Yep a lyric from ABBA. took the bus today from Pai to Chiang Mai (attempting to get to Mae Sot). They played abba the whole way down. It was great. Reminded me of a day long drive with the bro in the philippines listening to abba the whole way. that's when they first grew on me. I'd heard them before when my dad played them, but sometimes certain situations (i.e. traveling in an awesome, foreign place with the fam) makes music stick out more and you grow fond of it. Anyways, it was some nice deja vu today with abba on the bus driving over rainforested mountain passes. Can't wait to get back to the PI though for all the millions and millions of karaoke bars with the 80's music. I read somewhere recently, I think in a lonely planet, the top 3 karaoke songs in the PI, number one was whitney houston's I will always love you, #2 was an abba song, can't remember which, and I don't remember number 3 either. Too many mango shakes I guess! Well I'm stuck in Chang Mai tonight. I had hoped to be in mai sot, but the bus from pai to chang mai broke down so we had to wait about 4 hours, so i missed my connecting bus tonight. decided not to go into the touristy part of town tonight as the tuk tuk ride is kinda pricey and instead walked around near the bus station looking for a place. A nice man on a scooter picked me up and took me to a place. It's really nice b/c it's typically only for thais, so it's the same price as a cheap bungalow, but has a private hot shower, a tv, and a large room. Also had the most amazing and huge meal tonight for 30 cents!
Today I did the volunteer thing at the elephant camp in the morning and then b/c I liked how the place treated them, I paid for a two hour ride to support them. 1 hr up the mountain, and then 1 hour in the river. the river was quite fun. the elephant would splash you with it's trunk and spray you and then shake all about to knock you off into the water. then it would fall in and roll around, and dunk it's head in, holding its breath for a while. Good fun. A korean guy and a nice older german couple also did it as well as Lieke a dutch gal. From the elephant place, you could hike up a tiny ways to a hot springs, which lieke and I did. She was pretty cool, 19 and just graduated from highschool in holland. Travelling for 3 months. I was pretty impressed to be doing that alone as a girl, right after highschool. She's interested in geology and wants to come to the states for part of it to study as we have actual rocks and mountains there. Thought she should meet my brother, the expert geologist turned skier, so he could show her around. I think you'd like that bro as she is nice and definitely very attractive. After the hot springing, we headed into town to get a bite to eat and then had some amazingly tasty mango yoghurt drinks! First yoghurt drinks I had found this trip, and I am glad she knew where it was. It was very interesting sitting with her on the deck of the yoghurt place on the main drag b/c all these solo backpacking dudes would walk by and give the ole double take, so it was fun to give em a little wink.
So speaking of travelling alone...to travel alone or not?? A pretty big question. In my case the answer was obvious mainly b/c I couldn't really find anyone willing to go get lost in Asia for around a year. At first I was really nervous about doing it by myself, knowing I would have tons of fun if lucas or bro or ben came along (the 3 most likely travellers). I was asking everyone and anyone if they were willing to come down. I had travelled alone a bit in europe and then with people (robert and jared, then dianna and david, then the jovial bison), and I'd always had much more fun with the friends. Though I think europe is a totally different travel scene...not so much the adventurous, easy going backpacker type as asia is. Only 10 days into the trip, I can see pros and cons to both, but thus far, I am glad I am going solo at the moment. With only me and my backpack I can decide to go wherever I want (the backpack says nothing unless it's a really tight space), stay wherever I want, and do whatever I want. No need to worry about appeasing someone else or making certain sacrifices to make someone else happy. It's just all me. I know I won't go home thinking, dang I wish I had climbed that cool mountain, but I had to give in to so and so's desire to go see a temple, etc. It also, I think, has opened me up to meet a lot more people. Groups or couples are a lot less approachable, so by myself it's easy to meet and talk with other solo people (who are usually very similar to me). The travelling is also more challenging, and thus rewarding, b/c there is no one else to lean on in scary situations, during crucial decisions, etc. It's forcing me to learn a lot, and a lot about myself. So definitely some huge positives. And