Hey Kids! Illegal Immigration is Fun!

I am rather busy this week, with three tests and five assignments due (of course, only one of the tests actually has actually been given a date and time, and only two of the assignments are assigned). Because of this, I do not have time to compose a coherent account of our trip to Thailand. Instead I will post here assorted experiences I recorded along the way along with a few pictures. Enjoy!

8 February 2013 0129 Somewhere in Thailand

It was a rather brutal week. I started out exhausted from the trip to Singapore, and behind in my studies from skipping classes in order to go. I spent most of Monday (other than my eight hours straight of classes that day) and Tuesday studying for quizzes and trying to catch up on everything. Even by the end of Tuesday I was only beginning to have an idea what’s going on in Ochem and Calc out of all my classes.

In my first Ochem lab on Wednesday I found out that I needed a lab coat, which cost fifty five ringitt and was only sold on the opposite side of campus. By the time I made it back to the lab I was covered in sweat, and still had no idea what was going on. My lab partner didn't show up, so I joined another group to do the experiment. Our equipment didn't function properly, the T.A. had no more idea what was going on than I did, and we had to restart the experiment halfway through. 

I awoke at 0530 this morning and between studying, sorting pictures and working on a blog post, I spent the entire morning on the computer. I also attempted for the sixth time to get my ID card but was again foiled. It seems that posted operating hours are dependent upon whether the occupant of the office feels like coming to work. After my five hour dose of classes, three of which were utterly pointless, I packed frantically and we left for Phuket. I have tons of stuff because I brought my laptop and a bunch of books for the studying I need to do.

And to Phuket we are now bound. After only one wrong turn due to lack of signage we succeeded in making the Thai border before it closes at midnight. However, in navigating the customs and various checkpoints, we did not come out with Thai stamps in our passports. The police at the checkpoint said that everything was in order, but I am not convinced. I do not know if this is what should happen, or if we missed a crucial step. I’m not terribly worried about it though, and if we get arrested, it will simply be a good story to add to my repertoire.

1712 Hotel in Phuket

We made it safely to Phuket around 0530, and then spent an hour and a half trying to figure out where we were so that we could get Landon to his diving agency on time. With the help of some locals and a map, we eventually located the pier just in time for sunrise.

After dropping Landon off, Kevin navigated and I drove on a circuitous route passing several beaches on the way to our hotel. The beach we stopped at was incredibly beautiful. I have never seen such clear water in an ocean, and the sand was fine white powder. We didn’t stay long though because we were all exhausted and anxious to get some sleep. 

Driving in a third-world country as a foreigner, especially an American, is rarely advisable. Neither is sleep-deprived driving. By this time I had been 24 hours without sleep, with only four in the previous 48. My waking hours during that time had been dominated by intensive studying. But Berthold did not feel comfortable driving as he was rather lightheaded and Kevin didn't like the idea of driving stick. 

I quite enjoyed the exercise of intense focus that is required to drive in traffic with no traffic laws. It was a sheer act of God that we made it to the Seabreeze Mansion alive and devoid of manslaughter charges. Some of the moped drivers genuinely appeared to be suicidal. We discovered that we would not be able to check in until 1300, and since it was only 1000 we decided to go exploring. We wandered around the area seeking food for what became four hours. In that time I purchased and consumed the following: a number of widely varied balls of meat, some sticky, slightly raw rice in a slightly sweet sauce, a ‘panda custard’ filled roll, and some bananas, jasmine green tea and bubblegum flavored juice. In addition to this, one of the shops we visited gave us tea and four mangos, which may have been the best part of the meal. A canal reeking of sewage and a friendly security guard (‘You turn round. Go.’ Said with a massive smile) made our return route much longer we anticipated, and by the time we got back we were all hot, sweaty, and dehydrated.

We were so excited about showers and air-conditioned naps that I forgot to check into the possible consequences of our mishap at the border crossing. Some brief research revealed what should have been obvious; of course stamps were required and we were definitely in Thailand illegally. Consequences could include a hefty fine, detainment, and/or arrest.

