A-Broad in Education: April 2014

Traveling in Thailand: Last stop... Krabi

Hello from Bangkok!

My trip is finally coming to an end you all. I traveled from Krabi back to Bangkok yesterday. I spent about four days in Krabi and I had a wonderful time. Krabi is absolutely gorgeous. I stayed in an area called Aonang and the beach was literally down the street. The small town feel reminded me of Chiang Mai but it definitely catered mainly to tourists.

After my day in Phuket, I woke up the next morning and took a bus ride to Krabi. It was about a 3 hour drive, however very safe. Not the VIP luxury treatment that I was hoping for but it got me from point A to point B. This time, instead of using Booking.com, I found a Groupon online that had a discounted nightly rate at a nice resort. Not 5 stars, but definitely nicer than some of the other places that I had been staying at. I stayed at the Krabi Tipa Resort and for the location and price, I was satisfied.

My plan was to stay in Krabi for two days and then go to Koh Samui but because going to Koh Samui meant more traveling and packing and moving, I decided to just stay in Krabi for the whole time. Traveling and living out of a suitcase is very tiring after a while. Honestly, my first day there, all I did was walked around, ate dinner, and had a beer. It was raining as well so I slept the night away peacefully! I woke up the next morning rested... and ready for my day.

I had already booked a tour to do more island hopping, but when I woke up the next morning, it was still raining like cats and dogs. Monsoon season hadn't even started but it rained so much during the trip; mainly at night. I called the company that morning and rescheduled my island tour for another day. After the call, I got back in the bed and did not wake up again until noon. I spent that day lounging. I sat in front of the pool writing in my journal, I walked around to see the shops, I sat out at the beach, and later ordered room service. I spent the night watching The Book of Eli on TV.

I woke up the next morning and it was beautiful outside. The rain had finally stopped and I was excited for the adventures of my day. The previous day, I had booked a tour to go and visit the hot springs in Krabi. The tour guide picked me up that morning. The itinerary for the day was to visit two hot spring areas and then the Tiger Cave.

When we arrived at the hot springs, I was surprised. I know that there are areas in the states that have hot springs, however I have never visited those areas. The springs actually remind me of a lake because its not a big body of water, but the water is actually hot like a sauna.
They say the water is very healthy for the body, but I was only able to put my feet in. Nobody told me that I needed to bring my bathing suit. People were splashing and having a really good time in the water.

On the way out, I became very irritated. I hadn't had my morning cup of coffee yet so I went to one of the stands to order some. I finally had reached a point where I was fed up with the eating and drinking standards in Thailand. All I wanted was a cup of coffee and the ants had already started attacking all of the carnation milk and everything that was sweet in stand. There were so many ants that there were even a few on the ladies shirt as she handed me the cup of coffee... I checked to make sure there none floating around in there and then... I drank it. I was finally tired of the outdoors; tired of flies, mosquitos, ants... just tired.

When you are in certain areas and five star restaurants start to look like this...it gets old... quick! Luckily my immune system will have the strength of the Incredible Hulk but dang... can a sista get some cleanliness in her life... maybe some clean hands and surfaces to serve my food?

Earlier in the trip, I went to a Thai restaurant and ordered phad thai noodles and a pina colada. When the man brought the phad thai, the smell made me feel sick to my stomach. I was thinking... what the heck is that... what kind of phad thai is this?? The pina colada had a strong after taste too... I couldn't eat or drink that mess. I got up to go because the only thing I wanted to do was get out of that restaurant. I looked to the back and what was supposed to be a kitchen looked like a "You Wrench It" car lot full of old and abandoned everything. I don't even want to imagine where they cooked that food because there was not a stove in sight.

I tried to be slick so I went to Subway after that. I swear... EVERYTHING in that place was burned. I was pissed... all I wanted was something for my hungry body.
I now understand why McDonald's is all over the world... after you get fed up with all of the local cuisine... or lack there of... you know McDonald's will never fail you. McDonald's is a safe guard and has saved many lives from diarrhea, constipation, the flu, salmonella and any other kind of dis-ease that you can think of. While Americans were wasting time filing lawsuits and complaining about cooking grease and obesity, McDonald's was busy saving the lives of many tourists visiting other countries.

