Freedom

The numerous streets and lanes in old Chiang Mai. None of them seem particularly crowded. It isn’t really high season, and the feel is a little mellow. We cruise through them all on our bike (scooter), with no particular place to go, waiting for something to catch our fancy.

We stop at it the second time we pass it. The first time we noticed how bright and colourful it was, and how empty. In fact, totally empty. Now we stop anyway (or because of that?), and step into a bar that’s about the size of our living room.

His hair falls untidily till his shoulders. He shuffles his scraggy self across to us with a beaming smile, nodding his welcome. We have the solitary beer that we said we would. We chat with Selly, as music from the 70s plays. I ask what else he has to listen to, and he tells me to take my pick. That would be a DVD on Woodstock.



Selly says “Freedom” very often; only sometimes because he is referring to his bar, which is called the Freedom Bar. Subdued lighting complements its bright colours, which- almost needless to say- are red, yellow and green. There are Bob Marley images everywhere, and it almost seems natural that the owner looks a bit like the icon. When we leave, he gives us Freedom Bar stickers. I can’t get over how much he keeps grinning, and its not the foolish, insincere kind.

Two nights later its our last night in Chiang Mai. After bar hopping by the river, we’re back in the old city, cruising, looking for somewhere to have our last few beers. We see the Freedom Bar from afar, we notice that it is buzzing with people, and we’re glad about that- we’re not really thinking of stopping. But as we approach the bar, Selly stumbles out the door. His grin is exactly where we had left it the other day, his arms outstretched, wildly gesturing for us to stop. I brake, and stop almost at his feet. He greets us like long lost friends, and before we know it we are inside Freedom Bar.

The rest of the night is spent with Selly and a few of his pals. There’s Anna the pretty Scottish-Thai girl, Joe(?) the madly friendly Muslim guy who sells jewellery, even in India; there’s Meow (yes, like the cats), who works double jobs and has taken an off night from waitressing; Anna’s silent and almost surly boyfriend who bartends most of the night. There’s the tall, silent, odd friend who arrives from Pai (after Selly disappears for half an hour to pick him up). Its more like being at a party than a bar- we even help around with a couple of orders from customers!



Selly‘s had a few beers as well. His English isn’t the best, so his jaunty “Freedom!” sometimes serves as a “hello”, or a “cheers”, even a “can I bum a cigarette?”. It also serves as “bye”, when we’re leaving at about 4am. By then we have been handed a couple of Freedom Bar lanyards (for a tiny setup he sure has his merchandising organised!), emails IDs, and the name of a bar in Ko Phangan- that’s where we are headed- at which we can meet Meow’s boyfriend…of sorts.
But that is another story.

thailand in numbers-2

meals in Thailand : 29
salads consumed : 6
instances breathless with chilly : 10, at the very least
kinds of fruit consumed : 2
bugs eaten : 2
sticky rice eaten : 1
beers consumed : 53 +/-
thai whisky consumed : 600ml

Siam Snapshot- deadly street tom yam

Siam Snapshot- leaf& flame

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai

...a room somewhere- Bangkok

After that search on the first night at Bangkok, we stayed at one of the places we had come across a couple of times during our research but could not get through to via email-bella Bella Guest house on Soi Rambuttri. We took an a/c room for Bangkok and the darned thing had no controls so we froze every night. The staff was about as friendly as the woman who lives across the hall from us here (that’s more or less as friendly as a sleeping frog).

Bella Bella was really pretty basic but the loo was decent and clean, and that was enough. The blankets were weird (warm but, strangely small), there was no mirror ( I shaved with some difficulty!), and there were no plug points! They’d charge you to charge your camera batteries and stuff downstairs! And oh, no TP either. Extra charge for that too!

Bella Bella House
Soi Rambuttri, off Khao San Road
Double with aircon- B520 (+one time use of plug point at reception B20, and one roll of TP for B10)

Siam Snapshot - toilet training

Same Same

Bangkok traffic is notorious, and with bloody good reason. One evening we forgot about this, and found ourselves in the fourth tuk-tuk we haggled with, begging for haste. This chap was quiet at first, and then got talking. The conversation was full of twists and turns, as was the drive. Here was the kind of driver who hated stopping, even if this was rush hour. Every traffic jam we came to, he would weave through the cars. When, inevitably, weaving was not an option, he’d just get off that road, into a side street and change the route. This happened again and again and again- it was confusing but bloody entertaining.