bro said when he and stevo biked through central america that by the time they got done they had been together so long they had nothing to say to each other. They didn't hate each other (which can often happen with people travelling for a long time together), but they had just said everything that needed to be said! Also some negatives though. Cost is a big one. single rooms often cost, say 5 dollars, where as a double costs 6 or 7. Doesn't seem like much, but in the long run, it will add up. Think 2 dollars times 360 days! Group adventures can cost more. For example it's 3 bucks to rent a scooter for a day in Pai to explore the villages and waterfalls and temples around the area. Two people can fit on a scooter, so you can split the cost. Or a 2 hour ride on an elephant is 30 dollars for two people, but if you're only 1, you have to pay the price of two. And of course taxis, tuk tuks, chartered boats would all be nice to split with another, as would 2-person tent rentals. The other thing is that sometimes at night in a new place it can be a bit lonely. I'm not very good (at least yet) at meeting people at the bars at night, though I guess I haven't tried too hard, I usually just find a nice book instead. So you'll walk around town at night after eating, and I'd wish I had a friend or two to go drink some chang's or singha's with. There is always quite the huge night scene in all these town. Of course after doing a trek or some group tour or activity or after hanging at the guesthouse for a bit, you tend to meet people and then you have a group to go party with; however, it's never the same, as they are only new acquaintences, as going out on the town with yosh or sherman or the bean or the elephants (the boys in b-ham, not the pachyderms). (though come to think of it, I'd hate to see what would happen to yosh with only 50 cent beers or the 2 dollar buckets of cocktails). But all in all, as long as I can make it through the year without running out of money, I think I am very glad that I am alone. Much more freedom and carefree, more personal exploration and challenges, and I still get lots of fun hangout town with people from all over the world. But I think I have it about perfect though b/c I will be on my own most of the time, seeing the sights, meeting new people, but I do have some great friends coming down for visits. Amy is going to be around in Jan-Feb, so I hope to see her when I get back from burma for a bit. Lily is also in thailand and I hope to bump into her at some point. Then boom, out of the blue the Conrad and the Whitney buy a ticket to come down for 3 months! I also think that Lucas will be coming down for a bit too, and I definitely hope to be having some travel time with him! And never count Zach Guy out. He likes travel just a little too much. His only problem is that if there is still snow on the slopes (almost eternally if you consider where he usually resides, colorado, wyoming, washington, british columbia), then he has a harder time pulling away. And then of course my australian mate sharman (shaaaaman), may be meeting me in darwin. So it looks like I will have the perfect mix, so I am very, very excited. Gotta love traveling!
Bus to Mae Sot tomorrow and then hopefully Oom hasn't left without me for the trekking!
Today I did the volunteer thing at the elephant camp in the morning and then b/c I liked how the place treated them, I paid for a two hour ride to support them. 1 hr up the mountain, and then 1 hour in the river. the river was quite fun. the elephant would splash you with it's trunk and spray you and then shake all about to knock you off into the water. then it would fall in and roll around, and dunk it's head in, holding its breath for a while. Good fun. A korean guy and a nice older german couple also did it as well as Lieke a dutch gal. From the elephant place, you could hike up a tiny ways to a hot springs, which lieke and I did. She was pretty cool, 19 and just graduated from highschool in holland. Travelling for 3 months. I was pretty impressed to be doing that alone as a girl, right after highschool. She's interested in geology and wants to come to the states for part of it to study as we have actual rocks and mountains there. Thought she should meet my brother, the expert geologist turned skier, so he could show her around. I think you'd like that bro as she is nice and definitely very attractive. After the hot springing, we headed into town to get a bite to eat and then had some amazingly tasty mango yoghurt drinks! First yoghurt drinks I had found this trip, and I am glad she knew where it was. It was very interesting sitting with her on the deck of the yoghurt place on the main drag b/c all these solo backpacking dudes would walk by and give the ole double take, so it was fun to give em a little wink.
