a three hour tour

Last Tuesday was the beginning of Buddhist lent. This marks the three month period when most 20 year old men become monks. I have nothing insightful to say about that, I've been woefully negligent in exploring the religion here.


But it meant that I got the day off work. In addition, my classes were canceled on Monday so I got an unexpected three day weekend! A few other teachers and I decided to go to Ko Samet for some R&R. One thing that we all wanted to do was go on a mini-cruise around the island. For 400 baht ($11.50) you get to spend the day sitting in well worn deck chairs on a delightfully decrepit boat, do a little snorkeling, visit a fish farm, have lunch on the boat and basically just chill out. I'd been wanting to do this for a while, but didn't quite have the guts to go alone so I was really looking forward to it.

Our more or less sea-worthy vessel.

The first inkling that we had that it wouldn't quite be all we'd hoped for was when we were delayed for about an hour by a rainstorm. No problem, we sat in a cafe sipping on cha yen and watching the clouds roll in over the water. I really enjoy storm watching, I have to say. And the monsoon winds were refreshing in the 90F heat. There was no talk of canceling the trip due to bad weather... something I love about Thailand (and Oregon too for that matter) - you just go for it. And as soon as it dried up a bit we were on our way.

Not far from the pier was our first stop - the fish farm! Now I'm not sure if this is supposed to be some kind of aquarium, or if this is where the island's supply of seafood comes from or what. There were some ugly looking silvery big headed fish, a sea turtle, and an impressive leopard shark.

I failed to get a single decent photo of the fish - that you can see anything at all in this picture is a tribute to Microsoft Picture Editor. =P

Back on the boat we began our three hour tour. Well, the weather started getting rough, and our tiny ship was tossed. There was lightning in the distance and watching the dark clouds roll in against the lighter skies on the other side of the island was quite spectacular. With a mighty ba BOOM the rains started again. Between the waves we were crashing into and the rain blowing into the boat I decided it was not the best environment for my brand new camera. You'll have to take my word for it... it was something!

It had let up a bit when we made our first snorkeling/swimming stop. Several of us took a flying leap off the side of the boat to go for a swim. It was actually warmer in the water than it had been up on the boat. Naturally ... the rain started up again, but we thought- what's the point of getting out of the water? We were already as wet as we were going to get... so we just stayed bobbing in the waves and screaming into the pounding rain. It was really really really fun. If you've never gone swimming in the rain, I highly recommend it. Yeah yeah... lightning and all... but you only live once.

They called us back on board for lunch - chicken kebabs, fried rice and fresh fruit. Yummy! Poor Marie wasn't doing that well. Even when the rain stopped the winds and waves were pretty strong (for the gulf of Thailand anyway) and she ended up yakking over the side of the boat. Never a dull moment!

When we stopped for the second snorkeling opportunity of the day the weather was substantially better, but the water was so cloudy we couldn't see anything. In fact, I was right on top of a coral covered rock and didn't realize it until I turned around and there it was, two feet from my face - and still so blurry it wasn't worth looking at. So again we just swam around, and jumped off the side of the boat a few more times.

A member of the fearless crew.

All told it was a lot of fun, and very relaxing. I would like to go again when the weather is calmer so I could actually see some fish. But any day I can be out in the ocean is a good day for me.

Especially if that day finishes up with a few drinks at the bar. =)

TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Glorious

You know the drill... camera on the fritz and you get lots of yakity yak from me. But this weekend I took my new camera to the beach so you get pretty pretty pictures!

Are you tired of seeing / hearing about Ko Samet yet? I'm not!!

Deep breath and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....feel that ocean breeze.

Um... an old boat. I just thought it looked cool.

And yes.... that is a baby elephant at the beach. Begging of course, but still... a baby elephant on the beach!!

TAG: Code Mango

PS - I'm going back there today for a little while, I don't have class until 5pm. =)

Here fishy fishy fishy fishy!

When I got my March schedule there was quite a lot of open space. By now I've learned my lesson and didn't bother making any big plans... but I did get to go the Rayong Aquarium last week, which was a nice way to spend the morning.


The aquarium is in Ban Phe, although in a different area from the beach I usually go to. It's right next to the ocean, just past a little fishing village.


It's a small aquarium, and not the most technologically / environmentally advanced one I'm sure. But it was fun. There were several medium sized fish tanks highlighting different species. There were seahorses and crabs and little Nemo fish... all the usuals. There was a tall cylindrical tank that we could walk around as we descended to the lower level... and at the bottom, we could actually go under it and look up through the Plexiglas ceiling. That was pretty cool.



