AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The students were mostly a great bunch. We had a really nice farewell dinner at a restaurant nearby. We ate and then took lots of pictures.

Some were going out for a drink on the last night together and we might have gone along except they like to start the party around 11 - waay too late for me. And then ---Carol was embroiled in a drama last night when one of the students had not returned to the hotel by the time she was to leave for the airport at 4:30 AM. I voted to go back to bed and let her call her parents and explain why she needed to reschedule her flight home, but Carol and the other adults were more sympathetic. When the student stumbled back in not knowing what time it was, the Thai University liaison went way above the call of duty, called a taxi, rode with her to the airport, walked her through the ticketing process and escorted her to the immigration line. We are all concerned that the girl learned nothing from the event. After six weeks of "youth hostel" accommodations, we are ready to up scale a bit. Out of the University Hotel and into the Shangri-La. Soooooo nice. We have a very nice room on the 15th floor overlooking the river. We were able to check in early - around noon and have enjoyed an afternoon of luxury. Comfy bed, beautiful view, lots of hot water and it is clean to boot. Hard to beat.

It is nice to be in a completely different place and responsible for no one but ourselves. We plan to relax and have a comfy place for Carol to grade papers and then on to the famous beaches of Thailand.

Bangkok

Ya know - there are a lot of people in Bangkok. I must say - I am a little tired of the crowds. Yesterday, I walked down to the river and took a river taxi almost to the end of the line. When the taxis get to a dock - it stops only long enough to get on or off if you move rather quickly. I witnessed a couple of people jump back to the dock because all of the members of their group did not make it on. I got off the boat close to a Skytrain station and took that around that part of the town. I exited at Victory Monument and the good old #28 bus delivered me back to the entrance of the University. That whole trip around town using public transportation cost me a total of about 40 Baht or $1.35. If you are willing to put up with the crowds, it is a great way to travel and you can generally by-pass most of the traffic jams and incredibly long stop lights. If you want to go the more expensive route, you can get an air-conditioned taxi. However, in a taxi, especially during rush hours, you can end up sitting at a complete stand-still for 10 minutes or more. The University is situated in an area of Bangkok that is not conducive to walking around or exploring - so in order to go anywhere or see anything - you are thrust into the sea of humanity. The program ends on Friday and on Saturday Carol and I are checking into the Shangri-La Hotel right on the water. We will be steps from the Skytrain and water taxi and I am confident that we will have a much different experience for a few days. On Monday, we are going to Koh Lanta, one of the Thai beach islands. Then, the vacation part of our trip can start for Carol. A few days resting in a hammock looking out onto the blue water and sipping fru fru drinks or beer should set us up for more exciting adventures. We will keep you posted.

Three Days in Cambodia

Siem Reap and the ancient temples are magical. Cambodia has realized that they have a major tourist attraction and they are doing everything they can to make it a prime location for tour groups. In order to travel near the temples, you must have a ticket - good for three or seven days. You stand in line, pay the fee, they take your picture and present you with a personalized ticket. There are many check points on the road and entering each temple area where a guard checks the tickets carefully to be sure that your picture matches your face. They are serious about it being non-transferable. The hotel was a real dump but we weren't there very long so what the hell. We had a great guide for the three days and saw nine different temple ruins in our three days. One might think that it must have been boringly repetitive but it was amazing how different they all were. Angkor Wat was huge, partially restored and very impressive.

We also saw the wat that is being reclaimed by the trees.

And - the "faces" wat.

We have all seen these images in pictures and in movies but actually being there was absolutely incredible. I loves every minute - even being hot, tired, sweaty and over-scheduled. Back to Bangkok. - The students are exhausted but hanging in there - Carol and I doing rather well especially considering that we are about 40 years older that the students.

Night Train

We returned to Chiang Mai after our respite.  We were refreshed but the students were exhausted from their Homestay experience.  We (and they) had only one more full day in Chiang Mai before a whirlwind of activity started.  Tuesday afternoon we boarded our trusty red taxis for our trip to the train station.  We had purchased our tickets earlier so our only challenge was to find the correct train for our trip to Bangkok.

