this. It's simply an oasis in SE Asia - far removed from the images one conjures up when they think of Laos (or SE Asia). The city resembles Malacca in Malaysia in many ways. It's more true in Malacca, but these cities have a far more colonial or European air than they do Malay or Lao. There are hints of it. And maybe it's because we tend pick out what's different - and from my perspective what is different is the colonial/European influence while for others (who have only just come to SE Asia) it's far more Asian than what meets my eye. Anyway, beautiful city. Anyone in Laos must travel here.

The company I've kept while in Luang Prabang has been on par with the city itself - stellar. Back in Vientiane, I had chatted with various people in the group that I had spent roughly 24 hours with in transit from Chiang Mai. The group of us had become close – closer than most normal traveling companions. There was a family from Australia traveling for holiday and a family (and friend) from the US (and the mother was from Finland). Then there was the Japanese woman and her mother. She was studying in Thailand and had to come to Laos for her visa. She is going to start the sustainable development masters program at CMU in October. We started talking and she was actually more comfortable talking in Thai than in English so we talked in Thai. It must have been a strange site for any native Thai – an American and a Japanese conversing in Thai. And she kept translating for her mom. Our conversation continued and I’ve exchanged phone numbers with her and hope to see her again in CM. And then there is Yuuka, a woman from Burma who is now living and studying English in Chiang Mai and the man from Korea, Piachang. Yuuka and I hit it off and spent most of the time in Luang Prabang traveling together along with Piachang and Peter (I'll get to him). Yuuka is from Burma, born in Shan State. Her father is Japanese, currently living in Malaysia. She speaks Burmese, Shan and Thai fluently and can converse in Lao and English very easily. There are a few other languages she speaks, but only a few sentences. She’s currently studying in Chiang Mai at AUA and has come to Laos for a visa. At the airport, I met Peter. Peter, who is from Sweden, is working in Laos for two weeks and now has a few days off to travel before he goes back to Sweden. We were trying to figure out how to get into town and he proposed that I join him to share the costs and it’s all history after that. We got into town and since it was raining, we decided to get a bite to eat first. He was also waiting for a friend of his to call and tell him if he had a place to stay or not. We ate along the Mekong and chatted. He’s a wonderful and intelligent guy, and I’ve really enjoyed spending time with him. He works for an environmental consultancy firm, who is contracted by the Swedish government who then sent them to Laos as a part of their equivalent of the USAID program. He’s an engineer of sorts working on hydroelectric power plants. Fascinating to here him talk about some of the things he has worked on. Anyway, we finished lunch and he didn’t have a place to stay so we went and found a place.

We then started wandering around town. It was still rainy, but only slightly so we kept opening and closing our umbrellas as the rains changed. We ended up running into Yuuka and Piachang on the street as the rain started coming down harder. The streets turned into rivers – somewhat like Mexico where there only flood control system was the streets. People raised their businesses a foot or so off the main street and when it rained everyone had riverfront property. In our wanderings, Peter and I had seen a sauna and decided that a hot steam seemed like a really appealing rainy day activity. And so it was that on this day in October, I had my first Laotian Steam. It was quite the experience. It was in a very classic, wooden house. The sauna was upstairs and underneath was a huge wood-fed boiler. There were piles of wood and this giant barrel which has smoke coming from it, which I assume was the boiler. We changed into our sarongs (little pieces of fabric that you wrap around your waist) and hit the sauna. We were lead up the stairs, all of us careful how we walked – afraid we might reveal too much of ourselves. The owner opens a door, throws back a curtain and ushers us into the sauna. We can hardly see. Groping along the bench and wall we file in. Sitting down, we can’t help but start to laugh. Here we are, this hodgepodge group of travelers whom we'd only just met, sitting in a little wooden room half-naked while it rained outside. Plus, the smell was terrible. It smelled more like smoke than anything. There was a slight reprieve when the owner threw in some herbs or something but that faded quickly. After several breaks and the obligatory pictures, we called it quits. But the whole time, we enjoyed each others company and the steam. Over tea, we would chat and then hit the steam again. We finished up and were all sweaty and stinky so a quick shower was in order (Laos style - throwing buckets of water over yourself) and changed. It was dark and time for dinner after we finished. We found a neat little restaurant settled on the bank of the Mekong and had dinner. At dinner, we were joined by Peter’s friend, Eric, who works along the same lines as Peter in Luang Prabang. He joined us for dinner, and over a few Beer Lao, we had a fantastic time. It was great to chat with some very intelligent people and converse with them about different things. It was good to meet people who weren’t on the backpackers circuit and were here for a different reason. The conversation would change from a round table conversation, in English, to different smaller conversations between Peter and Eric in Swedish and Yuuka and I in Thai and of course everyone would stop to listen to Piachang when he spoke. I’ve loved this man. He is so quite because he can’t speak English and so he sits and so whenever he speaks people listen (and half the time is doesn't even make sense). His sentences are jumbled but we understand, if not the first time, but some time. We had a blast and after several Beers later we called it a night (since they were trying to close up the restaurant). Yuuka and Piachang headed home and Peter, Eric and I headed out for another beer and a walk around town. We walked and talked, with Eric explaining a bit about the town as we went. We wandered outside the tourist center and found ourselves alone on these dark roads. He took us through a temple, and in the light rain, it was very serene and peaceful. We continued to chat and learn more about each other, walking slowly through the town at night by the light of the street lamps and the moon. We ended at a pub, had a beer, and were ushered out of the pub as they closed a few minutes later. It was then time for bed.

