If I Only Had...

When I got off the train I asked about how to get to the airport. There were plenty of service people with information to offer and happy to help. It was nice. I took a train to Haratake and then a bus into the airport. The airport was 7 kil away. I was reminded that I could take the local bus but the traffic would be too long and I was advised to take the train.

On the train, a Thai lady was on her way to the Hospital at Haratake who had me follow her. She personally took me on as someone to take care of. This whole entire trip, I have come across more people who where effortless in showing kindness and generosity of hospitality. Every time someone shows me kindness, I would feel remorse, shame, and total regret for any other time I had been impatient to others.

In Haratake was a hospital and an art academy. So the train cart was full of art students and all their art gear. I think there is something very beautiful and simple about student life that I really enjoy.

Made it to the airport 9amish. I walked around to check out flights, airlines, and possible destinations. I was directed to a travel agent who would coordinate my ticket. She told me Indian Air and Royal Nepal are all full for the rest of the year and I would need to fly Thai Air. This is like the engine search in Thailand when you go on the net where all other airlines pretty much don't work but only Thai Air. Well, Thai Air is so much more expensive and she was willing to drop ten dollars only. but really I didn't trust her. I heard that most people even Indians don't want to fly Air India so I was skeptical on either one of those airlines being sold out.

So being very tired from the train ride, I decided to just toss a coin on where I should go and what airline I should take. I went to the restroom to have a private enclosed space to think. I decided to walk some more and wait at the airline counter to get the scoop on actual factual status of seats availability. It was weird

I came across an elder Indian Sikh man named Kumar who is teaching in a business school in Bangkok. Kumar's wife and children will be moving in with him from India. He assured me of seats being available and he could not imagine the flight being sold out. He also tipped me on what to do when traveling in India. I am not to travel at night. If I land in the evening at Delhi I should sleep at the airport and wait till the morning and prepare to face the sharks and snakes. He also gave me a name to the Youth hostel in Delhi. I told him I'll be in India for a month and he was like "Why?" like why would you want to do that for? He also wanted to know why I wasn't married yet. Kumar reminded me that the Buddha was married, had a family and then focused on a spiritual life. I responded by saying that I probably couldn't travel and wonder about for months at a time without a return date like what I am doing now.

Kumar sat next to me until I was squared away with a ticket to somewhere and it ended up being Kathmandu, Nepal. It was the next available flight out of Bangkok and there were seats for me to purchase at a reasonable rate. During one of our conversations, I told Kumar about traveling in China, etc... then he mentioned he wold like to visit China and responded by saying people in general don't speak English. Then he slipped into, "well, if I only had a Chinese girlfriend who spoke both English and Chinese that would be convenient." I was shocked and disappointed by that line of proposition. I decided to just let it slip by as if I didn't hear that.

My ticket to Kathmandu via Royal Nepal was 10,000 BHT. I was very excited about going to Nepal. I had no information what so ever about Nepal. I will be landing in the evening and I have no idea where I would stay and where I would go etc...I was very excited about the unknown and how I would deal with the unresolved.

Parting the Sea of Passengers

The twelve and half hour over night train into Bangkok was full. All the berth seats were sold out. None were available at the train station. They had to be bought through agencies in Vientiane at a higher price. The berths weren't much to begin with. They are for tiny petite people. Most people who go berths were westerners who were twice as long as the berths.

During one of the Northern stops in Thailand, a pair of Thai forest monks got on the train. A younger one and an older one. The entire cart was full of people. I watched the younger monk stare down the isle with focus and intent to get to his seat without accidentally having to come into physical contact with anyone by his means or from others. Then he walked. It was so interesting to watch him part the sea of passengers with his intention to create a safe walking narrow zone as he put one foot in front of the other.

Behind me sat a young lady who had a 2 month old palmamarian puppy. It was so cute with puppy hair and all. It only recognized its owner's feet so it followed the feet closely whenever the pair of feet moved. It was so cute to see.

