Almost killed by butterflies in Koh Samui!

So even though there are cheap flights from Bangkok to Koh Samui, the train is even cheaper, and I’d read glowing reviews about how “fun” it is to take the train in Thailand, that it’s safe and clean, etc.  And even a “first class” ticket is just $50 for a 12 hour ride – most of which you could sleep through as the train leaves Bangkok at 7:30pm and arrives in the near-port city of Sarat Thani just after 7am. 

Well.  I can confirm that it was safe and cheap.  And while the first class cabin was NOTHING like you would expect from a first class train cabin in the states, it was still clean (if a little old and worn), so whatever.  But I got very little sleep thanks to the rattling and bucking.  Part of this may be due to the fact that I was near the end of the car/at the junction where it hooks to another car.  At the end of the day, I guess I can say I’m glad I had the experience, but I immediately decided I would be flying from Samui to Phuket and then from there back to Bangkok (fun/weird fact: although Bangkok is farther from Phuket than Samui is, the latter flight – on the same airline – costs twice as much).

Koh Samui is beautiful and definitely the more “laid back/mellow” island compared to Phuket.  I stayed in Bangpo, on the north side of the island, which is even more chill/less densely populated.  I actually stayed in a bungalow right on the beach, which was cool, in a little guesthouse operated by an expat named Sean/Shahinn who had been there a year after spending the previous six in…..wait for it….Guangzhou!  So I asked him what he’d thought of GZ, and he paused, then said diplomatically, “Well….I found the Chinese……culture…a challenge.”  So I laughed and said, I just found the Chinese people to be a “challenge.”  He laughed and we then swapped stories about how, even though GZ is a pretty cool city, its downside is it’s full of Chinese people.  Ha!

  

ANYWAY, the cool/fun thing about Samui is that I quickly rented a scooter and basically spent my 3 days there tooling around the island on that.  Took me back to my Hawai’i days.  There are few things cooler than zipping around a tropical island on a scooter, let me tell you!  Of course, I had to learn the “tics” of this particular scooter – namely that you can’t lock it because its lock was messed up (which, apparently, the nice older Thai woman who rented it to me tried to explain but I waved her off saying, “Yes, yes, I know how to lock a scooter.” So they had to come fix it and remind me not to lock it after that), and that you can’t start it with the kickstand down – which is actually a sensible precaution that they simply hadn’t had on the scooters I rode in Hawai’i (maybe they do now).

So I rode all over the island, checking out various little island towns, beaches, the Big Buddha, etc.  The highlight/lowlight of the trip was the day I took the advice of Sean to cut through the middle of the island, go up the mountain for a great view, and then down through the rain forest to the other side.  Well, although I thought I’d taken the right turn, I got nearly (so I thought) to the top when the cement road abruptly dead-ended into rutted dirt (pic to be posted).  I got off the scooter and trekked over the rise to see the cement road started back up again, so I figured they just couldn’t pave over this difficult part, so I carefully rode the scooter up over the rise and was back on my merry way, but not near the top as I thought, as I was greeted by a VERY steep switchback that I feared the poor old scooter wouldn’t be able to handle.  After THEN thinking I had crested the hill, and stopped accordingly for some scenic pics, I found ANOTHER steep switchback and willed my little chugging scooter up THAT.  I should also mention that this road was VERY little used – although in good condition (maybe because of that).

Anyway, after finally cresting the final rise, I started my descent.  My very steep descent that was almost as scary as coming UP the hill.  I’d made it maybe a third of the way down when, again, the cement road abruptly ended into a dirt road.  And not really a road so much, as a worn down Jeep-path through the rainforest.  I figured this was to protect the pristine nature, so headed in to the forest, which immediately became pretty dark due to the tree cover.  After a few hundred feet in I was set upon by butterflies – at first a few dozen, but then probably nearing a hundred or more.  While I like butterflies, let me assure you it is sort of unnerving to have dozens of them flying around you, smacking you in the face, etc.  I suddenly empathized with my friend Charlotte who has a strong dislike for butterflies – and as these were brown, almost moth-like butterflies, it was easier to hate them.  Finally, the butterfly swarm abated, but my troubles just began as the path suddenly veered downward, and became MUCH rougher, fainter, rutted, strewn with logs and rocks, etc.  I finally decided I had somehow managed to take a different route than what Sean had suggested (I later discovered I’d turned too soon off the main island loop road – although why this particular road/path I was on even existed made no sense considering how desolate it was).