“You from?”
“From India”
“Oh, India!”
(Yes)
“Not many India people here”
“Oh? You don’t meet many Indian tourist?”
(What about the hordes of shoppers, I thought)
“India people no wonny”
“Sorry?”
“India people no wonny”
“Huh? No…worry?”
(oh…he means we Indians are a carefree lot)
His lifted his hand and rubbed his fingers together in the universal sign for bank notes.
“India people no money. No MONEY”
“Oh-no money! Ha!”
(Huh?)
“Ha ha! Yes, Indian no money…like Thai”
“Ha ha”
“Falang have money”
“Ha ha, yes no money. So you give us discount on tuk-tuk fare”
“Ha ha ha”
Lots of ha ha.
I realise now I’ve no idea what was so funny, actually. ‘We’re poor sods, you’re poor sods’.
Same same.


farang* - tourist/westerner in Thai

Siam Snapshot - 3.B

Beach,Beer, Bliss!

Haven in a City

It was a hot day- the hottest of our trip, it now turns out. Though it had not been half the day yet, we still arrived at Wat Pho hot and bothered. Stepping off our tuk-tuk, we looked up to a small, unimposing gateway. Behind it lay Wat Pho and, more famously, the Reclining Buddha. If there were two things a tourist brochure would tell you to see, this would be one of them. Kids played in the courtyard as we stepped through what turned out to be a bit of a side gate. Tourists milled around the ticket counter, waiting to buy the 50B (app US$1.25)ticket. Standing by the side of the main building, a commonplace structure, you could see glimpses of glowing gold through its meshed windows.

Before we knew it we were standing barefoot in the ordinary looking hall, quiet and still. In front of us lay the expectedly gigantic Buddha. Expecting it did not quite make it predictable, though. You’d think knowing you were going to see the biggest reclining Buddha would prepare you for the instinctive staring and gushing, but you’d most likely be wrong. For one thing, its huge- rendering the mundane structure that houses it completely irrelevant. For another, it glows in a slightly surreal way. It felt warm and quietening and cool at the same time, standing there.

Then we started hearing repetitive clanging sounds- one after the other, and overlapping as well. Just round the corner from the mother of pearl feet of the Buddha we saw people in an orderly, slow-moving file. They were dropping coins into metal containers lined up along the wall, maybe 50 or more of them. For a moment I thought that the 20B you paid to get the coins to throw into the buckets was slightly meaningless and just a mildly imaginative way of getting something for the renovation fund. But I stopped myself almost before the thought could form itself completely- nobody was forcing you, nobody even asked you.. but we still felt like doing it.

Yet, if the Reclining Buddha dominates Wat Pho, it shouldn’t. Stepping out, we spent the better part of two hours in its rambling grounds- stupas, temples and Buddha images everywhere you look, and especially where you don’t. In one of the wihaan, we were lucky enough to witness a monk initiation ceremony (though I’m not sure if that’s exactly how its described). It was peaceful and captivating, with the young monk’s family in rapt attendance.

There was a “nothing yet much” feeling about that time. I can easily see people saying there is little to see besides the famous figure that Wat Pho is home to, but I would tell them to give it just a few minutes. Walking around through doors and gates and corridors you could chance upon small treasures and quiet moments. We did, and it leaves the visit to Wat Pho as a cherished one in our minds.

Siam Snapshot - postcards

Thailand in Numbers- I

destinations in Thailand : 3
nights in Thailand : 13
days in Thailand : 13
hours in Thailand : 312.5

flights : 3
flights on time : 2
airports : 3
train journeys : 3
train journeys on time : 1
hours spent in trains : 39
cross-country km travelled : app. 2800km
boat rides : 3
days motorbike hired : 4
distance ridden on bike : app 200km
hours on a raft : 0.45
hours on an elephant : 1
types of public transport taken : 7

The Colour Orange

I wonder if it is the calm of their homes that they reflect, or if the residences mirror their inner peace. I don’t know if spaces that offer solitude feed off their soothing presence, or if their equanimity is a result of tranquil surrounds. In all probability, monks and their temples share a serenity that transcends the both of them. Either way, the fascination they have always induced has somehow never prompted explaining, till now that I try and put it down in words.