Royal Palace

I decided to settle my next two months worth of flying today by going to a travel agency. I found things on the internet and knew the low prices or what the common fare was. I located an agency that was open on a national holiday the day of the King’s Birthday. I spent about an hour getting clear of flight and prices, then when I was ready to pay for everything the agent told me I could not get my tickets till a few days from now. This was a problem for me because I would not be in Bangkok. So after all that work I had to walk away with nothing.

All that planning and arranging gone wasted. Why should I be surprised or even upset? This trip has not been about getting organized and planning left and right. It really has been so much more effortless than that. But it sure took more leaps of faith than anything else on my part. Faith? Faith in what? Trust? Trust in what? What do I call it? Whatever it is called, it definitely has been about gliding in a different universal current than the intellectual critical analytical one I’ve been raised to be on.

For lunch I found street food a vegetarian sushi stall. I got four pieces of sushi for 27BHT. Then I took the bus to the Royal Palace. The Palace was beautiful. I like all the colors and things that shined. I like the flower and the trees. It was petite and beautiful. I realized after feeling faint that I haven’t put any liquids into my body at all. I walked searching for the bus stop that people kept pointing me to and it was a far away bus stop because I walked for 40 minutes. I felt as if I was walking back to the hostel. I came across a fruit push cart and had two slices of melons to finally hydrate me. I think they saved the day, I was severely dehydrated.

Back at the hostel I headed straight up the roof to pick up my laundry and they dried in this humidity. I came across a guy and a girl who was drinking away. The girl was from London who was Indian but has yet to visit India. They smoked and drank. The guy who was from US handed me all his Laos money which came out to be about $15. US. He said it can’t be traded in for anything and can only be spent in Laos. I guess I will be going to Laos at some point.

I parted with the flirting friends of party for two and joined my new roommate Patricia from Lima for dinner. She is a pharmacist. A another Thai lady who was also a new roommate and was in Bangkok to do legal paperwork joined us for dinner. She went on and on about how she as a Thai person can’t stand Bangkok and how she can’t wait to get out etc… I don’t see how anyone could find 60 ways of reiterating the same point for an hour. It was 9pm and I was tired and I really didn’t have patience to politely sit and hear her whine.

One of the guys from Australia while in Cheng Mai for the weekend fell off a scooter and scrapped half of his face and body. He was swollen and looking terrible. Nothing was broken or fractured but it is going to take time for his skin and flesh to grow back. He pretty much spends the day in the room fully air conditioned to keep him from having to scratch his wounds.

I am not worried about getting to Ko Phi Phi at sun down. There is a reason to everything and some times I don’t understand most of it ahead of time. I am so happy about all the places I have been already. The things I have learned have been incredible. My body is in a space of peace and calm after so much healing from people’s kindness that I have come across. My heart is filled with gratitude. I feel very blessed and rich inside.

Weekend Chatuchat Market

This morning I discovered at this hostel there is complimentary toast, jam and tea till 10am. It has been so long since I had toast and jam, so much so that I didn’t mind the tea was Lipton and the toast was complete white flour. The day time receptionist’s name is Gevaleen. She’s quite resourceful, very helpful, nice, and friendly person. She helped me on the phone to book a place to stay for the next two on two different islands in southern Thailand. She was like my personal travel agent and she was fun to hangout with too.

After taking the details for the next two weeks, I made it out the door around 11am for the weekend Chatuchat Market. Ray from San Diego, Cal joined me. We bought a one day Sky Train pass that gives you unlimited rides for the day thinking we would still have energy after the shopping to play more. I had planned to only see and not buy anything at the 6,000 stall weekend market. My goal at the market was not to go on a shopping spree but try good local food.

