You're Going to Laos Tonight!

A little over a week ago, a representative from my program called and told me that I would need to leave Thailand that night and head to Laos because my 90-day visa was about to expire.  All of our sponsoring schools were supposed to be working on our work permits/visa extensions, but the short story is my school dropped the ball.  SO- with three hours notice (I’m a planner so spontaneity isn’t my strong point), I headed to Bangkok and caught an overnight bus to Laos with Katherine, another girl on my program who was in the same boat.  By some crazy coincidence, Katherine is Armenian as well…is there some sort of conspiracy to run Armenians out of Thailand?!   Hmmm J

Despite the reasoning behind the trip, I was pretty excited to go to Laos, and knew I was going to stay the whole weekend even if Katherine didn’t want to do so.  A lot of people have told me to go Laos, but it wasn’t necessarily on my hit list of Asian countries, so it worked out well that I got to miss two days of school AND have somebody else pay for the trip!   Luckily, Katherine had planned to stay the whole weekend as well, and our journey involved a 9-hour bus ride, 2-hour Laos visa process (you need a visa to get into the country), and a 1-hour Thai embassy visit (to apply for our new Thai visa) before checking into a hostel around 11am.  All visa processes were pretty straightforward, and there were a ton of people doing the same thing. 

The passport retrieval line at the Thai embassy

After checking into our place, Katherine and I toured the capital city of Vientiane.  It was bigger than I thought, and though I barely slept on the overnight bus, I wanted to see as much as possible that day.

Ruins at Buddha Park

Katherine and I look so small on this huge reclining Buddha!

Wat Pha That Luang (Golden Temple)

Patuxai- built to honor the soldiers who fought to protect the country from foreign invasion.  Resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.  Oh how I miss you Europe!

The view over Vientiane from the 7th level of Patuxai

We hit the night market for food and shopping, a rooftop bar for a little taste of the scene, and then called it a night fairly early because the next day, we headed to Vang Vieng, a town in Laos known for its fun bar scene and crazy tubing adventure.  It’s a pretty little town nestled between beautiful mountains, and it surely lived up to its reputation.

Town shot

Katherine and I at the Bucket Bar with new friends

Our tubing crew

Tubing from bar to bar along the river

One of the bars

Sunset- the pictures don't do it justice

I would have liked a couple of more days in Laos (I feel like I say that about every place I visit) because I would have liked to have seen the Blue Lagoon in Vang Vieng, as well as checked out a nearby town called Luang Prabang, which seemed to be a popular destination for travelers.  At least I got a taste for the place though, and if I don't make it back there, I'll be okay with that. 

This past weekend, a couple of friends from my program, as well as other teachers we have met along the way, went to the Silverlake Music Festival (http://www.silverlakemusicfestival.com/).  The headliners were Incubus, Seether, and Owl City, and along with some other American bands and many Thai bands, the all-day event proved to be a good time.  I stayed in the (cheesy) beach town of Pattaya with my South African friend Eva, and the rest of the group met up with us at the show.

The view over Pattaya from a rooftop restaurant

Our whole crew at the concert; the only time the entire day that everyone was in the same spot!

It's hard to believe that I only have three weeks left of classes, one week of finals, and one week of grading before I'm finished with the teaching portion of my trip!  There's so much I want to see and do in Thailand before I start traveling to other countries, and I'm starting to panic.  I keep telling myself that I can't see and do everything and that I have to make the most of every experience.  Time is certainly flying!!  Until next time....Sawatdee kah! 

A Quick Hi to Chiang Mai

I started to write this blog entry last week and meant to finish and post it on Wednesday or Thursday, but I received about 3 hours notice last Wednesday that I had to head to Laos on an overnight bus with another girl from my program because our work permits would not be ready before our 90-day visas expired on Thursday, January 19th.  We were told we had to leave the country, apply for a new Thai entry visa in Laos, and then return to Thailand 24 hours later.  We decided to stay the weekend in Laos, and we had an amazing time!  I will post about that soon, but here's my write-up about the previous weekend.

On the weekend of January 13th, I headed to the north of Thailand to visit the much-talked-about Chiang Mai.  I totally get it; this place really is awesome.  It’s clean, pretty, artsy, laid-back, outdoorsy, and above all, fun.  There is so much to see and do in Chiang Mai, and I barely put a dent in everything I had planned.  The outdoor markets and shopping are incredible (crafts, jewelry, silk, art, you name it), the daily excursions would blow away even the most hardcore adrenalin junkie, the nightlife and coffee bar/restaurant scene is funky and friendly, and the opportunities to experience the town’s history and temples, as well as interact with all varieties of wildlife, are overwhelming.  I wish I could have spent a few more days there.

The moat that runs through the city and the remains of the defensive old city wall

I arrived late Friday night, and on Saturday, I went white water rafting on the Mae Taeng River with Tracy and Joey from my program http://www.siamrivers.com/home.  I had only been white water rafting once before, and it was years ago when I traveled around New Zealand.  When I woke up and it was raining, I wasn’t happy (it’s the dry season so why does it keep raining on the weekends?!?), but it actually worked out really well because it lead to optimum water conditions.  We had about 6 rafts go out at the same time, and we all pretty much stuck together on the course.  We had a great day on the water!

That night, I hit the massive Night Bizarre with Tracy, and then checked out the bar scene with Tracy, Joey, Kelli, Laura and a few others from our program; it was a long and fun evening!

With ladyboys at the Night Bizarre

Cocktail cart- I love these things!

At the reggae bar- who's the guy on the left?!

