Thailand Part II: Railay Beach

Sorry for the belated second half of my story. I've been so busy. Blogging is hard to keep up with!

After Bangkok I flew to Krabi, and from there I made my way to Railay Beach, which is still on the mainland, but it's on an isolated peninsula and one has to take a longtail boat to it. Railay is divided between East and West sides. It's only a 10 minute walk between the two. My lodging was on the East side. There is no beach there, only a mangrove shoreline. The West side is where the beach was. I had really wanted to go to Kho Phi Phi, which is a 90 minute boat ride from Railay, but everyone told me it was very crowded and frankly, by the time I got settled in Railay, I didn't feel like uprooting myself and having to search for accommodations again.
Railay was pretty quiet, and not very crowded. Although I had five nights there, I managed to keep myself busy everyday. In fact, I only had one day that was totally devoted to the beach. And of course, I managed to burn myself to a crisp, as usual.

The sunsets from West Railay were absolutely gorgeous:


One day I took a sunset snorkeling trip. I had never been snorkeling before and it was pretty fun. The best part, however, was the sunset. After snorkeling for about two hours we landed on a beach to have dinner. As the crew set up dinner, we walked along the beach and watched the sunset. It was a bright rosy pink. Then, suddenly, a huge flock of what we thought were birds started streaming overhead. They were pretty high up but they seemed really big. This couldn't be a flock of herons, could it? Nope, they were bats! Giant bats- with 3 feet wingspans- heading out for the night. There were thousands upon thousands of them and they kept coming for a good 10-15 minutes. That was one of life's beautiful images I will never forget: standing on a warm tropical beach watching the rosy sun setting behind some mountain islands as a colony of giant bats streams overhead, and I can see the silhouette of a heron fishings in the shallows. Then we topped it off with a delicious dinner of seafood curry while a member of the crew entertained us by capturing and showing us large nocturnal crabs. Here is a picture of that perfect sunset. The photo doesn't even begin to give it justice. If you look carefully you can see many black smudges in the sky, those are the bats.


The most exciting part of my trip was scuba diving!!!! I finally fulfilled something that has been a dream of mine for a long time. Three weeks before I left for Thailand I completed a training course here in Seoul so that I wouldn't have to do my pool training in Thailand. I completed my open water training in Thailand and am now a certified diver! I dove off the coast of Koh Phi Phi, which is where my diving instructor in Korea told me was the best place in Thailand to dive. The water was so clear! Visibility was 20-25 meters (~75 feet). It is something else to be weightless in the water and see the multitude of organisms down there. You see more animals in one dive than you do a whole week in a national park back home. It is amazing to have a school of literally thousands of bright yellow fish encircle you as they pass by. And they all move in perfect unison. It's incredible! The colors of the animals encompass the rainbow. We even saw neon blue annenomes. It looked like they were glowing. We also saw two sharks. They were docile leopard sharks, and they just sat on the bottom of the ocean floor. I don't think leopard sharks even have teeth. Nonetheless, I can still say I saw a shark! (Oh, and they taste REALLY good too. I had a shark fillet as my last dinner in Thailand.) The pic is of me and my instructor, Lex.


One night I was sitting on the deck of a bar and the evening entertainment began right after I sat down. And I happened to have one of the best views in the bar. There were fire dancers, who were mesmerizing, snake charmers, who were crazy, and Mai Thai kick boxers, who were a little boring. (I was a little disappointed by them, actually.)

I went kayaking one day.

I almost killed myself hiking up a mountain and then down into it in order to see a lagoon. I literally had to lower myself down on ropes to hike down this path. I received a nasty scrape. The lagoon was interesting though. It was like being in a big teacup. The shear cliffs came straight down to a small pond whose water level rose and fell with the tides. I was there at low tide so there was tons of mud. People had even made mud figurines. On my last day in Thailand I went on an elephant ride through the forest.

Then it was back on a plane to Bangkok, and then Korea. My flight left at 11:30pm, December 31, so my New Year's Eve was spent on a plane. However, I got to Korea just in time to see the first sunrise of the New Year while I was on the bus back home. Can't say I've ever seen that before.

It was a great trip, and I will make it a point to return to Thailand one day.

The biggest spider I have ever seen in a web in my life! (It's leg spread was as big as my hand.)

Seafood salad and a coconut shake...Yum!

Thailand Part 1: Bangkok

For Chirstmas vacation I traveled to Thailand for my first trip abroad. Finally, the title of my blog, "Asian" Adventures, fits. No longer simply "Korean" adventures. My sister's good friend, Molly, was kind enough to house me for the first leg of my trip in Bangkok. Molly is a US government contractor in Bangkok and she has a lovely apartment in the heart of the city.


Bangkok is like any other city: large, busy, polluted, too many people. Like Seoul, but even to more extreme of an extent, one can see the old and new side by side in stark contrast to one another. Along the Chow Phraya River that divides the city in two, one sees rusted tin roof shacks built right over the edge of the river. Colorful laundry dries on lines beside towering luxury hotels, where people pay prime money for posh suites that overlook the city.


