{"id":125,"date":"2011-05-06T17:36:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T17:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/?p=125"},"modified":"2019-08-19T16:33:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T16:33:41","slug":"from-suburban-australia-to-the-thai-hilltribes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/2011\/05\/06\/from-suburban-australia-to-the-thai-hilltribes\/","title":{"rendered":"From suburban Australia to the Thai hilltribes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wow, what a week it\u2019s been.&nbsp;\nSince the last note I\u2019ve gone from suburban Melbourne to super-rural\nnorthern Thailand, and visited everything from a glitzy cocktail bar to a squat\ntoilet.&nbsp; Hard to believe this whole adventure\nisn\u2019t even a quarter done, and the craziest bits are yet to come\u2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few quick notes before I start.&nbsp; New pictures should be up on Facebook (check\nmy profile or the Photos [LINK] page), and my GPS device officially sucks.&nbsp; So far I\u2019ve managed to put down one\nsuccessful marker during the past week in Thailand.&nbsp; I\u2019ll be manually adding a few markers, like I\ndid in New Zealand, just so I have some record of where I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll pick up where I left off, sitting in my friend\u2019s\napartment back in Sydney.&nbsp; After a quick\nlunch at Google and an even quicker flight to Melbourne, I met up with Abdulla\n\u2013 good to see him in-person again!&nbsp; Abdulla\u2019s\ndad drove the two of us back to their house in Bundoora, a nice Melbourne\nsuburb way north of the city.&nbsp; Abdulla\u2019s\nmom is a fantastic cook \u2013 we had a traditional Sri Lankan dinner with curries\nof all sorts, and had a good time chatting about the upcoming trip.&nbsp; Abdulla and I watched a bit of TV after\ndinner, and went to bed full and happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next day was a big one for Abdulla: he officially handed\nin his PhD thesis, freeing him to actually leave and go on this trip.&nbsp; Talk about cutting it close!&nbsp; We spent the day making trips to Melbourne\nUniversity and downtown Melbourne, taking care of Abdulla\u2019s last paperwork and\nshopping for various supplies he had yet to buy.&nbsp; Although it wasn\u2019t very exciting for me, it\nwas exhausting \u2013 we were out and about the entire day, constantly bopping from\nstore to office to store.&nbsp; Running into\nAbdulla\u2019s friend Tanya was a welcome relief \u2013 I had met Tanya when she came to\nvisit Abdulla in Sydney last year, and that afternoon the three of us had a\ngreat time chatting and catching up.&nbsp; That\nevening, another one of Abdulla\u2019s friends who I\u2019d met last summer, Ed Hooper,\norganized a \u201cwelcome function\u201d for me at a local Vietnamese restaurant.&nbsp; How nice!&nbsp;\nI was pretty surprised, given that I\u2019d only met Ed for a couple of hours\nlast year, but apparently he loves planning things like this.&nbsp; Ed, Abdulla, Tanya, and I, plus a handful of\nothers I didn\u2019t know, met at the restaurant and got to experience the \u201cbring it\non\u201d special.&nbsp; Apparently Ed knows the\nowner of the restaurant, and if you tell him to \u201cbring it on\u201d, they\u2019ll make you\nan endless stream of dishes out of whatever kitchen surplus they have.&nbsp; The food just kept coming and coming.&nbsp; I had mentioned to the owner that I was\ngluten-free, and he brought out three additional gluten-free mains and an\nappetizer just for me!&nbsp; It was excessive,\nbut delicious.&nbsp; Ed surprised Abdulla with\na \u201cbirthday\u201d dessert courtesy of the owner, to celebrate his turning in his PhD\nthesis (not his birthday\u2026 which is in January).&nbsp;\nAll in all a really fun evening, with yet another gut-busting dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday was decidedly more low-key \u2013 a welcome relief after\nthe day of endless shopping and puttering.&nbsp;\nAbdulla needed time to pack, so I sat at home, used the internet, and\ndid laundry.&nbsp; That evening, after a quick\ndinner at home, Abdulla and I went into downtown Melbourne for his going-away party.&nbsp; On the tram ride there we had an odd\nencounter with a drunk, high, hipster bum from Adelaide, who was so out of it\nthat he dropped his beer on the ground twice.&nbsp;\nHe thought Abdulla looked like the drummer from some obscure band, and\nproceeded to blather at us for the next 20 minutes.&nbsp; It was actually pretty funny, but I was\nrelieved when he finally stumbled out the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We finally arrived at The Red Hummingbird, an incredibly\nclassy and charming little bar, where we schmoozed the night away with\nAbdulla\u2019s various friends from undergrad and his PhD office.