Sawadee be-mi-Thai (Tim)

We arrived in Ubon at around 9am, rubbing the sleep out of our eyes (except for me, since I can't seem to sleep on buses, which makes using overnight buses quite troublesome) and met up once again with Rose and Amy at the bus station. They took us to the cheap and chearful guesthouse they were staying in, and after getting a room we spent the rest of the day touring some of the girls' favourite places in the city including the local cinema (where we watched a triple bill of Chinese horror movies dubbed in Thai and with no subtitles. We didn't understand what was going on or why people kept sinking into the floor, but admittedly it was still pretty scary), Svensons (an Americanised ice-cream place - we try to avoid these kinds of places since they aren't authentic Thai, but we made an exception on this occasion in the name of chocolate ice-cream), and a club called 'The Rock' which seemed pretty dead at first but turned out to be actually very good. Thai-style clubs are very different from back in England where they just blast music through speakers onto the dancefloor. There is usually a band playing on a stage, and between songs they make substitutions with other members off stage so that the style of music is constantly changing. One song will be pop, with a girl singing and some guys dancing and then there will be a quick swap and then a bunch of guys will doing a rock song and so on and so forth - it's hugely entertaining (especially the dancing girls) and something they should do more in the West.

The next day we were at the bus stop waiting for a bus to Phana, the village in which Rose and Amy live, to spend Songkran (Thai New Year - otherwise called 'The water festival', and with good reason). Since Phana is a very remote place, the only transport that goes there is a largish songthaue (van with two parallel benches in the back). When it arrived, we realised there would be a problem - it was already pretty much full and so there was no way five of us, each with bulging rucksacks, was going to be able to fit on. The driver got out and signalled for us to get in, nodding and saying "Phana! Phana!". We attempted to communicate the large difference in size between space left on songthaue and cumulative space taken up by the five of us. He continued to smile and nod and point and say "Phana! Phana!". Again we shrugged and tried to indicate the lack of space.
"Phana! Phana!".
Ok, Ok.
"Last bus!".
Oh.
We were going to have to fit, at least if we wanted to get there for Songkran. The driver managed to sandwich our bags between the two rows of people and we had to squeeze onto the tiny standing platform at the back. Me and Shaun had to grab onto poles and lean off the back, actually holding on for our lives in order to fit. Although uncomfortable, it was a pretty fun ride, and the other Thai passengers didn't seem to mind being squashed by our bags (they were, in fact, beaming) as it meant they got to have 5 farrang on their bus. On the way we passed a petrol station where the staff waited with buckets of water, which they threw over passing cars, motorbikes, and yes - songthaues. We all got soaked, and since we didn't see it coming, were all highly surprised by the sudden drenching (not enough to let go of the bars on the back, luckily). Songkran had almost begun.

After getting into Phana, we were instantly invited to an event in the village monkey sanctuary (with something like 3 to 4 thousand monkeys) to offer food to some monks (not monkeys). We missed this part, but we stayed long enough to feed grapes to the actual monkeys (I personally preferred this. Monkeys are more entertaining when they eat). All of the Tesoban were there (the local government organisation (much like a council in England0 that looks after Rose and Amy) and we were informed that the three of us (Ryan, Shaun and I) were going to be involved in the parade the next day to mark the starting of Songkran. Although surprised, we didn't complain. That night, after food, we were taken by the Tesoban to a clothes-fitting shop where we were dressed to look something like Indian princes - I thought we all looked pretty dashing..well..the best we'd looked since coming to Thailand anyway (not hard, but still..).



Shaun looking slick (and preppy with the gelled hair)



Ryan looking smooth, and horizontal, and apparently Hungarian (although he thinks he looks more German).



Me - I'm not sure why they decided I should be dressed in red - perhaps to go with the red of my cheeks.

The following morning we had to rise early to get kitted out (although not as early as Rose and Amy who had to get up at 2am in order to get their make-up done..the Thai's take their parades very seriously indeed) and the parade started at about half past eight. We were made to walk amost at the very front of the procession, behind the float carrying the Buddha statue, with Shaun and I holding the 'Songkran parade 2449' banner (the Thai's are a few callender years ahead of us) and Ryan walking behind us carrying a framed photo of the King. We walked the 2km from the village centre along the main road to the monkey sanctuary, where the party was being held, in the early morning heat. Families came out of their houses as we passed and poured cups of water over our hands, which is the songkran tradition, although later this usually escalates until it becomes a large scale water fight.

