Yeah folks, as noted in my previous blog entry, Dylan and I had one last hoorah by swimming alongside the largest species of shark, a whale shark. The Pilipinas call them Butanding. The experience was exhilarating, humbling, and (to actually use this word the way it was meant to be used) it was awesome. Harmless and beautiful giants of the sea.
We made two trips out to sea to swim with the butanding. The first trip was a bit cloudy and there was little hope of spotting one of the giants in the sea. We sat ready and anxious on the sides of the make-shift catamaran. Finally, the ready command of our guide we readied our flippers and masks. On his go command (literally him shouting "go, go, go!" at us like a drill sergeant) we dove into the velvet blue water passing beneath us.
You don't see it right away but you wait and swim slowly and then, in an instant it appears. A great blue figure with white spots looming beneath you. Then you see his head and mouth, a mouth that could swallow five of you whole all at once. Then the gills that are the length of your leg and if you look all the way to its back you can spot the tips of its tail that are longer than your entire body. On our first trip Dylan and I swam alongside one for nearly half an hour. Just following it through the great blue watching it just glide through effortlessly and still eat along the way. We only lasted that long, we had to return to the boat and honestly we couldn't keep up with the shark anymore, we were exhausted. We just swam back to the boat in absolute shock.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Imus - Cavite, Gen. Mascardo street
I've spent the past two weeks in the Philippines. The birthplace of my mother and one of my life's mysteries. Aside from the immaculate crystal waters colored by corals that bordered white sand beaches, staring down tarsiers (world's smallest primate), gazing into the purple mountain skies of Baguio, and swimming with the largest species of shark, I was able to meet family that I have only ever heard stories about. To me, this was a sort of fantasy, something I only ever dreamed about and doubted if it would ever become a reality.
In Manila I was met by my Tita Cleah. She is a cousin of my mother, making her my second cousin I think - but by the manner of our first greeting and how she cared for Dylan and I ever since, you would think I was her niece or even daughter. She took us around Manila and filled me in on stories and history of the family including drawing an extending tree for me - very helpful with a family as large as ours :)
Tita Cleah took me to meet my Tita Heidi ( my aunt, the one sister of my mother's that I have never met or even seen her picture). We entered the neighborhood where my mother grew up and turned down the street where she had lived for 21 years. I entered the house, my head very clouded with emotions and words to say. Auntie Heidi sat on a wooden bench in her house in a pink and white cotton dress. At first glance she looked confused, I tried to explain who I was and why I was coming to visit her but my nervous english words came out as jibberish. Tita Cleah stepped in and explained, in Tagolog, my presence. Tears filled Auntie Heidi's eyes as the words began to process and realization set in. Her arms reached out to grab mine and she pulled me close to her. I was suddenly not only surrounded by her warmth but filled with it. My tears broke, tears of joy. An indescribable feeling that I always wrote off as being fake when I saw it in movies or at weddings.
I still think back to it like a dream. Meeting my Auntie Heidi. She whispered to me, "Never, never in my life did I think I would get to meet you, and here you are. You look like your mother." She knew just what to say to keep my tears flowing. Before departing, she embraced me one last time and whispered to me, "Take care of yourself. I love you. I love you so much." A women I met only once in my life, just minutes ago, and I could feel she meant what she was saying.
In Manila I was met by my Tita Cleah. She is a cousin of my mother, making her my second cousin I think - but by the manner of our first greeting and how she cared for Dylan and I ever since, you would think I was her niece or even daughter. She took us around Manila and filled me in on stories and history of the family including drawing an extending tree for me - very helpful with a family as large as ours :)
Tita Cleah took me to meet my Tita Heidi ( my aunt, the one sister of my mother's that I have never met or even seen her picture). We entered the neighborhood where my mother grew up and turned down the street where she had lived for 21 years. I entered the house, my head very clouded with emotions and words to say. Auntie Heidi sat on a wooden bench in her house in a pink and white cotton dress. At first glance she looked confused, I tried to explain who I was and why I was coming to visit her but my nervous english words came out as jibberish. Tita Cleah stepped in and explained, in Tagolog, my presence. Tears filled Auntie Heidi's eyes as the words began to process and realization set in. Her arms reached out to grab mine and she pulled me close to her. I was suddenly not only surrounded by her warmth but filled with it. My tears broke, tears of joy. An indescribable feeling that I always wrote off as being fake when I saw it in movies or at weddings.