By this point I was a little panicky and scared.  I had seen NO homes, no businesses, etc. for some time.  I figured I could always turn back, but there had been no “alternate routes” or turn-offs for some time, and it would be a bitch to re-navigate anyway.  I could discern I was still heading for the coast (although, as it turns out, not the one I thought), so despite the rough terrain that I had no business traversing in a well-used little scooter, I plodded on – only falling over once (woo-hoo!) and slightly injuring my foot.  Believe it or not, the path grew increasingly faint and rocky, but after what seemed an eternity of me thinking I would end up crashing the scooter and then being set upon by some wild animal or snake, I came upon what looked like a freshly bulldozed path through a dirt hill with, I thought, a glimmer of water/sea on the other side.  I trucked through it and was finally relieved to come back out on a cement road through a high end housing area, which then led me on a multi-optioned trek that, mercifully, finally, ended back up on the ring road.  I was literally shaking with relief.  During my adventure, I’d reflected on my mom telling me one of the things she hated about getting older was becoming more fearful.  I did have to constantly remind myself during the more treacherous parts of my ride that I was on an island so couldn’t really get lost, that I’d found myself in at least nearly-equally dangerous situations in the past (e.g., drunk and lost in the dark in a strange foreign city), etc.  So I’m hoping to now use THIS adventure for in the future if/when I find myself in another “scary” situation.  Yay, me!  J

Also, as it turns out, I did indeed come across a very large/long snake like the one I thought would set upon me after I crashed the scooter.  This during a hike to a waterfall the next day.  Amazingly, I didn’t scream like a girl when I saw it – just watched it slither it’s VERY long body across the path in front of me.  Yes, I am SO butch!  J

After my 3 days in Koh Samui, it was off to Phuket.  I flew Bangkok Airways, which labels itself as “Asia’s Boutique Airline” and I have to say I was impressed.  At the airport in K.S., they had a nice little outdoor lounge (next to the outdoor/ but roofed gate) with a mini-buffet of small sandwiches, pastries, popcorn, juices, etc., and even though the flight to Phuket was only an hour, we were served a light meal.  Very nice.

As for Phuket, it was all about the room I stayed in – as those of you who’ve already seen my squealing about it in Facebook will know.  Seriously, though, this may have been the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  The Centara Villas are built into the cliffs overlooking Karon Beach and my room had a fantastic view with my own Jacuzzi out on the deck.  While I did take their shuttle into Patong for an evening of sightseeing (and to snatch a Phuket Hard Rock Hurricane glass), I spent most of my time in the water – my deck Jacuzzi or the beautiful hotel two-level pool.  Because the villas extend from the top of the mountain nearly down to the beach, they had “mini-cars” (sort of like the ubiquitous Thai Tuk Tuks) that you could request to take you from, say, your villa to the pool, the restaurant to your villa, etc.  It was truly an experience.

Speaking of the tuk tuk, I actually had my first tuk tuk ride when I came back from Patong to my hotel (the hotel shuttle only takes you TO the city).  I had not really had the need or opportunity to take one yet in Bangkok, but the one I rode back to the hotel from Patong was fun because of the color, the way he had it tricked out in the back with his light and sound system, etc.  I decided then and there I’d need to do one of those “Bangkok at night by tuk tuk” tours before I leave!

Final note on Koh Samui and Phuket: for whatever reason, there is a large Russian presence on the islands.  Not sure why that is and my internet is currently down so I can’t google it.  But especially in Phuket, I saw numerous Russian businesses, and the information signs in the Phuket airport were all in Thai, English, and Russian.  Will have to “investigate” this more as I haven’t noticed it so much here in Bangkok.

Flitting about Europe without showing my passport!

