Soaking up the South for Songkran

Hello readers!

I'm entrenched in work once again after a lovely vacation to the South. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get a post out. I've moved into a new house since my return and we don't have wi-fi. It's a small wooden house across from my old place, with lattice-work for some of the walls and ample cracks in the walls and floors to let dirt and animals in. Yet it's a comfortable place with ample space for two. I'll be living with another Alison, who teaches here in Sangkhlaburi. 

I've been in the house on my own for nearly 3 weeks, as she's back in the US for school holidays. This has given me ample time to ponder some mysteries of jungle critters, like "Why are nocturnal bugs so attracted to light?" "Why do spiders grow hair?" and "How many times can a bug ceaselessly hurl itself into the ceiling before it hurts itself?" The house has, at most recent count, 2 tokays and 2 frogs. I'm told that frogs attract snakes, but tokays deter snakes, so I'm hoping that the balance of frogs doesn't come to outnumber tokays. They all hang out together in the bathroom, the tokays doing a poor job to hide themselves and the frogs not even pretending to hide. It's like they spent the last few weeks monitoring me and they've decided I'm not a threat to their existence--they know I don't have the heart or guts to kick them out. I don't kick out the spiders either, as a) they are innumerable and b) they help keep the mosquito population down. Some of the spiders though--eeeek!!! I could sell them to a zoo. 

Even if I have to share the space with half the jungle, it's still nice to nest in my own place and to have a fridge again. The house is situated right on a main residential road of Sangkhlaburi (or, really, the only main residential road of Sangkhlaburi), so it's great for people-watching. It's fronted by a tall garden, and porch is wide with a low-slung roof so I can sit in peace and watch the world go by in relative privacy.

Anyhow, the last time I caught up with you was months ago. I left my travels in Mae Hong Son, at New Year's. Now I'll jump a few months ahead and tell you about my recent travels in April. I have a second post in the works for you about my trip to Kuala Lumpur, but we'll start with Songkran.

The second week of April was Songkran, Thailand’s famous water festival which celebrates the traditional Thai new year. GHAP and most orgs., local and international, give their staff this week off. For me, the vacation couldn’t have come soon enough. I was experiencing some serious burn-out and jungle blues in March. Though most of the time I can handle and even appreciate the details of small-town living, by the end of March I was mentally and emotionally sick of Sangkhlaburi. It was a minor miracle I didn’t physically rebel and bounce onto a bus straight to Bangkok. Somehow, I think the 7-hour ride was simultaneously my compulsion and repulsion to going. The fact that there’s one way in and out and the closest city is 4 hours away can make life in Sangkhla unbearably isolating sometimes. 

Furthermore, at the end of the month I was expecting to have a few big meetings at work, a supervisor visit, a move to a new house, a plethora of goodbyes, and vacation. The middle of the month was just waiting patiently—or impatiently, as it felt—for all of these things to transpire. Luckily, I do have some amazing friends in Sangkhla, many of whom could commiserate. I also had Nezar, who was such a good and compassionate source of comfort that he, bless his heart, surprised me nearly a week early by taking vacation time and coming to Sangkhlaburi to keep me company for my last few hectic days of work. The time mysteriously went a lot faster after that. 

He came in time for the weekend, so we made a mini-trip on the motorbike out to Three Pagodas Pass, the first I’d been there since early in my contract. On a related note, I’ve surmised that part of my trapped-in sensations in Sangkhlaburi directly correlate to my non-ownership (and non-“drivership”) of a motorbike. A bicycle is only marginally more convenient than walking, given that Thai-side Sangkhla is small and hilly, nearly as easy to walk as ride. Surrounding Sangkhlaburi, including Mon-side, is actually mountainous, making a bicycle only helpful if you’re training for Tour de France. Motorbike mobility would facilitate much more exploration. If I start practicing my driving more, a goal of mine, I can rent a motorbike easily enough from any guesthouse for weekend day trips. Luckily, though I’m more comfortable on an automatic, I did learn semi-manual.

Anyway, back to Three Pagodas, which seemed completely back to normal following November’s conflict. Unfortunately, and fortunately, the shake-ups and altercations are frequent enough for border-based Burmese that no one was ever actually that “shaken up,” so to speak. As I think I’ve explained before, Three Pagodas is a great place to buy imported sarongs, teak furniture, jade pieces, and cheap jewelry. How much of this stuff is legal or legitimate is relatively irrelevant, few borders exist in more shades of grey. Three Pagodas is not, however, a great place to see pagodas. Everybody thinks they are going to be some amazing, mystical spires rising out of the mountain mist, but, actually, they are just three little concrete pagodas in the middle of the market, with their paint chipping off. Don’t get too excited.

