What day is it?

What day is it? Saturday I believe, but I am not certain.

That is one of the most delicious parts of traveling.

Leaving days behind.

Hours stretch without borders when a name is not attached to it.

Here I am on a Cambodian beach on some sea that I should know the name of.

Only the mellow licking of the tide sings in the air.

The day was perfect in fact. I slept soundly as the wind rustled thru the leaves and the sea rolled to shore.

Six brown skinned mermaids laughing despite the horrors of their history amongst the rocks. We splashed and tossed to exhaustion.

Two hour, four handed massage= $20

Bungalow overlooking the sea= $10

Fresh seafood BBQ= $3

How is it that I continue to be so blessed? Time and time again of magical moments. Choice, luck, manifestation.... A long life lived. i would not trade it for my very soul....

Time is a dress maker

September 29, 2008

Living this dual life sometimes makes me immune to all the magic that surrounds me. Thailand is pushing forward in it's love affair with globalization. The unfamiliar has become familiar. The streets I so casually walk blur. Sometimes I forget to open my eyes.

Thailand still exists within the folds of everyday. The glitz and glitter hold hands with straw hats balancing baskets of fruit on bamboo poles.

Martin and I have always lived by the code: "when in America be an American, when in Greece (India, Thailand...) be Greek".

Written in the fabrics of my consciousness.

Stamped with validation through Morocco, Nepal, Bangladesh.

When in Rome.....

And that is how we traveled. Refusing to step into 'tourist' institutions, too proud for our own good I am sure. And I would expect others to do the same. I was pretty unforgiving.

I have broken the code several times since my arrival to Thailand. But that has become ordinary since I have begun leading groups.

So perhaps my code has changed.

It is easier to hold flexibity rather than the rigidity. Oh I may believe the experience may not be as "AUTHENTIC" if I do not eat every meal tucked into tsome one's quarters if someone's home atop wobbly card tables filled with chili, peanuts, nam plaa, sugar and nom sam. But who is to say what is authentic anymore. It is all reality tangled into chapters of life.....

Time is a dress maker, specializing in alterations-Faith Baldwin

Tours to Thailand

Our tours include some of the musts that every guide book strokes (including 1,000 places to see before you die) as well as many off the beaten path side bars that having you leaving Thailand feeling like a local
Massage at Wat Po
Tour of the Grand Palace in Bangkok
Monk's Blessings
Visit with local Shaman
Morning Shopping at Chatuchak Market
Overnight Meditation retreat in Chiang Mai
Monk Chats
Massage recommendation at temple locations
Fish Pedicures
Muay Thai event
Siam Niramit production
Cooking classes
Caving
Shopping

Out tours to Thailand are designed for several different types of travelers:

1. Massage therapists (and lay people) wishing to learn Thai Massage
2. Yogi's wishing to participate in a yoga intensive
3. People wishing to journey to another land without any need for planning, to indulge, play and unwind!

Elephants

Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand

One of our goals at Culture Junkies Head Quaters is to create tours that heal the soul and the planet. The day at the Elephant Sanctuary http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/ is by far one of the BEST days of the trip-pictures speak louder than words!

Bangkok

With most cities, one can develop a love/hate relationship with it. The senses are stimulated and pushed. The air is dirty, the noises pulsing. Since it is fairly common knowledge that the relationship will be love/hate, I figure why not just love it while you are there.... So.... I encourage Culture Junkies, if you can approach a city with curiosity and wonder...well, then the sky is the limit-especially in Bangkok where ANYTHING can happen:

Fish food

Just before I left the States, I was at the gym and watched a Good Morning America Show: one of the features: the host trying the newest in pedi/massage modalities-fish pedicures. When Lenny and I were in Siem Reap we saw a sign for the opening of a fish spa-to open days after we were there.....

Crushed-me because I wanted to try the newest fad and Lenny to have another beer, I stored away the location for my next trip.