I still think back to it like a dream. Meeting my Auntie Heidi. She whispered to me, "Never, never in my life did I think I would get to meet you, and here you are. You look like your mother." She knew just what to say to keep my tears flowing. Before departing, she embraced me one last time and whispered to me, "Take care of yourself. I love you. I love you so much." A women I met only once in my life, just minutes ago, and I could feel she meant what she was saying.
Daily Doses of Pig Shit Water
March 7 - March 21
We arrived at Clement Doyers in the hot sun and were welcomed into the bright teal colored house for bananas and tea. At this farm is where we met some of the most amazing friends and beautiful souls during our travels. A written description wouldn't do them justice so I'll get on to the farming part. The numbers of us fluctuated from time to time but for the core time that Dylan and I were there, we worked together with five other people. our schedule went a little something like this...
6:45 wake up
7:00 start cutting vegetable
7:30 eat breakfast
8:00 leave the house to start work ( must have water bottle and bananas for snack). Morning work was one of the following: smash/ hack compost, bag compost, carry bags of compost, find hose for the pig shit water (literally pumped from a pond behind the pig stye where the pig shit was rinsed into everyday, excellent fertilizer, terribly awful smell), fix hose for the pig shit water, weed the rubber trees, bag straw, carry bags of straw.
10:00 morning break of pig shit jokes and bananas
10:15 back to work. everyone coming together to lay down the compost around each rubber tree, water it with PSW, and cover it with straw.
12:00 break for lunch cooked by Assimi, the sister in law of the farm owner. Assimi and her family were all members of the Lisu tribe.
After Lunch Siesta until 3
3:00 back to work to finish composting the rubber trees
5:00 done with work for the day, return to the house for long awaited cold showers
5:45 start cutting vegetable for dinner
7:00 dinner cooked by Assimi
rest of the night free time usually spent playing card games, watching movies, experimenting with recipes for banana beer, or baking hodge-podge cakes. One night was spent at a traditional Lisu birthday ceremony.
This was Mon - Sat. Sunday we had the day to ourselves and on Friday mornings the work day was cut short because Clement would pile us into the pick-up and take us to a Chinese market near the Burmese border to treat us to chinese noodles and give us time to snoop around the market.
The routine became home and our working companions became our family.
We arrived at Clement Doyers in the hot sun and were welcomed into the bright teal colored house for bananas and tea. At this farm is where we met some of the most amazing friends and beautiful souls during our travels. A written description wouldn't do them justice so I'll get on to the farming part. The numbers of us fluctuated from time to time but for the core time that Dylan and I were there, we worked together with five other people. our schedule went a little something like this...
6:45 wake up
7:00 start cutting vegetable
7:30 eat breakfast
8:00 leave the house to start work ( must have water bottle and bananas for snack). Morning work was one of the following: smash/ hack compost, bag compost, carry bags of compost, find hose for the pig shit water (literally pumped from a pond behind the pig stye where the pig shit was rinsed into everyday, excellent fertilizer, terribly awful smell), fix hose for the pig shit water, weed the rubber trees, bag straw, carry bags of straw.
10:00 morning break of pig shit jokes and bananas
10:15 back to work. everyone coming together to lay down the compost around each rubber tree, water it with PSW, and cover it with straw.
12:00 break for lunch cooked by Assimi, the sister in law of the farm owner. Assimi and her family were all members of the Lisu tribe.
After Lunch Siesta until 3
3:00 back to work to finish composting the rubber trees
5:00 done with work for the day, return to the house for long awaited cold showers
5:45 start cutting vegetable for dinner
7:00 dinner cooked by Assimi
rest of the night free time usually spent playing card games, watching movies, experimenting with recipes for banana beer, or baking hodge-podge cakes. One night was spent at a traditional Lisu birthday ceremony.
This was Mon - Sat. Sunday we had the day to ourselves and on Friday mornings the work day was cut short because Clement would pile us into the pick-up and take us to a Chinese market near the Burmese border to treat us to chinese noodles and give us time to snoop around the market.
The routine became home and our working companions became our family.
The Hills of Chiang Rai
March 3 - March 5
Other than teaching at the school, our time in the Chiang Rai hills was filled with tiered waterfalls, jungle hikes, river boat taxis, a private hot spring, and playing games with an elephant.