After reaching the sanctuary and being shown off a bit as Phana's first farrang tourists we went home to change into something a little more soakable. We watched the 'Miss Songkran contest' and the 'Ladyboy Songkran contest' (it's perfectly socially acceptable for boys to want to dress up as girls, and some of them are actually very impressive), and then splashed out on a load of water-pistols (pun intended) to wreak havok on the gangs of young kids stalking the festival. Although always outnumbered, we faught heroically and even managed a victory or two.

Like New Year in England, there was a lot of drinking (most of them Morlan dancing by the music stage) but Thai guys get notoriously violent when drunk and there was actually a fight later in the afternoon with about 10 or 20 people, but the Tesoban security guys sorted it out pretty quickly and after that the fire hoses (which until then had been used in the water fights) were stationed near the dancing crowd in case of any further trouble (there was none, luckily).

In the days after the festival, the water-fighting did not stop - many people stationed themselves outside their homes with buckets and water guns, dousing anyone unforunate enough to pass by (including cyclists, we found out whilst I was cycling with Amy on the back, and Ryan and Shaun were struggling to keep their bike up-right). Bands of water-fighters also cruised around in the back of pick-up trucks, soaking all pedestrians. You could not leave the house without getting completely wet. We decided to go to war. We hooked up the garden hose, retrieved 3 or 4 of our pistols from the previous day, filled a huge dustbin with water and found 4 small pans to use as launching devices. The 5 of us were fearless soldiers, we showed no mercy. The best fights came from the pick-up trucks, since they faught back. We felt like kids again, but it was seriously fun.



These guys thought they were safe in the back of that van. Amy proves them wrong with perfect mastery of the hose.



A pending clash between a pick-up gang and us.



Us winning the fight. Don't mess.



Shaun, Amy, Ryan and Rose - 4/5th's of the most ruthless water-fighting army in Phana.



Me (other 5th), Amy, Ryan and Rose.

After 4 wet days in Phana, we took a sonthaue back to Ubon (this one nowhere near as crowded) and the following day made the 18 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai (we arrived at about 5 this morning) where we met up once again with the Project Trust volunteers (they spent Songkran up here and said it was awesome, although I think we had the better time).

I'm glad we had the oppurtunity to not only see, but take part in, this festival - it really is crazy, no matter where you are in Thailand and is definetly something you should do before you die. Oh, and Sawadee be-mi-Thai means Happy Thai New Year!

Violence, calm and baldness in seven days (Ryan)

If the title doesn't give it away, this is probably going to be a reasonably entertaining and newsful post. Before I start this one, I feel obliged to fill you in with a few details about Koh Phi Phi and what you might say were some heroic actions on my part. Basically, I helped a crab off Isobel's head and I went to fetch a snorkel that Jenny dropped in the water. I'm being vague so as to let your imaginations run wild. Picture me playing a game of cat and mouse with a crab on a screaming girl's head (as opposed to quite tentatively poking it, at one point causing it to walk across her goggles, before finally grabbing the thing and disentangling it from her hair), and diving off our boat straight into dangerous crab-infested waters, straight to the bottom to get the rogue breathing tube (as opposed to twice coming up coughing and spluttering and only just managing to get it on the third attempt). As my mum always said, it's the taking part that counts.

