Thailand Part 2

I left off on the over-night trip to Chang Mai with the fam. Originally the train was supposed to be 13 hours long, with a departure at 7pm and arrival at 8am. We got in at 3pm, making it a 20 hour train ride. My story is fragmented, but from what I understand it’s because the original engine pulling our train caught on fire. I remember seeing the entire train staff running up to the front in a panic and feeling the train stop. That was about 3 hours into the ride. After being stopped for a good hour and seeing all the conductors chilling outside on the platform, Chris, Zach and I decided to get off and go to a local shop to get some food. The conductor assured us the train wouldn’t leave without us. However, about 15 minutes into the meal we hear and see the train pulling away. Without us. I dropped everything and ran toward the train, hoping to stop it. As soon as I got there the station operator told us that it was coming back and not to worry. It still freaked us out, and when it was coming back we hopped on, just in case it didn’t stop. When we got back to our cabin the rest of the family had no clue we were left at the station.

When we did get to Chang Mai, it was much more pleasant than Bangkok was. It was smaller, cleaner and more tourist friendly. We checked into the guesthouse and then went on an adventure. We walked around, and had dinner on the waterfront. Then we went in search of some real authentic Thailand Muay Thai boxing. We eventually found it, where we watched a few matches. We saw an American tie a Thai fighter, and an Australian WRECK a different fighter.

The next morning we got up early and got a bus to Elephant Nature Park. I was really hoping to be able to ride an elephant, but apparently that’s bad for them, and since the place we were going is a sanctuary for rescued animals that wasn’t going to happen. Bummer. But during the day we fed the elephants, washed the elephants and watched them. It doesn’t sound like a lot of fun but it was. Most of the time the elephants are so gentle and loving. The older ones can act as grandmothers, and they enjoy being petted and fed. Also trunks are amazing things. I’d seen them before but watching the up-close and personal amazed me. It’s just this one huge articulate muscle.

We stayed there for two days, before going back to Chang Mai and a different guesthouse. Problem was they didn’t have our registration. Luckily it was an American who owned it and we eventually got things sorted out. It was somewhere is this confusing transition that my camera was either stolen, or misplaced by me. That night we went to the famous Sunday night street market in Chang Mai. It was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. The market was HUGE. It stretched for miles packed full of people and stalls selling everything from salted strawberries (yuck) to jackets for your dog.

The next day Chris, Zach, Dad and I went mountain biking. It destroyed us. Chris convinced us to do the hardest and longest trail they had, of which the first 25% was straight uphill. We literally pushed our bikes for the first hour because it was impossible to ride up. After that is was more fun and mostly downhill. It still took 2 hours longer than it was supposed to though because we messed around too much. On multiple occasions we had huge spills. My spill was particularly spectacular. I was in first in a heated race down the mountain when I hit an edge and ate it hard. I fell sideways and rolled like they do in movies when they jump out of cars. I rolled off the road and started to roll down mountain before being stopped by a bush. Luckily aside from a few cuts I was unharmed, but I can’t say the same for my knee pads…

After a long, but fun ride we got back to the guesthouse, got Thai massages from blind people and had a nice dinner.

The next day we rented vespas, which was scary and exhilarating at the same time. It was awesome to drive a motorcycle but scary to drive on Thai roads. We drove to lake nearby and had some lunch. It was  like drinking lava. It was the spiciest, hottest meal of my life. Chris literally got light-headed because of it. After that we headed back to Chang Mai and eventually to the airport to take a flight back to Bangkok. It was a short 1 hour flight. Then we got on another over night train headed south toward Khao Sok and Phuket.

Thailand Part 1

I kinda dropped off the face of the earth in regard to blog posts. I just got super lazy and tired of doing them cause it takes a good hour or two for each post.

I left off when I described the way I’ve changed since I got to New Zealand. I’ll start from my departure from New Zealand, which was more than a month ago.

After leaving my last organic farm I stayed in Auckland for my last day in New Zealand. Unfortunately it was raining AGAIN so I didn’t get to see it properly. I did get some last minute souvenir shopping done, visit a museum similar to the MOMA and had a coffee with Corey. You may remember him from my first post in New Zealand.

