Thailand vs Bali

I have now been in Thailand for over week (4 days in Bangkok, 4 in Chiang Mai), and over a beer at a Thai bar with a band doing funny (but serious) covers of American rock classics, I mulled over my impressions of both places so far. And in the spirit of the World Cup, I decided to put Bali and Thailand to a little head-to-head competition and see which one came out on top. Surprisingly, Thailand came out with more points, although before breaking it down I would have picked Bali as my overall favorite. Then again, I spent nearly 2 months there and felt pretty at home by the time I left - who knows how this list would look after more time here. So here goes.

1) Aesthetics Point: Bali

If I was judging based solely on the bling factor, this would go to Thailand hands down - it is by far the sparkliest, shiniest country I’ve ever seen. Golden buddhas at every turn, gold-topped temples all covered in mirrored mosaics of silver, blue, red and green; the only word that captures it is BLING. Both countries have distinctive, charming looks to them, but this is after all subective and I chose Bali. I like the intricacy and subtlety of the Balinese carvings, the way they pervade the landscape - from obvious statues flanking every doorway and temple to the simple, discreet rooftop adornments that are quite different but share the same style. And I like the way the stone carvings grow moss; it gives them an earthy quality that makes them look like they belong amidst the lush surroundings. Top that off with gorgeous tropical flowers growing everywhere in Bali - used in daily offerings, to decorate statues or to decorate yourself (men too). It’s charming.

2) Food Point: Thailand

How many of you have ever eaten Balinese food? Uh huh. That’s what I thought. This isn’t even a competition - there is a reason why Thai food has made its way around the world - it is DELICIOUS. Just like Thai massage, it is agony (so spicy) and ecstacy all in one. Balinese food is very nice, but it’s not even fair to compare it to Thai food. Bonus: Thai food is wicked cheap. Mmmm. I’m hungry.

3) Green-ness Point: Bali

Before I get in trouble for this one, let me say this is based only on my own observations and may be poorly informed. In Bali I was amazed at the wide use of natural materials in everything from construction (bamboo poles, thatched walls and roofs, bamboo furniture) to food storage (banana leaves replace plasic wrap). Don’t get me wrong - Bali has it’s fair share of litter and dirtiness, and a real issue with plastic water bottles. But from what I have seen so far, so does Thailand, and what put Bali on top in this category is the staggering amount of plastic I have seen in Thailand. Seriously, someone should send Thailand the memo about plastic being bad for the environment. Everything is covered in it. You can get little individual serving bags of soup, noodles, or fruit in it from the markets. And usually they will try to also give you a plastic bag to carry your plastic food sacks in, along with a plastic straw if you ordered anything to drink. I actually had a coversation about this with a Thai man who runs a coffee shop in Chiang Mai; apparently a touchy subject, and I heard a diatribe about how the use of plastic is all because of western influences and tourism, particularly our culture of fast food. He made interesting points, but blame aside it still seems to me that there must be some simple alternatives.

4) Massage Point: Thailand

For the price of a venti skim caramel latte back home, you can have the bliss of someone wedging their palms, feet, elbows and knees into your knots for an hour (or two!) Bonus: Every massage I’ve had has also basically doubled as a chiropractic adjustment. Yesterday I got hopelessly lost on my scooter (hard to do in this small town) but did manage to stumble across a massage place exclusively staffed by blind therapists. My therapist (blind of course) climbed up and stood ON A TABLE (something I would not even attemped with vision) and did stretches and adjusments on my back that nearly brought me to tears. I left feeling like a wet noodle. It was great

5) Public transportation Point: Thailand

They have a train system in Thailand. It may be chronically late, but it’s a train system nonetheless. Far as I could tell, public transportation is Bali was nonexistent aside from the stacks of men standing on the street asking you “Taxi? Transport?” every time you walk past (if you say no, their next question is “Maybe tomorrow?”). Clever.

