FINALLY the weekend we've been planning for three weeks arrived!
Our mission was to surprise a certain Ms. Lisa with a birthday party.
One of the best things (actually THE best thing) about living in Suncheon is all of the other people who live here.
Three weeks ago the Amandas decided that Lisa needed to have the strangest surprise party anyone has ever heard of. Our theme was "In like a lion, out like a lamb" because Lisa's actual birthday is in March.
Over a hundred facebook msgs later, sent between twenty different people, we finally had the details ironed out.
Lisa's party included:
Lindsey:) (it was her birthday that week as well so the party was for both of them)
Cardboard cutouts of sheep and lions to be worn around the neck
Party poppers
Three birthday cakes
Various other delicious foods and beverages
A prom backdrop for picture taking
A huge card for Lindsey (Lizzie surprised us all with her mad crafting skills)
A slightly smaller card for Lisa with a pic of her from 5am in Cambodia blown up to mad proportions
Lots of presents!
Pre-party night (Friday) Lindsey slept over at my house because she lives across town and we had to wake up at 5:00am.
Wait.
What?
Why so early?
Well, as if a surprise party wasn't enough for one day, we also wanted to go to the cherry blossom festival in Gurye.
The whole town is blanketed in cherry blossom trees. They make gorgeous canopies of white and pink flowers all along the main 6km-long road.
The trees only bloom for two weeks out of the year so the festival is insanely popular. We had to leave on the 6:10am bus to beat the crowds and traffic.
We got to the festival with no trouble at all; apart from accidentaly leaving Norman behind...that was really sad:(
On our second bus we (there were six of us) all had seats on the bus. We were the only foreigners, all of the other passengers were adjummas and halmonis (aunts and grandmothers, old and older ladies). Three stops later fifteen more halmonis boarded the bus. We all gave up our seats and gained instant love. All of these little old ladies were happily chatting us up, completely undeterred by our near-total ignorance of the Korean language. Teeny little hands took our purses and bags. They were placed on bony little laps so we wouldn't have to carry them as we stood.
After we disembarked, we walked down the main road with thousands of Korean tourists. A river ran paralel to the road, so we jumped around on river rocks and had tons of photo opportunities.
Three hours and one kilometre later, we spotted a gazebo further up a hill off the main road. We walked up a million steps until we reached the gazebo (I think I'm turning slightly Korean, my first instinct on seeing a mountain is to climb it. I don't think I had that instinct before I came here).
In the gazebo were two low tables with all sorts of tea accoutrements. A man called us inside in English, "This tea is free!".
Happily we slipped off our shoes and settled on the floor around a table. We peered at all of the different pieces of crockery and tea instruments with interest as we waited to be served.
Upon seeing us staring dumbly, not consuming tea, the man who called to us earlier spoke again, "I am not worker here! You must serve yourself!".
"Ohh" suddenly it didn't seem as if tea consumption would be possible. (I know it sounds like we're INCREDIBLY stupid not to be able to figure out tea, but it was complex!)
Seeing our glassy eyes, the man (Master Ryu- Master because he is a hapkido Master) ordered us to move to the other table.
We obeyed.
There were four women in our group and two men. We sat in a mixed fashion. Master Ryu ordered Will to move so the females were on one side and the males on the other. Master Ryu's brother watched the procedings the other side of the gazebo. We invited him to join us as well.
Then Master Ryu proceded to serve us tea (he was so nice!) We (the females) drank 'woman tea' while the men drank 'red' (what westerners would call 'black') tea.
Our cups were tiny, so we were instructed to drink our tea in one gulp. If we wanted more, we had to put our cups on a wooden slab in the middle of the table, and Master Rye would top us up again.
It was a really beautiful experience- sitting high on a mountain, overlooking thousands of cherry blossom trees, being served tea in a traditional manner by the nicest man and his brother.
Tea came to an abrupt end when the police called Master Ryu and told him that he had to move his car (this was not a big deal: in Korea, motorists have their cell phone numbers on display in their dash so it's easy to call the driver if you need them to move their car).
Less then a minute after the brothers took off down the mountain, the sweetest little four-year old girl (Yuji, we later learned from her mother) approached our table and started chatting away. We smiled at her and told her she was beautiful (that's as far as our Korean went).
Yuji was entranced by Amanda's curly, blonde hair. She joyfully dug her hands in and gently gave Amanda a pony-tail. She was so cute!
The six of us agreed later that our gazebo experience made the 5am wake-up call completely worthwhile.
We left Gurye around 1pm. The line of cars headed towards the festival was at least five kilometres long. Now the 5am wake-up call was definitely worth it!
A couple of hours later I called Lisa and told her that Jodie needed help baking a cake. I asked her if she'd be willing to help.
Lisa agreed.
She came down to my apartment where we waited for Lindsey.
Twenty minutes later I took them to Jodie's.
Lisa entered the apartment first.
We got her good.
The poppers blanketed Jodie's apartment with confetti, and fifteen of Lisa and Lindsey's closet friends were gathered around cheering wearing lions or sheep.
We totally pulled of the weirdest surprise birthday party in history.
What a great day!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
March 22: Apricot festival
Well kinda. The Korean is Maehwa, which I believe translates more directly into 'Japanese plum' rather then 'apricot', but in any case...
Lisa and I headed off to Hadong, a town forty minutes away by train, to experience this festival.
The whole point is that the Maehwa trees are blooming. It's gorgeous.
It took us a while to figure out how to get to the actual festival, but we eventually took a taxi about three kilometres out of the town.
The festival contained typical festival things: a mini market, street meat, free samples of plum tea, and a whole pig roasting on a spit.
Lisa and I ate lunch on plastic stools at a makeshift restaurant.
We sat down to listen to a nonet of saxophone players.
We were only mildly surprised that it was really saxophone karaoke to hit tunes, like, "Nobody" by the Wondergirls. *shoots self in face, twice*.
We didn't see any taxis around the festival so we decided to walk the 3km back to the train station.
We realized about half way there that we wouldn't make it in time to catch our train.
We weren't terribly concerned about this as another train was leaving three hours later, but when we saw taxis on the side of the road we went to investigate.
The taxis didn't have any drivers in them, but the men directing traffic had on logos similar to the logos on the taxis.
Lisa approached one of the men asked, "taxi?"
Aburptly traffic controllers started running here and there, presumably looking for taxi drivers.
When no one appeared, we smiled at the men who had tried to help us and started to walk away.
"Wait" we were told, as they spoke urgently into their walkie-talkies.
Thirty seconds later we were on our way to the train station in the back of a police car.
I love Korea.
Lisa and I headed off to Hadong, a town forty minutes away by train, to experience this festival.
The whole point is that the Maehwa trees are blooming. It's gorgeous.
It took us a while to figure out how to get to the actual festival, but we eventually took a taxi about three kilometres out of the town.
The festival contained typical festival things: a mini market, street meat, free samples of plum tea, and a whole pig roasting on a spit.
Lisa and I ate lunch on plastic stools at a makeshift restaurant.
We sat down to listen to a nonet of saxophone players.
We were only mildly surprised that it was really saxophone karaoke to hit tunes, like, "Nobody" by the Wondergirls. *shoots self in face, twice*.
We didn't see any taxis around the festival so we decided to walk the 3km back to the train station.
We realized about half way there that we wouldn't make it in time to catch our train.
We weren't terribly concerned about this as another train was leaving three hours later, but when we saw taxis on the side of the road we went to investigate.
The taxis didn't have any drivers in them, but the men directing traffic had on logos similar to the logos on the taxis.
Lisa approached one of the men asked, "taxi?"
Aburptly traffic controllers started running here and there, presumably looking for taxi drivers.
When no one appeared, we smiled at the men who had tried to help us and started to walk away.
"Wait" we were told, as they spoke urgently into their walkie-talkies.
Thirty seconds later we were on our way to the train station in the back of a police car.
I love Korea.
March 13: And so ends week two of semester one.
I woke up today feeling like Saturday, which is an awesome feeling when you have to work!
On Friday I only teach two classes:
9:00-9:30 Grade 6
9:50-10:30 Grade 5
I love my grade six class, but I let them push me around too much last semester. Today I was playing a game with them, but they didn't like it.
"Different game teacher!"
"Hangman!"
"Twenty-five!"
"Typhoon"
Last semester I would have catered to them, but the new me said "no".
They groaned and whined.
I sat at the teacher's desk and stared at them. My usually boisterous class were stunned into an awkward can-hear-a-pin-drop-silence. I ALMOST broke. They're REALLY nice kids, and I've done what they've wanted before. I ALMOST said, "ok, let's play hangman".
But I didn't.
I waited.
"Teacher...game okay" one brave soul ventured, breaking the heavy silence.
"Yes, yes" murmer the other students in agreement, all looking at me with concern.
"Alright" I said brightly. We played my game (which was basically just a speaking exercise, which is why they didn't like it). They participated very well.
Several students made a point to tell me that the class was 'fun'. And the sweetest little child chased me into the hall, "teacher, game, no no no, sorry!" she apologized for her class earnestly.
I smiled at her and waved good-bye.
I didn't lose my temper.
I didn't let them push me around.
And I won teaching!
On Friday I only teach two classes:
9:00-9:30 Grade 6
9:50-10:30 Grade 5
I love my grade six class, but I let them push me around too much last semester. Today I was playing a game with them, but they didn't like it.
"Different game teacher!"
"Hangman!"
"Twenty-five!"
"Typhoon"
Last semester I would have catered to them, but the new me said "no".
They groaned and whined.
I sat at the teacher's desk and stared at them. My usually boisterous class were stunned into an awkward can-hear-a-pin-drop-silence. I ALMOST broke. They're REALLY nice kids, and I've done what they've wanted before. I ALMOST said, "ok, let's play hangman".
But I didn't.
I waited.
"Teacher...game okay" one brave soul ventured, breaking the heavy silence.
"Yes, yes" murmer the other students in agreement, all looking at me with concern.
"Alright" I said brightly. We played my game (which was basically just a speaking exercise, which is why they didn't like it). They participated very well.
Several students made a point to tell me that the class was 'fun'. And the sweetest little child chased me into the hall, "teacher, game, no no no, sorry!" she apologized for her class earnestly.
I smiled at her and waved good-bye.
I didn't lose my temper.
I didn't let them push me around.
And I won teaching!
March 5: I'm definitely in Korea
The kind of day that is possible to have in Korea, is not possible to have in Canada. I have had "what the Hell?" moments in Canada, but I have NEVER had a whole, "what the Hell?" day.
I can tell when fellow foreigners have had a WTH day. The symptoms include (but are not limited to): excessive giggling, verbal diarrhea, twitching, eyes opened wide, and severe mood swings.
Today I went to my Thurs/Fri school for the first time since late December. I've always felt like an outcast at this school, but today I was determined to go in and make friends. Half the teachers are new, and nobody is teaching the same grade as last year, so it's a good time to take a new approach. I went in smiley and energetic.
I sat in my normal seat in the vice-principal's office. I was promptly told to move. I will now sit in an abandonned classroom, totally alone (damn, makeing friends is going to be harder this way).
My Thursday timetable is as follows:
9:00-9:40 Grade 3
9:50-10:30 Grade 4
11:00-11:40 Grade 5
11:50-12:30 Grade 6
It's a MARATHON of a day, considering MTW I teach five consecutive periods of the SAME grade (and therefore same lesson plan). I was feeling hyper and exhausted when I feel into my chair at 12:30. Unfortunately, they needed to clean my abandonned classroom.
"Please move"
This was getting ridiculous! I went back to the Vice-principal's office and sat at a small table a mile away from everybody else. I did a buttload of photocopying (who knows when I'll be permitted entrance into the V.P's office again?) Some time later the newest, youngest, male teacher approached me.
"Jennifer"
Yes?
"Follow me"
Ok
"Do you speak Korean?"
no
"Oh"
With that, this tratorious man led me directly into the principal's office, and then left me alone with the principal!
The principal NEVER showed ANY interest in me last year!
He motioned me to take a seat, offered me a vitimin C drink, sat directly across from me, and started peppering me with questions, all in Korean.
Every so often, he'd pause and ask, "mola?" (essentially, "you don't understand?") and I'd reply, "ne, mollayo" (that's right, I don't understand).
Then he started saying 'trouble' (in English) over and over again.
"Trouble?" I asked
"Trouble" he replied, and then spelt it out T-R-O-U-B-L-E in case that was my issue.
"Trouble, what?" I asked. He nodded gravely and then took out an English textbook.
