Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail! Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail!


And so the blabbing continues. I must say that I've been listening to the soundtrack of Good Morning Vietnam while writing this blog, so all of the titles are things that have come out of Robin Williams' mouth. Anyway, the NgocThao Guesthouse offers to set up several day trips to places outside of the city, and all of them are really cheap! Each of my day trips cost about $10, with transportation, English tour, and snackage included. 

My first day trip was to the Cao Dai Temple and the Cu ChiTunnels. It was on this trip that I was the only American in a tour group for the first time ever. I was surrounded by about 20 Filipinos, 1 Canadian, 3 Spaniards, and 2 people from somewhere else in Europe.  It was odd to be the only one from the big ol’ USA.
The temple is rather large, and mixes a whole bunch of different religious architectural styles.

Anyway, the Cao Dai Temple is a very interesting bugger.  This is where the religion of Cao Daism is worshipped.  Here are some quick and dirty facts about Cao Daism, the third largest religion in Vietnam after Buddhism and Catholicism:

·         It is a mixture of several of the world’s main religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, etc.

·         They believe in several periods of time in which God sent his word to messengers who were supposed to found religions and spread them.  But, because they were frail leaders and there was a lack of widespread communication, one true religion was not able to be created and so several were founded.

·         But now, it’s all good.  This religion understands that all religions are derived from one God, as represented by the Divine Eye.

·         They worship several statuesque figures of different religions, such as the Sakyamuni Buddha, and venerate three saints- Sun Yat-sen (revolutionary leader in China), Victor Hugo (French novelist, he wrote works such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and Trang Trinh (Vietnamese poet).
The three saints.

·         Their practices and beliefs include several different rules from different religions, such as the 5 Precepts of the Buddhist laity, the prostration in the Islamic faith, and the Confucian principles of responsibilities in society, etc.

This is only a basic layout, and there is much, much more to know about the religion, for sure.

Inside of the temple is an impressive display of dragon pillars, decorated ceilings, and a cluster of golden objects at the far end of the temple where the altar lies.  There are several depictions and statues of their saints, as well.  I must say, I was very surprised at their choice in saints.  There was a sea of followers worshipping- all clad in white.  The women entered the temple on the left where they sat on the ground in a perfect grid, while the men did the same on the right side of the temple.  In the front, closer to the altar, were figures with a higher status- they were wearing red, yellow and blue to signify their higher status.
Admire the sea of people and pink dragons

The Divine Eye
 

The musicians would play their music and sing in a chamber on the second floor, much like the choir does in several Catholic churches.  The temple itself shows the mixture of beliefs, taking influence from each of the religions’ temples.  It was really neat- I wish I had more time to examine it all.  Anyway, at certain points during the music, everyone in the room would bow three times at the same time- that kind of unity is rather impressive.

Outside of the temple, there was a road that I accidentally stepped on because I was unaware of the danger.  At the front of the temple, there are important religious figures buried; during worship, the ghosts walk around outside of the temple, so one is not supposed to step on the road in front of the temple during prayer time.  There was a pillar not too far away decorated with a dragon at the top, and a lotus at the bottom to symbolize the name of the town, which means “Dragon Lotus”.  Also at the bottom were four unicorns at the bottom, facing each of the cardinal directions in order to ward ghosts away. 
The dragon lotus pillar.
 

There’s a lot more information I could provide about the decorations of the temple and what they mean, but I’m sure you are bored of this rant already.  So to conclude, I’m really fascinated with Cao Daism- of course, I would be since I’m a Religious Studies major.

The next stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels.  These were the tunnels in which the Vietnamese guerilla warriors would hide out, and surprise the American soldiers.  To begin, we entered a little underground hut where we were given a brief history of the tunnels and the Vietnam War.  Afterwards, there was a question session.  Let me tell you what- even though English has become the common language of the world, accents are a great barrier.  It took forever for questions to be understood and answered correctly because the Vietnamese lecturer could not understand the accent of the Filipino people and the Canadian dude, and vice versa.  I found it quite amusing.
The debrief

We then watched a movie made in the 70s, given a very biased and propagandistic account of the guerilla soldiers.  A proud woman narrated the history of the war while proudly proclaiming certain people to be national heroes.  Approximate quotation of narration: “Bruce was a young soldier whose parents were killed during the war.  He was very stealthy and became really knowledgeable about where to place bombs and how to disguise them in order to fool the Americans.  He killed 35 Americans and became a national hero, the American Killer.” Simply amazing.