At 1545 I discovered that the immigration office in Phuket closed at 1630, I roused Kevin and Berthold and we set off to find whatever information we could. Wrong turns, unclear signage, and a helpful guard of the Solid Waste Incineration Facility all factored into the two kilometer trip. When we finally found the immigration office, we were sent to three different stations only to find out…Nothing. The officer said only that he could not help us, we simply had to leave through the same terminal we entered through and try to work it out then. Great, I can hardly contain my excitement at the thought of spending time in a Thai jail.

9 February 2013 - 2253 Seabreeze Mansion, Phuket

Landon went diving again today so Berthold, Kevin and I did some exploring on our own. We went to the southern tip of the island and found a lighthouse, a shrine, and a view.

After a breakfast of nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice) Kevin and I embarked on Island Trek III. We had some difficulty deciding upon a route, but ended up taking the one that appeared to be about 11 kilometers. We hiked through crumbly granite rock, somewhat like Pangkor at times, with more scrambling than climbing. The rottenness of the rock betrayed Kevin twice, causing him to fall and injure his ankle and cut his hands and arms. He continued stoically despite the pain. A scramble up one of the headlands rewarded us with a lovely view of the environs.

We ran out of water about halfway through the trip, so we stopped at a private beach and bought some for an exorbitant price.

After lying on the sand and sitting in the water for about an hour we decided that we should probably go find Berthold. It did not seem wise to continue trekking the coastline with no water, so we followed a road up a steep hill inland. Along the way we found some ripe bananas on a tree and ate them. They were delicious.

After following a road for about two kilometers, I decided that I would rather take a ‘short cut’ to the beach through the jungle. Kevin wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about it, but did not protest too vociferously so we jumped a fence into a palm oil plantation.

I was somewhat unnerved by the close proximity of some shacks with barking dogs, but we weren’t bitten or mugged. We followed terraces until they no longer went the direction we wanted to, and struck off through the jungle. For a time a creek provided a convenient passage through the dense undergrowth, but it vanished underground and left us to beat through the brush on our own.

Nearly every plant we encountered was thorny or sharp in some way, and those which weren’t were crawling with biting ants. A flying insect of some sort found Kevin’s side and left him with a nasty welt and lingering pain. After about forty-five minutes of painfully slow progress we emerged from the jungle on an embankment above a resort. We picked our way down the slope, walked through the resort pretending to belong there, and plunged our sweating, scraped, and dehydrated bodies into the beautiful water.

The water here is the most beautiful I have ever encountered in an ocean, and perhaps fresh as well. It is incredibly clear and stretches to the horizon in a gradient of deepening turquoise. I decided that my favorite color lies about three-fourths of the way to the edge of my field of vision. The water is edged with fine white sand that is a pleasure to walk in. As the waves rise to break, it forms a gradated wall with the darker blue at the bottom and a foamy white crest. God certainly did excellent work in sculpting this area.

After we found Berthold (which turned out to be incredibly easy, given that our meeting point was a crowded, one kilometer long beach) we went in search of food. We finally located the pad thai shop which had been recommended by so many sources, but it was closed for the week. As we walked around looking for other options, we noticed many families laying out massive, delicious looking feasts. I was slightly confused until the explosions of firecrackers reminded me that it is Chinese New Year.  Another shop just up the street seemed like a good option for food, and I ordered Dragon Fire.

The rice, greens and sauce were aptly named, making my mouth burn and my face perspire. And I didn’t even eat the numerous red peppers included in the dish. After retrieving Landon from the dive shop we drove back to the hostel, hoping to find a night market on the way.

Due to the lack of signage on roads, we ended up not following my intended route, but happened to pass another market and stopped to investigate. As has become my custom, I wandered through the stalls collecting foods I did not recognize. An octopus-tentacle kebab was my most interesting find of the night, and though somewhat rubbery, it was quite good.