The One Hour Flight (or so they said)

Sabai dee from the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. My journey from Chiang Mai to Laos was much longer and more tedious than expected. For starters, I boarded a flight bound for Luang Prabang and ended up in Vientiane. No, I didn’t get on the wrong flight, but my flight was re-routed due to weather over Luang Prabang. Not only did I end up in the wrong city, we were delayed to begin with. I was originally scheduled to take off at about 3:00 but didn't get airborne until 7:30. In Chiang Mai, we were waiting for the plane - they said there were 'technical issues' and that it would be arriving shortly. It was raining in Chiang Mai when we left – the rain was coming from the tropical storm off the coast of Vietnam - but it wasn't too bad. After about 45 minutes in flight, they announced that we were going to be landing in Luang Prabang. We started to descend and the landing gear was put down. I remember looking out the window and seeing the landing gear illuminated by the flashing beacons from the bottom of the plane. It was definitely an eerie sight. The plane was a prop plane and the landing gear came out from under the prop. As we descended, the plane began to bounce around we were hit with a good bit of turbulence. It was fairly intense, but I don’t think that it was too bad - I figured the extra bouncing could be attributed to the small size of the plane. We continued to descend and the city came into view. I saw the temple in the center of town which sits up on top of the mountain. There was a green light coming from the temple and in the stormy light, it looked very (again) eerie. We were very low over the town when all of a sudden, I felt the plane start to climb and bank sharply. After a few minutes, it became apparent that we weren’t on approach for landing anymore. Shortly after the cabin lights were turned on again, another sign that we weren’t going to be landing. At this point we hadn’t heard anything from the crew yet. Finally, they informed us that we were going to be re-routed to Vientiane instead because of the weather. It took about 40 minutes to get to Vientiane and we finally landed at about 9:40. We took off at about 7:30 for what was supposed to be a 50 minute flight. We were supposed to take off at 3:05. It was a long day. And it didn’t end there. We walked off the tarmac and entered immigration still unsure as to what was going to happen. We weren’t sure if we were going to be left to our own devices or if we were going to be flown to Luang Prabang or what. We all went through immigration and I got my Laos visa and stamp and then walked out into the baggage claim hoping to see my bags but saw only an empty room. There were no bags waiting or helpful airline personal. I walked out without my bag and through customs, which was empty. I found the Laos airlines office and they started to explain what was happening and told me to not worry about customs – it was taken care of. We were booked onto a flight for the next morning and then were bussed to a hotel where they put us up for the night. After the waiting and confusion earlier in the day, we were finally being taken care of. We checked in and I bought a few cans of Beer Lao, promptly consuming those and fell asleep. I wasn’t in Luang Prabang, but I was in Laos – finally.

Three down

Morning,

And after a long last week, another semester has finally come to a close. I put the finishing touches on my grades this morning and sent them off and that officially means that my duties are completed and I'm not going to be held accountable for anything until October 24 when the second semester starts up. It's a wonderful feeling to have these next three weeks spread out ahead of me with absolutely no plans.