He flipped open to a page with tons of entries that looked like this:
apple [a'pul] 아풀 삭과
He proceded to read me about ten entries, underlining with his red pen as he went. All the while, he was looking at me expectingly and talking away in Korean.
FINALLY I had enough "chakkanmanyo" (wait a minute) I called as I raced from his office.
I ran into my co-workers room, "Mrs ___" I whined "help me! The principal's trying to talk to me!"
"What!? (she was instantly as alarmed by this prospect as I was) "why does he want to talk to YOU?"
"I don't know" I whined some more. Sighing, she grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her as we ran back to his office.
"Why don't you know Korean!" she scolded as we ran.
Turns out he wanted to know if I thought teaching the students English would be more effective if I wrote in Korean next to any English I put on the board. I was so flustered at this point I asked Mrs ____ to make up an answer. She answered in the negative and that was that. At least half an hour of my life gone to that simple question!
As we leave the office Mrs____ asks me if I want to go to a staff dinner. I'm a bit flambozzled.. but...Well...it IS my goal to make friends....
A half an hour later we're seated in an expensive beef restaurant. I try to figure out how I'm going to tell them I decided to go back to vegetarianism over the break. I am surrounded by beef. Beef liver, beef stomach lining, and other various pieces of beef are all being fried in the middle of the table.
The matter is resolved when a piece of cooked beef is placed directly in front of me, with a demand of, 'eat this'.
"I'm sorry...I decided to be a vegetarian".
"WHAT?!"
The news circles around the table of twenty people like a wild-fire.
The teacher beside me gives a huff and leaves the room.
Every small side dish without any meat is immediately set in a circle around me.
Before I can stop it, they're teaching each other that I am a 'vegetable-ist'.
The teacher beside me returns with a HUGE platter, containing at least six tons of carrot and cucumber sticks. This is placed directly in front of me, 'because I love you'.
What a production.
Later I was telling Mrs ____ about my time in Thailand. I was telling her about the ladyboys, but I had to stop because I was giving her shivers.
She asked me if I knew of Korea's most famous transvestite.
I confessed my ignorance.
"She is married to a man, WHO is THREE YEARS OLDER" (this is a big deal, because in Korea your spouse and friends should be born in the same year as you, give or take one year maximum)
Conspiritually, I leaned in, "do you know, that my mother's husband is *gasp* THIRTEEN years OLDER than my MOTHER!"
If we had been sitting on chairs she would have fallen off hers.
"NOOO" she exclaims with wide eyes "how did they get married!?!"
This news also circles the table. Everyone drops their current conversations to stare at me.
I nod solemnly at all of them. I am speaking the truth.
The dinner was pretty fun over-all.
But still when I burst into Amanda's apartment at 9:30pm, she knew immediately that I had had a "What the Hell?" day.
I can tell when fellow foreigners have had a WTH day. The symptoms include (but are not limited to): excessive giggling, verbal diarrhea, twitching, eyes opened wide, and severe mood swings.
Today I went to my Thurs/Fri school for the first time since late December. I've always felt like an outcast at this school, but today I was determined to go in and make friends. Half the teachers are new, and nobody is teaching the same grade as last year, so it's a good time to take a new approach. I went in smiley and energetic.
I sat in my normal seat in the vice-principal's office. I was promptly told to move. I will now sit in an abandonned classroom, totally alone (damn, makeing friends is going to be harder this way).
My Thursday timetable is as follows:
9:00-9:40 Grade 3
9:50-10:30 Grade 4
11:00-11:40 Grade 5
11:50-12:30 Grade 6
It's a MARATHON of a day, considering MTW I teach five consecutive periods of the SAME grade (and therefore same lesson plan). I was feeling hyper and exhausted when I feel into my chair at 12:30. Unfortunately, they needed to clean my abandonned classroom.
"Please move"
This was getting ridiculous! I went back to the Vice-principal's office and sat at a small table a mile away from everybody else. I did a buttload of photocopying (who knows when I'll be permitted entrance into the V.P's office again?) Some time later the newest, youngest, male teacher approached me.
"Jennifer"
Yes?
"Follow me"
Ok
"Do you speak Korean?"
no
"Oh"
With that, this tratorious man led me directly into the principal's office, and then left me alone with the principal!
The principal NEVER showed ANY interest in me last year!
He motioned me to take a seat, offered me a vitimin C drink, sat directly across from me, and started peppering me with questions, all in Korean.
Every so often, he'd pause and ask, "mola?" (essentially, "you don't understand?") and I'd reply, "ne, mollayo" (that's right, I don't understand).
Then he started saying 'trouble' (in English) over and over again.
"Trouble?" I asked
"Trouble" he replied, and then spelt it out T-R-O-U-B-L-E in case that was my issue.
"Trouble, what?" I asked. He nodded gravely and then took out an English textbook.
He flipped open to a page with tons of entries that looked like this:
apple [a'pul] 아풀 삭과
He proceded to read me about ten entries, underlining with his red pen as he went. All the while, he was looking at me expectingly and talking away in Korean.
FINALLY I had enough "chakkanmanyo" (wait a minute) I called as I raced from his office.
I ran into my co-workers room, "Mrs ___" I whined "help me! The principal's trying to talk to me!"
"What!? (she was instantly as alarmed by this prospect as I was) "why does he want to talk to YOU?"
"I don't know" I whined some more. Sighing, she grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her as we ran back to his office.
"Why don't you know Korean!" she scolded as we ran.
Turns out he wanted to know if I thought teaching the students English would be more effective if I wrote in Korean next to any English I put on the board. I was so flustered at this point I asked Mrs ____ to make up an answer. She answered in the negative and that was that. At least half an hour of my life gone to that simple question!
As we leave the office Mrs____ asks me if I want to go to a staff dinner. I'm a bit flambozzled.. but...Well...it IS my goal to make friends....
A half an hour later we're seated in an expensive beef restaurant. I try to figure out how I'm going to tell them I decided to go back to vegetarianism over the break. I am surrounded by beef. Beef liver, beef stomach lining, and other various pieces of beef are all being fried in the middle of the table.
The matter is resolved when a piece of cooked beef is placed directly in front of me, with a demand of, 'eat this'.
"I'm sorry...I decided to be a vegetarian".
"WHAT?!"
The news circles around the table of twenty people like a wild-fire.
The teacher beside me gives a huff and leaves the room.
Every small side dish without any meat is immediately set in a circle around me.
Before I can stop it, they're teaching each other that I am a 'vegetable-ist'.
The teacher beside me returns with a HUGE platter, containing at least six tons of carrot and cucumber sticks. This is placed directly in front of me, 'because I love you'.
What a production.
Later I was telling Mrs ____ about my time in Thailand. I was telling her about the ladyboys, but I had to stop because I was giving her shivers.
She asked me if I knew of Korea's most famous transvestite.
I confessed my ignorance.
"She is married to a man, WHO is THREE YEARS OLDER" (this is a big deal, because in Korea your spouse and friends should be born in the same year as you, give or take one year maximum)
Conspiritually, I leaned in, "do you know, that my mother's husband is *gasp* THIRTEEN years OLDER than my MOTHER!"
If we had been sitting on chairs she would have fallen off hers.
"NOOO" she exclaims with wide eyes "how did they get married!?!"
This news also circles the table. Everyone drops their current conversations to stare at me.
I nod solemnly at all of them. I am speaking the truth.
The dinner was pretty fun over-all.
But still when I burst into Amanda's apartment at 9:30pm, she knew immediately that I had had a "What the Hell?" day.
March 2: The Wrap Up
I've been back in Suncheon for four days now. It already feels like my trip to South East Asia was a dream.
The rest of our time in Mui Ne was just as glorious and relaxing as I could possibly have wished for. Everyday I rented a bicycle ($1USD) and drove several kilometres along the coast. Then I'd spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach, chatting with other travelers.
We sadly waved good-bye to Mui Ne on February 25th. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh after nightfall. We were offloaded across the street from the back-packer portion of the city.
Key phrase: 'across the street'.
Oh my.
99% of the vehicles on the packed roads are motorcycles/scooters. There are no traffic lights; just twenty lanes of vehicles going Southward, and another twenty lanes of vehicles Northen-bound.
Thankfully it's congested enough that no one's driving faster than 30-40km/hr. But no one stops for pedestrians, they simply swerve around you. You have to walk into forty lanes of two-wheeled vehicles with blind faith that no one will hit you.
It's invigorating to say the least.
It's scarier to cross a street in HCMC then it is to drive a bicycle in Siam Reap, and that's saying something!
After being on a beach for a week, the noise and confusion of HCMC was overwhelming. I collasped on our hotel bed, and pleaded with Ali when her fingers reached for the T.V remote, "NOOOO!! Silence PLEASE!!!"
*********************************************************
February 26th was our last day of the trip. Our plane didn't leave until midnight, so we had the whole day to spend as we pleased. Amanda and Susan opted for a tour to the tunnels. Ali took a trip to the reunification palace and the museum formerly known as, "The Museum of American Atrocities".
Lazy Lisa and I were not interested (I would be NOW, but after sight-seeing for so long I was a bit burnt out). So Lisa and I did what any teeny-bopper would do, and spent the day at a waterpark!
It was a bit confusing at first. Our cabbie dropped us off at an amusement park of the same name. We saw carnival rides and said, "no no no, that's not a waterpark!" We were directed 500 sweaty metres to our left. Upon arriving we tried to check in our bags with the locker man, like everyone else was doing.
"No no", grunted the man, "upstairs".
Confused, Lisa and I started to walk away, as he continued to service other people. We found stairs, but they led to a water slide. On our way back to the locker man, I asked another foreigner (who was with a local) how we checked our stuff. He told us we needed to buy a ticket from a lady sitting across from the locker man. Dutifully we approached her, and asked for a ticket.
"Upstairs" she murmers.
Meanwhile, twenty other people are granted the use of the lockers directly behind us. Exasperated, I repeated, "ticket please" with a bit of an edge to my voice.
With a dramatic sigh and eye-rolling we were finally sold tickets. After checking our bags, we climbed the stairs to the waterslide closet to us.
As we were climbing, we stopped and checked out the landing called 'foreigner sunbathe area'. Sure enough, there were lockers.
Can you imagine a waterpark in Canada that had a seperate area for foreigners?
Anyway, Lisa and I had a fabulous afternoon being eleven years old again.
I have nothing more to say about the waterpark, except! that in the washroom (that we got to share with the locals) a lady was combing her hair using a comb that was bolted to the wall. That's right! Communal comb!
To round off our last day, the five of us had a 'last supper' at a fabulous vegetarian restaurant. Then we watched a water-puppet show.
Our tickets said we were in row 's'. I can only assume that the 's' stood for 'splash' row. We were in the very front row, and at a water puppet show that is a wet place to be!
The rest of our time in Mui Ne was just as glorious and relaxing as I could possibly have wished for. Everyday I rented a bicycle ($1USD) and drove several kilometres along the coast. Then I'd spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach, chatting with other travelers.
We sadly waved good-bye to Mui Ne on February 25th. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh after nightfall. We were offloaded across the street from the back-packer portion of the city.
Key phrase: 'across the street'.
Oh my.
99% of the vehicles on the packed roads are motorcycles/scooters. There are no traffic lights; just twenty lanes of vehicles going Southward, and another twenty lanes of vehicles Northen-bound.
Thankfully it's congested enough that no one's driving faster than 30-40km/hr. But no one stops for pedestrians, they simply swerve around you. You have to walk into forty lanes of two-wheeled vehicles with blind faith that no one will hit you.
It's invigorating to say the least.
It's scarier to cross a street in HCMC then it is to drive a bicycle in Siam Reap, and that's saying something!
After being on a beach for a week, the noise and confusion of HCMC was overwhelming. I collasped on our hotel bed, and pleaded with Ali when her fingers reached for the T.V remote, "NOOOO!! Silence PLEASE!!!"
*********************************************************
February 26th was our last day of the trip. Our plane didn't leave until midnight, so we had the whole day to spend as we pleased. Amanda and Susan opted for a tour to the tunnels. Ali took a trip to the reunification palace and the museum formerly known as, "The Museum of American Atrocities".
Lazy Lisa and I were not interested (I would be NOW, but after sight-seeing for so long I was a bit burnt out). So Lisa and I did what any teeny-bopper would do, and spent the day at a waterpark!
It was a bit confusing at first. Our cabbie dropped us off at an amusement park of the same name. We saw carnival rides and said, "no no no, that's not a waterpark!" We were directed 500 sweaty metres to our left. Upon arriving we tried to check in our bags with the locker man, like everyone else was doing.
