Is traveling and doing volunteer work in Thailand January to April 2011
We are proud of Amber and very much look forward to receiving her reports and updates of her adventure postings here in the S.E.E.D. blog; it is especially exciting too because Amber is able to connect with Kelly Franklin of Sustainable Smiles, meet the students and experience the S.A.P. projects in progress!!
Karon beach Wednesday January 26, 2011
We are proud of Amber and very much look forward to receiving her reports and updates of her adventure postings here in the S.E.E.D. blog; it is especially exciting too because Amber is able to connect with Kelly Franklin of Sustainable Smiles, meet the students and experience the S.A.P. projects in progress!!
Karon beach Wednesday January 26, 2011
Hi all-
So far I have spent time in Bangkok, koh Tao, khao soc, and now Phuket. I've been jumping around at a quick pace but I'm finally starting to feel settled here in Phuket town. It's a short way from the beach, clean comfortable and cheap accommodation. Despite being a developed area it has less of a tourist feel than you would expect. I know I said originally I was planning on staying way off the beaten track but I'm learning that I need certain creature comforts and Phuket town seems like a good balance.
Locals are friendly and seem to appreciate my attempt at conversing in Thai. I have not been sick due to the food, I did have a very high fever but the doctor wrote it off as a cold and gave me meds that helped quickly. I'll have to say it is hard to eat meat after seeing how things are prepared. It's dirty as expected but the smells are what put me over the top. Some sort of cross between urine, deadfish and something rotting as you walk by some food stalls. Between that and the heat I find I don't have much of an appetite and in fact may just eat a little fruit for the day. Those of you that know me well might find that hard to believe, as my appetite is usually ferocious! But I feel fine.
One of my most wonderful experiences so far has been practicing tai chi with the elders in Bangkok (lumpini park). I asked around yesterday when I came to p town to solidify a hostel for today and got a couple leads on parks to check out. Apparently there are a few groups that practice in the evenings. I hope to find them and continue to learn about this truly amazing practice.
I've met some interesting travelers so far mostly from Europe. Gabby tops the charts so far, she's a 64 yo lady from Germany. I met her on the public bus into karon beach. She's been traveling here for 15 years spending 4 weeks at a time. She took me under her wing right away and found me a cheap bungalow Right across from the beach! I treated her to dinner and she introduced me around it seemed she new everyone in this restaurant. She had wonderful travel stories and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
It's hard traveling by yourself, I had a bit of a melt down the other day. Just feeling alone and displaced. It's a fine art trying to live in a new culture as apposed to just being a tourist.
Just a note about the jungle... The bugs/spiders are huge as much as I like to hike the insects were to much for me. This thing the size of my hand landed on my ear- that was it I had to get out of there. The limestone cliffs were amazing though!
I've noticed a few schools in the area. It brought a smile to my face to see the kids playing and I thought hmmm maybe I can teach a bit of English here...
Sa wa dee ka
Amber
So far I have spent time in Bangkok, koh Tao, khao soc, and now Phuket. I've been jumping around at a quick pace but I'm finally starting to feel settled here in Phuket town. It's a short way from the beach, clean comfortable and cheap accommodation. Despite being a developed area it has less of a tourist feel than you would expect. I know I said originally I was planning on staying way off the beaten track but I'm learning that I need certain creature comforts and Phuket town seems like a good balance.
Locals are friendly and seem to appreciate my attempt at conversing in Thai. I have not been sick due to the food, I did have a very high fever but the doctor wrote it off as a cold and gave me meds that helped quickly. I'll have to say it is hard to eat meat after seeing how things are prepared. It's dirty as expected but the smells are what put me over the top. Some sort of cross between urine, deadfish and something rotting as you walk by some food stalls. Between that and the heat I find I don't have much of an appetite and in fact may just eat a little fruit for the day. Those of you that know me well might find that hard to believe, as my appetite is usually ferocious! But I feel fine.
One of my most wonderful experiences so far has been practicing tai chi with the elders in Bangkok (lumpini park). I asked around yesterday when I came to p town to solidify a hostel for today and got a couple leads on parks to check out. Apparently there are a few groups that practice in the evenings. I hope to find them and continue to learn about this truly amazing practice.
I've met some interesting travelers so far mostly from Europe. Gabby tops the charts so far, she's a 64 yo lady from Germany. I met her on the public bus into karon beach. She's been traveling here for 15 years spending 4 weeks at a time. She took me under her wing right away and found me a cheap bungalow Right across from the beach! I treated her to dinner and she introduced me around it seemed she new everyone in this restaurant. She had wonderful travel stories and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
It's hard traveling by yourself, I had a bit of a melt down the other day. Just feeling alone and displaced. It's a fine art trying to live in a new culture as apposed to just being a tourist.
Just a note about the jungle... The bugs/spiders are huge as much as I like to hike the insects were to much for me. This thing the size of my hand landed on my ear- that was it I had to get out of there. The limestone cliffs were amazing though!
I've noticed a few schools in the area. It brought a smile to my face to see the kids playing and I thought hmmm maybe I can teach a bit of English here...
Sa wa dee ka
Amber
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