The tunnels are 250 km of complex and winding structures that all interconnect.  It’s really rather impressive that these were built.  We explored how tiny the entrances to the tunnels were.  But this extended to the tunnels themselves- the soldiers had to crawl through them, and they even slept inside of them.  We got a chance to go through 20 meters of tunnel, widened for tourists to use.  But even though it was widened, I still had to bend in half in order to get through them, and I’m pretty small.  It was very stuffy in there with just a few people, so I can’t imagine how people were able to sleep inside of tinier tunnels with more people inside.
It's a good thing Asians are normally small.

Hunchin it.


 

We were also given a tour of different traps that the Vietnamese set up, and we were given a chance to shoot old guns used during the war, but the price of the bullets is a ripoff.  After seeing so much history about the terrors of war, the thought of shooting a gun was not appealing to me anyway.

This delightful contraption was known as the baby killer because it would impale a person at the chest region, the leg region, and the baby-making region.
We headed back to the city shortly afterwards.  During one part of the trip, we were stopped in the most horrific traffic I’ve ever seen.  Our bus was stuck for over 30 minutes.  I wish I had sufficient internet to upload the video I took of this traffic, but the picture below should give you a decent idea.  All of those heads are motorbikes, which can swerve in and out of traffic, and congest any free space that may be available.  While we were waiting, I got to enjoy watching a man eat an entire bowl of pho before traffic police came to control the flow.
LOOK AT HOW CRAZY THIS IS!

That night, I ate at a street restaurant.  Don’t order sandwiches with bacon on them in Vietnam- you will only be disappointed with flabby, fatty bacon.  But this is not why I bring up dinnertime.

After I had finished my meal, two kids at the ages of 10 and 12 sat across from me, and the British lady sitting next to me. They asked the British woman if she would speak English with them, so that they could practice- it was adorable. They were having trouble understanding her accent though, so I piped in and talked to them.  It was fun until I was made to answer what my favorite color is fifteen times, and thrice whether I like cats or not.  It was very hard to make different conversation because I was unsure about the limits of their vocabulary.  It was fun, though.  They apparently do this every Monday night, which is just awesome! I wish I had that dedication to learning languages.

Their teacher came up to me after they left, and made conversation with me.  She thanked me for talking with her students, and admitted that she told them not to talk to me because she thought I was Vietnamese (victory). Of course, my ethnic origins were brought up.  The best part of the conversation was when she asked if I looked more like my mom or dad- I said I don’t look more like either one of them- I think I’m a rather good mixture.  She said “you don’t look like your mom…and you don’t look like your dad…you look like a STRANGER! HAHAHHAHA!”  She suggested that I look like a stranger because while my mom was pregnant, she would often look at a handsome stranger.  I liked her a lot.  Day 3 ended on a good note.

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Owee-oh HOOOO CHI MINH


I am absolutely overwhelmed by how much I think I have to say about my trip to Vietnam.  I feel like I did so much that I have to use my journal to remember each day.  Before I start typing more, I’d like to say that I added pictures to the last post, and that for a short while, the frequency of my posting will be irregular.

Now. Let us begin at the start of my trip.  On Saturday, October 13, I woke up in the morn with butterflies in my stomach.  I was about to travel in a foreign country by myself, for the first time ever.  I was excited and nervous- I made sure to try to leave messages with all my loved ones just in case I got abducted or something. BUT OBVS I’M ALIVE!
Admire the cartography, and pinpoint Ho Chi Minh City's location.

