eyelashes and other things

This is Bright, imitating my eyelashes. He likes them because they're different.

Most Thais' eyelashes are dark, short, and straight. Bright told me some of the girls he knows like to wear fake eyelashes, so they can have long, curly, luscious lashes like stars on TV.

At Nummon's wedding, I saw more than a few women who pulled out all the stops for the occasion, fancifying the windows of their souls with their exaggerated fakes. From the side, you could see the two sets -- the false fringe swooping out and up over a row of short, straight natural lashes. It was silly.

In other news: this morning, I saw my first-ever semi-confrontational moment between Thai people.

It was exciting, because Thais hate confrontation. They avoid it at all costs, because it involves a loss of face. Losing your cool is just not, well, cool.

On the way to school, one of the crazy, dangerous green minibuses came so close to our school van that it actually folded the side mirror in. Our driver got out to flip it out again when traffic stopped. He got back in. We pulled forward a few feet. Traffic stopped, and the crazy green bus was in front of us.

The driver got out and shut the door. We all held our breath and craned our necks to see the drama unfold. He marched up to the driver's window and told him off. But he didn't get nearly as worked up as a Westerner would have, and I don't think he really yelled. Still, it was exciting and weird to see. I guess you just had to be there.

Pattaya/Jomtien Beach/Koh Larn

We had Monday off for HM's birthday, so I went with a group to Pattaya. The place has a bad reputation, and not without reason. It's known as the sex capital of Thailand, and it's run by the Russian mafia. OK. That last part may not be true. One of my comrades was saying it. I'm not sure where she got her information.

We stayed pretty far away from the sketchy parts, in an area called Jomtien Beach. I never actually set foot on the beach there, because there wasn't much sand and the water wasn't nice.

On Saturday, four girls and I went to a vineyard about 20 minutes from town. We spent a long time there, but, stupidly, failed to secure a songthaew ride back to Jomtien. It got dark and became all too apparent that songthaews and taxis didn't really drive out to that area much (or ever).

We talked with the security staff who said we could get a ride with one of them if we paid 500B for gas. We had only paid 200 to get out there.

Christy and I ventured into the poorly-lit parking lot. We avoided some loitering guys and headed toward a group of women. We explained our problem and they offered to give us a ride closer to town. We jumped in the back of their pickup and enjoyed the cool night air.

Sunday and Monday, we took a ferry to Koh Larn. The motorbike ride to Tawaen beach was hilly. I looked past the driver's shoulder and gasped. Past the tree tops I could see a beautiful, white stretch of sand bordered by deep turquoise water down below.

We rented beach chairs beneath umbrellas and I read and drank smoothies and played cards and relished the beauty of Thailand for two days.

I'm spoiled, I know, but you guys can come over and visit at any time. We'll soak in some rays, OK? OK.

the best laid plans...

On Wednesday, our trip plans fell apart. On Thursday, we pieced them back together. Today, they crumbled again.

Dear Typhoons Ketsana and Parma,

Is now really the time for all your nonsense?

We had planned to fly in to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Sunday and spend one week working our way up the coast by rail, visiting lovely scenic beach towns, and ending in Hanoi where we'd catch a flight into Luang Prabang, Laos.

Ketsana put central Vietnam underwater and the South-North trains are out of commission at the moment.

The modified plan as of this afternoon is to fly into HCMC, spend a few days there, and buy a cheap flight to Hanoi in time to catch our flight to Laos.

However, the tropical storm left over after Typhoon Parma has hit the Philippines could potentially ground flights in Vietnam.

We're praying this doesn't happen, and you should too!

My stress levels in the last two days have probably shaved six months off my lifespan. I'm a worrier - what can I say?

golden buddha: wat traimit

School was out on Wednesday for the Queen's birthday, so Mariela and I decided to make an excursion to the famed Golden Buddha. It's three meters tall and made from solid gold.

There weren't any convenient buses, so we took a taxi. The driver wanted to use the expressway because of a traffic jam. The toll for the expressway was 45B, and we still hit a little traffic there because people were trying to get to the Grand Palace. 110B later, we were there.

We walked up to a magnificent, but closed, gold and white temple. Adjacent to it was a somewhat less impressive temple with chipping, faded paint. We took off our shoes and went inside.

