Thailand- Bangkok to Surin February 18, 2009

On Thursday, February 5, I arrived in Thailand to meet up with my cousin Tom (first cousin once-removed) and his wife Wipada. Tom is a Texas cowboy with a second career as an anthropologist. He and Wipada met a few years ago on the website ThaiLoveLinks.com Oddly enough, Wipada doesn’t even use a computer really- her friend signed her up for it. After awhile of talking, Tom came to Thailand to meet her. They got lucky and hit it off. They were soon married and here we are. I’ve never seen Tom healthier or happier.

my hosts- Tom and Wipada

Before I get into the details of this country, let me just say that I’ve been looking forward to Thailand as the highlight of my trip all along. I wanted a culture shock. Europe is a lot like the states even though there are significant subtle differences. That said, Thailand is not as different as I thought it would be. I suppose people all over the world are still people and humanity itself doesn’t change too much because of geography and culture. Deep down people all over want to live a good life.

It is obviously not the same either. It seems to me people here enjoy life a lot more. Thailand is nicknamed the land of smiles. They appear to be more relaxed and a have a wicked sense of humor. I’ve read that after awhile you can tell the difference between the real and fake smiles, and there are certainly plenty of people trying to scam tourists, but I still think this is one of the more relaxed places I’ve ever been to. The Thai people strive to marry into wealth, which to some means a farang, or foreigner. Perhaps they think life will be better in another place with a higher dollar value. From my perspective, the United States is the most stressful, competitive and stingy place on earth. Our ambition and drive (that I too am guilty of) have taken us too far away from what it means to be human and care for our people. For example, it’s difficult and frowned upon to take a day off of work or take a break in the middle of the day to have your hair done, much less take five weeks vacation per year. I joke with Wipada and Tom here in Thailand about being lazy. In the U.S., it’s not something to joke about. That’s because on some level many Americans are and for those who are not there’s a fear of relaxing equally laziness. The definition of fat here is not the 800 lb. man who had to be removed from his NYC apartment with a crane, but rather a bit of fluff from eating too much delicious Thai food (it’s not hard to do).

Many of the Thai people I’ve seen here live a modest life in small houses sometimes more like huts. For the more rural villages, much of their time is spent outside in shaded areas. They eat rice with everything and buy food fresh from the market or grow it themselves. They have gardens and often raise their own chicken or fish, sometimes even pigs or cows. Animals just wander around, returning home for food. Stray dogs live side by side people, sometimes skinny sometimes not, but it never seems they are discontented. On the contrary, they seem fairly relaxed about life.

One major difference is the plumbing situation. I have yet to see a flush toilet here (since I wrote this I’ve seen a few in restaurants catering to farang). Everyone has squat toilets or sometimes regular toilets. A big container of water sits next to the toilet and after you’ve done your business, you scoop out some water with a bucket and pour it in the toilet, performing a sort of manual flush. Afterwards, you wash your privates off with water from a spicket (a bidet seems like a luxury). Showers are normal when there is water pressure. When there isn’t, a hand bath is in order. In order to stay beautiful, the Thai women get there hair washed every few days in a place like a salon. The hair is washed about three times and they scrub your scalp and rub your ears as a sort of scalp massage, which feels very good. Then they dry and style it. The whole thing costs about the equivalent of $3 U.S. dollars. I’ve never been happier with my hair. I’d love to pay someone $3 to massage my scalp and style my hair every few days. My hair would look a lot better too…

When I first arrived at the airport I didn’t see Tom, so I sat and waited. About a half an hour later he walked up, unsure if it was really me. It turns out we had missed each other some how when I exited customs and we were each waiting in a different spot. Wipada was actually the one who spotted me, recognizing the resemblance even though she’d never seen me before. Not only that, but there was a confusion in the arrival date and they had actually come a day earlier. I felt awful. I left one day and arrived on the next day because the flights were overnight. Somehow he had the impression that I was arriving on the departure date and not the arrival date. They were in good spirits about it though. Wipada had been able to sleep all day instead, which she was happy about.

