February 27, 2007



After a very tearful goodbye to Laura at Logan Airport on the morning of February 20th followed by a super long flight over the US, Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Ocean, Japan, and South East Asia, I’ve been hanging out in Bangkok, Thailand for just about a week now.

Bangkok is a vibrant, noisy, and fairly polluted city (air pollution) alive with a thriving street culture. There are food stalls everywhere selling anything from Noodle soups, Thai noodles and rice curries, fresh tropical fruit, delicious meat and seafood, fried scorpions, and fragrant flowers. Everything is so fresh and incredibly tasty. I’m yet to try the Scorpion (I think I’d have to be quite drunk to do that). The streets here are teeming with people, a kind of carnival atmosphere.




















Bangkok Street fruit Vendor





Bangkok Street food Stalls

Fried Scorpions

Bangkok river boat view

Bangkok traffic

Nancy Smock's new business in Bangkok

Buddhist Temple being renovated





Fresh fruit stalls




Bangkok Grand Palace river view

The neighborhood I’m staying in, called Bangalapu, is mainly an area where many travelers and tourists stay in fairly cheap accommodations. There are tons of travelers here mainly from Europe, Israel, and a bit from the US. There are also many Thai local merchants working and living in this neighborhood including the street merchants, shop owners, and sex workers.
I’ve discovered some quieter streets and picturesque alleys to hang out in (to escape from the multitudes), but generally Bangkok is not a place you go to if you want solitude and serenity. It is a great place to watch people, and so I spend about half of my days watching people. I usually sit at an outdoor restaurant (which is actually a lobby for a small hotel). This place has free wifi and so I can use my laptop until the battery runs out. I choose a table right next to the
sidewalk and just watch Thai people, tourists, street merchants, and food sellers go by back and forth, while checking and answering emails and surfing the net every once in a while (sort of like a boring cubicle job, except the cubicle is in an outdoor Bangkok sidewalk). I do occasionally order a fresh fruit shake or a coffee so that they don’t consider me a loiterer. I really love to watch people and to try to imagine the different stories that are hidden inside of them. What are they saying? How are they moving? What are the expressions on their faces? It sort of feels like being a detective of human behavior.

The first day I sat here, I was sitting next to a punk/heavy metal looking, hippy, skinny dude (with some major tattoos all over his arms) who was also using an iBook for internet. We started talking and it turns out he is a thirty year old American filmmaker/producer named Jeremy who has been living and working in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the last 10 years. He makes commercials, music videos, corporate videos, and documentaries. He also recently was an associate producer on the most successful Malay feature film of all time, about a Gekko superhero. He came to Bangkok to renew his Malay Visa. He is a really great guy, and has an interesting story. After finishing high school near Pittsburg and dropping out of Art School, he decided to leave the states to go to Malaysia where his dad had been working for many years. He became involved in the Singapore and Malay film world, and worked his way up. Several years ago, he also decided to convert to Islam and so he doesn’t eat pork and occasionally goes to Friday services to pray. A couple of years ago, Cat Stevens came to Malaysia to promote an educational animated series that Jeremy produced and they ended up hanging out together. Apparently, Cat is doing just fine and is only singing songs of spiritual Islam. Every evening, I’ve been meeting up with Jeremy for dinner and drinks. We talk about film and about our own lives. He invited me to stay with him and his brother in Kuala Lumpur whenever I want. I was really happy to meet Jeremy. Hanging out with him has really helped me fill a bit of the sad void that I feel in being so far away from Laura.

So tonight, I leave Bangkok for an island called Koh Tao (Turtle Island; its shaped like a turtle). The Journey will take about twelve hours and will involve a 9 hour bus and a two hour catamaran. On the Island, I’m going to try to find a fairly isolated beach that has a bungalow place I can stay in. This Island supposedly has some of the best Reefs and colorful fish in Thailand. I’m hoping to do a lot of Snorkeling, reading/writing, and eating. I may not have internet access while on the island, but I’ll write another update the next time I reach internet access (possibly back in Bangkok in a couple of weeks).

