In a matter of hours I will board a flight to Singapore. There, I will meet my good friend Emily who- on behalf of her hard working team at Blessings in a Bag- is helping me supply my school on the Thai/Burma border with some of the bare necessities I will need to teach English. As far as I understand, I will be teaching the children of Burmese migrant workers, who will range from 5 to 17 years of age. I’ve been asked to commit to two hours of English teaching a day, and plan to stay in Mae Sot for at least a month. My school, run by the Burma Labour Solidarity organisation, is a stone’s throw from the Thai/Burma border.
On the morning of the 6th I fly to Bangkok, where I plan to make my way to the infamous and somewhat familiar chaos of Kao San road. Once there, I have a map drawn 4 months ago at the Gallery cafe on Booth Street, which apparently directs me to the feisty old lady who will not only sell me an overnight bus ticket to Mae Sot, but will send one of her ‘boys’ to pick the ticket up from the bus station for me, saving me the hassle.
On the morning of the 7th I will arrive in Mae Sot.
So this imminent adventure is to be my first solo mission, and I am admittedly somewhat freaked out. Happy that Thailand is a place I have been to before, but it is amazing how comforting it is to brave the unknown with someone by your side, even if they are just as equally clueless. I’m lucky to have James, my new found friend and a kindred spirit whose enthusiasm for people, causes and travelling I find both awesomely humbling and inspiring. Last I heard he was going to meet me at the other end of my overnight bus ride.
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Its 6am and I am sitting at the somewhat cramped internet zone at the Budget terminal in Singapore, awaiting my flight to Bangkok. I met up with Emily yesterday and trawled through the supplies at Blessings in a Bag, heeding her seasoned advice on how to bring school supplies into a country that may attempt to rip me off on entry. 6 hours later and my much loved backpack is bursting at the seams! I fretted for a while that I would be waaaay over my luggage allowance, but thanks to some shrewd thinking (and nifty tetrus-like packing skills!) on mums behalf, I was .5 of a kilo under! Thank goodness they didn't think to weigh my carry on- stuffed full of all the techonological luxuries I felt I needed for this trip: lap top + camera + second lens + video camera + tripod- it was no doubt well in excess of the permitted 7kg.
Less than an hour until I board my flight, and I am feeling somewhat sheepish that over the past few months I have managed to learn no more than one word in Burmese. Definitely too late to fret, and I am going to bank on the fact that I am a fast learner and sheer immersion will have me fluent in the basics in no time (read the wishful thinking between my lines). For now my basic Thai ('Svwatikah' and 'Khupkunkah') said with gusto will have to suffice!
How fitting that as I crossed the tarmac to board, the muggy Singapore sky was dawning behind my plane, silhouetting the vehicle of my grand solo adventure in the picturesque light of a brand, spanking new day. Ahhh the cheese! Bangkok proved less hectic than expected, and after storing my big backpack, downing my first of many coconut shakes-my kind of liquid courage- map in hand and Burger King to my back, I set off to find my bus ticket lady!
Hurdle number one: after a few false starts I found the particular travel agent I needed only to be dismayed as she wasn't able to sell me a bus ticket to Mae Sot from Khao San. After trying my luck at a few other joints, it became apparent that I needed to high tail it to Mon Chit and buy a bus ticket direct from the station. So on day 6 of the new year I clambered on the back of my second motorbike.
Wobbly and oversized helmet in place, my motor-taxi driver busted evasive manoeuvres the likes of which 007 would have tipped for. I, however, on my shoe string budget simply saw fit to nod in appreciation. He anyhow gained some wicked street cred with me clinging on to his back for dear life. Plenty other Bangkok motorcyclists pulled along side us grinning at the spectacle of this silly young white woman wrestling her backpack, helmet and tripod with one hand, and clinging to her somewhat overenthusiastic James Bond of a taxi driver with the other.
Lunch accompanied by a delicious lychee shake at the Siam hotel- the one place I've been pretty loyal to over my several visits to Bangkok- it was 2pm and I had hours to kill before my bus ride tonight at 1030pm. Realising it was optimistic of me to hope that I could easily while away the time cafe hopping around Khao San, I checked into a room, happy to pay $10 for the luxury of a cold shower and clean bed. Nap time!
Its 6pm and I'm showered and well rested, lapping up the free wifi which (like most places) puts the state of Australia's internet to shame. All in all it's been a pretty easy going day. Still feeling very unaccustomed to this 'blogging' thing, and feeling rather silly as I haven't much to write about- yet.
I simply cannot wait to get to Mae Sot, to meet Than Doke and other members of the school community whose names I've heard in passing but have forgotten. More than that, I cannot wait to meet the people I do not know yet, people from Thailand and those from Burma whose day to day life I am going to be somewhat of a part of over the next month. I am so eager to learn the stories. To put faces to a struggle I have gotten to know only superficially through my own interests and studies. I may be a student of history, but my niche has never quite connected with my interest in Burma, very much sparked by the Saffron Uprising of 2007 and driven close to my heart as I monitored as best I could the situation post cyclone Nargis. On that note, I'd like to share the website of a cartoonists whose work I found most aptly satirised most of the political happenings in Burma. I stumbled on these during the aftermath of Nargis, when global media attention was so quickly distracted by the better news emerging from pre-Olympic China, post Sichuan. The cartoonist also does some wonderful pieces on the Saffron Uprising. See: http://www.2bangkok.com/cyclone.shtml.
raining out, and I'm feeling its high time for an evening Chang and some street side pad thai before I gear up for one long bus ride into the greatly anticipated and mostly unnknown.
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