Well.....one night I took some of the folks from my group to a Jok restuarant for dinner (in Chinag Mai, Thailand) (lesson-always take Beth up on an offer to go out to eat-you NEVER know what is around the corner :-) ). The evening was full-great food, curious discussions and a long walk home. We hailed a tuk tuk-all 5 of us climbing into the three wheeled Disney ride. Zipping thru the city, four packed in the seat and I on the battery I hear Jason yell out" Fish spa, what is that?". Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Scrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaccchhhhhhhh.

"well we must do it" I say, inserting that I had seen it on Good Morning America and therefore it must be the newest and hippest...

We handed over 100 baht for 1/2 hour, stepped onto the platform, sat down, feet dangleing over the pool of hungry fish and tentatively began the decsent. nibble nibble nibbles nibblessss-Far too freaky, holding hands, yanking feet out at the slighest touch....
by the end of the 1/2 hour we were giggling at our primal fears.
Oh and by the way the bigger fish in the other tank didn't feel as weird as the little guys....

Of course I had to go back a second time with the rest of the crew.....

a week of bliss

Sometimes I love my job even more than other times. This week, I traveled to the island of Koh Samui to see if I could locate a spot to bring a group. It is an island Martin and I have gone to often the past few years since we are always a little short on time. The days of catching a fishing boat to a dot in the middle of the sea not really doable in only a week.

So Samui has been our retreat, a haven of sun and sand and people. Chaweng was always the easiest, lots of bungalow choices, lots of Thai food, long stretches of beach with restaurants catering to seafood grilled over coals on the beach. But it is busy-full of cabaret shows, loud bars, wall to wall concerete bungalows replacing the once quaint thatched rooves of years past.

My group indicated on the survey that beach time would have made an already delicious trip absolutely devine, and so I took it upon myself to search the sandy beaches for a perfect holiday spot for my travelers.

I started in Lamai, another long strip just south of Chawang that boasted pampering spas and infinity pools-what a LONG way I am from my weeks lazing on a bamboo floor paying $80 for a weeks accommodation and nightly seafood BBQ's. But we are in the 21st century and like many of my travelers, there is something yummy about going to sleep in crisp linen, dining by candle light to Jack Johnson and a beach towel that is replaced each day. I discovered many great hotels/resorts, ran miles on the long beach, swam until my fingers withered. But the "town" of Lamai consists of Seven Elevens, boom boom bars and more souvenir shops than Khao San rd. I knew there had to be some place better. Someplace that resembled the Thailand we remembered from long ago.
I hired a motorcycle taxi on Saturday. With my back pack stuck between his legs, we soared through the hills of the island to the north end. Hours later, after checking out at least a dozen resorts scattered along Maneam beach, I settled into the quaint (yes, there is still someplace quaint in Thailand) of Bophut. The Fisherman's village still holds the charm of yesteryear:old wooden shop houses, fisherman trawling the waters, sarongs and lounges not uncommon. Added to this are fabulous boutiques, delicious restaurants fronting the sea, coffee houses. I fell in love instantly.
Yesterday I worked again, wandering the beach barefoot in the linen pants Maew had designed for me. Stopping at each resort along the beach, looking at rooms, facilities, menu's, spas. Bophut will be added to my Thai Massage/Yoga tours. Discovered several wonderful places that would be a perfect addition to our trips right in the heart of the charm yet in the middle of paradise! I spent the afternoon lounging by the sea, finishing Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses, pinching myself. Bliss. Complete bliss. The only down side is that the sand is coarser than Lamai and very hard to run in. But the waters are calm and you can swim forever-which I did yesterday! Bophut is one of those places were you can be barefoot the minute you step out of the taxi, wear only your bathing suit and a sundress and turn brown as a berry!

and ... I am so excited to begin my Stress Escape tours! The resort I found to pamper those that need complete R&R will be thrilled at the treasure I found!

thailand is still all around

a second cup of jo

I settled for a Nescafe in the rumbling damp alleyways of Warowat. Tables being shed of their blue and white tarps dirtied from years of use. Just steps away from 7-Elevens and Starbucks, I remain a novelty in the hollows of my all time favorite market. Overflowing with pork carcasses, hand cut rice noodles, and steaming vats of rice. My broken Thai brings smiles to nearby vendors as I order my morning cup of jo. Our Western addiction has yet to catch to this rapidly modernizing culture. Nearly a half hour following saffron robed monks and side stepping puddles before anyone could even direct me to coffee.