This semester was unique in several ways. As I've mentioned before, it was a repeat of what I did last year in the sense that I've taught it all before. I wasn't struggling with the material and organization like I did last year. This year, the challenges lay in honing my methods and trying to create a more efficient and effective way of teaching. I've also been able to develop the relationships with my students more and so that presented its own rewards and challenges and at the same time I had to develop new relationships with the incoming class. And on top of all of that, I had to play host for almost five months. It was a busy time. But it was a wonderful semester.

But the end of the semester, particularly the last few weeks of the semester, was particularly frustrating. Towards the end of the semester, I was getting the feeling that I was burned out. I was burned out on teaching. I was tired of doing the everyday chores and dealing with the everyday hassles of teaching. I was also burned out on traveling. I was tired of always being on the move and being hassled by people. I didn't want to travel, I simply wanted to be at home and be with my friends but everywhere I went, despite my considering it my home, I was perceived to be a visitor and was hassled. I can understand why. I'm white. I'm not from here. But after a year and a half, and the increased intensity of my travels over the past five months, I had gotten tired of it. It was a hard experience to get through. For the first time, I lost my patience and just wanted to wear a sign that said, "I know what I'm doing. I live here. Don't bother me." and be on my way. It made me long for the comforts of home and the relative simplicity of a day in the life. Those frustrations, which until then were tolerated, simply became too much. For a period of about two weeks, all of the little things which used to not bother me, suddenly were too much to handle. During many of the initial interactions I have with Thai, they often times attempt to speak English even through they don't really speak English at all. And in the process, they mumble this incoherent mess of words which I can't decipher. I usually follow that mess up with the simple statement that I do, in fact speak, Thai. We then have a conversation and sort out the necessary details and we go happily on our ways. Though sometimes, people refuse to speak to me in Thai. It happens more often that you would think. But recently I was at a local pub with some friends and we were wanting to order some beer and get come change for the pool table. We've been to this pub many times before and they know who we are and what we are doing there. We ordered some beer and asked for some change and nothing happened. The guy who took our order came back and we asked him about it, in Thai, mind you, and he simply stood there looking at us trying to figure out the English words. He attempted to explain in English and motion with his hands in an attempt to convey the point, which he couldn't. He simply refused to speak Thai. He had this deer in headlights look about him. I normally don't mind this and would attempt to encourage him in English, but for some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way that night. He would come and go several more times before he was able to communicate the problem (and in the end there wasn't a problem to begin with) and it took about 20 minutes for our beer and change to arrive. Generally, I brush that aside, have a laugh and go on with my life, but at that point in time I was longing for the simplicity of life back home and got frustrated. I found that for about two weeks, the little things finally got to me.

These lapses in patience have shown me that I've chosen wisely. I'm glad that I'm not on my way home right now, but I am glad that I have finally set a semi-solid date for my return home. Going back to the realization that this is my last semester, I'm now able to brush aside some of those lapses in patience and continue to enjoy this place and these people knowing that I will be home soon. It's got me in the unique of being able to really enjoy the present and look forward to the future simultaneously. And so those weeks were frustrating, but they helped me adjust and get my priorities back in line so that I can enjoy the next eight months.

In addition to having set a semi-solid date to head home, I've also bee exposed to home a lot this semester. Between my sisters visit, my families visit, an Joey's visit, I've had some connection to home in Thailand for most of the past five months. It's obvious to see why I've thought of home more often as of late.

Anyway, I guess that sums up the end of the semester. And now, on to the more exciting things!

It is semester break! I've now got three weeks ahead of me with nothing to do so, I do what everyone does and I leave the country! The plan, and it's a very rough plan is to go to Chiang Mai soon (as in a few hours) and spend a day there before catching a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos. From what I hear, Luang Prabang is a wonderful city, and is well known for their baguettes and Beer Lao so I reckon tomorrow nights dinner will be baguettes and Beer Lao. From there, I've no idea what I'll do or where I go. There are a few places I'd like to see in Laos and so I'll try to see them. I'd also like to stop at a few places in north eastern Thailand as well. So I think I'll be making a big loop and trying to hit all the highlights. I'll be sure to update the blog as I go along so stay tuned.