A curiosity of Three Pagodas town is its geography, as it's a funny little finger poking into Burma. While visiting the market, you are surrounded on three sides by Burma. Literally, the other side of the vendors’ stands is Burma. Just for fun, I played with poking different appendages into the various holes in the “wall,” (if such a weak collection of holes could constitute a “wall”). I have rarely seen a more porous border than this. Not only are the manmade markers weak or non-existent, there are no natural barriers such as rivers to demarcate the boundaries. This became more obvious when we took the motorbike on a side road, seeking out a stupa gleaming on a nearby hilltop. A little old man came chasing quickly behind us, waving his hands frantically. Apparently that little hilltop was in Burma, oops. 

After our near multinational mishap, we headed back toward Sangkhlaburi, stopping for a bit on the Songkhalia River, one of the tributaries feeding Sangkhlaburi’s lake. I’d attempted to come here before, but rain had thwarted all previous plans. It’s definitely worth reinforcing those motorbike skills for this spot. Turning off the main road, you turn down the small dirt path to a series of foodstalls. The foodstalls serve food to a series of small, palm-shaded platforms, stuck half in the river and half on land. We picked a platform and sat to enjoy the river and the scenery. It’s a really popular spot for families and their kids, a natural and cheap waterpark. All of the kids go out with their tubes or their fishing gear, exhausting themselves by floating down the river and then slogging back up to do it again.  

Three Pagodas Pass!! Whoo!! Wait...that's it?

Road trip! If only...

Burma through the bushes

Nuns chanting and collecting alms at Three Pagodas Pass.

The Thai-Myanmar Township Border Committee

Pulling something from the truck at a local furniture factory. Three Pagodas Pass is a big destination for Burmese migrants, as there are a lot of small factories and rubber plantations. Unfortunately, it's a hub for non-consensual migrants as well, mostly women who are trafficked across the border. From what I hear, the police are complicit in a lot of it, helping send the girls deeper into Thailand for a fee.

Floating down the Songkalia River

Perched on a platform

Enthusiastic spearfishing

Saturday afternoon bliss

Songkalia Still Life

After a lazy Sunday and a few more days of work, it was finally time for vacation! We hopped on a bus out of town with my supervisor, who had come for some work, and we headed for Bangkok. We stayed 2 nights in the city, with the intention of a full, fun and productive day in Bangkok. Achieved! My ideas of Bangkok productivity and fun—and fullness—always seem to relate to my stomach: I ate Mexican and Moroccan two nights in a row. I was so burned out on Mon and Thai food that Nezar dubbed this the “cheese vacation.” After a longer-haul in Sangkhlaburi, Bangkok is the best. Sometimes I go to the grocery stores just to stare at all of the amazing options, or ride the BTS (the skytrain) just to experience mass transport, or go to the mall to enjoy crass consumerism. I love the anonymity of the city, you can reinvent yourself on every block.

Nachos=Heaven on Earth

The fancy "Sky Garden" at our downtown Bangkok hotel (conveniently located just around the corner from the Mexican place)

We had a mid-morning flight to Krabi, and we were on our way to the hotel by lunchtime. Krabi Town, the biggest city of Krabi Province, is not on the beach itself. Instead, it is a great embarkation point to beaches and islands throughout the area. 

Krabi's beaches and islands.

Our hotel was a few blocks off Ao Nang beach, about 20 km away from Krabi town. Ao Nang, for now, appears to be the most built-up of the beaches in Krabi-area. It’s nothing compared to what I hear of Phuket (Thailand’s Cancun), and it’s still much smaller than a place like Playa Del Carmen. It does have a sizeable expat population (like many places here in Thailand do). It seems the majority of the long-term expats here are Scandinavian. Swedes everywhere! 

As soon as we had settled our things into the room and grabbed lunch, I couldn’t wait to get to the beach! We rented a motorbike and went looking for sand and sun. We went to Ao Nang’s beach first, but I decided we should keep looking for something with a few less boats and a few more swimmers. So we went a bit further down the road to Nopparat Thara beach. 

As we arrived the tide was slowly on its way out, giving us an ideal opportunity to walk out to a sandbank where my insatiable shellhunting began. I don’t know how shellhunting can be genetically passed down, but it must be—all you ever see of my Mom at the beach is her back, as she’s bent over scanning the sand. I did the same thing most of the trip, without even realizing I was doing it half the time. Nezar, good sport, aided the search, though unfortunately some of the shells found him instead of the other way around (those spiny shells are sharp!). By the end of the first day alone we had a serious stash started. They have beautiful shells here, shiny and spiny spirals and conchs, sand dollars, cowrie shells and others.

