Texts from Thailand


Trip to Asia: a text sent before the departure on October 17, 2002
Hi From Chiang Mai: sent on November 2, 2002
Hot in Bangkok: sent on November 17, 2002
The rabies shots: sent on Thursday, 21 Nov 2002 by Pierre Simard to Anne Bishop

Trip to Asia
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 21:27:13 +0200 (CEST)
Well, it has finally been arranged and we are on the verge of hopping aboard one of our country’s very own Air Canada planes for our 5 month voyage to South East Asia. If you don’t know, I’ve taken an 8 month leave withOUT pay and Pierre’s contract came to an end and so we are free as birds to finally able to do a sort of honeymoon, or more like a mid life crisis-avoidance break to explore a continent that neither of us know very well. (I did take a 3 week trip to China and
Thailand sometime last century...1981 actually). It will be a VERY welcome break...as Pierre says: « Trevor has worked in the same job for 14 years and I have worked in the same job for 14 months, so we need a break ».
So, to keep you posted of the adventures, misadventures, discoveries, trials and tribulations, we have composed a mailing list that we will use, on an irregular basis, to communicate with you. Of course, if you are already overwhelmed with e-mails, would rather not hear about travels when you’re stuck
in the cold winter or feel that you have more important priorities such as work or watching « Will
and Grace », we’ll understand. Just reply with « Buzz off and leave me alone » in the subject line.
Otherwise, you are stuck.
On the reverse side, please feel free to send us messages to let us know how you, your province or the country is doing while we are away. Please avoid complications such as images and attachments that might mean that we need about 2 hours to open the message.
So, we leave bright and early on Saturday, Oct. 19 and after a bit of a stop in Lethbridge to visit family and friends there, on to Vancouver, Nov. 1, Taiwan and then Bangkok. We plan to tour: Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and may, if time and money permit, move on to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia.
Well, I see that there are still 47 items on our « To Do » list before we leave so I’d better end here.
Take care
Trevor and Pierre

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Hi from Chiang Mai
November 2, 2002

Trevor here.   Pierre has gone to the hospital for his rabies shot and then to a museum or shopping...again.  It is raining heavily so time for internet.

OK, so maybe I was describing the horrible and painful rabies treatments from what I knew in Ghana in 1978.  But Pierre was so relieved and happy to find out that the rabies treatment wasn't so bad that I think it was a good strategy.  And he is so encouraged and courageous now.  You should see how the dogs around our guest house flee in all directions when he comes around.

We're really having a good time.  Friday was a shopping day.  We went on a tour of craft villages around Chiang Mai to see villagers working on traditional umbrella making (from tree bark), lacquer ware, silversmithing, silk production, etc.  Well, the villagers were certainly working but for about a $ a day in rather large factories owned by rich capitalists...how disappointing.  We could barely move for all the tourists around, cheap bunch too, you know the type that arrive in monster airconditionned limousine buses, pockets bulging with cash, with their appropriate group sticker on their chest in case they get lost, who then proceed to buy up 2 or 3 letter openers, cocktail umbrellas and key chains.  At least we arrived in a local bus wearing our T-shirt, smelling of antimosquito spray.  And thanks to Pierre we bought more than a bus and a half full of the rich tourists.  It was actually quite interesting as there was usually a section where production occured and where we would be given a guided tour to explain the processes (often in French) before being ushered into the vast sales floors.  I felt really uncomfortable, like I do when I'm in the Bay (last time was 1995).  It would have been nice to see more artisanal village crafts where the individual produces got the profit.  Like Monday which was a real fun day.  We went on an excursion that started with an elephant ride through the jungle.  It was very impressive and my first time.  African elephants can't be domesticated nor trained so this was an exciting experience.  We had a young mahout (driver) who was really entertaining himself but a bit too much like a cowboy for us, jumping all over the elephant, whipping it very hard, shouting and yelling all the time. The elephants were huge and it was a challenge to hang on when they lurched down a hill.  We bought a bag of bananas to feed them and they brought their trunk up over their heads and took the bananas while walking along.  They could even have given us a kiss if they wanted to.  It was a long trip up a long hill and then we stopped in a Hmong village, people who came from China a hundred years ago and settled throughout SE Asia.  Apparently a lot of the hill tribes are very independent and are difficult to influence in terms of environmental protection or preserving wildlife like wild elephants or tigers, which explains in part why forests are being depleted and why wildlife in Thailand amounts to a few deer and wild boar and that's about it.  Still, if the large scale timber industry were more controlled there would likely still be a fairly vibrant and extensive wildlife in the country.  We also visited a Karen village later on, people from Burma.  There we were able to see the small scale village cloth production and were able to buy some very nice material.  The older women got a kick out of us when we put on their traditional shirt but their smiles with black teeth and red juice around the mouth (from chewing beetlenut) made it hard to smile back.  Pierre thought at first that they were just very bad at putting on lipstick. 

