#changover

On the 12th of May we wondered around Bangkok: taking water taxis, adoring 24k golden Buddha’s, looking at lady boys, receiving the first of many a “Thai Massage” and checking out large malls, actually huge malls. Going to different food halls and neighborhoods and eating everything that looked good. At one point, we made it over to Koh San Road, which is the epicenter of the backpacking scene. The guys on the street sell anything a backpacker wants: fake ID’s of all nationalities, fried scorpions, pants that look as though you pooped in them (not stained brown, just baggy in the butt), beers, Koh San Road Tank tops (which everyone seems to have on), pirated DVD’s and amongst other things, drugs if you want to go that route. We tucked into a few Chang beers and a scorpion on a stick, which was crunchy and tasted of oil. Then we just watched all the people. This provides for some very fun and cheap entertainment as there is an infinite amount of characters strolling the streets. You have new age hippies, with the aforementioned baggy pants, tank tops and dreds. There are well to do German couples with their jungle trekking gear. There are the panhandlers, with and without feet, hands and other extremities. There are other European girls who are wearing clothes that probably are not really clothes, but rags of sorts that don’t cover much. These outfits are justified by the extreme heat and humidity I suppose. Street performers, bug sellers, bracelet weavers; they are all there, kind of like a traveling circus that has implanted itself on Koh San Road. After an hour or so, and a few beers later, we left the circus and slowly made our way back out to the quiet corner of Bangkok that we were staying in. Along the way we found more curious sites. One such oddity is the street bar. This is where someone, usually a lady with her other lady friends, builds a bar out of bamboo. They then place it on the sidewalk and as you cruise by, they entice you to sit and empty your pockets of Baht, exchanging it for booze. We stopped at a few of these since they were so conveniently located, and also because this is a novelty that we do not have back home, but one that we would certainly like to start up! The only rule about these sidewalk street speakeasies seems to be that they have to be named after some aspect of drinking. The few we stopped at that evening had such graphic names as Jolly Bar, Happy Bar as well as Moderation Bar. The funny thing about these watering holes is that we deduced that the name did not directly imply the atmosphere at that establishment and it really was a toss of the coin to see what you would get. For example, at Jolly Bar the girls hanging around were indeed Jolly as was the Bar Wench, but at Moderation Bar, they were not teetotalers and let you freely drink your fill. It just goes to show that you cannot judge a book by its cover, or a Street bar by its string light name board.

Just before we reached our hostel, which was called Pridi Hostel and would come highly recommended by us if you like quiet off the beaten track sort of places, we found a nice hole in the wall Karaoke hideout. It had two concrete walls, and two garage door openings and during the day time the doors were down so you would think it was a garage. Inside we found 6 people. With only two being together at a table. The others were at their own tables, patiently waiting for their turn on the mic, slowly sipping their beers keeping their throats lubricated. A book was placed on our table, and we signed for three beers to be brought out, along with some ice. After flipping through the book and noting that 98.6% of the artists and titles of the songs were illegible to us, we got to the back where the English print was. We found a spectacular selection of the Eagles, Queen and Metallica; along with one or two songs from N’sync and the Spice girls. Max took Hotel California. Emma took People of the World, and Ahron chose Desperado as Metallica is not really his forte and the only song he likes from Queen is Bohemian Rhapsody and he was sure as hell not to be singing that in front of this tough crowd. Our turns eventually came and one by one, we sang our choses tunes. Killing it of course. When the music stopped and the beers were drained, we found the proprietor to square up on our tab. Funny thing though when we got it. There was more than just three beers charged to us. To be exact it was three beers and three songs. 5 baht a song, and 6 baht a beer. Now this, this was something very new to us. Charging for songs? Where exactly do they get off? We asked this exact question to the man who handed us the bill. And he was quite adamant that this was typical. We asked the other patrons if this was the norm, and unluckily none of them spoke English so they had no idea what we were getting at. We left after having paid the crook with the mic. For the rest of our time in Thailand, whenever near to a Karaoke club, we would pop in for a song and before belting it out, would ask about the fees involved: Not once was there an extra charge.  We made it back to our room a little beat that night. The next morning was even worse, for we had to incur our first ever Chang-over. It is not a pleasant feeling the Chang-over and unfortunately this would not be the last time we had to battle with them.