First stop was Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, in the south of Vietnam. On the plane trip from Bangkok to HCMC, I slept most of the way, but when I woke up after landing, I was adopted.  A Thai couple and their two buddies started talking to me, and they reveled in the fact that I was studying abroad in Thailand.  They herded me into their group, and after exchanging our Thai baht into Vietnamese dong, we grabbed a taxi (taxis are rip-offs- try to get to Vietnam before 6 pm so you can take the bus which costs 30 cents. THIRTY CENTS!) My first impression of the city when driving toward the Pham Ngu Lao district (the backpackers district where all the sights are) was HOLY CRAP SO MANY MOTORBIKES!
Ma plane and taxi buddies.
 

HCMC is a very bustly city.  And it’s a thing in Southeast Asia for people to ride motorbikes.  I thought there were a lot in Thailand.  I was wrong. 

I parted with my new friends at their hotel, and went in search of my hostel, NgocThao Guesthouse.  I passed it because this hostel is down a tiny, insignificant, kinda grimey alley.  It’s scary if you let it be scary.  The hostel itself is very nice, clean, friendly, and offers a lot in terms of day trips (to be explained later).  The only qualm was that breakfast was an additional 30,000 dong each morning. The breakfast was super tasty though- BAGUETTES! (the French imperialists were expelled from Vietnam in 1954 after the First Indochina War) and pancakes.  It was amazing to see decent bread again.
Ze hostel.

Ze hostel's alleyway in the daylight. Much less questionable than it is at night.

I met another new friend, Mindy, who was my roommate for the night.  We walked around for a bit, had dinner, talked about life and experiences and whatnot.  Then, we sat on the street along with everyone else atop tiny chairs to have a couple of Saigon Greens (cheap beer for 10,000 dong, which is equal to 50 cents).  I LOVE this part of Vietnamese culture.  Day and night, you will find people crowded on the sidewalks around tiny tables, atop the smallest chairs, drinking beer, eating food, and chatting.  This kind of community is also seen in the parks where all the couples sit on benches, friend groups sit or play sports, and the older folk even do salsa dancing under the pavilions in the evening.  I fell in love with the community of Vietnam.
Note how crowded this tiny chair drinking sesh is!

So, that’s day one concluded.  We move onward to day two.

Day two was a busy, busy day. 

I set out with my handy dandy map at hand, given to me by the lovely people at the hostel.  Normally, I am incredibly directionally-challenged, even with a map.  But, I put my noggin to it, and conquered those streets!  I saw men in green uniforms everywhere, many pastry shops, the longest line of boy scouts and girl scouts known to man (they started chanted which was most excellent), and I learned how to cross the street.
This map was my savior!
 

Crossing the street is almost a death wish.  It’s not as terrifying as it is in Hanoi though, as I found out later that week.  Basically, unless you are INCREDIBLY patient or lucky, you baby-step across the road where a line a cars and motorbikes may be coming at you. You take a couple of steps at a time, stopping in between passing vehicles, until you get to the end.  Sometimes though, there will be tourist police who guide you safely across the street, and cars usually stop for them.

SO! First stop was the War Remnants Museum.  Definitely an excellent museum, and worth seeing.  It was all about the Vietnam War, the other side of the Vietnam War that we don’t hear about in Western education.  It’s three floors, and an exhibit of prison life, of depressing history. I had to sit down after viewing each floor to regain my composure.  I think pictures speak louder than words in this case, so I’ll showcase a few photos below. 

Remnants of a prison.

The guillotine was last used in Vietnam in 1968.

Tiger cage used for torture.

An iron grill used for torturing prisoners.  One of many many methods.

Some burned draft cards.  Some burned themselves, and some of the enlisted refused to bomb cities.

This is just horrific.  War is something I hope to never truly understand.