Thanks McDonald's... I have a new found everlasting connection with you!

After we left that area, we went to another hot springs lake. This is when I met Richard. Richard is from the Philippines. I was sitting on the side with my feet dangling in the water and he came and sat next to me. He said, I noticed you at the other lake and you remind me of my cousin. I'm thinking... me? He said his aunt (from the Philippines) married a guy from Africa and I resembled his cousin...OK. Richard and I started talking and he told me that he was an English teacher in Bangkok. He has been teaching in Bangkok for about 5 years and he was on a R&R trip with his coworkers. When he asked me where I was from, I told him I was from the states. He said his boyfriend was from the states and he was sad because his boyfriend was moving to LA. He was originally from Michigan but they met in Bangkok. I meet so many random people and literally within an hour or so, I know their entire life story. I guess I just have the look that encourages people to share their world with me. Either way Richard was sweet and
I actually got some inspiration from our conversation.

He understands that you can't force someone to love you or to want to be with you... although he still loves his boyfriend, he has completely accepted the fact that when he was dumped, he had no choice but to move on. He found ways to cope with the situation and he is still happy.
Nice meeting you Richard...

After I left the hot springs, we went to visit the Tiger Cave. There was a huge mountain and I actually climbed all the way to the top; 1,237 stairs! Can you all believe that I climbed all the way to the top in my sandals? I was so proud of myself. It definitely wasn't easy but I kept on pushing and praying and the next thing I knew.... I had made it. The view from the top was gorgeous and definitely worth the journey. There were wild monkeys living on the mountain and on my way down, they were getting ready to have a war. I know monkeys are territorial but I wasn't sure if they were trying to attack me or another monkey. I caught up with another girl in my tour group and we grabbed each others hands and prayed all the way down, hoping not to get attacked!

On the way back to the hotel, I started up a conversation with this couple in the tour group. They were from Brazil; Cesar and Bruna. Cute couple. They were in Thailand to get married and they were heading to Koh Samui the next day to exchange their vows. We started talking about the World Cup because it is scheduled to take place in Brazil this year. It's always interesting to hear what the locals have to say about big events and politics. They didn't think Brazil was ready to have such a large event and they were interested in seeing how it would all work out as well.

Later that day, I went to the beach to watch the sunset. When you google Krabi, Thailand, there are pictures that come up that show the most beautiful sunsets ever. Because it had been raining so much, I hadn't been able to witness it. I sat at the beach for about two hours and the entire time was worth it. Deep in thought about life, blessings and gratitude... wow it was amazing.

The next day was another beautiful day and I was finally able to do my island hopping tour. We were scheduled to visit Chicken Island, Poda Island, Koh See Island, and Yawasam Island. Once again, when I got on the bus full of tourists, I saw the stares. Not only was I the only person reppin for my people, I had also tied a scarf around my head that day. Tired of curling my hair, it all started again.... can I take a picture with you...? This Chinese lady, not only took one picture but like three with me. Every time she saw me sitting and chilling, she would come up, dang near wrap her arm around me and snap... One of the pictures was really nice too... I think she thought I was Rihanna!

Of course the islands were beautiful and I had an amazing time.
Thanks for the wonderful memories Krabi!

Traveling in Thailand: Third stop... Phuket

Hello from Krabi! Sadly, my trip will be coming to an end soon. My time in Phuket was very short and overall I spent about a day there. I didn't see too much of Phuket but my experience was great.

After the two hour flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket, my flight didn't land until about midnight. Patong, the beach area that I was staying in, was about a forty minute drive from the airport. It had been raining so much before my arrival, however I wasn't going to let that ruin my trip. I arrived to the hotel around 2am and of course it was a mess. There was construction on the sidewalk area and I literally had to do a balance beam gymnastics walk across a board, just to get into the front door. Once I got inside, the room was fine. They just needed to quickly update the front entrance, but I assume they were aware of that. Either way I had to hurry and get to sleep because I had booked an island tour for the day and I was going to be picked up at 8am.

