Taiwan

This seemed like the best place to dump some forgotten journaling. Is journaling a word? In my dictionary it means the act of keeping records, usually as a written format in a book or on paper. Before publishing I read through my journal once and made some last minute corrections and adjustments. I'll use [ ] my July 2011 reflections and additions. Enjoy -

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January 31, 2011 through mid February

If you take the bus from the airport that goes to Taipei main station, 1819 or something, you get off at the 2nd stop, Yuanshan. The first stop is the school for the blind or something. It takes 30+ minutes to even get to the first stop so you can rest for a while.

Then if you get off at the 2nd stop, start walking down the sidewalk to your right, in the opposite direction the bus was driving, as if you're going back. At the first traffic light and the first intersection you come to, you will cross the main street to your right, and if you look up you should see the MRT in the near distance. Just keep going straight to the MRT, and it is one stop until Jiantan. Then you know where to go from there. Let me know if you need directions or help, I'll have my phone with me.

-Rachel

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Monday 31^st of January

The above day reflects my travel day. I decided to be experimental and catch the HSR in Taipei…well it didn’t leave its station until 6:55pm and my plane was to depart at 8:20pm…I was a little nervous for allowing myself to have so little wiggle room, especially since I would have to catch a bus at the end of the HSR, and I had no idea how long it would take (although I was praying only 10mins).

I ended up discovering that Taipei airport is very nice to their international flight passengers and I was through security in…yes, only two minutes.

[I ran into a handful of teachers who were catching the same flight to Thailand. Hadn't planned that, but it's always fun to see who thinks like me.]

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Tuesday 1^st of February

Good morning. I have officially told myself that I will be journaling for my entire Thailand/Cambodia trip. This should be a good medium to capture part of the culture and life that my pictures fail to catch.

[note to reader, I did not keep up my promise. There is something about vacationing - I throw out my exercises, healthy eating, normal sleep cycle, and regular activities]

Yesterday as I was in the air I discovered that when I got to Thailand I would need to catch the Air Tram and then make a switch (to what I thought was another line of the Air Tram). That switch ended up being to the subway, which one would think would be right under the Air Tram at that switching point, but no – you go walking out into the night, stretch your legs into a forgeign land, hoping against hopes that people are as nice as the guidebooks say and follow a series of signs, crossing several roads and finally entering the subway…from there it was easy peasy to the end of the line where I was to depart. Next I jumped on a Tuk Tuk…after talking the price to half. Okay, pause…so I was in the subway and some really nice folk asked me if I needed help, as I stared at a map. They helped me see where I was going and even gave me advice on the price for the Tuk Tuk…thus I knew to take the price down to 50.

Now I am in the Check Inn at China Town…sweetness. Off to meet Marjorie for some exploration and shopping…then to the airport to pick up Rick!

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Wednesday

First I will reflect back on Tuesday.

The day started off fresh. Room service brought me a simple, yet yummy breakfast which I enjoyed in the comfort of my room – what a concept. I was scheduled to meet up with Marjorie at noon, which gave me a couple hours to walk around and see some sights. I actually ran across three Wats which were actually a little bit delightful, something I wasn’t expecting…you know temples and the such are usually pretty boring.

Anyhow, I met up with Marjorie and we started walking towards the Indian markets. Well we thought we were heading towards the Indain markets. I mislead her down the wrong road however, so we eventually got a Tuk tuk and he was very kind at getting us to the desired location. The Indian market had tons of cool looking clothes. Marjorie had a goal of finding a nice Indian silk sarie, which she eventually did. It was a good looking sarie. Oh, we went to an Indian restaurant and had some good authentic Indian food.

[I'm a little surprised how clothing and cloth is such a big deal. I only buy a new article of clothing once a year...maybe. I think it speaks to our human desire for quality, creativity, and comfort. That is really quite provoking]

I got Rick at the airport. His plane was delayed three hours. I am now completely comfortable with the Bangkok airport.