"No no", grunted the man, "upstairs".
Confused, Lisa and I started to walk away, as he continued to service other people. We found stairs, but they led to a water slide. On our way back to the locker man, I asked another foreigner (who was with a local) how we checked our stuff. He told us we needed to buy a ticket from a lady sitting across from the locker man. Dutifully we approached her, and asked for a ticket.
"Upstairs" she murmers.
Meanwhile, twenty other people are granted the use of the lockers directly behind us. Exasperated, I repeated, "ticket please" with a bit of an edge to my voice.
With a dramatic sigh and eye-rolling we were finally sold tickets. After checking our bags, we climbed the stairs to the waterslide closet to us.
As we were climbing, we stopped and checked out the landing called 'foreigner sunbathe area'. Sure enough, there were lockers.
Can you imagine a waterpark in Canada that had a seperate area for foreigners?
Anyway, Lisa and I had a fabulous afternoon being eleven years old again.
I have nothing more to say about the waterpark, except! that in the washroom (that we got to share with the locals) a lady was combing her hair using a comb that was bolted to the wall. That's right! Communal comb!
To round off our last day, the five of us had a 'last supper' at a fabulous vegetarian restaurant. Then we watched a water-puppet show.
Our tickets said we were in row 's'. I can only assume that the 's' stood for 'splash' row. We were in the very front row, and at a water puppet show that is a wet place to be!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
February 22- Sorry Mom (on two counts)
The first reason I have to apologize to my mother is because she doesn't like it when I participate in dangerous activities. I didn't MEAN to do anything death-defying today...it just sort of happened.
On the very first night we arrived in Mui Ne, our guest house of choice was full. A man on a motorbike touted a different guesthouse to us (he'd get a commission). Tired and lazy, we agreed to stay at his guesthouse. But now, how to get there? The guesthouse was 2km away and we didn't want to haul our bags that distance. We decided to take a taxi. The problem was, there's only one kind of taxi in Mui Ne, and that would be the motorbike taxi. With my suitcase wedged between his legs, and me hanging on to him, my motorbike taxist dropped me off at the guesthouse (the other four arrived in staggered intervals).
I hated the ride. It felt much too dangerous.
So today, when Amanda and Suze rented a motorbike (to drive THEMSELVES), I convinced Lisa that a nice, safe non-motorized bicycle ride would be WAY more fun (and safe...did I say that already?)
Off we headed to see the red sand dunes of Mui Ne (the white dunes are supposed to be prettier but its too far to bike there).
Upon reaching the dunes we immediately spotted the ATV's for rent. I've driven ATV's when I was in elementary school (can I get a rural Nova Scotia YEE-HAW) but not since.
I figured that if I could do it when I was eight years old I could do it now, so we rented the ATV's. I'd like to point out two flaws in my logic.
1. When I was eight I drove on trails (around open fish tanks, but still), not dunes.
2. When I was eight I was not aware of my own mortality.
I knew I was in trouble within the first five seconds.
Lisa and I each had our own ATV and then two men (I suppose they were safety guides) shared another. In order to drive up insanely steep sand dunes, you need to speed towards them as fast as possible.
I was not good at this.
I continuously raced towards these walls of sand, only to find myself slowing, slowing, stopped. And going nowhere. Lisa was a champ and was doing fine, so one tiny, Vietnamese safety guide jumped on my lap, wrapped my arms around his torso (twice, because his torso was so small) and showed me how ATVing on the dunes was supposed to be done.
Well Shit.
It was scarier then the most scary roller coaster ride ever invented. We would CHARGE up cliffs of sand, catching air and riding on two wheels. He would drive right along the edge of these four-story cliffs, while I waited for the edge to crumble and for us to plummet to our deaths. Up another wall we'd roar, only to find ourselves staring down a four-story wall of sand.
It's like that moment at the top of the rollercoaster. That second where you're absolutely still, but you know you're going over the edge and nothing you can do can stop it.
"No!" I shrieked, "Don't go DOWN there! Stop! Stop!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Sand came rushing up past us as we roared down the dune.
I wonder how many foreigners typically scream in his ear? Was I the first?
Eventually we circle back to Lisa.
"I'm done!" I announce dramatically. It's been ten minutes into our hour.
"What?!?, but this is so much fun!", Lisa cries as she guns her engine and zooms into the distance.
"I don't want to do this anymore", I declare firmly to my driver. He looks blankly ahead, then launches us into some sort of suicide doughnut maneuver.
Eventually, I get used to the constant shifting of my stomach from my throat to my toes. I start smiling. I start to enjoy myself. My screams turn from screams of terror to screams of exhilaration.
Its breathtakingly beautiful; the sahara-like dunes that overlook the ocean. It's an awesome sight.
My driver feels y death grip loosening. "You" he grunts as he jumps off the ATV.
"Ok, I can do this", I lecture myself...and get stuck in the sand five metres further on. Running after me, my driver un-sticks me and points me in the right direction.
Quickly, I become this man's worst nightmare, as he chases me over sand dunes, constantly un-sticking me, and/or hopping onto my lap to drive me to somewhere I can handle. During one such short drive he insisted that I wear his baseball cap. Unfortunately, his head was as small as the rest of him, and it immediately blew off my head.
I was getting into it though. I was driving up and down bigger and bigger dunes, and getting stuck less and less.
Finally they thought I was ready to go down a small (maybe 10 foot) 90 degree drop on my own.
I wasn't.
I crept to the edge of the cliff and slowly inched over. So slowly in fact, that my wheels didn't turn at all on my descent, I just ploughed through the sand (which everyone found hilarious).
All in all it was a wicked experience, and I'm glad everyone completely ignored me when I said I wanted to quit.
So sorry mom, for doing a dangerous activity.
Oh yeah...remember how I said I was sorry on two counts? Well...when we got on our ATVs I asked Lisa to carry the digital camera you got me for Christmas last year. She put it in her shoulder bag, which had an unfortunate meeting with her exhaust pipe.
My camera melted.
It is WRECKED.
My driver got the memory stick out, so hopefully my 400+ pictures have survived.
I'm genuinely sorry mom, I really didn't mean to ruin one of the best gifts I've ever been given:(
ps. What were you thinking giving me something so easily destroyed? Have you MET me? :)
On the very first night we arrived in Mui Ne, our guest house of choice was full. A man on a motorbike touted a different guesthouse to us (he'd get a commission). Tired and lazy, we agreed to stay at his guesthouse. But now, how to get there? The guesthouse was 2km away and we didn't want to haul our bags that distance. We decided to take a taxi. The problem was, there's only one kind of taxi in Mui Ne, and that would be the motorbike taxi. With my suitcase wedged between his legs, and me hanging on to him, my motorbike taxist dropped me off at the guesthouse (the other four arrived in staggered intervals).
I hated the ride. It felt much too dangerous.
So today, when Amanda and Suze rented a motorbike (to drive THEMSELVES), I convinced Lisa that a nice, safe non-motorized bicycle ride would be WAY more fun (and safe...did I say that already?)
Off we headed to see the red sand dunes of Mui Ne (the white dunes are supposed to be prettier but its too far to bike there).
Upon reaching the dunes we immediately spotted the ATV's for rent. I've driven ATV's when I was in elementary school (can I get a rural Nova Scotia YEE-HAW) but not since.
I figured that if I could do it when I was eight years old I could do it now, so we rented the ATV's. I'd like to point out two flaws in my logic.
1. When I was eight I drove on trails (around open fish tanks, but still), not dunes.
2. When I was eight I was not aware of my own mortality.
I knew I was in trouble within the first five seconds.
Lisa and I each had our own ATV and then two men (I suppose they were safety guides) shared another. In order to drive up insanely steep sand dunes, you need to speed towards them as fast as possible.
I was not good at this.
I continuously raced towards these walls of sand, only to find myself slowing, slowing, stopped. And going nowhere. Lisa was a champ and was doing fine, so one tiny, Vietnamese safety guide jumped on my lap, wrapped my arms around his torso (twice, because his torso was so small) and showed me how ATVing on the dunes was supposed to be done.
Well Shit.
It was scarier then the most scary roller coaster ride ever invented. We would CHARGE up cliffs of sand, catching air and riding on two wheels. He would drive right along the edge of these four-story cliffs, while I waited for the edge to crumble and for us to plummet to our deaths. Up another wall we'd roar, only to find ourselves staring down a four-story wall of sand.
It's like that moment at the top of the rollercoaster. That second where you're absolutely still, but you know you're going over the edge and nothing you can do can stop it.
"No!" I shrieked, "Don't go DOWN there! Stop! Stop!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Sand came rushing up past us as we roared down the dune.
I wonder how many foreigners typically scream in his ear? Was I the first?
Eventually we circle back to Lisa.
"I'm done!" I announce dramatically. It's been ten minutes into our hour.
"What?!?, but this is so much fun!", Lisa cries as she guns her engine and zooms into the distance.
"I don't want to do this anymore", I declare firmly to my driver. He looks blankly ahead, then launches us into some sort of suicide doughnut maneuver.
Eventually, I get used to the constant shifting of my stomach from my throat to my toes. I start smiling. I start to enjoy myself. My screams turn from screams of terror to screams of exhilaration.
Its breathtakingly beautiful; the sahara-like dunes that overlook the ocean. It's an awesome sight.
My driver feels y death grip loosening. "You" he grunts as he jumps off the ATV.
"Ok, I can do this", I lecture myself...and get stuck in the sand five metres further on. Running after me, my driver un-sticks me and points me in the right direction.
Quickly, I become this man's worst nightmare, as he chases me over sand dunes, constantly un-sticking me, and/or hopping onto my lap to drive me to somewhere I can handle. During one such short drive he insisted that I wear his baseball cap. Unfortunately, his head was as small as the rest of him, and it immediately blew off my head.
I was getting into it though. I was driving up and down bigger and bigger dunes, and getting stuck less and less.
Finally they thought I was ready to go down a small (maybe 10 foot) 90 degree drop on my own.
I wasn't.
I crept to the edge of the cliff and slowly inched over. So slowly in fact, that my wheels didn't turn at all on my descent, I just ploughed through the sand (which everyone found hilarious).
All in all it was a wicked experience, and I'm glad everyone completely ignored me when I said I wanted to quit.
So sorry mom, for doing a dangerous activity.
Oh yeah...remember how I said I was sorry on two counts? Well...when we got on our ATVs I asked Lisa to carry the digital camera you got me for Christmas last year. She put it in her shoulder bag, which had an unfortunate meeting with her exhaust pipe.
My camera melted.
It is WRECKED.
My driver got the memory stick out, so hopefully my 400+ pictures have survived.
I'm genuinely sorry mom, I really didn't mean to ruin one of the best gifts I've ever been given:(
ps. What were you thinking giving me something so easily destroyed? Have you MET me? :)
February 21- More Mui Ne
Today I have nothing special to report. It was just a lovely day at the beach.
Instead of a locust tonight I was greeted by a mouse-sized cockroach. Although I'd had success with the locust yesterday; tonight I called in the big guns. After Lisa herded out the cockroach, I once again ensconced myself in mosquito netting and had a good night's sleep.
Instead of a locust tonight I was greeted by a mouse-sized cockroach. Although I'd had success with the locust yesterday; tonight I called in the big guns. After Lisa herded out the cockroach, I once again ensconced myself in mosquito netting and had a good night's sleep.
Friday, February 20, 2009
February 20-Impressions: Big to Small
Impression of: South East Asia
Driving through Chiang Mai, on our first day here, my eyes weren't attracted to the markets stalls, the dogs laying on the roads, the palm trees, the crazy vehicles, or any of the usual things. I was too busy staring at all of the foreigners. I hadn't seen so many white/black people in six months. Isn't it weird that in South East Asia, I've seen more foreigners then I've seen in half a year? I'm starting to understand why the Korean people generally stare at me. I was doing it for crying outloud!
Foreigners dress strangely and inappropriately (does NO ONE follow the legs OR chest rule anymore!?!?). Foreigners can also be shaped very oddly, due to the unhealthy, chemical-ridden food they eat (VERY few Asian people have thunder thighs, saddle bags, or muffin tops, if they are going to carry extra weight, it's usually right in the belly). And I'm one of the oddly-shaped, inappropriately dressed foreigners. Weird.