There was a large golden Buddha statue at the front of the room. It looked to be about three meters high. We sat down and looked around. The walls were unadorned, unlike other wats we'd visited. The red carpet covering the floor was worn and shabby. It seemed an unlikely home for one of the three most important Buddha statues in Bangkok.

Mariela asked me how many carats I thought the Buddha might be. Then we got into a conversation about the difference in carats. We watched a monk perform a ceremony with some worshipers. He tied a string around each person's wrist and flung holy water on them. Drops flicked on us, too.

We got up to leave, went outside, and started perusing our map to figure out where the nearest Metro stop was when a tuk-tuk driver sidled up to us. We started talking about the Golden Buddha and he pointed at the pretty, new, white and gold wat and said, "Oh, no, it's up there. But it's closed until next month."

So that answered Mariela's question: The statue we saw was made from 0 carat gold...

We were somewhat annoyed that we'd paid all that money for the taxi ride and hadn't even seen the Golden Buddha. The tuk-tuk driver offered to give us a ride for 20 baht to our next destination.

Then he told us we had to made a stop at his sponsor's store. This is a common tourist trap, but usually the tourists don't find out they're making a stop until they're already on the road. The driver stops off at a store and tries to get you to buy something, because he'll receive a commission from the store owner.

We started to tell him, "No, thanks," but he told us we could just go in the store for ten minutes, look around, and leave. We didn't have to buy anything. And he'd lower our fare to ten baht. We said OK. It was daytime, after all. What could happen?

He told us the store shirts. We expected a souvenir shop, but he pulled over in front of a tailor, got out, and gestured for us to go inside.

I had to wonder - does that technique really work? Do people just decide to go have some tailored clothes made on a whim? I tend to think not.

Anyway, we looked, left, and got to our destination with no problems.

I'm calling this one a 0% because we didn't see the Buddha we came for, and we paid a lot to get there. Maybe next month.

an excursion of average proportions

Mariela, Alyssa and I have decided to rate our excursions based on their success levels.

Today's trip received an 85%. Not bad. Way within passing range.

Mariela and I took a ride on the mighty Chao Phraya River today. I researched day trips within an easy distance of Bangkok. Getting to Ko Kret - an island to the northeast of Bangkok where the Mon people make their signature pottery - sounded simple enough.

We live across town from the river. Taking the bus is the most affordable option, so we walked to a bus stop and waited for number 16 for at least half an hour. We finally caught our bus on a street a little further down. We rode for about 20 minutes and got off on Sam Sen Road.

It was clear we weren't in a tourist area. We were the only western faces around. We wandered through some food vendors and noticed the prices on Sam Sen were lower than on our street, probably because a lot of farangs live where we do.


Some helpful folks pointed us toward the pier. We walked through more vendors selling big bags of bread crusts for 15B. Curious. When we got down to the pier, we could see why. There were swarms of huge fish in the water below. People would toss handfuls of crusts into the water and watch the fish go crazy.

We waited a long time for our boat. The ride probably lasted another 30 to 40 minutes, but it was pleasantly cool out on the water. If we lived nearer to the river, the express boats would definitely be my preferred method of transportation. At the last stop, we disembarked and waited for a bus to take us nearer to the island.

We were dropped off near an old, decrepit temple that looked nothing like a place to catch a boat. We stopped the first passerby and held out a piece of paper with "Ko Kret" written in Thai. She pointed us in the right direction. The ferry stop was through another temple's grounds. Pretty soon, we were on Ko Kret.

I don't know if my estimates add up, but all in all it took us four hours to get there.

We looked at a tiny wat (temple) a few yards away from where the boat dropped us off, and then meandered through the market. It was nice, and had some of the same handicrafts we'd seen at the Made in Thailand expo. There were lots of delicious-looking food options, but when we saw sticky rice with mango, we couldn't resist. Yum.

Later, we went back to the same food stand and bought a bag of yellow, coconut-topped cakes baked in little cups made from banana leaves. They were tasty, too.

We spent nearly three hours there before the sun and walking around wore us out. I had read that we could get a bus back to Bangkok, but that we might have to ride the BTS Skytrain after that.

