As I’m sitting down to write this post, I’m finding it
difficult to know where to start. I had the pleasure of spending the past 16
days traveling around Thailand and Cambodia. As I posted earlier, one of my
main reasons for choosing to study in Hong Kong was its closeness in proximity
to the rest of Southeast Asia- an area of the world that I have always wanted
to explore.
Our trip was broken up into four main areas: Bangkok, Koh
Phangan, Chiang Mai, and Siem Reap (The first three in Thailand, and the last
in Cambodia).
Bangkok:
We were in Bangkok a total of four times, but never for very
long- it was essentially our hub for train/bus turnarounds from place to place,
but it served us well for quick recharges between traveling. We found a nice
hostel there that was super clean and had great air conditioning and reliable
wifi (basically everything you need but never find in a cheap hostel).
However, the time I did spend in Bangkok was great. This
city doesn’t really get much credit among most travelers I talked to in
Thailand, and I can see their point. Bangkok is insane. To me, Bangkok is
essentially a massive city that grew up to fast- kind of like a kid who skips
his teenage years and jumps straight into adulthood; he may look grown up, but
he certainly has moments where he doesn’t always act like it.
With all-but-torn-down buildings on the riverfront adjacent
to 5 start hotels and hundreds of protruding phone wires lining the streets passing
by cell-phone shops, Bangkok’s architectural and technological infrastructures
are the most lopsided I have ever seen. With modern shopping malls selling
merchandise for Western prices located in areas with begging children who are
elated to receive 10 bhat (about $0.30) as alms, the gap between the rich and
poor is the most stark juxtaposition I have ever seen. With modern luxury cars
zooming by tuk tuks and mopeds along streets with minimal traffic signals that
no one follows, Bangkok’s traffic is the most hectic I have ever seen. After
living in Hong Kong and driving in Chicago for a summer, I thought I had a
decent idea of what “crazy” traffic was like, needless to say, I hadn’t the
slightest clue of what crazy even meant.
Honestly, the traffic is analogous to theoretical
capitalism- everyone looks out for themselves, and somehow, the magic hand of
traffic finds an equilibrium in all of the noise. Needless to say, it’s Adam
Smith’s dream world as far as traffic is concerned.
One of my favorite highlights of Bangkok was taking a boat
down the Chao Phraya River to see the Grand Palace and some temples. The river
was just as hectic as the streets- everything from the small banka I traveled
on, to enormous barges seemingly sailed in whichever direction they pleased.
The only rules that anyone seemed to follow were Newton’s laws of motion, so
the little guys got out of the way accordingly. The boat ride also showed the
stark differences in riverfront property that I was referring to earlier.
However, as the sun was setting and the waves were splashing over cooling us
off every so often, it was hard not
to be mesmerized by Bangkok- a city of chaos that functions surprisingly well
without the constraints that the Western world puts on society.
Koh Phangan:
Koh Phangan was beautiful. If you’re willing to brave a 13
hour train, 2 hour bus, and 3 hour ferry with layover times in between, the
carrot at the end of the maze is well worth it. My friends and I stayed at a
hotel located right on the beach that faced the Western side of the island.
Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in a hammock watching the sunsets every
night. It was probably the most serene part of our trip. We spent all day
riding around exploring the island on the mopeds that we rented, and ended most
nights just soaking in the beauty of the island in a hammock. Koh Phangan is
also home to the full moon party. Essentially it’s an all night rave on the
beach. I love house and techno. I love the beach. This was a pretty easy sell
for me. Even though it was about 85 degrees at night, I had a blast dancing and
throwing fluorescent paint with about 20,000 other young travelers enjoying the
beauty of the island- definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Another event that impacted me was on our last day- my
friend Devesh and I decided to go exploring and use up the rest of our gas in
our mopeds, and in doing so, found a mini golf course. This was no ordinary
course, though. As we pulled up to the course, a Swedish guy came out of his
house to greet us- we were in his backyard. After talking to him for a bit, he
told us that he retired there a few years ago and built the course to keep
himself busy. He was my hero. Even toward the end of life, Christer was looking
for an adventure- he saw the beauty in the little things and taught me that age
doesn’t necessarily have to define how and where we write our story. Not to
mention, he built the absolute most difficult putt-putt course I’ve ever
played.
