I just flat out don't like big cities. That statement isn't entirely true because I love Rome, but on the whole, big cities and Jeremy Gaynor just don't get along. Maybe that's why I like Baltimore or so much of Europe. I do just fine in small-medium sized, manageable cities because I don't feel physically and mentally exhausted after a day of sightseeing. Having said that though, going to big cities is kind of a necessary evil when going around the world. I mean, am I really going to go to Malaysia and not see Kuala Lumpur, or Thailand and not see Bangkok? Of course not. And I have some other biggies lined up in Hong Kong and Beijing. As I have found out over the past 2 days though, the key to being able to appreciate big cities is to leave them.
I have spent the last couple of days in Punjen, Thailand. Didn't care that my train was 3hrs late in arriving, and I couldn't even begin to tell you where it is on the map, except that is north of and somewhere far away from Bangkok. I have been the lone person at this remote B&B run by an American ex-pat from Iowa of all places. So now I know 2 people from Iowa including a relative of mine in Florida. Why you Iowans choose to move to hot and humid climates is beyond me. Anyway, this place couldn't be more different from Bangkok, and I couldn't be enjoying life more. According to my host, this is what Thailand used to be like 40 yrs ago when she first came here as part of the Peace Corps. Not very built up, locals selling goods on a relatively small scale, and people getting by in life with very little. I asked one of my guides how much a farmer and his family might make a year selling whatever they grow and she said about 10,000 Baht. That is roughly $320 US dollars for an entire year. Many of us probably make that much in a day or two at home. I have soaked in waterfalls, toured a local village, cooked lunch in the jungle, and had a traditional 90min Thai massage. I have been fed 3 meals/day with 3-4 courses at each meal, slept in my own private bungalow with nothing but the sounds of the creatures that lurk around me and stream outside my door, and I have been waited on hand and foot all for about $130. (And a cricket just jumped on my keyboard. That was a bit startling.)
Cooking lunch in the jungle was good fun. It started with me trying to catch a portion of our lunch in the stream. I was fishing as the locals would by using a spear. To call it a spear might be a bit disrespectful to a spear because it was basically a rubber band triggered piece of metal attached to a tube. All of this to essentially catch minnows. It reminded me of the time at Cape Cod when we bought a gaff to go big game fishing at the canal. We caught nothing that day but for my cousin catching 1 fish no bigger than the palm of his hand. Nothing we needed a gaff for. Using a spear to catch these fish today felt like bringing a gun to a knife fight as I probably would have had more success catching one just by using my hands. But I was triumphant in my quest to spear one. (Pictures to follow on a later post.) We cooked rice, soup, and noodles in bamboo and the guide also searched the jungle for herbs and vegetables to use in the soup as well. Bamboo is a really good cooking vessel. The inside of bamboo is hollow and naturally divided into sections. You just have to place your food in the hollowed out portion, stuff the top with leaves, and you can steam-boil your food to perfection.
Without a doubt, experiences like this little get-away, are the experiences I enjoy the most when traveling. But I think to truly appreciate both a rural retreat and a big city, you have to experience both. The identity of every country is a product of big city and small town living. So even though big cities can wear out both the mind and body, they are a necessary component to the travel experience. So instead of getting angry in these big cities as I dodge scooter riders on sidewalks, reject the constant offers for cab rides, cheat death every time I cross the street, and drip with sweat during my every waking moment, I will instead remind myself that these hell-ish experiences make for good posts on travel blogs and are all necessary experiences in order to get a complete picture of each country I visit.
P.S. This post was written by an author sitting in a tree house with a cool jungle breeze in his face and flowing stream as background music.
P.P.S. This author also reserves the right to change his quasi positive outlook towards big cities when future posts are written with scooter engines and horns honking as background music.
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