Teaching in Thailand to Trekking in Nepal

Current Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Chiang Mai, Thailand was my home for 6 weeks.

Ancient temple in Chiang Mai/Temple dog/looking down on Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep Temple

After crossing the border Laos border into Thailand by bicycle I hopped on a bus to Chiang Mai where I spent an intensive one month obtaining my TEFL certification through Siam Education. Although I have taught English and varying subjects in the past I never actually learned "how" to teach. The course opened up a door into teaching that I never knew was there. The 4 week course was broken into the two weeks of thai language/grammar/teaching methods and the two final weeks of actual teaching practices and lesson planning. I got to have the experience of tediously preparing lesson plans then teaching hour long lessons to Thai students from kindergarten 3 year olds up to college nursing students in their mid-20s. The Thai language lessons proved to be immensely rewarding as well. My interactions with locals changed drastically when I was able to communicate in Thai. Even though I only mastered basic conversation people responded with beaming faces and a willingness to help me continue learning the language. The Thai language lessons also served as a daily reminder how hard learning a new language can be. What we think as a few simple words or phrases to a new language learner start off as sounds then eventually take on meaning. It was a nice reminder when our class spent an entire 2 hours learning to say in Thai, "how are you?, I’m fine, or I'm not well" then when we ourselves teach language learners we must keep the lessons simple and concise. The Thai language also is a tonal language so we spent hours trying to learn the different tonal inflections. For example, "Suay" with a rising tone means beautiful in Thai and "Suay" in a low tone means bad luck. At first the tonal differential was almost unnoticeable but after practice we started to pick up on the differences, yet I am still leaps and bounds from mastering the tones.

Siam Education/My kindergarten class!/The whole class out to lunch:

The TEFL students, including myself, found the Thai students to have a strong eagerness to learn and kindness towards others that isn't often found in the West. This time in Thailand I really felt that I was able to connect with the culture and people. Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand is easily a city that I could live and work in. There are loads of ex-pats working, especially teaching in the city.

Graduation day!/Jane and I at Siam Education

I said goodbye to Thailand and headed to Kathmandu, Nepal 3 days ago to meet back up with Zach who just finished an amazing 1200 kms cycle across Tibet on some of the highest roads in the world. He is preparing a blog post about his own adventures, but I can promise the pictures and experiences are unbelievable. Other exciting news, our good friend Victor from Seattle just met us in Kathmandu! We are ecstatic to have him here with us and so far hes loving Kathmandu, although anxious to go trekking in the usual Victor fashion. We are leaving Monday morning (Oct 5th) from Kathmandu and taking a 10 hour bus ride to town of Besishahar, marking the start of the Annapurna circuit trek. We are giving ourselves 20 days of trekking to hike the Annapurna Circuit, the highest point is Thorung La pass at the height of 5416m or 17,769 feet. Having 20 days will give us plenty of extra times to acclimatize to the altitude throughout the trek and we are hiking the circuit backwards which apparently is better for acclimatization. The peak trekking time is now and there are many tea houses and accommodation along the way, although we are planning to camp mostly along the way.

Buildings lining a river in Kathmandu/Bulls!/Tibetan stupa within the city

After the trekking I will remain in Kathmandu to volunteer teach while Zach and Victor head to Thailand for a month. We are both unsure where we will meet up after they leave Nepal but we are still planning to work in Southern India come Dec/Jan. Since arriving in Kathmandu I have been busy meeting and spending time with the cycling group that went through Tibet with Zach and also running around buying last minute gear items for the trek. Our friends Katrina and Mike are leaving Nepal for Canada at the end of this week after more than a year cycle touring. Having cycled in 5 countries with Kat and Mike we are sad that they won't be continuing the journey with us.

We will be out of internet range during the trek for the next 4 weeks. Our entire trek is registered with the Nepal Government Trekkers Management System and the guesthouse contact in Kathmandu where our bikes and bags are stored is Hotel Holy Lodge. We love and miss you back home. Its hard to believe that we have almost been gone 1 year, time flys.