Impressions of: Vietnam
In Vietnam 98% of all adults and 10% of all children wear helmets on scooters (apparently the soft skulls of children are more resilient than adult skulls). Compared to Thailand and Cambodia, this is a 98/10% increase in helmut use. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese also follow another traffic law: they beep their horns when they pass another vehicle. Every. Single. Time.
And not just a little tap either. It's a continuous lean on the horn.
In this country, I'd say 90% of all motorists are on scooters, motercycles, or some cross in between. Can you imagine how often thousands of two-wheeled vehicles all going down the same road overtake one another? Now imagine that you're in a great, big, tourbus on this road, filled with wimpy motercycles. I was ready to go to the front of the bus, and rip off the steering wheel, to prevent the driver from honking ANY more.
Today we rented bicycles and it was the same thing. Everytime any motorized vehicle passed us, they blew their horns. SO ANNOYING.
One time in particular, I was re-entering the road from a convenience store on the shoulder. I carefully waited for a large break in traffic before going back on the road. Obviously I normally hug the side of the road as much as possible without actually leaving the pavement.
However, I was driving a huge, wobbly, banana-bike, and for the first few unsteady seconds, I accidentally drifted into the middle of the road.
BLAM BLAM BLAM!!!
Honks the tourbus behind me (and it's not like there was a danger of him hitting me, I didn't dart in front of him, he was FAR behind me).
As I gained momentum (and therefore control) I moved to the side of the road, with him BLAMMING at me the ENTIRE , oh I don't know, fifteen seconds it took me to get out of his way. Not content with a clear path, the driver slowed down and kept pace beside me for a good 50 metres, BLAMMING and yelling at me the entire time.
I didn't so much as blink in acknowledgement. But I really wanted him to come out and fight me.
Impressions of: Mui Ne
I'll write more about the beauty of this place later on (someone needs the computer at the moment).
Except last night, as I was cowering under mosquito netting, wondering if four-inch-long, grasshopper-like insects were dangerous, I had a bit of a moment of truth. The above-mentioned insect clinging to my curtains was causing me an unusual hesitation at the thought of turning off the lights and going to sleep.
Instead of being wimpy, I got the bug out myself (which involved squealing, throwing the curtains out the window, and slamming the window shut). Still, I'm taking care of business by myself more and more. It feels good.
Driving through Chiang Mai, on our first day here, my eyes weren't attracted to the markets stalls, the dogs laying on the roads, the palm trees, the crazy vehicles, or any of the usual things. I was too busy staring at all of the foreigners. I hadn't seen so many white/black people in six months. Isn't it weird that in South East Asia, I've seen more foreigners then I've seen in half a year? I'm starting to understand why the Korean people generally stare at me. I was doing it for crying outloud!
Foreigners dress strangely and inappropriately (does NO ONE follow the legs OR chest rule anymore!?!?). Foreigners can also be shaped very oddly, due to the unhealthy, chemical-ridden food they eat (VERY few Asian people have thunder thighs, saddle bags, or muffin tops, if they are going to carry extra weight, it's usually right in the belly). And I'm one of the oddly-shaped, inappropriately dressed foreigners. Weird.
Impressions of: Vietnam
In Vietnam 98% of all adults and 10% of all children wear helmets on scooters (apparently the soft skulls of children are more resilient than adult skulls). Compared to Thailand and Cambodia, this is a 98/10% increase in helmut use. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese also follow another traffic law: they beep their horns when they pass another vehicle. Every. Single. Time.
And not just a little tap either. It's a continuous lean on the horn.
In this country, I'd say 90% of all motorists are on scooters, motercycles, or some cross in between. Can you imagine how often thousands of two-wheeled vehicles all going down the same road overtake one another? Now imagine that you're in a great, big, tourbus on this road, filled with wimpy motercycles. I was ready to go to the front of the bus, and rip off the steering wheel, to prevent the driver from honking ANY more.
Today we rented bicycles and it was the same thing. Everytime any motorized vehicle passed us, they blew their horns. SO ANNOYING.
One time in particular, I was re-entering the road from a convenience store on the shoulder. I carefully waited for a large break in traffic before going back on the road. Obviously I normally hug the side of the road as much as possible without actually leaving the pavement.
However, I was driving a huge, wobbly, banana-bike, and for the first few unsteady seconds, I accidentally drifted into the middle of the road.
BLAM BLAM BLAM!!!
Honks the tourbus behind me (and it's not like there was a danger of him hitting me, I didn't dart in front of him, he was FAR behind me).
As I gained momentum (and therefore control) I moved to the side of the road, with him BLAMMING at me the ENTIRE , oh I don't know, fifteen seconds it took me to get out of his way. Not content with a clear path, the driver slowed down and kept pace beside me for a good 50 metres, BLAMMING and yelling at me the entire time.
I didn't so much as blink in acknowledgement. But I really wanted him to come out and fight me.
Impressions of: Mui Ne
I'll write more about the beauty of this place later on (someone needs the computer at the moment).
Except last night, as I was cowering under mosquito netting, wondering if four-inch-long, grasshopper-like insects were dangerous, I had a bit of a moment of truth. The above-mentioned insect clinging to my curtains was causing me an unusual hesitation at the thought of turning off the lights and going to sleep.
Instead of being wimpy, I got the bug out myself (which involved squealing, throwing the curtains out the window, and slamming the window shut). Still, I'm taking care of business by myself more and more. It feels good.
February 17-19-Siam Reap-Phnom Penh-Mui Ne
Again with the 5am wake-up call! This time we had to catch a boat from Siam Reap to Phnom Penh. I spent most of Phnom Penh in hiding (from the blazing hot sun). On the 19th we took a bus into Vietnam (where the border crossing was delightfully easy and scam-free). Happily we settled into the resort town of Mui Ne.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
February 16: Where we last left off...
Our heroine had fallen into bed after 30-40km of biking in 35C.
So this morning we:
A: Slept in.
B: Got up at 5:00am.
Of course... 'B'.
Yesterday we purposely avoided the main attraction, Angkor Wat, so we could see it at sunrise.
It was beautiful (pics will come on facebook).
Lisa and I also went horseback riding today. We cantered, which was fun, although I really need to take horseback riding lessons and learn how to canter without destroying my ass in the process.
So this morning we:
A: Slept in.
B: Got up at 5:00am.
Of course... 'B'.
Yesterday we purposely avoided the main attraction, Angkor Wat, so we could see it at sunrise.
It was beautiful (pics will come on facebook).
Lisa and I also went horseback riding today. We cantered, which was fun, although I really need to take horseback riding lessons and learn how to canter without destroying my ass in the process.
February 15- Jennifer Becomes Fearless
Today we biked to Angkor.
Bicycling in Siam Reap is an extreme sport. There's no such thing as biking on shoulders or sidewalks. There's no such thing as a bike lane. As a cyclist in Siam Reap, you are a motorist surrounded by tuk tuks, cars, tourbuses, motorcycles, scooters, and slower cyclists/pedestrians pulling huge carts of goodness-knows-what. Throw in the fact that the streets are packed, and motorists driving small vehicles can't seem to pick one side of the road over the other, and you've got yourself a gong-show!
I just pretended like I was on a scooter (in my mind that gave me more of a right to be on the road). I even went through a round-about! All of these vehicles were whizzing all around me, and it honestly didn't phaze me. I was fearless (yet alert, except for one time when I lifted my head to see a motorcycle barreling towards me on the wrong side of the road. But I swerved and was okay).
From 9am-6pm we cycled all over Angkor, taking in Angkor Thom, Ta Phroem (sp?) (where "Tomb Raider" and "Indiana Jones:Temple of Doom" were filmed) and all sorts of other smaller lesser know wats (wats=temples).
While we had a fantastic day (Cambodia and I have resolved our differences) the HEAT!! Oh my goodness. You know that stupid question people sometimes ask? (When they're six I suppose): Would you rather be hot or cold?
Well people who can answer that question haven't been REALLY hot or cold. I mean, so hot or cold that you think, "I can see how people can die from this". Anyway, the answer is: neither. I'd rather be temperate (I was really afraid I was going to get a wicked sunburn, I was sweating so much that the sunscreen was just slideing off of my skin, but I was fine).
Thirty-forty kilometres later, we were zonked. After dinner we had massages from blind masseurs and fell into bed.
Bicycling in Siam Reap is an extreme sport. There's no such thing as biking on shoulders or sidewalks. There's no such thing as a bike lane. As a cyclist in Siam Reap, you are a motorist surrounded by tuk tuks, cars, tourbuses, motorcycles, scooters, and slower cyclists/pedestrians pulling huge carts of goodness-knows-what. Throw in the fact that the streets are packed, and motorists driving small vehicles can't seem to pick one side of the road over the other, and you've got yourself a gong-show!
I just pretended like I was on a scooter (in my mind that gave me more of a right to be on the road). I even went through a round-about! All of these vehicles were whizzing all around me, and it honestly didn't phaze me. I was fearless (yet alert, except for one time when I lifted my head to see a motorcycle barreling towards me on the wrong side of the road. But I swerved and was okay).
From 9am-6pm we cycled all over Angkor, taking in Angkor Thom, Ta Phroem (sp?) (where "Tomb Raider" and "Indiana Jones:Temple of Doom" were filmed) and all sorts of other smaller lesser know wats (wats=temples).
While we had a fantastic day (Cambodia and I have resolved our differences) the HEAT!! Oh my goodness. You know that stupid question people sometimes ask? (When they're six I suppose): Would you rather be hot or cold?
Well people who can answer that question haven't been REALLY hot or cold. I mean, so hot or cold that you think, "I can see how people can die from this". Anyway, the answer is: neither. I'd rather be temperate (I was really afraid I was going to get a wicked sunburn, I was sweating so much that the sunscreen was just slideing off of my skin, but I was fine).
Thirty-forty kilometres later, we were zonked. After dinner we had massages from blind masseurs and fell into bed.
February 14- Things get better...
Not like they could have gotten worse! Today we were smart and gave ourselves a break. We mosy-ed, stayed inside out of the heat, ate three square meals, hit a market, and showered frequently (yesterday when I got here, I flung myself into my bed...which turned my white sheets into the most disgusting orangy-brown colour).
Yesterday's entry related some scams I've been subjected to. I didn't really talk about the country. It's exactly how you would picture a post-war country.
Cambodia has the most landmines of any country in the world (don't worry, I'm not straying off the beaten path). As soon as you cross the border, the landscape becomes bleak. Especially after living in hilly South Korea/Northern Thailand, the prairie-like flatness is hard on the eyes.
The ground is red dust and the sky is grey.
During the three-hour taxi-ride from the border to Siam Reap, conditions were appalling. The road is only paved up to a certain point, then you must jounce along crater filled dirt roads, that frequently detour into even worse rutted pathways.
At one point we were driving like a stunt car in a movie, with two wheels up on a mound of dirt and the other two on the road.
Siam Reap is dirty and crowded. While I am no longer wishing to cut my vacation short, Cambodia has been a sobering country.
Yesterday's entry related some scams I've been subjected to. I didn't really talk about the country. It's exactly how you would picture a post-war country.
Cambodia has the most landmines of any country in the world (don't worry, I'm not straying off the beaten path). As soon as you cross the border, the landscape becomes bleak. Especially after living in hilly South Korea/Northern Thailand, the prairie-like flatness is hard on the eyes.
The ground is red dust and the sky is grey.
During the three-hour taxi-ride from the border to Siam Reap, conditions were appalling. The road is only paved up to a certain point, then you must jounce along crater filled dirt roads, that frequently detour into even worse rutted pathways.
At one point we were driving like a stunt car in a movie, with two wheels up on a mound of dirt and the other two on the road.
Siam Reap is dirty and crowded. While I am no longer wishing to cut my vacation short, Cambodia has been a sobering country.
February (Friday the 13th lived up to expectations) OR Bangkok-Siam Reap
I am writing this entry from the relative space and comfort of February the 14th. Had I written this entry yesterday, it would be rated 'R'for use of excessive foul language.
February 13th dawned insanely hot. We ate a quick breakfast and began our major challenge of this trip: traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Siam Reap, Cambodia.
I don't consider myself a seasoned veteren of international travel, but I'm not green either. Cambodia will be the 12th country I've visited in the last two years, and I'm not counting lay-overs and drive-thrus. However, the Thai-Cambodia border was the first border I've crossed on land (except for EU borders, which they don't check).
It is a DOOZY of a border.
Every sweaty step of the way is a scam to squeeze more money out of tourists. The biggest scam is travel agencies selling tickets directly from Bangkok to Siam Reap. These tickets are invalid. The bus will take you as far as the border, and dump you.
