Koh Lanta: An island on the west side

Hello friends!



So, currently I am on Koh Lanta which is an island on the west side of southern Thailand. It is beautiful here and much more slower than the last island that we were on. Most of the local people that populate this island are descendents from some Muslim tribe (which I cannot remember or spell the name). There is a strong Muslim culture here on the island and the people are very very friendly. So, just to backtrack a bit....I got really really really shitty sick right before travelling to this island. I caught a fever from an English girl (Nikki) at the Fulll Moon Party. The fever literally got me by surprise. I was riding around on a scooter, on the previous island (Koh Phangnan), with my German friend Michael and all of a sudden it hits me. I start to feel nausea, dizzy and sick. Needless to say , it just got worst as the day passed. The next day was the killer though. We had to travel to here..Koh Lanta. But the ticket package that we bought from an agency ended up being fakes. We got tranferred from one shitty driver to another to nothing.... Its a really long story that I dont care to put into detail...but long story short....we got scammed. And we got stuck at night in a town called Krabi. Also, I was sick and feverished as a dog. That is the shortened story on how we got to the island Koh Lanta. Anyway, lots of great things have happened as well! I am much better now and feeling healthy again! I have met so many great and wonderful people and friends on my journey! Well, I just posted up some pics in my earlier posts. Check those out when you get the chance! I am leaving for Bangkok soon....so until then...
much love,
melinda.
xo

Koh Phangnan is soooooo amazing....

Here we are in the south of Thailand. We made it to an island called Koh Phangnan which is situated on the east side of Thailand. All I can say is that it reminds me of Costa Rica (but hotter/more humid) and the style here is way more exotic. There are Hindu and Buddahist shrines everywhere and in the most random areas. People wear these colorful thin scarves all over ( in the hair, around waists, arms, hips, etc.) Sarongs and Thai pants are almost always worn...it is sooooo gorgeous here! It took us exactly 27 hours of straight travelling to get here from Chiang Mai. Also, I had gotten a bug in my system at Chiang Mai, so I travelled sick with nausea the whole way. That was no fun. However, I now feel great after literally fasting for a couple of days and only drinking juice and water. I am thoroughly better since the day we first arrived. So, I have to tell you all about the place we are staying at. We are staying the week at a resort called Jinda Bay and the guesthouse we rented is ridiculously big and new and overlooking the torquoise ocean waters and cocnut palms! I would never in my life think that I could afford to stay in such a nice place as this (especially on my backpacker's budget) but I can! It is so crazy and ridiculous how cheap Thailand is! Right now 30 Baht is for 1 U.S. dollar. This room we have is 800 Baht a night, which we split 3 ways. So, at the end, we are each paying roughly lil less than 9 dollars a night. Did I mention we have our own private balcony and walkway and are surrounded by exotic fruit trees and palms...and are 15steps away from the white sands? It is cerrtainly amazing here.
Let me tell you all about yesterday! Oh how I love yesterday! and also today! But yesterday we had rented a car to check out the other parts of the island. Right now we are on the north west side of the island in an area called Hat Phao chao ( I may have massacred the spelling of that). So, yesterday, we decided to check out the north end of the island for snorkelling. We had heard from 2 very cool Austrian girls that they had done the best coral reef snorkelling of their life over in Coral Bay area, which is in the north part of the island. So, off we went to explore. After getting lost on dirt roads and going up and down some insane hills...we finally made it to Coral Bay area. Its a sleepy gorgeous strip of white sand beach with some small "resorts", yoga place, and bungalows. I actually like the vibe and the beach here more and if I were to come back to Thailand, I would probably stay in this area. Anyway, the beach was beautiful but what is even more breathtakingly beautifull are the coral reefs here! Now when we first got into the water, I had no idea what to expect...Especially since I have never seen coral reef before! But it was amazing! As we swam further out the coral started getting bigger and bigger! and suddenly it was like I was in another universe! We were swimming thru bright green fan-like coral, yellowish table coral, large neon blue clam-like things stuck on coral! We saw big neon yellow fishes, blue fishes, and best of alll...we swam WITH a school of silver and black striped flat fishes for the longest time! The fishes (more than anything) were very curious about us and kept following us and swimming right up to our masks! We would try to touch them but they would just swim away and swim right back! They were so beautifull and such cute curious creatures. Anyway, Gen has snorkelled thru coral before in the past and said that this was by far the most beautiful she has seen. This was only my first time snorkelling thru coral but I absolutely believe this. Anyway, before we had left Chiang Mai, we had met and talked to a group of young Buddahist monks in a temple during the Songkrang. One monk in particular spoke good english. He was very wise for a 23 year old. He had been in the monastery for 15 years by his own choice.
He talked about how making strangers into friends is good for us. And how keeping our mind positive leads "newen". He also reminded us to live in this moment and to enjoy.
I couln't agree more.