Teacher Hotel straight ahead

We went to their hotel to stash my stuff and grab a bite to eat. It was a cheap hotel specifically for teachers. It was decent enough. On the way in we saw a big lizard thing in the dirty moat in front of the hotel. We think it might have been a komodo dragon. It looked like a cayman in the front with a long thick finlike tail behind it. I did get a picture so maybe someone will know.

What kind of creature is it?

Soon we were off to our first tourist destination in Bangkok- the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was just a taste of what was to come. Temples here come in the form of wats, or temple complexes. Each of the buildings in the complex is ornately decorated with murals inside. Coming fresh from Italy, it was interesting to see the difference in mural styles between the Vatican and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Each wat (most if not all) has monks living in a dormitory on the premises. It is customary for every Thai male to spend at least a little time being a monk. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is an exemplary wat which is beautiful and well maintained. On the internet I learned the Emerald Buddha has quite a story to it. However, it was packed with tourists and Thai people alike and it was very hot. I was also wearing the wrong kind of clothing and was therefore sweating and approaching heat exhaustion. I also had very little sleep the night before on the plane and was suffering from jet lag. So, we took plenty of pictures in a short amount of time and then returned to the hotel to take showers and naps.

one temple building

another temple building

mural painting

student group photo

grand columns

temple building 3

temple building 4

guardians

buddha

lily pads

The Palace

Afterwards we ate some food and headed to the train station to catch an overnight train to Surin. Tom and I were trying to guess which country the train tracks came from and how old the cars were. Judging by the width of the track and its familiarity, we guessed it was from the States and the cars (and probably tracks too) are about 50 years old. The sleeping cars looked like they were straight out of the movie, “Some Like it Hot” with Marilyn Monroe. I felt like I might bump into her sneaking whiskey in the bathroom… lol.

Bangkok at sunset

Bangkok train station- In Thailand it is perfectly acceptable to sit, sleep or eat on the floor.

train car

Our train arrived in Surin at 5:30 a.m. Wipada called a tuk tuk, or open aired (in this case) motorized passenger vehicle, to pick us up. We arrived at their house- a concrete townhouse painted blue wedged between two nondescript identical townhouses. It is a nice space, perfectly adequate for their needs. Wipada has owned it for eight years, but only recently moved in. They said at first they didn’t want to live there, but then the tenant moved out and they decided to clean it up and move in themselves. Except for a bit of flooring missing on some steep steps, the place looks great.

Anyway, Wipada immediately wanted to leave in their car to visit the market and get food for breakfast, so I went with her. I stood out like a sore thumb. I learned quickly that Thai people aspire to have white skin. It’s their idea of beautiful. Just like there is a large industry to look tan in the States, here there is a large industry to look white. There are skin whitening products and everything. Wow, what a flip in culture. So, as a young white female in Thailand I fit the bill for beautiful and everyone at the market said so. It was a bit strange and uncomfortable to be gawked at by everyone as a foreigner in the market. I’ve seen several young white females in Surin since, but I guess they don’t go to the early morning market very often. I was glad to have Wipada with me. She told me how to say thank you in Thai, so I kept my manners about me. The best part was when one vendor thought I was her daughter and started talking to me in Khmeng (Cambodian). When I didn’t answer, he knew I wasn’t and laughed at his mistake. Wipada was thrilled. I told her, “All you have to do is teach me Cambodian and we can fool people.” I laughed at the thought of passing for a local. Somehow it made me feel better. It was still dark out so it was hard to get any of my photos in focus, but I did manage to get a few.

Wipada made breakfast- some kind of soup with rice and egg and more rice. That’s breakfast here. It’s just like lunch or dinner. We ate on the 2nd floor balcony next to Wipada’s beautiful orchids watching the sun rise. Then we slept a long time.

early morning market

That's sweet apple in the front.

coconuts at the market

threaded flowers

a sunrise breakfast

Tom at sunrise on the balcony

Pompeii and the Sistine Chapel February 16, 2009

Part 3 – Pompeii and the Sistine Chapel

On the morning of Monday, February 2, Mike and I caught the commuter train back in the direction of Napoli, but got off halfway at Pompeii. We were able to stash our bags for free at the entrance to Pompeii so we could wander around free of the weight.