COPENHAGEN:  I saved Copenhagen for last since I spent the most time there – 3 days before and another day after the cruise.  Maybe because I got to spend more time there, I was thoroughly enchanted.  Copenhagen is a beautiful, cool city, with a nice vibe, cool architecture, an amazing bike culture, and even a cool hippie/commune section of the city (Christiania). 

Also, like most of the rest of Europe (and, honestly, most every country in the world outside of America), there were virtually no grossly overweight/obese people.  I’m sorry, but it’s nice to not have to see that.  Okay, I’m not really sorry.  Of course the same is true in China so it’s now been some time since I’ve been around a plethora of obesity.  Yay.

In fact, Copenhagen is full of beautiful people – the Danes are indeed a pretty race, with lots of scruffy (but clean), blond-haired, blue-eyed boys (and girls) that makes people watching even more of a treat than usual.  Ha!

The city itself is beautiful, too – clean and green, with a beautiful blue sky (except one day when it rained) – which was certainly a welcome change from China!  The studio we rented faced a canal (one of many) bordered by a nice green lawn with beautiful, colorful trees in Spring bloom.  There were plenty of swans and other white birds on the water, along with paddle boaters and other folks enjoying the Spring weather – seriously, it was like living in a postcard.  J

And the sun never goes down!  Seriously, it wasn’t fully dark until like 11pm.  Kind of messed with my head a bit, actually.

I also loved the architecture and history.  The Danish monarchy is the longest continuous monarchy in Europe, although of course the current ruler – Queen Margrethe II – wields no real power anymore.  While the architecture of the palaces is not as ornate as, say, Peterhof or Versailles, they are still “elegantly simple.”  And the interior of Christiansborg is quite beautiful.

While it was kind of annoying they don’t use the Euro (yet!), more challenging was their hard-to-distinguish denominations of coins and the fact that they use coins even more than bills (I never used coins in Guangzhou – seriously they had fifty cent and DIME bills!).  While in the U.S. I commonly used 1s, 5s, 10s, 20s, and even sometimes the odd 50 or 100, in Denmark, I really only saw 50, 100, and 200 Kroner bills.  Whearas I was often trying to make out the difference between coins of ½ Kroner, 1 Kroner, 2 Kroners, 10 Kroners, and 20 Kroners. 

Speaking of money, Denmark – as well as all the Scandinavian countries – remains insanely expensive; especially after spending a year in China.  But that old saying holds true of “you get what you pay for” as the Danes rank among the happiest people in the world, enjoy beautiful/clean cities, little violence/no school shootings, fabulous/efficient/clean mass transit, good free healthcare, excellent vacation time and family leave (for moms AND dads – my friend David and I were both pleasantly surprised to see the number of Danish dads out with their kids/pushing strollers), etc.   There is a lot to like about America, but the more time I spend in other countries (esp. countries like Denmark), the more dismayed I am at just how corrupt, violent, and “unfriendly to humans” the U.S. has become.  I so wish my son – and my nieces & nephews – could live in a cool, nice, happy, safe country.

I would guess, all told, I probably spent a good four hours just “people watching” while I was in Denmark.  Partly, as mentioned, because the people are just so pretty to look at, but partly also because – and again, especially compared with China – everyone just seemed so happy and active.  There were always tons of people out and about – even when it was raining: a lot of runners, lots of dads with their kids (I swear I probably saw more dads out with kids than moms), TONS of people out on bikes.  The Danish have an amazing bike culture – they are literally everywhere and it seemed they almost outnumber the cars.  Their bike lanes are fully the width of a typical car lane, I kid you not.  Lots of folks had these cool bikes that had like a little covered wheelbarrow attached to the front for groceries, small children, whatever.  Most of these bikes apparently come from the hippie/commune section of the city called Christiana, which is like a permanent Haight-Ashbury during the summer of love, with people just chilling around the lake, smoking dope, or just hanging out/shooting the shit, etc. 

Perhaps most astonishing is that when I left Copenhagen on my flight to Paris, my passport was not asked for/checked once.  I went to a self-service kiosk to retrieve my boarding pass and get a baggage tag (by inputting my name/confirmation number); I then took said bag to a drop-off counter where they only asked for my boarding pass to confirm, then went through security (again, showing only my boarding pass), and then boarded my plane.