We were originally planning on spending three days in Thailand, just enough time to eat our fill of Pad Thai and stock up on cheap sunglasses before heading to Laos. Today is actually our fifth day in Chiang Mai, and we can’t seem to get away. Thailand has been a totally different experience from Sri Lanka, and our foòcus has definitely shifted from cultural experiences to socializing and partying. Thailand is a veritable playground for Westerners. Where else can you lie on the beach while drinking a beer and getting a massage on a backpacker’s budget?

Spicy Thai is the place to stay in Chiang Mai. It is backpacking heaven, or as close as it gets. It’s got a great, friendly vibe, the staff is incredibly helpful, and we’ve met some amazing people from all over the world. It’s become like a home to us, and that’s not easy to find when you’re always on the move. Our first night at the hostel, we had a big barbecue. Everyone sat around one long table, sharing food and swapping stories. Afterwards a group of us got together to check out one of the local ladyboy shows in the Night Market area. I’d never seen one before, and I figured this was the place to do it. The show was surprisingly well done, and demonstrated some true artistry, which I was not expecting.

We’ve been spending our nights at popular tourist spots like Zoe’s, a nightclub with a huge terrasse that gets wild around midnight. We’ve also been to the THC Rooftop Bar, which is a really cool spot with a more laid back atmosphere. Up several staircases, the floor is covered with mats and pillows, the DJ is spinning some mellow music, and you’re guaranteed to make new friends, whether you like it or not. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, sipping our beers, we ended up meeting a couple of guys from Quebec City, and another from Montreal. We hadn’t met anyone from Quebec yet, and it was fun to bump into each other all the way on the other side of the world. That night led to my first ever Changover experience. Chang beer is very popular in Thailand, but I’d been warned that its alcohol content is very loosely regulated. Basically, a bottle of Chang can contain anywhere from 3% to 12% alcohol, and the resulting hangover can be deadly. I did not heed this warning, and had several bottles of Chang on the rooftop before heading back to the hostel.

The next morning, we had planned to take a hike up to Wat Doi Suthep, one of the more impressive temples in Chiang Mai. I woke up feeling a little rough around the edges, but having experienced my fair share of hangovers, I was determined to push through it. We met two other Canadian girls in the hostel who decided to join us, we hopped in a tuk tuk to get to the base of the mountain. The hike started well enough, the trail was clearly indicated, and it was relatively easy. The fresh air was helping to clear my head, and I was feeling pretty good. We reached a beautiful area with a temple and a waterfall, and thought that maybe we’d completed the hike. We were informed by a local passing by that Doi Suthep was further up, and that we still had a ways to go. Thinking nothing of it, we continued our leisurely stroll through the woods. We came to a main road, crossed the street, and noticed that the path was beginning to get significantly steeper. Having been told that it was just a short ways up, we started to climb over rocky terrain and tree roots. We were just about out of water, and it was almost midday, the temperature rising by the minute. It was at this point that it started to really hit me. No doubt about it, I had a Changover. By the time we got up to the temple, we were all feeling a little worse for wear, but I had reached my breaking point. No longer concerned with seeing yet another temple, I tapped out, catching a shared taxi back to the city.

After a good night’s rest, I made a full recovery, and was ready to spend a day with the elephants at Baan Chang Elephant Park. Our guide for the day picked us up at our hostel in the morning, and we were joined by a great group of friendly people who really added to the experience. We started off by feeding the elephants with bananas and sugar cane. This was our first interaction with these amazing creatures, and helped us to get comfortable with them. Next, we were taught a bit about the elephants themselves, and how they had been rescued from abusive situations and brought to the park to be rehabilitated. The mahouts joined our guide in demonstrating how to mount and command the elephants, and we were invited to try it for ourselves. Having ridden an elephant the last time I was in Thailand, I opted out of this part of the experience, but my favorite part of the day was playing in the water with these giant animals, getting soaked as they sprayed me with water. It was an unforgettable day, and I’m glad we got the chance to do it.