We took the little ferry boat, walked through the temple and the old, defunct temple, and back out onto the road where we could catch a bus. Luckily, we saw "Victory Monument" listed as a stop on the side of bus 166. We live within walking distance from Victory Monument, so we wouldn't have to spend any extra money on the BTS. Joy! We hopped on and settled in for what we thought would be an hour-long ride. In 25 minutes, we were at our stop. Another 15 minutes of walking, and we were home.

We laughed when we thought about the four hours we spent getting there. Hence, we felt it necessary to dock 15% off our trip's score.

Tonight we ate mediocre Mexican food at Charley Brown's. It was like being home. We went to The Australian afterward to hear a band that covers popular songs. One of the singers was the most spastic dancer I've ever seen. And he was able to sound exactly like Chris Martin from Coldplay. I'm talking dead on. Ten points for him.

Scambodia: Act II, Phnom Penh

Act II, Prologue
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Our second morning in Siem Reap was spent on a four-wheeler tour of the countryside. Afterward, we had showers at the Mango, ate a leisurely lunch, and caught the 1:30 bus to Phnom Penh.

The bus ride passed mostly without incident. I met a girl from California who told me about eating "happy pizza" (pizza with marijuana as a topping) in Siem Reap. She described herself as an "avid" weed smoker back home. Avid. What a funny choice of words. Also, Mariela ate a fried cricket. It tasted like very crunchy okra, if you wanted to know.

We got to the bus station around 8:00 and caught a tuk-tuk to our hostel, Nomads, which was run by a man named Roger from New Orleans. He seemed friendly enough. When the tuk-tuk driver bugged us about hiring him for the next day, Roger convinced him to leave a phone number where we could call him in the morning.

In the morning, we met Roger's Khmer girlfriend/babymamma/scammer extraordinaire.

Act II, Scam I
Nomads Hostel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

There was a tuk-tuk driver sitting at one of the tables outside the hostel, chatting with the girlfriend. He offered to be our driver for the day for $20. There were six in our group, and we countered with $18 (to make it easier to divide the costs later). He agreed.

We told him we wanted to see the palace, the S-21 Tuol Sleng genocide museum, and the killing fields at Choeung Ek.

But first, we wanted breakfast. We told him where we wanted to eat, and he promptly took us someplace else instead. I assume he got free breakfast, or some kind of commission for taking us there. We shrugged it off.

After breakfast, we headed to the museum, and then out to the killing fields. We were finished with these visits by 11:45.

The palace grounds are closed from 11:00 to 2:00 for lunch, so we had extra time to kill before we could continue our tour. We asked him to take us to the Russian Market we'd heard so much about until the palace reopened.

He argued with us, saying he had only agreed to three places. We were under the impression that we had a driver for the entire day - especially since we were overpaying him by about six dollars. He wanted an extra dollar per person to add on another site.

We fought with him for 10 minutes, decided it wasn't worth it, and told him to take us over to the palace area. He protested that it wasn't open for another two hours, but we told him we'd find something to do there.

He dropped us off and we told him to meet us at 3:30. Still fuming, we walked down the street to find a place to have lunch.

We ended up at an unexpectedly delightful Khmer restaurant that was run by hospitable people. They gave us cold bottled water for free, and as many refills as we needed. Five of us split three dishes, and they gave us extra rice for free. The food was delicious, and after they cleared away our plates, they brought out small, stemmed glasses with sweet syrup in the bottom and this warm ball of sweet... something. We don't know what it was, exactly, but it tasted nice.

We went to the palace, met our driver, and headed back to the hostel, tired and sweaty. We had dinner that night and went back to our room.

Act II, Scam II
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We asked Roger about transportation to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:30 on Wednesday, so we wanted to head that direction around 2:00. He told us taxis to the airport cost $7 a person, and that hiring a van might be less expensive.

Roger's girlfriend called a van service. It would cost $25. It seemed steep, but it was manageable split between six people.

On our second morning in Phnom Penh, we got up early to take a walking tour of modern Khmer architecture with a map printed from the internet.

When we got back from our walk, we started looking through one of the girls' guidebooks. A section on transportation to the airport said a taxi should cost $5 total.

Scammers!

Two taxi services were listed in the book. Alyssa and I went to the Russian Market and left the girls with the assignment of locating an internet cafe where they could make a phone call.

When we returned, they hadn't found a phone. The six of us went to lunch by the river and then back to the hostel to finish packing. It was too late to call a cab company.

