A Tale of Two Cities or visit to Monkey Mount(a)in
Trip Start
Jul 26, 2004
1
14
23
Trip End
May 31, 2005
Bangkok,
Thailand
Monday, January 3, 2005
On December 20th, Chris' parents picked us up at the airport in Hong Kong where we went to their apartment, which was a total of 300 sq feet, quite a juxtaposition from our 'guesthouse' in Kuala Lumpur. It was a cozy stay, but one filled with great family fun(a.k.a. lots of Scrabble). Chris' mother, Adrienne, decided 6 years ago to see the world by teaching ESL after retiring from several years of teaching grade one in Sault Ste
Chris with Buddha buddy
. Marie. When Chris' father, Al, retired, the only way he was to keep up with her was if he joined her. Now they both have a "winter home" in Hong Kong where they teach English to a number of adults and children. There are now several Chinese people walking the streets of HK saying "Oot and aboot", and properly using the Canadian term "eh". Hong Kong is a great world class city. Its transit system is all encompassing and after a few days is relatively easy to follow (although you may get a different story from Chris' Dad). It is a city of giants(the buildings, definitely not the baseball team), with high rises and skyscrapers climbing out of the ground everywhere. It has so many people that even its buses are double deckers to help move the 7 million people around daily. It was amazing to us how easily Chris' parents could manouvre the somewhat confusing HK transit system (well, at least Chris' mother can), as if they were born Hong Kongers. They were excellent guides and hosts to us all week, and it was a real treat in the midst of our travels to be with family for the Christmas season.
During our stay, we saw Hong Kong's Peak, which is situated atop Hong Kong island. A very steep cable car ride up the mountain dropped us off at the top where we could see a view of the bay and the mainland. We also visited Saikung, a fishing village on the edge of HK island overlooking the South China Sea, where the fish is so fresh you can pick it right out of a fisherman's boat. We walked about amazed at the variety of marine life that filled the boats and the tanks of the restaurants. We visited Monkey Mountain a park where Reaces maqaue (sp?) monkeys live and will swarm and relieve you of your lunch if you are not too careful
Family at the Big Buddha
. Luckily for us we only saw a few who sniffed us and decided that without a sandwich we were of no interest to them. Instead, they promptly copulated in front of us to show their disgust. We also took a walk up into the a hill to visit a Buddhist monastery that had statues of ten thousand Buddhas, which we counted for accuracy sake. Monkey fornication was not permitted there. We had the opportunity to visit the Miami Beach-style area of Repulse Bay (not aptly named) with its beautiful beaches, then to Stanley Market for a little souvenir shopping. Like all good Catholics, Chris and his family introduced Lara to the age old tradition of visiting Buddhist temples on Christmas Day, namely the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Roman Catholicism, what an open minded religion! Seeing as December 25th was a holiday for most Chinese people, the buses were packed, but the wait was worth it as we climbed the 300 steps to the top. At the local monastery we also witnessed an 8 day prayer service the monks were having for all of the souls of the chickens who were just slain due to the Chicken flu. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, so you never know, one of those chickens could have been your cousin Albert in a past life.
On our last day in HK we went with Chris' parents' friends to an excellent Chinese restaurant that overlooked the city skyline
HK skyline at night
. All of the skyscrapers were lit up in Christmas splendour. They even had a spectacular fireworks and laser light show. For a place that is widely Buddhist, HK sure likes to celebrate this Christian holiday. We even passed a Santa Claus that was having his picture taken with holiday revellers. What was most unusual about this was ALL the people in line were adults! We also got the opportunity to meet some of Chris' parents' Chinese friends. They have a tradition of adopting an English name for social and business circumstances. Some of these names seem funny to us as they manipulate the somewhat unfamiliar language. Vyonne was a version of Yvonne, Rango got his name from his love of the Beatles drummer. They were great people to spend time with and they introduced us to some of their local delicacies (chicken feet, fish balls and bean curd).
When we returned to the apartment that night we got the news of the earthquake and tsunami. Stunned by what had occurred, we checked on our friends in the area and our flight out the next day. We soon discovered that everyone was alright and that we were still scheduled to go to Bangkok, so we packed our bags, despite Chris' father's wishes...
In Bangkok we arrived at 2 AM (3 AM our time) to some chaos
Lara with 10,000 Buddhas
. People were flying in from the southern islands and we could overhear some of their tales as we passed customs. Of course, the extra load of people at the airport could only mean one thing, inflated taxi prices!! Nice way to take advantage of people who had just survived such a traumatic event. We finally found a decent taxi driver who drove us, at the speed of sound, ( no dial on his spedometre)to our guesthouse, and we checked in at 4 AM.Over the next few days we came to investigate some of Bangkok. It is a large sprawling city withOUT a comprehensive underground transit system, but with a lot of taxis and tuktuks (battery powered three seaters) adding to the smog, cluttered mess and general dinginess of the city. There are beautiful temples everywhere where one can escape the constant motion and noise of the city. We tried to visit a couple of them but weren't dressed appropriately and decided to see some of the city by foot. This was not as easy as it sounds, as Bangkok does not always label its streets or have accurate maps. Eventually we were able to find Chinatown and the 'Thieves market' and negotiated some good deals on cds and t-shirts ( to replace 1 of the 3 we have been wearing for 4+ months). Okay, so we didn't exactly negotiate well- Lara still has a lot to learn when it comes to bargaining. A challenge she plans to tackle over the next 4 months.
New Year's Eve in Thailand
Our guesthouse was situated in the Khao San Road area, famous from the book and movie "the Beach'. It is a haven for backpackers, and never, EVER, sleeps. At night we often found ourselves strolling through the night markets, stopping for a drink and a $6 hour long massage. Over the 6 days there, we had 3- Swedish, reflexology and of course A Thai massage. The latter is like a yoga class, where the 'masseur' bend your body into precarious positions as he cracks and twists your body in ways you never thought imaginable. Definitely an interesting experience, and after sleeping on one of the most uncomfortable beds in BKK, it was actually welcomed.
December 31st we met up with our old friend Lloyd who used to live in Bangkok, and has been in China for the last year. The last time we saw him was the night Princess Diana died. We decided we have to stop meeting him under such disastrous circumstances. We met him and spent a lot of time catching up with him. For New Year's Eve, he took us to a Thai restaurant (here its just called Restaurant) where a Thai band ( here its just called band) played Thai music ( here its just called music), while Thai dancers ( here they're just called dancers) performed traditional Thai dances ( here its just called dances) as a baby elephant was walking by outside (apparently an everyday sight in the metrpolois of Bangkok). The food was authentic Isan Thai, and not the crap we had become used to eating on Khao San. With the tunes, dancers and elephant, it was definitely a memorable evening. After many hours we bid Lloyd Adieu and headed back to Khao San road for the stroke of midnight. Although everyone was cheering and hugging each other, the celebration was muted as one could still feel the heavy pall hanging over the city.
We are now packed and ready for Cambodia. We hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year. We'll do our best to stay lucky and healthy. Keep the notes coming as we love to hear from you.