Even more astonishing (to me), when I landed in Paris I didn’t have to go through immigrations or customs or show my passport to anyone.  Now, doubtless, this was due at least partly to the fact I was on an intra-European flight, but it was still jarring compared to the uber-security state that exists in the U.S. now and especially after spending the past year in China where you have to show your passport just to get into a frickin museum. 

A few other random observations from my time in Europe: On more than one occasion, I was presented with the “opportunity” to have Chinese food for a meal (either on the ship or passing by a Chinese restaurant in, say, Paris), and I actually considered it and/or thought, “Oooh, Chinese!”  So even after a year of China, I’m still a fan of the food, at least!  Ha!

Also, when I was leaving Zurich for Bangkok, I noticed that the flight leaving from the gate across the way was headed for Hong Kong and I reflexively thought, “Ooooh, Hong Kong!” – even though I’ve been four times in the past year!  Including just within the past month!  So there’s at least one part of China I like!  J

Coming soon: Back to Asia – will a month in Bangkok turn me off the Thais and/or Thai food?  I’m guessing not.  J

A Displaced American in the Baltics!

I don’t really have much to say about our first stop, which was Warnemunde/Rostock.  Namely because none of us decided the four hour+ round trip into Berlin was worth it, so we mostly tooled around this coastal port and its neighboring city.  Both places were charming enough – for Germany – but, again, nothing spectacular to write home about (as noted by the very few pics I took and that I shared grouped in with my pics of Tallinn on Facebook).  SO….moving on….

TALLINN:  Almost directly across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki, this place could best be described as “charming.” J  It’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Ooooh!  Almost one-third of the entire population of Estonia lives in Tallinn. The city was actually known as Reval from the 13^th century until 1917 – and again during the Nazi occupation.  What struck me most as we took our guided walking tour was the succession of conquerors: Danes, Swedes, Germans (multiple times), Russians (multiple times), etc.  Our guide told us that since their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, this is the longest consecutive number of years that the Estonian flag has flown over the capital.  Accordingly, it was hard to determine a true “Estonian culture” there – a lot of Scandinavian and Russian stuff.  A few more fun facts: the city has never been razed or pillaged, and the spire of St. Olaf’s Church was actually the tallest building in the world between 1549 and 1625.  Throw THAT tidbit out at a cocktail party to show how smart you is!  

ST. PETERSBURG:  Ah, the flood of memories from being “back in the USSR.”  J  The dill.  The surly Russians who always sound like they’re arguing with each other.  The drab Soviet architecture.  While I wouldn’t say I was “disappointed” in St. Pete’s (Peterhof alone made it a cool trip), I will say it was not quite what I’d hoped for (see list of things mentioned above for why).  I am sure that, in its pre-Soviet days, it was a MUCH more stunning and amazing city overall; you can tell it was definitely built to be an Imperial Capital.  Part of what made it a bit of a bummer trip was that we did not get the hydrofoil boat ride back from Peterhof that we were promised and thus had to slog through the notorious St. Pete’s traffic for the second half of our excursion on day one (we had an overnight in the city).  Also, said slog back was delayed by an HOUR thanks to an incredibly selfish/rude Scandinavian guy and his mom who went “off the reservation” during the Peterhof tour.  Our Russian guide was as pissed as we were and made several snarky comments throughout the rest of the tour about these two incredibly selfish assholes.  ANYWAY, as mentioned, Peterhof alone made the trip worthwhile to me – even though we could not take pics inside the palace (and talk about a crush of people – complete with fighting Russian tour guides!).  But as you can see from the pics I posted/will post on Facebook, the grounds are amazing and it’s clear that Peter the Great was suffering from “Versailles Envy.”  J 