I got up then next morning and I was so tired. I guess I hadn't realized how much moving I had been doing. The entire trip thus far had been so much that all I really wanted was to sleep. Surprisingly, I got myself up and got ready for the day. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but the plans entailed a speed boat tour to four islands (Phi Phi Island, Maya Bay, Monkey Island, and James Bond Island). To give a little bit of history, Phi Phi (pee pee) Island is where the movie The Beach was filmed. The star actor in that movie was Leonardo DiCaprio. If you haven't seen the movie, its worth seeing it. Also James Bond Island was where the film James Bond was filmed. It was filmed in 1974 for the film The Man with the Golden Gun.

When the van picked me up, once again , I was the ONLY representation of my people! The van was full of Chinese people and a few Australians. On the way to the port, I was very surprised to see the looks nearby. It was later explained to me that Phuket and Thailand as a whole, has a large population of Gypsies. These people are coming from Indonesia. From the information that I received, the Thai president welcomes them to come to the country with open arms, however their living arrangements look like this. Most of the people driving the boats were Gypsies. Please don't quote me because I haven't done any research, this was just the information given to me when I asked.

When we arrived to the docking area, we were greeted by Miss Gina! Miss Gina made it loud and clear not to call him "Mr" because he was too sexy to be a "Mr"! Miss Gina was a lady boy and was proud of it. The first thing I noticed was these nails!

Miss thing had it goin on! When I address her in this post, I will refer to her as "her" and not "him"! Miss Gina made my trip worth while!

When we got on the boat, Miss Gina made it loud and clear... "ladies and gentleman we have a toilet on board...pee pee only.. don't leave a big BOMB!" I knew right then and there that I liked Miss Gina.

She also mentioned, " I know its raining outside, if you want nice weather, don't talk to me... talk to him." She pointed at the sky!

When I got on the boat, I saw a few folks looking at me but before we could even pull off, it all started... excuse me... can my mom take a picture with you? I heard that when Black folks visit China, they are so amused with us that they will often ask to take a picture with us... but damn... in Thailand? I haven't even been to China yet. Ya know I took the picture though... I wrote that down as request number two! The first was the Emirate guy on the bamboo boat. There was a German couple on the boat as well and from the looks, the man was more interested in me than his own wife. I sat down and got comfortable and do you know... his wife turned, tapped me and said... photo? I was thinking she wanted me to take a picture of them but her ass wanted a picture of me too... the husband pointed at his camera and all I saw was a flash.... request number three. Ol girl couldn't speak dang near any English but she knew how to ask me for a picture. I could already tell what kind of trip this was going to be...

We took off and made it to the first island and it was beautiful. I mean clear water and beautiful scenery. The water was so clear, you could see the fish swimming from the boat.

I have seen beaches before but nothing like this. This was definitely another moment when I had to just sit back and thank God for the many blessings in my life. We were able to get off of the boat and sit on the shore for about hour. Its funny because I always laugh at people who take selfies. Especially after the new song, I think it's hilarious. Everybody on the island was doing it! Shoot I took a few myself. It was too perfect of a view not to.

We stopped by Monkey Island next and of course there were monkeys living on the island. There were so many monkeys in the trees. People were feeding them; throwing bread and bananas and they were fighting over the food. They were cute but of course I had to keep my distance. I've heard about monkeys attacking people and I know they can get pretty dangerous.

We headed to the next Island to have lunch. I was sitting and eating with the German couple and of course I was invited to come to Berlin to visit them. They gave me their contact information and basically said if I am ever in Germany, feel free to get in touch. I probably wont though! I think that husband has a hidden agenda. I've always heard that German women love Black men but the German men aren't too far behind.

After lunch, we got back on the boat and Miss Gina saved me a seat right next to her. She said to me... and you Miss... follow me... I thought she had smuggled something fun on the boat but she just wanted some company. We started talking and I was asking her about Thailand. My first question was about the boat drivers because they were dark skinned like me. She was the one who explained to me that they were from Indonesia and why they were in Thailand. There were a few remarks that didn't sit well with me so I said... well they look like me... and she quickly responded with...oh no... your skin is beautiful. In my opinion, they didn't look any different from me. They are as dark as I am. I guess it was orgin that played a role in this conversation.

I didn't notice before but you can see the two boat drivers in this picture.
They look like a mixture of Indian and Asian features but they have dark skin.

