Nighttime Nocturnes

The Chiang Mai Night Safari was incredible. I hadn't accounted for the fact that I'd see so many animals other than the ones that I've seen a million times at the Philadelphia Zoo. Mouse Deer, Squirrel Monkey, White Rhinoceros, Flying Squirrel, Brazilian Tapir, Leopard Cat, Clouded Leopard, and Pygmy Hippos, were among some of my favorites. I even saw a little Meerkat Timón!

Having the opportunity to hold and feed a White Tiger cup was exhilarating to say the least. Notice how he's holding my hand with his huge paw. I can still feel his body heat on my thigh. Wow.

The more ferocious of the cats such as the Lions, Cheetah, Bengal Tigers, Jaguar, were awesome. I'll never forget when the Giraffe stuck his huge head right into the tram in order to collect his carrots and bananas right from our hands. It was a well-designed and maintained facility and it was pretty easy to access ... only about thirty minutes outside of the city. If I had the chance, I would definitely do it again.

Ants go marching

Jackfruit is delicious. Granted, the first one into which I bit was a bit of a surprise. I didn't know that there was a pit so I bit right through it. (It's a pretty soft pit yet sour-tasting, all the same.) This wasn't the most pleasurable experience as I decided to just keep on chewing. I immediately realized what had happened and augmented my tactics for the next time. And sans pit, I love jackfruit. But so do that ants in the guesthouse. I'm diligent about emptying my trash right away when it contains remnants of anything sweet but they know. They just know. The Thai ants have a good way of getting what they want. And the ants go marching. I have to change rooms tomorrow because there's a plumbing issue with my bathroom sink. Hopefully my new room will have less of an ant parade.

The ants are quite good at marching single-file, in a straight line. It's funny that the ants can be so good at organized lines yet, the electrical infrastructure of the city is quite the opposite. Check out the photo. That's pretty much the way that all power lines are configured in this city. There are literally power lines hanging loose and touching the pavement. And imagine if there was a problem and an engineer had to determine which line was which. That is one huge knot to untangle. Do you think that Chiang Mai would come anywhere close to being up to code with the electrical regulations in The States? I think not. But somehow it works. Thai people excel at creating order out of otherwise seemingly chaotic conditions.

There's no better example of Thailand Chaos than a cross-section of any street, anywhere in this city. Drivers of all sorts of vehicles — cars, busses, motorbikes, tuk-tuk, sawngthaew, mobile ice cream vendors, homemade side-cars carrying elderly women — contribute to the mass-pandemoneum of the city streets. There's no use in attempting to stay within the lines. The benefit however, is that nobody screams profanities if you make a jack-ass move in order to more quickly get to where you're going. Nobody has the right to get upset because everyone disobeys traffic laws. It's sort of brilliant because road-rage seems to be completely nonexistent. So different than in NYC. I think I've heard a car horn perhaps twice in the past week. Though I have not been staying in the lines on the road, I have been staying within the lines as I color the diagrams in my massage text book. These coloring assignments seem a bit mundane and a bit too far on the busy-work end of the spectrum so I find myself frustrated. But then I ponder why I'm frustrated. Kids, for example, love to color. They'll color for hours. Why can't I flip the situation and find the meditative playful pleasure that my three nieces covet in this particular activity? I've been getting better at it.

Just like the ants, Thai people have a good way of getting what they want and making it work. Last night, I saw a young driver attempting to parallel park his car. After determining that the spot was too small, I watched as he braced himself against the asphalt with a nice wide, grounded stance and leaned all of his bodyweight against the front bumper of the car. I have no idea if he was successful, as I decided not to stick around but I'm willing to bet that he managed a way to get that square peg into that round hole.

Though the Thai people know how to make things work, they definitely do not know how to make a Bloody Mary. I wouldn't generally order a Bloody Mary outside of brunch hours but when I attempted to order a Vodka-Cranberry last night, the server looked at me as if I had lost my third eye. (Ha ha ha.) Based on his reaction, I assumed that cranberry juice was not something particularly prevalent in Thailand. Instead, I ordered directly from the menu and the Bloody Mary seemed like the best option. But at the next bar, I had no problem ordering one of their specialty drinks: peach schnapps, blue curaçao, & cranberry juice. OK. So I like my Jolly Rancher candy drinks; it's true. The point is that they do in fact, have cranberry juice in Thailand and that the server at Tiger Kingdom was just giving me a hard time. In conclusion, the Thai bartenders are terrible at making Bloody Mary's but they're absolute experts at Vodka-Pineapple. Yum.