Take care,

Ryan

A Poltical Journey

Waking up this morning one year ago, I got ready for school in the same fashion as the many days before. My routine was uninterrupted until I descended the stairs into the lobby of my apartment building and was met with the seemingly out of place question of why I was going to school. It was a school day and as I was a teacher, I thought the answer was obvious. In the few words of English that she knew (and refusing to attempt to explain herself in Thai), she attempted to convey to me the reasons why I didn’t have to go to school today. Out the jumbled mess of words which subsequently came from her mouth that I was able to understand, only a few words stood out. Piecing it together, I came up with the innocuous sentence of, “You don’t have to go to school today because all the banks and government offices are closed because of the government”. After deciphering that, I was left even more confused than I was only moments prior. Despite her insistence that I didn’t have school, I was unable to determine the reasons for this impromptu closure.

Trying to make sense of everything, I gave one of my fellow teachers a call. As the phone was ringing, I half expected him to laugh at me and my gullibility and could imagine him asking how I could possibly think that there would be a school holiday only days before the end of the term. Our conversation didn’t take that tone. It bore a strange resemblance to conversations from the movies and books and seemed out of place in my run of the mill life. In a surprised tone, he responded to my question of whether or not there was school with the ominous, ‘you haven’t heard yet….’ He followed on shortly with the point-blank statement that the previous night there had been a coup d'état. The army was now in control of the country and there were tanks and soldiers stationed in the streets throughout Bangkok. It was one of those moments of suspended reality. In the seconds after hearing this statement, I attempted to piece together all of what I was hearing. With countless thoughts spinning through my head, I tried to focus on keywords. Coup d'état, martial law, tanks in the streets, soldiers in control and military kept coming up. And those words didn’t fit with my own reality. My only understanding of a coup d'état came straight from my high school history textbook and more often than not the descriptions that accompanied these fleeting mentions usually consisted of an subtle mention of the coup itself and instead were dominated by the atrocities committed by the new military government. That, of course, didn’t leave a very nice feeling in my stomach.

So, school was canceled and I found myself with the whole day ahead of me. However, the first order of business was to get a hold of as much information as I could about the coup in order to quell my own concerns as well as the inevitable concerns of my friends and family back home. The irony of the situation was that my family had actually found out about the coup before I had. The coup had begun the evening before, long after I had gone to bed, and even if I had been awake, information wasn’t widely available (much less information in English). And so it was breaking news in America while I was sound asleep. It soon became obvious that the coup was peaceful. The coup had been completed with no violence. As people woke up and found a new military government in control, they, surprisingly, began venturing out onto the streets of Bangkok, not to protest, but to hand out flowers and food to the soldiers stationed throughout the city. For most, this was a surprising, yet not completely unexpected turn of events. It wasn’t the first time the government had been toppled by a coup d'état. It was, in fact, the 19th coup d'état since 1932, the most recent of which occurred 15 years ago. And so, while that nation waited to see what would become of this turn of events and, more importantly, the opinion of the King, I took advantage of the day off and headed up to the lakeside restaurant outside of town and had a relaxing lunch with a friend who happened to be in town. He also happened to have studied political science in Bangkok at one of the more politically active universities in the country (Thammasat University). Today marks the one year anniversary of the coup and that presents the ideal opportunity for me to try to bring you all up to speed as to the political developments of the past year.

