Back in California

We're back in the land of the free! We arrived safely to San Francisco after a long 16 hour plane journey. What's next? We'll start life up again ... at least for now. I'm off to Google and Rashmi returns to her cushy job at SWAPE. Thanks to those who have been following the blog this whole time. I hope you've enjoyed following us on our adventures! Take care and happy travels!

Last days in Bangkok

We stopped by Bangkok for about a week before we headed back home to California. While we were there we met up with A (aka Karita) who we met while volunteering in Chiang Rai. She made us feel very welcome in the big city of Bangkok. One night she invited us to her work's Halloween party. She teaches at an English language school for college-level and above students. They put on a Halloween celebration similar to what you'd find in the states.

There was free make up to make it look like you had been brutally slashed and burned. They also entertained students with a mummy race and ... a Thai superstar band! They performed a few songs and then stood by as fans rushed up to take pictures with them. It was fun to see Thai people exposed to the wonders of an American Halloween party.

A(Karita) and me in our Halloween makeup

Hanging with Thai popstars

A few days later was a very special event in Thailand: the Loi Kratong festival! On the full moon in early November Thais flock to riversides and lakes to float kratong, which are small baskets that hold candles and incense. You make a wish before putting it in the water and then lower it in for the currents to take it away. Kratongs are usually made of banana leaves, but can also be made from bread for a more environmentally friendly snack for the fishes. The skies were also dotted with floating orange lanterns. I think they used the heat of the flame to make themselves rise up in the air. It was a very busy time around the waterfront but it was great to see a local festival in action.

Near the bustling waterfront

Posing with the kratong before setting it loose

Turtle-shaped bread kratong on sale!

Chitwan National Park

We spent our last few days in Nepal at Chitwan National Park, one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! Chitwan is home to many high-profile endangered species, including the one-horned rhino, Bengali tiger, Gharial (crocodile-like reptile), and the Gangegtic river dolphin. We signed up for a day-long hike and a 2-hour elephant ride through the jungle in hopes of spotting some of these rare animals.

The hike was really exciting because it was just me, Leslie, and two guides tiptoeing through the jungle trying to sneak up on things without being seen. We would take small game trails into the riverine forest or bushwack our way through grasses over six feet tall to track the animals down. Our lead guide, Gonus, was really good at spotting things. Within the first hour we had spotted our first rhino, a fatty about the size of an elephant, wallowing in the mud. We crept up to the riverbank to get a closer look, making sure to remain hidden behind some bushes because rhinos are known to charge without warning if they feel threatened. The rhino must have heard us, because it got up and ran into the tall grass. The guides were not sure which way it went, so they motioned us to stay behind them as we backed our way safely into the forest.

We were about 10 meters away from the rhino's head!

The rest of the morning we saw a number of other cool jungle animals, including the common languor, spotted deer, many red cotton bugs. We also spotted a bunch of birds: kingfishers, trans-Himalayan ducks, a crested serpent eagle, a woodpecker, and a chestnut-headed bee eater.

Common Languor

After lunch we spent a good 2 hours wandering through the forest not finding anything. At one point we heard a sloth bear lumbering in the grass, but it failed to reveal itself. Then, when I had just about given up hope of seeing anything more, Gonus spotted a Gharial poking its head out of the river. He was able to recognize what it was by it's unique elongated snout. For the last hour of our trek we followed our guide through the grasslands. I wasn't sure where we were going and thought we were getting ourselves lost, but then Gonus found what he was looking for...two big rhinos grazing contentedly a hundred feet ahead of us. It was really impressive to see such massive creatures in the wild. We climbed a fallen tree to get a closer look and watched them them in awe for a while.

Leslie got a really great shot of the rhinos from the tree we were hiding in.