We went to the bar to pay Roger for our rooms. He told us he had already added in the van cost. "You can pay me now, and I'll give them the money." We felt a little suspicious about it, but we didn't argue.

The van came with a driver and a guy whose job we never quite figured out. The trip took maybe 20 minutes; definitely not worth the $25 we paid. I'm sure the driver was Roger's babymamma's cousin or something. Old Rog probably got a cut of the fare.

We were just happy to be on our way back to Bangkok, where the vast majority of people aren't trying to swindle everyone.

Scambodia: A Drama in Two Acts

Act I, Prologue

Our border-bound train left Bangkok at 5:55am. We had third class tickets, so we arrived early to ensure that we got seats. It was a good thing, too. The train was packed by the time it pulled out of the station. Passengers got on and off at various stops, but I think a few people had to stand during the entire 6-hour ride to the border.

Added to the crowding was the lack of A/C. The train windows were open, letting in a nice breeze and lots of dust. We jolted along, drifting in and out of sleep.

We arrived at the final stop - Aranyaprathet - around 11:45. A whole slew of tuk-tuk drivers greeted us, ready to take us to the border crossing. One of the guys in our group negotiated a price and we hopped in.

Act I, Scam I
Aranyaprathet, Thailand

Our driver pulls off the road at a small building with a few picnic tables out front. A sign out front advertises their visa services. A man greets us and hands us some blank forms. We sit down next to a fellow traveler and start writing. A minute passes, and he mutters to me, "Don't trust these guys."

I give him a sideways glance. "Why not?"

"Just don't trust them." He finishes filling out his paperwork and leaves.

I take a look around. None of these guys are in uniforms. It's not a government building. My keen powers of reason tell me we aren't at the border crossing proper.

One of the fellows comes over to check our progress and to tell us he needs one small photo. He also tells us our visas would cost 1,200 baht (about $36).

Being the savvy travelers we are, we had done our research beforehand. We knew the visas should cost $20. We argue with the guy, telling him it should be $20 and that we don't have 1,200 baht.

He tries to tell us that the $20 visas took three days. We know he's lying, call him a cheat, and walk back to the tuk tuks. We tell the tuk tuk drivers to take us to the Poipet border crossing. They nod, and we get in.

They start their engines and drive literally to the building right next door - the Cambodian embassy. The visa scam guys walk over and say, "See, it's closed right now - you can't get in that way."

At this point, we're feeling exasperated. We argue with the tuk tuk drivers a little more until they decide to take us to the actual border crossing.

After a very long wait in a very long line, we get through Thai immigration. We wait outside even longer because two from our group didn't have re-entry permits to get back into Thailand. After about an hour of dealing with that, we were on our way toward Cambodia.

I spot a sign that says "Visas on Arrival" and we head in that direction, but we're soon stopped by a uniformed man directing us to a health inspection tent. Everyone here is paranoid about swine flu. We fill out a short questionnaire and have our temperatures taken.

I think the Cambodians don't understand the spread of infectious disease, because there was none of this sanitizing-the-thermometer-between-uses business. It was an ear thermometer, but still.

Finally, we're on our way to acquire our visas.

Act I, Scam II
Poipet Border Crossing, Cambodia

We walk up to the visa office and find three government workers standing around shooting the breeze. Passports in hand, we tell them we need tourist visas.

No problem, they say, we just need one photo, $20, and 200 baht. We look at each other. Alyssa points at the sign above the window, "But that just says $20."

"There's a 200 baht service fee."
"That's not what the sign says."
"It's a service fee."
"Okay, but I'll need a receipt for my fee."
"Alright, it's a 100 baht service fee."

Interesting. I didn't know "fees" were negotiable. We argue with them a little longer and decide to pay the "fee."

Fifteen minutes later, we have our visas. We head for yet another office, with another long line and another wait.

After 25 minutes, we're stamped into Cambodia. We walk down the road, looking for transport to Siem Reap. A man in uniform points us toward the free government buses that would take us to the bus station. We could find a ride there, he said.

We hop on and arrive shortly. After much consideration, we choose to take the bus to Siem Reap (as opposed to a taxi).

The bus ride is meant to take about six hours. After two and a half, we pull over and our friendly trip guide, Mr. Lee, informs us that we'll be taking a 40 minute break in the middle of nowhere. Mariela, Alyssa, and I stay on the bus while everyone else heads to a restaurant that is probably giving Mr. Lee some kind of commission for stopping there.