So, onwards to Bangkok, skipping the unfortunate loss of mucho dosho on the way. That night, after recovering in the day the sleep we lost on the bus the night before, we tried out Khao San's two main clubs, Lava and Immortal. As ever, there was dancing, less drinking, due to overpricedness, and, surprisingly for myself, no sickness or hangover. Any of you who know me well will recognise a period this long, going out frequently, and not getting ill, as something of an achievement for me. I'm patting myself on the back on your behalf. Next day we went shopping in Khao San Road. Tonnes and tonnes of stalls selling a vast array of T-shirts, shorts, jewellery bits, belts (I could just, I suppose abbreviate to clothes), some weapons, CDs and DVDs. You name it, they seem to have it, although we have struggled to replenish our supplies of Immodium. Enough said. I myself bought a few new clothes, chucked some old ones, nothing too interesting. That night we went out clubbing in both of Khao San's two clubs, although quite lamely they both shut at two in the morning. Even so, it was all good. Sorted out our Visa for Laos the next day and went to try and sort out our stay at a temple. It turned out, when we got there, that we wouldn't be able to start the meditation course the very next day, as we wanted, because there was some kind of excursion going on. Very kindly, the monk we spoke to just invited us three along for the ride. It turned out we were headed to the Tiger Temple back up in Kanchanaburi, where our journey sort of began. That night, a couple of useful things sorted out in the day, which made a sort of pleasant change after weeks laying around on beaches, me and Tim took Rose and Amy to the bus station so they could get back to Ubon for a massive pig-out on all the Kanom (sweet things of all shapes and sizes, including the gorgeous banana pancakes we're coming to love) they could get their hands on. They'd given up for Lent, so you can understand the urge.

On the way home myself and dear Timothy decided that, if we got back and there was a barbers or salon or whatever open, we'd take the plunge and get our heads shaved. Shame Shaun wasn't there, but there simply wasn't room in the taxi. I think he's quite glad of that fact now. After being dropped off in completely the wrong place by our inept taxi driver, wandering down some random backstreet and then having to take a tuk-tuk to get back to Khao San, we found a hairdressers just outside our guesthouse, and are both, thus, bald. Apparently I look Hungarian, though I feel inclined to contend the point. I'd say I look more German. Either way, definitely not English. Tim just looks like a thug when he wears a hat, so perhaps I came off best. To cut a long story short, us two newly bald ones could find anyone at the guesthouse so we did what every responsible person of our age does: we got some grub and went clubbing again. All was well. We came home at half one to find Shaun rather worried about us, though this ended up being outweighed by his amusement at our new look, and possibly the fact that I had thrown my T-shirt away and was wearing a vest. I'm thinking mostly the haircuts, which, incidentally, only cost two quid (yep, they were that damn good) including a free shampoo of the three millimetres left over at the end. Bargain!

Moving on! We had to get to the temple, Wat Mahadhatu, for before six the next morning, which is when those crazy monks and nuns eat breakfast, so we got up at five. That was pretty strange, as less than a fortnight ago I was still out dancing like a crazy fool, and of course looking like on, at this time, let along being up and eating breakfast. Anyhow, we headed off to the Tiger Temple in good time. At the temple the basic idea is that they let the tigers roam pretty freely alongside the monks. It all started when the abbot took in one stray tiger and now they have a fair few, with idea being to train the cubs up so they can go back to the wild. As you do, we got our photos taken with the massive beasts. It's pretty easy to see, when you witness them up close, why Romatic poets and others had a bit of an obsession with them. You know that if you got one of their backs up you'd pretty much be history. Just solid muscle with a pretty fur coat, and not forgetting the massive teeth. We managed to come away from the encounter completely unscathed, aside from the fact that I stood in a puddle of what can only have been tiger piss. It was worth it, though. When the real escapade of the day began was when the three of us and one of the ladies we were with had already made our way back to the way out.

None of us really knew what was going on when Phra Suphat, the monk who had invited us on the trip and we assume the head monk at the temple we were at, was driven up on a bike and got off with his legs all bloodied and cut. It turned out that he'd been attacked by a stag! Not a tiger (thank Christ), but a stag! It had charged at him and after a brief tussle threw him to the floor and gored his leg, leaving a deep cut and this guy was no spring chicken. While he was on the floor, Holly, another American woman we met that day, ran down the hill towards the whole affair screaming and scared the poor animal off, probably scared Phra Suphat a bit as well by the sounds of it. We took the old boy to the hospital and got him patched up, all impressed at how strong he was. Most of the time he walked alone despite the nasty stag-wounds. And as I said, this guy is by no means young.