So bye for now,
Inbal



March 9, 2007

As our wonderful president once said, “Mission Accomplished”.

I have now been hanging out at a peaceful, isolated bay/beach on Koh Tao (Turtle Island), Thailand for 10 days. This place is definitely the kind of paradise I was looking for. My bungalow (US$7 a night) sits on a ledge above a rocky section of a stunning bay called Ao Leuk (pronounced like “oh look” in Thai). Just below me, next to the rocks is a lively reef full of a variety vibrant corals and colorful tropical fish. The beach near my bungalow place has a small white sand section, with coconut trees, and a couple of restaurants. It is very quiet here, and for the most part fairly undeveloped (although I do have electricity and cell phone reception). Koh Tao is a small island with hilly tropical jungle vegetation and picturesque, crystal blue bays.

2 views from my Bungalow


Aow Leuk Beach


The Island has two sides. The west side is quite developed with numerous dive resorts, restaurants, and cafes. I’m staying on the more remote and much less developed east side. The east side is also where most of the beautiful bays and reefs are located. The views from my bungalow are spectacular. I look out over the open blue bay with its rocks, tropical trees, cliffs, and reefs, onto the wide open sea (Gulf of Thailand). In the morning, the sun rises directly across from me, and in the evening the moon rises right across the horizon and above the bay. Days and nights bring a fresh sea breeze, and the constant sound of waves crashing into the rocks. It feels sweltering hot to walk around in the mid day sun (as temperatures and humidity levels are quite high here), but snorkeling the reefs in the warm water of the sea feels just right.

Dog 1 cooling off his plumbing in the tropical hot and humid weather

Dog 2 cooling off his plumbing in a beach restaurant (during mid day sun)

Dog 3 (mutt) cooling off his plumbing at Nice Moon Bungalows
Nice Moon Bungalows
Moon Rises and Sun rises as seen from my Bungalow




I'm in front of one of my favorite reefs

Koh Tao jungle views

View of my Bungalow from the rocks and reef below



The Thai couple (in their late 50’s or early 60’s) who run the bungalow place, barely speak English, but are really gentle, sweet, and nurturing. The woman cooks all the meals and fully manages the operation of the place by herself. Her name is San Yam, but I call her mom. The man, Nikko, seems to do all of the gardening, repairs/upkeep of the bungalows, and whacking (disciplining) the three mutts (including a tiny, cute, black & white puppy). Whenever Nikko sees me alone, he brings me some exotic tropical sweet fruits (which I have never seen before in my life) that he just picked off one of the trees in his lovely garden. He just smiles and says “good, good”. Mom spends every afternoon picking ticks and flees off the three mutts. She quietly spends about forty five minutes on each dog and the dogs (including the tiny puppy) seem to love it. Their heads and bodies flop sideways like a rag doll, as if they are melting in her hands. Both mom and Nikko love watching Thai mellow dramatic soap operas on TV every evening. These soap operas have a lot of rape scenes and gun battles. I guess the peaceful Thai Buddhists need some outlet for their aggression. Yesterday, I had my longest conversation with mom; she pointed to the sea and said, “big wave, wind come China”, I answered “mm, yes”.

Koh Tao Views

The journey from Bangkok took 20 hours instead of 12 due to a broken down catamaran stranding us on the mainland for an extra 8 hours. I met a really nice Australian couple, Rosh and Lauren, on the bus from Bangkok. They were also looking for a secluded, quiet bay on the Island and when they heard of the beach I was planning to go to they decided to join along with me. They are both around 25 years old and have been traveling and working in Europe, North Africa, India, and South East Asia for the last 15 months. When we finally arrived at our Bungalow place, called “Nice Moon”, we discovered 3 other young Australian couples were staying there. I was the only non-Australian and non-couple entity staying at the place. All four Australian couples were extremely cool and quite friendly as I got to know them all separately. There are so many Australians traveling the world, especially in South East Asia.