&nbsp; Tanya and I, along with a few of Abdulla\u2019s\nother friends, shared a giant pitcher of mixed drink that was fruity and fun,\noverpriced and weak.&nbsp; By midnight, it was\ntime to go; I felt a bit like I was stealing Abdulla away from all his friends,\nand I could tell it was hard for him and all of them to say goodbye to each\nother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 11am the next morning, Abdulla and I were out the door on\nour way to the airport.&nbsp; We checked in,\nsaid goodbye to his parents, and headed for customs.&nbsp; The flight to Bangkok was actually really\nnice; we flew Thai Airways, which was pretty luxurious even in economy.&nbsp; It was the first time my gluten-free meals on\nthe plane (there were two of them) came with gluten-free bread; I had a\nrestaurant-quality lamb curry, and OD-ed on episodes and soundtracks from\nGlee.&nbsp; To top it off, Abdulla and I both\nhad entire banks of three seats all to ourselves; the flight was pretty\nempty.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nine comfortable hours later, we landed and stepped out into\nthe sweltering humid heat of Thailand.&nbsp;\nWe hopped on the free shuttle to our airport hotel for a quick,\none-night stay before continuing on to northern Thailand.&nbsp; The next morning we had a bit of free time\nbefore our flight; we used it up by watching some quality Thai TV, like Thai\nPBS, The Mall Channel, and an episode of Maid Detective\u2026 yep, a show where a\ngirl in a suggestive maid\u2019s outfit solves crimes, and vanquishes bad guys who whip\ntheir prisoners.&nbsp; Talk about a kinky male\nfantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later that morning we caught the quick flight to Chiang Mai,\nwhere we were picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel courtesy of\nUdomporn Tours (great name, huh).&nbsp; Our\ntrek through northern Thailand, run by Udomporn Tours, would begin the next\nday.&nbsp; In the mean time, Abdulla and I\nspent the afternoon wandering the markets outside our hotel, next to the old\ncity of Chiang Mai.&nbsp; That night, Udomporn\npicked us up at our hotel and took us to their headquarters for a briefing\nabout the trek.&nbsp; We got to meet our\nfellow trekkers: Jodie and Holly, two sisters from Gloucester, England;\nChristin and Stefanie, two friends from southern Germany; Andrew and Rachel, a\ncouple from Sydney; and Yaniv, a Dutch-Israeli living in London.&nbsp; We also got to meet Nan (pronounced like the\nIndian bread), our charming, soft-spoken, jokingly-serious trekking guide.&nbsp; After the meeting, Abdulla and I went and ate\ndinner at a restaurant in the night markets.&nbsp;\nI browsed around a bit, but ultimately didn\u2019t buy anything.&nbsp; We took our first tuk tuk (a three-wheeled\ntricycle\/motorcycle hybrid with a roof and a small bench seat) back to the\nhotel, prepared our backpacks for the trek, and went to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nan and the company driver picked us up at 9am the next\nmorning.&nbsp; We met up with the other\ntrekkers, plus one who had missed the earlier meeting: another German girl\nnamed Christin (I\u2019ll refer to her as blonde Christin).&nbsp; The ten of us squeezed into the back of a\nsongtaew (a converted truck with a roof and two bench seats fitted onto the\nback), which barely fit all of us and our backpacks.&nbsp; Our first stop was a butterfly and orchid\ngarden, where we got a half hour to take a look around.&nbsp; Next, we cruised north to the small town of\nMae Malai.&nbsp; Here, Nan informed us, we\nshould buy toilet paper \u2013 there wouldn\u2019t be another opportunity to get some for\nthe rest of the trip, so we\u2019d better stock up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have to say, the market at Mae Malai is the smelliest\nplace I\u2019ve ever visited.&nbsp; They seem to\nprimarily sell meat and seafood, which is all out on display for the world to\nsmell and the bugs to feast on.&nbsp; There\nwas a point where both Jodie and I thought we might vomit from the smell of\nrancid seafood.&nbsp; Once we found the little\nstall selling toilet paper, we got the hell out of there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading west from Mae Malai, our next stop was the Mork-Fa\nwaterfall.&nbsp; The ten of us had a nice swim\nand had fun getting our pictures taken next to the falls.&nbsp; After another little drive, we stopped for\nlunch at a small restaurant outpost by the side of the road.&nbsp; That\u2019s when it started to rain; the clouds\nhad been building throughout the afternoon, and by the time lunch was over it\nwas coming down strong.&nbsp; We drove a bit\nfurther down the road, got out of the songtaew, and started our hike in the\nrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first 20 minutes were difficult.&nbsp; The incline was pretty steep and muddy, which\ngot us all pretty tired and sweaty; coupled with the plastic-y rain coats and\nthe 85-degree heat, we were all ready to drop after hardly any walking.