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“We now understood the true meaning of Asian hospitality.” |
We woke up to another hazy day on Ko Chang, but determined to get in a last few hours on the beach, we struggled out of bed and out to breakfast. We sunned until about noon, when we headed back to the room to pack and prepare to leave -- late checkout is so wonderful.
We took the hotel's minibus to our little town and they dropped us at the side of the road -- bags and all! -- and told us to wait for the taxi to the pier. 30 minutes later and we were starting to get worried as every songthew that passed told us they could not go to the pier... Ko Chang is a very strange place sometimes. One finally picked us up, as well as another couple that had been staying at our resort. One the long drive to the pier, we chatted the couple up. They were from Singapore, but the man traveled a bit, so he gave Liz and I advice and he promised to make us an itinerary for when we went to Singapore. We sat with them on the ferry across the ocean back the mainland and they helped us find the deluxe a/c bus heading back to Bangkok -- so nice!
The bus was very plush... it looked new! It was also empty, so we each took 2 seats to ourselves. About an hour in, the bus stopped and picked up "snack boxes" including a juice box, cookies and a water. Fabulous! 2 hours in, they handed out blankets, because 2 hours in a/c and we all had a chill. Blankets! This was nothing like our odyssey to get to Ko Chang -- and all for 250 baht (less than $10 CDN).
On the bus, the couple -- from now on Anand and Meera -- told us that they had made arrangements for their Aunt to pick us ALL up at the Bangkok bus terminal and then we would all go to dinner with them. We were in no position to say "no" to a nice dinner out at a local thai restaurant so we happily agreed to the plans.
In Bangkok, we met Anand's Aunt and son and all 7 of us proceeded to
squish into a Toyota Corolla (haha). His Aunt drove us to a
restaurant on the river, where the menus were all in thai, so she had
to order for us too! The food was absolutely delicious and we
were starving after our 5-hour bus ride. It was not our ordinary
fare -- no pad thai here! -- but instead yummy seafood, roast chicken
and soup. We barely knew what we were eating, but we didn't
care. It was very special.
Anand's uncle also arrived soon after and he was a very interesting
guy. Having been educated at Wharton MBA, he now worked in connection
with the United Nations, managing an umbrella Foundation/ organization
that he founded, which represented hundreds of smaller grassroots
organizations in the Asia-Pacific region. He and I talked
at-length about a big project he was organizing to increase the
availability of education to women in Cambodia. We also discussed
a project that reminded me very much of McGill's just-in-time learning
programs, whereby the students are taught concepts over a short time
and then go back to ordinary life to apply the concepts. It
sounded very innovative. Probably the best part of the evening
was just being able to speak to other people who spoke and understood
English... after 2 weeks, this was a very welcome change. I could
write all night about this great man... he was truly fascinating and an
amazing idealist who had terrific beliefs about humanity and our
society. I have his card and maybe one day he can give me a job!
Anand
and Kris had been speaking about this peculiar fruit called
"durian" and he told his aunt that we all wanted to try it, so after
dinner, his aunt ran out of the restaurant and returned with a whole
bag of durian fruit! So nice! Apparently, durian is a
very popular desert in Asian cultures, but the human body digests it
strangely and it heats the body after eating, so you must eat a
mangosteen right after, which counters the durian and cools the
body. Interestingly, durian is extremely sweet and the mangosteen
is very sour/ tart. Also, you should not drink alcohol within
hours of eating a durian -- othewise, we were told, it could be
fatal!! Another interesting fact about durians is that they stink
to high heaven... in Singapore, they are not allowed in the subways and
there are signs instructing this!!
Another funny part about dinner was when our dinner guests
indirectely called us "uncivilized"!! When we were talking about
foreign fruit, we asked them if one is supposed to eat the peel of a
pomello (we had tried them on Ko Chang). They immediately laughed
and said "no" and when we told them about how we weren't sure so we ate
it, they laughed even more -- how strange these Canadians, they must
have thought! Then the uncle said, "We are always comparing
ourselves to the West, saying we must be civilized like the West and
now the West comes here and eats Pomello peel". Ha! Sorry, "the west"... looks like we disgraced our good name...
So we were introduced to the
durian, as well as the mangosteen. And there was no way we were
paying for any of this -- they wouldn't let us pay a dime for the
entire dinner or the fruit! After dinner and this lovely fruit
desert, Anand's uncle insisted on driving us all the way back to our
hotel -- about 30 minutes completely out of his way -- because he
thought it was unsafe for us to take a cab so late at night. He
then said that he felt bad that we had made reservations with the hotel
already because we could have stayed in his extra guest bedroom, and
Liz and I should certainly stay there when we are back in Bangkok
again. We now understood the true meaning of Asian
hospitality. These people barely knew us!! And they had
bought us dinner, carted us around town and now were offering their
home up -- truly amazing.
We arrived back at New World Lodge Hotel after midnight and were
happy to crash soon after. In a strange way, it felt like we had
come home!
previous travel blog entry
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