The Best Christmas Animal Ever

Christmas Day was truly amazing. I was on a bus at 6:30 am heading to an elephant sanctuary in the mountains of Thailand.

*insert soapbox here*

The elephant sanctuaries exist to protect the elephants; Thai tourism has created elephant camps where tourists go to ride elephants, watch them fight and do tricks. Many of these elephants were beaten and taken from their mothers at young ages in order to train them for this. Studies have shown that this takes a negative psychological toll on the elephants. So if you want to visit elephants, visit a sanctuary, not a camp. 

*end soapbox here*

Our songthaew took us about an hour up the mountain. Then, we transferred to the back of a pickup truck and rode another 20 minutes on a dirt road up to the town where the sanctuary is located. There is less than a foot between the wheels of the truck and the edge of the mountain-- #donteverlookdown.

When we got to the camp the trainers gave us traditional clothing to wear. Then we were each given a bunch of bananas to feed the elephants. You can either hold out the banana and the elephant will take it with his trunk, or you can say “bon” and lift your arm; the elephant will lift his trunk and open his mouth so you can put the banana, peel and all, right in. The difference in size of the elephants amazed me—there was a 2 year old baby and a 40 year old mama. I stood about as tall as the baby but the mama towered over me. Their skin is incredibly tough and looks like wrinkled leather. They are very gentle animals. After feeding them bananas in the valley, we hiked up the side of the mountain with corn stalks and fed them corn atop the mountain. (Elephants eat more than 16 hours a day, sleep for 3-4 hours and bathe/exercise the rest of the day) Then we went down the mountain to a stream. All of the people went down first and then the elephants came down. It was amazing to watch these gigantic animals walk straight down the mountain. When it got very steep, they would cross their legs underneath them and slide down, then pop up at the bottom. It was very graceful to watch. In the stream, the small elephants rolled around and played with one another while the big mama waited for us to soak her skin in water, then laid on her side so we could scrub her. It was in the stream where I first heard the elephants make noises while they played with one another. The trainers were young thais who lived in the mountains. They loved watching the tourists squirm at the coldness of the water, so they would shout “1,2,3” and then run around and throw buckets of water at us. We got completely soaked. One of the trainers took Tash, Jenna and I to a small pool that fed into the stream via a waterfall. We jumped into the freezing water and swam there before going back to the valley to have lunch (pad thai steamed in banana leaves)

Visiting the sanctuary was an absolutely amazing experience. I am so glad I had the opportunity to interact with these wonderful, gentle creatures.

Kayaking through Chiang Mai

My friend Daniel (met him at Baan Kuhn Hostel 2) and I decided to try our hand at kayaking while in Chiang Mai. The course description said beginner so we figured we'd be fine. The bus picked us up at 8:30am to head to the safety demo/briefing. There was a mom and her five year old there--- if they could do it, we could do it! After the safety demo we took a songthaew about an hour out into rural Thailand and were dropped off at a small river. I asked the guide if there was a toilet to use; he pointed to the bushes. At least it was cleaner than a squatty potty! We began our kayaking journey and our poor guide was shaking his head left and right at us-- it's pretty easy to get stuck in the back currents before you get the strokes down so he was constantly having to pull people from our group out. After about 15 minutes I got the hang of it and did really well for myself from there on out-- I was even able to eddy out (stop myself purposefully). The river was deserted and the views of the mountains were absolutely beautiful! However after 5 hours, WE WERE STILL KAYAKING! beginner what??? To make things even better, our guide tied 2 kayaks to his because the paddlers were struggling and he was still paddling faster than me. We finally finished our journey in a mud bank. We had to get out of our kayaks and jump onto a platform to get to land. I made it. Daniel didn't. He was absolutely covered in mud and stuck, so the guide and another kayaker had to pull him out. #malariapillsexistforareason

Night Bazaar Shenanigans

Tuesday night we went to a bazaar with food and clothing vendors. We took a songthaew there. Songthaews have platforms on the back you can stand on, so I got a tour of the city the whole way. Once inside the bazaar we found a jazz bar. The musicians were Thai but they sang in English. It was an awesome way to spend the evening!