Thailand brought this fascination back with a gentle force that could only be its own. It seemed we never tired of pointing out to each other yet another monk on the street, or one shopping or one ona cellphone or one ( I did not believe this!) smoking. But tire we never did. Sometimes we just looked, sometimes we greeted them the traditional way with a reverence touched by schoolboy-ish anticipation of their response. Sometimes we shamelessly whipped out the camera at the first glimpse of orange, other times we chastened ourselves, feeling like we were rudely prying.

They are a part of Thai culture like little else can claim to be, their presence seems to define the country’s personality. A Thailand experience is moulded by their unobtrusive aura. In many ways Thailand is them, yet they are much more than Thailand. They seem to transcend their surroundings, not being shaped by what is around them but by something that is entirely its own. Which leaves me grateful to the country, but also to something more…which I haven’t much of an inkling of.

Bangkok Central

So.
We don’t claim to be genuine ‘backpackers’. We bum it out to a certain extent, or plan to; we look to stay in the cheapest of places (but also with a private bathroom); we outline budgets and do our utmost to stick to them (but are easily lured by frequent beers).
And oh, we don’t use actual backpacks or rucksacks.
Still, for most people going to Bangkok (and those not on weekend shopping trips), its well-nigh inevitable that you will see (and stay) somewhere near, or on, the famed Khao San Road.

We’d made a tentative reservation (i.e. no money paid), at a place on this strip itself. At the airport we realised that, in all my spreadsheet-supported preparation, I’d not brought along the address of the darned place! Slightly thrown off by that- and by an inexplicable fever that crept up on D- we asked for the taxi to take us to the street, moderately certain we would somehow locate the place.

9pm.
Dropped off at the edge of Khao San Road and realising that cars are not allowed on it, D’s idea of a strap-on-strolley was already vindicated. Slight uncertainty lingered and D’s watery smile defied her fever. We stepped into the crowd- for that’s what it was- and found that virtually unnoticed, our travels had already begun.
Soon, though, both confusion and exhaustion were pushed into the background. Almost immediately, we spotted- inevitably, it seemed- a fruit vendor. 10 Baht pineapple and watermelon made their way to our stomachs, in a trice doing justice to all the fruit-gushing we’d heard and read.
Now we could look around at Khao San Road.

This is no South East Asian capital, yet it is. It feels as if the street has one foot steeped in local flavours, stretching to put the other into international familiarity. One arises from obvious indigenous entrepreneurship, the other from the countless visitors that foster it. If ever there was backpacker central, this is it.

Here is yet another bootleg music shop providing a soundtrack for the scene, blocked only slightly by the food cart selling pad thai veg, pad thai egg, pad thai chicken. There stand heavily made-up Thai girls distributing fliers in the barest of leopard skin dresses, right next to the really wizened old man doing, apparently, nothing. That tiny bored looking table can get you driving licences, certificates, press cards and student IDs. Clothes stalls selling whacky t-shirts are lit by the bright neon signs above them, inviting you to find your home away from home, to get your laundry done for cheap or buy a VIP bus ticket to pretty much anywhere. Watch your bags, watch your out of place suitcase-strapped-on-a-trolley; you just missed another pair of sandal-shod feet. Dreadlocks and buzz cuts, blondes, brunettes, red heads and shiny pates. Bodies brush past, impervious to the rank weirdness of the surroundings, from days spent in them. Other trundle along like us, trying to take in what is, obviously, way too much to take in.

Tilt your head up and see dark windows of Inns and Guesthouses that rise silently above the shops; their (inevitably?) dank and dull rooms must be anything but silent. And there- we’ve found it almost before we even started to look. A boring beige building bang in the middle of this buzzing, blaring, colourful madhouse- our destination.

Um, not any more it isn’t.
We were already walking about, searching for the place we were to stay at, why not keep looking after we’d found it? For, interesting as the place may be, surely there was little sleep to be had here. We moved ahead, off-centre of backpacker central. Just past the tourist police station and 20 feet of surprising nothingness, we stepped onto Soi Rambuttri armed with the trusty stamp of traveller/tourist- our Lonely Planet guide. Here we would find, amongst many things, a bed.