The waterfall was a regular stop on our way home from the village everyday. After a long, sticky hot walk along a winding mountain road it was completely worth the extra fifteen minute hike to reach the enormous, gushing, ice cold waters of this waterfall. A swim wasn't even necessary. Sitting on the cold stones that surrounded the pool on one of its many tiers while being showered in the clean mist was more than enough. I would have to say I had the best nap of my life on one of these cold rocks, unbelieveabley peaceful.
Dylan and I had plans of taking an elephant ride but when we arrived, our hearts sank. I don't think anyone likes to be tied to a stake forced to stand in the hot sun and sand all day with a huge harness tied around your entire body that also restricts your ability to take a crap (and if you eat as much as those guys do, you have to go alot too) then to top it off carry around some fat tourist. So obviously we nixed the idea to ride the elephants. Instead, I found one that seemed to be rather fond of me (as Dylan pointed out as he glimpsed at his loins) and he wanted to play games with us. Dylan and I played catch with the elephant trunk and exchanged numerous hugs before we said goodbye to a gentle giant friend.
And oooo the hotspring. Not something that immediately comes to mind when it is already 90 degrees outside, but a natural hot bath always does a body good!
Other than teaching at the school, our time in the Chiang Rai hills was filled with tiered waterfalls, jungle hikes, river boat taxis, a private hot spring, and playing games with an elephant.
The waterfall was a regular stop on our way home from the village everyday. After a long, sticky hot walk along a winding mountain road it was completely worth the extra fifteen minute hike to reach the enormous, gushing, ice cold waters of this waterfall. A swim wasn't even necessary. Sitting on the cold stones that surrounded the pool on one of its many tiers while being showered in the clean mist was more than enough. I would have to say I had the best nap of my life on one of these cold rocks, unbelieveabley peaceful.
Dylan and I had plans of taking an elephant ride but when we arrived, our hearts sank. I don't think anyone likes to be tied to a stake forced to stand in the hot sun and sand all day with a huge harness tied around your entire body that also restricts your ability to take a crap (and if you eat as much as those guys do, you have to go alot too) then to top it off carry around some fat tourist. So obviously we nixed the idea to ride the elephants. Instead, I found one that seemed to be rather fond of me (as Dylan pointed out as he glimpsed at his loins) and he wanted to play games with us. Dylan and I played catch with the elephant trunk and exchanged numerous hugs before we said goodbye to a gentle giant friend.
And oooo the hotspring. Not something that immediately comes to mind when it is already 90 degrees outside, but a natural hot bath always does a body good!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Akha Hill Tribe School
Friday 3 March 2011
The next morning after that crazy travel day Dylan and I headed to the sister guest house of the Akha River house, the Akha Hill House. The Akha houses are owned and run by people of the Akha tribe of northern Thailand. Originally, Dylan and I were planning on teaching at the village school for two weeks, however when we contacted the director of the hill house he had told us the children will be on vacation by the time we arrive (so a bit of a bummer, but we were still excited to stay at the hill house). After the long truck ride through winding mountains, vast jungle trails, and flourishing oolong tea plantations, we arrived at the Hill House. Bamboo huts lined the boundaries of the compound with a central meeting/dining area where visitors mingled and shared travel stories. This is where we met Shelley on our very first day, an Australian mom just taking a couple weeks to relax. She told us about the school and Melvin, a young swedish guy who had been teaching at the school for about a month. I was instantly excited that we may still have a chance to teach at the school after all - and best part was that Shelly was planning on stopping by the school the next morning to drop off some things she had collected for the children.
The next morning we hitched a ride with Shelley. We arrived as the kids were lined up for what looked like morning prayer and exercise. After meeting/greeting the teachers they seemed thrilled to have new teaching volunteers! Right away they assigned us three classes to teach! We ended up actually teaching 4 that day with help from Melvin in the afternoon who arrived during the enormous pot luck lunch that the teachers enjoy every day (and each day a student is assigned to do the dishes from the meal ha ha). The most difficult class was definitely the primary class - those crazy kids. Games were the key - games with alot of movement and crazy shouting patterns. So much fun. And for the rest of our time at the hill house, if we ever saw any of the children from our English lessons, we were called out to, "teacher, teacher!" followed by some random english sentence and a giggle.
