Pattaya

December 10th is Constitution Day in Thailand, so we had a long weekend to enjoy after a short week. This teaching thing is pretty easy when you never have school! Before I talk about our long weekend (which was interesting to say the least..) I have to mention that I have officially been here 2 months as of December 10th.  It definitely evoked some mixed feelings for me, I cannot believe how fast my time here is flying by but at the same time it seems strange to think I still have 4 months away from home. I have had twangs of homesickness from time to time because the Holidays are my favorite time of year and I am sad to be missing out on my favorite traditions; decorating the tree, solstice!!, and of course, CAROLING! So I just want to say that even though I am across the world, I am thinking of all of my friends and family everyday! I miss everyone so much, so promise me that Christmas 2013 will be filled with doubled amounts of holly and jolly! I still have so much to look forward to here in Thailand (like our trip to Phuket!!!) and I am so thankful for this experience.

That being said, our trip to Pattaya was certainly not my favorite. We decided relatively last minute where we wanted to travel to for the long weekend, so we booked the hostel on a whim and decided to spend the night in Bangkok on Friday for a friend's birthday. Bangkok was really fun, but the 8:45 AM alarm to rise and roast at the beach was not quite as enjoyable.  Between hangovers, traffic, and the fact that it was a long weekend, we didn't end up arriving at Pattaya until after 5 pm (what should have been a 3 hour journey took all day)! After a long, long day of traveling I was excited to shower and relax at the hostel. Boy was I mistaken. When we arrived, the room was filled with previous guests' toiletries and half drunken water bottles. The woman who showed us to our room realized the sheets were still dirty so she took them off in front of us and left the dirty ones on a chair. The bathroom was really bad, filled with buckets of old water and mud covering the floor. We went downstairs to see how everyone else was feeling about the place, and when we returned to our room, there were ants everywhere. I am not a high maintenance person- but this was not okay with me. Alexis, Faith, and I decided we couldn't sleep there and we booked a nice hotel located on another beach.

After a process to find the hotel, we arrived to our clean haven of a hotel. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool, and our shower had its own area in the bathroom!! After showering, it was the cleanest I have felt in Thailand since my arrival. The next day, we woke up early to hit the beach. When I read online that Pattaya was a popular Russian destination I didn't register just how many Russians there would be at the beach. The signs on restaurants were in Thai and Russian- and all of the tourist places tried speaking to me in Russian.

The beach itself was very narrow and very crowded. There was garbage floating in the water from the restaurants along the beach and the Thai vendors on the beach were very aggressive with their bed sheets and sweet corn, none of which I wanted to purchase while trying to sunbathe... After a few hours of an awkward attempt to enjoy the beach, it started to get cloudy so returned to the hotel to enjoy the pool. Ah clean water!! It was so refreshing and relaxing.

Sunday night we decided to visit the famous Walking Street in Pattaya. In most cities/towns in Thailand, a walking street is a tourist destination to buy souvenirs, enjoy local Thai food, and visit outdoor bars. In Pattaya, the "sin city" of Thailand, walking street means strippers, sex shows, and hookers. There was similar memorabilia for sale at all of the markets along the street, and everyone was just trying to make a buck- ripping tourists off like I have never seen. Taxis refused to use meters...  I took a photo of a monkey on the street and a man chased me down demanding 100 baht!! The whole place had a very strange vibe and while at first the whole thing was very fascinating, after a few hours I became very disturbed and depressed by the whole place and we decided to head back to the comfort of our hotel. Our last day in Pattaya was enjoyed pool-side at our hotel.

Overall, Pattaya was my least favorite destination so far. After looking at pictures of trips to Koh Chang and Dolphin's Bay, I realized that we chose the wrong place for a relaxing beach weekend. Oh well, you live and learn and now we have some very interesting stories to share from Pattaya. Next stop: Phuket!!!! Alexis, Faith and I are traveling to Kata and Patong beaches in Phuket to celebrate Christmas and New Years on the beach! Very excited for our 10 day vacation.

Happy Holidays from Thailand!!

 The only beautiful thing I saw in Pattaya.. Sunset Night 1

 Island View Beach

 Marsi Hotel pool... our savior. 

"Make a face about how you feel about Pattaya"

 Walking Street

 

Just a sample of what we saw that night... 

Kanchanaburi/Father's Day

To kick off the month of December, Alexis and I headed back to Kanchanaburi (where we rode elephants during orientation) to visit the famous Erawan National Park. This is a beautiful waterfall with seven levels to hike and swim about. It is located about 45 minutes outside Kanchanaburi's town center. 

Our journey to Kanchanaburi was relatively simple as far as traveling in Thailand goes. We took a taxi to a nearby town where 6 of our friends from orientation were placed. Then we had to take a bus to the major city in our province, Nakhon Pathom, where we switched bus lines and finally set out for Kanchanaburi, which is about 3 hours away. We arrived in the town around dinner time, so we settled into the hostel and explored the backpackers street where we were staying. The street was pretty fun with outdoor bars, live music, and western food restaurants. My personal favorite on the street were these makshift bars. They were literally coolers on wheels, placed randomly on the side of the road with buckets turned upside down as seats. They had a variety of liquor and mixers in their traveling freezers and all drinks (including shots) were 10 baht. 10 baht!!! That's the equivalent of 33 cents!! We spent a majority of the night there, surrounded by street dogs and yet it was very enjoyable.