For those who don’t know, Pompeii is a relatively wealthy city that was covered under ash from a volcanic eruption that happened around 75 A.D. (the exact year escapes me right now). The disastrous event happened so fast that people had no time to react. Cavities were found where their bodies had once been, which were then filled with concrete to show the pain and terror they were in when they died, clinging to each other or curled up in a ball. Suffocation must be a very painful way to die. The city was kept preserved exactly as it was buried until it was first discovered a few hundred years ago. Since then, it’s undergone an extensive excavation and continues to be unburied today.

It is the size of a small city, with the layout of a small city. There are residential areas, public forums, roman baths and tombstones. One of the greatest wonders are the frescoes. They were kept surprisingly well intact in a way that we rarely are able to see in something that old. Mostly, we can see color.

It was grey and dismal outside while we were there. It didn’t rain, but the sun didn’t shine either. To me, Pompeii has a very eerie feeling to it. It’s strange to walk around knowing the whole city just stopped operating and essentially ceased to exist in one fateful day. The best part was the Roman baths. They are famous and I’m not sure anything quite like it is in operation today. The frescoes and mosaic tiling is impressive and the baths are something out of my imagination.

Pompeii ruin

casting of body and artifacts

ceiling of Roman baths

room in Roman baths

fresco in home showing a bride preparing for marriage

mossy pillar stumps

Pompeii garden

view of smoking volcano... it's still active, but isn't expected to erupt in our lifetimes

When we’d had our fill of walking around, I was hungry so we stopped to eat just outside the tourist attraction. Big mistake. It was the most horrible pizza. It’s funny how we found such differences still so close to Napoli. We ditched the pizza and caught the train to Napoli to catch our train back to Rome. That train experience wasn’t great either. On the way from Rome we had lucked out and caught a Eurostar, or fast train. On the way back we caught a regular train and we seated in a cabin with four other people. We spent our trip staring at each other in a dreadfully hot cramped car. We were grateful to get back to Rome.

Our room in Hotel Galatea in Rome was adequate. It had a simple modern design and a lovely bathroom. No complaints. Breakfast was great. They had a super expensive cappuccino machine maker that made an excellent cappuccino at the press of a button. We were spoiled.

On Tuesday, we caught the metro over to the Vatican. We emerged on Via Barletta and made sure to take a picture. We found our way to the Vatican Museum. It was still early so we got in without having to stand in much of a line. I made the mistake of rushing through most of it trying to get to the Sistine Chapel at the end. There were people everywhere inside and the tourist groups were annoying me. I don’t know what got into me but I just didn’t have enough patience. Eventually, closer to the end, we slowed down, taking in the amazing detail of the frescoes covering every surface. I liked the collection of religious modern art the Vatican had acquired. I was surprised to see a great number of household names. Finally we emerged at the Sistine Chapel.

I saw the Sistine Chapel when I visited as a teenager before it was restored. In a way, I liked it better then. It was dark and smoky. Somehow, the restored colors were so bright they seemed fake. It’s still an amazing work of art. I spent a long time looking at the faces. This time I had a new perspective on Michealangelo, having just been in Florence, his native home. I heard the Pope gave him a hard time with the commission and I was contemplating the relationship all artists have with their patrons, those who are lucky enough to have them.

When we emerged from the museum we headed over to Piazza S. Pietro and watched workers taking down the holiday decorations. A large stable had been constructed to go with a massive Christmas tree. The faux stone was being thrown away, which as an odd site to see- a man carrying what looked like very heavy stone but was actually foam. Additionally, men were taking down Christmas ornaments from the tree and interacting with a small crowd asking for them. Every so often, they’d toss one to a cute girl or an old woman.

We stopped to relax at a cafeteria place nearby and Mike ran into four people who were on his flight over. We contemplated how small a world it can feel like at times. On the other hand, I write this a few weeks later with Mike on the other side of the world and right now it feels rather big. My time with him in Italy was amazing and resulted in some of my favorite moments that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I guess love does that.