The next morning after that crazy travel day Dylan and I headed to the sister guest house of the Akha River house, the Akha Hill House. The Akha houses are owned and run by people of the Akha tribe of northern Thailand. Originally, Dylan and I were planning on teaching at the village school for two weeks, however when we contacted the director of the hill house he had told us the children will be on vacation by the time we arrive (so a bit of a bummer, but we were still excited to stay at the hill house). After the long truck ride through winding mountains, vast jungle trails, and flourishing oolong tea plantations, we arrived at the Hill House. Bamboo huts lined the boundaries of the compound with a central meeting/dining area where visitors mingled and shared travel stories. This is where we met Shelley on our very first day, an Australian mom just taking a couple weeks to relax. She told us about the school and Melvin, a young swedish guy who had been teaching at the school for about a month. I was instantly excited that we may still have a chance to teach at the school after all - and best part was that Shelly was planning on stopping by the school the next morning to drop off some things she had collected for the children.
The next morning we hitched a ride with Shelley. We arrived as the kids were lined up for what looked like morning prayer and exercise. After meeting/greeting the teachers they seemed thrilled to have new teaching volunteers! Right away they assigned us three classes to teach! We ended up actually teaching 4 that day with help from Melvin in the afternoon who arrived during the enormous pot luck lunch that the teachers enjoy every day (and each day a student is assigned to do the dishes from the meal ha ha). The most difficult class was definitely the primary class - those crazy kids. Games were the key - games with alot of movement and crazy shouting patterns. So much fun. And for the rest of our time at the hill house, if we ever saw any of the children from our English lessons, we were called out to, "teacher, teacher!" followed by some random english sentence and a giggle.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Chiang Mai - Laos - Chiang Rai
Tuesday 1 March 2011
6:30 Board bus to Chiang Kong
8:15 Bus starts to roll backwards down hill because it can't make the turn necessary to round the steep mountain bend
13:40 Arrive at Chiang Kong bus station
13:42 Hire tuk-tuk to take us to Laos border
14:00 Depart Thailand
14:03 Take long boat ferry across river to Laos
14:30 Apply for and receive Laos visa
14:50 Enjoy a BeerLaos! and some sweet basil flavored Lays
15:15 Take long boat ferry across river back to Thailand side
15:30 RE-enter Thailand and renew visa for 60 days
15:40 Find truck taxi back to Chiang Kong bus station
16:00 Catch last local bus to Chiang Rai
18:30 Arrive at Chiang Rai bus station
18:50 Dinner at Chiang Rai Night Bazaar (veggie tempura, spring rolls, and papaya fruit shake!)
19:45 Take tuk-tuk to Chiang Rai Akha River House
20:00 Arrive and settle-in at Akha River House
6:30 Board bus to Chiang Kong
8:15 Bus starts to roll backwards down hill because it can't make the turn necessary to round the steep mountain bend
13:40 Arrive at Chiang Kong bus station
13:42 Hire tuk-tuk to take us to Laos border
14:00 Depart Thailand
14:03 Take long boat ferry across river to Laos
14:30 Apply for and receive Laos visa
14:50 Enjoy a BeerLaos! and some sweet basil flavored Lays
15:15 Take long boat ferry across river back to Thailand side
15:30 RE-enter Thailand and renew visa for 60 days
15:40 Find truck taxi back to Chiang Kong bus station
16:00 Catch last local bus to Chiang Rai
18:30 Arrive at Chiang Rai bus station
18:50 Dinner at Chiang Rai Night Bazaar (veggie tempura, spring rolls, and papaya fruit shake!)
19:45 Take tuk-tuk to Chiang Rai Akha River House
20:00 Arrive and settle-in at Akha River House
Alternate Plan: American games with Thai Children
February 27 - 28
The original plan for the day was to depart from Chiang Mai and head for Laos where we wanted to renew our visas and travel around for several days. However, as we arrived at Vichai's house returning from gardening school, Dylan began to feel ill - and it only got worse. Contemplating wether to just push through or not, we were warned and advised by Vichai to stay until Dylan felt better. He said the medicine in Laos is horrible and he didn't want to worry about us the whole time we were gone. So that was enough reason for us to stay, the last thing we want to be is stuck in a Lao hospital and also a 7 hour bus ride while nauseated with fever just doesn't sound comfortable.