We arrived in Bangkok early on Wednesday morning and proceeded to our hotel. We were expected and had a nive buffet breakfast and proceeded to our rooms. Yuck! The carpet is grossly stained, the internet rarely works in our room and when I call the front desk to ask anything in English they hang up on me. Oh well - I can put up with anything for a couple of weeks. At least it is air conditioned and I can get coffee in the morning. Our whirlwind continued with a 4:30 AM departure to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap. Boy - did we blow it. I had trouble sleeping - looked at my watch at 3:30 and closed my eyes for just a second. I opened my eyes and looked at the watch to discover that it was 4:38. We slept through the alarm. I have never seen Carol move any faster than she did when I woke her up and told her we were late. We made it downstairs in a record 8 minutes. We weren't the last to arrive but we did not miss it by much. Off to the airport and three packed days in Cambodia

A Trip to Pai and Mae Hong Son

Carol and I had a few days free while the students were on their Home Stay.  We booked a car and driver and headed out Thursday morning for the drive to Pai.  The Lonely Planet says that there are 782 curves between Chiang Mai and Pai and I believe it.  It was a twisty turny two lane road with lots of potholes, landslide areas, cars and scooters.  I am glad I was not driving on this one.  Our driver and guide was a man named Kid who we found to be extremely knowledgeable, interesting, accommodating and an all around nice guy.  We enjoyed his company a lot.  We asked to see villages along the way and he stopped at a couple of them where we were able to view village life unaltered for any tourism.  The people didn't particularly care if we were there and made no effort to engage with us - actually they totally ignored us.  Kid stopped on the side of the road and asked an old woman if the road to one certain village was drivable.  She assured him that it was, so off we went on this one lane, very narrow road down a fairly steep slope.  In about a kilometer, the pavement stopped and the muddy ruts started.  I felt the car slide a time or two and started to be just a bit concerned.  About then, the car slid into the huge rut and got stuck up against the side of the hill.  MMMMMM what to do now?
Kid and I strategized
while Carol collected
branches and sticks to
place in front of the
stuck tire. I pushed back
on the car a little and

was then able to plant
my feet on the side of
the hill and my back to
the car and pushed out
as Kid eased forward
with the wheels cut
sharply out of the rut.
 Hey - it worked.





We were able to then turn around and decided to forgo the visit to that particular village.  On to Pai - a backpackers' and hippie haven.  Lots of rasta people, crafts people, street food, and a real laid back atmosphere.  We enjoyed a couple of days of R&R and then on to Mae Hong Son.  Another 700 or so curves and we were in an even smaller but really pretty town.

This is looking across the lake in the middle of the town out to the main temple in town.  We enjoyed our one night at the Fern Resort (Brad and Anjelina stayed there a few years ago).  Had dinner and lots of beer with a Dutch guy who comes to Thailand on his annual vacation, rents a scooter and travels all around the smaller provinces.

One of the highlights was a ride on a long boat down the river to visit a Koran Tribe Of the Long Neck Women.  The boat ride was fun and the villagers were very friendly.  They make their living now exclusively through tourism and selling their locally made scarves, jewelry and carvings.

We then had a rather long ride back to Chiang Mai but really loved our excursion.

Sunday, a Five Star Day

A fun group of the students who are close often rank their days. They will come to class and say they are having a one-star day. Well, Sunday after the hill tribe excursion, Tom and I had a five star day. Because I was giving my midterm the next day, I didn’t have any prep to do, a wonderful thing. It was the first day since coming to Chiang Mai that Tom and I had free time for ourselves. We set out at 1pm to eat lunch, visit  the city’s largest Wat, get a Thai massage, and visit a travel agent to make a plan for our free time.  Wat Phra Singh is famous for its Buddha, chedi, and lovely gardens where the monks sit and play chess. 

The trees have many signs with truisms posted on them. 

