Stray Dogs and Full Moons

At long last, it arrived. The day I got to leave the freezing bitter cold behind, say "peace out" to my crappy little village, and leave on a loooong-anticipated 3-week adventure in Southeast Asia. About damn time.

Arriving in Thailand was pleasantly familiar and not at all a culture shock. I was slightly surprised, considering I'd only spent 5 days in Thailand before this trip, back in March 2004, almost 7 years ago now (!!), but I think it helps that Thailand is such a tourist-friendly country, possibly the most tourist-friendly on Earth. It is so incredibly easy to get around, and the Thai people are so incredibly kind and friendly... It is no wonder that people from all over the world flock to this place for a relaxing or exciting, reasonably affordable vacation. In my first week here, I've heard every possible language spoken around me (Thai and English naturally, but also Spanish, French, German, Italian, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Serbian, and others I completely failed to recognize). In fact, I've only met one or two other Americans on my entire trip. When I joined up with Kevin and David on Koh Samui, we did not meet a single American the whole time we were on the islands. Very unusual having been in Korea, where every foreigner seems to be from the US or Canada. Thailand is so global, it's wonderful.

Une tasse de café viennois

My first day I woke up in Seoul at 3.30 AM Thailand time and did not arrive at my destination in Bangkok for approximately 15 hours, after several buses, trains, and two planes connecting in Shanghai. Suffice to say I was exhausted when I finally met my Couch Surfing host that night and all I was really able to do was eat dinner before passing out. I honestly have never been that dizzy just from being tired (and at the tail end of a cold). My host, Sup, was a really nice Thai guy who is currently halfway through his residency to become an optometrist. He lives in a very nice studio apartment in Sukhumvit, the "nice, trendy" area of Bangkok. His culinary recommendations were outstanding. On Saturday night, he took me out to eat snail curry with beef salad, spicy chicken skewers, and shrimp balls in shrimp paste, topped off with bananas in syrup and coconut milk for dessert, and on Sunday morning we went to a famous creperie run by an actual Frenchman and gorged ourselves on the most incredible crepes and Viennese coffee. The food here is seriously heaven. I've only had one bad meal, and that was because I was on a train... otherwise, literally every meal has been superb. My most vivid memory of my first Thailand trip was how much I loved the food and I have certainly not been disappointed the second time around.

Wat Arun

On Sunday, Sup took me to a couple of sights here in Bangkok: we sauntered aimlessly through the Sukhumvit and Silom neighborhoods, wandered through Lumphini Park, and took the ferry up the Chao Phraya river to Wat Pho and Wat Arun, two of Bangkok's most famous temples (wat means temple in Thai, and also in Khmer, the Cambodian language; hence Angkor Wat). Everything was fun and interesting and Sup was enjoyable company. The weather could not have been more perfect, as it has been the entire time I've been here (meanwhile it is snowing in Korea. HA!!)  It really is wonderful to be so warm, wearing shorts and flip flops every day and night, and not to be unbearably sticky and sweaty from humidity. January truly is the best time to visit Thailand.

Lumphini Park

Chao Phraya ferry

The Reclining Buddha inside Wat Pho

The long view. Note how high the statue's foot is compared to the tourists' heads. Thing was huge.

One thing that struck me throughout the day with Sup, and in the subsequent week, is the insane numbers of stray dogs quite literally lounging around this country. It is really amazing. On practically any given city block or alleyway or even beach, there are stray dogs just lying about, totally immobile and/or not bothered by anyone or anything around them. Not a single one is angry or aggressive or scary... many seem tired or even a little depressed, but by and large they will not approach you or beg for food or really give the slightest care about you as a person. I have never seen anything like it before.

Stray dogs playing together on the beach

Some Scottish guy told me (so who knows if this is true or not) that the reason there are so many strays is because the king loves dogs and so the government and people are not allowed to capture or euthanize them. If this is in fact true, it makes a lot of sense because the king is an utterly revered figure in Thailand and his word is edict among Thai people. He doesn't wield much diplomatic power abroad, but he definitely could impact politics at home (although I believe he chooses to stay largely removed from it) and it's actually a crime to say anything disparaging about him or even to step on or deface Thai money, called baht, because every baht note bears his image. His photo is hung up in frames seriously everywhere. Thai people love their king. (I actually got a glimpse of this when Sup and I were waiting for the ferry to the temples... while standing on the pier, I kept getting smacked in the face by this flag that was being whipped around by the wind, and while batting it away I very offhandedly muttered, "Stupid flag." Sup half-jokingly, but with an undertone of legitimately disapproving indignation in his voice, said "Watch it, that's the royal flag!" Lesson: don't mess with the king.)

