Trek 1
Trek 2
Trek 3
hope you enjoy looking... :)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Oh the jungle...
So this weekend could very possibly had one of the best weekends of my life. For those of you who do not know, I went trekking. I went with a tour company called Panda Tours. It lasted all weekend, Friday to Sunday. Friday we had a late start so our itinerary was moved around. So we arrived at a field where we were fed. After, the tour guide, Kay, led the way. Little did we know we would spend the next 5 hours hiking. There was me, 3 Spaniards, 2 Swedes (we called them Mr. and Mrs. Rambo) they looked like they should be on the cover of a fitness magazine, 2 Korean girls, and 1 Canadian guy named Javieer. We hiked through the jungle, walking on logs over huge holes in the ground, very steep terrain, and to a bat cave. The cave was interesting, I didn't see any bats though. We then proceeded another hour and a half up and down to a Hmong village. This is where we spent the night. We stayed at a large hut designated for tourists. The tour guides made us dinner. Oh another tour guide joined us, named Bond. We sat around enjoying the fact that we no longer were carrying backpacks and our feet had no pressure on them. I took some photos of the village and the surrounding nature. After dinner the tour guides played some games with sticks, thinking games with simple solutions. We woke the next morning, ate breakfast and headed off for our first waterfall. Bond, the tour guide was showing off by climbing up the waterfall. You will see in my photos. The next part included going on a ten minute walk to the elephant camp. There, I refused to participate in the riding of the elephants. So I hung out, played Uno with Bond, Kay, and a guy who worked at the camp. I also wandered, found a waterfall, took photos, and played with the elephant that I was supposed to ride. I was dreading the start of hiking again. Little did I know that the next 36 would be the best yet. It began with a steep climb through the jungle. As we hiked, Bond took note when Javieer and I were tired. So he would stop and show us beetles and such. Once we got past the steep stuff, Bond showed us spiders, interesting trees, and a natural swing (see the photos). He led us all the way to a new waterfall. This was the best one. We went behind part of the waterfall. It was simply a nice setting in the sunshine and a pleasant reward after the hot hike. Once we were cooled off we hiked for another 10 minutes to our home for the night. When we arrived the place was a mess, but within the hour someone came and cleaned up. Bond made us noodles for lunch (see the photos). We were greeted by a cute black puppy, who I later found tics on. We arrived around 2, I think. We decided to just hang out for the rest of the day. We hung around, took photos, talked, and cooked dinner. Some village children came to visit and played with our phones and cameras. Overall it was a great day! By night, I went to bed to only be woken by Javieer every few minutes saying " ppssstt... Kali, you awake? Did you hear that?" There were critters about, but we had nets surrounding us. I think it was just the puppy anyway. Instead of consoling him, of course I had to make the situation worse by saying bats and rats were surrounding us. What can I say, it is in my nature to be an ass hole. Once I finally feel asleep, the next morning we woke up, mingled about, the kids came back to hang out, Bond made us french toast, yum. We took off hiking for about an hour to go bathe in a waterfall. This one was nice, but not my favorite. We arrived back at the cabin, and headed down the road to a lunch spot, where we met some Japanese who were taking off on the trek. Oh, while walking down, Bond wanted to show us fighting beetles, so he took off into tall grass. When he came out, his leg was bitten and bleeding! We think by a snake. I was worried but Bond didn't seem to be. He had a snake bite kit. We continued walking, he wasn't as cheerful as he normally is. But he turned out to be okay. We were fed some fried rice, Bond sang Karaoke, and we watched the men's final volleyball Olympic game. After about two hours the rest of our group arrived and we headed off to go white water rafting! We rafted for, 1 hour supposedly, but it felt like 20 minutes. It was a teaser trip, so now I want to go again. We then headed home. I went home showered, and took Javieer out in town. He didn't get a chance to see Chiang Mai, so I offered to show him around. Maggie came with me and we met up with 2 American girls. GOOD WEEKEND!!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Lots o' crap
I write this blog as I listen to Radiohead- not a typical band I listen to but due to my lack of options lately, it seems to be the only band that I have not over played. It's been a while since I have written on this blog, actually written. Feel free to skip this entry, I have a feeling it will be long and I'll probably write some things that might be better off not published on the Internet, but oh well, I'm going for it anyway. Ha, now I have you all hooked. Seriously, I am writing it more for myself because I find myself more inspired to write for others while typing, rather than writing to myself in a journal. So you can choose to read it; no judging allowed though. Here it goes: I am truly overall enjoying Thailand. I have all the free time in world. I get amazing massages a couple of times a week for dirt cheap. I read, play on my computer, bike around, go into town to wander, swim, get acupuncture, eat good cheap food. School is easy. Seems like the life. And it pretty much is except I wish I could share it with all of you from home. Wasting time the way I am is much more enjoyable and memorable when you have the opportunity to share it with people you love. Wow, now I am sounding corny. It's the truth though. Okay now I am going to break down the rest of the blog into categories, so you can easily pick and chose what you want to read.