The next morning I left for the airport at 11 for a flight at 1, I think. I can’t really remember. Nothing much happened while in the airport. I had a little down time. The plane was a 747 with the bubble which I thought was cool, and the plane was delayed 20 min. 11 hour flight and I landed in Hong Kong. That’s where the mess started.

I had gotten up early that morning, and by the time I landed it was like 2 am in Auckland. I was excited to be in Hong Kong but my mood turned sour pretty fast. The first thing that annoyed me was that Chris (my older brother) wasn’t going to meet me at the airport, but gave me directions to get to his house. 2^nd, Hong Kong isn’t credit card friendly so needed cash to buy a simcard and octopus card (so I could get a bus). 3rd my credit card still didn’t like working at ATMs. 4^th , I could not figure out how to get the octopus card. 5^th, few people speak English well enough. 6^th, customs took forever. I was just really tired, and in a bad mood. Needless to say Chris took the brunt of my annoyance. Eventually I got everything sorted out and got on the correct bus, the A12. I got off at stop 19, where Chris was nice enough to meet me.

Fred's head. It's the only picture of him i have...

We caught up some that night and went to bed because we had another flight the next day into Bangkok.

After exploring in Hong Kong a little bit the next morning we got a late flight into Bangkok on Ethopian airlines. Yep. Ethiopian  Airlines. It got Chris, Tory and I there safely but I was pretty ghetto. The tv’s were old tube tvs and discolored and the plane was definitely at the ends of its life. But I’m not complaining; it did its job.

We arrived at the condo we were borrowing from a friend and fell asleep.

The next morning we got up late and go a taxi to a bigger street with food and shops. It was like $1 for the taxi right and $5 for breakfast for the 3 of us. Bangkok is very different from any other city I was used to. It was very grimy, and less developed but the temples were some of the most elaborate and beautiful things I’d ever seen. It was amazing they could spend so much on religion but be so poor. Also they have shrines to their king everywhere. You’d think that he was Jesus or something. It’s actually against the law to insult him.

Chris and I spend the rest of the day (and the next one) exploring Bangkok.

shine to the king

The end of the second day, my parents and Zach arrived. We went out late and got some food, beer and foot massages because everything is SO cheap.

The three day’s we spend exploring Bangkok. I’m not going to go into detail, but I’ll put some pictures.

After 5 days in Bangkok (which is MORE than enough) we all got an overnight train to Chang Mai.

Good Bye New Zealand

It’s crazy to think that the first part of my trip it already over. I could not have imagined anything better for me to do after graduating. College definitely wasn’t the right option for me yet. I’ve learned so much and had fun doing it all the while.

It’s taught me how much fun travelling can be. It’s constantly a whirl-wind of new people new places and new things to do. One night I could be sitting watching a rugby game with a sheep farmer and three nights later be playing cards in the back of someone’s house truck. Or playing scrabble in two different languages. Or bar hopping with a two other American’s multiple years older than me. It’s a crazy lifestyle to live, and everyone that is doing it seems to be in the same mind-set. Enjoy life now while we are young and not afraid. It makes making friends easy and a constant game.  

On the opposite side of the spectrum, it can be lonely.  Of the people I’ve kept in touch with they all seem to have the same thing to say. Lucky you, I’m jealous. I wish I could be in New Zealand also. It’s funny because sometimes when someone says that I am thinking the same thing about their situation. I found myself longing for having a place to call home; whether it be a dorm room at college or my own room back in Jersey. I wanted that comfort of having my own bed where I’ve slept for the past two months, and a dresser instead of a backpack. Sometimes all I wanted was my living room where I could curl up on my couch and watch the Discovery channel till 2 am.

 I guess I’ve realized how travelling can be an absolute blast sometimes, but others can be lonely; it’s just a matter of finding that balance between the two.

New Zealand has taught me to be independent. I couldn’t call my mom up to let me borrow her credit card to buy something online. I had my own card with my own money. I needed to manage it so it wasn’t gone before I got to Hong Kong. I couldn’t wait for my dad to fix something that I had broken. I couldn’t wait months till I got around doing my laundry. I had to make plans and respond to emails instead of leaving them for later and forgetting about it. All these things had to get done soon otherwise I wouldn’t eat or have clean clothing. I’ve learned to be independent enough so I can function by myself, which was a new concept. And something I’m definitely ready from a break from.