10 February 2013 2329

I woke up about an hour before the others today and researched a tentative itinerary based on Berthold’s guidebook and my own research. When the others rose we set off for a waterfall in the northern half of the island. After several unforeseen turns (once again due primarily to unclear marking of the roads) we found our way to the entrance of what turned out to be a rather pricey national park. We decided that it was not worth paying the entry fee for the amount of time we intended to spend there, so we headed for the beach instead. A couple of hours in the water was sufficient to complete the sunburn I had begun the day before, and my shoulders and back are quite sensitive now.

On the way back across the island we attempted to stop and visit another water fall, but it was only a trickle. The area was quite beautiful though, and I saw several species of large butterflies. We also found a relatively cheap restaurant that served some amazing Thai food, including the pad thai that we had thus far been unable to find.

Our next stop was a night market that reminded me very much of Toy Market in Nairobi. It was the largest I have seen on this half of the world, with an extensive selection of counterfeit goods from Beats to Ray-Ban to Armani. There was also a large food section where I spent most of my time. I my supper consisted of breaded octopus, kebabs of various meats, kiwi juice, a deep fried squid, balls of meat wrapped in egg noodle, a pineapple pancake thing, and several other delicious tidbits.

Kevin and Landon did not eat as much at the night market, so we went in search of a pizzeria that was said to offer a selection of some delicious curry pizzas. My navigating skills were deteriorating severely at this point, and though it was only a kilometer from our hostel, my directions caused us to spend nearly half an hour searching for it. We found it right as it was closing, and it turned out that it would not be open the following day. Somewhat disappointed, I turned back toward the car, but was summoned back to the restaurant when Berthold found out that they would still be willing to make us some pizza. The pizzas were delicious, especially the coconut milk curry one, which was flavored with lemongrass. I am going to try to reproduce it sometime when I have the chance.

13 February 2013 2043 UTP

Our last two days in Thailand were relatively uneventful. We spent a lot of time driving, visited a night market, slept, were nearly involved in a car accident on several occasions, climbed in some awesome caves, and narrowly escaped being arrested for illegally immigrating to Thailand.

We found a deserted beach just before we left Phuket island.

Though Monday and Tuesday were both holidays, early Monday we left Phuket for Krabi, hoping to find and engage in whatever entertaining activities presented themselves. We thought that it might be wise to get some of the driving out of the way, and we had heard that the beaches in Krabi were quite nice.

Just outside Krabi we stopped at a Buddhist temple, called Tiger Cave. I never saw the caves, but 1337 steps and some exhausted quadriceps took me to the top of one of the limestone pinnacles that have been tantalizing me since I got here. A cooling breeze helped to dry the drenching of sweat I received on the way up. The view was fantastic and made me want to just go wandering off into the jungle and explore.

On one side the land was as flat as Kansas, but with palm oil plantations instead of cornfields. The flatness continued in the other direction as well, but was punctuated by a forest of outcroppings hundreds of meters high.

I jogged back down the uneven stairs, and did not take any of the 1337 opportunities that they offered to destroy an ankle. At the bottom we discovered that some monks were serving a free meal. The iced tea/juice stuff was lovely, and noodles provided some much needed sustenance. The best part though was some pastries filled with a substance I have yet to identify. It was partly sweet corn, and the rest was some grayish paste that tasted of flowers and deliciousness. If I knew what it was called, I would scour the internet for a recipe.

After the temple we set off in search of a beach. Some slightly directed wandering brought us to some mudflats which had been exposed by low tide. Something of a disappointment, but I decided to go explore whatever lay out of sight around the point. I kinda forgot that the others were waiting for me, and kept following my curiosity around the subsequent rocks as well. I discovered some beaches that would have been beautiful at high tide, and some very impressive rocks and caves. 

I jogged back through chunks of coral and rock, hoping not to injure myself too severely, and hoping that the others had decided to follow me instead of stand around waiting. I met them part way back, and they were intrigued by my report of caves and whatnot, so we decided to explore the area.

