Shane Travels

I’ve been meaning to do a post on what I’ve observed regarding drivers in Thailand and in Bangkok in particular. So let’s get started. Here in Bangkok, there are five main categories of vehicles: Cars, Buses (Including Mini Buses) and Scooters, Trucks and Tuk Tuks. Cars can be further divided into privately owned vehicles and taxis. Scooters can be the typical two wheeled vehicles or modified versions with side cars for cargo, rather than people. There are lots of other scooter variants… some are particularly creative.

A couple of other things to note… generally speaking things with engines have the right of way, which is to say pedestrians cross the street at their own risk; however in some cases cross walks have signals which cars generally respect. The other thing to note is that most traffic lights have countdowns in the way that many pedestrian cross walks in Toronto do. On a green light there is a countdown for how long the green will last and the same for red and yellow lights. The countdown for yellow is generally 3 seconds… this is usually the signal to taxi drivers and scooters to accelerate.

I’ve taken a several taxi rides back around the city in the last couple of days and style of driving exhibited by each driver varies between agressive and very agressive. Lanes seem to be treated as a suggested path rather than something that one needs to stay within on a consistent basis. If the car will fit through the space generally it will go there. Since scooters and tuk tuks fit into smaller spaces they are constantly looking for the path of least resistance and move like water around parked cars and buses and trucks.

Each vehicle and driver appears to have a kind of force / sensory field around it. I’ve heard of motorcycles and cars trying to make their presence felt to other drivers, on the road, but in Bangkok this is taken to another level. Cars routinely pass within inches of one another and if two lanes can accomodate three vehicles across… then likely all of the space will be used. There is a lot of non-verbal car communication happening. I wonder if the semantics of this language could be discovered and catalogued?

Although at first glance it looked a bit chaotic and freeform… i see far fewer confused, befuddled and hesitant drivers here in Bangkok that I do in Toronto. In other words… the drivers here do seem to be speaking the same language at the same level of proficiency. I don’t think I would say the same about Toronto drivers.

There are a couple of scary things going on:

• -Three or more people on a single scooter (often times a family) on one scooter with no helmets
• -Scooters with fuel canisters piled up to three high in a side car (I’m not sure what’s in the fuel canister… but it doesn’t look safe).
• -Dogs lying at the sides of the streets (scooters and cars routinely miss these animals by inches) and casually walking into traffic. I spoke to one taxi driver who told me he hit a dog while riding a scooter and seriously injured himself… no word on the fate of the dog.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things… but this post is long enough as it is.

shane

Thanks to G for inspiring me to publish these.

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fallback to what you know
hide in the familiar
the fine lines
around your eyes
whispered fears
you have no home
just recognition
ideas and lies are cheap currency
but don’t throw them away
buy a past
and hold fast to it
a thought, a hope
can become the truth
in time
all things solidify
and disintegrate
where will you be
will i recognize you?

======================================

your words carry venom
and your sigh is a curse
don’t forget
i’m only human
my i has
it’s own way with me

could you forgive a fool
still foolish
a jerk
still jerking
a rationalizer
still rationalizing
a dreamer
without a dream
a defender
defenseless

=====================================================

shane

I arrived in Lampang a couple of days ago. I took the bus from Chiang Mai and walked from the Lampang Bus Station down towards the river and the hotel. It was a longer walk that I anticipated, but gave me a chance to get aquainted with the layout of the city / town. This is my first destination that is really non western.

I have seen a few western faces (but I can count them on one hand) which is a big change from the other places I’ve been. Lampang has two primary claims to fame; it’s close to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre and it’s near a very old wooden Wat. I have now visited both attractions.

The elephant conservation centre was pretty cool. They present a show that is part entertainment, part education. The show includes around 15-20 elephants with their mahouts (handlers). The show was pretty impressive. The illustrated how the elephants follow a wide variety of commands and can manipulate both small and large items. The small items can be quite small, the large items we’re logs. I have some pictures, but I’ll have to wait for a better internet connection before attempting to upload. I was amused by the fact that there were more elephants in the show than there were spectators on the day I attended.

The Wat that I visited today was pretty impressive. The main Wihaan (temple) is a very large wooden structure, that’s supported by large wooden pillars. It’s open at the bottom to allow the breeze to pass through the temple. The temple itself was surrounded by a large wall, with an impressive gate at the front. I have a few good pictures which again I’ll post later.

I finished reading a couple of books recommended to me, by you. I read Chuck Klosterman’s “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs” and laughed all the way through it. I just finished Sam Harris’ “The End of Faith”. I would highly recommend this book to the “bleeding heart” liberals, lovers of tolerance, who are reading… you know who you are. This book was kind of scary, but I found the frank dicussion of religion and faith refreshing. Some things I had already considered myself, but there were a number of thoughts in this book that hadn’t even occurred to me before. The support of his central thesis was solid; however I felt the book wandered a bit at the end. Strangely it dovetailed nicely with “A New Earth”, in the sense that both authors, prefer the eastern approach to dealing with the human condition… although Sam Harris is the only one to actually say it’s a better approach and clearly state that buddhism is a better religion than Christianity, Judaism and Islam… i think i loved this book most of all for the author’s fearlessness… I think I’ll be a little more bold in my challenge of others unsupported beliefs… but I don’t want to get shot…

It is scary how compartmentalized our rationality and logic really is… for the vast majority of people that is… I can think of a couple of my close friends who don’t really have this issue. They succesfully apply logic to all aspects of their lives… I both envy and pity them.