This morning was all about exploring temples in the city. Tonight I'm heading West to Klorng Chonprathan for the famous Nite Safari. I have a new treat to try for the ride out there. It's some sort of snack made from dried mung beans. I'm tempted to break it open but I hope that I can manage to keep it sealed until it's time to board the bus.

Failures and Frustrations

Upon first arriving at school, I complete the registration process and pay the remainder of the tuition. I also inquire about the nearest Bangkok Bank. I figure that I'm going to be here for a month and I don't want to be carrying tons of cash with me. I'm quite the novice but I feel as though the currency exchange will go more smoothly using a bank rather than using Super-Rich Money Exchange. I promise you that I would not have been able to come up with that name on my own if I tried! The very first display of Thailand cordiality: the desk attendant at school doesn't talk me through several lefts and rights and traffic lights and landmarks. Rather, to get me to the bank as I've requested, she points me in the direction of a kind young man. So I follow. It turns out that his name is Tor (pronounced taaaawww,) and he's going to take me on the back of his motorcycle. There I am: less than 24 hours in Chiang Mai and I'm already whizzing through the chaotic arteries of the city, on the back of a cute boy's bike. It was my very first time to ever ride a motorcycle and likely some good initial exposure because I plan to rent one to drive up into the mountains sometime soon.

Banking business: COMPLETED; first day of school: DONE. Most tasks that I set out to accomplish end in frustration. After several trips to shops attempting to rent a bicycle, I finally got my hands on a good lookin' bike on Tuesday. This bike was a bit pricier than some of the others out there but this is how Cacti explained it to me. The 650 baht that one of the other guys wanted to charge me was just enough to allow him to eat and not nearly enough to keep the bike in good repair. It was an interesting way to look at it. He seemed like a completely honest, and exceptionally sweet guy. I paid twice the price but I'll probably end up renting a motor scooter from him next weekend. I just have a good feeling about Cacti.

So, on my new wheels, I finally felt like a human being again. Seriously … walking is such an antiquated method for getting from here to there. I don't know how you people have the patience. I'm cruising down the street when I see a flash in the periphery: the sign for a vegetarian restaurant! A new bike; a new place to eat … finally things are falling into place. I veer an illegal U-turn and start to scope out the menu. (More on traffic laws coming up.) The place is called Taste From Heaven and is it ever! Mushrooms, tofu, ground peanuts, curry, mint, kaffir lime leaves, chili … you name it. Just as I'm reveling in my awesome discovery, I hear: "Hey, Chris!" What? Huh? Who? It's the girl who sat across from me on the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Unbelievable. It's true that she's also here studying Thai Massage but neither her school or her guesthouse are anywhere even close to mine. Is that why people love to travel? For these once-in-a-lifetime encounters? Once-in-a-lifetime, except for the fact that it happened AGAIN on Wednesday. I was doing some temple-hopping and she was on her way to a Capoeira class. I'm going to try to avoid getting carried away here but she's a yoga instructor (in Maine,) and I'm a yoga instructor. She's in Thailand studying massage and I'm in Thailand studying massage. We bump into each other twice, far from home. We're basically soul mates.

Rises in the East

I was assigned a sleeping berth on the right side of the train and we're heading North so I assume that I'll get some nice views as soon as the sun decides to emerge. Then again, we're on the opposite side of the earth so I'm not quite sure exactly how that will work. But these sleeping berths are really quite cool (and comfortable as well.) Since when could you travel 12-hours in any direction for $29? With a thin mattress, a pillow, and a quilt … it doesn't get much better than this. It's 6:15am so I imagine that the sun will be coming up soon. Plus, I'm really glad that I chose the lower berth. I've got the window; the girl above me's got nothin'.