Our Ko Samet friend, Peter, had bought one such ticket years ago. Consequentially, he spent nine hours in the flatbed of a pickup truck with fourteen other people in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Fortunately, we were aware of this scam, so we:
9am :) Insisted on taking a metered taxi to the bus station, which was half as expensive as the tuk-tuks being pushed on us.
9:30am :) Bussed from Bangkok to the A.P. bus station
2:30pm :) took a tuk tuk from A.P. bus station to the border (at a reasonable price)
2:45 :( were taken by tuk tuk to a small visa office before being taken to the border. We bought our visas there because we had no idea what was going on. We would have saved 6CDN each had we bought our visas at the border.
:) Did NOT fall for other scams at said visa office, including a too-cheap taxi-ride to Siam Reap
3:00pm :1 (neutral) left Thailand, walked 200m across border, entered Cambodia
3:40 :) took a free bus from border to bus station
4:00pm :( were pressured into exchanging our baht into riel at a poor exchange rate
4:10 :) found a taxi to take us to Siam Reap
7:30 pm :( were dropped off at a tuk tuk stand just outside the city. Not knowing what else to do, we paid the tuk tuk driver a slightly elevated price to take us to our guesthouse.
:) AVOIDED the scam of taking the ride for free, thus being beholden to give the driver a job the following day.
:) AVOIDED allowing the driver to take us to HIS prefered guesthouse, where he would have received a commission for delivering us.
----------------------------------------
Does this sound as tiring as it was?
It's EXHAUSTING. You always have to be on your guard, fending off scams left, right, and centre. And they know just how to hustle hot and tired tourists who have been traveling all day.
Although...on the flip side, although their tactics are annoying and inconvenient; who's going to cry buckets of tears over poor local people getting a few extra dollars out of relatively rich foreigners? Didn't they write a book about that? Robin Hood?
On the other flipside, from the time we left our hotel in the morning, to the time we got to our hotel at night, we spent twelve hours on the road. During this time period, we ran from bus to tuk tuk, never taking a break in the 40C heat. We didn't even eat, we didn't have time.
When we got to our guesthouse in Siam Reap, I couldn't remember why on earth I had wanted to go to Cambodia in the first place. I was HOT in a way I can't adequately explain, so tired, and SO hungry. I was dizzy, nauseous, covered in sweat, and (Lord forgive me) wishing for a plane ticket back to South Korea to fall out of the sky. I went to bed in a MISERABLE mood.
February 13th dawned insanely hot. We ate a quick breakfast and began our major challenge of this trip: traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Siam Reap, Cambodia.
I don't consider myself a seasoned veteren of international travel, but I'm not green either. Cambodia will be the 12th country I've visited in the last two years, and I'm not counting lay-overs and drive-thrus. However, the Thai-Cambodia border was the first border I've crossed on land (except for EU borders, which they don't check).
It is a DOOZY of a border.
Every sweaty step of the way is a scam to squeeze more money out of tourists. The biggest scam is travel agencies selling tickets directly from Bangkok to Siam Reap. These tickets are invalid. The bus will take you as far as the border, and dump you.
Our Ko Samet friend, Peter, had bought one such ticket years ago. Consequentially, he spent nine hours in the flatbed of a pickup truck with fourteen other people in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Fortunately, we were aware of this scam, so we:
9am :) Insisted on taking a metered taxi to the bus station, which was half as expensive as the tuk-tuks being pushed on us.
9:30am :) Bussed from Bangkok to the A.P. bus station
2:30pm :) took a tuk tuk from A.P. bus station to the border (at a reasonable price)
2:45 :( were taken by tuk tuk to a small visa office before being taken to the border. We bought our visas there because we had no idea what was going on. We would have saved 6CDN each had we bought our visas at the border.
:) Did NOT fall for other scams at said visa office, including a too-cheap taxi-ride to Siam Reap
3:00pm :1 (neutral) left Thailand, walked 200m across border, entered Cambodia
3:40 :) took a free bus from border to bus station
4:00pm :( were pressured into exchanging our baht into riel at a poor exchange rate
4:10 :) found a taxi to take us to Siam Reap
7:30 pm :( were dropped off at a tuk tuk stand just outside the city. Not knowing what else to do, we paid the tuk tuk driver a slightly elevated price to take us to our guesthouse.
:) AVOIDED the scam of taking the ride for free, thus being beholden to give the driver a job the following day.
:) AVOIDED allowing the driver to take us to HIS prefered guesthouse, where he would have received a commission for delivering us.
----------------------------------------
Does this sound as tiring as it was?
It's EXHAUSTING. You always have to be on your guard, fending off scams left, right, and centre. And they know just how to hustle hot and tired tourists who have been traveling all day.
Although...on the flip side, although their tactics are annoying and inconvenient; who's going to cry buckets of tears over poor local people getting a few extra dollars out of relatively rich foreigners? Didn't they write a book about that? Robin Hood?
On the other flipside, from the time we left our hotel in the morning, to the time we got to our hotel at night, we spent twelve hours on the road. During this time period, we ran from bus to tuk tuk, never taking a break in the 40C heat. We didn't even eat, we didn't have time.
When we got to our guesthouse in Siam Reap, I couldn't remember why on earth I had wanted to go to Cambodia in the first place. I was HOT in a way I can't adequately explain, so tired, and SO hungry. I was dizzy, nauseous, covered in sweat, and (Lord forgive me) wishing for a plane ticket back to South Korea to fall out of the sky. I went to bed in a MISERABLE mood.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
February 10-12 Ko Samet-Bangkok
Tuesday the 10th we spent one more blissful day on Ko Samet. Suze, Peter, Veronica and I took an exhilerating ride on a banana boat, but other then that it was a lazy day.
Wednesday, we got up early and returned to Bangkok. Ali, Suze, and I had to part from Peter and Veronia, which was a bit sad...BUT we did get to reunite with Amanda and Lisa! It feels good for the five of us to be together again.
Amanda and Lisa had met a girl from Holland on their travels. We were briefly introduced, but then she had to go meet her friend. Amanda asked if it was okay if she stayed in a room with Amanda and I. Of course I agreed. Later that night I went to my room. The girl I had only glimpsed briefly (and hadn't talked to at all) was already asleep in bed...wearing only a tank top and see-through black panties. Very backpacker!
Today is Thursday the twelfth. I have not been feeling well for the past few days. While the other four went sight-seeing in Bangkok, I went to a hospital. It turns out I have an inconsequential viral infection. I still elected to take it easy today. My friends are currently at a lady-boy caberet, and I'm stuck in an internet cafe :'(. Oh well, it will be worth it to feel better!
When I was in the hospital, an elderly Indian lady and I were both washing our hands in the bathroom. She caught a glance of me in the mirror, gasped, and said (in English better than mine) "OH!! I am surprised to see YOU!". She very sweetly peppered me with questions, while I tried to edge out of the bathroom in a polite manner.
Her-"What nationality are you?"
Me-"Canadian"
Her-"How old are you?"
Me-"23"
Her-*nodding wisely* "Yes, yes, that's what I thought. How lovely to be so young and able to travel the world. The world is quite small these days. You must find it very hot here."
Me-"Yes, it's quite hot"
Her-"And this is nothing, you know. Even for those of us born in the tropics, April, May, they can be quite difficult".
Eventually I exited the bathroom. As it was 35C today, I am NEVER coming to SouthEast Asia in the hot season!
Wednesday, we got up early and returned to Bangkok. Ali, Suze, and I had to part from Peter and Veronia, which was a bit sad...BUT we did get to reunite with Amanda and Lisa! It feels good for the five of us to be together again.
Amanda and Lisa had met a girl from Holland on their travels. We were briefly introduced, but then she had to go meet her friend. Amanda asked if it was okay if she stayed in a room with Amanda and I. Of course I agreed. Later that night I went to my room. The girl I had only glimpsed briefly (and hadn't talked to at all) was already asleep in bed...wearing only a tank top and see-through black panties. Very backpacker!
Today is Thursday the twelfth. I have not been feeling well for the past few days. While the other four went sight-seeing in Bangkok, I went to a hospital. It turns out I have an inconsequential viral infection. I still elected to take it easy today. My friends are currently at a lady-boy caberet, and I'm stuck in an internet cafe :'(. Oh well, it will be worth it to feel better!
When I was in the hospital, an elderly Indian lady and I were both washing our hands in the bathroom. She caught a glance of me in the mirror, gasped, and said (in English better than mine) "OH!! I am surprised to see YOU!". She very sweetly peppered me with questions, while I tried to edge out of the bathroom in a polite manner.
Her-"What nationality are you?"
Me-"Canadian"
Her-"How old are you?"
Me-"23"
Her-*nodding wisely* "Yes, yes, that's what I thought. How lovely to be so young and able to travel the world. The world is quite small these days. You must find it very hot here."
Me-"Yes, it's quite hot"
Her-"And this is nothing, you know. Even for those of us born in the tropics, April, May, they can be quite difficult".
Eventually I exited the bathroom. As it was 35C today, I am NEVER coming to SouthEast Asia in the hot season!
Monday, February 9, 2009
February 9-Ko Samet:Ultra Blissed out
Today we woke up to face one final (absolute LAST) trek across the island in search of two nights accomodation for a better price then our emergency crashlanding pad.
Finally we got settled in, and I have my own room this time:)
And now? Chill time. The beaches are gorgeous white sand, the water is clear aquamarine, and I have nothing that needs to be done. BLISS.
At various points durning the day, I:
-had a foot scrub on the beach
-completed a suduko puzzle
-read a novel
-ate dinner on a table on a blanket on the beach.
The only physical activity I got was when Peter and I rented a kayak. At one point I jumped out to float a little bit, then re-entered the kayak with the grace of a floating feather. Peter decided to give it a go as well. He made me hold on to his bucket hat. I don't know why he didn't wear it...I wore my sunglasses in. As Peter re-entered the kayak I held on to both our oars. Unfortunately, Peter's re-entry technique was sadly lacking. We capsized (well HE capsized us really). I could picture myself exactly how I looked, laughing hysterically in my puffy life-jacket, holding two oars, with huge sunglasses and a khaki bucket hat swallowing my head, just floating in the ocean. I was about to show Peter how "re-entrance" should be executed, when a man in a speedboat pulled up. He helped us back in our kayak by holding it steady for us. He was so nice! What language barrier?
I am excited for tomorrow, and so happy to be exactly where I am.
Finally we got settled in, and I have my own room this time:)
And now? Chill time. The beaches are gorgeous white sand, the water is clear aquamarine, and I have nothing that needs to be done. BLISS.
At various points durning the day, I:
-had a foot scrub on the beach
-completed a suduko puzzle
-read a novel
-ate dinner on a table on a blanket on the beach.
The only physical activity I got was when Peter and I rented a kayak. At one point I jumped out to float a little bit, then re-entered the kayak with the grace of a floating feather. Peter decided to give it a go as well. He made me hold on to his bucket hat. I don't know why he didn't wear it...I wore my sunglasses in. As Peter re-entered the kayak I held on to both our oars. Unfortunately, Peter's re-entry technique was sadly lacking. We capsized (well HE capsized us really). I could picture myself exactly how I looked, laughing hysterically in my puffy life-jacket, holding two oars, with huge sunglasses and a khaki bucket hat swallowing my head, just floating in the ocean. I was about to show Peter how "re-entrance" should be executed, when a man in a speedboat pulled up. He helped us back in our kayak by holding it steady for us. He was so nice! What language barrier?
I am excited for tomorrow, and so happy to be exactly where I am.
February 8-Ko Samet: Blissed out
Sunday morning, Suze, Ali and I caught an 8:00am bus to Ko Samet. "Ko" is Thai for island.
While I have been jealous of Amanda and Lisa's extended stay at the elephant sanctuary; it's insane to me that they will have experienced Thailand, but not the beaches!
*Tangent* Recently I read the book "Eat Pray Love". In the book the author lives in an ashram in India. I've never so much as heard the word "ashram" before. However, as of last week, it's now my plan to live in an ashram when my year in Korea is finished.
*How this is relevant* On the bus to Ko Samet, I sat next to Peter, a 24 year old Brit, who had just came from living in an ashram in India. That's cosmic forces enforcing my decision if I ever saw them.
So Peter and I got to talking, then he started talking to Veronica, a fellow Canadian. The five of us got off the boat in Ko Samet and have been inseperable ever since. Which is a good thing because...