Next, I walked toward the Ngon Restaurant for lunch, which was recommended on my map.  But on the way, I was stopped by Manh, the Saigon native and motorcycle taxi tour guide.  I tried to shake him off, but he pulled out a five-inch thick notebook filled with pictures of the people he’d taken on a tour next to their own positive statements about his tour. I decided to get on his bike because the Jade Emperor Pagoda in Chinatown and another Chinese Buddhist Temple were a bit far away.  He took me to see those, but then purposefully made the tour longer by taking me past the Saigon River to show me how the government was buying the property of people who live by the river to gain land for development.  It’s rather sad- there are a lot of people living on boats or under bridges by the river now.  Manh was really informative- every so often he would tell a random fact about this old building, or that old building.  Much of it I don’t remember because I couldn’t hear him over the honking and the wind, but I appreciated the gesture, and I recommend his tour to everyone. 
With Manh on his motorcycle

Freeing a turtle at the Jade Emperor Pagoda for good luck.

At the old temple.
 

He took me back to the Reunification (Independence) Palace where I took a tour.  It’s really just a bunch of decorated rooms.  The coolest parts were the in the basement where you got to see the planning rooms with all of the old maps and radio equipment.  My blood sugar was low from no lunch so I wasn’t really interested in this experience.  I ate at Ngon Restaurant soon afterward, which was yummy and a bit fancy.  I soon found that papaya shakes are my favorite, and Pho Bo, the famous Vietnamese soup, is super yum yum.

Reunification Palace
LUNCH
 

Then, I walked to Notre Dame Cathedral.  Along the way, I noticed that a lot of the street names are still French.  One street was called Duong Pasteur, named after an important figure in the history of medicine.  Anyway, Notre Dame Basilica was really beautiful, very large, and modern.  They had several tv screens between the pews so that people could sing along to hymns, karaoke style.

Next to it was the Saigon Central Post Office, famous just because of its French architecture.  Inside were telephone books, postal service, and some souvenir shops with some pretty great stuff. 
The basilica to the left, the post office in the back.
 

I walked toward the Opera House where I got invited to go to a cultural performance held twice a month. I really wanted to go, and I would recommend that anyone who travels to HCMC go see it, but I had other plans for the following day.  In that area are a bunch of ritzy, rich people hotels and shops.  Mila Kunis was plastered over the shops, advertising for Dior.  I got out of there as quickly as possible.

Then, I stumbled across the Golden Dragon Water PuppetTheatre.  This is a really special and cultural puppet performance that I think everyone should see. All of the dialogue and singing were in Vietnamese so that I couldn’t fully understand everything, but the plots of the stories were easily summarized by the titles in the brochure.  The performance was divided into fifteen short segments in which the puppets glided across the water, acting out unicorns playing with a ball, or village people catching fish, and more!  The musicians to the side of the stage provide the musical accompaniment, and the voices of the puppets.  45 minutes well-spent.

I got dinner after that, somewhere.  Each night in HCMC was typically, dinner at some restaurant while reading Clash of Kings, journaling in the park, then beddy bye.  So there you have it, the first two days of my trip to Vietnam.  There’s plenty more to come!

 

 

 

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gooooOOOoOoOoOOOD MORNIN VIETNAM!

So, I'm in Vietnam on vacation for 10 days. Just so yen's guys know. I finished my mid-terms and some finals this past Friday, and then Saturday, left on an airplane for a different country.  WOOP! Half a semester down, one more half to go.  Time has really flown, and yet I have so much more time until I arrive into the dark, soft folds of my own comforter.

I am super tired, and have a time limit for internet usage, and I really have nothing of value to tell you in this blog post, other than the fact that I got a 59/60 on my Thai speaking final.  VICTORY SCREECH!

Words of advice: never EVER skip two weeks of muay thai lessons.  Lemme tell you- my body has never wanted to collapse so much before this past Tuesday.

Thai massages kinda hurt.  I got a massage on Friday to reward myself for all of my hard work, and to get all the kinks out of my back.  Kristina and I walked to Silver and Gold Fingers behind Big C. It's a quaint, lovely place with ridiculously nice decorations.  The ladies are sweet, even though they don't speak English, and they wash your feet after you change into some comfy clothes.  Take your bra off- it's more comfy.  Then, they lead you into a room where you lay atop nice cushions, listening to American songs done in classical piano/elevator music style performed by a Payap student.  The experience was oddly patriotic for us.
Modeling the vair comfy clothing that we must wear during the massage.