After a few
group members crashed their bikes, went to the hospital, and paid over $700
combined for damages, we were ready to head back to Bangkok to catch our train
to Siem Reap, Cambodia (luckily I didn’t crash…yet).
Siem Reap:
Our journey to Siem Reap was easily the most taxing of the
trip. The cheapest way to the border was a $2 ticket for a 6 hour train ride
that left at 5 in the morning. However, this wasn’t the same kind of train that
we took to Koh Phangan. There was a reason it was 47 bhat. There weren’t any
beds or air conditioning. Only wooden seats (if you were lucky, otherwise you
had to stand) and the windows open. Personal space was also a luxury that a $2
ticket doesn’t afford. While this train was probably the most miserable 6 hours
of my trip from a physical discomfort standpoint, it was also one of the most
eye opening. With vendors carrying putrid street meat up and down the aisles
shouting prices every five minutes, to the man across from me clearing his
throat and watching himself spit out of the window even more often that the
vendors’ shouting, to the hard wooden seats with no ability to recline or rest
your head, I realized that I have it pretty good. Actually, I have it really
good, and I take that for granted all too often.
Once we arrived at the border, some fellow travelers warned that
the tuk tuk drivers are notorious for scamming tourists into buying
over-priced, fake visas. Sure enough, our tuk tuk driver drove us to an
“Official Cambodian Visa Office” in which not one person was wearing a uniform
or had any formal identification. Also, we were informed that we were only
allowed to pay in Thai currency. Needless to say, we left pretty quickly with
some not-so-kind words on the way out. After a five minute walk to the border,
we bought some legitimate visas, got our fingerprints taken, and entered the
Kingdom of Cambodia. Unfortunately, our encounter with shady locals was far
from over.
After negotiating a minivan to take our group straight to
our hotel, our driver dropped us off at a small restaurant and said that only
tuk tuks could drive the rest of the distance. Being the tired, stupid tourists
that we were, we got off the minivan to go to the tuk tuks only to find out
that the new driver wanted a cash deposit to book a tour for the next day in
order to take us the rest of the way to our hotel. At this point, everyone in
the group pretty much lost it. I actually took a backseat role to this one and
watched the arguments and yelling play out- it was hilarious, and unfortunately
I didn’t get it on camera. So, long story short- we didn’t pay the guy, and we
found a new tuk tuk driver to take us the rest of the way (because the van that
we had originally paid for left as soon as we got out). On our way out, we saw
another group of tourists about to get dragged through the whole song and
dance, so we told them to stay on their van- this made the tuk tuk scam artists
even more angry, but they had it coming.
Aside from the initial scam-fest, Cambodia was full of nice
people. It was also the hottest and most impoverished place I have ever been.
On our second day there, the temperature was a brisk 109 degrees not factoring
in the insane amount of humidity. We drank a lot of water- at least 3 liters a
day (I know, I’m turning into a European with all of these metric measurements,
but they honestly make more sense…)
The poverty in Siem Reap made Bangkok look like a first
world country. With malnourished cows roaming freely on the streets among the
traffic and small children begging for milk powder, it was a pretty depressing
scene in some areas and made me reevaluate the insignificant things about which
I complain.
Aside from the poverty, the ruins at the Temple of Angkor
Wat were beautiful. Built in the early 12th century, this Hindu
temple still remains the largest religious monument in the world. We got there
to see the sunrise over the main temple- it was beautiful (although a bit
cloudy, so the sun was short-lived).
Walking around the temple, it was amazing to think that
humans built it without the assistance of modern technology. Some of the stones
easily weighed multiple tons. Truly a mystery to me- I would’ve loved to see it
as it was being built.
After a long day at Angkor Wat, we ended the afternoon with
a foot massage- however; the masseuse was a tank of small fish that ate the
dead skin off of your feet. Definitely weird at first, but after a few minutes,
you get used to the tickling.