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Hello and Goodbye: China

Let me first say that I know how disappointed all you readers must be at the lack of pictures, I apologize but in my haste I left the USB reader with E. thinking it wouldn't be a problem to find a computer with a card reader... and oh how I was wrong!

 

The more important thing is that I made it to China and I only had to leave two wrenches behind at airport security! The flight was easy, fitting my full size bike into a bike box made for a 20" bike was much more difficult. I left Laos rainy and fitful as it seems that the wet season had finally begun.

 

The first leg of my multi-stop flight took me to Bangkok for an 11 hour layover. Not a bad airport to spend a night in but I have to say that the air conditioning really starts pumping around 3am and unless you're prepared it can be a cool night. The international wing is alive into the wee hours of the morning with all the incoming and outgoing flights which means that everything from the snack bars to the high-end duty free jewelry shops was still open for business well past my ability to stay awake. I wandered the corridors for a few hours wearing myself out and finally settled down on one of a very few padded couches (in concourse E I believe) for some sleep.

 

My flight to Chengdu left the next morning on time and as soon as we took off the cabin crew started in with their excellent service, thank you Bangkok Airways! I had a full meal, two coffees, a snack, and watched a ridiculous movie in the 5 hours it took me to arrive. When I got the announcement about our imminent descent I craned my neck from my aisle seat toward the window and all I could see was a thick cloud cover. I kept my eye on the window as we continued down and still a milky white persisted outside. Then I noticed the haze was turning ever browner and I started to make out the shape of buildings, roads, cars, all things city like. We were in fact almost to the touchdown part of the flight and I would guess I could see about 10 blocks out past the airport before the smog had obscured absolutely everything else. Hmmm. I sped through the airport, both the security checkpoint and the immigration desk were a breeze and they didn't even x-ray my clumsily packaged bike box.

 

The hostel I booked with had a van waiting for me when I arrived, which made the hour trip into the heart of the city that much less of a hassle. On arriving Kat and Mike were already checked in; it was great to reconnect with them after our abrupt split up in Vietnam. I also got to meet Bob, a true adventurer who having arrived in Chengdu with a set of panniers, some camping gear, and a dream to cycle in Tibet, had happened upon Kat and Mike and decided to join up with our group. Mike and Kat had helped him sort out the bike question through a great local mechanic, tourer, visionary, and all around great guy Hans who built up a nice BMC Virus for him. We spent a few days running around Chengdu which is an incredibly easy to navigate and interesting city with every modern amenity any westerner could ever want. Hans took us on a 90km round trip ride out past the city center and up a nice twisty pass where we got to enjoy softball sized local peaches and a great view (with a bit less smog). When we got back to his shop Hans told us that the 45kms we'd cycled away from Chengdu still had us inside the city limits! Whoa!

 

As the days passed more of the group arrived. Nathan, who'd been cycling in China already (and who'd already made a bid for Lhasa without a permit and had been turned back just weeks before) arrived next and added Kiwi fuel to the fire of stories and experiences from the road that kept us all up late laughing over beers. After Nathan came Adrian, an Ozzy, who'd also been cycling in China already. Marnus arrived from South Africa after many hours in transit with two days to spare and a great classic steel bike and minimalist gear. Billy arrived last with the longest travel itinerary having flown from South America to Las Vegas with one day to sort out his gear (and all Kat's food requests) before taking a multi-leg flight from Las Vegas to Chengdu! Billy also kindly brought along my tent and a brand spanking new Kelty sleeping bag of mine that my mom had graciously gathered and shipped off to Las Vegas a few days before. With everyone gathered, bikes tuned up, snacks galore, and adventure in the air we set off for the train to Lhasa; which is where things got really interesting.

