|
1103371594 - 2003-11-28
Farang!
You may be surprised to hear that so far I'm not impressed by Thailand outside of Bangkok. Maybe it's because I haven't yet met the right people (probably), but I'm feeling jaded and bored. Something I did not expect.
North Thailand is quite pretty, but its so hazy everyday that you can't clearly see the mountains. Not like in New Zealand which was crystal clear.
It is very, very Touristy too and you can't blame the Thais for trying to squeeze as much money out of the Farang as possible, but I'm sick of being scammed constantly. It's amazing how you just seem to give your money away without even realising. I thought this place was supposed to be cheap!
I'm in P*ai now, in the mountains near the Burmese border. It's a backpacker town which is small and chilled. The bus ride up this morning was very painful and slow. The suspension was fucked and I have my period and I needed the toilet for 2 hours until we stopped.
I hope I'll be happier when I get down to the islands. I just want to do nothing. To be honest, I'm not that interested in the culture and there are only so many Wats (temples) you can see until they all start to look the same. I'm surprised at myself, but I am bored, its amazing how quickly we humans can adapt to new situations and grow restless. I think I have to say my favourite place was Oz, coz of the people I met. Here, because I can't communicate with them, the locals become part of the scenery and that frustrates me. It makes my toes curl when you see people snapping away at the locals as if they are animals in the zoo.
I'm sick of the sight of the Farangs too. All those Fisherman pants and hippies everywhere. Some of them make out that they're all spiritual now, but they're only here for a cheap, easy holiday.
My worst experience where I really felt like a tourist was in Chiang Mai, well north of there really. I stayed at a guesthouse which is trek orientated (hilltribe treks are really popular here, with over 200 agents in CM) and I didn't intend to do one because I don't like the idea of being a voyeur. The trek consists of a 3 day hike of 25km, staying in basic hilltribe accommodation and going on an elephant ride and a bamboo raft trip. Somehow I was talked into it by the smooth talking manager and I fancied at least doing the walk and the elephant riding. So I thought what the hell, I don't have any thing else to do and I need the exercise.
The group was small, 7 of us and corny. Three Canadians, and an older Slovenian couple. 2 of the Canadians were girlfriends and one of them was a real extroverted jolly type, a fan of musicals and insisted on singing songs from The Sound of Music and quoting her favourite things, like super earnest stuff like "childrens' laughter" and "giving gifts". My worst nightmare basically.
The whole thing was uncomfortable, from the basic hut accommodation to the hilltribes trying to sell us ugly jewellery made from seeds. The food provided at lunch times was shit (super noodles with cabbage), but everyone else kept saying between every mouthful how delicious it was, polite or stupid, I don't know, but I wasn't going to enthuse about shit food on the trek I'd paid 1800B for. On the second night we had the local children from the Karen tribe come and do a 'traditional' dance for us. They were obviously bored as they have to do the same dance almost every night for the tourists who trudge through their village. Then we had to sing a song for them. How cringey! I sang heads and shoulders knees and toes.... coz it's such a short song.
The elephant ride was OK. One of the elephants kept trying to topple trees onto our elephant which was a bit worrying. Then the bamboo raft trip was pretty crap. We went down a dirty river at the back of some farm land and the guides kept splashing us with water. I got soaked. It was really annoying, then our raft fell apart and started to sink. It was kind of fun, but of course they do exactly the same thing to every farang. Its all so fake in a way.
The trekking itself was OK, fairly challenging, but the flora and fauna was pretty boring. All in all I wish I hadn't done it, but at least I now know never to do another organized trip again, they are such rip offs. I haven't really enjoyed any tours apart from the island hopping on Aitutaki in the Cook Islands.
Of course everyone else enjoyed themselves thoroughly, apart from Ant the Australian I've been hanging out with. He felt uncomfortable too. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. Thank god he came too.
After Pai I'm heading down to the deep south. I just want to sit on the beach and read some good books, or maybe I'll even change my flight and go to India sooner. I'm getting a little homesick I think, and poor.
BTW, It's my time of the month, so maybe that's why I'm in a stinking mood. At least I know I'm not preggers though!
Wat on the hill Chaing Mai
Buddha
previous - next
|