The next morning we both went to the airport and caught planes in opposite directions. He flew back to the States and I flew on to Thailand. Although I had already been out of the country for a month, it felt like in some ways my journey was just beginning.

Sorrento and Capri February 16, 2009

Part 2 – Sorrento and Capri on the Mediterranean

On Saturday morning (January 31), Mike and I packed our things and caught a train down to Napoli (Naples). We arrived at lunch time and I had a mission to eat pizza in Naples. I’ve been told it is widely viewed as the best pizza in the world.

We didn’t have to go far. We crossed the street from the train station and immediately found a suitable place. We ordered what the waiter recommended and watched it made in an oven right in front of us. It was delicious. What surprised me is there was no shredded cheese on it. It was simply a very good pizza crust burnt perfectly in the oven with good ingredients on it- olive oil, fresh basil, fresh juicy cherry tomatoes and chunks of buffalo mozzarella. The olive oil and tomato juice made it soupy. I ate a whole pizza and didn’t feel full or sick like usual. It was simply delicious.

 

best pizza in the world from Naples, Italy

 

We caught an hour long commuter train from Napoli to Sorrento. It wasn’t the greatest experience, but it worked. I had no directions in Sorrento, but an old man was happy to help point the way to our hotel and we found it fairly easily. Hotel Mignon Mueble is designed to be cool with blue tiles everywhere and big windows for breezes. Our room was twice the size of that in Rome for the same price. We had a balcony overlooking an orchard with clementines and lemons as well as a cliff beyond.

our room in Hotel Mignon Mueble

little boats at dusk

Mike candid

That afternoon and evening, we were content to wander around Sorrento looking at the shops and drinking wine. I also had a bit of limoncello, a drink they are famous for in Sorrento. I indulged my urge to find the places I had gone as a teenager. When I was a freshman in high school I came to Italy with my Latin class. Sorrento and the Isle of Capri were my favorite part of the trip and a big reason for bringing Mike there.

Here’s the story: Admittedly, I had a bit of a fondness for trouble makers then and tagged along with a boy to smuggle liquor into our hotel. We wandered through a back alley to avoid being caught by the teachers and climbed a wall to toss the liquor in to a first floor hotel room belonging to fellow students. Then we walked around front and got caught without having a chaperone. The punishment was spending a day in my hotel room in Rome instead of being allowed to explore. Ironically, that is where I smoked my first cigarette while watching the movie Speed 2 in Italian. I smoked for one summer then stopped because I didn’t like it.

So, the hotel looks a little different eleven years later. It has received an update since then, but I was able to find it and retrace my steps through the back alley to find the wall we climbed on. To this day, it is still that first impression of Sorrento’s narrow cobblestone streets that comes to mind when I think of Italy.

On Sunday I wanted to take Mike to the Isle of Capri, but it was raining miserably. We brainstormed before we left the hotel and decided to catch a bus and view the Amalfi coast that way since it was bit drier. We headed out to the station to catch it, but life had its own ideas. First of all, the rain let up after we left our hotel. In fact, we saw a beautiful rainbow over the Mediterranean Sea. Second, a marathon was just finishing up in front of the station so of course we became distracted and started taking pictures. By the time we had taken our fill of photos, the sun had come out a bit and it was beautiful out. We ditched the bus idea and opted instead to walk down to the water to get photos of the good views.

To get to the water, one must walk down several flights of steps deep into the ravine that leads to the shoreline. Sorrento is situated on top of a cliff with a small settlement at the bottom. Rick Steves said in his tv show about the place that those living at the bottom are rumored to be descendents of pirates. The whole place intrigues me.

When we got to the shore, we walked out on the pier for the ferries and were not disappointed. There were picture perfect views with beautiful sun and moody clouds. It was straight out of a brochure. Needless to say, we took a lot of photographs with several different lenses and relaxed there for awhile.

rainbow over the way to the water

marathon runner

fresh rain

coast of Sorrento

the photographer

1, 2, go

moody skies

3 wise kitties

The weather was holding so I made a decision- we would try to go to Capri. We hiked back up the steps to our hotel and repacked for the trip. We picked up some pizza on the way and made it back down to the dock in time to catch the ferry to Capri. At that time, there was only one ferry there and one ferry back for the rest of the day. The whole time it threatened to rain, but it really only sprinkled for a few minutes (long enough for me to wrestle with my broken umbrella and then ditch it).

