Back in Thailand. We entered the border through a province called Ubonratchatani in the Northeast region, and stayed overnight with a PCV friend, Joel. Coming from Laos, Thailand was a huge change. The bus we drove on for 1 hour to Joel's place was deliciously air conditioned and comfortable. The main roads were nicely paved and I suddenly realized, large....things that eluded me while living there. I sat on the steps at the front of the bus as I got shafted from a seat for someone I assume had booked a ticket before us. I appreciate when locals treat foreigners the same as anybody else, the special treatment always makes me uncomfortable. I enjoyed the man I sat with as well, so I was quite content on the steel steps.
Joel hooked us up with butt loads of vegetables and I cooked my first meal in over 2 months, which was quite delish, if I must say so myself. We had a great time catching up with our good friend and getting back into Thai village life while hanging out with his awesome neighbors over a few Leo beers. The next day we were off to Northern Thailand.
We took an overnight bus to Chiang Mai and in the morning got on another bus heading to our destination of Soppong, a less touristy area known for its caves. Interestingly, I never knew Thailand had caves so this was news to me! Many PCV friends suggested the Cave lodge, a lodge placed 10km outside of the main town, smack in the midst of rural hill tribe villages. It was beautiful, but after 2 days of traveling from Laos, we were exhausted. For the first time on the trip I didn't feel like doing anything; 3 months of on-the-go traveling had finally caught up with me and I holed myself in the room for the rest of the night - it was exactly what I needed.
The next morning, feeling rested and more like myself, we met a few travelers at breakfast. They had told us that the map provided by John, the Australian owner, although appeared detailed was completely inaccurate which led to aimless walking. Marj and I were not in any kind of rush and left late morning for a day of aimless walking. Eventually we sat at a noodle shop for lunch and got to know the adorable noodle lady. An hour later, we left with a new friend and a bag of bananas. I continued walking on by myself, determined to make the map workable, but ended up walking along a very steep inclined road for an hour that lead me to nowhere. The simplicity of being by myself in the midst of the forest was perfect.
One of the largest caves in Thailand happens to live in Soppong. Tham Lod cave is a 1.6 km long cave surrounding a small river that is visited by flocks of Swifts (this is a bird, information I was unaware of before arrival!) in the evening. We ventured out that way in the evening and hopped on a bamboo raft with a Thai man poling our raft and a Thai lady with a kerosene lantern who would periodically tell us to look up at the bats, watch out for bat poop or to get out and look around. With our day chock full of aimless walking, Marj and I were happy to lazily sit in the raft and take in the distinctly awful smell of bat poop.
Certain parts were shallow so our cute rafter would get out and pull us. Suddenly, he makes a startled noise, pulls us in the opposite direction and says ngoo, the Thai word for snake. I look to my right and see the biggest snake I've ever seen in the wild. It was at least 2 meters (6 feet) long and was colored greenish brown with yellow spots. Adrenaline kicked in and I was super excited, especially when he looked me in the eye and stuck his tongue out at me!
On our way out, we met Michelle (hysterical English chick who we fell in love with) and Fernando (very nice, adventurous Spanish guy) outside of the cave. We began chatting, which turned into dinner and plans to attack that map the following day to find some caves. The following morning we also met up with Jenny, an enthusiastic and energetic New Yorker who knew Michelle. I put on my bad ass clunky hiking boots and set out with the team to find caves and hike big mountains!
Well, we did follow the map, but once again ended nowhere. However, there was something called the Big Knob, pretty much a steep karst, which we tackled like we were on Survivor. We thought it would lead us to the opening of a big cave, but instead we got the simple satisfaction of climbing something quite steep. Though we were happy with our day, we cursed John for his shitty map that we decided was a ploy to get people to go on his tours!
It being Michelle's birthday, we had a little birthday party for her with Thai cakes, muffins sunflower seeds and beer. The next morning, back to Chiang Mai, John tried to scare us into avoiding the local bus because he exclaimed it was too dangerous. There were many instances during our time here that John rubbed me, and everybody else, the wrong way - he was quite arrogant and condescending, so by this point I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. The van he tried to bully us into was 3 times the price of the local bus, and according to him, the only safe way. Yes, he has lived in and explored Thailand for 30 years, but I was a poor Peace Corps volunteer and knew my way around a local bus. So local it was and alas, Marj and I are still alive (our driver was a brilliant and cautious driver). So take that, John.
We arrived in Chiang Mai and stayed in the same guesthouse as our lovely French friend Marion (whom we met in Laos) who we luckily spent much time with in Chiang Mai. It was great to be with her again. We also got lucky to meet up with Gil, an Israeli I met back in the Philippines and have kept in touch with. We spent the night eating good market food at the much loved Sunday walking street market.
The following night, we all met again for a lovely dinner on the riverfront. Marion fit both Marj and I on her scooter - it was quite funny! Sadly, we said good-bye to Gil once again. The next day, I hopped on Marion's scooter and set out on an afternoon driving around the city, scoping out Marion's favorite spots. Later that night, she brought me to her favorite nightlife spots where we listened to great live music, drank too much and danced the night away.
The next morning, on 2 hours of sleep, Marion and I were struggling. Yet, we met up once again with the lovely Michelle and another guesthouse patron, Pia, for massages at the Women's prison special massage program. The ladies learn how to give Thai massages and can work the last 6 months of their jail time and save the money they earn. When they leave, they do so with some savings and a new skill. Now that's what I call rehabilitation. Brilliant. And so was the massage....thoroughly enjoyable.
On the road again, Marj and I said sad good-byes to Marion and Michelle and set out for Bangkok where we had to go for our Burmese visa. Here we would meet with Paul to take care of biz and get on a plane to visit a country that 3 years ago, Americans and Brits couldn't enter....we were very excited.
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