Then I asked her why it was so many Chinese people in Thailand. She said about ninety percent of the deaths in Thailand are Chinese folks. They come to Thailand and see the beautiful water and with no experience with snorkeling and swimming, they just jump in the water. She explained that in school, Thai people learn to swim. I thought it was funny because she made a reenactment of what a dead person looks like when they drown snorkeling... she said when we see them doing this...we know to get help!! By then they are already gone anyway....that was sad. It looked like a person snorkeling with their arms out... but their head never comes up. She mentioned that there was a death at Phi Phi Don last week and they had to get someone out who was floating... I'm sorry you all if you don't think it's funny but coming from Miss Gina... it was hilarious. Not at death but her telling the story of how it happens. Lord forgive me... I know I'm wrong.

Moving on... While I'm on the subject of Chinese folks... they are going through a new era of wanting to change dominant and critical features that make them who they are. I saw it for the first time in Bangkok but as I've kept traveling, I've seen it more and more. There is this new contact lens that they are putting in their eyes to make their eyeball look bigger to create less of a squint. It's amazing because it really works...I'm not sure if it's safe to swim in salt water with contacts but they were. Here is a photo of what it looks like.

Overall, I can't give much feedback on Phuket itself because my entire time there was spent on the islands. I didn't see much of it but according to some other tourists, I don't think it's much to see. I heard many people go there for the beach and to do the island hopping. On the way out, I saw that much of the area is under construction. Just like my hotel, they are trying to reconstruct the whole area and right now it's not that beautiful. I did enjoy myself though. I also found Miss Gina on Facebook. Thanks Mark Zuckerberg... Facebook is a wonderful tool for me to keep in touch with my international friends!!

Ma'a salama Phuket...

I went to watch the King Cobra show.
They need a serious donation or investor
because they are about 2 visits from closing down!

Found Kendrick in Thailand.
She didn't know him or the song... now that's a true fan!
Reppin but you don't know you reppin!

Traveling in Thailand: Second stop... Chiang Mai

Hello from Chiang Mai!!

I hope you had a chance to read my previous post about my experience in Bangkok. If you haven't, feel free to read the previous post before you read this one. My traveling journey is still progressing and I have landed in Phuket. I guess I can say that this is a late post from Chiang Mai because I spent three days there and now I am at the next destination.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Chiang Mai. It was actually right on time after the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. I was looking forward to a place a bit more chilling and relaxing and Chiang Mai was the perfect place.

After the hour long flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I found myself entering a completely empty hotel with not a person in sight outside of the working staff. Leaving it up to booking.com, I found myself alone and outside of the city. You really have to be careful with that website because although the price is reasonable, most times there is a catch. The catch this time was that it was about fifteen minutes outside of civilization and did nothing for my trip. After a horrible persuasion speech from the manager and being charged for one night ($30), I politely asked them to call me a taxi to get me the heck up out of the boondocks! When the taxi came, he found me a place to stay... not the Conrad... but it was a decent room to sleep in.

As soon as I put my bags down in the room, I went down to the tour desk and prepared an itinerary for myself. I hadn't prepared anything for this trip before my arrival. The lady at the counter showed me a book of many little day trips and things to do in Chiang Mai and I arranged for myself to do a cooking class that night.

When I arrived to the cooking class, I was greeted by a group of tourists from many different places (two girls from San Diego, a couple from Germany, and a couple from Paris). To add a bit of spice to the group, in came my little country ol self! The class began with a quick discussion about the organic garden in the back yard and that led us to a trip to the grocery store. Our teacher taught us about the different kinds of things sold in the market and the things that we would need to make our meal. After shopping, we headed back to the class to start cooking. Now for those of you that don't know... I had a housekeeper for two years while I was in Morocco that cooked and cleaned for me. That included shopping and cooking about three meals that lasted a full week. On the days that there wasn't food in the house, my phone worked pretty well to order in. Now that I am in Abu Dhabi, I can honestly say that I have NEVER used my stove. The closest that I have come to cooking is making a salad and guacamole! I order every meal that I eat and I know that's the reason why many of the delivery men in my neighborhood know who I am. Overall, this girl can use a serious cooking class!

Our teacher was very funny. She was a cute Thai lady who kept mocking the British accent. There was much involved with the cooking. I made phad thai noodles, green curry and tom yum soup. It was all so delicious! The soup had a coconut milk base and was mixed with many different vegetables. We all had so much fun together.