School: Warning: this paragraph has a lot of complaining
My school, I will not mention the name because I don't want it to come up in google when it is typed in, sucks. There are a couple of my teachers who care a little. Two of them are so oblivious to teaching and knowledge I don't know how they got to the position they are in to begin with. One of those being the worst teacher I can ever imagine. They simply give us articles each class we read it, and write a response, hand it in and leave. No discussion, no feedback, nothing! I am more than half way through the semester and I have not received one grade, not one, from any of my classes. We had midterms two weeks ago, I still haven't heard about those either. I feel bad for the people getting an education here. Also, everyone plagiarizes. I have had a couple group projects and people copy and paste their papers! I've thrown a few fits because of it and still the teachers don't really seem to care. It's bizarre. On the other hand one of my teachers really tries to teach everyone, which is hard because there are varying levels of English in the classroom. Overall, it's nice it is an easy semester, but I never thought I'd be so frustrated with not learning, especially because the topics are interesting. I also came to Thailand more for the experience than the learning, but I would really like to learn an Asian perspective on some topics, like tourism. Another thing is one of my teachers blames everything that is wrong with our world on America. I know we contribute to a lot of materialistic values and such, but not everything is our fault. They also always mention how we influence Asia to be like us, but they put the full blame on us and doesn't think that it's Asias fault in anyway for conforming to our ways. Anyway, that teacher is my favorite though. My ranting about school is done.
Things I've been Doing:
I have actually been going to the gym regularly, which is nice. I have also began acupuncture. I did it initially for a sinus infection, that wouldn't leave. Now it is for allergies, immune system and stress. I like it. It was $100 for 10 sessions, I've always wanted to try it, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The doctor is really interesting. her son used to live in Burlington Vermont- she visited him there last year. He teaches at Brown now and is a Cardiologist. Her daughter goes to Columbia. And her other daughter lives here. She is a spunky older woman who has been doing acupuncture for around 20 years. She used to be a anesthesiologist, but she told me she liked acupuncture more, obviously, so she decided to only do that. I found a massage place that is not even $3 for an hour long massage by a trained massage doctor. No complaints there. I have also been going to town and staying the night the past couple of weekends. It's more fun and just as cheap as getting a cab ride back to my dorm. Yesterday, I went to a pool and the Thai sun was out! :) It's is more intense than I have ever imagined sun can be. Luckily I swam in my sunscreen numerous times so I am not burned. I have been keeping my eyes open for a class, such as Thai Massage, or a Chakra healing class but they are all expensive and are 5 days a week, which I cant do. Hopefully, I'll find something by the end, if not, oh well.
Thai Culture:
I need to take photos, but here are some things that I find weird. Public places rarely have toilet paper, so you need to carry it around with you. They also have sprayers by every toilet to spray yourself when your done, I have yet to try it... The showers are often just a shower head in a bathroom so water gets all over the toilet, floor ect. When Thai's cook food with meat they use every part, the fat, bones, everything, so I need to watch out what I am biting into. MMMmmm one of my favorite things is green papaya salad. It is shaved green papaya, with peppers, tomatoes, sugar, fish sauce, peanuts carrots, tamarind juice, maybe some other things too- they usually add dried shrimp and crab- but I ask for the veggie version. It is oh so delicious! If any of you ever come to Thailand you must eat a roti, papaya salad, and their smoothies. Oh they also make waffles a lot, and I tried one with sliced banana cooked in, very good!
I have about six weekends left: This is what I am going to do...
Go to hot springs
Go to a cave
Go ziplining
Go to Laos
Go to the Golden Triangle/ Chiang Rai
Go on a jungle trek
Go to Pai
...and I want to do more photography
Ahh that is all for now...I hope it was semi interesting... Feel free to post questions and I'll answer them
School: Warning: this paragraph has a lot of complaining
My school, I will not mention the name because I don't want it to come up in google when it is typed in, sucks. There are a couple of my teachers who care a little. Two of them are so oblivious to teaching and knowledge I don't know how they got to the position they are in to begin with. One of those being the worst teacher I can ever imagine. They simply give us articles each class we read it, and write a response, hand it in and leave. No discussion, no feedback, nothing! I am more than half way through the semester and I have not received one grade, not one, from any of my classes. We had midterms two weeks ago, I still haven't heard about those either. I feel bad for the people getting an education here. Also, everyone plagiarizes. I have had a couple group projects and people copy and paste their papers! I've thrown a few fits because of it and still the teachers don't really seem to care. It's bizarre. On the other hand one of my teachers really tries to teach everyone, which is hard because there are varying levels of English in the classroom. Overall, it's nice it is an easy semester, but I never thought I'd be so frustrated with not learning, especially because the topics are interesting. I also came to Thailand more for the experience than the learning, but I would really like to learn an Asian perspective on some topics, like tourism. Another thing is one of my teachers blames everything that is wrong with our world on America. I know we contribute to a lot of materialistic values and such, but not everything is our fault. They also always mention how we influence Asia to be like us, but they put the full blame on us and doesn't think that it's Asias fault in anyway for conforming to our ways. Anyway, that teacher is my favorite though. My ranting about school is done.