At this point I must digress and tell another little story. I have been wanting to bring Mike to Italy for a few years because he’s 100% Italian in heritage but up until this point had never been there. I wanted to go back to Capri because it made a big impression on me as a teenager. So, I posted a magazine photo of a picturesque shot of the coast of Capri on my bulletin board to manifest that it would happen. This is many months ago, before I knew I was taking this trip. Apparently, this method works. I really felt like divine intervention made it possible for Mike and I to find the exact view in the picture.

When we got off the ferry, we wandered up the steep hill into the town and up and up without a map. I knew somewhere there was a little park to see that view from but I had no idea where. I had it in my mind but I wasn’t even actively looking for it. It kept threatening to rain but then didn’t. We wandered and eventually there it was- the little park with the amazing view I had posted on my bulletin board. We walked in, snapped our fill of photos and marveled at the beauty. Just enough sun poked through the clouds to give our photos good contrast. We had only been there about six minutes when a little Italian man showed up and dangled his keys, kicking us out so he could lock up.

Like I said, it really felt like the whole experience was in the hands of powers beyond my control- We were going to hop a bus, but the rain stopped, a rainbow appeared and a marathon distracted us. We got to Capri without a map and found the park minutes before it closed. The sun poked through just enough to give us good pictures. We were never drenched in a downpour. I still marvel at how the day unfolded. It was a moment of pure joy and wonder at the workings of the world.

ferry to Capri

Isle of Capri

town of Capri

perspective

coast of Capri

my Capri pin-up image

proof we were there

Capri at dusk

Back in Sorrento, we had dinner at a restaurant right next to the pier. Our waiter was by far the most friendly and entertaining. He brought us a free crispy pizza crust with olive oil and rosemary as a snack. The food was delicious. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. With a long hike back up the steps, our night was complete.

 

restaurant next to the sea

Big Old Things in Rome February 13, 2009

On the morning of Thursday, January 9th, I was up before dawn to catch a train to Rome from Florence. I said a grateful goodbye to Linda and Bruce and with their help catching a taxi to the train station, I was on my way. I watched the sun rise on the train and arrived in Rome at about 8:30 a.m. The plan was to meet Mike over the next hour or so at the tourist information booth in the train station. Well, that didn’t happen and hours later I resorted to Plan B: meet at the hotel. As I was walking to the hotel, the man himself spotted me on the street and caught up with me. Of course, his first experience in Italy and in Europe was to catch the wrong train from the airport and get a very scenic ride and several first hand encounters with the locals to find his way to the train station. With a little patience, it all worked out fine. We were just happy to see each other.

38 Al Viminale Deluxe Inn / B&B is an adorable place very close to the train station and across from the Opera house. It’s not exactly a hotel or a bed and breakfast, but instead falls somewhere in the middle. It’s like a hotel and there’s no breakfast but it’s on the fifth floor of an office/apartment building instead of in its own. The reception is a room (more like an office) on the first floor after walking into a large open walkway through a thick wooden door. Once in the room, it felt like a hotel. There was an awesome water massage shower and slightly cheesy but complimentary artwork painted on the wall above the bed. My favorite part was the bar in the main hallway, which any of the guests could use (although we were always the only ones there) that had glasses and the fixings for tea and coffee. We had a nightcap there each night. The first night was absinthe, which Mike informed me we were not able to drink in the U.S. (at least not the real thing) because it comes from a cactus plant and has a mild hallucinogen. The Italians love it. I didn’t feel like I was hallucinating, but it was definitely strong liquor. The second night featured Tuscan red wine.

After getting a cappuccino, the first order of business was to start walking to see big old things. First up was the Coliseum. We managed to get inside without much of a line. Mike had just handed me the Nikon D60 and I was experimenting with it inside the coliseum. Outside, there was a beautiful arch we took pictures of along with lots of people watching to do. We were so impressed with the Coliseum we came back just about every night in Rome to visit and take photographs. I tried to visit the Roman Forum, but they were closed two days in a row. The first time we missed the closing time by fifteen minutes. The second time they were closed for maintenance. Oh well, such is life.