Okay we were supposed to catcha train this morning at around 6am, but my alarm wasn’t loud enough, so I didn’t wake up until 6am. The fact that I awoke at 6am seemed odd since we hadn’t gone to bed until 1:30am, and didn’t fall asleep until 3am. Alas I am now aboard a bus headed to Cambodia. It left its dock at about 11am. Only question is how long will this take. It’s all cool. We met some people on the bus that want to team up with us when we get to Camboadia to avoid the scams and share a taxi on the 200km trip to Siem reap. Life is swell. Well, except for the fact that the par tof Thailand we are at right now looks like a US suburbs want to be. I don’t even like the suburbs in the US. I guess you can afford to goof off like that when you have plenty of land around – one reason why Taiwan is nicer, not a lot of space so it is somewhat planed out.

So the bus ride lasted a lot longer than I had expected. We got to the border at about 5pm. The people we were going to team up with started negotiating with a Tuk tuk right when we got off the bus…this was not wise as already told to us and them by a guy from UK who had been across the border several times. Anyway, we got scammed some money for a very short Tuk tuk ride…they even took us to a office for visas (the unofficial office). To bad. Lost three bucks. After going through the customs of Thailand and then Cambodia we were then officially in Cambodia. We then got a taxi with the older “couple”. That taxi ride was a pleasant two hours, or there abouts. We stopped for food along the way. Finally Siem Reap was on the radar and alas after some searching the coveted “Home Sweet Home Hotel” was discovered.

[The one lady who wanted to team up with us had done a bit of traveling and seemed to know what she was doing. Well she obviously didn't since we still got scammed. Point, I will trust my traveling skills - I have nothing to lose by that, and a lot to gain]

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Thursday

We sort of said we would wake up early in order to see the sunrise from Angkor Wat. This agreement was not very official and was only between Rick and I. The alarm went off at 6am, but I was still tired and Rick didn’t even hear it, or budge at all, so I just turned it off and went back to sleep. About 10am I woke up and started to stir. Rick didn’t move until about 10:30. A good nights sleep. We ate breakfast at our hotel on the patio out front. It was very nice. Pancake with sweet honey and bread (with a fancy name I do not recall) and a mango shake. Lovely. Mr. Rocky served us up some food and inquired about what we were going to be doing and how he could help. We knew we were headed to Angkor Wat for the day, but we needed someone to drive us around and give us a decent idea of where to spend our time…he volunteered. For $35 we had ourselves Mr. Rocky the nice guy as a driver.

We started at the mother of the ruins, which is to say it was huge. They were just awesome. Huge and interesting and with lots of room for exploring. Despite the fact there were a bunch of other tourists around, we still had long hallways of intricit designs and pillars with no one in them! We saw several other sites, each one with its own unique value and all intriguing. Hello friends, visit Angkor Wat, it’s awesome!

[Some people think Thailand is the most amazing country in the world. Affordable with beaches and sun. Here is what I think...take trips to local areas you haven't been. Go to the Pacific Ocean, buy a wet suit and skim board and have some fun. Go to Yellow Stone and camp with the bears. America is one of the most amazing countries in the world. It is so easy to take it for granted. Sometimes we don't feel like going outside, it's raining and cold - buy yourself some serious outdoor gear and hike to the top of Multnomah Falls on January 1. How many people have done that? Share your stories - experience our beautiful world]

Peace

-Andrew

So yesterday I was heading out to Baishwan Beach (sp) to meet up with some co-workers for some fun in the sun. I accidentally got off the bus to early, at another beach. For about 30 seconds I waited at the bus stop to continue my journey, when I thought, "hey I could just walk the rest of the way, it's probably only 3 or 4 miles. So I ventured along. I ended up finding a really cool out of the way bike path.

Then it happened. As I was walking along a big ol' snake crossed the trail about 30 meters ahead of me. It just slid off the trail, apparently into the gutter, and wasn't to be seen again. It was a bit uncomforting. I needed to walk up there, right where that "Thing" had just been...and worse there were tall grasses on both sides, so it was hard to see what else might be lurking or it "It" might still be lurking around there.

Let's just say I walked faster the next 7km. I also jerked to every rustling leaf, branch, and bird chirp.

What snake was it? I hope it was this one:
http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/Ptyas%20mucosa/species_ptyas_mucosa.htm
but I don't know!