But the star attractions were in a much larger tank towards the back. There was this um.... something-ray? There were signs, I just forgot to take pictures of them.

And then this guy! Scary!

I mean, he's hardly a great white, but he's a good 5 feet long and intimidating enough for me. And the guys in the back were no beauties either... they have huge almost human looking faces - they just freaked me out.

So that was that, not bad for 35 baht. The really funny thing was all the tour buses that were visiting from Bangkok or who knows where. There were just crowds of people all herded around by their tour guides. Le Blonde and I seemed to have been the only ones who just walked in. I think it must be just one stop on a trip around the coast or something. I can't imagine making a whole trip just for the aquarium.

My days of leisure are over though. As anticipated/feared I got another course to fill up my schedule. Starting tomorrow I'll be teaching an intensive course - 3 hours a day, five days a week - two weeks to cover 5 units. It's insane. The students won't learn half as much as if they had a decent amount of time to absorb the information. Oh, and it's a pre-intermediate class - the one book I haven't actually used yet. Should be an adventure for all parties. And the situation is not at all improved by the fact that I've caught the bug going around and feel like I'm about to bust a lung or break a rib with my coughing. At least today was my day off ... I pretty much stayed in bed all day with a short break to pick up soup and cough drops. Wish me luck!

TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Ta lai

I'm feeling back to normal again, and it's my day off so I went to the beach. One of my students had printed out a couple pages of google maps for me, and had thoughtfully put in some landmarks in English. I'd kept hearing about the beach that was closest to Rayong (can't remember the name though) and he wrote out the name in Thai so I could ask around at the Songthaew station.


I got up, put on what I'll be calling my "trunk-kini", swim trunks & a tanktop, and headed out. The plan was to take a songthaew, any songthaew along the main road to the songthaew station and then just show people my piece of paper until someone pointed me towards the right one. A good plan, but I didn't even get that far. A block or two from the main road a police officer on a motorbike said something to me and indicated the back of his bike. I really wasn't interested in going for a ride, so I just said "mai kow jai"... but he was somewhat insistent about helping me out. So I figured I could at least try to ask him where to find the songthaew. I got to practice the newest phrase that I've learned "Dtong gahn" which I was told means both "I want." and "I need." (fascinating!).


So I said something approaching "I want songthaew ..." and showed him my piece of paper. He said the name of the beach and I repeated it (we did that a few times, and I still forgot it) and then he motioned me onto the back of his bike and I just climbed on. (Do you see how easy it would be to scam me? Oh btw - I have my passport back, all is well). We start driving and he asks me something about "ta lai." Now this is a word I know! One of the teachers always orders stir fried veggies with seafood - pad pak ta lai. So I thought he was asking if I liked seafood. I got to use another phrase I learned this week "Mai choorp." (I don't like.) But then he asked again something "Ta lai? Ta lai?" and I remembered that the other day at lunch, while the teacher was eating her "Ta-lai" we had a conversation about how "ta-lai" literally means "sea" and that the literal word for "sea-food" was "ta-lai something something". Aaaaaahhhhh! And suddenly I could make sense of what he was saying "Bi ta lai?" "Go to the sea?" "Chai chai chai - bi ta lai. Chai haht" "Yes yes yes go to the sea. Beach." I finally told him. Check me out all speaking Thai!!!


We actually didn't go very far, just along the main road and up one of the main parallel roads when he stopped and pointed to the songthaew and he and I both told him the name of the beach again & I hopped on.


It is quite a bit closer than the beach I had been going to... it's also not nearly as fancy. One of the things I like about Rayong is that it's an industrial town - it means people have good jobs and the city actually produces stuff - petroleum products and seafood are the two main industries (and you really don't want to get those two mixed up!). I saw a number of oil rigs and fishing boats along the way to the beach.


The beach itself is not fantastic. But that means there aren't any tourists... so pros & cons. The sand is coarse, and very loose. As I waded into the water it shifted under my feet in a quicksand-esque manner, and that was not fun. There's also a deceptively steep slope into the water. I could tell by how the waves were breaking just a couple feet from the dry sand that it got deep quickly. I took a few exploratory steps past the foam, first step ankle deep, next step over knee deep. Not being able to see the bottom freaked me out and I almost decided to give up and head for Ban Phe. But then I came to my senses.