The next day, Dylan didn't get much better. So, what better to do with the day while Dylan is lying sick in bed than teach Vichai's son Wich and his neighbor girl friend Mi Cheeko American games! Together we made a mini golf course out of the back yard garden, played some hangman with the simple english words they understood from school, and set-up a tent in the yard (complete with two fans and a sitting mat). After a while, Dylan joined us for some jump rope and tri-pod balance poses followed by wheel-barrow racing. After a long afternoon of fun and games we hopped on our bikes and rode to cool off at the neighborhood pool with a few rounds of sharks and minnows, which was then crashed by a bus load of Thailand teens - its the same all over the world :)
The next day Dylan's fever broke - so we declared to leave the next morning. One more day in Chiang Mai we contacted another friend of a friend that had been wanting to see us in Chiang Mai - Pensook. Pensook is a principal of a high school (we discovered a very powerful lady at the Wachawurit School). We met her at her school that afternoon. Her driver pulled up to the large, gold security gate gaurding the school drive entrance as she rolled down the window and called to us, "Elizabeth!". We hopped in and she took us to the most elegant lunch, a very fancy lunch buffet at a rather famous restaurant in Chiang Mai. It was amazing. Dylan and I didn't know what to grab first- the amazing varieties of Thai food or the tempting western food that we had not indulged in for months, and then there was the fruit display, the salad bar, and the desserts! We walked away very full and very grateful for the unexpected treat.
Tomorrow Laos!
The original plan for the day was to depart from Chiang Mai and head for Laos where we wanted to renew our visas and travel around for several days. However, as we arrived at Vichai's house returning from gardening school, Dylan began to feel ill - and it only got worse. Contemplating wether to just push through or not, we were warned and advised by Vichai to stay until Dylan felt better. He said the medicine in Laos is horrible and he didn't want to worry about us the whole time we were gone. So that was enough reason for us to stay, the last thing we want to be is stuck in a Lao hospital and also a 7 hour bus ride while nauseated with fever just doesn't sound comfortable.
The next day, Dylan didn't get much better. So, what better to do with the day while Dylan is lying sick in bed than teach Vichai's son Wich and his neighbor girl friend Mi Cheeko American games! Together we made a mini golf course out of the back yard garden, played some hangman with the simple english words they understood from school, and set-up a tent in the yard (complete with two fans and a sitting mat). After a while, Dylan joined us for some jump rope and tri-pod balance poses followed by wheel-barrow racing. After a long afternoon of fun and games we hopped on our bikes and rode to cool off at the neighborhood pool with a few rounds of sharks and minnows, which was then crashed by a bus load of Thailand teens - its the same all over the world :)
The next day Dylan's fever broke - so we declared to leave the next morning. One more day in Chiang Mai we contacted another friend of a friend that had been wanting to see us in Chiang Mai - Pensook. Pensook is a principal of a high school (we discovered a very powerful lady at the Wachawurit School). We met her at her school that afternoon. Her driver pulled up to the large, gold security gate gaurding the school drive entrance as she rolled down the window and called to us, "Elizabeth!". We hopped in and she took us to the most elegant lunch, a very fancy lunch buffet at a rather famous restaurant in Chiang Mai. It was amazing. Dylan and I didn't know what to grab first- the amazing varieties of Thai food or the tempting western food that we had not indulged in for months, and then there was the fruit display, the salad bar, and the desserts! We walked away very full and very grateful for the unexpected treat.
Tomorrow Laos!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Tropical Gardening School, somewhere in Chiang Mai province
22-26 February 2011
After our long stay with Veechai, we headed to our next destination: tropical gardening school at Dokmai garden. When we first arrived I took a quick look around and then turned back to look at Veechai, he chuckled and said This is soo fancy - too fancy for you guys..... and we felt he was right but we wanted to give it a chance so we decided to stay and check it out. After the first hour of being there I realized that although it was very fancy, I was going to learn a whole lot! Our teacher was a self proclaimed mad scientist from Sweden named Eric ( a retired professor who wanted to get away from his desk and grant writing) Dylan and I decided to stay and im really happy we did. Within the next week I was taken to National Park to search for orchids and learn native plant species of Thailand (also on this trip was a Dutch seed scientist who taught us everything there is to know about orchids), learned how to pollinate orchids, transplanted orchids, learned how to grow and cultivate bananas, cut down my own bananas (then ate some), learned how to grow and cultivate rice (which I learned in an interview, through translation, with the mother of the house who was Isan and did not speak any English but grew up on a farm cultivating rice with her family), harvested taro root, cooked taro root desert, harvested cassava root, cooked cassava root desert, tried to start fires with a magnifying glass for a cooking pit (Erics idea), found the craziest bugs I have ever seen (pics to come), learned how to make panang curry, ate some fresh stevia leaves, tried some miracle berries (they make you taste the opposite, I was eating sour fruit but it tasted sweet! Crazy!), and probably the coolest part of all....Dylan and I got to harvest cacao and learn how to make chocolate! We only got to start the process though because it takes about 10-12 days and we were only staying for a week, but I have the knowledge to do it now!