I ran around on Sunday solo and tried to check things off of my to-see/do list.  I knew I had to see Doi Suthep, which is one of the most famous attractions in Chiang Mai.  It’s a temple that is part of a three-tiered national park on a mountain, and one could spend hours there http://www.chiangmai.bangkok.com/attractions/doi-suthep.htm.  I went to the highest part of the mountain and saw a waterfall and some hill tribes, skipped the second level (Bhubing Palace, the vacation home of the royal family), and finally went to the lowest level to see the temple and the pretty view over Chiang Mai.  And although I’m not usually a flower show kind of gal, I then headed over to the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek, which is SE Asia’s largest horticultural exposition.  People come from all over Thailand and the world for this event, so I thought I should at least check it out.  I was glad I did; it was really amazing.

Sunday night, Laura, Kelli, and I spent several hours shopping at the Sunday Walking Street market (again, massive), and on Monday (after hearing great reviews from Kelli and Laura), I went over to Tiger Kingdom to star in my own photo shoot with one of nature’s biggest cats.  Funny how I’m not even a cat fan; don’t tell this big guy that though!  These tigers ended up being very sweet animals, but I'm not going to lie, I wanted to take my pictures and get out of the cage as soon as possible!

I'm glad that my visa issue is now sorted and that I haven't been deported on the slow boat back to the US.  It would have made a good story though!  Until next time....Sawatdee kah!

Sawadee Bi Mai Kah!

That’s ‘Happy New Year’ in Thai (of course)!  It’s also my new favorite thing to say to taxi drivers, teachers, cashiers, and anyone else who I may meet along the way.  I figure I only have about one week left to use it before it starts to get old, so I might as well impress as much as I can now.  Thais love it when farangs try to speak Thai; they not only think it’s funny because our pronunciation is so atrocious, but they truly find it endearing that you are trying to communicate in their language.  The kids in my classes also think it’s hilarious when I try to speak Thai, particularly when I yell, “Neyap noi!”  (Be quiet!).  Doesn’t make them listen to me for more than a hot minute though (shock, surprise).

For New Year's weekend, I headed to the island of Koh Phangan to experience the legendary Full Moon party.  I knew the trip was off to a good start when I caught a 6am flight out of Bangkok on December 31st and immediately started to make friends with others on my plane.  It's a bit of a trek to get to the island:  plane-> bus-> ferry, but were were all going the same way and the airline did a really good job at coordinating all legs of the journey.  It was an easy and fun trip, but unfortunately, I never saw any of those people again (exchanging phone numbers and trying to meet up at a beach party with thousands of attendees turned out to be fruitless).  Laura and Kelli had rented motorbikes that day, so when I arrived on the island, I headed solo to Haad Rin beach (home of the Full Moon party) to get some food, catch some sun, and check out the place.  My good luck with meeting people continued as I sat down for lunch at a waterfront restaurant and a group of six Australian guys asked if they could join me (duh!).  After a hilarious 1.5 hour lunch, I broke free and finally hit the beach, striking up a conversation with an Israeli girl on the beach towel next to me.  She was there with three other girls who were all still sleeping (it was 3:00pm at this point....), so it was fun to hear her stories from the days leading up to New Year's. 

With the Aussies in the water

View coming from Haadrin to Bantai, another part of the island where I was staying (about 15 minutes from Haadrin).

My place in Bantai

I knew almost immediately that Haad Rin was 100% my scene; tons of backpackers from all over the world, and everyone was super friendly and fun.  I was in my glory.

At 7:30, I met up with Kelli, Laura, Kelli’s brother Joe, and Joe's friend Chad, and we started to make our way to the festivities.  Long story short, the Full Moon party was really, really crazy.  30,000+ people from all over the world on a beach in Thailand with pumping music, beautiful fireworks, florescent clothing/body paint, and a ridiculous amount of alcohol; it really doesn’t get much better than that for New Year’s Eve.  You kind of have to experience it for yourself to understand the magnitude of this event, but hopefully, these images capture some of the madness.

Little did I know that my first day on the island would be my only day on the beach; it started to rain on New Year’s Day and didn’t stop until the day I left.  Really??!  It’s super sunny and hot every day when I go to work, I’ve seen rain ONE time in the past 2.5 months, and now it rains for three days straight when I’m on a beautiful island?!  It was disappointing to say the least, and I didn’t get to do any of the things I really wanted to do (zip-lining between two islands, exploring the beautiful marine park, going on a reggae snorkeling tour).  I think I may have to go back to a) hit another FMP (yes, it was that much fun), b) do the things I couldn’t do this time, and c) check out the other islands in the area, namely Koh Tao and Koh Samui.  I’m not sure if time will permit, but if it does, I am definitely heading back down there.  We’ll see.

It was back to work late last week, and on Saturday, I headed up to Bangkok to meet up with a friend of a friend who was in town, as well as some of my friends from my program.  We went to the sky bar featured in the Hangover 2 and it was truly amazing (Lebua at State Tower http://www.lebua.com/en/the-dome-dining/sirocco-restaurant/).  It’s located on the top of a 5-star hotel; the bar and restaurant are posh, the view is spectacular, and the drinks are super expensive (by Thailand standards).  They were pretty strict about picture taking in certain areas, so we had to be sneaky and couldn't really get the best shots.  Definitely a must-see though.

The view

Part of the bar

We have another 3-day weekend this weekend (Teacher's Day- gotta love it), so I am headed back up to the north of Thailand to Chiang Mai (not to be confused with Chiang Rai, where I went a few weeks ago).  I haven't met a single person who doesn't love Chiang Mai; it's supposed to be very beautiful with an old city/cobblestone feel, and very different from the rest of Thailand.  I am going white water rafting with some others on Saturday, and then I'll have Sunday and a good portion of Monday to check out the town.  I hope this place lives up to all of its reviews!  Until next time....Sawatdee kah!