Saturday 14 May 2016

Thailand wrap up

So, I've now done Thailand, and have made it safely to Canada.

To wrap up my time in Chiang Mai I managed to fit in some more touristy things, some helpful things and some 'normal' things. Tuesday, Lesley (Chris' mum) and I went to a couple of museums, one a cultural museum and one a historical. Both were pretty specific to Chiang Mai and it was a good way to spend a couple of hours.  After Lesley left I took myself off to a park I'd seen on a tourist map. It was nicely laid out and lots of locals and tourists were enjoying the grass, trees, birds and feeding the fish in the pond. I've included a pic. I found a spot that got a bit of water spray when the wind was just right, which was exactly what I was after. Have I mentioned Thailand has been crazy hot?!?!

That evening I finally made it to the English language class run by staff from Partners. I'd tried and failed twice, but was determind this time to make it, and I finally did. I was glad, as they were short a teacher and so I took the beginner class. It was a revision session before a test the next night, and was fun, though surprisingly hard work as well. I found it a bit of a challenge keeping the bright ones engaged while making space for the slower ones to keep up. I suppose that's the same for teachers no matter the age or topic.

Wednesday Chris was home, and so I was able to spend an hour or two chatting with him. It was really good to talk about some of the things I'd done and thought over the preceeding weeks, and he has some interesting connections he is going to help me make for when I am back in NZ. We also took a trip (on the bikes) to his office via the bus station to sort out my ticket for my trip back to Bangkok, and I managed to burn my calf on his muffler. I won't inflict a picture on you, apparently it's a pretty common injury in Thailand.

Water aerobics again, then a quiet evening with the family.

Thursday Sandra and I had a fun day, we went on a river cruise first which involved a stop at a farm with an informative guide. He told us about a lot ofnthe produce, and some history of how things used to be done. Apparently there were also some scenes from Rambo 4 filmed there! I enjoyed seeing some of the scenery,  and was particularly taken by a couple of big old trees near our starting dock. The shape of them was lovely and rounded like a picture-book tree, and they looked quite majestic, so I've included a pic.  We went to see Captain America: Civil War (highly recommended) after lunch then rounded off the day with a pedicure and home for dinner. Chris was invited to join us for any or all ofnthese activities, but he was not particularly interested, so it was just the girls (Kayla kept us company at the pedicure place, and didn't seem too bothered that there were only two seats. We had planned for her to get one too.)

Friday we left early to put me on the 7:30 bus. Sandra and Chris live pretty close to both the bus and train stations, so that's handy. The bus was a bit of an experience. Very comfortable with leg room and only three seats across. I had a single, so no seatmate. We got food and drink on the bus like you would on a plane, and at lunch stopped at a place where we had a choice of hot meal and all included in the ticket price. Very convenient. I was surprised and a bit perturbed that lunch was the only rest stop. Apart from 30 mins there the driver drove from 7:30am until after 6pm with the only other stops very brief ones to pick up or drop off passangers. So totally not allowed in NZ or plenty of other places I'm sure. One of the reasons I took the bus was to see the scenery, and I was a bit surprised there were hills and things for at least the first four hours of the drive, and even later on the terrain wasn't as flat as I was expecting.

I had a wee hiccup getting off the bus, I missed the stop as the bus didn't pull over as I'd expected. It just stopped in the stop-start traffic and even though I was paying attention (I thought), I didn't realise. However with the help of cellphones, piNok, Chris, the driver and a helpful passer by, I was dropped on the side of the road not too far away, and successfully collected by piNok 15bmins later. I confess not a very happy 15 mins, but it was all OK in the end.

I had a lovely dinner, evening, breakfast and drive to the airport with piNok and Nut. They really looked after me, and we had good conversation and looked at some of her photo albums from her wedding (featuring a much younger Martin, Ian and Maybeth), and the photos I'd brought with me too. They both speak really good English,  and there are translation apps for any words on which we got stuck. I got a photo with the cat, his name is Snow White, but it seriously reminded me of 'grumpy cat' (Google for images if you need to). Shadow really has no competition.

And now I'm in Canada. However, some final general comments on Thailand.

-Driving is very different. They have a system which includes u-turns as a standard part of navigation. Where I'm from you only do a u-turn if you've made a mistake, so that took some getting used to. Also, a lot of their streets have no footpath and are paved with concrete not asphalt so look like glorified driveways or carparks to me. It was hard to 'see' them even when I was looking, as my brain didn't identify them as a street.
-Riding scooters is fun, and in spite of the 'polite chaos' of the traffic, having so many around means drivers are expecting them and so are always on the look out. Not like riding a bike in Auckland, where I hear it's pretty common for the driver to say 'I didn't see them'. Safety in increased numbers is certainly an ideal which I hope we can achieve!
-There are lots of seemingly stray cats and particularly dogs. At Don Chedi there were some 'street dogs' which some of Kim and Mary's neighbours fed, and were just always around. One even came with us to and through the market on at least two of our trips.
-Things feel very 'close' in Thailand. People, buildings, traffic, activity and things I'm used to being tucked away mostly out of sight like junk yards, rubbish processing and delivery vehicles at businesses. Where I would expect they would be around the back out of sight, here they are in front in plain view. The other place I've been that felt similar is Egypt.
-Religious activity is also 'close' here, with most properties having wee 'spirit houses' in the front, and lots of temples, idols, chedis and other religious symbols in very plain sight. I suppose in NZ the same could be said of churches,  but to me they feel more discrete than how they are in Thailand.
-My time in Thailand has been very interesting, full of experiences and potential which will take me a while to process. I have kept up the journal (I'm pleased to say) and that's certainly helping with that. I have been a bit 'peopled out' at times, and I expect I'll need to be on the watch for that atnA Rocha too as I'll be living and working with a community of people.

Oh - one other thing - Thailand in April/May is crazy hot!

I'll write again soon.
Sarah

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like you're having a great time Aunty! Thailand sounds like it's been a lot of fun and great new experiences! Hope Canada is just as awesome :)

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