The next day was elephant day, starting out with our elephant ride in the morning. We chose to go on an elephant ride because we had heard that it was the best way to observe the rhinos up close. Apparently, most jungle animals aren't afraid of elephants so one can get a really close look with neither them or us feeling threatened. Unfortunately, we did not find any rhinos on the ride, but we did get to see some good views of other animals, including 3 different species of deer, wild boar, and, of course, lots of birds.

After the ride we participated in elephant bath time. At 11 am every day the Mahouts (elephant handlers) take their elephant for a bath in the river. For a small fee you can take a ride on their back while they bathe, allowing them to spray you with their trunk and roll you into the water. It was really fun getting to interact with them in this way, and the cool water was definitely refreshing. I couldn't help feeling giddy afterward!

In the afternoon we visited the elephant breeding center, where elephants are bred as beasts of burdan. I have mixed feelings about the breeding center. As I have mentioned in my previous entry regarding our last elephant ride, it makes me sad to see elephants under human control. They are too intelligent and sensitive to be chained up, and one can see it in their eyes that they are not happy. However, the breeding center prevents elephants from being captured from the wild, which is the more common alternative. It also gave us the opportunity to play with adorable baby elephants! They let the baby elephants mingle freely with the visitors to get them used to human interaction. And the calves come right up to you, nuzzling you with their trunks in search of food. Leslie and I must have spent an hour petting them and admiring how cute they were.

Pokhara - Celebrating Diwali in Nepal

Written by Rashmi Sahai

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which also coincides with the lunar new year, is the second largest holiday in Nepal. We finished up our trek just in time to celebrate the festivities in Pokhara.

In Nepal, Diwali is celebrated over a five-day period. The first day is the day of the crow, the second day is the day of the dog, the third day is the day of the buffalo, the fourth day is dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and the last day is when sisters recognize their brothers for the protection they provide them.

We were still on the trail during the first three days of Diwali. Most hilltribe people in Nepal are Buddhist, so we did not really observe too much celebrating on those days. However, we still passed by dogs and buffaloes decorated with tikkas and chains of marigolds on the 2nd and 3rd days respectively. On the third day, I was also decorated with a marigold necklace in return for a small (and not quite optional) donation.

Buffaloes enjoying their day

Strung with Marigolds!

The 2-hour bus ride from Naya Pul to Pokhara is when we really started seeing the festival being celebrated in full swing. On Diwali, Nepali children will go around to shops, people, and even moving vehicles singing and chanting and making as much of a racket as they can. They will only go away after being given a small monetary donation. The children will even go so far as dancing in them middle of the highway blocking the road and forcing the oncoming traffic to stop and give up their rupees. Every 10 minutes during our ride into town, rambunctious children would run into the street and try to block the way. The bus driver was getting quite fed up by this and refused to stop, forcing the kids to scatter off the road, screaming, in the very last seconds. At one point, the driver even swerved into a group of kids at the side of the street, warning them that he meant business. Overall, the whole experience was quite comical, especially watching from the roof of the bus.

Night was falling as we arrived into town, and in the darkness the festival really started coming to life. The buildings were strung with colorful lights and the doorways were lined with candles. Groups of boys sat huddled on street corners engrossed in some serious gambling. Children and youth were dancing in the streets, putting on performances for their friends and family. They ran the gamut of classical dances to flashy Bollywood numbers. It was really fun seeing Nepali's enjoying their culture for themselves and not for the tourist dollar.

Dance performances on the street

We spent the next couple days in Pokhara relaxing and eating delicious Indian food. After trekking for 17 days straight, our bodies were pretty exhausted and we spent most of our time catching up on sleep. We did manage a half day hike up to the World Peace Pagoda, which didn't turn out to be that impressive. The of the city below, however, made the climb worth it.