When we arrived at the island at 2pm on Sunday it was full. As in; no room at the inn. This confused us, because while we knew Ko Samet to be a popular destination for Thai tourists on weekends, we were sure they'd be going home on Sunday. We didn't count on Monday being a holiday.
Suze and I ate lunch from 2-4, while Peter, Veronica, and Ali searched for accomodation. When they came back empty-handed, Suze and I took up the torch. At nightfall we decided that tenting was our only option.
Reluctantly, we rented two tents on the beach. Ali, Suze and Veronica were right in the think of things, while Peter and I were set back with a cluster of other tents. The girls went for a swim, while Peter and I checked out our tent.
Peter got into our tent, landed on a rock, shouted, "I have a plan" and took off. Alone with the mosquitos, I joined Alex (a Brit with a drunken-induced fractured foot) a loud Israli man, an even louder Swiss man, and Mooun-jpa (sp??) a self-proclaimed world-famous Thai artist, around a campfire. Quickly Mooun-jpa handed me his glass of whiskey, until Alex pointed out the abundance of clean glasses.
Mooun-ja asked me where I was from. Upon my reply, he slowly gazed at each one of us in turn, Canadian, English, Israeli, Swiss, and Thai, and then solemnly pronounced, "we are the world".
Just when things were about to get heavy, Peter returned and shouted "I have a room!" in this same tone he would have used to annouce a winning lotto ticket. Although the campfire was lovely, I gulped my whiskey, and grabbed my suitcase, ready to trek across the island for the 8th millionth time that day.
Peter had actually worked a miracle, and got the five of us a large room with two massive beds. Ali, Suze and I shared one bed, with Veronica and Peter on the other. I've never trusted two people so quickly in my life!
While I have been jealous of Amanda and Lisa's extended stay at the elephant sanctuary; it's insane to me that they will have experienced Thailand, but not the beaches!
*Tangent* Recently I read the book "Eat Pray Love". In the book the author lives in an ashram in India. I've never so much as heard the word "ashram" before. However, as of last week, it's now my plan to live in an ashram when my year in Korea is finished.
*How this is relevant* On the bus to Ko Samet, I sat next to Peter, a 24 year old Brit, who had just came from living in an ashram in India. That's cosmic forces enforcing my decision if I ever saw them.
So Peter and I got to talking, then he started talking to Veronica, a fellow Canadian. The five of us got off the boat in Ko Samet and have been inseperable ever since. Which is a good thing because...
When we arrived at the island at 2pm on Sunday it was full. As in; no room at the inn. This confused us, because while we knew Ko Samet to be a popular destination for Thai tourists on weekends, we were sure they'd be going home on Sunday. We didn't count on Monday being a holiday.
Suze and I ate lunch from 2-4, while Peter, Veronica, and Ali searched for accomodation. When they came back empty-handed, Suze and I took up the torch. At nightfall we decided that tenting was our only option.
Reluctantly, we rented two tents on the beach. Ali, Suze and Veronica were right in the think of things, while Peter and I were set back with a cluster of other tents. The girls went for a swim, while Peter and I checked out our tent.
Peter got into our tent, landed on a rock, shouted, "I have a plan" and took off. Alone with the mosquitos, I joined Alex (a Brit with a drunken-induced fractured foot) a loud Israli man, an even louder Swiss man, and Mooun-jpa (sp??) a self-proclaimed world-famous Thai artist, around a campfire. Quickly Mooun-jpa handed me his glass of whiskey, until Alex pointed out the abundance of clean glasses.
Mooun-ja asked me where I was from. Upon my reply, he slowly gazed at each one of us in turn, Canadian, English, Israeli, Swiss, and Thai, and then solemnly pronounced, "we are the world".
Just when things were about to get heavy, Peter returned and shouted "I have a room!" in this same tone he would have used to annouce a winning lotto ticket. Although the campfire was lovely, I gulped my whiskey, and grabbed my suitcase, ready to trek across the island for the 8th millionth time that day.
Peter had actually worked a miracle, and got the five of us a large room with two massive beds. Ali, Suze and I shared one bed, with Veronica and Peter on the other. I've never trusted two people so quickly in my life!
February 7 Not Worth Reading
Woke up
Saw monkeys (lots). We may have even hit feast day, which only happens once a year. The townspeople hold a feast for the monkeys. There were certainly huge bags of bananas everywhere. The monkeys could also dine on: yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, or oranges.
Then we took a 3hr bus to Bangkok and stayed the night there.
Saw monkeys (lots). We may have even hit feast day, which only happens once a year. The townspeople hold a feast for the monkeys. There were certainly huge bags of bananas everywhere. The monkeys could also dine on: yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, or oranges.
Then we took a 3hr bus to Bangkok and stayed the night there.
February 6-The sketchiest thing I've ever done.
I really didn't think I'd have enough fodder to write a journal entry today. I knew today consisted of a ten hour bus ride, so I didn't think I'd have much report.
Ali, Suze, and I woke up in Chiang Mai for the last time this morning. We were headed to Bangkok, but decided to stop for the night in Lopburi (a town famous for being over-run with monkeys).
After a lazy start we went to the bus station, only to find that the 1:30pm bus to Lopburi was full. After some consideration, we decided on a 2:00pm bus that would drop us off 27km away from Lopburi (and then we would take a taxi the rest of the way). The bus ride itself was fairly uneventful. Although we were boarded by immigration police FOUR times. Anyway, nine hours later, at 11pm, our bus hostess instructed us to exit the bus. Ali, Suze and I were the only ones who got off. It wasn't hard to see why. We were on the shoulder of the superhighway in a completely deserted area (I have to mention that the previous stops were all at legitimate bus stations, positively oozing with taxis).
We looked up the highway, and down the highway, and at each other, and at the ground. Finally we saw a lady standing down a small dirt road by herself in the darkness. She looked promising so we trudged towards her.
"Lopburi?" we asked timidly.
"Oh yes, yes" she replied and motioned us to follow her further down the small dirt road. Nervously trailing in her wake, we soon found ourselves at a small, shack-like house. They lady immediately knocked at the door, clearly awakening its young male inhabitant. After a rapid-fire Thai conversation, she motioned to a pick-up truck and asked "ok?"
What would YOU do??
Our choices were:
A: Ride in the flatbed of a pickup truck, driven by a young Thai male with NO English, hoping to get to our destination.
OR
B: Stay on the shoulder of the super highway.
We three shared a glance and then simultaneously heaved our luggage into the flatbed. Suze and Ali climbed in after our belongings. I was about to join them when the lady motioned me to sit in the cabin of the truck. So I didn't get the full weird-ass experience...but still!!
Anyway, we're now in Lopburi, safe and sound, with a very clear reason to always make sure we know where the bus will drop us off!
Ali, Suze, and I woke up in Chiang Mai for the last time this morning. We were headed to Bangkok, but decided to stop for the night in Lopburi (a town famous for being over-run with monkeys).
After a lazy start we went to the bus station, only to find that the 1:30pm bus to Lopburi was full. After some consideration, we decided on a 2:00pm bus that would drop us off 27km away from Lopburi (and then we would take a taxi the rest of the way). The bus ride itself was fairly uneventful. Although we were boarded by immigration police FOUR times. Anyway, nine hours later, at 11pm, our bus hostess instructed us to exit the bus. Ali, Suze and I were the only ones who got off. It wasn't hard to see why. We were on the shoulder of the superhighway in a completely deserted area (I have to mention that the previous stops were all at legitimate bus stations, positively oozing with taxis).
We looked up the highway, and down the highway, and at each other, and at the ground. Finally we saw a lady standing down a small dirt road by herself in the darkness. She looked promising so we trudged towards her.
"Lopburi?" we asked timidly.
"Oh yes, yes" she replied and motioned us to follow her further down the small dirt road. Nervously trailing in her wake, we soon found ourselves at a small, shack-like house. They lady immediately knocked at the door, clearly awakening its young male inhabitant. After a rapid-fire Thai conversation, she motioned to a pick-up truck and asked "ok?"
What would YOU do??
Our choices were:
A: Ride in the flatbed of a pickup truck, driven by a young Thai male with NO English, hoping to get to our destination.
OR
B: Stay on the shoulder of the super highway.
We three shared a glance and then simultaneously heaved our luggage into the flatbed. Suze and Ali climbed in after our belongings. I was about to join them when the lady motioned me to sit in the cabin of the truck. So I didn't get the full weird-ass experience...but still!!
Anyway, we're now in Lopburi, safe and sound, with a very clear reason to always make sure we know where the bus will drop us off!
February 5-Golden Triangle
I'm afraid for this month I'm going to post blogs even if they're just short, bland journals of my days. I don't want to forget anything from this vacation. I'll tell you at the front if I don't think they're worth reading. This one's not.
So we took a tour. Here are the stops:
1: A hot spring
2: A boat ride on the Mekong. We floated by the Golden Triangle. Then we stopped in Laos. We had the oppurtunity to sample whiskey with different objects floating in the vats. I chose 'banana' and 'ginseng'. Susan chose 'king cobra' and 'tiger penis'. Yep, a real albeit dead king cobra was floating in a vat of whiskey, and Susan DRANK it. Don't get me started on tiger penis!
3: The Anka tribe, and Padong (what the long-necked tribe call themselves. Or maybe it's 'Palong'. I forget :O )
So we took a tour. Here are the stops:
1: A hot spring
2: A boat ride on the Mekong. We floated by the Golden Triangle. Then we stopped in Laos. We had the oppurtunity to sample whiskey with different objects floating in the vats. I chose 'banana' and 'ginseng'. Susan chose 'king cobra' and 'tiger penis'. Yep, a real albeit dead king cobra was floating in a vat of whiskey, and Susan DRANK it. Don't get me started on tiger penis!
3: The Anka tribe, and Padong (what the long-necked tribe call themselves. Or maybe it's 'Palong'. I forget :O )
February 2-4- Elephant Nature Park
A month before our vacation, our extreme-environmentalist travelmate (Amanda) decided she HAD to do some eco-tourism at the very beginning of our trip.
Eventually she decided on a week-long stay at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. At this park, you help look after abused elephants. And we encountered some difficulties. Lisa was directly on board, Ali and Suze wanted to go for 2 days, 1 night, and I was totally against the idea (scooping elephant poop is NOT my idea of vacation, and the 50 dogs also at the place sounded a wee bit intimidating).
Eventually we decided that Lisa and Amanda would go for a week, and the rest of us for 2 days and 1 night.
The minute we stepped into the compound, I insisted that Ali, Suze, and I should book another night. It was INSANE.
The buildings looked just like the home on the blue lagoon, except 50 times the size. Everything was made of bamboo, with all different levels of stairs and foliage EVERYWHERE.
AND
37 elephants were just walking around, as well as 50 dogs, 15 cats, 10 water buffalo, and 2 baby pigs.
We got to feed the elephants, and twice a day we'd all go down to the river and give the elephants baths (which consisted of throwing pails of water on their backs, and avoiding the trunks of elephants with naughty mahouts, who would encourage their elephants to spray us!). We also had to be fully dressed, (we were told jokingly this rule existed so the mahouts would concentrate on their elephants, and not on women in bikinis). It felt kind of biblical, all of us running into a river, fully-clothed, to wash elephants.
One morning we went for a walk down in the field with all of the elephants. This was slightly terrifying, but also really cool. The different family groups were all spread out, so we walked from group to group, while our guide told us stories of the individual elephants.
Domestic elephants in Asia have it ROUGH.
After spending time at the elephant sanctuary I would highly discourage anyone to participate in elephant activities. No elephant treks, buying elephant paintings, watching elephant soccer matches, or buying food to feed to street elephants.
According to the elephant sanctuary, in order to train elephants, many Thai people believe that a terribly cruel ritual called 'pajeon' (literally 'crush') must be preformed on the elephants in order to break their spirits. We watched a video on it at the elephant sanctuary. They rip elephants away from their mothers at age four (in the wild males wouldn't leave until eight or ten, and females even later). Then the poor elephant is stuffed into a cage so small it can't move at all. Then for a week it's absolutely tortured. They take sticks with sharp metal ends and stab the elephant. The elephant we saw on the video was gushing blood from more than 50 wounds. All the while a shaman is blessing the elephant, as if this cruelty is somehow holy.
I can't say for certain that every working elephant has been subjected to this treatment, but most probably have.
After pajeon, some elephants are lucky enough to be well-treated by their owners; but not all.
Max was working the streets of Bangkok, when he was hit by an 18-wheeler. His front two legs were broken, and he is skeletally thin.
Lily's owners pumped her full of meth to get more work hours out of her.