It was very cloudy and foggy outside so the sun didn't really seam to rise at all but just sort of appeared in the form of a somewhat brighter day. What the sun did illuminate were some of the traditional countryside Thai dwellings. When — I wonder — did corrugated steel become a viable building material. Seriously, the Thai people really do love their corrugated steel. And they seem to use it for structural support which blows my mind. [More on mind-blowing construction practices in entries to come.] In retrospect, I'm lucky that my little apartment has some wood and plaster.

I'm willing to overlook silly superstitions when I cross paths with a stray black cat. But encountering a huddle of three unattended stray dogs on the street at 5am … now that's just scary. I initially thought that the round platters of rice were left on the street for me. "Yum. Thank you." Then I realized that they were there for the dogs. Another dog approached me last night but this time (in contrast to the more docile ones from Bangkok,) this dog was barking, growling, and bearing teech. It looked quite angry. This time however, there were two owners standing by to control the situation. Had they not been there, I would have freaked out a bit. Yeah … just don't like dogs that much. I was already mentally reviewing the procedures that I'd need to go through in order to get a rabies shot. Lost on a back street, bloody, and in lots of pain. But luckily, none of that happened. Lesson: the dogs in Chiang Mai are much meaner and more aggressive than those in Bangkok. But the people are just the opposite. Thank goodness.

The little old lady on the train would sporadically limp and waddle down the isle offering "beer, cola, water, coffee…" I ordered breakfast 'cause there was nothing else to do; I appeared to be the only one awake in that car. When she came to collect the dishes from my meal of eggs, tea, toast, and jam, she was pointing to three pens lying by my side. I thought that she was angry that I had accidentally left a little ink mark on the bed sheets. It turned out though, the she really just wanted my pen. So I gave her one. Through a few awkward hand gestures, I realized that she was asking not for that particular pen but for the other one … the one with the little clip so that she could clip it to her breast pocket. She was so, so grateful when I provided such a simple gift. The pen fit nicely into her polyester ensemble. Adorable.

As I was doing some comparison shopping for places to stay for the month, I found myself once again, drenched in sweat, climbing stairs, walking cramped streets, sandwiched between two bags containing all of my belongings. But I should focus on the positive. My negotiating skills got me the nicer of three places … and for a cheaper price. And for that, I'm grateful. But I did find myself lost and wandering again last night after an unfruitful venture into the real world. Again, I had several items that I wished to get accomplished but many of them got pushed back for another day. One of the problems is that the tuk-tuk (which is what we call the little motorized rickshaw taxis,) took-took me to the wrong destination. I was trying to tell the driver that it did not look familiar but he was having nothing of it. Forty-five minutes later, I found my apartment. I was at my whit's end. Hence: "Despair and Ecstasy." Allegedly, one cannot exist without the other. I did however, manage to get all of my school supply shopping done. I even found a place to provide me with 2 passport photos which is one of the school requirements which I forgot bring from home. I'm about to head out for the day. On the list: bank, school, vegetarian restaurant, bicycle store, bookstore, health food store, and back home. Again, it's an ambitious list. We'll see how much of it gets accomplished.

On the train yesterday, I noticed that my car mates were high with a completely different mentality and attitude toward everything that lies ahead. For instance, we were scheduled to arrive in Chiang Mai at 9:45am. With really no explanation, we arrived shortly after 2pm. Granted we had all read in our respective copies of Lonely Planet, that the train is perpetually late but four hours later than expected? And everyone seemed to be OK with it. (Including myself! Yay.) We all know how tense and belligerent the NYC commuters get when their train is 90 seconds late. What a differenne. Granted, these travelers don't have to show up at work by 9:59am or get reamed by their boss … but still. Interesting. What do you think those travelers would have to say about today's planned agenda?

One Night In Bangkok

With only one night in Bangkok (due to aircraft maintenance complications,) I decided to forgo a hotel for the night and to instead, explore the city. I figured that this would also be a pretty good way to begin to remedy my 12 hours worth of jet lag. After clearing customs around 1am, I killed another three hours at the airport, then headed out to see for what I had in store.

The morning started off well with the intoxicatingly fresh air in Lumphini Park. I found myself waiting just outside of the ornate front gate among the eager Qi Gong Thais ready to start their morning exercise routines at 4:30am.