The caves turned out to be even more exciting than I thought, and instead of just having to gaze longingly at them from the beach, we found passageways behind the rock face that led to openings fairly far up the cliff.

With more time and maybe a torch I could have done some very enjoyable climbing, but the tide was rising and cutting off our return route. Our hostel turned out to be rather difficult to locate, but after driving up and down the street it was supposed to be on three times looking for any indication of an address, we finally found it secreted on a side street.

When we rose Tuesday morning, we decided to head for the border instead of explore Krabi’s surroundings more, just in case the little complication of illegal immigration took some time to sort out. Landon found a waterfall on the map that looked interesting, so we stopped there briefly to stretch our legs. I was hoping for a refreshing swim, but the water was none too inviting.

With minimal wrong turns and detours, we arrived at the border around 1500, and waited in traffic for a little over an hour. This wasn’t the most enjoyable time, as we were approaching whatever penalties awaited us for our misunderstanding of Thai immigration. I felt like I probably should be stressed about the possibility of imprisonment, but I wasn’t. I didn't know that I wouldn’t end the day in jail, but I was confident that whatever happened, God would be in control.

When we finally arrived at the border, the guard checked our passports, noted the lack of an entry stamp, and ushered us into a small office where some Greeks (based on their demeanor and passports) were arguing something having to do with their tourist visa. As we walked in, the immigration official with the most elaborate uniform and biggest desk said to the argumentative Greeks, in not overly pleasant tones, “This is my country, you will obey my laws!” At least his English is pretty good, I thought.

Our passports were handed to this officer, and sat down in the corner and waited for an extremely long 45 minutes. The immigration officer glanced through our passports, then set them down and proceeded to help with another five people who needed a stamp on their passport, or some document signed. I watched with amusement as the Greeks spent 15 minutes trying to haggle with the officials to pay 50 euros instead of 70 for overstaying their visa.

Finally Landon tired of waiting for the official to get around to dealing with us and decided to go talk to him. He explained our situation, how we had received an exit stamp from Malaysia, and had been waved through the checkpoint upon entering Thailand, and how we had been stopped at a police checkpoint just inside the border and they had inspected our car, looked through our visas, and sent us on our way. The official looked through our passports again, asked a few questions, inspected our passports for a third time and sat silently for a bit.
I don’t think I will soon forget his next sentence: “According to the law, I must arrest you.” This jolted me slightly, and Landon face turned an unhealthy shade of grey. The officer then stood up and left the room. I wondered if he was going to find some handcuffs, or talk to some other officers (though he certainly seemed to be the Person In Charge). When he returned 15 minutes later, he handed each of us a printed statement of the law we had violated and the penalty for that violation. “A maximum of BHT 20,000 fine, and up to two years in prison.” I am not sure why panic did not set in at this point, but I am going to assume it was supernatural intervention. I calmly began considering what contacts I would need to make, trying to remember the number for the U.S. embassy in Malaysia, and wondering what provisions the academic department at UTP had for imprisonment.

Landon was looking as though he might not retain consciousness, and Kevin suggested that perhaps we should join him in front of the intimidating desk. I had been thinking the same thing, so Berthold, Kevin and I left the safety of our couch in the corner and stood behind Landon. After about a minute of silence the official asked, 

“Do you think you can get back into Malaysia without an exit stamp from Thailand?” 

Glimmer of hope.

“I think so, we have student visa.”

“Well, I will let you go. Just go back to Malaysia.”

“Gladly sir. And thank you very much.”

We collected our passports and wasted no time in leaving the area. At one point when a uniform blew its whistle and waved frantically at us, I was somewhat concerned that we would have to return to the office, but he was simply telling us to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. The Malay immigration officials said nothing about the five days we had spent nowhere, and stamped our passports without hesitation.

Through the entire ordeal, I was concerned, but never stressed, for which I am very thankful.

The trip from the border to UTP was supposed to take under four hours, but with traffic, rain, and darkness it took six and a half. We finally arrived at UTP around midnight, exhausted and glad to be alive and non-imprisoned.