 

Our tour organizer from Dreams Travel had told us that our bikes would cost us excess baggage fees but would be loaded onto the luggage car of the train... well turns out there is no and has never been any luggage car for this train. We arrived at the station 2 hours early only to discover that our bikes would have to go on another cargo train for god knows how much, and would arrive 5 days later! Never mind though, we went and got in the Lhasa train line with all our stuff to see what they'd do with us. First they made us take off all our bags and the front wheels before we could get in the terminal. We hobbled two at a time, one with bags and one with a bike for 8 rounds of this to get all our stuff inside the train building... saying nothing of getting checked in for our own train this just got us to the next line! After a lot of negotiation they took our tickets, passports, and permits and told us to wait until all the other passengers had loaded and then to load our stuff in. We waited and waited while hundreds of people streamed past us bound for our train. Finally we got the signal to start bringing stuff through - again in waves we moved our bags and then gear to a waiting room. Once in the waiting room we moved the same gear in waves again to the train platform all the while the train is full and we're the last ones to board. We got all the baggage in and then started jamming the bikes into the vestibules where the control panels and toilets sat at the junction of each car. The train people were horrified but we just kept bringing them in until every one was loaded haphazardly and the train started moving! The officials hounded us and we moved the bikes about 6 times before they were satisfied but we did it, we'd gotten all our stuff and our people on the train! The train staff really didn't know what to make of us but they couldn't kick us off so we just stood our ground, bungeed our bikes together and that was that! Wheels and panniers lay everywhere around our bunks and it was a bit of a pain to have to sleep with all my luggage at my feet, making my bed fit for someone maybe 3 foot 5.

 

Never the less, we were off and headed for Tibet!

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When you go out step on the dog, when you come back step on the frog

The title is an irresistable outtake extolling the virtues of hard work found in a Lao childrens book of proverbs picked up at Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang. The translation explained that you should get up and start your day early enough to find the dogs still sleeping at the doorstep, and you should return from your studies and chores late enough that the frogs have come out.

It's strange how Laos can feel so laid back and at the same time the people can be so dilligent and hard working. Don't get me wrong, these guys know how to relax too but I still haven't gotten up early enough to acutally see the first of the morning market stalls being set up - and I've gotten up early... In Luang Prabang, similarly, the night market is still breaking down when I'm stumbling back to my hotel bleary eyed from a long day walking the streets of town, snapping photos, and sampling the local dishes. In one of the wonderful garden bars, also in Luang Prabang, a waiter told us he starts work at 8am and works until close which is 11pm but in saying that he didn't seem to be complaining, rather he was just making conversation. Everyone here works too, like the grandmother in Vang Vieng who came out every evening with her clay oven and cast iron pancake form to set up shop on the dusty main alley that made up the tourist strip. She was still cooking up little silver dollar sized pancakes over glowing embers every time we were headed back to our bungalow; and she always greeted us with the same bright, wrinkled smile. It could be that these folks are putting on a good face for the tourists but I rather think they've sorted out how to enjoy themselves while they're doing whatever it is that they do to scrape by. I see the girls in the markets chatting and laughing loudly with the other sellers as they all lay stretched out behind their neatly arranged merchandise. The tuk tuk men, ever vigilant and always brandishing a big smile, huddle together playing cards or swing languidly in hammocks hung in the back of their rigs, laughing loudly with each other but never missing a potential fare in the passing foot traffic. Everywhere about the tourists districts we found the waiters, reception staff, and store clerks were students with a full class load working 6 or 7 days a week, most times putting in a full 8 hours at their jobs and although they make less in a day than a minimum wage worker flipping burgers back home, we found in talking with many of them that they frequently are able to send money home to support their families. I am in awe of the dedication and work ethic that seems to be intimately threaded through the cluture here and find it in great contrast to the often laisses-faire attitude I've encountered both as a worker and a customer in the states (and I'm not excluding myself from that passing judgement either!).

