Spider
The night before our departure from Koh Tao, we headed back to our tiny little beach bungalow for a much needed shower (cold water only, of course). On this day, I (John) plopped down on the porch to read a little, while Meredith took the first shower. Suddenly, a scream erupted from the bungalow, and I thought “hmm, I guess the water is cold!” But then, another scream, followed by “John!” I jumped up and ran into the hut, only to be face to face with a spider as big as my hand and as hairy as my face (bearded). I was scared. I looked for a good smashing device, grabbing the closest and heaviest book. As I approached, the spider began to bolt toward Meredith, who was hunkered down in the bathroom. I acted quickly, throwing the book down on top of the spider. With a grunt, the spider caught the book, and threw it against the far side of the hut. The spider then took course for Meredith once more. Why, I don’t know, it was I who had just tried to smash it, but this spider had a keen sense for the sector of mankind intent on abolishing the species in a great arachnid genocide (Meredith is heading this effort I believe).

As the spider approached, Meredith’s face changed from fear to anger. Her space was invaded and she wasn’t going down without a fight. She then leapt onto the spiders back, grabbed a pony tail of spider fur, kicked in her heals, and said “giddy up spider!” (some of you may not know that Meredith had a small stint as a barrel racer as a child) Out of the door they went, the spider now with fearful eyes and Meredith with the determination of a matador looking for the first effective strike. And that was the last I saw of both Meredith and the Spider. Others in the town mentioned seeing them in a flash of fierce battle as the spider galloped on four legs while attempting a deadly strike with the remaining four. Others report Meredith having quickly defeated the spider and using the separation as moment to escape from her frumpy traveling companion. Who knows what the truth is…. After the spider incident, I went to the front desk, turned in the key to the hut, obtained a key for a new air conditioned room with hot shower and settled in for a good clean comfortable sleep away from spiders, mosquitos, lizards, and the like. Meredith would have liked the new room, it was clean and cool with a refreshing shower!

Back in Bangkok
Back in Bangkok I ran into Meredith who talked of some fantastic story that really seemed like nonsense, but I grabbed her, hugged her, and was so happy to see her still alive and unscathed. We checked in to a GREAT hostel in downtown Bangkok called Lub D. This place was extremely modern, clean, friendly, and in a great location. Here, we booked our flight to Cambodia and set out to see all of the temples we missed on our fist time around Bangkok. From our hostel, we could walk, or take a short Tuk Tuk ride, to a water taxi (boat) that headed straight downtown to the major sites. Traveling by boat was really quite nice. The boat service is much like a bus service, accept without the traffic. The boats have dedicated stops that are clearly marked and easily accessible to many major roads within the city. This option could work nicely in many parts of D.C.

Our first stop was Wat Pho, Temple of the Reclining (sleeping) Buddha. This Buddha is huge! The gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. This is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. However, the Buddha is only part of the experience as the surrounding temples bring a sparkle to the city with colored glass mosaics, brightly colored ceramic roofing tiles, extravagantly painted carvings, and magnificent frescos.

Our next stop was the Grand Palace, or Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang. The palace served as the official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. One of the main attractions within the Grand Palace is the Emerald Buddha (actually made of jade). While the Buddha is impressive, it looks aesthetically plain next to the reclining Buddha. However, in Thailand, this is reported to be the most revered figure of the Buddha, and for good reason. The Emerald Buddha was reportedly created in India 43 BC, but its origin is really unknown. Here is an excerpt of its discovery:

“The image was discovered in 1434 when lightening cracked open a chedi in a Chiang Rai temple. When discovered, it was covered in plaster and the abbot of the temple kept it in his quarters until the plaster started to flake off, revealing the jade underneath. Hearing of the discovery, the King of Lanna dispatched some soldiers to bring the image back to Chiang Mai. However, the elephant sent to carry the image refused to take the road back to Chiang Mai (Buddha images are often thought to have such powers over their movement). Seeing this, the escort took it as a sign and re-routed to Lampang.”

Interesting, huh??

