Loy Krathong (edited)

Today was Loy Krathong, I'm doing the lazy man link so you can read about it without me having to type it all out. A group of us went out to Beach Road to see what was going on.

Krathongs are these little floating rafts made out of banana leafs, flowers, incense sticks and candles. There are some very simple ones and others that are very elaborate done, the elaborate ones are usually judged in contests. People light the incense and candles on them, some place a lock of hair or nail clippings to symbolize the letting go of the bad parts of oneself. The act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot.

Simple Krathongs-
Elaborate Krathongs-Jeff Lighting the Krathong-Praying/wishing with the Krathong before releasing it into the water (yes he is standing in the ocean)-Putting the Krathong in the water. We were on the beach so many of them ended turned over with the waves. The proper way to do this in the river, but we don't have one in Pattaya.Anther thing that is done in celebration for Loy Krathong is the releasing of the Khom Fai, which are these little hot air balloons... (its more impressive when many of them are released at the same time-but it was to windy for that).
It was windy so some of them ended up in the trees!Some cute kids enjoying the festival-After walking around on Beach Road and the Beach we headed down to the always entertaining Walking Street, which was packed. Here are some pictures of the traditional Thai outfits that people like to wear during this festival. As you may notice even though some outfits are traditional female outfits there are men (ladyboys) wearing them. Transvestits are very common here.

Halloween on WalkingStreet

Well Halloween wasn't quite the same here as it is back home. Back home I would decorate my entire house, buy candy and dog snacks for trick or treaters, wear a costume, have a change bowl for any UNICEF boxes, carve pumpkins, watch scary movies, and make pumpkin seed snacks/popcorn balls/carmel apples. Here we didn't get dressed up but we decided to go down to WalkingStreet and see what was going on. So we went to go-go bars and had a few drinks.
Some of the people dressed up-mainly tourists and a few of the locals. There were some interesting people...

The good old stand-by, I just but a headband...She was a statue doll that only moved when tipped!...Witches of WalkingStreet...I think he just likes to wear women's clothes...Most clothes I have seen the go-go girls wearing!...Not sure what he is suppose to be?

American Independence Day-Thailand Style

Since 4th of july was on a friday we decided to have us a Independence Day celebration on the beach here. (all photos link) Sara and Chad (other roadies) took the time to make it a special day for us all---you guys rock! We went to a neighboring city called Rayong where yet another crew of employees lives. We got a beach area and did a BBQ (with hamburgers and brats WITH s0urkraughts). The weather was cloudy and windy so that messed up some of the games, but many people played out in the water still. Windy weather makes for some good body surfing waves. We even had Mike playing the guitar and singing some songs.And what would a American Independence Day celebration be without an elephant! This one decided to come up and see what we were up to.Once the sun went down we had a bonfire and some fireworks. We had drinks and even showed the guys from India what a s'more was and how to make them.

Easter

Well its that time of year again. Easter is here and i get to go on a weekend sugar high!!!!!!!! This year we have been lovely adopted as family at Jason/Sabrina's house down in Killeen, TX (Fort Hood). So thats where we will be starting tonight. Don't worry i don't have my new camera yet so i can't ruin another one while i am there! This weekend is also little Angela's birthday (yep that makes me the big one!). And its Jason's birthday weekend, plus matt is getting shipped somewhere new. And last and most importantly its Hugh Hefner's birthday on April 9th. Happy birthday Hef!!!!!!!! (you never know he could read this some day!).

So as i do for all holidays i want to know what traditions you have or what you do on Easter. Good/bad/fun/boring/liked or disliked let me know.

Carnival!