 

That said I've spent the last few days of my second round in Vientaine visiting the businesses that hire Lao staff and are working to empower the local people by helping them market their existing skills or by giving them new skills. One particularly interesting place was COPE which had a great UXO educational show along with being situated in the same complex as a wheelchair fabrication shop run by AAR  but staffed by and for Lao natives with disabilities. The Visitors center was very well set up with interactive and engaging educational displays including a mock up of a traditional Lao style thatch home stocked with tons of daily life implements that had almost all been fashioned from the remnants of war. It's cool to see the instruments of war being re purposed but there's a bigger problem behind that industry. The scavenging of scrap metal is a lucrative business and secondhand metal detectors help villagers locate metal fragments but it's impossible for them to discern something that will fetch them a months wages in one go from something that can kill them with one swipe of the shovel. As you might well have guessed access to healthcare and especially prosthetics is a little convoluded here which makes what COPE is doing that much more important. If you've got a minute please check out their website and if you feel inspired please make a donation! We've actually spent quite a bit of time now visiting the UXO centers: UXO Laos in Luang Prabang which has a brand new visitors facility, MAG in Phonsavanh where we saw a great documentary about the Secret War in Lao called "Bombies", and now COPE here in Vientaine.

 

On a completely different thread:

As most of you know I'm headed to meet up with a few cyclists in Chengdu, China in a few days. From there the 8 of us will take the train to Lhasa, Tibet and cycle overland from there to Kathmandu. I'm excited and nervous and have been running around Vientaine trying to square up my gear and tie up any loose ends before I fly out. This will be my first big adventure abroad without E. and I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time. I'll try and post some blog updates along the way but the trip promises very few cities and thus very few options for checking email or getting online. I promise a big post from Kathmandu though!

 

In the mean time I hope everyone back home is enjoying the last days of a balmy summer and getting some

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Reunion Blog Post

And we're back together again! Z learned first hand the often red-tape laden measures travelers encounter when trying to obtain a visa in Vietnam, especially when that visa is for China. After multiple fruitless attempts it was clear he would not be getting said visa in Vietnam. With a quickly expiring Vietnamese visa he decided to head to Laos and re-apply for the China visa there, after a few friends had reported having luck with the embassy in Vientiane. Fate brought us back together as E was only a few days from, and headed to, Vientiane also! Z easily got his 2 month visa for China and E took advantage of the US embassy in town as she needed more pages added to an overfull passport! We spent a fabulous few days in Vientiane and instead of making a run for the China border after a short reunion, Z decided to stay on in Laos for a while opting to cycle North to Luang Prabang with his favorite tour partner.

Traveling in Laos continues to be serene and supremely rewarding with the beautiful countryside and the warmth of people. When E. awoke early for the 150 km long haul into Vientiane from Paxsan a mix of incense and misty fog blanketed the streets. A air of tranquility lined the roads. Women sat along the side walk quietly chatting while waiting patiently with bags of sticky rice resting in their laps for the passing monks collecting their morning alms. This Buddhist ritual takes place every morning around 5 am as the monks file out silently from the monasteries heading to collect food offerings, their gleaming silver collection bowls shinning in the morning rays. Buddhist chants and prayers rise up among the procession.

The ride between Vientiane and Vang Vieng was stunning, rainy, and anything but flat; introducing us to the mountainous landscape of Northern Laos with a few decent hills that shocked our legs and might have been the principle cause of some serious whining. We arrived in Vang Vieng around 2 in the afternoon and checked into a sweet little bungalow on the small island in the Nam Song river which our guidebook warns is a big party spot, complete with the backpackers holy trinity: all night bars, loud music, and cheap accommodation. Our bungalow was impossible to resist though, complete with a hammock on the deck and abutting the river it was an idyllic setting to spend a few days soaking up the atmosphere of the place.