Shell sorting

I stayed on the beach long enough the first day to get burned, despite efforts to apply and reapply sunscreen. Contrary to popular belief, you can actually live in Thailand and have no tan. Given that I spend most of my time in an office, I am definitely paler than I was last year, which to most Thai, Mon and Burmese people makes me far prettier. “Whiteness” is a whole blog post in itself: suffice it to say for now that cosmetics and hygiene companies are making FORTUNES convincing white people they need to be tan and convincing tan people they need to be white. I think 50% of all commercials on Thai TV are about whitening creams. Sigh. So far no one has convinced anyone that sunburned pink is the next big aesthetic achievement. 

We had a total of 5 days in Krabi, and each day we managed to make it to a different beach. But day 2 first involved a trip back into Krabi Town, where we climbed to the Tiger Temple. On the drive back into town, Nezar pointed out a little golden wat on top of a mountain and said we’d be climbing to that, a total of 1,237 steps to the best views in Krabi. Just at the bottom of the stairs my camera battery decided to quit and we had no other camera with us, so I can't share the view with you.

The last shot before my camera died--perhaps this photo would have been more effective if I pretended to be at least slightly alarmed.

The Tiger Temple doesn't actually have any tigers. Apparently it did have a tiger at one point, but the monks scared it away...so they could name a temple after it? It does have monkeys, however, and it's really fun to feed them pineapple and watermelon. Some of them catch really well!


The steps up are all different heights and angles and the climb reminded how few stairs I usually see (when all your buildings are one-story...). A few of the stairs were more like ladders than stairs. We took them about 100 at a time, huffing and puffing at the end of each series. When we finally got to the top, however, it was well worth the climb. We could see the whole of the town, the palm plantations, the paddies and fields, the highways, the beautiful mountains and limestone bluffs, and the ocean. There's a giant golden Buddha on top, and apparently the Buddha walked here, as they've enshrined a pit in the rocks with gold paint and significance. (If the Buddha actually walked in every place they say he walked in Thailand, however, he would have dropped of exhaustion before he ever taught the world anything.)

Following the rewarding but exhausting climb, we stopped off for som tam and sticky rice at Nammao Bay. There were signs along the road advertising "Gastropod Fossil" at Nammao Bay. Well, "Gastropod Fossil" was a bit unusual for a road sign, so we went to check it out. I feel like either we missed the main point, or the signs were a lot of hype over a dusty old museum with no shells or fossils any more interesting than what we could find on the beach ourselves. Nonetheless, it was another beach and another opportunity!

Our private beach at Klong Muang

The next day we went further afield in our explorations, over to a quieter part of the province. Given the geography, we were never far from the water, so at a few points we decided to turn in to a dirt track and see where it led. We found some gorgeous, quiet places that way. At one, as I inevitably picked up seashells, I got a crew of cute little kids to help me out. Soon, my hands were packed with specimens and they kept running up with more. We got out as graciously as we could.

Just arrived, and I've already found something.

Pretty!

Oh, how I miss living at the beach!

After taking leave of our first beach, bag of shells in hand, we found another hidden path near the Princess's Royal Residence. We had the whole stretch nearly to ourselves, only joined once by a group of teenage boys who had sneaked down to smoke a few cigarettes on a log (teenagers are so universal). The water here is warm and beautiful, though not as beautiful as the Caribbean. Though part of the change was seasonal, rainstorms making the water a bit cloudier, the water here is a soft jade green compared with the vivid over-saturated riot of blues in the Caribbean.

We wrapped up with some yummy Indian food, and headed back to Ao Nang. At all waiting-points on this trip, waiting for food, buses, boats, etc. we played with Nezar's iPhone. He bought one in February, and it was the first time we'd spent together since. Oh my, those things are ADDICTIVE. The games are brilliant, how can you get bored with all those apps? The favorites of the trip were "Cut the Rope" and "Fieldrunners." The premise behind Fieldrunners is that you have a fortress to defend against an attacking army. You have, depending on the level, up to 3 entrances to guard against 100 rounds of attacking troops, helicopters, tanks, blimps, etc. You can guard your entrances with a variety of weapons, including glue guns (to slow down the advancing troops) and lasers. I blew through the first two levels of the game, more by accident than by any real skill. The last level, however, stumped us for about 3 days. It was fun, though I'm afraid it did bring out the worst of my competitive side at times. When we finally beat it, the catharsis was visceral.


When not playing Fieldrunners, eating something with cheese, or hanging out on the beach/bike, we were in the pool. In our searches for a place to stay, Nezar had found a place with "Deluxe Pool Access" rooms. Yes. Please. Might as well splurge and really enjoy the vacation to the fullest, no?

Pool access, deluxe. Site of several mornings of frisbee.

One must-do in Krabi is rock climbing. The whole region is famous for the limestone cliffs or "karsts" which poke up from land and sea alike. They are stunning, dotting the horizon and punctuating the drives through the countryside. Some literally do just rise up out of the sea like strange marine skyscrapers. They are very similar, geologically, to the limestone bluffs in my hometown, Alton (though I do have to admit they've got Alton's bluffs beat on almost every other count). 


