Goodness AND Gracious!
Today was quite a day and I can't wait to post all about it, but I thought I would first start with sharing some thoughts, feelings, emotions... you know. So I had a realization today as I'm travelling all over the place - I have really found so much strength in doing this trip alone. I'm completely capable of figuring out how to get from here-to-there. I can communicate with people who don't speak English fairly well. A smile goes a long way - and children are beautiful wherever you go... as are there doting parents at every turn. Yesterday I had no idea where I was going to sleep today and yet, here I am... with a bed to sleep in, food in my stomach, and a cheerful outlook on my mind. My sincere hope is that everyone gets to do a trip like this at (very least) once in his or her life. Strength and confidence have been building steadily.
Let me impress you briefly with the kind of amazing traveller I have become in only three short weeks! I boarded a ferry at 5pm yesterday... watched the sunset, and regretted sitting on the side by the window. (I kinda felt charfy.) Once I had gained my sea legs I boared a bus to another station and then a minibus (okay, a glorified minivan) to the train station. At 11:40p the train came (40 mins. late) and I was on my way north. This was a sleeper train and the beds were already made up and most people were asleep - including the man below me who was doing his absolute best chainsaw impression. Kudos to him. When I woke up and got off the train it was 9:15a. I hopped on the back of a motorbike and took a ride to another bus station... hopped on bus 81 (the woman was FAR from friendly to the gauche American), and then took my first ever Rikshaw (is that even how you spell that?) to the Jolly Frog where yes, times are jolly *and* I have seen frogs! (Gramma would love the flower gardens!) I'm in Kanchanaburi now - staying on the River Kwai... and I feel steeped with history just being here. The only bad thing about the trip is that I thought I was being so economical by handwashing my favorite tank top and I ended up leaving it on Koh Phangan - hanging lazily outside to dry. Maybe someone else is loving it right now.
I should add that the train situation really impressed me. In the morning it was a flurry of activity... in a matter of minutes men came around and stripped the beds of the used linens and blankets, piled the pillows, curtains, and bottom mattress into the overhead and closed it up. They then set up the scene of the lower bed into two, relatively comfortable chairs. Nice! This isn't where it stopped... they came around and served breakfast... allowed other vendors to hop on and try to sell their foodstuffs... and then came around and swept everything AND mopped, too. It's really impressive how dedicated people are here to maintenance. The folks at the bungalow where I stayed the night before actually swept the sand until it looked all smooth while the slacker-types were still sleeping. Me? I've been getting up at 6-6:30a. I think it's all the fresh air that makes me get better quality sleep and hence, less of it required.
This post really could take me forever.
I rented a bike... the two-wheel, man-powered, cursing-it-on-a-hot-day kind. No, it really wasn't that bad - I rather enjoyed it. For $1 a day I have my wheels in this little town and it's great. Although I'm seriously terrible with spacial relations (even on a map), I was pleased to see that I could easily peddle from one end of town to the other without breaking a sweat. First stop was the Thailand/Burma Railway Center Museum. It was really moving and beautiful - explaining Japan's expansion in Southeast Asia, the POW workforce, and the many, many problems. There were spikes from the original RR that indicated how many of each country's POWs died there. U.S. was among the least.
From there I went to a cemetary and cried. Now, I have been to Arlington National Cemetary when I was 8, I think. From what I remember of it, it was big, and hot, and there were lots of bright white gravestones... and it was hot. Hot. HOT. I didn't get the magnitude of the experience and so I think this hit me harder. I biked to the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetary 
where 1,700 of the 1,700,000 who died during the RR construction and war have been buried. I walked the grounds and looked at headstone after headstone. It was an astonishingly beautiful place and those who died were mostly in their 20s (although some went up to early 40s). I found on stone where the man died at 22 and was born the day after I was, on July 22nd. At 26 I have had four more years of life than this young man... and I have been thankful to live every day as a choice. He, on the other hand, was taken and forced into this grueling labor which ultimately ended in his death. Freedom is something we soon forget in the light of trying to acquire the next "thing", rushing to the next appointment, and cursing the annual tax adjustments every January. We are free and that, in itself, is noteworthy. There was a whole section of the cemetary devoted to just unknown soldiers and another monument for the 3,000+ that have never been found. I sat. I breathed. I cried, too, and it was so moving.
