Cambodia, adventure five

This post is has been a long time coming, but I finally have time to reflect. Here it goes.
Almost spur of the moment, I decided to head to Cambodia (Siam Reap, to be exact) with a different group people than I normall travel with. The idea sounded super exciting because I was going to be able to travel with a new possy, and as I had recently learned, traveling with people really does bring a group together.
We left Wednesday afternoon and headed via minibus from Mochit to Aranya Phratet (a 3 hour journey), the last city in Thailand before you can enter Cambodia. Weary of the fake border scams, we took to the street headed for the real border which from far away looked like a large temple. Stop one was leaving Thailand, stop two was getting the Cambodian visa, stop three was entering Cambodia, stop four was getting into another minivan to take us to Siam Reap (another 4 hours from the border). We had a "guide" of sorts wearing a Cal hat take us through to make sure we made it into Cambodia safely, and then once we did, he tried to get us into a "free bus," which was another scam that we read about ahead of time. Once we got to Siam Reap and finally made it to Dynyka, we put our bags down and went immediately to Pub Street (Siam Reap's version of Khao San Rd) to get dinner. Shortly thereafter we went back to the hostel and passed out, 7 people in one room sharing 3 beds.
Thursday we went to Preah Vihear Temple, a temple that borders Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand to learn a little about the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand and to view of first of 5 major temples that weekend. We left early-ish in the morning, and after 3 hours in a mini-van, arrived at the base of the mountain. We quickly learned that we were going to be split into 3 pick-up trucks from there in order to head to the top of the mountain to view the temple ruins.
The next day we woke up at a whopping 4am to leave Dynyka to head to Angkor. We split again into three tuk tuks and drove with our guide to the most popular temple in Cambodia. Watching the sun rise behind Angkor was incredible, to say the least. At first, it was pitch black. Slowly but surely as the sun rose I could start to make out the outline of the temple, then the lotus flowers on the pond, and then finally the carvings in the temple. Although I was super cranky early in the morning, seeing the magic that the sun was able to do on Angkor was well worth it.
After touring Angkor we headed to 3 more temples that day-my favorite being the tree temple where tomb raider was filmed. The way the trees grew out of the stone was also so magical, the way life can blossom from nothing.
The next day after half the group departed, the remaining half spent the day waking up late (such a blessing), eating, and riding bikes to a beautiful lake. I biked like 15 miles!! WHAT? (Also I ate two bacon cheeseburgers).
The last part of the journey was getting home, and after the many hours from Siam Reap to the capital and spending 3 getting through the border and another 3 in the minivan (we sat in the way back, no leg room), we finally hit Bangkok.
What a long trip.
Things that surprised me: Cambodia is more expensive than Thailand, the Cambodians on the street were less friendly than the Thais were, Cambodians use American dollars as currency and rial (their own currency) as cents.

A Normal Day in the Life...

So here goes the post about a normal day in the life living as nak suk saa in Bangkok:
Wake up about an hour before class. Get dressed, usually in shorts and a t-shirt unless the weather dips into the high 80s. Pack my backpack, go downstairs. Get breakfast, usually khaaw phat kay (friend rice with chicken and veggies) or friend dough balls or fruit. Visit coffee lady and get americano yen, waan nit noy (iced americano, slightly sweetened). Walk and ferry or motorcycle taxi to campus. If I have two classes that day, I will be on campus from 9-4, if I only have one I will be on campus from 9-12 or 1-4. Head home. Hang out with friends. Get dinner with friends. Maybe study. Maybe read. Maybe watch tv. Maybe go shopping. Sleep time.

I know it doesn't sound super exciting, but laughing with friends and making plans and spending time with like-minded people is quite an amazing experience.