&nbsp; At this point I managed to put down what has ended\nup being the only successful GPS marker so far in Thailand \u2013 darn GPS.&nbsp; That aside, the hike started to get a bit\neasier after that initial climb.&nbsp; The\nrain subsided a bit, and we all took off our rain coats and cooled down.&nbsp; Aside from some muddy slippery downhill bits,\nthe next two hours weren\u2019t too challenging.&nbsp;\nBy about 6pm we arrived at a Karen village, where we spent the\nnight.&nbsp; The Karen are a \u201chill tribe\u201d: they\naren\u2019t Thai or Burmese, just a small separate sect that live in these small\nrural villages.&nbsp; Oddly enough, the Karen\nare Christian, having been proselytized a while back.&nbsp; The only crosses I\u2019ve seen so far in Thailand\nhave been in these small, remote villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first sight, this Karen village looked like it came out\nof a storybook; the forests gave way to stepped rice fields and little wooden\nhuts, perched on the side of a mountain.&nbsp;\nCombined with the loosely hanging fog and cloud cover, there was even\nsomething mysterious or other-worldly about it.&nbsp;\nUp close, however, the reality of the village was a lot more\napparent.&nbsp; The 40 \u2013 50 families that live\nthere are decidedly poor, and the buildings and farm animals make that fact\nclear.&nbsp; Nothing is tight or sealed; the\nwalls and floors have plenty of holes, and it was pretty easy to see right into\nsome of their houses.&nbsp; The kitchen is an\nold metal pot over a wood fire, and the beds are thin mattresses laid out on\nthe floor.&nbsp; The Karen perch most of their\nbuildings up on stilts, presumably to avoid rain damage.&nbsp; Underneath the house, it was pretty common to\nsee a pig or two tied to a stilt, hanging out in the mud.&nbsp; Chicken roam the town freely.&nbsp; The cows were unfortunately skinny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That day happened to coincide with a wedding \u2013 a man from\nthe village was marrying a woman from a different Karen village a few hours\naway.&nbsp; Because the Karen villages are so\nsmall and the risk of inbreeding is so high, most Karen have to travel to\ndistant villages to find their mates.&nbsp; We\nwere invited to come see the wedding party, so we all walked up to an area with\nabout 30 people mingling and eating.&nbsp; Most\nof the villagers kept to themselves, but one guy was very intent on talking to\nus.&nbsp; The only problem was that he seemed\ndrunk, or high, or both \u2013 we weren\u2019t sure.&nbsp;\nHis English was actually half-way decent, but he was so incoherent and\npersistent that talking to him was impossible.&nbsp;\nOne of the local women gestured to Jodie and Andrew, indicating that the\nguy was actually crazy.&nbsp; After a couple\nminutes, we left and headed down to our home for the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Out on the east edge of the village was a building clearly\ndesigned for the batch of trekkers that show up twice a week.&nbsp; The main room had about 10 different double\nbeds (thin mattresses on the floor with damp, solid-feeling pillows) and\nmosquito nets.&nbsp; In front of the building\nwas a covered eating area with a single fluorescent bulb, and adjacent to that\nwas a smaller room that served as the kitchen and Nan\u2019s bedroom.&nbsp; Outside behind our bedroom was a separate\nlittle bathroom building with three stalls; one shower (a water pipe tipped\nwith a fabric cap, perhaps to filter out sediment) and two squat toilets.&nbsp; Each of the toilet stalls had a big tub of\nwater and a little plastic bucket \u2013 to flush, you ladled out some water and\npoured it into the toilet until the contents flushed away.&nbsp; There were bugs of all kinds, everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A side-note about electricity; the town has a handful of\nsolar panels, which are used to power an occasional electric device (like the\none fluorescent bulb by our eating area).&nbsp;\nOur building, and the buildings of a few of the town\u2019s more important\npeople, are the only ones with any power.&nbsp;\nAs far as I could tell, there are no wires of any kind running in or out\nof the village.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we settled into our bedroom, Nan started preparing\ndinner.&nbsp; He made a red pork curry, a Thai\nsoup with pork, steamed vegetables, and rice.&nbsp;\nI wasn\u2019t about to complain, or just eat steamed vegetables for dinner,\nso I went ahead and ate the pork.&nbsp; After\ndinner we all sat around and chatted for a while.&nbsp; The rain started to pour down worse than\nbefore, making a constant din against the tin roof.&nbsp; It quickly got dark, and the single\nfluorescent light was the only light in sight.