Lakeside Pokhara

The World Peace Pagoda

Annapurna Circuit Trek

About five years ago was when I first heard about the Annapurna Circuit trek. Intrigued I searched for more information online and was soon hooked. The trek is described as a 16-21 day hike through the mountains of Nepal, circling the Annapurna mountain range. The journey takes the trekker along river carved valleys and steep gorges, all the way up to a high mountain pass where the peaks of some of the highest mountains in the world are at your eye level. What made the trek appealing to me was the exotic location and the promise of mind-blowing views of the rugged landscape that nature had created over millions of years. Despite the treks isolation from any roads, long time commitment, and natural challenges, it is very accessible. Tea houses along the way provide simple rooms and food for trekkers making it unnecessary to carry a tent or provisions.

There were many setbacks and challenges we had to face on this trip. From poor footwear, the highest altitudes we'd been to, taking the Giardia challenge (and winning!), to just simply not having enough money. (Don't budget with a 3 year old guidebook and visit during a shortage of bank notes) We also ran into ad weather, food poisoning and a hellish night of bedbugs. Despite all this, we made it through and back to tell of what we have seen...and there is definitely a lot to tell!

It all starts with our arrival in Kathmandu and scrambling to equip ourselves for the journey. Four months in Southeast Asia meant that we had no gear for the cold and snowy conditions that we were likely to face. My feet hadn't been in shoes for the past few months! Kathmandu has a fairly developed tourist ghetto, a result of the many past mountaineering parties passing through on their way tot he Himalayas. It also has a huge number of shops selling all manners of knock-off outdoor brand gear to aspiring trekkers. Some of the gear is of great quality at one-fifth the cost and some are poor quality imitations that fall apart quickly. We spent 2 days gathering fleece and down as well as a pair of boots for me. Rashmi decided that her Keene's would be up for the test of hiking in alpine environments.

At the time we arrived in Nepal, banks were running out of currency notes because the expected shipment of new notes from France had not arrived. This meant getting Nepali rupees was an uncertain prospect as banks were closed and ATMs had low limits on what could be withdrawn.

Fully stocked and what we thought an adequate bundle of rupees, we left our extra baggage in our hotel bag storage and hopped on a bus bound for Pokhara. We stopped off halfway at Dumre where we planned to catch a local bus to the trailhead town of Besishahar. After much haggling we crammed into the minivan with what must have been 20 other people. With no place to sit I opted to ride on the roof rack with the luggage. This turned out to be a great choice compared to the stuffy interior. We arrived at the trailhead in the early afternoon and started off on our adventure, aiming for a village about 3 hours down the road.

The valley on the hike up

The hike starts at 760m and we slowly walk up a valley carved by the Marsyangdi river. We realized we had budgeting issues the first night when getting a meal to satisfy our rocketing metabolisms started at 600 rupees ($9). Prices were only expected to increase from the first village. We resolved to eat the local staple of Daal Bhat for most meals. Not that it was much cheaper, but because it comes with refills, so you can eat as much rice, lentil soup and curry your stomach can handle. Sometimes the food was great and really satisfying, while other times we were disappointed by the poor quality or stinginess of second helpings. I believe ate Daal Bhat for lunch and dinner every day until we crossed the pass!

Room rates were designed to rope you into staying as your were likely to eat at their restaurant where they made their killing. Rooms ranged from 100 - 200 rupees ($1.30-3) and came with 2 small foam mattress beds and a solar heated "hot shower" which was only hot when the sun was shining.

After the first night in the town of Bhulebhule Rashmi began showing signs of food poisoning. We took it slow the next day, only hiking a little further to the major village of Bahundanda. We had a great view at the top of the hill. That night I woke up covered in itchy bites. I was so itchy I thought I had some full body rash. the next morning I realized I had been ravaged by bedbugs. Rashmi counted about 100 bites all over me. From then on I checked every bed for the nasty bloodsuckers but never found them again.