Chiang Mai:
Back to Bangkok. Get on another bus. Travel all night. It
was becoming routine at this point. Our last main stop was Chiang Mai- a
beautiful city in Northern Thailand. With cooler weather, and much nicer
people, Chiang Mai had a lot to offer. We spent our first day renting mopeds
and exploring a mountain. There was one small catch though, we had to drive
through the city to get there, and the lack of traffic laws still applied in
Chiang Mai. Once navigating the city and white-lining past long lines of cars,
we made it to the mountain and started our ascent. We visited a few temples,
but after seeing Angkor Wat, they were relatively unimpressive. As my friend
Mike Hines would say, “Nothing to write home about…”
The coolest part of the trip was reaching the top of the
mountain and seeing the small village at the top. We stopped and had some
espresso from coffee beans grown a few miles away and enjoyed the view
overlooking the mountain and small town. Also, we had ridden so high that the
temperature probably dropped about 20 degrees- definitely refreshing. My
favorite part of the mountain exploration was definitely the descent. With few
cars in our way, we made our way down the winding roads going a lot faster than
we probably should have been going, but it was one of the most freeing feelings
of the trip. Later on, a friend of mine and I went back out with his GoPro camera
to record us driving through the traffic, and after an entire day of cruising
and winding turns, I found myself on the ground in the middle of traffic after falling
at a near standstill. Pretty embarrassing to say the least, but I’m thankful I
walked away with only a few scratches.
On our last full day in Chiang Mai, my long awaited elephant
ride was finally upon us (I have wanted to ride an elephant since the beginning
of my exchange). We spent the first half of the day learning the turning and
driving commands (the most important being STOP, or as they say, “Yood”). The
second half of the day, we were able to take them on some paths and stop in one
of the rivers to wash them off. The elephant that Devesh and I were riding had
a baby tag along with us, so that added to the excitement. I will never forget
getting in a water fight with an animal that could truly crush me in one step. It
was amazing to see how smart these creatures were as well. They knew so many
commands and were extremely friendly- it sounds cheesy and hipster, but
interacting with nature in such a personal way is hard to describe and was
definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
All in all, this trip was life changing for me in numerous
ways. Traveling for this long taught me to take initiative and get things done
when it came time to book trains and busses and ferries. It taught me to make
decisions quickly and not stand around and wait for someone to make them for
me. It taught me to think on my feet in a whole new way- to know when to
bargain, and to know when to concede 100 bhat extra to someone who genuinely
needed it more than me. It taught me to appreciate cultures that operate under
a much different set of customs and rules from my own. It taught me to use
phrases such as “the opposite side” rather than “the wrong side” of the road.
Southeast Asia taught me to listen before I speak and to think before I judge.
Most importantly, my travels in Southeast Asia put poverty
into a real, tangible perspective. I complain when I don’t have hot water for a
shower- they are content when the water is clean enough to drink. I complain
when the wifi at the hotel breaks down for five minutes, they are content to
even have access to the Internet. I complain when my food takes too long at the
restaurant, they are happy to have food at all. I complain that my school
classes are boring, they are content when they can send their children to
school so they don’t have to spend the day begging in the streets. This trip,
above all else, showed me what contentment actually looks like, and how far off
I am from ever reaching it most days. It shattered my matrix of comfort…in a
good way. This trip showed me that happiness truly isn’t found in material
wealth, because some of the poorest people I met in Asia were some of the most
genuinely happy.
What I’d say to the people there: You don’t need our Rolex,
Mercedes, Starbucks, and Polo- you have something much more valuable- much more
than any tourist’s money can buy. At the end of the day, most of us tourists
are living in existential poverty because we live our whole lives with
everything and never find genuine contentment of any sort. We feel great when
we hand someone 10 dollars because we think our benevolence is commendable,
when in reality, we should be the ones begging for alms. We should be asking for
their secret to being content with the little things- with their secret to
being content with the simple fact that “I’m alive”.
I highly doubt
that on my deathbed I am going to regret not making more money, living in a
more expensive neighborhood, sending my kids to a more prestigious school, or
driving a nicer car, but I have a strong suspicion that if I live my life in sole
pursuit of acquiring material wealth and never reaching any genuine
contentment, I will look back on my life as a massive materialistic failure,
and I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen.
Thanks Southeast Asia- you gave me much more than I could
ever give you.