Before I left SLO for our trip, my brother Bill told me about Sasi, a travel agent he used about 5 or 6 years ago and recommended in Chiang Mai. When we located her closet-size agency downtown, she was seated behind the single desk. She didn’t recognize Bill’s name, but when we showed her his picture on our ipad, she immediately recognized the crazy American, although I am sure that he is not the only one she has met.  She set us up with a driver to take us to Pai, a serene village not too far from Myanmar.  We both want a break from Uniserve, the hostel, and this is the only time when I don’t have direct student responsibilities. They will be doing a Home Stay at a village north of here, and Proworld will be responsible for them for five days. Yeah! I will cross my fingers that there will be no emergencies to call us back.

Ahhhh, the Thai massage, our first of the trip, and we went to a nice place, beautifully decorated with lovely hostesses. I was relieved when my massage therapist was a bit on the chunky side for a Thai woman. And she was strong! She got up on the table with me, straddled me, and began her work. She also used hot compresses and lots of oil. After the hill tribe trek, elephant and raft riding, I needed a good muscle pounding. At one point I had to ask her to cut back her pressure a bit. After two hours, Tom and I greeted one another in the lobby and drank tea. 

 We caught a red taxi for a delicious dinner at the Riverside restaurant along the water.

This dinner was the first in the city and not in the university area. Afterwards we took a tuk-tuk back to Uniserve on the other side of the city. We had a perfect day and a happy ending.

Hill Tribe Overnight

The Karen village where we stayed the night had guesthouses along a creek. The setting was beautiful: the creek on one side and rice paddies on the other. Mosquitoes in between.  Tom and I sprayed Deet insecticide on ourselves and remained relatively unbitten. Our bed or mattress pad on the floor had a mosquito net, not as romantic as it might sound. The net was an ugly pink thing, the pad hard, and the pillows harder.

 Not the most comfortable, but we did fine for one night. We all ate supper together at a long table under a roof with views of rice paddies on the horizon. Meowing cats pestered us loudly for food and we succumbed, especially the cat lovers. The drivers were in the outdoor eating area near the kitchen with an old television watching the volleyball match between China and Thailand. We all ended up over there cheering for Thailand, who won the best out of five. 

Not incidentally, our day was made when we read online that Obamacare was upheld by the Supreme Court. Tom and I were ecstatic!

Elephants and Rafts

When I awakened the next morning under my netting, I saw that it was 7:15am and remembered that the village coffee place opened at 6am. We saw that the breakfast of hot soup also displayed a Nescafe mix with sugar and creamer. I am a caffeine addict but this turned my stomach. Tom and I marched up the hill to the village and drank wonderful hot cups of Thai coffee and talked to the young Thai guy who spoke English from talking to tourists like ourselves. The green spider hadn’t moved. About a half hour later, some students showed up as well to share in the java.

After leaving the village in our vans, we drove to an Elephant Riding tourist spot, and rode on elephants in sets of twos. Tom and I got the biggest and oldest. I felt guilty the entire time, not my favorite thing. The people have it set up so you buy banana and sugar cane to feed your elephant and keep it going. Pui, our elephant, kept reaching his huge trunk back for a snack. We had to buy another bag of treats to keep him happy.  He took us through the river but didn’t spray us. I’m afraid the guide ate most of Pui’s sugar cane.

After the elephant adventure, we arrived in the pouring rain at a river where white water rafting is offered on long narrow bamboo rafts with about six bamboo poles tied together.  I had on my rain poncho over cropped pants and a shirt.  No such thing as staying dry. As soon as I sat down, I had a wet, drenched bottom. A young boy of around 10 or 11 poled us down the river near the other rafts filled with students in their swimsuits. This was a kick! Everyone splashed everyone else, people fell in, the guys poling us slapped the water to get us wet, and at one point our kid let loose of his pole for Tom to catch. Tom couldn’t grab it in time and neither could I. We were adrift with no pole and the raft behind us got our pole to the rescue. There also were some rapids, only enough to make it fun. The whole trip on the river lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. We passed Thai and Chinese vacationers who were staying in grass huts on the river. As they were picnicking and sunbathing, they waved to us.

All in all, it was a wonderful day filled with experiences I never thought I would have. We got back to Uniserve around 4 and were ready to crash.