Same, same, but different!

So, we want to leave Chiang Mai now. We have had days filled with some serious water fights...and I mean the whole 10 yards....riding in backs of pick-ups with buckets of water and carrying super soakers...water gunning and dumping water on the young and old alike...there's no mercy with this Thai tradition. The only ones that get away with walking down a street without getting wet are the buddhist monks. But even then...my new friend from New Zealand (Mani) poured water on the feet of an older monk. Mani and I spent about 4 hours with these cute thai kids. We were all stationed across the street from our guest house and were armed with buckets, waterguns, and a hose. Mani and I took up throwing big buckets of water on the heads of passing motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists...while the kids water gunned them. It was a beautiful harmonious operation. A pick up taxi would come up to us really slowly and then...like an assembly line, one bucket, two bucket, sometimes three buckets, and then water guns! It was so satisfying to get the dry peeps. We especially loved getting the older white guys with the young Thai brides...those guys got extra special icy water dumpage on the head for special soul cleansing. So, I changed out 2 outfits yesterday but I soon realized that there was no point to this because you eventually get a bucket faceful of water again. Though, it doesnt suck...becoz it is reallly fricken hot here in Thailand. The water being thrown at you sometimes isnt even refreshing at times! So, I have to tell you all that Gen, Jaime, and I, and about 7 other friends got into a minor car accident yesterday during a water fight. Our Thai driver was a bit in fault. We got t-boned in an intersection. The opposite car didnt stop (but could have) and just slowly rolled into the right side of our pick up. Luckily nobody was hurt and it was a minor fender bender. This happened in the midst of water fighting and total choas in the streets. But the streets in Thailand are pretty much always choatic. Anyway, I have to go now. I have so much more to talk about but I really have to go buy some tickets outta Chiang Mai. The Thai people here are always trying to convince you one thing or the other here...even if it isnt true. And they are always trying to make a deal with you! So supossedly there is no more seats available on train or bus outta Chiang Mai. We truly do not believe this. So, we are going to the stations to find out ourselves. The things the people tell us here are always the "same, same, but different!"
hAHAH!
Here are some hilarious quotes I heard from many thai friends and peeps:
"same, same but different!"
"No whiskey, no sleepy!"
"Never try, never now"
"Never know, never try!"
(getting slapped hard on your leg and then they mischeiviously say:) "Mosquito!"
Anyway, I have to go! We are heading south next. We want to go to the island of Ko Phangnan!
Write you all laters!
Much luv,
maumau
xo

Trekking to Karen village.