6) Ambience Point: Bali

This category is knd of along the same lines as aethetics - as they say here, same same, but different. I say Bali here because to me it is cleaner, smells like incense and especially in Ubud there is constant music from a wooden xylophone called the gamlean. I left feeling like I had a clear sense of what Bali-ness is in a way that I haven’t yet in Thailand.

7) Shopping Point: Thailand

You can buy ANYTHING here. Literally. And everything is negotiable and a bargain - the perfect storm.

8) Beaches Point: Thailand

I haven’t even seen them yet, but I’m going to go ahead and call this one for Thailand. I mean, they filmed a movie called “The Beach” here about people living on an island paradise. Bali beaches are nice (you can buy fresh fruit, which I love, and people fly kites), and apparently there is good surfing, but for white sand, crystal waters and dramatic cliffs Thailand is supposed to be better. If you’re into those kinds of things.

9) Ceremonies Point: Bali

Maybe I just haven’t dug deep enough into Thai culture yet, but Bali has constant temple ceremonies, and people spend a lot of time preparing beautiful offerings. The road to my last home in Bali was closed for 2 weeks due to daily preparations for a huge annual cremation ceremony, and everyone in the village gathered each day to help make offerings and decorations. Thailand has an incredibly rich Buddhist tradition, but Bali is known as the Island of the Gods.

10) Element of surprise Nearly a tie, but point: Thailand.

Did you see the picture I posted on facebook of a life-sized, decorative plastic monk for sale on the streets of Bangkok?? Enough said.

So there you have it: Thailand 6, Bali 4. For what its worth, i do love Bali and I feel almost bad that it lost on points. Maybe next time I’ll do haikus about the two so it’s less quantitative. Hmmm. I’ll think about that over banana pancakes and coffee.

Hello, Bangkok.

The first thing I see after checking into my hostel is a beautiful carved wooden buddha face, with a sign underneath that says “sex tourists NOT allowed.” This is the same country where I can’t enter some temples wearing shorts and showing my shoulders (I never understand that part - are shoulders really that provocative? If so, maybe I should start working them more).

Bigfoot crossing, apparently. Still no sightings but keeping my fingers crossed.

Morning walk, cruising through the rice paddies.

Balinese scarecrow on a morning walk through rice paddies. Along the way, I also met a few traditional Balinese painters who make gorgeous, intricate designs on large canvasses. In chatting with one guy, I discovered that apparently his job is no different than any other - he says it’s boring. Who knew? Endless meetings and emails are ultimately no different than painting all day in rice paddies - monotony is monotony. I should have asked him if he ever gets a case of the Mondays.

Who can say no to a lifesize disco-ball Ganesh? (Or a store dedicated to disco-ball objects?) If only I could fit him in my backpack.

On one of our first days of class, our teacher told us the saying that “Bali does not have any formal ‘Art’ - we just try to do everything as beautifully as possible.” That nicely captures a lot about this place - everywhere there are gorgeous, intricate carvings, flowers, lush gardens and statues of gods.

G.I. Jane

A friend sent me this photo as a joke recently, and it’s actually quite appropriate, given that the transformation taking place in our GI (gastrointestinal) systems is just about as profound as those happening to us in other ways. It’s also been a major point of sharing and bonding among the group; there are almost daily weather reports on the status of everyone’s bodily functions.

My major decision this week has been whether to cleanse or not to cleanse. We have the option to buy an herbal cleanse for $125 that will remove the mucousal plaque that builds up on the walls of your intestines as a result of eating bad foods. Did you know your intestines have plaque?? I definitely didn’t. Apparently it prevents your body from absorbing as many nutrients from food as it could, and allows toxins, bacteria and even parasites to build up.

I thought I was pretty healthy before I came here… It seems like every day I learn something new that makes me wonder!

But don’t worry - regardless of what decide about the cleanse, I promise not to include any graphic updates about it here. I’ll just leave it to your imagination.