It’s taught me patience. For example: Right now I’m sitting in Auckland the day before I leave writing and watching the last Lord of the Rings on the TV. And I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t mind just sitting here relaxing, and writing. By comparison, two and a half months ago I sat in Auckland and was bored. I felt like I should be out doing something, or making friends. I wanted to be constantly entertained. I was getting antsy and uncomfortable with it. New Zealand has taught to go with the flow, relax and be patient.

Lastly this first part of my trip has taught me how much I love my family. Missing thanksgiving was difficult. I saw my extended family sitting eating turkey with stuffing while I ate tacos. I remembered them playing the alphabet game and saying what they are thankful for. I hadn’t seen Zach in four months. I lived with him for the first 18 years of my life. I haven’t seen my parents in 2.5 months. And Chris + Tory in who knows how long. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am to see everyone in three days.

New Zealand also taught me I can grow a sweet beard.

Cheers, for the final time. 

The Beginning Of The End

The moment I left my room at the Blenhium vineyard it marked the beginning of the end of my NZ trip. I left on the 5^th, which gave me 11 days to make it up to Auckland to get a flight to Hong Kong.

My first destination was Wellington. I had passed through it before, but not long enough to explore and get a feel for the city. It is the country’s capital after all. I had two options for transportation to the city. I could either get a plane flight, which costs NZ$ 84 or get a bus to the ferry and take that which costs NZ$ 66.  I went with the flight because the ferry situation takes 5 hours longer.

I took a 7 am flight into Wellington with Paul on that Monday morning. We walked up to the man behind the Air2There desk and said; “Hi, we are Paul and Ben.” He said, “Great! Put your bags there so I can weigh them .” We did that then took the bags off again and sat in the waiting area. No ticket, no security. No last names even. It was a new and welcomed change from the mess that Newark is.

We waited for a few minutes before walking out onto the tarmac to the plane. There were 8 other passengers on the plane that could fit 13. There was only one pilot, who happened to be the same person that checks you in. I put my own luggage beneath the plane, and then climbed into the co-pilot seat.( I had asked him earlier if I could sit in the cock-pit with him.) We took off out of Blenhium ON TIME then landed in Wellington 20 minutes later at 7:30.

That left me with ample time to explore Wellington.

The first thing I did was get some McDonalds and drop my backpack off at the hostel I was staying at.

Then I went to the library.

After the Library I spent about 2-3 hours exploring Te Papa. Te Papa is this HUGE free museum in Wellington. It’s like it’s a combination of the MET and Liberty Science Center. Except it’s not as big as the MET and not as exciting as the LSC.

After that I went on a tour of their parliament building. I almost fell asleep.

Got some dinner at a Thai place.

Then I went back to my hostel where I hung out with two German guys from my room. We were able to score ourselves some free lasagna and brownies from the downstairs kitchen.

The next day I got a bus to my first farm with Jenny and Perry. I had left a shirt there when I had left previously. I asked if I could return and stay with them from the 6^th to the 10^th. They were more than happy to oblige. What they didn’t tell me was that I would be working my freaking butt off.

 I arrived right in the middle of dagging time. Dagging is when we herd all the sheep in together and separate them from into lambs and ewe’s, which you’ll recall is moms and kids. We would weigh all the lambs and separate the ones that were guys and above 34 kg from the rest. Those were the lambs that were going to get sent to the slaughter house on the 11^th. We put a green mark on their head to signify that.

After that we had to dag all the sheep. The process of dagging is basically just shearing all the poppy wool away from the sheep’s butts so they don’t get infected by flies. For the big ewes there was a machine that would hold them but the lambs were too small. To dag the lambs I would grab them by their front legs and drag them to Perry who would cut off the wool. I was literally dripping sweat. I haven’t worked that hard in a long time.

 I stayed with them for a short time before saying goodbye for a final time. I got the bus to Manukau where I got picked up by a new wwoofing host where I’m staying till the 15^th. 

Cheers