Forty minutes later, everyone piles onto the bus. Before we get on the road, Mr. Lee begins his monologue.

Act I, Scam III
Bus, somewhere between Poipet and Siem Reap, Cambodia

I want you all to be happy. I take care of you, but I have some news to tell you. There is no bus station in Siem Reap, but don't worry, because I take care of you. I know a very good hostel, very clean, very cheap. Maybe 2, 3, 4... 5, 6 dollars. Very good price, good food, cheap. I want you to be happy. But you have your freedom. You can go inside look at the hostel, and if you don't like, you are free. You can go to other place, but Winter Hostel is very good, very cheap.

By this point, everyone is giving Mr. Lee incredulous looks and cursing under their breath. Alyssa starts arguing with him.

"No, we bought tickets from the bus station in Poipet to the bus station in Siem Reap. We have hotel reservations, and they're picking us up from the bus station."

I know how you feel, but I want you to be happy. I only take care of you. The police will stop us if we try to go to a bus station. You have your freedom. You can choose where to go.

Mr. Lee talks nonsense for another five minutes, but we stop listening.

He starts up again with 30 minutes left to go. He talks and talks, repeating the same phrases. He takes several long pauses in between his rants. With each one, we're convinced that this time, he's really finished. We have no such luck; he always starts up again. We curse our fate for not having rotten vegetables to chuck at him.

We reach the Winter Hostel and exit the bus. The bus people and the hostel heap on the sketchiness as they try to carry two people's backpacks inside. One of the girls, Christy, yells at them, yanks her pack away, and heads toward the road with the rest of us. We crowd around a map, trying to get oriented in the dark, and take off walking.

After 10 minutes, one girl points across the way and says, "Hey, Golden Mango - isn't that where you guys are staying?"

There was a tiny illuminated sign on a pole; it was a miracle that she spotted it. We crossed the road, and walked down a dodgy, dark alley. The hotel came into view - a beacon of hope in our frustrating day. They were welcoming and courteous and showed us to our lovely, clean rooms.

Exeunt.

bus day

Today was an impromptu bus day. Bus day is pretty self-explanatory; you spend all day riding buses around a city. Michael and I did this once when we studied in Edinburgh. There, you could buy an all-day bus pass for £2 or so.

Here in Bangkok, there are three known species of buses.

Exhibit A: The 12 baht bus. These look like charter buses, and they have air conditioning.

Exhibit B: The seven baht bus. No A/C, so the windows are always down. Why anyone takes these buses, I'm not sure.

Exhibit C: The free bus.

The only distinguishing characteristic between the free bus and the seven baht bus is a wide blue decal with white lettering that stretches across the top of the front windshield. Free buses are more or less crammed with passengers, depending, of course, on the time of day and where the bus is in its route. There's no A/C, so the best seats are the ones next to windows, where you'll feel a nice breeze while the bus is moving.

Mariela and I took a free bus on part of our trek to church this morning. Last week, we walked the entire way and it took us about an hour. Using the bus meant that we got there in half the time, though we still had to walk for the last 20 minutes of the way. We thought going home the way we came would be easy; we'd just walk to the opposite side of the street and catch a free bus back. How naive we were!

We waited at the bus stop for 20 minutes before sighting a free bus. It didn't stop, though, because it wasn't in the right lane. The next one came about five minutes later. We jumped on, because we were hot and ready to be moving. There are several buses that drive down our apartment's street, but we soon learned that this bus wasn't one of them. It turned left right after we boarded, but we were too tired to get off and wait for another bus. We decided to ride the entire route and see a new part of the city.

It was a long ride, but lots of fun. I think we saw the Grand Palace. It looked fancy, anyway. We'll go back another day to take pictures.


Bubble gum pink taxis - another mode of transportation. You have to make sure the cab drive turns the meter on, though, or he'll try to rip you off by overcharging you. This almost happened to us once, but we jumped out of the cab before he could pull onto the road.


If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can travel
by tuk-tuk. We did this on our second night in Bangkok after that cab driver refused to use the meter. I think we still got ripped off, but we got ripped off a little less than if we had used the cab. And we had a new (if terrifying) experience!