Coming Home!

I'm 8 miles high, out over the Pacific Ocean on my way home.  Just had the most extraordinary meal for "breakfast"!  I was brought a tray with a little wooden box, with an elegant black paper wrapping and a red cord.  Inside was:
Nori Over Rice
Grilled Salmon
Deep Fried Fish Cake with Nori
Japanese Home-style Omelet
Boiled Green Vegetables
Pickled Plum with Honey
Pickles (these were daikon radish pickles, I believe)
I was also offered a cup of Miso Soup, which I accepted and Orange Juice and Coffee.

Everything in the box was 'just so' and amazingly delicious, though there was too much rice for me to finish.  So elegant.

I managed to sleep a bit even though I'm an idiot and forgot that I could recline my seat!  I only remembered toward the end of my sleep cycle and it made a very big difference.  Oh well.  I asked for a bulkhead seat, and that was a good move, as I can stretch out my legs (though the video screen is much smaller).

The first leg of the trip was on Royal Thai Airways and it was very nice.  The seats were roomy and the food was also delicious (Thai, of course).  This is such a wonderful upgrade over China Air, with its crammed seating and bare bones amenities.

I'll be getting home around 7:30pm local time, but for my body it will seem like 10:30am!  I guess.  Even so, it should be easy to sleep tonight, I think.

I had one strange surprise in Tokyo.  I was pretty sure we landed around 9pm local time and boarding was for 11:30pm.  But after checking my email and Facebook, and putting on a long sleeve shirt in the bathroom, and exchanging a $20 bill for some yen, it was suddenly time to board!  I couldn't figure out where the 2.5 hours went.  I had to go right back to the money exchange and turn in my yen, at a $2 loss, I might add.

I was actually quite glad to get on with the trip, but I had thought to traverse the Tokyo terminal and maybe buy a few souvenirs for the kids.  Whatever.

As I was dozing in and out of sleep, my mind was ranging back and forth across this wonderful trip--meeting Alana and Jacques, and the kids at LCP, my more recent friends Ice and Dr. Ignapa and of course Dr. Nalinee!  And her brother Sam and his wife Branee.  And all my lovely students and clients, and the woman who was so intent on setting up EFT teams to cope with earthquake trauma in her village.

And there were good folks at Cave Lodge and Chiang Mai.  I remember the wonderful Burmese waiter at the Peppermint Cafe and Tapanee.  And on and on.  So many people and an endless stream of sights flooding in through my eyes.  Just the few hours of seeing Apo coral and fish is enough for years of remembering!  It's all stored away, just waiting for story telling and discussions to allow it to stream back into my conscious memory.  I feel deeply grateful that I was able to take this trip.  Grateful to all the people who sponsored me, and hosted me, and especially to my wife Krista, who kept our home life running and even dealt with new braces (not to mention homework) for Eden.

I'll be home soon

My Hog

My Hog, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

Without really meaning to, I've been facing some fears on this trip. The worst so far has been riding. Seems a bit silly now, as the roads here are mostly empty, and the scooter is an automatic and very easy to ride.
Of course, they do drive on the left here, and that made negotiating intersections a bit more challenging! Fortunately, there were very few intersections in Pai and none at all on the way up here to Soppong.
I had a mini-fear to face yesterday, immersing myself in the muddy river down below. It's not very deep, maybe 21/2 feet, but very strong current! Not a big fear, but it took me a bit.
Tomorrow it's my fear of heights...in Pai there's a zipline tour of the forrest canopy, which has 14 stations. I guess this sort of thing started in Costa Rica as a way of exploring the rain forrest there. I don't know what the balance is between educational and thrilling, but if it's open, I'm going for it!

Fellow Travellers at Cave Lodge

Fellow Travellers at Cave Lodge, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

Up until I arrived here I was starting to feel a bit lonesome. That has been cured (though I decided to keep my private room and not sleep in the co-ed dorm with 5 other folks).
I've had wonderful times with folks from Australia, Canada, Oakland CA, Ireland, Germany and Romania.
Last night was a series of long conversations about travel, politics, and philosophy. A sweet cure for my solo blues.

A River Runs Through It

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Just had the BEST adventure.  Joined two other guests, Jessica from Canada and David from Australia, and two Thai guides and kayaked down the river here to and through a huge cave.

Last night it rained so hard!  I don't think I've ever heard rain like that before.  It woke me up about 1:45am and I realized I'd been drying my towel and swimsuit out on the porch railing!  Despite the overhang they were soaked, of course.

It was hammering so loud on the metal roof of my bungalow I finally had to put in ear plugs.  I'd gone to sleep with the most exotic sounds--geckos, tree frogs, someone singing across the ravine at a Temple, and some frog that sounds like a duck!  Plus various assorted insects, I imagine.  It was lovely.

So anyway, all that rain swelled the river and it was moving fast!  Our kayaks were two person rubber jobbies, and I went with one of the guides, which was great.  One of the guest's lent me her 'wet bag' so I was able to bring my camera and video camera.  I was so grateful to have it, because at times we got absolutely soaked.

I didn't realize there would be such rapids.  Someone said they were class 2 and 3, whatever that means.  To me it meant getting very wet at times.  Other times the river would be relatively placid and I'd whip out my cameras.  Twice we went over dams!  They had a really steep slope and we'd go right over.  Of course I was in the front.  The first was maybe 12 feet, the second one 20!  Sploosh.