Hostel Living

Our hostel in Chiang Mai is called baan kuhn hostel 2. I would highly reccomend it to anyone staying in Chiang Mai. There are 4 floors and 12 beds on each floor. Our hostel momma, New, is the absolute best! Hostels don't have towels so we ventured to the mall to buy those so we could shower. We went to a street market for dinner-- the food was amazing and so cheap! After, we took a walk around the mote in the middle of the city and stopped at a rooftop bar for a drink. All of the bars here close at midnight so you're always home and in bed early :)

The best way to travel: sleeper trains

Monday night we left Bangkok to head to Chiang Mai, which is a mountain city in North Thailand. We were waiting in Bangkok on our 4th traveler, but because of traffic his bus took two and a half hours instead of one. His phone had died so we had no way of contacting him. We had to leave him a note and hope he figured it out because we had to leave for the train station. Fitting ourselves and all of our suitcases into a taxi was crazy but we managed. We were on the road by 610 and had to be to the station by 630. What we didn't consider was weekday rush hour traffic in Bangkok. Wooops! We were at a standstill on the highway. We didn't make it to the station until 705 and our train was supposed to leave at 730. We had to go to a separate station to pick up our tickets first and then make it to our train. We made it by the skin of our teeth and boarded at 728. Woo. What a close call. We found our bunks, which were quite nice actually, had some dinner and then slept. In the morning we woke up to breakfast and then had one hour left before arrival. It was fantastic!

bpen kroo ka (I am a teacher!)

On Monday I went to interview at the Australian International School of Bangkok. I absolutely loved it and was made an official offer. I will be teaching k2 (ages 5 and 6) and will have 16 students in my class. Because it's an Australian school we have an Australian animal theme so my room is the wallabee room. My students are thai, korean, japanese, Indian and american. My classroom also has a Thai teaching assistant and a nanny. There is an outdoor playground and swimming pool. I was so excited I treated myself to a western favorite: auntie annes cinnamon pretzels!

Bangkok AKA Chicago-- what??

Yesterday (sunday) I got to explore some of the city. In order to get around I took the sky train, which is exactly like the el. The trains are really easy to navigate- I even transfered lines on my first trip with no mistakes! I visited bangkok art and cultural center which had a lot of great exhibits. Then we went to a gigantic park. I tried mango sticky rice for my first time (it's a Thai dessert that consists of fresh mango, rice and this sweet milk poured over the top. It's tasty, but it doesn't cut it as dessert for me. #wheresallthechocolate?

Ain't no party like a storm trooper party

After leaving Kho Larn, my friends and I took a 2 hour taxi ride to get to Bangkok. We're so lucky because we got to stay with a friend at her apartment. She has western style bathrooms which means they have shower stalls and toilets that flush!! Street food in Thailand is excellent so I was able to eat a quick meal of grilled chicken breast skewers and a bag of fresh pineapple for less than 2 us dollars. We headed to a bar that was hosting a star wars themed party so we got storm trooper masks to wear :) around midnight Darth Vader and a gang of storm troopers rolled in and did a choreographed dance- so badass and ridiculous. Our friend Ben loves star wars so he was really stoked, maybe a little too stoked, because he ripped his pants while dancing!

Because you wonder about everyday things, don't you?

I thought about posting this because there are so, so many things I take for granted back home. Laundry is one of them. Many places here don't have washers, so doing your own laundry isn't an option. Dryers are even more rare to come by, so here's what we do: drop our clothes off at the laundry stand to be washed. The wet clothes are hung outside to dry on lines and once they're dry everything gets ironed (even underwear) and folded neatly in a plastic bag that gets stapled shut. Then you pick it up and pay. The funny part is that these stands are out on the main streets next to other vendors so it's not uncommon to be eating a pork or chicken skewer next to someone's bras and panties.

Island Life on Kho Larn

Saturday we took a ferry to the island of Kho Larn. In order to get there we took a songthaew (Thai taxi/bus) to walking street (crazy at night but dead during the day!) and walked down until it dead ended by the ocean. Then we took a moto from one side of the dock to the other and finally were able to board the boat. The boat ride was about 30 minutes. Then we had to transfer to a smaller boat to get to the island. The small boats pulled up next to a floating dock that we had to balance across to reach the sand. After all that work, we finally made it, and boy was it worth it! Kho Larn has nice, soft sand and beautifully clear water. It was an awesome beach getaway!