One major environmental issue of this trek is the use of plastic bottles. With no proper system for disposal these bottles end up littering towns and trails or burned in trash fires. Not wanting to contribute to this problem we resolved not to buy any bottled water along the trail. Instead we opted to purify our own water with iodine tablets or the fill up at clean water stations sprinkled at various villages along the trail. This usually meant we would plan our itinerary around eating and sleeping at the next town with a water station. While staying at Bahundanda we had been filling up from a container labeled "Normal Drinking Water," but it turns out they did nothing to purify it! When we found out we were horrified as the potential for Giardia which was a major concern on the trail. Figuring it would take a week if we knew if we had caught the bug we decided to head off to the next water station 6 hours up the road.

Much of the scenery at the beginning of the trail was shrouded in fog and mist. The valley walls towered over us on both sides covered in lush vegetation and prickled with waterfalls. One fall, called Rainbow falls, was 202m long! The hiking trail up the canyon was fairly well developed and marked. The bridges used to cross the churning sinister gray river were most of the time very well engineered suspension bridges. However, every so often we had to cross on a rickety bamboo bridge clutching onto the railing for dear life. At one point, the river was so steep that the water was roaring through the canyon in consistent Class 6 rapids.

One of the enormous falls we saw

Crossing the bamboo bridge

We reached the top of our ascent for that day and were greeted with a break in the clouds and the sun shining onto a beautiful little plateau. The whole area was alive with many different kinds of birds singing and fluttering about. Rashmi's favorite was the Hoopoe, a orange bird with white spots and stripes and a crest on its head that fans open when it lands.

The next day was a long steep 7 hour climb to the next clean water station. We took the longer more scenic route but unfortunately did not see too much because it was drizzling and misty the whole day. At one point we heard a loud rumbling sound across the river and looked over to see a giant boulder hurtling down the side of the cliff. We had just witnessed a rockfall!

Every day that we hiked it drizzled a little, but soon enough, the real rain started. The first day of rain was drizzly at best and pouring at the worst times. We threw on our pack covers, Rash busted out the poncho, and I used my broken umbrella. We hiked for about 6 hours in the rain and made it to the town of Lower Pisang. The wet weather did not prevent us from seeing some really cool things along the way. For much of the hike, one side of the mountain was a very sheer, super-smooth wall glistening with frozen sheets of ice. We also passed dozens of waterfalls. At one point we could see 5 different falls all from one vantage point. Arriving in Lower Pisang was like stepping back hundreds of years. The river had turned into a primordial mud flow and the homes up on the hill sides had been constructed out of piled stones.

Ready to tackle the rain!

We huddled by the fire with many other soggy travelers and heard that the local lama had said it would rain non-stop for another day and then would be clear. Sure enough, we awoke to pouring rain, thinking about our dwindling stash of rupees we decided to press on as a wasted day just meant an even tighter budget. Within ten minutes of hitting the trail though, we were turned back by fierce winds that made the rain feel like taking an icy shower. We retreated to Lower Pisang to wait out the storm. While chatting with other travelers and their guides we learned that a bigger village over the pass had an ATM. Our money worries were over!

Many people and groups on the trail use guides and porters. Guides accompany you adding cultural information and acts as a liaison with the Nepali teahouse staff. Porters have the task of carrying huge bags (sometimes 3 peoples packs) while their clients stroll by with their daypacks. Although not all porters were so heavily loaded, we saw it as cruel and immoral to be putting so much weight on one persons back. Porters tie a rope around the whole bundle, throw it on their back, and stabilize it with a cord around their forehead.

We awoke very early the next day and as the lama had predicted, it was crystal clear. Excited and restless from the day before we got a dawn start and marveled at the beautiful valley as the sun rose over the unveiled mountain ranges. Towering over us was a huge smooth glacially carved rock bowl as well as the beginnings of the snow covered Annapurna mountains. Our hike to Manang that morning was breathtakingly wonderful. There was so much natural beauty all around us it would take way too long to describe it all in words. Below is a rough sketch of the many things we saw.