&nbsp;\nThe bugs loved the light, and Nan loved the bugs \u2013 he grossed us out\n(and thoroughly entertained us) by picking bugs off the wall and saying, \u201cThis\none?&nbsp; Edible\u201d and eating them.&nbsp; One of them, Nan told us, was not edible\nunless cooked \u2013 he went into the kitchen, cooked it, and ate it.&nbsp; Apparently Nan grew up in a village somewhat\nlike this one, so this wasn\u2019t his first bug snack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nan woke us up the next morning at 7:30, made us breakfast,\nand by 9:00 we were out the door for another day of hiking.&nbsp; Luckily the rain had stopped overnight and\nthe paths had somewhat dried, which made things that much easier.&nbsp; After an hour and a half we stopped at a hut\nnext to some stepped rice fields, had some water, and rested for a few\nminutes.&nbsp; Then came the most difficult\npart of the hike.&nbsp; Nan had warned us \u2013 he\nsaid \u201c20 minutes, like this\u201d and held his hand at a steep angle.&nbsp; Just as he\u2019d said, we started a pretty\nserious uphill climb that drained us all.&nbsp;\nAbdulla and Rachel got especially tired, and we ended up stopping 3 or 4\ntimes along the way.&nbsp; Once we were\nfinally at the top, it started to rain.&nbsp;\nWe hiked for another two hours, the mud making things noticeably more\ndifficult, until we finally arrived at an elephant base camp.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boy were we ever hungry and relieved when we got there.&nbsp; Nan and the elephant guides made lunch, which\nlooked to me like Top Ramen\u2026 wheat noodles\u2026 but I ate it anyway. &nbsp;We were all starving and exhausted, and I\nwasn\u2019t about to turn down food.&nbsp; After\nhaving a little fun with the elephants, feeding them leftover watermelon rinds,\nwe hopped on them and took a 40 minute ride out to a second Karen village \u2013 our\nhome for the second night.&nbsp; This village\nwas decidedly bigger and noticeably nicer.&nbsp;\nMany of the buildings were similar to those in the first village, but a\ngood number of them looked sturdier and more sealed.&nbsp; There was a primary school and a prayer\nhouse.&nbsp; The village was adjacent to a\nriver, and I even noticed a few paved roads.&nbsp;\nIn general things seemed a bit cleaner and more modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn\u2019t quite 4pm when we settled into our bedroom, and we\nall took turns using the single shower (just like the last place \u2013 one shower\nand two squat toilets).&nbsp; The shower,\nhowever, was a big step up from the first Karen village: instead of a pipe with\na fabric tip, it actually had a western shower head with a cord.&nbsp; No hot water, of course, but this was still a\nbig improvement.&nbsp; That night Nan made a\nMussaman curry with pork, vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce, rice, and\nspring rolls.&nbsp; I ate it all and didn\u2019t\ngive it a second thought.&nbsp; After dinner I\nbrought out my deck of cards, and we all had fun playing Chase the Ace (taught\nto us by Jodie and Holly) and BS (which I taught to everyone).&nbsp; Nan played BS with us and was hilarious as\nusual.&nbsp; After cards he ate a few more\nbugs, and eventually we got tired and went to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next morning started as usual: up at 7:30, out the door\nat 9:00.&nbsp; We walked down to the river and\nstepped onto two bamboo rafts.&nbsp; The rafts\nwere simple: about 15 long bamboo shoots, tied together and reinforced with a\nhandful of shorter shoots running side to side.&nbsp;\nThey were essentially big bamboo rectangles.&nbsp; At the front of each raft was a bamboo\ntripod, which we used to hang up our backpacks.&nbsp;\nThe two rafts split us into two groups: Nan piloted the first raft, with\nAbdulla, Yaniv, the Christins and Stefanie, and a different local guide piloted\nthe second raft, with me, Andrew, Rachel, Jodie, and Holly.&nbsp; The guides stood at the front of each raft\nholding a long bamboo shoot, which they used to steer.&nbsp; The two male trekkers on each raft stood toward\nthe back, each of us with another bamboo shoot that we used to paddle and steer\nthe back of the raft.&nbsp; The three women\nsat down in the middle.&nbsp; Once we were all\nin our places, we started to drift down the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first the steering was a bit difficult.&nbsp; Our guide spoke no English, and would gesture\nto us when he wanted us to paddle on the left or right side; however, there\nwasn\u2019t a clear gesture for when to stop.&nbsp;\nEventually Andrew and I figured out when it was and wasn\u2019t necessary for\nus to paddle, which made things easier.&nbsp; After\nan hour and a half we stopped at a very poor looking Karen village (similar to\nthe first one) for a quick rest and water break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we got back on the rafts, things got interesting.