 
My massage buddy, Kristina, modeling in front of Silver and Gold Fingers, post massage.
She is always eager for a good pamper sesh.

Then, they twist the crap out of your body, and rub their bony fingers into everywhere that hurts.  I was in pain the entire time, but after it was all over, I felt pretty nice. Then, they gave us some yummy ginger tea and cookies after it was all over.

I make this sound like a terrible experience, but everyone should try it at least once.  2 hours for $10? I say yes.

Oh. Sad news.  Four people from our study abroad group left to finish their semester in Cambodia.  For those of you looking to study abroad in Payap- this half and half program exists. Just search around on the website.  It seems really cool, and I am super jealous.  Mostly, I'll just miss these fun, fine people. :(

Okily doke! Short, but sweet.  I must enjoy more of Nam.

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Im Laew (I'm Already Full)- Like Really, I Eat All the Time


Well, folks, I can honestly say that this has been one of the most boring weeks that I have had here in Thailand.  Tis because finals week is coming up, and my laziness meter and stress levels have skyrocketed to an all-time high.  It’s quite unfortunate that they’ve both decided to grow at the same time.  Also, all of the Thai students have left for break, the internet is AMAZING; so, the internet is an even worse distraction than before. The amount of times that I’ve checked Facebook is making me feel disgusting.
This is what I look like too much of the time.

 
This is the common room on my floor where I spend 75% of my time when I'm in Alpha.
Look beside the red chair on the right- that's all of my homework!

A lot of my time this week has been dedicated to reading the assignments that I neglected reading so that I can do well on my take-home final exam for Social and Cultural History.  I have two out of three essays done!!!!! It’s never taken so long to write two 3-page papers before (both of them are over 4 pages- #overachieving). I have neglected to study for my Thai exams and one of them is an oral exam at 10:10 am (kill me now). It’s not my fault- I had to watch the boys at Omega Dorm model on top of the rooftop for 30 minutes, and hang out with Allen, and watch Game of Thrones, and learn the lyrics to a bunch of songs.  These things are important too. 

Speaking of Allen…Allen is one of my good friends here at Payap.  He is from China, but he goes to school in Thailand, and he studied abroad at SMCM last semester!  Eyesha and I went out to dinner and an excursion with Allen and his girlfriend Tingting to hang out with them before they leave for China- Allen has graduated, and Tingting is leaving for break.  After dinner, we went to the market behind Big C.  It doesn’t have many things that interest me (mostly nice normal clothing and weird toys), but it DID have fried bugs for sale.
Eyesha, Tingting, and Allen.

 


 And I ate some.  I had a little grub and bit the head off of the largest grasshopper in the bin. They didn’t taste bad, but I was absolutely horrified at the fact that I was eating bugs, and the grasshoppers head was super crunchy.  It’s amazing how the mind bars us from doing things that we’re totally capable of doing.  I tried eating bugs.  Now I can cross that off of my list of things to do, and I can say with conviction that I would prefer not to eat them.
I ate one of these grubs.


 


I also nibbled on the crunch head of this big guy.
This was my after-face.
After that lil escapade, we went to the German Microbrewery in Chiang Mai where I tasted the best beer I’ve ever had.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name, but it was yummy.  We met a man from Arizona who has been living in Thailand for 20 years.  We had a short conversation about how he saw that America was going downhill for years, and that he’s glad he’s no longer living there.  I can see how he justifies his reasons for being in Thailand from an economic perspective- you get a lot for your money here- but, politically…I just don’t really know.  Speaking of politics- sending in my absentee ballot this week!!!!! Good citizen!  Tis my first time voting J
A toast to Thailand!
 

I talked a lot about SMCM with Allen.  Unfortunately, this made me miss home a lot.  I think a lot of people are kinda missing home, especially those in relationships.  Crap has been going down lately, and it’s making me sad.  I won’t delve into personal matters too much in my blog, but I feel that long-distance relationships are a big issue in travelling.  It can be done people.  It sucks, but it can be done.  Don’t be a dingus and throw something good away.  My own beau has asked me to give this message to the boyfriends of my friends here, but I think this can apply to many others, so I post it here:

"Good sir, it has come to my attention that we are each dating incredible women as they mill about several thousand miles away in Thailand. I hereby challenge you: That we both maintain relationships with these ladies so long as they remain in that silly country. Where I am I have seen several relationships collapse due merely to distance - and I issue you this challenge in the hopes that at least two pairs of us can come away unscathed from this interesting, but most trying time. Stay true to your heart, stay true to your soul, Peter."
I miss St. Mary's!
 