On a lighter note, I found myself upon Wat Neua and it's the coolest temple. It's tall with a spindly top and dragons carved all over it... I'm talking super-cool, 3D dragons that had curly mustache thingys and a million colors on their skin. I was trapsing around, and so pleased to have found a spot without other tourists, when I saw this group of little boys sitting inside after leaving their neighboring school. I tried to sneak a candid picture, but 
they saw me and were beyond elated when I asked if I could take their picture. Do you like the peace signs they gave me? They wanted to know my name and sang it in the temple. It was an amazing feeling, sound, and will forever be a great memory. Upstairs in the temple it was another kaliedescope of colors and... AND... it was filled with chirping little birds. Twittering from the birds echoed off the sides of the round temple. I just wanted to stay there forever.
I could go on for hours... I saw the Lak Meuang Shrine, the Governor's House, and The JEATH War Museum. I explored the town and managed to dodge the oncoming traffic while biking with my head tilted to the sky, mouth agape, and hands reaching for my camera. (Alright, it wasn't *that* grossly unsafe!)
I'm here for one more day and then leaving on Wednesday for Bangkok. I fly to Cambodia early on Thursday. Even though I miss the friends I made at The Sanctuary, I'm kind of glad to be on my own again. It's good.
Sorry about the lack of pictures with this post - the USB with this computer is bunk, I think. You can close your eyes and imagine the best until I can put some up tomorrow. I'm back to the land of super-cheap internet. YAY!
I have been able to add some pictures now. When I looked at my camera, it's FILLED with images of the temple. I didn't realize I took so many, but it was really and truly breathtaking.
10.21.06 @ 4:17pm
Love, J
**8:37p Monday, Internet Cafe, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Side Notes: Standards of cleanliness really do drop when travelling here. (As I'm sure in other parts of the world.) Expectations of where you'll lay your head at night also have to be tempered with the idea that guesthouses are not The Hyatt with big, fluffy towels, logo embossed soap, and a lovely room service menu. The term "Western Toilet" is also somewhat of a flexible definition. While you'd think all "Westerns" would flush, they do, in fact, not. Half the time you get a spigot by the toilet with a large bucket and a smaller pail with a handle floating in it. After you go, you scoop up some water and rinse it down. Glamorous! This is the stuff to write home about! (That's why I am.) Showers in Thailand are not what we think of as showers either... and every one I have seen and used since I left (and yes, it's so hot I take about three a day unless I'm en-route) reminds me of my camping days with the fam in the good ol' camping trailer. It's a shower head on a flexible hose that sprays EVERYWHERE in your bathroom, unless you hold it with your hand the entire time. After some wet TP I got the hang of the wetting down, soaping up, and rinsing off technique. God, I'm so sheltered! On the subject of TP and towels... do not expect that these ammenities will be included in your $4 rate. No no no. Thankfully there are Seven Eleven's everywhere and although none are connected to a gas station, they all have good things like cold water, phone cards, and TP. The travel towel has come in handy.
Additionally, when considering the fact that any language I've ever been truly exposed to is based on Arabic letters, and I'm now in a country with language symbols I don't even distinguish between, this is a challenge. In taking sound from Thai language and applying our letters to make the same sounds what you end up with is a mess. The SAME town can have, like, *five* spellings. Even if you pronounce these cities, foods, greetings, the way that they phonetically appear - you will get sideways stares, puzzled looks, and sometimes distained glances. Most of the time I rely on my charm, animal magnetism, and a coy little "help the poor girl, please" smile.