The island of Sardegna was once an island occupied by the Spanish. Since they were they still hold some of the same traditions from the Spanish they still have Carnival! Wow is it awesome, i'm sure its still noting compared to Brazil but still very exciting! They started they day off with a parade that lasted about 3hrs. It was like a walking party. You could pick the type of music you like and just follow that float. Everyone was dressed up in costumes. We stood out a bit because we were not in costumes. The beginning of the parade area was more for the children, but the latter part of the parade was defiantly more of the adult part of the parade. One our my favorites was the Dutch float, which had men dressed as woman (ugly woman) and smoking cigarettes. There was a Dutch windmill on it and on the rear of the float there was a person sized beer mug that had a face and was smoking a cigarette which actually made smoke. It was funny because while we were in the Netherlands everyone smokes-its nauseating. After the parade was over everyone met in the center of the city. The bars were full, people crowed the street. It was a huge street party. There was a main stage that had singers and dancers.

Happy Valentine's Day from Italy

We made it safe and sound to the Italian Island of Sardegna. We are staying at the Nora Club Hotel www.noraclubhotel.it , it's a small family owned hotel. The island is beautiful. We have a beach just a quick bike ride away from our hotel. The hotel has free bikes that we can use to travel around. Which is good because troy isn't that great with a small 6 speed clutch. The petals are so close that he has problems driving it. Which leaves me to drive and I don't have an international drivers license yet. I can't until my passport has the same last name as my driver's license. Which isn't looking like anytime soon. The weather here is perfect for winter. It runs in the 60's with some 40's at night. This is a sweater or light jacket weather. So we have been going to the beaches to walk around. But it's not warm enough to go swimming in the ocean. The beaches are white sand and the water is so clear!

A different way of life. People here are very relaxed. They work 8-5 like most places but then when they get home they go to sleep. They wake up a couple hours later to eat dinner. So the restaurants don't open until 7:30pm, and don't get busy until 8:30pm. So for Valentine's Day we were the first people at the restaurant, which worked out fine since the place was packed within the hour. The wine here is wonderful also. They have their own vineyards so we have been drinking plenty of local wine.

Christmas in Paris

We decided to take a long weekend trip to Paris for our first married Christmas. Since we drove down we got there in the afternoon evening. Troy did not go with me to the Moulin Rouge Show last time I was in Paris so we decided to catch the evening show. There are two shows a night. The first one is dinner and the show. The second one is the show but this one is topless (think showgirls in Las Vegas). No pictures are allowed IN the moulin Rouge.The next day (Christmas Eve) we decided to walk around town. There was not any snow on the ground but it sure was cold. We decided not to walk through the Louve again but we did go see the famous pyramid at the Louve.Then we walked over to the Eiffel tower. We have seen in once before in 2001 when we were friends and backpacking. This time in honor of the holidays they had a lights in the shape of a Christmas tree hanging up side down in side the tower. Also this time it was open and we were able to go up it! (Last time it was a national holiday and it was closed). So we WALKED up the Eiffel tower, and back down...that is one heck of a climb. 674 steps to the second level!!!
I know everyone says this thing is suppose to be beautiful, but we disagree! It looks like a big oversized power tower during the day. At night however it is beautifull when the lights are on. Hows this for our Christmas Light show!?

Here is a video of what the lights do--sorry its sideways LOL...



So here is what we didn't plan for. Christmas day EVERYTHING is closed. HAHAHA This include resturants. So we manage to find a couple gas stations with snacks and a liquor store open and had a little junkfood and champagne party in our hotel room...it was actually wonderful!

Montezuma's Revenge

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Readers. I haven't written in awhile because I was ill. We are not really sure why I got sick and my husband did not. Anyway this blog will focus more on the local health care than of any fun travel trips.
So on Saturday I came down with a good case of Montezuma's Revenge. Being the nurse that I am, and how we make bad patients I decided I could just fix it or wait it out. Well I learned my lesson and learned it hard. I thought i was doing everything right, drinking Gatorade and Electrolyte packets so not to get to dehydrated. Taking Tylenol for my fever (which I knew I had but no thermometer). So after knowing my hotel bathroom intimately for about four days i decided it was time to go to the hospital. First let me say I have found one thing that is not good about living in hotels all the time. My husband and I have to share one bathroom, which under normal circumstances would be fine...at this time was one of the not so glorious times of being a newlywed :) But in sickness and in health---i just was testing that!