The first day I was in Bangkok, I ventured out by myself and saw a snake show at the Red Cross where I saw lots of deadly snakes and got to hold a boa constrictor and saw them milk a poisonous snake. This is where they create all the anti venoms in Southeast Asia. Then I went to The Jim Thompson House. He is an American who revitalized the Thai silk industry in the 50's and 60's. I also went to the night bazaar where I bought my souvenirs, which is really neat.

One of the funnest things I did was to take a 50 cent express water taxi up the river with Molly. Public transportation in Bangkok is not good, and this is one of the best, and most unique ways to get around the city. I love being on the water as it is, but it provides a unique view of the city as you watch ornate temples and gleaming skyscrapers go by. Traffic on the river rivals traffic in the streets as longboats transport people, tour boats transport tourists, and huge barges transport goods up and down the river.



The Grand Palace was one of the highlights of my trip. The Thai architecture is gorgeous with its bright colors that sparkle in the sun and roof ornaments that look like griffins straining for the sky. The Grand Palace is a huge complex that includes Wat Phra Kaeo, which houses the Emerald Buddha. It's not really Emerald, it's jade, and it's kind of small, but it's very important in Thai Buddhism. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.






The king of Thailand is probably the most loved monarch in the world. His birthday, which is in early December, is a huge holiday in Thailand. Decorations honoring him still covered the city. When my plane landed in Bangkok we were greeted by huge signs that said "Long Live the King!" In Thailand the king has an almost demigod status. The people have a religious connection to their king, not simply a political one. In Thailand everyday has a color connected with it. Since the king was born on a Monday, yellow is his color, and everyone wears yellow on that day. Many have shirts with his emblem that say, "We love our king!". The Monday I was there about half the Thais were wearing yellow. It happened to be a holiday, however, and Molly said that on normal Mondays, 90% of the Thais where yellow. Despite his official designation as a constitutional monarch, the king is very powerful in Thailand. Nothing major gets done without his approval. Defamation of the monarchy is offense that will get one thrown in jail.

Later that day I went with Molly to Wat Pho- The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The statue of the Reclining Buddha is 150 feet long and completely plated in gold. It's quite impressive. Though it was quite crowded it still managed to be a peaceful temple. Lined along the back wall of the temple are about a hundred brass buckets in which you drop a small coin offering in order to receive your wish or your prayer. One walks down the line with a cup of tiny half baht coins and drop them in each bucket one by one. The temple is filled inside and out with the constant soft sound of tinkling coins. It's very peaceful.














I then went across the river to see the Temple of Dawn- Wat Arun. At the center of the temple is a huge tower. One can climb some very steep stairs to get a good view of the city. At sunset I went back across the river to take some sunset photos. After doing some hunting I found the perfect spot on a dock. Some lady told me I had to pay 30 baht in order to stand there. I told her it wasn't her dock so she couldn't charge me. I finally coughed up 10 baht (30 cents) to make her happy and leave me alone. It worked. And I got some great pics too!















The above photo was taken in Lumpini Park on the Sunday before Christmas, where I saw the orchestra play Christmas carols . Molly is the one in green. It was odd being in a a hot climate during Christmas. Somehow seeing reindeer, ornaments, and Christmas trees in the 90 degree heat just didn't seem to fit. It was interesting to see how much the Thais decorate for a holiday they don't even celebrate. Christmas Day is not a holiday in Thailand. Even in Korea, where 30% of the population is Christian, they only get Christmas Day off. They don't celebrate Christmas like we do.

Christmas Day was spent wondering the city stopping by some sights I had yet to see. Then I had dinner with Molly and her friends. It was a delicious traditional holiday meal with a turkey and all the fixings; I ate until I thought I was going to die of gluttony. The people were quite interesting too, being that most of them were ex patriots. Between the ten of us we had been over the entire world. Including Afghanistan. Ex patriots are some of the most interesting group of people that I've met. I will write down my thoughts on them in another blog. To say the least though, the conversation was fascinating listening to the exchange of adventures people had had around the world.

The next day I took a flight to Krabi, which is a town on the southern mainland of Thailand, on the west coast. This is where the second half of my trip takes place.

A demonic guardian of the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew, the Grand Palace.

A flower in the Grand Palace.

Out side Wat Pho.

The steep stairs up the Temple of Dawn.

The view from Wat Arun. The Palace can be seen on the other side of the river.

December and Christmas: Part 2

Then there was the presidential election. A man named Lee Myong Bok was elected. Don't know what his platform is or what party, just that he in the rival political party of the current president- Roh Moo Hyun. Elections in Korea are definitely a cultural experience, however. Besides the usual banner and people passing out fliers, they have flatbed trucks that drive around that are kind of like floats in a parade. They have makeshift stages on the bed of the truck along with a giant TV screen. Standing in front of the screen will be either a person with a microphone screaming the glories of their candidate, or, if you're lucky, a line of dancers wearing sweatshirts with a photo of their candidate, tights, and leg warmers, getting down with cool dance moves to a blaring techno candidate theme song. Perhaps this appeals to the younger voters? Stacy and I decided we were voting for candidate #1 though, because he had the happiest dancers with the coolest moves. Watching dancers in Korea leaves something left to be desired, to say the least, even the professional ones on TV.