Jokia was made to work logging while she was in labour. She had her baby at the top of a hill, and it rolled down the hill and died. She was unable to save her baby. She laid down and refused to work anymore. Her mahout used a slingshot on her eyes to make her move, and he permanently blinded her.
Most of the 37 elephants have similar horror stories.
I built fences, shucked corn, and helped build a dam, all the while watching EXACTLY where the money I had spent was going. It was a fabulous experience.
If you're ever in Chiang Mai, be sure to check it out!
Eventually she decided on a week-long stay at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. At this park, you help look after abused elephants. And we encountered some difficulties. Lisa was directly on board, Ali and Suze wanted to go for 2 days, 1 night, and I was totally against the idea (scooping elephant poop is NOT my idea of vacation, and the 50 dogs also at the place sounded a wee bit intimidating).
Eventually we decided that Lisa and Amanda would go for a week, and the rest of us for 2 days and 1 night.
The minute we stepped into the compound, I insisted that Ali, Suze, and I should book another night. It was INSANE.
The buildings looked just like the home on the blue lagoon, except 50 times the size. Everything was made of bamboo, with all different levels of stairs and foliage EVERYWHERE.
AND
37 elephants were just walking around, as well as 50 dogs, 15 cats, 10 water buffalo, and 2 baby pigs.
We got to feed the elephants, and twice a day we'd all go down to the river and give the elephants baths (which consisted of throwing pails of water on their backs, and avoiding the trunks of elephants with naughty mahouts, who would encourage their elephants to spray us!). We also had to be fully dressed, (we were told jokingly this rule existed so the mahouts would concentrate on their elephants, and not on women in bikinis). It felt kind of biblical, all of us running into a river, fully-clothed, to wash elephants.
One morning we went for a walk down in the field with all of the elephants. This was slightly terrifying, but also really cool. The different family groups were all spread out, so we walked from group to group, while our guide told us stories of the individual elephants.
Domestic elephants in Asia have it ROUGH.
After spending time at the elephant sanctuary I would highly discourage anyone to participate in elephant activities. No elephant treks, buying elephant paintings, watching elephant soccer matches, or buying food to feed to street elephants.
According to the elephant sanctuary, in order to train elephants, many Thai people believe that a terribly cruel ritual called 'pajeon' (literally 'crush') must be preformed on the elephants in order to break their spirits. We watched a video on it at the elephant sanctuary. They rip elephants away from their mothers at age four (in the wild males wouldn't leave until eight or ten, and females even later). Then the poor elephant is stuffed into a cage so small it can't move at all. Then for a week it's absolutely tortured. They take sticks with sharp metal ends and stab the elephant. The elephant we saw on the video was gushing blood from more than 50 wounds. All the while a shaman is blessing the elephant, as if this cruelty is somehow holy.
I can't say for certain that every working elephant has been subjected to this treatment, but most probably have.
After pajeon, some elephants are lucky enough to be well-treated by their owners; but not all.
Max was working the streets of Bangkok, when he was hit by an 18-wheeler. His front two legs were broken, and he is skeletally thin.
Lily's owners pumped her full of meth to get more work hours out of her.
Jokia was made to work logging while she was in labour. She had her baby at the top of a hill, and it rolled down the hill and died. She was unable to save her baby. She laid down and refused to work anymore. Her mahout used a slingshot on her eyes to make her move, and he permanently blinded her.
Most of the 37 elephants have similar horror stories.
I built fences, shucked corn, and helped build a dam, all the while watching EXACTLY where the money I had spent was going. It was a fabulous experience.
If you're ever in Chiang Mai, be sure to check it out!
February 1-Chiang Mai
I woke up at 7:00am. My wake up call wasn't supposed to be until 7:30, but the roosters were a little off. I didn't mind.
Today we ended up taking a tour with a man named Beer. Beer told us that a visit to Chiang Mai without seeing Doi Suthep (a temple) is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower. Impressed?
Amanda and I had to snuggle in the front seat of his car (which is less a snuggle, and more a sweatbath at 35C).
He asked us if any of us 'have the carsick' because the road to Doi Suthep was very twisty. Instead of "very" he should have said "twistiest road in the HISTORY of roads". I should mention that Beer was once a DJ. As we're racing up the road,often on the wrong side, overtaking every scooter, truck and tourbus, wheels screeching in protest of the 180 degree turns we're executing at high speeds- we're listening to the sounds of Shakira, Enrique Iglesies, and even Rain (a Korean pop star). It was like being in a bad music video. I expected us to explode into a ball of fire at any moment. It was kind of fun. Especially at the high bits in 'Hero' because Beer's voice couldn't quite keep up:)
I'll have pictures of Doi Suthep on facebook. It's really beautiful. And I was blessed by a monk.
Later that night I had my first Thai massage. I would highly recommend it.
Today we ended up taking a tour with a man named Beer. Beer told us that a visit to Chiang Mai without seeing Doi Suthep (a temple) is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower. Impressed?
Amanda and I had to snuggle in the front seat of his car (which is less a snuggle, and more a sweatbath at 35C).
He asked us if any of us 'have the carsick' because the road to Doi Suthep was very twisty. Instead of "very" he should have said "twistiest road in the HISTORY of roads". I should mention that Beer was once a DJ. As we're racing up the road,often on the wrong side, overtaking every scooter, truck and tourbus, wheels screeching in protest of the 180 degree turns we're executing at high speeds- we're listening to the sounds of Shakira, Enrique Iglesies, and even Rain (a Korean pop star). It was like being in a bad music video. I expected us to explode into a ball of fire at any moment. It was kind of fun. Especially at the high bits in 'Hero' because Beer's voice couldn't quite keep up:)
I'll have pictures of Doi Suthep on facebook. It's really beautiful. And I was blessed by a monk.
Later that night I had my first Thai massage. I would highly recommend it.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thailand vs Korea- Ding ding ding!
Ali, Susan, Amanda, Lisa and I (all teachers in South Korea), arrived in Thailand, February 1st, 2:00am.
After living in Korea for six months I can't help but compare the two countries.
My overall impression is that Thailand is like a Korea that got laid.
Everything I write in the following entry is going to be a generalization. Sorry.
1. The people.
Thai people are poorer, fatter, browner, and WAY more relaxed than Koreans.
When I enter shops in Thailand, instead of shuddering, giggling nervously, shooting looks at their fellow co-workers that clearly mean, ' oh HELL a FOREIGNER', and generally making me feel unwelcome; Thai people will talk your ear off forever, in the most unselfconscious, beautiful rendition of the English language (they sound slightly Jamaican to me). Of course, tourism is a top industry here, which directly influences the Thai comfort level with foreigners, it's still nice.
Thai people also have much darker skin. Koreans are generally OBSESSED with being as white as possible.
Ali bought sunscreen in Korea to take on this trip. When she first put it on in Thailand, it was this horrific thick goop, that, in Ali's words, 'looked like the sunblock my parents wore on their noses in the 60's' ie it really didn't rub in well. Later that evening, Ali removed her shirt, to find stripes of it had been BLEACHED. That's right. Those white-obsessed Koreans hid bleach in their sunscreen! (To be fair, it probably said bleach on the label..in Korean). As you can imagine, tan-seeking Ali was a bit put-off to find she had inadvertently bleached herself.
1 point to Thailand for being comfortable in their skin, not wearing HUGE visors and kid gloves, and smiling ALL the time.
2. The toilets.
I can't believe I've lived to see the day when I judge a country on it's squat toilets but...
When I arrived in Korea I was not impressed with straddling a porcelain hole in the floor, desperately trying not to pee on my feet (although in the bus station in Suncheon, their is a stall labeled 'foreigner only' with a proper toilet inside).
In Thailand it's (hate to say it) even WORSE. The squatters here are raised from the ground (about a foot?) with narrow places for your feet on each side. So instead of JUST having to squat and pee (a feat in itself) you also have to balance on slippery ledges connected to the squatter. It's a disaster waiting to happen! AND you also have to flush the toilet manually! Next to each squatter is a large cistern of water with a bucket inside. So you have to collect the bucket from the grimy water, and dump water down the toilet.
1 point to Korea, for being 'slightly' less disgusting.
To recap we're standing at one point Thailand, one point Korea.
What could possibly break the tie??
Oh I know...
3. The FOOD
And Thailand wins the competition by a landslide!!
After living in Korea for six months I can't help but compare the two countries.
My overall impression is that Thailand is like a Korea that got laid.
Everything I write in the following entry is going to be a generalization. Sorry.
1. The people.
Thai people are poorer, fatter, browner, and WAY more relaxed than Koreans.
When I enter shops in Thailand, instead of shuddering, giggling nervously, shooting looks at their fellow co-workers that clearly mean, ' oh HELL a FOREIGNER', and generally making me feel unwelcome; Thai people will talk your ear off forever, in the most unselfconscious, beautiful rendition of the English language (they sound slightly Jamaican to me). Of course, tourism is a top industry here, which directly influences the Thai comfort level with foreigners, it's still nice.
Thai people also have much darker skin. Koreans are generally OBSESSED with being as white as possible.
Ali bought sunscreen in Korea to take on this trip. When she first put it on in Thailand, it was this horrific thick goop, that, in Ali's words, 'looked like the sunblock my parents wore on their noses in the 60's' ie it really didn't rub in well. Later that evening, Ali removed her shirt, to find stripes of it had been BLEACHED. That's right. Those white-obsessed Koreans hid bleach in their sunscreen! (To be fair, it probably said bleach on the label..in Korean). As you can imagine, tan-seeking Ali was a bit put-off to find she had inadvertently bleached herself.
1 point to Thailand for being comfortable in their skin, not wearing HUGE visors and kid gloves, and smiling ALL the time.
2. The toilets.
I can't believe I've lived to see the day when I judge a country on it's squat toilets but...
When I arrived in Korea I was not impressed with straddling a porcelain hole in the floor, desperately trying not to pee on my feet (although in the bus station in Suncheon, their is a stall labeled 'foreigner only' with a proper toilet inside).
In Thailand it's (hate to say it) even WORSE. The squatters here are raised from the ground (about a foot?) with narrow places for your feet on each side. So instead of JUST having to squat and pee (a feat in itself) you also have to balance on slippery ledges connected to the squatter. It's a disaster waiting to happen! AND you also have to flush the toilet manually! Next to each squatter is a large cistern of water with a bucket inside. So you have to collect the bucket from the grimy water, and dump water down the toilet.
1 point to Korea, for being 'slightly' less disgusting.
To recap we're standing at one point Thailand, one point Korea.
What could possibly break the tie??
Oh I know...
3. The FOOD
And Thailand wins the competition by a landslide!!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It's happened..
I hit the vacation wall about three days ago. You know, the point where lazing around doing nothing turns from being blissfull to nightmare-ishly boring.
My entire sleep pattern has regressed to my old bartending days. I'm staying up until dawn and crawling out of bed around dinner time (note to self, stop this behavior immediately).
Anyway, the time BEFORE the vacation wall has been spectactular!
Amanda, Lizzie, and I have all bought second-hand bicycles. We've been spending quite a few days biking around Suncheon (which is entirely pleasant in January, it's maybe dipped below zero five days so far).
We also discovered Wii-bang! (bang=room in English). That's right, it's a place where you can rent little wii rooms (or ps3's) and play to your heart's content for $1.50/hr/person. I don't know HOW they make any profit. There's eight wii's and 12 ps3's. All connected to huge plasma screens. We've all become fairly proficient in guitar hero this past month! It's also so pleasent that the teenage boys who work at the wii-bang are so unafraid of us. There's no giggling when we entire the room. They don't cower and shove each other to find out who drew the short straw to serve us (certain health care professionals could learn a thing or two from them).
Speaking of health care...
Two weeks ago my travel companions and I went to the hospital for typhoid shots and malaria pills. Can you say ORDEAL. The nurse giving the shots was too cute though. In a total deadpan voice she's put the needle on our arms, say 'now' and then as she depressed the plunger, 'sorry'.
Then we had to go...somewhere else to get our malaria pills. They kept saying a Korean phrase OVER and OVER. We ended up in a parking garage totally perplexed. Later we realized that the phrase probably meant 'across the street' where the pharmacy was located.
After we got home with our malaria pills I looked on travel doctor... only to find out that the malaria strain on the Thailand/Cambodia border is completely resistant to the drug we purchased.