Let me impress you briefly with the kind of amazing traveller I have become in only three short weeks! I boarded a ferry at 5pm yesterday... watched the sunset, and regretted sitting on the side by the window. (I kinda felt charfy.) Once I had gained my sea legs I boared a bus to another station and then a minibus (okay, a glorified minivan) to the train station. At 11:40p the train came (40 mins. late) and I was on my way north. This was a sleeper train and the beds were already made up and most people were asleep - including the man below me who was doing his absolute best chainsaw impression. Kudos to him. When I woke up and got off the train it was 9:15a. I hopped on the back of a motorbike and took a ride to another bus station... hopped on bus 81 (the woman was FAR from friendly to the gauche American), and then took my first ever Rikshaw (is that even how you spell that?) to the Jolly Frog where yes, times are jolly *and* I have seen frogs! (Gramma would love the flower gardens!) I'm in Kanchanaburi now - staying on the River Kwai... and I feel steeped with history just being here. The only bad thing about the trip is that I thought I was being so economical by handwashing my favorite tank top and I ended up leaving it on Koh Phangan - hanging lazily outside to dry. Maybe someone else is loving it right now.
I should add that the train situation really impressed me. In the morning it was a flurry of activity... in a matter of minutes men came around and stripped the beds of the used linens and blankets, piled the pillows, curtains, and bottom mattress into the overhead and closed it up. They then set up the scene of the lower bed into two, relatively comfortable chairs. Nice! This isn't where it stopped... they came around and served breakfast... allowed other vendors to hop on and try to sell their foodstuffs... and then came around and swept everything AND mopped, too. It's really impressive how dedicated people are here to maintenance. The folks at the bungalow where I stayed the night before actually swept the sand until it looked all smooth while the slacker-types were still sleeping. Me? I've been getting up at 6-6:30a. I think it's all the fresh air that makes me get better quality sleep and hence, less of it required.
This post really could take me forever.
I rented a bike... the two-wheel, man-powered, cursing-it-on-a-hot-day kind. No, it really wasn't that bad - I rather enjoyed it. For $1 a day I have my wheels in this little town and it's great. Although I'm seriously terrible with spacial relations (even on a map), I was pleased to see that I could easily peddle from one end of town to the other without breaking a sweat. First stop was the Thailand/Burma Railway Center Museum. It was really moving and beautiful - explaining Japan's expansion in Southeast Asia, the POW workforce, and the many, many problems. There were spikes from the original RR that indicated how many of each country's POWs died there. U.S. was among the least.
From there I went to a cemetary and cried. Now, I have been to Arlington National Cemetary when I was 8, I think. From what I remember of it, it was big, and hot, and there were lots of bright white gravestones... and it was hot. Hot. HOT. I didn't get the magnitude of the experience and so I think this hit me harder. I biked to the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetary 
where 1,700 of the 1,700,000 who died during the RR construction and war have been buried. I walked the grounds and looked at headstone after headstone. It was an astonishingly beautiful place and those who died were mostly in their 20s (although some went up to early 40s). I found on stone where the man died at 22 and was born the day after I was, on July 22nd. At 26 I have had four more years of life than this young man... and I have been thankful to live every day as a choice. He, on the other hand, was taken and forced into this grueling labor which ultimately ended in his death. Freedom is something we soon forget in the light of trying to acquire the next "thing", rushing to the next appointment, and cursing the annual tax adjustments every January. We are free and that, in itself, is noteworthy. There was a whole section of the cemetary devoted to just unknown soldiers and another monument for the 3,000+ that have never been found. I sat. I breathed. I cried, too, and it was so moving.