Our sweet bungalow and sunset in Vang Veing:

We rushed off to catch one of the last runs of tubers heading out to the drop point a few kilometers upstream from town. Considered the rite of passage within SE Asia, Veng Veing has become legendary for its tubing experience. We piled into the back of a tuk-tuk with 8 other sweaty young travelers and our the bumpy way to the drop in site. Seemingly hundreds of happily intoxicated backpackers lined the rivers banks, setting up shop in the make-shift bars along the shore. Besides the river itself, the second main attraction is the giant swings and zip lines that are haphazardly strung out in front of the bars, providing the tubers with an irresistible temptation. We watched countless dare devil sloshed travelers tempt fate with these contraptions. We watched one girl face plant into the river, leaving her bruised and probably with a concussion. E tried one of the zip lines sending her cascading feet first into the river. Luckily we learned from watching that you have to let go before the line reaches the end or else the sling shot effect sends you somersaulting headfirst into the rock-hard river surface. Due to the active monsoon season the river is running swiftly, sending you shooting down the upon entering. Lao bar workers call out to the passing tubers, beckoning them in with promises of free tequila shots and the best drugs. Because your moving so quickly down stream the method of stopping rests upon luck and pure muscle as the bar workers chuck out ropes tied to water bottles to reel you in. If they are not strong enough to pull you in or you miss the hurtling bottle, then you simply continue the journey downriver, with or without your friends. The two hour trip soon passed the make-shift bars, opening onto jungle lined river edges with only the sound of the bubbling river. Overall we had a blast and managed to come out from the experience unscathed and sober.

The following day we pedaled out to the nearby Tamhoy, Thamloup, and Elephant caves where we unwittingly picked up a local guide, without whom we certainly would not have found our way to the second, third, and fourth caves. Most of the caves have religious significance to the Buddhists of the region and each cave has some spectacular incarnation of a Buddha enshrined inside. Past the first cave we wandered behind our guide, meandering through villages, in and out of families yards, and along cattle paths that cut between raised rice paddies. Our guide gave us an incredible tour of the second cave which seemed to go on endlessly! What started as a walk through a muddy but interesting cave soon became a slog through limestone ringed pools and eventually ended with us swimming through narrow caverns to reach huge cathedrals of cave on the other side. We trekked through this cave for what must've been half an hour before our guide decided we should turn back. Only the sound of our sloshing shoes and our guides melodic singing echoed down the length of the cave as we felt utterly alone in the depths of the limestone mountain. The last cave of the day was a tubing cave! Here we hopped in inner tubes, strapped dim lights to our heads and commenced to pull ourselves along an intricate system of ropes into a cave that had been carved out by an active river. During the dry season it is possible to kayak through the cave but at times we had to duck in order to keep from bumping our heads along the cave roof. At the end of the day we paid 5000 kip to take the bridge to get back across a river to our bikes, unfortunately the bridge isn't quite done and only spans three quarters of the river, so we had to ford the last third of the river; luckily we'd already been swimming a few times that day so no harm in getting wet all over again!

Zach swimming in the cave and tubers lining up to enter the cave:


We skipped town the next day and started the ride to Luang Prabang that would take us three days at best, possibly four. The first day we encountered the usual Laos traffic, sunbathing cows, water buffalo, ducks, and chickens… oh and the occasional car, truck, or tuk tuk. The climbs weren't too bad and we topped out at just under 800 meters and ended the day at an awesome little mountain resort in the middle of nowhere called Bor Nam Oon. Our little chalet was just big enough to fit a full size bed and our collection of bags. We woke to incredible views and some incredible fog as well.

So when a small man with a big gun asks to have his picture taken, the answer is YES!