My friend David was put off by the near constant bragging of our tour guides on both days.  I’ve always felt the Russians have a bit of an inferiority complex and it was definitely on display by our guides.  Although, to be fair, during the days of their two “greats” (Peter and Catherine), Russia was indeed something to behold.  And Peter created a truly remarkable city that will hopefully/eventually be restored to its full glory once the final remnants of the Soviet days and architecture are vanquished.  I told David if he wanted to have some fun with the tour guides re: their bragging, just throw out the tidbit/factoid that some of Russia's greatest leaders were either German (Catherine) or Jewish (Lenin) which I used to torment my bragging Russian friend Zhenya with (the Russians are notorious anti-semites).  As it is, there are still plenty of remarkable sites to be seen besides Peterhof:  the Hermitage, the Church of Spilled Blood, St. Peter & Paul’s fortress (where I got to see both Peter and Catherine’s tombs – bonus for a history major!), etc.  And while their glory days may be long gone, I can’t begrudge the Russians their bragging – after all, they lived throughout a vast majority of their history as slaves basically.  Poor things. 

HELSINKI:  Though not quite so downtrodden as the Estonians, Finland also has a long history of “oppression” – mostly from the Swedes and Russians. It was actually a part of Sweden from the 12^th century until 1809, and then became an “autonomous Grand Duchy” as part of the Russian empire until 1917.  Oddly enough (to me, at least) Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the German city of….wait for it….Tallinn (then called Reval). But apparently it didn’t work as Helsinki remained a tiny town plagued by poverty, wars, and diseases (a plague in 1710 killed most of the city).  Anyway, on the whole, we were all a bit disappointed in Helsinki.  We are assuming/”hoping” that part of it was due to the fact that we were there on a Sunday and the city was pretty dead (although it did seem to be livening up a bit as we left).  It’s pretty enough, and clean, but there was no “vibe” to it (as Doreen astutely pointed out).  I will say that one of the very coolest things I saw on the whole trip was the Church of the Rock (or Temppeliaukio Church as it is formally known).  I posted pics from our visit, but you should google image it to see more – the church is basically carved out of rock and has such excellent acoustics it is often rented out for concerts.  VERY cool.

STOCKHOLM:  Every single one of us in my travel group complained about not getting to spend enough time in Stockholm (we arrived at 8am and left at 4pm).  If I ever have the chance, I would like to go and spend at least a few days.  As “confirmed” by Wikipedia: The city is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks.  Sweden also has an interesting history with early subjugation by the Danes until growing into a major power of their own in the 17^th century.  For some reason, the two formerly “strong empires” that always “throw” me are Sweden and Poland.  Anyway, according to a blurb I read somewhere in town, nearly one-third of the city’s area is made up of waterways, while another one-third is made up of parkland.  And then, of course, there is the ABBA museum!  Seriously, while expensive (hell, everything is expensive in Scandinavia!  EVERYTHING!), this was definitely one of the cuter/funner “boutique” museums I’ve been to.  On the whole, Stockholm definitely has a more lively vibe/is much more cosmopolitan than Helsinki, and  hope I get to see it again some day.  Tracy, Dooley, Jeff, and I also ducked into their Ice Bar for a definitely unique experience.  Highly recommended (the ice bar AND the city, that is!)  J

PARIS:  I’m sure people have heard me squawk enough about how awesome Paris is, and my second visit did nothing to disabuse me of the notion that, along with San Francisco, it is one of THE most awesome cities in the world.  It remains my dream retirement city, although—as previously mentioned on Facebook—my trip to Paris Disneyland was a bit of a bust. C’est la vie!

ZURICH:  No matter how many times I hear it, I’m always surprised that there is no Swiss language.  While I enjoyed my time in Zurich, on the whole, like with Helsinki I was a bit disappointed.  I don’t know what I expected – again, maybe more of a cool “vibe.”  But maybe because the majority of folks are of German heritage, it’s just not there. Ha!  It’s a pretty city, rather compact in terms of the main part, clean, etc.  I enjoyed it more my second day when I wandered through the old town.  Still, I’m glad I saw it and as odd as this sounds, I’m always kind of “relieved” when I go to a new place and don’t love it so much that I wish I could go again.  There are still so many places I want to see, it’s hard (for me, at least) to “justify” returning to somewhere I've already been (though I WOULD be up for a second visit to Barcelona and/or Istanbul if anyone wants to "entice" me!).

Coming soon: notes on Copenhagen, and my overall “ranking” of the places I saw on my “2014 Grand European Adventure.”