Hopping Around Southeast Asia
Monks fly too...apparently
I left Manila on Monday evening, and arrived at the KL airport at 12am. I was totally engrossed in this new book I'd picked up, "Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss. I hadn't put it down all day. It was interesting being back at the KL airport, having been there five months before with Amy (we'd just left our Favourite Place Ever, Kuta Lombok, Indonesia). I'd forgotten about the body temperature scanner, and how all the women were in headscarves, and I was amazed that I still remembered how to say thank you - terima kasih.
I was amused by the look on the immigration officers face as he flipped through my passport, trying to find a free page to stamp the big, purple Indonesia stamp (it almost feels like cheating getting a stamp when you just spend a few hours in an airport, but there's no way around it). I grabbed my bag from the belt and headed for Starbucks. I wasn't tired at all so I thought I might kill some time on my computer. Of course, it hadn't occurred to me that I didn't even have any Ringgits (the Malay currency), so I was relieved when they let me use my visa card. After a few hours online, I decided to curl up into a little ball on the chair and try to get some sleep. But having made the not-so-brilliant decision to down a frappuccino at 1am, I wasn't tired.
Finally, it was time to go check in. When I got to the counter, the woman asked me where I was going. I stared at her blankly. I couldn't even remember where I was. "Kuala Lumpur," I said hesitantly. She looked at me strangely. "Chiang Mai! I mean Chiang Mai!". It was nearly 6am and I hadn't slept yet.
Once through like five layers of security (damn they've beefed up security again!!), I found a seat and continued to read my book. Flights were taking off for all over Asia, and as they lined up and filtered out the door, I thought about where they were headed and the experience that I'd had there. As one left for Siem Reap, I remembered seeing Angkor Wat at sunrise and how grumpy I had been until I saw just how truly gorgeous it was. As one left for Hong Kong, I thought of the spectacular skyline light show I saw, and how I couldn't make any friends. As one left for Singapore, I thought about how I should probably go there sometime soon...
Three monks stood in front of where I was sitting, their passports and tickets in hand. It seemed totally normal, yet totally strange. Do monks fly? I wondered? I mean, obviously they do - I've seen them with iPhone, for Christs' sake, but are they supposed to? Whatever - there they were, and they were on my flight.
Then it was my flight's time to leave. As we lined up to climb the ladder to the plane, a couple in front of me playfully took a picture of themselves. A security guard ran up to them and scolded them, since clearly, they might be terrorists planning their next attack. I was lucky enough to have an entire row to myself, so once the plane took off, I lay down and finally got some sleep.
Now I'm in Chiang Mai, the city of.......oh I don't know what it's the city of but it's not quite as hot as it used to be, so I am relieved of that. It's actually kind of cool here (I mean, not North America cool, obviously, but like 25 degrees) and the locals are wearing winter jackets. Mom and I are going to do the Thai cooking class that Amy and I signed up for so many months ago, but deemed ourselves FAR too hung over the morning after a big night out to even think about eating, let alone cooking.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 January 2010 16:02 )