13 days

There is not much that’s tougher than trying to start a short scribble on a 13 day trip that you have just completed. Especially if you’re trying to fit it into a little capsule, painful as it may be to attempt a summary. But it’s what must serve as the appetizer.
Which reminds me, it might not be amiss to start by saying that the food in Thailand, true to reputation, was almost uniformly scrumptious. Its what holidays/trips can centre themselves around, so good meals to look forward serve as a cornerstone to good travels. In between bites of divine pineapple and tangy mango, happily familiar street noodles, curries in green , red and yellow, rice, Chang beer and merciless but rewarding chilly were glimpses into a Thailand that could be hectic, but only despite itself- more often, it was laid back to the extent of being nonchalant.

Wats (temples) that were oases of calm and peace whether we sought them or they called out to us. Bright orange robes, and the monks draped in them, lending charm to the most dull of city colours. Smiles that condemned rat races but rarely defied them. Characters adorning days- and nights- with their warmth, wit, cheer or even plain inexplicability. Stunning beauty that could not be escaped, that gathered us in its gentle folds and drowned us with fascinating nothingness; much the same way apparent nothings sent out vibes that crept up almost unnoticed till we were loathe for them to leave.

We found new experiences and sought out, most gladly, to relive old ones in new contexts. Cheap beer, mostly cheap food, cheap stuff to buy- all so cheap, ironically, that we went way over-budget! The only thing that wasn’t cheap was the experience- we’re still reeling from it, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Here’s to Thailand.

Chok Dee!

Thailand Travel Resources

~ ALL THINGS THAILAND ~

I dived into Thailand Planning fully expecting truckloads of information on it. I wasn't disappointed. Apparently it is the most heavy thread on Thorn Tree, and thats a great place for information. I am constantly amazed, baffled and wishful after seeing how so many people have the time, inclination and sheer joy to write so much stuff there for, seemingly, just the heck of it. Outstanding stuff.
But this is not a post, its a bucket for resources if one is travelling to Thailand ( as I hope to do so more than once). So here goes.

TRANSPORT stuff
About the (new) Bangkok Airport- Suvarnabhumi. And this thread on it.

Train travel- the Thai Railways own site. Basic, not completely clear, but reliable for time tables at teh very least. Apparently you can try to book via email with them, though I haven't yet. Have a go at: passenger-ser[at]railway[dot]co[dot]th.
Also this site- more lucid.

On budget airlines- updated news, as well links to the lot of them.

GENERAL
The excellent swimmers at Travelfish- a great value site. Has tons of information, written crisply and casually. Nice interactive weather thingy, pleasant maps, decent features, and helpful comments section under the write-up for each place to stay- its great to read stuff from regular people who have stayed at a place. Explore it well, there's lot of stuff there easy to miss out. Register and get access to their free pdf guides. Constantly updated (one of the best things about them- on the fly updates)

Tales of Asia- by Tezza, seen muchly on Thorntree.

Into Asia- havent checked it out too much yet, but seems to have well presented info.

Thailand Travel Guide- cluttered, but lots of stuff.

TAT- the official site of Tourism Authority of Thailand

Sawadee- calling themselves the leading thai tourism portal. Go figure.

Chanchao's Thai Menu. A pretty good pdf document that talks about Thai food and goes on to not only give you the Thai words for food items, but also what they will look like on a menu (ie-in thai script)- go beyond fried rice is the idea, I think.

WEATHER
Weather by the Thai chaps themselves.
and this is daily weather updated by the Met dept.

FORUMS
Thorn Tree, of course. Also Travelfish's smaller community (but so also easier to navigate)

poo!

Not only will we be landing at a new airport, we might be greeted by blue guardians

Did i mention...planning for Thailand

Its confirmed.
These relatively cheap chaps will fly us to the famously chaotic, often seemingly predictable and nonetheless promising city that is the capital of the old Siam. This is now mere weeks away. Weeks, you hear?!
13 days and nights await us in Thailand, and three destinations within. There’s this desire to cram everything in and yet have an easy going trip. I have a feeling its not going to happen quite like that, but I cant wait anyway.

The Excel file for the trip has burgeoned into a few worksheets- an itinerary, accommodations for all three places, a budget, air fares everywhere (we’re actually planning to take only the one domestic budget flight), and now I am trying to compile the links I have discovered/devoured for future reference. Then there are the 52 emails, and counting, with different labels for them in the gmail account- but of the three not one place to stay is finalized yet! A handful of posts and replies on forums, lots of guidebook reading and web post scanning, very groggy mornings and black circles under the eyes…and its still 3 weeks away.

I love it.