Chiang Mai

The next day I jumped on an overnight train to a town that the old empower used to live in. The train was an overnight because it took almost 15 hours to get there. And when I arrived, well I saw much of the same old shit. Don't get me wrong, Buddhist Wats (temples) are ornate and well maintained and usually have a magnificent oversized gold Buddha inside but after the third or fourth one they start to lose their appeal. That's why day 2 in Chiang Mai I decided to splurge and get out of the city. I signed up for a day trek with a tour company along the edge of a national park. What really sold me was the elephant rides.
I can't say I've ever seen an elephant so to be able to ride one was quite an experience. It was one of those times where I stepped out of the van and started laughing to myself. "A fucking elephant!" What a massive and strange looking creature. I had to buy a hand of bananas from the local women to feed Matu, as my lady elephant was called. When Matu found out I was packing snacks she would constantly stop and swing her trunk over her head and point it at my face like a giant bazooka and wait for me to feed her. It started to annoy me after a while. She was like an arcade game that would pause until you fed it more coins. I can't stop the game mid ride Matu. Pay to play I suppose.
Just when my thighs were starting to hurt from straddling Matu's neck, the ride was over and the trek continued. This time to a rural village where women would sit at their looms weaving scarves and blankets. The people in this village were quite poor and it felt strange walking through their homes snapping pictures of them on my iPhone while they walk barefoot around their straw huts. I looked at it as a cultural experience that needed to be documented. I also bought some bracelets off the local kids. As if my 10 baht is really going to make a difference.
Next stop was a rafting trip. Not your typical rapids and certainly not your typical raft. Ten bamboo shoots were fastened together with thin strips of an old car tire and, well, that was it. A glorified stream was our rapids and one of the local boys stood on the bow and guided us along with yet another long bamboo shoot. More of a punting experience than rafting but a good time none-the-less.
I made it home in time for supper at the night bazaar with a couple hostel goers and chalked the 24th of April up as a win.

The Morning Commute

Some drive to work, others take the various means of public transportation, and then there are the crazy health nuts that walk or ride their bikes. In Bangkok, people do none of the above.
Being built alongside a large, filthy river, many Bangkokians (made up word) take the river taxi to work. Ferries run every fifteen minutes or so heading up and downstream to various ports in the city.
Accompanied by my hostel friend, Bell, we took our briefcases and chai lattes on board to go tour Bangkok via boat. This is some of the shit we saw.

Ever Illusive

North

A peaceful ferry ride takes us away from the islands and back to Thaimainland.

May She Sleep Well Tonight

Koh Tao

I spent $3.00 on a train ticket to get me 6 hours north of Hat Yai. My seat was comparable to a park bench. This is called at third class ticket.
A vendor walked up and down the aisles with a bucket of beer fueling the drunkards for a mere 30 baht ($1) per can till they couldn't open their eyes anymore. Some curled up on the bench in what had to be a very uncomfortable ball to catch a few zz's. Others slept on straw mats under the benches when the sun went down. This wasn't just the third class, this was the third class sleeper car.
I stayed up talking to a German traveler by the name of Christoph. Christoph was another solo traveler on his way to a small island in the gulf of Thailand to get his scuba certification. I said "gee Christoph, that sounds like a good idea." The next day we took a ferry to Koh Tao and started the open water divers course.
Koh Tao is a picturesque little island swarming with young international travelers and a never ending party scene. Not quite the cultural experience I seek but an experience none-the-less. Ban's dive resort, where I am staying, runs like clockwork. My instructor Jimmy said Bans certifies more people in a year than all of Mexico. I'm not sure what the Mexican dive scene is like but I'm guessing that's pretty good.
Tomorrow is another ferry ride to the mainland then a bus to the countries capital. You guessed it, Bangkok.

Muddy Junction

Mom joined me on the trip to Malaysia. She flew for 23 hours from New York to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur. I guess you could say she missed me...
Beryl spent a good portion of her childhood here actually. From age 12 to 18 she was a certified Kuala Lumpurian with Batik sarongs and a pet monkey named Solomon. After graduating from the International School of Kuala Lumpur she went off to college in California and hasn't looked back until 12 days ago. "A lot has changed in 40 years," she says. Skyscrapers are EVERYWHERE, the Petronas towers keep two watchful eyes over the city. A massive influx of expats clogs the streets and sidewalks. It's a metropolis in the tropics with shopping malls, street vendors, a monorail and the occasional homeless guy sleeping on a cardboard box.
One thing mom did remember was how to speak Malay. Growing up she would always yell out "makan!" meaning eat, when dinner was served. That was the extent of my Malay but when we sat down to have dinner she was having full blown conversations with the whole wait staff! I was impressed and so were the locals. Next thing you know everyone was speaking Malay to me and all I can reply is "makan!" After that, she taught me the basics and I could at least say "thank you."
We shopped for silk scarves, saw the sites, met with some of moms teachers from high school, ate heaps and heaps at the all-you-can-eat-and-then-some-buffet, and kicked it poolside from time to time. A wonderful hiatus from the pb&j's and hostels if you ask me. Thanks for everything Ma!
As I waved goodbye to Beryl I quickly realized that I'm alone now on the opposite side of the world from where I'm trying to go. Where are my all inspiring Bike & Build riders? Where is Robert C. Seamans? Where are the Kaiwiki boys and Uncle Micah? What ever happened to Kegan?! All this time I've been away I've been able to thrive on the comfort of having a partner in crime or at least a familiar face to experience this all with. Now I sit in a food court in KL and see nothing but Asians. Friendly faces none-the-less, but foreign to me.
Ive got a train booked to Thailand tonight. That's about all I've got booked but it's a start. I'm going to finish what I started. I have to. Looks like I'll just need to make some new friends.

P.S. if anyone is interested in coming to Africa in May please email me at cschmitt586@g.rwu.edu

Mahalos