I am a good swimmer. I'm not a great swimmer, or a fast swimmer, but I'm extremely boyant ;) and I know several strokes. I also have a decent amount of ocean swimming experience, I know that when you want to get back to the shore you match your efforts to the waves so they do most of the work. Not to mention the several years I did water areobics. On 'deep-water' aerobics days we'd practice treading water about a dozen different ways, just arms, just legs, hands up out of the water, elbows out of the water (killer!). I figured... it doesn't really matter if it's 5 feet deep, or 10 feet deep or 100 feet deep. I can swim, I'll be fine. Sure enough - four steps in and the water was up to my shoulders. It felt really good so I just hung out swimming and floating and just standing there in the water for a good long time. Then I got out (tricky - with the sharp increase and the shifty sands... but again - you just have to let the waves push you). This is not a beach I would recommend for non-swimmers!


I laid out in the sun for a while (and yes, reapplied my sunscreen!). Eventually I could hear that a family had arrived... complete with screaming children. I sat up and contemplated calling it a day. But then the kids waved at me and screamed "Hello" so I said "Hello" back. We did that a couple of times, and I thought I heard them saying something in English but I couldn't quite make it out. One of the girls came over and started talking to me.

"Hello" she started
--"Sawadee ka" I replied.
"What is your name?" she asked.
--"Chan chu Rebecca." I replied slowly, and with great concentration added "Kun chu arai?" (By this time her sisters/friends were coming out of the water to join us.)
"My name is Boom. Where are you from?"
--"Kun bin kun American!" Only after she left did I realize I had told her, most enthusiastically, "You are an American person!"
"Aaaah America! Do you want to swim in the sea?" she asked - still in English.
--"Passa Thai for 'swim'?" I asked.
"wai naam" we all mimed swimming and pointed at the ocean- repeating the word a few times.
--"Dtong gahn wai naam ta lai." I replied, and from her reaction, I think I got close to saying "Want to swim in the sea." So off we went!


I don't know why I'm so popular with the 10-15 year old beach crowd...but it's kind of fun. I mean, I was not a popular or well liked kid growing up so even at 34 - having kids come up to me and want to play with me is doing it's part to heal some very old wounds. We played in the water for a while. Then my new friend said "Dance in the water." at first I thought she meant swim, but she mimed dancing and said "Sing a song!"


Fortunately, I love singing. I sound terrible, but I do enjoy it. So I gave her a few bars of the Sesame Street theme song. =P (Well, what would *you* sing if you were put on the spot like that?) Plus, it was really sunny and I was inspired. I asked her to sing next and she did so beautifully - a fairly long song actually and her sister joined in on the choruses. On my next turn I sang one of my favorites - You are my sunshine. She could understand a few words of it and liked the "You make me happy" part. The second time through I sang each line slowly and she tried to follow along. It was cute - she's a *much* better singer than I. After singing we swam some more... had a bit of a race to reach their uncle who was floating along in an inner tube with his baby boy. I asked for the word for baby and learned it was "dek lek lek" (child small small). One of the family said that I spoke Thai well, and I replied "nit-noy" (a little bit) and the baby said "nit-noy" which was awesome and cracked everyone up. That little one year old boy is my linguistic equal, and he'll likely surpass me in the next 6 months. =P


Oh, it was a fun... but eventually I got tuckered out and called it a day. A Code Mango day for sure.

She sees sea shells by the sea shore.

TAG - Code Mango


Nothing particularly interesting happened today - but it's always a good day when I get to go to the beach. A few more pictures... because I'm evil and I know it's probably getting cold & rainy in the PacNW. ;)I've learned that this beach is called The Pines, because well... there are big ol' pine trees on either side of the road next to the beach. I didn't think pines could grow in the tropics, but clearly they do. Not sure what kind, but it's odd for me to see the long skinny needles in the sand.

The waves were unbelievably calm today. I think I must have come at low tide.
In part because the waves are so gentle, and probably for a lot of other geological reasons I don't totally get - there are TONS of shells on this beach. And a good many of them are whole. There's a part of me that just wants to collect a whole mess of them as souvenirs, but I keep hearing that quote in my head about "Take only pictures, leave only footprints." and I'm trying to stick to that. I did take one shell though...just one, unremarkable but that it was from the first day I visited the beach.