So in one big run-on sentence, that was tropical gardening school at Dokmai Garden.
After our long stay with Veechai, we headed to our next destination: tropical gardening school at Dokmai garden. When we first arrived I took a quick look around and then turned back to look at Veechai, he chuckled and said This is soo fancy - too fancy for you guys..... and we felt he was right but we wanted to give it a chance so we decided to stay and check it out. After the first hour of being there I realized that although it was very fancy, I was going to learn a whole lot! Our teacher was a self proclaimed mad scientist from Sweden named Eric ( a retired professor who wanted to get away from his desk and grant writing) Dylan and I decided to stay and im really happy we did. Within the next week I was taken to National Park to search for orchids and learn native plant species of Thailand (also on this trip was a Dutch seed scientist who taught us everything there is to know about orchids), learned how to pollinate orchids, transplanted orchids, learned how to grow and cultivate bananas, cut down my own bananas (then ate some), learned how to grow and cultivate rice (which I learned in an interview, through translation, with the mother of the house who was Isan and did not speak any English but grew up on a farm cultivating rice with her family), harvested taro root, cooked taro root desert, harvested cassava root, cooked cassava root desert, tried to start fires with a magnifying glass for a cooking pit (Erics idea), found the craziest bugs I have ever seen (pics to come), learned how to make panang curry, ate some fresh stevia leaves, tried some miracle berries (they make you taste the opposite, I was eating sour fruit but it tasted sweet! Crazy!), and probably the coolest part of all....Dylan and I got to harvest cacao and learn how to make chocolate! We only got to start the process though because it takes about 10-12 days and we were only staying for a week, but I have the knowledge to do it now!
So in one big run-on sentence, that was tropical gardening school at Dokmai Garden.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Earthen Building at Baan Rung Nok, Chiang Mai
Its been a long time due to slow internet and just too much fun to stop and internet! From about Feb.6 to Feb. 17 we helped build an earthen building with the owners Ryan and Non, a young couple living in Thailand. Ryan is an American from nothern California that is primarily a photographer but likes to earth build and Non is from Thailand, she is primarily a builder but enjoys photography - it all works out very well :) So we helped Ryan and Non build a new office for their compound which already includes a small hut where they live, a new composting toilet, a beautiful open air kitchen, a solar shower area, and a solar panel that allows them to be completely off grid. The office we built is rounded on one end for Ryans desk where he can work on his photographs and there is also a small loft for a bed and some built in furniture such as a bench, bookshelves, and some recycled bottle art to let in more light - also a veranda in the front that you will be able to walk on and see the sunset. I took notes on how to do everything so that one day maybe I can build my own earthen house (although I'll need alot of help so some of you reading this might get an invitation sometime in the future to come for a building party!) The bricks, mortar, plaster, and paint for the house are all made completely out of dirt and some fiber such as rice husk but in different proportions of clay, sand, and top soil - nothing goes to waste! Best of all, the thick mud walls keep cool air in during the day when the hot sun is beating down and by the time the hot air has seeped in, its much appreciated during the cool nights. Fun and dirty business though working with mud bricks all day - but there just so happened to be two beautiful lakes within 15 min. walk from the compound. At the end of each day I would walk to a lake (usually the cleaner one that was technicially a reservoir) and rinse off the clay coating I had collected, maybe even use some soap and shampoo! Really fun work (especially when Mason would throw a clay bomb and then the sneeky mud ball attacks would break out) and I will miss the other visitors working with us. Nicco: a french engineer on 3 year holiday who recently cut off all but one of his dread locks, also carried around 200 kangaroos cut out of paper; Shana: a young girl from New York just traveling who liked her sugar with a hint of coffee; Marina: from Germany who quit her job because she was burnt out and wanted time to enjoy life, rocked out to Nena; Rdik: a Czech man, one of the funniest people I've ever met, had dreds that looked like a squirrel nest, wanted to mass produce coconut moto bike helmets for babies (it all started with a conversation about him wrapping and carrying his baby in his hair like women in africa do with cloth on their backs) and all the people that were there building for the actual workshop going on for the first week of our stay.