On a lighter note, I found myself upon Wat Neua and it's the coolest temple. It's tall with a spindly top and dragons carved all over it... I'm talking super-cool, 3D dragons that had curly mustache thingys and a million colors on their skin. I was trapsing around, and so pleased to have found a spot without other tourists, when I saw this group of little boys sitting inside after leaving their neighboring school. I tried to sneak a candid picture, but 
they saw me and were beyond elated when I asked if I could take their picture. Do you like the peace signs they gave me? They wanted to know my name and sang it in the temple. It was an amazing feeling, sound, and will forever be a great memory. Upstairs in the temple it was another kaliedescope of colors and... AND... it was filled with chirping little birds. Twittering from the birds echoed off the sides of the round temple. I just wanted to stay there forever.I could go on for hours... I saw the Lak Meuang Shrine, the Governor's House, and The JEATH War Museum. I explored the town and managed to dodge the oncoming traffic while biking with my head tilted to the sky, mouth agape, and hands reaching for my camera. (Alright, it wasn't *that* grossly unsafe!)
I'm here for one more day and then leaving on Wednesday for Bangkok. I fly to Cambodia early on Thursday. Even though I miss the friends I made at The Sanctuary, I'm kind of glad to be on my own again. It's good.
Sorry about the lack of pictures with this post - the USB with this computer is bunk, I think. You can close your eyes and imagine the best until I can put some up tomorrow. I'm back to the land of super-cheap internet. YAY!
I have been able to add some pictures now. When I looked at my camera, it's FILLED with images of the temple. I didn't realize I took so many, but it was really and truly breathtaking.
10.21.06 @ 4:17pm
Love, J
**8:37p Monday, Internet Cafe, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Side Notes: Standards of cleanliness really do drop when travelling here. (As I'm sure in other parts of the world.) Expectations of where you'll lay your head at night also have to be tempered with the idea that guesthouses are not The Hyatt with big, fluffy towels, logo embossed soap, and a lovely room service menu. The term "Western Toilet" is also somewhat of a flexible definition. While you'd think all "Westerns" would flush, they do, in fact, not. Half the time you get a spigot by the toilet with a large bucket and a smaller pail with a handle floating in it. After you go, you scoop up some water and rinse it down. Glamorous! This is the stuff to write home about! (That's why I am.) Showers in Thailand are not what we think of as showers either... and every one I have seen and used since I left (and yes, it's so hot I take about three a day unless I'm en-route) reminds me of my camping days with the fam in the good ol' camping trailer. It's a shower head on a flexible hose that sprays EVERYWHERE in your bathroom, unless you hold it with your hand the entire time. After some wet TP I got the hang of the wetting down, soaping up, and rinsing off technique. God, I'm so sheltered! On the subject of TP and towels... do not expect that these ammenities will be included in your $4 rate. No no no. Thankfully there are Seven Eleven's everywhere and although none are connected to a gas station, they all have good things like cold water, phone cards, and TP. The travel towel has come in handy.
Additionally, when considering the fact that any language I've ever been truly exposed to is based on Arabic letters, and I'm now in a country with language symbols I don't even distinguish between, this is a challenge. In taking sound from Thai language and applying our letters to make the same sounds what you end up with is a mess. The SAME town can have, like, *five* spellings. Even if you pronounce these cities, foods, greetings, the way that they phonetically appear - you will get sideways stares, puzzled looks, and sometimes distained glances. Most of the time I rely on my charm, animal magnetism, and a coy little "help the poor girl, please" smile.
posted by Janice at 7:57 AM
2 Comments:
Wow, Janice! When I don't check your blog for a few days, I miss a LOT! We're glad you are safe and having a good time. People on the other side of the world from us must be enjoying your smile and your *very* positive outlook.
Keep up the wonderful descriptions! Auntie Cin
Thanks, Auntie Cin! I'm trying to document things so well while I'm here... not only to remember, but also because I *need* to share this with you!
Sometimes smiling doesn't work - so you just smile bigger, and that does. ;)
Weimer, I look forward to sharing ALL my pictures with you... maybe while sitting at your kitchen island watching you cook - a favorite pasttime. ;)
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