Okay. So much has happened that I really cannot possibly write it all out for everyone. I would be here at the computer for hours and I just dont feel like doing that. But in a nutshell....Gen, Jaime, and I took a trekking tour from Chiang Mai into a national park to meet and stay with a Hillside village tribe. The Hillside tribe that we particularly stayed with are called the Karen people. Our guide, Seren, is from this tribe and happens to speaks english as well. He knew the north mountains like the back of his hand. He spoke his native language and Thai as well. We were in really good hands. Seren showed us incredible waterfalls and rice terraced fields and tarranchulas...it was awesome! But the best part was meeting his family in the village and drinking with them, talking, and eating. They wore handmade woven clothing which looked truly similiar to the woven clothing of the Mapuche indians in Chile. It was really fascinating to see the native clothing and how the old ways and styles are mixed with the more modern times. For example, they lived in bamboo huts and prepared food over fire and lived very much as simply as I had learned the Mapuche tribe did in Chile. And yet, however primative this may seem, they would use cell phones. And some of the younger tribesman would wear more city-type clothing while their wife and children looked very much old style...with woven longskirt, poncho-like dress shirt and silver plugs in the ears with little strung beads that would connect the two earrings on the two diffrent ears. Really wild and beautiful! Anyway, we trekked for 2 days and besides visiting the tribe, I got to RIDE AN ELEPHANT!!! And I mean ride (no seats!) by seating on its neck with my knees resting behind her ears! It was incredible! I really cant explain the feeling. Also, we went Bamboo rafting down a river thru the jungle! It was crazyyy!!! It was so rickety! We flipped like 6 times! It was truly amazing though! We were soaked! But that didnt matter because the New Years has started here and kids are chucking buckets of water at us like there is no tomorrow! We were touring as an international group of 8 (two Germans, two Belguims, one Canadian, and us 3 American girls) and we were riding back to Chiang Mai (from trekking) in the back of a pick-up. Sure enough, there were a bunch of young Thai kids lined up on the roadsides with buckets full of water ready and waiting at hand! Hahah!! It was so hilarious! We all pretty much got drenched and no one escaped the wrath of the giddy Thai kids. All I remember is that I got a bucket of water thrown at my face time after time. It was nuts and chaos between laughter and yelling. It was great...did I mention that this tradition doesnt stop until the 17th or so?! Oh well...it really doesnt matter because the weather here is so fricken hot and humid anyway. It is actually refreshing to get a face full of water!!! hahahah!!
Anyway, I have got to go now. Tonight we are going to a Muay Thai Boxing fight with some Thai friends of ours. It is gonna be so awesome and probably bloody! I will tell you all about it next time! Take care all!
Much love,
Maumau.
besos.

Chiang Mai...north Thailand.

hi Friends!
Thanks for all of the birthday wishes I got from everyone! I much appreciate it! So, my b-day was spent in Bangkok with Isela, Gen, and Jaime. It was really chill. We went out shopping a bit, checked out the Grand Palace (an old palace that the King and royal family use to live in) and just chilled really. it was nice. So, now Isela has left and Gen , Jaime and I got a train to Chiang Mai. We had left yesterday evening and got in Chiang Mai at 7:30am today. It was a long and shaky, and loud ride. I slept in an itty bitty bunk on the top and woke up a bunch of times throughout the nite thinking that i was going to fall off because of the bumpy ride. It was a very bumpy ride and the train was pretty rickety rack...but also so classic and fun. Anyway, we got a pick up from the station to the guesthouse that we reserved. It was all arranged for us by a Thai tourism agency. It was a free service. Anyway, we got a tour this afternoon of a buddahist temple in the mountains here. We had to walk like 365 steps up to the gate of the temple. It was super impressive and beautiful there. I got a water blessing from a monk and white string was tied to my wrist for good tidings. What was really nice was that we had a thai guide that could speak pretty good english and he answered alot of my questions regarding the monks and the temples. I have seen tons of monks in Thailand and they range from being lil kiddies to very old men or women. They wear different colored robes and carry very different colored sachels. I found out that the sachels signifies how long and what ranking they are as monks. Isnt that interesting. Also, men monks cant come into any physical contact with women. They have this receiving cloth which is used to receive a given item handed over from a women. Anyone can be a monk for as long as they want. So some are in it for 3 months and others for years! They also shave everything including the eyebrows. Anyway, friends, Thai New Years is coming soon! On the 10th, Chiang Mai will be celebrating this with the annual Water Festival! Which is basically people dumping water on random people to celebrate the cleansing of our body and spirit for the New Years. Yeah water fight!!! It supossedly gets really crazy packed! And a lot of water fighting! Rad! Anyway friends...I have to go!
Take care and I will write soon!
ciao and besos.
maumau

Thailand!!!!

