Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Post-Protest

So from what I hear the protestors have dispersed now here in Bangkok. It was pretty bizarre to feel safe over here in my part of town, and then see very aggressive, unpredictable images of the city live on CNN.

There were a few calm protestors two blocks away from where I live, and since it has been the Thai new year (Songkran) there has also been a 3-day countrywide waterfight going on in addition to the protests.

People everywhere have squirt guns, and buckets of water and you can't walk anywhere without ending up wet.



People also ride around in pick-up trucks and motorbikes to soak people. Rachel and I both got soaked while on motorbikes. There's very little pity.

Love to you all,
Paige

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Luang Prabang

So after Pai Rachel and I took an 8 or 9pm bus to the Thai-Laos border, and crossed the river in the morning to get into Laos.

The plan was to take 2 days taking a boat up the Mekong, but once we got there and learned that there was a one day bus to Luang Prabang we opted for that since we were a little short on time.

The town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and really mellow and lovely.

Here are some street shots::





The Mekong wraps around the town, and there are restaurants and cafes that line the road looking out on the river::





I also had real, genuine strong-brewed coffee every morning that we were there, and some yummy croissants and things at breakfast::



There was a temple at the top of the hill looking out over the town::





And lots of gorgeous buildings and a few sweetsweet cars --



Loved it.

and love to you all!
-Paige

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Also...

... I've given my two weeks notice at my job here and am moving back to the US on April 25th.

Bangkok has been wonderful, and I've been really lucky to make great friends and enjoy myself teaching and all of those good things -- but I'm also reallyreally excited to go back to Martha's Vineyard and work for the Black Dog's tall ship Alabama: theblackdogtallships.com



I'm going to be splitting time between working on the boat, and in their office, and I'm SUPER excited about this.

Love,
Paige

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Spring Break Redux: Pai


Hellooo loved ones!

Hope you're all wonderful, and that April is starting well.

Had a REALLY great week in northern Thailand and Laos. I'll take a few days of posting pics to go over it.

The trip started on a train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and the only photos I have from the train ride were taken right after our table collapsed and our drinks spilled all over Alanna (and then created a river down the train car).

As having cleaning supplies readily accessible is not a top priority on trains, our lovely kathoey train attendant Natalie helped us clean up our mess with toilet paper posthaste.

Here are Rachel and Alanna after the cleaning was done:



We got into Chiang Mai, and met up with Meg and Costa. We had a tasty lunch at a juice bar/ organic sandwich shop, and then got on a mini-bus to get to Pai.

The ride to Pai was through the mountains, and very green, winding and pretty.

Pai is a backpackers haven, and very geared towards things foreigners might want/ will buy (eg: hamburgers, lots of fruit shakes, motorbikes, bars that play exclusively Bob Marley and Jack Johnson).

We decided to give motorbikes a go:



And three incidents, and one flat tire later - we were still all able to walk away from the experience.

We also found a music festival:





and played some balloon darts:



I should mention that Pai is beautiful. I should also mention that all of these photos were taken by Meg.





Pai was soso great, and unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Costa who went back to Austria...



...and also to Meg, who left for a month in the US on Monday -- but not before she won the Only Member of Trip Competent Enough on a Motorbike that She Should Consider Investing in a Vespa Award.



Love to you all and please visit Pai when you come to Thailand!
-Paige