I really enjoyed it at the Bird Nest House, building and helping Non cook our giant meals every day but Dylan and I decided that we wanted to visit the Phillipines. We are now set to leave for the Phillipines March 30 which changed our plans a bit. So, in order to fit in some of the other things we wanted to explore in Northern Thailand, we left the building site at the Bird Nest House on Thursday. Stef and Mason decided to stay so they will be able to tell us what we missed and maybe get some pictures of the office/loft with all the plaster and paint done.
For the past couple days Dylan and I have been staying with a connected friend Veechai and his wife Da and son Witsh in their very welcoming home. In Chiang Mai: temples, tigers, binturongs, elephants, elephant snot, getting blessed by monks, celebrating buddhist holidays, countless markets, and amazing food that is very different from southern Thai food - and also learning more Thai from a seven year old than we have anywhere else we've stayed.
The plans for the next few weeks are up in the air so we'll see where the wind takes us - perhaps a botany school just south of Chiang Mai, maybe Laos?
Really miss cheese right now!
Lizzie
I really enjoyed it at the Bird Nest House, building and helping Non cook our giant meals every day but Dylan and I decided that we wanted to visit the Phillipines. We are now set to leave for the Phillipines March 30 which changed our plans a bit. So, in order to fit in some of the other things we wanted to explore in Northern Thailand, we left the building site at the Bird Nest House on Thursday. Stef and Mason decided to stay so they will be able to tell us what we missed and maybe get some pictures of the office/loft with all the plaster and paint done.
For the past couple days Dylan and I have been staying with a connected friend Veechai and his wife Da and son Witsh in their very welcoming home. In Chiang Mai: temples, tigers, binturongs, elephants, elephant snot, getting blessed by monks, celebrating buddhist holidays, countless markets, and amazing food that is very different from southern Thai food - and also learning more Thai from a seven year old than we have anywhere else we've stayed.
The plans for the next few weeks are up in the air so we'll see where the wind takes us - perhaps a botany school just south of Chiang Mai, maybe Laos?
Really miss cheese right now!
Lizzie
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Just Floating...
So, due to three different farms canceling on us - we have not been to another farm yet!!! So I don't have any new stories about things I've learned or people I've lived with and come to know. I can't describe to you any simple ways of life I've discovered or new skills I've learned but I can tell you of Southern Thailand's beauty. I'll write again soon with more detail but you can always check Dylan's blog for some elegant descriptions and funny stories.
We may head North!
We may head North!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Ko Mak: camping on a jungle island with ten puppies
So the past week of our trip was spent on Ko Mak, a small island in the southeast near Cambodia. We spent our first day searching for Ann, a wwoofing host that we could not make contact with prior to our trip. We figured the island was small enough that we could just ask around town and someone could point us in the right direction and sure enough after a bit of hiking, searching, and broken thai with random hand motions - we found her! She had a big beautiful house, over 100 yrs. old, on the shore of the most beautiful, clear shore beach on the island. She needed help clearing a large plot of land that had been abandoned for several years - she described it as thick jungle, and that it was! So we spent the next five days on a deserted jungle beach clearing land in hope's of fulfilling Ann's vision. She wants to use the land for medicinal herbs, vegetables for her family since importing food to the island can be very expensive, and also to give her family a place to connect with the earth. Ann and her husband Sunny have three children- we met the two younger children, Earl and Nakita - very sweet, energetic, and smart kids. She was also very passionate about being able to provide eggs and grow vegetables for the few small resorts on the island so they can be more sustainable and not have to import so much food.
Our time on the island was spent chopping down noxious vines, clearing trash from the beach, organizing sprouting coconuts, building a fire pit, building a kitchen area equipped with a stove and kitchen shelf constructed from washed up drift wood, and yes - caring for 10 puppies! A couple of Ann's dogs from her house had puppies and together the count was 12, but the mothers were trying to ween them off milk and were starting to get a little aggressive - so in order to prevent any more casualties, we became puppy guardians on the opposite side of the island, where they would be safe from their frustrated mothers. They became our daily entertainment for the duration of the beach camping work week. By the end of the week we had named each one and claimed favorites (who usually got more left over rice and chicken bones than the others :).
Bathing in the sea, eating meals of rice, veggies, and egg washed down with some Ovaltine, and falling asleep to the sounds of the roaring waves....and our last couple of nights we had to wake up and move our tents due to the roaring waves charging at us! It just so happens to be the perfect time of year and close enough to the full moon for the tide to come all the way to the shrub line on shore! So the last couple of nights we ended up packing up in the middle of the night and sleeping in the area we had cleared in the kitchen to avoid being washed away to sea. A little scary but a funny experience to look back on for sure.