.Just a side note... I can cook.... I just CHOOSE not to!! At least not too often!

The next day I booked a trip to go to the elephant village and tiger kingdom. I woke up the next morning and was ready to conquer the day. I arranged for a tour bus to come and pick me up from the hotel. It was funny because when the guide greeted me, she made sure to inform me, Oh I'm sorry but we have all Chinese and two Vietnamese people with us today. In a nutshell she was telling me that it was only me to represent my people!! When the two Vietnamese girls got on the bus, one of them was very interested in me. We started discussing Vietnam and she insisted that I come and visit Vietnam. We started talking about the Vietnam war and she told me how her father fought in the war. To this day, he still has nightmares and wakes up out of his sleep with memories of the war. I shared the story of my uncle with her and told her how interesting it was to hear a story from the other side of the war. As with many wars, the soldiers are simply sent home and forced to find a way to cope with the brutal realities of combat. My plan is to go and visit and see it all for myself. She was really sweet.

When we arrived to the elephant village, I was so excited! The day started with a display of how elephants are bathed in the river. A few things that I learned about the elephants is that they can be pregnant for 17-22 months and they usually have about 5 babies in a life span. Their skin is very thick too. Thailand has many elephants because they were used during the wars. After the wars, they realized that they could not be sent back into the wild because they had already been raised by humans. They eventually opened up orphanages to care for and keep them safe. I don't believe that all of the orphanages are actually keeping them safe though. There are many orphanages in Chiang Mai.

Although they are a huge attraction for thousands of visitors that come to Thailand, I want to believe that they are not being abused and suffering from the attempt of a circus show with plans of putting them on display. The show was great though. The elephants were playing soccer and painting pictures as well.

After the elephant show, we took an ox cart carriage to the village. It was an old time feel. The wood was so old on the buggies that I was sure mine would break!

On the way, we passed fields of tobacco and local people that were trying to encourage us to pay 20 baht to buy bananas to feed the elephants. For you smokers, the tobacco plant is actually green. There is your excuse to make a bad habit not so bad. At least it is somewhat organic!

We ended the trip on a bamboo boat sailing down the river. It was a wonderful experience. The funniest thing happened while we were sailing. Another boat road past us and a man yelled out to the two Vietnamese girls... where are you from... and they said Vietnam. He then looked at me and said where are you from....

Now for my fellow Altonians... I don't deny where I am from... EVER... however it gets a little bit more complicated being overseas. Illinois is considered a flyover state... most international people fly over Illinois to get the east coast or to the west coast. So literally when I tell people that I am from Illinois, they have no idea where that is. I could take the easy route and say St. Louis, but usually that makes the conversation even worse. Most folks overseas know Chicago, so to keep from having to explain all of this business about being 5 hours south, across the bridge from, the Mississippi flows through, Robert Wadlow is from... I just say I'm from Chicago.

So I told this man... Chicago. He says oh that's a beautiful city and he and about three bamboo boats float on down the river. At a certain point, we catch up with them again and the man is yelling Chicago!... Chicago!!... clearly he is trying to get my attention. There is a local lady in the middle of the river selling drinks and he says please let me buy you a coconut water. I was getting ready to get one anyway so as I was trying to hand the lady the money, he insisted... no no please let me pay. Now this man clearly has about 6 women on his boat. I politely say thank you. The other people on my boat were watching and this man had already bought all of the local boys and every passenger on his boat drinks. So he looks at my boat and says whatever they want give it to them.... the Chinese man on my boat was getting ready to hand the lady the money and the man said... please let me... the Chinese man yelled out .. but I'm not from Chicago!!

We all started cracking up laughing. I turned to the man and asked him... can I ask where you are from... he said well that is a good question... he answered... well I'm from a small area called... Dubai! I cracked up laughing because those women were probably his wives and he was showing out like most of them do. This man had clearly bought the bar.......which was a river bar full of coconut waters and coca cola products!! I yelled out... I work in Abu Dhabi. He was shocked and then asked to take my picture. I wouldn't be surprised if he finds me... he will have his people get in touch with my people... I was looking hawt on that river bank though... I don't blame him for buying the bar... but in front of the wives??? That was a bit much!

