Family Reunion

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand

I sent the family home yesterday at 330 am. All in all we had a good week. Nothing terribly exciting, but I think they had a good time. I would dearly have loved to bring them to my apartment in Mahasarakham but a 9 hour bus ride each way to sit in one room and stare at each other is not a happening thing. If only there was access to transportation here, I could take them out and about. I still don't understand how a town exists without public transportation. But then I live in Lakeville, don't I? Can you imagine a poor foreigner stuck in Lakeville for the duration? He couldn't even get access to food, no less entertainment.

We spent 3 days in Bangkok

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. I could kick myself for poor planning - they arrived 1 am Friday morning, we zoned out all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday all government offices were obviously closed, then we would have had to get a Vietnam visa Monday am, travel to Vietnam Tuesday and be back by Thursday. In short, it just wasn't feasible to travel outside of the country within the time constraints. I know Jolene was disappointed. I should have gotten the visas Friday but we were all brain dead.

We did do the requisite wats and temples, shopping at JJ market and MBK, and a pleasant klong tour. Very insightful to see how people live along the klongs (canals) - you peer right into their homes like a pervert on water. There were some beautiful homes right at water level on the order of Venice and many more tumble down shacks that leave you wondering about mosquitoes and malaria and where does the sewage go? How do they watch the toddlers and how many fall into the canal?

In many ways and I regret that I didn't take any of the job offers I had in Bangkok

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. Although the smell is often overpowering and you wonder about the quality of housing that you could afford.

The biggest drawback in Bangkok is having to be on constant alert for scams and cheats. Every time you take a taxi you have to goad the driver into using the meter - he'd much rather offer you a total price about 100-200 baht higher. Every time you use a tuk tuk you have to ask a minimum of 3 people how much should it cost to X? Every time you contemplate a purchase you wonder how much higher the farang price is over the Thai price. Every time a well dressed Thai offers you directions or advice you have to ask yourself , "OK, so what's his ulterior motive?" And there always is one. Your dinner bill will be padded an extra 30 B - so it's only 90 cents, should I argue or let him get his little bonus to help eek out a living? But I do want him to know that I know what's going on, don't I? You will pay 20 B for a coke that's clearly marked 15 from the company or 20 B for a 6 B bag of chips - is it worth mentioning? When the hotel clerk says there is only one "deluxe" room left - is this true, or is he holding out for a higher walk-in commission? I'll never know, will I? It's not the money so much as the sense that you're always being taken advantage of

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. All of which leaves you wary of the good and decent Thais who truly want to run an honest show. So what's the solution? Do you avoid all contact to eliminate that possibility of being bled an extra buck here and there? Or do you take the high road and consider it a small donation, a tip perhaps? And everything is so cheap here anyway. I can afford it, but I don't like always calculating a person's motives.

Fortunately, there are other places in Thailand to restore your faith in humanity. I offer you Petchaburi, an hour and a half north of Hua Hin. We visited temples inside caves that were amazing, went to a local carnival where little children were sealed inside big clear plastic balls and set adrift to float and frolic on the surface of a pool, rode a tram up the side of a monkey mountain to a gorgeous wat/museum/palace and shopped till we dropped at a huge night market.

We stayed at the Sun Hotel, facing the mountain, in a huge room for about $30/night including a great English breakfast

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. The gracious staff actually got on motorbikes to go out and find us a tuk tuk. The prices were low, our tuk tuk driver took us from place to place and waited patiently for us to tour or shop and then asked for 120 B ($3.60) at the end of a 4 hour excursion. The next day he waited outside the hotel all morning until we decided to leave for the bus station (OK, here's where you don't mind a little farang money infusion.) The air conditioned van ride back to Bangkok cost us $3.60 each after the Asia hotel in Bangkok had previously offered their services for a mere $105./total. (Note to self - never stay in a hotel that only rents to white tourists - all they see are dollar signs.)

Our three days in Hua Hin (home of the King's summer palace) were spent at the Baan Kanta hotel/guest house which had been recommended to me previously at a job interview. Our days were filled with beaching (Gulf of Thailand one block across the street), deep sea fishing, pink dolphin watching (some special breed), the monkey temple, a beautiful Chinese shrine, Khao Toa (Turtle Mountain) which is better than Chopstick Mountain but doesn't get as much press, a walk through the sex tourist bar area (always amusing), night marketing, and a phenomenal proper English dinner complete with Yorkshire pudding and apple pie with custard. Who would have expected that in Thailand?

We didn't have time to go to Vietnam and we couldn't get anyone to understand us to take us to see Webster University (an American accredited college in Hua Hin) but we still managed to stay entertained, I think. Travel and all went smoothly and everyone is home safely now.

Pictures to download, I hope.

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