Breathtaking views of the valley

The glacially smoothed bowl

From Manang, the air started getting thinner and thinner. Because Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) was a concern, we spent the next few days hiking only a few hours in the morning and resting in the afternoon. It got cold enough that we would have to sit around in our down jackets and fleece pants in the middle of the afternoon. Each day as we climbed a little higher it got a little harder to breathe. We made it to high camp where we would make our one day push of 1000m gain to Thorung La pass (5416m) and the 1400m descent to Muktinath, the town on the other side. Neither of us had been at altitudes that high and any exertion was very taxing. The solution was to move very slowly as going at our quick hiking pace would leave us breathless and gasping for air.

All bundled up!

We left early for the pass, although many other trekkers left at 4 am. About 15 minutes on the trail we had to stop because Rashmi was having breathing difficulties. We weighed out our options of turning back, taking a mule over the pass, or pushing on. We attempted pushing on a few times but each time we had to stop. A passing Spaniard even lent Rashmi his trekking poles, on the promise that we would return them to him on the other side. Shortly after that I decided it just wasn't safe to continue on and that we should turn around. I left Rashmi to rest in the snow as I raced ahead to return the poles to the Spaniard. I quickly ran out of steam and started getting light-headed, but was able to slow my pace, recover my breathe, and catch up to return the poles. By the time I had returned, Rashmi was feeling much better after resting and had decided to try one last time.

We made it to the top!

We took it much slower and took frequent breaks and were able to move forward and not be completely out of breath. Metal poles marked the trail ad we would hike from pole to pole, resting for a few minutes before continuing on. We made it to the pass elated but very tired. Gathering clouds had started a snowstorm on the other side as we began our long descent to Muktinath.

Strong winds blew snow on us as we navigated the slippery trail down. We found a good technique of holding hands as we descended so if one slipped the other could be a support. In this manner we were able to move quite fast. Slowly the weather improved as we moved further down the mountain and left the snow-line. With the storm clearing the Kali Gandaki valley opened up in front of us. At this lower elevation, the terrain was very dry, arid, and desert-like. Oases of small irrigated towns dotted the hillside. After a grueling downhill hike we reached a warm shower in Muktinath and collapsed in our beds.

On the other side of the pass we started following the Jomsom trail, known as the "Apple Pie" trail for the way it accommodates trekkers. True to its nickname, accommodation and facilities were much more comfortable due to the dirt road that has been created for jeeps to bring in supplies to the local towns. And sure enough, every menu we looked at served Apple Pie.

We spent the next few days following the foot trail and the road while passing through dusty towns. Much of the landscape had little vegetation and looked like a bunch of scree and pebbles. Winds were ferocious in the valley, howling and kicking up a lot of sand and dirt. Villages huddled at bends to keep out of the strongest part of the wind.

Descending to one of the farming towns

After three days of descent we reached Larjung, an ancient looking village. Walking through the narrow cobblestone streets felt like walking in the past, when traders followed this route. We found a great place to stay and decided to spend an extra day there to do a day hike to the Dhaulagiri Icefall. We didn't have much information about the hike except a sketchy out of scale signboard map. It would be a full day hike up to about 1600m to the viewpoint, and then right back down. This was more elevation gain than we had lost moving down the valley the last 3 days. The promise of good views was too great, though, so we headed out the next morning. As we left we got guiding words from our guesthouse mother, "Cross the bridge, then don't go left, don't go right, just go up." And up we went, passing through forests, blooming meadows, scrubby and steep hillsides and onto the upper plains. I couldn't keep from smiling as we climbed to each false ridge because the views of the Annapurna range behind us grew more significant with each step. All around us were signs of life: Large birds of prey soared above, flocks of silvery birds burst into flight, and little Pika rodents scurried about. At one point we saw a white bird floating motionless in the air ahead of us on the trail. It looked like an angel saying "Thou shall not pass!". But best of all there was almost no one else on the trail. It was truly the most beautiful dayhike I have ever been on.