&nbsp; We came across some rapids \u2013 small rapids by\nmodern whitewater rafting standards, but serious rapids by bamboo raft\nstandards.&nbsp; At one point we scraped over\na shallow rock, which loosened one of our long bamboo shoots.&nbsp; Further down the river, we came around a\nsharp bend and the back of our raft started to crash and slide up onto a\nrock.&nbsp; That\u2019s when my survival instincts\nkicked in; I ducked down, grabbed the rock and pushed us away, and re-balanced\nthe raft.&nbsp; Andrew was standing behind me\nand saw the whole thing; in about three seconds I became the raft hero.&nbsp; Overall our raft ended up having surprisingly\ngood luck going down the river.&nbsp; Aside\nfrom that one loosened bamboo shoot, nobody fell overboard.&nbsp; The other raft wasn\u2019t as lucky \u2013 both Nan and\nYaniv fell overboard twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We finally reached a small resort-y enclave along the river,\nwhere we stopped and ate lunch.&nbsp; The\ncompany driver and songtaew were there to meet us \u2013 after some Pad Thai we all\ncrammed into the songtaew, smelly as ever, and took a two hour ride back to\nChiang Mai and the luxury of a modern hotel.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That night the ten of us met up again for dinner, having all\nhad a thorough cleaning and a change of clothes.&nbsp; We ate dinner at the food stalls in the night\nmarket, which Abdulla and I had somehow missed during out first night in town.&nbsp; The food was delicious, and decidedly cheaper\n\u2013 Abdulla and I realized we\u2019d been somewhat ripped off at that first\nrestaurant.&nbsp; Example: at the first\nrestaurant we each got a curry, two orders of rice, and a water, for 210 baht\neach (~$7).&nbsp; Seemed like a good\ndeal.&nbsp; At the food stalls, this same meal\nwould have cost 60 baht (~$2).&nbsp; Lesson\nlearned: if you pay more than 100-120 baht for a meal, you\u2019ve overpaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After dinner we met up with Nan for drinks.&nbsp; Yaniv and I had a good conversation, and we\nall just generally basked in our newfound cleanliness.&nbsp; Eventually we all said goodbye and went back\nto our rooms for some well-deserved sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday was our last full day in Chiang Mai.&nbsp; Abdulla and I slept in, ate lunch, and took a\nsongtaew up to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.&nbsp;\nDoi Suthep is a Buddhist temple up in the mountains west of Chiang Mai\nand, arguably, one of the city\u2019s main claims to fame.&nbsp; The temple is beautiful, perched on the top\nof a mountain, and is most noted for the giant snakes that line the long staircase\nup to the top.&nbsp; I had a great time there,\njust sitting and being present in the amazingly ornate shrine rooms.&nbsp; Eventually it started to get cloudy and verge\non rain, so we left and went back to Chiang Mai.&nbsp; That evening we went back to the same food\nstalls at the night market, and actually bought some souvenirs.&nbsp; Oddly enough, I actually had an altercation\nwith one of the shop owners!&nbsp; I was\nbrowsing through the shops and, after a lot of nagging, finally managed to walk\naway from her stall; later, apparently, I saw her and promptly turned around\nand walked the other way.&nbsp; To be honest,\nI don\u2019t even remember this happening.&nbsp;\nBut even if I did, it wouldn\u2019t have been unjustified: she and all the\nother shopkeepers are horrible and chase you down if you initially show\ninterest and then later walk away.&nbsp;\nThey\u2019re desperate, and it\u2019s hard to get away from them.&nbsp; A couple minutes later I passed her\nagain.&nbsp; She essentially told me to fuck\noff, and accosted me for a few whole minutes.&nbsp;\nI apologized and tried to ignore her.&nbsp;\nAt the time I wasn\u2019t even sure what I\u2019d done or why she was so mad \u2013 Abdulla\nlater explained it to me.&nbsp; Sigh.&nbsp; It\u2019s got to be a difficult life running these\nshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today has been a relatively easy day.&nbsp; Abdulla and I woke up early to catch a\nmorning flight down to Bangkok.&nbsp; We\u2019ve\nbeen hanging out in our hotel room since 11am, only leaving to search out food\nand internet.&nbsp; Tomorrow we\u2019ll actually\ntry and see Bangkok, but for now we\u2019re doing a little well-needed R&amp;R.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that was a long post!&nbsp;\nIf you actually read this far, thanks, and I hope you found it\ninteresting =).&nbsp; I\u2019ll close with a few\ntidbits about Thailand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thailand has taught me how to haggle\u2026 at least\nsomewhat.&nbsp; Initially I was hesitant about\nbargaining with tuk tuk drivers, and got over-charged the first time we rode in\none (70 baht).