Things I've been Doing:
I have actually been going to the gym regularly, which is nice. I have also began acupuncture. I did it initially for a sinus infection, that wouldn't leave. Now it is for allergies, immune system and stress. I like it. It was $100 for 10 sessions, I've always wanted to try it, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The doctor is really interesting. her son used to live in Burlington Vermont- she visited him there last year. He teaches at Brown now and is a Cardiologist. Her daughter goes to Columbia. And her other daughter lives here. She is a spunky older woman who has been doing acupuncture for around 20 years. She used to be a anesthesiologist, but she told me she liked acupuncture more, obviously, so she decided to only do that. I found a massage place that is not even $3 for an hour long massage by a trained massage doctor. No complaints there. I have also been going to town and staying the night the past couple of weekends. It's more fun and just as cheap as getting a cab ride back to my dorm. Yesterday, I went to a pool and the Thai sun was out! :) It's is more intense than I have ever imagined sun can be. Luckily I swam in my sunscreen numerous times so I am not burned. I have been keeping my eyes open for a class, such as Thai Massage, or a Chakra healing class but they are all expensive and are 5 days a week, which I cant do. Hopefully, I'll find something by the end, if not, oh well.
Thai Culture:
I need to take photos, but here are some things that I find weird. Public places rarely have toilet paper, so you need to carry it around with you. They also have sprayers by every toilet to spray yourself when your done, I have yet to try it... The showers are often just a shower head in a bathroom so water gets all over the toilet, floor ect. When Thai's cook food with meat they use every part, the fat, bones, everything, so I need to watch out what I am biting into. MMMmmm one of my favorite things is green papaya salad. It is shaved green papaya, with peppers, tomatoes, sugar, fish sauce, peanuts carrots, tamarind juice, maybe some other things too- they usually add dried shrimp and crab- but I ask for the veggie version. It is oh so delicious! If any of you ever come to Thailand you must eat a roti, papaya salad, and their smoothies. Oh they also make waffles a lot, and I tried one with sliced banana cooked in, very good!
I have about six weekends left: This is what I am going to do...
Go to hot springs
Go to a cave
Go ziplining
Go to Laos
Go to the Golden Triangle/ Chiang Rai
Go on a jungle trek
Go to Pai
...and I want to do more photography
Ahh that is all for now...I hope it was semi interesting... Feel free to post questions and I'll answer them
Sunday, August 17, 2008
More photos
More photos
Sorry for lack of posting. Nothing that exciting has been going on. Just going to school watching movies, and walking around town. I might go trekking next weekend. I'll keep it posted.
Sorry for lack of posting. Nothing that exciting has been going on. Just going to school watching movies, and walking around town. I might go trekking next weekend. I'll keep it posted.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
I want to cry...
I was tooling along on my bike returning $40 headphones, when a motorbike pulls up next to me and takes my bag. I chase them. They win. I immediately go and put a hold on my local bank card. Then I went and spoke with Payap officials. I then filed a police report. I also put a hold on my bankcard at home. Anyway this is what they stole; $25, Payap ID, iPod- yes the last source of my music, my headphones, cellphone, bankcards, gym card, all, literally all of my school work- notes, handouts ect.. and a few other random things. And my nice bag that I bought here. Of course they already took the sim card out of my phone, so we cannot track them down. I think I am cursed.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Pinky and the Brain
So, we (as in me and my roommate) have 2 new pets; Pinky and the Brain. They adopted us. They hang out on our ceiling and eat our fly and ants, yes they are geckos. Anyway, they are little babies and come and go as they please, they especially like hanging out on the ceiling above my bed. This week was yet another boring one. I am "studying" for midterms. My first one is on Wednesday, I have 4 total. I experienced a group project with foreigners. Anyone in my group that was from SE Asia seems to think plagiarizing is perfectly fine. I had to be the evil one and tell them it is really illegal and we can get kicked out of school for it, they wernt pleased. Anyway, we redid it and it worked out okay, only okay though. So I have been sick again. Bah. I think a sinus infection got me. It's almost over though. Next week is a camping trip for Payap students, it should be fun. The weekend after that I think I might go trekking. So life should get more exciting shortly. I can't believe that half the semester is already over. Honestly though, I'm excited. I am too bored here. I need to be busy. Don't worry though, I am taking advantge of the relaxing semester. Well if anything exciting happens, I'll be sure to update. Maybe Ill go around and take photos of weird things Thai to post. Peace.
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