That adventure over, we went back to the temple, getting there in the late evening and pretty much just going to bed. The rooms were simple; a fan, a light, a mat for sleeping (monks aren't allowed anything luxurious in the way of furniture at all), a pillow (they are allowed those) and a towel rail (woo-hoo!). Next morning we got our clothes, a pair of pajamas to all intents and purposes, pale lilac pajamas. You know the kind of colour you get if you put something properly purple in the wash with whites. Yup, we looked that damn cool. What ensued was a day of meditation. Wake at five, breakfast at six, meditate seven til ten, eat at eleven, meditate one til four, rest, meditate six til eight, then rest and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

The day after we didn't exactly repeat that routine. The first half of the day was pretty much the same, but in the afternoon we went to a talk on Buddhism and learned about how, if we want peace and a happy life we have to have Mr Mindfulness, Mr Wisdom and Mr Concentration. To this hour I have no idea why the speaker referred to them all in this manner. Anyway, those guys are in the blue corner, but getting towelled down in the red corner are Mr Greed, Mr Delusion, Mr Craving, Mr Passion and Mr Anger. I know who I'd pick in a fight. After that somewhat enlightening hour hearing about happy families Thai style we moved our meditation to a house outside the main city, and it was some house. Really nice polished wood floors, co-ordinated furnishings and wood everywhere. Nice bathroom, too. A toilet we could sit on and that flushed! We met two American guys, Tim and Aaron, who were on the course with us. They're actually staying another five days or so at the house, so good luck to them. They live in Thailand so it's pretty cool that they're taking time to learn something cultural, outside of their walled American colony/community.

Worst thing about the whole affair, if there were that many bad bits, was that at the start we swore not to indulge in music and there was a lovely ebony upright piano sitting in the dining room and I never got to lay a finger on the bloody thing! That annoyed me intensely, but there are plenty more pianos in the sea, as Tim pointed out. At the house it was pretty much the same schedule as the temple. Meditation sitting and standing, eating, lying down and sleeping.

To fill you in on Vispassana meditation, the style we did, it is basically being 'mindful' all the time. When you walk, you are mindful all the time of your feet and you walk exceptionally slowly so as to be able to do so. While you walk you say to yourself 'Right-goes-thus','Left-goes-thus', until you reach a standing position, at which point you tell yourself three times that you are 'Standing' and then 'Intending to turn' and then, here's a surprise 'Turning', then 'Standing' again, 'Intending to walk' and after that back to good old fashioned 'Right-goes-thus''Left-goes-thus'. Sitting you have to focus on the rising and falling of your abdomen as you breathe and tell yourself as you notice it 'Rising-falling'. If you think anything at any point during either kind of meditation you say to yourself 'Thinking' three times and let the thought go. That's basically it, and that's been us for eight or nine hours a day the last few days. Eating is fun too. You have to do it 'mindfully', which means very slowly and closing your eyes whilst chewing, to appreciate the food fully and note all the tastes and all of your emotions. It takes ages to eat anything mindfully and I'm quite frankly looking forward to eating like a good old fashioned unmindful pig again in the near future. Also to do with mindfulness is talking. Apparently indulging in this activity reduces your mindfulness and is discouraged. I think Tipsuda, the nun who was with us all the time, gave up telling us not to talk eventually. While I'm giving you pretty much the full low-down on the Buddhist experience I might as well mention that there was a lot of chanting and sitting on the balls of your feet, much bowing and also much numbness whilst sitting down, which we note by saying 'Numbness' three times and it should go away. I actually find it just gets that numb you don't feel it's numb anymore, try to stand up, wobble momentarily and fall pretty much on your arse. Maybe that's just me.

Today we also had a different day. It was the birthday of the monk who got ravaged by the stag so the monks from the temple came to the house where we were and showed us how chanting is done properly. These guys were at it for ages. You think they've stopped, but the old one in the corner thinks of another good one to dredge up and off they all go again. Still, a heck of an experience and really nice meal with some delicious birthday cake. Halfway through I gave up being mindful and just gorged myself. Afterall, I'd finished all of the meditation I was going to do and I'd returned the Eight Precepts, which are the eight rules (including no music) that you commit yourself to following when you're ordained. After this experience I have begun to think I am pretty much an Atheist. Before I would always say, 'Oh yeah, I'd probably be Buddhist', but now I'm nowhere near so sure. It's like saying in an election, 'Oh yeah, I'll go Lib Dem, do the protest vote thing'. They you come to your senses. My religious views, sadly, don't have a place here so I'll keep them for another time, probably when I'm drunk and preferably whilst I'm ranting at someone who doesn't speak English and just nods at whatever I say.