After sitting, relaxing, consulting a map, and taking in all of the beauty of the dew-drenched surroundings, I headed down to check out the Khlong Toei Market. Already in full-swing before 6am, the market had so much to offer. I was ready to dive in and explore new gustatory grounds but not only were most items completely unidentifiable. Additionally, how to go about eating them was a mystery to me. Do I eat it raw? Do I peel it first? Do I eat the seeds? No clue. And there was nobody around with the adequate language skills to explain it to me. So I ate an apple.

The combination of the incessant drizzle and the carrying of all of my possessions for the month on my shoulders was becoming a bit much for me. (Side note: it's no fun to have my enormous bag metal-detected and searched every time I enter the subway.) How far is one expected to be able to walk with one of those things on his back?

I ditched the bag (with the woman at the train station who promises to look after your bag in exchange for $3. The minimal fee certainly did not clear from my mind, the concern that she had a full twelve hours to break into my bag, root through, and take what she wanted,) and headed to Chinatown. Never before have I seen alleys so narrow, cramped, and scary. At least there was a bit more daylight at this hour. Just when feeling as cramped as possible, a motor scooter driver would abruptly creep up from behind and manage to squeeze through an opening barely die enough to git a human pelvis. Lonely Planet directed me down one particular alley which was clearly not for public use. I had a first-hand glimpse into the lives and homes of the natives. A teenager looked at me distrustfully as I approached. He said "Where are you going?" "Just walking," I replied. I walked only about fifteen feet before realizing that I was encroaching on his family's territory so I squeezed passed him again on my way in the opposite direction. I wound up seeing this same boy several hours later as he was manning the family food cart. Our eyes met and he clearly recognized me. He looked at me as though I was on some sort of reconnoissance mission … hunting a fugitive on the run.

The food at the street vendors looked so yummy & enticing. But my Thai is not fluent enough to ask what it is and their English, not good enough to reply. I imagined that they'd be more compassionate but, when i asked if they spoke English, most of the time they'd just laugh. Lonely Planet informed that most city-folk would speak English but I've encountered only one since leaving the airport.

You can imagine my excitement (mouth watering and belly grumbling [you're right Jena: Grumble-Pants Totaro],) when I finally found a guy whose wares appeared to be 100% from the ground rather than from an animal. Four or five varieties of mushrooms, all sorts of greens, and a blend of muddled rice, ground spices, and all sorts of re-used plastic water bottles filled with a rainbow-variety of sauces. Finally: I was ready for Thai street food. I paused as I tried to turn a cheek when a woman with a rash on her face dunked the ladle into the pot and took a few sips. She added some from another mystery bottle then sipped again, apparently adding just the right amount for taste-bud perfection. However, that was hardly my idea of perfection. I tried; I honestly did. But I couldn't take my eyes off of her blistery, red face and wonder what else she could have contributed to the bubbling blend. I walked away with my tail between my legs. My lunch instead, consisted of cashews and a couple of grilled plantains and miniature banana-looking things. I was on the search for some durian but nobody could linguistically comprehend what I was seeking. Heading to the area known for its vegetarian options was on the agenda but — among other things including the stretch of Chinese medicine shops, coffin makers, and bird-nest soup vendors — this was omitted due to exhaustion. My legs hurt like they've never hurt before. The back-pack from earlier in the day, the aimless Chinatown circles, the puffy airplane ankles. I think they were all contributing.

I had to do something with my body because I was a mess. After a $16 Bikram class and an $8 Thai Massage, I was functioning better. The massage did wonders to alleviate some of the edema from my ankles. There's something about the backpack which must be throwing off my entire gate. My hip rotators & abductors are completely thrashed. Additionally, there's clearly some excessive weakness in my low back. I was shocked today in class, when I barely had the strength to do Locust or Full Locust. Another surprise during class, was when I was woken from Savasana by the voice of the teacher who had already started the following class. I tried to duck out with as little disruption as possible. A 13-hour flight on Thursday, a 7-hour flight on Friday, and a 12-hour train ride on Saturday. In about three hours, I'll be off of this train and be able to finally cease lugging this bag with me everywhere I go. If everything goes well, I'll be checked into my little apartment by noon.