I will miss Ann and her family and the puppies, they were a very generous family with open hearts and beautiful smiles. We may have to go back at the end of the trip and bring one home one of our favorite puppies - but only if we can get past Nakita, she wasn't to keen on the idea of losing one her puppies.
Tonight we leave Bangkok to go south to Surat Thani to work on a shrimp and oyster farm.
Until next time my friends and family!
Our time on the island was spent chopping down noxious vines, clearing trash from the beach, organizing sprouting coconuts, building a fire pit, building a kitchen area equipped with a stove and kitchen shelf constructed from washed up drift wood, and yes - caring for 10 puppies! A couple of Ann's dogs from her house had puppies and together the count was 12, but the mothers were trying to ween them off milk and were starting to get a little aggressive - so in order to prevent any more casualties, we became puppy guardians on the opposite side of the island, where they would be safe from their frustrated mothers. They became our daily entertainment for the duration of the beach camping work week. By the end of the week we had named each one and claimed favorites (who usually got more left over rice and chicken bones than the others :).
Bathing in the sea, eating meals of rice, veggies, and egg washed down with some Ovaltine, and falling asleep to the sounds of the roaring waves....and our last couple of nights we had to wake up and move our tents due to the roaring waves charging at us! It just so happens to be the perfect time of year and close enough to the full moon for the tide to come all the way to the shrub line on shore! So the last couple of nights we ended up packing up in the middle of the night and sleeping in the area we had cleared in the kitchen to avoid being washed away to sea. A little scary but a funny experience to look back on for sure.
I will miss Ann and her family and the puppies, they were a very generous family with open hearts and beautiful smiles. We may have to go back at the end of the trip and bring one home one of our favorite puppies - but only if we can get past Nakita, she wasn't to keen on the idea of losing one her puppies.
Tonight we leave Bangkok to go south to Surat Thani to work on a shrimp and oyster farm.
Until next time my friends and family!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
It Begins in Bangkok!
Well we made it t our bed and breakfast last night by 1:30am after a couple flights and 5 rice meals :) Our flight from Chicago to Seoul was actually very entertaining and very pleasant despite the 12 hour duration. The flight attendants on Korean Air all have their hair in perfect buns with perfect bangs, not a hair out of place - I don't know how they do it. On that same flight Dylan and I inherited a Lao grandmother whom we have now named Nana. She was the third person (in the isle seat) in our row of three. Rather shy at first, with only small giggles coming from her direction, she turned out to be quite a character. Unsatisfied with any beverage or meal she chose from the flight attendants cart or tray, she would take it upon herself to sample Dylan's instead and every time she preferred his choice and therefor would claim it as her own - yet keep it on his tray table for safe keeping. In return she would clean our tray tables for us and diligently tap the butts of the flight attendants as they passed in order to get their attention to collect our used cups and napkins. She would also give us her unwanted juices, extra desserts, and peanut packets (you see, the peanuts were too hard for her to eat with her brittle teeth.) So all in all we made a pretty good team! I will miss Nana.
Second flight from Seoul to Bangkok was a drowsy blur but ended with a happy landing in Bangkok. After the mazes of immigration and baggage claim we took a taxi to our quaint, clean, and comfortable Bed and Breakfast. Its owned by this really cool man named Charn - really nice and very helpful! So anyway, woke up this morning to a great breakfast of papaya, toast, and cassava balls and now we're ready to meet up with Stef and Mason. Can't wait to explore the city!
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| Front Gate at Be My Guest bed and breakfast |
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Preparing for Departure
Hello friends and family! I've made this blog to keep you updated during my travels in Thailand. Dylan and I will be leaving this Saturday, January 8th. Stefanie and Mason arrived in Bangkok last week and are already having quite an adventure. I've made links to the other travelers' blogs on the right hand side of the page so take a peek for more stories and updates.
Last minute plans are being made since the first farmer we were planning to work with changed his mind and wanted to charge us some unexpected fees. So, we have contacted another farmer and are making plans for our first couple of weeks in Thailand.
Almost done packing!
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| Team Thailand |
Last minute plans are being made since the first farmer we were planning to work with changed his mind and wanted to charge us some unexpected fees. So, we have contacted another farmer and are making plans for our first couple of weeks in Thailand.
Almost done packing!
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