Friday Floating Markets & More

Friday was our last day of Thai language & culture class and yes, I passed the test so I am now officially TESOL certified. After class our teacher, Glory Jam, took us out for sushi. It was absolutely fabulous! And there was ice cream (i-dtim in Thai) for dessert. I also tried some chrysanthemum juice to drink- very sweet!
After our graduation lunch we went to the Pattaya floating market. We were pretty upset when we got there because our teacher told us it was 250 B to get in, but what we didn't realize was that the cost of a boat wasn't included so that was an additional 800 B per person.
We opted to just walk which actually turned out great! There are tons of shops, most of which you can't access from the river, so we were able to see a lot more than we would have (also we were in the shade for most of it which was a huge plus!) There was some live entertainment coming down the river however, so we stopped to listen to the boat musicians. There are really low bridges along the river so as the boat of musicians gets close they all sit down and glide under and then stand back up on the other side. It's really neat to watch. There were also options to feed goats and coy fish. It was funny to watch kids feed the coy fish because they used a baby bottle filled with milk attached to a fishing pole. While walking we encountered a Thai high school (called mattayom) field trip. The students interviewed us and asked us a lot of questions in English. I was excited because we had also learned these questions in Thai, so I was answering in English and then responding to the students in Thai to practice. They thought that was pretty funny. They took pictures with us and asked for our facebook names so now I have a bunch of friend requests pending from names I couldn't pronounce to save my life.
That evening we all went for dinner at our favorite gyros place. Mario's son was making the gyros this time. He definitely hasn't had as much practice because as he was shaving the chicken he sent it flying. I was showered with tons of tiny shredded chicken pieces. #straydogsbelovinmeallnight
We hit up a pretty chill wine bar and then went to our fav spot, Coffee & Beer, for one last round on our last night in Pattaya.

Work Hard Play Hard

Thursday 12/17 was our second to last day of Thai language and culture class. Because of this, we only had morning classes and then the afternoon was ours for job interviews. I had six interviews, five of which were for jobs in Bangkok. Because I wasn't in Bangkok at the time, I made appointments to visit the schools on Monday- wish me luck!
After a long day of interviews our group went out for dinner and then to the movie theatre to see Star Wars. Be jealous America; SE Asia got to see it a day ahead, but don't worry, no spoilers here! To get to the theatre we had to head down "walking street" which is a really long drag in Pattaya populated with ladyboy/hooker clubs. It's absolutely crazy at night. Good thing we already had a hot date with Han Solo scheduled or we may have been tempted by those ladyboys :)

Playing in Pattaya

We started our Thai language and culture class this week in Pattaya, Thailand. Thai is a tonal language so on our first day we learned that the word maa has 5 different meanings, depending upon the tone you say it in. Hopefully I don't mix up my tones, because instead of telling my students to "come" I could be calling them "dogs". That would definitely be a faux pas for teacher chocolate. Our Thai teacher told us about a great market that gets set up in the middle of Pattaya on Tuesdays and Fridays so yesterday we explored it during our lunch break. The market is huge! I tried three different types of rangoons with pineapple, green curry and cornmeal in the middle-- they were delicious. I also managed to get some pretty cute clothes for cheap! Thais are very straightforward so the woman who was selling to me said "this look good on you, you no fat" thank you for that self esteem boost! Tuesday night we went to an Aussie bar that served complimentary wings with their beer. The bar owner also let the waitresses bring their kids to work, so the men in the bar thought it would be funny to teach this 6 year old girl the finger. #onlyinthailand

Beachin and BBQin

Today we had Thai class in the morning so in the afternoon a group of us went to a gyros place for lunch. Shoutout to Mario for coming from Russia to open up the joint. It's just what Pattaya needed! After, we got on a songtaew (Thailand's version of a tuk-tuk) and headed to the beach. The ocean water had TONS of algae so I was covered when I got out of the water but it was definitely worth it to swim on December 16th! Our apartment in Pattaya is located near a main drag-- we always take this drag to the left. Tonight we took it to the right instead and happened upon this little gem of an eatery called Sumo Buffet Bar BQ. It was an all you can eat buffet for $4. We loaded our plates with chicken, pork, squid, prawns, liver and more and then cooked it all right at our table. The chicken was by far the best while the beef was definitely questionable. To top it all off, there was ice cream for dessert!

