I think my next couple of blogs are
going to be half China, half Thailand.
China
China really got off to a good start.
My camera broke in South Africa, so since then I haven’t really been
able to take pictures and everywhere I looked, the cameras I found
were quite a bit more expensive than they would be back home. When I
learned we would be flying into Hong Kong, my mind instantly began to
figure out how I could get a camera during my time there.
We only had about 18 hours from when we
touched down till we were supposed to be on a bus to China. Luckily
there was a little free time to run a few errands before we went to
bed. Tara and I set out on borrowed bicycles with Tim, who was and
American studying at the place we were staying.
We took off and about a block into the
trip I discovered Tara had never really mastered bike riding when she
nearly ran into a pole. Never one to get down she just laughed and
marveled at the fact that we were blessed enough to be able to ride
bikes in Hong Kong. That was also when we discovered that almost
everything sounds awesome when you add “in Hong Kong” to the end
of it.
After an amazing 30 minute ride we
arrived in a small commercial district. We walked around and got
some phone cards, ate some amazing pastries and some weird bean
stuffed ones. We looked for some cheap clothes and shoes that would
be appropriate for the cold of China and I finally got my camera.
When we were heading back towards where we parked our bikes, Tim told
us of a wet market nearby.
We had not the slightest idea what a
wet market was but after he told us we were really eager to see what
was there. We arrived just as it was closing down for the night, but
were able to see some of the wares. Among the live animals for sale
to eat were turtles, fish, eels, and many things I didn’t recognize.
As we biked home we agreed that Hong
Kong was a pretty special place and that it had some extra charm to
it. It is defiantly on the list of places I want to go back to.
Here is my photo album from China
Thailand
This month I am with just the guys.
The place we are at is called Kanchanaburi. It is really only known because it was
where during World War II the bridge over the river Kwai was built.
This is probably the furthest I’ve ever
lived from civilization, but it’s just perfect for us. I sleep in a
tree-house in my tent. We also have a lizard that lives there too. Its about a foot and a half and makes a sound that sounds like a high pitched OH NO all night. We have been working in the nearby tapioca fields, its a 20 minute walk to the
nearest store, there is a lake nearby we can swim in and the view is
always spectacular.
Our first two days we worked in some
local’s fields. The couple we are staying with Arun, and Pang are
building relationships with the mostly Buddhist community by helping
them farm. We worked hard planting tapioca all day from 8 till
around 6 but took a pretty good sized lunch break to avoid some of
the heat of the day. April is the hottest month in Thailand, which I
can believe, the good part is it is also home to the Water Festival
that we are going to get to go to. It sounds like it’s a city-wide
water fight.
The fields are quite muddy and
sometimes you can sink in up to your shins, so we work barefoot. The
sun is hot and shade is nowhere to be found, so some of us wear the
big goofy looking hats like the stereotypical rice farmer.
Even though its hard to communicate
with the people whose fields we are planting, they really appreciate
our help and its easy to see that our presence and willingness to
help is making an impression. News of our presence has reached the
whole community and many people are contacting our hosts to try to
get us to help.
Yesterday, we needed to fertilize the
fields and that’s where the goats come in. We spread out manure in
the morning and after walking all over the fields we washed up and
ate lunch. After lunch we had to go get some more and went to the
goat farm. We bagged and moved manure for about and hour then
climbed in the back of a huge old dump truck and headed into the
jungle.
After about a 30 minute ride of ducking
to avoid overhanging plants, we arrived at a friend’s farm where we
had more manure to pick up. We loaded bags for about an hour while
fighting off huge red ants and battling fatigue. We had a great time
even though we spent most of the day walking through poop.