 


And this.
Now.  On to less serious matters.  Perhaps the most fun that I’ve had this week was our short reunion with the Swedes- Andreas, Erik, Adam, Philip, and Rosa (and the Chinese girl’s name that I can’t remember) that we met in Pai.  We intended to go to a Salsa Dance Club…but it was closed.  So we hitched a ride with P’Jew who had agreed to go bowling with us…but there was a bowling tournament that shut us out.  Success came when we decided to hit a few bars- the THC bar, Loco Elvis’ Restaurant and Bar, and of course…Zoey’s.  I hate Zoey’s.

Loco Elvis was great.  We didn’t eat their food, but we used their microphone.  Laura and I sang “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, while Andreas pulled out his air guitar to Kiss’ “Detroit Rock City.”  The owner of the place is the absolute best- during a Thai girl’s performance of “Billionaire”, he made an unexpected entrance during the rap part- and he was amazing.  Twas a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and totally recommended for all of the classic rock fans and pop babies. 
Emily, Andreas and Erik singing...a song.

The awesome bar owner makes his entrance.
 
 

Okay.  Awesome update.  We figured out how to get on top of the roof of Alpha! AAAHHHH!!!! I’ve been wanting to do that since I’ve been here, but the urgency was heightened by watching those boys model on the rooftop for 30 minutes.  It’s way too easy (though satisfactorily so) to get up there.  And the view is awesome.  We were gonna eat our Greek pizza from Duke’s on the roof, but then it got too dark.  Duke’s is a place that I would recommend to everyone who is missing good ol’ Amurican food- it’s a lovely establishment, it delivers to campus, and the food isn’t made Thai-style.


Do I look like a regal bird?



 


Sittin on a rooftop, enjoying a sunset.
I feel like this is the most boring post that has been posted.  But my week has literally been filled with work and gorging myself to death with 7Eleven snacks.

Well, I’ll talk about food then.  I’ll list out my go-to’s slash all-time favorites that you must eat while here!

·         Pad see ew= a Chinese influenced fried noodle dish.  I like to order pad see ew je (vegetarian) because they add a bunch of yummy veggies (carrot, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower) that they don’t add when you order non-vegetarian.

·         Pad thai= famous noodle dish. On campus, the Canteen has the best seafood pad thai.

·         Tom yam kung= famous Thai soup with spices and some sourness.  This particular version has shrimp in it, but you can get it with chicken or pork too.  I like mine best with the small noodles (guay-tiaw lek).

·        Fried rice= everyone has had fried rice.  Rice being the staple food for almost the entire world, people have gotten creative with it.  Pineapple and chicken fried rice are always good.  I really like the Rainbow fried rice which has carrots, peas, onion, pineapple, tomato and raisins in it.  I’m being starved of the amount of veggies and fruits I want in life.

·         Sticky rice and mango= the sticky rice is flavored with coconut milk

·         Masman curry= thai curry. Reminds me of beef stew, but it’s derishous!

·         Papaya salad= super yummy, but sometimes really spicy

·         Khau tom= overboiled rice in a soup.  Kristina swears it has healing powers.

·         Pork on a skewer

·         Rotee!= like a crepe, but super good!  There are rotee stands everywhere!

·         Laap= ground meat with mint and basil and spices.  SUPER SPICY but super yummy.

·         These I have not had, but Kristina recommends them:

o   Taud mun= fish cakes with chopped green beans and chopped peppers, deep-fried (I've provided the recipe for shrimp cakes)

o   Mian kham= self-made wraps

o   Black sticky rice and coconut milk= dessert

 

There.  I’m sure I’ve sufficiently bored you until you drool on your keyboard.  Either that, or I’ve made you extremely hungry for some Thai food- in which case, you should come here and join me for some nom noms!