Hua Lamphong train station

After I left Sup's place, I took an overnight train from Bangkok to Surat Thani in the south of Thailand, from where I transferred to a 2-hour bus to Donsak Pier, followed by a 90-minute ferry to Na Thon Pier on Koh Samui, and finally a 45-minute drive to Chaweng Beach on the opposite side of the island. Another long traveling period, this one taking nearly 20 hours. When I arrived on Koh Samui, I met up with two friends from San Francisco, Kevin and David, who I haven't seen in 9 months and it was so awesome to spend a few days with them on this beautiful Thai island. Our hotel, Buri Rasa, was really nice, with an amazing breakfast spread, an Infinity pool, a beachfront area right smack on the water... our own little piece of paradise in other words. Even though Koh Samui is super-over developed and absolutely jam-packed with foreigners. I've never been to Hawaii, but I imagine Koh Samui and/or Phuket are like Thailand's versions of Hawaii. Everything is done for the benefit of innumerable tourists.

Chaweng Beach

Buri Rasa Village

Using the straw to drink the delicious coconut milk and the spoon to eat the amazingly tender coconut meat. Mmmmmm.

Most of the week was spent lazing in the sun, doing a lot of nothing other than the occasional Thai massage, but on Wednesday night the three of us did take a speedboat over to Koh Phangan for the monthly Full Moon Party, an epic legend about which I have been hearing and wanting to experience since I was 19 years old. Let's just say it would have indeed been epic if I were still in fact 19 years old. But as it stands now, despite having a generally fun time, I can honestly say I would never do it again.

Me, Kevin, and his friend Courtney sharing a bucket.
The bucket is the standard item for sale on Haad Rin
Beach, filled with ice, your choice of liquor, and one
or two Thai Red Bulls, which may as well be liquid
amphetamines. It's no wonder the place was a hot mess.

Imagine a giant stretch of sand (Haad Rin Beach) lined with bars and clubs from top to bottom that are blasting different, various versions of techno and electronic music for the pleasure of everyone dancing on the beach. Now imagine that 90% of the literally thousands in attendance are obliviously drunk Australians under the age of 22. Yeah. And no, that is actually not an exaggeration or hyperbole in any way. It seemed as though everyone was Australian and really young and really wasted. I've never seen so much litter on a beach, in the form of straws, bottles, and various wrappers, never been around so many separate individuals with glazed-over eyes who can barely walk or function, and certainly never witnessed (and contributed to) the ocean's unfortunate role as a giant toilet. Seriously, everyone was pissing and shitting in the freaking sea, partially because every restroom cost 10 baht to use (only about 33 cents, but still) and partially because no one could be arsed to actually find the toilets. It was disgusting. Even more disgusting was watching the utterly wasted idiots who decided the ocean was fit to swim or wade around in. These were likely the same idiots who, I shit you not, thought it was a brilliant idea to drunkenly jump over a giant jumprope while standing on loose sand. Oh, did I mention the rope was on fire?!?!  Soooo much stupidity and wrong-headed expenditure of testosterone in one night.

In the water taxi, under the full moon.

It proved to be too much to last till sun-up, as is the custom (I guess the three of us were showing our age/relative maturity) so we tried to go home at around 3.30 AM, but quickly realized that due to the awful, terrible planning of the speedboat companies, we would sit on the pier waiting for easily 1 or 2 hours even to get on a boat. So we shelled out the cash to take a "water taxi," which is literally a rowboat with a motor jury-rigged to the back of it, driven and steered by a weathered Thai man, sliding around on one of the boat planks in his bare feet, controlling the motor and rudder with just his strength and mad aquatic skills. It was about halfway between the two islands when I realized that it was 4.15 AM and I was in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand in a boat so small that I could literally drag my hand through the water if I dropped my arm to the side, our lives in the hands of some random barefoot man navigating the undulating waters of the sea and trying to prevent us from pitching over. Let's just say I was more pleased than ever at our insistence that the driver give us life jackets before we had handed him our taxi fare.

The view from the ferry leaving Koh Samui

Friday I headed back to Bangkok, making the exact opposite trip from the one I'd made days earlier. Taxi to ferry to bus to sleeper train, arriving in Bangkok way too early on a Saturday morning. The sleeper trains are actually quite nice, even compared to the ones in Europe, and I slept OK but it wasn't the best rest I've ever had, and I decided to spend the rest of this weekend recuperating and relaxing. I'm now writing this from a hostel at the end of Silom Road, from which I intend to make several day trips and sightseeing visits over the next few days before leaving for Cambodia. Thus ends the first third of my glorious Korean-escape vacation. Week one largely consisted of relaxing and having fun and not doing much that is too educational or touristy or rushed. This week I plan to try the other side of the coin. Let week two begin!