The most important event as of late was the approval of the 2007 Constitution. The coup makers suspended the constitution that had been written and promulgated in 1997 and pledged to write a new constitution which incorporated many of the important parts of the so-called ‘People’s Constitution’ while at the same time addressing many of the structural deficiencies which enabled the former prime minister Thaksin to strengthen the power of the executive branch and use it to his personal advantage. The process was a lengthy one. There were many contentious issues and many protests were staged. The most impressive of which was a protest staged by a group of monks who marched on Bangkok on top of elephants with statues of the Buddha demanding that Buddhism be enshrined as the national religion. The most widely debated issues included the issue of religion, human rights, the method of selecting the Prime Minister, parliamentary representation, the format for the Senate and the election of senators, and amnesty for the coup makers. The constitution drafting committee, whose selection and purpose was also widely contested, deliberated for months on end and finally, in July, was able to release a finalized version of the proposed constitution. Shortly after its completion, a copy was mailed to every household in the county, including my own, for the people to read over before the national referendum scheduled for August 19. August 19 was a Sunday and the government declared August 20, the following Monday, a holiday so that people could travel back to the provinces that they were registered in to vote. The days leading up to the election were somewhat tense as most people were still undecided as to what direction the country was going to take. Throughout the previous months, rumors of coups and counter-coups were flying and the impending election did nothing but increase the number of rumors. When the day came to vote, the day passed as peacefully as the coup and in the end the constitution was accepted by 57.8% of the people. The passage of the constitution has paved the way for elections, which are now scheduled for December 23. This will mark the final transition from a military government back to a democratically elected government and for most people that moment can’t come soon enough. It is my belief that most of the ‘yes’ vote for the constitution came from people who simply wanted nothing more than to see a return to democracy or the removal of the military government from power. In theory, the approval of the constitution and the elections will accomplish just that, although, there are people who will disagree with that statement.

The announcement of elections has begun an almost frantic rearrangement of political parties and politicians. Everybody and their uncle seem to be jockeying for a position of power and are trying to ensure the greatest chance for success. There are alliances being formed and political parties are defining their positions but one of the most disheartening aspects of the whole process is that is appears to simply be a recycling of the ‘old horses’ of Thai politics. There are few new contenders for these positions of power and it seems that every political party, new and old, has recently elected a former prime minister or governor as party leader. Should that party take a majority of seats, that person is the most likely candidate for prime minister. Even the general who staged the coup, who subsequently pledged to stay out of politics, appears to in the races. While he formally denies that he has any plans after he retires at the end of September, he has yet to promise that he will not run for office.

The impending general election and political party activity has dominated most of the headline news recently, but just prior to the referendum many of the claims of corruption against the former prime minister had finally been processed and accepted by the courts. Several months ago, the courts asked the former Prime Minister Thaksin to appear before the court and defend himself. After submitting that request several times, they issued a warrant for his arrest. Thaksin, who was in New York at the time of the coup, has spent most of the past year in London. He refuses to return to Thailand to argue the charges until he believes he will receive a fair trial and only after power has been restored to the people. While in England, he did what everyone does while in exile and bought himself a premier league football team. This not only assured himself a place in the media in Thailand given Thailand’s love of premier league football, but it also makes him a more difficult person to extradite. Since his arrest warrant was issued (and a second one has subsequently been issued for a different case), Thailand has begun the arduous process of extraditing him. Thailand and England do have an extradition treaty but they first prove that the laws broken are laws in both countries and, more importantly, that the charges are not politically motivated. There are steps being taken to being many of the charges of corruption to trial, but it is a lengthy and time-consuming process.

Of the reasons stated in the so-called “White Paper’ released by the coup makers after the coup, Thaksin’s mismanagement of the restive south was one of the prominent justification for the seizure of power. The interim government has taken significant steps forward in acknowledging that there were mistakes made and have attempted to reach out to the different communities in the southern part of Thailand. There have been significant attempts to repair the political and social relationships with the government of Malaysia and progress has been made. However, the violence continues to escalate and there seems to be no end in sight. It appears as though this is a problem that a simple change in government cannot solve.

One year after the coup, I believe most people will still agree that the verdict is still out. The interim government has made several significant blunders and the validity of the new constitution and the impending elections is questioned, and rightfully so. Only time will tell if the actions of the past year will result in positive change or if Thailand will fall back into the cycle of coup, constitution, violence, elections and hope only to be subjected to yet another coup. It is hard to imagine breaking the cycle when Thailand has had nineteen coup d'états and eighteen constitutions and, more importantly, when there are no new politicians on the horizon bringing change and new ideas. In the end, Thailand is in the same position as many nations. Despite wanting change, the method of achieving any change is so deeply engrained in the tradition and culture of politics that most have given up hope of obtaining it. Those who are in the position to change the system –those who are in the position of power - after having fought so hard (and spent so much money) to obtain that position seek only to preserve the status quo. Maybe Machiavelli was right when he said those who we wish to have in a position of power, have no desire for that power. Positions of power are inherently occupied by those who seek only to perpetuate their own power and position.