Wednesday, August 12, 2009

TWO TICKETS TO CHIANGGG MAAIII PACK YOUR BAGS AND LEAVE TONIIIIGHHHT



On a train to Chiang Mai, a northern provence of Thailand-air conditioned 2nd class, or so the ticket says. The train jostling back and forth like a drunk making his walk home after a whiskey binge. The air conditioning has been on twice in the past 4 hours- the two times we stopped, I think it is to fool those who are joining this clumsy ass train on its 12 hour voyage to cooler temperatures and an escape from the noise and Bangkokness of Bangkok. 


There are rotating fans in the aisles, oscillating just enough to keep us alive. I can't complain, it's a beautiful way to travel. Over arching golden Buddahs in the mountains, rice fields-several on fire for some strange reason or at least emanating smoke like

the Vietnam war movies I'd seen growing up.



 


It truly is beautiful though, it is good to travel, not knowing where you might end up doing or living or loving in the coming weeks- it's simply exhilarating. This train is dubbed a "Diesel Express Train", in Thai. "Express" must mean something a bit different than the definition of Express in America, as we are currently stopped as I type this. 



I've been reading the Kite Runner and it's inspired me to write a little bit. The fields we have been passing have been flooded. On the phone I spoke with the owner of a Guesthouse, which is like a hostel, and she said, "Tell everyone in Bangkok that it's RAINING in Chiang Mai, It's Raining in Chiang MAI!". I don't know why, but the way she said it was like a punch-line to a joke, but from the looks of things in these remote areas, there was no joke. 


I was told a lot of Taxi drivers in Thailand were displaced farmer's coming off of a failed crop yield and it makes me wonder, looking out the windows of this drunken train, wether the fates of the villagers knee deep in water will be collecting baht from tourists in Bangkok. 


Either way, we are a third of the way done with our train ride and Maris is passed out, sweaty.  The seats are comfortable and their are a lot of Expats on Train number 9 to Chiang Mai, so hopefully we can make some new friends come 830 PM Thai time when we hop off the train to Chiang Mai. 


_Brock


Posted by BrockTalkinThai at 4:36 PM

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The Beginning

The Beginning

I am a 25 year old, southern Gent. I've been bothered by the fact that I've not traveled the world or even left the country, sans a trip to Cancun when I was in High School, but that was so muddled with tequila and strip clubs (sorry mom), that It doesn't REALLY count- that I have decided to take a adventure across the globe with the love of my life.

All I needed was a motivator, I needed someone to push me to travel and tell me, "Now's the time to do this, and we should totally do it". She came, she said those magic words and now we've got our bags packed, watching the calendar.
 
I had intentions on moving to New York City with my girlfriend. We are both really big into music and both have a spot in our hearts for the city. The opportunity escaped us after having our hopes deflated by the freaky rent prices there. We kind of ditched the New York idea immediately following a trip there and the mention of Thailand. 

We had always tossed around the idea of traveling together. I knew I wanted to travel with her. The first place she mentioned was Thailand, and after 20 minutes on Craigslist, checking out places and prices, we were sold (prob not the best way to chose where you want to spend your life, but that's just how it happened, and this is my story). Thailand it was.

So here we are 6 months later, a ticket for Bangkok dated August 4th in our hands. When people ask us how long we will be in Thailand, we say "Indefinitely". We are ready for a life change, something that might coax us into never coming back.

I have been dreaming of the sand and the crystal beaches since we mentioned the move, I have also had nightmares of being locked up and having to deal with a girlfriend who has been kidnapped by some crazy python handler, but those are just dreams.

The truth is, I have never been so excited and nervous at the same time for anything in my life. Right, now as I sit on my couch in South Knoxville looking out the window at the homemade bird feeders we made, on a hot Sunday afternoon, it blows my mind to think that in a little under two months, I might be laying in the sand with the tide riding up my mini bathing suit, with some concoction of a random Thai's design to sip in one hand, watching long-tailed boats float over the horizon, holding the love of my life in the other.

I expect to be shocked, excited, impressed, disappointed, lost, scared, found, happy, comfortable, uncomfortable, drunk, frightened, enlightened, ready to come home, ready to stay forever- all at different times on this journey.  

But one thing that will never change will be when I am an old man, maybe back in South Knoxville, sitting on my porch in a rocking chair with my old wife, widdling some crazy little thing old men on porches widdle, I will be able to look over to my wife and ask, "Remember that time we went into that local bar in Thailand and we saw that Thai Prostitute perform that "Ping-Pong show?" I am glad we shared that moment together."  

And she will say, "Brock that's disgusting" and then smile a little bit.


_Brock