My writing in the little leather journal I bouht at the street market, still attracts curious glances reminding me of my days when simply being a farang was novel.

Cobwebs hang from fluorescent bulbs dripping just inches into icy baths of beheaded catfish. Eels slither and flop in shallow black buckets. Hand carts loaded with sacks of rice rush past. The chatter sing song of market hum lulls me into the world of Siam.

My second cup of jo-Thai coffee seems to have vanished form the streets of Chiang Mai, is found in a side alley, hidden from the morning sun. Donuts gurgle in a 10 gallon wok of oil. Motorcycles begin filling the curbside. The Thai’s have a keen ability to balance more on a motorbike than we could fit in our car trunks. Ice, laundry, 3-4 children, baskets of cabbage and bamboo trays of dried fish.

The day began hours ago, dogs starting their customary territory claim at 4 am. “Gaeng Gaeng na ka”, I must look exhausted if she is asking me if I want it strong. “Ka, Ka” I eagerly respond, wanting to wake my sleepy head.

Plastic bags continue to be the favored mode of transport for liquid beverages-hot coffee, cold coffee, soy milk, soda, spooned into clear plastic bags and magically sealed with a rubber band.

How much of Thailand do I take for granted. How much do I no longer see.

Bringing groups certainly has it’s selfish elements-to remind me of my innocence, the world of my youth. What a gift to be able to see this country that is my second home through the fresh eyes of newcomers each year.

I’ll look for an old haunt-a wonderful gaeow shop that was once in the heart of Warowat. If luck is following me, I’ll soon be slurping slippery folds of fresh wonton shortly.

returning

When the plane touches down in Bangkok, it feels like I have come home. Over the years of living here and traveling here, this Land of Smiles has become my second home. The familiar passage from my world to my world, a flip flop that is as normal as day turning to night. I can feel the heat before I even step out of the modern airport, waiting to suck the moisture from my skin. Oh, it’s not that bad. Loose fitting clothes, sun dresses and sandals, shaded gardens and cool bottles of water master the tropical sun.

As is usually the case, my Thai falters at customs, feeling heavy and twisted on my English tongue. Within days the words begin to flow, the accent shifts and the gracious Thai’s ask “Khun yu tee nee gi wan ka”/how many days you stay in Thailand.

Arriving weeks before my group allows me to focus on filling my little leather bound book with new words and phrases. With my ever present need to notch up my tours, I spent the first two days in Grung Thep (Bangkok) in search of an even better hotel, learning the river systems, China Town. Searching for sources to add to jing jing’s design collection. Crushed to discover the man, Khun Gai, who works leather has disappeared, delighted to discover Noi and Om at Chatuchak market.

I came so early to spend time with Maew and help her with her new hotel Thapae Boutique Hotel http://www.thapaeboutiquehouse.com/. Her needs of marketing and promotion fill some of my hours.

When not pounding away at my own marketing and promotions, I wander familiar streets searching out whatever may be new and indulging in all that is old. Street vendors are becoming harder to find, garden cafes are springing up at every corner.

Visits with my friends at Galare Guest House and in Warowat Market make the days full!

for the really curious

I grew up on a 110 acre farm in the small town of Lyons, NY. I was blessed with a younger brother, Brian and two younger sisters, Amy and Rebecca. My world was filled with rabbits, a pony named Tara, our best friend Musket-a loving Golden Retriever who shared 17 years with us and so many cats throughout the years, I don’t know if I could name them all. I had a fabulous childhood, making forts out of the old chicken coop, ice skating on the pond, wandering the woods, cross country skiing the acres of plowed corn fields, creating carnivals for the neighborhood kids, setting up “store” in the closet under the stairs. I loved my runs down Townline road, over the hill of Cuddeback, past the cows and down the railroad bed. Summers were spent either in Maine or at the lake with my family.