So, here we are. Back in Bangkok and headed to Ubon in a few hours to meet Rose tomorrow morning. Maybe after the meditation it'll be easier to go twelve hours on a bus with no toilet.

'Desperate-Desperate-Desperate','Bursting-Bursting-Bursting','Wetness and Warmth-Wetness and Warmth-Wetness and Warmth','Shame-Shame-Shame'.

And with that thought, which was, by the way, me pissing my pants with my eyes shut whilst in a meditative state, I fondly bid thee all adieu.

Some more photos (Tim)

At last I have a load of time (we're waiting for our bus from Bangkok to Ubon, where we will meet up with Rose again) and my camera with me, so here is another photo blog. These aren't as visually impressive as the last, but they help add some illustration to the text from the past few weeks.



Me and Ryan by a random waterfall we visited on the trek in Kanchanaburi before heading for the jungle.



The children of the family we stayed with in Ratchaburi - Pompom (the guy, 17), Nana (younger sister, 19), and Sisi (older sister, 23). Taken on a bridge over the floating markets.



A picture of Ryan trying to 'wear as many flip-flops as possible' on my command, in order to distract one of the volunteers, Carly, whilst her surprise birthday party was being made ready. Ryan did a good job and managed to place on his person, in total, 7 pairs - successfully preventing Carly from having a clue what was going on.



Me and Shaun looking pensive and generally greedy whilst eating Carly's birthday cake.



The beach of Railay Bay, where we stayed before Koh Phi-Phi. This was a beautiful place, but was mainly a tourist village so the prices were extortionate (much like all places in the south of Thailand, really). It is sometimes easy to become desensitised to the surroundings when the whole of Thailand is so picturesque, and it is only when I look back at this photo that I realise how stunning the bay actually was.



Ryan stroking a tiger at the tiger temple.



Me stroking a tiger. I don't think I would have been standing so close at the time if I'd realised how annoyed it looks.



Shaun stroking a tiger.



Phra Suphat with one of the monk children living at the tiger temple. This was before he was attacked (obviously).



Ryan, Shaun and I giving an offering to the monk who lead the meditating classes.



Ryan and I standing outside our rooms at the monastry where we stayed for the first couple of days. You can see a bit of the temple in the background, but not really the most attractive part.



Us three and the two American guys meditating whilst sitting, at the retreat where we spent the last two days of our time with the monks.



Us three, the two American guys and Aya (a Japanese girl also on the meditation course) meditating whilst walking.

Koh Phi-Phi to Bangkok (Tim)

After Ryan's last post, we stayed two more nights on Koh Phi-Phi during which time we rented a boat and went snorkelling around the bay on which 'The Beach' was filmed (there are supposed to be harmless reef sharks around these waters, but the water was too cloudy to see much) and just generally relaxed, enjoying the remainder of our time with the Project Trust volunteers.

Yesterday, we decided it was time to end our travels in the touristy beach resorts of Southern Thailand, and start heading north again in time to get to Rose's village for Songkran (Thai newyear) on the 12th April. The overnight bus-journey was fairly uneventful and we arrived in Bangkok at 5 O'clock this morning, to discover that someone had dipped into our bags. All three of us had cash removed from our rucksacks (although luckily our passports and all other important documents were left untouched). We reasoned that this must have happened on the coach by one of the luggage handlers, as we were watching the bags carefully the rest of the time - now we will take much greater caution in future to keep all cash on us whilst travelling.

We plan to stay in Bangkok for a couple of days so we can get our Laos visa sorted, book our bus tickets to Phana for Songkran, but mainly so we can spend most of a week learning to be Buddhist monks in a monastry. During this time, you live like the other monks in the monastry; rising early, meditating for 8 hours a day, doing everything with complete mindfulness (I'm not quite sure what this entails, but afterwards I will be able to explain better), and Ryan and I (Shaun is still undecided) plan to shave our heads and eyebrows.
Should make for an enlightening experience.

