Ileftgood

Sometimes, time sneaks up on you when you’re traveling. Moments when you feel you have a surplus of days can quickly dissipate when the realization of true distance from where you are to where you need to be is far greater than originally speculated. That realization found me in Lao. Sadly, despite the best advice of many, I left the country without seeing as much of it as I should. But I’ve come to terms with the fact; no matter how hard I try, I’m just not going to be able to see everything, everywhere I go.

 

So, with that, I decided to head out of Vientiane and into Thailand. I managed to get a ticket for a night bus to take me from the Lao capital, to the city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. The ride was touted as a “V.I.P.” Bus…though it was a little light on the “V.I.” and heavy on the “P”. If you ever find yourself in a situation in S.E. Asia where you can either fly for two hours or take a night bus for 16 hours; opt for the plane…that’s the lesson here. Nonetheless, the far from comfortable journey did grant me with the opportunity to make a new friend. By either luck, divine intervention, or the fact we were the only two Westerners on the transport, I was seated next to a very nice girl from Ontario, Canada. Monica, as I would come to know her, was also making her way through the various countries I had just been through and on her way to Thailand for a second time before making her own way to India. As happens, we discussed all things travelers discuss and by the end of the trip I had not only succeeded in having a new traveling buddy for the overnight duration but had also accomplished the task of having a new friend with whom to explore the next city I’d find myself in.

 

We arrived in Chiang Mai early in the day, split a tuk-tuk and decided to meet up for dinner later in the evening. Which we did, along with exploring the two kilometer night market. The following night, the proprietor of the hostel where I stayed, a young Thai man named Noom, invited anyone who wanted to join to accompany him to his old neighborhood for a few drinks and dinner with his mom and dad. I along with a few other guests (a girl from Holland, a couple guys and a girl from England and a dude from B.C.) all piled into the back of the hostel’s truck and were driven about 15 minutes out to a little village where we stopped at a small stall where several locals were hanging out. It turned out to be the local watering hole. We were offered samples of three different types of local brew…some good, some interesting. None of which made me go blind, but all of which succeeded in making me tipsy. After a few minutes of being laughed at and laughing with Noom’s relatives (apparently everyone in his hood is in some way related), we were off to his parents house for dinner. His mother had prepared a very tasty, very traditional Northern Thai meal for us. After dinner sitting on his parents floor and a few more drinks, Noom was good enough to take us all on a cricket hunt. There are a couple tools needed for cricket hunting…one, a large spear shovel. Crickets have the ability to bury themselves very quickly underground. To catch them it’s necessary to walk softly, sneak up from behind, spear the dirt right in front of them and dig rapidly before they descend. You also need a headlamp, as all this hunting is done at night in a village with no street lights. I had the fortune of wearing a light constructed around the time coalminers switched from candles to electricity. Along with the large lamp and tight strap wrapped around my sizeable head, a fashionably frayed wire made it’s way down from the light to a lawnmower sized battery tied around my waist. It was a good look for me (pictures to come). We ended up catching eight or so little crickets, which Noom’s mom was more than happy to clean, gut and fry up for us. Turns out, if you fry anything it tastes pretty good. The next day, Monica and I met up again and took an all day cooking class where we learned many things and cooked and ate a great deal more. We explored more of the city and found respite from an unexpected downpour in a tiny bookshop owned an operated by a charming Irish fellow who at one point was traveling through SE Asia himself before one day, deciding to settle down there. I believe he mentioned that was twenty years ago. He seemed quite content with his bookstore in Thailand.

 

I ended up hanging out in Chiang Mai longer than expected. At that point, after just having blown through S.E. Asia in such a short period of time, the idea of hanging out in just one place for longer seemed like a really nice idea. So, there I stayed. I found a nice little coffee shop I visited everyday, and a few restaurants where I became a regular, at least for a little while. I made my way on a couple little day trips, checking out random spots around including a tiger reserve, where I got up-close and personal with a couple of young tigers. It would have been more amazing if they didn’t all appear to have been sedated. The experience was less impressive than it was depressing. After five days or so, my time in that part of the world was just about up. I made my way to Bangkok for a night and prepared myself for an early morning departure to Delhi. However, when I got to the airport at 4:30 A.M. on the day of my flight, I found that the whole plane had been bumped to a much later time…12 hours later. On the plus side, the good people at Thai Airways were nice enough to comp me a hotel room near the airport for the day, as well as both my breakfast and lunch, plus it was the nicest hotel I’d stayed in so far during this trip…so my complaints were minimal. Honestly, the bed was incredible.

 

Later that night I found myself in Delhi. I’ve been in India now for the last nine days or so. I’ve made my way through the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Pink City in Jaipur and many points of interest in between. I’ve found my way around on the train and am now in Rishikesh in the North Eastern part of the country, half way through a ten day yoga retreat at an Ashram. I figured, if I was going to do a yoga retreat anywhere, this would be a pretty good place. And so far, I feel I’ve made the right decision. The days are filled with numerous activities. Beyond 4 hours of yoga a day, I’m also learning basic Sanskrit, which I’m sure will come in handy somewhere down the line. Plus we get three meals a day, all of which are vegetarian; something I’m not exactly used to, but willing to give a shot…though they are a bit lacking in variety. Actually, today I ended up heading into town during a break in the sessions with one of the other people in my class, a Polish woman, Joanna. We rode into town and found a German bakery she knew of and enjoyed a couple of small pizzas and drip coffee and a chocolate muffin…totally worth it. It’s only been five days, but I’m no masochist. 

 

Everyone I’ve spoken to who has been to this country have all said the same thing; “Nothing will quite prepare you for India.” To them I say; you’re right…I understand. It’s literally and figuratively on the complete opposite side of the world. Take everything you know about common courtesies and decent public behavior and throw it down a urine soaked street. That’s the initial feel of this place. (Eli, you wanted to know where the traffic is crazier than in Vietnam? Get thee to India…stand anywhere on the street and you’ll be pushed and shoved and moved aside in all different directions simultaneously (and then add cows, lots of cows randomly scatterd everywhere)…that’s also how they drive. They seem to push and shove each other with their vehicles…vehicle to vehicle; vehicle to bicycle; vehicle to rickshaw; vehicle to pedestrian; it doesn’t seem to matter). It’s immediately an offense to all the senses all at once. I hear it takes a few weeks to acclimate oneself to this country. I was happy to find a little reprieve from the seeming madness in this Ashram tucked away from the larger cities I’d visited. The countdown to complete acclimation has begun.

 

Yes we did,

-N

Dear American Voter,

 

Thank you. Thank you to as many as the 128.5 million of you who made your opinion count. Regardless who you voted for…Thank you for understanding democracy only works when the people pay attention and get involved in the happenings of their government. Thank you for doing both. Thank you for restoring faith in the American democratic process both at home and the world abroad. For those of you who did vote for Obama; thank you allowing me the luxury of no longer being berated by the people of the world when I tell them where I’m from. Thank you American voter; don’t stop the music.

 

One appreciative American,

-N