We scrounged some walking sticks from the brush to aid us on the steep uphill and anticipated downhill. As we reached the top, the Dhaulgiri Icefall itself was completely covered in clouds. but behind us the Annapurnas were crystal clear. We wandered through the yak pasture up on the ridge and spotted a deep gorge where a stream had cut about 50 feet into the ground. Waterfalls tumbled into the gorge forming small ice-blue ponds. We wandered through the soft yellowing meadow a little longer before starting the long descent. Along the way we stopped at a stingray shaped clear-blue lake to soak in the surroundings a bit longer. It was a great day.

Clear vantage of the Annapurnas

Beautiful hiking terrain

Deep ravines cut by alpine streams

The next 2 days were spent descending the valley to Tatopani. The terrain slowly changed becoming more forested, with waterfalls and aquamarine streams. From Tatopani we left the main road and followed the foot trail heading to Ghorepani. We blitzed this trail after hearing warnings that with the tourist season with the tourist season getting into full-swing, there may not be enough accommodation. We made the 1800m climb in about 5 hours, passing every group and getting to the town by lunch time. It turns out that we were misled as there were still plenty of rooms available by the time it got dark.

A very popular hike from Ghorepani is the one hour ascent to Poon Hill. This is a viewpoint famous for its views of the Annapurnas as well as the Nilgiri peaks. Trekkers make the ascent pre-dawn to catch the alpenglow on the peaks. We opted for a later start to get some sleep, and still the view was beautiful.

At the top of Poon Hill

Going up to the hill was a zoo! Trekkers arrive in Ghorepani on a number of different treks, some to Annapurna Base camp, some finishing the circuit or Jomsom trek, and some come from the city just to hike up Poon Hill. Everyone gathers at the lookout at the same time. One Thai tour group even brought the Thai flag with them to take photos and mark their historic achievement.

After descending and getting a light breakfast we hit the trail for our final day on the trek. We hiked down to Naya Pul, passing through more villages and forests before hopping on top of a local bus bound for Pokhara.

Teaching English - Week 3

After we left our homestay on Sunday, we took a field trip to the White Temple, one of the most famous attractions in Chiang Rai. The White Temple is a modern Buddhist temple that is completely white on the outside. Its color makes it sparkle and shimmer radiantly in the sunlight. The temple is the unique work in progress of Thai artist, Chaloenchai Khositphiphat. Khositphiphat is also famous for his bright acrylic paintings, which can be viewed in a gallery next to the temple. A major theme visible throughout much of his work is the clashing of the material world with the austerity of Buddhist spirituality. Inside the White Temple itself is a giant mural showing the steps to nirvana. On the bottom are paintings of modern-day consumerism - everything from cell phones to Neo (from the Matrix) to oil. This is supposed to represent hell, with a giant devil watching over it. In one of the eyes of the devil is a portrait of George Bush and in the other eye is a portrait of Osama Bin Laden. As your eyes move up the wall, materialistic images become scarcer and icons representing Buddhism, such as the lotus flower, are introduced. At the top of the mural is a meditating Buddha. I thought it was really neat the way Khositphiphat uses surrealism to share his message.

The White Temple...doesn't it look like something out of a fairy tale?

Statues lining the entrance of the temple are supposed to represent hell.

Me and Jess, with the back view of the temple behind us.

A close up of one of the statues that guard the temple...pretty freakin awesome!

All volunteers at Mirror are treated to an elephant ride at a nearby village. Leslie, Jess, and I, along with a couple others, went for our ride on Monday morning. I am always blown by how big elephants are when I come in close contact with them, and I strongly feel that humans do not have the right to control such impressive creatures. It makes me pretty sad to see them tied up, especially because they are so gentle and actually quite emotional. Leslie and I caught two elephants nuzzling and kissing!

The elephant was looking for food in my hand.


These two elephants were nuzzling just a few minutes earlier.