Now we are shopping for a large basket to store all the stuff in until it is time to go back home.  It's too expensive to mail or ship sooooo...

We ended the day with a trip down the river on a bamboo raft, taking turns helping steer the raft with a large pole.  Pierre did very well though for some reason the people on the raft behind us were in stitches most of the time.  We were soaking wet from the river and the rain that dumped on us most of the way.  It was really touristy but lots of fun.

On Wednesday we return on the night train to Bangkok.  Pierre thinks it will be so romantic even though we will have separate bunkbeds?????

Coming here, we took the day train from Bangkok, with a day stop in the ancient capital of Sukothai for the Loy Krathong festival.  Train travel is delightful and being of farming heritage (mom grew up on the farm in southern Alberta), I just loved the endless paddies of limegreen rice plants, fruit trees, teak & bamboo growing everywhere and the occasional group of water buffalo.  The plains of the middle of the country gradually gave way to the hilly, (Pierre says mountainous) forested region toward the north.  It was a fine trip and for those who think I don't/can't read, I pourred through two Time and an Economist magazine along the way. (no, none were purchased but rather scrounged from airplanes and hostel lobbies). 

The Loy Krathong festival was a cross between the Calgary Stampede, the Chinese lantern festival at the Botanical Gardens and a performance of the National Ballet.  There was loud disco music, a drive in movie (without the cars), rides for the kids, food stands and games of chance and then beautiful artistic performances, floating flower arrangements in the ponds, fireworks.  It was all located at the archaeological site of the historic capital of Siam, former name of Thailand, impressive ruins of pagodas, temples, squares, walls and walkways.  We were luck to get a room for the night as the town was fully booked.  Everywhere we phoned was full but finally we were approached at the train station by someone who said that they had a room.  It was expensive at $25!!! but they had no vacancy the next day so we basically had to leave for the north.

It was surprisingly very difficult to get a room here too, again because of the festival but we managed to get the last room in one of the biggest guest houses.  We haven't been able to do everything we wanted to do, especially to go further north and see more of the countryside but we'll be in Burma in a few days and will be able to see a lot there.  By the way, apparently internet is almost non-existant in Burma so we may not be able to communicate much for the next month.  We'll try.  And we do appreciate your messages, news and updates.

Until next time.

Trev



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Hot in Bangkok
November 17, 2002 4:22 PM

Hi.  Well, I'm finally getting around to sending you a message.  And it's gotta be brief because this is an early night.  We are leaving early tomorrow morning, Nov. 18 for the ancient capital of Sukhothai.  There is a special festival on Nov 19, Loy Krathong or water festival after the rainy season.  The people float flowers and candles on rivers, lakes and even the sea to symbolize washing away the bad and bringing in the new and the good.  It is supposed to be best in Sukhothai so we'll be there...  Then on to the north and Chiang Mai for a couple weeks and then on to Burma towards the end of Nov.  It is not possible to cross the border by land because of rebel activity, drug trafficking dangers, physical difficulties etc. so we'll fly to Yangon from Bangkok. 

So far we've had an interesting week in Bangkok and then 4 days relaxing on a resort island called Koh Chang in the Gulf of Siam near the Cambodia border.  Bangkok was a challenge with its traffic snarls and air pollution, as well as the heat but it was a good introduction to the country.  We were able to mix settling in and getting organized with some quiet time strolling the back streets and visiting the Great Palace, a few Buddhist centres, Chinatown, Sunday market, boat travel on the river and the canals.  We also took a day excursion to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai in western Thailand.  If you haven't seen the movie, it was a bridge built by Thai forced labor and prisoners of war during WWII to supply Japanese forces attacking British held Burma.  If I remember right about 75000 people died, 60000 Thais and 15000 prisoners as it was built, bombed, rebuilt, rebombed several times. 