&nbsp; I\u2019ve gotten good at\ngetting the fare down to 40 or 50 baht for the two of us.&nbsp; This also came in handy when shopping at the\nnight markets; I got a scarf down from 400 to 260, and a hat from 150 to 85.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along those same lines \u2013 the salespeople in Thailand are\nincredibly persistent and annoying.&nbsp; The\nworst are the women dressed in traditional garb \u2013 they\u2019ll come right up to you\nwith their baskets full of bracelets or whatever, rub them against you and\nstare at you until you walk far away.&nbsp; Regular\nsalespeople are especially aggressive if they sense that you\u2019re actually\nwilling to spend money \u2013 this kind of aggression led to the altercation with\nthe shopkeeper.&nbsp; Tuk tuk drivers are also\nbad.&nbsp; They\u2019ll camp out in front of the\nhotels, and when you leave they\u2019ll shout \u201cTUK TUK TUK TUK\u201d over and over hoping\nyou\u2019ll ride with them.&nbsp; Salespeople on\nthe street are always trying to befriend you: \u201cHey friend, where you from?&nbsp; Tailor suit 60 euro!\u201d&nbsp; The general rule: don\u2019t make eye contact, and\njust walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For whatever reason, a lot of Thai seem to draw out\n(essentially whine) the last syllable of a lot of words.&nbsp; It makes the language sound really nasal and\nannoying, though in general I think Thai sounds pretty nice.&nbsp; I love the Thai script too; something about\nit is almost hieroglyphic.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most Thai, or at least those in somewhat touristy areas,\nseem to speak enough English for us to get by without knowing a word of\nThai.&nbsp; It\u2019s made everyday tasks a lot\neasier than they might have been otherwise.&nbsp;\nWe have learned a little bit of useful Thai: \u201ckop khun krup\u201d means\n\u201cthank you\u201d, and \u201csawadee krup\u201d means both \u201chello\u201d and \u201cgoodbye\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Thai don\u2019t really care about street lines, or seat\nbelts\u2026 or stop lights, or any traffic rules for that matter.&nbsp; In that sense it\u2019s similar to my experience\nin Costa Rica; I\u2019d imagine it\u2019s the same in every third world country.&nbsp; It makes getting around in tuk tuks a little\nscary at times, but somehow everyone seems to get by without constant\naccidents.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pictures of the King of Thailand are displayed\neverywhere.&nbsp; It\u2019s almost a bit\nbig-brother-like, there\u2019s often a picture of the King looking at you in every\nplace from restaurants to highways.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until next time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-Izaak<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/image-4-1024x768.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/image-4-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/image-4-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/image-4-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2327-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2327-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2327-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2327-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2428-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2428-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2428-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2504-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2504-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2504-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2517-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2517-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2517-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2649-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2649-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2649-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2703-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2703-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2703-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2703-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2732-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2732-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/IMG_2732-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wow, what a week it\u2019s been.&nbsp; Since the last note I\u2019ve gone from suburban Melbourne to super-rural northern Thailand, and visited everything from a glitzy cocktail bar to a squat toilet.&nbsp; Hard to believe this whole adventure isn\u2019t even a <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/2011\/05\/06\/from-suburban-australia-to-the-thai-hilltribes\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.izaakrubin.com\/travel\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}