So speaking of travelling alone...to travel alone or not?? A pretty big question. In my case the answer was obvious mainly b/c I couldn't really find anyone willing to go get lost in Asia for around a year. At first I was really nervous about doing it by myself, knowing I would have tons of fun if lucas or bro or ben came along (the 3 most likely travellers). I was asking everyone and anyone if they were willing to come down. I had travelled alone a bit in europe and then with people (robert and jared, then dianna and david, then the jovial bison), and I'd always had much more fun with the friends. Though I think europe is a totally different travel scene...not so much the adventurous, easy going backpacker type as asia is. Only 10 days into the trip, I can see pros and cons to both, but thus far, I am glad I am going solo at the moment. With only me and my backpack I can decide to go wherever I want (the backpack says nothing unless it's a really tight space), stay wherever I want, and do whatever I want. No need to worry about appeasing someone else or making certain sacrifices to make someone else happy. It's just all me. I know I won't go home thinking, dang I wish I had climbed that cool mountain, but I had to give in to so and so's desire to go see a temple, etc. It also, I think, has opened me up to meet a lot more people. Groups or couples are a lot less approachable, so by myself it's easy to meet and talk with other solo people (who are usually very similar to me). The travelling is also more challenging, and thus rewarding, b/c there is no one else to lean on in scary situations, during crucial decisions, etc. It's forcing me to learn a lot, and a lot about myself. So definitely some huge positives. And bro said when he and stevo biked through central america that by the time they got done they had been together so long they had nothing to say to each other. They didn't hate each other (which can often happen with people travelling for a long time together), but they had just said everything that needed to be said! Also some negatives though. Cost is a big one. single rooms often cost, say 5 dollars, where as a double costs 6 or 7. Doesn't seem like much, but in the long run, it will add up. Think 2 dollars times 360 days! Group adventures can cost more. For example it's 3 bucks to rent a scooter for a day in Pai to explore the villages and waterfalls and temples around the area. Two people can fit on a scooter, so you can split the cost. Or a 2 hour ride on an elephant is 30 dollars for two people, but if you're only 1, you have to pay the price of two. And of course taxis, tuk tuks, chartered boats would all be nice to split with another, as would 2-person tent rentals. The other thing is that sometimes at night in a new place it can be a bit lonely. I'm not very good (at least yet) at meeting people at the bars at night, though I guess I haven't tried too hard, I usually just find a nice book instead. So you'll walk around town at night after eating, and I'd wish I had a friend or two to go drink some chang's or singha's with. There is always quite the huge night scene in all these town. Of course after doing a trek or some group tour or activity or after hanging at the guesthouse for a bit, you tend to meet people and then you have a group to go party with; however, it's never the same, as they are only new acquaintences, as going out on the town with yosh or sherman or the bean or the elephants (the boys in b-ham, not the pachyderms). (though come to think of it, I'd hate to see what would happen to yosh with only 50 cent beers or the 2 dollar buckets of cocktails). But all in all, as long as I can make it through the year without running out of money, I think I am very glad that I am alone. Much more freedom and carefree, more personal exploration and challenges, and I still get lots of fun hangout town with people from all over the world. But I think I have it about perfect though b/c I will be on my own most of the time, seeing the sights, meeting new people, but I do have some great friends coming down for visits. Amy is going to be around in Jan-Feb, so I hope to see her when I get back from burma for a bit. Lily is also in thailand and I hope to bump into her at some point. Then boom, out of the blue the Conrad and the Whitney buy a ticket to come down for 3 months! I also think that Lucas will be coming down for a bit too, and I definitely hope to be having some travel time with him! And never count Zach Guy out. He likes travel just a little too much. His only problem is that if there is still snow on the slopes (almost eternally if you consider where he usually resides, colorado, wyoming, washington, british columbia), then he has a harder time pulling away. And then of course my australian mate sharman (shaaaaman), may be meeting me in darwin. So it looks like I will have the perfect mix, so I am very, very excited. Gotta love traveling!
Bus to Mae Sot tomorrow and then hopefully Oom hasn't left without me for the trekking!
1 comment:
haha! I love snow too much to be in Asia this time of year. Who knows about this summer...I have 5 comp nights at 4 seasons, i could drag you out of your jungle bungalow and put you in a 5 diamond resort if you pay for my ticket there.
Steve Dole and I never run out of things to say to each other, we just repeat conversations that we had a few weeks earlier.
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