Kanchanaburi, adventure four

So it has occurred to me that I only really post about adventures, so expect something soon about a normal day in the life living as a Nak Suk Saa Thammasat (university student at Thammasat). However, this one could not wait. Kanchanaburi has been my favorite adventure thus far.
First things first: we got on a bus at a different bus terminal this time called Sai Tai Mai. The ride was about three hours, and once we got to the station in Kanchanaburi, we met our new best friend, the taxi driver. He said that for 15B each he would take us to the street with the hostels and wait for us to make sure they had a room available, and then drive us to the next destination just in case we needed to check out a new place. He was a life saver. And, it turned out that the first hostel we tried was all booked, so we used his services to take us to Blue Star Guesthouse.
Blue Star was beautiful. Bungalows right on the river. The shrubs and trees and water plants made the place look like something out of a movie. The staff was super friendly and I shared a room with Huong and Shelly. The first night consisted of seeing a spooky lit up bridge and going to a local bar.
Erawan Waterfalls is also something I cannot easily put into words. We went to Erawan on day two, and after a two hour bus ride from Kanchanaburi, we made it to paradise. Erawan consists of a seven-tiered waterfall and a hike that leads you all the way up. Each waterfall was more unique and beautiful than the one that came before it, and the higher up we got, the less people there were (the hike got a little too strenuous for the tourists of the larger variety, of which there seemed to be quite a lot). We swam, we slid, we hiked, we took pictures, we reveled in the beauty. We also stayed past the last bus, which led to our use of our taxi driver friend again who drove 65km away from Kanchanaburi to Erawan to come get us.
Sunday we went to two temples as per a recommendation from Shelly and the same taxi man. The first, Wat Ban Tham, is a cave temple. Not really any other way to say it. You hike through a dragon's mouth into the first cave and then you hike up a long distance to a lookout point, and then even farther to the next cave. It was one of the most spectacular and interesting things I have ever done or seen. Real live bats in a real live cave with real live dripping stalactites. We then went to Wat Tham Sua, a temple nearby because the taxi man said it was "suay maak" (very beautiful). Just like Shakira's hips, he did not lie. It was stunning. There was a huge Buddha statue and beautiful architecture that looked similar to Wat Phra Khaeo (the Grand Palace).
After leaving Wat Tham Sua, we headed back to Blue Star to collect our belongings and then headed to the bus station. Even though the bus on the way back took a lot longer than expected, we made it home safe and sound.


This weekend, I fell in love with Thailand.

Thursday, I plan to fall in love with Cambodia at Angkor Wat.

Thai Cuisine, taste test

Yesterday in Thai Cuisine, we finally got to eat! Instead of learning the theory behind food (don't get me wrong, theory is extremely important, just not exactly what I signed up for), we got to taste! We ate three different kinds of basil, a flaky coconut sugar, tamarind, and some more that I seem to be forgetting.
But, the taste that left its mark on me spiciness; and of course this came from biting into raw chili peppers. Raw. Chili. Peppers. The big green one tasted like a bell pepper, no spice. However, the smaller the pepper the more spice it has jam packed into its seeds. I was a little weary at first about biting into the third and fourth ones (the really small red one and the small greenish one), but after some Thai girls bought me some milk and Carissa peer pressured me, I finally gave in.
It. Was. Spicy. Wow. Phrik Maak (very spicy).
Wish I had the sour patch that Anya and Sarah Beth got me just for this purpose, but alas, I had to make do with the sour tamarind and the milk.

I did it. 

Koh Chang, adventure three

So far, I have spent four weekends in Bangkok, which means that my semester here is about a quarter of the way through. WOW! Time flies when you can't stop eating! Anyway, after the first weekend we spent in Bangkok (weekend three) we decided to go away for weekend four to Koh Chang. In Thai, "chang" means elephant, and the island was named "elephant island" because of it's shape, but alas, I did not have the privilege of having an elephant allow me to sit on it while it strolled through the river. Instead, the highlight of the weekend was a boat tour of five other island in the surrounding area. This was the complete package: cruise, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, eating, and all for only 600 Baht! Although my typical sea-sickness did rear its ugly head on the first leg of the trip, I remained healthy the rest of the time and really really had a blast.
Even getting to Koh Chang was really fun! We ended up accidentally taking a VIP double-decker bus that gave us blankets and snacks and water, and even had an on-board flush toilet. Flush toilets are hard enough to come by when you are not on a mode of transportation, so this was a special treat.
Living and eating on Koh Chang was cheaper than on Koh Samet, but still not as cheap as Khao Yai. Carissa, Shelly, Lexi, and I split a room for 300 Baht a night and even though the food was more American-priced, it did not disappoint.

The sunsets were beautiful and spending two night away this time instead of just one was really worth it.

Moving into an Apartment

Even though I always knew that moving to Bangkok was going to be wildly different than living in Berkeley (to be frank, that's why I chose it), I never really took into account that I was going to be changing living styles. No longer are communal dinners scheduled at 7pm every evening or having to escape to my room to find solitude. One of the main reasons why I decided to move into Stebbins at the beginning of my sophomore year rather than an apartment is because I have yet to get along with alone time. Living in 3J is quite the opposite of living in a co-op. Plans to hang out or to share a meal with someone have the be scheduled (often time in advance) and the luxury of leaving my room to find all the friends has been pulled out like a rug from under my feet.
But, new challenges are exciting. I am going to read (for pleasure!!!). I am going to watch movies that I've always wanted to watch. I'm going to do Muy Thai (Thai kickboxing). I am going to write. I am going to do things by myself. WOAH.

Buckle up Aaron, it's time to discover what living in an apartment feels like (and if you survive you can move back into Stebbins).

Neighbor

I'm only next door!