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Let Them Eat Pie


 

I’m having a terribly difficult time remembering this past week- probably because I was doing nothing that could overshadow the ABSOLUTE AWESOMENESS of this past weekend.  LIKE WHOA.

 

Before I get to describing my weekend though, let me first list a few important details:

1)      Thai soap operas are terrible.  Cheesy, way too dramatic, girls being abused, the lighting is awful…I feel like I’m glimpsing at shots of The Power Rangers sometimes.  These things are constantly on in the common room while I’m trying to do homework and drown out the drama with my music.  Currently, Hellogoodbye- hello again, seventh grade musical taste, goodbye temporarily to better musical preferences.

2)      I can totally go without food and drink for an entire day. I did it people! As some of you may know, last Wednesday was Yom Kippur, the last day of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah.  On the last day, the Jewish people fast from sunset until sundown, and go to services to pray and sing and reflect on all of the things you wish you had done better in the past year. 

So anyway, my friend Rachel is the only Jewish person here and so I figured I’d fast with her for moral support.  Also, I’ve wanted to try fasting because it’s supposedly spiritually cleansing.  I definitely felt a change in my mindset- it was quite interesting.  I recommend trying it- you’ve more will power than you may ever know.  Just drink water- it’s much healthier that way. 
Me and my fasting buddy!
 
 
After our fast, we ate at this crazy buffet place  called Sukontha Buffet where there were a million different kinds of food; all you can eat for 200 baht! Some foods were prepared, but others were raw, so you cooked them on the hot pot/griddle.  I stuffed myself to oblivion.

Please notice the imitation crab characters up top next to the raw chicken.  I collected all of the shapes, but did not eat them.

3)      Game of Thrones.  Just started. I damn the fact that I have homework because all I want to be doing is read that book.  ALL I WANT TO DO!

4) This is a really good movie; it's called Lost in Paradise, and is about two gay men living in Saigon.  It talks about homosexuality and the sex industry in Vietnam.

Ard. Let’s get down to business…to defeat…my current lack of a new blog post. So, on Friday, I went on a magical journey with my good friends Emily, Laura and Maia to Pai, a backpacker’s haven!  We departed from the Arcade Bus Station in a bus, where we would stay for the next three hours. Luckily, I bought some yellow motion sickness pills and took them…there are about 780 curves through a windy mountain to get to Pai.  The ride was great- I was asleep for most of it.

When we emerged tired, and stiff-knee’d, we found ourselves in a quaint lil town where white people were roaming the streets, and nary a Thai person was to be found.  That is, until we stumbled across the high school, where a festival was being hosted.  It was a multiple-day festival of constant music, regardless of whether or not there was an audience.  We got to witness Thai pop singers belting out songs whilst girls in traditional Thai costume danced around them.  It was…interesting.
 

We went on a hunt for our hostile- Spicy Pai Backpackers.  Dude, this hostile is awesome.  It’s a bit out of town, across a couple of bridges…and on your right is a lovely set of bungalows. Just beauteous.  I’d never stayed in a hostile before- and I’m so glad that this one was my first.  The mindset and personalities of backpackers are so wonderful- and these backpackers were the greatest people ever.

 I swear, our hostel was a mini taste of Europe (and other white people countries)- people from Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Australia, and yes, folks, we befriended more Americans.  We spent the weekend with our short-term newfound friends- they acted as hosts, caretakers, and family.  My favorite person, Uncle John, was a bright green gumdrop in my day- he never failed at cheering everyone up or adding a laugh into the conversation. His favorite video was this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8.  It was only hilarious because he laughed at it so hard.