Over the Border and Through SE Asia to Pattaya We Go!

Sunday we left Sihanoukville at 8am to start our trek to Pattaya, Thailand. We took a 4 hour bus ride through the mountains to the border of Thailand. The bus couldn't cross the border. Instead, men with carts met us, took our luggage and then walked with us through "no man's land". We had to get our Thai visas, walk across the border, and then meet a van on the other side. Then we had a 5 hour drive to Pattaya, Thailand. The first thing we found in Thailand was that unlike Cambodia, they do not take US dollars, anywhere. So there I was in a foreign country using an ATM trying to take baht out of my bank account. Fun fact: the exchange rate is 35 baht to 1 US dollar. In Cambodia the currency is riel and 1000 riel is equal to 25 cents. The second thing I learned in Thailand is that most signs are not in English and Thai, unlike in Cambodia where most things are written in English and Khmer. So ordering lunch consisted of pointing at pictures hoping for the best. The third and best thing I've learned thus far has to do with the toilets. In my bathroom is a large trash can filled with water (it's definitely not fresh water because there are floaties in it, but that's beside the point) and there's a bowl floating in the water. What is one supposed to do with this you ask? Well let me tell you. I thought maybe the Thai people were concerned for my physical health and placed it in the bathroom so that each time I showered I had to push with all my might to move the can from one side of the bathroom to the other. And although that still may be one of the reasons it's in my bathroom, it's not the only reason. The toilet well only holds water for so long, so once the toilet well loses water, it's my job to use the bowl to scoop water out of the can and into the toilet well until it's full. Yep, you heard correctly. Indoor plumbing that's only partially efficient. But really, isn't going to the bathroom so much more satisfying when you get to take part in the process? whoever came up with #it'snotworsejustdifferent clearly hasn't been to Pattaya, Thailand :)

Sihanoukville Shenanigans

After a day of diving, we spent Saturday night bar hopping along the beach. We ate at a fresh seafood place with $3 bbq'd scallops and $3 jugs of beer-- delish! One of the bars was having a glitter party, so we obviously got glitter paint on our faces! Then we decided to go for a swim in the ocean, and to complete the evening we stopped for late night pizza. I even found a pizza named "Regina". Love you and miss you, mom!

Scuba Scuba

I'm officially a certified scuba diver! If you would've asked me if I was going to make it to the end of the class after my first pool practice I for sure would've said no. Breathing underwater took a lot more getting used to than I thought. I had 4 classroom sessions, 2 pool sessions, 4 ocean dives and 1 written test before I was officially dive certified. I had to pass a lot of pool tests before I was allowed to go in the ocean, a few of which I didn't even need scuba equipment for. The hardest part was removing my scuba mask, putting it back on and clearing it of all the water without getting a nose or mouthful. I choked more than once in the pool and each time just shot up to the surface. You definitely can't do that in the ocean because of the pressure changes-- if you shoot up too fast your lungs can overinflate and you'll stop breathing-- yikes! During my skills dive, my instructor took my dive buddy and I about 30 feet down. Before we started doing mask clears, he grabbed our vests to hold us down so we wouldn't shoot up. We both managed to do it without getting a nose or mouthful-- thank god! After that we worked on compass navigation. I know, many of you are thinking that I must've bombed this portion of the test but I actually was able to successfully navigate underwater and end up back where I started-- SUCCESS! It might've taken me 15 years, but I finally corrected my 4th grade faux pas :) After getting all of the skills out of the way, we went on an aquatic life dive- I got to see spiny sea urchins, rock fish, seahorses and coral up close. Finally, I got to navigate my own dive. I came across an awesome coral wall with hundreds of fish. I'm so glad I became dive certified and I cannot wait to dive again off the islands in Thailand!