Troy drove me to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital (its in Pattaya not Bangkok). We got to the ER and within 5 min was being seen by an actual doctor who spoke English. I had lost about 20lbs in four days, had a 103 degree temp and was so dehydrated that i couldn't stand on my own. And then with in 30 min after arriving i was in my own, private, room. Now i love my hospital that i worked at back home in Colorado, but man we don't even touch on the efficiency these people do. Turns out I had a bacterial infection. And I had it bad. It took 6 Liters of IV fluids before I had to go #1. Yep thats dehydrated.
The room was amazing. It had a kitchen, couch, dinner table, flat screen TV and what a view of my balcony! I know what your thinking...i got some suit. Nope! This was just a normal room. Apparently when in the hospital Thai people's families stay with them and help take care of them. They even do the cooking. That would be nice in the states-more help from families. Since my husband can't cook they had a local hotel bring in food for me! Once i was eating again i realized it was really good food to. The nurses there were always on top of what ever i needed. However those poor women are still wearing the all white nurse dresses with the hat and all. Most of them wore white heeled shoes also...i really felt bad for them. I did realize how great it is to know who everyone one was though. In the states everyone (nurses, aides, dietary, housekeeping) all wear scrubs. You usually can't tell who is who. Not here though. Everyone had a uniform, and I hate to say it, but i preferred that. Especially if you don't know the language you at least know who you are dealing with. Which is good since I dealt with so many people. I had a person come in from the hotel to find out what i wanted to eat, I had someone from billing come in and get all the information for my insurance company so that HE could call them and get everything arranged for me-wow was that great. I had turn down service and everything there. It rivaled my hotel The equipment and technology was the same as if i was in the States also. I felt i got better care than i would have back home.
I was able to leave the hospital the next day (they let me out early since i was a nurse and could do the follow up on my own!). That was nice since it is thanksgiving. They had a couple other little things i liked that i think we should maybe adapt in the States. When I was getting checked out I had to go to the billing department. I had to pay my bill or have a letter from my insurance company saying they would pay. Since the billing department already called and took care of it all i was done. But we have all been or known someone who has had their hospital bill messed up so i asked what happens if the bill has errors on it or there is a problem with it, how can i get that fixed. Well the billing person i was talking with said that if she made a mistake in processing my bill then it come out of her paycheck-WOW! This did slow down my leaving by about 10 min, but totally worth it to me. Overall I was very impressed with this hospital.
So what did we do for Thanksgiving...well we found a local pub that had a buffet of turkey and normal Thanksgiving food. We ate and went back to the hotel.

Loy Krathong (festival of floating bowls)

Tonight people all over Thailand headed to the rivers, canals, ponds, and even swimming pools to celebrate Loy Krathong. People brought ornate handmade "Krathong" along and send them adrift. A Krathong is a bowl made of banana leaves (which contain flowers) candles and 3 inch incense sticks, and a small coin and float them in the water. This visually spectacular event marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the main rice harvest and happens every year on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month. The tide in the rivers is highest and the moon is at its brightest. People light the candles and incense, make a wish, and send their Krathong gently out into the water. As they launch their krathong, individuals take a moment to say a prayer and make a wish. Everyone hopes that their candles keep burning into the night, symbolizing longevity and that their wishes will come true. Lovers hope that their krathongs float together. And ours did!!!
A commonly held belief is that as these vessels float away they take the owner's misfortunes and sins from the last year along with it making Thais feel free from worry and ready to start afresh. People sit and enjoy the spectacular sight of hundreds of Krathong on the water.
Firecrackers and balloon-like lanterns released into the sky add to the spectacle. The launching of Lanna-style hot air balloons also is considered by locals to rid them of their trouble. If all of the above wasn't enough. They throw parties for people to get together and do this all eveining with tons of food and dancing.