After the elephants I went to see the tigers. I went to a place called Tiger Kingdom and they had it set up to where you could pay to take pictures with the tigers. Now I was afraid at first but the tigers were very sleepy. Of course I think they must have drugged them but even if they were drugged, you would think that when they wake up, that wouldn't stop them from biting someones arm off. I don't know. Ill just allow myself to believe that they were raised with people and trained by people. Fingers crossed. I wasn't happy with my first photo shoot so I arranged to go back. I actually went there twice. I told myself that Chiang Mai could easily be a once in a life time experience and I didn't want to leave with any regrets. I must say my second photo shoot was much better!

Overall Chiang Mai is more of a hippy, laid back and relaxed city. It feels like a town. I went to the salon and asked the Thai lady to do a bikini and underarm waxing for me. She was a bit confused because I wasn't interested in getting the Thai massage. She seemed a little uncomfortable in the beginning but she did the waxing anyway. After she explained to me that many European people do that and Thai women don't... I felt bad. I'm so used to it now, I don't mind flashing my parts to other women. As far as the waxing... Ill just say she tried her best!

Thanks for the wonderful experience Chiang Mai!!

Traveling in Thailand: First stop... Bangkok

Young monks headed up the temple

A late post from Bangkok...

I hope all is well and that you all have had a chance to view some of the pictures that I posted on Facebook. Things have been going very well here in Thailand and I am pleased to say that for a solo trip, I have been doing quite well. Thailand is only my second solo trip and I was actually excited to be doing this journey alone. My entire trip in Thailand will be for a full 13 days. I am quite excited!

My trip began in Bangkok. I flew from Dubai to Bangkok for about $350!! I know... that is like a domestic flight in the states! Bangkok is interesting because it is a busy city and everything that you have ever heard about Thailand happens here.

When I flew into this country, I met up with a teaching couple that I used to teach with in Morocco. Tim and Arnelle looked out for me and made sure to show me a good time. They are working and living in Bangkok, so I was able to chill with them for a day. When I showed up to their house, we sat and talked for a while and then we decided to hit the streets right off. Honestly, there are some parts of Bangkok that are beautiful but there are some parts that are real sketchy as well. During the day, I was able to visit a few of the temples, which were full of other tourists like me.

We were able to climb some of the tallest temples and had a great view of the city. I definitely had one of those moments where I had to just sit still, thank God and embrace the moment for what it was. Although the temples are beautiful, they get overwhelming after a while. After about three, that was enough for me.

Bangkok also had some great food. I had some great Phad Thai noodles and also some good soup made by a girl from Cambodia off of the street!

Girl from Cambodia

After our day time exploration, we had the chance to explore the night.

Now before I came here, I had already heard some weird things about Bangkok and some of the sketchy things that happen when the sun goes down. Well I can be a witness to tell you that most of it is true. There is a huge girly boy scene here. Girly boys are similar to gay men. Here men are not only dressed up as women but actually live their lives as women. Almost like our drag queen scene but these men are 24 hour divas! They are on the streets entertaining the night but they are also modest salesman at the malls. Some of them have gone through the full change, where surgery was involved and some of them are living day to day as they are. As we sat outside of Nana Plaza for about two or three hours, it was evident what was going on.

There were many exchanges of EVERYTHING and instead of being hush hush and closed, it was all open for viewing. As we watched from the bar stools of one of the restaurants on the street, a big heavy set guy approached one of the street women standing on the corner. Clearly this guy had no chance with any person in life that had two healthy eyes... however the price was right and the rest was history. The other men from the bar stools cheered him on in victory as the lady led him to the secret place of paradise. She returned about an hour later...

I also had the opportunity to go to one of the infamous ping pong shows. I'm not sure of what is appropriate to put on this post and whats not but lets just say Rhianna got herself and the Thai bar in lots of trouble for making a public status about what goes on behind those closed doors. If you are interested in what happens just google Rhianna ping pong show.

Overall Bangkok is a loud, busy, noisy, and dirty city. It reminds me of the many other cities that I have visited in my life. Many times I had to remind myself that I was in Thailand and not somewhere familiar.

Although I was looking at Thai people and hearing the Thai language, the place was too familiar to me. This one goes down in the books but definitely not a place that I need to visit twice.

Thanks Bangkok...