It has been great so far: lots of great food, everything is cheap, quiet and gentle people so far.  We thought that English would be better understood but it is often a real challenge to communicate, even with hotel staff, taxi drivers, vendors and others who relate a lot to tourists.  But we manage with gestures and our three or four words of Thai: Hello, thanks, how much? (but we never understand the answers).  Eventually we find someone who knows some English, if really needed.

Costs are low, $16/day for an airconditioned hôtel room in Bangkok (I had to give in to Pierre's greater need for comfort) and only $6 for the cabin on the resort island.  We eat mostly at stalls on the street.  They are everywhere, food is good and it's about $1-4/meal.  We might just have enough cash to make it to the end of March.  We feel really secure here.  Vendors have even chased after us on foot or on bicycle to give us back change.  The only agression was when Pierre was nipped on the leg by a dog, vicious little beast.  We skipped the rabies shots before travelling so he might have to get the treatment here.  Poor guy as it is supposed to very painful and his pain tolerance level is in the minus category.  But as it is fatal and waiting for symptoms is too late, he might have to go through it. 

Our all-to-brief visit to Koh Chang (Elephant Island) was very relaxing and enjoyable.  Of course we got sunburned during a snorkelling expedition and almost got into an accident on our rented motorcycle.  The island is very hilly and when I shifted down near the top of the hill, I almost flipped over backwards.  Good thing that Pierre was too choked up with fear to speak!  But it all ended well.  We had a great resort at the south end of the island, near a village built on a stilt pier jutting into the bay.  It is a fishing village traditionally and there are only two or three resort hotels nearby.  We gave up on a beach to have a coral bay right in front of the hotel, which is isolated and quiet with great music and great food.  Of course the owner/manager was a nice gay Thai man named Chang.  We might go back before we leave for home as it was so relaxing and so much fun.  We met a nice couple from France who we travelled around the island with and also went snorkelling.  Patrick and Radia were a lot of fun but eventually Pierre thought she talked too much.  He started calling her Radio.  We know how he hates competition.  Still, they were interesting and fun for a few days. 

So, let me end here and pick things up from the north.  I hope that you're well.  Take care.

Trev of Trev and Pierre



For more pictures and video on Thailand, please visit: http://homepage.mac.com/simardcook/Menu35.html

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The rabies shots
Thursday, 21 Nov 2002 11:51:49 +0100 (CET)
From: Pierre Simard
To: Anne Bishop

Dear Ann (and all the people who may have worried about my dog's bite),

Thank you for your advices about the rabies shots. I got my first one yesterday and it was just fine. Trevor kept me on the edge of a major nervous crisis with the eventuallity of a painfull shot. I thought I rather die then having the big needle in my liver. But as you all know Trevor, he seemed to have a vicious pleasure with the idea of having me suffering and being a better human being after (what a Protestant, Quaker and self afflicted conviction). I told him that if he really loved me, he would tell me not to worry and would try to confort me instead of making me panick a week in advance. But he kept telling me that I must face the reality and must know the truth. And as you all know, I want nothing to do with the truth and reality.

So we went yesterday to Ram's Hospital, a five star Hospital here in Chiangmai. If in Canada we are talking about a two tiered health system, here it would probably be a 17 tiered health system.  There was no waiting people in the Emergency and there was at least 10 people to take care of the first patient who would have the money to take advantages of their services: me. So, I showed up there and 30 min. after everything was done.

Now that I got my first shot, I must say that I feel more relaxed (I will have to have five shots in total). When I got bitten in Ko Chang, I didn't worry too much. But when I read on the Internet that Rabies is deadly and you only know you got it when it's too late, I didn't feel too well. The incubation is taking between two and eight weeks. So I had time to organize myself. But I didn't want to go to Bangkok's Hospital because wherever you go in that city takes you 2 hours and all your energy for at least 2 days. And finally you better die then to face the idea of the crazy traffic.

Now, that I am (almost) immune, I am waiting for the next little dog bastard who would dare to bite me again. He will get a wonderful kick in his bottom for sure !

Love you all

Pierre

 Anne Bishop wrote:
Good to hear from you. It sounds like a wonderful time so far. We've seen film of the water festival before, I think on David Suzuki's "Nature of Things." It was very moving, even in pictures.weather feels very far away from here--we've already had two snow storms., don't worry too much about the rabies shots....

Posted: Jeud - Octobre 2, 2003 at 01:45      

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