The cliffs at Railay Beach in Krabi are considered some of the best climbs in the region, and even in the world. They were preparing for a big rock climbing festival a few weeks after our visit. Even for beginners, there are some great schools and instructors and some easy routes. 


To get to Railay you have to take a ferry or longtail boat. It is a part of the mainland, but dense cliffs and mountains separate the Railay peninsula from everything else--they can't even put a road in! A longtail boat, by the way, is so named because of the motor mechanics. A longtail boat uses a regular car engine, which is fitted into the back of the boat and mounted so that it can be rotated side to side. Then an elongated driveshaft, which can also be pulled up and down (in and out of the water) is fitted on the motor, with a propeller attached at the end. The maneuverability of the motor side-to-side and the driveshaft up-and-down makes it possible to steer the boat. They use this style everywhere in Thailand, including here in Sangkhlaburi, in Bangkok, and in the south as well.

Railay Beach longtail boats and limestone karsts

Once we arrived to the beach, we were met by rock climbing school staff who escorted us to the school's location on the opposite side of the peninsula. The central part of the peninsula still feels a bit cut off from the world--appropriate for a place with no land access, I suppose. It reminded me a bit of Belize, muddy and tropical, chickens running about, an attitude of ambivalence toward the forces of time and ambition. The staff at the school were friendly and set us up with our gear, including climbing shoes and harnesses. Climbing shoes must fit very tightly, as it helps to improve your toehold (literally).


When we arrived to the rocks, we got a quick course in rock climbing basics, including belaying (i.e., holding the rope at the bottom so your friend up top doesn't seriously hurt himself), climbing jargon ("Climb On!") and how to keep your gear from getting too sandy. After our instructor set our anchor rope, I was up! It started easy, but it got kind of crazy real fast. I loved it, but the sensation of hanging on the side of the cliff--without a clue to your next step--takes a bit of adjustment! After some encouragement from the ground, and a dramatic loss of grip which left me swinging (safe and sound) in my harness, I made it to the top where I was encouraged to soak up the view. The most fun part is coming down, when you back yourself feet and butt first over the side. Then you slowly bounce down, using your feet to push away from the wall. Whee!! We had three climbs each, after which we decided we'd done our good deed, and could reward ourselves with an afternoon of nothing on the beach.

One toehold at a time

Making progress!

Nezar on the fun part

Beautiful Railay beach

The afternoon was the definition of good day at the beach: good book, good weather, warm and clear water, mango lassis...can't everyday be vacation?

Sunset=last call to the mainland

We had such a nice day at Railay that we planned to go back for our last full day in the area. On our way to the boats, however, the full force of Songkran was in effect. The roads were filled and lined with barrels of water and super-soakers. We had a waterproof bag with us, but had not closed it properly, not expecting the short trip to the beach to be so treacherous. Sadly, this oversight spelled the end of my camera, which was on its last legs anyway. 

Once we got splashed a few times, my competitive side was ignited, and laying around on the beach didn't sound quite as fun as joining the battles. So we armed ourselves with a water gun and a water bottle, and we took to the streets. Soon, we looked just like everybody else: absolutely drenched, squeaking around in our rubber shoes, covered in talc powder. The talc powder is mixed with a bit of water into a paste and then rubbed on your face or clothes with a "Sawatdee bpee mai!," or "Happy new year!" It's used as a sort of blessing, I suppose the whiteness of it representing purity or something like that. The splashing and water sprays can be relentless, but after awhile the only ones you feel are the ones laced with ice, brrrrr! A few brave souls left their cars open and their massive speakers blasting, meaning there was thumping music pumping out from every corner. The farang-contingent of the town was mostly inebriated as usual. There was something about the way that many Americans in town handled their water fights that smacked of larger American engagement in the world: aggressive, unilateral, and loud.

I never knew there were so many pick-up trucks in Thailand til everyone came out for Songkran, armed with barrels and barrels of water.

Gotcha!

 

 

 

 

Backpackers: bellicose, beer-swilling, bare bodies

Crowded around some refill tanks, Hawaiian shirts seemed to be the day's theme. That little boy has big ambitions with that gun.

Packing heat

War paint

Songkran actually lasts a full three days, but one day of intense fighting was enough for me. The next day Nezar was flying to Egypt to visit family, and I was flying the day after to Malaysia for a new visa. We stayed in Krabi town at a hip hostel with a rooftop bar. The last 2 days flew by, and soon I was on my to KL, where I'll pick up in the next post. 

Anyway, aside from work there are lots of exciting things "in the works" for the months ahead! I'll be starting a distance-learning Master's through London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and (inshallah) I'll be in Rangoon/Yangon for a month in September. 


As always--despite delays--I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading, and ciao for now!