Meal time was always a family affair. Every night Mom would have a hot dinner on the table and the six of us would relate stories from the day. And of course there was always a PD. We had our chores, but my folks somehow managed to let us be mostly kids. They seemed to have 36 hours to each day-raising 4 kids in an antique cobblestone house. The barn, the ponds, woods, creeks, a driveway that was a ¼ mile long. It was a wonderful place to grow up.
I was a member of 4-H forever, where I learned how to sew, make tasty treats, run an organization and develop great friends. Looking back I was probably considered a nerd-for I strove to get blue ribbons at the county and state fairs for my no bake cookies and newest piece of clothing.

My grades were decent. I had to study hard. And I recognized early in life how the actions of another can affect a mindset. Teachers that supported and some that knocked down. In reflection I see how, regretfully, I let some of them shift my life direction. My education at Lyons Jr/Sr High served me well for the 80’s.
When I came back from Greece, something had shifted in me. My senior year flew by with the typical fan fare of being a Senior. I had no idea how to direct this new found piece of me, the me born in Greece. The Guidance Office did their best to direct me, none of us aware of the endless possibilities. But I did ok with my college choice, though in reflection, I would have done it a little different-but isn’t that life?!
College is a blur. SUNY Geneseo-a great place to spend 4 years. I worked through most of it, if not in food services as an RA for the dorms. I started a sorority in my Senior year (rebellion toward the other Greeks who abused their initiates), worked in the travel center as well as I am sure many things that no longer sit in the folds of my memory. I never studied abroad, my biggest regret to date. I blame my college boyfriend, but who knows the real reasons.
One of the most valuable lessons of college was being witness to many 40 some-thing’s who didn’t really like their lives. They had worked straight out of college and were now wondering where life had gone. I promised myself that I would not turn forty in regret. The amazing thing is, I have passed that milestone and even with all I have done, all the lives I have lived, I still wish I had done more. Maybe I know that this is the last go around for my soul. To date I still try to cram as much in as I possibly can.

This eagerness of life, to stimulate each sense as often as possible feeds me. It is in the marrow of my soul. It is who I am.

I spent my 20’s working so that I could travel. My first journey being a one way ticket to the Netherlands with my 10 speed bike and a mess of a boyfriend. This journey shaped my relentless quest for the unknown. Biking until the hills became mountains, we settled into a mountain chalet for the summer, walking the ridges for supplies. Our refrigerator was the water trough ...
To be continued………………….

for the curious

Facts:

Name: beth ann misenhimer (brancato in another lifetime)

Age: 42 (and learning to love it)

Home: Asheville, NC

Childhood home: Lyons, NY
Employment: pizza maker, lawyers assistant, college bakery, RA in dorms, orientation advisor, waitress, Moroccan rug sales, turned toast at Munich Oktoberfest, pub worker/bartender in London, waitress, substitute teacher, ESL teacher in Thailand, sales for a ‘grown up’ company in Boston, bartender, caterer, mini restaurant owner, homesteader, caretaker for the elderly, designer in England, PR in Jamaica, water-ski instructor, co-owner of massage education business, tour operator (really what I do is far more involved than what those two words indicate), designer/accessories, marketing.

To avoid the ‘real world’ we created several businesses which actually forced us into some very real world living:

1. One World Kids-designed to help hill tribe children in Northern Thailand learn English and purchase school supplies.
2. Sensorio-catering business that started itself and turned into a restaurant (on-two times a week we would open our doors to the public and serve a 5 course meal in our living room-smashing success!!!.
3. Saffron Concepts-this was so brief I don’t even remember exactly what we did-had something to do with design.
4. Zen Thai-Thai massage education with Martin as the educator and I the every-thing else person. Zen Thai continues to be www.zenthai.org. Martin is not teaching as much anymore, opting instead to have a private practice in Asheville which has taken off fantastically! Despite all the dull pieces of the job, we have been on cruises, to Costa Rica, Las Vegas, and many return trips to Thailand which in turn manifested-Culture Junkies Travel http://www.culturejunkies.org/
5. Culture Junkies Travel-Tours with a delightful purpose: massage courses, yoga retreats, spa hopping and pampering as well as cultural tours (we are going to Brazil in April to see www.ashesandsnow.org and in 2010 to China for a textile tour). http://www.culturejinkies.org/