The ride between Bor Nam Oon and Muang Phu Khun was quite a bit more uphill and came in at 76kms. The views were stunning and in the late afternoon the rain was also stunning, but in a different way. We learned quickly that coupled with Laos notorious steep descents and white-out rain squalls our cantilever breaks don’t offer enough stopping power, causing much unneeded hand cramping from the bear like grip we have on the breaks while gingerly making our way down the mountain. We hid under a thatch hut while the worst of one squall passed. Next bike tour we will definitely use disc breaks. Even with the screeching descents and the endless ascents the breathtaking views made this part of the journey completely worthwhile. Laos offers up those type of views that look so stunning and so massive that they almost seem fake, like a pastoral landscape painting. During those wet moments children would come out en mass from the villages scattering the mountainside. Naked they run about singing and playing in the downpour and lake sized mud-puddles. As we rounded one corner four young girls dressed only in bright green galoshes with pink plastic bags on their heads and beaming smiles echoed laughter in unison and began playfully splashing us with their muddy puddle water. We made it in to Kiou Ka Cham and got a chance to chat with a couple of Brits on vacation in Laos in a town otherwise devoid of tourists. The room was not worth mentioning and the concrete box with a hose and tap for a shower was also not worth mentioning.

Zach and one of those views and rain squall:


A little kid waving from home and one of the many roadside veggie stalls:


We left early the next morning and rode a looooong downhill before riding a long windy uphill and then we were coasting the last bit of the way into the lovely world heritage city of Luang Prabang. We cycled through scores of thatched and tin hut villages along the way. A surprising feature dotting the ride was the ubiquitous satellite dish. More prevalent than tin roof and multi-room homes, satellite dishes perch blatantly outside homes, marking Laos unofficial entrance into the 21st Century. As we cycle by its not uncommon to hear the latest American or Thai pop song ringing out from inside.

E. enjoying a magnificent views:


Arriving in the former royal capital of Luang Prabang we were struck by its confluence of French, and Chinese architecture nestled in the surrounding hills. Monks shrouded in bright orange robes scurry about to the town's 32 historic temples. Although we both felt like we could stay a while we decided to make a side trip to visit a well known archaeological site called the Plain of Jars. Currently we are in Phonsovan in North Eastern Laos, having recently arrived via minivan after 8 hours on switch backs roads. This single day journey would have taken us at best 4 days by bicycle.

We spent a whole day exploring the three Plain of Jars sites surrounding Phonsovan town. Little is known about the jars, but archaeologists believe they are ancient funeral urns dating back over 2500 years ago. The three most accessible sites are located near Phonsovan but there are hundreds of jars scattered across Laos. The jars are huge and seemingly placed at random and weigh up to 1 ton each. Situated next to many of the jars are deep craters, remnants from the US secretive bombing missions in Laos during the Vietnam War. As the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) notes it is estimated that at least two million tons or ordnance was dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973, making Laos the most heavily bombed nation in the world (per capita). Furthermore it is estimated that up to 30% of all bombs dropped failed to explode and now lay resting on Lao soil. Growing up and learning about the Vietnam War we never heard about missions and bombing runs in Laos. The province where Phnosovan lies is in the most heavily bombed region of Laos and it was shocking for us to learn that millions of unexploded bombs (UXO) still lay waiting. Walking around the Plain of Jar sites de-mined markers line the pathways, delineating the safe places to walk free from UXOs. The remnants of American bombing missions can be seen in Phnosovan and the neighboring villages; 3 foot bomb casings line café entrances, flowers grow in halved out bombs, cluster bombs shells used as scrap metal. War for us plays out in stories, books, and in the news. War for the Lao people plays out within daily life; In the rice paddies, having to carefully hoe the fields for fear of uncovered bombs or whether your child will find a cluster bomb the same color as the fruit on the trees. We uploaded the complete Plain of Jars photos here.



We will again part ways in the next few days. Zach having gotten his China visa will fly from Vientiane to Chengdu, China on the 27th. He'll meet up with the group cycling in Tibet and they will start their amazing journey a week later. Elise will be taking the slow boat up the Mekong from Luang Prabang to Thailand on the 20th. Her teaching course in Chang Mai, Thailand starts at the end of the month. We send our love to you back home. Thanks for reading the blog.

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