Interesting to watch also were the rival candidate cheerleaders in front of E-Mart. They were all in a line facing each and politely took turns shouting their slogans. Then they would all bow low together and it was the other side's turn to yell their slogans. Apparently the actual candidates were not as polite though. They slung so much mud it made our elections look like child's play. I was informed that every single one of these people, by the way, from the cheerleaders to the dancers to those who merely passed out fliers is paid for their services. Unfortunately, I never got a photo of any of these things.


We had a new teacher couple arrive the week before Christmas- Barnaby and Jessica. They hail from England and have a 10 month old daughter. Jessica only works part time so she can care for the baby. Since I was living alone in a 2-bedroom apartment my employer moved me out and into a tiny one bedroom apartment. I was really angry at the time because I asked my supervisor at the beginning of October- yes, two months before - if I was going to have to move and she said no. Then we found out at the beginning of November that they were hiring a couple- still no mention of anything. Then, two weeks before the couple is set to arrive- "Uh, David, we need you to move." My immediate reaction was "No! Sorry. I asked you weeks ago, why are you coming to me now?" But I thought better on it. My new apartment is very cramped and small, but I've managed to make it comfortable and it's easier to keep clean. I'm actually happier here than in the old place. I also don't have to share it with anyone-I would have gotten a roommate again in February if I had stayed at the old apartment. I'll be glad when I'm entirely settled in though. I just got internet service the other day and still don't have a phone and some other essentials that I need-three weeks and counting. Nonetheless, things always seem to work out better for me in the end. This has been no exception.

Next blog: Thailand! Stay tuned!

Christmas and December: Part 1

Hello all! My apologies for being delinquent on my blogging. Between Christmas pageants, trip planning, moving into a new apartment, and the regular old Christmas shopping, December was kind of hectic.

In downtown Seoul, along the a stream called Cheong-gye Chon they have set up many Christmas lights. Right in front of City Hall is the city Christmas tree and an ice skating rink. It only costs a dollar to skate! And I've not even been yet, dang-it! My friend Eric and I went down there before Christmas to see what it looked like. It's quite nice, actually. There are many commercial decorations here, just like in the States, (this Christmas tree is courtesy of Heineken) but Christmas is celebrated quietly by families here. Thirty percent of the population is Christian, so they do get the day off, but only Christmas Day. People work the day before and the day after and the only reason we have our winter holiday over Christmas is because of the foreign teachers. In Korea the students have all of January and half of February off before they go back for exams. It's the end of their school year.


In Thailand Christmas is not even a holiday. Which makes sense, as it's a Buddhist country. I was told that for Koreans Christmas is a time mainly to spend drinking with friends. It's not really a family holiday, as in the U.S., and it's certainly not as widely or enthusiastically celebrated. There is not the tradition of gift giving, as in the West. They do have Santa Claus for the small children, but many of my older kids (11-13 year olds) complained that they didn't get presents this year because their parents said they were too old.


We had a Christmas pageant for the preschoolers the day before Christmas break. One of my classes sang "Little Drummer Boy" and "Must Be Santa", the other class sang "Let It Snow" and "Holly Jolly Christmas". Now I can finally sing along to those songs too! Santa came around the school and handed out presents. It was fun. The pic below is of the parents rushing to the front to take a photo of the grand finale where all the kids in the school sang Rudolph and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. For my older kids in the afternoon I gave them short tests then candy and we played games. My oldest kids, the ones I like the most, I gave a cookie from my Mom's kitchen- which they thoroughly enjoyed, and a Reese's peanut butter cup that I had my family send to me from the States. Although it was a total waste of four rare and valuable peanut butter cups, I guess the laughs I got watching them eat them were worth it.

They had never tried a peanut butter cup before and I wanted them to taste American candy. I should have known that only an American can truly appreciate the wonderful mixture of peanut butter and chocolate. They took a bite of the cups and spit them out with looks of horror- like I had played a mean practical joke on them. "Ugh!!! Teacher! It's salty! It's not chocolate! It's salty! It's not chocolate! Ugh, ugh!!! Water! Water! Can I get some water?!", they all screamed as they wiped their tongues with their napkins, trying to get the taste off. "I told you it wasn't chocolate!" I was roaring with laughter. No wonder they thought it was a joke. Whatever. Lesson learned. They loved Mom's butter ball cookies though!

Many people ask what the weather is like. So far it's much like a normal winter in Virginia. We apparently had a cold spell that was well below freezing while I was in Thailand. Luckily I only caught the tail end of that! Since then it's been in the 40's. Not too bad. And we've not received any major snow yet. Only flurries.