Places I have been: Greece is where it all started at the tender age of 16. I was an exchange student and I was having a dickens of a time with culture shock (although at the time I had no idea what culture shock was). I was ready to ‘run away’ when I called home and my Dad told me to be an American when in America and a Greek when in Greek. He hung up on me and I cried for 2 days. When I emerged from myself pity, I wandered out to the dinner table where my Greek father was devouring beans soaked in olive oil and a fish head. He handed me a piece of thick brown bread and gestured to a plate.

I never looked back.

Canada, England, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, France, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Siberut, Bali, Java) Bangladesh (completely spontaneous side trip that turned out to be AMAZINZG), Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, Antigua, Aruba.

Places yet to see….Papua New Guinea, Boreno, China, Prague, Mongolia, Tibet, Belize, Belize, Belize-when will I get there????, Ethiopia, travel down the Mekong from China to Vietnam, Afghanastan, Turkey, Kenya, Congo.............................................

Things yet to do (aka Bucket List): Photograph Big Game, dive the Great Barrier Reef, wine tour Italy/France/Spain/Chile/is there anywhere else I should add?, Sistine chapel, another Puja in India…I am sure there is more, but it is late-more to come….

Trust

Trust

September 16, 2008

My journey began. Earlier than I had expected. We were planning on getting up at 4:30 am , leave by 5. But the boys were restless, or maybe it was monkey mind. Whatever the cause, I found myself engaged in all the last minute tasks that never got done last night. At just a tad past 3, my phone began ringing, unavailable it said. I recognized the voice immediately, it was Jae, my dear friend at Galare. One-Two go Air had gone under and we had 19 tickets for Oct. 11th. Jae already had a solution, get a refund and rebook out of a different airport. Done. Problem acknowledged, problem solved.
I learned several valuable lessons from this
1. Trust. The reason we couldn’t sleep was so that I could get that call.
2. Trust. Traveling to another country does hold its share of headaches. That’s what makes traveling with me (or any other tour group) worth its value.
3. Trust. Create a solid team and anything is possible.
4. Trust. It is all there, waiting. Just need to accept.
This part of the journey has an otherworld dimension to it.
You dread the facts on the paper: 14 hrs. 57 min. Your logical mind fights with the image of a crumpled discarded, stiff being in seat 54k. The long waits between security and boarding. Unhealthy, expensive fillers at the food court. But the child, and oh how my child loves to come out and play when traveling. The child, entertains itself at the duty free shop-prancing around moisturizers, new fragrances, eye colors. Thrilled by the distractions of other travelers, their clothes, languages, how little or so much they have with them. Hoping the counter ticket agent can seat you next to an empty seat.
Ahhhhhh and then the flight. Korean Air delightfully surprised me with water, travel socks, eye covers and tooth supplies sat neatly stacked in my seat. An individual boob tube right in front of me. My gratitude reaches into my memory banks to the days when the economy class shared a handful of tiny screens, dictated to a set program of shows. I have before me, alleluia Korean Air, 21 films that I can start and stop at any time. At a whim.
Ahhhhhhh I love to fly. Movies, bee-bim-bap (Korean mainstay), a little wine and AN EMPTY SEAT beside me makes for a very happy inner child to play in the depths of nothingness for may wonderfully long hours. It is only 4:30. We have been air bound for less than 3 hours. I have 12 to go. Where will this wild child be in 5 hours or 7É.. will the book, the computer, the individual TV screen be enough occupy the hours. Sleep is nowhere to be had. Not yet. Still feels like I am on vacation. Like my little Pepper at the Farmers market-so excited to sniff everything out. Aren’t the things in our lives a reflection of our own lives? Thank you my little Pepper for being so true.
12:30 noon Wed. Oct. 17th. Nearing the end. After 20 hours in the air (and many more in transit), my mind is numb.