That’s all for now…

shane

I’ve spend the last couple of days taking things at an extremely slow pace. My general day looks something like the following: Breakfast, Do Something of interest in and / or around town… usually a Wat of some sort and lunch at an interesting place… then back to the guest house for a swim and reading my current book with my feet dangled in the water. The pool is an extemely nice amenity here in Chiang Mai… where it’s a bit like Bangkok in terms of the amount degree of moisture and heat. The 20 something girls in bikinis is of course, also pleasent.

I’ve decided to bite the bullet and rent a motorcycle (100-125cc) to tour Doi Suthep National Park and to visit the Elephant Sanctuary on the way Lampang. According to my guidebook one of the motorcycle rental places will provide lessons… something that I think I may need. I don’t think I’ll be riding today though. I couldn’t sleep last night after having started “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The book and an upset stomach kept me up to the early morning hours. This book was recommended to me by a lovely and impressive young lady on my first night in Chiang Mai. It was a very good recommendation… and I would highly recommend to all.

I visited Wat U Mong a couple of days ago. This is probably my favourite Wat so far. The setting is peaceful and includes a pavillion with art produced by Thai and Western buddhist monks. The art really affected me after having finished “A New Earth”. The book is really non-demoninational, but does include a number of biblical quotes supporting the authors thesis. I was surprised to find the art pavillion at Wat U Mong contained a number of biblical quotes and christian imagery. I think I need more of a history lesson on the relationship between Christianity and Buddhism… perhaps someone can fill me in?

Here are some pictures from Wat U Mong:

I hope all of you are enjoying today.

shane

Yesterday (May 8th) was my birthday… so what better way to celebrate my 3x year with a tour of the numerous Chiang Mai temples. The pictures below illustrate that part of my day:

After the temples I took myself to the spa (for a two hour treatment), then dinner and ended up drinking with some fellow Canadians from Edmonton, a very cool couple from Austrailia and their 7 year old (he wasn’t drinking) and a nice girl from Ireland. Needless to say a couple of beers turned into a couple more and I have to admit to some stumbling on the way home.

This morning was a reminder of why I shouldn’t drink… fortunately I was well enough to eat breakfast the most important meal of the day and take myself out for a long walk… I think at this point I’m fully recovered.

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes!

shane

Rather than go back and add these to the relevant posts… I’ve lumped them altogether for now.

Bangkok:

Koh Phan Ngan:

Patong:

I was going to pop over to Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta, but the forecast was for rain and I’d rather stay a little closer to the action if it’s going to be raining. Don’t want to be accused of reading too many books

I had one of the hottest curries of my life yesterday, at a restaurant overlooking the beach. A Panag curry (red curry) that actually lit my lips on fire and caused profuse sweating. I imagine it was close to a Salad King 10-15 Chillies… I’ll have to compare once I get back. I had to drink a couple of large Singhas to put out the fire, and even then it was probably an hour before I was no longer aware of the burning sensation.

For those like Anton and Peter who are afraid I’m not hitting the town or at least not hitting it hard enough. I can report that last night… I kicked things up a notch. Many beers we’re consumed along Thanon Bangla and I found out the hard way how good the bartenders are at connect four. I have a new appreciation for the this game…

Oksana, Lili I can report to the both of you that I have started reading “A New Earth” by Ekhart Tolle. I know this will make both of you happy. For those not already aware of this book check out the following: A New Earth. So far the book is very focused on a discussion of the Ego. Unfortunately I had little exposure to psychology in university and haven’t had a chance to do much reading on this topic. I’d be curious how much of the early parts of this book are a simplification of existing “thought” on the subject. It doesn’t really matter, but I’m curious. I’m enjoying the book very much and although I’m only 100 pages into it… I would recommend it.

I’m flying to Chang Mai from Phuket in a couple of days. I promise to take a few more pictures (those who know me… know that I’m not much of a picture taker) and post some prior to then. Hope everyone is doing well.

shane

I spent four wonderful days at Bottle Beach at the North end of Koh Pha Ngan. It was a very quiet beach with a chilled out crowd. People generally only got excited when Manchester United played Chelsea and when Chelsea played Liverpool . I suspect that the whole country will go a bit nuts during the final.

In answer to Anton, I probably haven’t been drinking enough; however I have been enjoying the large bottles of beer here (630 ml), which can be as cheap as 100 Baht (3 dollars and a bit or so Canadian). Reminded me of tipping back 1/2 litres in Germany.

A couple of weird observations:

1) Europeans Smoke - Perhaps it’s just the travelers… but it seems like everyone I meet smokes. Don’t they all have nationalized health care?? Maybe that’s why they do it.
2) Electrical wires over streets can buzz really loudly - It’s quite noticeable when walking down the street.
3) Cats in Thailand are cool - Can’t explain this one… they are just cool

I managed to plow through a few more books while at Bottle Beach:

Sum of All Fears - Tom Clancy - A bit of a haul took 1.5 days to read
The Devil’s Advocate - Can’t remember - I liked this one… story of a priest investigating a potential saint
Continental Drift - Can’t remember - I liked this… but a bit painful and I didn’t get through it

Patong Beach in Phuket could not be more different than bottle beach. I would describe it as Florida during the day and an outdoor strip club at night. The number of middle aged European men (who are easy to identify) wondering around with young Thai girls is significant… i was going to say astounding… but i guess I’m not all that surprised. I arrived in town by Ferry / Bus and spent most of yesterday on route. Met a couple of girls from England on the way into town and we had dinner together last night. It was handy to wander around town at night with them… as this seems to create a shield around me… warding off what would have otherwise been some pretty aggressive solicitation

Last but not least; the car and the house are now both sold!

Thanks to Joe and Lois for finalizing the house and thanks to Ryan for getting the car sold.

shane