Hi friends!
I made it to Thai;and with Gen on Sat. morning at 2am. We had our first taste of Thai food at a restaurnt in the airport and it was soooooo amazing! We paid a total of 4 usd dollars for two plates of food. Hooray for that! It is cheap here and we love it. The next evening Jamie joined us here in Thailand after travelling herself for a month in Europe....and early this morning Isela joined us as well. So we are currently hanging out having fun as a group of 4 until Saturday. After that Isela leaves. So, we decided to hang out in Bangkok for the next few days. It has been amazing here so far. The Thai people are sweet and friendly. A lot of them think that I am Japanese (I get this a lot). The food is , again, fricken great! and amzingly cheap. We shopped quite a bit toda in the downtown area and found some amazing exact designer stuff for super cheap! I bought myself a silver Tiffany Co. necklace for 10bucks and a bunck of LeSportsac bags for 7usd each...such a deal! Afterwards we walked to some redlight district area and had beers at a bar (I didnt since I'm allergic). Anyway, there were alot of gross old gringos hangin with the young asian girls. barf. I wanted to punch this one asshole becoz I saw him pull some Thai girl's hair really hard and agressively in front of everyone. She was politely smiling but was obviously embarassed/not happy about it. Thailand has a lot of sex tourism and it is a huge industry here...in fact it is the biggest in the world. What is sad about it is that a lot of the girls are young teenagers ,and even the boys too. The sex tourism industry is better pay for them and most of these workers come from poor family and need to make the cash that is sufficient for supporting their mom, dad, kids...etc. It bums me out really. Anyway, this blog just bummed me out. My days in Thailand so far are really wildly different then South America. People are very friendly, nice but not touchy friendly like other places that Gen and I have visited. Thais bow to you from a distance and are very modest and easily blush. There are a lot of buddhists and muslims here. Thais respect modest clothing and even swim with their clothes on when at the beach! There will be no g-string wearing (like in Brazil) in Thailand for Gen and I. So sad. Oh well. We respect this culture. Anyway, I have to go here. I hope all is doing well!
Tomorrow is my b-day! Im rockin it out in Bangkok!
ciao! beijas!

¡Que te vaya bien, South America!

So my travels in South America is coming to a close. I leave this Viernes/Friday from Santiago to Lima, Peru, and then to Los Angeles, California, for only about 24 hours (more or less) before leaving early the next morning for Asia. My travels in Chile are best described in some words as: hermoso, pobre, loving, humbling, spiritual, dificil, understanding, community, peñi, lamngen, cooperation, sharing, real. Living in the Tracura region was amazing. The trafcura farm was self efficient and the people that live and work there make it so. My days there were spent with much learning of the Mapuche culture, language, native plants, and spanish as well. Money is not to be made for profit and trading is done all the time in this rural region. One day I visited my old Chileano hero living solo in the moutain. I found out that this old peñi (mapuche language for Brother) that I had met the first day with Julia (when we got lost) was named Raul. But everyone here calls him Raulito (little Raul). He is a really sweet old man with some physical health problem that causes him to shake and studder uncontrollably. I had baked a fresh sweet roll over the fire in the morning and had made this especially for Raulito. I visited him to give him this and he invited me in to share some mate and to give me some pinioñs (Nuts from the old Aucaria trees that can be consumed and is very much a traditional Mapuche food.)
Trading on the mountains is called (phonetically) Trafking. Anyway, everybody living in the mountains called me Lamngen which means Sister in the Mapuche language. All women called this and men are called Peñi, which is Brother. My name Melinda was hardly ever used. I got to cook alot in the Ruka (ruka is the traditional house structure of the Mapuche people.) One day I had cooked some chinese food (chaufaun). I was really craving any type of asain food at this point. Anyway, when you cook on the farm it is always for everyone. So I cooked a whole lot of chaufaun. Long story short, everyone was in love with my cooking. And I ended up cooking many more other times. There is no complaints from me, though...becoz I love to cook! And I got to cook fresh veggies straight from the farm land which is nice. Anyway, I need to get going here. I enjoyed chile so much...the people are friendly, the food is wonderful, and the environments/ lands are so different and beautiful! So, I have to get going ......Much luv to everyone!
Que te vaya bien!
ciao! and besos!
xo