Back to the pharmacy we trucked. After many terrified looks and phone calls, it was decided that we would purchase a MUCH more expensive drug ($100 opposed to $30). The pharmacists didn't think we would go for the price! "You must pay $100 THREE times!" (There were three of us at the time). Well okay...I'd rather pay $100 for pills that might actually prevent me from getting malaria, then $30 for pills that are utterly useless.
As a parting gift from the pharmacy, we were given a gift wrapped package containing three 2L bottles of Welch's grape juice (regular, red and white). The pharmacists told us to 'share' the juice.
About a week ago now I hosted an art night with the goal of finally covering my huge living room wall. I finished my project about three days ago, and have been appalingly bored (and boring) since then. Thankfully I am leaving for my Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam trip on Saturday!
I have also completely failed to plan any lessons whatsoever for next semester. Future Jennifer is going to hate my guts.
My entire sleep pattern has regressed to my old bartending days. I'm staying up until dawn and crawling out of bed around dinner time (note to self, stop this behavior immediately).
Anyway, the time BEFORE the vacation wall has been spectactular!
Amanda, Lizzie, and I have all bought second-hand bicycles. We've been spending quite a few days biking around Suncheon (which is entirely pleasant in January, it's maybe dipped below zero five days so far).
We also discovered Wii-bang! (bang=room in English). That's right, it's a place where you can rent little wii rooms (or ps3's) and play to your heart's content for $1.50/hr/person. I don't know HOW they make any profit. There's eight wii's and 12 ps3's. All connected to huge plasma screens. We've all become fairly proficient in guitar hero this past month! It's also so pleasent that the teenage boys who work at the wii-bang are so unafraid of us. There's no giggling when we entire the room. They don't cower and shove each other to find out who drew the short straw to serve us (certain health care professionals could learn a thing or two from them).
Speaking of health care...
Two weeks ago my travel companions and I went to the hospital for typhoid shots and malaria pills. Can you say ORDEAL. The nurse giving the shots was too cute though. In a total deadpan voice she's put the needle on our arms, say 'now' and then as she depressed the plunger, 'sorry'.
Then we had to go...somewhere else to get our malaria pills. They kept saying a Korean phrase OVER and OVER. We ended up in a parking garage totally perplexed. Later we realized that the phrase probably meant 'across the street' where the pharmacy was located.
After we got home with our malaria pills I looked on travel doctor... only to find out that the malaria strain on the Thailand/Cambodia border is completely resistant to the drug we purchased.
Back to the pharmacy we trucked. After many terrified looks and phone calls, it was decided that we would purchase a MUCH more expensive drug ($100 opposed to $30). The pharmacists didn't think we would go for the price! "You must pay $100 THREE times!" (There were three of us at the time). Well okay...I'd rather pay $100 for pills that might actually prevent me from getting malaria, then $30 for pills that are utterly useless.
As a parting gift from the pharmacy, we were given a gift wrapped package containing three 2L bottles of Welch's grape juice (regular, red and white). The pharmacists told us to 'share' the juice.
About a week ago now I hosted an art night with the goal of finally covering my huge living room wall. I finished my project about three days ago, and have been appalingly bored (and boring) since then. Thankfully I am leaving for my Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam trip on Saturday!
I have also completely failed to plan any lessons whatsoever for next semester. Future Jennifer is going to hate my guts.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Shame on me...
I'm afraid that being on vacation has made me supremly lax in writing blog entries (sorry mom!)
On a normal school day I teach from 9-12, have lunch from 12-130, then sit until 5 when I'm allowed to go home. The time period between 130-5 is normally when I write entries.
Anyway, here's some highlights of the past two weeks (in relatively chronological order).
END OF MIDDLE SCHOOL CAMP:
New Year's Day was the last time we had to sleep at camp. So of course the Korean teachers rented a karaoke machine! (and of course I got in on the action). We were set up in the gym, ten Korean teachers, and Karen and I. Karen and I were huge microphone hogs (heavily influenced by the soju we were encouraged to drink). The Korean teachers were really inclusive in their songs choices. A couple people sang English songs (unheard of Olivia Newton-John ballads) and sometimes they would translate the Korean lyrics into the microphone for us.
The karaoke machine also counted how many calories we were burning as we were singing.
Everyone had to stand in a circle and 'dance' while the others were singing. 'Dancing' consists of swaying from side to side and clapping your hands to the beat. If Karen or I swayed with no clap they would all yell 'whoooooooooaaaa' and point at us (as if we were dancing champs) anything beyond swaying blew there minds (I was actually told to 'make smaller motions' after I swayed with both hands in the air).
The only teacher in the whole camp who had poor English was the health care teacher (nurse). Obviously since she wasn't teaching English she didn't need to know it. She is also the nurse at my actual school. As I was leaving the gym I hugged some of the females goodbye. She chased me yelling, 'my too! my too!'. It was really cute.
She also cornered me with a few Korean teachers and they translated for her. She wanted to know why I never smile at school, yet I smile all the time at camp. I made up a bullshit excuse but Really? At camp, I could talk to EVERYONE. At school, I am the only fluent English speaker out of 30 teachers and 300 students. Yes, Winnie is pretty decent, and yes, the other teachers sometimes make an effort. But obviously they'd prefer to speak in Korean, and I am a huge burden to them when I am speaking English (on several occasions I have been instructed to 'learn Korean, so I can speak with the teachers' because of course, language aquisition is SO easy). My point is, mostly at school I don't talk to anyone. So why would I smile? Who walks around silently, vacantly, smiling to themselves?
FAN DEATH
I think I've sufficiently related my battles with the heat in this blog, and the Korean obsession with 'fresh air'. Korean people also believe that sleeping with a fan on, and the doors and windows shut can lead to DEATH. Hence, fan death.
Now, some stories of Korean culture have actually turned out to be less extreme than I previously thought. For example, foreigners have told me that Korean women eat nothing but seaweed soup for the three months following giving birth. I asked Winnie about this, and she said that it is considered very healthy for new mothers to eat seaweed soup, but that they can eat anything else as long as it is not spicy (which is not good for breast-feeding). Makes sense.
I asked Winnie if she believes in fan death. She said 'of course, it's on the news all the time'. So I questioned her:
J-Do you believe everything you see on the news?
W-No...but how did these people die if not from fan death?
J-Well I heard that sometimes when people die of drug abuse or suicide, their families will claim 'fan death' to save face.
W-No, I don't think so, doctors preform autopsies.
J-Not always, only if the death is suspicious.
W-...
J-Anyway, this never happens in Canada. No one EVER dies from fans.
W-Well maybe spaces in Korea are smaller.
J-So can you die simply from being in a small room with no fan?
W-No..
J-I mean, rooms aren't airtight! Air comes in around the windows and cracks underneath the doors.
W-Yes, but the fan...
J-How does the fan SUCK air from the room? How does a fan make AIR disappear? HOW?
W-Well, I don't know, maybe you can find out on the internet.
Disclaimer: I know it may sound as if I'm attacking her, but we were laughing the whole time. She still hasn't convinced me that fans kill people though.
And finally..
BUSAN
Yesterday my friend was kind enough to drive four of us to Busan for the day. I got to eat chicken vindaloo for the first time in MONTHS. Dinner was amazing, but the best part was the aquarium.
I think it was my first time at an aquarium. And this aquarium was INCREDIBLE (I sound like such a dork, I know). The aquarium was deep undergroud right next to Hyundae beach. We took escalator after escalator until we were underneath the beach. We saw exhibit after exhibit of really cool creatures. I saw the most venomous fish in the world, and it looks exactly like a rock.
The coolest part was the sharks. They're not huge, maybe six feet long, but they are definitely scary looking. They were in the same area as sting rays, HUGE fish,ginormous turtles, and some little fish too (I don't know why the sharks didn't eat the little fish). And the area they were in was AWESOME. We walked through a seamless glass tunnel with sharks and sting rays all around us. I could look up and see the underside of a shark swimming right over my head! And on TOP of us people were in glass bottomed boats cruising above the sharks and our heads!
To recap: Vacation rocks my socks!
On a normal school day I teach from 9-12, have lunch from 12-130, then sit until 5 when I'm allowed to go home. The time period between 130-5 is normally when I write entries.
Anyway, here's some highlights of the past two weeks (in relatively chronological order).
END OF MIDDLE SCHOOL CAMP:
New Year's Day was the last time we had to sleep at camp. So of course the Korean teachers rented a karaoke machine! (and of course I got in on the action). We were set up in the gym, ten Korean teachers, and Karen and I. Karen and I were huge microphone hogs (heavily influenced by the soju we were encouraged to drink). The Korean teachers were really inclusive in their songs choices. A couple people sang English songs (unheard of Olivia Newton-John ballads) and sometimes they would translate the Korean lyrics into the microphone for us.
The karaoke machine also counted how many calories we were burning as we were singing.
Everyone had to stand in a circle and 'dance' while the others were singing. 'Dancing' consists of swaying from side to side and clapping your hands to the beat. If Karen or I swayed with no clap they would all yell 'whoooooooooaaaa' and point at us (as if we were dancing champs) anything beyond swaying blew there minds (I was actually told to 'make smaller motions' after I swayed with both hands in the air).
The only teacher in the whole camp who had poor English was the health care teacher (nurse). Obviously since she wasn't teaching English she didn't need to know it. She is also the nurse at my actual school. As I was leaving the gym I hugged some of the females goodbye. She chased me yelling, 'my too! my too!'. It was really cute.
She also cornered me with a few Korean teachers and they translated for her. She wanted to know why I never smile at school, yet I smile all the time at camp. I made up a bullshit excuse but Really? At camp, I could talk to EVERYONE. At school, I am the only fluent English speaker out of 30 teachers and 300 students. Yes, Winnie is pretty decent, and yes, the other teachers sometimes make an effort. But obviously they'd prefer to speak in Korean, and I am a huge burden to them when I am speaking English (on several occasions I have been instructed to 'learn Korean, so I can speak with the teachers' because of course, language aquisition is SO easy). My point is, mostly at school I don't talk to anyone. So why would I smile? Who walks around silently, vacantly, smiling to themselves?
FAN DEATH
I think I've sufficiently related my battles with the heat in this blog, and the Korean obsession with 'fresh air'. Korean people also believe that sleeping with a fan on, and the doors and windows shut can lead to DEATH. Hence, fan death.
Now, some stories of Korean culture have actually turned out to be less extreme than I previously thought. For example, foreigners have told me that Korean women eat nothing but seaweed soup for the three months following giving birth. I asked Winnie about this, and she said that it is considered very healthy for new mothers to eat seaweed soup, but that they can eat anything else as long as it is not spicy (which is not good for breast-feeding). Makes sense.
I asked Winnie if she believes in fan death. She said 'of course, it's on the news all the time'. So I questioned her:
J-Do you believe everything you see on the news?
W-No...but how did these people die if not from fan death?
J-Well I heard that sometimes when people die of drug abuse or suicide, their families will claim 'fan death' to save face.
W-No, I don't think so, doctors preform autopsies.
J-Not always, only if the death is suspicious.
W-...
J-Anyway, this never happens in Canada. No one EVER dies from fans.
W-Well maybe spaces in Korea are smaller.
J-So can you die simply from being in a small room with no fan?
W-No..
J-I mean, rooms aren't airtight! Air comes in around the windows and cracks underneath the doors.
W-Yes, but the fan...
J-How does the fan SUCK air from the room? How does a fan make AIR disappear? HOW?
W-Well, I don't know, maybe you can find out on the internet.
Disclaimer: I know it may sound as if I'm attacking her, but we were laughing the whole time. She still hasn't convinced me that fans kill people though.
And finally..
BUSAN
Yesterday my friend was kind enough to drive four of us to Busan for the day. I got to eat chicken vindaloo for the first time in MONTHS. Dinner was amazing, but the best part was the aquarium.
I think it was my first time at an aquarium. And this aquarium was INCREDIBLE (I sound like such a dork, I know). The aquarium was deep undergroud right next to Hyundae beach. We took escalator after escalator until we were underneath the beach. We saw exhibit after exhibit of really cool creatures. I saw the most venomous fish in the world, and it looks exactly like a rock.
The coolest part was the sharks. They're not huge, maybe six feet long, but they are definitely scary looking. They were in the same area as sting rays, HUGE fish,ginormous turtles, and some little fish too (I don't know why the sharks didn't eat the little fish). And the area they were in was AWESOME. We walked through a seamless glass tunnel with sharks and sting rays all around us. I could look up and see the underside of a shark swimming right over my head! And on TOP of us people were in glass bottomed boats cruising above the sharks and our heads!
To recap: Vacation rocks my socks!
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