The ride itself, although brief, was pretty exciting. Both Leslie and I got a chance to ride on the neck of the elephant, where the guide usually sits. Holding on to the elephant's giant head reinforced just massive these creatures are. During the ride we passed by a elephant being trained. I was shocked by how brutal the training was. The elephant had heavy chains around his neck and the trainer kept knocking the top of the elephants head with a wooden hammer. It was obvoius that the elephant was not happy from the way it struggled and wailed. After that, I wished I had not supported the elephant riding business.

Riding on top of an elephant

The rest of the week was quite slow and uneventful because most schools were closed for exams. We played with the kids at the Chiang Rai hospital for an hour on Wednesday and went to Childcare (preschool) one last time on Friday. I also tutored a couple of the mirror staff members a couple of evenings out of the week. This was the most rewarding for me because I could tailor my lessons to their specific needs, so I could actually see them learning. Also, everyone is there by choice, so I could see that they were very enthusiastic to learn.

Leslie and Jess hanging off the back of our Songthaew

Overall, I am happy that we decided to volunteer at Mirror. I was disappointed by the lack of organization and the fact that I didn't get to teach as much as I wanted to. But I got the chance to really immerse myself in the Thai and hilltribe culture, play with cute kids, take a break from traveling for a few weeks, and meet some really cool people. All these reasons made the volunteering experience really worth it.

Teaching English and Homestay - Week 2

Our second week of teaching was abridged since we left mid week for a homestay and spent a day doing a visa run. More on those later. It seems every day we've been going to different places to teach, never repeating a place. This is unfortunate as opportunities to teach are getting slimmer as the students exam period begins and so do not have time for lessons. Our first day was at "special school," where there are children with mild physical disabilities but are perfectly capable of learning. We went with two Idahoans: Nicole and Karalee, and had a blast. These children were a pleasure to work with as they listened and were able to retain our lessons on colors and animals. We played games such as follow the leader, Color Bingo, and Pick the Animal. The kids were even teaching us some animal names in Thai!

Taking a break at special school

Teaching colors

Limbo time!

The next day we went to another elementary school called Thung Luang, where the kids were purported to be very smart. We went with two new arrivals: Connie, and Nicola. It was a basic review session of the English they had learned that period such as Body Parts, Movements, and Clothing. The students were very smart and able to play our games and understand us most of the time. We split them up into two and rotated them through some learning stations where we would play games to reinforce their material.

Wednesday was the time to do a Thailand tourist tradition: a Visa Run. Since we crossed at the land border of Thailand and Laos, we received only a 15 day visa. This was not enough to cover our stay in Thailand until our flight out to Nepal. So about 15 days before our flight we set out for nearby Burma. We hopped on a packed local bus as it was pulling out of the Chiang Rai station and stood for the majority of the way. Picking up the Thai number system came in handy as we had to figure out how much to pay the bus driver for the 1.5 hour ride to Mae Sai (39 Baht).

Mae Sai is the Thai side of the border, and Tachileik is on the Burmese side. Both have a market area with many random cheap goods. Some people even come up here just to shop. The border crossing is a little strange as you do not have full freedom to enter Burma. Instead, Immigration officials KEEP your passport and issue you a card that allows you to travel only a few towns into Burma. I don't believe you're allowed further past that. This worked fine for us as we just needed to exit Thailand, twiddle our thumbs for a little bit, and then cross back over. While in Burma we walked aroudn the market area and within 10 seconds I was offered a pack of Marlboro's, Viagra, and a pack of cards with Saddam Hussein on the back. When I declined the Viagra the vendor pumped his fist in the air and said, "Oh! You are strong!" I don't think we can really judge Burma from what we saw at the border town, but it did seem to be a little more derelict than the Thai side.

At the Burma - Thai border

We crossed back over the border, and went through the formality of Thai Immigration where we received another 15 day stamp to stay in Thailand. Our stay in Burma was under an hour. It was a fun day trip that turned out very successfully. It was really nice that the border was so close to Chiang Rai, allowing us to do the whole visa run in half a day.