We walked towards Piazza Navona, a place Bruce suggested we see. We arrived at the Piazza at dusk and sat down for dinner at one of the patio restaurants with a heat lamp next to us. We watched the fountain, local painters, tourists and locals walking their dogs as the sun set on Rome.

In the dark of night, we wandered back in the direction of our hotel and stumbled upon the Pantheon. It was quite remarkable to be wandering along and round a corner to behold such a mighty big old thing. It’s a wondrous place. We were lucky to find it open, because on other nights afterwards every time we walked by it was closed. We wandered inside and stood in awe for awhile looking up at the open ceiling and down at the marble floor. I found myself drawn to a particular tomb and when I read the description I discovered it belonged to the famous artist Raphael.

Eventually we found ourselves at another marvelous sight, the Fontana Di Trevi. We returned to it several times afterwards. Although a mob of tourists crowded the front of it, that was part of the fun. It was easy to stand on the side, watch people and get a close look at the fountain. It’s the length of the building it is built into. Although there is probably some skilled trickery involved, it looks as though it is carved from the same stone as the rest of the building. It was probably one of my favorite spots to go to. It helped that it was surrounded by little roads with restaurants and gelateries (ice cream).

The next day we wandered north and discovered the Spanish Steps. I wasn’t sure what all of the fuss was about. The steps were lined with people and there were high end designer shops all over. To me that meant a very very expensive cup of coffee just to use a bathroom. I liked the fountain better.

The last thing we saw that I didn’t mention is a place I don’t actually know the name of because the road on my map covers it up (bad design job). The last word looks something like Emanuele II. It’s a massive building with steps up the front of it leading to the tomb of the unknown soldier. There’s a large horse statue looking over Rome. We climbed to the top level taking pictures and stopped to rest, have a snack and a glass of wine at an outdoor patio restaurant on the top level of the building. That was my favorite memory of Rome. From where we stood we could see the Coliseum, part of the Roman Forum and a wide panoramic view of the city itself. Cheers.

 

The Coliseum

 

Coliseum interior

arch near Coliseum

 

old trees

 

Piazza Navona

 

front of Pantheon

 

looking into Pantheon

ceiling of Pantheon

Rafael's tomb

 

looking at other side of interior of Pantheon

people at Fontana Di Trevi

tomb of the unknown soldier

 

horse on a hill

columns

view of the Roman Forum

a toast to big old things...

 

Spanish Steps

view from the Spanish Steps

 

first hotel room

jet shower

bar at hotel

Romantic Italia February 13, 2009

Traveling through Rome and Sorrento with Mike has been a dream. We wander in and out of big old things and beautiful panoramas of coastline and cityscapes with cameras in hand. For me, a new Nikon D60, a present from Mike, ensures that the second month of pictures will be even more amazing than the first.

To date, we’ve seen the Coliseum, peeked in at the Roman Forum, visited countless Piazzas in Rome, had gelato, cappuccinos, red wine, rose prosecco, limoncello and absinthe. We’ve had the best pizza in the world in Naples and met the friendliest waiter at a restaurant near the water below the town of Sorrento. We’ve wandered around Sorrento and Capri finding the places I visited when I was 14. Through a stroke of luck, the rain held out long enough for us to visit Capri and Pompeii, making the trip complete for me. I will never doubt the power of a manifestation board because it truly felt like it took measures beyond my control to make this dream a reality. A picture of Capri was posted and a year or two later I found myself standing with Mike at the exact spot the photo was taken from. Wonderful. I say gratzia to the world.

p.s. They say Paris is the most romantic city in the world, but I saw more people necking in Florence and in Venice than in the entirety of France… huh…

I’m describing my time in Italy with Mike in three segments (over the next three posts)…
Part 1 – Big Old Things in Rome
Part 2 – Sorrento and Capri on the Mediterranean
Part 3 – Pompeii and the Sistine Chapel