The next morning we woke up and had WESTERN breakfast!! Pancakes have literally never tasted so good. I do enjoy thai food but every once in a while I need familiar tastes from home. The apple pancakes were delicious and it was the perfect fuel for the long hike ahead. 

Although we had hiked a waterfall in Chiang Mai, this hike was just as beautiful and enjoyable. There were many more tourists at the waterfall in Kanchanaburi, which provided entertainment and horror as Europeans have much more self confidence than Americans and are not afraid to flaunt what they got. People watching was just as entertaining as the beautiful scenery. It was quite a sight. 

I knew the waterfall had great levels for swimming and some even had natural water falls to slide into the pools. I had been looking forward to the waterfall for about 2 weeks, and it wasn't until we arrived at the falls that I learned the pools were filled with biting fish !! Anyone who knows me knows that this is NOT my style. I am terrified of water creatures- especially biting ones!! I was so disappointed because I had been really looking forward to swimming, but I was so anxious and terrified at the idea of them biting me. When we arrived to the water slide level, I watched as my friends dove in and squealed when the fishies bit. I stood on a rock for 25 minutes, trying to prep myself and pinch myself for the bites to come. I finally mustered up the courage to jump in, but when I stood up my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I was truly afraid of jumping in- some of them were pretty big too!! All of a sudden a little European boy came swimming straight for my rock and started climbing out of the water- if I didn't dive in now I would have been pushed off by this aggressive child! I closed my eyes, counted to 3 and dove in. The second I hit the water I kicked and swam as fast as I could and headed straight for the waterfall. I didn't get bit !!! I had made it safe and sound! I went down the waterfall slide two times- It was really, really cool and I was SO proud of myself for going in. Each time I slid down the slide, I instantly swam out of the water but I tackled my fear and I am so happy I did because the slide was really cool.

After the water slides, we continued hiking through the beautiful (jungle? forest? it was unclear) towards the top of the waterfall. Along the path, we saw wild monkeys climbing through the tree tops. It was really cool to see them in their natural habitat, minding their own business and being super cute!! Overall the waterfall was a really fun day, it was a really beautiful national park and the hike itself was really fun. 

Saturday night we found a pizzeria, which I was super happy about, and revisited the 10 baht shot bar. Sunday we went to the markets located near the bridge over the rive Kwae and it was cool because I actually got to see a train pass over the bridge. After lunch at a delicious vegetarian restaurant, we headed back to the bus top and headed home. Another weekend that went by too fast! It wasn't too bad heading home though because we had a short week to look forward to.

Wednesday of the next week was Father's Day in Thailand, which is also the King's Birthday. It is a national holiday in Thailand where all of Thailand celebrates and expresses their love for the King. It was cool to see a lot of people wearing Yellow, the color of the King, and at night there were shows of fireworks, Thai boxing, and traditional Thai dancing. I am absolutely fascinated by the culture in Thailand and I am really happy I got to see the celebration and learn more about Thai culture.

 Hanging out in a cave on the upper levels of the waterfall

 Exploring the falls

 Conquered the fear and went down the slide! 

 Loving my walking stick

 The group

 Beautiful Thailand

 Fun rocks and falls

 Monkeys!!!

 Jungle? Forest?

Train crossing the bridge over the river Kwae

Loy Krathong Festival

Every year in November, Thailand celebrates Loy Krathong festival, which is a festival of lights to thank the water gods. Thai people have explained to me that water is such an important part of everyday life- this festival is a way to give back to the Gods of Water and express the appreciation for water in Thailand. Different regions celebrate this festival with varying traditions. The most famous tradition is the floating lanterns being released into the sky in Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, Chiang Mai is too far away from Salaya for a day trip, so Alexis and I couldn't attend that festival, but we were pleased to discover that the University and the park located in our town were both holding ceremonies for the celebration.

We attended the festival with the 3 Thai University students who are serving as teachers' aids this semester at our school and observing how to teach. Their names are Eye, Som, and Ice and it was a great bonding experience to celebrate the festival with local Thai teenagers. We started at the celebration at Mahidol University, where there were fireworks and a competition similar to "Miss America" but the contestants were all dressed in traditional Thai costume. The University was celebrating Loy Krathong with the banana leaf lanterns that float in the water. The lanterns were very beautiful- all hand made and decorate with flowers and candles, but my eyes kept looking to the sky- hoping to see some floating lanterns. Alexis and I have been dying to see these lanterns for months, and lucky for us- we were able to experience the peaceful beauty of the floating lanterns.


At the local park, Phra Phutthamonthon, they were selling the floating lanterns and people were releasing them into the sky. Ice explained to me that its a way of releasing your sins and asking for forgiveness. As a group, we bought 4 lanterns and watching them float through the sky was one of the most simple, yet truly beautiful things I have ever seen. Eye said to me, "In my dreams, this is heaven." It was really amazing to share this cultural festival with Thai people and I am so grateful that I was able to participate. After we released our floating paper lanterns, we also purchased our own banana leaf lanterns and released them into the river. Overall, it was truly an amazing night and one that I will remember for a long time. Sometimes the most simple things have the biggest impression and the simplicity and peacefulness of this festival is by far my favorite experience that I have had in Thailand to date.

 Blurry- it was very difficult to capture the lanterns but it was so beautiful seeing them across the sky

 Alexis and I with our banana leaf lanterns to release into the river !

 My river lantern

 Floating lanterns in the sky and on the river. Reminded me of the floating lights in tangled :) 

 Lanterns on the river

 Releasing our floating lantern !