Next up on our agenda was our homestay. We were told very little about the homestay, and this would actually continue for most of the experience. Every month, Mirror gathers Thai volunteers (mostly from Bangkok) to come up and help out at a local village. We were thrown into the middle of this and tagged along for the ride. The moment we stepped into the meeting room, we were surrounded by people speaking Thai, and even the presentation was in Thai. Luckily there were some very kind volunteers there who were able to speak Thai. Mon actually lived in America for 6 years, so his English was superb. He kindly acted as our translator for most of the trip.

We drove out in a huge bus to the village where we would be staying for 3 nights. Men and women volunteers were separated and allowed to stay in villagers houses in groups of 2 or 3. Most of the villagers seemed quite well off, with electricity, running water, TV, and even a fridge! I really liked my host family as they were very welcoming. I was paired up with Mon and we had to sleep in the bamboo house with a mosquito net filled with holes. It was comfortable enough except I kept waking up with new bites all over my body. We had brought our own provisions and cooked our own dinners. Our host mother would make breakfast for us which allowed us to sleep in a little bit. This was hard though as every morning at about 4 am the roosters in the village would go off and begin crowing. I swear there was a rooster less than 10 feet from my head crowing in the morning, making it hard to sleep.

It was nice being able to cook for ourselves though, and we would normally have a potluck with the girls house down the hill (where Rashmi was staying). Breakfast were nice as we would eat with the host father. He actually grew up in China, so we were able to communicate in basic Chinese, although his accent was a little strange. This made me really happy to be able to talk to my host family. The host mother even blasted some Chinese music during our breakfast time.

Our first day of volunteering we went to the local primary school to teach. Most of the Thai volunteers had prepared lesson plans already, but us English speakers were left scratching our heads. Rashmi and I ended up running an English lesson for the 6th graders with another English speaking Thai named A. Most of them were quite smart, but did not have much confidence speaking in English. It was a lot of fun to play different games with them that made sure they had to use and understand English. In the afternoon we played games with the entire school which was great. The kids were a lot of fun and were really cute. Our ride there and back was in the flat bed of a pick up truck. this was a great way to see the country side, but it began pouring on the ride back and by the time we reached our village, we were soaked!

With our sixth grade class

After our wet ride in the pickup

Every night, back at the village, we would meet up at 7 pm in the community center to sing with the village elders and talk about the history of the village. This was all in Thai though, so even with Mon and A translating for us it was still hard to follow everything that was going on. That night there was a local Buddhist ceremony that was followed by a fireworks show. The villagers had made there own fireworks and lit it up in front of the temple. When the fireworks were lit it would emit a shower of sparks up into the air about 40 to 50 feet and the old village men would dance around the falling sparks. It was a little scary but also very thrilling.

The next day was a little frustrating as we worked to strip the paint off fairly new looking playground structures and repainted it. It felt like they did not know what to do with all the volunteers and gave them random tasks. The afternoon was more entertaining as we loaded up rocks into the back of a pickup and threw them into the muddy rain soaked road in an attempt to "fill in" the road. This didn't really work at all and our trucks got stuck in the thick mud. In the end after a large communal effort of volunteers, villagers, and the village children, we were able to push the car out and getting going down the road again.

Riding in the pickup is like being on a rollercoaster!

Overall, the homestay experience was a mixed bag. I definitely enjoyed interacting with Thai people, learning a little about both village and city culture. However, I also felt pretty marginalized and unproductive during our time there as the program was really intended for the Thai volunteers. Most of the time it just seemed like they were making stuff up for the farangs to do. We loaded back into the bus at the end and drove over to the wondrous White Temple, which we'll get into in the next post.

The English speakers group

Bonus! Me slinging fireballs around at a bar in Chiang Rai