Ko Tao and Beyond! (Ryan)

Right, where to start. After a bloody choppy boat ride of an hour and a half, during which we attempted to watch Narnia with the worst subtitles imaginable, if only to prevent ourselves from throwing up everywhere, we met up with most of the rest of the Thailand volunteers. As usual, hotel and tour touts swarmed the peer trying to pick you off as you stumbled to firm ground, and as normal we swatted them away quite efficiently. It's something we're having to get much better at. In the end we stayed at a place called Simple Life, right beside the beach, rather cheap and nice, and a place where we could do diving. On the first day the three of us figured that doing a diving course would be a one-off cost and would have many benefits later down the road, so we forked out and did it. Unfortunately Tim didnt make it far, as he was knocked out with stomach upsets and fever. Still, me and Shaun went ahead with it and had an amazing time.

Though being under the water was strange at first, breathing and all that, getting your mask full up with water and just generally swimming around down there, by the time we'd been for our fourth dive, the last one, we were starting to get used to it and I have to say I can't wait to go again. You really don't realise when you're under there how deep you are and it's only when you look up and see schools of fish swimming around your head that you feel it. Unfortunately, though we went to the right place, we didn't manage to see any whale sharks, as the visibility was particularly poor. Never mind, eh. It really is something I'd recommend if you ever have the opportunity.

As well as diving in the day, which tended to mean getting up at seven in the morning to dive at eight, so no getting drunken the night before, we did have some good nights out in Ko Tao. On our first night we went to a bar/club and Tim made a legend of himself with his silky dance moves, then we found ourselves in the back of a jeep going up to a moonlight party on a hill. There was a massive bald man with glowpaints there, who painted people's arms with paint that then got on our clothes and still hasn't come out. Still, it was worth ruining a T-shirt for.

Moving on! After Tim's illness had abated a tad we left Ko Tao, Tim not actually finishing his diving course, and headed to Krabi, further south and on the other coast. We only actually spent one night in Krabi, as there didn't seem to be a fat lot to do and we were stuck at accomodation far away from either of the towns. The decision was made the next day, and decisions usually take a long time in a group of thirteen, to go to Railay Beach, near Krabi, where we thought we might go rock-climbing but didn't. We went kayaking instead and saw some beaches that looked almost impossible to walk to. We also found a really good bar, called the Last Bar as it's the last bar on the beach, geographically speaking, which stays open til about half four or five in the morning, so that was our evenings sorted. I myself tend to just have something to drink and dance like an idiot all night and most of the way into the morning. You know there's something wrong when you go out when the sun sets and it's rising when you come home. Many times, now have I stumbled drunkenly along the beach trying to remember where I've been living today. All very much good fun indeed and something I'd recommend you do at least once, much like skinny dipping, which has now been partaken in as well, though we'll not talk about it right now.

After another murderously late night we decided to move on again, now to Ko Phi Phi, very close to the island where some of The Beach was filmed. On the way here we actually had the opportunity to enjoy the view, which we didn't no the way to Ko Tao because the boat seemed to spend most of its time oscillating beween horizontal and vertical in the water. It really is picturesque out at sea here, random islands dotting the horizon and clear blue water. I really wish we'd taken photos, because all of them would look like postcards.

When we landed at the ferry port and got a longtail boat halfway round the island we managed to find some overpriced accomodation on a beach where there is practically nothing to do and which is a sea walk and rock-climb away from the nearest ATM and shops. To solve this problem Tim and I have just purchased a frisbee, tennis set and volleyball, so hopefully the boredom monster will be kept at bay for a while. We'll stay in the sea and get sunburnt instead, woo-hoo! Speaking of which, we are gradually managing to rid ourselves of our pale and pasty complexions, although our new problem is T-shirt tans, the blight of the shirted tourist. The three of us timid white folk could really do with going topless more, that way at least the reddy-pinkness would be evenly distributed as opposed to being just on my arms.

Well, that's you all pretty much caught up on news from the land of Thai, which incidentally means 'free land'. Just thought I'd give you guys a tidbit of general knowledge at the end there, make it worthwhile getting this far. Hopefully I'll shake of the heat lethargy and general lack of sleep the last few nights, which I can blame on no one but myself, and bother to write some letters whilst sitting on the beach trying to not be so white.

More news soon, campers!