Thursday, August 6, 2009

Vacation!

After 16 days filled with Thailand, I have returned to Turkmenistan relaxed, well-rested, and 10 pounds heavier. I think it may be impossible to share my entire experience with you. Everything was exquisitely new and exciting and beautiful and delicious. My brain did its very best soak it all up. It, my brain that is, did a pretty good job too. As a result, I have so many images and memories and tastes associated with my trip that I can’t possibly share them all! I shall have to pick and choose and that just seems insufficient. Whine, whine. I know. Suck it up and tell us something, you say. Ok, here goes.


After landing in Bangkok and meeting up with Hilary, my fabulous travelling companion J, we explored the city. Bangkok is huge city of concrete overpasses, neon signs, and traffic. People come and go to work dressed neatly and fashionably. High-heels are the norm for women.You may get horribly ripped off by a Taxi driver but the stranger who goes out of her way to call your hostel for directions more than makes up for it.



Entertainment and shopping are both very serious endeavors. The white tiled shopping centers were overwhelming and overpriced but the 6th floor movie theater was fabulous. My first big-screen movie since Peace Corps was, of course, Harry Potter. For some cheaper shopping, a wide variety of street vendors line the streets, spilling out from the market areas. Behind this first file of commercialism, Thai massage parlors, Silk vendors 7 11s and restaurants repeat up and down the streets. I’m not complaining; I literally ate my way around Bangkok. I particularly enjoyed the Pad Thai, the coconut curries, and the watermelon smoothies.



The public transportation system includes a ferry, a subway, and a sky-train (a raised light-rail system). All of which are easy to navigate for two reasons: first, everything is written in English and Thai and second, everyone speaks English.


Monks, in varying shades of orange, dot the city like moving traffic cones concentrating around the hundreds of sparkling gold and red temples. Not only did we make the obligatory visit to the Royal Palace and surrounding temples, we ascended a particularly fun one entitled ‘The Golden Mount.’ My favorite place, though, was much more humble and unassuming. My first day in Bangkok as I circled our hostel, I found a medium sized park right smack in the middle of the city. The park was luxuriantly green. People dotted the banks of the pond, stretched out on woven mats. I couldn’t help returning to this park for my last day in Bangkok out of some desire for closure.


After a couple days in Bangkok, we headed north to Sukhothai, one of the really old cities from the time when Thailand was Siam. I think it dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Here we rented bicycles and biked for a good four hours around this ancient city of red, eroded brick and smooth grey Buddha statues. It was amazingly beautiful. I can’t describe it. See for yourself!


Then we headed south to one of Thailand’s famous beaches, Ko Samui. After a 9 hour bus ride, a 2 hour ferry ride, and a 45 minute van ride, we arrived at our hostel. For the next four days we lived in a lush green paradise of palm trees and jungle rising out of post-card perfect white sand and blue water. We roused ourselves from the lethargy of hot sun and beautiful beach only once for a touristy day trip of intense exercise. We were taken on a tourist boat to some of the smaller islands where we kayaked, hiked, and swam. It was hard to go back to Bangkok after paradise. Pictures forthcoming.

Back in Bangkok for the last couple of days, we did another day trip to the famous floating market. Although admittedly touristy and overpriced, the floating market was fascinating. We bought a variety of strange fruits and sat to watch the long thin paddle boats of merchandise and tourists pass by.

Too soon it was over. I was back in Turkmenistan, speaking Turkmen, sweating on the public buses, and meeting acquaintances in the streets. Back to the familiar. And I realized the difference between visiting another country, and ‘the Peace Corps experience.’ While you are visiting a country, while you are seeing the sights, while you are a full-blown tourist, you have choices. So many choices. There is an entire industry designed to provide you, the traveler, with a plethora of choices.

Do I eat at McDonald’s, Mr. Bun, the clean-looking Thai restaurant on the corner, the sushi place, the street vendor’s booth, the Mexican restaurant, the Chinese restaurant, the crepe stand (say yes to the crepe stand!!!), the Pizza Hut, or the bar? Do I take a Taxi, a bus, the sky-train, a Tuk-Tuk (motorcycle-cart creation), a bicycle, the ferry, or do I book everything with a tourist agency and let them decide? Do I want to spend money on floral print beach dresses, hand-woven hemp dragons, colorful carved candles, Thai silks, hot sauce, unknown fruits, knock-off purses, or movie tickets? I think you get the idea. Choices.

In this daunting world of choices, you construct a mini-world that you are comfortable in. For example, today we tried the crepe stand for the first time. It was delicious. Success! So we were brave and tried some green and red, unidentifiable, tentacled fruits. Some were good, some not so good. Unfortunately, we were ripped off by the vendor. Disgruntled and a tad bit discouraged, next we choose to retreat into a movie theater or to our hotel room where we can disengage entirely from the country we are visiting and recharge our batteries.

In Peace Corps, our choices are far more limited. We live in places bereft of tourism and in places were normal average people simply don’t have choices. We do our best to live like the normal average people. Money, of course, opens up your choices a bit, but not as much as you might think. Furthermore, PCVs aren’t exactly rolling in the dough. Nor can we disengage from our environment. Ok, that’s not exactly correct. We can disengage. And we do. We hole up in our rooms and watch movies or gather in groups to have a beer. This is necessary for our mental sanity. But, it is our job to remain engaged with our environment: to talk to the old women on the bus, to answer the Taxi driver’s hundreds of questions about Obama, the America, or our marital status, to eat meals with our meals with our host families, to accept the endless wedding invitations from our students, our neighbors, our co-workers, and to reach out to our students day after day in the classroom. And doing these things, remaining engaged, is what truly gives us satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment. However, these things are exhausting.

Perhaps I am way off. Perhaps after 10 months of living in Turkmenistan (yes, it has been 10 months!), I merely don’t see the choices anymore. And for the record, I am not saying traveling is better or worse than may daily life. I’m simply trying to make a distinction, significant or not, I don’t know. Suffice it to say, Thailand was a mix of wonderfully new and wonderfully comfortable things. I feel rested and glad to be back. Bring on the bus women!