There was almost no signs of humanity for most of the river.  This really is a remote area I reckon.  The river and surrounds were just beautiful, but of course the main course was the cave.

As we approached the cave I saw swarms of swallows.  I mean swarms!  Thousands.  They were in the sky and going around and around in the cave.  Our guides beached us there so I was able to indulge in my photography.  Then we set off on a walk, with helmets and headlamps.  Our guide had a more powerful electric lantern.  We saw amazing cave stuff.  Huge stalagmites, stalactites and columns where they met centuries ago.

There was a lot of scrambling up slippery slopes and ducking under low overhangs.  We were all glad for our helmets.  There were hordes of bats deep in the cave, god knows how many.  Then we climbed back in our boats and went off through the darkness of the  inner cave.

I should mention that this was a really big cave.  The opening is big enough for a five story building to fit in there.  When we came out the other side, once again there were thousands of swallows in the air and the air had a very peculiar smell...bird and bat shit, I imagine.  I saw a woman filling a 50# rice sack with something.  Not hard to guess what.

Next we beached and took a hike through the forest to another cave that we had to scramble down into.  It was pretty tight.  There we saw bats up close and a myriad of wonders, including musical stalactites--they made different tones when we tapped them.  Crystals on the ceiling that looked so much like fine plant life.
 

There was one cave that had amazing acoustics and we OM'd a bit.  This is where our guide turned off our headlamps and we hung out in the dark for a bit.  Total, absolute darkness.  Not one of my phobias, but it would have been kinda hard getting out of there without light!  There was a string to follow, but...

After all the caving we had plenty more rafting ahead, including the most intense of the rapids and the two dams.  It was exhilarating, beautiful, and almost overwhelming.  We were met by a songtheaw like vehicle for the ride back to the lodge.  The three of us were all smiles.

Out of Pai

Saturday November 3, 2012 Cave Lodge, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand Woke up this morning in Pai, feeling a bit jaded, or lonesome or something. I went to a little organic cafe and met some Americans there (from New Jersey) who mentioned this place. I had forgotten, but last time I came to Thailand I had plans to visit here. The big draw is kayaking through beautiful cave complexes. Plus a VERY quiet, natural atmosphere. Once I decided to go it was just a matter of steeling my nerves to drive the 40 Km through winding mountain roads. Turned out to be a wonderful trip with almost no traffic at all. Soon out of town I was in gorgeous farm land with rice growing, and verdant mountainsides. I got used to the road very quickly and stopped a number of times to take photos. My only worry was fuel. I left Pai with only 3/4 of a tank and watched it go down to the red empty level! There were no towns for a very long stretch. Finally I found one Nam Rim, which is a very tiny village off of the highway. There were no stores or shops that I could see, but I spotted four boys, maybe 8 to 12 years old and asked for fuel. It actually took a little doing to get this across, but then they got it and laughed. One of them ran around the side of their shack house and came back with a liter water bottle with yellow stuff in it. Hooray! They charged me 60 baht and I think that's actually about what it would have cost at a station. Neat kids. It was cool motoring through this village. Minimal concrete construction, mostly bamboo and thatch. All the houses situated along a creek. I get that the living is pretty easy for these folks, relative to back home. At least the basics are pretty much covered: housing, food, health care (Thailand has universal health care). The boys were looking at a laptop when I drove up. So I guess they have some sort of cash needs. It's wonderfully quiet here. There's a river down a steep hill from here and I'm going to go down in a minute and plosh about. So far I've met six other guests in the great, open air common room. It's super nice, in a very down home way. Tomorrow I'll be kayaking through the caves! Woo hoo!

Market Shop

Grains, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

My last day I took a stroll through Dumaguete's massive public market. Notice the look that older fellow is giving me. It wasn't exactly a friendly experience. So unlike Thailand in this way.

Bread Camp

Bread Camp, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

These kinds of places were everywhere, offering little baked rolls and buns for 2 or 3 pesos each. Not a lot of really sweet things, but many that were just mildly sweet (very Asian). These places kept me going on the cheap!

Anti-Contraception March!

Anti-Contraception March!, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

The Philippine government was considering a reproductive health bill that would make contraception more available. Guess what major religious institution was opposing it? Yup. The good old Catholic Church, in classic knee jerk fashion. Never mind that many Filipino families have so many children they can't afford to feed them. Very frustrating.

Cute Kids

Cute Kids, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

They came over to sell me something or other, I think. But really they just wanted to stare at the sunburned white guy. I was SO sunburned and putting on apple cider vinegar (I'd read this would help...didn't). They were so adorable I asked to take their photo, and like kids everywhere, they loved looking at the pictures once I'd taken them.

Big Tree in the Tropics

Big Tree in the Tropics, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

I was fascinated by these trees. I wish I was more of a botanist to know about them. They really made this boulevard in Dumaguete.

Crowding in Manila

Crowding in Manila, a photo by Robbi Baba on Flickr.

This shot just about sums it up. You've got your big modern skyscrapers, and nice open spaces and upscale neighborhoods (upper left) and then you've got massive slums, especially along the waterways. A few haves and a whole lot of have-nots!