We slid down Slidey Waterfall, we jumped off of Jumping Waterfall, and we climbed an incomplete Buddha statue to watch a sunset, and we chilled in some natural hot springs. (OMG the roads to get to the hot springs are awful and treacherous and slightly resemble a rollercoaster.  It was like being in a video game…but in real life.  I was on the back of a motorbike [rent for 140 baht per day with insurance-cheap!] the entire time, so you can imagine how terrifying that was…not really, since I didn’t describe it, but I shouldn’t because it could deter people from going.  Just do it…it’s an experience.) But, I think my ultimate favorite thing that we did was go to a bar with the hostile peeps.  They decided that Saturday night was lady’s night, so the guys all dressed up as women.  It was the most hilarious thing ever.  They were enjoying it way too much, and Andreas especially was amazing at being a girl.

I had way too many Mai Tais and ended up having a drunken political talk with all the Europeans.  We also had a contest to see who was better at geography- guess who lost…RIGHTO- this girl!  And for those of you who might think I can’t possibly fail, well…*blush* why, thank you, but I really suck at geography…and politics.  I did know when the French Revolution started (1789!), which impressed Cory…I think that was his name.  Anyway, the Europeans are very impressive, and very into politics, so it was fun to have a conversation with them. They did acknowledge the fact that they were uneducated about Africa, a lot of Asia, and some other things- same as America.  Come on Western countries- let’s fix this ignorance.
LADIES NIGHT! :)
 

The town of Pai.  Well, basically, there are streets upon streets of stores with some pretty cool stuff for tourists, and restaurants.  We made this weekend our escape from Thai food- it was beautiful.  Some recommended places are Witching Well, The Good Life, and Coffee in Love.  But we didn’t go to any of those.  We went to a place that I think is called Cake Go.  OMG.  I had THE BEST sandwich that I’ve ever tasted in my life.  Just look at it.  I have never been happier after eating a sandwich.  This could be because it’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent sandwich, decent bread, decent cheese, decent raw veggies….mmmmm I am slobbering.  Just look at it.
I'd go back to Pai just for this sandwich.
 

We also went to the Curry Shack.  The guy who works there is over 30 years old, but looks 25.  Aaaaaand he’s an amazing cook.  Best durn curry I’ve had in a long time.  I recommend the Green Curry, the Masman Curry, the Khao Soy Curry, and the Panang Curry.  Woof woof awhooooooo!

The Thai food there is absolutely delish as is the street food.  There are a million possibilities for eating at this place, but apparently the Italian food is crapola.

Lemme get back right quick to the motorbikes.  It’s super easy to rent a motorbike- super risky, but super easy, and super cheap.  If you are good and comfortable at riding a motorbike, I’d recommend it.  You’ll fall in love with Pai that much quicker.  There’s something amazing about riding down the roads on the back of a motorbike, taking in the lush scenery, and conquering fears and roads.  Emily brought up something she’d read in a book about “the zen of motorbikes” (or something like that) where the writer said that riding in a car is like watching a movie, but riding on a motorbike is like being in the movie.  Definitely sums up how I felt.  Incredible. 
Laura and Maia riding up ahead of me and Emily on our little Kirby.
 

So, Pai.  If you are looking for a break from your culture shock in Thailand…definitely the place to go.  A lovely haven for travelers, who are mostly white people, where your only encounters with Thai people are at the shops.  I bargained for a skirt there and the shopowner complimented on my Thai skills. HELLZ YEA!
Oh! On the way to town from Jumping Waterfall, we stopped at this lovely little place called the Land Crack.  It is called this because it's a family-owned farm with a giant land crack in the middle of it.  So, they can't produce enough food to sell at market.  Instead, they feed us backpackers some delicious fresh peanuts, sweet bananas, tasty passion fruit, cut up potatoes with salt, refreshing roselle juice, and some of the best red wine in a tiny bottle.  Oh my goodness- it was so delcious.  These people run off of donations, so EVERYONE WHO VISITS PAI SHOULD VISIT THE LAND CRACK AND GIVE EM SOME BAHT!
The yummy snacks...

 


and the crack!
 
Now, enjoy my photos…or else.

Slidey Waterfall
Hot springs.  Where it was quite warm, and quite nice.
The Buddha where we saw our beautiful sunset.

Jumping Waterfall. Where the jump was nowhere near as intimidating as the cliff-jumping experience.




 

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