More shells... the variety is just amazing. All different colors and sizes of clam/muscle shells, and also a couple nautalis type shells and flakes of abalone shells. It's all so beautiful reflecting the sun. Oh, and the sound. I wish I could capture the sound for you. When the waves wash up on the shore all the shells knock together, and it's kind of a soft crunchy sound. Ok - sound descriptions are not my strong suit. At the souvenir shops they sell sea shell wind chimes, and they sound like that, only muffled by the water.



Ok - my new favorite post-swim tradition - eating chicken on a stick.
There are all these food vendors with modified motorcycles - the side car is a food cart. So they'll drive up and down the street stopping wherever there are people, ringing their bell to let you know they're there. I really don't know what it is, but it tastes soooo good, and you just can't beat the ambiance.


Across the street from the beach there's a nature park & aroboretum. On my last trip I noticed a sign for the bathroom... but wasn't feeling particularly adventurous - or any real need to check out the facilities. This time however, I had to stop. I really contemplated waiting until I got home - it's only a 30 min ride, but this time I was feeling adventurous... plus the sign had a picture of a shower, and I thought it would be nice to clean up a bit. I thought "how bad can it be?" When traveling abroad - that's always a dangerous question. In actuality, it wasn't that bad. There were squat toilets again, oh... and I had to pay for the privilage. There was no running water at the sinks. =/ And here are the 'showers':

I don't know if that's clean water or rainwater or what. But it's just what it looks like, a big ol' concrete tub of water and a couple bowls - and half a bamboo wall for privacy. I think I mentioned before that Thai people go swimming in their clothes. Well, not necessarily their street clothes, but both men and women wear swimming trunks and t-shirts in the water. I saw a guy walking out of the men's room sopping wet, so I guess they just splash themselves with the fresh water to get rid of the salt & dry off when they dry off. Today I was still pretty committed to wearing a swimsuit (although, will probably pick up some swim trunks soon) and at least attempted to keep my clothes dry. Epic failthough ... as I tried to wash off my arms & legs without getting undressed and proceeded to get almost as wet as if I'd just dunked myself. Then rode back in the Songthaew looking like a half-drowned rat.


What can I say? Living the dream. =)

Ko Samet

In keeping with my goals for living in Thailand, I'd planned to go to the beach on my day off again. I've been to Ban Phe twice now, and wanted to check out Ko Samet this time. Ko Samet is an island just off the coast, it's officially a national park but there are a bunch of resorts there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I had heard really good things about it. I took the songtheaw from Rayong to Ban Phe and wandered around all the touristy shops for a while, then got a ticket for the boat.

The boat is only 100B both ways, but admission to the island was 200B for foreigners. Only about $10 US... but my US $$ are slowly but surely diminishing. =/ I debated just going to Ban Phe again, but eventually decided it would be worth it to see someplace new.

I enjoyed the ride over. The ocean is really calm, and I just love the breeze on my face. I still don't know what those other little islands are called though.

About 30 min. later we reached Ko Samet... check out all the cute little bungalos.
The first thing I saw when I got off the dock was a 7/11. It kinda struck me as funny... not so much your desert island experience. But it was nice to have someplace to buy some water. It turned out that there were a LOT of shops - mostly selling touristy stuff, and places to arrange snorkeling trips etc. All along the beach there were hotels and restaurants.
Then, actually on the beach there were a few guys who would walk by selling food, fruit, chicken satay, etc. I bought some pineapple to snack on.


I walked along the beach for a while, trying to find someplace relatively free of people, and I saw this in a tide pool. At first I thought it was a banana peel, but then I thought maybe it was a sea star.... but then it looked a bit like a banana peel again. Opinions?

Sunthorn Phu is Thailand's most popular poet, and he wrote his epic poem Phra Apai Manee right here on Ko Samet. I haven't actually read the poem yet, but apparently it's something to do with a flute player & a mermaid. Intriguing.

The white sand was so fine, like talcum powder. The water, as warm as a bath, and so green today. There are even fewer waves here than on the mainland. It's like lying in a giant bathtub - so relaxing.


The beach from above... the restaurants set out chairs and tables all along the beach, I was just a few yards over, camped out on some rocks.


And here was a lazy fishing boat that just floated on by.

Overall, I had a nice time. I mean, any day at the beach is better than a day at the office - right? But I didn't care for the built-up nature of Ko Samet... or at least of the beach I went to. I saw more farangs than I'd seen in a while, and a lot of chubby Europeans in bikinis... no one really needs to see that. So for now, I think I'll stick to Ban Phe on my days off.


TAG - Code Mango