The market turned out to be, well everything you can find and everything was cheap. I ended up spending lots of money with Ray. He was shopping for Christmas presents and shipping them back. There were discounts to buy things in quantity where the price was negotiable. So it served both of us purpose to team up and buy things together. I spent about 1,200bht on nine articles of clothing. Everything at the market was mostly size 4 or smaller and no larger than B cup. At one point we ended up going in circles trying to locate a shop we had come across earlier but Ray didn’t stop to get what he wanted and couldn’t remember where it was. We were given shopping strategic instructions before we arrived which was to write down stall numbers so that you know how to get back to it. Well, we obviously did not follow those instructions. After spending an entire afternoon shopping we were both fried and headed back to the hostel to unload all the things we bought.

I headed out to the street stall to have papaya salad and stir-fry flat noodles along with 4 cups of freshly squeezed juices. I love how the food portions here are tiny compared to US. A group formed at the hostel where we pretty much all hung out together. It was such a sight to see everyone walk together on the street. It looked like a well organized group where everyone knew each other since birth or something. The groups past time activity was to drink and smoke in the terrace on the roof top. I decided to pack my and repack and repack my bag again. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to leave my bags here and pick it up later or take it with me. If I leave it here, it would me I would have to come all the way back here to pick up my bags but that would me light travels for me. If I take my packs then I would have more things to lug around, I’d be more tired but I could go anywhere at any given moment.

I met Amy from England who was also planning on going to Krabi and talked me into buying a plane ticket that was twice the amount than a bus ticket. Well, I bought my ticket online before the windows closed and Amy ended up drinking in the roof and didn’t get her plane ticket. So now I have a plane ticket she talked me into getting to go with her to Krabi but she was no longer going on the plane but by bus. It was all a bit silly. I also learned that the airport was far way from the docks where I would catch a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. I had to arrange to hire a driver because I would miss the 9am boat to Ko Phi Phi and would have to wait for the sunset boat instead. Well, my original plans of taking the bus turned into a plane. I don’t have housing and I heard it is a bad idea to arrive so late at night because all the places would be taken. Oh well, everything happens for a reason and its really about my journey in the process and it was never about money.

Bangkok, Propositioned

I woke up at 4:30am to get ready for the airport. I took a taxi to the bus station where the shuttle to the airport was. It was only a few minutes away. The first roll off was at 5:30am to PuDong airport. I arrived by the PuDong airport by 6:10am. The counter did not open till 6:30am

I stood in line with Anthony from Bangalore. He works for Intel in IT. He says people in China are hard working and the infra-structure is good. He says it is different in India.

I sat next to a man from Minnesota who also works in Bangalore and has been for a year and half. He mentioned a co-worker who was working the night shift, a female American who called a taxi to pick her up from the company to take her home. She never showed up. Talks here and there arose among the company saying a good woman should be at home and dressed properly, no t-shirts etc… He also warned me about not taking food and drinks from other because it might be drugged.

Although I paid for a ticket price for China airline, I was on the Thai airplane. It was cheaper through the China airline instead of Thai airline price. I don’t understand how it works but it worked for me. I liked Thai air, the seats and they have orchids in the restroom. Upon landing orchids were passed out as welcome gifts to Thailand.

I found out I did not need VISA at all for within 30 day stay. What a good thing, I saved myself some money there. I took the shuttle to my hostel. Met a man from Adeline, Australia who didn’t have a place to stay and gave him all the info I had on me for him to find a place to stay. He decided to stay at the same hostel I was staying at. The shuttle costed 150 BHT per person and he picked up my ticket for me for helping him out with all the info. During conversation on the bus he propositioned me to accompany him in his travel. This was new to me so it took me awhile to pick up the cues.

After checking into the hostel I went for papaya salad and noodles. It was so good. It doesn’t taste this good in the States and it was cheap. Thailand is hot. I can see why lots of places say they don’t have hot water for shower. Why? Because you wouldn’t want to use it because it’s too hot. I went from Shanghai cold-cold weather to 30 degree C Bangkok. There was air conditioning in the room. It really saved me from melting away.