Our next and final stop was the Temple of the Dawn, Wat Arun. This place is spectacular. While not large by acreage, the architecture and setting is breathtaking. Wat Arun has huge pagoda like structures reaching 80 meters tall. Steep steps lead to two terraces on the tower, and can be a bit rough for those that fear heights (Meredith and I, though I thinking we are getting better by the day).

Kitty Cat
Our second day in Thailand took us on a long tour to Tiger Temple. Luckily, we met a great Taxi driver (see memorable quotes section below) the previous day after finally taking the very valid advice to avoid Tuk Tuks and only use taxis. Safety is a concern, yes, but really there is not price difference, so why not take the air conditioning and remove the constant haggling? Anyway, Mr. Koon proved to be quite reliable.

The days tour started with a history lesson as we visited the River Kwai. The bridge at river Kwai begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW) labor as well as local (slave) labor. The bridge was apparently memorialized in the 1957 movie The Bridge on River Kwai, though we had never heard of the bridge or the movie. The bridge was built under Japanese occupation to help supply Japanese troops and move supplies between Bangkok and Rangoon. With poor living and working conditions, thousands of POWs lost their lives in the process of building and reconstructing this bridge. I guess we will need to see the movie.

Our next stop was Tiger Temple! Now, we expected this to be a Buddhist temple where we might be able to get a picture with a Tiger. But, as it turns out, we did not see a temple, but did get to see a whole lot of tigers! Meredith and I were overwhelmed by these animals. Being so close, and getting to pet them, was quite a rush. I don’t think Meredith stopped smiling the whole time we were there. We first visited with the cubs. There we were able to pet them, but “Don’t touch the head!” We met a young English volunteer who had fully bruised arms and legs with scabbed over scratch wounds covering most of her body. She informed us that when the tigers play, they play rough. She also informed us that further down the trail we could see the parents of these little cubs.

Oh my gosh! We were greeted by about 13 lazy tigers (some say sedated, but they got pretty rowdy from now and then). The volunteers grabbed us one at a time by the wrist and directed us from tiger to tiger telling us where it was safe to sit and where to pet the tiger without risking a “playful” bite. I really was like being behind the scenes at a zoo. To our surprise, we were only 2 of about 20 people, so there was plenty of time to interact with the tigers and observe them up close. It was one of those offshoot highlights that come now and again when traveling. A great experience that neither of us will be sure to forget.

Next stop, Angkor Wat, Cambodia! We will post again soon!

For more pictures, see:
http://picasaweb.google.com/picajohn/TheLifeSpreadsheet

Interesting Conversations

Guidance from the Cab Driver (Mr. Koon):
“Mr. John, you call your father?”
“Yes, I call my father.”
“How often? How often to you call your father, how often do you call your parents?”
“When I am at home, sometimes every day, but at least a couple of times a week”
“That is good, you are a good son. It is important to call your parents so they don’t worry.”
(I think Mr. Koon was upset that his children do not call more)

More guidance from Mr. Koon:
“Many people work, work for big money, but ignore their family…they ignore their children. These people are not happy. I do not have a lot of money, but I have a good family, good children. I am very happy. This is how to be happy. Mr. John, you have good travel companion, this makes you happy. You go home, you have good children and this will make you happy. It is not happy to be alone…to be lonely when you are old with no one to help take care of you.”
(Mr. Koon previously had a much better job, but the economy has been very bad for a while. He worked as salesman and was trained by a western company in both the U.S. (Cleveland) and Japan (Osaka). He also has to take care of his wife who has diabetes and needs dialysis three times a week. The dialysis is expensive and consumes most of Mr. Koon’s salary)

Young girl in Angkor Wat temple complex (approx. 6 years old):
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten… Uno, dos, tres, quarto, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, dies…zero, un, deux, trios, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix…Do you want to buy a photo? Only one for $1. Do you want to buy a photo? Only 2 for $1. Do you want to buy a photo? Only 10 for $1”
(She was so cute. This girl had a choreography all worked out that she ran through like a DJ looping mad dance beat mixes of old school rap)

Everywhere in Bangkok:
“Do you want Ping Pong show?”
(this is not ping pong, don’t ever go...and no, we didn’t go)