Royal Flora Ratchaphruek festival, Doi Suthep

Today while we were in Chiang Mai we saw their most famous site. The Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. Every Temple with a name starting with Wat Prathat contains Buddha relics and therefore is Holy to Buddhists. Its just a little out of town but definitely worth the trip. So we hired a personal driver for the day. It costs about $25/day and he took us everywhere we wanted to go. It's cheaper then renting a car. Our driver brought us up to the temple which was half way up a mountain. How was the spot for this Temple chosen? When the Temple was being planned, about 600 years ago, the Buddha relics were put on the back of an elephant. At the spot where this elephant would stop, the Temple was going to be built. The elephant stopped at the spot where the Temple has been built, which is not the top of the mountain, but roughly just halfway the mountain. When you get there, there were tons of little vendors all around will to sell you lots of stuff (as always). Once you get to the Temple you have to walk up about 300+steps to get to it. The staircase has two huge Nagas, one going up each side. These are closer to cobras than dragons per legend (but they look more like dragons to me). The temple itself is walled in. Once you walk through the walls you will see a few outside buildings. One of the things you will notice, still in the outside area, are the many Temple bells (rakhang in Thai). Ring them if you like, they symbolises a call of the faithful. When entering the holy area you will need to fist take off your shoes. There will be a huge pile indicating when/where you should do this. Once your in the holy area the main thing you will notice is the huge Chedi covered in gold, this contains the Buddhist relics. This generally bell-shaped tower (Chedi) will usually contain a relic of the Buddha, but may also be built to contain the ashes of a king or important monk The Chedi is surrounded by four golden umbrella looking things. They seem to have a function, similar to the "corner stones" that you find around ever Buddhist Temple (Wat) in Thailand. The Wiharn of Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep can be seen in my pictures. Every temple must have a Wiharn. They are a room in which to pray. You see the Buddha Images in there. The large one at the back is especially impressive.
Before you leave the Temple, and before you go back down the stairs make sure to look at the city of Chiang Mai first. There is a wonderful scenic view from up there.

Here is some Temple Etiquette-dress appropriately (no bare shoulders, shorts and skirts should cover your knees), no pointing (especially with your feet-the head is sacred because it is closest to heaven, so likewise the feet are therefore the most unclean. When siting or kneeling in a temple building, make sure the soles of your fee are not facing the alter), stay off the Buddhas, no shoes, no tempting monks (women can not ever hand anything to a monk, if you need to give a monk something place it on the table so they can pick it up).

We took quit a few pictures of this place so make sure you check out the snapfish site to see them all (http://worldtravler.snapfish.com)

Then we went to the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2549 festival. A one-of-a-kind event, a total of 2,500,000 plants, including over 2,200 species of tropical plants and flowers were on display. Why 2549- it is the year here. Its been hard to adjust to. They wright their dates as 4/11/49 (day/month/Buddhist year). Any way this festival is HUGE. We got there late (2pm) and only got to walk through have of it before it ended at 8pm. It's a festival to honor the king (the name is a famous king). This year is was even bigger than normal because it was the current king's 80th birthday. The first section is corporate sponsors who host a there own section to show the people how they are helping the environment. PTT Chemical is the company troy is here working with, and they had a section. The next big part was landscaping demonstrations from around the world. America didn't have one. But there was at least 14 countries there. My favorite section was the Orchid Pavilion. It was the size of a school gym (each section was about a basketball court size). It had every type of orchid I have ever seen and many more. The purple orchid is the Thailand flower. We also went to Bug World so while you are looking at pictures you will notice a few bugs. Most of them were huge. I had to have troy put his hand in one of the pictures, because otherwise you may think I was just zoomed in. But we had butterflies as large as our heads. Other icky bugs also. It finished with a water laser show.