Waiting 8 hours for Catamaran with Rosh & Lauren


A few days ago, Rosh (whose father is Sikh and mother is Australian) and I spent an entire day fishing in the reef directly below our bungalows. He is a pretty experienced fisherman and so he showed me the ropes. Each of us had a line with a sinker and hook at the end of it wrapped around a piece of styrofone (a Rosh improvisation). On the hook we put sea barnacle and squid tentacles as bait. We swam above the reef to the edge of it (where the reef drops off into the deep sea) with our snorkel and mask and as soon as we saw an attractive school of plate sized fish we dropped the hook/sinker/line towards them. For some reason, the bigger fish seemed to avoid the hook and bait (maybe a bigger brain has something to do with it), and the smaller, colorful reef fish attacked it in a wild frenzy. Throughout the day, I kept catching and releasing those small, multi-colored reef fish, as they are apparently (according to Rosh) to bony to eat and also do not taste very good. As the day progressed, the sea became more active and the waves pushed me into the sharp rocks, cutting my hands and feet. Reef fishing can be a bit painful. Luckily, just as the sun was about to go down and the waves were becoming bigger, Rosh managed to catch a couple of decent sized, light colored, edible fish. Mom fried the freshly caught fish with garlic and black pepper for us for dinner. The fish tasted deliciously soft and flaky.

Fishing day photos

Rosh preparing to fish in the reef

My biggest catch of the day (fairly pathetic)

Sitting down for fish dinner

Mom (Son Yam) knows how to cook a fish

Puppy & I (its not a doll)

On a different day, I walked over to an adjacent bay called Shark Bay. I snorkeled in the water for a while, and there they were right below me, several groups of Black Tipped Reefs Sharks of different sizes. Reef sharks are gentle sharks that do not attack people (that’s what the locals say). At one point I saw as many as 15 sharks swimming underneath and around me. They are quite beautiful and serene as they glide through the silky water. At times, I watched the sharks through a veil of colorful tropical fish. The underwater world can feel so peaceful. All I hear is my own breath.

Photos at Shark Bay (no underwater camera; just use your wild imagination)

I spend most of my days here snorkeling off the beach and rocks, reading books, writing, eating fresh tropical fruit and delicious seafood cooked Thai style (Thai curries, Noodle dishes, and rice), and watching the moon (the “Nice” one) rising above the bay and lighting up the waves in a golden tone. I feel distant from the chattering world (politics, media, money, traffic, work, culture, history) but I do feel connected to the earth (the natural world of the sun, the moon, the rocks, and the ocean). My isolation also brings me more inside of my head. Thoughts are bounced around for many hours of the day. Jeremy, the American/Malaysian filmmaker I met in Bangkok, gave me a copy of the book “The Alchemist”. He said that I must read it as I start my travels alone. Since I finished the book a few days ago, its ideas have been constantly echoing in my mind; what leads each of us to the paths we choose? why do we make these choices and how do we know they are the right choices? does our gut (our instinct) always reveal the truth to us? If we are really so alone in the journeys we take in life, how do we truly connect with the people we love and how do we try to understand their own journeys? I’m really fascinated and kind of haunted by these thoughts and questions. The more I think about them, the less I know (I guess the clichÈ is true). I do know one thing about myself; when I’m thinking about these things, I really feel alive. There’s nothing wrong with feeling alive. I also know I really love Laura. I admire her strength, independence, intelligence, courage, and beauty. Although we are physically apart, I feel her presence with me every day. I guess in some ways the feeling of love for someone is the essence of the spirit of that person that lives inside of you all the time.




Paradise found, paradise lost.

Soon, I’ll leave Koh Tao and start heading towards the Ankor Wat area in Cambodia (via Bangkok). The journey continues. Mission is not accomplished. Is it ever accomplished?

Guday mate,
Inbal